#so i landed on my back more than a few times

[all-purpose-dish-soap]

34 / 3.2k / part 2 of shark mermen Gaz and Soap for mermay >:)

...

You wake up to the morning sunlight glimmering off Gaz's salt-glazed skin. He's leaning over you, watching you intently with those fathomless all-black eyes.

You gasp and immediately drag yourself away--or try to, given the way his tail is wound under your legs like a snake's. In your haste, you bump up against Soap, who lurks behind you, somehow again taking you by total surprise.

Your heels scrape against sharp gravel as you fight to get out of reach. Gaz's tail coils inward as if to drag you back in, and you almost collapse over it in your scramble. But you finally manage to get out of reach. You stare down at them, your heart pounding in confusion and panic.

Soap smirks like this is the most fun he's had in weeks. His tail swishes in the shallows behind him. "G'morning."

This is a nightmare. A hallucination.

"Don't look so shocked," Soap says. "You've still got all your pieces. You really should try being more thankful. We saved your life."

"Saved my--" You cough and sputter. Salt and sand coat your throat. "You tried to kill me!"

"You would've died anyway," Gaz says. His matter-of-fact tone of voice is somehow more terrifying than Soap's high-energy arrogance.

"We were havin' a little look at you," Soap says. "That's all."

"You bit me!"

"Just a nip," Gaz admits. "I was curious."

"I wasn't," Soap says with a flash of his sharp teeth. He looks down at the second set of teeth marks--his teeth marks--on your calf. "That's a love bite."

⬇ nsfw, monster mermen, overt predator/prey dynamics, blood kink ⬇

You pull your legs in, withdrawing further up the rocky beach as you get to your feet. You don't have much space to get away from them. Worse, this tiny cove will be all but swallowed by high tide. The only way out is either back into the water or up the rocky face of the cliffs on all sides. You can only imagine the rock cutting into your bare hands and feet--or worse, climbing halfway up, slipping, and landing on the carpet of glass-sharp gravel.

There’s nowhere to go.

Soap stretches toward you again as you back away. He does it in this motion like a shrug, like he's luring you into a false sense of security by making you think he just happens to be putting his hands near your ankle. He can’t hide how the muscles in his shoulders bunch, wanting to pounce. "You'd have a better chance jumping back into the sea and holding your breath than climbing those rocks, human. Maybe you outswim us this time, even. Want to try?"

"I'll take my chances," you snap. His claw brushes your foot, and you quickly backpedal, climbing up onto the biggest boulder you can manage. It's only about as waist-high, though, and unsteady. Not quite tall enough to boost you toward any solid footholds up the forty-or-so-foot cliffside. Still, you have to try.

Gaz watches with annoyance as you reach for a shallow indent in the rock. "You'll kill yourself. Be reasonable," he scolds.

Your fingers find uncertain purchase in the shallow ridge overhead, and you force your toes to get with the program and grip what might be a rocky shelf to your side.

The two mer watch you haul yourself up a few feet. Soap pushes himself up the beach to get a better view, tail curling. Gaz studies the muscles in your legs. Then he watches your hands grip the rocks. You look even more defenseless in the sunlight, skin battered from exposure and clothes torn from the waves. His eyes follow the curve of your calf to the blood that's dried on your ankle. It looks bad.

He doesn't see you making it high enough for the inevitable fall to kill you, but it irritates him that you're choosing to act like this. You're fragile. Obviously, if he and Soap wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. They did their best to not kill you. He did, anyway.

"You think we'd let you drown when the tide comes in after keeping your fragile human body alive and intact this long?" Gaz calls up.

You ignore this in favor of boosting yourself up another foot. Your fingers slip on the next hold. Gravel clatters down the rock and showers both mer.

Soap smirks. "Gonnae fall, aye?”

Gaz's voice is flat. "Let her."

You make it up another two footholds before you slip.

Soap's smirk morphs into a wild laugh as you topple backward. You land on the rocks, hard, air knocked out of you with a surprised gasp. Both mer prowl toward you.

You dig the heels of your hands into the wet sand to scramble to your feet again. A sudden, sharp pain makes you hiss. You rip your hands out of the gravel to see a shard of curved glass sticking out of your palm of your dominant hand. Blood stains the base and wells up, trailing down your wrist.

Soap clocks the smell of blood. "What d'you want to try next, hmm?" he muses, tail swishing behind him. "Hurry up before the tide comes in or that cut'll attract somethin' unfriendly."

You glare at him. You want to scream. Or cry. You need help, but what are the chances the rescue boats will come back this way?

"So?" you snap, hiding your hand against your chest as he leans closer. "What does it matter to me if you eat me or something else does?"

"We don't care to eat you," Gaz says. "And if we did, we wouldn't share."

"Don't know about that, Gaz," Soap purrs. "You think she looks delicious, don't ya?"

You look from one to the other, still clutching your bleeding hand. "Why would you bring me here if you didn't want to eat me?"

"Curiosity." Gaz's eyes dart back to your face. “I told you.”

Frustration burns in your chest. "You bit me. You dragged me around the water. What else is fucking left to be curious about?"

Gaz hesitates. To him, you are a sight. Tattered clothes clinging to your damp body, he can see more of you than when he first spied you on that little boat, sitting so carelessly with your legs dangling in the water.

He stares at the bite wound on your arm. It's not just a “nip” like Soap’s--it's deep. A bite that left a deep, dark, ugly mark surrounded by a ring of dark blue-purple bruising. It will scar. The memory of his teeth will always be in your skin. He can still taste you: fresh adrenaline, copper blood, and seawater.

"What you feel like." His voidlike eyes are half-lidded, his voice soft. "Up close."

You glance back at him, your heart pounding. You're defenseless right now--you have been since they threw you onto this beach. So there has to be some truth to what they're saying, right? You remember reading somewhere that sharks are curious. That they sometimes investigate with their teeth, biting without any real intent to injure. So... maybe...

Soap leans in behind you and skims his clawed fingertip up your arm, his voice just past the shell of your ear. "We can take you back to shore, easy. We just need to clean those wounds. How about it," he purrs into your ear. "Gonnae help us help you?"

You shy away from his touch, feeling goosebumps break out all over. "Okay. Okay, fine." You glance down at your hand, then at Soap. "But not... not you."

You look at Gaz, hesitant, but your meaning is clear.

Soap's smirk twists into a frown. "Why not me?"

Gaz snatches your wrist. "Come here, then."

You find yourself pulled into the arms of a shark again as Gaz shuffles you into the crook of his arm. You're awed at how much bigger than humans these shark mer are. He coils his tail under you both. He grips your bloodied wrist in one hand and plants the other firmly on your hip to slide you even more flush against him. Any protest you had dies in your throat as he repositions your injured hand in his and plucks the glass out in a single, rough motion. A gasp punches out of you. The noise has Gaz pulling you closer, his arm wrapped tight around you.

You tense up, watching the claws on his hands very carefully, but he seems to maneuver you in such a careful, conscientious way to keep from hurting you with them that, once he has you positioned on his tail, you relax somewhat. They really are being careful with you, you realize. Some of the tension leaves your shoulders. You breathe out through your teeth. You can let this happen. Some people would love to be in your position, even. There's something tender but not quite gentle in how he grips you and how his thumb presses into your thigh.

He tucks your head under his chin. A low hum vibrates in his chest. Something about the sound is soothing. Or at least distracting enough that you don't notice him moving your hand to his mouth until his hot tongue laves over your wound.

Your blood--in his mouth--and roaring in your ears. How did you let yourself be tricked into letting a shark lap up your blood while he’s holding you close enough that you can see the beads of sea water clinging to the scarred ridges of his chest?

Even Gaz is somewhat surprised at the way his tongue instinctively scrapes over your wound to stem the blood flow. It's not an entirely animal compulsion to lick the wound clean--it's a practical enough way to clear away the blood. Tasting you is a bonus. That's what he tells himself as he trails his tongue down your arm to catch what's dripping down in rivulets to your elbow.

You squirm at the sting. Gaz tightens his grip.

"Is that all you were curious about, then?" Soap asks, sliding closer. He's talking to Gaz but looks down at you with glimmering solid blue eyes.

"Steady," he breathes, his voice still rough. He can smell your nervousness. He can feel your heart pounding. "She's got cuts all over. Let me..."

You feel his hands begin to peel away your tattered clothes and slide under them. You bite down on a squeal, grabbing his wrist. "Hey--!"

Before you can voice your protests fully, Soap's fingers brush the small bite mark on your ankle. You jolt, pulling your legs away and hugging them to yourself. Distracted by this, Gaz lets his free hand glide over the outside of your leg. His calloused fingers follow the curve of your hip, your thigh, your calf. He tugs your leg free so he can study the underside, too. He runs the pads of his fingers all the way back up to the bend of your knee, along the flesh of your hamstring, across the inside of your thigh. You shiver.

At the same time, Soap tugs at the bottom of your tattered shirt with interest. "Why d'you humans wear cloth? Is it because your skin is too thin?" Before you can reconsolidate yourself enough to answer, he scoffs. "All the good it does you. Shreds easier than seaweed."

“Mm,” Gaz agrees absently. He shifts you so your back is back braced up against his chest, your legs bunched up atop his tail. This way, he can keep you here and keep his hands free. He’ll have as much access to you as he needs.

At this angle, you feel rather than see the smooth dark planes of Gaz's chest and stomach. It should be wrong to notice the scars that run over his arms as they pass over you. Or the way his muscles ripple under your back. His body is a dichotomy: warm to the touch and smooth as fine silk, but rough and coarse with scars. Plus there’s the shark half.

Soap snatches up one of your ankles. He prods at your foot. "You get around on these?"

You huff. "When I can, clearly."

He runs the edge of one of his claws over the top of your foot, follows the arched bone underneath, and presses into your instep. He pokes and prods and presses hard on the ball of your foot with a curious look. "Must be slow."

"Doesn't have to be fast," you mutter.

"Then how d'you catch food?"

"I don't have to catch my food."

"You're a predator, though. You've got eyes facing forward."

"I can hunt what I need to hunt.” Salads and instant noodles, but you don’t bother saying that.

"That's good." Soap's hands slide to your toes. He finds it weird how your feet sort of resemble his hands. Little fingers and claws and everything. "As long as you've got prey slower and smaller and softer than you are."

"If that's even possible," Gaz says.

You scowl. Rude.

Gaz seems to enjoy your sour reaction a little too much. "I suppose your prey must be stupid, too."

"Watch it."

A smirk plays at his lips as his gaze flicks down to the rest of you, curled up on his lap in his arms. "Do you think you can make me? What'll you do--scratch me with your claws?" He laces your fingers with his. Your soft, blunt human fingers and his thicker, sharper, callused ones. "Bite me with your razor-sharp teeth?"

"Maybe."

"How vicious." He nudges your bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. "Go on, then."

You consider it. Then you realize it would just prove his point, so you turn your face away with a huff. You wish you'd paid more attention to all those National Geographic specials about mer. You don't specifically remember any real-life cases of shark mer eating humans, but there are definitely made-for-TV movies about it.

Soap's hands creep up to your calf. His thumbs prod your shin and then your kneecap. "I can feel her bones," he says in surprise.

"We both have bones.”

"Well, yours are like rock. Ye got thin skin, hard bones. 'Cept your claws." Soap's fingers wander up your bare legs past your kneecaps. When they make it to your thigh, he grips it with his whole hand and squeezes lightly.

He's fascinated--amazed, even--by your body. It's almost enough to make you feel self-conscious, but everything you'd cover up is a fascination for them. Bumps, stretch marks, pock marks, folds, fat, stubble--you feel yourself tense up when hands wander to those parts of yourself you've learned to be ashamed of, but they don't react. Of course they don't, but still. It feels strange.

Gaz notices your discomfort. He keeps his grip light and loose on you, but his eyes linger on the flesh of your thigh in Soap's hands, the way your skin dimples under the pressure. "It's like a seal,” Gaz says.

"My thigh is like a seal?"

"Soft and blubbery,” Soap adds. "And seals are delicious." He leans down and pinches a bit of skin in his teeth.

You squirm a bit at the harmless little nip, but moreso at the way his hand slides a little too far up your thigh. You put your uninjured hand over his to stop it from going any higher.

Unfortunately, that just seems to draw his attention to what might be up there. His eyes flick up to your shorts. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." He grabs the hem of your shorts to slide them higher.

You grab his hands. "Hey!"

He grins. "You're a bit twitchy.”

"That's not allowed," you tell him, face burning.

"Isn't it?" Gaz says. He loops his long fingers under your thigh and lifts it up as if to give Soap more room. "Whose rule is that?"

You quickly snap your thighs shut anyway, curling your legs into yourself as best you can. "My rule. Don't touch."

A low noise of frustration rumbles in Soap's chest. "Why do humans cover up so much?" His hands slide up your outer thighs, and he bends until his face is almost level with your stomach. His frown deepens as if this were the thing he was really curious about. "Just let me look for a second."

"Absolutely not."

"Waste of nice soft human skin," he mutters. "Hiding it all away."

“Let us in,” Gaz says.

“No.”

"Not even me?" he asks.

"No."

They both frown.

"Why not?” Gaz asks. “What are you keeping there?"

You huff. "It's my-- my reproductive things. Happy?"

"Your... reproductive things." Soap furrows his brow and turns his head to Gaz. "Reproductive like a fish?"

Gaz's fingers continue to squeeze your inner thighs in slow, deliberate motions. "No," he says after a beat. "Like a mammal."

"Ah. So?" Soap gives you a blank look. "Those are all up inside you then, aye? Nothin' to see."

He takes hold of your knee again. You immediately pull out of his grasp and turn to the side, sitting up on your knees this time as Gaz shifts his tail to accommodate you. "Nothing to see as far as you're concerned," you respond, curt.

Soap continues to leer at you, but his prodding is less insistent at your clear refusal. "Just tell us then. Where is it exactly? In the front? Or the back?"

You cross your arms. "None of your business."

"Don't humans mate for fun?" Soap asks.

“I didn't say that.”

"They doooo," Soap singsongs. He smiles and bares his teeth, the sharp points on his canines glinting in the light.

All the heat that had gone out of your cheeks comes rushing back in. " Do you?"

Soap grins again in that annoying way. "We do. Very fun. So what's the big deal?”

"We're not mating is what," you snap. You push yourself off of Gaz’s lap and stumble a bit, catching yourself with a splash into the deepening tide. "When are you taking me back home?"

Soap looks disappointed at the possibility of being deprived so suddenly of his new toy.

Gaz frowns too. "Now you're talking like you didn't enjoy yourself." He pushes himself up and follows you into the water, his fins cutting through it smoothly. "But a deal is a deal. We’ll take you back to shore. Once night falls, of course."

"But it's morning!"

"So it is." Gaz circles your legs, forming a crescent around you as he comes to a rest on his side in the shallow water. He smirks at you like he finds your confusion endearing in a tedious way. "Night will come again. We've got time until then."

"But the tide will come in," you remind them, casting a look back at the tiny little cove.

"It will,” Gaz agrees.

You don't like the way his smirk grows. Soap grins, too.

A slow realization that you're being toyed with comes over you. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

Gaz's smirk turns to a lazy little grin to match Soap’s. "Keep letting us entertain you.”

You hem and haw, but ultimately, when they pull you back into the shallow water with them, you don’t fight it. You’d rather conserve your energy.

Soap's hands join Gaz's, running up your strange human legs again. "We're going to keep her. Right, Gaz?"

"Of course," Gaz murmurs. The sea doesn't like to release its gifts. "Why would we bother leaving a catch intact without keeping it?"

...

part 1 / [part 2]

more Gaz / more Soap / more mer au / masterlist tag

[enwifen]

°. PRINCESS TREATMENT ﹙PSH / 박성훈﹚

🧴⊹ ࣪ ౨ৎ˚ ──── in which your husband gives you the ultimate princess treatment in the form of a self care day ! …you thought that pampering stops after marriage? pfft!

pairing. husband!sunghoon x fem!reader wc. 3.1k note. layout inspo taken from the lovely @enmi-land <3

The scent of warm, fluffy pancakes is what causes you to stir. The sheets rustle beneath you as you pat the cold spot beside you, your eyebrows furrowing once you realise your husband wasn’t beside you. With your mind still fuzzy from sleep it takes you a minute or so to connect the dots, feeling more awake once you’ve stretched.

“Ah, he must be downstairs.” You mutter quietly.

You swing your legs over the side of the bed, slipping your feet into the warmth of your slippers.

Slowly you make your way down(town)stairs and standing there in all his domestic glory is no one other than your husband, Park Sunghoon.

He makes quite the cutie, silently flipping pancakes wearing a focused expression as well as your pink, frilly apron that reads ‘worlds best wife’

The title suits him, you think.

Feeling his sense for you tingling sunghoon briefly looks up, smiling immediately upon catching your eye. You could’ve sworn a single sparkle appeared on his fang then, just like in the cartoons.

He was perfect.

“Good morning, love.”

“Morning Hoonie~” you smile and nod towards his whole Pinterest like breakfast set up. “What’s the occasion? It’s not our anniversary today… or my birthday…”

He chuckles softly, plating the last few pancakes. “Can’t I spoil the love of my life like she deserves?”

You find it increasingly hard to bite back a smile, walking over to the dining table. “Well when you put it like that…”

Sunghoon smiles and quickly moves to pull out your chair for you, kissing the top of your head as he tucks you in. He disappears briefly only to come back with your breakfast on a tray. You wondered if he had bought a few extra things for this pampering day because since when did either of you own a honey pot? Either way your husband is meticulous, going still as he allows the sticky substance to trickle from the dipper gradually creating a big enough puddle on the surface of the pancake for the rest to spill over the sides.

A giggle manages to escape your lips, completely smitten and endeared by the sheer amount of effort put in.

“Fruits?” Sunghoon offers.

“Yes please.” You smile sweetly.

An amused hum leaves him. “My girl is so polite.” He says, topping off the meal with a few blueberries and raspberries. “If only I had powdered sugar… than this would be perfect.”

“Hoon, baby, this is already perfect- I feel like I’m in my own Disney movie.”

“Really? Well, as long as the desired effect is achieved I guess it doesn’t matter.” He smiles again, kissing your forehead this time before retreating to his own seat.

You do most of the talking throughout breakfast, Sunghoon listening intently as he eats. At some point he finishes his food before you, his chin resting in his palm as he stares at you. He smiles at the faint blush that spreads across your cheeks upon you noticing his staring.

“What’s the matter, baby? Why’d you stop talking?”

“Because you’re staring at me.”

Sunghoon laughs, cheeks pushing his eyes into crescent shapes as he does. “Isn’t that the polite thing to do when listening to someone?”

“Well… yes but..!” Sunghoon watches you with an amused look on his face, you getting flustered was funny to him. “You’re… you’re looking at me as if I have stars in my eyes or something.” You joke.

“Well maybe that’s because you do.”

“Hoonie!”

You’re left at the table to be a blushing mess, watching your husband begin to clear your dishes away.

◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟⠀ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟

Later on in the day came one of you and Sunghoon’s favourite thing to do together: working out.

While Sunghoon enjoyed lifting weights, you enjoyed yoga. As well as the sight of your husband’s muscles flexing after each bicep curl but, hey, that was for another time.

It wasn’t unusual for Sunghoon to be the one finishing his workout first, he had a lot of stamina but weight lifting was still very tiring. You can see him put down his weights out of your peripheral vision, expecting him to maybe pats your head as he announces he’s off to take a shower.

Except he doesn’t, instead walking up behind you.

“Uhh, baby? Is something wrong…?”

“No, not at all, love, mind if I help you stretch?”

You hum in agreement. Having been doing yoga for awhile now you were already pretty flexible but the gesture was sweet and who were you to pass up on the opportunity to get pampered even more?

You proceed to get into a position you tend to find a little more difficult, the cobra. Now, Sunghoon was no professional at yoga however, being the loving man he is, you had caught him watching a few videos on yoga (specifically the dos and don’ts), his reasoning being he wanted to be able to help you. Best believe he was smothered in hugs and kisses after that.

His soft hands come into contact with your skin, carefully adjusting your shoulders. “Pull up through the top of your- that’s it, good job, baby.” He mutters, the deep rumbles of his voice sending shivers down your spine. Sunghoon notices how you tremble slightly, he can tell you’re slightly uncomfortable but trying to hide it seeing as he could see your face. “Don’t forget to breathe, love.”

You take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. “Just like that, my good girl.” He kisses your forehead, smiling proudly. You stay in that position for a little while longer, enjoying your husband’s gentle coaching.

The next position you choose is far more simple but is one you had been working on. Being able to touch your toes had always been a goal of yours, hence Sunghoon applying just enough pressure to your back to push you forward.

You whine softly from the slight strain.

“Shh, shh, shh, breathe, angel.” And you do, ignoring the flips your stomach does. Even after all this time he has this effect on you and it’s cute if you think about it, ignoring the fact you can practically hear him smirking behind you.

You clear your throat in an attempt to regain composure. “I- I, uh, I think I’m done for the day.”

“Yeah?” You nod and turn to face your husband. “Why don’t you take a bath.”

“A bath?” Sunghoon nods, giggling at your cute head tilt. “Wouldn’t a shower be quicker…?”

“Yes but I can’t exactly— it’s not as romantic as a bath is.” Your eyebrows furrow before you catch on, smiling helplessly.

“Hoon… you don’t have to do all this you know.”

“I know but I want to.” He smiles. The kind of smile only reserved for you, one that says he wants to give you the world and more.

So you accept.

◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟⠀ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟

Sunghoon sits on a small stool by the bathtub, all you had to do was sit back and relax. You allow your eyelids to flutter shut as he shampoos and conditions your hair, you feel calm and at peace- maybe even a little nostalgic. The gentle way in which his hands work into your scalp reminds you of bath times you had as a child, small giggles escaping your lips as he carefully pours a bucket of water to rinse your hair.

Next he moves onto your body. You teased him lightheartedly about possibly having ulterior motives but Sunghoon simply waves the idea off with a smile and a ‘not this time’.

The way Sunghoon treats your body was very different to how you do, you distantly wonder if you should be taking notes as you watch him. The exfoliating glove lightly gliding across your skin, bubbles forming from the body wash from the motion.

“Isn’t it kinda gross seeing all my dead skin cells?” You joke, though you feel a little embarrassed.

Sunghoon furrows his perfectly groomed eyebrows. “Not at all, love? Why would I be? It’s completely normal.”

“I know but…” you trail off, not knowing what to say back to the valid point he made. He sighs fondly.

“Baby, we’re human, we sweat, have oil on our skin… this is just a buildup of that, it’s not gross at all. What kind of man would I be offering to bathe you yet get grossed out by the fact that you’re dirty? That’s the purpose of a bath you know, to get clean?” He chuckles.

“You’re right, I’m sorry, that was stu—”

Your husband cuts you off, feigning a pained expression. “Ahh, don’t speak about yourself like that, you have worries and that okay, you know I’m more than happy to lay them to rest.”

You pout. “You’re going to make me cry.”

Kissing the side of your head he mutters “as long as they’re happy tears, cry as much as you want, baby.”

The water eventually grows cold and you step out of the tub, walking into Sunghoon’s open arms that holds your towel. Of course it’s warm too, having been sat on the radiator the whole time. You stay in his warm embrace for awhile, reluctantly pulling away moments later to change.

When you set foot into your shared bedroom, you were not expecting the sight in front of you. Your favourite pyjamas laid out next to a tray of what seemed to be… oils and lotion?

“Hoonie? What is all this?”

He bites back a smile. “Care for a massage?”

◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟⠀ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟

Now this was the life, you thought.

Sunghoon had to have researched some massage techniques after educating himself on the dos and donts of yoga because you could’ve sworn you were floating on cloud nine right now.

All those years of bad posture sitting at your desk had led to a build up of knots in your shoulders as well as a little tension in your back. But with each passing moment with Sunghoon’s hands working their magic, slowly the pain and discomfort began to melt away. The sweet scent of lavender was also doing wonders for your brain, lulling it into a state of calm.

So calm you could fall asleep, even.

“Ahh baby, don’t fall asleep on me…” he chuckles. As if his soft tone would help you stay awake. All you can do is whine sleepily in response. “Please? There’s still one more thing I want to do… then I promise I’ll let you sleep.”

Park Sunghoon was the human embodiment of the gift that just kept on giving.

With every passing moment, things only seem to get more hazy. You barely register the end of massage until Sunghoon is helping you get dressed into your pyjamas, touches light as to keep you in the fuzzy state of mind you were in.

Gently he lays you back down on the bed, like a prince would a princess. You think he’s changed his mind and maybe he’s decided to let you sleep after all. A fond breath escapes his lips upon noticing your eyes flutter shut.

Then, a cool sensation on your cheeks wakes you back up again. Your brows furrow in confusion, one eye peeking open. “What the…”

“Hm?” Sunghoon tilts his head, thumb stroking your cheek to smoothen out any air pockets in the toner pad he had just placed. “I’m doing your skincare, love, too sleepy to remember?”

“Oh hoonie… you—”

“Don’t have to do this for you, I know~ but let me, I’m doing this because I want to. I’ll be gentle, hm? Know my baby’s tired.”

And your heart melts because Sunghoon is just too sweet. Too loving, too caring, too perfect and you thought you couldn’t fall any harder for him but it seems he will only continue to prove you wrong.

A tired smile spreads across your face, closing your eyes once more. Two more toner pads are placed on your forehead and chin, Sunghoon wiping any excess serum on your neck.

You yawn as he wipes your skin, seriously on the verge of sleep. Meanwhile Sunghoon seems to enjoy the glass look of your skin, gently poking your cheek with his finger to watch the skin bounce back. He smiles proudly, reaching for your moisturiser because he actually does want you to sleep.

In the end that’s what causes you to crumble. The sound of Sunghoon’s steady breathing paired with his fingers carefully massaging the cream into your skin… yeah you were a goner within no time.

With one last kiss to your forehead, Sunghoon leaves to get himself ready for bed.

[enwoso]

BIG ADVENTURE! — alessia russo x child!reader

full of fluff and cutest☺️ probably much needed after that game x

navigation -> grumpy universe masterlist

the group of twenty-three english players were half way through their embark on their adventure down under to begin their preparations for the women's world cup however they had a twenty fourth player in the form of a four year old little girl - which was you.

the england girls had loved having your little infectious personality around camp so far and were looking forwards to watching you cheer them on throughout the tournament.

"lovie, c'mon!" alessia held out her hand for you to hold onto as you had been running around the lounge waiting to go down into the terminal to board the plane. alessia more than happy to let you run around hoping you would get rid of as much energy as possible before the flight.

keeping you entertained for the past few hours since landing in dubai for the short lay over— alessia had simply been silently dreading the second half of the long flight to sydney.

"mummy! is that the plane we go on?" you asked, holding tightly onto your mums hand as you backpack hung low on your back. you pointing out the window to the sight of the planes sat on the tarmac outside.

"that's right! we should be on that one" alessia bent down to match your height pointing to said plane that the team was waiting to be allowed to board.

"it's a big plane isn't it!" alessia smiled as your face was covered with a big grin as a small wow came from you.

a burst of energy coming from you as you dropped your mum's hand along with your backpack, running in the direction of where georgia and a few of the other girls were, excited to show them the planes which were outside.

"gee! look, look- the planes! over there!" you rushed out tapping the midfielder repeatedly on the leg interrupting the older girls' conversation with keira.

"woah- slow down tiny!" georgia laughed picking you up as you took a little breathe, "okay now what were you saying?" georgia asked, her eyebrows raising slightly.

"look! mummy says that we go on them planes!" you point over to the wide window, at the planes which were stood on the other side of the window. excitement flowing through you with a wide grin still on your face.

"i know! isn't that cool!" georgia smiled at your excitement as keira poured, "are you excited tiny?" keira asked as you nodded quickly.

"YES! mummy said we can see koalas and k-ka-kanroos!" you said focusing on trying to say the last word which you could say properly, your eyebrows knitting together with concentration.

"kangaroos?"

"yep them!"

a gasp then coming from keira, "are you not excited to see your mummy play football?" you smile dropping a little in confusion.

"duh, mummy packed my football tops and boots!" you smiled cheekily with a hint of sass in your tone making the two midfielders burst out laughing as your eyebrows furrowed a little wondering what was so funny.

"i'll hold you to that!"

"me too!"

the original plan for flying to australia was that you flew over with alessia's parents and brothers a few weeks later when the team had gotten settled — alessia originally thinking it would make it more smoother for the transition from one side of the world to the other.

however, as days went on alessia and the departure date loomed closer the blonde realised how much she didn't want to be away from her tiny terror for that length of time. instead changing the plan last minute, and getting your suitcase packed.

"lovie?" you heard your mum call out but where still in conversation with georgia and keira about the animals in australia and how you definitely didn't want to bump into any eight legged creatures.

"tiny, i think your mum wants you" keira tapped you on the shoulder pointing in the direction of where alessia was stood your backpack in one hand as her big pink bag hung from her shoulder.

sliding down georgia's side you yelled a quick bye as you ran off back towards your mum, "there you are! where you been!"

"talking with georgia and keira bout animals!" you beamed as alessia hummed in amusement as she crouched down to your height, zipping your little jacket back up as well as putting it back on your shoulders as it had slouched down.

"have you got esme?” alessia asked standing back up as you looked around, twirling around in a circle for your elephant teddy. your comfort teddy which you’d had since you were little however naming the teddy when you got a little older.

“um, oh she’s here!” you mumbled in a hurry to get the teddy from the table lifting the toy up in the air as if it were a trophy as alessia smiled, holding her hand out for you to grab as boarding had started.

walking along the tunnel to the plane, the chatter of the other lionesses filling up the small area. you looking around soaking in the whole thing it being a big adventure to you as a smile had not once left your little face.

“smile lovie!” your mummy nudged you out of your own little word as she pointed to the team of lionesses photographers holding there big cameras. you giving a small and shy smile as well as a wave before jumping the big small gap onto the plane.

“hello!” you waved to the flight attendants who were stood welcoming everyone onto the aircraft, the two flight attendants giving a big smile and wave matching your own little bubble of energy.

walking down the isle, saying a little hi to the lionesses who were already in their seats as alessia guided you both to your seats. “y/n, we are here” your mummy called out as you had walked a few seats ahead of her.

climbing into your seat, which was closest to the window as you watched the men on the ground load the bags and suitcases onto the bottom of the plane. alessia on the other hand began to sort through everything she would need in order to get through the twelve hour flight to sydney airport.

“boo!” you cheered as you jumped up at the back of your seat, scaring the person who was sitting behind you. millie jumping slightly as a bright smile appeared on her face as she looked up from her phone to see your head poking over the back of the seat with a cheeky look on your face.

“hello cheeky!” millie smiled sticking her tongue out as you returned the smile while also sticking your own tongue out back at the blonde. “who sitting there?” you asked pointing to the seat next to her — taking note of the face she wasn’t with her usual right hand, rachel daly.

“rach of course!” mille said as your face grew confused, “she’s down there with the important people asking boring questions!” millie pointed down towards the front of the plane hoping you now understood, exaggerating the word boring as she said it.

your confused look slowly rising, “oh!”

the long journey had begun and alessia was quite surprised as how well you were actually behaving, as she had definitely planned for worse. but the blonde had also been quickly reminded herself that there was still a lot of time to go — the flight only being 6 hours in, so there was most definitely time.

you were sat snuggled in your blanket with esme your elephant, watching a series of children programmes in the tv that was in the back of the seat. your pink princess head phones which sat proudly on top of your head, a small smile appearing on your face every so often when something funny happened on the screen.

most of the girls were asleep after being urged to sleep now by the team managers as it was in line with the time zone change that would happen. alessia had gotten around two hours of sleep, before you had woken her up tapping her in the arm as you’d dropped esme under the seat in front of you and your small arms were unable to reach it.

“mummy” you whispered, tapping your mum on the arm once again as she was half asleep, alessia mumbling for you to carry on.

“i go find someone to colour with?” you asked a small pout appearing on your face as you were sat with your colouring pens and books hugged up to your chest after you’d found them in your backpack.

