#sorry if its formated weird i will try to fix it

[insert-this-fire]

Overpoweringly Sweet

Logan Howlett aka Wolverine x gn!nonspecified mutant! Reader

Summary: Somehow you contracted Hanahaki for a man you hardly ever spoken to. Cant end well can it?

W/C: ~9k Warnings: a little OOC, angst, graphic description of coughing up flowers with blood.

AO3 Mirror A/N: I never post actual fics on tumblr but I feel that it needs to be done here. So sorry if its kinda formatted weird? it will also be on AO3!. First x-men fic too so sorry if its a bit ooc. Not really based on any specific iteration of Wolverine. Also not edited like, at all. Also I take requests! :3

~~ :3 ~~

You know, having a crush on someone so unattainable is laughable at best. Having a crush on them and apparently somehow contracting Hanahaki is even worse. How does that even happen? You haven’t even spoken to the guy more than a few words. Too embarrassed to open your mouth to introduce yourself and you work together. Yet here you are, petals on the bathroom floor and a constricting feeling in your throat. Your head lying on the back of the stall door. Still heaving from the sudden onslaught of overly sickly floral-scented petals that spilled out.

Gardenias. Pure white and mocking. 

The smell of them made you nauseous. The sight of them even more so. After looking up what they meant. It just made things even worse.

Secret love. How fitting.

It’s a damn crush, and the world decided it was love. Love for a grumpy ass old man with hair that kinda made you think of a cat. Actually, he reminded you of a cat in general. One that you want to rest your face on and fall asleep. Bury your face in those pecs of his. Muscles may look hard, but they do have a bit of squish. By God, does he have muscles. You’ve caught him shirtless a few times. All by accident, of course. You weren’t a pervert. Anytime you think of it, your jaw clenches tight.

Ah, getting off-topic here. Back to the fact that apparently, hanahaki doesn’t care if you’ve ever talked to someone before.

The stall door was cool against your cheek when you turned your head, and it was less gross than hugging the toilet like you wanted to so you could flush the flowers down the drain. It was terrible. The petals surround you, and a single full bloom floats mockingly in the toilet.

You know how to cure it. The moment that the flower petals started to spill from your lips, you desperately looked for what it was. It wasn’t that hard to find, apparently some find it sickeningly romantic. Bet they never had to deal with the ache that was constant around your lungs. You found the cure for it as well. Should be easy to do, right? Tell the person how you feel and they return it, or get it surgically removed. The surgery should be the right choice. It’s the only choice. You’ve hardly spoken to the man who coveted your affection, but the thought of not feeling the tug of your heart when you see him was too much to bear. Which makes no sense! It’s a dumb crush.

God, you’re an idiot.

A deep breath fills your lungs slightly, and the pain wraps around your chest as you try to get a full breath. Your hands find purchase on the rim of the toilet, and you push yourself up. Now, on two shaky legs, you wipe your mouth. You need to clean up the petals before anyone comes in. It was still the middle of the day, and classes were still going. Thank God the coughing fit didn’t hit you till lunch, or you would have to explain to a classroom full of students. That would be embarrassing. Yeah sorry class, your teacher is in love with someone they can’t have, let’s continue with the lesson now! Embarrassing.

Your hands start to pick up the petals. Each one feels as if it was searing into your skin. One, two, five, ten, thirty. Thirty petals and one full bloom. You were screwed. You could go to Hank. See if he knew any other way around it, any way to fix the disgusting flowers that took root in your lungs. Maybe being a mutant changed how to cure the disease? That was just hopeful thinking, though.

After mulling over the choices for a few moments more, you finally unlock the stall door and walk over to the garbage, quickly discarding the petals that did not make it into the toilet.

Your feet then carry you out of the bathroom and, as luck would have it, right into the chest of the one person you did not want to face yet.

Logan.

You were right, though. The muscles on his chest were squishy. God you want to just motorboat him real fast. Would that be weird? Yeah it would be. As quickly as you ran into him, you tried to remove yourself from his personal space. You know the guy wasn’t too fond of touch. You think. You actually… don’t know. Words quickly spill from your mouth as you try to apologize. “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t see you.”

Logan just makes some gruff-sounding noise and continues on his way. You could faintly see as he walked away scrunching of his nose. He was probably able to smell the faint floral scent that was clinging to you. It probably wasn’t pleasant. You didn’t like the scent, it probably was a lot stronger on his end.

As you stand in the hallway after the sudden bump into your crush, you place your hand on your chest to calm your beating heart, and you walk in the opposite direction to your classroom. It hurt that he didn’t even say anything back to your apology, but that seemed pretty in character. To you, at least. If you were on friendlier terms, maybe not, but you doubt he even knows your name.

The thought of the surgery resurfaces in your head. Maybe you should get it. Ignore the deep-seated pain in your heart at the thought of losing your feelings for him. However, the repercussions of a botched removal is another reason not to do so. It could remove the feeling of ever being in love again. Would that be so bad though?

You shake your head. You have a class you have to get back to… and a phone call to make.

The day continued on like normal after that. Classes, grading papers, discreetly removing petals from your mouth into the trashcan by your desk as you graded papers. A new norm for you. It did seem that a few students had noticed a slight change in you. In fact, one of them even got you a get well soon card. Sweet, but it left a bitter taste in your mouth.

If you don’t get better soon, you will probably end up another statistic for the disease. How many people were there that had it and perished as the roots wrapped around the lungs and slowly filled the valves on the heart. Too many, probably. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at that. That’s why you were now sitting in your now empty classroom, making a phone call. You had found a number to a doctor who specializes in the disease. You would get some advice and decide from there what you want to do.

The phone rings, once, twice….

“Hello, this is Dr. Forrest’s office. How may I help you?” How fitting a doctor who knows about Hanahaki has a nature-based last name.

You quickly introduce yourself and ask if you could speak to him or schedule an appointment. Apparently the only way to talk to him is with an appointment. The next one isn’t for a few months. You don’t even know if you’ll last that long. You’ve been keeping track. A full bloom appeared today. A singular full bloom, no steam. The petals were loose so it had to be in the early start of the mid stages. It was taking its time infecting you. It must be due to not seeing Logan all the time.

You do tend to avoid him when you can. The thought of seeing him always makes your cheeks burn. Man was just too hot. It made it seem like you were in love with just his looks! You weren’t. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be coughing up all these petals. You’re pretty sure it wasn’t just his looks. The flower has a meaning, after all.

Maybe if you avoid Logan, actually stop trying to see if you can see him across the halls. Stop looking for him during dining hours. Just try to ignore him. Though unless he was going to go on one of those sudden long vanishing acts. Well, you doubt that you actually will be able to avoid him enough to live till the next appointment. You really are screwed. Shit.

Running a hand over your face with a groan you lean back in the chair behind your desk. What should you do? The surgery now seemed to be out of the question. So now you either confess and die, or you just die. Which definitely was not the ideal thing to do. You were screwed. Hands down. Your name is on the death warrant the moment the receptionist said months. Maybe you should go to Hank. Dude was a certified genius right? He would know something.

A knock at your door made you jump. Quickly you lift your head and look over to the closed door to your classroom. Could be a student, another faculty member? Whoever it was either needed you or the room.

“Come on in.”

Silence followed and then the door opened up. Your gaze turns to the door, ready to answer whatever questions that are going to follow. Till you hear the tall tale sound of boots, heavy. The sound of jeans rubbing against legs. A jacket rustling slightly from movement. Jeez, why are you suddenly so aware of the sounds?

Your eyes hone in on the man you’ve been thinking about. Logan. Twice. TWICE in one day you’ve seen him up close. See him in your space. He never seeks you out. You never get to see him up close like this more than once or twice a week. It’s like you’re in a fanfiction and someone is pushing the two of you together.

That’s silly though, this was real life.

“Oh, Logan. How can I… help you?” Could you sound any more awkward? You want to bang your head on your desk. Especially with how he was just looking at you. Should you have called him Wolverine? Mr. Howlett?

“You need to let up on that perfume you’re wearing. Can smell it all over the hall.” His face gives away the fact he smells something he doesn’t like. 

Perfume?... Perfume… The flowers. Of course he could smell it. The floral scent has been clinging to you since the first petals slipped from between your lips.

“Oh, heh sorry. I’ll try to use less of it.” You just laugh a bit, still feeling a tad bit uncomfortable, the sudden tickle in your throat reminding you that you could not stop the smell from permeating your skin. That it will linger on you till you no longer have these flowers growing inside of your chest. “If I use too much again I’m sorry. Can’t really tell when I use too much or not.”

Blue eyes narrow at you, you can tell he doesn’t believe you. That he should call you out on it. “Thanks bub, it’s masking everything else.”

With that he left the room as quickly as he came, there was a slight pause and you can tell he glanced at the trash can by your desk. The trash can that had a few petals thrown in haphazardly. Thought to be hidden by the papers that you threw on top. You hope that is all he sees.

That was such an awkward interaction. You slam your head on the desk once more. God why are you such an idiot.

~~ :3c ~~

Time continues on like normal, but recently you catch Logan at the corner of your eye. Which is normal, you usually do seek him out. Yet now it’s like he is everywhere you go. Walking in the gardens, he’s out there smoking one of his cigars leaning on a tree or the wall of the mansion. You’d be eating and you’d see him a table or two away, his eyes on you. You can feel them boring into your skin. You’ll be walking in the hallways and see him turning a corner before you fully spot him. More often than not you find him outside of the bathroom you were just in after coughing up a storm. Just standing by the door like a guard dog. Always scrunching his nose when the door opens and the aroma of flowers follows you out.

He knew. He had to. He had to know something was wrong with you. There is no way he doesn’t. The man has been alive long enough that he probably knows the signs of what you have. The disease that is currently ruining your life. He has probably seen all sorts of people who have had Hanahaki. You won’t be the first, nor the last person he has seen inflicted with it either. It’s probably why he’s keeping an eye on you. He must have found out when he came to ask you to stop using so much perfume and yet you still smell that sickeningly floral smell on you.

Unless you’re just suddenly more aware of him than you were before. Which you shouldn’t be. You were already highly aware of him due to your damn dumb crush that’s killing you. Eyes are always lingering on him.

It’s probably because of the scent that’s following you around. It is probably sticking out more than your usual scent, which was. You don’t know. What do you normally smell like? Apparently, it’s something non-distinct since the new smell is pretty overpowering. If you can smell it, it must be strong.

You wish you knew what was going through the man’s head. You couldn’t really ask him. You aren’t close to him like that. Can’t ask the people he is close to either because you aren’t close to them. You kinda just, are here in the mansion teaching. You’re not a part of x-men, you aren’t too interested in fighting anyways. You earned your keep teaching. You are vaguely close to Hank though. Well, in recent events at least. You could ask him?

Yeah, no, you aren’t. You’re going to suffer through this. You can handle it. You don’t need to know what’s going on in his mind.

Which reminds you, you need to actually go talk to Hank. You’ve been putting it off, but the full blooms are startling. Every other coughing fit brings one full bloom. It has only been a week since the first bloom and with the sudden influx of Logan sightings, it is speeding up. You needed an out and fast. Before it kills you.

Thus here you are walking through the mansion to head down to his lab. Quickly avoiding anyone you see. The scent of flowers following you through the halls like a wraith. Leaving a trail of sweetness to waft into the air. Disgusting.

As you make your way into the lab you spot Hank, or Beast? Shit, you don’t even know which one he prefers to be called. You really should ask, huh. Anyway, you spot him.

When the blue-furred man spots you, he quickly greets you with your name: “It is good to see you this fine evening. What do I owe the pleasure? It is not often I see you down here.”

If you could, you would sigh deeply. The rattling of vines stops the motion before it begins. “Hi yeah uh. I got into a delicate situation and I don’t know who else to go to? The doctor I had called can’t really see me and I don’t know what else to do and you’re like… The smartest person I know so I’m hoping… you could help?” The words spill out quickly.

Hank raises an eyebrow and fixes the glasses perched on his face. The man was upside down for some odd reason, and he quickly flipped to land on the ground. With grace you don’t expect for someone his size. Then again, you’ve seen some weird ass mutations. He motions for you to sit down on one of the beds stationed in the lab. One used when needed for situations like this. Medical, scientific, not something you can throw a punch at and fix.

After sitting down on the bed, you start to explain. Words flowing like a waterfall. He is the first person you have gone into detail about your condition. How the petals slip from your lips like a poison, the tightening of your chest with each breath. The fear of losing yourself to unrequited love and dying because of it. You do not mention who it is directed at nor the fact you thought it was a crush and did not deserve to have evolved into such a disease.

The room fell silent after your reveal, a silence that stretched on longer than you would have liked. God, you hope he has an idea about how to help you out of this mess.

“From my knowledge there are only two cures. I assume you already know.” A pause as you answer with a curt nod. “I do not believe there are any other alternatives other than what has been proven to work. I assume that you are here to find out if there are any or that you require the surgery.”

“I can’t tell them… I really had hoped that you would know. I don’t.” You sigh and run a hand through your hair, messing it up slightly. It was already a mess from earlier, but you know how hands are in hair. “It’s not an option to tell them.”

“I see. It will take some time, but I will see if I can learn the correct procedure so that there will be minimal to no complications.” Hank pats you on the shoulder and motions for you to head out. He had some things to do and research to go over. Escorting you out of his lab so Hank may do what is necessary. He didn’t give a timeline, but you trust that he can do it before your time is up.

You really hope that he can do this.

After leaving the lab, you had to pass some of the other faculty. Or X-men? Yeah, it seems they are setting off on a mission of some sort. You pass Cyclops, Storm, Jean and. Yeah, that is exactly who you don’t want to see right now. Logan. Seems he is going with them. To, wherever they have to go. You give them all a small nod in acknowledgment as you pass them. Each one provides you a small smile or nods back.

Logan though? He pauses when you pass him. His face contorted into something you weren’t too sure of. He probably caught another whiff of the flowers on you. Great. The others give him a look and he just grunts at them. Somehow they understand and continue on their way. Leaving you with Logan.

A hand grabs your bicep, fingers wrapping around the muscle. Your gaze drops to the hand, in another life you were sure it would be rough with use, but it was surprisingly soft. The grip was not, natural strength hidden behind the hold. A promise that you would not be able to pull away without exerting yourself.

“You’re smellin’ worse. Thought I told you to let up.” A gruff voice, oh how you want to roll in that voice. That was a weird thought, you should probably stop thinking of that like a weirdo. God are you a weirdo?

An awkward laugh bubbles up from your chest. You can feel your own muscles tense under his hold and gaze. Damn he’s never looked at you like this before. A slight glare, crinckled nose, and a slight snarl on his lips. You must be really weird because damn was that kind of a hot look. Which somehow in turn makes your chest tighten and the tickle of a cough is trying to break free. You swallow hard to bite it back. Yet you can feel the petals moving through your throat. 

“Sorry sorry, I guess I overdid it?” You pull your eyes away from his. Unable to continue to look at his face. Be it from your weird thoughts, the tickle in your throat or your inability to keep eye contact with someone. “I swear I’m not doing it on purpose.”

“You’re hiding that you're sick.” The grip on your arm tightens. Not in a painful manner no, but a reminder that you cannot run away from this conversation. Which is odd right? Why does Logan care? You two hardly know each other. Sure you apparently love the man, but you’re still sure he doesn’t even know your name. You’ve seen him care for others in the mansion, a good friend in an odd way. A father figure and mentor to some of the students. Also in a weird way. You’re sure he’d brush off that idea and say he isn’t. He is.

Wait, he just said you’re sick… “I’m not sick?” 

Logan's eyes narrow as he stares at you. Do you look sick? Sure you’ve gotten a little pale and eating has gotten a little hard so you haven’t been eating as much as you usually do. Does being sick have a smell to it? Fuck that is weird. Well, some animals could tell when others are sick before physical symptoms show. Maybe that's how he knew. No, that wouldn’t make sense because you aren’t really sick. You just have a big fat crush that's killing you. 

You can tell Logan doesn’t believe you. “Just fix it. Can’t stand the smell on you.” His hand lets go and he stalks down the hallway to where the others had walked off to. Your eyes linger on his form as he walks away. The ghost of a feeling on your arm where his hand had wrapped around it. The slight warmth seeping into your skin slowly vanishes. God you’re fucked. 

~~ >:3 ~~

And fucked you are. It’s been at least two months since you told Hank about the hanahaki. Hank is taking his sweet ass time researching the procedure, the doctor you called has called back finally and mentioned that his next opening for a consultation was still months away. Which you decide to say fuck that guy, you trust Hank can do it. The doctor probably won’t even work on a mutant. Logan is still always at the corner of your eye. A scowl or sneer on his face anytime he looks at you. Not to mention the flowers! They’re getting worse.

Full blooms, multiple at a time. Their petals no longer loose around the center. Now they are tightly packed, fully bloomed and speckled with blood as they escape through your throat. Occasionally there would be a flower that had not bloomed yet. Still wrapped tightly, not fully formed. You weren’t sure what that meant, but you’re sure it wasn’t good. At least they were not roses. You feel bad for those who dealt with that. Thorns were something you were happy that was not in the mix of your own flower hell.

The flowers aren’t fully developed yet. Stems have not fallen with them. Yet you are unsure if you would survive long enough to see the end stages of hanahaki. Your body is getting weaker and weaker each day. Your own mutation even fighting against you. You can hardly call on it now. Once you had wished to be a normal person, but that has been years ago. Now you feel like you are losing a part of yourself. These damn flowers truly are killing you. Both physically and emotionally. 

You had to leave class more often. The coughs that tore through your chest made it unbearable to speak long enough to teach an entire class to its completion. Students start to worry, other faculty seem to notice the sudden change as you have to start asking for people to cover your class for you as you rush to the restroom to hug the porcelain throne to exude the flowers of love. Each time more and more petals fall from your lips, tears stain your cheeks more often due to the pain and energy it takes to clear them out from your throat. 

It has gotten to the point where you had to ask someone to cover your class in full, or cancel it. You don’t want to cancel your classes, but at the rate you are going it will be the only thing you can do. Today is probably the last full class you can handle, you feel like shit. Your throat itches, your stomach aches from the lack of food. Your head hurts because of the lack of sleep from the coughing. Yeah, you might have to take a break from it all. What surprises you is that Logan is waiting outside of your classroom.

Ok it’s not that surprising. You’ve been catching him outside your classroom since he came back. It is like he is suddenly more aware of you. He doesn’t say anything, but you can feel his eyes on you. You would be excited usually, your crush suddenly paying attention to you! How great is that? Yet lately it just makes things feel so much worse. Especially with that sneer on his face. You know he knows something is up, he made it clear two months ago. Though he hasn’t brought it up again. Yet he is always there. Like a shadow. 

Which is honestly a bit uncomfortable. You aren’t used to this amount of attention. 

“You don’t have to stand out here you know?” Papers you needed to grade were in your arms. You may need to take a break, but you should at least grade these papers before someone takes the class over. Your last bit of work. 

Logan just stares at you. The slight glare, the wrinkled nose, the arms crossing making those muscles bulge out of his shirt. You had to quickly drag your eyes away from his arms so you aren’t caught staring. You don’t meet his eyes though. It was too intense. 

“You’re getting worse.” Way to point out the obvious Logan.

“Good observation.” A short pause follows after. Silence falls for a few moments. “I uh, it’s why I’m takin a break. Sick leave? Uh… Yeah…” You really don’t know how to talk to him. The tickle in your throat is back again. Too soon, you just hacked up half your lung just moments before. You really don’t want to cough in front of him. You thought he might already know what it is, but he still thinks the smell on you is perfume. So no way do you want him to know the truth. 

Logan stares at you a few moments longer, a slight grunt. His head motioned for you to follow him. That’s how you read it at least as he starts to walk down the corridor and only pauses to look at you. Looks like you’re following him. This can’t end well can it? 

The two of you walk silently through the corridors. Your arms are still full of papers, but it seems the two of you are heading out into the garden. Probably for the best, the crisp air outside will dull the floral scent. Hopefully at least. Even if it lingers on your skin and it has gotten to the point others have even started to point it out. The halls were mostly empty though at this time. Most students are already off doing their own thing, you can vaguely hear a laughter from down the hall as the two of you finally make your way outside.

Into the garden, the cool air bites at your exposed arms. You should have worn a jacket. Too late for that now it seems. The trees are already turning orange, autumn making its way across the land. Oranges, reds and browns. If you weren’t full of anxiety you would be enjoying the sights. Especially as Logan brings you over to a small bench by the man-made pond. A bit away from everyone, but still close enough to the mansion you can dash inside if needed. 

You take a seat first. The papers sit beside you. Logan stands in front of you. Arms crossed and eyes narrowed. He isn’t sitting. Why isn’t he sitting?

“So uh…” Your voice comes out first, awkward and a bit unsure. The tickle in your throat grows again as you fight it back.

“It’s not perfume on you is it?” Logan’s gaze never leaves yours, but you can’t help but look away. Too uncomfortable with the eyes boring into you. You never once used perfume, though you did use that as an excuse didn’t you?

Silence followed after. Your eyes looking at the ground as you kick your legs back and forth. Unable to voice the truth. Logan is still looking at you, jaw clenching most likely. You don’t have to look at him to know.

His voice finally cuts through the silence. Apparently he was sick of you beating around the bush and not answering him. Your name on his lips startling you slightly. You honestly thought he didn’t know your name, but it seems you were wrong. “What's makin you so sick that it’s leaving you to look like that and smell like that.”

You should tell him. Tell him. TELL HIM. 

… 

You’ll tell him without actually telling him. You don’t think you’d survive telling him the full truth. You’re a pretty good liar most of the time. He might be able to pick through the lie but he’s not that perceptive right? 

“I uh… It’s.” You feel like you’re stumbling over your words, your throat constricting. “I have.”

You couldn’t finish your sentence. Your muscles tensing as a cough tears through you. Violently. Your body lurching forward as your hand shoots up to cover your lips as the cough pulls out petals and blossoms alike. Your hand can’t catch all the petals as they spill to the ground. Your eyes clenching shut as tears prickle the corners due to how painful it was. The other hand not covering your mouth grabs at your chest. As if you could claw the roots out through your skin. It burns. 

It burns, it burns, it burns. 

It won’t stop. You can’t stop hacking up the petals. Each cough brings out a sob with it as well. It has never been this bad. The scent of gardenias explodes. It burns your nose. You hate the smell of it. If you survive you’ll never be able to handle this scent again. Your body retching forward as you double over. Body crumpling in on itself as you try desperately to get some air into your already filled lungs. You would think having plants living in your lungs would give you more oxygen. If only it didn’t wrap tightly around your lungs and neighboring organs. Leaving little space for what you truly needed.

You almost forget Logan is there with you. An unexpected presence sits beside you. Warmth seeping into your side. He doesn’t set a comforting hand on your back. Doesn’t say any words. But him sitting beside you is enough comfort. You don’t think you could handle physical touch anyways. Your body would probably jerk harder at it. Hanahaki really was a killing disease wasn’t it. It was going to kill you before even getting to the final stage. You can’t do this.

Slowly the coughing fit lessens. The petals and blooms spilling from your mouth as if it was all you breathed came to a stop. Your body still hunched over, tears filling your eyes as you finally, finally stopped coughing up the damned flowers. You were still shaking, trying to catch the lost breath.

“You’re ok sweetheart. Just try and breathe.” Something large, heavy, warm rests on your upper back. Small soothing circles. He called you sweetheart, that was strange. You don’t expect comfort. You don’t think Logan expected to comfort you like this either. It was an awkward movement, but comforting. You wanted to lean into it, lean into him. You weren’t going to though. Pain was radiating through your chest and you weren’t sure you would be able to sit up straight without coughing again. Fear that any movement will bring on another coughing fit settled inside of you like a vice. You can still feel the slight tickle in your raw throat. 

You taste blood.

It takes a few tries, gasping tries, before air finally was able to fill your lungs enough that you could breathe properly. Or well, as well as you can with roots wrapping around your insides. You pull out a few petals that were still stuck in your mouth and let them fall to the ground as you slowly sit up. Still slightly hunched over but no longer practically hugging your legs. You wipe your mouth on the back of your hand, blood from your lips smearing across your skin. Eyes on the ground where the mess you made mocks you. There's so much, white and red. White flowers that you would have thought beautiful covered in splotches of your own blood. Tainting the gardenias, tainting the meaning of secret love. Disgusting. You’re disgusting. 

Your eyes linger on the ground as you finally speak. Voice raspy and strained. “Sorry.” 

“Nothin to be sorry about, nasty thing you got. Seen it a few times.” Logan’s voice is gruff, yet there is a touch of something tender in there. Unexpected. You don’t like it. He shouldn’t be treating you like this. He doesn’t know you, he doesn’t know that you’re like this because of him, because of your dumb crush on him that the world decided was good enough to practically kill you.  

