#thanks to her first ever winter w them in which she broke her leg. i just. love them so much <3

[eternally-tired-cryptid]

Y'all would not believe the situations I can put ocs in. Rotate them in my brain microwave.

[tooinlovewithfictionalpeople]

The Five times She met the Hargreeves- Five Hargreeves

Plot: Fives wife has been looking for him for ages, and she is not so happy about it, although she meets his fellow siblings along the way (Fluff and cuteness mainly)

Cammie was dangerous. In-fact she was well known for being the most ruthless assassin the commission has. Her abilities made her quick, her training made her agile, he mind made her strong. She never played by the rules. But if you saw under the fact she could kill you within the blink of an eye, she was a sweetheart. Her heart was made of gold, she was soft and kind the kind of girl thought to be made of honey and glass. 

However, not playing by the rules, lead the Handler to become fed up with the bright bubbly girl so she threw her to the end of the world with nothing to ‘harden’ her up. Unfortunately for the Handler that is how Camille Winters met Five Hargreeves and the two became inseparable - unstoppable - the perfect duo.

There were moments where Cammie was willing to murder Five Hargreeves, and that was the day he got the equations wrong.

                                                           ***

It was a cold Thursday night when Allison Hargreeves was talking with her friends about the revolution in the hair salon. It was like any other day.

Until  - with a loud crash, the door was thrust open. Everyone jumped to their feet, standing in a defensive position.

In the door frame stood a girl, who looked to be in her teens. Her face was unreadable as she spoke in a clear commanding voice.

“I’m Cammie. Man over the road called the cops on ya love. I’d disperse the mothers meeting”

Allison never got to thank her, she was gone as quick as she came.

                                                        ***

Klaus as never one for constant socialising, which is why he was sat in an empty coffee shop with Ben sat opposite him. He didn’t notice the girl in a waitress uniform stand next to him until she spoke.

“Im Cammie, you want anything else Mister?”

Klaus looked up, to see a teen girl staring back at him with an unreadable expression.

“Are you not a little young to be of the working class my dear?” he asked absentmindedly. Ben rolled his eyes.

The girl smiled. “Im way older then you would believe darling,” she turned to where Ben was sat, seemingly invisible to anyone but Klaus. “And what about you hot stuff?” she smirked.

Klaus lifted his head from his arms “You can see him?” he asked

“No one ever comes in here darling, I think I’d notice not one but two cuties when they walk in,”

Ben sent an awkward smile “No thank you.” he said.

Cammie sent a sweet smile before walking off. She was gone before they could say anything else. 

                                                         ***

Cammie was furious. And that was an understatement. Five had gone through the portal, taking her with him to get back to his family but somehow she was thrown away and separated from him thrown back into the 60′s where she tried desperately to find him. Then, when she awoke to the grimy alleyway she had been chucked into she realised that she was stuck in her teenage body.

She told Five. She told him the equations were wrong but did he listen? Nope.

And now she was stuck god knows where.

Now, Cammie like Five had extraordinary powers. Although there lines of what she could do were blurred she could see flashes of events that happened in the past, present and future. In other words, time was her bitch. But when she saw the flash of Five being threatened by the Handler her blood boiled.

The only issue with Five is that the little shit couldn't seem to stay in the right timeline so Cammie didn’t know when he would be experiencing what she thought he was going through.

Needless to say all thoughts of common sense went out the window when she saw the Handler pointing a gun at her teenage husband. So naturally she teleported to the commission.

When she arrived the Handler was sitting at her office with an unpleasant smirk on her face. In-front of her were two people whom Cammie did not recognise. The first was a man, with long Jesus style hair and tan skin. He had tan skin and wore a shocked expression. The other was a woman with shoulder length dark hair and wide brown eyes. The Handler did not seem even slightly surprised and Cammie’s sudden appearance.

“Cammie dear, to what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked smiling.

“Why the HELL is my husband?” She growled, eyes narrowing into slits. The Handler rolled her eyes.

“Ah yes. Don’t worry he’s a free man, still trying to stop what cannot be stopped..I must say you do look better at this age than you did two weeks ago”

Cammie rolled her eyes, looking at the two people next to her, who were staring in shock.

“I told him.” Cammie said angrily. “I told him the equations were wrong. But my husband thought he was right.”

Cammie picked up a Vase and threw it against the bookshelf so it shattered into a million pieces. “BECAUSE FIVE HARGREEVES NEVER FUCKING LISTENS”  

The Handler didn’t even blink, but the man in the chair with the Jesus hair spoke up “Hold on a minuet, Five Hargreeves is your husband? The bastard managed to get married??”

Cammie laughed. “And how would you know him?”

The man paused for a moment, “Im his brother, Deigo”

Cammie rolled her eyes, “Tell me, was he always a little shit?”

“Yes,”

The Handler stood up, picking up a gun and pointing it at Cammie who didn’t seem even slightly fazed at the fact her life was being threatened. By now it was a common occurrence. “What do you want Cammie?” she said

“Where. Is. My. Husband.” she seethed

Diego spoke up “Last I heard he was with a Man called Elliot, down an alleyway”

Cammie turned to face him “How come your’e more helpful in a second than Five has been his entire life?”

“Tell me, do you flirt with all the Haregreeve siblings?” The Handler sneered.

Cammie laughed “She’s just salty Five chose me and not her.”

The Handler raised her weapon firing multiple times but it was too late. In a flash of blue light Cammie was gone.

“Five got Married?”

                                                          ***

Five and Luther were having a nice little conversation about the poor dead Elliot in the chair when they saw a flash of blue light which seemed to be emitting a lot of crashing sounds and swearing coming from the balcony below them.

“Shit. Its the commission get down.” Five whispered to Luther who decided to do as he was told.

“How have they found us?”

Five sighed running his hands through his hair in frustration as he peeked behind the sofa. “I don’t know, but they are dangerous so be careful.”

“FIVE HARGREEVES I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU ARE HERE I AM GOING TO WRING YOUR NECK AND STAB YOUR EYES OUT WITH SPOONS”

“How many enemies do you have??” asked Luther eyes wide in shock.

However Five was staring at where the sound was coming from with a slight smile on his face. Luther was more shocked that Five was producing a genuine smile than anything else. 

“She’s not an enemy” he said standing up and walking to the stairs.

“FIVE GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I AM GOING TO KILL YOU”

Luther looked at him incredulously “Well she sure sounds like it.”

When Five got to the stairs, he was relieved to see Cammie, standing hands on hips glaring at him with the angriest stare she could muster. He merely smiled back, finding it slightly amusing how angry she was. (And slightly scary but he would never admit that)

As soon as it clicked that Five was in fact okay, Cammie marched up the staircase yelling how much she was going to absolutely slaughter him, her speed not slowing down as she drew nearer

“Er - Five? Are you sure she is not the enemy because she looks -”

Luther watched as Cammie came nearer to his brother unsure of what to do until she ...kissed Five?

The girl had ran to Five and placed her hands firmly on the sides of his face pulling him down to kiss her. His arms wrapped around her waist pulling her closer. Her hands travelled to his hair, running her hands through it. 

Luther just stood there mouth open, trying to comprehend what was happening in front of him.

The kiss broke, leaving Cammie still on her toes, face buried in the crook of Fives neck as he had one arm still wrapped around her waist and the other stroking her hair.

“W h a t?” Luther finally managed to get out

The pair separated looking up at the bigger man, who was staring between the two blankly. first of all he was shocked that Cammie hadn’t tried to kill them, but also the fact that his annoying, self centred arsehole of a brother actually found love - and not to mention the fact he had never seen Five as happy as he looked right now.

“Cammie, this is my brother Luther, Luther this is my wife Cammie.”

“Im sorry you are married?”

Five rolled his eyes so Luther turned to Cammie.

“You actually like him?”

At this Cammie laughed, brushing hair out of Five’s face “Surprisingly I do - even if he never listens to me.”

Five turned to her “I do listen to you!” 

“Erm no you don’t. I told you the calculations were off but you didn’t listen to me”

Five open and closed his mouth but no words came out, so he turned to Luther.

“We carry on with the plan, but this time we have her. She is so much better.”

“I still can’t get over the fact that you are married,”

                                                      ***

Cammie was laid in bed. Her head was on Fives chest, her arms wrapped around him, her leg hooked up on his waist. He was snuggled into her, burying his face in her hair as she slept, his arms tightly wrapped around her

The Hargreeve siblings were stood around around them, each with their mouth open slightly in shock.

“Can anyone else not get over the fact Five is Married?” Luther asked

“To a reasonable person no doubt,” Allison continued.

“And a baddass. The commission adore and are terrified by her.” Diego added

“Ben and I would like to point out she clearly makes Five happy. That’s a yay right?”

“Vanya nodded her head. “He looks at peace for once.”

And he did. For the first time in years the siblings saw their grumpy, annoying, pessimistic brother smile, a real genuine smile.

“If you guys don’t stop staring he will kill you,”

[dancingintheraindreamingonday]

My loyalty can be bought - Chapter 7

Author’s note: The journey is almost over. Maybe two more chapters. Sometimes I want to write thousands of words but that would probably bore you. Thanks to everyone who reads my stories. It means the world to me. 

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

„When was this picture taken?“ Bucky, Sam and Zemo, the golden trio, stand in Sharon Carter’s apartment looking at all her illegal paintings. But a certain framed picture got Bucky’s attention. On this picture was Sharon and you.  A cigarette was between your fingers and a bottle of Vodka was in the other hand. Your wedding ring wasn’t on your left ring-finger anymore. Instead you wore it as a necklace. You looked different. Your hair was darker than usual and you wore more make-up. If Bucky hadn’t memorize every feature of your body he wouldn’t have recognize you.

„Three years ago… I think… During that time (y/f/n) and I were pretty close but now not anymore. I think that’s a side effect when you are the vice-director of SHIELD. She doesn’t trust me anymore.“

Bucky didn’t know what shocked him most. You being vice-president of SHIELD or you not trusting Sharon anymore. After all, you and Sharon were really good friends. 

„She said my loyalty can be bought and that’s not a good character trait.“ Sharon continues talking as she pours herself a glas of whiskey.

Bucky jumps to his feet and pushes Sharon against the wall who drops the glas. „Bucky!“, Sam screams and stands right behind Bucky. „What the hell are you doing?“

„And did you sell your loyalty to the one who kidnapped (y/f/n)? Did you?“, Bucky shouts at her.

He knew it. Right from the beginning when they met Sharon after all those years. Something was off. She’s not innocent

Sharon doesn’t look at Bucky but instead at her mobile phone. Sam follows her gaze, unlocks the phone and finds a voice message of you just a day before the abduction: 

„Tell your little friends to stop following me. I don’t like being followed, Sharon. I know the identity of the power broker and I also know that SHIELD is infiltrated by HYDRA again. I’m neither blind nor naive. Why are you working with her, Sharon? I thought you hated Valentina. Why are you cooperating with her? I’m warning you. Leave them alone. Leave my family alone.“

The call ends. Your voice still hard and strong, echoing through Bucky’s mind. 

„Where the hell is she? If you want to live you better tell me.“

„She knew how this would end. (Y/f/n) played with fire and got burnt. You really think she’s still the same quirky and naive teenager who just lived for the love of a man. Wake up, Bucky. How do you think she got the job at SHIELD? You still trust her even thought she kept all the secrets.“ Sharon tries to free herself but Bucky’s grip is too strong. „Did she tell you that the first year of being a mother she wasn’t even with her child because of her depressions? She gave the kid to Tony and Pepper. Did you know that? Did she tell you how close she was with Clint Barton? Did she tell you about the huge argument she had with Steve and that they weren’t on speaking terms for 3 years? Did she tell you that she lived in Madripoor for months? And did she tell you that she was with Barton on their criminal missions? No, I bet not. She’s still acting like this weak woman around you but believe me. She’s not innocent.“ Sharon spats in Bucky’s face. 

„For the last time. Where is she?“ Not responding to Sharon's accusations.

„I’ll show you because she’s probably already dead. It was her or me and after all she was right about one thing: My loyalty can be bought.“ Sharon’s voice is filled with anger as she smiles at Bucky and Sam wickedly.

Sharon leads the way, a gun is pointed in her back. „If that’s a trap I’ll make sure you will regret the day you betrayed (y/f/n).“, Bucky whispers in her ear. 

After a while they walk into a dark building which is guarded with several soldiers with heavy guns. 

„They are with me. They wanna see the project.“

As they walk down the hall they see many doors with little windows. Bucky see other men and women in white hospital clothing laying on bed. 

„(Y/f/n) is our special guest. She’s in the last room.“

The last room has three more soldiers guarding the door. As they step aside and Bucky, Sharon, Sam and Zemo enter the room, Bucky’s heart drops. There you are. Unconscious and weak. Bucky pushes Sharon aside and walks directly to your bed. 

„Love?“, He caress your left cheek with his big hand. „Can you hear me? I need you to wake up. We have to get you out of here.“ He takes the syringe out of your arm and shakes you softly but you don’t respond. 

„I’ve brought them here as you wished.“, mumbles Sharon in her ear piece. 

The door opens again and soldiers run into the room to take their positions. „What a great day. Killing the winter soldier, the falcon and the vice-director of SHIELD. And this guy.“ A woman with black hair and big silver earrings walks into the room, looking from Bucky, to Sam, to you and to Zemo. „Good work, Carter. Well done.“, she pats Sharon on her shoulder. „You are Ms. De Fontaine. You were friends with Steve. How can you betray his legacy?“, Sam asks disgusted by her betrayal. „The world changes, Mr. Wilson. So does people and people’s goals.“ 

As Sharon and Valentina De Fontaine walk out of this room, Bucky and Sam, and even Zemo make themselves ready to fight. 

„Have fun, boys.“, Valentina chimes as the the door closed. 

15 soldiers versus 3 men. Bucky attacks first and then there was utter chaos. Punches, knife stabs and kicks. All you can hear are bones cracking, cries and thuds. Sam is pressed against the wall with no option to escape. „Any last words?“ , asks the soldier who points a gun at Sam. But before Sam could do anything the soldier collapses on the floor with a bullet in his left temple. Sam turns to his right. There is you. You lean against the wall with shaking legs. The gun is still in your hands as you whisper „Asshole“. While Sam and Zemo take the end of this fight as a small break to catch breath, Bucky rushes to you. He hugs you and kisses you dirty hair. „We need to get out of here.“ He grabs your hand as you all escape Madripoor. 

Later on the plane, Bucky looks at you intensively. „Why didn’t you tell me?“

You look at him confusion written on your face. „Tell you about what?“

„About everything. You and SHIELD; You and Steve and you and Barton. I didn’t know you were a couple.“ The last part hurts Bucky the most. He feels this green monster inside him roaring out of jealousy.

„Clint and I were never a couple. Maybe a couple of idiots and friends. But there was never more between us. Clint and I lost so much but we didn’t lose the love we had for those who we lost. At that time we were in so much pain and grieve. No, a romantic relationship was something both of us never wanted- not with each other or with anyone else.“, you reassure Bucky. He doesn’t show it but Bucky is relieved and happy. 

„There is still so much that I don’t know about you.“

„James, we broke up after you came back, remember? And people don’t really talk with their ex-partners.“

„Breaking up with you was the worst mistake I’ve ever made.“, whispers Bucky just for you to hear it. 

„It’s okay, James. I’m okay. We changed. We both did. You changed. I changed. Heck, our whole family and the whole universe changed. And love does the same too.“

„Mine didn’t.“, says Bucky. „My feelings for you never changed. I still love you.“

You smile at Bucky for a while, not reacting to his love confession immediately.

You lean your head against the cold window of the plane and close your eyes. You spoke so softly that Bucky almost missed it you say. „I’ll always love you.“

Chapter 8

Author’s note at the end: Sorry, for making Sharon kinda bad. I love the Sharon in the movies and I love the actress, so it’s definitely nothing personal. Did you notice how much my you-character changed? A few chapters ago in Bucharest she didn't notice that she and Bucky were being followed but now she's more aware of her surrounding. ;)

@inlovewith3 @jackiehollanderr @homesicam@dreamydreamerwriting @losers-club6 @gengen64@agentsofsheilds @crimson-darling @akkinda10 @xemine@bubblegumholland @chipilerendi @iamasimpingh0e @bbmommy0902 @madddiiee26 @teenagedreams-bucky @aya-fay @idontknowwhatthisisfam @w-wolfhxrd @useless-creature-213  @angywritesstuff @supernaturalcat7 @harrys-stan @geek-and-proud @pastel-boy-sungjae @austynparksandpizza @maxsaturdayhatesnarwhals @teenagedreams-bucky

[kinktae]

bitchin’ || pt. 8 (M)

The 80s were a time of choices. Which perm was right for you? What color neon would you wear next? None of these choices, however, were more questionable than a certain deal you made with Jeon Jungkook.

pairing: fratboy!jungkook x reader

word count: 4k

genre: 1980s au, eventual smut, e2l

warnings: sir kink, student/teacher roleplay, oral (f), fingering, hand job, overstimulation, another bussy slap, peepee in veevee, jk kind of uses y/n like a pocket pussy LMFAOOO, angst

A/N: This fic was inspired by To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Thank you to @junqkook for letting me use her likeness!

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

PART EIGHT 

“Mom told you I was coming down for Christmas, right?” You chirped into your phone’s earpiece, pressing it between your cheek and shoulder as you needed both hands to slip on your socks.

You had just finished brushing your teeth when your phone began to ring; you were surprised but delighted to hear your sister Rosa greet you from the other end. It felt like ages since you had spoken to either of your sisters. Sure, you gave your parents a ring every weekend, but your siblings had their own lives to worry about, you assumed.

“Not even! You know, Sammy broke up with his girlfriend last month, so he’s spending it with us for once.” Your elder sister replied.

You stretch your legs out in front of you, still stiff from sleep.

“All of us on one couch again, huh. That hasn’t happened since the final episode of M.A.S.H premiered on TV.”

“God, I’ve never seen Dad cry as much as he did that night.” Rosa reminisced, pulling a giggle from you as you replied the memory on your head. Your entire family with their noses pressed to the television’s screen, bidding farewell to a story and cast you had loved since you were seven.

“So when are you coming down then? Has winter break started for you guys yet?”

“Not yet,” you told her, “and I still have to ask Jungkook if he’d want to drive down together.”

“Jungkook?”

You froze, the fact that your family had no idea about your fake boyfriend completely slipping your mind.

“H-He’s a friend. We went to the same high school and… yeah…” You trailed off pathetically, feeling extremely vulnerable talking to Rosa about a boy.

The last she knew about your love life was the proposal… and your rather hasty return of the ring.

“A friend.” She repeated knowingly. “And will I be meeting said friend sometime this Christmas?”

Two knocks against the dorm door rang out suddenly, momentarily distracting you.

Jungkook? Meeting your family?

The idea should have made you snicker, easily dismissible, but sat in your small dorm room, on the very bed you and Jungkook often hung out on, you couldn’t help but picture yourself sat at your family’s dinner table, a Christmas dinner laid out in front of you.

You couldn’t deny how easy it was to picture him sitting beside you, chatting happily with everyone. Jungkook was important to you, in more ways than you cared to admit, and the idea of your family knowing that made your stomach flood with butterflies.

“Um… maybe, actually. Yeah.”

You hardly heard your sister’s noise of excitement as another series of knocks pulled you from your thoughts, these louder in volume.

Alright, alright.

You sighed, “Hey, I’m sorry, someone’s at the door. I’ve got to go, Rosa. Tell Lia I said hi?”

“You got it, dude.” Was your sister’s cheeky reply, a soft clang ringing out as you hurriedly placed the earpiece back onto the rotary phone.

You wondered who was at the door? It couldn’t be Yara as she had left for her first class not even ten minutes ago. Maybe it was your dorm floor’s RA?

Yanking the door open, you meet the eyes of an anxious-looking Jungkook, his hands shoved into his pockets.

“Well, you’re up early.” You quirked up an eyebrow.

“Can I come in?” He ignored. You frowned.

“Of course.”

Jungkook stepped forward in an instant, shutting the door behind him.

“What’s wrong—”

His mouth found yours suddenly, hands gripping your waist as he pulled you into him. You let out a soft gasp at his sudden motions but returned the kiss quickly, mewing as he pushed you up against the nearest wall.

Your head felt like it was spinning, it had all happened so quickly; his hand holding a leg of yours up and around his waist so that he could slip a thigh between yours.

He always smelled great in the morning, like body wash and his shampoo. You intertwined your fingers into his freshly dried hair, his tongue already pushing past your lips.

You tasted like the mint of your favorite brand of toothpaste. He imagined if he had caught you any later then the mint would have been accompanied by the taste of coffee, knowing the way you rarely started a day without a cup.

God, he had missed the taste of you.

“Where’s Yara?” He broke the kiss lazily, redirecting his mouth onto the skin where your jaw met your neck.

You let out a soft whine, enjoying the way he was nipping and licking at your sensitive skin.

“S-She just left for class.”

“Perfect.”

Head cloudy, you watched as the handsome boy sunk to his knees, sitting on the back on his heels as he began to press kisses on your still bare thighs on show thanks to your pajama shorts. You were utterly enthralled by the sight of him, his eyes dark and ravenous as he nipped at your flesh.

You were jerked back into reality, however, when one of your legs were thrown over his shoulder, his intentions suddenly hitting you.

“W-Wait!” You panicked.

Jungkook’s eyes met yours curiously, pressing a kiss again your clothed center as he raised an eyebrow as if to ask you what was wrong.

You let out a squeal at the sight of Jungkook’s mouth against your most intimate parts. Bringing both hands to cover your face, you spoke through your fingers.

“You, um, don’t have to—“

“I want to.” He replied bluntly, pressing more kisses against you, your hips jerking into him consequently.

Your reaction told him everything you couldn’t. Erik had never gone down on you. So Jungkook was going fucking to relish every second in being the first man who would ever have you like this.

“I’ll be gentle, nerd. I promise. I’ll take care of you.”

He ran his thumb up and down against your clothed slit as he contemplated just exactly how he wanted you.

His decision was made for him, however, as a hand of yours came down timidly, pulling at the tied knot which kept your shorts up.

Jungkook was preening as he watched you peel the clothes off your body, a shy look on your face. He was rock hard in his sweats, too eager at the prospect of eating you out to wait for you to take off your underwear, his tongue running flat against the wet patch of your panties.

“Fucking beautiful.” He cursed as your breath spiked, fingers coming back down to finger his hair.

You felt like you were losing your god damn mind. The sight alone of Jungkook running his tongue against you was enough to bring you to climax, but it was his tongue’s discovery of your clit that finally had you moaning out. He ran the hot muscle around it, the fabric of your cotton underwear rubbing against it with just enough pressure to have you bring your hips into him.

You had this dozed off look on your face, he noticed, your jaw slightly ajar as your brows furrowed with every little movement his mouth made.

Cute.

You let out a cry, heading tilting back into the wall as two of his fingers pushed past your damp underwear up into you, not bothering to tease your sopping entrance.

“That feel good, little girl?“

"Y-Yes, sir.”

He could see the way your little fists clenched at your sides, craving purchase but unsure of what to grip onto as the wall offer no grip. If his mouth wasn’t so preoccupied, he would have pleaded for you to dig them into his hair, tugging at his scalp as you lost yourself on the feeling of his mouth.

He flattened his tongue over your clothed slit, reeling at how wet you were for him, tasting you through the cotton; the little noises you were making only edged his actions further.

“You’re so wet.” Jungkook groaned.

An involuntary jerk of your hips was his cue to curl his fingers into deeper than he had been previously, pulling his mouth away from you to press a kiss onto your thigh. He watched with a smug grin as you unraveled in front of him, his fingers hitting a spot that had your toes curling.

”Fuck.“

The word slipped from you, tangled with broken whines as you finally climaxed.

You hadn’t even managed a minute to yourself when Jungkook’s mouth found yours again, guided by the desperate need to feel you again.

Somehow you found yourself back in your room, Jungkook hovering above you as he kissed you slowly and deeply, hips rocking into yours mercilessly. The fabric of your panties tugged against your most intimate parts, and Jungkook swallowed your whimpers greedily.

It didn’t take long for his slim digits wrap around the sides of your panties, tugging down the ruined garment, sitting back on his heels to get a proper look at your exposed glistening cunt.

"Ah, fuck me already.” Your impatience caught up with you, eyebrows furrowing. You had managed to lose all articles of clothes, yet there was Jungkook, fully dressed, not an inch of his skin exposed.

A cry let you as his hand came down onto your already swollen clit, tucking a lip between your teeth to suppress back the moan that threatened to come out.

“What an indecent student I have.” He scoffed, despite the way he rubbed at your clit gently.  "Maybe if you asked politely, you’d get what you want from me.“

You mewed, "Mm, I-I’m sorry, sir, please, need you inside of me. I can’t wait any longer.”

Jungkook abandoned your clit suddenly, tapping a finger against his chin as if pretending to contemplate your plea. You whimpered as he brought that same finger up to his mouth, wrapping his tongue around it decidedly.

“Hmm, I think I’ll take my time with you, actually.” He cooed once his fingers were well wet, pressing them back into you.

Your pussy welcomed his fingers greedily, velvety walls molding to the slender digits as they fucked into you, making a mess of you.

Frustration was pushed aside for a moment, eyes fluttering closed as you drowned yourself in the pleasure your pretend lover was giving you.

“Beautiful. So fucking gorgeous.” The dark-haired boy breathed, mostly to himself.

A surprised noise fell from him as one of your hands snuck it’s away over to his crotch, pulling down his sweats and wrapping itself around his hard cock.

“I want to make… you feel good, too.” You admitted through a hiccup, and if it weren’t for the feeling of your hand pumping his shaft, Jungkook would have leaned over and pressed a kiss to your nose.

He whined through his nose, jaw locked as he continued fingering you.

Pants filled the room, and you weren’t sure if you were groaning at the feeling of Jungkook’s hands on you or the noises he let out as you ran your thumb over the leaking red tip of his head. Probably a mixture of both.

He really was so irritating, even his sex noises were attractive.

Suddenly, his hand wrapped around yours, pulling it off his fat cock with a hiss. He pressed a kiss onto the top of your hands, breathing uneven.

“That’s enough, baby. You did so well for me.” He praised, earning a shy smile from you.

The smile was short-lived, however, as his insatiable mouth found your clit again, lapping at it as he sucked the bud into his mouth. A sob tumbled out, your thighs wrapping around his head as you were blinded by the stimulation.