“yes, but-“ you were quick to slide right off your seat at the response however your mum stopped you from running out into the isle with her foot. “but, lovie please don’t wake up any of the girls if they are asleep, okay?” alessia had a stern look on her face as you nodded.

“okay!” you beamed, alessia kissing your forehead before letting you walk off down the aircraft your colouring supplies bundled in your arms.

walking along the isle carefully not to drop anything, as you finally found one of the girls who wasn’t asleep — ella!

“auntie el” you tapped the midfielder who was watching a show on her ipad, headphones in totally unaware of her surroundings. a smile appearing on the brunettes face as she turning to see you poking her arm.

“hi tiny! what’s wrong?” ella whispered lifting you onto her lap while also being careful not to wake the sleeping georgia stanway beside her.

“need someone to colour with me” you smiled sweetly while holding up your colouring supplies proudly, hoping that ella would sit and colour with you as there was not many other girls who were awake.

ella’s heart melting at the sight, “well what are my options then” the midflieder asked pointing to the books in your hand. you setting out the three options on the little table.

“princess one, animal or random one!” you pointed to each book as ella sat deep in though assessing her options.

“oo tough choice — which are you going first?” ella asked, over exaggerating her thinking face as you pointed to the one you were doing — the book filled with random colouring pages.

once ella had chosen her colouring book, the two of you made small talk filling ella in on all the things you had done on the first flight and this flight. ella’s smile big as she listened to you as you sat concentrated hard trying not to colour over the lines.

“finished!”

you held up your picture in front of ella, the picture being of twenty-four people all frawn with there own little personalities and a small name scribbled underneath them.

“whose all them people?" ella asked, as you sighed beginning her explanation. talking through each drawing.

“there's mummy with number twenty-three, chloe, mary-“ you listed off each player of the england team having drawn them with an england kit on making sure to put the number at which they played

"and then there's you with a number ten and me with number twenty four!" you sat proudly with with ella as she looked at the picture closely a loud laugh coming from the brunette.

“tiny, don’t let your mum see you’ve given her brown hair!”

“my yellow pen ran out” you pouted.

“tooney shut up!” georgia groaned as she began to wake up from all the noise ella was making, you looking between ella and georgia hushed giggled coming from the two of you.

georgia rubbing her eyes before opening them, as you jumped into georgia’s chest, “hi gee!”

“oh hi tiny — what you doing here!”

“me and ella been drawin’ look!” you smiled holding up your picture in front of the girl who smiled sleepily, humming along as you gave the same explanation as you did to ella a few moments earlier.

“how’s my little artist!” you heard your mums voice as you turned around a smile on your face, the plane had began to liven a bit up as most of the girls were now awake.

“look!” you handed your drawing to your mum who looked over it with a smile.

“which ones me?” alessia asked as she looked up from the picture, as you pointed to which one was her. the blondes eyebrows furrowed slightly. “i don’t have brown hair!”

“my yellow pen ran out” you pouted hoping it wasn’t going to upset your mummy too much. “ohh that’s okay — it’s adorable!” she beamed as your pout turned to a big grin.

alessia stood with talking to both ella and georgia for some time as you sat on ella’s knee doodling away on a sheet of paper, the time ticking away before it was time for food.

“right come on little one, let’s get you something to eat!” alessia picked up the other two colouring books off the floor tapping you on the head.

“me eat here” you mumbled carrying on your doodles, alessia shaking her head as a frown began on your face.

“you can come back once you’ve eaten!” your mum compromised as you slowly nodded slipping down from ella’s lap, alessia picking up your colouring supplies as you said a quick bye to ella and georgia before being walked back up the aircraft to your seat.

the rest of the flight went quite smoothly for alessia, you sat eating for best part of half an hour, eating slowly as you watched the tv again.

then once by the time you got bored of that, you sat playing a little game with your mum which she had packed but you soon began to yawn it being a while since you’d had a sleep.

“which film?” alessia asked you as you were snuggled into her arms a blanket laid over you, as you pointed over to a disney film.

you watched majority of the film your finger twirling the end of your hair around it, before you fell asleep. you body going limp as you breathing slowed right down.

and that’s how you spent the last hour and half of the flight, not even waking when the plane hit the ground. however alessia then had the trouble of carrying you off the flight along with your backpack and her bag.

"tiny! we're here!" ella and georgia yelled together from behind alessia as you were being carried in alessia's arms unable to see that you were asleep.

alessia sending the pair a death stare, before swotting them on the shoulder as she shushed them. the pair making an oh sound as they quickly apologised moving up the line of lionesses as the group walked through the arrivals part of the airport.

it was both a blessing and a curse that you had fallen asleep when you did. a blessing because it meant that you would start on the australian time zone it being around eight at night when the plane had landed but a curse as it meant alessia had to carry you.

your big adventure down under was just beginning.

liked by keirawalsh and 738,246 others

alessia tiny on tour starts now! 🐨🌏🇦🇺🩵

comments —

ellatoone coolest one in the team!

1h         451 likes reply

-> stanwaygeorgia you said i was cool!

-> ellatoone yeh but tiny is coolER

lucybronze our little explorer🥹

1h         230 likes reply

maryearps can’t wait to see her face when she see the kangaroo

1h         107 likes reply

-> alessia betting on the chance of her crying and being scared of them icl

‘

[dandylovesturtles]

alright, here it is: part 3 of the still untitled Room Fic! and boy is it long... this might be as long as parts 1 and 2 put together.

Content warnings for this part: vomit, serious discussion of food issues, internalized ableism, everyone being a little bit dumb

I am not a doctor and my meal plan for Leo is extremely lightly researched (mainly because it's hard to find information that would be helpful in Leo's situation but that isn't highly technical). in the end I went with what I like from a narrative standpoint. if someone starves as long as Leo did please get them to an actual doctor lol.

also I got tired and didn't proofread the last few sections.

just a warning that I'm going on vacation next week and will be out of the country for awhile so don't expect any more for this for quite some time. in the meantime, hope you enjoy this!

and if you're confused, start here!

-----

Leo wakes up.

The room is moving. His head is cradled in someone's lap. There's a furry hand stroking his arm, and a voice hums the notes of a lullaby he hasn't heard since he was a child.

-----

Leo wakes up.

He's lying somewhere soft and blessedly warm. There's a weight across his chest. Someone is chattering in his ear, happy and upbeat, saying something to him about Jupiter Jim on the desert planet Delta-5.

-----

Leo wakes up.

He's still somewhere soft but now it's too hot. He whines and pushes at the things on his chest. Near his ear someone tuts, and then a hand lands on his, giving it a squeeze.

"Nardo, you need to warm up. Don't-"

-----

Leo wakes up, and his eyes open.

"Leo?" comes Raph's voice. Leo blinks to clear his vision, then lets his eyes trail up, to find his big brother bending over him. "You awake for real this time?"

He isn't sure. Raph being here sure feels like a dream.

He lowers his eyes and looks around. He's not home. He doesn't recognize this place at all, actually. But the walls are beige (still unstimulating, but at least not white), the furniture is dark brown, the bed (not a cot) has a blue bedspread, the empty takeout containers on the table have a splash of red. It's not home, but it's not the room, either.

If he were going to dream, surely he'd just picture himself back home.

He blinks back up at Raph, and smiles.

"Wide awake," he says, echoing Raph from before.

Raph bursts into tears, immediately leaning down and wrapping Leo up in one of his signature hugs. For the first time in so many days (longer, longer, Leo can't remember the last time he got a Raph hug like this), Leo feels completely secure, fully enveloped in love and affection, held safe by his big brother where no one can hurt him.

The difference between this moment and the last week and a half is so stark it leaves Leo feeling dizzy. Like he hadn't even realized how scared and lonely and helpless he truly felt until all that pain was taken away. He's safe now. He's okay now. Raph is hugging him.

Leo hates crying in front of people, but even he can't be stoic for this.

"Oh Leo," says Raph softly once he realizes. "It's okay. We got'cha."

Leo sniffs, burying his face in Raph's plastron. He wishes he could hug back, but his limbs feel so heavy, like Donnie swapped them out for metal versions when he wasn't looking. So he can't hug back, but he leans in close and hopes that's enough.

They get about a minute to hug before Mikey is worming his way in between them, wriggling to push his arms past Raph's and around Leo for himself. "No fair, you got to hold him earlier!" Mikey declares, his voice thick with tears.

"You got to hug him earlier," Raph argues.

"He was asleep, it doesn't count!" Mikey hits back, and Leo laughs and shifts so Mikey can better get in the middle. Raph sighs exaggeratedly, but he gives Leo a pat and leans back to let Mikey in.

Mikey hugs even tighter than Raph, nuzzling in against Leo's shoulder. "I missed you," he says, then gives a choked sob he tries to bury.

"Missed you too," Leo promises, craning his neck so he can land a big smooch on Mikey's head. That replaces the sobs with relieved giggles that leave Leo feeling so much lighter.

After another minute, Mikey moves back and looks over at Donnie, who's been standing at the side of the bed wringing his hands. "Your turn, Donald."

Donnie makes a grumpy noise at having been perceived, but when Leo gets a look at his face he sees Donnie has tears shimmering in his eyes, too. They break free once Donnie's arms are around him, trickling onto the skin of Leo's shoulder.

"Crying over me, Don-ton?" he teases, even as his own voice is thick with emotion.

"Shut up, Nardo," Donnie snaps back, but his voice cracks at the end and he holds on even tighter.

"Alright, my turn," says April once Donnie starts to loosen his grip, and Donnie obligingly crawls off the bed, swiping at his eyes. Like he's looking for something to busy himself with, he starts throwing away the takeout containers on the table. They must be empty.

Leo tears his eyes away just as April swoops in to wrap him up in his fourth hug of the hour, giving him a kiss on his forehead as she does. "Hey, Leo. How're you feelin'?"

"Happy to see you," he says again, and she squeezes him tighter. "Kinda hot."

"That's the hypothermia talking," says Donnie. April shushes him.

"Hypothermia?" Leo asks. April pulls back so she can see his face.

"It wasn't that bad," she says quickly. "You'd started brumating, we think... Tromping around in the snow didn't help, though."

"Not to mention you used up the last of your energy portaling us out of there," Mikey chimes in. "It was really cool though!"

Leo laughs. "Thanks, little brother." Even with the containers thrown away, the smell of the takeout is thick in the room. Leo guesses they had Japanese. It can't have been that long ago. "Where are we?"

"Motel room about two hours down the road." April slides to sit next to him, keeping one arm wrapped around his shoulders. Her body heat is warm in a more pleasant way than the blankets, and he leans into it. "We wanted to go further, but we needed to get you warmed up."

"A motel...? Huh." Leo looks around again. This is his first time being in a hotel that isn't owned by Big Mama. He wonders how far it is from the Japanese place. Just, like, average delivery time. "What happened? It's... kind of a blur for me." He laughs.

They launch into the story without any more prompting. It all sounds like what Leo expected. Raph led the team. Donnie did science stuff. Mikey razzed his tazz. April used her investigative skills.

They tracked him all the way down to Colorado (that explains the snow) and broke him out. They floored it away from the EPF, got far enough they felt safe, then booked into a motel under April's name. That's where they've been since. Splinter and Draxum are out now, patrolling to make sure they weren't followed or discovered.

It's quite the story. And Leo knows he should be paying more attention than he is.

It's just, the takeout boxes. The smell coming from them is so strong, or maybe Leo is just abnormally sensitive to it. He thinks someone had steak, and someone else had fish. The fried rice had egg in it. His mouth is watering so badly he has to swallow every few seconds.

"Leo?" calls Mikey, and Leo startles, ripping his eyes from the trash can to look at Mikey's face. He's gripping the bedspread so hard his knuckles are cramping. He realizes this is not the first time Mikey said his name. Great, now they know he wasn't paying attention.

"Ah, sorry," he says quickly. "I didn't mean to zone out." He flashes them all the biggest smile he can, so they don't worry. "I was just, uh..."

He trails off, not sure of a way to say that he was completely distracted by the smell of their already eaten Japanese food without making it awkward.

"Sorry, Leo, we know you're tired," says Raph, reaching over and rubbing his head. "You can go back to sleep. We're not leaving for awhile."

Go back to sleep? Leo doubts he can, what with the hunger an empty yawning hole inside him. It had been muted while the cold and the exhaustion took over, but now that he's warmer and more rested his body is very painfully reminding him he still has another problem.

He's trying to come up with a casual way to approach the subject when his stomach does it for him, gurgling and growling loud enough that everyone hears it. Leo is very glad his blushes don't show up as easily as humans' do.

"Uh... heh heh." He scratches at his own cheek, then stops when he feels how disturbingly hollowed out it is. "Before that... are there any leftovers?"

Everyone's staring at him. Leo's too tired to puzzle out why they're all staring at him. Maybe there really aren't any leftovers? He did just watch Donnie throw everything away. Maybe there were some, but now they'd have to fish it out of the trash. Leo wants to say he'd happily eat it out of the trash, but that would be really weird and they'd stare at him even more.

(But he would eat it out of the trash. He may be too proud to say it out loud, but he can admit it to himself.)

"O-or," he says quickly, to fill the silence after his last question, "if... if it's not too much trouble, can you ask Dad and Barry to bring something with them when they come back? Even if it's just something from a gas station, or..." They're still staring, and Leo feels himself starting to ramble desperately, "Or if it's too late, I can just... I can just go back to sleep, hah, but... but can someone at least wake me up so I don't miss breakfast?"

His family stutters back to life at that. Raph gives a furious shake of his head and says, "Forget breakfast," which makes Leo's heart and stomach lurch painfully. Waiting until lunch? That feels like forever away.

But then Raph continues with, "Leo, why didn't you tell us you're hungry right now?"

Leo falters. "Uh... just... didn't want to interrupt the flow of the conversation," he says, which is true, but the way everyone is looking at him now, he's pretty sure it's the wrong answer.

"Please," says April, tone very close to exasperated, "interrupt the conversation."

"Will do," says Leo. But he's still not sure what to do, because no one has told him when food is coming.

(You want this? You beg for it.)

Before he can spin out on that thought, Mikey jumps off the bed and heads for the mini-fridge that Leo hadn't noticed until now. He yanks open the door and pulls out two takeout containers, a box and a cylindrical container.

"We weren't sure what you felt up to, so we got you steak hibachi and miso soup," Mikey says, waving each container in turn.

The thought of having to actually chew and swallow sounds exhausting, so Leo says, "Soup's fine." And then, just in case, he adds hastily, "Please."

"Okay," says Mikey, and even though he's clearly trying to sound upbeat, Leo can hear the strain in his voice. "Just give me a minute to heat it up for you!"

Leo would eat it cold. Leo would eat it frozen. But he bites that back and waits.

Mikey puts it in the microwave on top of the fridge. Every little tick down on the timer feels like it takes three eternities. The rest of his family seems to feel the tension as much as he does.

"April!" says Donnie abruptly, too loud to be natural. "You wanted to see what's on the sci-fi channel!"

"Thaaat's right!" she says, also a little too loudly. "I did. Hand me the remote."

Donnie gives her the remote. She turns on the TV just as the microwave dings.

Mikey yanks the door open as soon as it does, pulling the bowl out with no regard for how hot it is. He gives it a perfunctory blow to cool it down, then hurries over to the bed, pausing only to grab a plastic spoon off a little pile of utensils on the table.

He hands both the bowl and spoon to Leo, but Leo already knows his arms won't be able to maneuver the spoon, so he lets it fall into his lap, in favor of lifting the entire container to his lips. He hopes he doesn't look too pathetically eager as he tilts it back and takes his first sip.

It's good.

It's so good he starts crying.

It's not even the best miso soup he's ever had. In fact, it's a little too oily and nowhere near as good as the kind his dad makes, or what Mikey is capable of. But it doesn't matter. It wouldn't matter if this was the worst soup in the world, because right now it's the best thing Leo has ever tasted.

He may be crying more over this than he did over hugs from his family. Maybe he'll have it in him to feel bad for that later.

The TV is showing some old monster movie. His siblings pretend they're watching that and not watching him. He appreciates that, because it makes him feel less self-conscious as he desperately slurps down the soup, practically guzzling it, only pausing when he has to chew the greens here and there.

He eats until his stomach is full and warm. And then he keeps going. There's still soup left, and stopping feels impossible.

(Besides, no one actually promised him breakfast.)

"Hey, maybe you should slow down," says Donnie. Leo pauses, looking up at him, licking the remains of soup off his lips. The container is still about a third full.

Maybe Donnie is right. His stomach is actually starting to cramp. But... but...

He doesn't know what his face looks like right now. But something about it makes Donnie look sad.

He turns away, rubbing right between his fake eyebrows. "Okay, okay. Just... don't overdo it."

Leo sighs, grateful the soup isn't being taken away. He goes back to drinking it, feeling like the chasm inside him is finally beginning to fill.

-----

The next time Leo wakes up, it's because he has to puke. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to communicate that before it's all over himself and the bedsheets.

"Whoa, Leo-" someone says, and then there's a flurry of activity around him. He can't keep up with who goes where and who says what. It's a lot to keep track of when he just woke up and is spewing half-digested miso soup and stomach bile.

"There we go... You're alright, Blue, you're alright," he hears once he comes back to his senses, and he blinks and looks over. His dad is standing on the bed next to him, and he leans in with a damp washcloth and wipes at Leo's face and mouth.

"Perhaps the soup was too much for your stomach," Splinter says as he finishes, tossing the washcloth into the floor. "How do you feel?"

"Mm... weird," Leo admits, leaning sleepily into his dad's shoulder. He shouldn't because he's gross, but Splinter lets him do it, stroking his cheek. "My stomach hurts..."

The loss of the food hurts; without anything in his stomach, he'll feel hungry again soon. Leo is terrified of that, of the deep empty chasm of his hunger returning, sucking him down into its depths. At the same time, the idea of eating makes him feel queasy.

He feels weird, and miserable, and scared, and he doesn't know when his dad came back, but he's so glad he's here.

"How much did you let him eat?" he hears Draxum ask. Leo finds the energy to feel offended that he's being talked about like he isn't in the room, but not enough energy to actually say anything about it.

"As much as he wanted," Mikey answers. Which, as Leo recalls, was almost all of the soup.

"And how much was that?"

"Here, look."

There's the sound of the mini-fridge being opened again. The pop of the takeout lid. Draxum hums in a way that does not sound pleased.

"Leonardo," he says, coming to stand by the bed now. "I have a very important question and I need you to answer: when was the last time you ate?"

Leo stares at him blearily. Then he raises a tired hand and indicates the mess all down his front.

"Don't get cute," says Draxum, ignoring the following grunt of warning Splinter directs his way. "You know what I'm asking you."

Of course Leo knows. But he doesn't want to answer. Not while his dad is holding him, and all his siblings are watching him expectantly. They aren't going to like what he has to tell them. He doesn't want to upset them.

But Draxum is unmoved and steely eyed. There's no way Leo is getting out of this without answering.

He sighs, shutting his eyes and leaning into Splinter so he doesn't have to be looking at the rest of them when he says it.

"Last time I ate was at Run of the Mill."

He hears a gasp, hears Mikey yell, "What!?" Feels Splinter's sharp intake of breath under his cheek, and then his dad shifts so he can hold him even closer.

"They... they didn't feed you in there at all?" asks April, like she doesn't quite believe it.

Leo nods.

"I should have leveled the whole building!" Donnie snaps, and Leo hears something get knocked to the ground.

Mikey comes closer, and puts a hand on his shoulder, drawing Leo's gaze back his way. He looks so upset, and Leo regrets looking. "Leo, why didn't you tell us? You didn't even say you were hungry!"

"Felt weird to bring it up in the middle of the happy reunion," he says. It's a weak justification, he knows. The look on Mikey's face just gets more miserable.

"Wait," Raph cuts in. "Wait, so... when Bishop said he gave you chances to cooperate for better living conditions, he meant..."

Leo swallows hard, not wanting to look at the distress on Raph's face. "Feeding me, yeah."

"What did he want out of you? What was he making you do?"

This part, at least, Leo can answer easily. "He wanted information. About the yokai and the Hidden City."

Raph sounds surprised. "He just... wanted you to answer questions?"

"Yeah." Leo nods again. "Like, how to get in, how many portals there are, what kind of defense capabilities there are, stuff about Draxum... That's what I remember."

"Why didn't you just tell them?"

Now Leo does look at Raph's face. He's staring at Leo with open horror and distress. But Leo doesn't understand the question, or the look. He did what he was supposed to, didn't he? He held out and didn't give Bishop any information. He did the right thing. So Raph has no reason to look so upset.

He smiles in a way he hopes is reassuring. "Hey, that's not what a hero would do, right?"

It's apparently not reassuring. If anything, Raph only looks more horrified.

He turns away from Leo abruptly and marches straight out of the room, slamming the door on the way out.

Leo doesn't understand that reaction. He did what he was supposed to, but Raph is mad at him, anyway. The rest of his family seems shocked, too, so at least Leo isn't alone.

"I'll talk to him," says April, the first to move. She leaves with much less noise, disappearing into the dark parking lot beyond the door.

Awkward silence envelops the room after that. Leo doesn't know what to do or say to break it. He made Raph mad, because he never does anything right, according to Raph. It's the same as always, but for some reason Leo feels even worse this time.

"...Well," says Draxum, cutting through the awkwardness when it becomes clear no one else wants to, "knowing this, we will have to be much more careful about what and how much you eat. I'll make a meal plan."

"Why you?" Leo grouses. "Let Donnie do it."

Donnie opens his mouth like he wants to agree, but Draxum cuts him off before he can.

"Me, because I have actual experience designing nutritious meal plans for children." Leo thinks of what he's heard about Draxum's lunchroom and makes a face, which Draxum ignores. "Besides, I can't trust any of the rest of you to actually tell Leo he can't have more to eat."

"I can handle myself," Leo argues.

"Clearly," says Draxum icily, indicating the mess still in Leo's lap, "you cannot."

Leo doesn't have a good response for that, and no one steps up to his defense. Back not even twenty four hours, and he already has multiple people mad at him. That has to be a new record.

"...Whatever," he says, because he doesn't know what else to say. Draxum nods like he actually gave approval.

There's another round of awkward silence. Splinter breaks it this time.

"Why doesn't someone call housekeeping to ask for some fresh sheets," he says, "while I help Blue take a bath."

"Ugh, yes, I'm calling them now," says Donnie. Leo notes for the first time that his most persnickety brother is as far from his bed as possible, having put the second bed and the table between them. "The whole room is starting to smell."

Leo cringes. "Sorry..."

"There is nothing for you to apologize for," his dad reassures him, patting his head. Leo isn't sure he'd say that, but he doesn't waste breath arguing. "Now, come with me."

It takes some maneuvering, but they get him out of bed without making a bigger mess. Mikey starts stripping the sheets, and he can hear Donnie on the phone with the staff across the room.

Leo's still not wearing any of his gear. It shouldn't matter because he's just in a room with his family, but he still walks to the bathroom as quickly as he can.

Splinter shuts the door once they're inside, then fills a little plastic cup with water. This he hands off to Leo, saying, "Drink this, and I will run you a nice warm bath."

Leo does as he says, and tries not to think too much about how Raph is mad at him.

-----

There's an old concrete barrier that stands between the motel parking lot and an open field. Raph hefts a piece of the crumbling concrete and chucks it as hard as he can, watching as it disappears into the tall grass beyond.

They starved him. They starved his little brother for over a week, because he wouldn't answer some questions. And he wouldn't answer those questions because...

That's not what a hero would do.

Raph's ninpo flares to life. Punching out another piece of the barrier is easy; he lifts the broken pieces and throws them after the first, watching them sail through the air.

"You better hope there aren't any security cameras out here," says a voice behind him, and he looks over his shoulder.

April is there, standing a few feet back, hands tucked in the pockets of her jacket. Raph's ninpo stutters out at the sight of her; he wonders if he looked scary.

"...What are they gonna do even if there are?" he asks. But he does stop his wanton destruction.

"I don't know, but just remember it's my credit card on file for damages." Her voice is teasing, though, and he knows she isn't actually mad. She comes over, turning so she can lean against part of the barrier that's still intact. "Come on, Big Red. Talk to me."

Raph doesn't turn around. He can't stand to look back at the motel, at the room where his brother is, tiny and weak and with a stomach that's been empty for days on end. He can't handle it right now. So he keeps his eyes on the field.

"Leo let those guys hurt him," he says.

"No he didn't," says April. "He can't help what they did to him."

"If he'd just answered their questions, they would have fed him."

"We can't know that." April shakes her head. "You heard what Draxum said about those guys. You saw what they were like. Maybe if Leo had answered their questions, they would have just killed him. Leo was probably thinking that, too."

"But that's not what he said," Raph points out.

"...Look." April takes a deep breath. "Leo... just went through a lot. We don't know what he was thinking while he was in there, or what he's thinking now. And you know that boy likes to say flashy things. Don't take anything he says right now too seriously."

"But what if this is the most truthful he's gonna be? What if he just hasn't thought of a good lie yet?"

"Raph-"

"No, you don't get it, April." Raph holds his head in his hands, like he can physically hold the dark thoughts at bay, but he can't, and they keep coming: horrific images of what could have happened, if they'd been too late, if the EPF had been less patient. "I told him to stop thinking of himself! Right before he disappeared, I told him he needed to be a hero! But Raph didn't mean like this!"

"Hey now, you don't know-" April tries, but Raph cuts her off.

"I just wanted him to stop doing everything himself! All the showboating, all the running in without talkin' to us... Raph just wanted him to remember that we're a team!" He lets go of his head and grips the concrete instead, so hard it cracks and crumbles under his fingers. "What if he took that to mean he should risk his life for everyone else? That he had to sacrifice himself?"

"Oookay, slow down there, big guy," says April, turning around and putting a hand on his arm. "You're taking one thing he said and blowing it way out of proportion."

"But what if I'm right?" Raph shakes his head. "How do I live with that, if I am? Knowing I almost killed him?"

"Okay, you look at me right now," she demands, in a way Raph can't refuse. He turns, and she reaches up and grabs his face by the cheeks, yanking him down until he bends to her eye level.

"You did not almost kill him. That was those EPF guys." Her voice is stern, and her grip on his face prevents him from objecting. "And even if you are right, and it's what you said to Leo that kept him from answering... well, then that's something the two of you will have to work out together."

She lets him go, putting her hands on her hips. "But what's done is done. Right now, Leo is exhausted and starved, and he's not really in a state for big emotional talks. So let's just get some space and get your head on straight. Once we get him home and everything's calmed down, the two of you can hash this out."

Raph lets out a strangled laugh, slumping down against the crumbling barrier. "Yeah, because that's so easy."

"I'm not saying it's easy." She sits down next to him, putting her hand on his arm. "But you guys love each other, so you'll do the hard things you have to do. I know you got this." She gives him a wink. "You're Raph."

Raph isn't sure he has that much faith in himself. But April isn't wrong very often, so he thinks he should probably listen to her.

-----

The water feels nice on Leo's skin, pleasantly warm and soothing. He sinks down until all but his eyes are in the water, letting it swirl around him.

He still feels a little exposed, but it's only Splinter in here, and that helps. It's like he's a little kid again, getting a bath from his dad, but he has to scrunch to cram his legs in the tub and that ruins the illusion.

"My Baby Blue always did enjoy a nice bath," says Splinter fondly, rustling up hotel soap for them to use.

He wets a washcloth and lathers it up, then cleans off the top of Leo's head and back of his neck, then down to his shoulders and the ridge of his shell. Leo would normally protest this kind of treatment, but right now he's not sure he can lift his arms above his head, so he doesn't.

Besides, it feels nice.

"Float on your front," Splinter says, adding, "Deep breath." It's what he always said when they were kids and he wanted to wash their shells. Everyone but Mikey can hold their breath for a long time, but he always says it anyway.

Leo takes a deep breath and flips onto his front, closing his eyes as his dad washes the back of his shell. It's so soothing he could almost take a nap here. The world is nicely muted under the water.

Splinter gives his shell three pats with his hand, the signal to sit back up. Leo does, rolling onto his back to rinse off. Splinter hands him the washcloth and soap, and he cleans his lower half, taking care around the bottom ridges of his shell.

"Thanks for the bath, Daddio," he says as he finishes. "I know I was starting to get pretty ripe." He pulls up the drain plug with a pop, watching the dirty water spin away.

He tries to imagine he's watching the last of that place drain away with it.

Splinter retrieves a fluffy white towel, drying off the top of Leo's head before handing it off. "I wasn't thinking of that," he says. "But I know a good bath always made you feel better when you were sick."

It was never really about the bath, but the undivided dad attention. How Splinter would wash his shell and pat his head and dry him off, just like he's doing now.

It occurs to Leo that he almost lost this forever, and its like his breath is taken away. He buries his face in the towel and tries to ride through it - he doesn't want to cry again.

Splinter must pick up on it, because suddenly he's sitting on the side of the tub, rubbing the top of Leo's shell. "It's okay, Blue. You're safe."

He's safe.

He really is safe, isn't he?

He lowers the towel and turns into his dad instead, wriggling his head into his lap. Splinter welcomes him, patting his head with one hand and the top of his shell with another. Leo's breath hitches and the tears break free.

"I know," says Splinter, and his voice is thick with emotion. Leo knows he can't look or he'll start sobbing. "I... was very scared for you, my son. I am so glad you're here, Leonardo. I love you very much."

"L-love you too," he warbles. His tears are falling fast, now, and Splinter takes the towel and dries them away every now and then.

By the time Leo sits up and rubs at his eyes, the towel is totally soaked through from being in the tub. Splinter moves away to grab him a fresh one, which Leo wraps himself up in.

"Leonardo," says Splinter hesitantly once he is out of the tub, "I know you may not want to talk about it right now. But I need to ask you this."

Leo wonders where this is going. He sits down on the toilet lid, looking at his dad. "Uh, okay."

Splinter looks him up and down before asking, "Did those men... hit you? Or touch you in any way?"

Oh. Leo shakes his head. "No. They didn't... I mean, they just put me in that room. They weren't, like... torturing me or anything."

He thought that would reassure his dad, but if anything Splinter only looks more sad.

"Not feeding you is torturing you," he says.

"Oh, well, yeah, I guess." Leo rubs the back of his head. "But I mean, they weren't... you know. Shocking me or whipping me or... putting me in that medieval stretchy thing from the movies."

"I see." His dad sighs, but nods. "Very well. I'm glad, at least, that you do not have any injuries."

Leo nods back. "Yeah, no, I'm all good." He tries to smile, but his smiles aren't really having the effect they usually do.

"Are you ready to go back?" asks Splinter, moving to the door. Leo nods again, standing up. "Are you still cold?"

Leo blinks in surprise, then realizes Splinter is referring to the towel he still has wrapped around himself. He's not really that cold anymore, but he grabs onto the convenient excuse, anyway.

"Uh, yeah." He grins sheepishly. "Actually, did you guys bring any of my clothes? I'm a little worried about the ride home."

"Ah." Splinter taps his chin. "I don't think we brought any of your things. Your brothers brought their hoodies, I believe, in case they needed to go in a store..." He reaches up and pats Leo's hand. "There is a gift shop in the motel lobby. I will send Purple and Orange in the morning - I'm sure they'd enjoy doing some shopping!"

"Thanks. I just need a sweatshirt or something. Maybe some pajama pants." He shrugs. "Gotta stay toasty, right?"

"That's right. No more turtle-cicles." Splinter reaches up and turns the doorknob, gesturing for Leo to lead the way.

Leo shuffles for the bed, keeping the towel tight around himself as he goes. He doesn't drop it until he's under the sheets again, safely tucked away.

Raph isn't back yet. The realization turns Leo's stomach. But Mikey barrels into bed next to him, cuddling up against one side, while Donnie scoots in on the other, tapping away at his phone, and Leo tries to forget about it.

He's sure that, as soon as he's better, Raph will be back to yell at him.

-----

Leo doesn't realize Draxum left until he comes back. He did doze off for a bit there, though, so it's not surprising.

