#she's not really that grumpy! she just has a bit of Resting Unimpressed Face

[haledamage]

tagged by @risualto to make some OCs in this picrew!

Cait Cousland | Carah Amell (Dragon Age)

Kai Cirdani | Raina Tiárnen (Pillars of Eternity)

Kira Kingston (Wayhaven Chronicles) | Iorwen Emroth (Shepherds of Haven)

and I’m open tagging anyone who wants to do it! please @ me if you do <3

[dememetor]

HEY HEY HEY

I love your writing, can I please get jealous hcs for anyone? Please include suna thi he's my latest brainrot hAHA

hi, thanks for the request! and suna brainrot?? bitch me too the fuck. anyways, hope you enjoy~

(also sorry this is kinda late, i've rewritten iwaizumi and bokuto ones a million times)

Haikyuu boys when they're jealous

characters suna rintarou, kuroo tetsurou, iwaizumi hajime, bokuto koutarou, kenma kozume

warnings none but i'm probably gonna say fuck at some point

Suna Rintarou

he tries to be chill about it, he does

it hurts his ego to be this clingy but god

he can't help but to feel that sour sting of jealousy when he sees another guy approaching you

at first will only take a quick glance from afar, just to check if the guy is bothering you, and then promises himself to stay out of your business

well he doesn't

once he decides the guy has lost talking-to-y/n-alone privilege, he will nonchalantly make his way towards you, one hand in his pocket, other sneaking its way to your shoulder, resting his elbow and giving the poor boy a menacing look

he can be pretty intimidating too with that eyeliner and all

(but that look only works on people that don't know him well, he tried it on atsumu once and the latter just laughed in his face)

not the type to be openly jealous but when he sees someone blatantly flirting with you he will start to give you the Glance

blinks slowly (you know, like that one blonde haired guy gif) and looks at you through raised eyebrows as if to say hey babe, i love you and i trust you. what the fuck tho

and when the guy starts being borderline creepy he'll appear between you - and i mean literally will inject himself between you two and strike a conversation with you as if nothing weird happened

they usually get the hint, but this one guy tried to go around him, still rambling about whatever and suna literally turned on his heel and said "come again?" with such unrivaled coldness, his eyes exuding just sheer fucking spite

but like i said, unless the other guy is asking for it, he's not the type to start a direct confrontation

will take you by the hand and leave without much thought because he simply doesn't have the time for that shit

he might seem grumpy afterwards but a couple of soft kisses usually do the trick

soft kisses which are followed by a breathless make out session with you on his kitchen counter because he still wants you to know you're only his

Kuroo Tetsurou

this little bitch

never gets jealous

and i mean never

once pretended he was jealous just to make you feel better (??? his logic? unparalleled) but once you found out you beat his ass

loves it when you get jealous though (he thinks it's cute)

sometimes he does get insecure, but he shows it in an unusual way

like if you've been talking to someone, smiling at your phone for a while he'll just get up and randomly do a couple puhs-ups, start flexing his muscles and shit

all while you're looking at him like,,

"babe, what are you doing"

"oh i didn't think you'd notice me there. since you're on your damn phone all day"

"...are you my mom?"

nah he'll be fine (will steal your phone though)

also it's the funniest thing when he sees someone trying to flirt with you

he will literally walk over there, introduce himself (not mentioning he's your boyfriend) and act really interested in the conversation

he plays this game where he tries to see how long will it take the guy to realise you two are together (longest time: 24 minutes, record holder: yahaba shigeru)

whenever the guy asks you something he will interrupt you and answer for himself as if the guy were flirting with him

"so, like what do you do in your free time?"

"not mu-"

"oh i love taking long walks on the beach, especially during sunsets. i really think it is healthy for the mind and the soul, not to mention quite romantic too. don't you too love sunsets, kevin?"

at one point kevin will have had enough of it

"i was talking to y/n alone here"

"aw don't worry, you're not bothering me"

he is such a pain in the ass

why can't he just be normal

Iwaizumi Hajime

rational, mature, i love him

seriously, he is the bestest boy and he will treat you so well because he trusts you and respects your friendship with other guys as well

but on those rare occasions when he does get jealous,, oh boy

first of all, the PDA skyrockets, he has to have his arm around you at all times - around your shoulder? on your waist? in your backpocket? his hand's been there done that

not in any way possesive but will be really annoying unless you give him your full undivided attention that day

he lets himself be selfish a bit, after all he is your boyfriend he can have you all to himself for a day, right?

jealous sex with him? better prepare a wheelchair cause you want be able to walk straight tomorrow

sees a boy trying to flirt with you? tries not to make a scene but absolutely will throw the first punch if he needs to

one day he was having a particularly rough time at practice and all he wanted to do was lose himself in your arms and fall asleep to the feeling your fingertips tangled in his hair

and then he saw this?? guy? (the audacity!) laughing with you after telling some dumb joke and let me tell you - iwaizumi wasn't having any of it

he came up to you from behind, wrapped his arms around your waist and planted a small kiss on the crook of your neck

"when are we going home, love?"

and he gives him the calmest yet most fear inducing stare from behind you

and suddenly the pattern on poor boy's pants starts to look awful lot like piss stain

it is actually kinda hot how one single look from him can cause such a reaction

"he was just asking about english homework babe"

"yeah that's what they all say"

Bokuto Koutarou

gets jealous so so easily

it is actually fascinating

will get mad at otome games

"what does jumin han have that i don't???"

god forbid you pay attention to your pet more than him (btw you have a golden retriever and his name is bean)

you're sitting on the couch cuddling with your dog, scratching his ears, ruffling his fur and all that, and there he is, your clingy boyfriend, snuggling right next to you, demanding you play with his hair too

so dramatic

"you smiled at him... the way you used to smile at me..."

"bokuto, he's a dog"

the only guy he trusts 100% to be around you is akaashi, even kuroo is on thin ice

but him and akaashi are something else, one time you three had a sleepover and you felt like you were the third wheel

will act like a tough serious boyfriend in front of others, especially your other guy friends but in reality will look for affection immediately after

oh while we're at it - jealous bokuto kisses? are the best kisses

will also force you to wear one of his shirts for the rest of the day

my poor man is so touch starved so when he feels insecure or jealous he will look for comfort in things like holding your hand, nuzzling your neck or giving forehead kisses

but later that day, when you two are sitting on the couch cuddling he will quietly ask you something along the lines of "you still think i'm pretty, right?"

you can feel him all over you - his hands are creeping down your waist, he's pulling you in, deepening the kiss until all you can see, think and feel is him

he wants to show you exactly how much he wants you and what you were missing out on while you weren't paying attention to him

and it shocks you for a moment because you didn't realise just how much that one short moment of jealousy actually stayed with him

you have to reassure him he's the most beautiful boy you have ever met, and not only that, but also the funniest and the most caring person as well, and that you would never leave his side no matter what happened

and as much as he loves getting praised he always gets embarrassed, so he just smiles in return, but he is also happy to know you're there for him and you don't think he is too much

Kenma Kozume

it depends on his mood honestly

sometimes he doesn't mind it even if the other guy is flirting with you and sometimes will get pissy if you smile at the cashier

but when this boy gets really jealous oh my GOD

he is just like bokuto if not worse; he just hides it so well

one time you went grocery shopping with him and spent the entire time texting your friend who had just told you she was visiting your city

and he got so offended

you didn't even notice it until later that day when you came home and he suddenly refused to cuddle with you

silent treatment

lifts his nose and ignores you, only giving you dirty side glances from under the eye

such a massive sense of pride in those 170 cm even oikawa would be impressed

in my country there's a saying "it's in the smallest bottle that the poison lies" and honestly? yeah

at some point you realise why he's acting like that and you start teasing him

"i am not jealous i am just mildly irritated" is the only thing he deems necessary to say before going back to being unnecessarily pissed

he reminds you of an angry cat

it's kind of amusing seeing him like this but you were also getting real tired of his shit

don't even try bribing him (you tried buying him over with a ps5 but he just looked at you unimpressed, disgusted that you think so low of him)

the only thing he will accept is a sincere apology

if it's sincere or not is up to him to decide, obviously

which can lead to quite some bickering

will try to get you to beg but please have dignity, if you do it once he will make you do it every time

yeah generally a lttle shit but his kisses after making up are just as eager as yours so

[squishytenya]

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 - Ms Joke, Aizawa + Present Mic

Pairings: ms joke, aizawa, present mic x gender neutral!reader

Notes: did I write this in half an hour? Yes. Am I worried cause I’ve never written emi before? Yes. I hope you guys like it mwah!

Warnings: reader gets hit on a lot, pda but with this lineup did you expect any less, mentions of uncomfortable situations (people flirting really?), I did not edit this but I never do so

Ms joke // Emi Fukukado

I feel like Emi isn’t one to get insecure jealous because she trusts you a lot, like a lot

Any friends night or family meeting is met with a have fun and a request for photos of your day out later (she likes seeing you happy even if it’s not necessarily her that made you smile)

The only time she really gets aggravated at all is when the person is not getting the hint and backing off or they’re coming on in a weird/offensive way

So when you guys go out on dates, she tends to keep an arm around you or at least her eyes on you at pretty much all times

Not because she doesn’t trust you or is possessive (she’s a little possessive) but because she knows people are really gross

Does NOT seem like the type at all but can be kinda scary to even the largest of men while having a smile on her face the entire time

She will come up to you just to kiss you straight on the lips and ask ‘who’s your friend?’

Continues to joke around and make you laugh so she can prove that she is in fact your partner and she can make you laugh like they can’t

Is a little mean if they won’t leave but does it with a smile, it’s tight and you can tell that she’s getting aggy with the person in front of you

We love her and here ability to be majorly passive aggressive while smiling, what a darling

Eraser head // Shouta Aizawa

Okay hear me out - he actually gets really jealous and isn’t great at hiding it but he’s grumpy pretty much all the time so nobody really notices except you

Of course jealousy does not equal lack of trust in any way but he’s kind of like an animal in what’s his is his and other people should keep their hands off

Can smell bad intentions from a mile away but he usually lets you fight your own battles

Usually it’s when you come back to wherever he is that he makes his feelings known (unintentionally) and maybe pulls you closer or wraps an arm around the back of your chair just to warn others

Will only step in once you’ve made it abundantly clear and they won’t leave or, god forbid, they invalidate your relationship

He knows you can take care of yourself but the moment someone says ‘oh he doesn’t have to know right?’ Man is behind you looking like a bat

He’s kind of intimidating himself but angry aizawa is very much so and I doubt someone will stay around long enough with him quirking his brow at them in the most unimpressed way

Generally just disgusted by their existence

Always makes sure to check on your afterwards even if they were being polite, it’s more to settle his own nerves and he appreciates that you pretend you don’t know

Present Mic // Hizashi Yamada

He is very vocal about your relationship tbh since he is one of the more famous pros I feel like most people know about you guys anyway so if someone is flirting with you while he is near it is almost certainly on purpose

And Hizashi does not like that, not one bit

Not only is it disrespectful to you but it’s disrespectful to your relationship too and he is rather protective when it comes down to it

Saunters up to you two, proper peacock kind of display, and does one of two things

Now if the person is being reaaal flirty and saying things like ‘well I don’t see him’ etc then he’s going to make it very clear that the person can see him now

Holds your waist, rests his chin on your shoulder and kisses your neck once or twice until he has a your complete attention, leaving the stranger in the dust

Gets a little pouty if you tell him off for doing that instead of just telling them to piss off but he doesn’t mind cause he knows you love it

If they’re just being creepy he can feel your uncomfortable from a mile away and does what he does best - talks

Slides between you and talks and talks and talks until the person is very confused and honestly just wants to leave because they feel uncomfortable meanwhile you’re making your escape across wherever you two are

Which is when he makes a comment about how they shouldn’t give people unwanted attention if they can’t take it in return and turns to find where you went when you went

We love one loud, respectful man

I hope this made sense my loves!

Remember reblogging helps content creators! And ily all!

[silverynight]

Hi! Could you make a oneshot where everyone is terrified of the hashiras except the kamaboko squad + Genya and Kanao? Basically a series of situations where a demon slayer sees one hashira being soft and kind around Tanjirou, and at the end the Hashiras are in a organization wide meeting, talking about important information about the uppermoons. Several kakushi suddenly rush to the butterfly estate, one of the kasugai crows inform the hashiras that Tanjirou was severely injured from a mission and has escaped the butterfly estate? He didn’t want to get healed because he wanted to greet the hashiras. Then they just all hear a thud at the corner, where Tanjirou passed out. The hashiras all freak out, they call a kakushi to take care of him and all follow him to the butterfly estate?

I love your oneshots btw!

The kakushi girl has learned a lot since that day at the butterfly estate; Tanjirou is special, there's something about him that makes every single hashira melt as soon as they see him.

Every. Single. One.

Even the scariest of them like the wind hashira. She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.

They're taking a break; she's in the dining room with a few slayers and a couple of kakushi. The Pillars will be arriving soon so they're eating what they can before leaving the place.

However, one of them takes two ohagi that were left on a plate even though they clearly belonged to someone. She's waiting for the ridiculous fight (sometimes demon slayers argue with each other for nonsense like that).

"That was Shinazugawa-san's" a girl informs the boy, who immediately pales after hearing that.

"Those are his favorites," says another.

"You'll be dead soon."

"Just tell him Tanjirou ate them," a boy with short, yellow hair she doesn't remember the name of says, still enjoying his rice balls.

"What? I thought you were Tanjirou's friend, Zenitsu!" Says the demon slayer girl, almost outraged. "Why do you want Shinazugawa-san to kill him?"

If the kakushi girl hadn't been on the butterfly mansion that day, she would've been glaring at the blond as well.

Zenitsu sighs.

"He won't kill him because it's Tanjirou and the Pillars would never hurt him. Seriously, haven't you noticed? Where have you been?"

No one believes him of course and the boy seriously considers running away but the hashira arrive before he can do anything and Shinazugawa realizes what happened immediately.

A few demon slayers manage to run away, but the boy gets caught by the wind hashira; he grabs him by the uniform to lift him from the ground like nothing.

At least he's not grabbing him by the neck.

"Who ate them? Was it you?" He growls. For a second the kakushi girl thinks the young demon slayer is going to faint out fear.

"It was me, Shinazugawa-san!" Tanjirou arrives just in time. "I'm so sorry! I can make you more if you want!"

The wind hashira releases the demon slayer, who hits the floor immediately and grimaces in pain.

"There's no need," Shinazugawa huffs. "I wasn't hungry anyway."

He walks away, but ruffles Tanjirou's hair when he passes next to him. Everyone, except the other Pillars (who are already trying to get Tanjirou to sit next to them) looks like they're in shock.

***

She kinda enjoys when someone realizes what's going on; it's fun to see the confusion on someone else's face when they catch a glimpse of Tomioka smiling softly at Tanjirou or Rengoku carrying the boy in his arms every time he sees him.

"Look," Kanao, the insect hashira's tsuguko, mumbles as she sits next to her. A group of demon slayers have been training with Tokito and it's been a nightmare for almost everyone. "This is my favorite part."

The mist hashira starts throwing rocks at the ones he thinks are not moving correctly as they practice with wooden swords.

She can hear the way they hiss in pain whenever a stone hits them.

"Are you sure I'm doing this correctly, Tokito-san?" Tanjirou asks, looking as puzzled as some of his fellows slayers. He's the only one who hasn't been hit by a rock. Not even once.

"Of course, Tanjirou!" The hashira grins at him, taking both his hands almost lovingly. "Your movements are perfect! Actually, you can take a break now."

His voice is soft as he encourages Tanjirou to go eat something, but as soon as he turns around to the others an unimpressed expression appears on his face.

"That's what you call training, you incompetent airheads? We're going to keep this until you can't stand anymore!"

***

Even though Uzui is constantly flirting with Tanjirou (who seems to be oblivious to everything) he's the one stopping other demon slayers from trying to do the same.

It's understandable confusing for the others to watch as the sound hashira narrows his eyes at them from above (he's ridiculously tall) and then turn at Tanjirou with flirty smile curling his lips up whenever the boy gets close to him.

However, he lets one of the young ones follow Tanjirou (like a lovesick puppy) around everywhere.

"Who's that?" She asks, she's become really good friends with Zenitsu and often looks for him because he's the one that knows the most about that situation. "And why haven't they–"

"He's Genya," Zenitsu frowns. "He's the only one allowed to do that because he's Shinazugawa-san's little brother."

Huh. So that's why he looks terrifying as well. Also, he doesn't look little at all; he's even taller than most of the Pillars. It's weird that he usually looks so grumpy and murderous and yet when Tanjirou turns to talk to him he acts like a twelve-year-old with a crush.

"Tanjirou has no idea, right?" She asks, even though she knows the answer already.

"Not at all."

***

She definitely doesn't expect to find Tanjirou passed out on the ground when she and a few of her fellow kakushi are called to the hashira headquarters.

It seems Tanjirou got injured during his latest mission, but he didn't listen to the kakushi advice and rushed to greet the Pillars as soon as he found out they were in the headquarters having a meeting.

And now he's unconscious and the hashira are surrounding the boy and looking like they're in pain. The first kakushi that gets closer to Tanjirou gets growled at by the flame hashira, who instinctively puts himself in the middle.

"I'm sorry," Rengoku apologizes immediately, like waking up from a dream. "I thought you were going to hurt him..."

It's like the hashira's protective instincts have suddenly grown exponentially.

None of the kakushi dare to get closer again. Tomioka gets desperate and takes Tanjirou in his arms. For the first time since she met him he doesn't have a neutral expression on his face.

He's worried, almost in despair.

"I'll follow you," he tells the kakushi.

They check his injuries as soon as Tomioka leaves him in one of the rooms. Kocho strokes Tanjirou's hair kindly, smiling softly before turning to face the others.

"He'll be fine," she informs them. "But we have to let him rest."

That they do, but they remain outside the room; some of them have to go on missions already but Kanroji promises to send them a message as soon as Tanjirou wakes up.

Quietly, the kakushi girl observes as they take turns to walk in the room and stay for a while with him. Rengoku likes to take Tanjirou's hand in his and kiss it gently as he mumbles something the kakushi girl can't hear.

Tomioka looks down at the boy like he doesn't care about anything else in the world. She knows now that he's the one that met him first and wonders what happened then.

It's strange how things can turn from "I don't even know who you are" to "you're the most important thing in my life. I'd do anything for you."

Kocho helps Tanjirou sit on the bed and wakes him up herself only to give him more medicine.

Kanroji sobs a little bit, but doesn't say much. Uzui pushes a kakushi aside so he can change Tanjirou's bandages himself.

When he finally wakes up completely, Shinazugawa is back.

"Don't you ever do that again!" It's the first thing he says, growling. "Running away from the butterfly mansion just to say 'Hi' to us? Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm sorry," Tanjirou chuckles, not even a little bit intimidated by the wind hashira's irritation. "I didn't feel that bad at the moment. I thought I was fine."

"You weren't," Tomioka scolds him, but softens his expression immediately after. "I'm glad you're okay now."

Rengoku takes Tanjirou in his arms and Kanroji gives him a kiss on the forehead before Tokito starts arguing that it's his turn.

While the other kakushi look at the scene in shock, she funds herself smiling at them. Then, she desperately wishes them happiness because it's always difficult and a bit hopeless to love so much in a world like the one they live in.

Love makes everyone vulnerable, even the strong and powerful ones.

***

Patreon

[nbrook29]

Kiss or Slap

Sander doesn’t remember when exactly their group made the riverside near the Scheldt their new hangout spot, but he couldn’t be more grateful for it as a cold breeze washes over his overheated body, providing a momentary relief against the scorching heat falling from the sky. It’s probably why the park is fuller than it usually is on Thursday afternoons, packed with people spread on their picnic blankets, searching for a bit of shadow under the big trees and desperately craving a bit of wind. 

It’s so hot he doesn’t even feel like sketching, preferring to just lie on the grass without moving a single muscle, and dying in peace. Even the enticing smell of cinnamon rolls that Noor brought with her isn’t enough for him to reach out and take one from the basket, the action requiring too much movement on his part.

“Guys, come on, we have to start or we’ll never get it done! Sander, get your lazy ass up.” He grunts when he feels Leon’s merciless fingers jabbing him in the ribs.

“Can’t we wait until it gets a little less hot?”

“No, cause that’s not happening in the nearest future and we need new content,” Nathan butts in, followed by Noor, which makes Sander officially outvoted. So he heaves a deep sigh, puts his shirt back on and ruffles his hair to make himself more presentable, rolling his eyes at Noor’s appreciative whistling.

“Someone’s gonna snatch himself a bunch of kisses today with that smoldering look,” she teases, pretending to give him a once over.

“Is that your way of telling me you want one for yourself, sweetheart?” He’s immensely proud of himself when her entire face scrunches up in disgust.

“Eww, no, feels like incest at this point.” Which is kinda true given the fact they’ve known each other since kindergarten and became best friends making sand castles. He fires an obnoxious wink at her, fully anticipating a shove which comes as expected within seconds, with Noor calling him a creep in between laughter.

“Who should we start with? Senne? Wanna go first?” Sander watches as Leon takes out his camera equipment and checks the settings as the rest collects their things.

“I guess, yeah. And then Nathan after me?”

“I’m not doing it, man, you know Britt, she’s gonna flip out.”

“Be a good reason to break up with her,” Sander mutters under his breath, not really feeling apologetic when Nathan shoots him a glare. It would be a long time coming, and honestly, Sander can’t wait for that moment to come. Just being in her presence gives him chills, she’s that much of a horrible person. A few years ago, he read something about alternate universes and sometimes when he looks at her he can’t help but think there’s a history there with the two of them, in a past life or something. At least it would explain that weird energy between them.

If it’s true, he feels very sorry for that Sander. 

He roots for him to run far away from said devil’s spawn.