You were so close, and you didn’t want to cum without having his cock inside you. The idea alone made you want to cry.

A desperate ramble of pleas for him to take you came rushing out of you, hand tugging at his hair to pull him away from you.

“Alright, alright.” Jungkook laughed, obliging you as he sat back up, hand leading his cock towards your dripping entrance. “God, you’re so fucking cute.”

Then something miraculous happened.

As his cock sunk into you, accompanied by the light circling of your clit, something inside you snapped, your orgasm hitting you hard and unexpectedly. Jungkook watched in awe as your back arched, your entire body shaking as you slowly came down.

“Baby, did you come?” He breathed incredulously once your eyes finally found him again.

“Yeah…” You whined, cheeks warm and chest rising sharply.

“Do you…” he swallowed, gripping the part of his cock that had yet to make its way inside you, “do you think you can come again for me?”

One of his hands was resting on your thigh, his palm burning against your skin. You flashed him a guilty look before shaking your head no.

Your body and head felt heavy and tired, and as much as you’d like to think you could spend forever intertwined with Jungkook, you had minimal experience with multiple orgasms.

Jungkook pressed a kiss to your mouth before nodding, moving to pull out of you, “That’s okay. I understand.”

“Jungkook.”

“Yeah?”

“…You don’t have to stop.” You muttered shyly.

“Hm? But I thought you—”

“It doesn’t matter, you can still… You can keep going. I don’t care if I don’t come.” You insisted. “You can use me until you get off. I don’t mind if it’s you.”

If it’s you.

Jungkook felt his ears grow red; you wanted him to use you to get himself off? And just like that, that familiar feeling rising in his chest. The feeling that everything was more than it was– that you were his, and he was yours.

You placed a hand onto of his, squeezing it. He blinked, thoughts vanishing the moment he saw your suggestive eyes.

A wolfish smirk crept onto his face.

“On your tummy, baby.”

A soft chirp fell from you, muffled slightly by the pillow your face was resting on as he slid into you from behind, this time bottoming out all the way like he wanted.

His grip on your hips tightened, a drawn-out groan sounding out.

“So tight for me.”

You held back your groans as he built up his rhythm, his cock hitting deep within you. Jungkook’s mouth was pressing kisses against your shoulder, his sharp breaths and soft groans flooding into your ears.

"You’re in so deep, fuck.” You gasped, burying your face into the pillow at a particularly hard thrust.

God, you were grateful that Yara wasn’t home, as there was no way she wouldn’t be able to hear how loud the two of you were being.

Sweat glistened where ever your bodies touched, leaving you feeling hot and overwhelmed, pussy on fire from waves of overstimulation.

Suddenly, Jungkook let out a low grunt, slowing down his thrusts, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, where do you want me to cum?”

With sluggish effort, you prompted yourself back up on your elbows, looking over your shoulder at him.

“Inside me.” You begged without hesitation. He let out a noise of regard, bitting down on the spot of your neck that he knew you were particularly fond of.

“Yeah? Want me to stuff you with it? Fill you up all nice?”

He couldn’t help himself. His hand found its way underneath you, fingertips brushing your clit lightly and in quick motions.

A broken wail accompanied your nod, head falling forward as your mind went blank beyond return.

“Hmph, y-yes, fuck, please!”

“Anything for my baby. Anything she wants. My pretty girl.” He cooed against your skin, panting and hips stilling.

You met your third and final climax alongside Jungkook, insides painted with layers of his hot cum. Jungkook worked himself through his orgasm, softly thrusting into your spazzing walls until he was milked entirely dry.

Pulling out of you, he flopped down beside you, hand coming up to run through his sweat-dampened hair. You rolled over with a huff, vision still spotty.

“How are you feeling?” Your meathead inquired.

“Radical. And you?”

“Bitchin’.” He grinned up at the ceiling.

He turned to face you suddenly, placing a hand on your cheek. For a second, you thought he was going to say something, but as he laid his head back down onto the pillow, you realized it was more a gesture of affection than a request for attention, his thumb rubbing against your cheekbone.

You ran your fingertips against his bicep, enjoying the way every trail of your touch left goosebumps against his skin.

The room was comfortably quiet, except for the ticking of that clock of yours– the one Jungkook told you time and time again that he hated.

“What are you doing for Christmas? Are you going home?” You asked suddenly, the question weighing on your mind for a while.

“Actually, my parents are out of town for Christmas.”

You felt disappointment crash over you, a small frown finding your lips.

“Oh. Bummer.”

Jungkook chuckled at your sour expression, leaning over suddenly to press a kiss against your pouting mouth.

“Nah, it’s okay. I still go down to visit friends and shit. I usually spend Christmas with one of them.” He reassured you, mouth finding your neck as he began to press kiss down it.

You let out a sigh, fingers gripping Jungkook’s shoulders.

Okay, it’s now or never. Spit it out already.

“Do you… What if you spend Christmas with me?” You finally managed to squeak out.

“You,” Jungkook pulled back from you, something indecipherable crossing his eyes, “want me to spend it with you?”

You turned away from his intense stare, heat creeping up your neck.

Part of you wondered if you should brush him off with a laugh, telling himself to check his ego before that big head of his exploded. That you only offered as an act of kindness.

“Yeah, I do.” Was your reply, however.

“Oh.”

His reply was immediate and disheartening. You brought your duvet up to cover your bare chest, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.

“My mom’s Christmas pecan pie is kind of legendary, you know. And she always makes way too much. We have leftovers that last us the rest of the week.” You rambled awkwardly.

“Y/N–”

But it was too late. The nervous word vomit had already set in.

“You don’t have to, of course! I mean, that’s probably weird, right? Like, meeting the family, woah, intense! That’s something couples do and we’re… Anyway, I just thought maybe since we’re pretty close we could–”

“I have to tell you something.” He interrupted, sounding serious.

It wasn’t until then that you noticed the way his chest was rising irregularly, breaths shallow and ragged. He looked… uneasy.

“Okay. Tell me.” You replied gently, look at him inquisitively.

“Kiri came over last night.”

Your stomach dropped, “Oh?”

“She wants to get back together.” Jungkook swallowed dryly, eyes wavering between yours as if to gauge your reaction.

“…Oh.”

You shook your head.

“I mean, wow! That’s… That’s great!” You smiled, something tearing apart inside you as the words left your lips.

“Y/N–”

“Seriously! This means it worked, right? This is exactly what you wanted to happen.” You enthused, turning your head so that he couldn’t see way your eyes had welled up.

Jungkook’s heart was pounding in his ears, fighting the urge to wrap his arms around you.

“Yeah… yeah, no, you’re right. We did it.” He replied monotonously.

You blinked back the tears, refusing to let yourself cry over a boy you weren’t even dating.

“Yeah. We did.”

Silence fell over the room, the air swarming with uncomfortable tension. God, you didn’t want this. You didn’t want this at all. Things were so good just a second ago. You would do anything to go back to when Jungkook was on top of you and telling you how beautiful you were.

Clearing your throat, you rolled back over to face him.

“So tell me, meathead. How’d it go? We oughta go and buy champagne or something.“

Jungkook offered you a smile, and maybe it was you looking too far into it, but it certainly felt insincere.

"She came over to my room last night. Said she wanted to talk.”

“And what did she say?”

“Uh… not a lot, actually.”

“Huh? What did you guys do then?”

There was something guilty in the way Jungkook looked at you– something that had you feeling uneasy.

“…You slept with her.” You blinked.

Jungkook sat up in the bed, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck anxiously.

“She was saying how she missed me and then suddenly she was kissing me and I… I don’t know I kind of just reacted–"

“Wait.” You sat up straight, expression hard. “Let me get this straight. You fucked her last night. And this morning… you fucked me.”

You felt sick. To think that just a few hours ago, Jungkook’s dick was inside someone else. The mouth that was kissing you and telling you how much you meant to him, was doing the same for Kiri not even a full day ago.

So, what… were you just Jungkook’s to fuck around with whenever he wanted?

“Are you mad?” He called out cautiously, a heavy feeling falling onto his chest.

“Why would I be mad?” You quipped back sharply, causing Jungkook to flinch. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

“I just thought… I mean we’ve been fooling around a lot lately, so I didn’t know if—”

“If what? I had feelings for you?” You scoffed. “Please, as if I’d ever fall for you.”

And there it was— everything Jungkook already knew but had been so afraid to hear. Of course, you didn’t feel for him what he felt for you. How could he have expected anything different?

Fuck. What had he done?

Your mattress groaned as you slipped off the bed, beginning to hastily dress.

“You can go.” You continued, pulling your shirt over your head.

Jungkook’s heart sank, “What?”

“You got what you wanted from me, right? Mission accomplished.”

“Nerd, that’s not why—” His words were stopped by the impact of his shirt being thrown into his chest, your stare ice cold.

“Don’t fucking call—” You paused, attempting to calm yourself with a shaky breath. “I have class. Please just… go.”

Jungkook did nothing for a moment, staring at you with those guilty eyes that did nothing but hurt you further.

You were a smart girl. So how did you let someone like him make a complete fool out of you?

You wanted to scream, you wanted to cry, but you refused to let him see how small you felt right now. So you stood there unwaveringly as you faced the boy you had so stupidly let into your heart.

Jungkook could hear the way you struggled to steady your breaths as he dressed; he had never hated himself more than he did right now. There was so much he should be saying, yet he couldn’t find the words. Even as he was fully dressed and met your eyes one final time, he still remained voiceless, despite the way his insides screamed to say something that could take back what he had done. Something that would fix what he had just broken.

“Now.” You stated, tone void of emotion.

It was a front, of course, just a means of hiding the way you felt like you were crumbling. Even when Jungkook slipped past you wordlessly, you still held steady. And it wasn’t until you heard the click of the front door closing that you finally let yourself break, eyes wet as your lips parted, a small sob slipping past them.

[parkers-gal]

eggnog and mistletoe P.P

wc: 1.5k (fluff)

summary: peter helps you learn to love the holidays

best friends to lovers!au / peter parker x reader

Growing up, the holidays had never peaked your interests. What, with living in an area where heat was a constant and snow was a rare, you had no reasons to find any of the winter holidays interesting or in the least bit, exciting. 

This was your first year in New York, and your first holiday outside of your hometown. It was one of the last weeks of November, Peter inviting you and his friends over to his apartment for a movie night. 

The heater was on, blankets passed around as everyone chose spots, you and Peter choosing one end of the couch, Ned sitting on the floor and MJ on the arm chair. Betty was sitting on the other end of the couch, Flash sitting beside Ned as they fought for the popcorn. 

A scene in the movie came on, but Flash had to use the restroom, asking you to pause the movie. You did just that, and Betty took the opportunity to talk. 

"I just love winter and Christmas," she gushed. "It's so much fun and it makes me so nostalgic." 

"Ha, for you," MJ replied. "I will admit, the ice skating is fun as fuck."

Peter laughed, nodding. 

"What about the food, though," Ned tapped his temple with his pointer finger.

"What food?" Flash came out of the bathroom, straightening his shirt out. 

"We're talking about the holidays," Peter told him. 

"Oh sick," he sat down next to Ned again, pulling his blanket over his legs. "You guys ever just play in the snow until your nose turns red? And then your mom has to drag you in before you get a cold?"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Betty laughed, tapping his shoulder. "Or when you drink eggnog and open presents-"

"I think decorating is way more fun than eggnog," MJ commented. 

"What about you?" Peter asked you quietly, poking your side. 

"What about me?" you laughed nervously at him. 

"What do you like about the holidays, I mean," he said. 

"Well uhm," you scratched the back of your neck. "I don't really like the holidays." 

"You don't like the holidays?" Ned repeated, louder. "How do you not like the holidays?" 

"Seriously though, what're you going to do on Christmas?" Betty asked. 

"Probably stay home and watch movies," you said nonchalantly, not seeing the big deal with your response. 

"Jesus Christ," Ned laughed. "You're really missing out, kid." 

"Yeah, what are you, the Grinch?" Flash joked, laughing with Betty. 

"Can't you go home to your family?" MJ suggested. 

"We don't really- you know... they aren't big on holiday celebrations." 

"No wonder she's a Grinch," Flash teased.

"Okay, okay," Peter shut it down. "Let's just finish the movie before it gets too late." 

For the next three weeks, Peter and his friend group had prepared for the holidays, going ice skating and taking trips to the mall for Christmas shopping, as well as going in to see the big Christmas tree. All the while, you had denied each of their offers, not wanting to be called a Grinch for not having fun during their hang outs. Peter, however, found himself having less fun now that you had stopped hanging out with them. 

Christmas was in a week, the gang going their separate ways as the holidays approached. They were traveling to their families in time for Christmas. Peter was due to leave for Aunt May's in a day, and you had settled on your original plan: watching movies in your apartment. 

Peter had a different idea. 

You were over at his apartment for what would be the last time until he returned from his Aunts, which was to be after New Year's day. 

"So Y/N, I was thinking," he started. You looked away from your computer, looking to the boy sitting on the other end of the bed. 

"Yeah, what about?" 

"I was thinking you could come home with me for the holidays."

You froze, eyes darting up towards his face, shock probably covering your expression. 

"What?" 

"Well, I-I  just," he stuttered, itching the back of his neck. "You know, you said you didn't really have fun during the holidays and I was just hoping you'd let me take you- y'know, maybe introduce you to it for the first time."

"Oh."

"You don't have to go! I just didn't want my best friend to be alone on Christmas day and then not see me until the next year-"

"I think that's, uhm, a really nice idea."

"Yeah, you think so?" he asked timidly, crawling closer to you. 

You nodded, and he broke out into a smile. "Awesome. We're going tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Well I leave for May's tomorrow, and I want you to come with me."

You nodded, "well I have to go pack." 

Peter nodded, kissing your forehead. "I'll pick you up at 9 A.M.?"

You smiled, nodding. You kissed his cheek on the way out, and once your back was turned, Peter did a little celebratory fist pump.

**

"Peter I don't know how to skate on ice," you said nervously between gasps. He was standing next to you on the ice while you held onto the barricades. May was on the sidelines, phone in her hand as she took pictures of the moment. 

"C'mon, Y/N. Just watch me and then I can help you, okay?"

You nodded, quickly changing positions to look at him better. After five minutes, you had the groove down, taking Peter's hand. He pulled you into the rink more, watching your movements and giving you tips. You nearly fell four times, but after fifteen minutes, you had gotten the hang of it, and had actually found yourself having a great time. Peter could not keep his eyes off of you. 

"Where to next?" Peter asked, sitting on a bench beside you and May as he took his skates off. 

"There's hot chocolate on the way out," May said. "We can get some for the trip to the Rockefeller."

Peter ooh'ed, physically excited about the idea. 

"What's the Rockefeller?" you asked, putting your converse back on. 

May smiled at you, and Peter took your hand, helping you step down, as the three of you stood up to go to the exit. "It's where the big Christmas tree is," he told you. 

"Ohh."

"Yeah," Peter blushed. "It's super pretty at night. Colder, but pretty."

"Interesting."

"Yeah?" Peter asked hopefully. 

"Yeah," you confirmed before thanking May for getting you a hot chocolate. Peter watched as you took your first sip, and he smiled when you let out a satisfied hum. "That's really good."

"I told you," he nudged your hip with his own, smiling. His beanie covered most of his curls, but he was still your silly best friend. 

After viewing the tree for a good twenty minutes and taking at least forty pictures, May said it was time to head back home. It was getting colder by the minute, and you and Peter found it was probably a good idea. 

Arriving back, Peter told you to go shower first, something about how it would warm you up. When you walked back into his room with a normal shirt and some shorts on, he stood up.

"Here," he handed you some clothes. 

"What's this?"

"Oh, uhm- Christmas pants and a sweater. My- my sweater," he blushed, and you slowly took it from him, inspecting them before putting them on. Peter grinned before heading towards the bathroom, "I'm going to shower. Make yourself comfortable." 

While Peter was in the shower, you were sitting on the couch, looking through the assortment of Christmas movies May had stocked up. She was making her ritual Christmas Eve dinner, and she came out to sit next to you while it was baking in the oven. 

"So Peter tells me you weren't really a fan of the holidays," she says. 

"Yeah," you smiled nervously. "I just never found it interesting or anything." 

"Well, I hope you at least find this year's Christmas interesting," she smiled, and you did too. 

"I really do. Peter makes everything better- I mean, he makes things more fun." 

May grinned, a twinkle in her eye. Before she could reply, Peter was coming out of the bathroom, his outfit just like yours, only he had fuzzy socks on. 

"What're we talking about?" he sat next to you. 

"Just that you have to kiss her now." 

Peter choked on air, glancing back and forth between you and May. "Wh-at? W-why?"

May smirked, pointing towards the ceiling and going back to the kitchen. There, hanging down, was mistletoe, and Peter blushed, his ears reddening all over again. 

"What- what's that mean?" you asked, brows furrowed. 

"Well, it's tradition that if two people stand under the mistletoe together, they have to- uhm.. they have to kiss."

"Oh," you said, relaxing a little as you understood. 

"We- we don't have to, I'm sure May was just mes-" but he didn't get to finish his sentence, as your lips had managed to quiet him. It didn't last very long -- they never do-- but it lasted long enough for Peter to kiss you back. 

"I really like you," he confessed after the two of you had split apart. 

"I really like you," you said back, and he smiled, linking one of your hands with his, just as May had brought out dinner. 

[spectralscathath]

Fria's Day Out- RWBY drabble

Ruby spent all of volume 6 trekking across Mistral and nearly getting killed due to the stupid Relic of Knowledge, and now General Ironwood's trying to give it back to her? When there's a perfectly good Vault there?

Absolutely not.

(AKA this was not your best plan ever, Jimmy)

Ao3 link

"You're giving the lamp back to us?" Ruby asked, brows furrowing in confusion as James held out the relic. He thought it was a good idea, at least until the vault could be safely opened.

"Who better to safeguard it than the people who already protected it?"

Ruby reached out, hand resting on the relic, before she shoved it hard against his chest, looking aghast as she darted back like it had burned her.

"Are you crazy? That thing's a Grimm magnet, we nearly died, like-" she paused to count on her fingers, "three times?" She glanced at her teenage friends for clarification. "Three, was it three?"

"Manticores on the train, Apathy at the farms, Leviathan at Argus." Weiss rattled off, ignoring Winter's horrified gasp.

"And you want us to keep carrying it? We came here to throw it in the Vault in the first place!" Ruby stared at him like he was an idiot, and right now he was able to somewhat understand her reasoning.

Still, he pulled up some bluster. "Well, Fria's bedbound, so the Vault can't be opened right now. She's in no state for it."

"I mean- this is Atlas, right? Do you have hoverbeds? Wheels? You guys have invented the wheel, right? Just push her along, it can't be that dangerous."

"Well-" James started before Winter cut in.

"Actually, sir, it might be good for her to get out and about." Winter noted, face completely impassive as he beheld her treachery.

"She'd be remaining in the military base as well, Mr Ironwood!" Penny chirped cheerfully, oblivious to how he was beset on all sides by treason. "And we could set up a guard!"

"See?" Ruby squeaked determinedly. "I vote we throw that lamp from heck into the Vault and never look back!"

"We can't just wheel Fria to the vault," James rolled his eyes. "That's preposterous."

James pushed Fria's bed along, one of the wheels clicking on every rotation like a shopping trolley. "This is undignified."

"Oh, I'm having a great time, pet," Fria chuckled, a Barstucks takeaway cup held in her shaking hand. The concoction inside was some awful pink monstrosity that looked incredibly malevolent. "You ignore him, Winter, my son's just taking himself too seriously again."

"Mom, please." James groaned as Winter laughed, no restriction on the bell-like sound. Fria really brought down her guard.

"I can't believe you've got a mom, Mr Ironwood." Ruby skipped alongside them, holding the relic like it was about to jump up and bite her. James didn't know which of his scientists gave her the tongs but he was going to have a word with his R&D about loaning equipment for frivolous purposes. "I always thought you were raised by a pack of soldiers."

"You should have seen him at your age, he was a hellion," Fria gossiped with her, Winter's eyes sparkling as she hid her smile with a sip of coffee. "Running around Mantle and constantly getting into trouble, I think some of your old graffiti is still down there."

"Graffiti?" Ruby's eyes lit up with mischief. "But he's so serious!"

"I'm standing right here."

"Is that what he does now, walks around all serious?" Fria cackled. "Dear me, James, you haven't gotten boring, have you?"

"I'm afraid he has," Winter jumped in before he could defend himself, her tone dour and her twinkling eyes anything but. "It's quite a shame, from your stories he sounds like quite a rabble rouser."

"Oh he was!" Fria snorted gracelessly. "I could tell you stories- have I told you stories? I can't quite remember-" she frowned, James's gut twisting as the damnable memory loss wiped some of her spark.

"You have, Fria," Winter reached down and took Fria's hand, black gloves gentle as she clasped wizened fingers. "But I'd be happy to hear them again, if you like."

"Aren't you good?" Fria smiled again. "And you, Ruby, I swear, you Huntresses get younger every year."

"Oh, well, I'm just a prodigy," Ruby preened like a peacock under the praise. "I got into Beacon two years early."

"Really? My, that's impressive. Did the old man let you in himself?"

"Ozpin?" Guilt flashed over Ruby's face. James decided she should never play poker. "Uh- yeah, um, he did. It was cool."

"How is that old coot anyway? Still talking in riddles?" Fria asked as Ruby grew more and more uncomfortable, James keeping half an ear on the conversation as they reached the lift down to the Vault. He wheeled Fria onto the platform, shivering slightly at the chill in the air. The cold always gnawed at him even with extra coats on.

Ruby's babble broke off as the platform under their feet moved, bringing them down the passage before it opened into the cavern in the heart of Atlas, Ruby's eyes going wide with childlike wonder. "Wow…"

James felt a bit of pride at that. Atlas's Vault was very nice indeed. The geometric blocks floated in the air around them, icy blue flames flickering in torches as they descended towards the platform, a cavernous drop awaiting below. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Ruby looked around, awestruck. "I never saw the one in Haven, Yang did- and she doesn't like talking about it aside from saying it was weird and there was a tree and a desert, but this is amazing! How are those blocks floating? Why is the fire blue?"

James opened his mouth to answer before realising he didn't have one, jaw clicking shut as he was left to shrug. "Dust?"

"Oh, not magic?" Ruby pouted for a moment before something shiny caught her attention. "That door is huge! What's it like inside, Yang said the Haven one led to a desert, how cool is that?"

"I don't know. I've never seen inside." He couldn't help be curious as well. "The Atlas vault hasn't been opened since Ozpin lifted the city into the sky, in a past life. It was before my time."

"I remember, I think." Fria piped up. "I was only a girl, but a floating city is rather spectacular."

"I can imagine." Winter mused. "Fria, would you like me to hold your Very Berry Hibiscus Coconut Milk Refresher with Extra Whip?" She said it with a straight face, because she was a stronger person than James could ever hope to be.

"Oh, yes, thank you. It's very nice," Fria handed it over, a quaver in her hands.

James raised a brow. "You need to hold her coffee?"

"Well, you'll have to help her up to the Vault, sir." Winter stated like it was obvious.

"Huh?"

"James, pet, did you think you were going to roll me up the stairs?" Fria laughed, tiredness beginning to steal across her eyes. They didn't have much time left before the excitement of the day turned to fatigue.

"What stairs, there's no stairs- oh my gosh there's stairs now!" Ruby squeaked excitedly as the staircase formed, practically bouncing in place. James sincerely hoped the relic clasped in her tongs didn't go flying. It would be such a hassle to get it back if she dropped it off the edge.

James hesitated. "Mom, are you sure?"

"I can't walk well, but if I'm going to open a Vault for the first time, I'd like to get up there myself." Fria stated with that rock-solid determination he'd seen a million times, dark blue eyes steady and firm, and that was that.

"Alright." He carefully, carefully helped her out of the hospital bed, struck by how small and frail she was now. He supported her with an arm under her shoulders, and wondered if she'd let him get away with carrying her up.

Fria's eyes glowed brilliant blue, azure flames springing to life for a moment as she formed a walking stick from thin air, gnarled wood and ice crystals melding together to perfectly fit her hand and height.

Seeing her perform magic never got old.

Fria rested some of her weight on the stick, most of her weight on James, her legs shaking as she set her jaw and started hobbling towards the Vault with him.

"Mom, are you sure?" He didn't want her to hurt herself.

"James, I'm feeble, not dead." She informed him briskly.

"Uh- if you want I can scatter you guys up?" Ruby offered, having gingerly shifted the relic into her actual hand, holding it at arm's length. "It's fun, like being in a tornado. And it'll be quicker?"

"I'm not sure about that-" James started, remembering the tournament footage of Ruby's semblance before Fria nodded eagerly.

"Well that sounds exciting, scatter away, dearie!"

"Mom, please-!" James suddenly found himself caught up in a swirl of red, shooting forward like a bullet from a gun and broken apart into pieces (he felt like it should have hurt but it didn't), before suddenly he was on his feet again, too fast for him to comprehend as rose petals floated in the air around him and Ruby collapsed to her knees.

"Wow, you are heavy, Mr Ironwood, what are you made of, metal?" She leaned against the golden metal of the Vault door. "Whoo- okay, I'm never picking you up again, no offence."

He dearly wanted to tell her the answer to her question was 'yes' and refrained, instead checking on Fria. "Mom, are you alright?"

She laughed, her hair a mess and her eyes bright. "That was fun!"

He sighed in relief. "I really think we should get this done sooner rather than later. I'm glad you're okay." She was in a very good state today, they'd waited for that, but he didn't know how long it would last. How long until she forgot where she was and who she was and who he was.

Fria nodded, leaning most of her weight against his side as her eyes blazed with fire, her hand shaking as she touched it to the Vault. The sharp lines of the overlapping rectangles began to glow pale white, the light racing up to the top of the door. The golden facets of the door began to drop, and a wave of roaring heat washed out over the three of them, bringing with it the smell of sulphur and brimstone.

Ruby coughed and covered her face, her nose already turning red. “For a Vault of Creation, I was expecting something- I dunno, more cheerful?”

Cheerful was not how he would describe the cavern within, thick streams of magma dripping from the walls and pooling around a slender path of rock that led to a pedestal, heatwaves shimmering in the very air. It was like the inside of a volcano, maybe it was one, and there above the pedestal, the relic of creation floated, a pearlescent white gem that had been sculpted into the handle of a paintbrush, golden filigree elaborately ensconcing the jewel as snow white threads formed the brush.