Mikey was snoozing against Leo's arm, too, but when the door clicks shut he raises his head, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Donnie looks up from his phone. Splinter's asleep in the other bed, only grumbling incoherently at the noise before rolling over.

(Raph and April still haven't come back. It makes Leo's heart thud a little harder.)

"Hey Barry," says Mikey, voice still a little sleepy. He pushes himself up to sit against the pillows. "Find what you were looking for?"

"Yes." Draxum walks over to the bed, pulling a bottle out of a pharmacy bag. He twists the cap loose, then holds it out and says, "Leonardo, drink this."

Leo can't help the way his face screws up as he takes it, eyeing the label on the bottle. "Eugh. What is this?"

"Vegetable juice," Draxum informs him dryly.

"Gross." Leo does not bring the bottle any closer to his lips. "Can I have soda instead?"

"Absolutely not." Draxum's voice is stern. "No sugar or caffeine until I say otherwise."

The next several days are looking worse and worse. Leo grimaces. "Can I just drink water, then?"

"You can and should drink water. But you also need to steadily reintroduce your body to nutrients. The vegetable juice will help, until your stomach can handle more solid food at a time."

Leo groans, eyeing the bottle warily. Anything labeled "juice" should not be this color of red-orange.

"Draxum's just trying to help, Leo!" Mikey chimes in. "Besides, vegetable juice isn't that bad."

It's not the most reassuring endorsement, given that Mikey loves vegetables in a way Leo has never understood. But with his little brother cheering him on, he can't back down.

"Fine. Down the hatch," he mutters, then takes a swig. It tastes just as off-putting as he was imagining, and he shudders and smacks his lips. "Yuck."

"Sorry, Leo." Mikey pats his arm comfortingly. "As soon as Barry says it's okay, we'll get pizza!"

"Please don't remind me of pizza right now..."

"Here." Leo looks up to find Draxum is holding out a handful of crackers. "Eat these, too. Be sure you chew them thoroughly before you swallow. And keep drinking the juice."

Leo takes the crackers in his free hand, putting them in his lap on top of the sheets. There's only six, and they look boring even for crackers. but his stomach perks up with interest, reminding Leo that everything he put in it before got thrown up.

Leo thought he was going to be waiting until breakfast to eat again. The crackers ease that tension, relief he hadn't consciously realized he needed.

Still, can't let Draxum think Leo actually appreciates all his bullying, so Leo still makes a face as he holds up one of the crackers and examines it.

"And these are...?"

"Are you going to react like this to everything?" asks Draxum with a scoff. "They're whole wheat crackers. They'll settle your stomach, and you need food in you so can take these vitamins."

He pulls a bottle out of his bag and shakes it, filling the room with the sound of pills rattling around. Leo scrunches up his snout.

"You didn't get me the chewable kind? Or those fruit gummy ones?"

"Are you such a child you need your medicine in the form of candy?" Draxum rolls his eyes. "You will be just fine with the pills."

"Okay, okay!" Leo groans theatrically, leaning his head back. "I can't believe you guys are letting him take care of him. He'll be feeding me bugs and leaves next."

"Stop whining. No one wants to hear it this late."

"I actually like these crackers," says Donnie. "They're delightfully bland."

This statement is followed by a crunch.

The sound sends a shiver up Leo's shell, and he turns his head in time to see Donnie, one of Leo's crackers in his hand, a big bite taken out of it. He chews and swallows with a slight smile on his face, clearly unconcerned that he just took one of Leo's crackers.

Leo only had six crackers to start. Now there's five. He doesn't know when he gets any more. No one promised him breakfast. And now he only has five crackers, and not six. And he can feel the hunger coming back.

Donnie turns his head and they lock eyes. Leo has no idea what his own expression looks like, but Donnie's turns startled and then almost frightened. He's so shocked he drops the rest of the cracker into his own lap.

Leo just barely stops himself from snatching it back.

Because that would be weird. What he's doing right now is weird. Everyone is staring at him, the room has gone silent, he's acting like Donnie just committed an unforgivable sin when all he did was take a cracker, like the two of them haven't been casually taking each other's food their entire lives.

He's being weird. He needs to stop. He needs to go back to normal right now.

Five crackers can be enough. It's enough it's enough it's-

Leo forces his brain to restart, his face and posture to relax, his fingers to unclench. He schools his mouth into an unserious grin, glancing back at Draxum. "H-hey, so... how many crackers do I need to eat? Since Thief-atello just stole one."

"I'm sorry," Donnie blurts out, an extremely rare apology. "I wasn't thinking."

Leo waves a hand. "It's cool, man," he says.

"No," Donnie insists. "I shouldn't have done that, I don't know why I did that-"

Great, first he pisses off Raph and now Donnie's freaked out. Leo's family came all the way to Colorado to save him and all he's done since then is upset them.

"Dee," says Leo, and he knocks one shoulder against Donnie's. "Seriously. It's fine."

Because it is. They take food from each other all the time. Leo's the one who made it weird, not Donnie, even if he did take one of Leo's crackers.

Donnie looks at him, uncertain. He still hasn't touched the remaining cracker in his lap. Leo wishes he would finish eating it now, so it isn't tempting him.

"...Still. I won't do it again," says Donnie finally, looking down at his lap and wringing his hands. He looks miserable, and Leo hates that he caused this.

Before he can do or say anything more, Draxum gets Leo's attention by holding out a new cracker. "Here," he says, waiting until Leo takes it, before handing a few to the still shell-shocked Donnie. "Both of you can have crackers. Now don't squabble, you'll disturb the neighbors."

Donnie puts the crackers in his lap and doesn't touch them again. The air in the room is stifling. And Leo wants to eat his own crackers, but now it feels awkward.

"I think you should steal one of his to get him back," says Mikey in an exaggerated whisper, a gallant attempt to dispel the tension. It doesn't quite work, but it breaks the silence enough for Leo to force out a chuckle and pick up a cracker.

"Everyone eat what you've been given and settle down," says Draxum, going to sit on the other bed. Splinter mumbles in his sleep again and rolls over. Everyone relaxes a little more.

Leo bites into the cracker. It tastes like all of nothing, but it has a pleasant crunch between his teeth, and he finds that he likes it.

Next to him, Donnie hesitantly finishes off his own half-finished cracker. Then he half-heartedly eats the others. Leo drinks his vegetable juice, then swallows the pill Draxum gives him.

Mikey does his best to fill the room with happy chatter, and the mood lightens, little by little.

Everything's okay. He just can't do that again.

-----

Everyone but Draxum is asleep when Raph and April come back into the room, just a little before dawn. Splinter is splayed out across the bed closest to the door, while all three of his little brothers are curled around each other in the bed by the bathroom.

Raph and April spent a long time sitting by the barrier, talking intermittently between long spells of silence. Then they moved to the tank, taking a nap together on the bench seats.

April has her travel pillow and blanket now, and she takes both and spreads out at the foot of his brothers’ bed, wisely putting her head by Donnie, who sleeps still as the dead, and not Mikey, who has already moved several times since they walked in. She yawns and then conks out almost immediately, glasses held loosely in her hand against her chest.

Raph wishes he didn’t feel quite so wide awake.

Draxum is sitting in one of the chairs by the table, phone in hand. He has a notebook open and scribbles into it with a pen. Raph comes over and takes a peek: it’s all notes about nutrition, the vitamins that are most critically needed after a long term starvation event.

Draxum’s helping Leo. That makes Raph feel better, and he sinks into the other chair, leaning his head back.

“You should try to get some sleep,” says Draxum, voice low. “We’ll be leaving in a few hours.”

“Raph’s good,” he says, staying where he is.

He feels Draxum’s eyes on him, for a moment. “I’m taking watch. Go to sleep, Raphael.”

Raph hesitates, then gets up from the chair and goes to lay down next to his dad. Splinter grumbles in his sleep, but rolls over like he knows to make room for a son crawling into his bed.

From here Raph can see Leo’s face. It’s gaunt and washed out, and even with all the sleeping he’s done there are still dark circles under his eyes. He looks so fragile, and the anger burns in his chest again, that anyone could hurt him like this.

He’s safe now, though. Mikey has an arm curled around his plastron, and Donnie flanks his other side like a guard. He’s able to rest, and eat, and get better.

Raph remembers what April said. Give Leo time to heal, then talk about what happened in there. He can do that. He can be patient.

He hadn’t thought he would be able to sleep, but lying still, with his sleeping family all around him, safe and sound, puts him under in minutes.

-----

"Morning, Leo!"

Leo blinks awake, taking in his surroundings. The walls are beige, the bed is blue, there's a TV playing the morning news on low volume, there's sunlight shining through the window.

He can smell food.

"It's breakfast time!" says Mikey. He's standing next to the bed, holding a tray. Leo wriggles until he's sitting up against the pillows, grinning as he pats his lap.

"Thanks, Mikey."

"You're welcome!" Mikey gives Leo a thousand watt smile as he sets the tray down.

Leo wishes he could feel as enthusiastic as his little brother as he gets a look at his breakfast. There's a large cup of white yogurt, and a little plate of scrambled eggs that don't even look like they have pepper on them. He's glad he has food, he just wishes it was something more exciting.

He lifts his eyes and takes a look around the room. Donnie is in one of the chairs by the table, tapping away on his phone. April is in the other chair, and she smiles and gives him a little wave when he meets her eyes. His dad is in the other bed, munching on what looks like a muffin and watching the news. He doesn't see Raph, but he hears the shower running.

Draxum is standing by the doorway, watching Leo. When their gazes meet, he sighs, rubbing the furrow on his forehead.

"Are you going to ask me what you're eating again?"

"Yes!" Leo points at the cup of yogurt. "What is this!? It's not even fruit flavored!"

"It's Greek yogurt. You can have fruit when your stomach is more settled."

"Ugh..." Leo sighs, grabbing the plastic spoon off his tray and scooping up a tiny bite of yogurt. It's not terrible, but without any fruit it's not very exciting.

"Hey, look at the bright side," says Mikey, holding out a plastic cup. "You get apple juice this morning! Since it had no sugar added, Draxum said it's okay!"

Leo musters up a smile. "Well, it's better than vegetable juice..."

"Don't get too excited," says Draxum dryly. "You'll be drinking more on the drive home."

"You're such a buzzkill, Drax," Leo huffs, taking a bite of his eggs now. They're unseasoned, but they're something. And there's the part of him that is just happy to have any food, simmering under the surface and demanding he eat faster. To keep himself from cramming the whole of the plate in his mouth at once, he turns to Mikey. "Hey, sneak me a muffin. Blueberry or chocolate chip."

Mikey grimaces. "I don't think Barry wants me to do that..."

Leo pouts, chewing his eggs slowly. "Who are you going to listen to, him or me?"

"He'll listen to me," says Draxum sternly. "If you're still hungry after that, you can have some more crackers."

Leo sighs, but part of him feels better knowing the crackers are still on the table. He crams more eggs in his mouth and chews as sulkily as possible.

There's an Old Navy ad playing on TV. Splinter sits up straighter in bed when he sees it, getting muffin crumbs everywhere. "Ah, that reminds me! Blue wanted some warm clothes to wear on the ride home." Splinter reaches out and pats Mikey on the arm. "Orange, Purple - why don't the two of you go to the gift shop and do some shopping? You can get a souvenir for yourselves as well."

"Oooh, yes!" Mikey bounces excitedly in place. "Dibs on picking out Leo's clothes!"

"Gasp!" Donnie stands up, pointing at him dramatically. "You know I'm the fashionable one in this family! Leo, tell him you want me to pick out your clothes for our return trip!"

"Mmm, I dunno..." Leo grins up at his little brother, giving him a wink. "I think Angelo's got this."

Donnie makes a noise of utter betrayal while Mikey cheers and stoops to give Leo a hug. "I won't let you down, Leon!" he promises, giving Leo a big smooch on the top of his head.

"I know you won't."

"Fine then! I'll just have to make you all jealous with my own selections." Donnie looks down. "April, do you want to join us?"

"Yeah, sure." April stands up, stretching her arms above her head. "Maybe I'll get a keychain or something."

The three of them file out of the room, Donnie and Mikey still arguing animatedly. Draxum takes one of the abandoned chairs, and Splinter goes back to watching the news.

Leo continues eating his bland breakfast, and tries not to spend too much time wondering when his next meal will be. At least he's been promised crackers.

-----

Raph comes out of the bathroom about ten minutes later, just as Leo's finishing up his breakfast with a few crackers. He nearly jumps when their eyes meet.

"Oh, hey, Leo," he says, voice a forced cheerful. "You're awake! That's great!"

"Yeah," says Leo back, trying not to sound too awkward and failing. He holds up his empty cup. "Just finished breakfast."

"O-oh, yeah. Was it... good?"

Leo grimaces. "Not really."

"Oh." Raph hovers in the doorway, practically vibrating with nervous energy. Leo wonders if he should apologize, but he still doesn't know what he's apologizing for, so he doesn't.

He'd know if Raph would just go ahead and yell at him, but Raph doesn't seem eager to start. Maybe he doesn't think Leo is healed up enough yet, or maybe he doesn't want to do it in front of Splinter. Either way, no yelling seems forthcoming.

Instead, Raph says, "Uh, where's everyone else?"

"Shopping for clothes for Blue and for souvenirs for themselves," Splinter answers.

"Oh, cool. Maybe... maybe I'll go join 'em!"

Raph pats Leo on the head as he goes by, then leaves the room like it's on fire. Leo is silent; he has no idea what to say or do.

He's out of food now, too. He's already asked Draxum for crackers once, and he's not sure if asking again will actually gain him anything. And with Mikey gone, he feels too anxious to try.

He settles back on his pillows and turns his eyes to the TV, lifting the plastic spoon in his hands. He slots the handle between his teeth and chews, relaxing at the feel of it. It's sturdier than the water bottles, so he can't flatten it down as easily, but the way he can munch on it endlessly has its own appeal.

The news drones on. His dad laughs at something the anchors say. Draxum scribbles away at a notebook. And Leo leans back on his pillows and chews on the spoon.

On the ticker at the bottom of the screen, he notices the tail end of a news item about a training accident at a military facility in Colorado Springs - one injured.

-----

The outfit Mikey has picked out is a sky blue hoodie with "PIKE'S PEAK" in big block letters and darker blue plaid sweatpants. They meet Leo's standards for softness and comfiness, if not quite his standards for style. It's fine, because he's after the former right now.

"Did I do good?" Mikey asks, bouncing on his toes.

"You did great," Leo responds, motioning him closer so he can rub his head affectionately. It lacks his usual punch, but Mikey laughs and wiggles away anyway.

"We also got," Mikey rummages around in the gift store bag, then pulls out, "matching fuzzy socks!"

The socks are in their signature colors and have snowboarders on them, and each set has a terrible pun like, "SNOW RULES!" and "COOLER THAN COOL!" Leo loves them immediately.

"I think this is the best gift you've ever gotten me," says Leo sincerely. Mikey beams and comes in for a hug that Leo gladly returns.

"Here, put 'em on!" says Mikey after he backs away, nodding at the hoodie and pants on the bed. "You don't want to be cold, right?"

"Right," says Leo, lifting the hoodie in his arms. A quick glance around the room shows that they're all looking at him now - Mikey, Donnie, and April by the bed, Splinter from the other bed, Draxum at the table, Raph hovering in the doorway. Waiting for him to put the clothes on.

He wishes they wouldn't.

It's weird. He's never felt self-conscious like this. He and his brothers have never really practiced modesty the way humans do, especially around each other. And yet the idea of standing in front of them now with no clothes, not even his mask, makes him feel strangely queasy.

He tries to tell himself it's because of how he looks now. Stick thin arms and legs, weird, unhealthy skin tone, dark circles under his eyes that a few hours of unconsciousness and one night of intermittent sleep have definitely not erased. That it's just his normal vanity.

But he can still feel it: that guard's eyes on him, any time he left the safety of his hiding spot under his cot.

He pulls the hoodie on over his head while he's still in bed. Then he crawls out of bed and pulls the pants on as fast as he can.

He looks around to see if anyone noticed, but their expressions haven't changed. Mikey gives him a thumbs up.

He relaxes. With the clothes on, the feeling of being exposed finally ebbs away. And it is warmer like this, which is a plus.

It's okay. In a day or two, he'll be over this weird self-consciousness and back to normal, and no one has to know about it.

"Well, how do I look?" he asks, grinning and turning in a circle. Mikey and April clap indulgently for him.

"Lookin' good, Leo," says April, and he gives her a wink.

"Well, even though you chose to forego my aesthetic sensibilities, I got you something, too," says Donnie, pushing his way forward. He holds out a pair of flipflops, which say "We're in" and "CO" on the toes and have cartoon giraffes on the heels. Leo can't help but grin when he sees them. "Trust me, you'll want these if we have to go into any gas station restrooms. Shudder."

Leo laughs, then reaches out an arm to pull Donnie into a hug before he can escape. To his surprise, Donnie doesn't even put up a token fight against it, hugging him back more fiercely than usual.

"Thanks, I love them," he says into Donnie's ear.

"Of course you do," says Donnie smugly, but his eyes are suspiciously shiny when he breaks the hug. Nothing feels awkward between them now, even given the cracker incident earlier, and Leo is glad.

“Okay!” says April, clapping her hands. “Checkout’s in thirty minutes - if you have anything else to do, do it now.”

“Wait,” says Leo, looking around. “Where’s my mask?” It’d be nice for hiding the dark circles.

“Oh, I think Raph grabbed it,” says April, but when she turns, Raph is gone. April presses her fingers to her forehead and sighs. “Okay, you can get it later.”

Leo’s mouth suddenly feels dry. He reaches around and grabs a bottle of vegetable juice Draxum gave him, draining the last of it.

“Checkout in twenty eight minutes,” says Donnie to cut the awkwardness. “Let’s go, people!”

Leo sits on the bed and watches his family prepare to leave, gnawing on the top of his juice bottle.

-----

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” calls a voice, and Leo blinks awake to see April standing over his cot. No, not the cot - this is the bench seat in the tank. If he’s going to be sleeping so much, he needs to stop waking up confused.

And he has been sleeping a lot. The only time they woke him up was to eat another snack of crackers with a little bit of mushed up banana, like he’s some kind of baby.

The banana did help break up the monotony, though.

Leo can’t help but hope he’s being woken up for food again.

Like she read his mind, April grins and holds out a hand to help him up. “Lunch time!” she announces.

“Oh boy,” says Leo, taking the hand and slowly getting to his feet. He’s stiff from lying in the tank for so long, and he stretches and pops his arms. “More flavorless mush.”

“Maybe we can convince Drax to give you a little salt this time,” says April with a snicker. She waits for him to slip the flipflops on, then leads him out of the tank.

It occurs to him that this is the first time he’s really been out in the sun in over a week, excluding times he’s been unconscious and the short walk from the motel room to the tank. He takes a minute to just lean his face back and feel the warmth of it on his skin. It hasn’t even been that long, and he’s used to life underground, but somehow it feels different this time, foreign and new and sweet.

When he looks back at April, she’s tearing up again. She quickly wipes at the bottoms of her eyes and pulls on a smile, linking her arm around his.

“Come on. We can grab a picnic table and sit outside.”

It's then that Leo actually takes in where they are: a big travel center, or that's what the sign on the building declare. The tank is parked at the gas pumps, and Donnie, with his hood up, is excitedly talking about it to some interested truckers who have come over. He spots Mikey over at the grassy space for dog walking, laughing while a puppy licks his face, a seemingly annoyed Draxum standing off to the side with his arms folded. He doesn't see Raph or Splinter, but April fills him in as they cross the parking lot.

"Raph and Splints are inside ordering food. They have a whole diner in there!"

"Let me guess: I'm eating soup."

"I think it's potato."

"Well, at least it's not more tomato." Leo makes a face. "If I have to drink any more vegetable juice I'm going to turn red and swell up into a ball."

"You know what pizza sauce is made out of, right?" she asks, playfully bumping into him.

"Actually, I don't," he says smoothly, bumping into her back. They fake tussle outside the door for a moment, until both of them are laughing.

Someone trying to get past clears their throat loudly, and April and Leo shoot them an apologetic look before going on inside. Leo visits the restroom and tries not to look too long at the arrays of snacks on offer. April goes to help Raph and his dad with the food.

They all end up back outside at a large picnic table. His family has a mix of foods: burgers, hot dogs, salads, chicken strips. He knows there was pizza inside, and it touches him that no one picked it.

Next to everyone else's large, full plates, his own bowl of soup feels ridiculously small and sad. But he doubts any amount of pouting will convince Draxum to let him have a burger, so he digs in. At least this has some flavor.

Lunch is nice, even if Raph is still acting weird and distant. It’s just good being in the sun and the fresh air. Leo is reluctant to leave as they finish up.

“Come with me!” says Mikey as the others go to throw their trash away and buy anything they need for the return trip. He holds out his hand, and Leo takes it and follows Mikey back toward the grassy area at the edge of the parking lot. They make sure there are no dog droppings, then lay down in the grass, looking up at the blue sky and the clouds going overhead.

“I thought it’d be nice to get a little more sun before we have to get back in the tank,” says Mikey, limbs splayed out in every direction. He’s taken off his hoodie - no one at the travel center has paid much attention to the peeks of green skin they’ve been showing off, and no one is nearby right now, anyway.

It is a little hot. But the idea of being shirtless where a stranger can see him keeps Leo fully swaddled.

He pushes that thought aside, closing his eyes and just trying to enjoy the feeling of the sun on his skin, the breeze blowing by, the grass under his fingers. He doesn’t get to touch a lot of grass in the city, but it reminds him of times they would sneak out to Central Park.

“This is really nice, Angelo,” he says. “Thanks.”

“Mmhmmm.”

They’re quiet for a few minutes, just laying there, with only the ambient sounds of the travel center keeping them company. Leo starts to feel like he might doze off again.

“…Hey Leo?”

Leo blinks his eyes open, craning his neck to see Mikey. “Yeah?”

“Are you… okay?”

Ah. Maybe he should have expected this.

“Of course I’m okay,” he says, voice nonchalant. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Uh, well…” Mikey hesitantly trails off, clearly trying to decide what he wants to say.

Leo takes care of it for him. “It’s over, Mikey. You guys saved me. I’m okay.” He turns his head and grins. “And once Draxum stops being the food police, everything will be back to normal.”

“Mmm…” Mikey doesn’t sound as convinced as he should. Man, Leo’s smiles are really failing him lately. “But… if something’s bothering you… You’ll tell us, right?”

Leo pats his head. “Of course I will.”

If it’s worth bringing up to them, anyway.

Mikey’s eyes rove his face for a moment, but in the end he must be satisfied, because he smiles and rolls to toss his arm over Leo’s chest. “Okay. But I’ll hold you to that.”

“Or what, I’ll get a visit from the doctor?”

“You know it!”

Leo laughs, which gets Mikey laughing. They stay there until Raph calls their names across the parking lot, and they go back to the tank.

-----

He manages to stay awake after they stop for lunch, curled up on the bench seat. He doesn’t have the energy to talk as much as normal, but he leans against Donnie and contributes where he can. He’s just happy to be back with them, hearing and seeing them all around him.

But there’s something always at the back of his mind keeping him from fully relaxing: he doesn’t know when he gets to eat next. And he knows it will be okay - he’s with his family, and they’d never let him go hungry. He knows that, but about two and a half hours after lunch, he keeps finding himself returning to the same thought.

He’s drinking on a sugar-free Gatorade they got him at the travel center; one of the only non-vegetable or fruit drinks Draxum approved. Mikey has just finished up a story from one of the many art vlogs he watches, and, in the lag of conversation, he tries to broach the subject casually.

“Sooo… what’s our plan for the rest of the drive? Are we stopping, or…?”

“We’re going to try to make it all the way back to New York,” says April. “We already have our shifts picked out, and the autopilot is helping.”

“We can stop in a few more hours for another bathroom break,” says Donnie, pulling up a holoscreen showing their route and the drive time remaining. “Unless someone needs us to stop sooner.” He glances at Leo, and the way he’s bouncing the rim of the bottle off his teeth.

“Oh, uh, I’m good,” he says quickly, lowering the bottle. "I'm just wondering, uh... what about stopping for dinner?"

His family does about as good a job being subtle about looking at each other as he's being subtle about his worry. "We were thinking we'd probably try to find something around seven," says Donnie.

Seven. It's a little after three now. Okay. He can wait that long. What's four hours? And at least he knows what to expect now.

His family hesitantly return to their conversation. And Leo does his best to pay attention. April is telling them about all the stuff she's been doing to prepare for college in the fall, how she's already chatting with people running the student paper. She's excited about it, and Leo is excited for her.

"Ew, Leo," says Donnie suddenly, tearing him out of his thoughts. "Why are you doing that?"

Leo looks over at him in confusion. He starts to ask, Doing what?, but when he opens his mouth to speak, something falls out of his teeth and into his lap.

It's the Gatorade bottle cap, chewed down flat. Leo can see the marks from where his molars snapped through the lip, and the dents where he's been gnawing at it with his incisors.

He didn't even know he was doing that.

Everyone saw him doing that.

Embarrassment flushes through him, and he scrambles to grab the lid and toss it into their communal trash sack. Maybe no one noticed how thoroughly he had chewed on it.

"Gross," says Donnie, his nose scrunched up. So at the very least he saw. "You don't know where that's been."

"Oh please, it's not that gross," says Leo, doing his best to keep his voice light and airy. "It's just a bottle cap."

"That other people have touched and that you put into your mouth."

"Don't knock it till you try it, bro."

"I'm good not trying it."

"Your loss," says Leo with a shrug. He leans back, cool and calm and collected and not a total weirdo who gnaws on plastic like it's candy. "Stop looking at me like that, I threw it away already."

Donnie stops looking at him, literally. Things feel tense again. Leo doesn’t know how he keeps managing that.

Mikey jumps up, walking to the front of the tank, where Draxum is asleep in one of the chairs. Mikey shakes him awake, smiling in the face of his annoyed grumbling.

“Hey, Barry, is it okay if Leo has a snack?”

“Why do you have to ask him?” calls Leo, folding his arms. “Besides, I’m fine!”

His protests go ignored. “What time is it?” asks Draxum, sitting up and smoothing down his robes.

“I’m fine!” insists Leo, louder.

“It’s three fifteen,” Mikey says.

“Mm… Yes, he can have a snack.” Draxum gets up, going over to their snack cooler. “Leonardo, do you want crackers or more banana?”

“I’m fine!” Leo tries one more time, but his stomach flips when it occurs to him that he may actually not get a snack if he insists, and he wants the snack.

He sighs, sinking back in his seat, and says, “Crackers.” He wants the crunch of eating them.

Draxum brings him his crackers. There’s only four. He’s not sure why he’s getting less this time. Maybe because he was caught chewing on the lid.

He doesn’t ask. He eats what he’s been given, and then decides the best thing for everyone would be if he took another nap.

-----

Raph would have driven them all the way to New York if he’d been allowed. But they insist on having him swap with Donnie, and he ends up sitting in the back on the benches with because the other front chairs are hard for him to fit in.

Leo is asleep. He’s been sleeping a lot, but that’s to be expected. His body barely has any energy, and going by the dark circles, Raph knows he didn’t get much sleep while he was…

When Leo is awake, his family are their lively selves, chatting and laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Once he goes to sleep, everyone quiets down, Donnie dims the lights in the cab, and a weird melancholy sets in.

Leo looks terrible. They haven’t talked about it, but they all know it. Raph is shocked Leo has even been able to walk on his own, but Draxum attributes that to their reinforced mutant biology. He’s swimming in a hoodie that is his size, his hands and feet are skeletal where they poke out of his clothes. Raph wonders how long it will take for him to start filling out again, to have muscle like he did before. He’s afraid to ask.

Splinter sits with Leo’s head in his lap, rubbing his shell any time he shifts in his sleep. Mikey curls up against Raph and sniffles, and Raph pulls him closer.

He has to keep reminding himself that Leo is here, and safe. He just ate a snack, and soon they’ll get another meal in him. Just give it a week or two, and they’ll have their brother back.

And then, he’ll make sure Leo knows he never has to sacrifice himself again.

-----

Home looks just like Leo remembered it, and feels totally foreign at the same time.

His family clap for him as he walks in, and he does a little bow, which is a poor decision because it leaves him feeling lightheaded after. Luckily Raph is there to catch him and carry him from the garage to the chair in the living room. Things are still weird between them, but at least Raph isn't totally avoiding him.

(Raph still hasn't yelled at him. He wishes they could just get it over with.)

They eat lunch, with Leo getting bland soup and crackers again. Draxum notes that he could have peanut butter if they could have it in the lair, which makes Raph look pointlessly guilty, so Leo changes the subject. After lunch, April gives him a big hug and tells him she'll see him soon, but she has to go back home before her mom gets too worried. Leo feels bad when he learns she's missed several days of class now, but she just laughs and pats his head.

"I'm a senior and it's May, Leo; that I show up at all is enough for them."

Everyone's tired from being on the road for over twenty four hours, so after April leaves they unanimously agree on a movie marathon/turtle pile in the living room. His brothers drag out their comfiest pillows and blankets and set up in the floor, while Splinter cuddles up with Leo in his recliner. Draxum actually stays, to everyone's surprise, and Mikey jumps at the opportunity to introduce him to the magic of Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim.

Leo drifts in and out the whole evening. He'll be awake for the whole first act of a movie, then blink and suddenly they're partway through a different film. Each time he wakes his dad is there, patting his hand and saying, "Hello, Blue," and his brothers are around him, quoting their favorite lines or jumping up to act along with their favorite parts. It's normal and it's familiar and it's warm and soft.

He eats more soup for dinner, and crackers and banana and a little pudding cup, as a treat. His family gets more sleepy as evening turns to night; his dad's snoring fills the room, and Draxum finally leaves to go to his apartment. His brothers settle in and fall asleep around the middle of Jupiter Jim's Last Trip to the Moon 17, curled up in a heap at the foot of the chair.

He's home.

He's really home.

It's over.

Leo buries his face in his dad's fur and lets that thought carry him to sleep.

-----

Leo's home and it's amazing.

Raph wishes that meant everything was back to normal.

He doesn't know how to be around Leo right now. Every time he looks at him, he sees the stick thin arms and the gaunt face and he hears Leo's voice saying, That's not what a hero would do, and he doesn't know what to say anymore. What if he accidentally says something that makes Leo feel like what happened to him was right? What if he accidentally makes Leo think he should do it again?

It's only been a day, he tries to tell himself. Leo's still spending most of his time sleeping, between his regular snacks and meals. Even when he's awake, he doesn't have much energy for conversation, seeming content to just sit and listen to everyone else. It's just not the right time. It'll get better once Leo is better.

He can wait until then.

It's the afternoon now, the day after they brought Leo home. Raph just finished his workout and is making his rounds to check on everyone, just to make sure that everyone is... well, just to make sure. Splinter is in the kitchen making tea, a kind with no caffeine or sugar, as per Draxum's instructions. Mikey and Leo are in the living room, a half-asleep Leo watching Mikey play video games on the projecter.

Donnie isn't there.

His heart lurches, no matter how much he tells himself it's okay. Donnie is fine, Donnie is home, Donnie hasn't gone missing, not right after they got Leo back.

(He'd tried to tell himself Leo was fine in the beginning, too.)

He checks their rooms first, but Donnie's is empty. Then it's up to the lab, where he finds the door closed.

He knocks, and a robotic voice asks for identification. He sighs, not wanting to play this game right now.

"Donnie, it's me. You better be in there..."

The door beeps and then slides up, revealing a dimly lit lab. At first, Raph thinks he must not be here, and he's about to turn to leave, but then he hears a noise from Donnie's big computer desk.

A sniffle.

His big brother senses shifting into hyperdrive, he speed-walks over. The door slides shut behind him with a mechanical whir.

Sure enough, Donnie is there, legs pulled up into his desk chair, face buried in his knees. His goggles are off and laying on the desk, and his computer monitor shows a video, frozen on...