“I can go next, I don’t have the ball and chain,” Noor says innocently, but she’s smirking over Nathan’s shoulder at Sander who pretends to high five her in their shared hatred for Britt.

“Yeah, us lonely birds will sacrifice ourselves and take the hit for the wellbeing of our channel,” Sander laments playfully, making Senne snort.

“Dude, you’re on your own by your own choice.”

“And pickiness. Don’t forget pickiness,” Noor adds smugly.

Sander huffs in protest. “I’m not picky! I just...” He cuts off because he’s not about to just explain it all now.

“Just what?”

“Specific about what I want.”

Brown curls, brown eyes, shortish, lean, pierced ear, cute giggle, elegant hands and a smile brighter than the sun. 

To be exact.

“Yeah. That’s picky.”

“Whatever,” he replies grumpily, and decides to ignore Noor’s knowing look. Sometimes he feels like she has a sixth sense and can read him like a book. Or she’s just less oblivious than the boys in their friend group. That’s a totally possible option too.

Thankfully, she doesn’t push him further (she’s awesome like that), though Sander has a feeling she’s gonna grill him later when they’re alone. For now, she checks her lipstick in her phone as they all briefly plan the video.

Not like there’s that much to plan; a few days ago, they decided to shoot a kiss or slap challenge for their YouTube channel because it had been wildly requested by their viewers.

Sander still doesn’t quite know how he became a part of a YouTube channel in the first place, always considering himself to be a bit more, well, sophisticated than that? But Leon was into it from the beginning and made them all participate in exchange for free beer, until one day one of their videos blew up.

If you can call getting 100k views on one video blowing up. 

Anyway, they got semi-popular amongst Flemish teens and even managed to snatch a sponsorship with Mentos (however small the offer was) that paid actual money. And he had just managed to move out of his family house so any money coming his way he welcomed with no questions asked. 

So they’ve kept shooting silly challenges slash anything else that’s a trend at a given time and have been able to cover their art supply needs with what little they earned. And, though Sander refused to admit it in the beginning, it’s actually kinda fun. It’s definitely better than his part time job at Pull&Bear where he has to deal with obnoxious customers on an almost daily basis.

They record a short introduction near the river, quickly going over the rules and explaining that the three of them will be competing in who gets more kisses versus slaps. 

“Hey, you know what, this is actually unfair cause you both can kiss anybody,” Senne points out all of a sudden, receiving four pairs of unimpressed glances.

“No one’s stopping you from getting kisses from boys too, dude,” Sander is quick to shut him up, shit-eating grin on his face as he gives him his first (light) slap to the cheek. 

They follow Senne around the park with a camera as he turns on his charm and smiles sweetly at the girls he chooses for the challenge, doing surprisingly well on the first few attempts. But when they venture deeper into the park and he tries his luck with college girls, he gets 5 slaps in the row to the rest of the group’s utter delight. In the end, his results are a blow to his pride and even Sander feels sorry for him, giving him a pat on the back while trying to hold his laughter in at Senne’s grumpy face.

Noor does much better, naturally, as her upbeat personality and a wide smile have always made boys and girls turn their heads. She gets a kiss after kiss, blush after blush, and two phone numbers in the process. Senne argues again that it’s unfair because no one’s gonna slap a girl anyway, but Leon just calls him a sore loser while Noor shamelessly flirts in French with another girl right in front of the camera.

Sander’s very proud.

Taking a quick sip of water, he gives Leon a thumbs up and starts his round, coming over to three blond girls chilling near the skateboarding ramps, trying very hard not to come off as creepy and clarifying the kiss part being only a cheek kiss. The girls erupt in giggles, but they all grant him a light kiss. One of them tries to flirt with him after, but he shoots her down before she can get too into it.

“Such a heartbreaker, you,” Noor coos at Sander’s pained face when they all walk away.

“That’s you, and you actually enjoy it,” he quips back, sticking his tongue at her.

“I do not, shut up!”

Fifteen minutes and fourteen kisses later he’s officially in the lead, sealing his victory with a kiss number fifteen he receives from a cute redhead. He’s gloating in Senne’s bemused face about nobody choosing to slap him when he stops in his tracks.

It’s the proof of his hopeless infatuation that he’d recognize that laugh everywhere.

He looks around for its source, but he comes up short. Then, his eyes focus on the skatepark area and his heart starts beating faster.

Because it feels like a sign. Like the universe is giving him a chance to finally do something. Make a move.

“Hey, can we shoot one more try?” He asks the guys, trying to sound casual while glancing furtively in the direction of brown curls.

“You’ve already won, but I guess?”

Nobody questions him about his reasons, they just follow him to the ramp.

And he’s so fucking nervous. 

It’s incredible, really, how he generally has no problems talking to people he’s interested in, conversation flowing without him even trying, gaining easy smiles and appreciative looks wherever he goes, some natural confidence to him. 

But that boy. That boy is something else.

He makes him question everything he says, makes his palms sweat and makes his deep hidden shyness come onto the surface.

Sander saw him for the first time during Open Day at the Academie in may, strolling casually through the hallway with his friend, completely oblivious to the turmoil he was causing to Sander’s heart.

That was the day Sander saw an angel. 

Fate placed him on his path again sooner than he could’ve hoped, the boy participating in a 2 week film course at his school only several days after he saw him for the first time. And he tried so hard to convince himself to talk to him over that time, but he only managed a few smiles while passing him by in the hallway. 

That and that one stupid joke he said to him while they were waiting in line at the cafeteria that makes him cringe in despair just thinking about it. Seriously, it’s like his entire cool evaporates when he’s near him.

But, the boy laughed at it. So maybe it wasn’t as horrible as Sander is making it to be. Or he was just being nice. 

Robbe. 

Robbe, who he’s been crushing on ever since that fateful day in may.

Robbe, who was at the same party he was last weekend.

Robbe, who he talked to at that party and managed to calm his nerves enough to be charming and funny.

Robbe, who giggled, blushed and bit his lip at Sander’s dumb jokes that evening.

Robbe, who slipped through his fingers because Sander blacked out soon after.

He almost never drinks, but that one night he did, celebrating the beginning of summer break, and not realizing his usual abstinence meant he was now officially a lightweight. What an awful timing.

Robbe doesn’t notice him right away, having his back turned to him while talking animatedly to his friends. Taking a deep breath and plastering a smile to his face to hide his nervousness, he approaches them.

“Hey guys, got a second?”

He notices the recognition in Robbe’s face right away, and Sander shoots him a quiet “hi” when his eyes meet his, an unsure smile blooming on his face.

“Hey, what’s up?” One of the boys nods at the camera.

“I’m Sander, and we’re shooting a video for our YouTube channel, the kiss or slap challenge,” he quickly explains, the boys’ faces lighting up.

“Hey, we have a channel too! I’m Moyo, this is Jens, Aaron, and Robbe.” Moyo reaches out to bump his fist with him and damn, Sander has to find that channel if Robbe is a part of it.

Jens levels him with a look. “So, you want us to kiss you or slap you?” 

“Pretty much, yeah?” Sander chuckles because he’s aware it’s ridiculous, but he’s a man on a mission here, give him a break.

“I think Robbe should represent all of us, don’t you think so?” Moyo proposes, tongue in his cheek as he checks with the rest of his friends. Sander catches the death glare Robbe sends the boy before looking back at him and crossing his arms, looking a bit out of place. And, fuck, the last thing Sander wants is to make him uncomfortable.

So he asks softly, “you’re in?” and waits for agonizing five seconds as Robbe watches him, eyes narrowed, before his features smooth out and he smiles at him.

“Sure, why not.”

Relieved, Sander lets out a chuckle and tries to keep his cool. “Okay then - kiss or slap?”

Robbe squints against the sun and makes him wait another few seconds before he answers, but Sander’s not worried because there’s a soft smile on his face and obviously his angel wouldn’t-

“Slap.”

Wait, what.

He can hear his friends bursting in laughter at this unexpected turn of events while Sander can only stare in shock because how could he miscalculate the situation this much?

Gulping, confused and heartbroken, he asks, “you’re sure?”, to which Robbe nods with a poorly hidden glee.

“But you have to close your eyes cause I can’t hit you while you're looking at me.”

Heaving a deep sigh and trying to save a face despite the humiliation flooding his body, he nods and closes his eyes, steeling himself for it.

But it never comes.

Suddenly, he feels a hand cupping his cheek and he flinches a little, but then soft lips touch his in a kiss so gentle he blinks his eyes open, not knowing what’s happening.

“That was payback for you promising to call me and not keeping your word,” Robbe whispers against his lips before leaning away, something sad and wistful passing through his face. Sander is left completely dumbfounded, ignoring the hollering from the two groups as his eyes fleet all over Robbe’s face.

It’s difficult for him to collect his thoughts because holy fuck, Robbe has just kissed him and he’s internally freaking out. He finally manages to get his bearings when the remnants of a smile slip off Robbe’s lips.

“I-, Robbe, you have no idea how much I wanted to call you, but I don’t have your number.”

“I gave it to you. At the party?” He doesn’t look like he believes a word Sander is saying.

“Um, I kinda blacked out and don’t remember much after like one-ish?”

“You saved it though, I saw you typing it in,” Robbe argues again, but this time he doesn’t look so sure. “Wait, what’s your number?”

Sander watches him entering digit after digit before hitting call. He fully expects a plain number to appear on his screen, eyes widening when he sees what pops up instead.

zk bambieys 🥺🦌👁️💘🧡💖💞 calling

“Fuck, you did give me your number.” He’s not fast enough to hide his screen from Robbe, but he can't even feel embarrassment once he notices the frown disappeared from his face.

“Bambi eyes?” There's a teasing note in his voice, but his pink cheeks sell him out.

Sander scratches his head. "I was very drunk, you can't hold it against me. Also, your eyes are really beautiful," he clarifies, winking when Robbe laughs at his shameless flirting. "Hey, I tried to find you on instagram, but nothing came up. I was really hoping we're gonna bump into each other again. Sorry for being a dumbass and not realizing I had your number this entire time?”

“It’s okay.” Robbe shoves his hand into the pockets of his jeans, swaying on his heels. Sander decides to put them both out of their misery and take the initiative.

“So if I asked you out, would you say yes?”

It looks like Robbe’s about to nod, but then he bites his lip, an almost cheeky smile directed at him. “I guess you have to call me to find out.” And then he gets on his skateboard and casually skates away to the nearest ramp, pulling a surprised laugh out of Sander.

If he was intrigued before, now he’s totally smitten with this wonder of a boy, because damn. 

Their friends finally seem to regain their voices and speak over each other at what just happened, but Sander doesn’t pay them any attention, just takes out his phone again and pressing the call button. 

Watching as Robbe comes to a full stop at the top of the ramp, he cocks his head with a grin and waits until he picks up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Sander.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Robbe laughs into the speaker.

“Will you go out with me?”

He meets his eyes across the skatepark as Robbe makes him wait again.

Then, with a smile so radiant it overshadows the sun, the boy finally gives him his answer.

“Yes.”

[imagineddworld]

Favorite victim

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader

Summary: You are Fred’s favorite prank victim, which creates a lot of hatred towards one another. Until a mistletoe proofs you both wrong.

Word count: 2 k (2000) 

Author’s note: I am so sorry for being this unactive. Also sorry for the lack of quality. University is taking up all my time and has given me a headache that lasts for a week already. Thanks for understanding. I hope you enjoy this shorter fic.x

You and Fred had a complex friendship, if it even could be considered that. He always seemed to take the piss with you. For some unknown reason you were his favorite pranking victim. It all had started innocent. Hiding your ties, placing your books at the highest shelves that were impossible to reach, and switching your ropes with one of the other houses. Putting potions in your food that made it taste odd, made you sneeze, and made your voice a high pitched squeak. But over time they became more evil. The potions no longer got their innocence. They coloured your hair in plenty vibrant colours, made your nose bleed, and made you cough up feathers. The twins put traps everywhere, so you would trip and get covered in a thick, stinky liquid. In class they made your books explode, messed up your potions so you would end up with a loud explosion to the face and getting covered with whatever concoction was in the cauldron. 

It was getting out of hand. Last week they had replaced your soap with one of their own brewed ones. It was supposed to make your head purple, but instead you had started to swell up. Your face felt as if it was about to pop. You angrily approached them during breakfast. “Thanks a lot mate. Good luck explaining to McGonagall why I can’t attend her class”, you threw the soap at them, shaking your head in disappointment. “This hurts a lot”, you said through gritted teeth, before leaving them. You quickly headed over to the hospital wing for the umpteenth time. Later on you found out that you had a bad allergic reaction to one of the oils the twins had put in their soap. Your swelling first got worse, before it vanished. You barely could open your eyes and breathing had became difficult too, but luckily it faded soon enough. Their stupid little prank had resulted in you spending a good few days in the hospital wing. As soon as you were released form your bedrest, you gave the twins a lecture about the dangers of their pranks. Luckily for you they never used that oil ever again. But they managed to cross the line many more times in various other ways. You started to grow more hatred towards the beloved twins. One day they would actually kill you. 

Today they had stolen your alarm clock. You were woken up by annoyingly loud ticking noises coming from your closet. Over time it grew louder and more unbearable. As if being late wasn’t bad enough, they also had to steal all your clothes and replace them by those idiotic toys. They didn’t even had any specific shape, just odd metal forms. As if a robot and car got merged together but had melted during the process. After you finally found some clothes, hidden somewhere safe, you stormed out in search for the redheads. They were sat in the common room, happily chatting with some other students. “Weasley!”, you slammed the door shut behind you, angrily stumping your feet on the ground as you made your way over to him.  “I swear to Merlin, If i find another of your stupid little - toys- I will personally stick all of them up your throat till you choke to death”. As you were yelling at Fred, you had earned the attention of the whole common room. Even if the constant bickering had become a daily routine, they still waited impatiently for the scene in front of them to unravel into your usual fights. “Wow (Y/n), relax”, Fred showed his famous smirk. He stood up, meeting you halfway of the common room. He towered over your small frame, looking challenging into your eyes. But two could play his game, you didn’t budged as you gave him your darkest, murderous glare. You raised your eyebrow as a signal for him to explain himself, already knowing that only nonsense would be spewing from his mouth. “It was just a joke. Not even a dangerous one-”, the last part of his sentence got cut off by a loud exploding sound coming from the girls sleeping room. Or more specific, your closet. At the same time, the toy in your hand had exploded as well. You let out a scream of shock, while throwing the lightly smoking object to where Fred’s feet were. He jumped as a reflex. His face turned angry for a slight moment, but you could care less. You were beyond furious. The day were he would succeed in killing you, would came sooner than you had thought. “Not dangerous?! Not da-dan- Are you joking me?!”, you stuttered due to your overwhelming emotions, mostly furiousness and hatred. “Well, that’s kind of the point”, he cocked as if nothing had happened. As if he didn’t just could have injured someone really badly with his stupid prank. “I still could have been in there”, you said, hitting him on the chest to have more impact on him. “Someone could have gotten hurt, or worse -” Which each word that left your mouth, you hit him a bit harder. But he didn’t moved at all, he just grinned down at you. As a foolish idiot, loving the sight of your angered state. His smug face only made your anger worse. Nothing would ever sink in his brain, he just brushed it off. You wanted to comment on it, but found yourself unable to. You were just going to waste your time, so you decided to storm off to somewhere you wouldn’t need to see his face again. Somewhere you could calm down. 

Once you vanished out of the room and the watching crowd returned back to their daily routines, George stepped up to his brother. “Well well, Freddy. You know we are meant to play nice”, he smiled with a hint of a smirk hiding in the corner of his lip. “Shut it. I’ll play nice when she does”, He glowered, looking like a grumpy little child. “Oooh, so you want her to play nice with you”, George teased, as he wiggled his eyebrows at his twin. “Shut up”, Fred responded again, leaving his twin alone. George just smiled and shook his head at the foolishness of his brother. 

Luckily for you, you didn’t saw Fred’s face until your study session. You were nearly done with your potions essay, when a huge amount of ink fell out of the sky. Your clothes were soaked by the black liquid. As you looked down to your desk, you saw your essay covered in huge spots. “Noo”, you said a bit too loud, voice lightly cracking from your exhaustion. Your head shot towards the chuckling sound. “You”, you spat out, as if he were a poison in your mouth. You murderously glared at Fred while approaching him. “What have I done”, he smiled innocent. You bit down on your teeth, clenching your jaw. It was hard not to slap him across the face right now. You dug your fingernails into your palm, while deeply breathing in. “Do I really need to explain it?!”, you grumbled through gritted teeth. “Be my guest”, he smiled, beaming with excitement and mischief. His hands rested on his hips with much attitude. “You- Ruined - My- Essay”, with each word you stepped forwards, closing the gap between the two of you. You slapped your essay onto his chest, staining his clothes with the black ink. “I’ve spent days on it. And you know for a fact that Snape won’t care”, you pushed him away from you, making him stumble the slightest bit. “Ruin your own essay for once”, you said in a small voice, as the previous event slowly started to sink in. You were devastated, all your hard work was for nothing. Your eyes started to water a little. You were exhausted, not only from the long nights you had spend on the now ruined essay; but also because of how draining these pranks had gotten. Ever one of them gave you more reasons to hate these beloved twins.

As you looked up from your ink-covered hands, you saw Fred with a dumbfounded look on his face. Only seconds ago, he was beaming with joy. “What?”, you asked harsh, but nowhere near the intensity it usual would have. He gave no response, so you sighed and tried to walk off. But you found yourself unable to do so. A force kept you in place. “What do you want?”, you muttered in a mix of anger and despair. You were too exhausted and too distressed to have a fight. “Just let me go”, you said with a much softer voice. You were still turned away from him, as you were trying to hold in your tears. “I don’t have a hold of you... I thought you had a hold on me”, he said slow, confusion knitting his eyebrows together. “What? Why would I-”, you started, turning your head back in his direction. As you eyes trailed to his face, you caught sight of something green above Fred’s head. You let out a frustrated sight as you realized what it was. Stupid mistletoe and its bright green leaves.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, totally over this whole situation. You desperately tried to free yourself with some spells. But the mistletoe wouldn’t move, neither could any of you. “(Y/n), you know that won’t work. You should know that. You are lots better at charms than me”, Fred said, sounding sincere. A unexpected heat raised to your face. Fred Weasley just had given you a compliment, what a rarity. “But we need a way to get out of here before any teacher catches us out past curfew”. You used the lame excuse. You truly didn’t care if you were out past curfew or even got caught. You just wanted to get away from Fred before he could pick up on your emotions. Not that he would care. Everything just seemed to be a joke to him, surely when it included you. “I know a way”, he responded casually. But you were unimpressed, showing it clearly with your facial expressions. “Trust me, okay?”, he muttered softly, his voice almost coming out as a whisper. His big hand cupped your cheek, leaving a warmth at the place where your skins touched. “Just this once”, you replied, before his sweet lips pressed against yours. His other hand went to the small of your back, pulling your body tighter to his chest. Your hands lightly tugged on the fabric his shirt, staining it even more with the black liquid. Neither of you caring how big of a mess it would be. 

The kiss lasted longer than you had expected. You melted in his touch, losing yourself in the heavenly kiss. Your hands found their way to his jaw and the back of his neck, leaving a trail of blackness everywhere you had touched his soft skin. Only when you broke apart to breath, you realized what had happened. Your eyes slowly fluttered open. You were met with a grinning Fred, who now also was covered in the black liquid. But you weren’t going to give him the satisfaction he wanted. He was not going to get you that easily. “This changes nothing, Weasley”, you suppressed the smile that desperately wanted to curl your lips upwards. You turned away from him, relieved that you finally could move again. You were about to head over to your belongings, when he pulled you back by your arm. “Well, I think it does, (Y/l/n)”, he grinned the biggest smile he had ever had, “Mistletoe only sticks to people who have feelings for each other”. The smug bastard. Of course he would know such a thing. As he pulled you in for a second kiss, you couldn’t help but smile against his lips.

[ninak803]

Happy Moments

An new thing! @spookydiyharrypotterbat inspired me here, so I'm holding her acountable for everything. & thank you @heyitssmiller for proof reading, as always. Enjoy!

Remus was sitting in the common room, reading a book, when James and Sirius burst in. Both of them covered in mud, their Quidditch robes drenched.

Sirius and James talked eagerly about their practice, the upcoming quidditch match and possible strategies.

“Don’t you dare.” Remus said, not looking up from his book.

Sirius stopped mid track.

“What? I didn’t do anything!” Sirius answered.

“Yeah. And you totally didn’t want to come over here and give me a hug, so I would be all wet.” Remus looked up to where Sirius was standing with a huge smile on his face, his eyes bright.

“You know me so well, Moony.”

“That I do. So go and take a shower, put on some dry, clean clothes and then I’m going to kiss you again.” Remus said, looking back at his book.

He heard James and Sirius leaving the common room. Remus smiled to himself.

Some minutes later, maybe half an hour Remus honestly couldn’t tell he was so lost in his book, Sirius sat down next to him, throwing his arms around him.

“I’m back. Clean and dry.” Sirius said.

“Hmm.” Remus approved.

He put the book aside and looked at Sirius. His hair was still wet, his loose curls reaching to his shoulder.

Remus moved his hands gently through Sirius’ hair and placed a curl behind his ear.

Sirius leaned his forehead against Remus’.

“I missed you during practice.” Sirius whispered.

“It’s cold outside. And it’s raining.”

“I know. I just wanted to let you know that I missed you. But you’re watching the match on Saturday?”

Remus smiled at the sanguine tone in Sirius’ voice.

He nodded.

“Of course I am. I want to see you play.”

And he really wanted to see Sirius play. Sirius on a broom was something you have to see. He moved elegantly, mesmerizing really. And he was fast, Remus could’t follow him with his eyes sometimes. After a match Sirius buzzed with energy. It always had a positive effect on Remus, he couldn’t help it, but it felt like Sirius’ positive energy streamed right through Remus. It felt like he himself had played and was filled with adrenaline.