“Ruby, place the lamp in there and we’ll close it up.” He ordered, sweat forming on his brow.

“Right!” She ran in, careful to avoid the edges where molten rock bubbled hungrily, setting the lamp down in front of the pedestal and scattering out, her petals catching fire from the sheer heat in the air. James waited for her to pass them by, scooping up Fria as he walked down the stairs, eager to get away from the heat at his back.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he carried his mother back to the hospital bed, holding off on any feelings of joy at a task completed. Until the Vault door closed and Fria was back in the safety of her ward, there was still danger.

“Yes, James, I’m fine,” she smiled weakly at him, her eyes returned to the dark blue that was so similar to his own. She looked so drained, even that small bit of magic sapping her strength. “I’m just tired. Not as young as I used to be… the magic takes more of a toll now…”

“Well, rest up, alright?” He gently placed her down, tucking the quilt around her. “You did good, mom.”

“I did my job.” She stated, whispers threading through her voice and undercutting her surety. Because she was an Ironwood, much like himself, and they did their jobs no matter the cost on themselves. “But yes… I think I’ll rest a bit... Winter, will you keep my drink cool for me?”

“Of course.” Winter studied him. “Sir, shall I stay here until the Vault’s closed again?”

“No. I’ll guard it. You take my mother back to her room so she can rest.” He smiled at Winter, before he gave Fria a gentle hug, always careful with his right side. He didn’t think he’d see her again. The transfer of power had to be kept secure. This was already too much of a risk. “Thanks, mom.”

“I had fun,” Fria smiled as she nodded off, a large white Beowulf with cyan eyes forming from a glyph, grasping the hospital bed in its claws as Winter guided it to walk with her, escorting Fria to the lift out.

James watched her go, ready to wait for the vault door to close. He could still feel the heat from here. “Miss Rose, are you alright?”

“I’m good, in the red but good,” she sat on the ground, staring up at the Vault. “I know that I knew it was a paintbrush, but I was really expecting a spear, or a staff, yunno, something more impressive?”

“You don’t think painting’s impressive?” He chuckled slightly, choosing to return to somewhat of a good mood.

“That feels like a trap question.” Ruby eyed him suspiciously, her hands and belt looking empty without the relic she’d been guarding on the trip here.

“Fria paints.”

“Definitely a trap question.” She smiled a bit, and it reminded him of Summer. She really did look so much like her mother. “Your mom is cool.”

“I know she is.” He hoped she slept well, and could remember today. If she had happy memories, he’d rather she was lost in them, rather than anything else. “At least the relic’s safe now.”

“Yeah. It would’ve been really stupid to just carry it around in the open up here, I mean, it draws Grimm. Yeesh.” She looked up at the open Vault. “Well, at least now it’s locked away and no one can get to it. Ugh, could you imagine if I took you up on your offer?”

“... I'd rather not." He hoped he lived that particular idea down soon. It really wasn't his best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A quick drabble about what would have happened if Ruby remembered The Entire Point of Volume 6. Toss Jinn into the Vault already, she'll live with it.

[third-generation-female-warrior]

Ordinary Date

Ahaha! So I did write something for Valentine’s Day, now that it’s basically over, but it’s still 9:40pm my time, so it counts! So, sequel-ish to The Path we Walk and prequel-ish to Goodbye Winter, with Talbott and Ravenclaw!Alexus, my favorite pairing to write about, it seems. It’s not a fic of the Valentine’s Day Ball sidequest, this is kinda AU-ish on what I think their first date would really be like. First date hymns, poetry, angsty stuff, the world’s smallest canon complaint, preppy-nerds-who-pine, banter, little proof-reading, this did not go remotely the direction I thought it was gonna. Things started out so nice for them. He made her feel like an ordinary girl, if only for a few hours. But she was not meant to last a whole night, it seems. Rated T, 6,000+ words.

-

The soft glow of the street lanterns casted an orange glow onto the otherwise pearly white snow that rested to the sides on the main street of Hogsmeade, dulled grey by the night’s gentle darkness. It wasn’t snowing, but the clouds looming in the sky suggested that fact would change. There was a gentle coldness in the air, not a biting freeze, but it still made the breaths of the passersby illuminate a smoky puff as they walked along the wet cobblestone path. Their breathes would turn orange or yellow as the air would catch the soft light glow of the window shops. The people walking in front of the warm interiors would only have half their face casted in light, the other halves of their bodies turning to near translucent shadows.

Talbott Winger watched people turn into silhouettes, only seeing shadows as they walked from shop to shop.

He stood on the opposite side of the street of the Three Broomsticks entrance, the adults and the students pouring in and out of the establishment, walking hand in hand, or storming out furiously, one girl running out, crying. It must have been a date gone wrong. It was Valentine’s Day, after all.

Talbott’s first Valentine’s day with Alexus Johnson, the girl from his year he gave his heart to on accident and against his better judgement. It was not a deathbed confession, but she was recovering after being tortured by a dark witch when he confessed his mutual attraction.

A lot of their relationship milestones seemed to be an accident. He accidentally let his guard down enough for her to become his friend. She accidentally confessed her feelings first. He accidentally got feelings for her, more than he knew what to do with.

He just didn’t want to accidentally ruin tonight.

He was waiting outside the Three Broomsticks because that’s where they agreed to meet. She was discharged from the Hospital Wing earlier today, and he left while her friends dragged her to the dorm room to “get her ready” even though Alexus herself was wildly protesting.

Talbott was anxious, even if he would never admit it. He would never admit he was anxious or that he consulted his dormate, Andre Egwu to help him pick out an outfit.

Andre was ecstatic, almost insultingly so, to help Talbott dress for such an occasion as a date, and while throwing different clothes from Andre’s own wardrobe onto Talbott’s bed, he admitted to giving the girls tips about what should be Alexus’s outfit for the date.

So, that was how Talbott ended up standing in the cold while wearing some dull tan overcoat over a light grey pullover sweater and that was over a white button-up shirt. Not to mention, blue jeans. Overall, he was kept warm, which Andre must have accounted for. Maybe a little too warm, as the back of his neck was burning. Maybe that had nothing to do with the heat of his clothing layers. He let out a breath, that smoky breath that visibly danced in front of his face before disappearing the next second. He gently placed a hand over his chest, over the feather charm on his necklace. He pressed down, feeling it against his palm, against his skin. He was nervous.

God, who would have known he would be nervous taking out the girl he really liked?

They both agreed to no grandiose plans, as Alexus was still technically in recovery and they both hated grandiose plans. Talbott knew what his ideal date entailed, and he had a decent idea of what Alexus would enjoy for a date.

So why was he so nervous?

“Talbott!” he looked up and his heart stopped.

There she was.

“Alexus,” he said as she walked up, not quite smiling, but he stared at her with something soft in his eyes.

She wasn’t alone, but he saw only her, his vision tunneling as her appearance was stunning. She wore a neck dress that was a deep, royal shade of blue that cinched at the waist and swayed around down her legs with each step, ending just above her knees, the rest of her legs covered by black, opaque tights. White lapels peaked over the collar, and a fitted dark grey cardigan hugged her torso.

Alexus walked in the middle of a trio which consisted of her, Badeea Ali, and Penny Haywood, the three girls linking arms, walking to Talbott like they were moving down the aisle, giving their daughter away for a wedding. Maybe that was a semblance of their motivations, but in reality, he knew they were just making sure she made the walk to him, as they were rather unsure of all the spells that dark witch had used on Alexus just recently, unsure if there would be any lingering effects.

As they reached him, Alexus broke from the girls and slid her hand into Talbott’s waiting one.

“Thank you,” she said to them.

“Have fun!” Penny waved off cheerily.

Talbott nodded his head to them respectfully before they disappeared into the Three Broomsticks. He watched them leave before looking down at Alexus. He brought her hand to his lips for a second. “Are you ready to go?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” she replied, smiling at him.

He returned her smile before leading her away, down the street of Hogsmeade.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I feel you’d prefer to avoid crowded places today,” he started as they walked.

“I’d prefer to avoid crowded places any day, but since the rumors of my dating habits have been picking up, I would prefer to be away from as many other students as possible.”

“As you wish,” Talbott said, winking at her.

Alexus rolled her eyes, still smiling. “Since when do you watch The Princess Bride?” she asked.

“Since you mentioned how good it was in five letters after fourth year,” he chided.

“It was good!” Alexus said defensively.

“Well, you always were a sucker for romance. Who would have known?”

She poked his side. “You have no room to talk, Mr. Read-Poetry-to-the-Girl-in-the-Hospital.”

He stopped walking and looked down at her. “As I recall, you enjoyed being read to.”

She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I never said I didn’t.” She walked further along, dragging him with her a few steps until he started walking on his own, again, taking the lead.

“You’re… impossible,” he said with admiration and burning cheeks.

“You’re paradoxical,” she retaliated as she fell into step with him. Before he could question her adjective, she continued. “Where are we going, anyways?”

He frowned, but let it roll off his shoulders. “You can fly, yes?”

“As gracefully as the day I first transformed.”

“Oh dear, we might be in trouble then.”

He laughed as she nudged his side with her shoulder.

“The Courtyard, Alexus. The Clocktower Courtyard.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You have me escorted all the way to Hogsmeade just to fly back to Hogwarts?”

“Well, eventually. I thought you’d enjoy Honeydukes first. You can tell a lot about a person by the sweets they enjoy.”

He stopped as they reached the front of the shop in question. She didn’t even realize that’s where he had taken her.

She opened her mouth, probably to say something smart back to him, but he was already opening the door for her like a proper gentleman and ushering her inside from the cold.

She gave him a look that was half a smirk and half a challenge and half a battle of wits when they left.

He just winked back and grabbed her hand, walking with her through the shop. There were other students, more crowded than they both would have liked, but also not as busy as a place such as the Three Broomsticks. There were other couples, walking and poking around the shelves.

“So, what is your favorite sweet?” Talbott asked as they made their way through a natural path of the store. He inspected a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans.

“Not that. Too much risk,” Alexus replied, scrunching her nose at his selection.

“You break curses in your spare time,” he pointed out, almost laughing.

“Ever since Jacob gave me a wasabi flavored bean when I was four, I’ve been rather weary of them.”

He laughed and kept the package. “Then I’m definitely getting this. I’ll give you the good ones.”

“Oh, you’re such a gentleman,” she said, sarcastically before reaching up. He found it incredibly endearing that her fingers barely brushed the bag of liquorice wands, straining to grasp them before she caught the plastic with her fingers, pulling it forward just a centimeter before pulling it closer until she could slide it off the edge slowly and into her palm.

“You could have asked for assistance or a step ladder you know,” he said, trying not to burst out laughing, but there were tears in his eyes from the strain of holding himself back.

“Sod off, Talbott,” she muttered before looking at her parcel. “These are my favorite.” “Liquorice wands?” he asked, glancing at her hands.

“Ever since I was little. My mum…” she stopped and looked at him cautiously.

He caught her look before turning away, trying to make his demeanor as eased and nonchalant as possible. “Continue,” he assured her.

“My mum always bought these when she went to a wizard market. Jacob and I would pretend to duel.”

Talbott laughed lightly. “See? I told you, you can tell a lot about a person based on the sweets they enjoy.”

She rolled her eyes. “What about you? What’s your favorite?”

Talbott hummed and put the peppermint toads he was holding back onto the shelf. He grabbed her empty hand with his own before leading the way to another aisle. He picked up a displayed cardboard box with a saran wrap window, showing off the gelatinous sweets inside.

“Jelly slugs?” Alexus asked incredulously while Talbott beamed, like he was the creator of the confections.

“They’re right and proper when you have a craving for sweets, Alexus,” Talbott said seriously.

“They’re good, but I didn’t think they’d be your favorite sweet,” she shrugged.

“Oh? What did you think would be my favorite?” he asked, added the box to his collection.

She hummed, thinking before letting go of his hand, disappearing behind a shelf before reimaging, walking up to him and shoving a box of ice mice into his hand.

He stared as she pressed her lips together, eyes lit up with something wicked.

“You know,” she said, voice shaking with restrained giggles. “Because… well, birds of prey tend to enjoy mice.” She laughed as he gave her a pained expression.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as he put the box back. They looked at other sweets when they were approached by a wiry and young employee with a tray in his hands.

“Chocolate raspberry fudge?” he asked. “Free samples for Valentine’s couples.”

Talbott looked at Alexus before taking two off the tray, thanking the employee.

“Are you fond of raspberry?” she asked.

“Very, when it’s paired with chocolate,” he replied, handing her a small square of the pink and brown treat.

They ate them together as they finished their shopping and walked to the register, Talbott grabbing two bottles of butterbeer on their way. They paid before they left the shop, still talking about the sort of treats they would enjoy in their childhood.

“Muggle candies, have you ever had those?” Alexus asked.

“I can’t say that I have.”

“You’d love them. If I make it to summer, I’ll be sure to buy a bunch to share with you.”

He looked at her. “If?”

She blinked. “Uh, when,” she corrected herself, “I mean, when I come back from the summer.”

He stopped, his grip in her hand making her stop as well. She turned to him, reluctantly meeting his piercing red eyes.

“Do you not think you’re going to make it past the Final Vault?”

“It’s- it’s not that, Talbott. I just… can’t guarantee it,” she looked down and held his hand tighter. “I have to be realistic.”

He sighed and kissed her head. “That is the path you walk?” he asked.

She nodded and pressed her head against his chest.

He wrapped an arm around her. “Then I’ll walk it with you. I promised you that much, Alexus.”

“You’re… paradoxical,” she muttered before pulling away.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

She looked up at him and sighed before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He admired her, that orange glow illuminating half her face, her emerald eyes shining even brighter as the moonlight casted it’s soft mercury glow onto the other half.

He felt a compelling force that almost pushed him down, if only to… well, he wasn’t sure. He felt some great pull towards her, a desire for something but he didn’t know what. He saw that in her eyes, he saw so much in them. That mysterious and compelling force.

She leaned back, taking her hand into his. “Let’s go back. The long way, yeah?”

He nodded and walked with her back down the street of Hogsmeade.

They didn’t talk. They didn’t need to talk, which was not an infrequent occurrence with them. Sometimes, the only thing they needed to say could be expressed with the silence, the energy that they could feel passing between them.

As they got to Hogwarts, it was around dinner time, so not too close to the curfew, but it was close, so Talbott and Alexus knew they had to be careful about avoiding any teachers or other staff members as they walked past the Great Hall.

Eventually, they walked outside and into the Courtyard. They held hands still as they sat at the base of the fountain.

Alexus took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

He smiled before opening the two bottles of butterbeer, setting one down next to her before he took a swig from his own.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Nothing, actually,” she replied, opening her eyes and grabbing her bottle. “Just… the sound of the fountain, and the silence of the night, it’s always relaxing, to me. I missed it, while I was in the Hospital Wing.”

“Yeah? You sneak out here often?” he asked, reaching through his bag, pulling out his box of jelly slugs.

“Not as often as you go to the Owlery for the same reasons,” she replied before taking a long drink from her bottle.

He gave a small chuckle and opened the box. He selected a strawberry and lime flavored slug and bit into it, leaning back before looking at Alexus.

He was startled to see her looking at him, that intense look, where the expression holds the million thoughts running through her head faster than light, every single one causing the most minute shift on her face, but at the same time, all those million thoughts were about one subject. Him.

Her eyes, catching the moonlight again fixated on him, one eyebrow raised, the other pressed down in the lightest furrow, a crease in her forehead because of it. Her lips, pursed together, mostly hidden under the hand that she pressed to her mouth, one corner of her lips only just lifted and visible next to her thumb. Anyone else might have seen a soft neutrality, a few thoughts, a contemplating look. He saw that and so much more.

The way something lit up in her eyes when he looked at her, the flush in her cheeks, a centimeter rise in that one corner of her lips. He did that, by looking at her.

He felt that great pull on him again, like there was something inside his chest, in his instincts that was gripping him, trying to move him forward. He wondered if this was what being under the Imperius Curse was like. Something was trying to control him? No. He’d read personal recounts from survivors, about the effects, and this was not that.

But what was this pull?

Alexus slid her hand over his and reached over him, grabbing one of his jelly slugs for herself. She bit the head off and chewed before laying her head on his shoulder.

He moved his arm to wrap it around her lower back and pulled her closer.

“I hope the lack of eventfulness was okay for our first date,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her crown softly for a second.

“With my daily routine? Lack of eventfulness was the best thing you could have planned. Thank you for making me feel ordinary for the night.”

He chuckled. “Somehow, I don’t think you can be ordinary, Alexus. You are… fantastically remarkable.”

“And you are fantastically corny.”

He laughed, turning away from her to hide his little outburst, which made her laugh.

“Corny, but appreciated,” she assured him, gently putting a hand on his chest reassuringly.

He looked down at her, at the laughing grin on her face, and as she was wiping away a tear from her eye, he leaned down, tilting his head.

He kissed her.

So suddenly, he kissed her, soft lips meeting softer lips, eyes closed, her hands sliding across his arms to wrap around his shoulders, his hands moving to cup her face.

As suddenly as he kissed her, he pulled away, taking a couple deep breathes, watching her, eyes wide, mouth agape with a breathless panting. Her cheeks grew warm rapidly under his hands.

“I-I’m sorry… I don’t… uh… I don’t know what came o-”

She cut him off by leaning up and kissing him this time.

It was hard for him to say how long passed before one of them pulled away again.

When they kissed, he discovered in about five seconds that time became lost. The world was lost. Stars twinkled around in the sky above them, water trickled into the pool behind them. Talbott could swear he felt the ground move beneath them. Until it was all lost. There was nothing around them, there was no world, no stars, no water, no ground.

Just her.

Just him.

Just them together, connected in the purest form of a kiss.

When it was over, when they were pulling away from each other, the noise of the world slowly came back. There was that water trickling, soft insects calling in the night. An owl hooted somewhere far away, a wolf howled in the distant forest. Heavy footsteps clacked on the stone floor nearby, and it was coming closer.

Talbott and Alexus looked at each other before at their supplies from Honeydukes.

“Conceal it!” she whispered quickly, whipping out her wand, Talbott following suit. They quickly casted the disillusionment charm over their bags and bottles before pocketing their wands. They nodded to each other before assuming their animagus forms, Talbott as a brown eagle, Alexus was a chihuahuan raven. They flew up, right to the end of the courtyard as some… unknown person walked into the courtyard.

Alexus watched, ready to fly away at the first sign of trouble. Whenever dark-hooded figures with most of their faces obscured walked in her general area, it was never good, and they always seemed to be for her.

Talbott let out of call, a warning one.

Alexus looked at him, where he was perched on a ledge that overlooked the courtyard.

Alexus got ready to fly away, waiting for when the stranger would least likely be bothered by two non-nocturnal birds. She watched as the wizard stalked around the courtyard, poking stone with his wand.

As his back was turned, Alexus called out to Talbott, and they both spread their wings to take off. This was something they had to report, and fast.

They flew up, Alexus aiming for the sky to disappear into when there was a terrible, fiery pain in her right wing. She cried out, the vocalization coming out as a pained caw.

The wind was rushing through her feathers from her rapid descent.

She landed on her side, curling her arm into herself, black feathers swaying onto the ground around her.

“Alexus Johnson, small raven. Right there in the registry where any one can read it,” the wizard said, making his way over to her.

Alexus groaned, slowly sitting up, her wand in her grip, but she couldn’t lift her arm, it hurt too much to bend it. Her cardigan and shirt sleeves had already been burned or blasted off.

“It’s a chihuahuan raven, actually,” she corrected the wizard as he pointed it wand at her. “The base of the neck has a white coloration, native more to the Mexico and western United States area.”

The wizard didn’t say anything as he stood over Alexus.

Alexus smiled and set her wand down. “I’m not coming quietly. In fact, I’m not coming with you at all,” she assured him as she slowly rose to her feet, eyes trained on his wand.

“You know what ‘R’ wants, so you might as well make it easy now. Before we make you abide by our ideals.”

Alexus laughed lightly. “No.”

There was a screech and Talbott descended, talons extended, right towards the dark wizard’s face.

While he was distracted, Alexus stooped down to grab her wand with her left arm.

“Get away!” she shouted to Talbott.

He flew off, and Alexus sent a powerful blasting spell at the dark wizard, sending him flying back across the courtyard, landing in the fountain.

Talbott landed next to Alexus, turning back into human as he did. He pulled out his wand and kept it trained on the wizard.

“Do we run?” he asked.

“No, he’ll slip away.” Alexus walked to the wizard, ready to attack if he moved. “You go get a teacher, Dumbledore, Filch, anyone. We can’t let him get back to ‘R’ when he knows.”

Talbott didn’t want to leave Alexus alone, but he knew she could handle the wizard better than he could. But he still hesitated, looking at her.

“Talbott, go!” she insisted as the dark wizard started to stir.

She wanted to watch him leave as he ran into the castle, but she was too terrified to take her eyes off of the dark wizard.

“So… ‘R’ must be getting more desperate, if they’re just sending any idiot to try and retrieve me,” she commented as the wizard slowly sat up from the water.

“What can we say? Your work with the Vaults continues to be impressive.”

“I believe I have given you my answer already. Incarcerous!” Ropes sprang from the tip of her wand and coiled tightly around the torso of the dark wizard, binding his arms to his sides.

She walked over and grabbed his discarded wand, kicking it further across the courtyard.

“You gave us the wrong answer,” the wizard said, nonchalantly.

“Ferula,” Alexus muttered, pointing her wand at her burn. Bandages delicately wrapped around the injury. She’d find Chiara for a more permanent solution.

“It is cute that you think ‘R’ is giving you a choice.”

“Stupif-!”

“PROTEGO!” Alexus shouted, twirling on her heel, slashing her wand up, throwing up a quick shield to counter the second assailant’s attempt to stun her as they came up from behind. The force of her opponent’s spell on her shield made her slide back a few inches.

“You didn’t think I’d come alone to collect such a… volatile target?” the man asked, inching his way out of the fountain as Alexus faced the new dark wizard.

“I was certainly hoping, but I guess no one wants to be alone today,” she muttered, planting her foot behind her. “Expelliarmus!”

The wizard dodged and sent his own spell back to her, causing her to jump to the side.

“Locomotor Mortis!”

Alexus tripped as her legs were bound together. She swore under her breath and gripped her wand as the wizard advanced upon her.

“Flipendo Maxima!” she shouted, trying to buy herself more time, but he blocked that too.

“Stupify!”

All Alexus saw was red sparks and then stars. Lights and shadows swimming in the darkness of her vision. She groaned and turned on her side, towards the fountain. Vision was slowly coming back to her, her surroundings blurred.

Semi-conscious…. Semi-conscious was better than unconscious, which could have been the outcome with the stunning spell.

She saw the two dark wizards at the fountain as blurred figures, coming in and out of focus. “She really got you, didn’t she?” the second assailant asked as he undid the ropes on his companion.

“She had a bird friend, another animagus. Little bastard got my face, went to get help.”

She looked at her hand, extended, laying on the ground.

Her wand…

She had a wand.

“We better get out of here quickly.”

She moved her fingers, brushing along the stone. It must have been knocked out of her grip. Then, she felt it. That familiar wood, the warmth in her fingertips as she found her wand. She gripped it firmly and looked back at the two. The second one was helping the first wizard up out of the fountain. She pointed her wand at the ground by them. “Bombarda!”

The second wizard jumped back as there was a small explosion at his feet, the first wizard falling back into the fountain.

She sat up as the second dark wizard whirled around to face her.

“Everte Statum!”

“Lacarnum Inflamari!”

His robes caught on fire as she was sent rolling back across the courtyard, stopping when her body collided with the far wall, a sharp pain in her torso where the spell hit her.

“PUT IT OUT!” the wizard shouted, stomping on his dark cloak rapidly.

“My wand!” the other one shouted, jumping out of the fountain and looking at the dark ground.

If Alexus wasn’t reeling, she’d be laughing, but as the pain was subsiding, she slowly climbed to her feet as the wizard just shrugged off his robe, revealing his face.

He was a gruff-looking figure, with patchy black and white facial hair on his jaw, his head shaved, a massive scar on his scalp. His dark eyes pierced Alexus as he raised his wand.

Where was Talbott? Should it have taken him this long to get help? Was he on his way with Dumbledore and all she had to do was stall?

“I told your friend, I wasn’t going to come quietly,” she said, raising her wand as well

“And I told your friend, I’m willing to take you in bloody if that’s what it takes.” He shot a spell at her, and she jumped to the side before firing her own at him.

“What did you do to him?” she asked, trying to keep her voice bold and even.

“Just gave him a full-body bind so he wouldn’t have to get any pesky teachers involved. Someone will find him, but you’ll be gone by then.”

Alexus set her jaw. Talbott would be terrified. She couldn’t let him be any more scared than he already was with her in her danger. But more importantly, they got to Talbott. They hurt him. She couldn’t let that slide either.

If Talbott was in that courtyard in that second, only he would have seen the darkness in her eyes, like a thunderstorm overtaking clear, green, rolling fields. A brewing and dangerous storm that made it seem like the sky was about to explode, Heaven’s fury being unleashed like Hell’s wrath.

Alexus focused her wand on the men in front of her as the wizard finally found his wand and joined his partner.

The air became still for a second as the intensity of the silent rage culminated in her chest.

“Incendio!” she shouted, waving her wand in arch before herself, sending a wall of flames to the men in front of her.

They only had time to wave the flames away in one swoop before she thrusted her wand forward, at their feet.

“Confringo!”

The bald wizard threw his arms in front of his face while his friend jumped back as shards of stone flew up in all directions from their feet.

She sent furious spell after furious spell, making them dodge and jump out of the way to avoid serious injury. Now that there was no backup, she had to win.

“Expelliarmus!” she disarmed the bald wizard, his wand flying behind him.

He looked at the discarded wand behind him before back at her. “Who knew you had such a weakness, Miss Johnson? Don’t worry, weaknesses aren’t allowed in ‘R’ so that will be fixed soon enough.”

She froze, only for a second, but that was enough for the other wizard.

“Diffindo!”

The air stilled again.

Alexus pressed her hand against her stomach, shuddering as she felt something arm and stick saturating her clothes and hand. Gulping, she pulled it away and held it up in front of her face, even if she already knew. In the moonlight, she saw the dark stain on her hands.