A white room, almost empty, save the cot that is for some reason propped up in front of the toilet, and...

Donnie sniffles again, and Raph tears his eyes away from one little brother to the other.

"Donnie...? What is this?"

Donnie sniffs and sits up a little more, rubbing under his eyes where tear tracks are already drying. "It's the surveillance video from the EPF base."

Raph gathered that much. "Why... are you watching it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Donnie looks up at him. "I wanted to see what they did to him."

"You couldn't just ask him?"

Donnie's drawn on eyebrows go down. "I don't know, do you want to ask him?"

Raph imagines trying to ask Leo questions like that and can't help but cringe. "Okay, no. Raph doesn't want to do that."

"Exactly." Donnie gestures at the screen. "I got this footage from the base. And I erased it permanently from their systems, for the record, and destroyed the hard drives to be sure. But I kept a copy for us. I thought, if Leo wasn't in a state to... well, just in case. We might need it for medical reasons."

"But we know what's wrong with him," Raph points out.

"Do we?"

"Uh, yeah." Raph nods. "Starvation... right?"

"Well, yes." Donnie drums his fingers on the table. "But... he's different, now. He's pretending he's not, and he's doing his normal Leo thing of joking and smiling, but... he is." Donnie scowls. "And I already asked Michael to confirm my suspicions, and he said so, too, so I know this isn't me overreacting!"

"Okay, okay!" Raph holds up his hands placatingly. "So you wanted to watch the footage to see what happened. What'd you find out?"

Donnie wilts, resting his chin on his knees. "I couldn't get further than the first twenty four hours."

Raph feels a foreboding chill run over his spine. "You couldn't... or you didn't want to?"

Donnie reaches over and presses a button. The footage shifts to a different angle, so now he can see the wall Leo was curled up against. Donnie runs the footage back at a fast speed, and Raph watches as Leo gets up a few times, disappearing into the blind spot of the camera, or going to grab water from a little slot by the door, until Donnie freezes on a new scene: the wall opening up to reveal a large window.

He leans forward, putting his hands on the desk. "Raph saw that - they were watching his cell through that."

"Yes. And he would sit in that spot," Donnie runs the footage forward a bit, to where Leo is sitting against the now white wall, "because it's in a blind spot to the window."

Raph grimaces. "He didn't want them watching him."

"But it didn't matter," says Donnie, and he reaches over and taps the button to go to a new angle... and again... and again. "They have every inch of the room covered."

Raph's heart sinks. "Does he know?"

"Leo's not dumb," says Donnie, a magnanimous statement coming from him. "He knew they had to be watching him with cameras."

"But he still tried to hide..."

"He was doing whatever he had to to feel better," concludes Donnie.

Raph sighs. "I wonder if it worked."

Donnie clicks another button, and the video player closes. He swivels his chair to face Raph, his eyes shiny again.

"I don't want to watch anymore," he admits.

Raph nods. "I wouldn't want to, either."

"No, I mean... because he was trying to hide." Donnie rubs at his eyes again. "Maybe it is a little ironic for me to be saying this, but... it feels like it would be a privacy violation."

Raph turns that over. Maybe knowing what happened to Leo could help them. But what Donnie is saying feels more important.

He puts his hand on Donnie's shoulder, the part that's bare past his battleshell, and gives it a rub. "You love him and you don't want to hurt him," he concludes.

Donnie sniffles again, and then uncurls himself, putting his legs down on the ground. He doesn't have to do more than that for Raph to catch on, and Raph scoops Donnie up into a hug that is quickly returned.

"...I keep hurting him," Donnie admits, resting his head on Raph's shoulder. "I don't know how, but it keeps happening."

"...Yeah, well, join the club," says Raph sadly. He pats at Donnie's back. "Raph can't seem to say the right thing, either."

Donnie laughs miserably. "I thought getting him back would be the hard part. And then everything would go back to normal."

"Yeah..." Raph gives him a tight squeeze. "But you know what April said?"

"What?"

"That we'll do the hard part, 'cause we love him."

"Well, April is the only other smart one in this family," says Donnie, and Raph gives him a noogie with no actual pressure.

"Everything will be okay," he says. "Raph promises."

That seems to calm Donnie down. Raph just hopes he can actually keep it.

-----

It's his first night back in his room, and for the first time since escaping, Leo can't sleep.

He doesn't know why he can't. The sheets are the same as always. The dim lights from outside his subway car filter in through the windows the same as they used to. He's wearing his favorite pajamas, which have pants and long sleeves. The temperature is warm but not too hot. Conditions are perfect.

But he can't sleep.

At first he thought maybe it's because he's alone for the first time, but he doesn't think it's that. In fact, the idea of going to one of his brothers or his dad makes him feel even more exhausted. He loves them and he loves being around them, but he's had to work hard all day to not seem too weird. He caught himself chewing his spoon at lunch and had to stop. He paced the kitchen until Draxum gave the okay for him to have a snack. Mikey poked his head in while he was changing shirts earlier and he froze up, deer in the headlights. In the end, he went to the bathroom to change, because at least there aren't windows in there.

He's being weird, and trying to not be weird is taking all his energy.

So no. He's okay being alone right now. But something is still bothering him.

It's not the bed; he slept in the motel just fine. It's not the temperature, because they're making sure the lair stays nice and warm for him. And it's not the clothes, because the clothes are covering him up. And it's not the windows because it's not even like anyone is looking through them.

Right?

It's only then that Leo realizes he keeps staring out of them.

He tears his eyes away to look at the ceiling, taking deep breaths. What is he worried about? So what if the train car is full of windows? Who would even be looking at him? It's just his family outside, and if they need to talk to him they'll come in.

Besides, the windows are see-through. If someone were looking at him, he'd be able to see them.

Just to reassure himself of that, Leo looks around at all the windows again.

Yep. Still see-through. So it's fine. It's really not a big deal! No one is going to look through the windows at him here. No one is watching him. He's safe, and if he weren't, he would know, because he can see.

...Maybe he could hide under his bed.

Leo gives his head a hard shake. No. He is not going to hide under his bed, because that would be weird, and Leonardo Hamato is not weird.

Maybe he can just... put up some curtains in his room. Just, purely for aesthetic reasons. Yeah, that would look really cool. He could get some blue ones with some kind of sick design. Add some real originality to this place.

And then he could cover the windows and no one could look in unless he wanted them to.

Not that anyone is looking in, because he's home and he's safe and he's okay and he really wants to hide under his bed-

He takes deep breaths. His eyes land on the posters on the wall of the train car.

Maybe... maybe they would look better over the windows. Just... aesthetically.

He moves the posters to the windows of the train car, pressing hard to get the old tape to stick. It covers the immediate windows around his bed, but there are still others, and they're more in the dark, so Leo can't see who might be out there.

Not that anyone would be.

But if someone were, he wouldn't be able to know.

So he grabs towels next, and t-shirts, and anything he has lying around his room, and puts them on the bed. Then he sneaks to the kitchen to find a roll of masking tape.

It's not easy, but after about an hour he's managed to cover every window in the train car with something.

Just... a preview. For how sweet the curtains are going to look. And not for any weird reasons, like being scared.

Because he's not scared. He's home, and he's safe, and no one is watching him from outside the windows.

He lays down in bed and surveys his handwork. The room is even darker now, with every window covered, completely different from the stark ever-present light in that place.

It makes him feel safe and hidden.

No one can look in, and he's shielded by the dark.

(He has no idea how he's going to explain this tomorrow.)

But when he finally shuts his eyes, he sleeps like a baby.

-----

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (here) | Part 4 (not yet out)

[sxcret-garden]

ღ Ateez Mingi x fem-bodied!reader ღ words: ~1k ღ genre: smut (dom!Mingi, semi-public (they fuck backstage), oral (idol receiving), unprotected sex) ღ warnings: none ღ prompt: "Say my name."

Author's note: As you can probably tell, this was totally not inspired by Chella Mingi....

You're anxiously awaiting the end of the performance, watching each of their movements from backstage and having your eyes glued to one of the guys in particular. You don't know why you still get so nervous whenever they're on stage - by now you've been with them long enough to know they'll do well, and even more than that. They'll do amazing.

Today as well the crowd cheers loudly, and you can see exhausted but content smiles on their faces as they come off stage one by one. And then there's him. His shirt open, the writing on his chest still flawless despite the pearls of sweat dripping down his skin. And the expression on his face is different.

Mingi smirks at you when he approaches you, one corner of his mouth raised up higher than the other, and then he licks his lips, hungrily, the excess adrenaline from the performance still coursing through his veins - you can tell he needs an outlet, just like he always does. Wordlessly, you turn around and you walk towards one of the empty rooms backstage, closely followed by him, and the way he's breathing down your neck like a starving animal is only fuelling the excitement deep inside of you. The door is shut behind you, you don't know if he locked up but you sure didn't, and in the same moment he already has his lips attached to your neck, arms thrown around you and you can feel him digging his fingertips into your flesh. Your hand ends up placed on his stomach, you can feel it rising and sinking along with his still heavy breaths whenever his lips leave your nape for a second, and then suddenly he pulls away.

"I want you." He says it matter-of-factly, and yet his words burn like fire. You gulp. Mingi leans against the wall behind him, there's not much space in the room, merely a small table and some chairs, and with a look to the ground he signals to you where he wants you. You earn yourself a hum of approval as you drop down on your knees and you start by unbuckling his belt, soon having made way for his cock to spring free. "Suck me off," he orders, like he still has to tell you at this point, and as you peer up at his face and at the way he's devouring the sight in front of him, you get to work.

You know better than to tease him in this state, and yet you just can't help it. Swirling your tongue around his tip once, you withdraw, shoot him a cheeky glance, go back in for a few chaste licks that could not possibly be satisfying in any way.

"Hey," Mingi warns you, and the dark look in his eyes makes you shudder. You don't get to see him like this often, and it surprises you time and time again how much he affects you when he gets like this - demanding. With his large hand placed on top of your head as a warning, he doesn't need a single word to make you do what he wants you to. You take him into your mouth, and you start to slowly bob your head up and down, your hand at his base moving along with it. As always, it takes you a few repetitions to get used to his size, and he grants you that short amount of time, and soon enough you have him hitting the back of your mouth repeatedly as you suck him off, and everytime you gag a bit, a moan falls from his lips.

"Fuck," he curses loudly, seemingly not concerned about whether someone could hear you two from outside of the room. He throws his head back when a strained groan escapes him, and then suddenly, he pushes you away, making you almost tumble over and land on your ass. With urgency behind his actions, Mingi pulls you up to your feet, and when your eyes catch sight of the small table he's steering you towards, you unbutton your own pants. You bend over the tabletop, both your and his hands tearing at your clothes until your core is uncovered enough, and when his tip impatiently prods at your entrance, Mingi hisses another curse.

"Shit, you're that wet just from having my dick in your mouth?" You whine at his words and at the way he's teasing your folds, arching your back prettily in hopes he'd hurry up and fill up your aching cunt already. The rush of adrenaline sure took over you too, and when he pushes up inside you, you groan at the stretch. He holds still so you could adjust to him, but soon enough his patience runs out, and he grips onto your hips when he starts fucking into you at a relentless pace. Blood rushes to your head as the pain of his nails clawing at your flesh mixes with the pleasure of the way he hits that perfect spot inside of you over and over again, and already you know it's gonna take him a ridiculously short amount of time to have you falling apart under his touch.

"Say my name," Mingi growls behind you, and as your head starts to spin, you do as told.

"M-mingi..." you mewl. "Mingi, please... f-feels so good, Mingi..." You begin to stutter along with his hips, and you know he isn't going to last long anymore either.

"Fuck, babe, that's right..."

"M-mingi..." you hiccup, your voice higher with each time you repeat his name, while his only seems to be getting deeper.

"Fuck..." he growls, and as your high crashes down on you, making your legs shake while your walls contract around his thick cock, he's thrown over the edge too. The warm feeling of him releasing inside of you has you moaning his name once again, and then finally his movements cease, and he lets you catch your breath for a few seconds before helping you up.

"Shit, you're perfect," Mingi mumbles as he can't but pull you into a soothing embrace, his fingertips running down your body once - it's his way of checking that you're okay. 

"You too..." you answer, and it probably comes out slurred, as you have yet to fully recover from your high.

[buddysblogs123]

MATILDAS READER X ARSENAL

Zoo Trauma

(This is kinda agnsty i guess, lowkey a plot twist and kinda unrealistic but oh well)

(we're just going to pretend the whole arsenal team went to australia okay)

Safe to say you were very nervous when you were told you and your teammates were visiting melbourne zoo once you landed in Australia.

The whole bus ride you sat close to the front. Which caused some confused glances your way as normally you would sit at the back, causing trouble and singing horribly. What really had your teammates concerned was the way you started acting once you landed in melbourne. The whole bus ride you sat by yourself, trying to distract yourself by listening to music but it wouldn't stop your leg from continuously shaking.

"You alright kid?" Steph asks once you all step off the bus, walking towards the zoo entrance.

"yeah, just feels weird being back, i haven't been to this zoo in a while" you say nervously, Steph looked at you curiously.

"you used to come here often?" caitlin buts in, overhearing the conversation from where she walked behind you with katie.

"you could say that" you murmured as you were lead towards a zoo keeper you knew all to well.

Hiding behind the back of the group you listened as they introduced themselves and explained what sections of the zoo they were going to take you all to and what animals there were.

"Do my eyes deceive me or is that you y/n" The zoo keeper, Doug called out, noticing you at the back of the group. Slowly you walked through the group of girls and towards the front, earning a few confused glances from them.

"Hey Duggy" you say with a bright smile as you tuck your self under his arm. He hugs you back tightly with a laugh.

"Running back for your old job or what?" he asks teasingly, ruffling your hair. You hit his hand away with a huff.

"you wish" you poke him in the guts gently, causing him to wince with a smile. The girls around you stood there stunned, watching the interaction play out with confused looks.

Before you joined arsenal, when you were living in melbourne, you worked here at melbourne zoo. At first you just helped clean up enclosures part time, but overtime the people you worked with noticed how good you were with the animals and visitors which lead to you being one of their top zoo keepers. You had worked with Doug most of your time here, him only being 2 years older than you, you started looking up to him as an older brother.

"You used to work here y/n?" Leah asks curiously, eyeing of Doug with an overprotective glance. You nod at her with a small smile before Doug catches your attention again.

"you know, i think Alex missed you" Doug nudges your shoulder playfully causing you to gasp.

"omg he's still here?!" you nearly shout, now jumping with excitement as you grab onto Doug's arm.

"who's Alex?" Kyra asks with a small smile, your sudden excitement making your teammates look at you with a fond expression.

"y/ns best friend, we'll go see him first" Doug says as he starts leading the group towards a large enclosure, with you practically dragging him as you start to skip.

"Your bestfriends a lion?!" Beth shrieks as you all stand in front of an open enclosure.

"Yeah! isn't he cute" you beam as you lean onto the rail, looking lower towards the ground.

"cute?! more like deadly" Katie almost yells, you side eye her quickly before looking towards doug with a hopeful expression.

"Go on kid" he says with a smile, nodding towards the lion that layed lazily on a rock in the sun.

You lift yourself up so now you're sitting on the edge of the railing, causing your teammates to gasp.

"Y/n what are you doing?!" Alessia panics, you ignore her as you whistle loudly, getting Alex's attention.

"don't worry she knows what she's doing" Doug says as he leans on the rail casually, not noticing your teammates angry expressions.

"She's 21! you can't let her go in there with a wild animal!" Caitlin yells sternly.

"just watch" Doug says, keeping his eyes on the lion.

Jumping off the railing you land on the floor with a thud. Dusting off your clothes you walk towards the big lion, it noticing you as it looks at you wearily. Your teammates watch in panic as the lion walks up to you slowly, just like they do in the movies before they attack.

"Hey Alex, you miss me?" you say softly, a look of recognition crosses the lions face as it pounces on you. You could hear a mix of the girls screaming and doug laughing as you lay on the floor under the lion. Just like a normal cat would, alex was all over you licking your face and nuzzling into you. Taking a moment to stand up Alex pounces on you again, nearly knocking you over as his giant paws wrap around you, in some sort of hug.

The girls watch now amazed at the scene infront of them. Never in thier life did they think they would witness something like this.

"what the fuck" Katie murmurs, watching as you start play fighting with the lion.

"Why isn't it attacking her?" Leah asks Doug, still panicking.

"Y/n was the one to tame Alex, the only person able to actually. They have some sort of special bond" Doug reply's proudly. Still keeping his eyes on you.

"y/n let's go! I have a tour to continue!" Doug yells out to you, you look up to him quickly, nodding at him before tuning your attention back to Alex. (get it, Alex the lion #Madagascar)

"I'll see you soon" you say to him softly, rubbing his head quickly before the leaving the enclosure.

You rejoin the group quickly, walking back up to Doug.  Before you could do anything you were wrapped into a suffocating hug.

"If you jump into another animal enclosure today i swear to god kid" leah says sternly.

"no promises" you say cheekily before wriggling out of her grip.

The tour continued like it normally would, you stood side by side with Doug the whole time making the girls suspicious about your relationship with him.

"They're oddly close" Steph whispers to caitlin as they watch you and Doug tease each other.

"Maybe they're together?" caitlin says unsurely, looking towards kyra who was watching you with a hurt expression. Nudging Steph to focus her attention towards kyra they both look at each other with a questioning look. They knew you had a small crush on kyra, it was obvious. The way you would get shy around her and have a slight blush on your cheeks as you both interacted. You and kyra were both labeled the pests of the team, always causing trouble and mucking around when you shouldn't be. The girls knew you were close with each other, but the look on kyra's face told them that thier was more to your friendship.

You stood there laughing at something Doug had said before you glanced over at kyra. Taking notice to her facial expression and the way she quickly looked away after you both made eye contact. Doug seemed to notice as-well as he looked at you with a knowing look causing you to look down confused by kyra's actions.

"We'll be back in two seconds" Doug said quickly, grabbing your arm and pulling you away from the group. The girls watched with overprotective glances as you two stood quietly talking away from the group. Kyra looked down at her shoes, not wanting to watch you flirt with some random boy that you had apparently known before joining arsenal.

"you alright Ky?" Alessia asks, nudging kyra's shoulder causing her to look up.

"oh yeah just tired" Kyra replied quickly. I mean it was true, jet lag was really getting to her right now but she wanted to enjoy the zoo as much as she could. Looking up kyra watched as you hugged Doug and kissed him quickly on the cheek. All your teammates seemed to notice as they glared at the poor boy.

"Thanks Duggy" you yelled before skipping over towards the group again. You stood infront of kyra beaming.

"come with me? I want to show you something" you ask with a wide smile, your teammates looked at you hesitantly. Knowing that when you and kyra were alone together you always caused some sort of trouble. A blush spread across kyra's cheeks as she nodded at you with a small smile.

"Where are you guys going?" Kim called out.

"We'll meet up with you guys in a bit!" you shout as you link arms with kyra and drag her away from the group. Once you were out of site you unlinked your arm, you noticed the hurt look on kyra's face. Carefully you took her hand in yours and intertwined your fingers, Kyra tried to hide her smile but you noticed.

"where are we going?" kyra asked you softly, swinging both of your hands a bit.

"you'll see" you replied with a cheeky grin.

Approaching a large building you quickly put in a pin before unlocking the door. Pulling kyra inside with you, you made sure the door was shut properly before moving further inside the room.

"This is where i used to come on my breaks" You say gently walking up to one of the indoor enclosures. Kyra followed behind you closely before gasping in awe at what she saw infront of her.

"That's Silky, SK, JoJo and Nev" you say softly, pointing at each of the baby tigers as you lean on the rail, clicking your fingers to get their attention. The 4 young tigers bounded over towards you two, kyra took a step back cautiously as they came closer.

"It's okay they won't hurt you, they're still young" you say gently, pulling kyra closer towards you. Kyra gripped your arm tightly as the tigers started jumping against the rail.

"Do you want to go in?" You ask curiously, smiling slightly as you reached your free arm over the rail to pat the giant cats softly.

"n-no thanks, they might eat me" kyra says hesitantly, gripping your arm tighter as she watched them bight your hand playfully. You laugh to yourself before pulling your arm away from the enclosure.

"I mean they haven't been fed yet" you say seriously turning towards kyra. She looks at you scared before stepping away from you slightly.

"I'm joking Ky" you laugh softly before pulling her into a hug.

Kyra wraps her arms around your neck as she melts into your touch. You stood there in each others embrace for a few minutes until something caught kyra's attention.

"y-y/n, is that tiger supposed to be out?" Kyra whispers scared. You turn around confused, your eyes widen at the sight of an adult tiger watching you from down the hall. Moving so kyra's behind you, you slowly click a button on the wall, sending an alert to the workers.

"Kyra i need you to listen to me" you say seriously. You feel her grip on you tighten, noticing your sudden change in attitude.

"Everything's going to be okay" you say calmly as the tiger stalks slowly towards you both. You push kyra behind you softly as you both back up slowly towards the door. Once you reach it you swiftly type in the code to unlock it, not taking your eyes off the tiger as it comes closer towards you.

All of the sudden the tiger pounces towards you with a growl, swiftly pushing kyra through the door so she's safe you dodge the attack.

"y/n!" kyra cries, banging on the door as it shut behind her, leaving you alone in the room with the tiger.

It pounces toward you again, this time you had no time to dodge as you were on the floor. You grit your teeth as its claws dig into your shoulders pinning you onto the floor. Using all your strength you push the tiger away far enough that its teeth wouldn't make contact with you as it tries its hardest to snap at your face. All of the sudden you hear multiple footsteps coming towards you and the sound of a gun being shot. The tigers ripped off of you as it reacts drowsily, trying to fight back but passes out after being shot with a tranquilizer.

"jesus christ" you gasp out, still lying on the floor you feel a sudden sharp pain in both your shoulders, looking down you notice the amount of blood on your shirt.

"fuck sakes this was my favorite shirt" you grumble annoyed as you sit up. All of the sudden Doug appears next to you, helping you stand up with a worried expression.

"What the fuck happened?!" he asks worriedly.

"Someone obviously didn't lock that thing up properly" you murmur, all of the sudden remembering kyra was still behind the door safe. You quickly stumble towards the door, unlocking it quickly, kyra sat on the ground with tears streaming down her face. She flinches as the door opens and looks up to you shaking. She sobs louder as you kneel next to her, pulling her into your lap.

"It's okay, Your okay" you say softly wrapping your arms around her.

"y-y/n what the fuck are you okay?! your bleeding" she sobs, pulling away from you and looking at your ripped shirt and blood covered shoulders.

"I'm fine okay, let's get you out of here" you dismiss her worries, pulling her up with a wince. You grab her shaky hands as you lead her out of the room, making sure she's behind you and blocking her view of the Tiger. The workers escort you outside where your met with your worried teammates. They all gasp at the sight of you, you couldn't blame them. You knew you would have some pretty bad scars after this.

"Are you guys okay?!" steph runs up to you both with tears in her eyes. You push Kyra into her softly, Steph holds her shaky body in her arms as she hugs her tight.

"Look after her okay, i need to go to the hospital" you say stumbling backwards, luckily Doug was there to catch you, suddenly feeling drowsy after loosing so much blood.

"Quick shes loosing a lot of blood!" Doug says scared.

"I'm coming with you, we'll meet you back at the hotel!" Leah says quickly towards the girls, rushing over towards you.

You woke up to blinding bright lights, groaning slightly as you tried to sit up. You can't remember what happened after you made sure Kyra was with Steph but you know you're in the hospital right now. Adjusting your eyes you notice Leah asleep on the chair next to your bed, holding your hand tightly.

"Lee" you whisper softly, nudging her hand. She wakes up instantly, letting out a sigh of relief as she notices your awake.

"oh thank god your okay" she says shakily, standing up to call a nurse into your room.

"Is Kyra okay?" you ask instantly, causing Leah to look down slightly.

"Steph called and said she's really shaken up, she needs you right now kid" leah says sadly, causing you to look down.

"when can i be discharged?" you ask quickly, sitting up and slinging your legs over the edge of the bed.

"The nurse said you can leave once you wake up, here" leah says, handing you a hoodie. It's only now that you realize you're wearing one of those ugly uncomfortable hospital gowns. Ripping out your IV you carefully put the hoodie on, noticing how the top half of your body was patched up and wrapped in medical tape.

"okay let's dip" you say casually as if you weren't just attacked by a wild animal.

"your something else kid" leah sighs with a small smile as she follows you out the room.

After signing out you start the drive back to the hotel, explaining to leah what had happened.

"wait okay rewind, you pushed kyra so she was safely in a different room, then continued to fight off a fucken Tiger?!" she asks in shock, keeping her eyes on the road.

"I couldn't let her get hurt" you whisper quietly, leaning back into the seat.

"You did good y/n, she's okay" leah says back sadly.

"Yeah but it was bloody scary, she didn't need to witness that" you say ashamed.

"you did what you could, she just needs you right now, to know your okay" leah says softly as she parks in the hotel parking lot.

Getting out the car you walk behind leah slowly, before you knew it you were surrounded by all your teammates. They all fussed over you making sure you were okay, you were wrapped carefully in their arms one by one.

"Where's Ky?" you say vulnerably.

"she's in her room with Steph, come on" Caitlin says softly, grabbing your hand and guiding you to kyras room. She knocks on the door softly before it creaks open slightly. Steph peaks her head out, noticing you standing there. You were pulled into her arms as she held you tightly.

"Thank god you're okay" Steph lets out a sigh of relief before pulling away and wiping her tears.

"sorry to scare you steffy, is kyra okay?" you whisper softly, causing steph to look at you sadly.

"You go check on her, we'll give you some time alone" she whispers, kissing your cheek softly before pulling caitlin away and back towards the rest of the girls.

You take a breath before entering the room, shutting the door behind you softly. Your heart breaks at the sight of kyra leaning against the headboard of her bed in tears. slowly you make your ways towards her.

"Hey Ky" you say gently, causing her to flinch and look up to you teary eyed. After realizing it was you she jumps out of bed and into your arms, you hold her protectively as she cried into the crook of your neck. You guide her onto the bed so she's now sitting on your lap, hugging her softly you begin to rub circles on her back.

"i'm so sorry kyra" you say as your voice breaks. She pulls away from you slightly.

"It's not your fault y/n" she whispers back, you can still feel her shaking.

"no it is, and i'm so sorry you had to see that" you say vulnerably as you wipe away her tears.

"you literally risked your life to save me" kyra whispers sadly.

"i couldn't let the person i love get hurt ky" you say without realizing.

"you love me?" kyra asks vulnerably, now sitting up in your lap. You tense slightly, this isn't how you imagined your confession to play out.

"so much kyra" you say quietly, leaning your forehead on her shoulder. You squeeze your eyes shut, not knowing how she was going to react.

"i love you too" kyra whispers gently, cupping your face so you were looking at her.

"really?" you ask in disbelief, leaning into her touch. She nods her head with a small smile and before you knew it her lips were on yours. You kiss back softly, leaning your forehead against hers as you both catch your breath. Kyra pushes you down softly on the bed so your laying down, gently lying down next to you as you wrap your arms around her protectively.

"we'll talk more about everything in the morning, go to sleep" you say softly as you begin playing with her hair. Kyra snuggles closer into you and before you know it you both fell asleep in each others arms.

When Steph comes to check on you her heart melts at the sight of her two Aussie sister like figures peacefully asleep together. Snapping a quick photo she sends it to both the Matilda's and Arsenal group-chat to let them know that they're okay.

'found them both asleep together so they should be okay, i'll let yous know if  anything happens'

Is what she captioned the photo when she sent it to the matilda's groupchat. Having explained what had happened to them earlier. Instantly she got replies from the girls telling her to keep them updated on the team babies.

All of your teammates knew that they would have to keep an eye on you both after this traumatic experience. No one knew what effect it was going to have on the both of you when you wake up in the morning but one things for sure thier not letting yous out of their sights.

[conkers-thecosy]

Been a while since I last made a fic rec list, and I recently went through all the newer bagginshield works on AO3, so I wanted to share some of my favourites! These are all amazing, please go give them a read if you haven't already! 💛 These are all completed, but if anyone is interested I might also do a list of incomplete works in progress that I'm feral about as well!

~

"Green-Handed" by lotusOkid Post-BotFA, while Thorin, Fili, and Kili are slowly recovering from their wounds, Bilbo finds himself subject to a condition that hobbits might experience at a few very particular times in their lives, under very particular circumstances, none of which apply to him. Very confused (and somewhat embarrassed) he decides to keep it a secret during this delicate time in the mountain. This goes about as well as you might expect.

~

"The Burden of Choice" by @fantasyinallforms Thorin Oakenshield is the crown prince of one of the strongest kingdoms in Middle Earth, but in the last year, the kingdom has struggled to keep its place among the ruling powers of Middle Earth. Erebor was held under vicious siege by the dragon Smaug, who terrorised the land and wiped out the nearby human settlement of Dale. The hardship forces Erebor into a difficult position, creating no other choice but for King Thror to seek alliances with other kingdoms and races through the bonds of marriage. Will Thorin see this as his duty to his kingdom or take another path entirely?

~

"No Grave Can Hold My Body Down" by @chaoticangel666 Bilbo returns to The Shire after the Battle of the Five Armies. He might be going insane though, because why does the ghost of Thorin Oakenshield keep showing up when he least expects it? Follows the events from the end of The Hobbit until the end of The Lord of the Rings.

~

"Handsome Stranger" by kriegswaffel A handsome stranger arrives at Hobbiton, both reminding and distracting Bilbo Baggins from the upcoming negotiations between a Dwarven Envoy all the way from Erebor and the official-inoffical leadership of the Shire regarding trade. As he gets more wrapped up in matters, can he find something true and lasting with someone so different - and maybe entirely different from what he expected? Or will he get his heart broken again, at long last, having hoped where there was no hope, or even only betrayal?

~

"What's In A Name" by broken_pencils A short scene that takes place post-canon, in which Bilbo and Thorin discuss the uniquely hobbit custom of family surnames. ~ "And Watch Them Grown" by @sunnyrosewritesstuff Thorin survives his battle to find Bilbo laying unconscious in the snow. Unable to carry him down, Thorin leaves him with his ring on to get help. Only he doesn’t make it very far before collapsing. Waking in the healing tents, Thorin comes to realize no one made it back up to save Bilbo! ~ "The Kitchen Thief" by @mordellestories There are pests. At first, Thorin thought one of his assistants was stealing from him. And that may have been why he was a bit harsher on them than what was deemed necessary. But one by one, the workers were replaced only for the goods to keep vanishing into thin air. It was driving him to madness. And when Thorin wasn’t at peace, everyone knew it. So, it had to be pests, right? Pixies, brownies, rats, something was pilfering his hard work and it was happening more often as time went by. ~ "The things you see in the market." by GothicMama Krelven just wants to explore the market on his day off. But instead he gets thrown for multiple loops when he sees two extremely familiar faces.

[lot-of-nothing]

Entwined (Ch. 7)

Melissa Schemmenti x Reader

Weekend getaway :)

Warnings: Suggestive themes aaaaandd a little of that internalize homophobia again

Author's Note: NO BETA BC THIS TOOK ME FOREVER GOOD LORD IM SORRY FOLKS! I moved and started a new job and I leave for Europe in a week so life has been NUTS

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6

Melissa led the way through the front doors of the hotel. You could tell she was excited by the highly animated way in which she spoke to you. She used her hands and fingers to gesture to you and she lingered close to you with her last word, “This weekend is about three things: the endless buffet, laying by the pool, and sex.”

The corners of your lips rose as her lips neared your own. There were still a few inches between you, but you knew that was plenty close for a place as public as a hotel lobby, “In that order too?”

Your response made the redhead laugh as both of her hands squeezed your bicep. You lost yourself for a moment while you watched her grin at you. It was the voice of a man that unfortunately ripped her eyes from you, “Melissa?” 

As she turned to face the voice, her red hair flicked over her shoulder with the spin of her head. When her eyes landed on the familiar face of her ex boyfriend, her smile faded, but her tone remained polite, “Hey, Gare.”