Sometimes he and Sirius would sneak off from the party in the common room that followed a won match. They would steal James’ invisibility cloak, well borrow it, and walk to the astronomy tower together.

Those were the moments Remus liked most.

Sitting next to Sirius, holding hands and watching the stars together. And the occasional kisses of course. Sometimes they talked about everything and nothing. Sometimes they both were lost in their own thoughts. And sometimes all they did was kissing.

So yes. Remus really was looking forward to the quidditch matches.

Remus kissed him shortly.

“Have you done your potions homework yet?” he asked Sirius and moved away a little bit to have a better look at him.

Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed.

“No.”

“You know it’s due tomorrow.”

“Yes.” Sirius grumbled.

“So when do you plan on doing it?”

“Later.” was all Sirius said.

Remus raised his eyebrow and wanted to argue with Sirius, but he was silenced with Sirius’ lips on his own.

Well it wasn’t really his problem if Sirius didn’t do it, was it? No. So Remus kissed him back.

They were sitting in the Great Hall together the next morning. James and Lily across from Remus, Sirius and Peter next to him. Sirius and James made funny faces during breakfast, which made the whole table laugh. Except for Lily who tried to look annoyed by the childish behaviour her boyfriend showed. But Remus could see the small smiles and the lovestruck glances she shared with James.

Remus couldn’t quite get rid of the feeling that something was off today. It was like a silent ringing in the back of his mind that he had since he got up this morning. But Remus couldn’t grasp what it meant. It always slipped away moments before he knew. Like a word on the tip of your tongue. So Remus decided to ignore it. It would come back to him eventually.

The rest of the day was pretty eventless.

James and Sirius got detention for fiddling with Snapes’ potion. James got scolded by Lily for it as well.

Poor James.

So everything was normal.

Remus was already lying in his bed, trying to sleep, when Sirius got back from detention. It was almost full moon and Remus knew he needed as much rest as possible. So knew Sirius. He didn't make a sound when he walked over to Remus’ bed and opened the curtains a little bit, just wide enough for him to slip through. Remus moved a bit to make some space for Sirius.

“You’re still awake, Re?” Sirius whispered.

“Yes, you didn’t wake me, don’t worry.” Remus whispered back.

Sirius laid down, facing Remus.

“How was detention?” Remus asked him.

He moved closer, tangling their feet together.

Sirius shrugged.

“Scrubbing all the cauldrons without magic isn’t much fun, but I survived.”

“Glad you did.” Remus kissed him softly.

Sirius pulled him into his arms and Remus closed his eyes again.

“I love you, Moony.” Sirius said.

“I love you too, Pads.”

They both fell asleep shortly afterwards.

It was a sunny afternoon, Sirius and Remus walked out of the castle to meet James and Lily at the lake. It was one of the first warm days after the winter and it felt like the whole school would ease up a little bit. Even Filch didn’t look so grumpy today.

Sirius put his arm around Remus’ shoulder.

“Isn’t this nice, Re?” he asked, as they walked to Lily and James.

Remus nodded in agreement.

When they finally reached the other two, they were pretty occupied with their mouths all over each other.

“You maybe wanna move this into the dorm, Potter.” Sirius said nonchalantly.

James and Lily moved apart immediately. They hadn’t heard them coming. Remus grinned.

“He’s right, James. Not much privacy out here.”

Lily’s face was almost as red as her hair, James cheeks were a bit red, but probably from the interaction with Lily.

“You’re one talking. The astronomy tower? Very private indeed.” James countered.

“Oh it is, after curfew.” Remus said unimpressed.

James just rolled his eyes, what made Sirius laugh.

Sirius sat down next to his best friend and boxed his shoulder playfully.

Lily took James’ hand. She smiled at Remus, who sat down next to her.

“Where is Pete?” she asked.

“Detention.” the three of them said at once.

“Of course he is. Why is it that one of you is always in detention?”

Sirius shrugged.

“We’re marauders. We create chaos.”

“And get caught more often than not.”

Sirius placed his hand over his heart in a dramatic gesture.

“How dare you. Doubting our abilities. Have you heard this Prongs? Did you hear what your charming girlfriend thinks of us?”

“Shut up, Sirius.” Remus laughed.

Sirius grinned back at him and winked.

This evening after dinner, Remus and Sirius sat in the common room on the floor in front of the fireplace. Remus sat between Sirius legs, leaning against his chest, Sirius had his arms around Remus, holding him as close as possible.

Remus held a book in front of him and read it to Sirius. Remus' voice was calm and relaxed, he was in his favorite place to be and nothing could destroy his good mood now.

Sirius listened to Remus reading. He placed kisses on his neck every now and then, resting his chin on Remus' shoulder.

They sat together like this for a while, blending out the usual chaos and noises in the crowded common room.

Then the ringing in Remus’ head started again. It was different then the last time, louder, more aggressive. Remus couldn’t ignore it this time.

He had to put the book aside and placed his hands over his ears, trying to shut out the noise. It didn’t work. Of course it didn’t. The sound was in his head, screaming at him, screaming something he couldn’t quite understand.

He felt Sirius’ hands over his, Remus turned around to look at him, letting his hands sink.

“Moony?” Sirius asked “Are you okay?”

Remus looked into his concerned face, he wanted to nod, but -

Remus woke up. He sat up at once, his heart beating fast in his chest. His dream still in his mind, the reality slowly crept back into his consciousness.

The reality.

Remus swallowed, he got up, went to the window and opened it. The cool night air streamed in and calmed his nerves a little bit.

He looked around in his bedroom. He looked at the bed, too large for just one person, but there was no one to share it with. Not anymore.

He thought about his dream, all of them back at Hogwarts. Having a good time, they were together, they were happy.

But the reality made his dream even more bitter. More cruel.

Lily and James were dead. Little Harry an orphan now. Peter was dead. And everything because of Sirius.

Sirius.

He tried not to think about him, but it wasn’t possible.

Sirius had betrayed them. He had betrayed them all. His best friends.

And Remus couldn’t help but think why he hadn’t noticed. He and Sirius lived together. They spent their life together. Why hadn’t he noticed what Sirius was about to do? I knew Sirius better than himself, at least that’s what he thought.

And then other questions came to his mind.

When did Sirius change his mind? How did this happen? He must have been a fantastic actor, Remus thought.

Sirius was always so worried about James and Lily. About Remus. Was anything he said or did ever true?

Had their whole relationship been a lie? Has it been a lie at Hogwarts already? Or did it just change recently? But when?

Remus should have noticed it.

He started shaking, his emotions overwhelming him. The unanswered questions were too much to bear. The guilt ever present.

How didn’t he notice that Sirius had changed sides?

They hadn’t talked much the last months, but times were harder. Sirius and Remus had so much to do for the order. But now Remus wasn’t sure anymore if Sirius ever did a thing for the order. At least not when he was alone on a mission.

Remus shook his head. He felt the tears streaming down his cheeks. He sat down on the ground, pulling his legs to his chest, his arms around his legs. Holding himself, trying to prevent him from falling apart.

It didn’t work.

Everything was a lie. The whole past was a lie. And it was Remus' fault. He would have never suspected Sirius to be the spy. Never. But what do they say about love? Love makes you blind. And he had loved him. He still loved him and a fresh wave of guilt rushed through him.

He looked out of the window at the almost full moon.

“I’m sorry James, Lily. I am so, so sorry.” he said crying.

Remus was all alone now.

[artificialqueens]

Come Home to My Heart, Chapter 7 (Lemyanka) - Plastiquedoll

read on ao3 ✨| previous chapters

A/N: I don’t know if I can say this but this is one of my favorite chapters I’ve written and I’m so excited I can finally share it! it’s literally two people driving around but it matches the song I guess… I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading it! <3

-7-

“So Lemon thinks I’m dating you.” Priyanka used the home phone to call her friend the day after their night out.

It was almost noon and Priyanka’s hangover had abandoned her body after drinking a gallon of water and taking a long -long- shower. She was walking around the house with the phone in one ear and a half-empty cup of coffee in the other. Her parents were at her sister’s place, having lunch with the kids so she had the house for herself –and when you’re hangover no matter how much you love kids you do want to be alone.

Denali burst into laughter. “Does she?” Her voice sounded distorted after singing all night.

“Well, thank you for being so considerate and laugh at the possibility of dating me. At least you didn’t do it on my face.”

“It’s not that… I’m sorry. You’re gorgeous for what matters.”

“You’re still laughing.”

“It’s your telephone connection. But wait, are you going to tell her the truth?”

“Eventually, if she asks again… Until then, would you mind if I play dumb with it?”

“Priyanka, oh my God… You’re so silly.”

“Okay, I’ll take that. But let me be potentially unrealistic for a moment here… she might be jealous of you.”

Denali gasped exaggeratedly.

“Quit making fun of me, you bitch.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… This is just so entertaining for me.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“But the night ended up well for you two, right? Progress… character development?”

“She was drunk and called me Sprinky before I pushed her into a taxi.”

“I love Sprinky! Aw, you guys, pet names already.”

“That hardly qualifies as a pet name but…”

“Tomayto, tomahto, same thing.”

It really was Denali the one who lived in a fantasy world.

“I gotta go. I need to pick some groceries from the supermarket.”

“Okay, bye Sprinky!”

Priyanka clicked her tongue. “Bye. Bitch.”

Her mother had given her a list of things to buy since she was staying in all day and she said her lazy ass needed to do something productive, -she didn’t say it like that but that was what Priyanka heard when she was still wasted on her bed.

She had taken her car to the supermarket that was in the center of the city since it was the biggest one around. On her way there, she noticed the engine coughing a little more than usual but she downplayed it when the noises stopped.

The day was sunny and hot, it warmed her skin and made it glow as she drove to the location. She had grabbed a pair of denim shorts that were on top of her suitcase –luckily, since she hadn’t unpacked yet- but she had to dig some more to find an ombré knitted white and blue crop top she had brought, then complimented the outfit with a pair of sandals and vintage round orange sunglasses. After brushing her hair a little, she was ready to go.

She got to the store, picked a shopping cart, and wandered through the aisles with her mother’s list in her hand. She occasionally lifted her feet and slid with the cart when no one was watching. Then she got distracted whereas she was goofing around and almost crashed it on the cereal aisle, fortunately, no one saw that.

Well, almost no one.

“Jesus Christ you’re going to kill someone with that.”

Priyanka stopped in her tracks when she recognized the voice right away.

Naturally, Lemon was there to see her making a fool of herself.

She was there, looking unimpressed as usual with a shopping basket on the floor next to her. Lemon was wearing a NYC t-shirt in pastel yellow, pink and blue, a pair of mom jeans, and white chunky sneakers that made her a bit taller. She also had a giant pair of white oval sunglasses with black glasses on -Priyanka only suspected the reason behind that fashion choice- she had her hair wet but tied into pigtails and lip gloss, lip gloss was never missing with her.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Priyanka mumbled.

“Can’t say the same,” she sighed. “are you following me or something?”

The brunette scoffed. “You wished…”

“Then move aside I’m trying to get the Froot Loops.”

Priyanka looked up and spotted the colorful cereal box above her head. “But the real question is can you get the Froot Loops?”

“Oh, fuck you.” She almost pushed Priyanka off the way but the other girl moved faster.

Lemon had to tiptoe and jump a little to reach for the box and Priyanka enjoyed every second of it.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Lemon was surely grumpy that day, it was the hangover speaking.

“Not really.” She grabbed a box of Cookie Crisp. “I was wondering if you made it home alright after the state you left.”

“I did… thanks for pushing me into a taxi.” There was some of sarcasm there, Priyanka detected.

“Anytime.”

Lemon started walking and Priyanka followed her with her cart, at that point to mess with her some more.

“You still have that sweet tooth for the chocolate chip cookies…” The blonde observed.

Priyanka looked at the cereal she had chosen without giving it much thought. “I guess I do… You still like anything colorful and sugary.”

“Some things never change.”

But other things changed too much.

After roaming a little, at some point, they split and when Priyanka collected the rest of the items on the list she waited in line to pay for her shop. She saw the blonde when she crossed the automatic door with her grocery bags.

Priyanka slid the credit card and then left as well. She loaded the bags on the trunk, then sat at the driver’s seat and inserted the keys to turn on the engine. She tried a couple of times without significant results, the engine coughed a little and then when she thought she had it, it died again.

“C’mon girl, don’t do this to me now… I bought ice cream bars.”

The sight of smoke wasn’t a lovely view, to say the least. When she lifted the engine cover, she discovered it was worse than what she expected.

“Shit… shit, shit, shit… this is bad.”

She pulled her flipping phone from her back pocket and called her father who calmed her down but couldn’t do much in the distance; he suggested a mechanic nearby that could take a look at it.

Priyanka was losing her mind. She sat at the curb and buried her face in her hands.

“Looks like you could use a ride.” Lemon’s voice made her look at the girl.

“Not now.” She blurted out. “I don’t have time for your snarky comments so please refrain from saying anything you’d think is clever.”

Lemon lifted her sunglasses. “I’m not trying to get on your nerves; I’m legit offering you a ride.” Priyanka didn’t seem convinced. “Think for a moment, your groceries are going to go bad with the heat and no air conditioner.”

“The ice cream bars…” She was on the verge of tears. “Fine. Yes, I need a ride, would you be so nice and help me out?”

“Come with me, my car is around the corner in front of the drugstore.”

“Buying some aspirins?”

“Cut the slack I’m trying to do a good deed here.”

“For a change.”

They carried the bags to Lemon’s car around the corner and Priyanka raised an eyebrow as soon as she saw her car.

As expected, from all people, Lemon would be the one driving a sunny yellow Volkswagen New Beetle. They put the groceries on the trunk yet again and the blonde took a seat in the driver’s position, Priyanka sat on the passenger seat.

“A yellow car?” She questioned.

Lemon buckled up. “My dad gave it to me.”

“Your daddy bought you a pretty car? For real?”

She adjusted the sunglasses back on. “He felt guilty after getting re-married and I accepted it as a peace offering. Is that so terrible?”

“Of course…”

Lemon started the engine and moved the vehicle toward the roundabout, heading for Priyanka’s house.

“You have to turn right in the next street.” Priyanka indicated.

“I think I know where your house is.” Lemon murmured as she took a different way.

“Yeah, you could get there faster this way but you’re about to enter to a one-way street… on the opposite side.”

“Shit.” Lemon maneuvered her way out with a U-turn.

“Does everyone in New York drive like this?”

Lemon blushed. “This is my third time driving in town.”

“Did you drive all the way from the Big Apple alone?”

She shook her head. “Rita visited me there and then we traveled together.”

“You two get along for what it seems…”

“It took some time and adjustment. That was supposed to be our bonding trip but I’m pretty sure she secretly holds a grudge since I convinced her mother of making the bridesmaids’ dresses pastel yellow for the wedding.”

Typical Lemon.

“But her mother is nice, she makes my dad happy so I can’t complain.”

“What about your mom? How is she?”

“Christina is alright. She got signed by an important architectural firm two years ago and has been working non-stop since then. She dated a few men but nothing too transcendental. She still listens to ABBA on a daily basis and sings every song in the repertoire deliberately loud enough to embarrass me in front of people but she’s happy. She’s on a cruise right now having the time of her life probably, that’s part of why I’m here.”

“Good for her, good for Christina.”

“That’s what I said. I thought this whole thing of my dad marrying someone else was going to trigger her somehow but she’s proven me wrong when getting over exes is about. Maybe it helped a little that the woman her ex married is older than her but who knows.”

Priyanka chuckled.

Lemon turned the radio on, Give Me All Your Luvin played through the speakers.

It was nice, to get to talk with Lemon like that, forgetting all the fights and unresolved problems they had for a moment. If Priyanka closed her eyes for an instant she could almost picture them both chatting in Lemon’s room with the music playing on the radio and the smell of wet nail polish in the air.

But then, when she opened her eyes, she got back to reality in a world where they had missed seven years of each other’s lives. There was a time where she could tell exactly what Lemon was thinking of but now it was a different story, the blonde was inscrutable and Priyanka couldn’t predict her reactions or guess the words that would come from her mouth. There were many things she didn’t know about Lemon now.

“Do you like Rihanna?” Priyanka asked when they stopped in front of a red light.

“What?” Lemon turned her head. “What kind of question is that?”

The brunette shrugged. “A thought I had.”

“Of course I like Rihanna, what kind of monster do you think I am?”

“One that doesn’t like Rihanna… perhaps.”

Lemon laughed at how ridiculous the conversation was. She had to continue driving when the light changed to green.

“Rihanna’s first album came out seven years ago and she didn’t get the recognition she deserved until a few years later…” Priyanka explained. “so I never got to know if you liked her music and I’m asking it now because there are two types of people in the world, the ones who have the taste and the ones that are monsters and dislike Rihanna’s music.”

“Okay, I’m telling you I love her. In fact, open the glove compartment.”

Priyanka looked at her.

“Go ahead, open it.” She commanded.

She did as the girl said and when the glove compartment was opened, a pile of CDs boxes where revealed inside. The first of them was a copy of Loud by Rihanna and the next one Good Girl Gone Bad.

“I couldn’t bring all of them but I have a few of them here and others at home.”

“Fair enough.” Priyanka checked the other albums underneath.

The little collection included Circus by Britney Spears, Teenage Dream by Katy Perry, Survivor by Destiny’s Child, Overexposed by Maroon 5, The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani and Fearless by Taylor Swift –that last one was Rita’s, she explained- Priyanka inspected the CDs until she found one last album that was in the bottom of the box, it was a worn out copy of Spice World by the Spice Girls, nothing more and nothing less.

“Hey, this is the album you gave me before moving to New York, remember?” A smile grew wide on her face before the memory.

Lemon blushed till the tip of her ears. “I do… that’s actually the copy I used to have in my room… the one we listened to on my radio.”

“Is it?” Priyanka looked at it with admiration. The colors were a bit pale and the box had several scratches, it was clear it has a few years on.

“Yeah… the CD doesn’t work anymore but I still got it there.”

Priyanka looked at the blonde who had her eyes fixed on the road and her hands closed around the steering wheel.

“Why did you keep it?”

“Sentimental value.” Her voice tone was almost inaudible. “I guess I’m not that cold heart monster you think I am, right?” She sounded somber.

“That’s not what I said… I-”

“We’re here.” She announced when she stopped in front of Priyanka’s house. “I’ll help you with the bags and then we can go get the mechanic for your car.”

She got down from the car leaving Priyanka with the words stuck on her throat once again.

It was becoming a pattern now, right when they started getting along again or when they had a decent conversation, Lemon shut the doors and closed all the windows before Priyanka had the chance to break through her walls.

“Your house hasn’t changed at all.” Lemon observed when they walked in with the groceries.

“Ah, yeah. My mom didn’t fall for the charms of the Property Brothers.”

“Do you have the hots for Drew or Jonathan?”

Priyanka cackled. “I stand behind my mother’s beliefs in this one.”

They put the bags on the countertop, Priyanka rushed to place ice cream on the freezer and other products on the fridge before they got spoiled. Lemon folded the paper bags in the meantime.

“Do you have some water?”

“Yeah, here.” Priyanka threw a water bottle at her and the girl caught it in the air.

She opened her purse and took two aspirins and chugged them down with a water sip.

Priyanka just watched her.

“What?” The blonde asked.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I’m hangover, okay? Tequila is not my best friend… or vodka… neither of them.”

“That’s weird, judging by the way you drank yesterday you’d never guess.”

“Fuck off.” She drank some more water. “Now let’s go get the mechanic for that jalopy of yours.”

“Jalopy?” Priyanka gaped at her. “Excuse you, miss, but I paid that car with my blood, sweat and tears, and two part-time jobs.”

It was the car that was supposed to take her to New York, to Lemon.

“We should hurry then, I don’t know much about mechanics but the amount of smoke that engine released isn’t normal.”

“I know that.”

“Then, let’s go.” The aspirins probably were kicking in.

Before they left the house, Lemon stopped in front of the wall where Priyanka’s mother hung pictures of her and her siblings. In the past, there was a photo of the two of them in school but all over the years her mother probably had saved it just like Priyanka did with all the other Lemon memorabilia. The blonde cast an eye on a photo of the family’s matriarch with a group of children.

“Her grandchildren?”

“Yes, my nephews and nieces.”

“That’s cute… you’re an aunt now.” Priyanka recognized the softness behind her voice and it made her heart skip a beat.

They were back on the road again and Lemon followed the directions until they got to the mechanical workshop Priyanka’s father had suggested her to go. Priyanka explained the man in charge what had happened and then followed the girls with a tow truck.

Priyanka’s car was still where they had left it. It broke her heart to see it there in the streets completely abandoned.

The mechanic took his time to check the engine, he tried to make it work after adjusting some screws and move pieces Priyanka had never heard naming before. Lemon could’ve gone by that moment but she stayed with the brunette, she even shared her bubblegum with her when she noticed how stressed Priyanka was.

After thirty minutes, the man spoke with Priyanka. The diagnosis was not good and he explained that there wasn’t much for him to do. Priyanka felt the knot on her throat and the tears coming at any second. That was her car her baby… this couldn’t be the end of their adventures.

She was beyond surprised when she heard Lemon’s voice.

“But there must be something you can do about it.” She sounded assertive. “The chances are low but there are still chances, right?”

The man babbled some excuses about the car being old and even when it was in a good state; it was going to require some extra work.

“Then do the work.” The blonde continued. “That might look like a piece of junk for both of us but that’s her piece of junk and it means a lot to her so you will take it back to the workshop and do whatever you have to do to save it. Am I being clear enough?”

The man just nodded with wide eyes, maybe too scared to add anything else.

Priyanka was also speechless.

She watched the mechanic hooking her car to the tuck and then stared at Lemon.

“Thanks.” She blinked a couple of times. “That was amazing.”

“I’m sorry I called your car a jalopy.”