Ok that’s not true. You know under his rough and tough demeanor and the huge, insensitive ass he could be. He’s caring and trustworthy. Loyal as fuck and self-sacrificing. It’s what had drawn you in in the first place. The soft look he’d give to people he cared about when no one was looking. The way he treats the younger mutants. It was heartwarming. Your admiration for him turned from simply looking up to him to wanting him to look at you that way.

Silence falls between the two of you again as you continue to try to take in oxygen. The taste of iron and earth is still on your tongue. The sound of fellow mutants distantly chatting and the occasional bird cuts through the silence. You don’t want to talk, you don’t want to tell him who your affliction derives from. You doubt he would ask, but he might. You’ll need to think of an excuse. A lie. Anything to keep him from finding out it is him. He’d reject you. You know this already. You’ve seen him look at others. He doesn’t look at you like that. You just learned he knew your name too! The two of you hardly spoke before. This is the most attention you have ever gotten from him. He doesn’t love you the way the disease needs him to. 

“Who's the asshole?” His words cut through the silence again. Surprising you once more. This definitely is the most words he has ever spoken to you.

“Doesn’t matter… He doesn’t feel the same.” Your throat continued to feel raw. It hurt to speak, but you needed to answer. You couldn’t stay quiet when he asked. Your gaze moves from the ground to glance at him from the side. You try not to meet his eyes but you can see a look on his face that had never been directed towards you. In any other situation you would be happy, ecstatic. Right now though, it makes your stomach tie up in uncomfortable knots. 

A slight hint of anger crosses Logan’s face and his hand just rests on your back, no longer rubbing those soothing circles. You know he wants to know. The look he has on him makes you think he sees you as someone under his protection, it’s nice. Even if it is not really what you want at the moment.

“So you’re willing to die for him.” There was a short pause between his words. His tone is soft, you don’t like it. “Seen most with it die that way. Shouldn’t have to die like that.”

You decide not to reply to the fact that you were willing to die for these feelings. Why? Because you still don’t want to believe it is true. Even with the flowers clearly showing signs the crush was love. Infatuation. You hate this. “Dr. Mccoy is going to perform the surgery for me. Should be any day now.”

You at least hope it will be any day now. You spoke to him a couple days ago and he seemed a bit all over the place so you couldn’t ask him if he was ready yet. You know he hadn’t forgotten, you saw the books laying on one of the tables next to some tools, but time was ticking and it was ticking fast. You know it and now… Now Logan knows it too. You’re on limited time. 

“I… can’t tell him. He doesn’t feel the same, he can’t. I’ll die if I tell him. I have to do the surgery. I’d rather chance not feeling love again than to confess and die. I…” Your hands curl into themselves as you look back down at the flowers. The tightening in your chest squeezes harder. You don’t need to explain yourself, but you feel like you have to. This way you can come to terms with it. Speaking it out loud makes it all too real. “I trust Dr.Mccoy. He won’t fail. He… he can’t.”

“Lotta trust in the guy.” Logan leans back on the bench, his hand lingering on your back removes itself as he crosses his arms. You feel the itch in your throat again, it’s too soon for more petals. You at least hope so. Logan then continues, “Remember watching someone choke on their own blood cause of that shit. Don’t want to see you on that end sweetheart.”

Logan called you sweetheart, again. It made butterflies fly around your stomach, churning with the anxiety already there. It was not the most comfortable of feelings. You weren’t expecting it this time either. It was nice. Would be nicer in better circumstances though. “Thanks Logan, but I’ll survive this. I have to…”

“Still think you should tell me who this asshole is. Could talk to him.” You hear the familiar snikt sound, a clear sign he extended his claws. A glance over was all you needed to confirm he did, the light gleaming off the metal. 

“God no! Sure actions speak louder than words for him, but it wont help.” Because he’d be threatening himself. You couldn’t help but let a pathetic laugh bubble up. Pain radiating through your chest and throat as you do so. At least you can still find some humor in this. Logan’s claws go right back under his skin and between his knuckles at your words. Though you can tell he still seemed interested in using violence against who is causing this for you. God, you wish you could tell him.

The two of you fall into another silence. Your own thoughts are swirling through your head and you’re sure Logan is also dealing with his own thoughts. Your disease is now out there. What truly ales you has been revealed without you actually saying the words. You wished you could have said the words, said what it was, told him your feelings. Though things never work out that way do they. 

You aren’t sure how this was going to end.

Logan looks at you the same time you gaze at him. Your eyes meet his blue ones. You would wax poetic about his eyes, but that seems pretty cliche. Everyone always does when talking about blue eyes, how they look like the ocean, or the sky. Logan’s reminds you of steel, the silvery blue that almost matches the adamantium claws you see on occasion. There is something in those eyes though, something you can’t read. Something behind that wall everyone knows he puts up. You want to dig deeper, fall into those eyes to avoid all your problems. Be free of the pain you can’t escape. The two of you seem to just stare at each other far longer than it felt. 

“Tell me when you get the surgery. I want to be there.” 

“...Okay.”

And just like that, the two of you break eye contact and fall into a silence. A silence only broken by the occasional cough from you and the sounds of nature and other mutants about. You wish you could have experienced this sooner. Before your world decided to crash down on you. You’ll just have to enjoy the time with him like this while you can. Before the feelings you have for him are forever torn away. Leaving only a hollow space in your chest for the fellow mutant. 

You’re not ready. 

~~ :3 !! ~~

Hank Mccoy finally let you know he was ready to do the surgery a few days after your chat with Logan. You weren’t ready for it. You didn’t want to lose these feelings, you didn’t want the complications that may follow, but fuck you don’t want to die either. You will die if you don’t do this surgery. You can’t… You have to do this. 

Which is why you are outside of the room Logan usually occupies when he is in the mansion. You've been standing outside of his room for what felt like hours now. You knew he probably could hear your heartbeat, but he isn’t coming out. He asked to be there when you got the surgery. He wanted to support you for some reason. You could just go, leave and get the surgery without telling him. Your anxiety welling up along with the urge to throw up. Your hand is already raised before you could stop yourself and you knock three times.

Silence follows after. The sound of shuffling and the door opens. Logan standing there in one of those slutty little white tank tops and jeans. A classic look that was all too hot in your opinion. Your mouth feels dry as he looks at you.

“I’m getting it now.” You rub your arm, unable to look him in the eyes. You do look at his face though. Just long enough to see shock cross his face for a few seconds, which quickly vanished back behind his usual look. Logan steps out of his room and shuts the door, head tilting to the side a bit as he waits for you to start walking to Hank’s lab. 

The two of you walk silently through the halls. It was late in the afternoon. You could have gotten it earlier in the day but your body was so exhausted from the coughing fit you had that night that you couldn’t bring yourself to get out of bed. In fact you’re still in your pajamas mostly. Sweatpants and a t-shirt. Comfy. You’re going into surgery, you deserve not to dress up for it. Logan doesn’t comment on it either so it’s fine. You’re fine. 

Everything is fine.

The two of you enter the lab quietly. No one else seems to be here but Hank. After all, one else knew. People knew you were sick of course, but you kept a tight lip on what exactly was inflicting you.

Hank greets you with your name. A look of surprise as his eyes drop onto Logan. Quickly he glanced back at you and you just shrugged your shoulders slightly. Letting Hank know the situation. How Logan knew what was wrong with you and wanted to be here with you. Moral support from the emotionally constipated x-men. Well, mostly constipated. 

After going over the procedures and what needed to be done you step behind the curtains, changing into one of those flimsy hospital gowns. The cool air nipping at your skin as you bite your bottom lip. You were scared. You didn’t want this. You couldn’t do this. You can’t do this! You don’t want to lose your feelings for Logan. He just now is starting to show you attention. It’s not fair! You shouldn’t have to deal with this! You can’t, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t. 

“Are you okay?” Hank's voice cuts through your spiral. Eyes watering and your chest heaving. Ohm you were crying. No, you were sobbing again. Your hands are shaking at your side. You glance at the curtain that hid you from the other two. You know they heard you crying, heard you falling apart. How embarrassing. Your hand grips at the gown, bunching it up at your chest as you take a shaky breath. Lungs barely able to hold a full inhale. 

“Yeah… Yeah sorry. I’m ok. I’m ready.” You step out from behind the curtain. Clear concern was on the blue mutant's face. You can’t read the others. You don’t like this. You silently pad over to the table, bed, whatever it is, that is set up for you. Another strained breathe and you sit on the surface. A glance at the two of them and you lay back. You’re surprised the professor wasn’t here to help out. Maybe he wasn’t needed. Hank could handle this on his own. You can handle this. Logan was here, you didn’t want him here, but it was a strange comfort knowing the man you loved was here to support you. Even if said surgery would remove all feelings for him. How poetic. 

You stare at the ceiling, unsure of what to do as Hank moves around you. Logan who had been leaning on the wall walks over and takes your hand in his. Holding it as if you would shatter at the softest of touches. You hate it. 

“Offer still stands darlin’. Can make the guy love you back.” Although the words would work well in a teasing tone. There was a hint of seriousness behind it. Like he didn’t want you to go under. To have the gardenias removed from your chest. Your hand squeezes his weakly. You knew you didn’t have much time left. You had to do this or confess. Only one of those was an actual option.

Hank returns and holds up the mask. You lift your head up as he slides it over your mouth and nose. It’s too late. You can feel the tears threatening to fall again. You’re scared. Your grip on Logan’s hand tightens as Hank moves around you, making sure you’re hooked up correctly. Your vision starts to blur slightly. You try to inhale the gas as deeply as you could, it hurt. Your lungs didn’t want to fill, you think you can feel the roots wiggling deeper through your lungs and closer to your heart. Your eyes are on Logan, fear clearly radiating off of you. Your own eyes showing the anxiety inside of you. Logan just stands strong next to you. Like a silent guard. 

As the world starts to blacken around you, the corners of the room vanishing slowly. You couldn’t help yourself. You were getting the surgery. You can say the words now. It won’t matter. Your head was already floating and consciousness was fading. Eyes focusing on Logan, like a tunnel. All you could see was him as the world around you slowly vanished into nothingness.   Three words slipped out of you without much thought.

“I love you.” 

The world shifts and the world goes dark. 

The quiet beeping echos. A steady rhythm that matches the slight pounding in your head. Your eyes slowly open, only to quickly shut again. The lights were a bit too bright and everything was… Numb. Your mouth feels dry and you physically can’t feel anything. Did the surgery go wrong? Why can’t you feel anything? A groan bubbles up from your throat as you force your eyes to open. That’s when you feel it.

You can feel every muscle, every fiber of the blanket covering you. The heaviness in your chest is gone. You take a breath. You can… You can take a breath. Your lungs are fully filled with oxygen. Chest rising higher than it has in months. You can breathe. Your eyes open again, the bright fluorescent lights above you illuminate the room. You tilt your head away from looking up at the ceiling. Eyes moving around the room. Gaze falling on the little monitor you’re hooked up to. The beeping was your heartbeat. Ok. That looked good. 

Your head turns the other direction as you take in another sweet deep breath. Eyes landing on Logan. He was still here, sitting beside your bed, head lolled to the side clearly asleep. Your chest tightens in the familiar feeling you have been dealing with for months. That can’t be right. You shouldn’t still be feeling this longing. You shouldn’t still be feeling the warmth that spreads through you over the fact that he had stayed. You shouldn’t be feeling the soft tug on your heart as you look at him or the soft smile pulling on your lips.

This was wrong. Something was wrong. You raise the arm that wasn’t hooked up to all the devices and set it on your chest. There was pain there, raw and uncomfortable, but there was no bump on your chest to show there was a bandage, no pain pulling at your skin. The pain you felt was all under your skin. This isn’t right, something is wrong. Your chest felt clear but you have no evidence that you underwent the surgery. You force yourself to sit up. Pain shoots down your spine. You groaned in pain and a hand was suddenly pressing down on your shoulder. Forcing you back onto the bed. Logan had gotten up.

“Logan?” Your voice was scratchy. It felt just like the times you coughed up all those flowers when he found out. “What… What’s going on? Why do I…” 

“Yeah it’s me. Lay back down. Can’t have you moving around too much yet.” Logan’s hand was still on your shoulder, a gentle pressure making you lay back down onto the bed. Your eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the look he is giving you. You can’t read him. “Don’t talk too much either. Hank said you got to heal.”

Yet you’re pretty sure you didn’t get the surgery though! You should be dead. You… You told Logan how you felt. How you still feel. Yet the urge to cough is gone. Your chest feeling lighter than it has since before the disease took its hold on your life. That has to mean something. Something happened when you went under. What happened? Why won’t he tell you? Why is he looking at you like that? 

Logan’s hand finally pulled away from your shoulder. He just stares down at you as you stare at him. Silence falls between you two. His hand then slowly moves again. Your eyes darting down to the hand. Slowly his hand goes to push some hair out of your face. The same look he has been giving you for the past few months crosses his face. You still don’t know what it means, but it is making your stomach flip. 

“Glad you didn’t die for a guy like me. World be a lot darker without you in it.” His hand gently cups your cheek, his thumb gently rubbing your cheek. His hand was soft and warm. The touch a bit too tender for someone like him.

Wait. Wait wait wait. He heard you. He heard what you said before going under. You didn’t go through the surgery yet your chest feels lighter than it should. That could only mean one thing. Your eyes go wide in surprise and your lips part as you go to speak. Pain still itching at your throat.

“You heard me…” Of course he heard you! He was right next to you holding your hand. He has enhanced senses. He heard you confess. He heard you say you loved him. You’re still alive, you still feel for him and you confessed! That has to mean. Your face suddenly lights up. Heat pooling both on your cheeks and in your stomach. There is only one explanation. There is only one way you were able to live and still feel this way. Logan loved you back. That doesn’t make sense though! Before you started smelling like flowers the two of you never spoke to one another. Yet he…

He loved you back.

“Yeah, I did. Could have told me sooner to save you the pain. Told ya I’d make sure the guy felt the same.” His hand leaves your face. He turns to grab the chair he had been sitting in before and pulls it over. The chair legs screeching across the floor making you flinch at the noise. Once the chair was next to you he sat down and took your hand in his again. Once more treating you like glass. Though you appreciate it, you feel like glass right now. 

Logan lifts your hand up to his face, blue eyes staring straight into your own as his lips find your knuckles. Leaving a soft kiss. You were already blushing before, but you swear you feel like you’re on fire. His lips brushing against your knuckles as he speaks once more. You really aren’t used to hearing him speak so much. “Looks like we got a lot to talk about sweetheart.”

You just silently nod, unable to break your gaze from his. Your hand is lowered, your heart beating out of your chest. You are sure he can hear it. You lick your lips, unable to speak a word out of fear you’ll embarrass yourself further. Logan just chuckles slightly, a deep reverberating one. 

“Guess I should say it, not really good with the emotions shit, but I love you too.”

A few blinks and then a small laugh comes out of you. A wince follows after, but the biggest grin spreads on your face. All it took was you almost dying to finally hear those three little words. You’ll never look at gardenias the same again, nor will you be able to stand the sickly sweet smell of a strong floral scent. That doesn’t matter to you though. You obtained something you thought was unattainable. The love of the man you were in love with. The secret love no longer hidden. 

You can now understand the look Logan was giving you. It was the same you had been giving him. You both were in love with each other but were unsure how to go about it. All it took was the flowers that no longer were growing inside of you. 

You finally say the words, more confident than when you went under. “I love you.” 

“Love you too sweetheart.” 

[cemoras27-but-writing-this-time]

Danny's Evil Jaunt. It's Evil He Swears. Ignore the Charity pt. 1

Hi! its me again. I saw this prompt thing on @im-totally-not-an-alien-2 and it had me in a choke hold and held me hostage until I wrote it. Its where Danny becomes a supervillain using his machines instead of his ghost powers! Have Fun!

AO3: Here

EDIT: the text color should be fixed now I think let me know if it isn’t

“Hello Daniel,” Clockwork greeted Danny as he entered the Clocktower with wringing hands. The young halfa had been incredibly stressed ever since Dan, hiding any perceived negative emotion in his attempts of the best timeline. An appreciated thought and effort, however more harmful than the boy anticipated. Perhaps he should listen more to that sister of his a bit more.

“Heey Clocky, um I just-”

“You're worried about Dan.”

“Yeah. I was. I just- just want to make sure that things are still looking good y’know!” Danny said, arms flaring out to his sides dramatically. “I’ve been behaving! I haven’t lashed out at anything. Haven’t even pranked Dash or his friends!”

“Daniel,” Clockwork turned from the timeline he was observing.

“What’d I do?” Danny’s eyes filled with palpable panic.

“Nothing. However, suppressing your emotions will do nothing but cause harm to those around you and yourself. Come.” The shifting ghost laid a hand upon Danny’s thin shoulder, and led them to a small table that Danny wasn’t entirely sure was there moments before. There was a small tea set he noticed as the baby Clockwork set Danny in the comfy chair. “However, I think I may have a solution. A way for you to ‘lash out’ as much as your core can handle.” Danny’s eyes glisten in interest; similar to those stars he adores so much. “I will take you to a different realm, similar to your home, and you may concoct as much havoc as you wish. I will pause the time in your home so that you may continue your life as you want. All I ask is that you truly allow yourself to let your emotions run their course, else I worry for the future.” 

“What? Like a rage room? Like the ones that they give you a bat and let you go ham? That sounds cool…” 

“I suppose that is a fair comparison. I won’t allow any consequences to come  to you either. It is supposed to be therapeutic after all. All you must do is let me know and I will give you access to the realm.” Clockwork grinned, blue hands -now old- creaking around the teacup that he filled at some point. 

“You sure nothing  bad will happen? What if I-”

“Nothing of the sort will happen. If you need guidance I and others will be happy to lend you a hand. Though now that I have you here, how are your lessons with Wulf going? Have you successfully made a portal?” Danny perks.

“They're going good! I actually made one to come here. I like how Wulf teaches,” the half-ghost chimes, an airy quality unknowingly weaving its way into his voice. His Espernato is getting better the Keeper of Time notes, enough for it to slip into regular conversation. How nice.

They talk for a while after that.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Danny stares at the small hole in reality, an adult Clockwork stands beside him and takes the first steps forwards.

“Beyond this portal is the realm where you may do as you wish. You may take as long as you like, and the consequences will not apply to you. Again all I wish is for this to be therapeutic. Your sister gave you quite the monologue, didn't she?” The old time piece drones, stepping to the side to allow access to the portal and gestures for Danny to step through. 

On the other side is an open field. The grass is yellowing in the lowering temperatures as the familiar autumn chill flows through them. Clockwork emerges from behind him. 

“We are close to a rather large city, Star City I believe, home to several heroes. You can open portals consistently now yes?”

“Yeah! Thanks again Clocky, this- this means a lot y’know” Danny stammers. 

“Of course Daniel. I am here to guide. Please let me know how you find your visit.” 

“Are you ever gonna call me Danny?” He only gets a small smile before Clockwork floats back into the portal - it closes- and he is left alone.

Danny turns and takes a deep breath in, and starts to think as he heads towards ‘Star City’. What should he even do? He thinks hard before coming to the conclusion that, if he became evil by holding in his emotions, then why couldn’t he just be evil while feeling. Why not let his anger and disappointment and sadness run amok? After all, there are no consequences here! But he doesn’t want to be Phantom, as much as he loves being Phantom, he's so tired of the consent ghost attacks and being shot at by ecto-guns. 

The halfa takes a small break and sits by the dirt road he had been following, maybe it was time for Danny Fenton to do something. He was a Fenton! His parents built a portal to Hell in their basement using household Items, sure he wasn’t as book smart as Jazz or a techie like Tuck, but he could whip up something he's sure!

With newborn vigor Danny sets off again while drawing up his plans. 

A world where he could do anything he wants. The world is a big place. He wonders if Dani would want to visit.

Tag list: I saw that some people wanted to be tagged if anyone wrote something

@amuseofminds @roseinbloom02 @starkcravingmad @little-pondhead

sorry victoria-has-no-secret I can't seem to tag you correctly

[lingyunxi]

Self-use Sims 3 CC Tutorials List

Here is a list of tutorials from which I learn to convert/create sims 3 cc in a few months (and as a poor English speaker). I think it might help someone who also wants to try making things for sims 3 but doesn't know where to start, though it's been 15 years from the game release and even Inzoi is coming hahah.

The list covers objects, clothes, hairs and eyes. I know there're lots of tutorials not listed here, that's because I haven't tried them in my projects by hand. But The list will be updated with new things I learn. Most tutorials are in English. Thanks to all these creators for sharing their precious knowledge!

Sorry for the miserable format, cause I wrote them in Patreon and paste here. You can also read it there, free of course.

Where I find tutorials

sims 3 tutorial hub

ts3 creators cave and its discord

Mod the sims tutorial wiki and the forum

pis3update tutorials tag

General

CC basic concepts by nightosphere (for clothes, most knowledge is shared with objects)

Tools

TSRW guide by apple (for objects, most knowledge is shared with clothes)

Blender

shortcut by Blender Guru

beginner tutorial for version 2.5, 2.8, 3.0, 4.0

3.5入门教程 (youtube / bilibili)

设置切换语言快捷键 change language shortcut settings

图片取色器网站

Mesh ToolKit with Seam Fixer for all ages

Topaz gigapixel AI guide / higher quality texture

Texture

Nicer bake / bake in blender 2.78

Bake in blender 2.93

Make normal map

small size blank texture

Reasons for black blocks on baked image

Adjust texture color without losing quality

Object

clone obejcts with S3OC

4t3

Functional Objects

Functional bed

TSRW setting

Combining Textures for Objects with Multiple Textures

Add normal map to objects

Introduction to slot categories

Add slots in TSRW

Edit in-door shadow or occluders in TSRW / Talks about 3 kinds of in-game shadow by Pocci

Clothes

4t3 by nightosphere

Reduce polycount / fix seams, holes, shadows or normals

Bone reference rule

Avoid milkshape workflow / adjust bone assignment and morphs in blender

Convert between ages/body meshes

TSRW check list

Fix long clothes clip with body

Fix holes on morphs (easier in blender)

Extrude collars

Create texture in PS

Avoid TSRW workflow / CTU tutorial

Hairs

Avoid milkshape and TSRW workflow / delete backfaces / handmade morphs / DABOOBS guide

Keys pointing to in-game blank textures to save file size (for DABOOBS not TSRW)

Reduce polycount

4t3

Fix weird seam lines on hairs from s4s

Fix pigtail issue

Eyes

Convert contacts to default eyes

[burning-omen]

Kinktober day 7: Cowboy au + Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi x male!reader

Kinktober 2023 List | Day 1 | Day 8

(a/n: I KNOW ITS LATE EVERYBODY SHIT THE FUCK UP)

Summary: You’re a bounty hunter, just trying to make it through the world, with the most annoying bounty alive

Warning: sex, outdoors sex, obi-wan is hogtied but not in a sexy way, reader is deep in the closet, formatting errors to be fixed LATER

Camping out with your bounty wasn’t something you did frequently, you’ve only had to a couple of times, and through all those times they’ve been knocked out cold through the night and into the next morning. Not Kenobi though, despite being clocked in the head with the butt of your gun and being choked until what you thought was unconsciousness, only for him to spring back up the moment you let him go, he seemingly never went down.

“Did they tell you want the bounty was for?”

“No..”

“How high was it, I bet that would give you a cl-“

“You know, bounties don’t usually talk this much.”

“I’m not the typical bounty.”

“Clearly..”

The moon was set high in a star filled sky, the make shift camp you’d made for the two of you was small, but manageable. You were far closer to Mr. Kenobi than you would have liked to he, but you can’t fight physics or the limitations of the space you were in, and you didn’t want to pack up and move, so you stayed put, laying flat on your back just mere inches away from the man who you were taking to his death, you’d be much more worried if it weren’t for the fact he was hogtied right now.

A short moment of silence passed as Kenobi rested his head on the dirt. It didn’t last long.

“You have a peculiar accent, where are you from?”

“Oh my accent is peculiar? Mister, you sound like you just got off the damn Mayflower.”

“Ah, a guest your right.”

Another silence passed, this one longer, you might have even found yourself falling asleep if it weren't for Kenobi’s non-stop movement. Even though he wasn't touching you, you could still feel him moving.

“Will you stop?” you said sternly.

“Well I'm sorry, but you've left me in an extremely uncomfortable position.”

“You'll live.”

He groaned and continued his fidgeting.

You let it continue for another minute before sitting up and grabbing your knife from your bag, climbing over the man, pressing his shoulder hard into the ground, and cutting the rope. You were so caught up in the familiar motion that you hardly noticed him tensing up, or the sigh of relief he let out when you set him free.

“There,” you laid back in your spot, “will you please go to sleep now.”

After removing the tangles of rope from his wrist and ankles he asked, “You’re not worried about me running away?”