A brief silence fell between the former lovers (as did a thick awkwardness), and you waited patiently for one of them to speak up. Gary was the first to break the silence when he noticed Melissa’s eyes wander over to the brunette at his side, “Oh, this is my girlfriend - Lea Ann”

Melissa only nodded, remaining silent and giving a faux smile to the lofty man. It was when he realized Melissa had very little interest engaging with Gary and Lea Ann that Gary decided to turn his attention to you. With a kind smile, he reached out his hand, offering it to you along with his name, “Gary.”

“Y/N.” You return the smile and handshake, surprised at the way his face lit up at hearing your name.

“Mel told me about you when we were dating.” He quipped while wrapping his arm around Lea Ann’s shoulders, hugging her to his side. He seemed genuinely delighted to make your acquaintance - it made you wonder why Melissa refused to commit to something more serious with him.

You folded your arms over your chest, glancing down at Melissa and then back to Gary again, “Did she now?”

Gary was highly enthusiastic with how he spoke to you, recalling memories Melissa had shared with him months ago, “Of course. You were her date to the senior prom after some punk ditched her.”

You couldn’t hide your pleasure in knowing Melissa had talked about you in her previous relationship. You had always assumed she would have kept even your friendship a secret. With a great big smile, you bump your shoulder against hers lightly, “I mean, how could I say no to a face like that?”

Melissa gave a reluctant smile, changing the subject away from your relationship, “What are you guys doin’ out here?”

Gary eagerly squeezed Lea Ann to his side once more and beamed at her. The brunette shifted into his side, wrapping an arm behind his back to better lean against him. It was clear they were enamored with one another, “Early anniversary trip. Lea Ann and I met at Dave & Busters not too long after we broke up. She is real good at skeeball.” 

Lea Ann added to the conversation with a shy voice, “How about you guys?”

“A trip for old times’ sake.” Melissa’s response contained a tone that was anything other than warm. While some might not have noticed, you saw her turn snarky and her nose wrinkled ever so slightly. It was obvious to you Melissa was offended by what she thought was Lea Ann’s ‘nosiness’. The redhead folded her arms over her chest, indicating she was finished with the conversation.

Gary knew Mel well enough to give a curt nod and guide Lea Ann away from you both, “Well, I hope you two have a great time.’

“Yeah, you too.” Your voice fell as they walked away - knowing full well Melissa would be upset at this interaction when you arrived at the hotel room.

—

You shifted awkwardly near the door of the hotel room. Melissa had abandoned her luggage in the middle of the room and tossed her purse on the bed before dropping into the chair into the corner to scroll on her phone. She seemed increasingly detached from you since you had spoken to Gary. 

While the detachment made you furious, you gave her a chance to tell you how she was feeling before you spiraled, “Everything okay?”

She didn’t even look up from her phone when she replied. If anything, she seemed annoyed that you would even ask such a question, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Biting your tongue, you turn your back to her with a huff and tug open the door, “I’m gonna go downstairs.”

—

You twist the glass of dark liquor in your hand, mindlessly watching the ice swirl about in the liquid. A fire had been lit in your stomach at the realization that nothing had changed between Melissa and you. She still refused to admit her feelings for you or the opposite sex. Of course you were infuriated, but it was more of a rage fueled sadness had you refusing to look at Melissa who sat (im)patiently next to you. 

“You gotta work with me here. It’s one thing to take a weekend away together, but it’s a whole other thing to be tellin’ people that we are a couple.” Melissa sounded colder than she would have wanted, but there was no taking the words back now. You felt yourself growing angrier by the second.

It was clear Melissa didn’t truly understand why you were upset with the entire situation. With a deep sigh, you chose to explain your feelings to her, “I don’t mind that we aren’t official or whatever. I don’t even care that this is so casual. I just can’t be your dirty little secret anymore.”

“It isn’t like that.” 

Her reply was quick, but you weren’t convinced. “Melissa… Anytime someone gets remotely close to the truth, you get all spooked and then I have to deal with the consequences.”

The redhead chewed at the inside of her cheek, unsure of what to say to you. She remained facing forward, her fingers absentmindedly ripping at the napkin placed in front of her by the bartender. Mel furrowed her brow as she spoke, “I’m not spooked. I just don’t want people all up in my business.”

You weren’t convinced.

“Either way... You know how I feel about you... how I have always felt about you, and I-” In an instant, you regret opening your mouth. You could see a faint blush spreading across her cheeks from the corner of your eye. As always, you had gotten ahead of yourself, and now it was time for you to finish explaining your emotions before Melissa found a way to steer the conversation away from the vulnerability it was currently steeped in, “For me, it feels like you’re ashamed... of me, and it’s not a great feeling.”

Melissa glared at you for a few moments, and then you saw her left hand reach out to hold you by the back of the neck to pull your lips to hers. Your heart began pounding in your chest as you felt Mel’s teeth teasing your bottom lip and her right hand creep up to the middle of your thigh.

When she pulled her lips away from yours, her voice was low, “I’m sorry I made ya’ feel that way. I could never be ashamed of you.”

Regardless of the people sitting all around, you dove back in for another kiss. You felt her melting into you. With every second you kissed her, Melissa inched closer to the point in which she had slipped off her chair to stand between your knees. Her hands braced against your thighs and breasts pressed to your chest. 

The redhead was breathing heavily when she finally drew her lips away from yours. She had turned her head to glance around the room in search of prying eyes when you buried your nose in her hair. 

After Melissa’s worries of being watched were soothed by the absence of onlookers, she turned back to you, capturing your face in her hands. She spoke in a low tone which caused you to swallow hard, “Let’s go upstairs, hon.” She took your hand, tugging you along after her towards the hotel lobby. 

The deafening chorus of casino games, live music, and both winning and losing gamblers was all but a mere whisper to you the moment Melissa peered over her shoulder at you with a smile - a smile that only confirmed your long standing love for her.  

When she had you in the elevator, you were up against the wall before the door was closed with her mouth against yours. Mel was busy trailing her lipstick from your lips to your neck as you choked out a dizzied concern, “We are... going to miss our... uh, dinner reservations.”

“Where at?” Melissa was far too busy tasting your collarbone to give much attention to the thought of going out for dinner. She was far more interested in getting you up to your hotel room to get more acquainted with the hotel bed.

“Some fancy steakhouse.” You murmur before returning her fervor. By now the elevator doors were shut and neither of you had given much more thought to pressing a button to get the elevator moving. Instead you were more consumed with the urge to turn the tables on Melissa and press her against the elevator wall. 

Melissa’s hands were woven tightly into your hair as you pinned her to the wall. Your force only propelled her further into the raging desire she felt for you. Mel didn’t need to use any words to convey how much she needed you. Everything about your kisses was sloppy and steeped in desire. 

She allowed one of her hands to wander to the back of your neck as your lips drifted down her neck to her cleavage. The redhead held you tight with one arm while the other clumsily reached to illuminate the button to floor 15, “We can just order pizza.”

Her efforts to get the elevator headed towards your floor weren’t swift enough. The elevator dinged and the doors to the lobby parted, allowing a familiar tall, bald headed man and his brunette girlfriend onto the elevator with you both. 

With the introduction of Gary and Lea-Ann onto the elevator, Mel and you partially parted. She kept an arm around you with a hand resting on your hip and her body was pressed to yours as she suppressed a coy smile. Melissa raised a manicured hand to her lips, attempting to tidy her smeared lipstick with her thumb. All the while she stared at you down like a starved lion. 

Your heart was pounding and you couldn’t take your eyes off her. It took everything in you not to confess your love then and there. She was beautiful like this - seemingly liberated of her shame and enthralled with the premise of being caught in such a public act of affection. 

Gary was obviously confused by your closeness and he cocked his head, needing to double check to see if it was really Melissa who was really pinned into the corner of the elevator by you, “Melissa?”

“Oh, hey.” She cleared her throat and acknowledged him with a wave of her hand. You attempted to move your hands from her waist, but her hand caught your wrist to prevent you from pulling away. 

The elevator devolved into silence as it began moving to the upper floors. You couldn’t see the looks on Gary or Lea-Ann’s faces as you were too busy watching every shift in Melissa’s expressions. You wondered if this would be the end of your relationship. Your heart was pounding and you were growing anxious at the thought of the potential rejection headed your way. The only thing that kept you from completely losing it was Melissa’s manicured hand on the back of your neck, softly twirling your loose locks between her digits. 

Her eyes flickered between the rising elevator numbers, your company, and the elevator doors. Melissa was terrified of who Gary could tell. Through all of her family and friends, she knew this moment could reach someone she knew in a matter of hours. Her personal fears were being slowly subdued by her own willpower. As her eyes drifted back up to your face, they were now filled with a subtle determination to prove herself to you. 

Melissa pushed against your abdomen so you would step aside, but she kept both hands on you as she talked to Gary, “How’s your night goin’?”

“Good. I- I didn’t know you two were-” Gary couldn’t hide an ounce of his confusion at seeing you together. 

“Together? Yeah, well... Now you know.” The redhead finished his sentence before adding her own bit of attitude at the end of her thought. A lump formed in the back of her throat at admitting your relationship out loud, but there was no taking it back now. 

While Melissa was dealing with her own inner turmoil, you were relishing in the fact that Melissa described you two as being ‘together’. You were riding that high even after the elevator stopped on your floor and Mel took your hand to pull you after her. 

It was Melissa who lifted your arm to place around her shoulders when you stepped off the elevator. She also turned back to face her ex boyfriend with a cheeky grin, “Have a good night you two.”

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta, @unicorniusfallapatorius, @sapphicxrat, @earpivore, @jeridandridge @petty-femme27, @darkcolorphantom, @a-queen-and-her-throne, @cosmichymns

[builtbybrokenbells]

Poolsides & Pizza Boxes | JTK | Some Time Later

Just when you think everything is changing, you begin to see that it’s really the exact same as it’s been all along.

Read Poolsides & Pizza Boxes here

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x f!reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: brief mentions of sex, brief mentions of drinking, swearing, and lots of fluff!

I received a lovely little ask and I couldn’t help but write a little blurb 🤍 I love you guys more than you know!!

“That’s just about everything, trouble.” Jake let out a long breath, landing a firm hand atop the cardboard box he just placed on the table. “Everything upstairs is cleared out, and it seems like we got everything that was down here, too.” He continued, his eyes briefly scanning the kitchen as he spoke.

“I think I’m gonna miss this place.” You said, an air of sadness in your tone. “It was my first house, you know? I made it into a home, even if it wasn’t for very long.”

“You did.” He nodded, his eyes settling on his face as he tried to decipher the emotion in your features. “But it wasn’t your first house. Technically, you're moving back into your first house.”

“No, that’s different.” You shook your head, your lips twitching into a small smile. “That was your house; I was just staying there.”

“No, you were living there.” He corrected, taking a step towards you. “That house has always been yours just as well as mine.” He said, brushing the baby hairs away from your forehead as he gave you a soft smile. “Now, it’ll really be ours.”

“I like the sound of that.” You hummed, stepping forward and wrapping a single arm around his torso. You leaned into him, resting your head on his shoulder as you let your eyes flutter closed. “You think the guys are mad at me for making them help me move again?” He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head immediately after the words left your lips.

“They’d never be mad at you, trouble. Plus, it gives them an excuse to day-drink and eat takeout.”

“They do that anyway.” You grinned, turning your head upwards to face his. He let out a small noise, not responding with words but very clearly agreeing with your thoughts.

It had been just shy of half a year since you and Jake started dating. The high emotion of the fateful night opened a whole new door for the two of you, and it didn’t take long for you to grow comfortable in a relationship, just the same as you did as friends. Now, he was spending nearly every night at your house, or vice versa. As adults, you’d come to the conclusion that paying two mortgages when one house was mostly vacant was a stupid idea. You were burning money the longer you lived apart, all while going through the motions of cohabitation.

A few weeks prior, Jake slipped the idea in your mind of moving in with him. At first, you brushed it off with a laugh, not taking him too seriously. Then, he brought it up again at dinner, striking the irrefutable idea. He liked your house; loved it, even, but his was bigger, and yours would need more work done to it as the years went on. You had lived there before, and you had both been under the general impression that the two of you were going to last. You felt no need to go through the classic motions of dating, because you’d been doing it all without the sexual intimacy for your entire lives.

So you thought about it for a day, but you didn’t need much longer than that to agree with his proposal. You both figured you could fix it up a little more and host an open house to show all the renovations it received, and once it sold, you’d move in with him. The process only took about a month total, and before you knew it, your life was packed up in boxes again and you were hopeful it would be for the last time.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m just too sentimental.” You shrugged, your sad eyes glancing out the patio door to your backyard. “We put so much work into this place. I got the expensive wood floors Sam liked so much, and we built a pool, Jake.”

“Do you want to move in with me, trouble?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. If you were to disagree, he wouldn’t be angry about it. It was more or less a question to ensure your comfortability, to make sure that he didn’t pressure you into something you did not want to do.

“Of course I do, Jake.” You said, finding it near blasphemous that he even had to ask. “I love living with you, and I want to do it. Besides, even if I didn’t, it would be a little too late to back out now.” You smiled.

“Then what is it?” He asked, relieved to hear the words. “Why are you so hesitant?” You stayed silent for a moment, your lips dipping down into a slight frown.

“I guess…” you trailed off, your stomach twisting with nerves for a reason completely unapparent to you. “We happened here, Jake. Everything started here, in this kitchen, and that pool. I guess I’m a sucker for sentimental stuff, and that was the best day of my whole life. Is it weird that I don’t want to let that go? I don’t want strangers living in this house, especially when it’s so important to me. We’ll never get to see this place again, and I guess that does make me a little sad.”

“No, it isn’t weird, trouble.” He said, pulling away from you slightly so he could turn to face you. He lifted your chin with his index finger, forcing you to hold his gaze. The warmth of his brown eyes seemed to wash away all of your troubles, and you felt ridiculous for ever being upset at all when you had someone like him around. “This place is important, and it’s special to me, too. I think of that night every time I walk in this kitchen, trust me.” His tone changed as he spoke the last sentence, like the thought alone was working him up. A smirk was plastered on his lips and his eyes glazed over with a now overly familiar emotion to you. You rolled your eyes, landing a playful smack on his arms.

“Gross, Jake.” You laughed.

“Shut up, you think about it too.”

“Well duh.” You shot back. “But I don’t think about it like that.”

“Don’t lie to me, trouble. I know that’s not true.” He said, cocking his head to the side as he waited for you to confirm his words.

“Okay, yeah, fine. I do.”

“Right.” He laughed. “Point is, sweetheart, I’m sad to let go of that, too. You’re not stupid for feeling that way, because I’ve been thinking about it all day. But,” he said, leaning ever so slightly closer to you. “We’re going to make so many more memories, some that might be even better than the one we made that night, in our house, together.” He reminded you. “So yeah, it sucks when one chapter ends, but we’ve got at least ten more in this lifetime, right?”

“Right.” You nodded against his gentle hold, leaning upwards to meet his position. His nose brushed over yours, the slight touch sending a shiver down your spine. Still, months later, he managed to make you weak just by existing. “New memories, and a new life. It’s going to be great.”

“It is.” He whispered, his eyes heavy lidded as he fought the urge to kiss you. “We’ve got the whole world in our hands, trouble. Let’s do something with it.”

“Yeah,” you breathed, unapologetic about how immersed you were in him, in the moment. With that, he leaned down and placed a small kiss on your lips. It still took your breath away and made your head spin, and he still tasted as sweet as he did the first time he ever kissed you. The only tragic part about kissing Jake was the fact that it had to end, and you couldn’t spend the rest of your life with him, exactly like that. When he parted with you, you held him close for a moment, not ready to grieve the ending of the moment just yet. “I am going to miss that pool. I know I gave you a hard time about it, but I love it.”

“I know you do, sweetheart. That’s why I did it in the first place.” He explained, pulling your hips into his, showing you he was just as happy as you to stay in the position. “Which is also why I have a couple guys at my house right now, surveying the backyard so they can start on ours tomorrow.”

“What?!” You exploded, taking a step back from him. “Jacob Kiszka, you did not!” You tried to wrap your head around the fact, floored that he loved you enough to build you not one, but two pools.

“Yeah, I did.” He laughed, hanging his head low as his shoulders shook with laughter. “But it was a little selfish, this time. It wasn’t just for you, it was for me, too.”

“I can’t believe you.” You laughed, shaking your head at the man before you.

“Well, you better start believing sweetheart, cause this is what the rest of your life is gonna look like.” He grinned. “Now we have our own pool, and I can fuck you in it whenever I want.” Your cheeks burned red and your heart sped at his words, realizing that his intent this time really was a bit selfish. You couldn’t be too upset about it, because you knew you would enjoy that part just as much as he would.

“Right, so now that that’s settled, you ready to get going?” You asked, trying to quickly brush over the topic. You couldn’t focus on it for too long, because if you did, you wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else for the rest of the day.

“Yeah, s’long as you are.” He said, giving you a smile.

“Okay.” You let out a sigh, looking around the room. Tomorrow, new owners would have the key to the front door, and the most exhilarating and beautiful chapter of your life would come to an end. At the same time, you couldn’t be too sad about it because you knew it would only open the door to an even better future. “Let’s hit the road, then.” You said, giving a sad smile.

“Sure.” He nodded, but made no move to leave. You furrowed your eyebrows, curious as to why he seemed so reluctant to leave, now.

“Spill, Jacob.” You said, taking your turn to pry into his brain. He swallowed hard, tapping his foot against the floor as he tried to phrase his words correctly.

“How about we wait, just a little while longer?” He offered, his eyes glancing around the room.

“Why would we do that?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest. He gave a slight shrug, his hands resting in the pockets of his jeans as his gaze finally landed back on your face.

“We could make one last memory in this kitchen before we have to leave.” He offered, waiting to hear your thoughts before saying anything else. “Up to you, trouble.” You slowly turned, your eyes landing on the kitchen table that started it all, and your lips quirked into a smile.

“One more, just for old times sake.” You nodded, turning back to him as you accepted his offer. A grin overtook his face as he stepped towards you, landing his hands on your hips and his lips on your own.

As you wrapped your arms around his neck, inviting him in even further, you finally understood what he was trying to tell you; it didn’t matter where in the world you were, not what house you lived in or how old you were. Memories would be plentiful, and perfection wouldn’t be a strong enough word to describe it. So long as you had Jake by your side, you would be happier than ever before.

[miris-secret-files]

can we get a kakashi or naruto in enemies but we fuck bc im obsessed with you?? also if its possible a little of jealousy!

And I Hate You Too || Kakashi Hatake x fem!reader

A/n : At first I wanted to make it a hc but again I decided to make it a fic because I think it had potential

Warnings : enemies to lovers ( kinda ), erection, grinding, oral fem receiver, praising, riding, slight possessiveness, 18+ READERS ONLY and wrap it before you tap it

Masterlist ⚜

I don’t give permission to repost my work, if you want to share it just reblogue it

Word count : 2295

Of course you have known the Copy Ninja for a long time now. You've been forced to deal with him on many occasions. First when he went to Sunagakure to carry messages to the Kazekage, but also on important missions for the interests of Konohagakure and Sunagakure.

On several occasions, the two of you even had to team up, and he was insufferable to say the least. His attitude, always laid back and deceptively relaxed, irritated you to no end. You, who were always very serious, couldn't stand to see him there, his nose buried in his book, as you walked through a forest reputed to be dangerous, towards a destination whose reputation was just as murky. And on the other hand, even if he wasn't doing anything wrong, there was this strange tension between you that made it even more unbearable.

“You could deign at least to be more careful when we walk,” you laughed, continuing to walk just as quickly through the forest.

However, he didn't answer you, pretending to be too engrossed in his reading to reply “Hatake, I'm talking to you,” you added in an exasperated tone, whipping your head towards you.

He chuckled under his mask “That's not funny !” you cut him off.

“I don't see why you mind me reading as long as I'm operative for the mission,” he replied before finally settling his gaze on yours for the first time that day. The air grew even tighter around you, the way he leaned towards you, his face only a few centimeters from yours “Unless you'd prefer me to look at you.”

“Enough !” you exclaimed, as a blush spread across your cheeks, you whipped your face away so he wouldn't see, though it was unsuccessful “This isn't the time for that ! Just concentrate on the mission !” you added frustrated. You walked ahead of him before adding under your breath "The sooner we finish, the sooner I won't have to put up with you anymore," at this point his mocking look was playing dangerously with your nerves, you just wanted to push him up against the nearest tree and make him lose his temper in the same way.

But he heard you “As if I wasn't the one who had to put up with you,” he said loud enough for you to hear.

“You better be kidding me !” your hand clenched and unclenched around your sword ( yeah I'm in my One Piece era ) with emotion. All you wanted to do was knock him out and leave him there. But you knew that no matter what you were going to say, he would know just how to push your buttons, either by answering as sharply as you, or by pretending to remain indifferent without ever answering you.

As you expected, he answered nothing, and the mission continued in deafening silence with an atmosphere so thick you could cut it with a knife. The mission was completed to perfection, as always, but once back in front of the Kazekage you couldn't help wishing you wouldn't have to see him again so soon, little did you know things were going to turn out differently.

~~

A few months later, the start of the Chūnin Selection Exams was announced at Konohagakure. Of course, you were one of the people sent by the Land of Fire to look after the children representing your nation. You were rather proud of your protégés, who had passed the first test with flying colors, but the dark side was here, in this dojo, during the face-to-face test. Let's just say that the ninjas of Hidden Leaf Village were, for the most part, of a much higher level than those back home.

There you were, hands on the railing, hip cocked back, your eyes riveted on the fighting going on above you. Your shouts of encouragement drew the attention of Kakashi, who was, not far away, once again immersed in one of his books. He turned his head at the encouragement, his only visible eye crinkling slightly as he observed the curve of your back. At that moment, a million ideas crossed his mind. He could already see himself reaching behind you, grabbing your hips and holding you close. But the thing he wanted most was to give you a good, hard spanking for all the times you had been bad-mouthed.

He couldn't resist taking a few silent steps in your direction, and of course you felt him coming up behind you. From his spot against the wall he continued to observe your curves, his jaw clenched as he felt the heat rise in his groin. He closed his book and put it in one of the pouches on his belt, his eyes alternating between the fighting and your silhouette.

“Come on, Ryota ! Keep it up, she won't last long !” you encouraged one of the youngsters in your village.

“It's not encouragement that's going to change anything, it's real training he should have had,” the man behind you couldn't help but add sharply.

But you ignored him - just the way he often did with you - and continued to support the young boy who was gradually being overwhelmed by the amount of blows inflicted by his opponent.

Soon enough he lost the fight and was gently placed on a stretcher. You jumped over the fence and landed onto the field to make sure he was all right, and once that was done you went into the changing rooms to fetch him the healing ointment made by one of his parents.

On your way through the gym corridors you passed Kakashi coming in the opposite direction, no doubt on his way to collect the belongings of one of his students as well. Couldn't bear to see his face today, you didn't hold back the shoulder hit you gave him as you passed next to him. Continuing on your way as if nothing had happened, you were surprised when suddenly, at the bend in a corridor, you were roughly slammed against the wall behind you.

“Y/n, Y/n,” he whispered against your temple, and that's when, strangely enough, you realized the difference in size “Why are you always so feisty ? Or is it just for me ?” he chuckled darkly against your skin.

You shivered at the sensation of his hot breath through his mask “Let go of me !” you tried to push him off you, but at the same time you were reveling in his touch.

“You're sure of that, it seems your body is telling me otherwise,” he adds in an over-confident tone, pushing his knee that was nestled between your thighs a little harder against your heating core “So what do we do-”

You didn't let him finish his question, in an instant you pushed him into the nearest changing room before slamming him against the door. He gasped at the force you had put into your movement. This time your body was pressed against his, and he could feel the delicious friction of your hips against his growing erection. His hands came to grip your hips tightly to prevent you from teasing him any further.

“Is there a problem, Ka-ka-shi ?” you pronounced his name syllable by syllable for the first time. A shiver ran through his body, as if it were a revelation. You felt his hands grip your hips a little more firmly and before you knew it, it was you who was now pinned to the door in turn. A click echoed through the room, amidst your heavy breathing as he locked the door. With a lightning-fast motion, he lowered his mask and brought his mouth close to your neck. You didn't even have time to notice as he began to kiss the delicate skin of your neck with his mouth open. Your hands gripped his hair, fingers running through his tangled locks before pulling him closer.

“You talk too much,” he replied in a hoarse voice.

“And you're overdressed,” you add, this time running away from the one who initiated the move to take off his shirt. He helped you and you could finally see his pale, scarred skin, whose muscles flexed with every movement.

“Oooh is that so ?” he bit his lip as you hooked your fingers into the hem of his pants, lowering them until his cock sprang free. He tilted his head back as another grunt escaped his lips as your hand began to jerk him off gently.

“You're so hard,” you muzed, feeling every vein and pulse of his member in your hand.

“Of course I am. Have you looked at yourself- mmh fuck,” he moaned as your tongue came to lick a drop of pre cum that glistened at the tip of his cock. With his hand he grabbed the back of his head to anchor himself in the present as your mouth worked divinely over him.

His hips began to respond to your ministrations as he thrusted deeper “You're not talking so much now- gnn huh Y/n... mphf” his words were interwoven with moans and sounds of pleasure “Way too busy sucking my cock.”

But at that moment you stood up, his cock throbbed at the loss of contact then you pushed him more delicately to lay him down on one of the locker room benches. You quickly got rid of your bottom before straddling his hips and impaling yourself on his waiting member.

“Oh fuck,” you moaned, clenching your fists to his forearms.

His hands shot to your sides to hold you in place for a moment “Mmh good girl,” he knew that if you moved now he would cum right there and then “You're so tight-”

You wanted to push his buttons by undulating your hips but something told you that you would have other chances to do it to him in the future. So you waited until you were both used to each other before starting to move.

At that moment, if anyone walked into the dressing room, it wouldn't look like two rivals fucking, but two lovers making passionate love. Your head tilted back slightly, moving carefully over him, as he responded to each of your movements with a thrust of his own, causing his cock to slide gently in and out of you.

In a moment of confidence you reached for his mask, one of his hands caught yours before your eyes met. It had been years since he had decided to keep his face a secret, but right now he didn't know what had gotten into his head. You gently lowered his mask before leaning into him, your lips finally meeting in a fiery kiss, mingled with moans and breaths.

“I'm close,” you whispered against his lips, feeling your thighs beginning to tremble.

He held you a little closer “I'm right there too,” he replied before continuing to thrust, feeling your pussy tighten with each contraction that brought you closer to your orgasm. As you rode him your hips stuttered and finally you came, your body shuddering above his. That's all it took for him to feel the knot in his stomach burst. He gently pulled out where he jerked his cock a little before cumming, his seed pumped in long sticky white rope over his stomach and your lower belly. You fell back on top of him with fatigue and pleasure, he wrapped his arm around you, his fingers tracing patterns on your back.

“Remember that I hate you,” you whispered while peppering kisses on his chest.

“And I hate you too” he murmured, his lips pressing against your hairline. At this point you didn’t need words to express what you really both meant, your bodies did for you.

It was the first time for both of you, and far from the last. Your relationship at work, far from perfect, was much more relaxed. And as for the rest, let's just say that you see each other a lot more than before. Often at the end of a mission, before heading straight back to your village, the other would stay to spend a torrid night at the other's place. Even at events such as competitions or village days.

In truth, practically every time you met it ended up with him being buried deep inside you, or your mouth around his cock, or his tongue gliding over your glistening folds. His voice, hoarse with need, repeating you over and over again that you are his and no one else's. Even when you were away in each other's village but not paired together for the mission you would text each other - because yes he had given you his number and you had accepted - to find out when he could see you to fuck.

Let's just say that the numerous hickeys on your neck were still a real mystery to your friends back home in Sunagakure, because to them and everyone Kakashi and you were still enemies. Several times during your vacation you had sent him texts, asking him when he was free because you were on vacation and 2 days later - and this time right on time - you would see him on your doorstep, ready to fuck you for the weekend.

All in all, that famous Chūnin Selection Exams had been the beginning of a relationship between you and Kakashi that was far more powerful than you ever thought it could be. You were acutely aware of the warmth of his body against yours, and he was obsessed with the way his name slipped off your tongue when you moaned it. So far so good, and maybe soon you will tell him you decided he could come inside you if he pleased. Something was telling you he would be far from indifferent at this idea.

~

~

A/n 2 : Yes I forgot about about the ointment cream Y/n had to bring for Ryota 😂

[bloatedandalone04]

Chasing Cars

➪the one where bradley risks his life to prove a point to mav, and you call him out on it as soon as he gets back to base, then later at home.

Warnings: angst, fluff, smut, swearing, arguing, mentions of death, mentions of crashing, both you and bradley are aviators, mentions of bradley being willing to crash just to get back at mav, family issues ig

Word Count: 3.4k

Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡ | New theme bc I hate looking for pictures that fit

“What the hell was that?” You asked as soon as Bradley walked back to base from the tarmac.

“Nothing,” he muttered as he walked past you, probably wanting to go to the locker room and forget about what he just did. What he just risked.  

But you weren’t having it. “Hey,” you quickly caught up to him and grabbed his arm. “Talk to me.”

Bradley stopped walking abruptly and turned to you. “What?” 

Your brows furrowed and you took a protective step back, not used to hearing him sound so cold and hostile towards you. You knew he would never do anything to hurt you, so the step back wasn’t because of that - it was more so to give him the space he clearly needs right now.

“Huh?” He grunted as he stepped into your personal space again at your lack of response. “What?”

You huff and cross your arms over your flight suit that matched his, not backing down this time like you normally would to keep the peace. He did something reckless, and there was no way you were going to let him think that what he did with Mav in the air was okay. “You could’ve died,” you say, eerily calm as you stared up at him. 

Bradley glared at you, clearly not liking the confrontation he’s found himself stuck in. “Spare me the lecture, baby, alright? I’ve been doing this for years, I know what I’m doing when I’m in the air,” he placed his hands on his hips, his tone still as stubborn as ever. “I know how to handle myself and pull myself back.”

“I know you do, Bradley,” you trailed off, feeling your words beginning to get caught in your throat. Less than ten minutes ago you were holding onto Bob’s shoulder tightly as you heard and watched Bradley and Pete nearly plummet to the ground, and the adrenaline was quickly wearing off and being replaced with fear and anguish. “But flying angry is not the smartest thing you can do.”

You watched as a flicker of realization flashed in his eyes, your use of his real name rather than a cute pet name you usually call him by letting him know that you were completely serious right now. “Not the smartest thing I could do? Is that your nice way of calling me stupid?”

“I’m not calling you stupid,” you correct him, looking at him with a sense of pleading in your eyes. “What you did was stupid.”

Bradley crossed his arms, “Is that supposed to make me less pissed off?”

“I’m not trying to piss you off,” you say tiredly, dropping your arms back to your sides. “I’m worried about you.”

A small scoff leaves his lips as he looks around the tarmac that was clearing out as the minutes went by. “Worried? It’s my job to fly jets,” he muttered. “Things like this can happen every time I go up there.”

You shake your head. “But it’s not your job to pull stunts like the one you did today,”

The sun was setting, casting a golden hue over his stupidly pretty features, and if you weren’t so riled up right now, you would’ve definitely made a comment on it. “It wasn’t a stunt,” he mumbled. “You need to lighten up, I’m fine.”

Your eyes well up with tears and you quickly look down at the concrete of the tarmac. “You nearly crashed,” 

Bradley huffed, looking around as if any of the few aviators left could save him from this situation. “But I landed safely,” 

“But you almost didn’t!” You finally break, looking up at him through blurred vision. You could see his hard gaze soften and his brows drop a bit as he kept his eyes locked on yours. “You almost died.”

He sighed, guilt written all over his face as he moved closer to you. “I know,” he finally admitted, reaching out to place his hand on your hip. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

You press your lips together as you give him a look that told him all he needed to know without you actually saying it. 