Before she could do another thing, before she could even think about healing herself, the first wizard snapped his wand at her.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

Eyes widened, mouth slightly agape, wand outstretched, bloody hand near her chest, she became frozen.

The first wizard rushed forward as the second one went to retrieve his wand.

“There we go,” the first one muttered as he moved his wand over her injuries, healing her slowly.

“Don’t need to kill ya, just needed you stunned enough.”

Alexus moved her eyes, watching him as the wound disappeared, like it was never there. He patted her head when he finished. She would have broken his hand if he could move.

“Ready to go?” he called back to the bald wizard as he picked up his wand.

“Take her wand from her first. I’ll bind her, you unfreeze her.”

The first wizard snatched her wand from her hands and took a few steps back.

Alexus watched the bald wizard and he raised his wand at her. “On three.”

“One… Two…”

“THREE!” Alexus looked past them just in time to see the red sparks before the first wizard was sent flying forward, skidding at her feet.

The bald wizard turned around only to be knocked back the same distance, his back colliding onto the wall behind her.

“Excellent knockback, Mr. Winger!” Professor Flitwick complimented, pocketing his wand after knocking the second assailant.

Alexus had never been more relieved to see her head of house and the Headmaster before, but it was Talbott’s presence who reassured her the most. He was okay.

He gave no acknowledgement, instead, running over to Alexus.

He cupped her face lightly and looked down at her. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?” he asked.

She wanted desperately to collapse into his arms. For him to hold her as she felt her legs could no longer support her. But she couldn’t. She could just control her eyes and even then, she couldn’t stop the heavy streams of tears that spilled, cascading down her cheeks, catching on his hands.

“Mr. Winger, I believe she is petrified at the moment,” Professor Dumbledore stepped forward. “Allow me.”

With a wave of his wand, Alexus stumbled forward, right into Talbott’s waiting arms.

She closed her eyes and stifled a sob in his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso and hiding her face into his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, softly, cupping the back of her head with his hand, holding her close to him.

“Miss Johnson, are you hurt?” Professor Dumbledore asked.

Alexus pulled away and took a breath, quickly collecting herself. “My arm, it got burned.” She extended it to show the bandages she had placed on her arm.

“I see. Mr. Winger, will you please escort Miss Johnson to the Hospital Wing to be treated while we take care of the mess here?” Dumbledore requested.

“Yes, Professor. We’ll go straight away.”

Talbott gently placed his hand on her back and they began walking, but hadn’t taken more than two steps when Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

“Miss Johnson?” he called, prompting them to look back.

“Yes, Professor?” she asked hesitantly.

“Your wand, don’t forget it please!” he held up her wand, which he retrieved from the first wizard.

“Oh! Right, thank you, professor,” she said while walking over. She took it and nodded in thanks before walking back to Talbott. They finally left the courtyard, silently.

He kept his hand on her back, reluctant to not feel her with him, but she didn’t mind. She stayed close to him as they walked.

When they went into the Hospital Wing, it was filled with mostly petrified students. But there was also Chiara Lobosca, attending to a girl who looked sickly with a very runny nose.

“Just take this potion before bed and your cold will go away by the end of the night. Be mindful of smoke in the ears,” the Hufflepuff was advising the girl as they approached.

“Chiara,” Alexus said, softly.

She turned around, a pleasant expression on her face, but when she saw Alexus, the bandages, the blood, her eyes turned as big as the moon.

“Alexus!” she almost cried, quickly walking in front of her.

“The slice was healed, I’m not bleeding anymore, but I am faint from the loss of blood I did experience, but the most severe injury is my arm, it’s burnt under the bandages I applied. I was in a duel. Don’t tell the Circle yet.”

Chiara blinked, processing, before nodding and she quickly guided Alexus to an empty bed.

“Are you okay?” she asked, gently extending Alexus’s arm out and unwrapping the bandages.

“Barely. Talbott got Dumbledore and Flitwick just in time,” Alexus winced at the movement.

“Thank you, Talbott,” Chiara said, looking at him before back at Alexus.

She looked at the burn before back at Talbott. “There are bandages in that cabinet. Can you please get them for me?”

He nodded and walked over to the cabinet while Chiara gently traced her wand on Alexus’s wound.

Alexus flinched and wanted to yank her arm away, but the skin slowly started to mend.

She bit her lip and turned her head away from the healer and tried to suppress any cry or outburst.

“There we go, you did good,” Chiara assured her before pocketing her wand again.

Talbott came back with the bandages.

Chiara took them and began dressing the wound, slowly wrapping the bandages loosely over the area.

“It will take a few days to heal fully, but there shouldn’t be any scarring as long as you leave it alone.”

“Thank you, Chiara,” Alexus said. She gently moved her arm back and looked at the bandages.

“Remember, if you want to talk about it, I’ll always listen,” she reminded.

Alexus looked at Chiara, incredibly touched. “You’re too kind,” she said, smiling softly. “I’m good for now. I think now is a good time to call in the night.”

“Goodnight, then, you two. Hope your next date is safer!”

Talbott walked into a hospital bed and slammed his leg into the railing while Alexus nearly fell off her bed.

“Who told you?” they both asked, almost shouting, making the healer jump back.

“Penny! Penny told me before she went to help you get ready!” she quickly said.

Alexus groaned and buried her face into her hands. “Hasn’t she ever heard of stylist-client confidentiality?” she cried.

“Oh no,” Talbott muttered under his breath, remembering Andre.

“Well, you two better get going! Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help!” Chiara quickly and pleasantly excused herself before walking to another student across the Wing from them.

Talbott looked at Alexus, resigned.

Without a word between them, they both walked out of the Hospital Wing.

The second they closed the doors behind them, they looked at each other.

Alexus gave him a weak smile. “Thank you. You… definitely saved my life.”

“I’m sorry that your cardigan got ruined.”

Alexus snorted and looked at the burnt off sleeve that now ended at her bicep. “I can remedy it… I think.”

Now he snorted. He looked down the hall and sighed. “Let’s head to the Common Room, before Snape or someone deducts house points for being attacked after hours.”

She laughed and grabbed his arm gently before leading the way.

“Hopefully, our sweets are still there by the morning, we can get them then,” Talbott said.

“They were still invisible by the time we left, so they might be,” Alexus agreed hopefully.

“I’m sorry this… didn’t end up how I wanted it to,” he looked down at her.

“You don’t have to apologize, Talbott,” she assured him. “It was magical. I had a really great time.”

“I’m glad.” He glanced at her and took a breath. “The… kissing… was that okay? I should have asked, and-”

“I wouldn’t have kissed you back if it wasn’t,” she assured him. “You don’t have to worry, you gave me an amazing night. I was ordinary for a couple hours. That’s the best thing you could give me.”

He gently nudged her side with his arm. “I told you before, you’re incapable of being ordinary. You’re… the most… remarkable girl I’ve met.”

She smiled. “You make me feel remarkable, Talbott. I’m really just doing things that need to be done. And sometimes, doing those things…”

“Lead you down a hard path?” Talbott completed for her.

“Yes. You’re the one I want to walk with me. I know that now. I realized that when I was dueling, oddly enough.” She looked forward.

“Oh?” he said, not pressing her to continue, but he still wanted her to say more.

“It’s… that dark wizard, he told me he petrified you. I… lost it. I was scared. You could have been hurt, I couldn’t just… let them get away with that.”

He looked at her, not sure of what to say. He was stunned, but unharmed. Dumbledore and Flitwick had stumbled upon him in the hall. All he could say was that Alexus was in danger before running off. He was terrified for her. He thought she was going to die and it would have been his fault for not being better. That he could have done more. Just like with his parents.

He just brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently before they continued walking.

The common room was almost empty, students tired from a night of festivities, winding down, talking to one another about their dates and otherwise.

“Hey,” he tugged on her hand before pulling her to a nearby bench, gesturing to sit down. “Before you go up to your dorm, I had… one more thing planned.”

She tilted her head, looking at him quizzically.

He gave a small smile before pulling a small box out of his pocket. He held it out to her.

She took it and gave him a small smile before opening it. Her eyes widened when she saw the contents.

“Talbott,” she said softly before grabbing the silver braided chain and pulling the necklace out.

There was a single charm, a brown eagle feather.

“From my own wing,” he muttered.

She looked at him before kissing his cheek. “I love it,” she whispered before quickly fastening it around her own neck.

“I’m glad,” he said, relieved.

She admired the feather before looking at him apologetically. “I didn’t… get you anything, but… I was thinking… I could maybe… read a poem to you?”

He pulled out a small booklet from his other jacket pocket. “I’ve been waiting all night to open this.”

She snatched it from him. “Reyes’s Handpicked Poems!” she exclaimed.

“I may have already marked a couple,” he said, a little slyly, a self-satisfied smile crossing his face as she eagerly thumbed through the collection. “It’s not as hefty as The Romantic Collection we fight over, but there’s something charming about knowing these are the author’s favorites.”

She stopped on a page and quickly skimmed it. “Found one,” she muttered before leaning against him. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head, closing his eyes

Come see me, Eros Where the woodland sings of their secret songs of the evergreen

Come see me, Eros In the break of the trees Where Apollo touches the land where lovers meet

Come see me, Eros In this forestry dream Surrounded by nymphs and Demeter’s love

Come save me, Eros Follow me down Where Hades’ lips kiss away the light

Come save me, Eros From Thanatos’ grip that’s keeping me away from you

Talbott sighed. “That’s a sad one,” he muttered.

“It’s heavily symbolic, which just adds weight,” she agreed.

“Death of the Lover… what a perfect poem to end Valentine’s Day on,” he muttered sarcastically.

She closed the book and looked at him. He waited for her sarcastic rebuttal, but instead, she kissed him.

He was shocked, but he wasn’t going to complain, and instead, placed his hand on her cheek, closing his eyes.

“Oh dammit all to Hell, they’re kissing!”

They pulled away quickly and turned to see Tulip Karasu fuming. Alexus didn’t like the look in her eyes before the mischievous Ravenclaw ran to their dorm room. “BADEEA! TELL TONKS PENNY WON! I’M OUT FIVE SICKLES!”

“Oh… Merlin’s saggy left…” Alexus grumbled before burying her face into her hands while Talbott sighed.

There were better, more romantic notes to end their first Valentine’s date on, but this was not one of them, it seems.

[katefiction]

Traces of Us

by katefiction (Maria) / 2014

Malcolm Kenton didn’t care for celebrity, and he didn’t understand why anyone else did either. He lived in a small cottage on the Isle of Anglesey with his wife Rosanne and his Labrador, Toby. He only bought the Guardian on principle and refused to watch anything but the BBC.

Malcolm’s grandchildren thought him old fashioned, and he often heard them sniggering behind his back when they came to visit, playing horrific ‘boom boom’  music, as he called it,  and watching some mind numbing reality TV show with people so desperate to be famous they’d strip naked on television.

When he and Rosanne visited Ye Olde Bulls Head Inn for a quiet drink, Malcolm would refuse to enter the pub quiz. He knew he’d get a perfect score on the every category, but would fail on the entertainment section. The one time he’d tried, the whole pub had erupted in laughter when he mistook a picture of Michael Jackson for Cher.

It came as a surprise to everyone then, when Malcolm announced he had been asked to come out of retirement and act as estate agent for his old friend, Sir George Meyrick.

Malcolm was to help sell the most famous farmhouse in Wales.

The farmhouse in the hamlet of Bodorgan boasted four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room, and a stunning view of Newborough Forest. But even with that, the initial rush of voyeuristic customers who wanted to rent the property because of its famous connection had died away.

Now, five years after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had packed up and left for London, bookings were down, and Sir George was finally ready to sell the place.

Despite living in Anglesey all their lives, neither Malcolm nor Rosanne had ever met or even seen the royal residents around the island during their three year stay. Not that Malcolm would have cared if he did. Other people’s lives didn’t interest him and as he waited outside the farmhouse that winter’s day to give his tenth viewing, he sincerely hoped that his next clients wouldn’t do as the last nine had done – ask him questions about William and Kate.

‘Is this their original bed?’, ‘Would Kate have cooked on this stove?’, ‘Who did up the garden, the duke?’ Malcolm was sick of it. This wasn’t a museum for heaven’s sake.

The family of four rushed up to the door, where Malcolm, a firm believer that he didn’t need a coat to keep warm, was standing, his shoulders hunched from the cold. He had no time for tardiness.

‘So sorry we’re late!’, the woman said, bundled up in a scarf and hat, ‘I’m Bryony, and this is my husband Mark’

Mark who was similarly dressed in thick winter wear, shook his hand and exchanged pleasantries.

‘And these are the kids’, Bryony pointed, rather unnecessarily, Malcolm thought, to the young boy and girl chasing each other around the driveway.

‘Kids!’, Mark called, ‘get over here please, let’s not keep everyone waiting any longer’

The children ran over to their father dutifully and followed as Malcolm led them into the house.

The young couple seemed taken with the whitewashed house as soon as they entered, exchanging words of approval at the large hallway, and a painting of the Irish Sea hanging by the doorway.

*

‘Welcome home Mrs Wales’, William said, throwing his bags carelessly into the hall.

‘Thank you Mr Wales’, Kate replied, being all the more careful with their belongings, placing her bags down on the hard wooden floor.

‘You know I was always Mr Wales?’, he teased, ‘it hasn’t got the same charm as when it’s brand new’

‘Four days of being your wife and the novelty hasn’t worn off yet?’

‘Not a bit’, he smiled.

William and Kate were firmly in the honeymoon phase, despite not having been on their honeymoon yet. They hung off each other’s’ words, wanted to spoil each other at every given second and couldn’t keep their hands off each other. This was wedded bliss personified.

They had lived together in their Anglesey home for over a year, but coming back to their secluded house as husband and wife four days after their enormous wedding, it already felt different.

William kicked the door shut and grabbed Kate from behind, hoping to savour every moment they had together before he went back to work the next day.

‘Can I unpack first?!’ she giggled, poking him in the ribs.

‘Nope’, he replied, turning her around.

‘Tough, you know I hate mess’, she attempted to pull away, though if she was honest, her heart wasn’t really in it.

‘You have to obey me now you’re my wife’, he said with a smirk, knowing it would rile her.

‘Oh you have a lot to learn’, Kate shook her head.

‘I’m doing alright so far aren’t I? At this whole husband thing?’

‘You are’, she kissed him to show her approval. ‘Though we’re going to have to talk about you leaving your stuff by the doorway when you come in after work…’

‘The doorway!’ William said suddenly.

He took Kate by the hand and pulled her back through front door. They both stood on the step, just as they had five minutes earlier.

‘Will, what on earth?’

Lifting her up, he threw her effortlessly over his shoulder, ‘how could I forget to carry you over the threshold?’

‘This is ridiculous, put me down!’ she laughed.

He took her into the hallway, her arms and legs flailing in a bid for freedom. It didn’t have the desired effect, and instead, her foot hit the painting of the Irish Sea that hung on the wall, sending it crashing to the ground.

‘Oh crap!’

William let her down, ‘that was very naughty Mrs Wales’

She pushed his shoulder, ‘that was YOUR fault!’

‘I’m not the one who was causing a fuss!’

Kate picked up the painting and on finding that no damage had been done, hung it back up.

‘We’re married now’, she said, ‘we have to act like grown ups’

William knew better than to think she was serious. For being with Kate let out his fun side and she knew it. And if he was going to have fun anywhere, where no-one could see him, it would be here in Anglesey.

‘I suppose there are plenty of grown up things we could do’, he said, raising an eyebrow.

Kate narrowed her eyes, pretending to look unimpressed, but it wasn’t long until she broke out into a large grin, ‘you’ll have to catch me first’

With that, she sprang up the stairs, William not far behind, chasing her like a cheetah about to pounce on a particularly tasty lunch.

*

Malcolm breathed a sigh of relief as he took the family into the dining room. So far they hadn’t made any reference to the duke and duchess.

French windows looked out onto the forest, opening up the dining room, which held a large wooden dining table, ornate light fittings and fireplace.

Bryony and Mark admired the table as the children looked longingly out of the window, breathing on the glass and making shapes with their fingers in the mist.

‘Lovely for entertaining’, Bryony remarked.

‘Indeed’ Malcolm said. He wasn’t really the best salesperson in the world.

‘Looks like there’s been a little scuffle here’, Mark bent down and touched one of the table legs.

Malcolm cursed them under his breath. They had been the first ones to notice that unfortunate damage.

‘It looks like it’s been gnawed at’, Bryony said, now joining Mark at the table leg. ‘Really, who lets an untrained animal loose at an antique table?!’

*

‘KATE!’ William yelled through the house. ‘Kate, get in here!’

She rushed into the dining room, ‘what’s the emergency?’, she said, scanning the room for the disaster.

‘That is’, he pointed down to the floor where their twelve week old puppy was chomping on the leg of the dining table.

 ‘Lupo!’ she exclaimed, grabbing his back and trying to pull him off the table.

‘Bad dog’ William said, rather unhelpfully. ‘You should really train him’

‘I AM training him, no thanks to you’, she said, finally dislodging Lupo from the table.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’, William’s brow creased into a deep line.

‘It means that all you ever do is cuddle and play with him, all the hard work is left for me’, she said sternly.

His face dropped like a small child, ‘I’m no good at training him, you know that’

‘Well you need to start trying a little harder!’, she stormed out of the room, clutching Lupo, who looked rather confused at the site of the couple arguing.

‘What is wrong with you?!’, William called down the hall as he followed her, ‘because I know this isn’t about the dog, Catherine’

Kate turned on her heel so fast, Lupo’s ears swung like a helicopter, ‘it’s about the fact that we want a baby next year and you can’t even discipline a dog’

William was taken aback, he wasn’t expecting that. ‘So you’re saying I’m going to be a bad father?’

‘I’m saying that I don’t want to put all the ground work in to set boundaries for our child and have you undermine me’

He walked over to her and put his hands on both of her arms. He was stung by her words, but some things weren’t worth the fight.

‘I know I can spoil him sometimes, but your word rules, we’re a team, always have been’

‘I know’, she said quietly. ‘I’m sorry’

William chuckled, ‘I refuse to let our baby be as much of a brat as I was’

Kate managed a smile, ‘William the Terrible, wasn’t it?’

She was sure she saw him pink a little, ‘yes, but that’s not the point, the point is our baby will be nothing like me’

‘I guess it would be ok if he was a little like you’

‘Oh it’s a “he” is it?’, William laughed.

‘Yep’, she said confidently. ‘We’ll have a son, just you wait’

William had already learnt that his wife was almost always right.

*

The children were dying to go out into the garden, ‘Please Mummy! I won’t run off anywhere, I promise!’

‘We said no, now don’t ask again please’, Mark said, ruffling the child’s hair.

As Malcolm took the family into the living room, with its large sofa set and more antique oak furniture, he instinctively placed his foot over a pale mark on the patterned rug that was under the coffee table. He didn’t want Bryony and Mark to notice anything else wrong with the farmhouse.   

‘But please Daddy!!!’

Malcolm didn’t know which one of the children was making that repulsive whining noise, he preferred not to converse with anyone without cognitive thinking. His own son, like William and Kate, had left Anglesey for London and had barely looked back since. Only when his son wanted to offload his teenagers on Malcolm and Rosanne, did he see him.

He loved his son in his own way, but childhood was just a necessary evil to get to adulthood in his opinion. He could never understand the way children turned grown adults into fools. Especially babies; sticky, ugly little creatures that people went wild for.

His mind wondered back to five years ago when he had been looking forward to watching the start of the Ring O’ Fire Marathon. He had bumped into his neighbour one morning as he was collecting his milk bottles from the door step.

‘Yoo hooo! Malcolm’ she hawked. ‘Did you hear the good news?’

‘What’s that then?’, he said dryly.

‘Only that Prince William and maybe even Catherine are attending the marathon this year!’

Malcolm nodded without saying a word. He truly hoped this wouldn’t bring a load of tourists from the mainland.

‘I do hope they bring the little baby, wouldn’t that be wonderful?!’

‘Why, is it going to be entering the marathon?’

The neighbour laughed uncertainly, she never did understand Malcolm.

*

Kate was on her knees scrubbing at a stain on the rug.

‘You really should start getting ready’, William said.

‘I have to get this stain off’, she said distractedly.

Last night, their baby boy had leaked through his nappy, leaving an unsightly stain on the rug.

‘You’re gonna wear a hole in it’, he said soothingly, but Kate ignored him. ‘We need to leave soon’

Finally, she sat up, taking her eyes off the rug for the first time in fifteen minutes. ‘I can’t come’

‘Not this again’, William sighed.

‘I can’t do it, I can’t leave him’

‘Your mum is here and he’s asleep’. William had repeated this about twenty times already. If Kate didn’t move soon, they’d be late for their first engagement together since George was born. It was their final way of saying thank you to the island.

‘What if he needs me? What if he wakes up and doesn’t want to drink from the bottle? He’ll wonder where I am, he’ll be scared William’, the irrational panic was rising in her voice.

William sat down on the sofa. This was going to take some convincing.

‘You went out the shops without him, and he was fine then, remember?’

‘That was only like half an hour, and I’d just fed him’

‘But he was fine, yes?’

‘Yes but…’

‘Kate, your mum knows what she’s doing, more than we do. Try and remember why you wanted to come in the first place’. He ran a hand through her hair.

He was right, she had wanted to go to show her thanks. Anglesey had been wonderful to them, all four of them.

‘What if something happens?’

‘Rebecca has our phones, but nothing will happen, he won’t even know we’re gone’

Kate knew he was speaking sense, but first time motherhood didn’t pair itself with rational thinking. Especially when you were leaving your baby.

‘I guess’, she said softly, standing up to stretch her legs. 

‘He’ll be fine’, William said, stroking her arm, ‘and so will you’

She gave him a little squeeze for reassurance, ‘what would I do without you?’

*

Mark and Bryony were eager to see the upstairs part of the house. With four bedrooms and two bathrooms, it would be perfect for this little family, Malcolm thought.

He showed them each room in turn, ending with the master bedroom. Bryony and Mark smiled at each other as they entered. Clearly the spacious wardrobe and king size bed was a hit.

Malcolm had a good feeling about these clients; they seemed to like everything about the house and hadn’t yet uttered a word about the previous tenants. Sir George would certainly be happy if he found a suitable buyer.

‘Great view’, Mark said, his hands tucked in his pockets, staring out of the window. The view from the bedroom was Malcolm’s favourite. It looked out onto a small beach that Sir George owned. ‘I could look at it all day’.

*

The waves lapped at the rocks, sending water spraying across the beach. It was why William loved the view from his bedroom window; you never knew what the sea would be doing from one day to the next.

‘See that George, that is what Mummy and Daddy got to wake up to every morning’. He looked down at his son who was blinking at him sweetly, tucked up in his arms.

He turned around and looked at the room, now almost empty, but for a few boxes that had to be taken away. This had been his home for three wonderful years. It pained him to think that George wouldn’t grow up here.

As Kate took charge of the packing downstairs, William walked solemnly from room to room, recalling memories to George.

They were different like that, Kate always kept herself busy when she was stressed or worried. William on the other hand would sit and stare at the ceiling with the sounds of the African bush pulsing through his headphones.

‘This is where we found out we were having you’, he said, showing George the all-white bathroom. ‘Daddy even cried a little bit that day’, he whispered.

After moving through each room as slowly as he could, he finally reached the largest spare room. ‘And this would’ve been your room, it would’ve been so cool, I’d have put all sorts in here, little elephants and lions on the walls, you would’ve loved it’

If things had been different, William, Kate, George and Lupo would’ve stayed in Anglesey. But with the Search and Rescue Service being privatised and William’s other duties calling, they had no choice but to leave.

‘Will, are you done?’, Kate called from downstairs.

‘Just a sec’, he called back.

‘One day, you, me, Mummy and Lupo are going to come for a summer holiday here. I’ll take you to the beach and we can have a barbecue, how does that sound?’

George gurgled in agreement, making Will laugh.

‘Shall we say goodbye then?’

He took George downstairs and met Kate at the front door.

‘Ok?’ she asked, sensing his mood.

‘I was just telling George about us coming back for a summer holiday’

‘That would be fantastic’, she said, rubbing his back softly.

It truly was bittersweet. As much as Kate was excited to move into their apartment in London, to have a home she could decorate without renting restrictions, she loved this home as much as William had. Their memories here were countless, each room, nook and cranny left behind a trace of them.

‘Shall we?’ William said, reluctant, but ready to leave.

‘Let’s go home’, Kate said, confident in the fact that eventually, their lives in apartment 1A would live up to their little Welsh farmhouse.

Boxes removed and cupboards emptied, they left the keys on the counter in the kitchen, closing the door on the best three years of their lives.

*

The Cambridges hadn’t been back for a holiday, that much Malcolm knew. He could always tell when they were about by the blacked out cars driving up and down the island. It was too late now, he thought. It would be sold, probably to this family, in a couple of months.

He could go home to Rosanne a happy man, knowing that he didn’t have to show any more people around here.

‘So, shall I tell Mr Merick you’re interested?’ he asked the couple as the children ran out of the door.

The couple looked at each other, ‘I think we’ll have a think about it’, Bryony said.

‘Yes, but it is lovely, thank you for showing us around’, Mark said as they left.

Malcolm locked up the house and meandered down the path, watching the family bundle into the car. He was off to the Ye Olde Bulls Head Inn, but certainly wouldn’t be taking part in the quiz, he muttered to himself.

*

‘So what did you think?’ Mark said, strapping himself into the driver’s seat.

In the back, the two children were arguing, the boy shouting bossily at the girl.

Bryony pulled off her hat and scarf, and turned to face her children in the back seat.

‘George Alexander Louis, if I have to tell you one more time to stop yelling at your sister…’, she shot a warning look at her five year old son, stopping him in his tracks.

Turning back to her husband, she answered, ‘it was nice to see one last time, even if it wasn’t for our summer holiday’

‘Do you think that bloke suspected anything?’, his sharp blue eyes gazed into hers.

‘I think he was in his own world’, she laughed. 

The family drove away in their Land Rover, the children arguing and laughing in turn all the way home.

The fingerprints of the young prince and princess against the French windows was the only trace they left behind. 

[uta-no-knb]

God day! Can I ask scenario about Akashi tell his girlfriend about his mother, his childhood and his disorder?

Hello! Yes you can!! I did research which is why this took so long. 