“You’re bounty isn’t high enough for me to care..”

“And yet you still came after me.”

You sighed, “I was just curious..”

“Curious?”

“‘Found your bounty up in Karma, thought it was weird ‘cause you can get away with practically anything there, just wanted to know what you did to get your face plastered on every building in town. But apparently you don’t know.”

“Karma…? Ah, yes. I didn’t do anything wrong, really. Not to me at least.”

“Most criminals think there in the right.”

You rolled over to face him.

“But what did you do?”

He stared up at the stars for a long moment, his face void of emotion.

“I had-“ he cleared him throat, “certain relations with their mayor. He didn’t seem very happy with that information being made public, I though he’d get over it with time but apparent not.”

You sat straight up, staring dead at him, your mouth hanging open and eyebrows raised high.

He glanced at you, letting out a short laugh.

“Don’t look so shocked..”

You took a moment to try and collect yourself before saying, “that’s…oh. I’m…sorry..?”

He laughed again, “don’t be, you’re just doing your job.”

“I’m not..”

He looked up at you, confused.

“I’m not..doing my job, I’m not taking you to Karma, you’re free to go.”

He breathed out softly.

“…thank you.”

You laid back down, facing away from him.

“Don’t mention it.”

Time passed, you never turned back to face him, you figured he had fallen asleep while you were unable to. The universe was really unfamiliar sometimes, now being one of them.

You could feel his shifting and moving behind you, you figured he was just a tricky sleeper, but you were proven wrong a second later.

“Having trouble sleeping?”

“Something like that, just..thinking.”

“About?”

You scoffed, “like I'd tell you..”

“Well seeing as your not taking me back to Karma-”

“-you didn't do anything wrong, I wouldn't-”

“-and you have yet to kick me out of your camp-”

“-it’s late-”

“I think it's only right that we get to know each other.”

You turned onto your back, glaring at the man, who sat up, looking down at you.

“Come on, I don't even know your name..” he said softly.

You held his gaze for as long as you could before looking away.

“My name is y/n..”

“Y/n l/n?”

You sat straight up, glaring at the man, only to see him holding your hat, which you sat with the rest of your supplies. There was a tag sewn on the inside that had your full name on it.

“If you were just gonna go through my things, why would bother asking?”

“Just wanted to see what you’d say.”

You groaned, snatching your hat out of his hand and setting it down next to you.

“So, Mr. L/n..” he paused for a moment “are you queer?”

You sucked in deep a breath, trying not to react too much, your body became rigid and tense for a moment.

“What kind of question is that?”

“A reasonable one.”

“Reasonable for who?”

He laughed, “you of course. Most men would have been ready to serve me to Karma of they'd heard what I'd done.”

“You did nothing wrong-”

“I’m aware. Most people don’t think that, most people would have shot me, not let stay at their camp, and definitely would not have let me sleep this close.”

You glanced at the man quickly before looking away, seeing him staring dead at you.

“So what are you trying to say, you think I got some little crush on you?”

He laughed, “Maybe..”

Suddenly, he was in front of you, leaning far closer to you face than was appropriate.

“Maybe you’re just lonely and need someone likeminded to talk to, even if it is only for one night.”

You tired to shrug him off, let his words go in one ear and out the other, but he was right- and he made it so hard not to admit that to him.

“You’re insane..”

“Possibly.”

His hands came up on either side of your face, holding you just a few inches from his, but he did nothing beyond that. He wanted you to do it.

The reasonable side of your mind was loud, telling you to push him away, that you weren’t lonely, that you didn’t need him, but a much louder part of you mind screamed it years of absence at you. You decided to listen, pressing forward, kissing Kenobi hard, like you were drowning and you could breath the air in his lungs if you tried hard enough. Kenobi responded in kind, seated in your lap as you drew him in closer and closer.

The kiss was long and desperate. You could hardly think straight with his entire body pressed against yours. The fire, so vibrant in the black night, illuminating him, as well as cast a dark shadow where ever in couldn’t reach.

You pulled back in a panting disarray, your heart pounding in your chest. It was hard to think with him thins close, so you didn’t, wrapping your arms around him and pulling him into another kiss.

You didn’t know where to go from there, you’ve never gone beyond kissing with a man, this would be a hell of a lot easier if he was a woman, at least you’d know what was expected of you, where to put your hands and the like.

But you didn’t want him to be a woman. No, you liked him like this. Hard and heavy in your lap. He seemed to know exactly what to do, resting his hand over the growing bulge in your pants, leaning down to kiss you again, not making a single move until you kissed him back.

Grinding down in your lap, moaning against each others lips as you found a steady pace together. Still fully clothed, rocking against each other as your pants grew tighter and tighter.

He pulled back, pressing kisses all down your neck, unbuttoning your shirt, running his hand across your chest with a satisfied hum.

He was definitely more experienced than you, drawing reactions from you easily with his hands and mouth. You let him work. Kissing and bitting any uncovered skin he could find.

His hand making light work of your belt and pants, pulling them just below your waist. You didn’t complain, despite the loss of contact, as you watched him scoot back on your thighs and unbuckle his own belt, pulling his cock out of his unbuttoned pants, then scooting back up your thigh.

For a moment, your mind yelled at you, this was a stranger- you didn’t know this man, he could do anything to you, you can’t just let him control you-

All thoughts seemed to vanish suddenly as you felt something against your cock. It was impossible not to look at Kenobi, with him stationed barely a few inches from your face. Looking down you could see your cocks pressed tightly together, he wrapped his hand around the two, giving an experimental squeeze, making the two of you buck into his hand simultaneously.

“Okay..” he breathed out, “Are you ready?”

Unsure of your voice, you nodded.

He gave you one last looking before shifting his focus, starting slowly, stroking from the base of your cocks all the way up to the tip, then back down again.

You let out a slow, shaky breath, your eyes fixated on his hand, his other was rubbing large circles from your hip to your thigh. You figured you needed to do something with yours instead of just leaving them at your sides. Shifting your weight around before you settled on placing your hand on Kenobi’s waist, slipping it just under his shirt. It was…something at the very least. Makes you feel less vulnerable.

You watched him smirk, then speed up, both your panting increasing tenfold at the sudden change of pace. Your cocks sliding against each other as the two of you struggled to remain still.

“Kenobi..” you groaned.

“You’re being impatient.”

“You’re being-“You held your tongue, your words devolving into a groan, not wanting to actually insult the man considering what he was doing for you right now.

Breathing in sharply and letting it out slowly, you watched the man work intently.

You tried to sit perfectly still for him, the only move you made being your hand tightening on his waist, or the involuntary sputter of your hips whenever he stroked you just right.

Some small part of your mind wanted more, wanted to pin him to the dirt below and fuck him until you’d both had your fill, but you didn't, that took work, and experience you didn't have. So you took whatever he gave you, you didn't mind, his hands were skilled, seemingly hitting every nerve with ease, making pleasure shoot through your body.

Your ability to be still and quiet seemed to waver as the tight pit in your stomach started to come apart in his hands.

“Almost there..?” He asked quietly.

You panted, looking up at the man, “You don’t know that-“

“I can tell, you’re shaking-“

“I’m- mhh, I’m not-“

“Yes, you are” despite his words and his light teasing, he was right there with you, chest rising and falling rapidly. Not wanting to prolong the inevitable, he sped up, his pace was unprecedented and it made your whole body tense, a constant stream of joint moans filled the small area.

Your hips bucked up into his hand, he did the same, not slowing down even when your rabidly approaching orgasm hit you, even as cum splattered all over his hand and cock, he kept going. Moaning and whining under his breath until he finally he came, moaning loudly as his own cum mixed with yours, further covering both your cocks, and his hand.

The realization hit you a minute later, after you were able to calm down and you didn't feel like you were burning inside your own skin anymore.

You were just intimate- very intimate with a man, and you didn't… die? You didn't know what you thought would happen. You didn't know what you were so afraid of.

Kenobi didn't seem to be going anywhere, still in your lap, his arms wrapped around you and his head resting on your shoulder.

You figured that you could spiral, mostly about your years of absence coming to an end, later. Enjoying the company of Kenobi for now.

———————The next morning——————-

“Kenobi, do you think-”

“Why do you keep being so formal with me? You can call me by my first name, I hope you know that..”

“What? I thought Kenobi was your first name?”

“No, it's my last name.”

“Seriously, it's the only name your poster said so I figured-?”

“No, no, my first name is Obi-wan.”

“Oh well now I see why they left it off your posters- ow! Throwing things is very immature!”

“You’ll live.”

[bubblesreplies]

The Middle

Max Brinly X Female Reader

Oneshot

APPARENTLY IF YOU’RE READING THIS IN ANY DARK COLORED FORMAT ON TUMBLR (LIKE NIGHT MODE) IT LOOKS FUCKING WEIRD AND IDK HOW TO FIX IT I’M SO SORRY.

A/N: No, I'm not neglecting my other fics to write a random oneshot? Why would you even suggest---fuck it here it is besties. Anyways, this product of procrastination is dedicated and written for my bestie @house-of-kolchek, who loves Max as much as I do.

WARNINGS AND TAGS: NSFW 18+ ONLY, this is unedited and might be awful, Reader is Jacob's cousin, manipulative!Emma but like in a good way, BFF!Emma, Emma/Jacob, Abi/Nick, making Emma cooler than she is, sweetheart!Max, unrequited love (assumably), forced proximity, sex jokes, unsafe seating situations while driving DO NOT DO THIS PLEASE, lap-sitting, erections, staring down your shirt, teasing, love confessions, very very cheesy and idc anymore

Word Count: 8k

Main Masterlist

“EMMA, that is the stupidest idea in seriously the entire world.”

You meant it, too; you already thought that this little impromptu camping trip was an awful idea; the last time that the group of you were out in the woods, it ended with werewolves, so, could anybody really be blamed for not wanting to tempt fate? And now hearing Emma’s latest plan, you couldn’t help but say fuck this whole entire trip and its mom, too. 

“Oh—come on!” Emma insisted with a pout across her face, leaning across her oversized suitcase—who in the world needed all of that space for a weekend camping trip? “Babes, you are my wing-woman here—my ultimate girl. Come on, please—Jacob won’t even look at me when we hang out. I really need your help with this!”

You sighed; a year ago, when the ten of you—eight, if you considered the fact that you hadn’t actually met two of the camp counselors until the end of the summer—worked at Hackett’s Quarry and endured that shitshow of a summer, you hadn’t even liked Emma. You didn’t like how she had your cousin, Jacob, mooning all over her like she owned the whole fucking Earth. You didn’t like the way that the nicest girl you’d ever met seemed to think she walked on water, too, and you did not appreciate the fact that she thought she was entitled to tell you all the ways that you were doing your makeup all wrong. 

But then, that night happened. The night of the full moon, when your idiot cousin sabotaged the van just to get another night with the woman he’d fallen in love with who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about him. The night where the ten of you had miraculously survived werewolves, and a crazy-ass family trying to kill you all night. That night was what changed everything. 

You’d gotten stranded with Emma running through the woods, and somehow landed yourself in a heated battle with Jacob—who had apparently been bitten by one of those things because he was now one of those things. He, obviously, tried to kill the two of you and Emma thought fast, using a piece of silver jewelry to save both of your lives and buy you enough time to get the hell out of there. 

And then, you’d been locked in a room with her and Abi, the three of you not knowing if you would survive the night, and something just…changed. You began to see her differently, and from that point on, throughout this entire past year, the three of you had been best friends. 

More you and Emma, if you were being honest, because Abi and Nick had just gotten engaged three months ago and most of her free time went to him.

Not that it hurt your feelings. If you somehow managed to bag the man of your dreams, you’d be spending every free moment with him, too. 

“Jacob just…needs time,” you informed her with a groan, throwing your tennis shoes across the room as you frantically looked for your favorite pair of leggings. “He’s still hurt, you know? You can’t just tell him you didn’t mean any of it and then expect him to forgive you and jump back into your arms, Emma.”

“Which is why I need you to get me into his cabin this weekend,” Emma pleaded, getting up from her place on your bed and digging through your drawers as she pulled out the very clothes you were looking for. You swore that sometimes, it was literally like she could read your mind. “All we have to do is fake a fight; I will refuse to sleep in the same cabin as you, and then the boys will offer to switch with us. I’ll get a whole night—and a whole, isolated cabin—with Jacob; and you? Well, let’s not pretend that you aren’t benefitting from my little plan.”

You snorted, shimmying out of your jeans and pulling your leggings up over your legs, smiling as Emma nodded towards your ass in approval. If she thought that you looked good, you could rest assured that you damn well did.

“And how will I benefit from getting into a fake fight with you and causing a scene?” You questioned, your head cocked as Emma passed you your shoes and you eagerly slipped them on. The rest of your group would be here at any minute, and you didn’t want to keep them waiting. 

“Because if I end up in Jacob’s cabin, you know who ends up in yours? Max.”

You whipped around and shot Emma a glare, shaking your head like you couldn’t believe that she would just mention his name all casually like that. You’d made her swear to never bring up your pathetic, unrequited crush on Max Brinly ever again, since the day she’d first found out that it even existed in the first place. 

You first met Max when the sun came up after that hellish night at Hackett’s Quarry. You and Emma had run back to the island to see if Jacob was there and if he was alive, and you ended up running into Max instead. After lots of screaming and confusion, the two of you finally allowed him to explain just how in the fuck he had gotten there and who he was, which is when you learned that your one night of hell had lasted two months for him and his girlfriend. 

Emma had found Jacob and ran after him, but you stayed behind with Max, talking and laughing at his jokes, attempting not to swoon at the adorableness that was his laugh. You had hoped, at the beginning of the summer, to find somebody just like him and have a summer romance. Somebody who was cute, who could make you laugh, and seemed to understand you instantly.

It didn’t work out that way, obviously—seeing as the summer had been over and Max Brinly had a girlfriend. 

Laura eventually came back for him and you parted ways, assuming that this would be the last time that you would ever see Max Brinly, attributing your budding feelings for him as some sort of trauma response to the night that you had just been through. 

Imagine your surprise when, a month after Hackett’s Quarry, the new co-worker that you were assigned to train at the coffee shop was none other than Max Brinly. You assumed right away that he wouldn’t even remember you—why would he?---but you were wrong. He knew exactly and immediately who you were, and the two of you hit it off just as well as you did the first time you had ever spoken to him. It wasn’t long before you were hanging out with him every single day, and he had slowly become your best friend. 

You went to movies together, you got dinner, he came to all of the track and field competitions you ran in at your local university, you helped him study hard enough to get into a new graduate school—literally, anything that you could think of, the two of you did it together.  You even stayed the night at each other’s apartments on occasion, both of you knowing what the other’s couch felt like pretty intimately. 

In fact, the only time the two of you weren’t together was when Laura came to town to visit her boyfriend. Before she dumped him, at least.

It was nearly a month and a half ago now, that you had sat on this very bed with Max as he sobbed, asking you just to hold him and not ask any questions when he told you that he and Laura had broken up. 

“Max isn’t into me, so that really doesn’t help your case,” you grumbled, your pissy mood only continuing to sour the more that you thought about it. After Max and Laura, you thought that you might actually stand a chance with him. After all, he spent all of his free time with you, and you knew that nobody in this world knew him as well as you did—and vice versa. But after the night that he’d sobbed with you, fallen asleep in your bed, and told you how he felt like years of his life were wasted with Laura, nothing ever happened. 

He just went right on back to being the same old Max, your friend.

“Do you seriously still think that that boy has no feelings for you whatsoever?” Emma shrieked, watching as Jacob’s car pulled up from the window, hurriedly throwing her hair up into a sexily-tossed messy bun. “‘Cause, if you do, you’re so wrong that it isn’t even funny anymore.”

“Em, if he had feelings for me, then why didn’t anything change after he and Laura broke up?!” You interjected, a frown pulling at your lips as you grabbed your tiny duffel bag and hiked it up over your shoulder. “And also, why would he date Laura for so long if he actually, secretly liked me instead? Your logic isn’t logic-ing,” you insisted, and Emma smirked.

“You are so naive that it’s actually kind of cute,” she responded, rolling her eyes as Jacob opted to honk instead of being a gentleman and coming to the door. Emma sauntered over to you, playing with the ends of your hoodie and eyeing it suspiciously. “Look, just—help me with this plan, and you’ll see, okay? And change into that sexy little top I bought you last month for the car ride.”

“Emma!”

“Just trust me!” Emma insisted, pulling the hoodie up and over your head for you and tossing you the lacey black crop top she’d bought you last month. “Put it on—good, yes, I would so bang you—oh, and just in case you find out that Max also wants to bang you, I snuck condoms into your bag.”

“You have got to be kidding me, Emma!” You shrieked, although it was with a large smile on your face as you were, once again, blown away by the antics of your friend. 

Emma only laughed as the two of you rushed down to the car, you having to help Emma with one half of her bag since she’d brought such a gigantic one. You’d barely made it to the door before there was a knock on it—apparently Jacob had decided to be a gentleman after all. Or he’d simply gotten impatient, which was the better bet of the two options.

“Keep your pants on cuz, we’re coming,” you hissed out, lowering your end of Emma’s bag to the ground as you ripped open the door to your apartment. Your annoyed glare dropped and your mouth fell open as you saw Max standing there, his cheeks red and running a hand through his freshly-cut red hair. “Max! I, uh, thought you were Jacob?”

Fuck, why did you sound so fucking awkward?! Your conversation with Emma had you paranoid and upset, and if you kept acting this way, Max would definitely notice. The two of you had crossed the awkward barrier a long time ago.

“Ah, nah,” Max answered, his signature smile flashing across his face and warming you up from the inside out. “Jake’s too possessive over that steering wheel to get his ass over to the door honestly.”

“That and he doesn’t want to have to speak to me,” Emma sighed, lugging her bag forward and hitting Max in the chest with it. You suppressed a giggle as he let out an “Oomph!”, but he caught your smile and playfully sneered at you. “Oh, what a gentleman! And damn, Max, I’ve never noticed how strong you are. Have you, Y/n?! Have you ever noticed those biceps?” 

“Cut it out, Emma,” you hissed under your breath, grateful that Max had already turned around and was heaving her oversized bag to the trunk of the car. “I know what you’re doing, and it isn’t going to work on me.”

“What am I doing?” Emma asked with faux innocence, batting her eyelashes heavily down at you before she winked. “Just use it as fuel for our fake fire, if you want, babes. Besides—would it really kill you to admit in front of him that he looks good?! Give the boy a win, Y/n!”

“He does not think of me that way—”

“Hey, um, Emma?” Max called out as you were locking your front door behind you, and you turned and ran over to where he was pursing his lips behind the trunk. “Maybe we should’ve brought a bigger car, but, your bag is not going to fit back here.”

Emma turned to look and her lips, too, were pursed. 

“Well, where’s everyone sitting?” She asked, peering her head into the car to check out the situation. 

“Well, uh, Jacob’s driving—obviously—Abi and Nick are in the row of two seats behind him, and then he wants you to sit back in the last row with me while Y/n takes the passenger seat,” Max explained, using his hands to gesture to each person. Abi turned around to look at you from her place in the car, Nick’s head in her lap as he slept, and she waved. You waved back, grimacing at the large bag that was seated at your feet. 

“Hmm, no, that won’t do,” Emma insisted with a wave of her hand, using all of her strength to heave her bag up and over the full trunk of the car and into the last row of seats. “It’s going to have to go here—and oh, I really didn’t sleep well last night, so if I don’t sit in the passenger seat, I’ll get sick.” 

Max’s jaw dropped and he scoffed lightly, looking between the two of you as you held in a large groan. 

“I don’t really see how that makes any sense?” He questioned.

“So Y/n will have to sit in the back, with you!” Emma finished with a gleeful squeal, hurrying to shut the trunk and turning to make her way to the passenger seat of the car. 

“Um—hold on a minute, just where the fuck in the back will I sit?!” You barked out, gesturing incredulously to the monstrosity that was her luggage all over the back seat of the car. “Your bag is taking up the entire row—all but one seat, Em! And it’s way too fucking big to go down at our feet!” 

Emma put a daintly little finger to her chin, and you could tell that she was only pretending to think about the predicament.

“Well, it’s only about a forty-five minute drive,” she informed you, a wicked smile pushing its way onto her lips. “It’s not that long, so, just sit on Max’s lap?”

Your eyes widened and you felt sweat beading on the back of your neck, your heart beating at an intensely quick pace just at the mere thought of having to sit on Max. One look at Max’s face showed he heard her suggestion, too, because it was unnaturally blank and pale. 

You walked closer to Emma, pulling her into you as you said, “You better be fucking for real with your next suggestion, or we will get in an actual fight, Emma,” you warned her, your voice low enough that Max couldn’t hear it. You noticed that he was already ushering Nick and Abi out of the car, hurrying to his seat in the back, and the three of them were just waiting on you. 

“Oh my g—will you just trust me, for once in your life?!” Emma begged dramatically, clinging onto your arm and giving you a little push towards Max. “Thank me later, hoe.”

Oh no, I will not be thanking you later, you sneaky little she-devil, you thought to yourself, climbing over Abi’s seat and landing ungracefully into Max’s lap. He caught you much more elegantly than you fell, luckily, and he helped you right yourself so that your back was facing his chest. 

You turned your face towards him despite the fact that it was burning, and you brushed a strand of hair back behind your ear. 

“You know, I could always just sit on her bag instead of on you,” you offered, geturing weakly over to the big problem that Emma had handed over to the two of you with a private sneer at her back. “That way I won’t crush your legs into tiny pieces of ash.”

Max actually laughed out loud at that and your heart swelled with a feeling of accomplishment; Max was funny, he had probably always been funny, and anytime that you had gotten him to laugh, you took it as a personal achievement. 

“Please sweetheart, as if you could,” Max retorted, winding an arm around your waist as he pulled your back flush against his chest, leaving his arm to rest across your stomach and his fingers splayed across your hipbone. You closed your eyes, holding in a sigh as you prayed that he couldn’t see the way that your face had reddened from this angle. “Besides, this is probably the…safer option of the two.”

You heartily disagreed with that. 

Still, you positioned yourself against him, awkwardly playing with your fingers on your lap as you had no idea where to rest your hands. You and Max were close, yes, but you had never physically been close, aside from a few silly moments of teasing tickles, accidentally falling asleep on his shoulder, or him resting his legs on your lap as the two of you watched a movie together. This was entirely new territory, and you had no idea what to do with it, and you knew that if Emma hadn’t forced this to happen, that Max wouldn’t have chosen to even be in this situation with you. Probably. 

“Jacob, the drive is forty-five minutes?” You called up to him, wincing as you watched your cousin’s teeth grit in the rearview mirror as he attempted to ignore Emma completely.

“An hour, if traffic’s bad,” Jacob called back and you groaned, your leg shaking furiously in your nervousness. As if Max could sense that you were on edge—fuck, with the way that you were bouncing around he probably could feel it—his other hand landed on your thigh, rubbing calming circles around as he successfully got it to stop shaking.

“Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so anxious today,” you sighed, rubbing a hand down your face and leaning back into Max. You could hear his groan and you winced, assuming you had hurt him, as you instantly tried to reposition yourself to take some of the weight off of him.

After a few minutes of frantic wiggling, Max’s hands harshly gripped onto your waist, his fingernails digging into you as he held you tightly into place and you froze, your eyes wide and breath held. 

“Y/n, please—stop.” Max’s voice was incredibly hoarse, coming out in a groan and you winced again, mortified that you had hurt him enough to elicit this sort of response. 

“Oh shit, Max! I am so sorry—I was trying not to hurt you and then I did hurt you and—”

“Y/n!” Max interrupted, clearing his throat so that his voice sounded a lot more normal and less husky. “Honey, you’re not hurting me, just—don’t wiggle around right—there.”

Your eyebrows raised in confusion at his words and your brain couldn’t process what the hell he was saying, so you just opted to nod, leaning forward as far as you could and beginning a conversation with Abi as you tried with every ounce of your being to not put much weight on Max. It took every ounce of concentration that you had to not think about the fact that you were touching the love of your life and focus on Abi’s words about wedding planning, but somehow, you did it. 

“Hey, uh, Jake?” Max suddenly called out, and you noticed that his voice had gone hoarse again and that his tone was tight and clipped. Higher than normal. You frowned; in your conversation with Abi, you had slipped a little further backwards than you’d realized, back into his lap. “How much longer?”

“Thirty minutes,” Jacob growled, and you noticed Emma looking a little offput herself. “It’s looking closer to an hour total at this point.”

“Alright then, we need to stop,” Max insisted and you stifled a pathetic whine, embarrassed that you were this hard to bear just sitting on his lap. It probably didn’t help that you were still actively avoiding any and all contact with him, practically leaving him here in the backseat to talk to himself as you ignored him, anxious and letting Emma’s words get to your head.