Bradley wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you against his chest, his rough flight suit against your own making it not the most comfortable embrace you’ve shared with him. “I’m okay,” he whispered, kissing the top of your head. Your usually neat bun is messy from the way you tugged on it earlier from the panic you felt, and you were sure Bob’s shoulder will have a bruise on it. “I promise.”

“Are you?” You asked, your voice barely above a whisper as you pressed your face against his chest. 

He paused as if he was trying to find the right words to say that would give you comfort. “I am,” he confirmed, stroking the side of your neck with his thumb. “I just get so pissed off around Mav sometimes. That’s not an excuse, though.”

You shake your head and pull away to look up at him, finding comfort in the way he softly wiped your tears away with his thumb. “Let me ask you something,”

“Okay,” he sounded a bit unsure as he pressed a kiss to your forehead. “Anything.” 

You brace your hands on his shoulders as you ask, “If I pulled something like you did today...If I almost died because I wanted to prove something, how would that make you feel?”

Bradley’s eyes darkened a bit and his brows furrowed further as he took in your words. “I’d be really fucking mad at you,” he answered and your frown softened as you watched the way he processed your question further. “I’d be pissed that you risked your life for no reason.”

You give him a half shrug and a forced smile. “That’s exactly how you made me feel today,” 

Bradley sighed and his shoulders visibly dropped as guilt spread across his face. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, stroking your jaw with his thumbs. “I know I need to be more careful, and you’re right. It was stupid to let my ego take over. I’m sorry.”

Your lip trembled a bit and you looked down at his boots, the tears finally spilling over. “You can’t do things like that to me,” your voice broke as you tighten your grasp on his suit. 

He gently lifts your head and looks you right in the eyes, and you could see the adoration and guilt swimming in his. “I know, I’m sorry,” he said again, much quieter this time. “I promise it will never happen again.” Bradley leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to your lips, and you could feel the way your tears continued to fall on both yours and his face now. 

You kiss him back and practically melt into him, the anger and frustration slipping away as the need to have him close takes over. 

Bradley holds you tight, his hands grabbing hold of your waist as he pressed you impossibly close to him. “I love you so much,” he whispered when he pulled away and rested his forehead against yours. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve never done what I did. It was selfish and reckless, and I promise I’ll do better.” 

You nod and wrap your arms around his shoulders. “You need to…because you scared me today,”

He nods. “I know, and I will, I promise, baby,” he murmured, kissing the top of your head. “I love you.”

Pulling away slightly, your tears had stopped but your face was still damp. “I love you,” 

Bradley gave you a smile before stepping away and gesturing to his bag. “I’m going to go put this away, then I’m taking you home,” 

“Okay,” You nodded, crossing your arms over your chest as you wiped at your eyes. “I’ll be in the parking lot.”

He nodded and took his keys out of his bag, handing them to you. “I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he promised and you smiled before turning away from him and making your way to the parking lot. 

-

Words couldn’t describe how angry Bradley was at himself. 

Now that the high of being in the air and going head to head with Mav had worn off, he could clearly see why you were so upset and mad at him. He hadn’t thought about anyone or anything as he forced himself to drop closer and closer to the ground until Maverick was left with no choice but to pull up first. 

Thinking about it now, Bradley was too into his own head at the time, he was sure that there was no way he was going to be the one to do that, and that would’ve ended in his death. He would’ve left his best friend behind, his mutilated body, Mav, you. 

When you asked him how he would feel if you had gone and done something like that, he could physically feel his heart shift in his chest at the thought of losing you in that way. He’d be more than mad at you, he’d be on the verge of never letting you out of his sight again. You are both aviators, you both knew the risks of flying and missions. Why had he put himself in that situation during training? When it really didn’t even matter?

He couldn’t imagine his life without you, and the thought of burning in and leaving you behind was one he hated to think about. The thought of you leaving his life in that way? He was almost prepared to beg you to quit right then and there. 

But you loved your job, like he loved his, and the risks that came with it were high enough as it is. He didn’t need to add to that list. 

He shoved his flight bag and helmet into his locker before leaving the base without saying another word to anyone else. He knew Nat would have her go at him tomorrow when he returned for another day of training, and he would let her. Because he knew he fucked up. He knew he was selfish. 

Bradley walked through the doors and quickened his pace when he saw you leaning against the passenger side door of the Bronco. “Hey,” he greeted, despite seeing you less than five minutes ago. “Why aren’t you in yet?”

You shrugged with your arms crossed, and he knew you were still upset, even if you were trying your best to hide it. “I just needed to be on solid ground for a little longer,”

In the midst of all that happened, he forgot that you were also an option to be picked to fly the upcoming mission. You also had gone up against Mav today, and you took your loss maturely, unlike how Bradley did. You were taking it seriously, because you needed to, and so did he. 

Bradley felt more guilt creep into his body as he reached out and ran his knuckles along your jaw. “I’m sorry,” he said for the sixth time, and he was sure he would keep saying it for as long as he needed to. 

Because you are the one. You’re the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with, in the exact way he had been spending the last three years. 

You give him a small but beautiful smile as you lean into his touch. “I know,” 

Bradley reached around you to open the passenger side door, and your smile grew as you climbed in. He braced his hand on the top of the door as he leaned in and pressed a firm kiss to your cheek, watching as you tried to fight off a grin when he pulled away. “I’ll make it up to you,”

You smiled at him and he closed the door before rounding the front of the Bronco and getting in on the driver’s side, taking the keys from you when you held them out to him. “You don’t have to,” you tell him quietly as he puts the key into the ignition. “I already forgave you.”

Bradley grinned over at you and took your hand in his as he began the drive that would take him back to the house he’s shared with you for the last two years. “You know, I don’t know what I did to ever deserve you. I don’t know how I got so lucky,” he rasped, lacing his fingers with you. “You’re so smart and strong and so fucking gorgeous, every other woman in the world doesn’t stand a chance.”

He glanced over and watched as a blush took over your face and you slumped back in your seat. “Quit trying to make it up to me,” you mumbled and he laughed. “I’m the lucky one. I love everything about you. You’re my entire world….which is why I can’t lose you.”

He knew what you meant; you couldn’t lose him like that - in a way that is so easily preventable. You were well aware of the fact that you could lose each other on missions and deployments, so you both tried to not increase those chances during your work days. 

Bradley gripped your hand tightly as he looked over at you, his expression one of regret at making you so upset today. “You won’t,” he said, though you both knew he couldn’t promise that. Neither of you could. “I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.” 

You lean against the seat and gaze at him in a way that has him driving a little faster to get home quicker. “I love you,” 

He raises your hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to your knuckles. “I love you, too,”

When he pulled into the driveway as the sky was getting darker, he kept his hand in yours as he looked over at you. He could tell that you were still shaken up but a lot calmer than before, so he traced random shapes onto the back of your hand as you sat in silence. 

“Do you wanna head inside now?” He asked after a while and you shook your head, lifting your joined hands and pressing the back of his against your cheek. 

“No, I don’t want to let go of you right now,” you answered and he felt his heart swoon in his chest. 

Bradley smiled over at you and unbuckled his seatbelt, shifting so his seat was pushed back a bit. You understood what he was doing without him even telling you as you unbuckled your own seatbelt and crawled over the center console and into his lap. 

His hands settle on your waist as you press your body against his, a content hum slipping past your lips. “Is this better?” He teased, pressing a kiss to the side of your head as he held you closer to him. Truthfully, he wasn’t any better than you; he needed to hold you like this as much as you needed to be held. 

“A little,” you hummed, nuzzling your nose against the side of his neck where his scars are. “I just need to be close to you right now.”

Bradley pressed countless kisses to your face and jaw as you settled against him. “I need it, too,” he confessed, his words muffled against your skin. 

He loved holding you like this and having you in his arms. He loved you; how could he possibly risk losing it just to get back at his dad’s best friend?

You wordlessly lift your head and cling onto the front of his flight suit, your teeth sinking into your bottom lip as you give a slow roll of your hips. 

Bradley bit back a moan as his hold on your waist tightened a bit, his eyes widening. “Baby-”

“How close do you need to be?” You asked in a sultry voice that had him growing hard almost instantly. 

He lifted his head from where it ended up against your shoulder and looked at you, seeing how your eyes shifted from longing to a more intense emotion. “As close as possible,” he managed to say in a deep voice before pressing his lips to yours. 

You kiss him back immediately, moaning against his lips as you slowly begin grinding against him. “Baby,” you echoed his affectionate pet name as you deepened the kiss. Bradley let out a breathless groan when he pulled away and buried his face against the side of your neck as you rode his lap in the driveway. “Do you like this?” You asked, knowing damn well that he does. He was still reeling from what happened today, so it didn’t take much for him to get hard for you, and it didn’t take much for him to be a whining mess because of you. 

“God, yes,” he groaned, the sound coming from the back of his throat, a deep growl. 

“Do you want me to keep doing this?” You continued with your questions, and he knew exactly where you were taking this. 

But he would always willingly give in to you. “Yes,” he nods, holding your hips tighter as you move on top of him. “Please, don’t stop…please.”

You smiled at the way you had easily made him a begging mess for you, your lips connecting with his in a surprisingly sweet kiss. “Then promise me that you will never be reckless like you were today ever again,” and there it was, the place he knew you were getting to the second you lifted your head and gave him that look. 

Bradley huffed out groans as you leaned in and kissed all up his neck, nipping at certain places as you went. “I promise, I won’t be reckless again,” he said against the skin below your ear, his hands sliding up your back as you shifted on his lap. 

“Good,” you praised and he thrusted up against you without being able to stop himself. 

He was sure his fingers were leaving bruises on the skin of your waist as he helped guide the roll of your hips. “God, you feel so good, baby,” he rasped against the smooth skin of your neck, his breathing picking up with each passing second. 

“Are you close?” You asked, a hint of teasing in your voice, but the desperation and need easily overpowered it. 

Bradley nodded quickly, actually whimpering as you ground your hips against his. “I’m so close,” he whispered, his voice low and deep and desperate for you. “You take such good care of me, baby.”

You smile and kiss him, trailing your hands through his hair and tugging on it. 

He moaned loudly, feeling his body begin to tense up at your touch.  Each roll of your hips was met with a thrust of his as he met you halfway, trying to get as close to you as he could. “Please,” he said against your lips. “Oh, fuck, please.”

You whined into his mouth, pulling away to softly demand, “Come for me, baby,”

Bradley’s head tilted back as his body stilled, his grip on you impossibly tight as he pulled your body close to his. “Fuck,” he grunted as his body shuddered slightly from the feeling of his high ripping through him. 

You tug on his hair before smoothing it out, pressing a loving kiss to his temple afterwards. “Did that feel good?” 

There was another question you knew the answer to already, but he’d never not give you it anyway. “Yeah,” he breathed out, dropping his head to look back at you. “So good.”

You firmly take his chin in your thumb and index finger. “Never scare me like how you did today, or I swear you’ll never see me again,” you said, only half serious as you brush your nose against his. 

Bradley quickly shakes his head, lifting his hands to tuck your messy strands of hair behind your ears. “I won’t, I’m sorry, I promise I won’t,” he rambled, the high he felt from you being better than anything else. “I’m sorry.” He repeats and pulls you into his arms again as he tries to regain control of his breathing. 

“Okay,” you said quietly, kissing him softly. 

“I love you,” he whispered, unable to stop the smile from forming on his lips because, at the end of the day, he had you to keep him grounded - even when he fucked up sometimes. 

You give him a final kiss before returning his smile. “I love you, too,”

[amongemeraldclouds]

so high school

you know how to ball, I know Aristotle

Mattheo Riddle x f!Reader (Modern AU)

Warning: fluff, no use of y/n

Author's note: I can't think of a good summary for this, but it's all about going on a motorcycle ride with Mattheo because he aced the test you tutored him for.

✿ Masterlist | TTPD Masterlist | 643 words

“Come on, pretty girl,” Mattheo said, handing you his spare helmet. You eyed it suspiciously, but held your hand out anyway, accepting it.

Your plan worked a little too well. Tutoring Mattheo was anything but easy, so to motivate him, you agreed he could get a reward each time he scored well on a test.

He said he would show you how to have fun. You smacked his arm and he promised he would be an honorable gentleman and keep things wholesome, unless you wanted more. To which you insisted, you did not.

Never mind the way your stomach fluttered when you were near him, or how your thoughts would get derailed when his arm brushed accidentally against yours. You knew better than to get involved with the resident troublemaker at your school.

You countered instead that fun looked like different things to different people. So if he showed you something he found fun, you’d also get to show him something you enjoyed. He shrugged his shoulders and agreed. Besides, if he got top marks in class, you’d receive a hefty bonus, which was more than enough of your savings goal for university.

That was how you found yourself rock climbing, racing cars, and now, your arms were tightly wrapped around his torso, hair flying in the wind, as he whisked you both away in his motorcycle.

After a while, you found yourself relaxing as you got used to the speed and found you enjoyed the rush as you cut through the air, cars and buildings blurring past you. There was something freeing about it and it certainly did not hurt to feel his toned body snug against yours.

You almost complained when he slowed down as you approached the beach. “So?” He asked, grinning as he took off his helmet. You were tempted to fix his helmet hair and run your fingers through his luscious locks, but held yourself back.

You couldn’t, however, stop yourself from mirroring his grin, adrenaline pumping through your veins. “Not bad, Riddle.”

He laid out a blanket he packed and you both settled in, listening to the waves, as the sun painted the sky a blend of red, orange, and yellow. You took a moment to breathe it all in, the salt air and the warmth of Mattheo beside you.

It was your turn to tell him all about the book you were reading about. You showed him how fun could also exist in far away realms with magic and dragons. How books were portals to these worlds where mysteries get solved and people find happy endings. Despite his initial eye roll weeks earlier, you found he was a great listener who seemed genuinely enthralled by your stories.

Little did you know it was because of you. Mattheo loved watching you come to life, the spark twinkling in your eye when you showed him something you thought was fun. You were a captivating storyteller. He could listen to you for hours and it would only feel like minutes. You always left him wanting more.

Your eyes could rival the sun and he wanted to kiss you then and there, but stopped himself. He watched your feelings bloom slowly with the way you had to pause when his arm ‘accidentally’ brushed yours. How you always seemed to have his favorite pack of candy around and you always leaned into him when you laughed.

He loved your laugh, and everything else about you. He was going to wait until your feelings grew to the point where you could no longer deny them. Then he would be honest. It had been a few weeks since he fell for you with the exact same approach he took with everything else in his life - fully and unapologetically.

When it was your turn to fall, he was ready to be a safe place to land.

✿ Masterlist | TTPD Masterlist

A/N: This is one of the least literal interpretation out of all my TTPD fics so far, but the song ‘So High School’ is just PERFECT for this vibe.

[wardenparker]

Hummingbird Has Landed, ch 16

Marcus Pike x female reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

After the debacle of his failed engagement and relocating to Washington to take charge of his task force, newly minted Special Agent Marcus Pike is ready to get back out into the dating pool once more. A slew of bad dates has him feeling a little down, and he takes an old friend up on an invitation to get away and get his head on straight. Imagine his surprise when he finds not only fresh air, but his soulmate as well - hiding in plain sight but in the unlikeliest of places.

Rating: M for Mature but this blog is always 18+ Word Count: 10.6k Warnings: *Blanket warnings for this series: occasional mention of American politics, pregnant character, food/alcohol consumption, mentions of clothing/regulated dressing for occasions, mentions of therapy because we believe in self care here, reader is in a previous relationship, love triangle, reader is mentioned as turning 30 during the course of the story, dom/sub dynamics* Tooth-decaying sweetness, talk of pregnancy/impregnation, fleeting mention of everyone's least favorite Pike cousin. Summary: A bridal shower, a night out, and an evening babysitting that all have surprises of their own. Notes: Happy pride month, Pedro Nation! We're edging closer to the end of this story at a brisk pace. Just a few more chapters before the epilogue 🧡✨

Ch1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~ Ch 6 ~ Ch 7 ~ Ch 8 ~ Ch 9 ~ Ch 10 ~ Ch 11 ~ Ch 12 ~ Ch 13 ~ Ch 14 ~ Ch 15

"Birdie, stop." The stern but loving words are an order as Sydney places both of her hands on your shoulders and demonstrates a slow, steady breath for you for the second time today. "Amelia and Sean have the whole party under control. Your wedding planner has done an immaculate job planning this bridal shower and my sous chef knows this menu like the back of his hand." Her thumbs press gently into your bare shoulders, the edges of your Jackie Kennedy-esque pastel 60s shift dress not quite covering your shoulders and making you feel much cooler on this hot July afternoon. You're both wearing white gloves, completing the ensembles you've chosen, but at this moment you're much less worried about propriety than other things. "It's going to be fun, you just have to chill out."

"I know." The closer the wedding gets the more anxious you get about absolutely everything, and you take a deep breath because Sydney is completely right. You need it. "Is it dumb to wish Marcus was here? I'm so jealous that the guys are all at a Nationals game today."

“I’m jealous too, but I also know that Marcus and Juan would love nothing more than to be right here.” She reminds you with a grin. “Firmly inserted up our asses, which is where they like to stay.”

"Only because you told Juan you wanted to wait for another baby," you snort under your breath, shaking your head at your best friend. "I think I just want everybody here and for things to be underway. Bridal showers can be brutally boring and I just don't want today to be like that for anyone."

“I didn’t mean like that.” She huffs, rolling her eyes and grinning at you. “Do you honestly think your bridal shower is going to be boring?” She asks, stepping back and gesturing to your outfits. “We are dressed up as famous women that have made significant contributions to our society, we are having our now famous tea service, and we have booze.”

It's true to say that this is not anyone's average bridal shower. The Famous Women of History theme had gone over wonderfully with guests and the tea service now being run each and every weekend by the inn has been written up in multiple publications all over the country. Even if you only had those two things going for you, you would be miles ahead of other parties. You soften into a smile, bolstered by her confidence. "Your Julia Child costume is immaculate, by the way."

Sydney immediately adopts the characteristic accent that Julia was so well known for. “Of course!” She agrees, grinning. “Who would not want to be me?”

Accents have never been your forte, but you aim for something vaguely Transatlantic and fall comically short when you reply: “No one I can think of, darling.”

Sputtering out a laugh, she grabs your hand. “Come on Jackie.” She teases. “We’ve got a party to go to.”

The gallery hall that has been rented for the party is stunning. Paintings hang immaculately on the wall and a baby grand piano sits at the ready, while small table for four or six guests each dot the area facing a larger, longer table. The pastel color palette is perfect, welcoming without being babyish, and you soften a little to look around and see flower petals sprinkled artfully over each table, brightening up the place settings and name cards. “No centerpieces, so we have room for the tea towers,” you hum, checking out each table. “It’s perfect, Syd.”

“I thought you would like that, letting the food decorate.” She beams at the compliment but she is more excited to celebrate you.

“I absolutely love it.” Simple and classy, that’s what the decor is, and you give your best friend a squeezing hug as people start to arrive.

The group is a mixture of family and friends. Everyone from Marcus’s side comes out, with the exception of one, which no one misses Hannah here if they were pressed for an opinion. The mood is festive and despite the invitation saying presents aren’t necessary, no one comes empty handed.

Your own side of the invitation list is a tad smaller, but no less enthusiastic. The girls from game night are all dressed as famous authors, including Sydney’s sister AnnaLeigh as Mary Shelley with a big heart necklace, and Selena is wearing a Rockford Peaches uniform for all the women baseball players she idolized growing up. Even Sydney and AnnaLeigh’s mother has come in from Philadelphia, dressed as Marie Curie with glowing jewelry to bring in the ‘radiation’ aspect.

It’s a given fact that your mother will always arrive last to any gathering, but she makes a hell of a splash arriving in her Votes for Women sash and the costume that she has worn for every Halloween party for your entire life. "Alice Paul." You laugh when she comes over to give you a tight hug. "I almost thought you might go for something else but it has to be Alice Paul. But I see you've gotten a new hat. It's perfect."

“Of course.” She snorts, grinning at you. “How could it be anything else? Birdie, this looks amazing.” She gushes. “Your bridal shower is gorgeous.”

"We said no gifts," you laugh half-heartedly, seeing the boxes and bags and assorted packages on the table by the door to the gallery. "I mean we knew most people wouldn't listen, but really it's so sweet of everyone."

“Honey, people are so happy for you and Marcus.” Your mother reminds you with a soft smile and a hug around your waist. “I’m sure that they just want you to know how loved you are.”

"We're very lucky." That is the least of it, but of course you're very lucky. Having the love of your life is about the luckiest thing you could possibly ask for in the world. Today is the icing on the proverbial tea cake, as far as you're concerned. But it's wonderful to get to see all the ladies of your family. "If you like what's been set up, then you should make Amelia Sharma your official event planner," you tell your mother, before seeing your sister spinning around the room like a whirlwind. "I think Junie likes it, too."

She hums as she looks over at your younger sister. “Is she— Jane Goodall?” She frowns slightly as she tries to understand the costume that she is wearing.

"Of course she is." It doesn't surprise you one bit, and you offer your mother a cheeky grin. "Her childhood hero. I would expect nothing less of Junebug."

“There was a time that your sister insisted that we adopt a gorilla.” Your mother snorts. “So I don’t doubt that at all.”

"Do you know why she stopped asking?" The smirk on your face is unapologetic, but considering you were not more than eleven or twelve at the time your baby sister insisted on wanting a gorilla for a sibling, you think it was still a clever comeback. "I told her we already had Alex."

Your mother rolls her eyes and sighs. “That’s why?” She huffs. “You always liked to try to rock the boat.” It’s an affectionate chiding and she is grinning while she delivers the chastisement.

"It only took her her entire childhood to be able to have a pet," you tease back. "Are you even the least bit surprised she named the rescue puppy Koko?"

“Not in the least.” Your mother admits with a wistful smile. “Just like I know Koko will go with Junie when she moves out.”

“All three of your kids have their soulmates, Ma.” You nudge her affectionately, and the warm and proud smile on her face grows with the reminder. “You might have a quiet White House next term if we all end up settled down and domestic.”

“All I’ve ever wanted was for the three of you to find your happiness.” She takes your hand and squeezes it. “My dreams and goals have never been any of yours, your paths are different from mine.”

“And we appreciate the fact that you recognize that. More than you could possibly know.” It would be easy for her to be blind to it, after all. Or to find the three of you unambitious because you don’t have goals as lofty as hers. But a small business owner, a future lawyer, and a future veterinarian are nothing to sniff at. You squeeze her hand back and tilt your head toward the other side of the room. “Come on, Mom. I sat you with Donna and with Syd’s mother. The Mom Table.”

“The Mom Table.” She hums. “I appreciate that. Donna and I have fabulous conversations.”

“It’s such a relief that you guys get along.” Of any two mothers in the world, you know your own mother and your future mother-in-law feel very strongly about wanting the best for their kids, so you’re glad they agree on what the definition of best is.

“I couldn’t imagine a world where we didn’t get along, to be honest.” Your mother admits. “I have been giving serious thought to having Donna appointed to a member of my cabinet.”

After staring at her for a few seconds you just blow a raspberry and shrug, letting out a small laugh. “I honestly can’t even tell if you’re joking.”

She frowns for a moment. “Why would I be joking?” She asks. “I don’t think that she accept Surgeon General, since we have a fantastic doctor in that role, but I think that she would be amazing at guiding our country forward through the mental health crisis that is emerging.”

You gape slightly, mouth open, and shut it again twice more like a fish before trying to talk again. “So you’re going to create a government position for a mental health professional alongside the Surgeon General…and offer it to Donna Pike?”

“Mental health is linked to physical health.” She has been considering this a lot and it’s the first time she’s mentioned it outside of her private office. “I think a practicing therapist and doctorate of physiology would understand the shortcomings of our current healthcare system and help put protocols in place to improve our mental health as a nation.”

“In no way do you need to convince me of the ongoing mental healthcare crisis in this country. I see my therapist every two weeks like clockwork.” Stopping in your tracks, you level your mother with a serious expression. “I think it’s a fantastic idea. Regardless of whether or not you appoint Donna, mental health needs to be made a more important conversation.”

“Absolutely.” She nods. “Would you mind if I broached the subject with her? Nothing would interfere with your wedding, or any wedding related activities.”

"Not at all." She doesn't need your blessing but it's nice of her to ask for it. "Why don't you guys have a walk around the gallery after tea? Talk all you like."

“After the party.” She won’t take away from this time for anything in the world, but your approval was important to her.

"In that case?" When you reach the table you show her which seat is hers and gladly accept another hug. "She's going to be in town all week. I bet she'd love some sweet tea on the White House lawn."

“I’ll have to have her put on my schedule then.” She shoots you a wink and sits down so you can focus your attention to other guests. “Go, mingle.”

There are a whole lot of people to mingle with. That was part of the point, of course, and getting to see more of the Pike family for the first time since April is a welcome occasion. When you eventually get to sit down at your table, it's a sigh of relief to be with your closest friends.

Champagne is distributed, although this isn’t supposed to be a boozy event. It is however a historical nod towards gilded age. The sous chef that is in charge of the menu starts to have the staff bring out the tiered tea service trays.

"So." When the tray for the six of you goes in the middle of the table between you, Sydney, Selena, AnnaLeigh, June, and Issy, you narrow your eyes at all of them. "When do I get to actually know something about my bachelorette party?"

“Nope.” Selena pops back, a grin on her face as she takes a demure sip of her drink. “Just that you are going to love it.”

"A hint?" You beg, trying to look suitably pathetic for your friends. You know it will be great, whatever they have planned, and you do love surprises. But they have been remarkably good at keeping this under their hats. "Are we talking a day? A night? Travel? Doing something at home?"

“It’s going to be fun.” Junie supplies unhelpfully with a knowing smirk. She knows how much you want to know about this and it’s been a huge planning event for all of them. They even created a group chat without you to organize it.

"Seriously, guys?" Snorting at them as you all start to pick through the assortment of finger sandwiches on the bottom tier of the tower, you just shake your head. "Fine. But be prepared for me to ask a million and a half questions while I'm trying to outfit plan."

“We’ve already got your outfit planned.” Sydney tells you. “Don’t worry. We will be bringing it when we get you.”

"You're kidding me?" They have been extremely thorough – extremely thorough – it seems, and you huff at the lot of them playfully. "You guys really thought of everything, didn't you?"

“It’s our chance to make sure that all you do is show up and enjoy yourself.” Anna Leigh snorts. “Even your bridal shower had you planning things. And you can’t tell me you didn’t because that would be a lie.”

"I like to plan things," you remind her, even to the point where you automatically pick up the teapot from beside you and start pouring for your friends. "I might not be as good as Juan, but it's fun."

“But there are times where you deserve to be treated.” Selena adds. “Your bachelorette party is one of them. We do promise that no scandals will erupt from the night. No strippers have been hired.”

"We will be saving that for Junie, I'm sure." It's really just to get a reaction out of your little sister and her face wrinkles immediately.

“Eeeew, no.” She snorts. “The last thing I want is for some strange, naked man to rub on me.”

"Couldn't agree more, baby sis." You fill up her teacup and hand it back across the table. "Could not agree more."

“No, I don’t think any of us would want that.” Selena huffs. “I think you would be too busy thinking about my cousin, as gross as that is.” She teases playfully.

"I could completely freak you out if I wanted to." The silent confirmation of that fact is the necklace you've worn almost every day since Valentine's Day, and you unconsciously touch the heart-shaped charm where it lies just under the collar of your dress and under the string of pearls that goes with your costumes. "Get all lovey-dovey and thoroughly gross you out."

“Please don’t.” She grimaces and everyone at the table laughs. “I am related to him, and despite what Hannah thinks, I don’t sleep with my cousins.” She snorts. “Just because I’m from Texas doesn’t mean I’m into that kind of crap.”

"Nobody reasonable thinks you do." It really is sort of a blessing that Hannah Pike couldn't come to DC this weekend, being stuck on a mandatory business trip. Keeping the bridal shower drama free is important to everyone. "For a fully different topic, did everybody bring their song request for the wedding band if you have one? I promised I would send the list of requests in this week."

The topic on much nicer things, the party goes into full swing and Sydney makes sure to glance around at the tables to see the reactions of the tea service.

"I'm calling it." Issy says, halfway through the tea service when the savory tea towers around the room are switched out with sweet options. "You're going to have at least three people wanting to reserve tables for afternoon tea at the inn after this party. Maybe up to five."

“It would be good.” Sydney hums. “The tea service has been good for business. The restaurant is now full most of the day. And guests at the inn have even requested tea trays to their rooms.”

"We're pretty much booked solid through to the end of the year." Which is startling considering it's only July, but the inn has been packed. "Tea service reservations have been filling up, too. Which reminds me," you glance around the table after snagging a teacup full of lemon tiramisu. "When we get back from the honeymoon, I want to take all of you guys and Alex and David out for a night. To say thank you for how much help you've all been and show my gratitude. And no protests, I know you've all put immense money and time into these wedding events. I'm grateful."

"I heard something about a special pianist?" Not knowing a whole lot about the classical music scene despite enjoying it, you had just smiled and nodded when your mother mentioned it.

“Yes, I’m sure he will be here soon.” Sydney smiles as she looks around the room. “I wonder how it will sound in here, I’m sure it will be gorgeous.”

“Will I get called cheesy if I say it’s just as perfect as everything else has been?” Of course there have been hiccups along the way — most notably the night of the engagement party — but they’ve been handled and haven’t affected how lovely the road to your wedding has been. It’s been an absolute fairy tale.

“Of course you will.” Junie grins. “But that’s okay, because you are cheesy.”

“You’ll be cheesy too,” you assure your little sister. “In a couple of years when we’re doing all this for you.”

“I don’t want a big wedding.” She shrugs. “I appreciate you doing this so I can claim that it was too much.”

“Glad to do my duty as your big sister.” That has you raising your teacup in salute, a gesture echoed around the table. “But things with Dylan are good?” Junie and her soulmate have been together just as long as you and Marcus, but you’re grateful to see them moving much slower. There’s no need to rush at their age.

“They are wonderful.” Instantly her grin softens and her eyes take on the moony quality she is constantly teasing you about. “Really, really good. His parents like me, so that’s a plus. His mom cried when she met me, happy that her son had finally found his soulmate.”

“Good.” Junie’s been so happy this last year and more. It’s been bleeding into every aspect of her life and you swear even her GPA is up just by proxy of being in a better mood so she’s less grouchy about studying. “Just as long as nobody’s pressuring you guys about moving faster than you’re comfortable with.”

“No, I think that Dylan wants to move in together soon.” She admits with a grin. “And I don’t mind that.”

The table going silent and still for a long moment before breaking out into squeaks of glee, each woman reaching for Junie or hugging her from the side as she expresses the sweetness and happiness of that news in her own words. “Our little Junebug is growing up,” you huff softly, carefully wiping away a sentimental tear so as not to smudge your makeup. “Whatever you need, you have all of us and Alex and David and Marcus and Mom and Dad—” The length of the list makes you pause, and laugh softly. “You have so many people who love you, Junie. And we’ll be here to help you with anything you need.”

“I know.” She does know that her family loves her, her given and made families. It’s something that gives her comfort and joy in knowing that she doesn’t have to be alone. “But right now, we have a bride to celebrate and that is my big sister.” She tells you. “A woman I have looked up to my entire life.”

“Well gosh.” You exaggerate the word and wipe your hands down your face like Goofy blushing in a Disney cartoon. “I love you too, Junebug. Being your big sister is a privilege.”

“I know.” She quips, making everyone laugh and distracting you as a man in a suit walks in and quickly strides to the piano to sit down.

“I don’t think I could eat another bite but I want to.” Selena sighs, and you hum your agreement with teacup in hand. The food, as is the custom for anything coming out of Sydney’s kitchen, has been both endless and utterly delicious.

No one notices him, except your mother, until the first sound of a key strike from the piano is heard. Conversation stops and heads turn as the broad-shouldered man starts to play, his back to his audience.