“She’s temperamental but it’s okay, I don’t think she heard you anyway.”

“I know you might think of me as this spoiled brat but don’t think I don’t understand what’s like to work hard to achieve something.”

“Thank you.”

“Now let’s go before that guy mistakes the junkyard for the workshop.”

“Hey!”

All was not lost.

That was what the mechanic had said once they left Priyanka’s car at the workshop. It was going to take a couple of days to have a better picture of the problem but maybe replacing some parts would make the difference.

Priyanka sighed of relief and almost hugged the man but then she saw the zeroes on the estimated budget for the repairs and decided to keep the hug for herself… she was more than thankful for having a job back in Toronto that would pay for the bills.

“Well, the good news is that she might live.” Priyanka announced when she got in the car with Lemon.

“There you have. He was just playing hard to get and I know about that.”

“Thank you, Lemon… for helping me so much today. You didn’t have to but still, you did.”

She started the engine. “You’ve done the same for me no questions asked.”

“Are you feeling better after the aspirins?”

“Yeah… I’m never drinking again I swear…”

“That’s a lie.”

“It is…”

“Do you even remember what you said? Last night?”

Lemon stopped in the red light. Her face was as pale as paper and she stared at Priyanka with big eyes, there was horror on them.

“What did I say?”

Priyanka started laughing.

“Priyanka, what did I say?”

The brunette ceased laughing. It was the first time Lemon called her by her name.

“You called me Sprinky and kept asking if Denali is my girlfriend.”

Lemon breathed again. “Thank God… it was just that…”

Priyanka was now puzzled. What else could she’d said?

“I remember that part, you never answered the question anyway.”

She sighed. “Denali is my friend. Just that… we’re friends. Are you happy now?”

Lemon kept driving, it became evening all of sudden.

“I don’t understand though, how did you get to the conclusion that we were dating? I mean, where did the idea come from?”

“Uhm… I’m friends with Kiara and Scarlett on Facebook…”

Traitors, both of them.

“Aha…”

“…and… well, sometimes a picture with you would appear… or pictures of you in nightclubs…”

“I’m so going to kill Scarlett. I told her not to post those…”

“I didn’t mean to assume anything but… I saw you and Denali together the other day and I thought… maybe…”

Priyanka took a deep breath.

“So you know… you know I like girls…”

She nodded.

“And are you okay with that?”

Lemon looked at her. “Why wouldn’t I? Of course I’m okay with that…”

There was a short silence between them, a part of Priyanka was relieved but she could feel her heart pounding.

“Don’t tell me that on top of you thinking that I dislike Rihanna you also consider myself to be homophobic or an ignorant asshole… that being the same thing.”

“I’m asking you.”

“Well, you’ll never have to question it again.” She sounded angry.

“I’m sorry… I take it back, you’re not a monster.”

Lemon’s face softened.

“It’s just… I think of Jan…”

Jan.

That name again, seven years after.

“Jan and her girlfriend Jackie are the one example of true love I have. My parents’ marriage didn’t work but Jan and Jackie… they are grossly in love, it’s disgusting and I love them so much.”

So Jan had a girlfriend… interesting.

“If they couldn’t be themselves and be together I would’ve lost all hope in love, to be honest.” She looked at Priyanka. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to but do your parents know?”

Lemon was probably one of the only people who knew Priyanka’s struggles with her family by first hand; they had spoken about it so many times before but never specifically on that topic.

“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “I told them a few years ago when my oldest brother was planning his wedding and they were trying to set me up with the son of their friends or something like that.” Priyanka tittered. “I told my mom first and she was more sympathetic, I had a long talk with her, lots of tears… then we hugged and she told me she loves me…”

Lemon did the unthinkable: she reached for her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. It was a small gesture; it didn’t last longer than a few seconds –she was driving after all- but for some reason, it made Priyanka feel much better.

“My dad… it was a different story. It took him longer to accept it and I believe he’s still digesting it so we don’t talk much about it. It was easier when I moved to a new city… It’s not like I had to need to hide who I am but there I could start from zero and be one hundred percent myself since the first moment.”

“I’m happy for you.” She smiled. “I really am.”

With all the resentment and the bickering, Priyanka had forgotten that Lemon could be sweet, that she could be caring, that she could be her friend.

A friend.

“So your friend Jan, she’s your roommate, right?”

“Yeah, the same.

“Is it Janice, Janelle, Janet…?”

“I’m quite sure it’s just Jan but even after these years they probably don’t even know my real name so it could be anything at this point…”

“And she’s dating Jackie.” Just to make it clear.

“They have the corniest love story that involves love confessions in carriage rides in Central Park, roses and singing songs under the starry sky.”

Priyanka almost choked.

“Exactly.” Lemon giggled. “They are a constant reminder I’m single as hell.”

This time, Priyanka choked for real.

At that moment, Lemon stopped the car, they had arrived.

In the distance, Priyanka spotted her parents’ car arriving shortly after.

Priyanka’s mom got down from the car and got closer to the unfamiliar car parked in front of their house meanwhile her dad put the car in the garage.

“Priyanka and… Lemon? Is that you?”

“Hello Mrs. Suknanan, it’s been a while.” She opened the door of the car and hugged Priyanka’s mom.

“I haven’t seen you in ages… You look all grown-up.”

“Don’t lie to her like that, mom.” Priyanka walked to where the little reunion was taking place.

Lemon rolled her eyes.

Here we go again.

“Are you staying for dinner? We’d love you to stay. I insist… I’m sure Priyanka would love it too.” She elbowed her daughter.

Traitors, even the ones you’d never expect.

“She wants to know if you’re staying for dinner…”

Lemon pulled one of her pageant full teeth smiles. “I’d love to, Mrs. Suknanan but I promised my dad I’d be back by now. Maybe some other day.”

“You have to promise it to me or Priyanka is never going to bring you back.”

“Mom! Leave her alone.” Priyanka wanted to hide under a rock.

“Actually, I’m the one who brought her tonight so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I’ll wait for you to stop by next week, alright?”

“I’ll be here.”

Priyanka raised her hand. “Am I invited?”

“We’ll think about it.” Lemon grinned. “Mrs. Suknanan, always a pleasure to see you, please give Mr. Suknanan my regards.”

“I will, dear. Give your father my best wishes.”

“I surely will.”

Priyanka’s mom got into the house leaving them alone again.

“She’s so lovely… why didn’t you pick any of that?”

“Ha. Ha.” Priyanka exaggerated her fake laughter.

“As much as I know you enjoy having me as your driver, I have to leave now.”

“Thanks again for that. My car might live another day because of you.”

“I know.” Lemon seemed pleased.

“I’ll make it up to you… somehow.”

“I’ll think of something just wait for it.” She opened the door of her car and Priyanka closed it for her.

“See you around, Lemon.”

“I knew you were stalking me.” She started the engine.

Priyanka threw her head back and released a laugh. “In your dreams, doll.”

The brunette watched the sunny-side up vehicle getting away and then walked toward her house with a smile on her face she couldn’t erase.

[scottybrock]

Birthday Boy - Colby Brock

A/N: Requested by a few lovely anons: “Okay did you see sams video that surprise party for Colby made me soft 😭 can you do something for that and like the readers message for Colby” + “Can you do one where the reader is throwing the surprise party for Colby and he thinks she forgot his birthday also ily and missed youuuu” + “In honor of Sams vid. Can you do one where you are Colbys girlfriend who has to make up a lame excuse as to why you cant celebrate his birthday so he purposely thinks of ways to keep you around since no one in the friend group seems free to hang.” 

Colby was grumpy. 

First, he woke up without you by his side this morning. Normally, that would be a minor annoyance; sometimes you woke up earlier than him, and you were kind enough to let him sleep in later. It was one of the things he loved about you- you always thought about him, and what would benefit him. However, today, it was a major annoyance. He woke up without you by his side, on his birthday. He didn’t want to be presumptuous, but he thought that morning sex with the love of his life (you) would be the first activity of the day.

But you weren’t there. The space on the bed next to him was cold, almost as if you’d been up for hours before him. He frowned to himself, his brows furrowing. Colby reached out for his phone, his frown deepening when there was no message from you. He had messages from everyone in the friend group- but nothing from you, which was another oddity. 

Finally, he forced himself out of the bed. Maybe you were just chilling in the living room- and maybe, you’d be up for a little morning sex. However, his frown remained on his face. You were nowhere to be seen. Your purse was gone, signifying that you weren’t anywhere in the apartment, much to his dismay. 

Colby let out a soft whine. He just wanted you; not even in just a sexual way. He wanted you to hold him, to kiss him. He was sleepy and he just wanted some cuddles. He wanted to feel you against him, knowing that you were right there beside him, where you always were. You hadn’t even left a note. He let out a sniffle, wiping at his eyes. Colby rolled his eyes at himself. He was just being sensitive- you’d be back soon, and everything would be okay.

A few hours later, Colby found himself curled up on the couch. The television was on, but his attention was focused on the door. Where were you? Why weren’t you home yet? Why didn’t you even text him, telling him happy birthday? Did you forget? His heart was aching in his chest. He didn’t even care if you forgot- he just wanted you back with him. 

The door flew open, and you tumbled in, breathless. Your eyes sparkled and a grin toyed at the corners of your lips. You toed your shoes off and flung your purse back onto the kitchen counter. You crept back into the bedroom, not even sparing Colby a second look. Colby stood up, following you uncertainly. “Baby?” He called, wandering into the bedroom. 

You were sprawled out on the bed, scrolling through your phone. You lifted your head up slightly to smile at him, then dropped your head back down onto the pillow. “Oh, hey!” You greeted him cheerily. Colby’s lips pursed into a pout, and he dropped onto the beside next to you. “Where have you been all day?” You shrugged, looking unconcerned. “Just out and about,” You replied. Your gaze dropped back down to your phone and you turned away from him. 

Colby was befuddled. “It’s a pretty special day,” He told you. You raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. “Is it?” You replied. “It’s just a Thursday, babe.” Colby’s face fell, and he looked wounded. “It’s-” He began, but you cut him off, swinging your legs off the side of the bed. “I’m heading out to meet Katrina for dinner,” You told him, never glancing up from your phone. 

Colby’s lower lip wobbled, and he bit it, hard to keep it from shaking. “Why don’t you just invite her-” Colby began, his hands shaking slightly. He’d tried to make plans with the friend group, but no one replied to his text. It was turning out to be the worst birthday of his entire fucking life. You shook your head dismissively. “Don’t wait up, babe!” You told him, hurrying out of the bedroom.

He heard the door shut a few seconds later, and it was only then, when he allowed the first tear to trickle down his cheek. You really forgot his birthday. You really, really forgot about his birthday. Colby pulled a pillow close to his chest and closed his eyes. He wanted nothing more than for the day to be over already.

You hurried to Sam’s place. “I feel so bad,” You wailed as soon as the door shut. Sam raised an eyebrow at you, smirking. “You’re throwing him a surprise party,” The blonde told you. You sighed, running your fingers through your hair. “I’ve been ignoring him all day, and when I left, I’m pretty sure he was near tears,” You replied. Sam shrugged, looking guilty as well. “No one replied to his text in the group chat,” Sam told you. He bit his lip. “He probably thinks that we all forgot about his birthday.”

You let out a distressed whine, tugging at your hair. “Can we push the time up?” You begged. The apartment was already decorated. Sam nodded, looking just as distressed as you. “I’ll text everyone to come over now.” Sam replied. 

Soon enough, Sam’s apartment was filled with the friend group, plus Brennen, much to your distaste. Jake called Colby, telling the brunette to come over, so they could plan what to do for Colby’s birthday tonight. Your boyfriend seemed significantly happier when he told Jake that he’d be over in a few seconds.

You hid behind the counter, beaming. Colby knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he cautiously opened it, his bright blue eyes wide. “SURPRISE!” You shouted along with the rest of the group. Colby’s eyes fell on you, a wide grin stretching across his face. His expression was one of elation mingled with relief. He playfully closed the door in response, earning him loud shouts of protests. 

He opened the door once again, his eyes still glued on your beaming face. Sam walked up to him, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “You’ve got a keeper,” Sam told his best friend. “This was all your girl, I just provided the place.” Colby’s expression brightened even further. “She planned this whole thing?” Colby asked, his voice giddy with happiness. Sam nodded, then smirked knowingly. “She felt so bad for being so stand-offish today.” Sam grinned. “But she knew that if she spent all day with you, she’d end up spilling the beans about the surprise party.”

Colby was only half-listening. You were standing in front of him, your smile wide and beautiful. “Happy Birthday, baby,” You cooed, throwing your arms around him. He caught you in his arms, his grin just as wide as yours. “You did all of this for me?” Colby asked, his bright blue eyes scanning your face. Your smile grew impossibly wider. “And there’s more to come,” You teased, batting your eyelashes at him. Colby’s grin seemed to take up his entire face. “I can’t wait,” He winked. 

A few hours later, the group was perched in different spots in the living room, their gazes similarly focused on the television screen. Sam’s part of the video had just finished, and Colby had a feeling that you saved the best for last.

“Hi baby,” Your voice was soft, and you gazed into the camera adoringly, as if it were Colby. “Happy birthday. I just wanted to say thank you for being the best boyfriend in the whole wide world. You make me smile on days where it doesn’t feel possible, and you cheer the loudest when I succeed,” 

You beamed at the camera, your eyes twinkling. “Not only that, you help me back to my feet when I fall. You’re the best person I know, and you’ve got the most beautiful soul I’ve ever experienced in a person. I fall in love with you more and more every day. You have my heart, and I want you to keep it forever.” Colby subtly wiped away a tear that leaked out of the corner of one of his eyes. You smiled softly at the camera, your eyes filled with adoration and love. “By the way,” You giggled on the screen. Colby’s heart fluttered at the sound. “I love you.” 

Colby leapt up from his spot, pulling you into his arms. You snuggled closer to him, much to his delight. You tilted your head back to look into his eyes. They were your favorite shade of blue, deep and hypnotizing. His lips were curled into a wobbly smile as he fought back his emotions. “I love you so much,” Colby breathed. Your lips curled up in response. “And I love you.” You replied. 

Colby’s lips were against yours, soft and sweet, but hungry and wanting. The cheers of your friends faded into the background as Colby pulled you closer, his lips never straying from yours. 

This was the best birthday of his fucking life. 

[youngjustusorbust]

Day two: Fairy tale/fantasy

I chose East of the Sun, West of the moon, but only actually finished the first half of it. Ill post that now but ill try to finish up the rest before the end of yjweek

Ao3

@youngjusticefanweek

~~~~

The last thing she expects when the dragon Draper sets her down is to be faced with three more animals, two of whom Cissie couldn't name if her life depended on it. And the way they're looking at her, it just might. 

One of them, a large golden cat-like animal looks unimpressed. The other, a golden bipedal thing that had a pouch in front and two long ears like a rabbit (mmm rabbit, Cissie's belly growls to remind her that she still hasn't eaten. Not since killing that wolf, that wolf that happened to be property of a dragon, hence why she was here. A life for a life, a fair trade. Not like her mother couldn't wait to get rid of her). Fluttering between them is a sparrow. The sparrow drops onto the big cat's head and says, in a voice too human to make Cissie at ease: "so, you're the new one?"

Cissie blinks at the bird. She shouldn't be surprised, not really. She's been forced into indenture to a dragon, why wouldn't his house guests speak? 

The bird leans towards the cat. "Maybe she can't speak?" It asks. 

"I can speak!" Cissie says, a little affronted. The bird flutters, like Cissie startled it. 

"Oh! Sorry!"

"Ignore him," the man-sized brown rabbit says. "Bart doesn't see new people very often."

"Bart?" The bird certainly has a human name.

"Yeah!" Bart crows--or, well, sparrows. "This is Kon," Bart says pecking at the cat it rides on who harumphs, "and that's Cassie." He points to the rabbit-thing. "We're going to be your new friends!" 

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Bart," Kon, apparently, says. He shakes his fur and Bart flutters off, only to land between Cassie's ears. "We don't even know if she's staying."

Cissie frowns at the animals. "Why wouldn't I be staying? I'm indentured."

If the looks could kill, the rabbit-thing certainly would have murdered the cat. "No reason, he's just grumpy. Come on, I'll show you to your room."

~~~

Clearly Cissie doesn't know anything about the world outside of her small town because if someone had asked her before she'd accidently indebted herself to a dragon where dragons lived, she would not have said 'a palace of ice,' but, here she is. In a palace of ice. 

Cassie knows where she's going and as they walk she gives Cissie a low-key tour. "Dining hall is through there, library through there, me and the boys sleep down that hall. And you're down here."

"Can I ask you a question?" Cissie asks hesitantly. 

Bart the sparrow turns around to face her. "You just did!" He chirps. 

"Sure," Cassie says, ignoring him. 

"What am I supposed to... do here?" 

Cassie slows down to hop by Cissie's side. "Mainly cleaning and hunting." At Cissie's expression, Cassie adds, "you do hunt, right?"

Well, that was what got her into this mess. Cissie's mother refused to hunt or work at all, practically, so Cissie did most of it. Then when she'd killed a wolf for what was going to be tonight's (maybe last night's, she wasn't sure what time it was) dinner, she hadn't even walked through the door, dragging the animal carcass behind her when Dragon Draper desended from the sky and told her mother in no uncertain terms that as punishment for killing an animal of a dragon she must work off her penance. With a healthy sack of gold, Cissie's mother practically threw her out of the house (even Bonnie King-Jones knew there was only so much you could bleed a dragon before they made you wish you hadn't). 

So yes, Cissie can hunt, but that doesn't mean she likes to. Then again, she isn't going to make that distinction to a very scary looking animal larger than she is. "I hunt," she says. 

"Good, there's no need to cook since all of us who take our meat, take it raw. Though you'll probably want to cook for yourself, I suppose." Cassie uses her oddly shaped hands to open Cissie's door. "You can put your stuff down here. Anything I can get you? We've all already eaten, so after you're done just head to sleep, and tomorrow we'll stsrt you on your chores."

Cissie blinks at the room. Unlike the rest of the castle, which seems to glow with a pearlesent light, her room is dark. It contains one wardrobe and a large canopied bed, too big for one person. Beside one side is a small table and an unlit candle in a holder. 

Cissie's belly growls and she remembers how hungry she is. "Something small to eat if you could."

"Sure thing, be back in a bit." Cassie hops out of the room and leaves Cissie to unpack. 

Cissie doesn't have much: just whatever furs she could find and stuff into a knapsack. She didn't even bring her bow and arrow (didn't really think she'd need it, hoped, maybe, that working for a dragon meant that she didn't have to hunt for food anymore). She'll have to borrow from Dragon Draper if he wants her to hunt. Huh, what a funny thought, borrowing weapons from a dragon. Cissie shakes her head a laughs to herself. 

The bed is soft, but way too big for one person. A breeze blows through the room and Cissie shivers. She's exhausted from the strangeness of today, and cold. She climbs under the covers and is half-asleep when Cassie comes back with her food sans Bart. 

"Thank you," Cissie says. 

Cassie shifts on her feet. "You're welcome."

"Aren't you cold?" Cissie asks between mouthfuls. 

Cassie shakes her head. "No, I'm-" she stops, as if she wants to say something but doesn't. She shakes her elongated head resolutely and says, "no, I'm not cold."

Cissie shrugs. These animals are weird. "What kind of animal are you anyway?" she asks. Then she flushes at how rude that sounded. "What I mean to say is, I've never seen an animal like you before."

"I'm not from here," Cassie explains, vaguely gesturing with her small hands to the ice palace. "I'm some somewhere down south. We're called kangaroos."

Kang-gah-roos. Cissie tries the word out on her mouth. "And what's Kon? I get that Bart's a sparrow." 

"Kon's also from down south, but not as far. He's a lion." Cissie tries that new word out on her tongue too and decides to commit both to memory. 

She finishes with her food quickly and Cassie takes back the plate. 

"Sleep well," Cassie says, and Cissie's so tired that she doesn't notice the dip as someone sits in her bed, once its so dark that no one could see anything if they wanted to. She doesn't feel the warmth of his back against hers, nor does she even wake until the ice palace around her glows with morning light, and her vistor is gone. She notices the sheets though, rumpled on the side of the bed she didn't sleep on, and she notices the way the mattress is still warm there. But she can't imagine why. 

~~~

The next morning she joins the animals in the dining room, even Dragon Draper is there, sitting at the head of his table but he says nothing all breakfast. 

Bart and Kon chat with her amiacably, clearly Kon's hesitance yesterday regular. They're excitable but nice, and Cassie spends most of the meal rolling her eyes at them. 

When Draper finally does speak, his voice is deep and stony. The other three fall silent. "I hope you've been informed of your duties."

Cassie glares at Draper but he doesn't seem to notice. 

"I, um, Cassie said that I had to hunt for you. I didn't being my bow."

Draper blinks his big ruby eyes at her as he deliberates. Draper is about ten feet tall--larger than Cassie's six feet--with a large black body with green accents and golden teeth. He's pretty terrifying, especially when he's silent like this.

Finally he says, "I have weapons you can use. Kon can show you where. Cassie and I must be heading out."

"Already?" Cassie asks. 

"Aw!" Bart whines. 

"How long will you be gone?" Cissie asks, already preparing for how many animals she'll have to hunt for lunch and dinner. Both Kon and Draper are carnivores, but Cassie and Bart seem to be okay with plants. Where they find the green in the middle of winter, Cissie has no idea.

"We'll return for supper," he says. He rises off of his hunches and hobbles past Cissie. "Let's head out." 

Cassie grumbles something that Cissie can't hear and hops after him. 

"Stuck up," Kon says. 

Cissie frowns. "Would it kill him to be nice?"

"Maybe," Bart says. He fluffs his feathers and takes flight. "Come on, I'll show you."

~~~

Cissie hunts down an elk, a moose, and a fawn, and splits them preportionally between Kon and Draper. 