You needed to stop. You and Max were friends. Good friends, and you were being absolutely ridiculous about this whole thing. 

Three minutes later, Jacob pulled off at a reststop and you lifted off of Max instantly, watching him scamper out of the car after Abi and Nick and hurrying into the men’s restroom. With everyone out of the car but you and Emma, you climbed over the seats and sat between her seat and the driver’s seat, staring at her with wide eyes.

“So,” you started out, pointedly ignoring the tears in her eyes, knowing she wouldn’t want to talk about it right now. “Your plan to make me sit on Max is not working; I can barely say two words to the guy, and his poor legs are getting crushed by me. He probably can’t think of anything but leg cramps!” 

“Oh, please,” Emma scoffed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissued and waving your worries away with a flick of her hand. “Look at him, and look at you; there must be some other reason he needs a break.”

“Oh yeah?” You fought back, crossing your arms over your chest as you frowned at your friend. “Like what, exactly? It’s not working Emma, you’re miserable up here, and I am back there; we should just switch places. You’re smaller than me.”

“I am not,” Emma sighed.

“All I know is one minute, I can’t sit still, and the next minute, he’s grabbing my hips and telling me to stop wiggling around,” you continued on, as if Emma hadn’t even interjected. “What else could it be if not that I was—”

You instantly stopped talking as Emma looked over to you, mouth opened and eyes glinting with excitement. 

“You poor naive little thing!” She giggled, pulling your arms so that you were practically sitting on her lap. “Y/n, you aren’t hurting him—you’re turning him on and he doesn’t want you to feel it!” 

You felt pinpricks across your face as the entire thing turned white, and you were suddenly feeling a little nauseous. 

“What?” You questioned, shaking your head lutching nervously at your hair. “What? I—no, Max isn’t—he wasn’t—”

“Oh, yes, yes he was,” Emma argued, and there was a light in her eyes that replaced whatever sadness she had been feeling before you came up there to talk to her. “Okay, do exactly as I say; when Max comes back out to the car, sit back on him just like you were that first time. Wiggle around a bit again—”

“What? No!”

“Just trust me—wiggle around a little bit again, then ask him if he wants to watch something with you on your phone. When you turn it on, lean back against him so that your back is arched and he gets a good, full view down your—”

“Okay, and this is where I officially stop you, you are crazy,” you intoned, shaking your head and leaning away from your friend. “Max is not into me—in case you managed to forget about that, babes—and besides, I can’t just show him my boobs, Emma! They’re my—boobs. They’re, like, private.”

“Holy fuck, how are you not a virgin,” Emma groaned, shoving you back towards your seat as she pointed eagerly out of the car. “Okay, babes, here he comes—just trust me, okay?! Do it!” 

You opened your mouth to argue again, but the words fell from your lips as the car door opened and Max poked his head inside, grinning over at you as his eyes darted back and forth between you and Emma. 

“What, uh, what’s going on here?” He asked, and you shot a glare at Emma as she giggled, hiding her face in her shirt and sending an ominous wink your way. You tried as well as you could to tell her to shut up with your eyes, but she ignored you in typical Emma fashion. 

“Nothing,” you replied, shaking your head and sending him a smile. “I was just feeling nervous about getting away this weekend and Emma was talking me down. That’s it.”

“Ah,” Max yawned, heading back to his seat and patting his lap for you to join him. You blushed. “Is that why you’re acting so weird? You haven’t spoken to me for the last, like twenty-five minutes.”

“Yeah, sorry, just nervous,” you insisted, climbing back over Abi’s seat and settling yourself on top of Max’s lap. As you looked up after readjusting, your eyes met Emma’s in the rearview mirror and she nodded, looking from you to Max’s…well…yeah. 

You cleared your throat, feeling the burn of your phone in your pocket as you stared widely back at her, conveying that she was being way too obvious, here. Regardless, a part of you was…curious, now, and with Laura out of the picture and Max completely single, it’s not like a little testing of the waters was inappropriate anymore. What could it hurt, really? Max was too nice to reject you, so if he wasn’t into it, he just wouldn’t say anything and you’d let it go forever. But, if he really was into it—

Well that was the best-case scenario, wasn’t it?

So, you shifted; nothing crazy and nowhere close to grinding—just a small, flick of the hips that brushed right up against his crotch. Max’s breath hitched and you froze, wondering if you’d truly heard that right, completely distracted from the fact that Abi and Nick were re-entering the car and that Jacob was starting it again, getting ready to head on the road once more. 

A hitch of a breath wasn’t enough of a confirmation for you, so you shifted once again, and then again and then again, and this time Max’s hands lifted back up to your hips, grasping for dear life as you settled your ass back down to his crotch, turning your head to watch as his eyes shut tight and he bit his lip.

“Y/n—”

“Do you want to watch part of a movie with me?” You interrupted, watching as Max’s eyes flashed open, a glint of pain underneath them that had you second-guessing what had just happened. Max smiled down at you, though—that brilliant smile that God had blessed him with—and nodded.

You had no idea what you were going to watch, but your fingers worked anyway, hurriedly typing some stupid TikTok compilation that you hoped he wouldn’t get too distracted by. Max laid his chin on your shoulder, his hands that were gripping your waist winding around your front and interlocking as he held you, his face snuggling slightly into your neck.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, your mind reiterated as you slowly breathed out, your heart pounding wildly in your chest as you silently prayed that Max couldn’t hear it, and that he couldn’t feel the way that your skin had suddenly heated up and become sweaty. It wasn’t even that cuddling with Max was anything new—as a person, he was a fucking lapdog—but it was the fact that you had never sat on his fucking lap before while cuddling. Never had intentions to turn him on, never gave him this much of a glance down your lowcut shirt—

Y/n, don’t be a pussy, your inner Emma chastised and you shut your eyes tight and sucked in a breath, desperately trying to convince yourself not to go through with this. But damn it—you sort of wanted to and, so far, Max hadn’t shown a single sign that he’d wanted you to sit anywhere else. 

It was halfway through the video that you forgot the rest of the people in the car and arched backward without a minute to second guess yourself, pretending to stretch your arms above your head as you knew you were, successfully, letting Max have a perfect show of your black lacy bra underneath your shirt, and under that, the perfectly rounded mounds of breasts that it pushed up.

You heard a sharp inhale and dared a look at his face; he was as white as a ghost, and even his perfectly placed freckles had gone impossibly paler—and yet his eyes, those gorgeously sea-colored orbs, were still staring down your shirt, transfixed, as he studied your figure. 

“Alright, everybody out!” Jacob suddenly called out, and the two of you jumped, Max’s eyes meeting yours as he was brought back to reality. His eyes, no longer clouded over with lust, widened and a blush spread unevenly across his face as he realized that he’d been caught watching you. “We’re here!”

“Y/n,” Max breathed out, whipping his arms away from you and running nervous hands through his newly cut hair. “Shit, Y/n, I’m so sorry, I—I wasn’t—I mean I was but…” You smiled as he stuttered along, a giggle framing your mouth and escaping out of your lip, causing Max’s gaze to whip back onto you. You couldn’t help it; he was always so damn cute when he was flustered.

“Does it make it any less creepy if I’m aware that staring down your shirt is creepy?” Max asked, equal parts timid and teasing. You laughed aloud at that, the two of you lingering in the backseat of the car while the rest of the party headed out. 

“It’s fine, Max,” you insisted with a shrug and a wink, conveying in every way possible that you weren’t completely innocent here either. “No one wears a bra like this for it not to be seen, sweetheart.” 

The words coming out of your mouth shocked even you, and Max’s entire jaw fell open as he stared at you in complete and utter disbelief. 

“Whoa, Y/n,” he reared away from you, just to get a better look at your face, testing to see if you were saying what he thought that you were saying. His hands found their way to your waist again and he touched you softly, his thumbs running up and down the curves of your hipbones as he stared in wonder down at you. “Are you saying that you wanted me to—”

“Are you two gonna get out of the car, or do you plan on freezing your little asses off all night?!” Jacob called out as he forced open the trunk of the car, staring in disbelief at the two of you still sitting there. You both jumped, eyes turning to Jacob with guilty blushes, and you didn’t waste another second climbing off of Max and over the seats, pushing your way past Jacob and onto the dirt-clodded driveway. 

Taking your bag from your cousin and asking a hurried, “Where’s our cabin again?” You received directions and hurried off in the direction of the cabin that you and Emma were supposed to share, attempting to outrun Max so that he couldn’t question you any further.

What the hell had you been thinking?! You hadn’t, obviously, and you’d let Emma’s skewed opinion get to you. Now, you had to come up with a solution for some serious damage control before Max got to you with his, What’s gotten into you today? And his, Look, I know you must have been kidding, or his I’m sorry Y/n, I’m just not attracted to you that way—

“Fuck,” you muttered to yourself, throwing open the door to the cabin and chucking your suitcase onto the empty bed. Emma was standing on the other side of the room, facing the bathrooms, but she jumped and turned around when she heard the slam of the front door. “Fuck this whole plan, Emma, and fuck my stupid self too. I can’t believe that I actually let myself believe that Max was really into me and I—holy shit, are you crying?!?”

Emma’s pretty hazel eyes were red-rimmed, but the telltale giveaway that she’d been sobbing was the tear tracks of black mascara spreading down her cheeks and clumping up near her pointy chin.

Once her mind had registered your question, she began sobbing once again, her hands coming up to cover her eyes and you ran to her, throwing your arms around her neck and feeling her own arms go around your waist as she sobbed into your neck heartily. 

“Honey, what happened?” You asked, but your voice was muffled by your much taller friend’s collarbone. You pulled away from her and sat her down on her bed, sitting down next to her and taking her hand in yours. “Emma, what did my idiot cousin say to you? You know that big dummy acts completely on emotions, so whatever he said, I’m sure it was just in the heat of the—”

“He meant it,” Emma interrupted you, pulling her hand out of yours and using it to wipe her eyes. “But I don’t even want to talk about it right now, so—tell me what happened with Max.” You opened your mouth to protest but she shot you her “Emma” look—the look that told you that arguing would quite literally be pointless. So, you sighed, letting yourself fall backward onto the bed and groaning as your head hit the awfully lumpy mattress she’d been provided tonight.

“I don’t know what happened, Emma,” you admitted with a whine, feeling her lay down beside you and cuddle her head into yours comfortingly. “It was like I had this sudden, insane boost of confidence and I was like…grinding on him and giving him a full show of my boobs—”

“You do have great boobs—”

“And then when he noticed that I caught him staring at my breasts, I kindofsortofmaybe insinuated that I wanted him to look down my shirt and then he was about to ask me if I really meant that I wanted him to see me naked and then Jacob interrupted us and I freaked out and ran away.”

Emma just stared back at you, blinking occasionally, as if she were really confused.

“Why?” She finally asked, staring down at you in confusion. You blinked back at her, shaking your head bewilderedly. 

“Wait, why what?”

“Why did you run away, you fucking dumbass!” Emma insulted, but it was loving and the two of you laughed as she pushed you off the bed and you squealed. “Seriously, Y/n, what the fuck? You ran away? After doing all of that you just ran?”

“I was scared!” You defend your actions with a hiss, pulling yourself up off of the floor and planting down next to her again. “Fuck, Emma, Max is my best friend. I cannot risk freaking him out and losing him, okay? I just…can’t, okay, he means…he means everything to me, Emma, he’s the most important person in the whole world. He’s my best friend.”

“Ouch,” Emma responded, but there was a fond smile on her face and a happy gleam in her eyes as she gazed down at you. “Babes, you know that you’re the most important thing in the world to him too, right? Even if he didn’t feel the same way about you, he wouldn’t let this ruin your friendship. You know that, right?” 

You shrugged and looked away from her, playing with your hands as you avoided the question. Did you know that? No, not really. Yeah, the two of you were really close, and yeah, he spent most of his free time with you, but that didn’t mean that this wasn’t something that would freak him out enough to ghost you.

“Shit, if I was going to do something as fucking ridiculous as this, I should have just bit the and told him how I felt,” you finally responded with a sigh, pushing yourself off of the bed and shuffling your feet over the cold, hardwood floor. “But you know, maybe this way, there’s some way that I can play it off?”

“Okay babes, I’m just going to say this once and I’m going to say it outright,” Emma cut you off, standing in front of you and forcing your chin up to look your much taller friend in the eyes. “I know why they broke up, Y/n. The real reason, and if you just fucking ask me I will tell you right here, right now.”

The offer was, obviously, tempting; and two or three years ago you’d probably be a lesser person and taken that offer. As it was, though, you valued Max and his privacy, and if he’d wanted you to know, he would have told you himself. 

“No, I don’t want to know,” you insisted, pursing your lips and pulling away from Emma. “It isn’t any of my business, and Max made that abundantly clear by not telling me inthe first place.”

“Of fucking course,” Emma groaned with a shake of her head, rolling her eyes at you and then fixing you with a glare. “The two of you are both so stupid.”

“Gee, thanks Em.” Your words fell flat as you shot her your own sharp look and she gulped, having the common decency to at least look like she felt bad for saying what she did. “Besides, why do you even know the reason Laura dumped him?”

“Laura didn’t dump Max—Max dumped Laura,” Emma clarified and your heart dropped into your stomach. The piece of news, realistically, probably should have made you feel better, but it didn’t. It only made you feel worse, like your heart had been stomped on and used up. Because—if that was true—if Max had dumped Laura—then why had he been so upset that night when he came over to your house? And why the fuck had he lied to you about it?

“What?” You asked, your voice tiny and fragile, and Emma looked back at you, confused. 

“Max broke up with Laura,” Emma repeated, and was somehow completely missing the broken, wounded look that was written all over your face. “He dumped her, because he wasn’t in love with her, Y/n, he realized that he was—”

“Emma.” 

Jacob’s voice pierced through the air, and the two of you jumped towards the sound, to where your cousin was currently glaring daggers towards your best friend. Emma immediately shut up, shooting you a guilty look as she moved farther away from you and towards Jacob. 

“Y/n, can you please give us a moment?” Jacob asked, his throat froggy and having to clear it as he continued staring at Emma. When you saw the raw, heated look pass between them you excused yourself quickly, knowing that whatever feud they were having was about to be made up in tenfold. You forgot to bring your suitcase with you—not even thinking that you’d effectively be kicked out of your cabin for the night—as you ran outside, outside to the nothingness that awaited you.

No, seriously.

There was not a soul out here, Abi and Nick notably missing and Max even nowhere to be seen—not that you even wanted to see him right now anyways. Your heart was barely beating in your chest at the revelation that he’d lied to you—you, supposedly his closest friend—about something that was so huge. Then again, maybe he had no idea how huge it was to you. He didn’t at all, actually, because he had no idea that you were so annoyingly and stupidly in love with him. 

“Fuck this day, and fuck everyone else,” you groaned to yourself as you plopped down on a metal bench under a canopy, covering your eyes with your hands as you whined. 

“That an invitation?” 

Max’s voice sent your blood running cold and you jumped, shocked, turning yourself towards him as he stood slightly behind you, watching you warily. His face was red, but he was smiling at you, and he made his way over and sat at the bench opposite you slowly. 

The two of you stared at each other for a while—one of you, optimistically nervous, and the other of you having had your heart shattered into a million little pieces just ten minutes ago. Neither of you said anything, unsure of what exactly you should say, for a long time until finally, Max broke the silence.

“Y/n,” Max spoke, clearing his throat from the nervousness that threatened to choke and overtake him. “About what you said in the car—”

“You lied to me.” 

You hadn’t intended for it to come out like that, but there it was, and there was no taking it back now. 

Max reared back, astonishment registering across his perfect features.��

“I—what?” He shook his head back and forth, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what you were saying. “I lied about—about the car?”

“No Max, not about the fucking car!” You swore, rising from your seat in your anger. Max followed quickly, a gentle hand on your elbow that you quickly ripped out of his grasp. “You lied to me about—about Laura! You told me that she—that she broke up with you, Max! You were heartbroken, you were crying, you lied!” 

You thought that there were tears streaming down your face but you couldn’t really tell at the moment. All you could feel was the adrenaline that was being fueled by your anger, and all you could see was the shock that hadn’t left Max’s face since you’d first spoken. 

“Who told you that?” Max questioned, and the fact that he wasn’t denying it made you even more upset and you huffed, turning around on one heel and heading towards—fuck, you had absolutely nowhere to go.

“Does it matter?” You answered, turning back around and accepting the fact that the only way you were going to get to be alone was if Max went back to his cabin and left you here and, knowing him, that wasn’t likely to happen. “You lied, Max. And I’m pissed about it. That’s the only thing that you should care about.”

You still hadn’t turned around to face him, so he made his way in front of you instead, placing tentative hands on both of your arms and levelling his face with yours. 

“Sweetheart, please look at me.” Fuck; you were weak anytime that Max called you sweetheart and you knew that he knew it, too. Hating yourself just a little bit more for it, you looked up at him, unaware of how your big, sad eyes caused every cell in his body to melt. 

“Why did you lie to me?” The question slipped through your lips without your consent and Max sighed, releasing your arms and pressing a hand into your hip so that you couldn’t get away again. 

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Max answered simply and you reared back, out of his touch, away from his hold, as you scoffed in response.

“You didn’t want to hurt me?” You shrieked, pulling farther away from him and pushing your hands out in front of you to stop him when he tried to reach out for you again. “What the fuck—how the fuck would that have hurt me, Max?”

Max winced, running a nervous hand through his hair, and inspected his surroundings, as if he wished somebody else would come out any minute now. 

“Y/n, you are my best friend,” Max pleaded, and you could see the desperation in his eyes but you had no idea why he was so upset. “You know me better than anybody else in this entire world, honey, please—can you give me the benefit of the doubt on this one? Can you let me tell you when I’m ready?”

“No, Max, obviously I cannot do that because obviously it has something to do with me!” You retorted sharply, angry tears burning hot at the corners of your eyes, hotter than normal, devastated tears. “Like—what is going on, Max? I hae this feeling that everybody’s in on this secret, everybody but me—and I should know it, I should know what’s going on with you—”

“Y/n, sweetheart!” Max interrupted again, and this time, he successfully gathered your hands into his. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry that I lied—really I am, but—why is it so important to you?” You glared back at him, pulling your hands out of his grasp and beginning to walk away from him. “Why is it such a big deal that I didn’t tell you the whole truth?”

“Because I’m in love with you, you idiot!” You screamed back at him, your body turning back around on its own accord as the screech left your mouth. You both heard the words echo against a canyon somewhere, and you blanched, unaware of what you’d actually said and the weight of them until they hit you in the chest on the reverb.

Max’s mouth had dropped open and he stepped away from you in shock, his hands coming up to frame his cheeks, never making actual physical contact with his face. He stared back at you, his eyes wide and full of wonder, as if he were seeing you for the first time, all over again. 

“You’re—” Max gulped, but he took a step closer to you, a smile adorning his freckled cheeks. “You’re in love with me? Really?”

Your heart sunk again when he spoke and you shook your head, backing away from him and pressing two fingers to the bridge of your nose as you suddenly felt an oncoming migraine. 

“I’m sorry Max,” you apologized, feeling a bout of nausea spring up in your stomach as you realized that you’d just past the point of no return. “Shit, I’m so sorry, I should have never even said anything—I should have let it go—”

“I broke up with Laura because I’m in love with you.”

The words came out quickly, like Max was afraid that if he hadn’t said them as quickly as he did that he wouldn’t say them at all. You reaction was surprisingly slow compared to everything else you’d done in haste tonight, and you dropped your hands from your face and gazed up at the man in front of you, who was staring back at you with awe. 

“W—what?”

“I love you,” Max repeated, taking another step towards you with his light, airy chuckle that you loved so damn much. “And I didn’t tell you that night I broke up with Laura because I thought that you’d think I was lying, or that you were a rebound, and you’re not, Y/n. You’re absolutely not—I’ve loved you for a long enough time that I’m a total asshole for letting it go on with Laura for as long as I did.”

“Then why—why did you—”

“I lied because I didn’t want you to think that any of this was your fault,” Max continued, and he was so close now that his arms were winding around your waist and his forehead was pressed to yours. “I just—I knew, the second I saw you again in that coffee shop, that it was fate. And I lied to myself, hoping that my relationship would just fizzle out on its own and that I wouldn’t have to hurt anyone but—fuck, I would break Laura’s heart a thousand times over if it meant that I might get to be with you in the end,” Max finished, and you were stunned silent, unaware of how to speak anymore. 

“Do I—” Max took a sharp inhale of breath and a step back to assess your face. “Do I get you in the end?”

You smiled back at him before pressing your lips so tightly to his, wrapping your body so hard around his own, that the two of you could barely breathe in anything that wasn’t lingering on each other’s bodies. 

“You had me,” you answered in between breathless kisses, in between promises, in between hopeful smiles. “You had me at the beginning.”

if you liked this cheesy shit, check out my multichapters!

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[backslashhhh]

My One and Only

David ‘Hesh’ Walker x Reader

Genre: Fluff

WC: 1241

Authors notes: this is my first fic ever so don’t judge me too hard lmao, not proof read cause who has time for that. Also I apologize if the formatting is weird as I am on mobile. Definitely let me know if there are any mistakes and I’ll try to fix them

————————————————————

“How much longer?” You groaned. You had been walking for what seemed to be hours at this point.

Hesh said nothing but let out a chuckle, watching as Riley excitedly darted up ahead, only to fall back and loop around both his legs.

It was your second year anniversary, two whole years of dating this amazing man. You didn’t think that a measly two years was worth celebrating, but Hesh insisted on you both taking the time off work. He definitely deserved some time off, one thing you had always admired about him was how much of a hard worker he was. The man was practically married to his work. Made you a little jealous sometimes.

He finally spoke, “Just up past this hill,” he vaguely pointed to something that was very much a mountain, not a hill.

You groaned loudly. Hesh had always been more of an outdoorsy person, always taking Riley to the beach or on long hikes. You? Not so much. You had been burned one to many times in the great outdoors, be it bugs, sunburn, or even that one time you fell down a small cliff.

But you agreed to come on a camping trip with him. You were never able to resist the puppy eyes he gave you when he wanted something. So once you begrudgingly agreed he all but forced everyone to start packing. Riley made himself useful by padding around with his favourite toy in his mouth.

Hesh outstretched his hand “-kay?” You came to and realized you had been staring at Hesh with that dopey smile he always makes fun of you for while he was saying something. You smirk at him and nod, pretending you had heard what he just said.

He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t hear me did you?”

“Nope.”

He huffed and pecked you on the cheek, “I’m just that handsome, huh” he pulled back with a shit eating grin.

You playfully swatted him and pushed forward, aiming to get to the campsite while there was still light.

—————————————————

It was hard to tell what time it was by the time you made it to the campsite, as dark heavy clouds began to roll in with the promise of a very wet start to the trip.

You and Hesh scrambled to set up the tent as quickly as possible, adding extra tarps under and on top. Riley, (ever the smart one of you three) laid himself down under some thick brush as little droplets began to fall.

You both had just finished up when the sky opened and layers of rain pelted down. You both scrambled inside and quickly called Riley before the wet dog smell became too bad.

A moment of quiet had settled between you and Hesh. Too quiet, for Hesh at least. You glance over at him and see him staring at you with a guilty smile.

When you raise a questioning eyebrow at him he finally speaks, “I’m sorry,” he glances down, playing with a stray stick that had made its way into the tent.

“For what?” You chuckle, reaching for his hand and intertwining your fingers.

“The rain? I’m sorry this was supposed to be perfect” He clarifies looking at you with such guilt you’d think he was apologizing for stabbing you instead of the weather.

You beam at him, saying nothing but scooting closer to him. You pull a spare blanket from your hiking backpack and pull it snugly over the two of you.

“You really think the rain can ruin this? David anywhere with you is perfect, never mind the weather.” You peck him on the cheek.

“I know, I know. It’s just…” he trails off with unfocused eyes. “I don’t know, forget I said anything.”

At this you frown, why was he acting so weird all of a sudden. It wasn’t like him to get caught up on something as simple as the weather.

“It’s just what? You’re scaring me.” You giggle nervously. “Whatever it is, just say it.”

Hesh looks you up and down before taking a deep breath.

He starts “____, I’ve loved you for a while. I liked you for years before I even attempted to ask you out, and the fact that you said yes to dating a guy like me blows my mind to this day.” He pauses to run a hand through his hair. “As much as you and I both like to dance around the topic, my job is scary, the world is scary, there’s never a guarantee that I’ll come home to you.”

You say nothing, staring at him. It was true that his job held no guarantee of survival, but you had met the ghosts, and you trusted them to keep him as safe as possible. You trusted him. You wordlessly nod, urging him along.