You recognize the song immediately. La Vie en Rose is the song that you played for Marcus the night you confessed that you had feelings for him and it has been your song for the entirety of your relationship. It's even what you have planned for your first dance at your wedding. So to hear it now brings a tear to your eye even before you look up to watch whatever mysterious musician your mother has hired.

Except you know those broad shoulders. The haircut he got barely a week ago. The cut of that suit. The charcoal suit that he likes to wear with a blue shirt to offset the dark tone. But since when does Marcus play piano?

Another man enters the room, a violin on his shoulder as he starts to slowly join in the song as Marcus plays. His shoulders move as his fingers caress the keys and pull the song out of them that has become so special to him.

One by one, a full band strolls into the room with their instruments to join the tune, and all you can do is try to ebb the flow of tears welling up in your eyes. By the time the song swells, there are six more musicians in the room with Marcus, and you're suddenly convinced that all those golfing trips with your father have been a cover for the time he must have spent learning piano for this moment.

The song comes together beautifully. The building design is actually perfect to echo the harmonious stringed instruments. Making Marcus smile as he works through the song.

You aren’t really sure at what point during the song you pushed away from the table, open mouthed shock in your face but with so much love and gratitude in your heart for this man that a few tears have spilled over while he plays. This is true proof, at least to you, of how thoughtfulness between partners can make moments that last a lifetime.

Marcus feels you staring at him, making him wonder if you recognize that it's him. He smiles softly as the song slowly starts to wind down after an extended verse, one he had added himself.

The whole room is on their feet with applause, but your feet are on a wholly different mission — carrying you forward through the gallery to throw your arms around Marcus’s neck almost the second he’s stood up from the piano bench. There are tears, of course there are, but they’re such joyful ones that when you sniffle in his ear and chastise him for keeping such a secret, he knows you don’t mean it.

Marcus holds you close and when you pull back just the tiniest bit, he is pressing his lips to yours. “Sorry for crashing your party, but I wanted to give you your wedding present early.”

“Don’t be sorry,” you insist, not quite understanding what he means but over the moon that he’s here. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” He promises, admiring your outfit and reaching up and caressing your cheek. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Even more than I already was.” Kissing him again gets a soft Awwe! from your assembled friends and family and you fluster a little. “Are you staying for the rest?”

“I don’t want to take away from the festivities.” He winks at you. “Besides, I still have a game to go watch with the guys.”

A soft pout only makes him chuckle quietly, but it earns you another kiss so that will have to be enough for now. “Then I expect you to come pick me up so we can sort through all the shower gifts at home tonight. Deal?”

"I will be here." He promises with a small chuckle. "I want to see how adorably drunk you get while you are celebrating with your ladies."

“Just tipsy enough to be cute,” you promise him. But before he can wave to your friends and make his exit, you place one soft hand on his chest. “You changed the song,” you observe quietly, as though it has only just occurred to you.

He smiles, eyes lighting up as you recognize that the song was longer than it should have been. "I added a lyric." He admits. "You'll hear it," he promises as he takes your hand and bows slightly like a gentleman would as he kisses it. "It will be in my wedding vows to the most beautiful woman I know."

Rather than your usual self-deprecation or teasing Oh yeah? When do I get to meet her? you find it impossible to do anything but smile and moon at him with the most lovestruck expression on your face as he makes his exit.

"When did Marcus learn to play the piano?" Selena walks up to you, wide eyed and obviously impressed with the display and a little envious of the lengths that her cousin will go to in order to show you the depths of his love for you. She can only hope her own soulmate would be as equally devoted.

“My guess?” When you turn around to face Selena, she looks as dreamy as you feel. “The regular golfing trips with my dad have actually been piano lessons.”

"Oh...you think?" It's entirely plausible, especially because Marcus spends all his free time with you beyond the golfing trips. "That's probably the sweetest damn thing I've ever heard."

“That’s…” you sniffle, wiping away the last bit of sentimental water from your eye. “That’s Marcus.” Perfect, wonderful, sweet Marcus.

"You deserve everything wonderful." Your mother comes up, flanked by Donna. "Marcus wanted to surprise you and give you a...'grand gesture'?" She tilts her head curiously.

“Learning to play piano so he can play our song and write a new lyric for it definitely counts as a grand gesture.” If you’re smiling half as hard as you think you are, you must be beaming. “It’s…something I did for him. My grand gesture was when I told him I loved him for first time. This is his.”

It's very sweet and very on point for the two of you. Donna smiles softly. "Marcus must have love that. So often he is the one to give a grand gesture."

“That’s why I did it,” you admit, knowing that it makes you an incredibly sappy couple together. “Because he deserves just as much love as he gives.”

"You are perfect for him." She coos, making your mother smile and shake her head. "By the time the wedding comes around, you'll be asking for a fireworks airshow with the Blue Angels and the Marine Corp marching band." She teases.

“Oh gosh.” The sound of it is sweet and very grand, but you shake your head and laugh right along with both mothers. “I think that might be a bit much. Even for us.”

Everyone laughs and your mother smiles softly. "Well, how about we move on to your gifts?" She asks, turning towards the table that stacked with boxes and bags. "There's quite a few to go through."

“There’s so many.” Unpacking the car with Marcus back at the house after the party is like unloading clowns from a Volkswagen Bug. “Didn’t we say that gifts weren’t necessary? We even listed a non-profit on the invitations for people to donate to instead.”

His eyes widen at the stack of gifts, and he chuckles, his hands on his hips as he determines the best way to attack the mound of boxes. "They love you. Or they just wanted to give you one hundred toasters." He glances back at you. "They aren't all toasters, are they?"

“Maybe,” you tease, looping your arm through the handles of all the gift bags on one half of the backseat. Just because you know what all the gifts are already doesn’t mean you’re going to spoil it for him. “I guess you’re just going to have to find out.”

"That's a lot of toasters." He huffs, shaking his head.

"Come on, baby." Leaning over, you smack a kiss to his cheek and grin, happy to be home. "Let's get this stuff inside and you can open everything while I enter who gave us what into a spreadsheet. I am not getting behind on thank you cards this early in the game."

Despite the fact that you no longer have to go up to the third floor or carry everything through the inn, it still takes several trips from the car to the house. "Did they buy out a Home Goods?" He grunts, finally bringing the last of the packages in.

"Two, I think." He's hauled everything into the living room, but you're in the kitchen grabbing drinks. "Do you want alcohol, caffeine, or to hydrate, babe?"

"I think we need to hydrate." His answer is slightly because of the heat, somewhat of how giggly you had been when you were picked up, and because it's too late for coffee.

"Two waters coming right up." You also grab your laptop from the kitchen table where you had left it this morning, and bring everything over to him on the big sectional sofa in the living room. "Where do you want to start, my love?"

"I honestly don't know." He huffs, "I guess we just go from one side of the room to the other?"

"Start with the thing closest to you, then." The spreadsheet is all made and ready to go, all you have to do is sit back and sip on your water as you enter data into it and Marcus marvels over the gifts that your friends and family decided would be perfect for your home. "The big box on your right is from your Aunt Clara."

"Okay, the big box." Marcus nods and moves towards it. "Have you already written down what everyone got us, or do you need to do that now?"

"Sydney did the typical bridesmaid with a notebook thing at the shower," you assure him. "Right now I'm just noting down if we have any specific reactions or ideas that I include in the thank you cards. Like 'Oh, Great-Aunt Martha, this electronic toaster is fantastic, we can't wait to make the fanciest grilled cheeses known to man.' Or whatever."

"Soooooo many toasters." He grunts, grinning at you before he opens the first box and finds the impressive looking espresso maker. "Huh...that's not going to toast bread, but I think I like it."

"It's definitely not." Giggling a little at how his eyebrows have raised, you tap the side of the box to draw his attention to the machine's advertised settings. "This is the model up from what we had on our registry. It's even fancier than what we picked out."

"Well damn Aunt Clara." He snorts, looking suitable impressed by the higher model machine. It will look good in the kitchen that currently sports a regular drip coffee pot. "We do have her sitting at a good table at the reception, right?"

"I think I have her at a table with David's parents because they're all scrapbook people." You glance up from your laptop and raise an eyebrow at him. "David's parents have already said they're making a scrapbook of the wedding, by the way."

"Interesting." He hums quietly, wondering if that will be something that you love or end up hating.

"However it ends up looking, it will be done with love." Pointing to the next bag to Marcus's right, you urge him on, trying to building momentum. "Next?"

He picks up at bag. "And who is this lovely gift from?" He asks, showcasing it playfully.

"That is from my baby sister." Scolding Junie had done no good, she just grinned at you and gleefully handed it over when it was time.

“Oh?” He hums as he opens it up and pulls out an organizer. “Ummmmm.”

“Flip it open,” you urge him, knowing that Junie put quite a lot of thought into the gift and he’ll like it once he realizes what he’s holding.

Once he opens it, he realizes what it is for. “Oh wow.” It’s an organizer, but it’s not for a single year. It’s for the two of you for your lifetime. Some pages are meant to be filled out separately, before your time together, but the majority is for you to record your major life events. Marriage, children, buying houses, moving. All organized into a beautiful leather binding that can be lovingly preserved for future generations.

“Our life together, between two covers.” Or, it will be, when you’re sitting together as old folks reminiscing as you fill the last pages. “Junie’s getting sentimental now that she has Dylan. It’s actually very sweet.”

“Dylan is showing her that emotional attachments are not just reserved for animals.” He has talked to the younger man several times and found him to be extreme nice and caring. That positive reinforcement has seemingly broken your younger sister out of her shell.

“Apparently they’re talking about moving in together.” It’s still a little unbelievable that you heard that out of your own sister’s mouth, but you absolutely couldn’t be happier for them Junie really does deserve the best and she’s been so happy since finding her soulmate.

"Oh yeah?" He looks both impressed and surprised. They are moving faster than he imagined, although it is still slow for some soulmates. "As long as they don't feel pressured."

“She said it was his idea and she seems so totally over the moon about it.” Flipping through the book together, there are some pages — engagement, moving in together, first house — that you can already fill out. “She thanked me for having the big public wedding so she doesn’t have to.”

That makes him laugh, a totally Junie thing to say since the younger sibling likes the spotlight even less that you do, although you handle it better. "I'm so glad we can help her out like that." He snorts. "I see Junie honestly doing a court house wedding with a small little family reception."

“I told both of my siblings when I bought the inn, that they just have to say the word and it’s their wedding site.” You shrug lightly and lean your head on Marcus’s shoulder. “I hope at least one of them takes me up on it, but we’ll see.”

"I think that it will be your brother." Marcus admits, shrugging slightly. "Whoever wants to use it, they will have a ton of help."

“Yes they will.” And it’s a comforting thought, considering how much work you now know a wedding to be. Marcus had tried to warn you, but you had been an enthusiastic new bride who dove in headfirst. Well, at least it’s been fun in addition to being a lot. “Want to open the next one?”

It takes forever to go through the stack of gifts, none of them were repeated surprisingly enough. It must have taken some behind the scenes coordination that you and Marcus weren't aware of. Maybe you should be considering everyone's love of surprises.

“If we recycle all this wrapping paper, we won’t have to buy more for a year.” Slumped back on the couch, both you and Marcus are boggled all over again by the amount of packages there were to open, but you made it.

“A year? Try three.” He jokes, shaking his head. “If you never knew how loved you are, you should know now.”

“This is for both of us,” you remind him, looking around at the piles of gifts you received today. Housewares, linens, gardening things, and decor amongst others.

"It's a bridal shower, not a groom's shower." He reminds you with a grin and drops a kiss on your nose. "You're loved, just admit it."

“I am loved.” That much you’ll agree to, dopey smile and all. “And I love you right back.”

He smirks and kisses your nose again. "Okay....we have our list, do you want to start messing with this stuff or tuck it away in that nice, empty storage room off the laundry room?"

“Why don’t we put each pile in the room where it belongs? It will be incentive to put it away.” You smirk at him and bop his nose with your finger. “Since you hate piles, it’ll bug you until we put everything away.”

"I feel like you are using that against me." He huffs, and shakes his head even as he starts to reach for the items to organize them for the rooms.

“Only in that it keeps me motivated too.” The pile for the kitchen is the largest so you move to that, first. “The fact that you’re happiest in a clean house makes me want to keep clean.”

“But if you’re tired, the dishes or laundry or whatever else can wait.” He promises. “Or I can do it my damned self if it’s bothering me that badly.”

“Oh, I’m not saying I feel pressured.” This stack is going to take several trips, you find rather immediately. The espresso maker is one trip in and of itself. “I’m saying you keep me honest, and I appreciate it.”

He chuckles and even though his hands are also full, he manages to shift everything to slap your ass as you pass by him. “Good to know.”

“So where are we going?” June asks, though she and Dylan are following dutifully behind as the six of you — her and Dylan, you and Marcus, and Alex and David leave Friday night dinner together. David had invited the siblings and soulmates out someplace but she can’t remember where.

"It's a surprise." David throws her a cheeky grin and a wink. "It wouldn't be any fun if I told you were we were going."

"Well, whatever it is, he has the blessing of the Secret Service," you note, glancing around the group of six of you to see the three agents giving you all a wide birth as you walk out to your cars. "Or is that just because we have Marcus?"

"I would like to think I have a little pull." Marcus teases, tapping your hip as he guides you towards your car. "Maybe not as much as I give myself credit for. But Agent Bailey appreciates the security around the house."

"She also appreciates that you built her an office with a daybed," Alex points out, smirking a little as he leans into his soulmate's side.

"I figured it was the least we could do." Marcus huffs. "The house is completely secure and that way whoever is with us can catch a nap."

“Step up, little brother.” Teasing between the six of you is natural, but of course it’s heaviest between the three siblings. “When you move out of the White House, make sure you have an extra bedroom for your agent.”

Alex snorts and shakes his head. "I'm honestly hoping that by that time, I can opt out of agents."

“I have to be honest…” As you walk, you glance back at the lagging agents and back at your siblings. “I’m pretty sure Mom exaggerated the mandatory part of our protection detail to us. But a lot of people were mad about the first female President being elected and I get how she would want us protected.”

"Yeah, I know." Alex snorts, shooting you a grin. "I looked up the rules before the detail ever was assigned." He admits with a shrug. "It gives her peace of mind and it's one less thing she has to worry about while she's busy being the most important person in the U.S."

“Maybe we’ll ask her to ease up next term.” Junie theorizes, shrugging as the group of you reach your cars. “Maybe not. By then, Birdie and Marcus will have produced at least one or two First Grandbabies, so she might double down on them and let me and Alex off the hook.”

"No." Marcus shakes his head. "We aren't going to have agents follow the babies around. I don't even think that's allowed for a protection detail."

“He’s joking.” David assures him, nudging his soulmate toward the car with a dramatic roll of his eyes.

"Follow you?" Marcus asks Dave as he opens the passenger door for you. Agent Bailey had followed in her car since Marcus's car is a government vehicle with the appropriate plates. It gives you just a few more moments of privacy.

“Yup.” The younger man nods and then tilts his head to June and Dylan as well. “It’s not far. Be there in no time.”

As soon as Marcus climbs in beside you, he asks the question while he's buckling his seatbelt. "So where do you think we are going?" He asks. "It's odd, right? Going off after dinner like this?"

"It's a little weird," you admit, buckling in as Marcus pulls out of the White House driveway behind your brother and his soulmate. "But more like a callback than anything else. When we would have big family dinners back in Philly, sometimes we would all go out after and shoot the shit somewhere. Usually in somebody's backyard or we'd go out to the suburbs where we knew we could find a pond or something to sit and stargaze. Our parents never minded as long as we all stuck together and didn't do anything illegal."

He hums, wondering if Alex and David just want to have a moment with Alex's siblings and their soulmates. Maybe they wanted to plan something for your mom and dad's anniversary. He knows there's nothing malicious, so he just follows the car in front of him and snorts at the six car motorcade that is winding through the city.

The National Mall is largely deserted when your little parade arrives well after dark on this arbitrary August night. There are very few people around, and none at all at the base of the Washington Monument when David pulls his car to a stop and everyone else follows suit behind him.

"The Washington Monument?" Marcus puzzles as he puts the car into park and glances at you, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Interesting."

"Don't look at me," you shrug, but point out the windshield where David and Alex have climbed out of their car already. "This is it, though."

You and Marcus join and equally confused Junie and Dylan, unsure of what the plan is as David shuffles you all together and towards the monument.

"So..." Alex starts, looking around at the confused group of you with a grin. "You're probably wondering why we brought you out here at night instead of when the Monument is actually open, but I promise it makes sense."

“Marcus and Dylan are new to this." David acknowledges, looking at the other two men. The other two soulmates to the First Kids. His adopted brothers in arms in a way that no one else can ever quite understand. "But when we were growing up, we used to stargaze all the time. And a couple of weeks ago...the night after Birdie's bridal shower...we were sitting out here after dark and we got to talking."

Alex shuffles slightly and reaches for his soulmate's hand. "David and I have decided to come out, officially." He tells you, a small - but determined - smile on his face. He's nervous, of course he is, but he's also tired of denying his love for the boy he will spend the rest of his life with. It's not fair to either of them.

"Oh my god..." June breathes, lighting up just a split second before you squawk the same words in a much more exuberant, excited tone.

"Oh my god, oh my GOD!" Both sisters sprint forward to wrap their arms around Alex and David, squeaking and babbling and giggling in absolute glee. The thing that has made their brother unhappy the most consistently in his life is staying in the closet – and that time is finally ending.

Marcus and Dylan hang back, allowing the siblings to smother the couple in affection before moving in with hugs and handshakes of their own. "Congratulations on making that decision." Marcus murmurs, knowing that sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing. "We will be right there beside you, for anything you need."

"You guys have been dealing with plenty of media bullshit over the last year and a half." David shakes Marcus's hand gratefully. "Any advice you have would be appreciated and valued."

Marcus chuckles, knowing that is the absolute truth. "Anytime. I would be glad if you and Alex don't have to go through any of that bullshit."

"Whatever comes our way, we want to try to be the best examples we can be for other people who have been afraid to be themselves." For as long as David has been thinking about this, personally, he's grateful to be surrounded by so much support. "It's...it's a lot to think about. And to process. But I think we're finally ready."

"That is great." Marcus grins, loving how completely besotted you look at the two of them as you squeeze Alex again. You have worried about him, often sounding out those worries to Marcus and this has to be a relief for you.

"Oh god, are you crying?" Alex huffs at you, trying to diffuse his own emotional reaction by teasing you about yours. You're both wiping at your faces anyway so it's all even in the end. "Of course I am!" And you're not even sorry about it either, as you squeeze both of your brother's cheeks in your hands. "I'm so proud of you that I don't even know if I can think of an insult to temper it right now."

"I didn't think it would garner this dramatic of a reaction." David jokes, moving over to Alex and slightly pulling him away from you. "But since the tears have already started...." He grins and one hand flicks away the tears under his soulmate's eye and he sighs softly. "There's another reason why I brought you out here."

"Please tell me it's to teach my sister that tears are contagious," Alex jokes, not sensing the deep tonal shift that is rippling through the group, starting with David.

David laughs, once again struck by how perfect Alex is. His thumb rubs the back of his hand and he shakes his head. "No. Something more important than that." He reveals. He doesn't look around to make sure that no one is watching. The area is deserted and he knows that he would rather this moment be more about just pure love and joy than looking over his shoulder. He smiles as he shifts down to one knee in front of his soulmate. "I need to ask you a question."

"Oh my god." He might be the last of the three siblings to say the phrase in the last three minutes, but when Alex gasps his hand goes over his heart and he looks down at David in utter shock.

“We have know that we are soulmates for so long, long before I ever truly understood what the word meant.” David tells him. “You’ve been my best friend, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, my very best and worst secret. But there’s never been a day that I haven’t loved you.” Reaching into his pocket, David pulls out a ring box and opens it to show Alex a beautiful wood and tungsten ring that has a single diamond in the center. “Will you marry me?”

The air is sucked out of the whole group as Alex works to compose himself. You and June clutch each other's hands as well as your soulmates', and Alex gulps at least four times in a silence that draws longer and longer the more he tries to hold back tears and try to think of the right thing to say. Finally he just bursts out a "YES" and lunges for David, wrapping his soulmate up in his arms and claiming a kiss as he shakes with the joy and surprise of the moment.

David laughs into the kiss, holding Alex close and his own tears of joy slip out. He had honestly had thoughts at times that they would never be here and even if their parents aren’t, he had wanted to share this with you and Junie. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He always has. Since before Alex knew what love meant, he knew he was completed irrevocably by this boy — this boy who has grown up into a thoughtful and keen-minded man that he is proud of and hated having to deny. “I love you.” He repeats, the tears streaking down his face as they stand up together, still clinging to each other and the moment.

Marcus’s phone is used to capture the moment discreetly, having figured out what it was and pulled it out quickly. He knows that they will want it later on.

You and June are jittery on an inhuman level, practically dancing in place as David slides the ring onto Alex’s finger and steps back. He’s all laughs as the three of you fling your arms around each other and cling to each other in another moment of shared joy.

“You’re next.” Alex warns Junie, practically beaming bright enough to light up the night. “Only one of us left now.”

“We’ll let you two wackos get it out of the way first,” she laughs, sniffling as she squeezes both of her big siblings. “We’re just apartment hunting. No rings yet.”

“Apartments lead to sex on every surface. Sex on every surface leads to babies.” Marcus teases, grinning broadly.

“And they can have their life and as many babies as they want without getting married,” you remind him, smirking up at your fiancé and grinning. He’s so close to being your husband. Just a few more weeks until the wedding. “If that’s what they want. Just like we want to get married, and so do Alex and David.”

“Of course they can. Notice I didn’t say anything about marriage.” He teases right back and pulls you close. “Although I’m desperate to be married to you.”

“Four weeks.” The hum in your voice is practically a pure as you lean up to nudge his nose with yours. “Just one little month left.”

“And we still don’t have a single clue about our stag parties.” He huffs, cutting his eyes over at your sister and brother with their respective soulmates. Everyone is apparently in on the secrecy for both parties. He had laughed when you had pouted about not knowing and then he had found out that Juan wouldn’t say a thing about his own party.

“And you’re just as frustrated as I am, even after teasing me.” You tilt your head back and leave a kiss on his cheek, grinning the whole time. “Whatever they have planned, they’re keeping State secrets like pros.”

“CIA level secrets.” Marcus snorts. “Your mom I understand, but I don’t get why it’s so secret.”

"They're having fun with it." And given your love of secrets, you honestly are too. You may jokingly call it torture to be left out of the loop, but it's all in good fun. The playful delight of having absolutely no idea what it expect is actually pretty fun.

“Yes they are.” He grins as he enjoys the sparkle in your eyes. “We will be finding out soon.”

"The thing is, sweet Con..." you have a tendency to talk softly to your goddaughter when you're carrying her around, and babysitting is a time when you frequently have her strapped to your chest as you pick up around Sydney and Juan's house so they can come home to an even cleaner place. Sometimes – like today – you'll do a bit of cooking or baking too. There's muffins in the oven so that your best friends can have snacks or breakfast ready and waiting for them when they have crazy mornings with their almost-one-year-old. "The thing is, midterm elections are stickier than your hands after you play in applesauce. So things are going to get very interesting."

“Hey babe, I’m back.” Marcus opens the door and lifts the bag, the diapers secured. There had been a recall on the ones his goddaughter wore and when Syd had called you, he had immediately gone out to get some new ones. “We can change diapers again.”

"Yaaaaayyyy!" You cheer in the most hushed tone possible, waving Constance's little hand in the air. She'd curled her fingers around one of yours and held on tight. "Thank you, love."

“No problem.” He grins and winks at both you and the baby. Constance likes Marcus and giggles when he comes closer. “Is she ready for one, or still good?”

"She's still good for now. No bombs while you were out, thank goodness." With her hand around your finger, you make Constance wave and the baby giggles again. She really does love Marcus.

“That’s good.” He lifts up the second bag. “I also picked up dinner. I know you are baking, but I figured we deserved some take out.”

"Ooo, what kind of take out?" With the baby held tight to your chest, you rock her a little bit as you follow Marcus into the kitchen and try to get a peek at the bag, but there is not a single logo in sight beyond the diapers.

“Figured we would change it up this time.” He waggles his brows. “Thai. And Chinese. They had this new fusion place that I saw.”

"I like that even when we change it up, we stick to Asian." While he starts unloading the bags, you keep your movement going, dancing around the room with Constance to keep her laughing. It's almost naptime, which is perfect timing. "Did I tell you I had a nightmare the other night where I couldn't tolerant Indian food while I was pregnant? Woke up terrified and craving tandoori lamb chops. Very confusing way to wake up."

“Ohhh is that why you begged me to pick up Indian on the way home on Wednesday?” He tilts his head and chuckles. “That is your version of hell.”

"It really is. Having food aversions to highly spiced foods or to chocolate will make me utterly miserable when the time comes." Constance pauses in her laughter to yawn and you look down at her, wrapping both hands around the baby at your chest. "I saw that sweet girl. Is it nap time, honey?"

“She’s so damn good.” He can’t help but melt at the sleepy baby, “why don’t I put her to bed and you can go through the food?”

"Perfect." It takes a little maneuvering to hand her over to Marcus, but she goes relatively easily. After her parents, you and Marcus are two of her favorite people. as her godparents you've been a constant presence in her life, two of her most regular babysitters, and two of the first faces that she learned. "I'll grab plates and we can load them up in here?"

“That works.” She snuggles into his chest and he sighs. Almost willing to suggest that you go off your birth control now even though you are only three weeks away from your wedding. “Come on, sweet girl.” He coos. “Let’s get you down for that nap.”

Five or so minutes later, Marcus is back downstairs with the baby cam link pulled up on his phone and Constance happily set down in her crib with her current favorite stuffed animal – the panda bear that Sydney's sister gave her when she was born.

“Why do I think that Constance is such a good baby, that Juan and Sydney will be trying for a sibling soon?” Marcus asks, patting your thigh as you watch the monitor for a moment with the most poignant yearning in your eyes.

“Syd wanted to wait a year before they tried again.” After the trauma associated with the birth of her first, you were honestly surprised Sydney only wanted to wait one year. “We’re almost to that mark, so I guess it could happen any time now.”

“Yeah.” He hums, hoping that the next one goes so much smoother for your best friend. Although, if it’s like last time, Juan has already said that will be the last child they have. He won’t risk his wife’s health anymore and Marcus can completely understand that.

“Let’s make our plates.” As much as you could sit here and stare at the baby monitor all evening, food is good and relaxing with Marcus is even better.

“Sure baby.” Since you are baby sitting, Marcus had forgone picking up a bottle of wine. While neither one of you had a problem with having some normally, it was better to be sober while caring for the little one. He stands up and offers you his hand. “Then we will stuff ourselves and find something to talk about.” He teases, knowing that it’s going to be wedding or honeymoon related. Both of you are way too excited to talk about anything else right now.

“Oh that will be so difficult to do,” you tease, happily accepting his hand and winding your own into it. “We never ever have anything to talk about.”

“Nothing at all.” He jokes. “No plans, no dreams, nothing.” The walk to the kitchen only takes a moment and he appreciates that you laid everything out. “Thanks babe.”

“You picked it up, this is the least I could do.” It only takes a few minutes to fill your plates and then you’re sitting down together at the neat little kitchen table with Marcus’s phone between you to keep an eye on the baby monitor. “I got an e-mail from the inn in Inverness, by the way.” Alright, apparently it’s honeymoon talk. “A little welcome note from the owner and suggestions of things to do or places to eat while we’re in town.”

“Oh?” He loves how accommodating they have been and he knows you will be thrilled to stay in a Scottish inn. “That is incredibly thoughtful of them. Any ideas you didn’t already have?” He smirks. “I know you want to go to those Outlander stones.”

“I got a few good ideas for visiting filming locations,” you admit, grinning at him guiltlessly. “And some recommendations for places the locals actually eat at, instead of all the tourist traps that I’ve been finding online.”

He snorts, knowing you have been doing a deep dive on where to go and what to see. It won’t be disappointing at all. “I know you will enjoy that. Taking lots of notes for Sydney.”

“I’m under orders.” Solemn ones, to take pictures and notes about foods you both try and fall in love with while you’re on your honeymoon. “Which reminds me, our dinner reservation at Shish Mahal is all set.” The Glasgow restaurant where tikka masala was first served had been declared a mandatory stop on your trip around Scotland.

“I know you are excited about that.” He grins. “Although I want to try Scottish pub food too.”

“That’s why I was glad to get the recommendations from the innkeeper.” You tell him excitedly. “So you can have plenty of old school Scottish food to feed your heritage.”

He nods, happy you are so excited about the honeymoon. It’s going to be an adventure for both of you. Despite his time in Europe, he’s never been to Scotland and neither have you, so it will be something you can both enjoy together.

“Can I…talk to you about something?” You glance over at him from watching the baby monitor, food almost entirely forgotten — almost, it smells and tastes amazing so you’re not going to forget it entirely.

“Absolutely.” Marcus knows that it won’t be anything bad. It’s just something that has obviously been milling around in your brain until you were ready to talk about it. “Hit me.”

It doesn’t require a deep breath, or concern, or any kind of worry. It’s just a gentle smile that creeps across your face like sun rays from behind a cloud. “I don’t want to wait anymore to start trying for a baby. The only reason I wanted to wait earlier was because my dress was fitted already…and we’re so close to the wedding. A few weeks won’t matter even if we’re lucky enough to get pregnant the first try.”

The food is forgotten and Marcus almost forgets how to breathe. “Are you sure?” He knows you are, but he always likes to double check. “I know I’m ready whenever you are.”

“I’ve been ready,” you admit, tucking your hand into his to hold onto him tightly. “I just didn’t want to throw a monkey wrench in our wedding when we’ve put so much work into the day.”

“Baby, I would not have cared if you were about to pop, but I know what you mean.” He rushes forward to kiss you. “When can you make the appointment?”

“I’ll call first thing in the morning and see when they can fit me in.” Of course he’s just as excited as you are. You didn’t expect anything less. “Hopefully it won’t take long.”

“The appointment or getting you pregnant?” He asks, smirking slightly at the activities that involve getting you to that condition.

“Yes.” You tease right back, poking Marcus in the side as you both laugh.

He waggles his brows playfully. “So that breeding kink can come out to play?”

“Full throttle.” And you won’t complain about it one single bit.

“Yesssssss.” He pumps a fist playfully even though he’s only half kidding. Just the idea of it has caused some extremely good nights rolling around in bed together.

“I didn’t think you would mind that.” You lift his hand to your lips to kiss his knuckles and laugh again. “I’m excited, baby. And I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you too.” Marcus promises softly. “And I’m going to love the day I call you Mrs. Pike almost as much as the day you tell me you are pregnant.” He smiles. “Our dreams are coming true Hummingbird.”

______

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[bcwritingjourney]

Chapter 8 of my novel, Sanguinatus, is up on patreon for my members! Below will be a portion of the chapter if you're interested, and the prologue and chapters 1-7 are free to read on my patreon.

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She pulled on the Drossenac blood as she peeked out of the alley again to look at a point a few paces to the right of the group, and was quickly sucked into the other place. She cleared her head, focusing. When she approached the rift that would spit her out, and her form seemed to solidify again, she dug her feet in, squatted to strengthen her stance, and willed herself not to be pulled out of this alien place.

She threw her three daggers in quick succession, and at the same time focused on the distorted image it showed her through the rift. She settled her gaze on a point to the left of the rift, right past the furthest guard. As the daggers flew into the first rift, she was pulled into a newly opened rift, and since she didn’t fight it this time she was deposited to the left of the men.

Luckily that had worked better than intended. Her foes had turned to the first rift, likely at the command of the specialist. They had done so just as she fell from her rift and dropped into a crouch.

As she appeared and landed, the light of her warping or some slight sound caused the specialist to whip around in surprise,and almost simultaneously, the daggers, one after another, flew from their rift. Two hit the guard closest to the rift, both digging into his chest deeply, while the other narrowly missed the specialist, heading towards her.