Key points

This takes place your second year of university. You met Akashi during your first year. 

Let’s Begin!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take a deep breath you said to yourself, as you stood in front of the Akashi manor. You can do this.

Your boyfriend texted you, asking you to come over to discuss something. With your boyfriend being one to discuss serious topics in person rather than text, it made you anxious. Was he moving? Or worse...was he going to break up with you. 

Just ring the doorbell. It’s so easy, just push the button and... You stopped yourself, your hand shaking as it hovered over the doorbell. I...I can’t do it-

“L/N-chan.”

You jumped in surprise as you saw your boyfriend staring right at you, with the door opened. He was wearing a red button down shirt-with the first three buttons undone-with a black tie hanging loosely around his neck. He paired the shirt with black slacks. 

“Hi Akashi-kun.”

He raised an eyebrow, confused as to why you look like you saw a ghost. “Come on in,” he said, ushering you in. After taking your shoes off, he took your hand and led you towards the family room.

He used my last name....that’s really not a good sign. You sighed softly, unaware that the redhead heard you. 

The moment you reached the room, the both of you headed towards one of the couches. you noticed two empty glasses and a pitcher of water sitting on the coffee table. Akashi sat down, releasing your hand. “Please sit.”

Pressing your lips together you sat down next to him, placing your hands on your lap, not meeting his eyes. 

The silence between you two was tense and thick, making both of you uncomfortable.

“You look nice today.”

You raised an eyebrow at him; you were wearing black leggings, paired with a (F/C) Oversized hoodie with your university name on it. Your hair was in a messy bun and to add to your chaotic look, you were wearing two different colored socks. 

“I actually look like shit, but thanks I guess,” you shrugged. “You could’ve dressed more casual you know.” 

“I apologize, I came from a meeting,” he said taking off his tie and placing it on the table. “Would you like anything to eat? Or drink?” He asked as he started to pour water into one of the glasses

“Please,” you started, startling the redhead, “If you’re going to break up with me, just do it. Don’t prolong this because its not fai-”

“What are you talking about?” He cocked his head to the side with a look of confusion on his face as he placed the pitcher down. “Why would I breakup with you? What makes you say that?”

“W-Well, you called me by my last name, which you rarely do unless its something serious...and what can be more serious than a breakup?”

Akashi reached out and grabbed one of your hands, rubbing his thumb over it. “I’m sorry if it came across that way.” You looked up at him as he continued, “But this is a serious conversation that I want to have with you.”

“O-okay. What is it?”

Taking a deep breath, he began, “You’ve opened up to me about your past, and I know a lot about you. And it doesn’t feel right that you know nothing about me.”

“What do you mean?” you asked, “I do know stuff about yo-”

“I’m not talking about the basic parts. I’m referring to my past and...a part of me that I’m ashamed of.”

Sei-Chan.....is opening up? You looked at him and saw a mixture of fear and uncertainty in his eyes. “Go ahead,” you said, “I’m listening.”

Taking a deep breath, he turned to face you. “Alright.”

“As you know, my mother passed away when I was in my fifth year of elementary school from an illness. I wish you could’ve met her,” he said with a slight chuckle, “Since my father was strict with me, and wanting me to succeed in every area possible, my mother was the only one who supported me emotionally. She’s the one who got me into basketball.”

“She sounds like an amazing person, Seijuro.”

He nodded, “She was. She was the kindest woman, and strong willed since she dealt with my father. When she passed, my father became more strict and I was never truly happy. With her gone, my childhood was very limited. However, basketball made me feel closer to her. I was surprised when my father allowed me to play...as long as I won.

“When I attended Teiko, I was one of the few first years to ever be a part of the first string, and after a short time, I was promoted to captain; it was hard, but it was worth it. It was during my second year that the “Kiseki no Sedai” was formed, and it was during that time that the other members were advancing their skills and their egos except for me.”

Their skills? You asked yourself. If their skills were developed since middle school...what the hell were they like before?!

“One day, the team was starting to slowly fall apart; Aomine skipped practice, which then led to Murasakibara questioning why he couldn’t skip as well. This of course led to an argument which ended up turning into a one on one match between the two of us. Due to our height difference, he managed to push me back, and it was at that time that I realized I would lose. I never lose; I’ve never lost in my entire life. The Akashi family can never lose and I didn’t want to shame my family name.”

You saw Akashi fiddle with his hands; it was a rare sight to see him nervous and...unsure. He’s always so calm and collected...this was a first for you. 

“However, something happened that day and...I ended up winning. I obtained a new skill, the Emperor eye and that was when....I changed. I was more cold toward everyone; I was confident to the point I was rude, yet the team listened to me and respected me. It was during our third year that I emotionally hurt Kuroko. We were all at nationals and we faced his good friend. When Kuroko got injured, I prevented his friend from seeing him, guaranteeing our team's victory. I then advised the other miracles to not hold back. We ended up crushing the other team....and crushed the spirit of his friend. This resulted in Kuroko disappearing; he was hurt by us.” He paused, as his grip slightly tightened around your hand. 

You placed your hand on top of his and rubbed it with your thumb. “Take your time. I have nowhere to be.”

Taking a deep breath, Akashi continued, “At the end of the year, Kise, Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara and myself all made an oath to face each other on the court, since we all ended up going to different schools.,” he saw you start to open your mouth but he cut you off, “Please let me finish. I want you to know everything before you question me.”

You nodded and he proceeded. “I was superior...I was better than everyone. When I entered Rakuzan, I quickly became captain, and just like during my third year of middle school, treated my teammates the same way; being arrogant and calling everyone by their first name without the proper suffix-even to my senpais. I was focused on having powerful teammates, winning at every cose, and not caring about training or hard work, which I always used to believe in. 

“When it came time for the Winter Cup, the six of us met up before the opening ceremony; however I wasn’t expecting Kagami Taiga being there. It was then, that I attacked him with scissors-”

“Okay, I’m sorry but how did you get scissors?”

“...They were Midorima’s lucky item of the day and I told him I needed to cut my hair, but that’s irrelevant. Please, just listen.”

“Sorry, proceed.”

“I gathered everyone there to make sure they remembered the oath we made. I hadn’t heard from Kuroko since middle school, but I knew he would follow the oath...and I was right. Kuroko ended up beating Murasakibara, Aomine and Kise; my team managed to take down Midorima. I told him that victory is everything and that I willingly wanted to be his enemy. I remember when he told me I still had not changed. What he didn’t know was that I had changed; my abilities had developed further.” 

Once again, Akashi paused, and you gave his hand a light squeeze. “Go on, Seijuro.”

“It was time for Kuroko and myself to face off.  It was going well, we were winning and Kuroko’s ability of misdirection was wearing off due to Mayuzumi-san being Rakuzan’s misdirection specialist...until he gained it back.  During the game, I started to get frustrated with my teammates and slowly started to lose faith in them; eventually I started to play by myself. This led me to obtain the ability to enter the Zone, where my abilities increased.

Unfortunately, like before, Kuroko and Seirin had the upper hand, and the same feeling I felt back at Teiko came back...I was mentally damaged by Seirin’s duo.They...broke my victory-sealing trump card; they defeated my ankle break move. I messed up the rhythm I had made for my team.  I remember what Mayuzumi-san said to me...”

~~Flashback~~~

“What a disgrace,” Mayuzumi said, looking at Akashi. 

The three Uncrowned Kings gasped in shock; never have they heard someone talk to their captain like that. 

“Did you think we’d comfort you or cheer you up? We’d never do something like that. You made all those pompous statements, but this is all you’ve got? I can’t believe that. You’re nothing like the guy I first met on the school roof. More like...

~~~~~~

“...who the hell are you. Those words struck a chord with me...I kept asking myself who I was. I had flashbacks of my mother...of my childhood. It was then that....I faced my other half; the true me. I realized that I enjoyed those days when I could play as much as I want to with my teammates...my friends. I wanted my inferior side...this side of me.. to stay locked away...But only seeking victory, abandoning everything else...I lost sight of why I wanted to stand strong. I couldn’t hold back the urge to win against Kuroko and Seirin...and I regained control. My team forgave me...and while we ended up losing, it was fun to play the sport again.” 

Mayuzumi-san.... You tried to remember who he was. You remembered your best friend forcing you to watch the game with them-even though you weren’t quite paying attention (you were just there to socialize). You knew who the other three members were...and you vaguely recall Akashi talking about him...Oh! He was the quiet one! 

“After hearing this, I will not blame you for leaving. Even if I’m no longer the other me, I still shouldn’t have the privilege of having you. You don’t deserve to have someone messed up like me” Akashi looked to you, indicating that he had finished. 

“So...let me get this straight,” you started, “Up until your third year of middle school, you were, who I will call “Boku-shi.....then you changed to this “Ore-shi” persona”

Bokushi? Oreshi?

“.....only to return to being ‘Boku-shi’ after losing against Kuroko?”

“I guess... yea,” he slightly stuttered. 

“So...you pretty much suffered from a form of Dissociative Identity Disorder,” you asked, getting a nod from the redhead. “And that is why you think I don’t deserve you?”

 He nodded once again, looking away from you this time. “You don’t think I’m crazy for having a conversation with my other persona?” 

You shook your head. “That persona of yours...it wasn’t your fault. It was due to the disorder. It is usually caused by any trauma during one’s early childhood; in your case, it was the emotional abuse from your father as well as the death of your mother-” 

“By then...I may have already started to be torn apart.”

“And when you add the stress from falling behind your friends and almost losing...you were torn apart even further.”   

“I had to stay the strongest so that I could continue to play with them, which is why my other half  was born” Akashi’s voice rose as he yanked his hand away from yours, clutching it into a fist. “I tried to keep them together by winning..those who were irreplaceable. That was the only way I knew how. That weakness was what created him! I was weak!”

You froze. You had never seen your boyfriend like this...vulnerable and open. His past really is haunting him. Now I see why he wanted to talk to me in person about this. You placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Sei-chan, please look at me?” 

Hearing you call him by his nickname, he looked up at you 

Your hand slipped from his shoulder, and you started to rub his back. “Thank you for opening up to me. I know this must have been hard for you. I appreciate you being vulnerable with me, but you have nothing to worry about; I’m not going anywhere.”

“W-what?” he jerked back, “But what I did...it was wrong and disrespectful-”

“And it was all in the past,” you cut him off. “Leave the past in the past. What’s done is done. Besides, you regained your friends after this ordeal right? You lead them to victory against those douchebags from America-”

“But he came back during that match,” he said, being the one to cut you off. “I willingly allowed him to return because we were going to lose. Everyone played hard, and I wasn’t going to let my fear hold us back.” He sighed and looked down again, “It didn’t really matter, my other half was no match against them.”

“...Then...how did you win?” You asked, “If you were too weak to deal with the loss, and your other half couldn’t do it...then how did you win?”

“...We merged. We worked together, and helped our team win.” he briefly paused, “But he’s still there and he could come back-”

“Akashi...your friends accepted you again right? After all the stuff that happened, they let you back in. Part of him will always be with you, yes-I’m pretty sure they all know that. However, you overcame him...your weakness....you did that by yourself...you controlled him. You might show some of his traits here or there....but there’s a good chance he won’t be coming back.” You scooted closer to him and kissed his cheek. “It’s going to take a lot to scare me off, Akashi Seijuro.”

Akashi couldn’t help the smile that came across his face; he placed a quick kiss on your lips and brought you into a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered, smiling wider as he felt your arms hug him back. 

Breaking the hug, he looked you in the eyes. “How did you know what to say? How did you know what it was?”

“Sei-chan, I'm a psych major,” you chuckled, “I kinda have to know these things. Two different personalities is a sign of DID; however, usually people don’t remember what happened when they let their other personas take over...so yours is a unique case.” You took out your phone and began typing away. 

“....What are you doing?”

“Making a note to ask my professor if there’s a proper term for your condition. Don’t worry, I won't mention anything personal-just that you were able to remember what you did as your other persona took over.” 

“You better not mention my name, or else.”

“I won't, I promise.” 

“Tell me, why aren’t you surprised. Don’t tell me it’s because you’re a psych major-this is a serious condition. How does it not bother you.” 

You put your phone down and looked at him, “Because I suffer from mental illnesses too.” Akashi looked at you in surprise. “I suffer from Anxiety and depression. So no, mental illness don’t bother me.”

“So that means you-“

“No, I don’t self-harm,” you started cutting off Akashi’s thought. “Whenever I get depressed, I just get sad and quiet. I usually want to be alone...yet I also want comfort.” 

“I see. That’s good to know,” he smiled. “I’ll make sure to do just that.” 

 You smiled back at him. “But I’m curious...how did your teammates know when your persona took over?”

“...my eyes changed colors; one was gold and the other was red.”

You leaned closer to his face and smiled, “Well, whatever color your eyes are, I’ll still love them the same.”

He smiled and, cupping your face, brought you into a kiss.

~~~~~~

BONUS

“So Akashi finally told you, huh?” Kagami said, taking a bite out of his burger. 

You nodded, as Akashi took your hand and gave it a light squeeze. 

Earlier, Akashi was invited to a game with his old teammates and Kagami and he brought you along. You never got to see them play as a team-or half a team since it was 3 on 3- and you were in complete amazement; their teamwork was spot on and...you got to see the smile of your boyfriend, having fun. Now, the lot of you were sitting at Maji Burger, the boys catching up with each other.

“...And you’re still with him?”

The smile faded from Akashi’s face, only to be surprised when you flicked the salt container at Aomine, hitting his right in the middle of his forehead. 

“Of course I am,” you responded, ignoring the complaints coming from the blue haired male. “The past doesn’t define a person, it's the present that does. Sei is a good man with a good heart.”

“But...are you really prepared for his ‘mom mode’?” Aomine grinned, still rubbing his head. 

You looked at your boyfriend, “‘Mom mode’?” 

“Back at Teiko, I was considered the ‘team mom’ while Nijimura-senpai was the ‘team dad’.”

“Yup! Your boyfriend was a nagging mom!” Aomine laughed. “Kuroko, get up and go sit down. Midorima, you can’t have your lucky item on the court. Murasakibara, put down the bag of sweets. Kise, stop staring at your fangirls! He literally nagged everyone except me!”

“Not true, Aomine-kun. If anything, you were the one he nagged to the most.”

“W-what? Tetsu!”

“He’s right, nanodayo! ‘Aomine, you can’t leave practice.”

“Aomine, you can’t have your magazines on the bench.”

“Aomine-cchi, you’re at practice-get off the bench and get on the court.”

“Aomin-”

“Alright! I get it! Enough!!” he pouted, as the whole table bursted out laughing. 

The laughter died down and the group talked about memories from their middle school and high school years. 

You looked over at your boyfriend, and couldn’t help but smile; seeing him smile....seeing him genuinely happy...you were happy that he regained his friends trust...and you knew that If his other persona shows up...

“Akashi-chií! How could you say that?!”

“He’s not wrong though. You do need to settle down you know.”

“But shouldn’t he grow up some more first?” 

“Kuroko-cchi! Mean-ssu!”

...Akashi will still be accepted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And there you have it! I hope it was to your liking; i was up til 2 am this morning writing it. 

Until next time!

~Orca

[got2ghost-archive]

ten ships and why!! I was tagged by @alienfuckeronmain AHH THANK U I LOVE TALKING ABT THIS SHIT

Half of my list is childhood best friends to lovers let's GOOOO

1. drarry

*deep shuddering inhale* I have thought abt draco and harry being foils before I even reached double digits. they could have saved each other and had so much potential to even just be FRIENDS!! if j*r wasn't like that, then she could have actually made a meaningful impact on draco early on. abt how you don't have to be your parents! and how to heal!! anyway I love them any way shape or form. I love reading dark gritty fucked up stories about them just as much as I love reading domestic silly fluffy stuff for them. draco would NOT put up with harry's bullshit and harry would NOT go easy on draco either but they're ultimately just two lonely boys who grew up in fucked up households who have much more in common than they realize!!! LIKE!!

2. wangxian

yes they're a new one but God their love extends so deeply. yes they r basically Chinese fantasy Kirk/spock!!

lan zhan is so in love w wei ying and is so devoted and everything he does is action or acts of service which js very much my love language!! but he also feels a deep sense of obligation to the rules and codes he's learned?? and wei ying loves lan zhan but it takes him a long time to accept it bc he DOESNT BELIEVE HE IS DESERVIG OF LOVE despite being so GOOD. AND THEY NEVER TALK TO EACH OTHER OR COMMUNICATE THEY WAY THEY SHOULD!!!! AND HE DIES and LAN ZHAN IS JUST. REPENTENT FOR 16 YEARS AND RAISES HIS SON AND IS SO INCREDIBLY SAD AND MISERABLE BUT THEN WWX comes BACK TO LIFE and they get to try again AND THEY GET TO BE HAPPY???? ANYWAY ACTS OF DEVOTION I!!!!

3. soriku

I've genuinely thought abt them since I was TEN when the first kingdom hearts game came out but it didn't solidify until KH2 came out when sora has to search for riku the entire game and when he finally does RIKU DOESNT EVEN LOOK LIKE HIMSELF BUT SORA STILL RECOGNIZES HIM ANYWAY AND HOLDS HIS HAND AND CRIES. THAT SHIT MADE ME GAY! I had never witnessed such tenderness and they are so inherently queer and subtle that it's one of the first stories I ever saw myself in. on top of that I also read that doujinshi that I consider Canon and it's so!! childhood best friends! with big complicated feelings of jealousy and betrayal and possessiveness when you start to grow apart from the person you care about the most!! and in game they're slowly... circling to become end game? the entire story revolves around them saving each other and RIKU LITERALLY CALLING SORA HIS MOST PRECIOUS PERSON? AHHHHHH

4. sterek

I will never forgive what the show did but the Fandom and the writing from that fandom is incredibly important to me. they're like my comfort pairing and I just love that Derek is sad and grumpy but it's because he's fucked up and needs to go to therapy and stiles is also kind of fucked up but happier and he's smart and beautiful and!!! they were obviously attracted to each other!! almost all of their stories involve CONSENT or Derek hale getting better slowly. they mean a lot to me bc my mom was dying while I clung to this fandom and wrote my grief fic and I always associate them with that time in my life. I could and did read like 30 stories abt Derek doing laundry and buying wooden spoons and trying to move on and be a healthier happier person.

5. taagnus

rarely have rare pairs but this is one of them and!!! look. I didn't ship them until the last two arcs of the show revealed that instead of only knowing each other for a few years and being idiots they in fact knew each other for 100 years+ and DIED A LOT together and saved each other. BUT COULDN'T REMEMBER IT YET THEY STILL KIND OF... FALL IN LOVE AGAIN? they balance each other so much. magnus is magnus - brave and GOOD. taako is so closed off, careful abt trusting people so when he acted on gut instinct to LITERALLY THROW HIS SOUL OUT OF HIS BODY TO SAVE MAGNUS I was hooked. I know that taako ends up w kravitz but bc we didn't get to see Krav much I couldn't grow attached to him? I love the thought of first love and exploring that - how it never goes away, really but you can still love other people!! plus! I love writing them as lesbians! they're butch/femme to me!

6. ruth/debbie

UGH. UGH!!!!! they're so obsessed with each other and it's so filled with repression and anger and betrayal thst has nothing to do with Ruth fucking her husband and everything to do with the trust of their friendship. it's such a complicated weird fucked up intense 'friendship' that I love to see and like!! sometimes my friendships w women FELT like that. the times I have felt the most hurt is when I lose a friend bc a part of me is in love w them in some way!! Ruth and Debbie are just. in love. though. and Ruth is never gonna admit it and she's gonna... be in a comp het relationship even tho she thinks Debbie is smart and sexy and she idolizes her GOD.

7. gene/finny

YES MOST OF MY PAIRINGS ARE SAD WHAT OF IT? I read this book as a sophomore in hs and I simply could not stop thinking abt how gay and in love they were. FIRST OF ALL THE metaphors!!!!!! gene as winter and finny as summer!! and how codependent and weird they were even tho finny KNEW gene broke his leg. he didn't want to believe it bc he WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM. THEY WENT ON A DATE TO THE BEACH? THE PINK SHIRT? finny being the embodiment of childhood innocence and Gene literally breaking that? and killing it? once again I just love reading abt how complex jealousy is and where it comes from and also REPRESSION!!!

8. forrden

yes I'm including my own OC with @dosalesbian

I wrote abt them for FOUR YEARS. they're childhood best friends who fall in love and marry and are in love no matter what universe and are so soft and tender and healing. forrest goes thru a lot of gender exploration and aiden is just the partner I want to be!! he's goofy and LOVES HER SO MUCH AND SUPPORTS HER SO MUCH GOD!!!!

9. kuroken

they r a new one and yes once again childhood best friends but in a FUN NEW WAY that I want to explore. kenma is like disinterested in most things except gaming and whatever kuroo wants to do and has a hard time socializing bc he's SHY and is too observant! and kuroo is big and dumb and passionate but was also a stupid anxious child. I think they're those friends who are dating but don't even know they're dating or their relationship is so indescribable to themselves and others that it's hard to take any step forward or backward bc theyre SO codependent and yes. I want to explore that and read abt them more.

10. don't look at me yes im putting ryden on here

THEY WERE IN LOVE BUT COULDNT ADMIT IT AND THEN BRENDON WROTE 3 BREAKUP ALBUMS ABT RYAN? AND RYAN RELEASED A SONG THE SAME WEEK BRENDON GOT MARRIED? they're never gonna be friends again bc they can't just be friends

okay!! I tag @scottspack @dosalesbian @pattern-pals hehe

[superfreakerz]

TDDUP 30

“Til Death Do Us Part”

Rated M for smut and heavy themes.

Reincarnation/Immortality AU

Summary: There are immortals and there are those who reincarnate, but it’s best to keep these things hidden. Lucy is attending college and meets Natsu, a boy with pink hair, a devilish smile, and a body that never ages.

TW: SUICIDE

Chapter 30

Trip Down Memory Lane

Lucy poured herself some hot chocolate, the liquid sloshing around in her mug as she carried it over to the dining room table. Setting the drink aside so that it could cool down, the girl opened her laptop, quickly signing into her email account.

Three days had passed since she had visited Fairy Tail's basement and learned the history behind reincarnation. Since then, she was wary of leaving the house. Natsu hadn't even visited her once, obviously aware of her mood- for which she was thankful for. All she wanted was to be alone for a bit.

Lucy knew her thoughts were crazy. She knew that her friends, despite their overbearing skepticism, were good people. She knew that they would never hurt her.

And yet, a shiver ran up her spine every time she thought of Acnologia's mindset, wondering if her friends just so happened to feel the same way.

Ever since she learned about the connection between reincarnates and immortals, she couldn't help but be on edge around them. They had already proven themselves to be prejudiced against mortals, could anyone blame her for being worried? And if it wasn't her friends that were plotting to kill her, then perhaps the other immortals in the basement were.

The thought left her terrified of leaving the house. But after three days, she was starting to go crazy without seeing anyone, especially Natsu. She was grateful that he was kind enough to give her space when she needed. He sent her good morning and goodnight texts, but other than that, he left her alone to mull over her thoughts.

"I should go see him today," Lucy thought, bringing the mug to her lips and sipping on the chocolatey goodness. "It's not his fault that other immortals went crazy."

Natsu had been there for her through everything. He was there when she was sad, he was there when she was stressing over finals, and he was there when nobody else believed her about reincarnation. Through thick and thin, he was the one always at her side.

"I'll go to Fairy Tail later."

The only way to get over her irrational fear was to just deal with it headon. She had to get to know the others and make sure that they weren't like Acnologia. That was the only way she could put her negative thoughts to rest. But first, she had something else to do.

Lucy opened her thread of emails with Yukino. After learning that Fairy Tail was an organization built to support mortals, she had asked Natsu on her way home from the pub if there were other places like it. To her surprise, there were quite a few all over Fiore. If Yukino was like her, then she was tired of being alone with her secrets. She needed a group of people she could talk to. People who would somewhat understand.

Luckily, she had found out that there was an organization in Crocus where Yukino lived. It was a popular pub named Sabertooth, which must've brought in a lot of money for the immortals it housed.

Lucy's fingers moved hastily as she typed out a long explanation. She made sure not to leave a single detail out. She went on about the existence of immortals, the organizations, and the history behind Acnologia so that Yukino could decide for herself if she wanted to associate with the immortals. After re-reading the email to make sure she didn't forget anything, she pressed send before shutting the laptop. Chugging down the rest of her hot chocolate, she heaved a long sigh. It was time to get ready.

After throwing on a sweater and some leggings, Lucy shoved her feet into some knee-high boots before grabbing her keys and heading out the door. With winter's chill among her, the wind broke through the fabric of her sweater and chilled her to the bone. Quickening her pace, the girl practically jogged the rest of the way to Fairy Tail.

Once she arrived, she looked up at the grand double-doors. Her stomach churned, her fears of being around the immortals starting to kick in. Taking a deep breath, Lucy pictured Natsu's smiling face before swinging the doors open.

Heading over to the bar, she gave an uneasy smile to the familiar, purple-haired waitress, Kinana. She had learned from Natsu that she was also an immortal.

"Hi. Can I go see Natsu?" Lucy asked.

Kinana nodded, giving her a smile that helped calm her nerves. "Of course. You know where to find him."

Lucy thanked the other girl before stepping behind the counter and heading down the steps to the basement. Reaching the bottom, she nervously scanned the lounge for any of her friends. To her surprise, it was empty.

"Lucy?" a familiar voice called out. Turning to her left, she found Cana- the brunette who offered her a drink last time- sitting at the bar. The same bartender from before, the pretty silver-haired girl, was also there.

"Oh, uhh, hi," Lucy said with a small wave.

"Whatcha doin' here?" Cana asked, her eyes darting towards Mira. The bartender's hand slid over her own neck. Cana could hear her breathing grow heavy. She wondered if her friend would ever be able to be in the same room as an immortal without feeling suffocated. She doubted it. The scars of an immortal may heal on the outside, but they never do on the inside.

"I'm looking for Natsu and the others," Lucy answered, wringing her arms together. "Do you know where they are?"

"They're probably all in their rooms. I'll take ya to Natsu's room. C'mon."

Lucy thanked the brunette and nodded her head in goodbye to the bartender. The silver-haired girl gave her a weak smile, one that didn't reach her beautiful blue orbs.