“But I can guarantee that you are the single best thing to have ever happened to me. I know that we’ve only been dating for two years, but for me it seemed like an eternity. Two whole years you’ve put up with me being away for work, not knowing whether or not I’m coming home in a body bag. And I just- you always- I love you ____. I love you so much that it physically fucking hurts.” He stares into your eyes, somehow conveying what he’s struggling to say perfectly. “I wanted this moment to be beautiful and sunny, I even had a fucking speech planned but fuck it.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ring. You can feel your heart pounding in your ears.

“_____, I can’t just sit around and pretend like the time we spend together isn’t precious. If my time with you is limited, and god knows if it is, I want to be married to you for as long as I can be. ____, will you make me the happiest man ever and marry me?”

.

There’s a beat of silence as thunder rumbles in the background. At some point you had started crying. Even Riley was watching with canine interest.

You let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding. “David Walker, is that even a question? Of course I’ll marry you. Yes, YES!” You cry out and rush to hug him while placing sloppy kisses all over his face. Hesh joined you in crying while stumbling to put the ring on your finger.

You immediately cuddled into him whilst holding out the hand with the ring on it. You studied the ring, feeling as though you had seen it before. Hesh nestled into the crook of your neck breathing contentedly before whispering out “It was my mothers ring.”

It finally clicked where you had seen it before. Hesh had shown you a photo of his mother a while back. It was a beautiful photo from her and Elias’s wedding. Hesh always joked that he was a carbon copy of his father, but you could always see some of his mother’s features shine through.

You cuddled impossibly closer into his side, now wrapping both arms around him. Riley, apparently getting jealous, crawled through the tent and rested his head in both your laps.

The sound of rain bounced around in your ears. The world was a cold and cruel place. But for now, if not just for just a moment, it felt as though nothing could hurt you, Hesh, or even Riley. Everything was perfect.

~

[spooo00oky]

Siren’s Spell

Chapter three.

Pairing: siren!Wooyoung x reader

Warnings: swearing, Thalassophobia, suggestive themes, surprisingly no cliff hanger this time, more to come!

Word Count: 8k+

Author’s Note: Hello everyone! I’m so sorry this took so long to be finished but life has been so crazy for me lately. Life is still pretty hectic but I’ll be trying to write chapter 4 whenever I can! I hope you all enjoy this new chapter it’s shorter than the others have been but I still hope you enjoy this one! Please reblog to show your support it means a lot to me!

Editors note: hey if there is anything wrong with the format please send spooky a message because its kinda acting weird and ill fix it if it actually needs fixing thanks <3 - AlbedosFox

༄

Chapter III

I began to push away from Wooyoung as soon as we surfaced in the den. He wasn’t even bothered as I pushed against his chest, he simply set me on the edge of the pool and I quickly crawled away from him. He followed after me. He didn’t even bother to put on pants before he was grabbing my hand and spinning me around to face him. 

I yanked my hand free and glared at him. “Don’t touch me.” 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Are you seriously still mad over me not letting you back up to the surface? It’s for your own protection.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me, that wasn’t part of the agreement! We agreed that I would be allowed trips to the surface if I come back here every night, you don’t get to take that away from me now.” 

“That was before you were attacked by a group of males. If I hadn’t been there, who knows what could’ve happened!” He started, taking a step towards me that I mirrored with my own step back. “I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I had known that it would be this dangerous for you.”

“You think the giant sea monster that likes to peep in through the hole in the ceiling is any safer than a bunch of males on the surface? Wooyoung, I’ve dealt with that sort of thing before I had even met you. I would’ve been fine without your help, I have friends to help me with that sort of thing.”

He rolled his eyes. “You mean the demon and the shifter? They weren’t even there with you when this happened, you were all alone.” 

“With bystanders all around! Someone would’ve stepped in at some point,” I argued. My heart was racing in anger and my chest and face felt hot. I couldn’t let him win this argument, not this one. “You can’t keep me down here forever or else I’ll start to resent you.”

“You’ll come around eventually when you realize I’m doing this for your own well being,” he said, his expression stern. “You’re my mate, you are my first priority.” 

“Use that term loosely because we’re still figuring things out Wooyoung. You barely know me, and I barely know you. You don’t get to do the things you’ve done and suddenly act like you can run my life and make decisions for me!” 

“Hello.”

To say I nearly jumped out of my skin is an understatement. The new voice startled me so bad I nearly stumbled and hit the floor. Wooyoung didn’t even flinch, in fact, he only sighed before he turned to the source of the voice. I followed his gaze and saw one of the prettiest males of my life wading in the hole in the floor, and he looked between the two of us with a puzzled expression. “I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” His voice was deep and rich and I was instantly drawn to it. Wooyooung’s was pretty but this newcomer’s voice was downright dangerous. 

“No you’re not Yeosang. My mate and I were just discussing some things,” Wooyoung said and it clicked. This was who he wanted me to meet, his friend that he thought I would get along with. 

What Wooyoung said processed in my mind and I rolled my eyes. It was no doubt that Yeosang had heard everything from his expression but if Wooyoung wanted to keep matters like this private then so be it. 

“Pretty loud discussion. I could hear you two before I was even near your home.” Yeosang moved to pull himself onto the edge of the pool and I caught a flash of green scales before I was averting my gaze to the wall. In true siren fashion, Yeosang was naked. Wooyoung grumbled something under his breath before he was leaving the room and coming back a moment later with something in his hand. He tossed the pair of sweatpants towards his friend and moved to step in front of me, shielding my eyes with his body. 

“There are humans present.” 

“Right, sorry.” Yeosang directed his words to me as he put the pants on. It wasn’t until he was clothed did Wooyoung move and Yeosang gave me a charming smile. “Nice to meet you, I’m Yeosang.” 

I could feel some of my earlier anger melting away in his presence and I gave him a kind smile. “Nice to meet you as well. I’m y/n.” 

“Oh you’re mad at me but you won’t be mad at him?” 

I shot Wooyoung with a dirty look. “He hasn’t done anything wrong unlike you.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Wooyoung what did you do?” Yeosang said with a sigh. His shoulders slumped with a weight that I could only assume came from dealing with Wooyoung for many years. 

“I didn’t do anything!” Wooyoung tried defending himself. 

“That’s on me for asking you what you’ve done wrong,” Yeosang said before he turned to me instead. This caused Wooyoung to cry out indignantly. “What did this idiot do?” 

“He won’t take me back up to the surface after an incident that happened on my way back to him today,” I summed it up for Yeosang. I was already starting to like him, this was someone that could put Wooyoung in his place. Hopefully. 

Yeosang’s eyes widened and he turned to Wooyoung, who had the nerve to at least look guilty. “Wooyoung! You can’t just do that! Humans need sunlight to survive, they can get sick without it!” 

“I’ll bring the sunlight down here to her.” 

Yeosang wasn’t amused by that answer. “You’re being stupid. Do I need to bring the others into this? I’ll come back with Seonghwa if I need to.”

Wooyoung huffed. “Like he’d do anything.” 

“I’ll bring Jongho and Yunho too.” 

Wooyoung paused. “She was attacked by males on the surface Yeo!” He clearly didn’t like the idea of the other two people being brought into this. 

“You don’t think that would’ve happened even in Socix during mating season? Use what little brain power you have, Wooyoung and think this through.” 

“You guys have a mating season?” I asked, that small piece of information catching my attention. 

Yeosang opened his mouth to answer before he gave Wooyoung a sharp look. Wooyoung was looking at the ground now, and it dawned on me that this was something I should’ve already known. How much was he not telling me? “You didn’t tell her that this is mating season?”

“Wait, mating season is right now?” I said aloud, my mind reeling a bit. Some beings on the surface had mating seasons at different points in the year, that I already knew. I also knew that those beings acted differently during these times as was expected. Judgment could become clouded and rash decisions were made aplenty. If Wooyoung and Yeosang were in their mating season, was me being Wooyoung’s mate a rash decision and it was only his instincts guiding him? Had I been the only person that would actually talk to him on the surface and he was drawn to me due to that? The severity of the incident earlier fully hit me then, and those males that had grabbed me were lucky they walked away alive and unharmed from the altercation. 

I suddenly couldn’t look at Wooyoung right now, my gaze focused on the floor. I really didn’t want to be here right now. Anywhere but here. Was this all because of an instinct fueled endeavor on Wooyoung’s part? Did he even care about my being or was I just the closest warm body in his mind? I felt a little sick right about now. 

“Y/n, don’t. I can practically see the thoughts running through your mind and I can smell you,” Wooyoung gently scolded me. He moved to grab my arm and I yanked it away before he could even touch me. He looked hurt at the sudden action but I was beyond caring at this point. 

“Why shouldn’t I be thinking like this? You’re keeping things from me, Wooyoung, and I only found out about it because your friend brought it up on top of what you’re threatening me with!” 

I felt tears prick my eyes and I couldn’t stay in this room any longer. I made a speedy escape and I heard footsteps attempt to follow me but I didn’t stick around long enough to see who it was. I hurried to the bedroom and Yeosang’s voice was the last thing I heard before I shut the door behind me. “Let her cool down a bit before you apologize.” 

I curled up on the bed, the tears already making my vision blur. I buried myself beneath the covers as the first tear fell and absorbed into the pillow, my chest hurting with the thoughts that were running through my mind. I could hear Yeosang and Wooyoung arguing over the sound of my sniffles but I didn’t pay attention to their words. I didn’t want to. I suddenly felt so stupid for believing that Wooyoung had a genuine interest in me and for not realizing earlier that a small part of me was hoping that this would work out. I suddenly felt so alone down here and I wish I had Mingi or San or even Belle here with me right now. Someone to bring a sense of normalcy to my life right about now. Hongjoong’s presence would also be appreciated as well, a familial connection would be great right about now. He’d scold me for being dumb and jumping into things, but I’d even take that at this point. I could hear San saying “I told you so” right about now, but he wouldn’t mean it. He’d say it in the softest voice ever while hugging me and wiping my tears away, and Mingi would come by later with my favorite snacks and food and would try his hardest to make me smile. I miss my friends so much right now. 

I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I was woken up to the sound of the door opening slowly. I could practically feel eyes on me from beneath the mountain of blankets I had piled on top of me. I held my breath to listen for footsteps but I didn’t hear anything. I nearly jumped when I felt the blankets begin to shift on top of me. Stupid sirens and their silent footsteps. 

I didn’t move until I saw light. I was looking up at Wooyoung now, and he frowned even more when he saw my eyes that were no doubt red and puffy from crying. He looked guilty and upset and I wished I had listened to what Yeosang and him talked about now. 

“I think we need to talk,” he said softly, moving more of the blankets out of the way so that he could pull me out of them. I let him move me into a sitting position before I settled in comfortably. I noticed he had shut the door behind him and I realized that Yeosang was still here if that was the case. He was giving us a semblance of privacy because I knew Yeosang could very well hear everything that was said in here. 

I let out a small sigh before nodding. I felt more level headed than I had before, my anger cooled down until there was only a dull ache of pain in my chest. I was a little worried about what he was going to say next. I was worried that my fears were going to be confirmed. It was one thing to think such things but it was a whole other to hear them confirmed out loud. “I think so too. Please don’t sugar coat anything, I need to know everything Wooyoung. Is all of this purely because it’s mating season for you?” 

Wooyoung immediately shook his head. “It’s not, I promise. Siren’s don’t go crazy at the sight of the first female like others do, it’s not part of our nature. Yeosang can confirm this. I made you my mate because I genuinely like you, even though I could’ve gone about things differently.” 

I felt a weight suddenly lift off of my chest but there was still a small part of me that didn’t believe him. Did he really mean it or was he only saying this to keep himself in my good graces? I wasn’t going to stick around if this was all due to his instincts telling him to be a horn dog. 

I must’ve had a look on my face because Wooyoung was quick to follow up on that statement. “I know you don’t believe me, and I don’t blame you,” he started, “and I’ll spend a long time making you believe me if that’s what it takes.” He looked down at his hands then, almost like he was ashamed. “And I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier. It was wrong of me to say those things and to say that you aren’t allowed back up to the surface just because I was jealous and overreacting.” His words sounded a little rehearsed and I had the sneaking suspicion that Yeosang really knocked some sense into him and made sure he had it all straight in his mind before he came to talk to me. 

“And?” 

Wooyoung pouted before he finished his statement. “And I won’t act like that again I promise.”

“And?” 

“And I’m sorry for how I behaved when I visited you at work. There was no reason for me to act like that because we’re still figuring things out like we discussed.”

“And?” 

Wooyoung’s brows scrunched up in confusion. He was obviously racking his brain for anything else he needed to apologize for. I almost felt bad for teasing him like this until his next words came out of his mouth. “And I’m sorry for being so hot?” 

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away, making him laugh but his eyes were still wary. He was waiting to hear what I had to say in regards to his apology and I pretended to really think it over. I could practically hear the whine building up in his throat as I drew it out, and he began to squirm nervously. It was a nice change of pace to see him being the one to wait on me for once, anxious to hear my verdict. The roles had reversed from earlier. 

“I forgive you. But,” I said quickly at his hopeful look. He settled back down onto the bed and looked at me with sparkling eyes. It was enough to melt some of my resolve. He looked so much like a puppy at that moment. A huge, aquatic murder puppy. “We’re still working on things, so the previous ground rules still apply. You also will never threaten me with not bringing me back up to the surface again, and you won’t act like an asshole when I’m around other males because we may be labeled as mates but we’re far from it, got it?” 

He nodded enthusiastically. He opened his mouth to say something but I held up my hand. “‘I’m not finished.” He settled back down again and motioned for me to continue. “You will tell me everything that comes with being your mate, the good, the bad and the ugly. I need to know these things so I know what to expect. Obviously there were some things being kept from me for reasons that I don’t know.” 

Wooyoung opened his mouth to say something before he closed it and sighed. “I was keeping those things from you because I thought I’d scare you off with that knowledge. You were so scared of being down here in the first place that I thought if I told you everything at first you’d demand to go back up to the surface and I’d never see you again.”

I felt a little guilty because he had a good point. I was still a little on edge being here in the den now and the strange sounds that periodically echoed off of the walls didn’t help my nerves. It’s gotten better but this wasn’t exactly home to me and he knew it despite his best efforts to make it seem like it could be. I couldn’t even say how I would’ve reacted if he had told me everything up front, but I know I would’ve still appreciated honesty above anything else. Honesty would have helped us avoid situations like this. 

I sighed. “I’m sorry too then because I could’ve been more vocal about what I needed to know about all of this.” He went to speak and I cut him off before he could. “Don’t even say it because it’s true. Instead of letting things slide I should’ve been more vocal. From now on I’m going to ask more questions and you had better answer them.” 

“Oh, I was going to say that you should’ve been asking questions this whole time instead of holding back,” he said and broke out in laughter as I moved to pinch his arm. He grabbed my hand to stop me and I scowled at him. 

“Could you at least humor me?”

“No I don’t think I will because seeing you irritated is cute.”

I groaned and pulled my hand out of his grip. He let go and gave me a teasing grin before he spoke again. “So since you have so many questions for me, I’ll answer all that I can with the help of Yeosangie. But in order to do that we need to head to the kitchen because I made an apology dinner and it’s currently getting cold.”

“Fine fine let’s go eat dinner,” I said before I moved to get up from the bed. He helped me stand before walking out with me. I saw Yeosang sitting at the table and I gave him a small smile. A small part of me was embarrassed for the way I acted and stormed out but I reasoned with myself that it was a valid reaction. I was suddenly hit with a lot of things at once. “Sorry you had to be here for all of this.”

Yeosang waved away my apology. “Don’t be. Someone had to knock some sense into this idiot. If it wasn’t me it would’ve been one of the others.”

“How many others are there?” I asked out of curiosity. I took a seat at the table and Woyooung set a plate of food in front of me before he sat down as well. My stomach rumbled at the smell of the meal and I was pleased to see that it was one of my favorite dishes. 

“There are three others in our Current. It’s me, Wooyoung, Seonghwa, Yunho, and Jongho that make up the group,”  Yeosang explained. I dimly remember someone mentioning that a group of sirens was called a “Current” due to the fact that they could change whole ocean tides. 

“Will I meet them one day?” 

“Maybe one day, but let’s take things slow. You’re only just meeting Yeosangie,” Wooyoung said after he had sipped his drink. I nodded in agreement and took a bite of food and saw Wooyoung begin to eat out of the corner of my eye. 

“So Wooyoung and I are mates. What exactly does that entail? There’s more to it than what was previously thought, obviously,” I asked. There wasn’t any bite to my tone now, only curiosity and the eagerness to know more. 

“Wooyoung already said this but I’ll explain a little more. There is a bond between you now; the mating bond. It snapped into place when the courting ritual was complete and the ancient magic surrounding mating bonds sealed it,” Yeosang explained. Wooyoung provided the helpful information that it was completed when I returned his affections, aka when I gave him the coffee. “It’s not a bond like other beings where you are now one and you share thoughts and feelings between the two of you, but there is that connection of “you are mine’ and ‘I am yours’ now. Wooyoung is going through a lot of raging emotions right now that comes with the fresh bond, one of them being a heightened sense of protectiveness. It doesn’t excuse his actions but I want to put that out there to further explain why he’s more of an idiot now than he usually is.” 

Wooyoung whined at the jab and Yeosang snickered, looking at his friend with nothing but affection on his eyes. I’ve only known Yeosang for a few hours but even I could tell that he truly loved his friend despite the constant teasing between the two. 

“So there is a bond here, but I won’t feel it because I’m a human, correct?”

“That’s correct. You may experience similar emotions the longer you’re near him, but you’ll never experience the full extent of them. You’ll experience a few different changes now that I think about it.” He paused before he turned to look at him. “Have you explained the mating rituals to her yet?” 

I nearly choked on my food and Wooyoung was even struggling to keep his composure. Yeosang watched with a raised brow at our reactions to the question, waiting patiently until we had settled down once again. “I take that as a no.” 

“I never exactly had the chance to,” Wooyoung sheepishly admitted. He was suddenly very interested in the food before him. 

Yeosang nodded in understanding. “You know that some beings on the surface leave mating bites on their partners to lay claim, right?”

I nodded, my hand instinctively went to my neck. Wooyoung tracked the movement with his eyes but averted his gaze when I met it. 

“Sirens do that as well, but there are added steps before that. The mating mark is the final step so to speak, it officiates the bond between the two of you. Before that though you both will get an earring of a gem stone you both choose, it would be the equivalent of an engagement ring in human terms. This is an ancient tradition to symbolize that you are each other’s jewel forever or something along those lines, I don’t exactly remember,” Yeosang said with a shrug. “Seonghwa might know. He’s a romantic.” 

Wooyoung snorted. “Spends all his time dreaming of love but hasn’t found it yet.” 

“You found a mate only because I didn’t know better.” 

Wooyoung sputtered at my comment as Yeosang burst into a fit of laughter, the sweet sound bouncing off of the stone walls. I smirked at Wooyoung and he pouted at me but made no remark back. He knew I was right. 

“You were right, I do like her,” Yeosang said once his laughter had calmed down. He wiped a tear from his eye and he gave me a dazzling smile. “We can spend time together whenever you want.”

“Should’ve known you two would connect over bullying me,” Wooyoung grumbled as he stood and took our empty plates. He set them in the sink and began to wash them. “I had good intentions when I introduced you two and this is the thanks I get?” 

“Thank you Wooyoung!” I said teasingly and I only got more grumbling in response. 

“You had mentioned that I’d experience some different changes as well. What did you mean by that?” I asked despite exhaustion starting to pull at my eyes. I was still tired after my crying session earlier. How late was it? I’d have to make a note to bring a clock down here. 

Yeosang opened his mouth but paused, his dark eyes moving to Wooyoung for a moment before he focused on me again. “I won’t explain everything because some things are best left for him to speak to you about, but I will say that you’ve already begun to experience some changes. Two of them being the fact that you’re able to tolerate the deep depths of the river and the cold temperatures of the water as well. A normal human would’ve been crushed to the pressure or died of hypothermia whenever they entered the water.” 

In the chaos that had been me waking up here and sorting everything out, I hadn’t even thought things such as that. I didn’t think twice about hopping into the water and making the trip up to the surface and back again. This was partially due to my anxieties with other things in the water but I was shocked that I had jumped in like I was jumping into a kid’s pool. “Why is that? Is it because of the mating bond?” 

“Yes and no. The mating bond will affect you in many different ways, but sirens are also beings infused with a very ancient form of magic,” Yeosang explained. 

“Think of it like this,” Wooyoung spoke up from the sink, turning to face them now. “I’m a flame on a stove and you’re a pan. I can heat up the pan to make it hot, but the pan never turns into a flame. The pan remains a pan but it’s hot like the flame is.” 

“For lack of a better way to explain it, yes, that analogy works,” Yeosang stated. “You’ll always be a human but with a few added benefits.” 

“Oh,” I said thoughtfully. I’ve only been around Wooyoung for a few weeks and I’ve already begun to experience some of these benefits. What other benefits could there be? Would I start sprouting gills to be able to breath underwater as well? “Would being around you also affect my lifespan?” It would make sense after all. 

Yeosang hesitated to respond and I realized the implications of my question. It could be taken as I would only use Wooyoung to live forever if what I was guessing was true. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

“It would. You won’t notice it now because the bond is still fresh and you’re young, but later on you’ll start to notice that you’ve slowly stopped aging before ceasing it all together,” Wooyoung explained, giving me a serious look. I knew the meaning behind that look and it was “don’t tell anyone”. The expression wasn’t accusatory and I appreciated Wooyoung’s good faith in me that I wouldn’t abuse this benefit and stay with him only for that. It made sense that this was somewhat of a secret that had to be kept. Sirens were already beautiful as is, I remember the stares Wooyoung got whenever he was on the surface. If others knew that being with them came with the benefit of immortality there would be dozens of people throwing themselves at the first siren they saw. I highly doubted that all the sirens were as kind as Wooyoung and Yeosang were. 

“Don’t give away all of our secrets now, Wooyoung,” Yeosang sighed. 

“She can know, she won’t spread it around. I know she won’t. She’s only asking because she’s best friends with a demon and a shifter,” he defended me and I was grateful for it. It was true. Both San and Mingi were immortal while I was mortal; my lifespan was not even a fraction compared to theirs. If I could change that I would in a heartbeat if it meant I didn’t have to say goodbye to them in the end.  

“You have a talent for building relationships with anything that’s not a human, don’t you,” Yeosang said with a teasing grin. 

“That’s not true. I’m best friends with my cousin, Hongjoong, and he’s human.” 

“Family doesn’t count.” 

I thought about it. “I’m using my job as an excuse. There’s only a handful of humans at my job, and it was tedious just getting an interview with Belle.”

“What do you do for a job anyway?” Yeosang asked, leaning forward in his seat. Wooyoung had returned to his seat next to me and his eyes were on me as well. I wasn’t surprised that he was curious about my career, he visited my building today after all. There weren’t many details spoken, only that it was important to me. 

“I’m a fashion designer for Lunar Couture,” I explained. At their blank looks I realized that they had no idea what that was. “It’s a high end designer label up top. It’s really hard to be hired by them, especially if you’re a human.”

Yeosang made a noise of understanding before he turned on Wooyoung. “You were going to just take that all away? She’s worked hard for this!” 

Wooyoung sputtered at the sudden accusation and fumbled with a response for a few minutes. He settled on looking guilty for a moment. “I thought it was just to make money to take care of herself at first, and I told her I would provide everything she needed. This is the first I’m actually hearing more details on what it’s like.” 

Yeosang pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is why we ask more questions before we just go dashing up to the surface.” He gave me an apologetic look. “You’ll have to excuse him, he got excited when I started discussing surface customs with him a few weeks ago and he wanted to visit as soon as he could. He jumped the gun, clearly, before I could explain more things with him. It’ll be a learning process. Wooyoung, the surface isn’t like Socix where you need to hunt everyday. Y/n has a career and it’s obviously very important to her, you can’t just take that away from her.” 

“I know that now!” Wooyoung snapped before he turned to me with a small pout. “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful concerning your career. I’m sorry.” 

“I forgive you, you didn’t know.” I gave him a small smile. “This means I’m going back tomorrow morning right?” 

“Yes it does,” Wooyoung confirmed and I felt my smile grow. 

“By the way, how do you know so much about surface dweller things?” I asked Yeosang. 

“I have a friend up top who I talk to regularly, as well as making a few trips myself,” he explained. Wooyoung whined and Yeosang narrowed his eyes at him. “You don’t come because you can’t handle it. I’d like to shield my friend from you all for as long as I can.”

Wooyoung grumbled something under his breath as he slumped back into his chair. Another yawn slipped out and I sleepily rubbed my eyes, the day truly catching up with me now. 

“I think I should get going. Humans need a lot of sleep to stay healthy Wooyoung,” Yeosang told him and he waved away his advice. 

“I know that, I haven’t kept her awake late.” 

Yeosang nodded his approval before turning to me again with a smile. “It was nice to meet you, I hope to see you again soon. If you ever need me, just call out my name. I’m usually close enough to be within hearing range.”