She leapt, assisted by the Khurdae blood, power coursing through her muscles, and snaked an arm around the neck of the other nearby soldier. He flailed in surprise, but she easily spun them around, into the path of the dagger.

It pierced his side, planting itself into his stomach. He hardly had the chance to scream as Ryanil pulled out her long dagger to thrust into his lower back several times. She let him drop to the floor afterwards, calmly wiping his garish scarlet blood off her dagger before sheathing it.

The last man was silent and still, watching her cautiously. He may have been able to help his comrades, but it wasn’t surprising that he hadn’t moved a single step from where he stood. He held his right brown furred hand up as his left pulled a water skin from his belt.

She tried to dive away as she realized what he was doing. Water exploded out of the skin, flowing to swirl around his right hand. In the blink of an eye he had snapped his hand forward as though he held a whip, and a tendril erupted from the water, arcing through the air.

She hit the ground and was about to go into a roll as she felt the tendril of water curl around her right leg with crushing force. She knew what was to come. It was even more ironic to her in her already tired state, as he used Sesinae blood to combat her, with her being a Sesinae who essentially couldn’t manipulate a drop of water worth a damn.

That was all the time she had to muse about the irony of it before she was pulled away from the cool bricks of the street, only to be slapped against the ground a moment later. She groaned and was pulled up again, before being whipped away and let go by the tendril. She sailed through the air gracelessly for a brief moment she flailed, then her back met the trunk of a tree, driving the breath from her.

She slumped to the ground for a moment, dazed. The man, fangs bared and eyes dark, stalked forward slowly, carefully. Ryanil had her eyes closed, one hand touching the tree she leaned against, the hand just out of view of the man. She just hoped he wouldn’t notice until it was too late.

Her eyes shot open, and she drew on the well of Osin power within her. Three thick roots burst from the street, sending bricks flying. The man was too fast however, the roots converging on empty space as he leapt away with frightening speed.

Ryanil pushed herself up with a groan, getting even more annoyed when she noticed the roots withering quickly. Drops of water bled from them oddly, streaming towards the Khurdae’s hands. Within moments he had significantly more water than he began with.

Alright, maybe we don’t use Osin powers against this bastard. She thought.

Ryanil didn’t dare take the time to try and drink more blood, so all she had was warping, thick scales and a dagger. Maybe it would be enough? She shook her head to clear it and dashed forward.

Only to immediately be met by multiple tendrils of water, which promptly swept her off her feet and into the air. She pulled on the Drossenac blood and focused on a spot just behind the man. It was a valuable thing, being able to slip out of attacks.

She leapt out of the vortex a heartbeat later and straight into a tackle. He managed to turn towards her, but nothing more as she hit him, the extra weight of her armored scales letting her knock the heavier and larger man off his feet. He quickly got a foot under her, flat against her stomach.

He pushed with surprising force, and she was thrown from him, landing flat on her back a ways away. She was getting awfully sick of getting thrown around by this over confident blood mage. She looked up and cursed, rolling to the side and leaping into a dash as a bolt of fire struck the ground where she had been.

He sent two more bolts of scorching flame towards her after the first, giving her no respite. One grazed her, singeing her cloak and blackening the scales of her right arm. The second, unfortunately, hit her dead on.

She was thrown sideways and to the ground again. This wasn’t working. She hissed as the pain set in, the scales of her entire chest blackened by the flame. While the thicker scales had protected her in a sense, she could still feel the flesh underneath blistering and cracking.

She struggled to get up, each movement sending waves of pain across her chest, and she watched as he raised his flame engulfed hands towards her. She slammed a palm down to the bricks, sending green energy into the earth.

Hundreds of tiny plants and blades of grass shot up through the cracks of the street, growing quickly. They twisted and knotted themselves around the man’s legs, though otherwise they were harmless. He looked down in annoyance before sending out sweeping waves of fire, the plants turning to ash against the onslaught.

[thecharacterchronicler]

Bloodline || Ominis Gaunt x Reader

Outline: Your family arranged for you to marry Marvolo Gaunt. Fortunately, your best friend Ominis steps up and makes sure to save you from such a fate.

Word count: 4’515

Warnings: English isn’t my first language so possible misspelled or misplaced words, arranged marriage, abusive families (mentioned), first time s*x, friends to lovers and explicit smut.

The familiar flip-flap of owls entering the great hall through the windows resounded in Ominis’ ears, excited chatter rising from the students sitting at the tables as, one by one, they received their mail. The sound of paper falling on a wooden surface nearby piqued his curiosity, he didn’t receive letters often, nor did you or Sebastian but an envelope had unmistakably landed in front of one of you.

Your clothes rustled as you moved to take the paper in your hand, tearing apart the top of the envelope as your owl took flight again, its wings almost grazing Ominis’s hair on its way back to the owlery.

Despite the noise of other students all around, Ominis distinctly heard you take a sharp inhale of air, your silence as you read the letter addressed to you feeling somewhat tense.

“Is everything alright ?” He asked you, but you didn’t reply right away, too focused on whatever you were reading.

He waited a few more minutes, noticing the way your legs grew restless and your movements became agitated. You were sitting at the opposite side of the table from him and your foot bumped into his a few times as you nervously readjusted your posture.

He was too polite to insist and didn’t want to push you to share something you might want to keep for yourself, so even though he was dying to question you about the mysterious letter you had received and why its content seemed to upset you, he simply cleared his throat to remind you that he was waiting for an answer to his question.

“It’s a letter from my family.” You explained, with a slight tremble in your voice. “They say that they arranged a partnership for me, effective immediately after graduation.”

“A partnership ? You mean some kind of professional training ?” Sebastian asked, before biting into an apple.

“That would be an internship.” Ominis corrected him, shaking his head. “I think she meant something more intimate than that.”

“Like… A relationship ?” Sebastian inquired, still munching on his fruit.

“A marriage.” You stated, defeated.

“I didn’t know you were dating someone.”

“I am not.”

“It’s common for wealthy and powerful families such as hers to arrange weddings, especially if it’s a matter of keeping their bloodline alive and pure.” Ominis explained, a shiver running down his spine. That was something his family did too, they were obsessed with maintaining the quality of their bloodline, suitable matches were carefully chosen, sometimes within their own family members.

“It’s more of a business contract than a marriage.” You added, with a sigh. “And my parents are making it very clear that I don’t have any say in the matter.”

“Do you know who’s the lucky fiancé, though ?” Sebastian asked, seemingly taking such terrible news lightly. Way too lightly. It was a tragedy, really. You deserved better than to be forced into a loveless marriage under the pretense of keeping a bloodline going, securing the pride and superiority of the worst kind of wizards to exist. Maybe Sebastian couldn’t quite grasp the gravity of what you had been asked to do but Ominis knew all too well how you must feel, being robbed of your free will and freedom by a controlling and corrupted family.

“It’s Marvolo Gaunt.” You answered, bluntly, before getting up from your seat on the bench and leaving the great hall in a rush. Although Ominis couldn’t see, he felt the intensity of your gaze piercing right through him, until you were no longer in the room.

His chest tightened and his body tensed at the sound of his older brother’s name. Marvolo probably was the most cruel wizard he knew, aside from their father. Although they shared the same blood, the same family and the same education, Ominis wasn’t afraid to say that his brother was immensely deranged and should have been locked up in Azkaban a long time ago, like the rest of his family actually. The only reason rules didn’t apply to them and they were free to commit the most vile and cruel crimes without facing punishment was because they were Gaunts, descendants of the great Salazar Slytherin and held more power and wealth than any other family of wizards in the country.

And now you were going to be one of them.

He couldn’t imagine you, taking part in the cruel acts his family committed for fun. And if you didn’t, they would find a way to punish you for it, just like they had punished him in the past. The Gaunts were dangerous, and you needed to stay away from them, no matter what.

Ominis stood up, reaching for his wand to guide his steps through the corridors and halls of the castle. He needed to find you and he knew his wand would know exactly where to take him. He was racking his brain, trying to find a solution to save you from such a doomed fate as he followed mindlessly the path his wand indicated. Eventually, he found himself outside, in a narrow courtyard. Wind rustled through the leaves of a nearby tree and caressed his face, sending a cold shiver through his body. He couldn’t feel any rays of sunshine warming his skin, meaning it must be a rather cloudy afternoon. He could hear the sound of water moving in the fountain at the center of the courtyard, birds singing in the sky… And soft muffled sobs. His wand twitched, tugging him in your direction.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you.” Ominis told you, once he was standing in front of you. He could hear the sobs shaking your body as clear as day but still felt compelled to bring his hand to your face, wiping the warm teardrops away from your cheeks with his thumb. “Marvolo really isn’t a suitable match for you.”

“It’s alright, I knew this day would come eventually. I was just hoping my parents wouldn’t force me into this as soon as I was done with school.” You replied, another teardrop falling from your lashes and rolling down your cheek..

“There must be something we can do about it.” Ominis said, instinctively brushing off the fresh tear from your face. “What if you were engaged to someone else ?”

You laughed although you didn’t find anything amusing about the situation.

“During my seven years here, no one ever courted me, no one attempted to ask me on a date, I have no other prospects. And you know as well as I do that my parents shouldn’t risk angering the Gaunts.”

Ominis furrowed his brows. You were right, if your parents broke their promise to marry you off to one of his siblings, they might not make it out alive. If his parents had arranged for you to be wed to Marvolo, it meant they considered your blood pure enough to perpetuate their dignified bloodline. It was a rare occurrence, usually no one was deemed worthy enough so chances were that they’d do everything in their power to ensure that you’d become a Gaunt now that they had approved of you.

If you broke the arrangement to be with someone else, a wizard of lower class and reputation, his father would take it as an offense and you’d have to pay for such a daring act. If you married Marvolo, then surely he would take advantage of you and of your obligation to satisfy your family and his, he’d be cruel and violent, he wouldn’t care about you and would never treat you with the respect you deserved… There was only one option left.

“Marry me.” Ominis stated, determined.

“What ? What are you saying ?” You spoke, dumbstruck by the sudden suggestion.

“My parents want you to ensure the purity of our bloodline, your parents want you to earn the status and power that come with my last name… So marry me instead.”

“Ominis, you don’t have to. I can’t ask you to do that for me, that’s…” You argued, shaking your head.

“It’s a matter of time before my parents arrange a wedding for me too. I think I’d much rather be married to someone I consider a friend than a stranger they would have picked for me. So really, you’d be the one doing me a favor.” Ominis continued, his heart beating faster as he spoke. He knew it was a good idea, it would save you from Marvolo, from his family and, despite being a Gaunt himself, he would do his best to treat you well. He would never hurt you, never mock you, never give you any reason to regret choosing him instead of his brother…

So please, say yes.

His mother adjusted his tie. She told him that the all black suit she had gotten tailored made for him suited him better than anything he ever wore. She said it brought his blue eyes out, and that everyone would be able to tell that he was one of the heirs of the Gaunt name. Ominis wasn’t sure what was meant to be a compliment and what was meant as a jab, but he simply nodded at everything she said.

By the time he walked down to the garden of the imposing manor, his mother’s arm looped in his, he felt dizzy with anxiety. His heart was pounding in his chest, threatening to burst out at any minute. His ribcage felt so tight around his lungs that he could barely breathe correctly, and the more time went by, the more sweaty his hands became.

He could hear the chatter of the numerous guests his parents had invited as they took place around the lectern that had been placed at the very center of the garden. The familiar smell of roses tickled his nose, meaning the white rose bushes must be in full bloom in this season. He could feel the sunshine on his face and the warm summer air on his skin. It was a beautiful day on the gloomy manor.

His mother let go of his arm, leaving him standing on his own in front of what he imagined was an impressive audience of grumpy wizards. He still couldn’t quite catch his breath and, the moment the ambient chatter died down, his throat instantly felt constricted and his body tensed up.

He heard the whispers among the crowd and the footsteps approaching in his direction. It was unmistakably the way of walking of a man, confident and determined while the lighter steps next to his were more hesitant. In the past seven years, Ominis had memorized the sound of your steps. He also could recognize your smell in a crowd and knew exactly how soft your skin felt under his fingers. He could tell if your hair was up or let down from the way you touched and played with it and he knew that the quiet, almost imperceptible breaths you let out meant that you felt nervous. He knew all of this and more yet, he had no idea what it felt like to kiss your lips or hold you in his arms and that felt awfully wrong, considering what you both were about to do.

The man that had accompanied you walked away, leaving you standing with Ominis in front of prying, curious eyes. You didn’t say anything to each other, too busy trying to not pass out from how anxious you both felt. The contract was written and placed on the pupil in front of you, its tricky clauses oozing with dark magic.

It wasn’t just any contract. It was a cursed one, meant to bind you together forever. The words til death do us part took a different meaning as you signed your name at the bottom of the page, knowing that if you ever tried to leave him, you’d most likely be instantly killed by some kind of dark spell that probably was forbidden to cast. The promises you made by signing this contract were definitive and the consequences if you failed to hold them were deadly. At the very least, you both could feel thankful that you weren’t making such vows to a complete stranger.

Ominis signed the parchment too, the ink dripping from the quill dark red like blood. The contract was sealed with applause and illegal magic, making you his wife. For the rest of your lives.

The dinner that followed the ceremony was dull and mostly boring, a display of Mister Gaunt’s power and a lecture on his narrow views about muggles and mudblood wizards, as the guests listened quietly to his speech, nodding in agreement every once in a while. Eventually, Ominis took his leave, pretending that he was exhausted from the events of the day. You excused yourself too, glad to find him waiting for you in the hallway.

He knew the manor he grew up in in details and could navigate it without the help of his wand. He guided you upstairs, through the dark corridor that led to his bedroom. He opened the door for you, letting you step inside first before following you in and shutting the door behind him. He had never had any guest in his bedroom before and that realization made him feel uneasy. He knew that the servants kept his room neat and tidy - just how he liked it - but he wasn’t sure of what you were going to think about the ancient desk he sat at to write his letters to Sebastian, or the books that lined the shelves of bookcases that reached the ceiling. And what about the four poster bed he slept in, he had always found it large and comfortable but suddenly he worried it might be too small to share with you.

“Once we move into our own home we’ll be able to sleep in separate rooms. But for now, I think it’s better if we share mine.” He said, hoping that you wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable here until then.

To convince his parents to let him marry you instead of his brother, he had pretended he was madly, irredeemably in love with you. At first, they didn’t like it, saying that love made men foolish and pushed them to their demise but, eventually, they came to the realization that him wanting you so badly would serve the purpose of continuing their bloodline. Many heirs could be born from such desires.

Now that you were here, in the intimacy of his bedroom, he couldn’t help but think about it. How amazing it would be to kiss you, touch you, make you his as everybody expected him to. But he wouldn’t do it. Mainly because he was a gentleman and had promised himself that he would never, ever, disrespect you. And also because he was determined to not give his parents the satisfaction of having any heirs from him. The Gaunt bloodline was poison, corrupted with dark practices and immorality. Sooner or later, one of them would cause unforgivable chaos in the world, so he was determined to prevent it from happening anyway he could.

“I’m sorry that you had to do this.” You told him, taking a closer look at the books on his nightstand. You sounded sincere, as if you felt guilty that he now had the privilege of calling you his wife. “You should have been able to marry someone you love.”

Ominis had never felt anything remotely close to what was described in the books he read for someone, nor did he experience the crushes Sebastian so often had on a random person every once in a while. The only woman that had somehow interested him was you. He cared about you. And maybe it was an acceptable foundation for a marriage.

“You should have been able to do that too.” You sat on his bed, your wedding dress crunching up above your legs. He approached, heart hammering in his chest. “But for what it’s worth, I consider myself lucky to call you my wife.”

You smiled and reached out to take his hand in yours. His palms were sweaty, as per usual when you were around, but you didn’t seem bothered by that, pulling him so that he’d sit on the bed next to you.

“Do you mind if I try something ?” You asked him, a bit hesitantly. He took a sharp inhale of air, his body straightening up with sudden tension. In appearance, he seemed quite uncomfortable to be sitting so close to you, and even more now that you had asked him such a question, but he nodded despite hating being unsure of what to expect.

You moved closer, slowly. Your scent tickled his nose, he knew it by heart, he had fell asleep more than once to the faint perfume you left on the common room’s couch pillows, usually prompting him to dream of you. He felt your soft, warm breath caress his skin, indicating that your face was inching impossibly close towards his. He held his breath as you pressed your delicate lips to his, giving him a chaste kiss to seal your union, far from prying eyes.

He kept his eyes closed when you moved away, conflicted emotions passing on his face. He wasn’t expecting to feel so many tingles in his stomach after such a light and short kiss, yet even now that you had moved away, he still felt millions of butterflies tingling under his skin. He left out the breath he had been holding, taking just enough air to say your name, softly.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to know what it felt like.” You apologized, and he knew from the sound of your voice that you must be blushing.

He had wondered what it would feel like to kiss you too, more than he’d like to admit. A friend shouldn’t be curious about such things, it felt wrong to him, like he was betraying you by having such intimate thoughts about you. He hated how conflicted he felt whenever he woke up with an erection because he had spent the night dreaming of you touching him, and he hated how his primal instinct sometimes took over and he’d end up brushing against your chest or your back under the pretense that he couldn’t see what he was doing. He shouldn’t feel so desperate for his friend to kiss him again, and surely he shouldn’t want to be given permission to explore the body of his friend in details… But perhaps, if such desires weren’t acceptable between friends, they could be considered reasonable ones to have for his wife…

“Don���t apologize, we’re married now after all.” He gulped, feeling the temperature of his body rising. “Kissing is one of the many things that will be expected from us.”

You moved, suddenly growing agitated next to him. He could hear the rustle of the fabric of your wedding dress, the sound of clasps being opened and knots getting untied. He didn’t dare to move, not even breathe, as he carefully listened for a clue as to what you were up to. Then, he felt your hands on his chest, slowly undoing the buttons of his vest, one by one.

“What are you doing ?” He asked, his breath catching in his throat when his hands, resting on his lap, brushed against your bare thighs.

“Another thing that is expected of us.” You simply replied, now dragging his vest down his shoulders, before repeating the same actions to remove his shirt. He heard your surprised, yet quiet, gasp and the way your breathing became labored at the sight of his chest. He felt your fingers tracing the lines of his abs, brushing against the blond hair under his navel and grazing the elastic of his pants.

He said your name in a whisper, wanting it to be a warning but coming out like a desperate plea. You shouldn’t be touching him like this, not because it was what your families required of you. You should only do it because you wanted to. So he knew he had to stop you before it went too far, before he wouldn’t be able to refuse, before his body was set ablaze by his repressed lust for yours otherwise, there would be no way of stopping him anymore. He would consume you. Worship you. Devour you. And his promise to never disrespect you would be just a distant memory already, because none of the things he wanted to do to you were respectable.

But you weren’t making it easy for him to keep his word. Your hand was still tracing the lines of his chest like he was some kind of sculpture you were admiring, taking in every detail like he would. And when you moved to sit on his lap, straddling him and trapping him between you and the bed, he tensed up and groaned.

He brought his hands to your hips, telling himself that he’d gently guide you off of him so that he’d be able to remain a gentleman and not take advantage of the admirable loyalty you had for your family with your determination to complete your marital duties right away, but when he felt nothing but your warm skin under his fingers, when you leaned forward to press your naked chest against his and plant another soft kiss on his lips, the remaining of his will power to resist you dissolved.

“We shouldn’t be doing this, we’re friends.” He said, because that was what he usually told himself whenever he thought about you while rubbing himself in the shower. Except he wasn’t the one gripping on his erection this time. You had easily opened up his pants and now the evidence of his desire for you was held tightly in your hand. Your thumb stroked the tip of his erection, spreading the clear drop of precum that had escaped from it over the sensitive pink skin.

“We’re not friends anymore, Ominis. We’re married.” You corrected him, your words destroying the only argument he had to convince himself to not behave like some kind of wild animal as he couldn’t seem to stop his hands from exploring your naked body. “I wasn’t allowed to organize my wedding, chose my dress or invite my friends… Don’t rob me from having a beautiful wedding night. Please.”

His erection twitched in your hand. You were asking so nicely, so politely, for something so intense and passionate, it made him even harder. He put his arm around your waist, securely holding you as he removed you from his lap and laid you down on his bed with a strength you never expected him to have.

“Are you sure this is what you want ?” He inquired, holding himself above you with his hands gripping the headboard, his pants and underwear down to his knees.

“Absolutely.” You confirmed, with a shudder of excitement.

“Very well.” His voice was low, revealing just how badly he wanted this too. He placed a hand on your knee and followed the path all the way up to your core. He could feel the wetness and warmth coming from your center, begging for his attention. He traced the slit between your legs a few times, making you gasp with anticipation. Then, he pushed a finger passed your entrance, your whimper resounding in his ears. He moved his hand in a back and forth motion, not really aiming to pleasure you this way but trying to memorize a path he couldn’t see.

He took his finger out, bringing his hand back to his impatient cock. He wiped your wetness over his tip, mixing it with the fresh drops of precum that coated his skin. Once most of his hard length was slick and sticky, he brought his tip exactly where his finger had been, rubbing it between your wet folds to gather even more moisture before finally pushing it inside you. He heard you gasp loudly and he did too, the tightness of your cunt taking him by surprise.

He easlily managed to slide even deeper, burying his entire length inside of you with a satisfied sigh. He could hear your panting breaths, your soft cries in reaction to his movements inside you and the way you moaned his name, encouraging him to rock his hips against yours a few times.

It was nothing like he had thought it would be. His hand had never made him feel as good as you did, your warmth, wetness and tightness around him were intoxicating. The most wonderful thing he had ever experienced.

He slowly pulled himself almost all the way out, only to shove himself back in with more force. He could feel his tip hitting deep inside you, pleasure building in his abdomen with each of his quick pushes.

The sounds you made were music to his ears, the way you reacted to each of his thrusts was delightful, better than what he had imagined in his most vivid fantasies. He never expected you to be so loud, perfectly showing him how good he was making you feel. He increased his speed and you moaned even louder, practically crying out his name.

He felt your legs closing around his waist, keeping him close while your nails dug into his back, the whole bed shaking in rythym with his movements. Was he too rough ? How could he not be ? It was impossible to be more gentle when the pleasure he felt with each thrust kept intensifying, he was going to lose his mind, chasing the feeling, building it up until he couldn’t take it anymore.

You cried out one more time and your body tensed up, tightening around him so viciously that he finally reached his climax, instantly filling you up with his release. You kept your legs around him, your body spasming with intense pleasure as he struggled to catch his breath for a moment, his thoughts slowly coming back into order.

He waited until your body stopped twitching to remove himself, feeling your shudder as he pulled his spent erection out of you. You still were softly panting, your chest rising and falling under his hand while the other still clasped tightly the headboard. He leaned over, easily finding your lips from which breathless gasps still escaped. He kissed you, gently, as a way to apologize for losing control of himself and felt relieved when you returned his kiss even more fervently.

He moved to his side, lying down next to you to give you enough space to catch your breath but you inched closer, nuzzling your naked body against his in a cuddle that felt even more intimate than what he had just did to you.

“Thank you.” You said softly, sounding truly happy. Ominis smiled, his fingers absently caressing your back, playing with strands of your now messy hair. “I’m glad to have you as my husband.”

Husband. The word turned in his head, reminding him that you now were officially a couple. Mrs Ominis Gaunt; his best friend, his wife, his lover… His.

[apomaro-mellow]

King and Prince 20

Part 19

There was no other way to describe it, Eddie thought as he literally watched Steve sitting under a tree with Robin, laughing at something she said. Spring had not only come to this land, but to the prince as well. Like a flower in bloom, he was open and inviting. And everyone longed to be like the sun, having that flower turn to face them. At least, that was the thought that crossed Eddie’s mind and surely everyone else felt the same way.

He teased the kids more, ruffling their hair, and even allowing himself to be the but of the joke at times. He and Robin turned out to be thick as thieves, which Eddie could have never predicted. All this because he had been allowed to roam the town.

Yesterday, Eddie happened to spy a hickey peeking from the top of Steve’s collar and could deny it no longer. He had found a lover. Steve had found a lover. Perhaps even more than one. After all, there was no reason to limit himself to just one. The fact remained though that someone was making him glow with their affections. 

Someone out there was kissing him, whispering sweet things in his ear, telling him how lovely he was-SNAP

Eddie looked down to the broken quill in his hand. 

“Something on your mind?”, Gareth asked, returning a book on one of his shelves.

Eddie wriggled his fingers and brushed the broken quill away, careful not to smudge what he had just been writing. “No. Nothing at all”, he lied. 

Gareth waited patiently for him to continue, knowing he would. In the meantime, he grabbed another book and sat on the other side of Eddie’s desk.

“Steve has been going out often, hasn’t he?”

“About every other night, yes. Are you regretting giving him that freedom?”

“Well…”, Eddie struggled for only a second to think of a reason. “What if Nancy’s right?” He pushed off from his desk and stood, going to the window behind him. Thankfully Nancy was in a neighboring town, otherwise he’d fear she would actually materialize out of thin air.

“About the prince conspiring with townsfolk?”

“Or a spy. Anyone really. We just don’t know.”

Gareth sighed. “Time to put on my ‘Nancy hat’. Why don’t you send someone to follow him and see?”

The last thing Eddie wanted to see was Steve actually in the middle of the deed. But going along just far enough to make sure no other liaisons were happening was just his duty as a king, wasn’t it? He had to protect his people. And if Steve was only just meeting lovers, well he should feel confident enough to bring them back to the castle to introduce to everyone, shouldn’t he? If they weren’t conspirators anyway.

Eddie found the resolution to do so just a few nights later. He and Robin were relaxing in a sitting room, sipping together after having sent the kids to bed a couple hours ago. That was when Steve came in and draped himself on the couch Robin was sitting on with a dreamy sigh.

“Let me guess”, she said. “The woodcarver’s son?”

“You know me a little too well for how short we’ve known each other”, Steve said, bringing his head to her lap.

Eddie was sitting on the couch opposite them, leg propped up on the armrest. He didn’t like the way Steve didn’t even seem to notice he was there.

“You’re late”, he said, sitting up.

Steve turned just his head to look at him. “I know, I’m sorry. But it’s not always easy to get away.”

Robin snorted. “You mean clean up takes forever?”

“Don’t be crass”, Steve scolded lightly. “And I’ll have you know, Jason is the perfect gentleman. He always helps me clean up afterward.”

Eddie knew of Jason, the son of a woodcarver. Diligent in his work, a leader among the youth in town. His face was…fine, Eddie had to admit. He certainly wasn’t plotting to take Eddie’s kingdom down, that was for sure. Born and raised here, Jason only stirred up trouble a couple of times the way kids typically did. He had no reason to mistrust him.

And yet…

As the night went on, Steve and Robin continued to talk about him. Apparently Jason first saw him at the festival when he competed in the games. They talked a lot about athletic pursuits. Wood carving wasn’t for the soft of hands after all. Robin asked about others Steve had met with. Faith, Gabriella, Harris, but it always came back to Jason. 

He must be Steve’s favorite. Which meant that Eddie had to see what the big deal was about. On top of all the other reasons he’d come up with before too, of course. Steve didn’t go out the next night or the one after. But the third night, he did and Eddie followed. He traveled in the shadows until they got to town, then shifted to a bird. His usual form would have been instantly recognizable at this point, so he went with a starling appearance tonight.

Steve tied his horse to a post and went into a tavern. Eddie perched on a window just long enough to see Steve immediately sit down with a young woman. So not Jason. He waited by the door for someone to go through and flew in, staying aloft in the rafters and close to the edges of the ceiling. He got right above their table to listen in. She seemed a sweet lady, but looks could be deceiving.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight”, Steve said. “I thought your family needed help at home this week?”

“I was able to get away”, she said. “Are you…disappointed?”

Steve reached out and touched her cheek. “How could I be when I am gifted with your presence?”

She melted in his touch and Eddie had seen enough. There was nothing shady going on, so he had no reason to stay. He went back home, but spent about an hour, pacing about in his room, trying to find explanation for why he was so agitated. Steve hadn’t lied. Hadn’t gone against them. Which meant he got to say ‘I told you so’ to Nancy when she got back. The night after that, Eddie sat down in his chair, ready for story time but was off most of the evening. El was the one to point it out.

“Why do you keep looking at the door? Are you expecting someone?”

“This late?”, Lucas asked.

“Yeah, you’ve been kind of twitchy all night”, Dustin added.

“No I haven’t, and it’s fine”, Eddie brushed them off. He knew it was because of Steve. If these kids knew, they wouldn’t stop until they got to the bottom of why. And Eddie wasn’t ready to face the why. 

It wasn’t until Robin spoke up later, once the children were sent off that he got the kick in the pants to find out the truth.

“They’re right you know. You were twitchy.”

“You know I can’t stand still for more than a minute”, Eddie said in his defense.

“Yeah, but this is different. It’s like…”, then she snapped her fingers. “How Mike gets when Will would rather spend time with Lucas.”

Eddie’s stomach dropped. They had been teasing Mike about his not so secret crush for a while now. To be compared to that…

The only way to prove he wasn’t jealous was to see Steve actually be with someone and have no problem with it, right? He had walked in on more than one of his servants entangled with each other. It was a big castle, places for secret rendezvous were numerous. He’d even happened on Dustin stealing a kiss from a girl in town once. He felt nothing when watching others share their affections. So Steve shouldn’t be any different. 

Eddie hadn’t disciplined Steve when he came back late, so he got more bold with his curfew. He always returned to lay his head in the castle, Eddie noticed, but he didn’t rush back as the sun set either. One day he left as the sun was dipping low, giving the last bits of light as he traveled on the path from here to town. 

Eddie followed, in his raven form this time as pitch black wings were better for camouflage in the night. And Steve may recognize this form, but even if he saw him, surely he wouldn’t put two and two together. There was more than one raven in the world, they couldn’t all be Eddie. When Steve dismounted, the tavern was just a quick stop. He tied the horse to a post and then went across the street. 

He watched the prince chat up a candlemaker, seemingly having just a nice conversation before leaving to go somewhere else. Eddie was about to follow when his bird’s eye view allowed him to see a child sitting in an alley, legs hugged to their chest. He flew down and pecked at their shoe to get their attention.

A nice shoe, not an orphan, probably just lost. The kid seemed down on themselves and after Eddie played around to get their spirits up (making funny bird noises, puffing his feathers up, tugging at their hair) he was able to lead them out of the alley. Feeling less hopeless, the child called out for their parents and Eddie helped to get attention by squawking from their shoulder.

A man ran up and scooped up the kid, grateful for having found him. Eddie took his leave then, but had unfortunately lost Steve. He knew he wasn’t at the pub, so his only lead was the woodcarver’s. That was where he flew and sure enough, when he perched on the roof, he heard something from behind it.

A soft sound, just a low ‘mmf’ that anyone else still on the street or in their homes wouldn’t be able to pick up. He walked across the roof and the posterior of the shop was lit by just a single lantern hung from a rung. He peered down, almost hanging upside down to see Steve, legs wrapped around Jason while he was sat upon some crates. Steve let out another quiet moan and Jason gave him a gentle shush.

“It’s the evening hour, you’ll wake everyone up if you’re too loud”, Jason smiled while continuing to thrust into him.

Steve pressed his lips together to keep from making too much noise. His eyes were unfocused as they looked up, suddenly gaining focus and gasping when he noticed the bird watching them. Eddie remained frozen. If he left now that he’d been spotted it would practically confirm his identity. Steve tightened his hold on Jason. His panting picked up as he got closer and Jason stuck two fingers into his mouth.

The prince groaned and for just a moment, Eddie imagined what wonders Steve was doing with his mouth. Was he simply sucking or did his tongue lick between the digits? Eddie knew he should leave, it was only decent. But Steve’s gaze kept him tethered to where he was. His eyes only closed when he started to cum, Jason pushing and pulling a few more times before he did as well. 

Steve was floating. Jason pulled his fingers out and wiped them on his shirt. He was saying something as Steve came back into himself but he wasn’t sure what. The bird had flown away.

Part 21 coming soon

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