She spends the rest of the day cleaning. Draper and Cassie come back to the palace so late that it's almost pitch black in Cissie's room when she finally falls into bed. 

She's tired, but she's still awake when she feels the other side of her bed dip. Someone was getting into her bed. 

Fear climbs into her throat. But the person just settles--they're smaller than her or curled up. Within seconds she can tell they're asleep by their heavy breathing. 

They don't try anything, and messing around was what got Cissie into this situation. So she closes her eyes, and drifts off to sleep, her toes warmed by their body-heat, so she can't really complain. 

In the morning the person is gone by the time Cissie wakes, all that's left of them is the residual heat of their body and the rumbled sheets. 

She asks Cassie about it at breakfast. "Is there someone else in this palace?" Because the person who climbed into her bed certainly wasn't any of the animals--ignoring size and just relying on smell. 

Cassie frowns as much as a kangaroo can frown and shakes her head. "No. Just the four-well, five of us. Why?"

Had she imagined it? Maybe she was just lonely. 

Cissie shook her head. "Never-mind."

"Careful out here in the cold!" Bart warns, settling on the top of her head. "It plays tricks on you humans." 

"Ignore him, he's superstitious," Kon says. 

A superstitious bird, Cissie is starting to wonder what else can possibly surprise her at this point. 

Draper continues to be stand-offish and cold towards her. The irony doesn't escape her. Cassie openly reprimands him for it and from the way Kon and Draper speak to one another, Cissie gets the feeling that they aren't exactly the best of friends. At least not in the way Bart is with both of them. 

Bart is by far the friendliest. He follows Cissie around and chirps to her as she cleans. He's forbidden to go hunting with her anymore though because he keeps scaring off the prey.

When Cissie returns to bed that night though, so did her mysterious visitor once the pitch had settled in. Cissie's glad for the extra warmth against the cold night, but now she's more sure than ever that the person on the other side of the bed from her is a human. And since Cassie seems positive that there are no other people, much less no other humans in the palace other than the five of them, Cissie isn't sure yet what she wants to do about it. 

Perhaps they are someone homeless? Who stay the castle as shelter during the horrible winter blizzards and night? But then why sleep in the bed with Cissie, surely they know as much as she does that they shared the bed with another? 

"You okay?" Bart asks as Cissie on her third full day with in the ice palace. 

"Fine." Her mysterious bedmate was annoying her though. "Bart?" She asks. 

"Yeah?"

"Why can you talk?" 

Bart shoots into the air, flitting around her head. "Whatdoyamean?"

"Well, normal animals can't talk," at least, sparrows can't. Cissie isn't sure about lions and kangaroos. "So why can you?"

Bart bursts into nervous laughter. Then stops, says, "I think Kon's calling me, ohyes! NowIhavetogo! Byeee Cissieee!" And flies away. 

Cissie knows something is wrong. Bart is trying, for some reason, to lie to her. He isn't good at it at all. 

~~~

Night four of Cassie's mysterious visitor comes. She tries to stay awake for them, as long as she can but she must eventually drift off to sleep because it isn't until she wakes up in the middle of the night that she notices them. 

They're still except for the rise and fall of their chest. Cissie hesitantly presses a hand to them. Definitely human. They don't awaken. 

She suddenly remembers the lamp by her bed, but she has no way to light it, and it's too cold to go looking. 

The person in her bed is an intrusion, but she doesn't want to get up, and it isn't as if she has anything to... worry about. Not like they try anything while they sleep. And the bed is definitely large enough for two. 

Cissie snuggles back into her bed but vows to find out the next night. 

~~~

Cissie is dusting in the library when something catches her eye: Spells for the Curious.

Cissie pulls it from the shelf and paws through it. She's so entranced that she doesn't notice Draper mosey up to her. He peeks over her shoulder and snaps: "Put that down!"

Cissie drops the book, jumping out of his grasp. "Sorry!" She cries. 

Draper narrows his ruby eyes at her. She feels a little like she's been put on a pedastal and surveyed. "What are you doing looking at magic anyway?" He asks suspiciously. 

Cissie scowls at him, clutching the duster tightly. "I wasn't. The book just looked interesting."

"Well, don't. The magic books in here aren't playthings. They're dangerous."

"Why do you have books anyway?" Cissie asks. "It's not like you can use them, you're a dragon. You don't have fingers."

Draper blinks at her for a moment before saying: "fingers?"

"Yes! No fingers! Therefore, you can't turn pages! In fact, the only one of you who seems remotely able to turn pages is Cassie, and she never comes down here!"

Draper blinks at her again. "My ability to turn pages is of no concern of yours."

But idea are sprouting in Cissie's head, questions that have been born into the back of her mind and have simmered unbeknownst to her until now, suddenly boiling. "And what about the others things?" She cries. 

"Other...?"

"This entire castle! What happened to your last humans? Who was your cleaner before me? This place was pretty clean, and what, you're going to tell me that your wolves keep getting killed and you keep indenturing humans? 'Cuz, I'll believe that. Or why do you even own wolves, or should I say wolf because I haven't seen any others since I've arrived! Every other animal here seems to be intelligent and can speak my language!

"How come there are so many empty rooms? Where is your bedroom and how come I never clean it? What about how this palace seems to be built for humans! You and Cassie duck into every room you come into! Where did Cassie and Kon come from anyway? I've never seen nor heard of lions nor kangaroos until now!" Finally exhausted, Cissie stops, heaving in angry breaths. 

Draper waits patiently, as if he expects her to continue, but at least for now she's done. She motions to him so, realizing as she waves that this is the most she's spoken to him since he came to take her away half a week ago. 

But Draper doesn't have anything to say. He just stares at her with those glittering deep red eyes until Bart flies right into him. 

"Oh! Thereyouare!"

Draper fumbles and turns slightly. "Hi, Bart."

"There's an issue with the-"

Draper makes a growling noise in his voice. Bart frowns and flutters around his head.

"What?" He asks. 

Draper looks pointedly at Cissie, who's fists are on her hips. 

Bart blanches, well, as much as a bird can. "Oh! Cissie! Hi! Ididn'tseeyou!"

"Hi, Bart. What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Bart says. 

"It's a friend of mine," Draper mutters. "Should we go?"

"Kon and Cassie are waiting for you outside. I was voted to stay behind." And if Cissie isn't mistaken, she's sure that he's a little put out. She's not sure if she should be offended or not. 

But that friend of his must be where Draper's been going most days. "Will you be back for dinner?" Cissie asks. She'd killed enough for everyone, but if they're leaving now... 

Draper falters. "Actually, Bart-"

"What?" Bart asks. 

"You go. I'll stay here with... our... guest." 

Servant, Cissie grumbles in her head. 

"But-!"

"Bart," Draper says in a way that clearly says: I won't talk about this in front of Cissie, but you know why you have to do what I say. 

Bart pouts, or as much as a bird can pout, and says "fine," before flying away. 

"So, just us tonight, huh?" Cissie asks, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt. 

"Yes," Draper says. He stomps away, and says over his shoulder, "I'll see you at dinner." 