I gave him a tired smile. “I appreciate it, thank you. We’ll have to hang out again soon.”

Yeosang gave one final wave before he was diving into the pool in the other room. Once he was fully submerged the pair of sweatpants he had on landed on the floor with a wet slap before the water stilled completely. 

Wooyoung’s hand on my shoulder brought me back to the kitchen table and I looked at him in confusion. He smiled and stood from his chair, helping me up as well. “It’s time to get you to bed if you have work the next morning.” 

I nodded and let him lead me to the bedroom. He pulled out pajamas for me and stepped out of the room to let me get changed. I appreciated the privacy as I changed before crawling into bed. He heard the ruffle of the covers and came back into the room, nearly diving in beside me with a smile on his face. He made no move to hold me this time, my body was still and my eyes were already closed. He didn’t even need to sing to me tonight, my mind not even registering the noises outside of the house as it was too tired to even care. Sleep came quickly tonight, to which I was thankful for. 

༄

I didn’t want to get up the next morning. It was so warm and cozy in the bed that it was hard to even open my eyes. The pillow was soft and I couldn’t help but nuzzle my head into it with a happy sigh, a smile creeping onto my face. It wasn’t until the pillow shifted beneath me that I cracked an eye open, seeing what caused the disturbance. 

“Good morning sleepy head.” 

My eyes widened completely at the sound of Wooyoung’s voice and I slowly realized the pillow I had been nuzzling my head into was, in fact, Wooyoung’s clothed chest. Once my groggy brain put the pieces together I quickly sat up. I stared down at Wooyoung with mild horror but he only smirked as he watched me. Of course he would’ve enjoyed the entire thing. His smirk only grew into a full smug grin when I felt my face start to get hot. 

“Why were you cuddling with me?” I demanded from him, refusing to believe that I had been the one to initiate it. There was no way. He had to have pulled me closer during the night and we woke up like this. I did nothing to start this!

“I can smell your embarrassment,” he snickered as he sat up too. “That was all you, though. You’re really cute when you’re cuddly, you know that? I went to go and make breakfast and you grabbed onto me when I moved. It was the cutest thing when you started mumbling in your sleep.”  

“You’re lying.” 

Wooyoung’s grin turned downright sinister. “I tried to push you off so you could still sleep and I could start on breakfast but you wouldn’t let go. I’m only a man, y/n. I would never pass up on the opportunity to have my mate cuddling up to me like that.”

“Shut up!” 

“You know you drool in your sleep too?” 

His laughter rang throughout the room as I threw a pillow at his retreating back. He was still laughing even as he entered the kitchen and I flopped back into the bed with a groan. He’d never let me live this down now. Why had I done that? Clearly it had been subconscious I had made sure there was a healthy distance between us before I fell asleep. I’m blaming the bond even though I don’t know how else the bond is going to affect me, but Yeosang said I would experience some changes. That’s what it was and nothing else. 

I groaned again. Was it a bad thing though? It was embarrassing, there was no doubt about that. We were mates though, these kinds of things were almost expected. It was going to happen sooner or later, for us it just happened to be sooner. Despite the deal we had it was me that ended up overstepping. Wooyoung didn’t seem upset though, far from it. 

“Breakfast is ready, cuddle bug!” Wooyoung shouted from the kitchen, breaking me out of the trance I was in with my face smushed into the pillows.  

I sighed and slowly got up and trudged to the kitchen, that smirk still on his face when I sat down at the table. He set a plate of food in front of me and took his own seat. He waited as he always did for me to take a bite and show that I liked it before he began to dig in. He was practically glowing right now and I decided maybe it wasn’t so bad that we cuddled if this was the reaction it got out of him. 

“I can’t wait to tell Yeosang that you cuddled up to me this morning.” 

“Don’t you dare.” 

“Why not? It’s adorable.” 

“It’s not!” 

“You were asleep during it. You don't know that it wasn’t adorable from my perspective,” he said with a grin as he polished off his food and took his plate to the sink. 

I groaned one last time before deciding I’d ignore his remarks for the time being. He was clearly never going to let it go no matter what I said so the silent treatment it was for the time being.

I finished my meal and set my plate in the sink, giving Wooyoung a curious glance out of the corner of my eye. He took the plate from my hand and nodded towards the bedroom door, starting to wash my plate. “Go ahead and get ready and we can get going.”

I smiled brightly and nearly skipped to the bedroom to get ready for work. A small part of me had been worried that Wooyoung would have a change of heart after a night’s rest and would decide to keep me down here. He had been agreeable under the watchful eye of Yeosang last night, but he could have made a sudden decision now that the other siren was gone. To say I was delighted that he was making good on his promise was an understatement. The smile didn’t leave my face even as I walked out of the bedroom and to the room that Wooyoung was waiting in, already sitting on the edge of the water and his tail making small waves. He looked up when I entered and noticed the grin immediately. 

“Someone’s excited.” 

“I am, I thought you would change your mind if I’m being honest.”

He rolled his eyes before he lowered himself into the water below, and I had to quickly avert my gaze from his arms and the way they bulged with the motion. “I’m not going to change my mind on anything that was discussed last night, that I promise. I’ve come to my senses on subjects like this and last night won’t happen again.” 

“Yeosang really did get through to you. I had expected a little more resistance.” 

 “Oh I still don’t like it, but that’s just instincts talking. I’m not going to control you and your every move,” he explained as he watched me carefully get into the water. “You’re not an object, you’re my equal. I mean it when I say I won’t make that mistake again.” 

Wooyoung kept good on that promise as well. The day after our argument went by just like any other day, he dropped me off at the dock, using his magic to remove the water from me, and was waiting there after my day at work as well. He didn’t complain about San and Mingi’s scents on me. He only asked about how my day went as he cooked dinner for us that night. It was a very domestic moment and I felt lighter than I have in a while, like a weight was taken off of my shoulders. 

A new routine started up the weeks after the incident as well. Woyooung was the designated chef out of the two of us, and I made it a point to wash the dishes that were used. The first time I had done it Wooyoung tried to refuse, but I explained that it was only fair since he had done all of the cooking ever since I arrived at the den. It would also drive me crazy if I didn’t do something around to help. He begrudgingly let me start doing the dishes but soon enough we fell into a comfortable pattern. Eventually I offered to help decorate the den but he adamantly refused to allow that. He reminded me that this was still very much part of the courting process, and under normal circumstances it would’ve been fully furnished before my arrival. He insisted he needed to finish it himself before seeking my approval and I left it at that. 

Another unforeseen habit that developed over the weeks after the argument was the incessant need to be close to Wooyoung. This had started during the middle of a meeting at work and I had chucked it up to missing the familiar presence of the siren, as he had become a staple in my life now. It wasn’t until I caught a whiff of the clean scent of the river and had the urge to dive into the water where I knew he was that I knew something was different. After a discussion over dinner with Wooyoung and a lot of teasing, it was revealed that this was an effect of the bond. He’s felt it this entire time but it was taking a slower pace with me. I didn’t hear the end of it until I threatened to smother him with a pillow while we went to bed that same night. 

Cuddling was also becoming more common than not. It was a gradual build up, one night a week turned to two nights a week I would wake up pressed to Wooyoung’s side or chest. Now more nights than not I would wake up with his arms wrapped around me and a pleased purr rumbling near my ear. Wooyoung never complained though, quite the opposite actually. He would tease me for it at the start of these changes, now he doesn’t even mention it. It’s become a habit at this point and a very welcomed one in his eyes. It did benefit me as well so I couldn’t complain either. The nagging feeling to be close to him that would randomly appear during the day didn’t happen as often, if at all. Wooyoung was also warm and comforting to be around, and his presence relaxed me when the sounds of the river around the den spooked me. He didn’t need to lull me to sleep with his voice as much anymore, his mere presence doing wonders to my sleep schedule now. When I brought it up to him he puffed out his chest and boasted as he told Yeosang about it the next day. Yeosang and I both rolled our eyes at that. 

Work was picking up more and more with each week we drew nearer to the show. Belle was literally running around to make sure everything was ready and running smoothly, and San had taken to teleporting to the rooms he needed to be in instead of walking anymore. Mingi demanded a ban on teleporting because he had been on the receiving end of plenty of jump scares due to this. I was no better, it was bad enough I could barely hear my friends walking towards my office and it was only worse when I couldn’t hear them at all. San also liked scaring us a bit as well. It was to “keep the blood pumping” in his words. Bastard.

It was a week away from the show that I met the rest of Wooyoung’s Current. The day had been long and tiring and Wooyoung picked up on it just by looking at me when I arrived at the docks. He gave me a sympathetic smile and I nearly flopped into his arms once I lowered myself into the water. He didn’t say anything for a moment, giving me a moment to recharge as he held me and soothingly rubbed my back. I didn’t question anything because this felt comforting and natural. It could’ve been partially due to the bond but we have gotten closer over these past weeks as well, and I needed this. He gently reminded me to hold my breath and that was the only thing spoken before we were diving beneath the waves and heading back to the den. 

I sucked in air once we surfaced, wiping the water away to clear my vision. When I was able to see I met a pair of dark eyes that were already looking at me. A pair of eyes that were definitely not Wooyoung’s. 

In hindsight I should’ve known that the only ones inside of the den were Wooyoung and I and whoever else Wooyoung deemed trustworthy. I should’ve known that the other presence was a welcomed one if they were allowed this close but in the heat of the moment I didn’t recognize that other than someone I didn’t know was here.

My scream echoed off of the stone walls and Wooyoung instinctively pulled me closer to his chest before he relaxed and laughed. The cheerful sound made me look up at him in confusion to see that he was already smiling down at me. He turned to look over his shoulder and started to speak in a foreign language that consisted of varying clicking noises. The newcomer seemed to not like what he said because he scoffed and slapped Wooyoung’s shoulder, making him laugh more. 

“You’ll have to excuse Yunho, he's been curious ever since Wooyoung told us about you,” a different voice said and I whipped my head to locate the source. Two more sirens had appeared behind me, one of them giving me a kind smile as I stared with wide eyes. “I’m Seonghwa, this is Jongho, and the one that startled you is Yunho.” 

Wooyoung set me on the ledge of the pool and I took in the sirens better. They were all pretty, that was a standard for them though but Yunho was probably the biggest siren I’ve ever seen. I thought Wooyoung would be considered one of the biggest but I was proven wrong as Yunho gave me a sheepish grin. 

“I’m sorry, I thought you heard me come in. I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

I shook my head and waved away his concern. “I’m fine I wasn’t expecting guests is all.”

“You all need to announce yourselves before you just pop up now,” Wooyoung chided them. He glanced down at me. “Today might not be the best night for visitors as well, y/n had a long day and she’s tired.”

“No no I’m fine,” I quickly said, grabbing all of their attention. I knew I was going to be too stressed to properly rest and unwind, so a distraction was welcomed. I needed something to take my mind off of work right about now. “You can stay and visit, I don’t mind.” 

“Are you sure?” Wooyoung gave me a concerned look. I felt my chest warm and I gave him a reassuring smile and nod. Wooyoungg’s gaze didn’t waver to see if he could detect any hint of a lie but when he found none he nodded and turned to the pink haired siren. “Did you all bring clothes or do I need to provide for you free loaders?” 

Seonghwa nodded and held up what looked like a waterproof bag. It was definitely not a design I have seen before so it must be a Socix specialty. “We all brought stuff. Also speak respectfully, I’m your elder,” Seonghwa scolded him as he moved to pull himself up onto the ledge of the pool. His tail was a beautiful royal blue color that shimmered in the light of the room and it was a little hard to take my eyes off of it for a moment. I looked away when I saw Wooyoung’s narrowed gaze on me and I giggled before I moved to stand up. “I’m going to get cleaned up. I’ll be back!” I called over my shoulder before heading into the bathroom. 

The warm water of the bath made me sigh and my tense muscles loosen. It definitely took an edge off of my stress, but it wasn’t going to be enough to fully relax. I worked through cleaning up and soon enough I was changed into comfier clothes and reappearing in the living room area. Everyone was seated on the mismatched furniture there, and I found Wooyoung next to Seonghwa on the couch. He was repeatedly bumping his shoulder into the taller male and Seonghwa looked less than thrilled. Jongho and Yunho smiled at my appearance and Seonghwa gave me a sympathetic smile when I took a seat next to Wooyoung and he turned his attention to me. Wooyoung leaned against me and I had to brace myself to prevent me from being squished. 

“I’m sorry for him, he’s always been like this,” Seonghwa said and Wooyoung whined. 

“What is it with you all and apologizing for me? I’m not bad!” 

“You bite,” Jongho pointed out and Yunho nodded his agreement. 

“I really hope he kept that habit of his contained to the Current and isn’t biting you. Unless he is.” Seonghwa said, his tone changing quickly as he gave Wooyoung a stern look. 

“He hasn’t been biting me, thankfully,” I interjected before Wooyoung could get in any kind of trouble. “I didn’t know it was a habit of his until you mentioned it actually.”

“Good because he’s not gentle with it either,” Yunho pointed out, which earned him a pillow thrown at his head. He easily caught it and set it off to the side. 

“It’s just how I show love!” 

I laughed at the dynamic between all of them and it made me happy to see that it wasn’t just Yeosang that was close to Wooyoung. They were like a little family with the way they cared for each other but didn’t hesitate to call each other out when they did something dumb. 

The conversation flowed easily after that, and I quickly warmed up to the rest of Wooyoung’s Current. Much like Yeosang, the others were very sweet and kind and teased Wooyoung to no end. It seemed to be a mutual arrangement though, so I laughed along with them. Wooyoung seemed pleased that I was enjoying myself if the gleeful expressions thrown my way were of any indication. I’m sure it eased some of his worries that he held close to his heart to see his mate and his Current getting along so well. It certainly was comforting to know that I wasn’t alone down here, I had some friends to fall back on now. 

The discussion moved to what I do for a living on the surface and I explained I was a fashion designer. Seonghwa looked like he had stars in his eyes when I told them that, and I couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled forth at the expression. He looked too adorable to be as dangerous as a siren could be. 

“Seonghwa has an interest in surface fashion after he learned a little about it from Yeosang,” Jongho explained. “He’s constantly bugging us to travel up there just so he can look at all of the stores.” 

“You don’t have to talk about work if you don’t want to, I assume you’re there a lot,” Seonghwa interjected. He looked like he was about ready to jump out of his seat at this point, contradicting his words entirely. 

I waved away his words with a smile. “I don’t mind, it’s my passion. There is a fashion show coming up that I just happen to have a spare ticket to if you’re interested.”

Seonghwa did partially jump from the couch this time but composed himself with a cough. His cheeks tinted pink as his friends laughed at his reaction, which I assumed was out of character for the mild mannered siren. I found it adorable when he nodded that he was interested. “I would love to.”

“You didn’t offer me a ticket,” Wooyoung pouted, leaning into me more to show his displeasure that he wasn’t included in the offer. 

“I had two spare tickets. You were already invited,” I said with a chuckle. This appeased him and he stopped pouting and pulled a little of his weight off of me. Only a little though. “You both can meet my cousin Hongjoong then, he’ll be there as well. He’s the whole reason why I’m in the industry and he has his own label now.”

“I’d love to meet him if he’d be willing to talk to me about fashion,” Seonghwa stated. I was going to have a lot of explaining to do when I saw Hongjoong next. Me showing up with two giant men at my side with one of them wanting to speak with him personally and one of them as my mate was certainly going to raise some questions. 

The conversation moved away from work and more towards the politics of Socix. Having heard very little about the city beneath the water I tried to remain alert with the conversation but the day was catching up with me and Wooyoung was so warm and comforting. I don’t even remember fully leaning against him and letting my eyes fall shut, but I became aware of it when the voices around me softened to whispers and I felt an arm wrap around me to pull me closer to their side. 

“She seems sweet,” I heard Yunho murmur, his voice sounding far away. 

“I’m glad you finally found someone, Wooyoung. You look happy. Happier than you ever were with Maggiore.” This time I recognized Seonghwa as the speaker, and I tried to stay awake for just a little longer. I felt bad for falling asleep when guests were present, and I must have made a noise because Wooyoung was softly shushing me and running his fingers through my hair. The action lulled me further to sleep and I only managed to catch what Wooyoung said before it took me over fully. 

“I am the happiest I’ve ever been.”

༄

Previous Chapter - Masterlist - Next Chapter

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

episode of savanaclaw chapter 1: the importance of visuals in conveying character

ADDEDUM: Sorry if you experience weird formatting and/or see repeated paragraphs when viewing this post; for whatever reason, Tumblr gave me a really hard time editing, formatting, and saving this OTL It looks totally normal on my end, but I’ve heard from some people the post looks wonky to them 💦 I’m not sure how to fix it…

The turtlesoupscans team has the first chapter out! ^^ (This is also the scanlation from which I borrow the images used in this post!)

Something I noticed when taking a closer look at the Episode of Savanaclaw is that the new mangaka is really good at drawing eyelashes 👁 👄 👁 There were so many times when I actually made a full stop while reading to admire the eyes and the lashes on like. EVERYONE especially on L*ona. I really enjoy that aspect of the new artwork! (I don’t know if this is just me, but Leona’s tail and hair also seem much longer in the manga adaptation than in the game…?)

… OKAY I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS NOW

I mentioned before that the manga has the advantage of using visual storytelling to help convey character in a way that the game can’t. I previously explored this concept as it applies to Cater’s general character in the Episode of Heartslabyul. But but but— (and I cannot stress this enough 😳) just from the first chapter alone, I think that the manga’s visual storytelling is going a long way to enhance episode 2.

So like in the game (2-6), there is a dorm leaders meeting in which they discuss the upcoming Magical Shift/Spelldrive tournament. It is here where Crowley suggests inducting Malleus into the Hall of Fame in order to take him off the field and give the other dorms a chance to shine. Leona interrupts and gives a brief speech about how doing that is admitting defeat before the game has even begun. He uses the story of the King of Beasts to remind his fellow dorm leaders that it is cunning, not brute strength or magical ability, that allowed him to triumph. This inspires the other dorm leaders to disallow Malleus from entering the Hall of Fame, as they all want to do their best to try and outwit him.

Now, there's nothing wrong with this scene in the game. It serves its purpose just fine. However, because of the game being a visual novel style, the story is mainly told via dialogue and 2D character models. The manga is able to greatly expand on this scene because it is not constrained to just dialogue and a few animations. Case in point, this:

In the manga adaptation of this scene, Leona gives basically the same points, but the art is a lot more dynamic. For example, when he first hears Crowley’s proposal, we get these shots which show us Leona’s obvious displeasure. There’s the slight frown, the ominous shadow over his face, and even a close up of his fingers laced together (a pose which already implies he’s a schemer):

Compare this to the limitations of Leona’s in-game model; he looks so obviously and overtly angry, which doesn’t sell him as a calculating character as well. Meanwhile, in the manga, you can still tell just how much the idea Crowley suggested has pissed Leona off, but the feelings come across on his face in a much more subtle way.

Then when manga!Leona begins his appeal proper, he physically STANDS UP from his seat at the table. This draws the other pairs of eyes in the room to him; you can see in the next panel that everyone, including Crowley, is looking at Leona. He commands the attention in the room.

Another small detail here is that manga!Leona slams a hand down on the table; previously, they were folded together. Without saying a word, you understand what this conveys: that, in addition to his intelligence, he also has power and influence in this situation, and he knows exactly how and when to use those boons to his advantage.

Actually, manga!Leona does a lot of small yet noteworthy things with his hands. Take, for instance, these next panels.

When bringing up the importance of using one’s brain, manga!Leona actually taps his head. In the game, Leona is limited to his general sprite where he lays a hand against his temple. This is the closest approximation to what the game can do to simulate that tap tap of the head, but it doesn’t really carry the full weight of the motion, especially not when paired with Leona’s annoyed in-game expression.

But then look at manga!Leona, who looks so smug and self-assured as he does the gesture. It really speaks to his own confidence—and, more importantly, we’re getting a more accurate image of what the other dorm leaders and Crowley are seeing. They’re witnessing Leona at the height of his strength, someone who uses his words to persuade and to inspire the downtrodden masses into following his lead and to make better lives for themselves. Leona now curls his hand into a fist—so now we’ve gone from the cunning laced fingers to the powerful slam of a hand on a table to a clenched fist, which, in this context, is meant to be encouraging and victorious.

Note that this is all a parallel to Leona’s Disney counterpart, Scar, who made promised the shunned hyenas a place in society. Said parallel is made even more apparent in the following page; manga!Leona literally raises his fist up, and there, right in the background, is the statue of Scar himself, haloed by sunlight, and clouds parted for him. Scar—and, by extension, Leona—appear almost “God-like” because of this deliberate composition.

At this point, Leona speaks about the King of Beasts’ great accomplishment: obtaining the crown through perseverance and wit, in spite of the odds being stacked against him. Look at how this page is framed; it’s nothing BUT Leona. He’s dominating not only the page itself, but also the discussion surrounding Malleus’s induction to the Hall of Fame. He is winning his audience over.

Again, the same lines play out in the game, but the impact just isn’t there. We just have a lot of Leona crossing his arms while looking mad and Leona with his hands on his hips. At best, he looks neutral or slightly bored by what he’s saying. At worst, maybe too angry or even pouting about the situation. It definitely doesn’t feel nearly as inspirational as him standing and raising a fist as he extols the values of the King of Beasts.

(Side note: why is Leona built like a god damn DORITO 🤡 Why’s his waist so TINY???? What is the purpose of that………………….. ….. …. . .:: … . … . . … . . .. . . this is not me simping THIS IS NOT I swear it’s not)

This next page characterizes Malleus more than it does Leona; Malleus is small here, shown with his back turned away, turning to “glance over his shoulder” at the others. This comes off as isolating, putting distance between himself, who is on such a high level, and his peers. It matches Leona’s dialogue, implying that Malleus truly is a “monster” out of their league, and they must find a clever solution to take that “monster” down.

Leona’s profile now shows slight signs of irritation right as he’s delivering the conclusion to his speech and thesis. His eyebrows are arched, he’s frowning, and he’s slightly looking down at the people he’s addressing. The tension here is palpable; you can feel the force behind his words, how strong his final statement is. It is the responsibility of everyone present at this table to find a way to defeat Malleus, not kneel over and accept defeat.

And the crazy thing is???? You can SEE in the faces of every single dorm leader how Leona’s words have affected them. You don’t need anyone to say a single word to understand what’s going through their heads. They’ve all been charmed. Look at how wide-eyed Kalim is, how Vil has his eyes narrowed (like he has realized something), Riddle is staring DIRECTLY at Leona (implied by an earlier page), and fuck Idia; the tablet’s screen tells us nothing Azul smiles knowingly.

We automatically know what the outcome is, and we know which way they will vote. This is conveyed so well, so clearly, that the manga doesn’t even bother to give us dialogue from the other dorm leaders opposing Crowley’s suggestion. The manga just immediately cuts away to a mob student being injured. (This is different than in the game, which had to show Vil, Riddle, Kalim, Idia, and Azul verbally agreeing with Leona to get the same message across.)

Anyway??? I had to get all of that out of my system 🤡 I just. Can’t get over???? How good the visual storytelling is for the manga adaptation??????

Entire lines from the original script could be scrubbed out and we still understand what is being said without them. So much character oozes off the page in the dynamic camera and composition. Scenes that I paid zero mind to in the game are sooo much more interesting when told through the manga, my eyes are glued onto the pages.

There’s so much nuance in the gorgeous artwork and the story that it’s trying to tell, and I think that’s a real testament to how talented the mangaka and the team behind Twisted Wonderland (the manga adaptation) are!! I’m by no means a fan of episode 2 of the main story, but 👀 the manga has definitely done a great job making Leona’s introduction to the audience memorable, and he feels like a much more charismatic and threatening “villain” for this episode because of that.

[multifandoms27-blog]

Yu-Gi-Oh dub continuity please. (You can smoosh DSoD dub into the timeline if you want to. I usually do.) Aro ace female reader, neurotypical but weird anyway. (I may be an introvert who spends hours alone by choice and doesn’t have a huge social circle, but I was born to be a ridiculous anime character who dresses flamboyantly, has a sense of the dramatic, and wants to impress people. It’s certainly how I try to live in Real Life.) Reader quickly lets go of past irritations, and is more interested in honesty than not getting her feelings hurt. Smart, and self-teaches herself whatever skills seem interesting or useful to her. Rather childish in a lot of ways even though she is an adult, with a real sense of wonder. Rarely responds to sarcasm with more sarcasm. Reader is also a decent duelist, but not at Kaiba’s level. Physically she’s three inches taller than Yugi, with a very slight build, no makeup, long straight hair past her waist, boyish posture and movement, and a great sense of balance and understanding of moving her own body. Not a lot of physical strength though, she can probably only do about 10 push-ups.