Following Cana down a narrow hallway, Lucy took in every detail she could. The hallway was lined with doors on both sides.

"I don't know if Natsu explained our living situation to you," Cana said, catching the blonde's attention.

"He hasn't," Lucy replied. She was glad Cana was explaining things to her as they went.

"Well, boys and girls are split up. Boys are on the left, girls on the right. We have to share our rooms because there's limited space. Though, Gajeel's lucky and doesn't have to share until a newcomer comes along. I share a room with Juvia." She stopped just outside a door. "Anyways, tours over. This is Natsu's room."

"Oh. Thank you, Cana. You've been really kind to me."

"Don't mention it," the other girl said, taking a swig of alcohol. Rubbing the back of her head, she continued, "And I'm sorry if I came off kinda on-edge the other night. I didn't know that you're sorta kinda like us."

"Don't worry. Like I said, you've been really kind to me!"

With a smile, Lucy waved to the brunette before knocking on Natsu's door. In seconds, it swung open to reveal Gray, only in his boxers.

"Lucy?" he said.

"Did you say Lucy!?"

In the blink of an eye, Gray was shoved to the side, Natsu pushing his way to see her. Lucy giggled at his excitement, though a twinge of guilt ebbed at her knowing that he was only so excited to see her because she had been avoiding him the past few days.

"Hi, Natsu," she greeted.

"W-What are you doing here?" Natsu asked, his mouth parted. He wasn't expecting to see her so soon. After everything they learned, he figured she would never set foot in the home of the immortals again.

Lucy nudged him. "What? I'm not allowed to visit my boyfriend? You invite yourself into my home, it's time to return the favor."

Walking past him, Lucy studied the room, her cheeks dusted pink. It was her first time in a boy's room before. To her surprise, the place was a lot cleaner than she'd expect considering it was Natsu's. There were two beds pushed on opposite corners of the room. On one half of the room, there were band posters tacked to the wall and random mementos and picture frames. It was easy to tell it was Natsu's side. On the other side were only a couple of pictures of Gray and Juvia and people who resembled Gray. She had a feeling it was his family.

"So this is where you live," Lucy said, making her way to his bed. Plopping onto it, she grinned at her boyfriend. "It's a lot cleaner than I thought it would be."

"That's because of Erza," Natsu replied, a shiver running down his back. "She does random room checks to make sure everyone's rooms are in order. If they aren't…"

"I think I have a feeling what happens."

Lucy glanced at Natsu's nightstand, finding picture frames sitting on top. Grabbing one, a wide smile settled over her face as she quickly recognized it. It was the first picture they took together downtown, the one that she had set as his contact photo. She never knew that he had it printed out and framed by his bed.

Gently placing the picture frame back, she picked up another. This one was full of the Fairy Tail immortals, along with Makarov. There was also a young girl standing in the front, her hair long enough to reach her ankles and falling in blonde waves. Lucy couldn't recognize her.

"That's Mavis," Natsu said, following her gaze. "She's the one that made Fairy Tail!"

"And one of the oldest known immortals, right?"

"Yep! I'm sure you'll meet her one day!"

"I hope so." Lucy placed the frame back, grabbing the last one from the nightstand. It was one of Natsu when he was younger, in his teens it appeared. His hair was a bit shorter back then and his face had some more weight to it, but it was the same Natsu she knew and loved. Next to him was a man with red hair darker than Erza's. His eyes were a light brown, almost appearing golden in the sun.

"That's my dad," Natsu said, a small smile gracing his face. His hand tugged on the ends of his scarf.

"I can tell just from this picture how great of a father he was," Lucy replied. She reached out towards him and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah, he was."

"Did he know that you're an immortal?"

"Nah, he died before I even found out. What about you? Does your dad know that you reincarnate?"

"Oh hell no," Lucy replied quickly, shaking her head. "None of my parents in any lifetime know that I reincarnate."

Natsu cocked his head to the side. "How many parents have you had?"

"I'm on my fourth lifetime, so four different sets."

A wide grin settled over the boy's face. "I still can't believe you reincarnate! That's crazy!"

"I can't believe it either," Gray said from over on his bed. Admittedly, Lucy had forgotten he was there.

"You're telling me. I still can't believe you guys are immortal! I have had so many questions floating around in my head ever since I found out!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Then ask away. I promised I would answer all of your questions the night Natsu was shot," Gray replied.

Natsu jumped up from the bed. "Let me go get everyone first! I know they all wanna see you. Especially Levy. She's been mopin' around the past three days."

"Oh like you haven't been?" Gray teased.

Natsu glared at him before heading out the room to gather the rest of the immortals. Meanwhile, Gray turned his attention back towards Lucy.

"So, how ya holdin' up?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been avoiding us ever since you found out about Acnologia. I take it you're scared?"

"Can you blame me?"

"Nah, I can't. But don't worry, we won't let that happen to you."

The corners of Lucy's lips tugged upwards into a smile. "Yeah, I know. Thank you."

Gray opened his mouth to reply when suddenly, a flash of blue crossed Lucy's face and she found herself tackled back onto the bed. She didn't have to lift her head to know who it was clutching at her as if life depended on it.

"Hi, Levy-chan," Lucy greeted, smoothing a hand over the other girl's head.

"I missed you, Lu-chan! You didn't return any of my texts!" Levy replied, lifting herself off the blonde so that she could get up.

"Yeah, I know. A lot of stuff was on my mind. But I'm here now, right?"

"Right!"

Lucy glanced towards the door as she heard Natsu and the others stepping inside. She was surprised to find Cana and Mira among them.

"Heard you wanna learn about the immortals," Cana said, leaning against the wall beside Mira. "That's good, 'cos I wanna know about reincarnation. Ask away!"

Lucy cupped her chin in thought. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but now that she was put on the spot, she was having trouble remembering all of them.

"Oh, okay," she said as one question popped into her head. "Were you guys always immortal? Or did you do some ritual?"

"Believe me, nobody would do a ritual for this curse if they knew what it meant," Cana answered. "Really, nobody knows the real answer. At the beginning of our lives, we grew and aged, so maybe we weren't an immortal then. Or, maybe we were born immortal and it just didn't kick in until our death day. Nobody knows for sure."

"Death day? What's that?"

Levy chimed in, "It's the approximate age in which we assume we stopped aging. So for us, our death day is in our early twenties. For our first Master, Mavis, she stopped aging in her mid-teens, so that's when her death day is."

Lucy's mouth parted as she took in the information. She was horrified while learning about reincarnation, but the lore of immortality was interesting.

"So if Cana is the oldest of all you, who is the youngest?"

"That would be me," Levy answered with a laugh. "It goes Cana, Gray, Erza and Jellal, Gajeel, Juvia, Natsu, Mira, then me."

Lucy gave a smug grin, playfully nudging Natsu. "Aww, you're one of the babies of the group!"

He crossed his arms with a glare. "Shut up."

A laugh bubbled up to her lips before she returned her attention to Levy. "So, how did you guys find out about Fairy Tail?"

"We were all recruited," Levy answered. "Last time you were here, Master brought up that there are government officials affiliated with immortals. Their presence is top secret and only known by higher-ups. They are how organizations like Fairy Tail exist, and they're also the reason immortals get a small allowance from the government. Beyond that, they also do extensive research to find more immortals. There have been times when they found out who was immortal before the immortal themself was fully aware."

"That happened with me," Natsu added. "I knew somethin' was up, but I didn't know it was immortality until Gramps found me and told me about it."

"Exactly. So, the affiliates send us the information on the immortal and we go recruit them. That, or we somehow stumble upon them ourselves." Lucy nodded slowly, still trying to process everything. It was a lot to take in. Recruitment, government affiliates, immortality. Who knew all of this was happening and the rest of the world had no idea?

There was one question left that was still bugging Lucy, but she didn't know if it was insensitive to ask.

"You want to ask us something, don't you?" Erza asked, a knowing smile planted on her face. "I can see the curiosity written all over your face."

Lucy rubbed the back of her head with an awkward chuckle. "Oh, yeah. But it's okay! I don't need to know!"

"No, no, c'mon," Gray insisted. "I said I would answer your questions. What is it?"

"Well, I guess I was just wondering if there was an extent to your immortality. Like, what happens if an immortal cuts off their own head?"

A shiver ran up the group's spines just picturing it.

"Well, believe it or not, that sort of thing has happened many times," Jellal answered for the group. "Most immortals discovering their immortality get curious to see the limits. Or sometimes, they really want their life to end so that they can be reunited with the loved ones they lost throughout the years. Either way, there is always an experimentation phase. Whether it is a simple prick on the finger or decapitation, people are always trying to figure it out. I don't think you really want to know what happens if someone cuts off their own head, but I can assure you that they will live."

"You wanna see it?" Natsu asked.

Lucy whipped her head towards the boy. "What?"

"Do you wanna see it?" he repeated as if it were normal. "The healing process, I mean."

Without waiting for her to answer, he grabbed his lighter. He held his hand out in front of him, the fire dancing just below his fingertips. Keeping his eyes trained on Lucy, he slowly moved the fire up to his hand, allowing it to wash over his skin. At first it didn't hurt. It was a comforting warmth that he had gotten used to over the many accidents he had playing with fire. But ten seconds in, the warmth turned to scorching pain.

Lucy's hands flew up to her mouth as she forced herself to watch. Natsu's fingertips were blackened by the fire. Glancing up at him, she found tears in the corners of his eyes. The hand he used to hold the lighter was trembling.

"O-Okay! I get it, you can stop now, Natsu!" Lucy said, snatching the lighter away from him. Jellal's explanation of the experimentation phase that immortals went through rang in Lucy's mind. She had a feeling that fire was how Natsu proved his immortality to himself.

"Watch," Natsu said, holding his damaged fingers in front of Lucy's face. His skin was cracked and raw, but within seconds, the regeneration began.

Lucy gasped as the cracks in Natsu's fingers began to smoothen out and the normal color in his fingers returned. It was a much faster process than when Natsu was shot. It must've been because his body had to reject the bullet before it could start healing.

"See?" Natsu said, a wide grin on his face as he shook his fully-healed hand.

Lucy slapped him upside the head. "Yes, I see it! Don't do that again! Even though I know you can heal, I still don't like seeing you hurt!"

Natsu nodded, but the smile on his face remained. It felt nice showing Lucy all of this, and telling her about immortality. As close as he was to Lucy before, it was nowhere near how close he felt to her now. It was like he could finally open up completely to her.

Lucy smiled, her eyes glazing over her friends. It felt nice to hang out with them again. There weren't any secrets or lies, just people hanging out.

Her gaze then landed on Mira. The girl hadn't said a thing since coming into the room. Her lips were pulled into a small smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. As if feeling her stare, Mira glanced at her.

And that was when Lucy finally saw it.

Horror etched the other girl's face in the second that they shared eye contact before Mira pointed her gaze at the floor and brought a shaky hand up to her neck. She was scared of her. But why?

"Enough about all this crap," Gajeel said, catching her attention. "It's your turn to explain reincarnation."

"Yes!" Levy exclaimed. "I've been dying to ask you about it!"

Lucy shrugged. "Okay. Then ask away!"

Immediately, they all voiced the same question.

"What's death like?"

Clearly it was something on their mind considering it was something they couldn't experience no matter how hard they tried. Hell, even normal mortals wondered what death was like.

Lucy shrugged again. "I don't know what it's like for normal mortals, but for me, there's not much to discuss. There's no pearly white gates of Heaven or walking around as a ghost. There's the event that causes death, a moment where everything goes black, and then a flash of bright light as I'm being reborn in a hospital room."

"And you retain all of your memories?" Erza questioned.

"Yep. Which is what makes it horrible."

"Horrible?" Gajeel asked. "Hell, reincarnating sounds like a walk in the park compared to immortality! You get to die and be reborn with a fresh start every time! It's easy!"

Lucy's hands fumbled with the hem of her sweater. "I wouldn't say it's easy… Think of it this way. You're a normal kid in a loving family. You have lots of friends, a nice job lined up, and then all of the sudden you die."

"Still sounds better than having to live forever and watching your family die."

"Okay, well imagine being reborn into a new family. You have no idea what's going on, you have no idea who these people are, all you know is that you can't stop thinking about your old family. You wonder what happened. You look them up and find out that they're still alive, but you can't do anything about it because you're born in the same body every time. Everyone would recognize you and probably burn you at the stake. So, you're stuck in a house of strangers that are supposed to be your parents. Except they aren't. Not to you. You can't love them the way you're supposed to because you feel like you're betraying your first family."

Natsu's brows twitched upwards, his eyes narrowing in thought. There was something about those words that seemed so familiar. His eyes darted to Lucy's hands, which were balled into tight fists trembling in her lap. Then it hit him.

"Is that what you were talking about that time at your apartment?" Natsu asked.

Lucy faced him, tilting her head innocently to the side. "When?"

"The first time we came over. We were playing truth or dare and Gajeel asked you what the worst thing you ever did was. You said you isolated yourself from your parents and your mom got sick."

Lucy took a sharp breath, the memories of her second life playing in her head. "Oh. Yeah. That's what happened with my second set of parents. After that, I felt so bad that I at least tried to pretend to love them."

Gajeel scratched the back of his head. "I guess when you put it that way, reincarnation ain't all that fun either."

Lucy shook her head, a dry laugh escaping her lips. "No, no it isn't. But that's why I'm glad I met you guys. You might not understand reincarnation, and I might not understand immortality, but we all know what it's like trying to hide who you are from everyone else. And I am so tired of hiding it."

Levy wrapped her arms around the blonde. A warm smile graced her face as she said, "You'll never have to hide around us anymore!"

As the group went silent, Lucy thought that the questioning was over. That is, until Cana spoke.

"I have a question," the brunette stated. "You don't hafta answer or anything, I was just kinda curious."

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"You said that you're on your fourth lifetime right now, so that means you've died three times. How did you die?"

Lucy's stomach immediately dropped to the floor as panic washed over her. She really should've known that someone was going to ask that question. Who wouldn't?

Swallowing thickly, the girl tried to calm her nerves. Her stomach continued to do flips while her hands shook in her lap. It wasn't until a warm hand slid into hers that she was able to slow her breathing down to a steady pace.

Glancing up at Natsu, she found him staring right back at her, concern lacing his onyx orbs. She could tell by the look he was giving her that she didn't need to answer if she didn't want to. And yet, her mouth opened to speak.

"Well, two of the three were car accidents. I guess I wasn't the best driver," Lucy answered, followed by a weak chuckle. "That's why I'm not too big on driving anymore. In case you're wondering, it didn't hurt at all. It happened so fast that I didn't even know I died until I was born again."

"What about the other time?" Juvia asked.

Lucy's hand slowly moved up to her neck, softly grazing the sensitive skin as she recalled what happened. The memory was so vivid in her mind it was like it happened only yesterday.

She took a deep breath, followed by another. It was an innocent question. Lucy knew that. They were only curious, they didn't mean to bring up any bad memories.

"W-Well…" she choked out. Her throat tightened as if trying to snuff out the words that were on the tip of her tongue. "My second lifetime was kind of rough. It was my first time reincarnating. I was confused, angry… I told you how I felt about my parents and friends. I was alone. All I wanted was to forget the past that I couldn't have anymore." Hot tears pricked the backs of Lucy's eyes but she blinked them back. "I didn't want to be alive. I didn't want to be reincarnated. I just…"

A gasp caught Lucy's attention. Turning towards the source, she found Levy with her hands covering her mouth.

"Oh, Lu-chan… Tell me you didn't." she whispered.

Lucy nodded weakly. "Yeah, I did. I figured that my reincarnation was a fluke. A one time mistake. I figured that if I died again, it would be for real this time. I got back home from school one day. I'd been planning it for a while. I don't know what made me choose that day specifically, but it seemed right. My parents were still at work. I went to my room, grabbed the rope that I stole from the shed, and... And tied it to the ceiling fan. I-I'm sure you can figure out how I died from there."

Her hands brushed against her neck again. It was like she could still feel the loose threads of the rope scratching her throat. She could still remember what it felt like when her lungs started to burn. She could remember kicking, trying to relieve some of her body's pain. And she could still remember when her eyes finally started to droop closed, the energy in her body drained as she dangled there alone before succumbing to the darkness.

Lucy kept her gaze trained on the bed. She could feel everyone's stares on her, but she ignored them, too scared to make eye contact. Her stomach was doing flips, and she felt like she could vomit at any second.

It wasn't until Gray cleared his throat that Lucy finally glanced up.

Cana rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry for makin' you relive that experience. It was insensitive of me to ask that."

Lucy shook her head. "No, don't worry. I know that you were just curious. I'm the one who made the mistake."

"Well… maybe we should take a break from all the questions," Gray said. "We've been sitting here for a while. And it's not like we don't have time to ask questions later."

"Gray's right," Erza agreed, nodding her head. She could see through his attempt at lightening the mood and wanted nothing more than to help. "Shall we go get some food?"

"You guys go ahead," Natsu said. "We'll catch up with you."

Lucy glanced towards the boy. His usual carefree grin was nowhere to be found, instead in its place a blank expression. Squirming uncomfortably in her seat, she watched as the rest of their friends filed out of the room, leaving them all alone.

At first, they just sat there. They didn't look at each other, they didn't say a word. Lucy stared at Natsu, waiting for him to speak. She could practically see the cogs turning in his head as he thought of what to say, as if choosing his words carefully. Finally, it seemed he found the words to say as he whipped his head towards her.

"I'm not gonna ask you about it," Natsu said, his expression serious. Gently squeezing her hand, he continued, "When you're ready to talk about it, I'm right here. But you should know I'm gonna spend the rest of eternity makin' sure that you never feel like you hafta do that again."

Lucy gave a weak chuckle. "Rest of eternity? Do I need to remind you you're an immortal? You'll actually be alive for the rest of eternity, so you probably shouldn't joke-"

"I mean it, Lucy. I'll be there the rest of eternity."

And just like that, the dam broke.

Hot tears welled in Lucy's eyes and spilled down her cheeks before she even had the chance to blink them back. Throwing herself against Natsu, she buried her face in his chest. She didn't know how loud she was as she wailed and she didn't care. All she cared about was holding Natsu close because she knew that in the many lifetimes to come, she would never find someone as important to her as Natsu was.

Natsu ran his fingers through her golden locks. Every strand felt like silk against his skin. With his other hand, he softly rubbed her back until she eventually stopped crying.

Sniffling, Lucy pulled away from him and wiped her face with the back of her sleeve.

"I love you, Natsu," she said, only able to muster up a whisper.

Natsu smiled down at her and wiped a stray tear from her face that she missed. "I love you too, Luce."

[xshow-me-some-moxie]

We’re Back...with Snacks

["Cin! Still— ah, damn it— still with us, doll?"]

{"…Yes. What isss— Happening. To us?"}

["We couldn't answer that, not really, just as in the dark as Cin when it came to this particular brand of dimensional travel. We're going back, Cin."]

{"Back. …Home?"}

["It should have been, a few weeks ago it would have been. But, a lot changed in a few weeks. Now when we thought about home it wasn't our empty cave and alimony checks we thought of, but a pair of fierce purple ({"Blue."}) …purple eyes, a wicked smile, the best natural instincts we've ever seen, and a serious need for someone to watch out for her so she didn't run herself into the ground. The only one who would miss us in our universe was Aunt May, and God knew she was the last person who needed us. May was the strongest, most independent person we knew, she would understand why we had to leave."]

{"Ssso…back. Then home. Again."}

["Yeah, Cin, we're going back."]

Going back took Noir nearly two years.

After a painful reentry to his apartment, the first thing he did was check that Carcinogen survived the transition, and when she was no worse for wear he took in his apartment and was mortified. It was a disaster. He wasn't particularly meticulous when it came to cleaning (especially because the FBI boys who stopped in more often than he liked always left the place a mess, so what was the point?), but this was bad and…extensive? It wasn't just a mess made, but things had been moved, the dust patterns different all around the room.

It was like…

Behind his mask Noir's eyes narrowed and then he was moving to his bedroom, throwing the door open. The sight he was greeted with had him scowling, nothing was where he left it. Someone had been living in his apartment. Noir was getting a headache, and that was before he found a calendar and realised that three years had gone by.

After that Noir decided to get very drunk before he figured out what to do next.

It took Noir nearly a year to get his affairs back in order after having been gone for three years. He wasn't sure how the other him had managed to inhabit his life for three years, but he'd managed to gum up the works in a spectacular manner. And while he wasn’t planning on staying in his dimension longer than he had to (or coming back, for that matter), Karn had made it clear it would take time to locate Gwen and so Noir was forced to ungum the works while he waited.

Quite a bit of the next year was spent in Loomworld, Noir doing his best to not let Carcinogen goad him into actually shooting Karn. The Master Weaver was having trouble locating Gwen and Noir had no patience for it. The only thing that kept him from pulling the trigger was the fact he knew he couldn't get back to Gwen without him…and he didn't want to deal with Billie's reaction— he was betting it would be more than his Disappointed Face.

Finally, the day came that Karn found the proper thread and informed Noir that he found Gwen. Noir spared only the time to pack three web sacks, one full of junk food that he knew his girl would appreciate, one full of his own essentials including a spare suit and his winter gear (and the recipe for egg creams which he had had to wrangle out of a bartender he knew), and the other full of lead.

Noir had assumed the trip back to Dollface's dimension wouldn't be that bad as he'd travelled via Karn's web more than once in the past, but this was different. Heat followed at his back and when he appeared on the rooftop of his building he immediately collapsed the burning getting worse despite the fact the rain was coming down in sheets.

"Aaargh!" The sound of his yell was dampened by the rain, Noir curling into a ball, fingers dragging at his shoulders and neck. His skin felt like it was on fire. Like he could feel every single one of Cin's millions of tiny legs and they were all red hot.

["Cin, why—"] "Damn it!" ["Why are we hurting us?!"]

{"NOT US. Hurtsss, Noir. Sscared."}

Writhing on the rooftop Noir realised just how much trouble he was in. If this wasn't Cin, and it wasn't him, it had to be something with this kooky bubble and since it turned him into a vampire last time he wasn't looking forward to whatever it was doing this time.

["We had never felt pain that bad—"] in his life. It was ["like we were being ripped apart from—"] the inside out. The only thing he knew for ["certain was that the source of the pain was—"]

{"NO!"}

Noir screamed as the symbiotic mass wrapped even more tightly around him— whatever was going on in this dimension was causing his body to reject the bond which made the symbiotes hug feel more like death. ["We can't take this, Cin! Too much—"] "more and we're going" ["to kill us!"] Despair was in both his voice and his thoughts, not wanting to break the bond, but it was becoming more and more clear that if they didn't they weren't going to survive.

{"…Leave alone?"}

Noir grit his teeth even as he forced his hands to pat his pockets, desperately searching for the flask he kept on his person. ["Not—"] "for lon—" ["g. We promise."] Shaking hands had finally managed to find the flask, but his fingers were trembling too violently for him to unscrew the cap. "Damn!" This time when he yelled Carcinogen yelled with him, the sound terrifyingly inhuman as dark tendrils lashed out at the rain.

["Please, Cin, if we—"] "die then Cin is" ["alone forever. No Noir."]

For a moment he thought Cin's immediate fear of being separated from him was going to outweigh her desire to keep him alive, but then three thin tendrils reached for the cap of the flask twisting it open. Noir's entire body sagged, relief mixing with the pain. ["Thank you, Cin. It won't be"] "for forever." Only until Noir figured out what the hell was going on.

{"Noir."}

As much as Noir had learned about symbiotes in the past two years he still wasn't sure if they felt emotions the same way people did, but even through the pain and the fear he felt himself get choked up and it wasn't because of the pain. ["We know, Cin. Us too."]

The cap flipped open then and Carcinogen streamed inside, ejecting the web sacks she’d been storing in her mass onto the roof next to Noir and consuming the egg cream the flask had been filled with to make room for all of her. As the last tiny spider crawled inside a black tendril snaked out of the mouth, grabbed the cap, and pulled it down, twisting it tightly closed from the inside.

As the immediate connection between them broke Peter was in a completely different kind of pain, the physical replaced with that of loss and the feeling of being utterly alone for the first time in two years. Curling himself around the flask Peter wasn't sure how long he shook before he was all cried out, but he was definitely soaked through by the time he sat up.

Now that he wasn't in massive amounts of pain (just bearable amounts, the effects of the rejected bond lingering) the man was able to take in the world around him and he realised immediately that he was no longer enhanced. He couldn't hear anything but the rain pounding on the rooftop, and when he looked at the web sacks next to them they were blurry blobs more than sacks.

["No wonder w—"] 

Peter swallowed hard, letting that train of thought go so that he didn't have to think about the fact that he was once again an 'I' instead of a 'We'.

Thankfully, despite losing Carcinogen's suit, Peter wasn't completely naked, his trench coat and fedora the same ones he had always worn. His movements were slow as he dragged the sack with his own belongings in it to him, tearing it open with some difficulty to extract his original black suit. Changing out in the rain wasn't the smartest idea he'd ever had, but he couldn't bring himself to care. 

Once he was dressed he gathered up the bags with a bit of difficulty, forgetting what it was like to move without preternatural balance and agility. He was at least able to carry the weight. He wasn't as strong as he normally was, but he'd been tall and broad even before the spider bit him and he still seemed to possess the muscles he had gained from two decades of web swinging and punching bad guys.

With Cin's flask safely tucked away in an inside pocket of his trench Peter made his way down the fire escape. Even moving slowly he nearly slipped on the wet metal twice, and it was a relief to reach his window. Jimmying the window up Noir ducked inside, immediately tripping over a hamper someone had left in front of the window, curling in on himself as he rolled, landing on his back near the middle of the living room, grimacing behind his mask, the web sacks scattered over the floor around him.

"Dang nabbit, Dollface!"

@spideyygwen

[harrisongslimited]

An Impossible Task-A John Wick Fanfic

A/N - Here we go again! Another chapter. I still don’t know how many chapters there will be--I haven’t even gotten to the smut yet! And yes, there will be smut-that’s what fanfics are for, no?

T/W - Grief.

Chapter 3

He wasn’t sure where he was, but he thought it was Helen running a warm hand across his forehead and into his hair. He thought it was Helen talking to him. Then he realized again that Helen was gone, and had been gone for 5 years….the same amount of time they had been married.  In his mind he saw her, her smile, her long brown hair, her almond shaped eyes. What bothered him is that he could no longer remember the sound of her voice. It had melted somehow over the last 2 years since he lost the video he had of her on his cell phone. Part of him feared that he would lose her physically as the years passed, just as he had lost her vocally. There was only one remaining picture of the two of them, safely tucked away in the New York City Library.