Cissie doesn't realize until he's gone that she has more questions now than she had before. 

~~~

Draper is clearly in a bad mood. He stays in a bad mood all day, and snaps at Cissie when she tries to ask him more questions. 

She's so absorbed in questions and angry at Draper that she doesn't even think about her nighttime visitor until the morning, when she sees the hole they left in the sheets. 

Cassie, Kon, and Bart return the next morning, all glum. 

"Where were you?" Cissie asks Cassie as she cleans. 

Cassie glances over her shoulder at Draper who scowls and gives Cissie a half-shrug. "Visiting a friend." For some reason, Cissie doesn't really believe her. 

But she does remember her bedtime visitor. Tonight, she brings a match and flint to bed. She climbs in, and when her visitor joins, she pretends to be asleep. 

Then, when they're finally settled in her bed and their breathing has settled into a sleep-rhythm, Cissie strikes the match and lights the candle. 

Cissie's dark room alights. Cissie gently pulls down the blanket, and there, back towards her, is a boy. He has sickly pale skin, and deep dark spots under his eyes. He wears a black sleeping ensamble. He must be her age, but he's certainly smaller than her. Raven black hair falls into his face. 

"Ah!" Cissie cries as a drop of wax falls from the candle onto her finger. 

"Gah!" The boy beneath her yelps. He opens his eyes, as blue as the ice palace around them, and glances down to where another drop of melted wax fell onto him. 

He blinks up at her. "Cissie?" He asks. 

Cissie recognizes that voice. 

"Oh, come on," Not-So-Much-A-Dragon Draper hisses under his breath, "and I only had one night left!"

[ericsonclan]

Who's The Hottest of Them All

Summary: After some time, the much-awaited second tournament begins, answering the question: who will win the title of Hottest Girl?

Read on A03:

Chapter 1

A few weeks had passed since Louis had declared that another tournament would be held. Everyone had been excited by the promise of it, but with fighting off the Bodacious Bandits and a treasure hunt that ended with finding an enchanted squid the thought of the tournament had slipped away. Until one night when Louis brought it up again, reinvigorating the fire of determination in the participants.

The following day the crew gathered around, excited for the upcoming tournament.

“I don’t see why I can’t be the one to fight for Clem.” AJ crossed his arms with a look of frustration on his face.

“Sorry, buddy.” Louis put his hand on AJ’s shoulder “But this is a couples tournament.” Louis flashed a sympathetic smile. It didn’t seem to work that well on AJ who still looked upset.

“Okay, but you better win.” AJ glared into Louis’ eyes with a serious look.

“I’ll try my best, little man.” Louis gave a thumbs up as a confident grin covered his face.

With that Louis turned around to his fellow competitors which consisted of Mitch, Aasim and Violet. Prisha had wanted to join in as well to prove that Violet was the Hottest Girl, but after the rest of the crew objected - saying it wasn’t fair since Violet had already won once - (not to mention the fact that it would give the couple an unfair advantage with two people in the tournament) Prisha stepped down. She stood with the other girls on the sidelines looking pouty.

“So, this is everyone?” Louis looked around at the other three competitors before his eyes wandered over to Marlon who was busy petting Rosie. “You want to join, Marlon? You could fight for Sophie.” Louis had a playful expression on his face. “After all, she did fight for you.”

“I didn’t fight for him. I just want to duel, thinking it would be fun.” Sophie’s voice drew their attention. She walked over to stand by Brody. Her hand traveled down to her rib cage and gently rubbed her side. “It just didn’t turn out that way for me.”

“I’m really sorry.” Prisha had a sad look on her face.

“No, it’s fine, really.” Sophie waved her hands with a reassuring smile before turning her attention back to Louis. “So he doesn’t need to fight if he doesn’t want to.”

“No. I’ll join in, but I’m fighting for my hair.” Marlon declared then proceeded to stride over to the others. The crew looked a bit confused. “If I win, you all have to admit my hair is cool.”

The crew let out a collective groan.

“Fine. It’s a deal.” Louis shook Marlon’s hand. “Now, on to the matches.” Louis’ face suddenly lit up with shock. “Wait! I forgot one more rule. Before the duel, the two opponents have to give a speech on why their person is the hottest.”

The others looked shocked and flustered by this new rule that had come to light.

“What? Why? We don’t even know if the girls gave their reasons for why we were hot.” Mitch huffed. A light pink blush had traveled all the way up to his ears.

Louis shrugged playfully with mock sadness on his face. “Oh well, if you can’t follow the rules then I guess you won’t compete.”

“Nuh uh. Fuck that! Brody is the hottest and I’m gonna prove it!” Mitch exclaimed, his face growing redder by the second.

“Please. I’m going to prove you all wrong.” Aasim smirked, a hand placed on his hip. The arguing continued for a few minutes, each competitor already ready to defend their significant other except Marlon who stood awkwardly in the corner watching the fighting go down.

After a while it calmed down and the first match was called. Louis and Violet stood side by side. Violet’s gaze didn’t leave the floor. All of her focus was on trying to summon up the courage for her speech.

Louis picked up on his friend’s behavior and decided that it would probably be for the best if he went first. He took a deep breath before smiling as he looked out at the rest of his crew. His smile immediately faltered when he realized he had to actually start his speech. He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head. “What could I possibly say that would capture all the wonders of our fair Clementine? In truth, I cannot, for what could I, a mere man say that could properly express the essence of the Clemster? If I were to compare Clem to a summer’s day, then-“ He was suddenly cut off by Aasim’s annoyed groan.

“You’re not even saying anything.” Aasim glared in irritation towards the captain.

“Yes! Yes I am!” Louis pushed back his coat, placing his hands on his hips. “You're just rushing me!”

“Well, you’re so fucking slow! Vi should just say her speech.” Mitch snapped, his arms crossed.

Violet’s wide eyes shot up, looking around for a minute when her eyes caught Prisha’s. Her sight returned to the deck. Slowly Violet clenched her fists, holding them for a few seconds. With a deep breath she looked back up.

“Prisha has the most beautiful-” Violet’s voice faltered out. Turning her gaze away from the crew, she tried again. “When she smiles-” Violet felt so overwhelmed. She was barely mustering these sentences. “And that’s why Prisha is the hottest!”

“That was just as unclear.” Aasim shook his head with a tired sigh.

“Well, it was clear to me and that’s what matters.” Prisha looked over at Violet with a gentle smile on her face.

Violet glanced up at that statement, her eyes wide before looking away.

“Let’s just start the fight.” Violet mumbled and then proceeded to put on her gloves, tucking away a wooden dagger in her sheath. Placing her left foot in front and the right foot behind, she got into her usual fighting stance.

Louis stared at her with a frightened look. How was he going to win? His hands shook slightly as he picked up a wooden sword.

“It’s okay, Louis! You’ve got this!” Clementine’s voice was so warm and reassuring, just hearing it made Louis’s heart calm down.

But it didn’t last long when suddenly Violet rushed forward, lunging toward him with a punch. Her right fist was twisting into a devastating attack. Louis let out a panicked yelp, barely blocking it as he stumbled backwards. He didn’t even have time to process the first attack when the second one landed in his gut, knocking the wind out of him. Louis clutched his stomach only for Violet to place her hands on the floor and with a quick sweep of the legs he was defeated. Violet gave a confident smirk before taking off her gloves and helping Louis up. Prisha cheered loudly, proud of Violet’s skills. Violet’s blush grew as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“You won fair and square.” Louis smiled before walking over to a barrel filled with water. Without warning, he shoved his face in it, causing a large splash. Clementine ran over.

“Louis! Are you okay?” Clementine placed a hand of his back, a look of worry on her face.

After a few seconds Louis shot his face up, sputtering out a lot of water and shaking his head, causing water droplets to fly off his dreadlocks.

“Who, me?” Louis had his usually bright tone in his voice “Yep! I’m totally not thinking about how I’ve already lost and it was just the first round!” He forced a smile, his hands on his hips. Before Clementine could comment, Louis spoke up again. “Alright! It’s time for round two! Marlon and Mitch, get ready!” His voice boomed with excitement even though his eyes looked a bit sad.

Marlon was up the first for speeches. “I’m just here to prove that my hair is good. That’s it.” he stated in a matter of fact tone.

The crew looked at him, unimpressed by his speech.

Marlon’s frown deepened on his face. “Just wait till I win! Then you all will have to admit that my hair is cool!” Marlon looked over at Sophie who shook her head in disagreement, a happy smirk on her face. With Marlon’s less than exciting speech done, it was Mitch’s turn.

“The day has finally come where I can talk and no one can say shit about it.” Mitch gave a smug smirk. “Brody‘s ankles are so hot-”

“Ugh, stop with the ankle talk. It’s weird.” Prisha gave a frustrated groan. The others nodded in agreement.

“Fine. Brody is the hottest because...” Mitch’s face was heating up again. “I mean.. have you seen her?!? She’s fucking hot! Everything about her is hot!” Mitch’s voice cracked at the end of his declaration.

Brody’s eyes widened at Mitch’s words before covering her face. A deep red blush threatened to overtake it.

The two contestants got ready and within the next two minutes were already clashing swords. It was a close match as Mitch’s speed kept Marlon on his toes. Marlon was no pushover though. His blade gave Mitch some close calls. It was thanks to Marlon's balance of offense and defense that after some very frustrating minutes of intense combat he finally found an opening. With a swift right swing upward, Marlon knocked Mitch’s dagger away.

“Yes!” Marlon exclaimed, his hands shooting up in the air. “One step closer to having all of you admit the truth!”

Mitch let out a frustrated groan, throwing his wooden dagger against the weapons barrel which ricocheted and nearly hit Garbage. She let out an angry hiss before running into the safety of Willy’s arms. Mitch stomped over and stood by Brody’s side.

“I think you did great!” She placed her hand on his arm with a warm smile. Mitch looked over. His grumpy expression soon melted away and he returned the smile even though he was still sad he lost.

Before the semifinal there was a duel between Aasim and the two who had lost the previous matches for a chance to get into the finals.

Aasim cleared his throat, his hand in front of his mouth.

“Ruby, my treasure, is the hottest because of her soul. Her kindness radiates through and shows what true beauty is.” His voice was gentle, a light blush covering his face while a loving smile played on his lips.

Ruby looked back at him lovingly, her cheeks rosy red.

“Well, this should be easy.” Mitch smirked as he tossed the dagger in the air, performing a few of his signature knife tricks. “I’ve seen you fight, Aasim.”

Aasim gave a smirk back, picking up his weapon. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

Neither felt it was even necessary to diss Louis since he would be the first to get out anyway.

Soon the three of them fought. Mitch was the first to get out. Aasim immediately charged him, quickly disarming him in one swift move that made Mitch look like a novice. The crew looked on in utter shock; Aasim never fought like that during practice. He only ever got serious during real fights.

Louis backstepped and tried to psych himself up after what he had just witnessed. He held his own fairly well but was also soon taken out. Aasim had dashed forward, causing Louis to hold out his sword in a defensive block only for Aasim to slide around back and get Louis out. Aasim stood there, proud of his accomplishment.

“Great job, Aasim!” Ruby called out. Aasim gave a pleased smile. With two well-timed attacks, he had made it into the finals.There was just one more match before then.

Violet and Marlon stood in the center of the deck, ready to start the semifinal.

“Good luck.” Marlon got into his fighting stance.

“You too.” Violet mumbled before rushing in to attack. Marlon cursed internally; he always forgot how fast Violet was. The best chance he had to win was to wear her out. Marlon wasn’t an easy opponent to face. His defense was good, some of the best on the crew. It wouldn’t stop Violet from trying to break through though. Violet kept hitting him with fast attacks to one side before switching up her position. Her feet danced on the deck while she moved from side to side, punching before changing her speed to throw him off. He was never sure if she would attack in an instant or wait a few seconds to strike.

Marlon started to panic. The attacks were getting too hard to block and before he knew it he had lost. His butt fell hard on the ground while his sword had flown over and landed in the sea. After the fight, Marlon walked over to sit next to Sophie who gave him a pat on the back while his face fell in defeat.

“Maybe one day,” Sophie’s words caused Marlon to smile.

“Yes! Just watch, Violet’s going to win this whole thing!” Prisha exclaimed, looking proudly at her lover.

“We’ll just have to wait and see.” Ruby placed her hands on her hips while she stared at Prisha with a competitive smile. “Aasim is strong too.”

The crew took a quick break to give the two finalists a chance to catch their breath and prepare. Prisha tried to give Violet tips for what she figured Aasim’s weaknesses were while Ruby encouraged Aasim, building up his confidence in himself. After fifteen minutes the final match was about to begin.

Violet and Aasim walked forward, staring at each other for a few seconds with serious expressions. Both were determined to win this. The two shook hands before making their way back to their spots and getting into their stances.

Violet went on the offense once again, knowing that the only way she would win was speed. If she could listen to Prisha’s advice and get the upper hand early on in the match, she could beat Aasim.

Aasim blocked her attack with ease and backstepped before getting in a defensive position for Violet’s next strike. After a few punches were thrown, nothing had changed. They had all been blocked and the match seemed to be at a standstill. Aasim let out a breath then looked up at Violet with a confident expression. “There’s something you should know,”

Violet tried to study Aasim’s face to get a read on it and predict his next move.

“Speed can’t win everything.” With those words, he instantly disappeared from Violet’s sight. Violet froze in place, her panic rising as she tried to find him. She turned left and right, shaking from fear of being unable to find her opponent.

Before she could find him, Aasim had attacked, knocking her over. Violet fell hard on her back and looked shocked at what had happened before the realization hit her. Aasim went into her blind spot, causing him to become invisible and giving him free rein to move around without fear of Violet finding him. Not only that, but he had done it with such mastery to the point where she couldn’t find him in time even when she was looking around.

Aasim offered his hand to Violet.

She accepted it with a scowl before sulking over to Prisha. “I’m such a failure.” Violet’s words were muffled as Prisha comforted her.

“No, that’s not true.” Prisha said with a comforting voice, her arm wrapped around Violet’s back. Prisha's expression turned sour when she glared at Aasim. “That was a dirty move.”

“It’s called basic strategy.” Aasim stated simply. “Find your opponent’s weakness and exploit it.” Aasim looked over at Violet, his face falling slightly. He didn’t think it would affect her this much. “I didn’t mean any harm by it.”

“It’s not a big deal right now. But in real battles, if I...” Violet’s voice faded out.

“We can work on it together, figure out ways to master your blind spot.” Aasim offered.

Before the conversation could continue, Louis walked over with a dazzling smile. “With that this year’s tournaments are over! Let it be written down in Aasim’s diary-”

“It’s a journal!” Aasim snapped.

Louis didn’t seem to take note of what Aasim had said, continuing his announcement, “That Violet is the Hottest Guy and Ruby is the Hottest Girl!” Louis gestured dramatically at the two of them who both seemed embarrassed yet proud of their titles. Louis looked over at the many upset faces in the crowd.“If you’re upset about the results, there will always be next year!”

The crew seemed shocked by the statement. No one had even given it any thought that there could be more tournaments in the future.

They looked around at each other with excitement, chatting animatedly. They couldn’t wait for next year’s tournaments.

[graveyard-tales]

Hey look, I actually wrote something from that au I talked about.

---

“Hey Mako!” Mako stopped in the doorway, keys yet to be pulled from the lock. In front of him was his little brother with a wide smile, too wide for a simple greeting. He raised his brow and pulled his keys out. 

“Bo” he greeted back while closing the door. As he made to step past him, Bolin stepped in his way. “Okay.” Mako crossed his arms and leaned against the door. “What’d you break?”

“What, I didn't break anything. Why is that always your first thought?” Bolin asked, having the gall to actually sound offended. 

“Then what?”

“I just was going to let you know I brought a friend over.” 

“What friend?”

“Just a new friend from school, her name’s Korra.” Bolin leaned in and raised his brows. “I just have this feeling about her.  I can really sense she’s cool.” Mako stared back unimpressed. He got what Bolin was saying, it wasn’t the first time he’s got a feeling about someone and decided to attach himself to them. Still, it’s not like he didn’t trust his brother, he just knew that sometimes Bolin let his emotions lead him too readily. 

“You have a crush on her, don’t you?” 

“No!” At least he seemed genuine enough. “I mean sure she’s real pretty and she’s really strong. Mako, I’m not kidding, she can totally beat you in an arm wrestling match, no sweat. Not me of course, but we both know that I’m the strong one even outside of the whole, ya kno-”

“Bolin.”

“I just think she’d be a great friend! And plus, you know my heart belongs to another.” For now, perhaps. Mako heard more than he cared for about the pretty girl who frequented the cafe that Bolin worked at. He knew too much about what she ordered and the little preppy school that she went to. Knew all about how kind she was, how she laughs at all his dumb jokes. More than anything he knew just how infatuated his little brother was with the girl. 

“Uh-huh.” Mako never said but he didn’t have much faith in the “blooming” relationship. He’s been to her side of town before, mingled with the crowd. He didn’t have faith that her kindness was as genuine as Bolin believed. Mako walked past his brother, now that he’s been alerted to their guest. There, slouched on the couch and looking annoyingly at home, was Korra. 

Bolin was right, she was pretty. And judging by her arms, he didn’t doubt her strength either. All at once she noticed him and bounced from the couch. Her wide smile rivaled Bolins but some of that comfortability shaved off at his presence. 

“You must be Mako. My name is Korra.” She held out her hand, she knew his name so there was no reason to introduce himself. Mako walked past her into their small kitchen. “Nice to meet you too” he heard her whisper to herself. As he grabbed the teapot and began filling it, he could see his brother walk up to Korra as she whispered to him, though not quite so quietly. “What’s his problem?”

“Aw don’t mind Mako. Unfortunately he has an incurable condition called eternal grumpiness.” Of course Korra laughed as Bolin effortly dissipated some of the awkwardness that Mako created. They talked for a moment about nothing before a phone went off. Korra’s he assumed as Mako’s was on silent, as usual, and the speaker on Bolin’s was busted.

“Times up.” Korra remarked with hardly a glance to her phone. “Guess I have to go study and be responsible.” She groaned and Bolin patted her shoulder sympathetically and made the tiny walk with her to the door. “If my brain implodes avenge me by vandalizing my history teacher’s car.”

“You have my word, brave soul.” Bolin laughed and they bid their goodbyes. Mako breathed a sigh of relief at the departure of their sudden company. He grabbed his mug and the black tea from the cupboard as he waited for the water to boil. Beside him, Bolin reached in for his own mug, grabbing the near empty jar of honey. Setting the mug down , he leaned heavily on the counter and stared obviously up at his brother. 

“You didn’t even try to be nice.” Mako didn’t say anything as he busied himself with the dishes. Technically it was Bolin’s turn but his little brother had a habit of waiting until all the dishes were dirty before cleaning them. “Oh come on Mako, it’s not like she was going through our stuff. She didn’t even peek in your room and you always keep your closet full of magical doodads closed anyways.”

True. Mako had always gone through lengths to keep his secret and all it’s evidence as locked away as possible. It wasn’t his stuff he was worried about. As if he sensed it, Bolin continued on. “And it’s not like I am just going to come out and tell her I’m a werewolf.” Finally Mako turned to Bolin with a scowl in place and one brow raised. He didn’t need to say anything for Bolin to know what he was thinking. 

“Okay, okay okay. So I tell everything I’m a werewolf but everything thinks it’s a joke! No one ever takes me seriously!”

“And what if she does, Bolin? How long have you even known her, you’ve never even mentioned her until today.” Mako assumed that he met her today if not just this week. When Bolin found someone he liked, it was usually among the first things he told Mako. He loved making and talking about his new friends. “You can’t expect me to just trust her.” He turned his attention and frustration back on the dishes.

“No one said you had to trust her! But Korra is nice.” Bolin leaned and rested his chin on his crossed arms over the counter. “You’d see that if you weren’t so busy being a jerk.” Mako sighed staring at his soapy hands until the whistle of the teapot snapped him out of it. Rinsing off the soap he turned off the stove before drying his hands. He filled both mugs and dropped the tea bags in the steaming water.

Mako leaned back against the counter and looked down to his brother, still bent over it. With another deep sigh, he reached over and began to run his fingers through Bolin’s thick hair. His little brother was well adapted to make him feel guilt. Not that he wasn’t undeserving of it, Mako wouldn’t deny that his attitude towards Korra. Bolin’s new friend he mentally reminded himself. Wasn’t completely called for. He opened his mouth to apologize when Bolin cut him off. 

“Are you okay?” Mako just blinked as Bolin pushed himself away from the counter. He still looked frustrated but with a touch of concern now as he studied Mako’s face. “Did work go okay? Did anyone say anything to you?”

“Wha- What does my day have to do with anything?” Bolin’s face shifted to unimpressed, mimicking Mako’s expression earlier. 

“Grumpier than usual. Assumed Korra was bad without even talking to her. Just expected me to think you needed to trust her even though no one said anything.” Bolin counted off on his fingers. Mako rolled his eyes as he took the teabags out the mugs and dipped the spoon in the honey before sticking it in Bolin’s mug. 

 “I know your condition is incurable and your eternal grumpiness is forever.” Bolin grabbed the mug as Mako took a sip from his own.

“Hot” Mako warned a second too late as Bolin went to do the same only to immediately but carefully as he could pull it away from his face. He threw up one more finger in Mako’s face.

“Let your precious little brother burn his tongue even though you know he doesn’t have any super special fire magic that lets him drink hot things. Which is a dumb and pointless spell, not to mention unfair.”

“Precious” Mako muttered to himself as he took another sip. 

“I know Zolt didn’t say anything because then you’d be locked in your room.” Mako choked on his tea. “Which means either something happened at work, someone was a jerk to you or I did something.” At the sudden statement Bolin shifted, furrowing his brows in thought. “I don’t know what I did b-” He started and Mako held up his hand.

“You didn’t do anything Bo, I’m just ... “ Mako sighed and ran his hand through his hair “-tired.” Bolin tilted his head and raised his brow. “Look, you can invite her over tomorrow and I’ll apologize, okay?” Bolin beamed happily.

“Thank’s Mako. You’ll see, Korra’s great! We’ll all be great friends in no time!” Mako shook his head.

“I said I’d say I was sorry, I didn’t say anything about being friends.” 

“C’mon Mako, you have to make some friends someday.”

“I have friends.”

“Okay you have one friend but you can’t only make friends with people who run you over! This is your chance to learn how normal people make friends.”

“Asami didn’t run me over, she just clipped me a bit … and I know how to make friends.”

“Don’t worry Mako I’ll help you. Here I’ll pretend to be Korra and you just gotta ask me to be your friend. Mako. Mako don’t walk away! I’m just trying to help you!”

“Don’t you have homework to do.”

“Who can do homework in their brother’s time in need!”

“Do your homework Bo.” Mako said, cutting any response his brother had with the shut of his door. He leaned against it for a moment and just listened to his brother’s muffled complaints as he talked to himself in their kitchen. With a deep sigh Mako pulled away from the door, placing his mug on his nightstand before falling on his bed and burying his face into his pillow. It wasn’t a lie when he said he was tired. 

Too bad his mind wouldn’t shut up long enough to actually do anything about it.

[chapter-61]

are you kitten me?

CARRY ON COUNTDOWN DAY 18: Crack!

AO3, POST-CARRY ON

“What the fuck?”

There’s a cat in our house. It sits on the counter and stares at me. It’s black all over except for its feet. Do cats have feet? Paws. Its paws are white.

We don’t have a cat.

I have no idea how it could’ve come in. I’m pretty sure all the windows were closed, and we don’t have a dog door. Or a cat door.

Baz has already left for work, so he must’ve missed it.

“Uhm, hi?” I say to the cat. It meows back, almost sarcastically. Cats can’t understand sarcasm, can they?

Instead of grabbing breakfast, I get my phone and send Baz a text. I hear a ping from the kitchen table that sounds a lot like Baz’ text tone. The cat is still looking at me.

I turn towards the table and yes, there’s Baz’ phone. Strange. He’s never forgotten it before.

Wait. I look back at the cat suspiciously. “Did you do anything to Baz?”

If I didn’t know better, I would say the cat just rolled its eyes. But that’s not possible. I think.

It meows again. Guess that means “no” or “I have no idea what you’re saying”.

Baz’ll be fine, he doesn’t need his phone for anything except to text me. And occasionally Penny.

My stomach reminds me it’s breakfast time, so I grab a bowl of cornflakes and sit down at the table. The cat jumps off the counter and saunters over.

“I’m not giving you anything,” I tell it.

The cat doesn’t seem to hear and it jumps on the table until it’s in front of me.

“Hey!”

At least it’s not trying to drink my milk. Speaking of drink, Baz’ tea mug is still there, next to his phone. I frown at it. Normally, Baz always puts his stuff away, he’s proper like that. He must’ve forgotten a lot of things this morning.

Hey, it’s free tea.

The cat watches me grab the mug and starts to growl. I didn’t know cats could growl so menacingly.

“Calm down,” I scold it. I should probably go find a box to put it in and drive to a shelter nearby. After breakfast.

I lift the mug to my mouth but before I can take a sip, the cat is in front of me and slaps his paw against the mug.

“Bloody hell!” I jump up as tea pours over my pajamas. “Asshole!”

The cat doesn’t seem very affected. It might even be smiling. What a bastard. Baz would love it.

Now I’m covered in cold tea and I barely got some food in. I sigh. Guess I’ll shower first.

The cat watches me go but luckily doesn’t follow me.

After a quick shower, I walk back to the kitchen. The cat has moved, it’s now on the couch. Not relaxed, though. It’s sitting stiffly upright, as if it’s uncomfortable.

“That’s what you get for breaking into someone’s house, mate.”

I grab a new mug from the cabinet because I still want tea, and put on the kettle. I can feel the cat staring at me but I ignore it.

Then I open the tea cabinet. Baz is a big fan, so we’ve got a whole collection. His newest find is a Chinese one, I can’t read the name, but it’s a cute blue box with paws on it. There’s one bag out already, Baz probably drank it this morning. Or most of it, at least, since he left some on the table.

I take one out of the cute box and put it on the counter. The kettle’s ready, so I pour water in my mug and soak the bag.

The cat has come wandering over, and it jumps back on the counter.

“I’m drinking tea and you can’t stop me,” I tell it. It’s staring at me with its big grey eyes. “I picked the same kind just to spite you.”

I shouldn’t have said that. As soon as I lift the mug, the cat launches itself at me. It collides with my chest and the combination of its speed and strength throws me to the ground.

“Fuck!”

The mug breaks as it meets the floor and it spills tea everywhere. Again.

I stay down, defeated.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I ask the bastard, who’s standing on my stomach. Of course, I don’t get an answer.

I rest my head on the floor and close my eyes. Whatever. I’ll deal with the cat from hell later.

After a while, I can feel the cat move, its paws moving around. At first I think it’s trying to give me a massage, but it’s just trying to find a comfortable spot on my body to lay down.

Now the cat’s laying on my stomach and I can’t get up. Great. I open my eyes slightly. “You want to cuddle, asshole? Bit too late for that.”

It blinks at me. Then, to my utter disbelief, the cat starts purring. Maybe it’s not so mean after all. I slowly lift a hand and move it over its body once. It doesn’t seem to mind. I keep petting it, and the cat keeps purring. It’s actually pretty nice.

I think I fell asleep, because the next moment my back hurts and the cat is not on my stomach anymore. I sit up and look around.