Reader always calls Kaiba by his last name. Kaiba calls Reader by her first name.

Set after the run of the show. Reader and Kaiba have become friends. (Mokuba and Yugi secretly worked a lot behind the scenes for years doing friend-matchmaking in order for the friendship to materialize. 😋) They have similar interests, figured out how to communicate well (although perhaps more brusquely than most,) trust one another, and each believes the other to also be uninterested in romance/sex (which is highly reassuring when you suspect all your friends and relations will one day fall in love and accidentally push you out of their life.)

I’d love some writing with excitement, adventure, trouble, or danger! (If you want to throw in some angst that would be fine as well.) Perhaps the reader and Kaiba end up in a bad situation which is quickly flying out of their control. One of the fun things about Yu-Gi-Oh is the fact this could stem from any number of absolutely bonkers reasons! Maybe they were abducted by aliens to be sold to other aliens as “important Earthlings you can enslave to show off or feel more important.” Or maybe a rival company decided to get quite cutthroat and try to take over Kaiba Corp with literal force. Did they get accidentally transported to a fantasy dimension where they drew the ire of an evil leader? Or maybe an eviler Gozaburo shows up from another dimension and tries to force Kaiba to join him in a multi-dimensional conquest, with the explicit threat that if he doesn’t help, then Kaiba and those he cares about can spend their lives firmly under Gozaburo’s thumb, serving him in much less enjoyable capacities. You can use any scenario that seems fun to write! (You can also include other characters like Yugi, Joey, Mokuba, etc. if it feels like the story needs it. I would love to be friends with any of the good guy Yu-Gi-Oh characters.)

Uh, silly thing, but I don’t like profanity, so it would be great if you could not use any when writing this particular request. (It’s definitely possible to write scary, threatening, creepy dialogue without it, so I hope it doesn’t inconvenience you too much.) Sorry!

And please don’t write the two main characters as having any interest in romance/sex.

Some violence is okay though. Even the dub has a lot of implied violence and brutality. Just, don’t go overboard into R rated territory.

Hope the formatting isn’t too bad.

If you have any questions, or would prefer I send in a different request, or would like me to send in this request again with different formatting, or would like to tell me you are refusing my request, feel free to DM me.

P.S. Do you have a Ko-fi or something similar?

Hiya Dei! No, I don't have anything like that. Maybe I should set up one though?

So sorry this took so long to write, but its finally here! I really do hope you enjoy it!

Edit: Fixed some POV errors and added the opposing companies' name.

Content: Platonic! Seto Kaiba x fem!Reader

Warnings: Kidnapping

Notes: I really enjoyed writing this!! It was like writing an episode of Yugioh and I've always wanted to do that :3 This turned out to be 13 pages long, so yippe!! I had a little funny joke at the end here lol

• ───────────────── •

After graduating Domino high, it’s like everybody hit the ground running with their dreams. Tea moved to America to pursue dancing, Joey and Yugi started working at Solomon’s shop, Bakura left Japan with his father to travel, Tristan began working at his fathers company, Duke left Domino City to spread Dungeon Dice Monsters around…and then that left you and Kaiba.

Kaiba needed someone who could watch Mokuba, but someone he could trust, and someone he could keep close. Joey and Tristan and Tea were out of the question, Duke definitely no, he would be caught dead before letting Mokuba around Bakura, and Yugi can’t keep anybody safe.

So he decided to hire you. A week after graduation, Kaiba approached you with the job position. You were thinking about your future anyway, figuring out whether or not you wanted to go to college, or go straight into the workforce, or do both. When Kaiba laid out the job position for you, you practically jumped on the idea.

“If you can’t handle this job position now, then back out of it while you still can.” Kaiba teased, though to a bystander, he was just insulting you due to his lack of a smile.

“I can handle it, don’t go doubting me just yet, Kaiba.” You jabbed back, also without a smile.

Finally, Kaiba allowed a small smirk to form. “That’s what I like to hear. Come with me, we’ll start the paperwork ASAP, and you start tomorrow.”

It was hardly much work compared to the pay you got from Kaiba. Your job was just to keep close to Mokuba and make sure any shady characters got dealt with. The rest of your time could be spent with Kaiba in his office, or doing something with Mokuba. It truly was a dream - you got to be near your best friend and get closer to the younger Kaiba brother.

So far, no shady characters have gotten past your watchful eye. But about six months after taking the job position, everything flipped upside down.

• ───────────────── •

A new ride and section of the arcade was built into Kaibaland, and Mokuba practically begged you to take him. You agreed, and now you were trapped in the heat with Mokuba and a few other security guards. The guards did a good job at keeping bystanders away from grabbing you or Mokuba, or just getting too close in general. You had to get used to paparazzi, but after the last three years with Yugi and your old friend group, that wasn’t a hard transition.

Mokuba stopped your train of thought by tugging your arm. “(Y/n), (Y/n) look! There’s the new rollercoaster! Can we go on it?!”

The heat was making you nauseous and dizzy. While you wanted nothing more than to go on with him, you knew you had to pass it up so you wouldn’t completely ruin his day. “Sorry, Moki. I need some water, I’m not feeling too good. But I’m sure one of the guards would be happy to go on with you.”

Mokuba pouted, but nodded. “Okay. But can we play games together in the arcade?”

“Absolutely.” You grin, patting the boy's head.

One of the guards, Bishop, volunteered to get on the ride with him. You approved it, knowing you could trust Bishop. He had been with Kaiba for a couple years now, and has always carried out his orders flawlessly. Another guard, Keith, went to grab you a bottle of water. You sat down on a nearby bench and watched as Mokuba got on the ride with Bishop, waved to him, then he was off. Leaning back on the bench, you felt like you were able to relax for the next few minutes. You closed your eyes, knowing the guards will help protect you while Mokuba was on the ride.

More than a few minutes passed, and the sounds of screaming from the roller coaster had stopped. Opening your eyes, you looked up to see if Mokuba had gotten off. To your horror, the ride wasn’t moving. Nobody was getting off or on. Part of the ride was going through tunnels, and since the ride itself couldn’t be seen, you guessed it was in one of those tunnels. Scrambling to get up and run towards the ride, you approached the fear-stricken teen girl trying to operate said ride.

“What happened? Why is the ride stuck?”

“A-ah! Miss (Y/n)! I-I don’t know, the wheels stopped and I can’t get it to work!” The poor girl was shaking, she was afraid she was going to lose her job.

Looking up at the broken up tunnels on the tracks, you had no idea which one the ride was in. Instead, you turned to the girl. “Which tunnel did the coaster go in before it stopped?”

“That one…” The girl pointed to the highest one, before her voice trailed off.

You looked up and saw a helicopter approaching the ride, one that didn’t look like a Kaiba Corp one. You immediately grew anxious. “Keith, Cole, Sam! Code: Mocha!”

“Yes ma’am!” The three men yelled in unison before swiftly taking out walkie talkies to inform other guards of the situation both on and off Kaibaland.

However, it was too late. Two men dropped from the helicopter and - presumably - cut a hole into the tunnel. Your heart rate picked up, and you foolishly tried to mess with the controls one more time, hoping and praying that it would work and you could get Mokuba back safe.

The teen girl next to you gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. You snapped your head back up to see the two men - now with an additional third man - rising back into the helicopter holding a struggling Mokuba.

“Mokuba!!” You screamed, banging your fists against the control panel.

There was nothing you could do. The three men got Mokuba into the helicopter and flew off, then suddenly the coaster began to move, the screams of the other passengers picking back up. Tears pricked your eyes and your head hung low. “Mokuba…”

• ───────────────── •

You sat in Seto’s office, eyes downcast as you informed him of what happened to Mokuba. He didn’t say anything for a moment, and you were afraid he was going to have an angry outburst. He had every right to of course, you just didn’t want something to hit you. Seto took a deep breath before standing.

“You were at the bottom of the coaster?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“And Mokuba was with Bishop?” Seto asked.

“Yeah.”

“I have an idea of what happened then. Come with me, (Y/n).” He grabbed his suitcase, closed his laptop and shoved it in before moving briskly past you.

You got up and quickly followed. You didn’t know if Kaiba was mad, but you decided it would be better to follow than ask questions. Kaiba stopped at Lisa’s desk - his secretary - and informed her to cancel any afternoon plans he had, and have his chopper ready, before continuing his strut throughout the building. They headed for the elevator, and once Kaiba pushed the highest button, you finally began to ask questions.

“Who do you think took Mokuba?”

“Bishop’s old company - Knightly Rook, a rival of Kaiba Corp in the business world for a little while now. But I never thought the company would stoop to this. Bishop was pretty loyal to them, and I had wondered why he quit. Now I know he never really quit.” Kaiba glared at the wall.

“No way…you really think Bishop was in on the kidnapping do you?” (Y/n) asked in disbelief, eyes wide and mouth almost gaping.

Although, it made sense. There had been a third man to join them after Mokuba was caught. Bishop hadn’t come off the ride. Your eyes fell to the ground and you turned your head away. “I’m so stupid…I’m so sorry, Kaiba. I thought he would be safe…”

“This isn’t your fault. It’s mine for not looking into him more.” Kaiba spoke, with an air of irritation in his voice. “We’re going to fix this, one way or another.”

You look up at him. “You mean…?”

Kaiba looks down at you and nods. “We’re going to duel them for Mokuba.”

“Wait, I don’t have my deck-” You objected before Kaiba placed a hand on your shoulder, and the other hand offered you your deck. “Oh.”

“You keep leaving it in my office. Your cards will get bent if you don’t put them in a case.” Kaiba made a mental note to get you one. Maybe he’d get you one with designs of your favorite card on there.

“Are we going to do a double team?” You asked.

“Most likely. The CEO and his assistant are close, and are almost never seen apart.” Kaiba explained. “Of course, I trust you’ll keep up with me during this duel.”

“Yes, Kaiba.” You nod, putting your deck away securely.

The elevator doors opened and they both stepped out into the gleaming sun. It had been an hour since Mokuba was kidnapped, but it felt like it was even hotter outside than before. Or maybe it was your body trying to get used to the fast shift between the heavily air conditioned Kaiba Corp building, and the scorching heat outside. The blades of Seto’s chopper were just beginning to start up, and he continued to stride towards it. After you both sat down and secured yourselves in your seats, Kaiba placed his briefcase on his lap and opened it.

“Can you hold this for me?” Seto asked.

“Sure.” You nodded, grabbing his computer.

He then lifted the bottom of his briefcase to reveal all of his cards. “I’ll allow you to pick ten to boost yourself in this fight. I can’t have you lagging behind.”

You gave him a pointed look. “I can handle myself with my deck.”

“Fine. Five cards, take it or leave it.” Seto moved the briefcase for you to get a better look at the cards.

Grumbling under your breath, you looked over some monster, trap and magic cards before choosing five you figured would benefit you. “Thank you, Kaiba.”

He only hummed, and began assembling his own deck. You saw him slip the three Blue Eyes into the deck of 40 cards, and you cracked a smile, but didn’t say anything, and the smile faded as soon as it showed up. You were nervous. For Mokuba’s safety and wellbeing, for your job, for your friendship with Kaiba. Were you done at Kaiba Corp for this? You hoped not.

Once Seto was done assembling his deck, he turned towards you and noticed your nervous look. He was nervous too, for Mokuba’s safety. But you seemed like you were worrying about a lot more. “...something on your mind?”

“Oh nothing, just going to gamble a child’s life over a children’s card game, what else is new.” You spoke sarcastically.

Kaiba understood. It was a lot for you to take in - before, either he would get Mokuba back himself or you had Yugi and his friends there to help you. Now, you’re Kaiba’s only backup. “I suppose you could put it that way.”

“How long until we get to this company?”

“A few hours. It’s on the other end of Japan. They’ll get there before we do.” Seto explained, looking out his own window.

“What do they want with Mokuba?” You asked.

“Probably something to do with me ignoring their requests for a meeting.” Kaiba spoke dismissively. “I doubt they’d purposely harm Mokuba if they ever want a shot at being in my good graces. Though now, that ship has already sailed.”

You looked back at him. “Kaiba, what happens if we lose?”

Kaiba glanced at you and huffed. “I don’t lose. And just because you’re some second rate duelist doesn’t mean you can go doubting yourself now too.”

Second rate? You thought to yourself. It was a step up from Joey, you supposed. “Thanks, Kaiba.”

“Whatever.” Kaiba shrugged and turned away.

As much as Kaiba acted mean and teased you, you knew by now that it was good fun. He wouldn’t keep you around if he actually hated you, much less let you use some of his cards and duel side by side with him. Kaiba had slowly become an older brother to you, and Mokuba had become a younger brother. You had hoped you’d become a sister to them, if not then a close friend. You watched the world go by as the helicopter flew to the Knightly Rook building. You closed your eyes and decided to rest for a moment before you’d have to hit the ground running.

• ───────────────── •

The helicopter landed and Kaiba shook you awake. The doors opened and once you both stepped out, you were met by a glammed up couple surrounded by guards. The man wore a mahogany suit, looked older (about his 50’s), had a cane that was likely for show, and had a dark grin on his face. Next to him was a woman who looked younger (about her 30’s) with a matching mahogany dress and a white fur shawl that went around her shoulders and down her left arm. On her left hand was a big shiny diamond. The woman laughed.

“Darling, you think they’re here to pick up dear Moki?”

“Don’t call him that!” You yelled, Seto put a hand on your shoulder to stop you.

“Where is he?” He asked.

The man spoke. “Follow us, and you shall see.”

“And if we want to stay up here?” You asked.

“Then I guess Moki will cease to be~” The woman giggled, causing your eyebrow to twitch.

“We’ll follow you.” Seto glared at the couple.

“Excellent!” The man exclaimed, clapping his hands twice.

The guards formed a group around you and Kaiba, forcing you two closer to the couple. The man stuck his hand out to shake with Kaiba's. "Reginald O'Malley, nice to finally meet you, Seto Kaiba."

"Can't say the same." Kaiba reluctantly shook his hand, causing Reginald to laugh.

The woman stuck her hand out to you, and you swore her ring almost blinded you. You hesitantly shook it.

"I'm Sasha O'Malley." The glammed out woman grinned.

"(Y/n) (L/n)." You responded, not wanting to touch her any more than you already had to.

Reginald led you and Kaiba inside. The building didn't look like a company building at all. The walls were a golden yellow, with redwood flooring. The windows gave you a nice view over the city. Wasn't this supposed to be the corporate building of this company? Where were the workers? And come to think of it, where was the pilot of your ride here?

Reginald led you over to the sizable fireplace. "Now friends, I'm sure you're wondering why I've gathered you all here."

"Not really." Seto narrowed his eyes at him. "Just get to it, Reginald. I don't have all day."

The man chuckled before pulling a picture frame to the left, and the fireplace began to turn. It revealed stairs leading down. Was that where he was keeping Mokuba? Was that where his workers were?

"Come my friends, for a duel." Reginald grinned and led them down the stairs.

You clenched your jaw in irritation, but took a deep breath and cooperated, following the couple down the stairs. Seto was behind you. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a gigantic arena fitted with four seats. So this was going to be a double team duel.

"Big brother! Big sister!" Mokuba yelled from his cage, dangling in the air.

"Mokuba!" You and Kaiba yelled in unison.

"Beat us in a duel, and we give the boy back. But if we win, we take Kaiba Corp. Deal?" Reginald grinned, holding his hand out.

Seto growled before taking his hand into a bone crushing grip. "Deal."

• ───────────────── •

The duel was seemingly nearing an end. Sasha was the lowest count with 500 life points left, though that was to be expected. You only had monsters in your deck. Reginald was a little harder to beat, and was at 2300 life points. You and Seto were doing good, Seto with 3700 life points and you with 3000.

It was your turn, so you draw. Mirror force.

"I play this card face down, and my Luster Dragon attacks Sasha head on!"

Sasha didn't have any monsters on the field, with Kaiba destroying the last one last turn with his Battle Ox. Luster Dragon has 1900 attack points, so Sasha's points drop to zero. She whines to her husband from across the arena.

"Darling, I lost! Please win for me, I want that company!"

"Of course dear." Reginald nods and draws a card. "I summon Blackeyes, the Plunder Patrol Seaguide in attack mode! Now, I sacrifice him to summon Wattaildragon in attack mode!"

You knew that card. Wattaildragon had 2500 attack points. So while it couldn't hurt Seto, it could still hurt you. And Reginald knew that. "Wattaildragon! Attack (Y/n)'s Luster Dragon!"

The dragon let out a roar before preparing to attack. You acted surprised for a moment before you smirked, catching Reginald off guard. "You forgot about my face down card. You activated my trap - mirror force!"

The card lifted face up to show mirror force, which made the Wattaildragon's attack bounce off and hit it, destroying it completely. Reginald had no more monsters on the field.

"Darling that is not what I wanted you to do!" Sasha yelled but Reginald ignored her.

"Kaiba!" You called.

"Right. Blue eyes! Attack Reginald head on, and finish this duel once and forever!" Kaiba yelled.

The Blue Eyes let out a roar before firing a beam straight at Reginald. His life points had dropped to zero. You and Seto shared an accomplished look and a thumbs up. Then Seto's phone rang.

"Well it's as I expected. Reginald here isn't a rich man. In fact, he's been committing thirty years worth of financial fraud." Seto gave the glammed out couple a dark grin. "You're both going away for a long time."

• ───────────────── •

It turns out that the pilot doubled as an infiltrator. Seto had planned to duel the couple as a distraction either way. He had managed to get all of Reginald's statements and aliases and fraudulent checks. Police surrounded the building, and both Reginald and Sasha were taken away in cuffs, with an added charge of kidnapping. Their guards, along with Bishop, got taken away too.

Mokuba ran up to Seto and (Y/n), hugging them both. "I knew you guys would come for me! That was an awesome duel!"

"Thanks, Moki." You smiled, ruffling his hair causing him to laugh. "We're just glad you're alright."

Seto nodded in agreement. Mokuba grinned up at them. "Well...for being kidnapped and all, you know how you guys can make it up to me?"

"Therapy?" Seto and you spoke together.

"No silly, ice cream and duel monsters!" Mokuba threw his hands up excitedly.

You and Seto looked at each other before laughing. "Sure Mokuba, sure."

• ───────────────── •

Here is my Masterlist in case you want to request, or look for more of your favorite character!

[g1itchtree]

Starstruck

Rise!Leonardo Hamato x Usagi Yuichi

Summary: Usagi plans a special date under the stars

Word Count: 2312

Content: Fluff. Lots of fluff. Usagi’s hella nervous the whole time. Leo is too but he tries to play it smooth. Tries.

Notes: Woo first post. Haven’t really formatted anything on tumblr before so sorry if it turns out weird. I’ll go in and fix it if it does

—

Usagi was beautiful in the moonlight, Leo thought.

The rabbit was currently at the wheel of the car Leo had borrowed- one of his many favors earned in the Hidden City. It hummed steadily underneath them, the old radio crackling and the busted AC hardly cooling them down. Which was unfortunate, since Leo could feel his face heating up as he observed his companion.

Usagi had insisted on driving them to their destination, wanting to keep the date he had planned a surprise. The moon shone through the window and gave his white fur a sapphire glow.

He kept his eyes on the road, but Leo could tell he was nervous by the nervous thump of his left foot and the occasional twitch of his nose.

“Something up?” Usagi asked, sparing a quick glance at Leo. “You, uh, you’ve been staring for a bit, and… well, you got super quiet, which isn’t really like you, so I guess I just-”

“Just admiring the view, hermoso,” He winked with a grin, causing his companion to fluster.

“Don’t just say things like that out of the blue!” Usagi complained, though a smile was working its way onto his face.

“Aw, but your reactions are just too precious!” Leo cooed, cackling as Usagi playfully smacked his arm. “Agh, mercy!”

“Never mind what I said, go back to being quiet,” Usagi said with a huff.

Leo’s laughing fit quieted down to small chuckles as he leaned back in his seat. “Okay, be that way. But how much further is this mystery destination? We’ve been on the road for quite a while now. I mean, what is there to do in Long Island anyways?”

“Something you can’t do in the city, trust me,” Usagi shot him a nervous grin, his foot starting to tap again. “Just a little further, okay?”

Leo nodded, placing a hand on the rabbit’s arm. “Hey, I’m sure I’ll love whatever you set up, okay?”

“Yeah, you’ve said,” Usagi sighed, taking one hand off the wheel and placing it over his. “But you’ve put so much thought into our other dates, and I’ve had such a good time, really. And I want to do that for you, but I never really done anything like this before, y’know? And I dunno, it’s a lot more lowkey than what you’ve chosen for dates, so what if you’re bored?”

Leo frowned a bit at that, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. “Dude, I’ve only really planned two dates, which I totally got from a blog. Our third was me running from the HCPD, and you just joined in and we messed with them all day. I’m sure whatever you got is fine. Another thing, it’s not a competition or anything, though if you think that would be fun then I’m down. But right now? As long as I’m with you, then it doesn’t matter what we do. We could go bobbing for apples in Meat Sweats’ grease traps and I’m sure we could make it fun.”

Usagi practically melted at that, his ears drooping slightly as he shot Leo an appreciative look. “Why do you have to be so unintentionally endearing?”

“I’m just gonna take that backhanded compliment without too much thought.”

“Yeah, you’re good at that, aren’t you?”

“Okay, nevermind, let me out of here! You’re being mean!”

Usagi cracked up, the moonlight making his eyes sparkle more than they would have. And yeah, Leo is pretty sure he could get used to this.

—

“Okay, it gets a bit steep here, careful not to trip,” Usagi instructed, hands over Leo’s eyes as they walk to their destination.

“I can trust you to catch me, right?” Leo hummed, turning his head to the rabbit, despite not being able to see.

“If you stop trying to peek, then sure,” Usagi quipped back, humor in his voice. “Now keep walking, it’s just up ahead.”

“You said that like, ten minutes ago,” Leo whined, though he picked up his pace a bit in anticipation.

After no more than a minute of walking, Usagi stopped, but didn’t remove his hands. “Okay, we’re here… just give me a second, okay? Don’t open your eyes.”

“Placing a looot of trust in me, here,” Leo teased, grinning at Usagi’s little huff.

“I’m serious here, no looking!” He grumbled, and wow, Leo could practically hear the pout on his face.

“Okay, okay. Here,” He covered his face with his own hands, letting Usagi take his away. “Better?”

“Mmh, not really, but fine,” Leo heard him take a few steps back and pause a moment, probably making sure he really couldn’t see. After that, he quickly scampered to work, hurrying around the place. Leo heard a few clicks and some music start up, piquing his curiosity.

After another minute of this, followed by a stretch of nervous silence, Usagi came back to Leo’s side, taking his hands away from his face and holding them in between the two.

“Well, here it is,” He mumbled, looking down and standing to the side so Leo could see.

They were surrounded by a few trees and various wildflowers, standing at the top of an overlook that had endless fields and some glittering ponds scattered around. On the ground was a blanket spread out, with more on top of it forming a makeshift shelter of fluff and warmth. Leo knew that they would end up cocooned in there before long, it was one of Usagi’s favorite ways to cuddle.

On the edge of the blanket was a picnic basket, already opened with drinks on the ground beside it. Fairy lights were glowing softly around the blanket, with a lantern to the side to provide more light. A speaker was playing songs from their shared playlist, with one of the romance musicals that they loved to make fun of but secretly adored singing out.

Altogether, it was the perfect spot for the two of them to just be.

Beside him, Usagi fiddled with his hands, drawing Leo’s attention back over to him. “So, what do you think? You can be honest, really, I won’t mind if you think it’s stupid or cheesy or-“

Leo cut him off with a quick peck on the top of his head, beaming down at him. “It’s amazing. When did you even bring all this out here?”

Usagi visibly relaxed with a sigh, bringing Leo to sit on the blanket. “Earlier today. I made the food yesterday with Mikey. He taught me some of your favorites and there’s plenty here. There’s also extra at my place. We got a bit carried away, heh…”

“Woah, no way!” Leo grabbed the basket and started digging through it. “Holy crap, pizza bites?”

“You do not want to know how long that took to get right,” Usagi breathed out a laugh, setting some of the food aside. “I’m pretty sure there’s still dough in my fur.”

Leo threw his arms around him and pulled him in close, nuzzling his beak into his shoulder. “This is literally the best thing ever.”

“You haven’t seen the best part,” Usagi whispered, making Leo raise his head.

“Wuzzat mean?”

Usagi reached around him to turn off the lantern and pulled away from the hug, gesturing to the sky.

Leo turned to look up, his breath catching in his throat at the sight. “Woah, there’s so many…”

Bright stars were spread as far as he could see, glittering like someone had decided to take a bedazzler and decorate the sky itself. Even though it should be dark as hell without any light, Leo could still make out the ground before them.