When he woke, he saw a doctor standing over him and fear went right through him. He had to get out of this hospital…or they would find him for sure. He somehow needed to find shelter and get back to Manhattan to  find out exactly what had happened to land him 90 miles away from where he thought he was.

John’s body ached. Every bump of the car caused another pain in his chest, in his leg, in his head. Surprisingly, his broken fingers hurt almost as much as the stab wound in his chest. He remembered the fight. Sort of.  Things were still a bit hazy, probably from the pain medication they had given him. This is why he hated pain medication. It fogged the brain and weakened the body. He’d take a bourbon over a syringe filled with cloudy white liquid any time.

But now he was on his way somewhere, with a doctor he didn’t know. These were way too many things out of his control….this was way too much power he had freely turned over to someone else. But he glanced out of his peripheral vision to look at her as he rolled the coins and medallion in his hand. What was he planning? What was his plan? He still couldn’t think straight but watched the young doctor out of the corner of his eye. His plan for now was to trust no one.

It was his credo before he met Helen, trusting no one, but somehow she broke through his crusty exterior and found the goodness he didn’t even think he had. Once found, never lost and maybe that’s how he would honor her. Be the living embodiment of her good graces so if her physical being faded from his memory like her voice did, he could still remember her.

The doctor remained quiet as she drove through a regular family neighborhood. John studied his surroundings as unobtrusively as possible hoping his brain had recovered enough to hold the information. The medicine was still making him exceptionally groggy and he felt his eyes closing against the headlights of the oncoming cars.

“You okay, John?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“You’re going to be feeling that anesthesia for another couple of hours,” she told him. “When we get to my house, start drinking water…a lot of water…to flush it out of your system.”

He nodded his head in agreement. “Why are you helping me?”

Cassie glanced at him quickly then focused back on the road. “Because I’m an idiot with a death wish.”

John turned his face to her and realized what a risk she really was taking for him. “Well, thank you,” he said, still studying her. She was a pretty woman with a slightly upturned nose, making her look younger than her real age, he figured.  Her lips were full with a light pink sheen and her neck was long and slender. Her skin was a smooth, creamy ivory, accented by her short, auburn hair and dark brown eyes. John’s eyes slid down her body and even covered with a winter coat, he could tell her body was petite but strong.   John snapped his head forward, stunned by his observations.

He didn’t have much of a chance to get to know women outside of his business. Helen had been the first and he had given up that life for her.  But illness had taken her from him and now John was back where he started. A hitman. An assassin.

 Cassie turned a corner and pulled into the driveway of a small, ranch type home surrounded by green grass and trees.  She opened the garage and drove the car in. John was about to get out until he heard someone calling her from outside the house.

“Cassie!”

Cassie ran outside the garage to meet her neighbor, 82 year old Deloris White. She was hoping John had slumped down so he wasn’t visible. If Deloris saw him, the entire neighborhood would know she had brought a man home.

“Hi Deloris,” Cassie greeted.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she began in a frantic tone. “I woke up with this pain in my side and I’m worried it’s appendicitis.” Deloris pointed to her left side.

Cassie took her hand. “Your appendix is on the other side, Deloris,” she told her calmly.  “And if you ever get sick, don’t wait for me to come home. Call 911.”

Deloris nodded quickly. “So what is this on my left side?”

Cassie asked her several questions. What kind of pain? Vomiting? Diarrhea? Fever? Tenderness? To which Deloris said,”No.”

“Well, I think it’s okay,” Cassie reassured her. “If you feel sick during the night, you call 911. Promise me.”

Deloris nodded, looking towards Cassie’s car. “I saw someone in your car when you came up the street. Who is it? A young man?”

“Oh, shit,” Cassie said to herself. To Deloris she said, “It’s my brother.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother. I thought you only had a sister.”

“Nope, Nope. He’s my brother, John,” she stuttered. “John?” Cassie called. “Come meet my neighbor Deloris.”

John eased out of the car and walked over to them, thinking about what he was going to do about an 82 year old woman.  Out of habit, he always had to secure a way out. He looked at Cassie.

“Deloris, this is my brother John,” Cassie told her. “He’ll be staying with me a couple of days. John, this is Deloris.”

John flashed his brown eyes at Cassie, then greeted Deloris.

“Are you a doctor too?” Deloris asked, noticing the scrubs and white lab coat.

John looked down at his clothes and nodded.

“How wonderful!” Deloris exclaimed. “Two doctors in one family.”

“Well, we need to get inside now,” Cassie told her. “And you need to go home and get out of the cold.”

Deloris nodded and touched Cassie’s arm. “Thank you Dear. I’ll go now. I feel much better.”

“Good,” Cassie responded. “Remember. Call 911 if you feel sick.”

She nodded and turned to walk back down the driveway. Cassie watched her get back into her house.

“Your brother?” John quizzed her, still staring down the driveway.

Cassie shrugged. “I was under pressure. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel in my front yard, okay?”

John laughed slightly as they turned to go back into the garage and then through the door to the house. He rubbed his cold hands together and followed Cassie into the kitchen.

Cassie’s cell phone rang. “Hello? Yes, Edwin?”

“The police are here. Where is your patient?” he groused.

“He was in Room 8,” Cassie answered, looking at John. “You told me to leave. I left.”

“Without properly transitioning the patient to another doctor?”

“I charted thoroughly. Everything, including test results are in his chart.”

“This is a total breach of protocol, Cassie. Not transitioning the patient properly. And now he’s gone,” Edwin’s voice was getting louder and louder.

“Well, he was there when I left so I can’t help you.”

“When you get back on Monday, we’ll have a conversation about this, Cassie. This is unacceptable.”

“Understood,” Cassie answered him flatly. “Goodbye Edwin.”

John looked at her questioningly.

“My ass is in the grinder because of you,” she told him in a no-nonsense tone. “I sure hope you turn out to have the cure for cancer or know how to end world war and poverty.”

John surprised himself when he answered her, “I don’t even know how I ended up half dead outside your ER.”

“Great,” Cassie replied, filling the coffee pot with water and grounds. “Coffee?”

John nodded.

“And go sit down for God’s sake,” Cassie instructed, pointing him to the living room. “Are you hungry?”

John shook his head.

“You don’t talk much do you?” Cassie laughed. “Or am I talking too much? Or are you just plotting my untimely demise?”

[bouquetwrites]

Not So Regal (🍋🔞)

A surprising reunion becomes even more special.

With this being the third spring festival you would be in attendance for, you were sure you knew what to expect. Alfonse broke out his outfit from the previous much to your elation. It seemed he managed to get over his initial embarrassment as well! You donned a newer costume, flaunting how the dress flattered your figure with a surge of confidence running through you.

With every festival came a new set of heroes dressed for occasion, ready for summoning. You had become accustomed to this by now, and the anticipation of who would arrive always excited you. You and Alfonse both thought you knew precisely who you would come across this year.

Oh, how wrong you both were.

“Zacharias…?”

“Hello there, Alfonse. Summoner.”

The two of you exchanged bewildered glances with one another before looking back at the masked prince of Embla standing before you. Bruno could only chuckle at such a response, as it was exactly how he thought you would both react. In this world, the Bruno you knew was still inflicted by the Emblian bloodline’s curse, and tried to stay away from others for their own sake. However, the Bruno standing before you in this moment seemed to be curse-free, something that you weren’t sure you would witness in your time here, but that you were more than happy to.

“It brings me a great amount of joy to see you again.” He spoke.

“The feeling is mutual.” Alfonse replied, unable to fight the growing smile on his face.

As you watched the two princes catch up with one another, you took a minute to study the costume that Bruno was dressed in. It resembled Alfonse’s rather closely, including the floppy ears that you adored, except his had light purple and golden accents, as well as a cravat sitting on his chest, whereas Alfonse left his chest partially exposed with his outfit. One notable similarity between the two costumes was that the pants showed that they were both rather… well endowed in their lower regions. You subconsciously puckered your lips, a small blush rising to your cheeks at the thought.

“Summoner? Are you well?”

You lifted your brows as you heard Bruno address you, both princes staring at you with confusion.

“Me? Oh, of course! I’m great.” You chuckled. “You look nice, Bruno.”

“Ah.. umm… thank you?” He stammered, now with a blush of his own on his face.

“Oh, don’t worry.” You assured him.  “Alfonse wasn’t a fan of his outfit at first either. But I think he looks wonderful in it.”

Now it was the Askran prince’s turn to blush. His face turned a slight shade of pink, not at being in such a costume, but at your praise for his appearance in it. He brought a hand to his mouth, turning his head to the side in an attempt to avoid any awkward glances from onlookers. You let out a small giggle at his flustered state, linking one of your arms around his and stroking it with your free hand.

“Aww, I’m sorry about that, babe.” You told him, still smiling brightly. “I can’t help that I adore you in just about anything.”

“A… Anyway…” Alfonse stammered, turning his head to face Bruno. “We were just about to go for a stroll in the gardens together. We could use some time away from the festivities just to be together. Would you accompany us?”

“Oh, if it’s okay with you, Kiran…” The Emblian turned to you.