“Cat?” I ask.

I hear a meow from the kitchen table so I get up and walk over. The cat’s sitting on the table again, but it looks much less threatening now that we had our bonding moment.

“Hi.”

It meows back. Then it paws at my phone, as if it’s trying to tell me something. I pick it up but I don’t have any texts. I look at the cat, but it doesn’t do anything else.

“I should probably call Penny,” I tell it. The cat nods.

I dial Penny’s number.

“Simon?”

“Penny, hi. I have a small problem at home.”

“I’m working, can this wait?”

“Uhm.” I look at the cat. It exhales loudly, as if it’s trying to sigh. I chuckle, that’d be funny. A sighing cat. “Yeah, sure. When can you come?”

“In two hours, probably. Can’t Baz help?”

“He left his phone here.”

“Huh. Well, I’ll be there in a few hours.”

“Thanks, Pen.”

I put my phone back on the table and glance at the cat. It looks grumpy again. Just in case, I’m not making more tea. “We have some time to kill,” I tell it. “Wanna watch some Love Island? Baz hates it, but maybe you’ll like it.”

The cat looks disgusted now.

“Either way, I’m gonna watch it. Join me, if you want.”

It did eventually join me, settling down on my stomach again. I didn’t mind. It was warm and soft and it felt nice to have company while Baz was away.

The doorbell rings and the cat jumps up.

“It’s just Penny,” I tell it, as I stand, stretch my arms and walk to the door.

Penny smiles when she sees me, but the frowns at something behind me.

“What?”

“Where did you get that?”

I close the door behind her and turn. She’s looking at the cat quizzically. In turn, the cat sits perfectly still on the floor, back straight and gaze serious.

“Be careful,” I tell her. “It’s a bastard. I have no idea how it got in, I need your help figuring out where to bring him-”

“Simon,” she interrupts me. “Where’s Baz?”

The cat meows, as if it wants to join the conversation.

“He’s at work, like always.”

“Are you sure? You said he forgot his phone so you can’t know where he is.”

“Well, where else would he be?”

The cat meows again. I roll my eyes at it. “Shut up.”

“Simon?”

I turn back to Penny. “Yeah?”

“That’s not a cat. It has a magical signature, I can feel it.”

“Oh great, a magical cat. Now we can’t even get rid of it.”

“I think...” Penny hesitates. “I think the cat is Baz.”

“What?!” I look at the cat. “Baz?”

It rolls its eyes at me and meows. Holy shit. I start laughing. “Aleister Crowley! Baz! You’re a cat!”

The cat, Baz, doesn’t look amused. I have to hold on to my stomach because I’m laughing so hard. “You’re a cat! This is amazing.”

Penny clears her throat and I wipe a few tears from my face. “Simon,” she says. “This is serious. I don’t know how to reverse it.”

“Oh. Uhm. Baz, do you have any idea?” I can’t help another chuckle. The bastard cat is Baz. Figures.

Baz glares at me and then walks towards the mess of the kitchen. I still haven’t cleaned it up, oops.

“What happened here?”

“I tried to drink tea but the cat—Baz—slammed the mug out of my hand. Twice!”

Baz meows and grabs the used tea bag on the floor with his teeth. He brings it over to Penny. She takes it and examines it. “You drank this?”

Baz nods. “Oh yeah,” I say. “His mug was left on the table, with half of it left.”

“You think the tea was cursed?” Penny asks. Baz nods again.

“That’s why you were being an asshole! You didn’t want me to turn into a cat too!”

He rolls his eyes again. I’m thinking of letting him stay like this. “You’re very cute as a cat. And you don’t insult me every five minutes.”

“It’s a pretty simple curse, I think. A simple reverse spell should do it,” Penny says after a moment.

“Cool. Can you do it?”

“Already? I thought you liked him as a cat,” Penny jokes.

“Wait.” I walk over to Baz and pick him up. He protests with a little meow but doesn’t struggle as I pull him to my chest. “Just one small cat hug.”

“He really is cute.”

“I know right.” I smile down at him. He pushes his little head into my chest. Aww. I scratch him behind his ears and he starts purring again.

Penny begins to laugh. “I don’t understand why anyone would want to turn Baz into a cat. It’s not like he became a vicious beast.”

“Maybe it’s some kind of B-list Disney villain counterpart of Cruella De Vil, wanting to create an army of cats.”

“Cruella De Vil didn’t want an army of dogs, Simon.”

“You damn well know what I meant.”

Penny’s eyes suddenly light up. “I know a good spell!”

“Well?”

“In true Disney fashion,” she says, lifting her wand. “True love’s kiss!”

The magic hits Baz but nothing seems to happen. Baz looks unimpressed in my arms, still a cat. “Uhm, Penny? I don’t think that worked.”

“Of course not, dimwit. You need to kiss him first.” She looks proud of herself.

“I’m not kissing a cat!”

Baz meows as if he’s offended and I glare at him. He might be cute but I’d prefer not to be accused of animal abuse.

“You don’t have to French him, Si. Just give him a kiss on his little head. Lots of people do that.”

“Fine,” I huff. I can’t believe I’m doing this. I raise Baz up a little and I look him in the eyes. He nods back encouragingly. Here goes nothing.

I touch my lips to his head, avoiding his small ears, and then Baz starts lighting up. It’s so bright I have to close my eyes.

“It’s working!” I hear Penny say.

Next, there’s suddenly a heavy weight in my arms and I fall forward, landing on Baz.

“Ouch,” he says from beneath me.

“Baz!” I can’t help but shout. I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him close. “Thank Merlin.”

“Thank me,” Penny says smugly.

“Thank you, Bunce.” Baz pats my back. “I’m fine, Simon. Can you let me up? I want to stand on two feet again instead of four.”

I laugh as I stand and pull him up. “You were adorable as a cat.”

“I’m always adorable. In fact, I’m purr-fect.”

“You’re hiss-terical.”

“Paw-some.”

“I almost miss the Baz that didn’t talk.”

“No you don’t.”

“No, I don’t.” I smile at him. He smiles back. He had only been gone for a few hours (not even really gone), but I missed that smile.

“Can I get a proper kiss now?” Baz asks, pulling me closer with his hands on my hips. I go willingly.

“I’m leaving,” Penny interrupts. “Try not to buy more curses.”

We’re not listening anymore.

***

When I wake up on Saturday, Simon is already up. What a pity. He’s not usually awake before me, but he must’ve had a rough night. I rub the sleep from my eyes and try to tame my hair. I should’ve brushed it before going to bed, but we were rather busy.

Strangely, I don’t hear anything when I walk to the kitchen. If Simon’s up, he’s usually in front of the television. I wander around the house looking for him, until I stop in front of the couch in the living room.

There’s a big orange cat sitting on it, looking at me sheepishly.

I sigh. “You fucking moron.”

[smolbeandrabbles]

Yellin’ From The Rooftop - Malcolm Bench x Reader (Vertical Limit)

Author’s Note: Okay, stop complaining at me, Mal, now you really ARE the last Mendo.  I suppose just because of what I’m talking about half the time, it’s a Modern!AU?  (like you couldn’t do this until 2012...) Also you might need to know a little bit about Up At The O2. I literally was half way up when I got this idea...

Disclaimer: Vertical Limit / Characters / Lyrics not mine (Because if it was, we would have pushed Elliot Vaughn off a freakin’ cliff...) Premise: Malcolm is back from K2 base camp, and you figured you can give him a similar Summiting experience closer to home... with mixed results! Words: 2425 Warnings: Swearing / Sexual Connotations

_______

It's something that I never felt And I can't keep it to myself You got me yellin' from the rooftop, so everybody knows I'm falling for you baby, Never letting you go I'm screaming from the mountain, gonna sing it everywhere Yeah, you can call me crazy, baby I don't care Can you hear me, hear me Yellin' from the rooftop Tellin' the whole world... You can call me lady lucky, I know I've been blessed Your kissin' got my heart beatin' out of my chest It's easy like breathin', you make me come alive But it's a whole lot more than just a feeling inside It's love, no shadow of doubt So true I gotta let it out

---

Is the end of all the endings? My broken bones are mending With all these nights we're spending Up on the roof with a school girl crush Drinking beer out of plastic cups Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff Baby, all at once, this is enough  ---

!Welcome Malcolm to the Australian Bois with London Girlfriends club! On a rare break from consistently summiting K2, whether it be with his brother or as a guide, Malcolm was flying home. Although really he wasn’t even flying home. He was flying to you. In London. As expected, you had met him on one such K2 excursion years back and you’d kept in touch. And keeping in touch led to other things and now you’d been back to K2 innumerable times. And the two of you were certainly together. Malcolm liked London, on the few occasions he’d been. Only this time you had a surprise for him you thought he might enjoy, as a mountaineer. Sure, you could drive him to summit something a little smaller elsewhere in the UK but, there was something right here in London that you thought would be just as good.  But maybe you’d thought too much or got to excited or thought he might enjoy it a little too much. Because you were met with a blank stare and a fairly grumpy face; “What?!” Your question was innocent enough “We’re doing what?!” “Climbing the O2!” “...The venue...?” He blinked slowly and raised an eyebrow, “Why would we wanna do that...?” “It’ll be fun!” You tried not to sound so disheartened “...Fun?” He places his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels; “I climb stuff every day...” None the less your enthusiasm allowed you to drag him across London. “Mal! You’ll see the sky line from up there!” He indicated to the high-rise window of your apartment; “I can see it from here!” “But you’ll be outside in the middle of it all in climbing gear...!”  Malcolm sighed gently and gave a kiss to your forehead, trying not to roll those pretty brown eyes of his again. And fought the urge to tell you that if he wanted to climb and see skylines, he wouldn’t be at K2 all the time. *** So here you were, day of, and really excited. And Malcolm trying his best to (obviously) fake it didn’t even deter your spirits. Sure, you had also done K2 before but you didn’t live there all climbing season like he did. It wasn’t your life’s work. Most of the time you had a normal city job, climbing was more of a hobby to you.  You spent a lot of the short briefing watching his face. And you could see him fluctuating between bored out of his mind and dying to ask which mountains your guide had climbed before to be such an expert at this. Like Malcolm didn’t just get up in the morning, put his stuff on and decided to take a leisurely stroll somewhere across K2. Especially as K2 was so technical. This would be easier than a walk in the park for him and both of you knew it. He was incredibly silent as he got ready. In about 5 seconds. And left you playing catch up. Alright show off, why don’t you lead the expedition!? You knew the only reason he wasn’t mouthing off was because of you; which you supposed was at least a little endearing. Still, it got him noticed, and you watched the guide, Kirsty, pull him aside: “Gotta say that was quick! You done this before?!” Malcolm gave a laugh “Uh, similar...” “Oh really?! Like what-!?” “I, uh...” He looked back to you like he needed permission to show off. Clipped into place you were the second person done; you gave him a gentle nod, to which you received a grin. You supposed he’d agreed to come after all that whining, so he deserved to brag a little bit;  “...I spend a portion of my year up at K2 base camp with my brother...!” “Sh—oot! Really!?” “Mm hmm...!” Though it was obvious that Malcolm was going to bask in the glory of this. “Gotta say I’m impressed. Everest is the tall one but K2 is the harder right?” “Yeah. K2 is my favourite...though she might hit me if I say otherwise...!” You eyed him at that; here he goes again, curse me for letting him!! “She also a mountaineer?” “Nah-! But I did meet here there!” “NAH-!?” You repeated, walking over and smacking his arm, “Nah-!?” “Uh... that’s... not exactly your job is it!” You raised an eyebrow at him, he could talk considering him and his brothers antics; “It’s laughable you call it a job.” “I’ll have you know-!” “Okayyy!” Kirsty laughed, “I don’t want to be responsible for a /break/ up at the O2!” You and Malcolm both made the same painful sound before laughing. Which made her smile; at least you were both fans of terrible puns!   ***  “So who wants to lead?” There was silence as any nerves set in for those around you; and Malcolm blew a breath out.   “I’ll do it.” Well, now he just looked like the loud-mouth flaunty Australian; but he didn’t care. Still he didn’t manage to escape you giving him a look. He probably wanted to get this over as soon as possible, you weren’t sure you’d forgive him for that one easily. “Oh...” Kirsty laughed, “I guess that makes sense!” She latched him onto the cabling and folded her arms; “You know if you lead you’re also responsible for getting people off at the end, right?” You knew that was the wrong choice of words by the way he tried and failed to hold back a smirk. “Darlin’, I’m a mountaineer... I think I got this...” but then he playfully nudged you, “responsible for gettin’ people off... Y/N!” You scoffed; “Ha! Getting people off, my ass.” “You fu-” You placed your hand over his mouth, knowing what was coming from the glint in his brown eyes; “You don’t have to tell everyone in London Town Malcolm!!” He gave a shrug, turning to look up to the minuscule summit as if it was K2 all over again; “I reckon you’re pretty loud enough to tell everyone in base camp...” “MALCOLM!” Your embarrassed exclamation only served to have him laugh loudly, which drew more attention to the two of you. “Don’t worry babe...” he turned with a wink “I’m pretty loud too!” Oh yeah like that helped. As expected from an experienced mountain climber, and you determined to stay hot on his heels after that initial she’s not a mountaineer comment, you and Malcolm were half way up in barely any time at all. He stopped and turned around, fixing you with his brown eyes; “What?!” “F**king look at this-! This is what you’ve made me a part of...!” You turned, realising how far back the rest of the group were. “Oh.” “Yeah f**king oh - this is unbelievable! I could do this eyes closed and backwards..!” You folded your arms; “Why don’t you then?!” He squinted at you, you’d watched that safety video too, right? “Thems the rules sweetheart.” “Oh!” There was surprise in your sarcasm; “I didn’t realise you played by the rules!” “Oh, don’t you start on me!” “I always start on you.” He tipped his head and frowned in agreement. “Eh. True.” You waited against the wire support for everyone to at least catch up a little. Malcolm muttering to himself about how he’d be at the top of K2 by now, and you every so often jabbing his side because you were a little sick of his complaining. As soon as everyone was within a few feet of you again he was off, without a care in the world. And you had to roll your eyes; I swear to god Malcolm Bench... Once you got to the top Kirsty decided she’d come up and help you out.  “...Now at the climax of your journey.” Malcolm raised an eyebrow at her, with that same smirk. And even you hid your snort behind your hand. “Well now you’re just doing it on f**king purpose.” She gave a little shrug; “Who can say...” Undoing the chain to the platform and uncoupling him from the bars, she gave him a smile. “You’re free, mountaineer!” “Uh-! I thought I was supposed to be getting everyone off-!” You leant on the rail yourself, smirking at the perfect opportunity presenting itself; “Aw, c’mon Mal, you can’t have all the fun now...” Kirsty couldn’t help but laugh loudly at your comment, and he looked between the two of you. Trying to remain unimpressed; “Oh I see, you two are out to get me.” “Got that right...” She pushed him onto the platform without a second thought and turned to you; “You’re a saint.” “Oh. I know...” you stepped up and let her uncouple you; “Think you’re getting me off better than he would.” Malcolm folded his arms, but he was grinning; “You’re f**king unbelievable! Both of you!” ***  You knew he was trying not to say it was impressive. But the way he swivelled around the little platform let you know that he was. Holding a plastic glass of champagne in his hands made him look the part - but also so out of place - and you couldn’t help almost crack up. Once he was satisfied he’d taken in the Skyline view, he turned his attention to a better one and strolled over to you. “Well, now I feel like a Champagne connoisseur...” “Oh yeah, and look like one.” He pushed you gently with his elbow, “Sarcasm?! Now that’s not very nice is it!” Malcolm cleared his throat “...Here I am on my roof top, exclusive and private... looking out over London Town... thinking about where my private jet might be taking me next.” “Back to K2?” “Was that a question? you wanna go... or just a suggestion.” “Would you take me back?” “Hell yeah!!” Those brown eyes brightened considerably, “... Question is are we leaving Cyril at base camp?” “That’s...” you tried not to smile at the look on his face, “...uh. Mean!” “I think he’d rather not be there, don’t you!?” “I dunno! He’s alright, I like him.” “Look, just f**king agree to come!” A second smile threatened, “Mmmmm... What exactly are you asking me to agree to?” If you could take a snap shot of his picture-perfect realisation, and wicked grin, then you would; “F**k me...! Bad girl...” he took a sip of champagne, “Later...” “That’s the idea...” That caused Malcolm to almost choke, and he glared at you with that smirk on your face “... Yes, I’ll climb K2 with you again, babe.” He clinked his plastic glass against yours “I’ll drink to that... babe.” You watched him wander around the platform with his phone, taking pictures and couldn't help but follow his footsteps giggling. "What's so funny?!" "You and whatever you're doing!" "I'm sending photographed to my brother!!" "Oh - uh huh?" You folded your arms, "Can't be that bad if you're giving Cyril the ’Look Where I Am’ treatment." Malcolm opened his mouth to somewhat agree with you, realised that was a bad move and narrowed his eyes, pointing at you instead; "Not that I would ever concede that point!" You shook your head with a small smile at his defiance. Oh Malcolm. Your mistake is thinking you can only concede verbally...  ***  After being hooked back to the climbing apparatus, Malcolm was surprisingly quiet for most of the way down. Kirsty (for some reason) trusted him enough to make his own way with you; and now he had a lot to think about. He would be going back to base camp in a few weeks - could he get you out before the season was over? He sure hoped so; but then how much planning and logistics would that take? Suddenly he stopped, realising that he should be enjoying the moment with you rather than pondering what happens next, and you almost crashed into him. "Mal-! Think before you stop babe!!" He raised an eyebrow as he turned, at the irony of that sentence. "I was thinking..." "Oh..." He realised he'd played right into it, when you smirked and responded with "Makes a nice change..." Malcolm wasn't even going to give you the satisfaction of a smile at that, and instead held his hand out "Come on... Let me help you down..." You were hesitant for the notion of him trying to throw you off the side, or trip you up on purpose - but you realised why he was asking for your hand. He'd done the same thing on your first ascent of K2 together. "That's sweet of you..." You took his offer, threading your fingers with his; "...I could really use some help getting down... I'm glad I found a guide just in time." That one was clearly for his Ego, and it worked by the smile on his face, but he remained quiet. He wouldn't tell you to shut up just yet... When you got to the bottom, he nigh on made you run the steepest section. And slowed up to free himself. "Thank GOD that's over!!!" He said loud enough to hope Kirsty also heard it, and beckoned you towards him. There was a threatening look on your face and he thought he might get hit again, mercifully you decided against that.  He released you gently but kept ahold of your harness for his punchline; "See, I'm a good guy. I get my girlfriend off first!" You tried not to laugh at that, but then hit him for making you laugh so he was no better off; only this time he laughed along.  "She better be the only one you get off!!" "Ahhhh---! I mean, no promises! That is my job..." He let you go, "But I mean, yeah... I'm pretty sure you promised me later." "How the hell does anyone ever get you to shut up?" Malcolm tipped his head, with a grin and a laugh "hmmm... Get me off, maybe?" "Oh, for God’s sake!" You leant forward and kissed him. "...Oh yeah..." Now his voice was quiet "...that... might work..." You both stepped away for a minute, and he took your hand back in his as you raised your eyes back to the 'summit.' "Another mountain to check of the list... Mal." "Oh for sure, and as difficult as any other..." He gave a smile and pulled you closer into him; "...K2 next...?" "Oh... It'll be a walk in the park after this one..." You both laughed, but he nudged you gently "I dunno... Some stuff’s just easier with you around, ain't it..." You shot him a look "Don't you start..." He grinned, looking back to that brilliant London skyline; "... What, would you rather I was joking?" ---

@dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad.

[demaury]

the best of me (chap.4)

“If anything bad happens I flush the rings, I leave my bestman spot to Baz, and I fly back to Paris.“

OR. Eliott and Lucas have never worked up the courage to actually make a move, and thus spent years dancing around each other without ever acknowledging their feelings. However, an engagement party gone a little too wild, an hotel room and a very bad idea might be all it takes to make everything blow up. (read on ao3)

Actively avoiding Eliott wasn’t something Lucas was very good at, specifically because he hadn’t tried to do so in years. Even back in high school, his attempts invariably failed to the point where he had, at least on one occasion, literally slammed head first into him in the hallway.

Back then it wasn’t exactly serious. The only noticeable moment where he had tried was during the week following the worst double-date he had had to this day. Lucille was still in the picture at the time and Lucas had somewhat let himself be talked into spending an evening with Eliott, Eliott’s girlfriend, and the girl he was dating at the moment — Chloé. All things considered, he could have never predicted the outcome of that evening. He certainly hadn’t expected Eliott, sweet Eliott, funny Eliott, charming Eliott, bouncy Eliott, to constantly snap at his girlfriend all through the night, until he could just not take it anymore and was forced to fake an emergency situation to get the hell out of there — something about his back-then-roommate Mika forgetting his keys. It wasn’t like he held Eliott accountable for the shitty night per se, but it was just that he didn’t get what his friend was still doing with her considering he had told him once that their relationship wasn’t going anywhere anymore.

Other times had included avoiding Eliott as to not cross path with his philosophy-major-boyfriend, and occasionally Macha, but those times had never included avoiding Eliott’s texts. That was a brand new feature, apparently. Five of them had been piling up onto each other through the afternoon, but he still hadn’t read any of them. “Later” in his books generally meant “as late as possible”, which is why he indulged into typical tourism activities by sneaking his way in the little group formed by Imane and Nola — what he hadn’t planned, however, was that Manon would be here as well. He had been too caught up in losing his sanity to remember about the awkward run-in with Manon earlier that morning, and it was only when he realized she seemed too invested in their trip to the Sagrada Familia to care about his business that he started breathing a little bit better.

What he anticipated a little too late was that playing tourist in a big city like Barcelona all the while riding a hangover in the midst of summer was probably not be anyone’s go-to adventure while on vacation, for plenty good reasons that involved his headache and his general state of tiredness. He allowed himself a time-out far from the crowd on the forecourt of the basilica while the girls eagerly took a spot at the back of the line of visitors.

He was tempted to join them after a while — God knew he could use a little bit of fresh air at the moment — but his laziness highjacked that particular thought and he dropped it, staying put in the semi-shadowy spot he had managed to find outside. He hadn’t been to Church in years, and hadn’t even entered one since his mom’s funeral. Frankly? He had never been a true fan and years later he still very much wasn’t. It was gloomy. Impressive, even, in the kind of way that made his insides twist painfully and the hair rise up at the back of his neck.

“Who peed in your cheerios?”

His eyes darted up to meet Imane’s quirked brow, and he shrugged it off as he pocketed his phone. “Charming.”

“You sure look like you’re having a blast.”

“I don’t like churches.”

She snorted, then perched herself next to him. “But you’re an architect. Don’t tell me that visiting the-” she paused to read the brochure, “’one-of-a-kind temple’ and the ‘fruit of the work of genius architect Antoni Gaudí’ doesn’t sound like the kind of nerdy things you like?”

Lucas gave her an unimpressed look. “Do colonoscopies excite you?”

Imane shot him a squinty look. “Oh, okay, nice. What’s with the long face? We’re in Barcelona till tomorrow morning, you could at least pretend you’re enjoying it and keep the long face for another day, what do you think?”

He rolled his eyes and wiped a drop of sweat running down his neck. “I’m having the worst hangover of my life, is all. And I got a stroke yesterday afternoon when we were chilling by the pool so I don’t think you’d want to be in my shoes.”

“I never wanted to be in your shoes in the first place, but yeah, you’re right, I definitely don’t.”

He huffed, then adjusted the glasses up his nose. “Got any vacation plans for the rest of the summer?”

“Family trip to Morocco next month,” she said with a sigh. “Sofiane’s mom and mine are calling every day to make sure we’re still in. Honestly I’m about to lose my mind. Never thought that my family and Sofiane’s hitting it off would be such a pain in the ass,” she grumbled.

Well, that was at least one thing he wouldn’t have to worry about, he refrained himself from adding. It was one those thoughts that dampened the atmosphere when in fact it was really no big deal. Sure, sometimes he felt bad about his family situation, about not being in speaking terms with his dad, about his mom being dead and all, but it wasn’t like he could do something about it.

“The perk of being single,” he shrugged instead.

“How many are there?”

Lucas pondered the question. Well, objectively, it wasn’t that bad. He didn’t have to share his attention, he didn’t have to try so hard to make someone else’s schedule fit with his own, and he wasn’t stuck with a bad lay for boyfriend — it did happen before.

“I do what I want. Counts as plenty,” he shrugged.

“Now you just sound like a three year old.”

“And you sound just like Yann,” he retorted. “Celibacy isn’t a disease. Have you seen how Manon is thriving ever since she’s single?”

“Yeah but that’s because she’s got a thing for pedantic, controlling and slightly neurotic douchebags,” Imane waved. “You just like to sabotage your relationships.”

He gaped at her, offended. “What do you mean, I sabotage my relationships? I got cheated on twice, thrice if you count sending nudes to your ex while in a relationship!”

She sighed and shifted a little bit more towards him. “Are we doing this again? Frankly, Lucas, you don’t know what you want, and it’s starting to show. You got pissed at Kevin for dragging out making you meet his family and six months later you got pissed at Maxime because you felt like ‘meeting the in-laws didn’t just feel right at the moment’…”

“We were barely a month into the relationship,” Lucas interrupted.

“… You vetoed every single apartments you visited with Benjamin until he dropped the idea of the two of you moving together…”

“He didn’t make millions, how did he even plan on going through every rant?”

“… and then you got mad at Will because it didn’t seem like he wanted to stick around…”

“He ended up cheating,” Lucas snapped. “You can’t put this on me.”

Imane took off her sunglasses long enough to spare him a scowl, then she sighed. “Whatever things they see in you is beyond my understanding.”

*

The rest of the afternoon rolled around quickly. Quietly, in a way. The girls excitedly commented their trip inside the Basilica while they were getting ice-creams and they celebrated with a round of selfies featuring Nola’s fake engagement ring, that Alexia had made out of the neon-pink straw from her watermelon smoothie. Later they did some shopping in a gift shop before getting back to the hotel just as Lucas’ headache had gotten unbearable all over again — he was also positive he had gotten a sunburn on the back of his neck, which was the cherry on top, really. His only thought as they rode the elevator up to his and Nola’s floor was to fall flat on his bed and take a well-deserved nap before dinner — so much that he almost missed the moment Nola called him in the deserted hallway, once the elevator had gone to the last floor with the rest of the girls.

He turned a curious face on her and she seemed embarrassed for a second, tucking a strand of her sandy-blond hair behind her ear a couple of times. “You’re not- uh, you’re not mad about Yann proposing, are you?”, she said, sounding rather hesitant.

He frowned. “What?”

She took a step or two closer, a small crease between her brows indicating that she was sincerely worried. “I mean, you’d tell me, right?”

It was kind of a shitty position, if he was being honest at least to himself. What was he supposed to say? That he wasn’t mad about them being engaged while still thinking it was a shitty idea? “What makes you think so?”, he asked, hoping that his attempt at deflecting had been somewhat smooth.

It seemed to be, considering that Nola didn’t appear to notice. “I don’t know, you look a bit… grumpy, ever since you got here. And at first you gave your ticket plane to Alexia last minute, so it kinda looked like you wouldn’t come at all,” she confessed, then before he could say anything she rambled again: “‘Course, I’m not judging, I know what it’s like, to be completely overworked, because, you know, hospital life and stuff but-”

Lucas winced to himself. “Look, Nola, it really has nothing to do with you. Or with the wedding, or with Yann. Okay?” he smiled, perhaps a bit tightly. “He’s my best friend, of course I want him to be happy. I’m just a bit off and all that summer heat makes me sick.”