Usagi gave a laugh at his awed expression. “Can’t see this in the city, huh?”

“Definitely not,” Leo agreed, turning to look back at him. He was staring at the sky with a fond look in his eyes, head resting on his knees with his arms wrapped around them. Leo knew he had lived in the country before moving to the city. Had he missed seeing such clear skies?

He thought about making some kind of smooth move, maybe wrap an arm around him or even push his hair back a bit. But before he could decide, Usagi let out a little gasp, grabbing onto Leo’s arm with excitement. “It’s starting, look!”

Leo turned back to the sky with curiosity, letting out a gasp when sparkles of light dashed across the sky. “Shooting stars?”

“Meteor shower.” Usagi was grinning from ear to ear, leaning into Leo’s side and looking up at him. “You mentioned you’ve never seen one, so…”

“You remember that?” He asked, surprised. “That was, like, when we first started talking.”

“Mm, I have a good memory,” Usagi hummed. “Now quick, make a wish!”

A wish? There wasn’t much Leo could think of. Ordinarily, it would be for money or something stupid like that, ‘cause who doesn’t want to be rich? But… being here, Usagi nestled against him, he couldn’t help but think his life was pretty damn great as it was.

Well… there was one thing.

“I’m not supposed to say my wish, right?” He asked.

Usagi nodded, still focused on the stars. “Yeah, or it won’t come true.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Leo pressed, trying to push the knots in his stomach down. “What if… it would help it come true?”

Usagi pulled away a bit, looking up at him with a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

Leo hesitantly placed his hand on Usagi’s cheek, trying for a charming smile, though it was more shaky than anything. “Can I… um…”

He seemed to get the hint, eyes wide and ears straight up. “Oh! Oh, uh-”

Leo took the hesitance as a no, scrambling to fix his mistake. “It’s totally fine if you don’t wanna, I just thought maybe, I dunno… I mean you just look really nice tonight and I think you probably noticed I’ve been staring a bit and, well-”

“Leo!” Usagi cut off his ramble, laughing at his surprise. “It’s fine, really. And it’s not that I don’t want to, but… it’s new? And scary. Really scary. And I feel so, so nervous.”

“Yeah, you’re thumping,” Leo noted.

Usagi squeaked, stopping his foot and covering his face. “You didn’t see that.”

Leo laughed, letting him hide his face in his plastron. “You’ve been doing it all night, hermoso.”

“It’s embarrassing.” He grumbled, loosely wrapping his arms around Leo’s shell.

“I don’t think so,” Leo assured, drawing shapes on his back. “I mean, you deal with my chirps and stuff.”

Usagi snickered at that, shaking his head. “Okay, but that’s actually adorable.”

“So are you!” He insisted, poking his cheek. “Like, whenever we go somewhere you always sniff a bit and your ears go around, like you’re investigating or something. And whenever I call you something in Spanish you basically melt. I’m talking ears drooping and everything. And-”

“Alright, I get it!” Usagi swatted his hand away, trying to hold back a smile. “Shut up already!”

Leo dipped his head down a bit, brushing at Usagi’s cheek. “Then why don’t you make me?”

Usagi paused, glancing down to his lips. “I… I don’t know. What if it’s bad?”

“The only way to get better is to practice, right?”

He gave a little snort, visibly relaxing. “Dork. You just want to kiss me.”

Leo grinned at that. “Maybe.”

Usagi smiled a bit and took in a deep breath, seemingly psyching himself up. Then he took Leo’s face in both hands and pressed their lips together in one swift motion, taking Leo by surprise.

It was quick and both of them had absolutely no idea what to do, but it was awesome all the same. His free hand found its way to Usagi’s waist, tracing his side on the way down. Usagi’s nose was twitching fast, tickling his beak and making him smile into the kiss.

After a long moment, Usagi pulled away, eyes wide but smile wider. “Woah.”

“Yeah,” Leo agreed. “Definitely ‘woah’.”

The two of them sat for a while in comfortable silence, just taking the moment in. That was, until Usagi started cracking up.

“What? What’s so funny?” Leo asked.

“No, no, I just-” He broke off into more laughter, ducking his head down. “I was so nervous this entire day cause I totally wanted to kiss you, and then you just go and offer it yourself- and holy crap, it was amazing. We need to do that more often.”

Leo relaxed at that, the knots in his stomach turning into butterflies. “Oh yeah, totally. Let’s start now, yeah?”

He playfully kissed his cheek, cackling as Usagi squirmed away.

“Wait wait, hold on, before that,” Usagi interrupted, holding Leo back by his plastron. “Does this mean we’re officially boyfriends and everything?”

That makes Leo pause, confusion etching over his face. “…Were we not?”

“Leo!”

“What! I thought that was like, already confirmed!”

“Really?” Usagi asked, moving to cuddle into his side. “I mean, people normally go on a few dates and then they take that step.”

Leo shrugged, moving them to the cocoon of blankets. “Yeah, but you hang out at my place, like, all the time. Thought we were past that step.”

“Geez, why is this all so confusing,” Usagi whined, ducking his head into Leo’s shoulder.

Leo smiled at that, brushing some of his hair back. “I dunno, I think we’re doing a pretty great job.”

“Please! We’re a total mess, admit it.”

“Mmh, maybe,” He concedes. “But we’re having fun, aren’t we? And we totally dig each other, which is a plus.”

Usagi grinned, interlacing their fingers. It was a bit awkward with the numbers difference, but they made it work. “You’re a weirdo, you know that? Total dork.”

“Yeah, but you love it.”

“Mmh, that I do.”

No doubt about it, Leo was absolutely sure he could get used to this.

[gently-decaying-flowers]

i am on a roll no one stop me.

i realize the format is a little weird so i’m writing it like this

ch 1- crowley -> ch 1 azi -> ch 2 crowley -> ch 2 azi -> etc etc

so enjoy ch 1 from azi’s view 👀

The Reunion- Aziraphale Ch 1

Aziraphale had a lot of work to do as Supreme Archangel. Everyone was forced to respect him too, even though he knew most of the angels speculated as to why he, the traitor, was allowed back. Especially in a position of such power like this.

Today, was his day to relax. He had finally escaped his duties for the week, and sat in his office alone. His mind began to wander, and made its way back to his last day in Soho.

He had watched Gabriel and Beelzebub succeed in the one thing he knew Crowley had been trying desperately to do for years. He began to see why, he was even ready to go with him. Then, The Metatron showed up and gave Azi something he couldn’t turn down. He wanted to, but he knew he couldn’t trust anyone else with this task. He even foolishly believed that maybe he could convince Crowley to come back, to help him fix it. Then- Crowley went and kissed him and oh-

“Knock knock?” A familiar, childlike voice broke Azi away from his thoughts.

“Muriel! It’s been, well it’s been so long come on in.” He rubbed his temples tiredly and took his glasses off. He clasped his hands together.

“What brings you- back?” His voice was hesitant, not sure if he hoped it was, or wasn’t, related to Crowley.

“Well, Supreme Archangel Mr Fell, I was hoping you’d come back to Soho… just for a little bit.” They looked down at their feet, avoiding eye contact. Aziraphale sighed.

“Oh Muriel, I’d love to but-“

“Oh please! I want you to see what work Mr Crowley and I have done in the shop! It’s sparkling clean!” They looked up now, smiling enthusiastically. Aziraphale felt a tug in his chest at the mention of Crowley’s name. Wait-

“Has Crowley… left at all?” Azi asked, attempting to sound relaxed.

“Nope! He hasn’t left other than to go talk to Nina and Maggie across the street. They’re so nice too, I spent time at the record shop with Maggie all the time!” They continue chattering on about Nina and Maggie, but Aziraphale’s thoughts were elsewhere.

“Well Muriel,” He cut them off. “Let’s head down there once evening hits alright? for now, let’s catch up.” He miracled up a chair and two cups of tea for them.

Muriel stared at their tea and talked endlessly for the remainder of the day. Azi enjoyed hearing about their adventures, feeding peas to the ducks in the park, “reading” books and such. It was a nice distraction until it was time to leave.

“Oh! I forgot I have plans with Maggie… I guess you’ll have to check out the bookshop all alone sorry Supreme Archangel Mr Fell!!” Muriel exclaimed, running off once the elevator stopped.

Aziraphale knew it was a set up, but he wasn’t complaining. He nervously fixed his coat and strode toward his bookshop. He was extremely anxious for Crowley’s reaction. He must hate Azi now, and rightfully so.

Either way, he stepped into the shop without a second thought. The familiar scent hit his nose and he melted in nostalgia and longing to be back here.

Crowley didn’t turn around, simply waving his hand and telling the “customer” to go away.

“Oh, well then maybe just a cup of tea?” Azi spoke with much more confidence than he had anticipated.

Crowley whipped around in shock, dropping the books he carried.

[snowycorvid]

OH MY GOD???? BRO OK SO LIKE I JUST RECENTLY FOUND UR DAMN FIC AND LET ME TELL YOU I CAN'T BELIVE I DIDNT FIND IT SOONER??? LIKE??? ITS ABSOLUTELY STUNING AND I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW HOW MUCH LOVE I NEED TO GIVE IT. I LITERALLY FOUND IT 2 DAYS AGO AND COULD NOT STOP MYSELF FROM READING THE ENTIRE THING. I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR A WHILE NOW BUT HELLO?? YOU DESEVRE IT AFTER PUMPING THAT MASTERPICE OUT IN A SINGLE MONTH??? ok my bad let me reel it back a little but oh my god dude it's like I'm combusting into flames in a good way??? exploding should probably be the right wording actually Anyways!! I cannot express to you how grateful I am of how good this is?? the story plot is 10/10. (I would say something abt a particular character but yk spoilers and whatnot BUT NOTHING bad at all, it just was quite literally gut wrenching) The writing? we've already established this, it's actually so good I'm going to eat it like a four-course meal 10/10. the characterization and just the way you so nicely write everyone so clearly? BEAUTIFUL LIKE WHAT??? ACTUALLY BAFFLING HOW SATISFYLING GOOD IT IS??? 10000/10. AND NOT TO FORGET THE UNIQUENESS TO THE STORY IN THE FIRST PLACE?? never in my life have I read someone write this concept of y/n's identity. AND FOR IT TO BE Y/N IN THE FIRST PLACE?? like for being an input character to project onto ITS SO WELL WIRTTEN ITS LIKE HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS BUT ITS SO CREATIVE ON YOUR END. AND AGAIN, TO YOUR WRITING, IM SORRY BUT IT JUST FEELS SO??? ALIVE?? LIKE THE DESCRIPITIONS, THE INTERACTIONS, THE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS EVERYTHING IS EXPRESSED SO WELL. anyways!! this is a lot of words but you definitely deserve the love like 10,000% because my god. I just wanted to let you know that its amazing its so hard to even explain how good it is in words. I genuinely hope life is treating you well as of late and if its not I hope it gets better!!!!! -your favorite, 🍎 (Literally though thank you I cannot stress this enough, and if anything, you're MY favorite like oh my god)

Sobbing reading this thank you!!! I keep meaning to sit down and finish re-reading everything so I can try to pick writing back up + go through and fix the formatting/a few typos along the way, but life has been a little hectic and I've been super focused on some other personal projects, but 4x2 has not left my brain, lives there rent free. It's super weird to me to think that one of the last times I was working on it was last year....

One day. One day we will see Y/N and our silly backseat captain return for more chaos and shenanigans and blatant lack of self preservation but at least they know they have none. I projected too hard onto Y/N and apparently that's resonating with people, lmao!! <3 <3 Thank you again for the plethora of kind words, they will live rent free in my head with the bits and pieces of the plot I'm still juggling like our beloved bouncy ball.

[raid3r-r4bbit]

someone broke into my apartment. I havent been on because the only thing i have that i can access the internet on is my work computer ( i can get into trouble for using even spotify on that) and my switch ( just got it last monday. in another situation id be ecstatic about getting a new game system, but right now im just glad i didnt leave it out in the open)

Firstly, sorry if the formatting weird, im not used to my new phone yet.

Secondly im sorry for the people who wanted drawings from me, im gonna try my best to recreate them and post them.

Thirdly, this is really fucking long, tldr, someone broke it, let one of my cats out stole my tablet, phone, and a bunch of my games so thats why i was gone. read for details? I guess? I wouldnt lol.

also fuck you theres typos, of course theres gonna be typos.

SO…

small town does not equal no crime. After the (insert wherever the power comes from) was fixed, it has some issues and shut down again a few days later. idk why. My rm and i decided to walk to the gas station for lunch, they had power, music, cold drinks and food, and bathrooms that have functioning lights. Our landlord said it would only be a few hours, so we used our backup battery packs ( yes the ones we’re only supposed to use for work or incase of emergency) to power a fan and opened a window (the little net thing closed) for the cats and left.

because we were only going to be away for an hour, i left my phone (by accident) and tablet on the couch. in plain view of the window.

well, we have a lot of college students who walk directly by out porch ( i even had a girl threaten to call the cops on me for smoking… on my own fuckin porch) and two other girls who decided it was public chatting place and were upset that interupted them wheni asked them to leave.)

we dont know if it was a college student, or someone else, called the cops and got it all sorted there wasnt much they could do ( figures)

they came in through the window, and we think they either left it open, or that Patches, one of my cats, got out when the opened it, because she was gone when we came home, and she liked to hang out by the window. Thankfully, miso hates going outside, and katsu is scared of everyone and hides when people come over. we still havent found patches. im not worried about her, she didnt really like us, she isnt declawed, and she was orginally an outdoor cat anyways. we left out food and water and liter for her, but if she comes back she comes back. ive lost enough animals not fret over it. (tbh if it was on of the other two id probably sob)

but whoever broke in stole a bunch of my game stuff. we dont think they even went into out bedrooms, cause nothing was out of place. it took me realizing some of out stuff, the cat and the askew window (what the fuck is that thing called??) to realize we’d been robbed. ( well me actually, my roomate keeps all his stuff in his room which is fair because other than HBO i pay for all the streaming services, and i (thankfully still have) 4 consoles, which wont fit in my tiny ass room.)

they took my phone and tablet. (not worried about the phone, it was some dinky burner phone) a package off our porch ( it was mario kart, i got a switch like last monday, and the only game i have is animal crossing. very fun. thankfully, id left it on my desk.) they also took a few of my games, thankfully i have duplicates of most of the ones they took and digital copies.

ironically, the version of TLOU and FO4 (i have 4 copies of fo4 including the digital copy) were the scratched up versions, they did take my copy of infamous for the ps3. and they also took my unopened copy of RDR2. so like, pricey items but the only thing im upset about are my tablet and my cat.

for those wanting the drawings i promised, i will still get them to you, thankfully i had a warranty on it and its getting replaced after the police finish whatever it is they say they do. ( doubtful) so it may take a hot minute.

however it also means i have to completely restart my issue 2 of my comic, as i hadn't saved the final pages and the wips anywhere other than my phone and tablet. personally, im frustrated, but it gives me a chance to change a few wee details and try out a style ive been thinking on.

so im probably not going to be super super active for the next few (idk how long, im sorry) but i will draw what i said i would.

As for patches, i told my mom if she comes back pregnant ( again -_-) that we are going to yeet her into a rocket to live with the martians, and get a new cat. (or if she doesnt come back. we work best with a three cat ratio) if its boy we are probably going to name him garbanzo. (this is mostly a joke, but she was intended to be temporary as a friend of mine couldnt keep her anymore and we had been looking for a home for her. surprisingly, nobody wanted a super chill calico who enjoyed nothing but food and sitting directly on your trachea.)

anyways, im tired. ill be patiently waiting for my new tablet and trying to make my ACNH island as destroyed and apocalyptic as possible. (new squared? i got the other one for my birthday last year, so its been almost a year exactly. my birthdays on the 28th <_< >_> if anyones interested in knowing.)

sorry if this is a ramble. im high af and somewhere in between pissed off, depressed, and overly happy about tiny little animals and bells.

[belovedblabber]

12. for the sensory prompts?

Thank you🙌 I have so much fun with these <3

`12. Cloying sweetness on the back of your tongue

I used this as an excuse to write a little excerpt between two of my characters, Riel and Hypatia, over there being platonic life partners.

Excuse any weird formatting here I'm always too lazy to fix copy paste weirdness on tumblr even when it unmakes my indents sdfghj;

~~~

Riel’s hands were shaking. He wrapped them tighter around the mug, grounding himself with the heat that was just shy of too much. He slid down further against the wall, the floor seeming to sway beneath him. Thank God he’d had the foresight to sit down.

“What is this?”

Hypatia turned away from the window, securing the boards back in place as she did.

“Medicine, Gabriel. Take it.”

He closed his eyes, leaned his head back against the wall.

“Not the proper name shuffle Patia. I feel chided.”

“You should feel chided, you big baby. Drink it.”

He stared down into the contents of the mug. Tea with so much milk it was an opaque white. Which meant that she was trying to dose him with more than she was letting on.

“What is it?” He asked softly, his voice wavering more than he’d like.

Hypatia was quiet for a moment, looking him over and very obviously reading him like a book. He was glass around this woman. She saw right through him.

She came over to crouch in front of him.

“It’s nothing heavy duty Riel,” she said with a gentle cast to her voice. “It’s just to help with the pain.”

“So was what they gave me at the hospital and we both know how that worked out.”

“Gabriel—”

“Hypatia.”

A weighted silence fell between them, unbroken for a long moment before Hypatia sighed heavily and reached out to touch his cheek.

“Riel, I know. But you need to take this. For fuck’s sake, I just stitched you up and God knows I’m no doctor.”

“Yes you are, you went to school and everything.”

“Don’t get pert. I’m not a medical doctor. Ass.”

He looked away, pressed his cheek to the wall. Hypatia lowered her hand. His hands, meanwhile, were still shaking.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment of silence. “I know you’re just trying to help I’m just…”

“I know.” She took his face in both of her hands and turned it so their eyes met. “I know, Riel. But please, for me.”

Another long silence spreading out between them. Finally, he sighed and nodded, dislodging her hands from his face.

“Anything for you.” Before he could change his mind he lifted the mug and downed its contents in three quick gulps that scalded his throat.

Whatever type of tea it was, the taste was disguised by the milk and by whatever it was Patia had put in there. He coughed, the taste sticking to the roof of his mouth and setting up shop on the back of his tongue, cloying and unnaturally sweet. Like something you’d give a kid to try and trick them into taking their medicine. Tasted like a hospital bed and blank white walls that you stared at as doctors held murmured conversations about you like you weren’t there, voices cast in tones of detached pity.

He set the mug down and pushed it away.

“There. Tastes awful.”

“Medicine often does.” Hypatia took hold of his face again and tugged it gently forward, pressing a kiss between his brows. “Now come on, let me help you up. We need to get you to bed.”

She stood, but he reached out and grabbed her hand before she could straighten up entirely, staring up at her with eyes gone wide and frantic.

“Will you stay? Will you stay by the bed? I know there’s things to do but—”

“Of course I will.” She knelt down again and pressed his palm to her lips, keeping it there for a moment before moving it to her cheek and holding it in place with both hands, stroking a thumb over his knuckles. “You know I will.”

“I know,” he echoed softly. “I know…”

[valeriefauxnom]

Hello! This is the anon who'd sent you a post about how you formatted your dialogue incorrectly. Only saw your reply now.

Sorry if I came off as overbearing or fussy. I'd read some of your author's notes about pointing out typos/grammatical errors, and thought mistakes with dialogue punctuation fell under that category. I do think dialogue punctuation is important and not just some niche rule, though, but maybe that's just me.

My bad! You clearly know what you're doing, I shouldn't have assumed things. Good luck with the rest of the fic!

(You don't have to reply to this ask)

Hey, it's no problem, and I don't mind at all! In turn, I hope I wasn't sounding petulant or the like. That one was just unfortunately a case of what I felt was disproportionate effort for the benefit though! I do continually edit little bits here and there, like just yesterday I fixed a random incomplete sentence that I dunno if it didn't copy+paste over right or what. But my more involved editing is more content-based, like how I went back to some of the earlier chapters and added/subtracted/changed a few things here and there in an attempt to make the story overall work better, since Scaling truly is just a wild ride of a passion project spiraled far beyond what I'd anticipated. Having to closely scan that many words to just change a uppercase to lowercase or vice-versa occasionally was just too daunting a task.

I'm a bit of a weird case in that I am indeed fussy and picky about the basics in writing, like knowing your 'its vs it's' and all that, as well as the general rules for writing things, but when it comes to more nitty-gritty stuff, I'm not as invested in looking for them or correcting, since I do rarely find value in breaking other rules + am probably breaking umpteen kajillion advanced grammar rules unknowingly to begin with.

While I don't think formatting dialogue as a general category is niche, the specifics of whether or not to capitalize, etc, after, as you described seemed to be, solely based on the rarity of which any of that was mentioned in my own frantic searching to see if my whole education was a lie. Granted, it might be a case of people who need to look up basic writing concepts needing the absolute basics taught to them, like 'wow! punctuation goes on the inside of the quotation marks!' or 'wow! each speaker needs their new paragraph!', but in a way that just reinforces the idea that the rules of split dialogue are more niche within the broad category.

Again, not trying to say what you're saying was incorrect, but just that that particular advice might be a bit more niche than you'd assumed! If I'd had that pointed out earlier, there would have been a good chance that I might have actually corrected that one, but it again really was just a case of '200k words later' compared to the point where I'd fix that.

That being said, thank you again for the advice and for reading Scaling! (Hopefully you don't dislike me replying, as I take the ' don't have to reply' as a reassurance, not a request!)

[chaoscriess]

Hi there! I just found your fanfics and fell in love with your writing!! Could you do poly Stu x Billy x fem!reader with the prompts 1, 10, and 53? I get really bad nightmares and I would love some comfort from my two favorite characters.

STOP i just looked at your blog and i absolutely love it!!!! I have such a big thing for Halloween and I got so excited when I saw ur countdown ahhhhhfjdhsnsfuoej do I have a fix that's supposed to be released before this one? yeah but I just couldn't help it I love you.

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒! 1. 10. 53.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒! nightmares, mentions of being stabbed by ghostface in the nightmare, nothing else really, it's so fluffy

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒! on mobile, format might be weird. lowercase intended, unedited, double periods intended. this one is kinda weird, like its basically half HCs and half fic, very busy lately

ACTUALLY GOT SOMETHING DONE TODAY IM SO HAPPY

poly!stu x fem!reader x billy

you were at your friend stu's house, joined by your other friend billy. you'd had a crush on them both for a while, but you never acted on it because you couldn't decide which one you wanted more.

when billy and stu got together, you thought your life was over, and that you didnt have a chance with either of them

spoiler alert, you were wrong

anyways, you were on the couch, half asleep but trying to focus on the movie that was playing in front of you

it wasnt working

pretty soon, you were fast asleep

you were dreaming, but it definitely wasnt a good dream

you were being chased by ghostface and stabbed over and over again, and your face scrunched up in your sleep and you kept turning

stu saw this and elbowed billy softly, whispering, "what should we do? I think she's having a nightmare"

billy contemplated his options, his brows furrowed, and he came to a decision

he scooted closer to you before gently shaking you awake.

you sat up quickly with a scream, gasping for air

billy and stu quickly became concerned, both of them putting a hand on your shoulder or knee

"hey, hey, hey, its alright, I'm right here" billy spoke quietly and slowly, making his presence known to you. you were still breathing quickly, terrified, and you didnt notice either of the boys until then. you switched your eyes between the two, before pulling them both into a tight hug. you pulled away as tears welled up in your eyes, threatening to spill. you looked down as they poured out, not wanting them to see you so vulnerable.

stu reached out and gently lifted your chin, forcing you to make eye contact with him. he asked if you were okay, but you could barely hear him over the sound of your heart pounding in your ears and your loud, laboured breathing.

shit, were you having a panic attack? fuck, in front of the guys you were in love with, too. stu noticed your panicked state and pulled you into a hug with the side of your face pressed to his chest and you held eye contact with billy. you immediately took in stu's cologne and somehow it calmed you down a bit, but your breathing was still quick and ragged. "hear my heartbeat? just focus on that". you did as told, counting the beats you could hear. it helped quite a bit and after a few minutes, your breathing was back to normal.

billy took your hand in his and you looked up at stu, smiling at him. you let out a quiet 'thank you both, I'm sorry' and they looked at you like you were crazy. "y/n, you have nothing to be sorry about, none of that was your fault". you looked at billy as he spoke and then looked down, you felt like a burden. he tugged on your hand, pulling you away from stu and closer to him.

billy pressed his lips to yours for a second before pulling away. stu turned your head to face him, and he kissed you, longer than billy had, and he spoke once he pulled away. "shit, I've been waiting to do that for so long". you giggled at stu's words and looked down in embarrassment. billy chuckled at your shy behavior before speaking. "hey, you know what? we'd make a cute couple."