Nola pursed her lips a little and nodded. “Yeah. Okay, I’m just- I’m sorry.” She pulled a face. “I know I’m overthinking and all. It’s just that I’m always so busy, and I don’t have much time to hang out with all of you guys in the end. Meanwhile, Daphy’s always there and… well, even though I know Yann’s moved on from Emma, she’s just there all the time, just like Manon. So in the end the only one who isn’t there, well, it’s me… And you’re his favorite person on Earth probably.” She sighed and rubbed her arm nervously. “It makes me feel self-conscious at times. It’s stupid, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, really. I’m just- uh, I’m just gonna lie down a bit before dinner.”

She smiled encouragingly. “You’re right. You look a little pale. I see you later.”

He nodded and she walked past him with a small wave to get to her hotel room.

Once he found himself alone, Lucas searched his pockets to find the key to his own, which made it all the more difficult to ignore the fact that he hadn’t even checked his phone for the last couple of hours, because it was still opened on the conversation with Eliott, and that as soon as he’d unlock it all the texts he had not read since his “Is it later already?” from this morning would be marked as such. And since avoidance really was his only coping mechanism at the moment, he was just stuck being a coward.

He really needed to lay down.

*

Lucas didn’t know what was in the air tonight, or if there was anything at all going on in the first place, but right now he regretted leaving his hotel room.

Things were awkward. And not just regarding whatever situation he was in with Eliott. Thing was, he had expected that Eliott would say something about them not seeing each other all day. He had prepared himself for the puppy look™ and for the eventuality of being called out grumpily. What did he get? Nothing. When he started mumbling an half-hearted apology about napping and not seeing his texts, Eliott had shrugged.

“It’s fine. No big deal,” he had said as they walked inside the restaurant. Ever since, Lucas had been on the freaking edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was just something. The restaurant wasn’t the cause of anything weird happening, it was actually a rather nice place; they had two tables set on the terrace at the back, and they could make up the faint some of some jazzy music being played in a bar, a little further down the street.

The problem actually seemed to be within the group, for some reason.

The conversation was never picking up more than a couple of minutes on either end of the table, everyone going back to a kinda awkward silence in-between where you could just hear the silverware clicking against the plates. He couldn’t remember the last time something like that had happened — there sure had some hella awkward moments when Manon and Charles had gotten back together, but it had happened a lifetime ago. Usually at least Basile was up to entertain some kind of conversation, no matter how stupid it was, yet even him was oddly quiet. He was sitting close to the opposite end of the table from where Lucas was, but even from there he could see Daphné deliberately not talking to him, choosing to make conversation with Manon instead.

“What’s up with them?” Lucas enquired as he leaned towards Yann, who was sitting next to him.

He spared a glance and waved. “Don’t mind them. They’ve been in a crappy place for most of the afternoon. Apparently, Daphné’s real pissed about something.” He reached for his glass to take a sip of water. “For all I know in an hour it might be just good as new. Not worth the trouble to ask.”

Lucas let out a small snort. That was definitely an explanation, he thought as he went back to travel the food from one side to the other of his plate. It was a shame the heat and the remains of his hangover had put a lock onto his stomach because generally he liked everything that tasted a bit spicy and had shrimps in it, but right now he could barely bring himself to take a bite every now and then. A few seats away, Alexia was chatting with Eliott whenever he wasn’t entirely focused on whoever was texting him constantly since they had all sat down earlier. Lucas spared a casual glance in their direction when Eliott turned his phone for her to see some picture on display on an Instagram account.

Emma shamelessly peered above her shoulder. “No way, you scored the waiter from yesterday?,” she asked, eyes widening.

“Yeah”, Eliott shrugged casually as Alexia gave him back his phone. “I went back there to grab a drink this afternoon and we talked. He’s kinda cool.”

Arthur leaned forward, on the other end of the table, to get in Eliott’s visual field. “You do know that the concept of one night stands is based on the fact that there’s little to no conversations involved in the process, right?”  

“Yeah, what happened to you being too romantic to bone someone at the back of a restaurant?” Emma snickered.

“I never said it’d be a one night stand,” Eliott snorted, shaking his head. He picked up his phone just as it pinged with another notification.

“And what do you plan on doing then? Bringing him back with you to Paris?”

“Sending love letters?”

Eliott fired another… whatever, text or comment or god knows what, then set his phone screen down on the table and picked up his fork. “Shut up, we’re just talking.”

Lucas bit back any mean comment he could make at the moment and tried to focus on his plate. The conversation soon drifted back onto more pressing matters, starting with their return to Paris the following morning. His attention was slowly but steadily wandering away when, in the middle of a few chuckles around the table, he heard Eliott’s voice. “Nah, I was just thinking about staying a couple more days.”

“Really?”, Alexia said, thoughtful.

“Yeah,” Eliott nodded. “I’ve got nothing urgent waiting in Paris, which is, like, number 1 perk of being between two jobs, I guess?”

“That’s cool. I kinda wish I could stay too,” Daphné sighed, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. “Maybe we should organize a little-”

“Don’t tell me you’re staying for him,” Lucas scoffed, cutting her off mid-sentence as he pointed at the phone from his fork. It seemed to surprise everyone, starting with Lucas himself.

“Why not?” Eliott retorted, looking back at him. “He’s hot and he’s nice.”

Probably if you liked dummies who spent half their time posting stupid pictures of their abs on Instagram. He didn’t even need to see the picture from earlier to know he was just typically that guy. He had dated one of those, and all he could gather from that experience was that all the fucking clichés were true.

“He’s hitting on you!” Lucas exclaimed. “Of course he’s nice! As soon as he’ll have boned you he’s just gonna move onto the next one.”

Imane huffed. “Wow, really classy Lucas, even coming from you.”

Suddenly everyone was staring at him around the table, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. “Oh come on,” he insisted, “it’s practically part of the job description, right Em?”

Emma shrugged. “He’s not wrong. I mean, if he were into me, I’d-”

“Whatever. I don’t need you to tell me what to do, in case you haven’t noticed,” Eliott bit back.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, you just don't go around falling for people you met twice! How can you be so immature?”

“Isn’t that a Disney song or something?”, someone mumbled, somewhere around the table.

“Right,” Eliott huffed dryly, “because you're such an example of maturity when it comes to dealing with your stupid emotions and your fucked-up relationships.”

“Oh yeah? And what about it?”

“Guys-,” Yann tried from the other end of the table, but he was cut off almost instantly.

“You know what,” Eliott snapped, “you're right, next time I should just get down on my knees three minutes after meeting them the first time, thanks for the tip.”

“It's got fucking nothing to do,” Lucas shouted. “This was a hook-up. You're just physically unable to do that and everyone fucking knows it, and guess who’s gonna have to deal with you being all depressed when you'll finally figure shit out, like all the other times?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Daphné intervened, “don’t act like you get to have an opinion just because you slept with him once!”

Lucas’ eyes snapped to her at the exact same time he felt the ground was opening under his feet to finally, finally swallow him up for good. There was a deafening silence as soon as the last word had fallen out of her mouth, and for a second nothing happened, as if everyone was frozen into place. He could feel Eliott’s eyes on him and it took him an extra-second to muster enough courage to meet them. Frankly? He wished he never did. There was a whole bunch of emotions packed in those stormy-grey eyes, but none of which Lucas had ever wanted to see directed at him — and worse, no trace of surprise whatsoever. Before anyone could say anything, Eliott grabbed his phone, and stood up in a loud scrap of his chair against the ground.

Alexia spun around on her chair. “El-,” she tried, but Eliott blurted a ‘don’t’ as he strode out of the terrace and disappeared inside the restaurant.

The silence around the table stretched out for a while, or at least Lucas thought so, until Yann’s voice made its way to his ears and finally redirected his focus back on something else that wasn’t Eliott’s empty chair. It was only then that Lucas registered that everyone was talking all at once, yelling even, except for Yann who looked incredibly astonished. Right now he didn’t even care.

He didn’t care how Daphné had found out.

He didn’t care that Eliott apparently knew already.

He didn’t care about Yann’s hurt expression.

He just needed to stop thinking for a hot minute.

Lucas shook his head, and stood up after throwing his napkin on the table, then he stormed out of the terrace by the same door Eliott had disappeared through.  

[intimidatingpuffinstudios]

Yet Another Public Commission!

My dudes, one incredibly kind patron has decided to gift you all with a 3700 words commission! That’s right, almost 4000 words of pure goodness, free of charge!

The pairing in this one is Daelynn/Eledwen/M!MC, and it starts sweetly and wholesomely with the family being out of a picnic with their kids and friends and ends in a scorching hot coupling sequence! This might just be one of the most explicit things I’ve written!

So, on that note, I’m going to post the first half of the story here, then the steamy half under a cut! I hope you all enjoy this!

~*~

You are sitting on a soft, comfy picnic blanket, breathing in the fresh air gently blowing away your white hair from your face. The sun is warming you with his rays and combined with the crisp breeze, your temperature is just perfect. The perfect day for a picnic.

Dana agrees with you— she is laying down on the grass a bit to your left and is patiently allowing your daughters to braid flowers into her mane. This mule is a true lady, and she has withstood everything for you.

Even now, she is going through torture in your name— your daughters are not the gentlest they could be with the old lady’s mane. And Daelynn isn’t much help in that regard.

The elven woman is sitting next to her daughters, helpfully providing them with all the flowers she has gathered for them, commenting on the patterns and color arrangements of the braids.

You chuckle softly to yourself, a slight shiver running through you— an involuntary reaction whenever you see these three blond heads put together. The twins are as rambunctious and lively as their mother. And when the little half-elves collude with their mother, even the most innocent-looking of activities can lead to disaster.

This is why the devilish trio must never be left alone, and Eledwen is usually on top of babysitting duty. She keeps the other three ladies contained, her quiet presence always a calming factor. But even your half-dragon love has her weaknesses. In this case, the weakness was DaeDae’s puppy eyes. The grey-eyed woman assured your dragon lady that she and the twins would be angels on earth. And Elly believed her— a mistake, really.

Your blue gaze turns toward the other side of the clearing, where Eledwen is sitting with Straasa, the two of them watching Morkai spar with your eldest son. Your heart swells with happiness as you take in the scene, the same happiness that fills it when you look at your elf and daughters.

Your very own family. The family you never thought you’d have— not after what happened to your mom, to Tristen. Not after everything that came after. And yet, here you are all, all the members of your little clan alive and well. Your noble steed, your women, your children. Your brothers.

When you met each and every single one of them, you felt a pull— like these people will be important to you, will become a part of you for the rest of your life. And you were right. Your intuition has never led you astray, always landing right on the mark. When you met the two women that would become your life, you thought life couldn’t get any happier.

You were wrong— because not long after you finally put the broken pieces of the world back together, you found him. Your son— a small child, alone and crying in an abandoned village, clinging to his stuffed toy. Eledwen took one look at the child and immediately knelt down to gather him into her arms.

To say that you were surprised would be an understatement— your draconic love was still somewhat uncomfortable with sudden physical touch back then, even when it came from Daelynn or you.  To see her so readily hug the child, and start stroking his fine hair while her deep voice cooed at him… well. It changed something in you.

Then DaeDae got pregnant, and the twins came. Mischievous little agents of chaos, just like their mother. And so your life was complete. Between you and your beautiful, strong women, you managed to wrangle one toddler and two infants— quite well, if you may say so yourself.

Morkai and Straasa helped too—well, Straasa helped. Morkai was just standing on the outskirts, as far away from the soiled clothing of the babies as he could possibly get and still be considered to be inside the room.

He helped in other ways, though. His steady presence and sometimes insistent prodding always helped you get out of the somber moods that sometimes assailed you. He and Daelynn were always the best at helping you get out of your own head. And now the once grumpy man was teaching your son ways to beat you in sparring.

And Eledwen was actually assisting him, giving the kid pointers and little tips on how to go about bringing his father to the ground. The traitor! You’d expect this sort of behavior from DaeDae, but Elly! The scandal! Straasa was the only one trying to remind everyone that sparring was meant to be fun, and not about giving one’s father bruises, but no one was paying attention to him.

Well. You’d just have to be extra careful from now on. And speaking of being careful, you suddenly notice a suspicious absence of giggling coming from your left. Daelynn and the twins are quiet. Uh oh. You immediately snap your head around to look for them but find only Dana, her mane thoroughly braided and your blond minxes nowhere to be found. Gods, you were a fool to take your eyes off of them!

Right as you think this, your worst fears come to life— you are assaulted by two little flying half-elves, their blue eyes twinkling as they float on top of you out of nowhere, their mother’s invisibility spell finally wearing off.

You immediately reach up to grab them, but that’s a mistake too. As soon as the tiny princesses are in your arms, they attack all your weak spots— they start tickling you to the sound of their mother’s cackling, a pair of strong hands taking hold of your legs to make sure you can’t escape.

You yelp and try to protect your tender sides from the minuscule but evil fingers, but it’s no use. Your women are relentless as they go about reducing you to a broken, giggling mess. You! Giggling! The ignominy! You can even hear Dana snort at you, probably enjoying her revenge— you didn’t help save her when she was the one under attack, after all. As far as she’s concerned, you fully deserve what you’re getting.

“Daelynn! Girls! Please! I give up, have mercy!” you cry out desperately, red in the face from the laughing fir that has been all but forced upon you. Your pleas go unheeded by the treacherous women holding you down. Daelynn even snickers wickedly at you, goading her daughters on.

“Get him, girls! That’ll teach him not to pay attention to us!” the blond devil instructs her minions, and said minions redouble their efforts in tormenting you. You are laughing so hard it hurts, and it’s starting to get difficult to breathe.

Then stong, scaled arms reach down to save you, descending on the squirming elflings as if from the heavens themselves. Eledwen grabs the two protesting girls with ease, pulling one under each arm and holding them like piglets. Which is apparently highly amusing, if the burst of giggling coming from the wicked angels is to be believed.

“It’s not our fault, mama! Didi told us to do it!” they cry out in unison, their cry of innocence obviously rehearsed. Eledwen promptly hands both girls to Straasa, who is standing right next to her and smiling at your trickster daughters as if they’re the cutest creatures on earth.

He takes them in his arms and then walks away while the elflings snuggle contentedly against him, more than happy to be held by their beloved uncle Straasa. Both have declared that they’re going to marry him when they grow up, after all.

Which leaves you and your women by yourselves for a moment. Both you and Eledwen turn sharply to stare at Daelynn, who is now sitting at your feet calmly, almost imperially. Like everything is as it’s supposed to be, and she has done no wrong whatsoever.

“Finally, now you’re paying attention to me,” she smirks at you both, batting her eyelashes cutely when Eledwen raises an unimpressed eyebrow at her. Her fingers are now at your ankles, massaging them tenderly— probably to soothe them from the death grip she had on them just moments before!

“DaeDae, we’ve talked about this. Using the girls as a weapon whenever you want attention is not an acceptable use of our children,” your brown-haired lover scolds lightly, but the sadistic elf you’re in love with shows no remorse.

The blond woman shrugs her shoulders carelessly and flicks her golden hair over her shoulder with flair. She also pushes out her breasts, putting her arms under them and perking them up, looking to draw your and Elly’s attention to them. You’re sad to say that it works.

“Why not? It works, doesn’t it?” the temptress echoes your thoughts, and Eledwen sighs, momentarily closing her eyes. She can’t fool you though— you saw the way her fingers twitched as soon as Daelynn put her little show on. Her fingers twitch like that only when she wants to touch.  You can understand the compulsion.

“Still trying to talk sense to the elf, Eledwen? Shouldn’t you have given up on the futile endeavor by now?” Morkai pipes up from across the clearing, and you glance over to see him putting his shirt back on. His training session with your son is over, and they are both looking sweaty and out of breath but very happy with themselves.

“You know you love me, sourpuss!” Daelynn shoots back at him cheekily, and the redhead chuckles in reply. Your son walks up to you, smiling brightly and all but headbutts Eledwen’s arm with affection as he moves to stand next to her, his mannerisms distinctly feline in nature.

The smile he gives you makes your heart go light and positively sing inside your chest. Then he notices his elven mother’s pose and immediately proceeds to groan in dismay. He glares at her, though it’s half-hearted at best, and vaguely points at the direction of her pushed-up bust.

“Mom, again?! Can’t we have one day without you flinging yourself at Dad and Mama the moment our backs are turned?!” he all but whines, putting his hand over his eyes to save himself from the cursed image of his mother making moves on the rest of his parents.

“Be a good darling and take your sisters and your uncles and head home, hmm? Your parents need some alone time, and you need to go wash off,” Daelynn instructs him with an unrepentant grin, and the boy glares at her in response.

“We really should get going. These beauties are ready for their afternoon nap, actually,” Straasa cuts in before things can escalate any further. And you have to admit— as much fun as you’re having right now, your elven woman’s display hasn’t left you cold and unbothered. Some alone time would be appreciated. And judging from Eledwen’s quiet intensity, she’s in the same predicament as well.

The golden-eyed woman runs a soft hand through your son’s hair, gentling him, and the boy immediately sucks up the attention, turning his face up to look at her. He always had a soft spot for her.

“Take your sisters home and wait for us. We won’t be long,” she quietly instructs him, and although he scrunches up his nose at that last part, he doesn’t talk back to her like he did with Daelynn. With a heavy sigh, he disengages himself from his mother’s side and moves to stand with Straasa.

Morkai is standing next to Dana, scratching between her ears and giving her what appears to be dried sweet beet paste. You can never figure out where he’s stashing the candy, but he always has some of it on him. Dana has gotten twice in size because of him!

With one final wave from Straasa and your son, the party heads back for home, your pretty mule in tow. The look she gives you as she walks away is knowing. Damn, even the donkey has your number now!

Once your friends and children are so far away that you can’t hear their voices, you brace yourself for impact— and sure enough, Daelynn flings herself at you, apparently having waited enough. You are grateful she waited this long, to be honest.

~*~

Okay, that was the first part of the story! Now comes the STEAMY PART! In case I wasn’t clear up till now:

This is NSFW! WARNING, WARNING, PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

The elf wraps her legs around your waist in a heartbeat, pushing her voluptuous body against you, and making you stay still.  Her soft hand grabs your hair tightly, and she all but thrusts your face toward her breasts.

Your face gets smooshed in softness as your hands mold themselves to the full bust, kneading and pinching her nipples over the thin fabric of her shirt. The moan she lets out in response sounds smothered, so you look up to see her kissing with Eledwen, the elf’s free hand holding Eledwen by the neck as she all but devours her lips.

The sight spurs you on, and you roughly lower Daelynn’s shirt to get her peaked nippled out in the open. You don’t need more than that— you don’t have the time for it. This coupling will be quick and passionate, getting just naked enough to get what you want.

As soon as the pretty breasts are out in the open, your mouth waters for a moment before you ravenously descend on them, sucking the nipples into your mouth and teasing them with your tongue, lips, and teeth.

You are so focused on your task and lost in your elven lover’s sinful moans that you don’t notice your other woman kneel next to you. Not until her strong hand goes straight for you clothed length, gripping tightly and massaging it over the fabric of your breeches.

You moan helplessly against the nipple you were suckling, your hips instinctually pushing forward to get more of the maddening sensation. Your lips unlatch as you blindly offer up your mouth for Eledwen to claim.

The moment your lips connect, you start licking them voraciously, demanding entrance. Gods, you’ve barely begun, and you’re already going mad with desire, your shaft dripping inside your breeches and creating a mess.

She lets you in, and you go about tasting every single last nook and crevice, saturating your mouth with her intoxicating flavor. You reach out with your hand and bury it in her short locks at the same time Daelynn starts sucking bruises on the tender flesh of your neck.

Then you are unceremoniously pushed on your back, Daelynn’s strong hands pushing at your shoulders until you are flat on the ground and looking up at her wantonly. She smirks at your dazed expression and gets up, ignoring your little moan of complain.

Her hands head for her skirts, and she reaches under them— in one fluid movement, she has grabbed her underwear and is pulling it on the string that is keeping it in place. Within moments, the soft fabric flutters down her legs and pools at her feet. You can see that it is already wet with her desire.

Then your member is abruptly taken out of your breeches and exposed to the cool afternoon air, twitching and drooling pearly liquid from the tip. Eledwen’s warm hand closes over it without hesitation, playing with the glans and gripping it exactly as you like it.

Daelynn quickly stops her, however. She grabs your draconian lover by the throat and lifts her up so she can get the other woman’s breeches off. Soon enough, Eledwen’s lower half is bare— she’s the one wearing the least clothing than all three of you. She doesn’t seem to mind, though, if her flushed cheeks and foggy gaze are anything to go by.

Daelynn is on her knees in front of the half-dragon, having just taken her underwear off, and she deposits a sweet kiss to the brunette’s mount before she moves away. Then both women look over at you greedily, and you know— your time has come.

Daelynn loses no time climbing over you until her thighs are bracketing your face— she holds up her skirts to give you access, and you swallow thickly as she begins to lower herself on your face.

Before your lips can make contact with her core, however, the fingers of your right hand are firmly gripped— then enveloped by the tightest, silkiest heat. Eledwen moans lowly as your digits enter her, and you lose no time setting up the rhythm you know she likes best, stretching your fingers inside her and going as deep as you can get. You tease the entrance to her womb with the tips, and she shudders almost violently in response.

Then your mouth is put to work as well. You are lost to Daelynn’s heat, her scent, her taste— your very soul sings as you push your tongue inside her, making her moan and tremble for you as her slickness dribbles down your chin.

You’re so lost in the feeling of your women, that you barely notice that your own swollen member is left unattended and forlorn— but it doesn’t stay like that for long. Eledwen, the doll that she is, has apparently enough coherency left to grab it, and start pleasuring it in proficiently.

Which probably means you’re not doing a good enough job of driving her out of her mind. With new resolve, you push your fingers in and out of her expertly, picking up the pace and stretching your digits on the pull-out, making sure to widen her reddened opening every time.

After so many years with your amazing women, you have become quite proficient at multi-tasking. You go about pleasuring them with gusto, your mouth sucking relentlessly at Daelynn’s core, flicking and rubbing her nub with the fingers of one hand, while the other is busy burying its fingers inside Elly knuckle-deep.

And still Eledwen keeps on massaging you, her thumb swiping over the swollen, wet head of your erection, dipping her fingertips into the slit and twisting her wrist on the up-stroke. But then she decides to use her other hand as well— her strong fingers grip your scrotum firmly, and roll around your orbs until your eyes all but roll back into their sockets.

It’s too much to handle— Eledwen’s walls are gripping your fingers so tightly it’s become a struggle to move them, and Daelynn’s wild riding is stealing your breath away as she tries to get your tongue inside her as far as it can go.

The ecstasy building in your core can no longer be ignored. Saturated in the smell and taste of your women, your mind long gone and your body functioning on nothing but instinct, your muscles begin to clench and lock as magma erupts from your throbbing shaft, bolts of lightning-intense sensation shooting down your raw nerves and scorching everything in their path. You spill thickly over Elly’s fingers, painting them white with the evidence of your desire for her and Daelynn, a desire that only grows stronger with each passing year.

Your moan of ecstasy is lost between Daelynn’s fold, and you fight not to thrash as the rapture all but incapacitates you— you need to keep going, you need to please them!  You need it as much as you needed your own orgasm, more than that even!

Then your wish is granted to you— Daelynn’s thighs become a vice around your face as she wildly thrashes on top of you, crying out and pushing her opening against you almost suffocatingly the moment her walls begin to clamp down on your tongue. A little explosion of slickness fills your mouth as she moans and trembles on top of you, feeding you all she has to give.

She slumps on top of you like a puppet with its strings cut, heaving and panting as she rides the aftershocks. Then it’s Eledwen’s time. Her own passage is clenching so tightly it almost threatens to break off your fingers, but she needs that one last push.

So you give it to her— you crook your fingers up,  and relentlessly hammer into the spot that drives her wild. Her body freezes the moment you begin the fierce assault, and a moment passes, two— then she is locking against you as a burst of liquid bursts from inside her, bathing your fingers and palm in her essence.

She is quiet in her pleasure, unlike Daelynn— she rides your digits with gusto, panting, her red tongue peeking between her half-open lips. You can feel her pulsing, the spasms so strong that you’re amazed she’s still conscious. Then it’s done, and she too falls on top of you bonelessly.

You grunt a bit— the woman is compact, but don’t try to move her. Daelynn finally decides that the time to get off from your face has come, so she gets up on shaky legs, but doesn’t move far. She kneels next to you, and gently reaches out to remove your fingers from inside Eledwen. The half-dragon moan faintly as your hand leaves her sensitive walls, but doesn’t complain.

Your blond seductress is looking at your hand with hunger— like the white covered fingers are a treat to be savored. And sure enough, she immediately leans forward and takes them in her mouth, cleaning away all evidence of Elly’s orgasm with her voracious tongue.

You chuckle darkly as you watch her, but the sight is quickly blocked by Eledwen’s face, the golden-eyed woman crowding you and pressing her mouth against you demandingly. You open up for her, and she goes about stealing your breath as well as sharing the flavor of Daelynn’s climax.

Then you’re all done. You slump against each other, taking a moment to just cuddle with each other. A moment where you are laid flat on your back, cradling both women against your chest as your breathing finally slows and you all start to nuzzle and softly kiss each other.

You need to get going— everyone is waiting for you back home. But you can’t help but cherish this blissful sensation, where the only thing that exists is just you, your amazing lovers and the sky above you.

It has all been worth it.