“Of course.” You warmly replied. “It’s great having a chance to see you two together after all this time.”

~~~~~

With your head resting on Alfonse’s shoulder and your arms still intertwined with each other, you hummed contently. You took in the warm air along with the beautiful sight of the flowers you passed by as the three of you walked along, listening to the conversation the two princes were engaged in, chiming in whenever you felt like contributing to it.

“Wait, Sharena still believes in the winter envoy? At her age?” Bruno questioned, bewildered at such an idea.

“I think it’s adorable.” You giggled. “Alfonse never tried to tell her otherwise because he knew how much it would crush her.”

“Sharena is ever the optimist. I don’t think I could ever bring myself to do anything that would make her think otherwise.” Alfonse confessed.

That kind and caring nature that Alfonse exuded not just in that statement, but also as a human being was one of the many things that made you fall for him. He would never try to do anything to hurt the people he cared for, which was a quality to be admired; especially in times of war. With that in mind, of course he and Bruno were able to share such a strong bond. You wouldn’t have been surprised if such a bond went beyond friendship before he met you.

“Ooh! Look at how beautiful that garden is!” You excitedly cried out, stopping in your tracks as you set your eyes on the newly discovered flowerbeds, vibrant in color and shining with the sun casting down on them.

Before either of the princes could respond, you had let go of Alfonse, running towards the garden before you. The two men glanced at each other in confusion, then back to the sight in front of them. With how harsh the winter was, it looked as though their surroundings had new life within them. Perhaps it could symbolize their reunion.

“I suppose she wants us to follow her.” Bruno spoke, turning his attention back to the blue haired prince beside him.

“She does.” Alfonse laughed. “Even if she didn’t, I am rather curious about that garden myself.”

The two soon ventured into the garden, both looking around the colorful land in search of you. You were already rather deep within the place, awaiting their arrival where you stood. As soon as you heard footsteps, you turned to find them standing before you, all of you exchanging warm smiles with one another.

“Don’t you guys love it?” You spoke. “How wonderful all these colors look mixed together; how they bring life into the air?”

“It truly is exquisite.” Alfonse brightly replied, approaching you as he wrapped his arms around your waist. You felt his breath along the crook of your neck, sending chills through your spine when he began placing light kisses along it.

“However, nothing could be as beautiful as you.” He whispered.

“Alfonse, stop it…” You giggled. “We aren’t exactly alone, you know.”

“I don’t mind.” Bruno chimed in, approaching you two as he gently laid his hands on Alfonse’s shoulders. “You make a wonderful couple, after all.”

“There you have it.” Alfonse bragged, earning another small laugh from you.

You rested the back of your head on his shoulder, allowing him more access to your neck and collarbone. The Askran prince took advantage of this, lowering his head to your collarbone and nipping at it, leaving you mewling and shivering in his embrace. Meanwhile, Bruno slowly began massaging Alfonse’s shoulders, resting his chin on top of his head while he quietly moaned in front of him.

“Zacharias…” Alfonse breathed out against your jawline. “That… feels nice...:”

Your lips curled into a smirk at the princes words and actions towards one another. You slid a hand up Alfonse’s leg, stopping just beside where his bulge rested, leaving him gasping in between you and Bruno.

“Want some help?” You asked the Emblian man, turning your head to look over at him.

“Gods, yes…” Alfonse breathed out.

“I know you do, silly.” You laughed. “I was asking your boyfriend.”

The masked man standing behind you chuckled at your remark, leaving Alfonse red as a rose petal in between the two of you. You turned around to face the two men, pressing your body against the blue haired prince’s as he grew more flustered. He truly was adorable in such a state, and Bruno seemed to think so as well. He snuck a hand under the collar of Alfonse’s shirt, caressing the skin underneath. The Askran’s shaky gasps elevated when you began to stroke at his growing erection, leaving him writhing in between you and his longtime companion.

“Don’t forget, summoner…” Bruno murmured, lifting a hand to hold the back of your head. “We can share him, as well as each other.”

You felt no words were needed in response; simply actions. You quickly leaned over, your lips colliding with the Emblian’s and tongues wrestling with one another, the both of you moaning deeply. Alfonse turned to watch you two passionately kiss, the image of two people he cared so much for intertwined with each other like this arousing him even more. As you pulled away from Bruno, you could feel that Alfonse had a chance of tearing through his pants with how hard he was.

You promptly went down to your knees, hooking your fingers into the waistband of his pants and smallclothes. He euphorically cried out as you pulled them down just enough to free his pulsing length. You gave his tip a flick with your warm tongue, watching him tremble with desire in front of you. Bruno grabbed onto both sides of the Askran man’s head, swiftly pulling him in for a heated kiss of their own. Alfonse reciprocated, moaning as he pushed his tongue past Bruno’s lips. Before you could slip his erection into your mouth, you heard a loud rip, looking up to find Bruno without his shirt, and what you believed to be the remnants of it in Alfonse’s hands.

“Alfonse, you…” Bruno panted as he pulled his mouth away. “Where did that kind of strength come from?”

“I’ve trained a lot.” He replied. “I am still nowhere near as strong as you, but it has paid off in battle.”

“Outside of it as well.” You added. “You can ask my many pieces of clothing that he’s torn through.”

“Is that so?” Bruno questioned.

“Perhaps you’d like to see and feel for yourself…?” You suggested, your fingers toying with one of the buttons to your prince’s shirt.

Bruno’s fingers quickly replaced yours on the buttons as you brought your attention back to Alfonse’s now aching member. Slipping it into your hot mouth, you swirled your tongue around the shaft, bobbing your head up and down beneath the two men. Meanwhile, Bruno swiftly undid Alfonse’s shirt, revealing more of his toned chest, as well as a rather chiseled stomach. He left the shirt on the prince, leaning in placing wet kisses along his newly exposed skin, working his way up until he was at Alfonse’s collarbone. He lightly bit down on the area, making the Askran shakily gasp at the overwhelming heat running rampant through him.

“Summoner…” Bruno uttered, sliding a hand down Alfonse’s body until it was close to your head. “Would you like some assistance down here?”

You briefly pulled your mouth away from Alfonse’s cock, looking up at the Emblian with a devious smirk.

“That’d be pretty great.” You responded. “I’m sure he’ll love it, too…”

With that, you slipped the tip of his length back between your lips, hearing the prince moan deeply as you sucked on it. Bruno removed his gloves, curling his fingers around what wasn’t in your mouth. He began to stroke Alfonse at an unbearably slow pace, the Askran’s cheeks turning a deep shade of scarlet as his dick throbbed urgently in your mouth and in Bruno’s tight grip. He buried his face in the crook of the Emblian’s neck, his hot breath on his body making Bruno hum contently. Alfonse grabbed the back of your head with one hand, burying it in your hair while he rested the other along the small of his longtime friend’s back.

“K… Kiraaan… Zachariaaaassss…..”

Already, the prince was inching closer towards his peak. His cock pulsed rapidly on your tongue, prompting you to take more of him in. Your lips brushed against Bruno’s fist as he stroked Alfonse faster. The blue haired man was a panting mess in between the two of you, tugging on your hair and biting down on Bruno’s shoulder at the overwhelming ecstasy bursting in his veins.

With a small squeeze from Bruno, it was all over.

The prince loudly cried out as his climax ripped through him, his seed spilling into your mouth as well as dripping from it as his length twitched furiously. You took your lips off of him, swallowing what got in your mouth and wiping away at what didn’t with your arm. Alfonse fell to his knees in front of you, breathing heavily as he worked to regain his composure. Bruno grabbed the staff he wielded for the festival, using it on Alfonse to help give him some more energy.

As fatigue left the Askran’s body, Bruno joined the two of you on the ground. Now that you had a moment to truly study his features, you were thoroughly impressed by his body. You wanted nothing more than to run your hands all over his chiseled muscles; to feel him and Alfonse hold you closely as they did unspeakable things with you. You watched the two men lean in towards one another, hungrily kissing each other again.

Alfonse slipped his hand under the masked man’s pants, hearing him deeply groan when he pulled his firm cock out. The prince rubbed his thumb over the tip, coating his hand with pre-cum and using it as lubricant as he gripped the shaft. He kept a steady pace, pumping his hand up and down Bruno’s length as they massaged their hot tongues together in each other’s mouths.

You found it rather enthralling watching them touch each other so intimately. A rousing warmth seeped through your veins, your cheeks turning pink at the effect they had on you. You trailed a hand along your inner thigh, feeling your core heat up and ache when Alfonse let out a low hum as Bruno stroked at his chest, his palm grazing over a nipple. Alfonse felt himself growing hard once more, gasping when Bruno pressed his hot, throbbing member against his own. The two men rocked against one another as their dicks rubbed together, leaving them shivering with ecstasy. You shoved a hand in between your now soaked panties, a breathless sigh leaving your mouth as you stroked at your swollen clit. Your body jolted from your touch, ablaze with pleasure while you indulged in the sight of the two together.

Alfonse leaned in closer to the man in front of him, his tongue and lips latching onto the crook of his neck. The Askran prince sucked on the hot skin, emitting a sultry growl from Bruno as he pushed his length harder against Alfonse’s. The gasp that he let out sent chills down your spine, your entrance pulsing against your fingers. When they suddenly stopped, you retracted your hand, your heart pounding at the suggestive gaze they both had on you.

“Don’t think that we’ve forgotten about you, summoner…”

You pursed your lips together at Bruno’s tantalizing words. The two made their way over to you, the Emblian man kneeling down behind you while Alfonse pinned your hips down with his hands in front of you, crashing his lips against yours. You moaned into his kiss, grabbing the back of his neck to pull him closer to you. You felt Bruno’s fingers grab onto your top, pulling it down enough for your breasts to fall out but leaving it on you. He massaged the newly exposed, soft flesh from behind you,  thumbs and fingers pinching at your rosy buds. Alfonse pulled his face away from yours, moving down and tracing his tongue around a nipple. You were left panting between the two men as Alfonse moved further down, his thumbs hooking under your panties and sliding them off effortlessly, dropping them on the ground beside you.

When you felt the blue haired prince’s hot tongue lapping over your slit, it felt like heaven. You threw you head back in euphoria, resting it on Bruno’s shoulder as needy cries slipped from your mouth. Alfonse pushed your legs further apart and sucked on your clit, caressing your inner thighs. Bruno’s solid length pressed against your leg, prompting Alfonse to take it back into his hand. His tongue slipped in between your drenched folds, wiggling around your entrance while stroking Bruno at a steady pace.

“You are… quite the multitasker…” You choked out in between moans. You felt the prince hum in response, the vibration against your walls sending delectable shockwaves through your veins.

Bruno let go of one of your mounds, bringing his hand up and resting it on your cheek. Your noses brushed together as you leaned in to one another, your lips crashing against each other. Alfonse tightened his grip around Bruno’s cock, causing him to moan into your mouth. You reached down, circling a finger around the Emblian’s dripping tip and smirking into his kisses as he grunted in response.

You both looked down at Alfonse when you felt him pull his tongue out of you, as well as Bruno feeling him let go of his sturdy member. The Askran went to lie down on the ground, keeping his eyes locked on the both of you as he awaited your next move. You slowly approached him, planting your knees on either side of him and feeling the tip of his cock throb against your folds, the teasing nature of it making you shiver. Bruno wasn’t too far behind you, carrying a stamina potion in one hand. You weren’t sure how he retrieved it, but you were too aroused to truly think about it. He poured some of it onto his hand, wrapping it around his length to coat it in a layer of the cool liquid. After pouring some more out, he rubbed his fingers in between Alfonse’s ass cheeks, slipping them inside of him and wiggling them around in order to prepare him. The blue haired man couldn’t fight back the audible gasps he let out in response, and truth be told, he didn’t want to. He wanted the both of you to know just how much pleasure you brought him, which in turn, made you both eager to give him more.

“Zacharias… Kiran…” he panted. “I… I’m ready…”

Among hearing those needy words, you slowly lowered your hips, feeling him fill you inch by inch and contently sighing at the way he pulsed against your hot walls. Bruno carefully slid into him, watching his expression to ensure he wasn’t inflicting any sort of pain on the prince. Although he didn’t see anything that resembled such a feeling, he still waited for Alfonse to adjust to the feeling. The masked man took one of his hands, lacing their fingers together while you did the same with his other hand.

After a moment, you began to lift your hips up and down on the Askran’s dick, relishing in the feeling of ecstasy running through your veins with each movement. You could feel Bruno’s toned chest bumping into your shoulders with each thrust into Alfonse, but you certainly couldn’t complain, so long as he was helping to make him feel good. You took in every shaky gasp and moan that escaped from Alfonse’s mouth, smiling at the thought that you had a hand in making him feel this way.

Bruno lifted his other hand to cup at your bouncing breast, squeezing the mound as you choked out a loud groan. His lips latched onto the crook of your neck, nipping at the area with his hot breath trailing down your body and making you quiver with delight. With everything you were all doing to each other all at once and all of the feelings it gave you, you weren’t sure who would break first.

Suddenly, you felt Alfonse’s firm member throbbing harder and faster inside you. He was getting close to his peak. You slowed your hips down, but slammed harder on him, wanting his climax to last as long as it could. You leaned down, smothering his mouth with yours and gasping as your swollen and sensitive nipples brushed against his chest. He bit down on your lower lip, grunting as he finally came.

You felt him erupt within you, pushing you closer towards the edge as well. You gave a few more staggered bounces on his cock, crying out when Bruno snuck his fingers down your body, pressing and rubbing at your pulsing clit. The overwhelming tension kept on building in you until it burst through your veins, leaving you trembling between the two men as high pitched moans slipped past your lips.

Bruno swiftly pulled his cock out of Alfonse as the two of you sat on either side of him. You both wrapped your hands around the shaft and began stroking fervently. The masked man bit his lip from the sensation, a muffled grunt escaping from him as he felt the rampant euphoria coursed through him. When Alfonse brushed his thumb against his tip, he couldn’t fight back any longer. The Emblian screamed in ecstasy, his rigid length twitching hard in yours and Alfonse’s grip, thick ropes of white shooting out from it and landing on the floor in front of him.

As you let go of him, Bruno fell limp on the ground in between the two of you, taking a moment to catch his breath. When he sat up, he turned his attention to Alfonse, resting a hand on his shoulder and pressing a kiss to the Askran’s forehead. He warmly smiled in response, watching Bruno do the same with you. You kissed his cheek as a thank you, then leaned over him and pulled Alfonse in for a brief but tender kiss. Once the three of you were as dressed as you could be, you laid in an embrace together, watching the clouds and taking in the spring air.

“I’ve missed you dearly, Zacharias.” Alfonse spoke. “I am grateful for this time we’ve been able to spend together, and that Kiran was able to join us.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Bruno murmured. “This entire day has been incredible.”

“Well, if I’m lucky enough with summoning,” You chimed in. “You guys will get to have more incredible days together.”

The two men looked over at you, the hope in their expression evident. It made your heart swell, and determined to give them what they wanted.

“Just make sure to include me if that happens?” You requested, giving them your own hopeful look.

“Of course, love. How could we think not to?” Alfonse assured you, taking your hand in his.

“As wonderful as this is, I’m afraid I have to change the subject.” Bruno interjected. You both turned your attention to him, with Alfonse stroking his still bare chest and you resting a hand on his shoulder.

“When we go back to the festivities, how will I explain not having a shirt?”

[mixed-imagination]

Something Borrowed (pt. 2) - Steve Rogers x Reader (ORIGINAL VERSION)

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE

Summary: You and Steve are best friends. You are in love with him, but he doesn’t know. Steve had always had some sort of feelings for you, but he had never realized them until he had found out how you felt.  Unfortunately, Steve is newly engaged to Sharon Carter.

Warnings: heavy, heavy heartbreak - I used my past-relationship experience in this one.  I wrote out some of the things I used to say when my heart broke. It’s pretty ugly lol.

Word Count: 1,700+

Notes: My inspiration for this came from the movie Something Borrowed.

You’d clung onto Tony for what seemed like a long time.  Your fingers dug into his suit jacket as if you were holding onto dear life... or really what you were holding onto was the last piece of hope you had of Steve ever loving you back.

Tony didn’t say anything. You had become so fragile to him that he just held you until your cries died down.

He spoke softly, “Y/N, we’re going to get you to your room, okay?”

“I’ll be the one to do that, Stark.”

Steve?

You whipped your head around to the low, hoarse voice. For a second you thought it was Steve, making you panic.  However, it wasn’t him.

With a scowl on his face, Tony turned away from you, still holding onto you, “Remind me why I even allow you to be in my presence, Barnes?”

Bucky ran his metal hand through his hair, “Hey, I apologized countless of times, I thought we’ve moved past this already.”

As expected, Tony scoffed. You looked at the two of them, and you could almost smell the testosterone brewing. You knew where this was going, and their petty conversation made your anxiety worse.

“Hit the road, grease lightning,” he rolled his eyes, “You really think the ‘bygones shmygones’ phrase is going to apply to the fact you murdered my---”

“Tony!” you hiccuped. He immediately turned to you, hard eyes softening.  He searched your eyes, understood, and nodded. He put on a stern face, “You better take care of her, Barnes.” He took your shoulders and slowly led you over to Bucky who removed his suit jacket and put it over your shoulders.

Bucky Barnes was another one of your best friends.  When it came to inside jokes and secrets, he knew it all.  Given the fact that you couldn’t express your feelings about Steve, to well... Steve.. you always went to Bucky first.  You were confident enough to say that he was probably as close to you as you were with Steve.

Bucky wrapped his non-metal arm around you and placed the other one on your free shoulder.  Tony opened the balcony door, looking around the ballroom to see if anyone was looking in your general direction. 

“Let’s go, beautiful. We’ll get you cleaned up, binge some Stranger Things, and eat whatever your heart desires,” Bucky whispered into your ear.

You sniffled out a quiet laugh. “...whatever your heart desires.”  Whatever your heart desires? Ha. What your heart desired was a sweet, dreamy, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man named Steve Rogers.

The three of you made your way across the ballroom, making sure you stayed close to the walls. You were closest to the edge, shielded by Bucky’s large figure, and then Tony was nearer to the crowd, making sure no one noticed your absence.  

You tried hard not to look around, for you dreaded spotting Steve.  You knew if you laid eyes on him, you would’ve broken down right then and there.  However, you betrayed yourself.  No matter how much you were mad at him and how much it pained you to see him with another woman, you still loved him.  It was a vicious cycle that you always fell into.  You might as well call yourself a sadist.  But what could you do?  You couldn’t change your feelings for him.  You loved Steve.  And as much as you didn’t want to see him, a part of you didn’t care because seeing his beautiful face gave you the smallest amount of bliss in your being.  To you, having a glimpse of him and dying inside was better than not seeing him at all.

You craned your neck and peaked around Bucky’s hair. “Y/N, I don’t think you should---”

And then, as you continued walking, you saw her.  Your gaze started with the rippling train of her dress.  It was gold with an intricate design that seemed to go up for miles. God, no one could see them, but you could tell her legs were long; a feature that was unlike your short ones.  The design traced all the way up to her waist to a shimmering jumble, outlining her hourglass figure.

Your gaze trailed up to her shoulders and neck, skin absolutely flawless.  Her Old Hollywood waves framed her face elegantly. And the cherry on top was her vibrant ruby-red lips.  

Sharon was beautiful. 

The corner of her mouth curved upwards, probably at something adorable that Steve said... Steve. Your eyes darted to the big figure next to her. Steve. 

They looked like the perfect couple. You saw the way he looked at her.

He loves her.

It was in that second that Steve’s gaze locked onto yours.  Your breath hitched. His wide smile vanished when he saw your puffy eyes.  He turned to Sharon for a moment, mouthing something while giving her a tight smile.  Then, he made he way over to you.

“Shit,” Tony muttered.

Your head immediately spun forward and you instinctively clung to Bucky’s arm. Bucky saw what made you react this way and sped up the pace. You were three quarters across the room.  A part of you wanted Steve to stop you, and hold you, but you were so close, and you needed to escape.

“Y/N?”

Oh, no.

The three of you stopped in your place.  Tony and Steve were face to face. He was blocking him. Funnily enough, it kind of reminded you of the time when their relationship was on the rocks.

“Look, Cap, congrats to you, but our party’s full over here,” Tony pushed him gently. Steve glared at him, but ignored his comments, turning his attention of concern back to you, “Y/N, are you okay?”

When he said your name, your eyes darted to his, and you remembered how beautiful his blue eyes were.  It made you shiver internally.  His voice built up your anxiety, and as if he was psychic, Bucky held onto you tighter and pushed you along, resuming your journey to the elevator.

“Hey, hey, Buck, what’s going on?” Steve pushed past Tony.

Bucky didn’t stop walking you along.  However, you stared up at his expression. He looked down to the carpeted floor, tightened his jaw, and let out a puff of air. He turned to look at Steve, and in that moment you’ve never seen Bucky look so scary up close.  He had given him the dirtiest look, which startled Steve and left him dumbfounded. Bucky’s face frightened you to your core, and it reminded you of the times he turned into the Winter Soldier. You made a mental note to never get on Bucky’s bad side.

Steve was shook, “..Buck?”

Bucky guided you inside the elevator.  He faced you, back to the entrance, still holding onto your arms.  You hid mostly behind his large figure, peeking around his arm to look out.  Tony was still a few feet away trying to stop Steve from passing him.  In all honesty, it was quite impressive because you were sure it took a lot for Tony handle super soldier Steve.  

However, Steve was stronger and was able to push Tony aside with a grunt.  As he made his way to you, your pulse quickened with his every step. You could see his furrowed brows and a mix of confusion, concern, and determination written all over his face.  The tiny piece of hope in your head shouted that Steve was coming to you to tell you it was all a mistake, that he was coming over to hold you in his arms... but it was too late.  That piece of hope was silenced once the elevator doors shut in his face.

The elevator ride was dreadfully quiet, but only because there was some unvocalized, mutual understanding between you and Bucky.  Bucky didn’t want to say anything stupid that made you feel worse, and you appreciated that. 

The doors opened, and F.R.I.D.A.Y spoke, “Have a good night, Miss Y/N. I hope you feel better.” You sniffled out a chuckle, “Thanks Friday.”

You entered your dark complex with Bucky behind you, following suit.

“Oh my god, Y/N.” You whipped your head around to see Wanda getting up from your couch.

Your bottom lip parted from your top lip slightly. You just stared at her, while she looked back knowingly. You didn’t know what to do or say.  Previously, you had been numb, trying to bury the feelings, but looking at Wanda’s helpless face was about to send you over the edge. 

You held your breath, swallowing down the ache that was building up in your chest. “Wanda,” you whispered. 

“Y/N...”

Your eyes began to sting, as your tears threatened to fall. You tried to ignore them by darting your gaze to the floor or different objects around your living room. But you failed. And she knew.

“Wanda,” you gave up. 

You ran into her arms and cried into her strawberry blonde hair.  This moment was different from when you cried with Tony.  This time, you yelled and thrashed about. Your voice was rash and you could barely breathe.  Once you saw Wanda’s face, the agonizing burn hit you so hard like a slap to the face.

Steve doesn’t love you, and he never will.  Steve is too good. He’s way too good for you.  You’re not worthy. He deserves and desires someone better, and that someone is Sharon. 

“Why doesn’t he love me?” you howled. “Why did he lie?” 

“Do I deserve this?”

“Why did he leave me?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

This is what felt to get your heart broken. 

The flashes of “what if’s” and the “imagine” scenarios were overbearing.  What if it was you instead? What if he proposed to you?  You imagined your life with him.  You saw yourself waking up to a sleepy, beautiful man, who radiated at the sight of you in your pajamas.  You imagined the first time intertwining your fingers through his, looking up into his eyes and wondering, “Where the hell have you been all my life?” 

You will never have this. You will never have him.

Steve will never hold you, kiss you, or touch you.

He belongs to Sharon now.

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE

lil note: should i have the reader have a lil somethin somethin with our grease lightning? ;) lol lemme know!

TAGS: @vogueworthy-barnes @bigbrains-smallbooty @alexfayer @chrisevans1fan @hadesgirl1015 @lilypalmer1987 @fuckthatfeeling @thatpeachybandgirl @arrowswithwifi @hufflepeople @the-starlight-otaku @falsettnoland @sebastianmichaelisthedevilwithin @havlindzk @destielwinchester09 @thestorylineofi @thisismysecrethappyplace @coffeebooksandfandom @hufflepuffpridewiththresistance @justmrssteverogers @skeletoresinthebasement @srgntjbbarness @salty-stark @themoonandherstuff

@dramatic-fangirl @darksideoftheilluminati @buckykinz  @m-a-t-91 @lovely-geek @swisscheese420

[needdl]

Distance

“I think you should go.”

Rated M

Read on FFN or AO3

this has actually been up on ffn and ao3 for a while-  along with another piece, actually. i will be posting that one on tumblr as well, probably tomorrow.

“I think you should go.” Neji’s voice was tired- they had been up talking for hours now, but were both unwilling to go to bed.

“But-”

“Tenten.”

She fell quiet, staring at him with such raw emotion in her eyes that his chest echoed dully in response.

“This is such a huge opportunity for you.”

“But- five months.”

“I know.” Neji pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. “But it’s not as though we won’t be in contact. And I can come visit you a few times.”

“Yeah.” She clung to him tightly, hands gripping his shirt in clenched fists. “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

“I’ll miss you too. But you’re really going to love the work that you’re doing.”

“Mm.” If possible, she held him even tighter. “Still gonna miss you.”

“You won’t leave for another three months. We have some time before we part.”

“‘Before we part.’ You’re very dramatic, my love.”

“And you’re very good at taking the tension out of a situation. Let’s go to bed.”

Tenten used her grip around his neck and shoulders as leverage to raise her legs and wrap them around his waist. “Only if you carry me.”

“Fine.” Neji hooked his hands underneath her thighs and turned them around to walk towards the bed. “Don’t get used to this. You have perfectly fine legs.”

“You certainly seem to think so.”

Neji stopped in the middle of the room, thrown off by the remark. “Pardon?”

He could feel Tenten smirk against his neck. “Don’t to deny it, you ogler. Every time I wear tights I’m twenty minutes late to work because you get all handsy.”

Neji had a brief moment to recollect flashes of tanned skin through sheer black fabric, and realized somewhat grumpily that he couldn’t even deny her statement.

Tenten left for China in February.

They spent their last evening together in their apartment, cooking dinner together and eating it in front of the fireplace. They were both unusually attached to one another- Tenten wound up curled in Neji’s lap, arms around his neck and shoulders as they rested their foreheads together and conversed in low voices.

They mostly ignored the meal they had cooked, although dessert- they had planned on having chocolate fondue- was… used, if not for the purpose they had initially intended.

Neji brought Tenten to the airport the next morning. They restrained themselves from causing too much of a scene, just embraced one another for a minute and separated with a short but warm kiss.

“I’ll text when I land, then again at the hotel,” Tenten told him. Her eyes were glimmering, but true to Tenten, she did not cry. Neji tenderly ran his thumb along her cheek.

“I love you,” he told her, resting his forehead against hers.

“I love you too,” she whispered. She leaned up and kissed him again, very softly, before stepping away from him and grabbing her suitcase.

“I’ll miss you,” she said. Neji nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets and clenching them into fists.

She gave him one last smile and turned towards the terminal, a white-knuckled grip on the handle of her suitcase. Neji watched her go until she disappeared in the crowd.

It certainly wasn’t easy adjusting to their long distance relationship- the first two weeks Tenten was gone, Neji felt a yawning chasm in his life where she normally filled it.

They quickly set a routine- Tenten called or video called him every night after she was done with her work from the day- and from her elated gushing over the phone, it was work that she loved.

They texted each other constantly, with the understanding that they wouldn’t always be able to respond immediately- the time difference between Konoha and Beijing wasn’t too difficult, but Neji’s days operated a few hours ahead of Tenten.

Once a week, they’d set up a Skype date and talk for hours at a time.

(Well, sometimes they did things… other than talk.)

There were the few nights when one of them had a difficult day and wasn’t in the mood for a long conversation, or had something occupying their time. Those nights, they’d settle with a simple text exchange before saying goodnight.

Gradually, the distance between them felt more normal- Neji still missed his partner, of course, very much- but he looked forward to talking to her at the end of the day. At one point he realized that there had been a large uptick in the frequency that Lee invited him out, and strongly suspected a collusion between him and Tenten to keep Neji socialized.

He had to admit that it was working- he and Lee either sparred in the dojo or got drinks together about once a week, which was certainly more than they had previously.

Still, Neji was looking forward to March, when he would be visiting Tenten for a long weekend in Beijing and celebrating her belated birthday.

The weekend after Tenten’s birthday, he took a cab to the airport at about 5:00 AM. His initial flight out was delayed, so he sent Tenten a quick text and settled into a seat to read his book.

He had just absorbed himself in the chapter when Tenten texted him back several sad-face emojis in a row, then sent a quick follow up text.

‘will watch flight info online and meet up w u at airport when u land. i’m excited!!! ❤️❤️❤️’

Neji smiled to himself and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

Naturally, Neji was in first class for his flight- it was a luxury he had grown up with, and he liked it far too much to give it up. His first and only time flying economy class- with Tenten, of course-  hadn’t been terrible, but he was too accustomed to first class and had actively avoided economy class ever since.

It may or may not have been a minor point of contention between himself and Tenten- she disliked spending money when there was a cheaper option available, and would pointedly roll her eyes at him when she thought he was being frivolous. He would retort that just because something was less expensive didn’t mean it was a better choice. Tenten tended to buy things that broke down after a very short period of time, and constantly had to replace them. All in all, she was spending just as much, if not more than him on a product.

It was one of the things they fought about most, but once they’d moved in together it had settled over somewhat. Even if their apartment’s rent was more than the rent at Tenten’s old place, splitting it between their two incomes actually meant she was paying less than she had before, and could actually invest in her necessities.

(Neji had taken her to the store where his family bought most of their winter clothes, and Tenten had actually expressed shock over how warm her coat was. It gave Neji some mixed feelings- she definitely could have afforded warmer coats in the past, and he hated that she had just let herself be that cold for the sake of saving money.)

But still- Neji indulged and traveled almost exclusively in first class. (If Tenten was with him, they’d fly business class; a grudging compromise between them.)

Neji tried to do some work on the flight, but he was too distracted to get much done. He was mostly thinking about Tenten.

He hadn’t seen her in almost three weeks, and was eagerly anticipating seeing each other face-to-face again. He knew Tenten had some things she wanted to do with him in the city, and they’d likely spend the second and third days of their time together spending time with Tenten’s group of fellow students, who by all accounts she was becoming close with. But their first day reunited…

The flight attendant handed Neji his drink, stirring him from his (admittedly slightly risque) thoughts. He took it with a nod of thanks and turned his attention to look out the window.

Four hours, then he’d finally see her again.

Tenten chewed her lip in anticipation, eyes fixed to the entrance of the baggage claim area. Neji’s delayed flight had thrown her off a little. She’d been a bundle of nerves all week, unable to focus on her work and even getting a few inquiries from her colleagues about her behavior.

They’d all smirked a little bit when she told them her boyfriend was coming to visit her- apparently, she talked about Neji more than she realized. She’d left the night before amid wolf-whistles, knowing looks, and one loud, “Enjoy your weekend!”

And she was planning to, but first her boyfriend needed to arrive.

A flood of people came through the doors, and Tenten perked up eagerly only to sulk in disappointment when it became clear that Neji wasn’t among them. His flight had landed about half an hour ago, he should be at the baggage claim any second-

A few stragglers from the last crowd entered, but still no sign of Neji. Tenten was tempted to go through and find him herself.

Her phone buzzed, and she checked it hastily in case it was from Neji. It was just an email notification- once upon a time, Ino had nagged Tenten into signing up for a clothing store’s membership program, and now she was constantly getting spam.

Scrunching up her nose in vexation, Tenten tapped her way through unsubscribing from the store. She never used the discounts anyway; there really wasn’t a point to it anymore. Task complete, she put her phone back in her pocket and glanced back up at the entrance.

Her heart stopped in her throat. In the minute she’d been distracted, Neji had entered, and he was walking towards her now with his eyes fixed to her face.

For a few seconds, Tenten couldn’t get her feet to move at all.

Logically, she knew his appearance hadn’t changed- she had video called him two days ago, after all, and he looked much the same as he had then.

But something about seeing Neji in person- for the first time in three weeks - made her want to cradle his face in her hands and memorize its nuances.

(He was so handsome - how did she not fully remember that?)

After those first few seconds spent drinking in the sight of him, Tenten lurched into movement. She didn’t quite run to him, but they reached one another with a flurry of movement that ended with Tenten clinging desperately to Neji's shoulders as he leaned her back and kissed her with such urgency that she was left gasping for air.

He pulled back slightly and shifted her so she was upright again, pressing a few slower, more controlled kisses to her lips. Her head was swimming, but she did her best to reciprocate, feeling rather like one of the trembling maidens on the covers of the books Sakura pretended not to read.

Neji parted from her and rested his forehead against her own, eyes staring into hers.

“Hi,” Tenten whispered, biting her lip in an effort to contain the wide grin stretching across her face.

“Hi,” he echoed. He kissed her again, very softly, before finally stepping away and slipping his hand into hers. They stood and grinned at each other like idiots for a minute, before remembering the crowd around them and the luggage that still needed to be collected.

They were getting a few fish-eyed looks from the people around them, but as Tenten tucked herself against Neji's side while he grabbed his luggage, she realized that she definitely didn't care.

Tenten drove them back from the airport in a colleague’s borrowed car, filling up the air with excited chatter about her work, and showing him around, and how happy she was to see him.

He couldn’t have gotten a word in edgewise if he’d tried- Tenten still maintained that she didn’t talk as much as, say, Naruto or Ino, but once she got started on something, it was hard to stop her.

Not that Neji wanted to. He was, quite frankly, starstruck at the sight of her, and was still drinking in the fact that he was back in her presence. He sat quietly in the passenger’s side of the car and watched her speak, letting her words wash over him and feeling the gap in his life slowly fill up again.

He must have been gazing at her like a man starved, because every time she glanced over at him she’d quickly dart her face away again, a flush slowly rising on her face.

They reached the building where Tenten was staying and parked in the alloted spot, then sat in the car and kissed one another for a good half an hour.

Neji was a little embarrassed when he pulled apart from Tenten- for a brief moment, he needed to catch his breath- and realized how much time had passed since they had arrived. The sight of Tenten’s face easily persuaded him to lean over again, her mouth a puckered red and her hair a tousled mess from where he had been cupping her head. She also had such a languid, wanton look on her face that Neji really had no choice but to swoop back in and tease a moan from her throat.

They finally got out of the car- both flushed red and feeling a little light-headed- and went up the stairs and towards Tenten’s apartment. They committed to some level of decorum once they entered the building and kept themselves the slightest bit apart. Tenten had fallen rather quiet, but based off the expression on her face- biting her lip, a dark flush, brows just the slightest bit cinched- she was filled with anticipation.

They entered the apartment quietly, and stopped a few feet into the foyer. Tenten seemed a little awkward now, as if she hadn’t planned for what they’d do after they got back to her place.

Fortunately, Neji had some ideas.

He set his bags down carelessly and snagged Tenten by the waist, stepping closer and ducking his head down to mouth at her pulse. She inhaled sharply, throwing one hand over his shoulders and wrapping her other arm around him to grip the fabric covering his mid-back.

They spent several more minutes like that, kissing rather desperately and with quite a bit of tongue. Finally, Tenten pulled away with a gasp.

“O-oh-” She panted against his shoulder for a minute, her grip slowly easing where her hand had twined itself into his hair. Sensing a shift in their affection, Neji relaxed his own stance so he was cradling her close to him, slowly rubbing her back.

There was less tension between them now, replaced by tenderness and- fulfillment. After a moment, Tenten lifted her head again and pressed her lips very gently against his.

They kissed sweetly for a minute or two, then Neji slowly eased back. “Give me the tour?”

“Sure,” Tenten said, somewhat breathlessly. She grabbed his larger suitcase and dragged it behind her as she went further into the apartment. Neji grabbed his other bag and followed her into the kitchen silently.

It was small but well furnished, with surprisingly new-looking countertops. Neji could see another room and a hallway leading off from where he was, but the door was partially closed and the lights dimmed, making the contents difficult to make out.

The kitchen flowed into the sitting area, which held a plush-looking sofa, a coffee table, a bookshelf, and the TV on the armoire. There was also a side table with a lamp and a few knickknacks, as well as a shelf holding a few plants and a couple of picture frames.

He couldn’t see them perfectly, but one of the pictures was definitely a picture of them from Temari’s birthday party a few years ago, both dressed nicely and looking- well, Tenten looked beautiful, Neji supposed he had looked handsome.

It was towards the end of the evening, and they’d both had a few drinks in them when Sakura had snapped the picture. They were seated at the table and Tenten was leaning into Neji’s side, head propped up on one hand with the other tucked into the crook of her elbow. Neji was sitting with one arm over the back of her chair and the other resting on the table. Sakura had told them to “say cheese!” before she took the photo, and in an unusually public display of affection Neji had pressed his lips to Tenten’s temple before turning to face the camera.

Sakura had photographed the moment Tenten had understood his actions, and so the picture showed her smiling impossibly affectionately up at Neji as he in turn smiled warmly up at the camera.

Lee had said, once he saw the picture, that Tenten had “heart eyes”, which Neji didn’t really understand but made Tenten flush and get all squeaky.

It was one of his favorite photos of them, and it filled him with fondness that Tenten seemingly liked it so much as well.

“Well, this is the kitchen-” Tenten gestured around them rather vaguely- “then the sitting area, and through there is the office slash laundry room, and then that hallway leads to the bathroom and bedroom. Oh, I cleared out some space for your stuff, I know you’re only here for four days but I know how you like to organize your things…”

Neji hummed in agreement.

“Speaking of which, let’s go have sex.”

Neji was mid-agreement hum when he realized what she said, and choked off rather abruptly.

Tenten snorted. “Dork. But also, I’m serious. I put on silk sheets and everything.”

“Tenten, it is-” He paused and checked her watch. “A little after 1:00.”

“I’ve always found that to be a particularly sexy time of day…”

“It’s practically lunchtime.”

“Mmm. And I know what I want to eat.”

Neji's responding flush made Tenten laugh and kiss his cheek. Fondly, she told him, “C’mon, babe. I want to stretch you out and admire you.”

Neji’s flush made its way down his neck and over his ears, but it certainly didn’t stop him from following Tenten into the bedroom.

Tenten woke up the next morning with sun streaming in through the window and Neji’s mouth on her clit.

She threw her head back into her pillow and let out a hiss, her hands flying up to twine into the hair on Neji’s head and pull. He responded in kind, sucking at tender skin and squeezing her hips hard in his hands.

She came undone almost embarrassingly quickly- but they’d been up all night after an entire month spent apart, so she was admittedly a little tender and her stamina was lower.

But Neji was trying his damndest to increase it as much as he could in a single week. And though at the moment Tenten wasn’t able to walk without her knees wobbling, she certainly was enjoying herself immensely.

Neji pulled away from her, but she didn’t dare to look at him- she just knew he’d be licking at his lips and looking insufferably smug.

After a moment of silence, he said amicably, “Good morning.”

“Yeah. Uh, hi.”

Neji’s hands pulled away from her thighs, and a few moments later he was shifting himself up so he was propped over her on his elbows. His hair fell over his shoulders in a tousled mess, and Tenten was a little regretful she hadn’t woken up in time to see it tangled across his shirtless back- one of her favorite sights in the world, and one she had been badly missing in the past month.

But then again, she thought to herself as Neji dipped his head to thoroughly kiss her breathless, this was nice too.

Neji pulled away from her and shifted so he laid on the bed next to her, one arm draped over her waist. He tucked his head back against her neck and collarbone, then, after a moment of consideration, grazed her warm skin with his teeth.

Tenten wiggled at the sensation. “Neji-”

“I meant to ask you last night,” he interrupted with a murmur (and normally she’d be irritated, because she hated it when people interrupted her, and when Neji did it she disliked it even more- but right now she was still riding the high of her pleasant awakening, and Neji smelled quite good, and it was just post-coital talk, nothing important, so she’d let it slide) “This necklace-” he reached to hook his fingers under the delicate gold chain that was tumbling down her neck and over the tops of her breasts. “You didn’t have this when you first left, did you? I don’t recognize it.”

Oh. Tenten flushed a little, because that was true, and the way she had gotten it was one of the most embarrassingly sentimental, lovelorn, sappy things she’d ever done.

“Uh-” her mind stuttered for excuses. “It’s, uh-”

Neji waited patiently, running his fingers over the chain (and coincidentally, her skin). He wasn’t looking at her face at all, which made it easier for her to blurt out, “Okay, you can’t laugh.”

His fingers never ceased stroking her skin. “All right.”

“Well-” Ugh, this was so cheesy. Tenten kept her gaze on the ceiling, refusing to look at Neji. No way would she be able to get it out if she had to actually look at him. “It was the first couple of weeks after I had left Konoha, and- I mean, you remember what it was like, I missed you a lot-”

The movement of Neji’s fingers slowed minutely, and Tenten got the impression he was listening very intently. “And- well- I was out with a few colleagues just touring around, and a few of us wanted to check out some shops and we went into this little jewelry shop and I just- I saw it, and I was thinking of you, and then I bought it.” She glared defiantly at the ceiling.

Neji’s hands stopped moving completely, and after a moment he said, “I missed you too, Tenten but I still don’t see how the necklace has anything to do with that.”

Tenten rolled her eyes at the brusqueness of his statement, but reached up and pushed his hand away to grab the necklace and show him the tiny, minuscule capital N that dangled off the delicate chain.

Neji lifted his head from her neck to look at it closer. “That’s- an ‘N’? Why...”

Tenten waited for his genius brain to kick in.

Neji paused, then asked haltingly, “Is that… is it… does the ‘N’...”

Tenten’s cheeks burned, and she muttered, “It’s really not too difficult of a connection, Nnnneji.” The emphasis was a tad obvious, but she wanted to get the conversation over with.

“I- I see.” Neji’s hand, which he had settled over her hip when she moved it, minutely tightened its grip. In the next few seconds he flipped them both over so Tenten was lying haphazardly under him while he buried his face in the space between her neck and shoulder, holding her in his embrace so tightly it was almost painful.

Tenten blinked a few times, a little startled at the reaction. Cautiously, she raised a hand to smooth down the strands of hair at the base of his neck. “Neji?”

If possible, he held her even closer. After a moment he lifted his head and pressed a lingering kiss to her temple, then abruptly got up and walked out of the room without a word.

Tenten squinted after him. “Neji? You okay?” He’d had only his briefs on, so he definitely wasn't planning on just walking out of the apartment.

He came sweeping back in a minute later and sat back down on the bed, then leaned over her and set something down on her stomach.

“Marry me.”

Tenten’s head, which she had been craning awkwardly to see what he had brought her, snapped back up. There wasn’t a trace amount of anything other than seriousness in his expression- but then, she hadn’t expected there to be anything else.

“Huh,” she said, grabbing what she now realized was a small velvet box off of her stomach and popping it open. The ring wasn’t extravagant- just a simple band of platinum with diamonds, rubies, and aquamarines studded into it.

(Keyword being extravagant- that’s not to say it wasn’t expensive.)

“I will.” Tenten said absently, picking the ring out of the box. “Marry you, I mean,” she clarified, sliding it onto her ring finger and giving an experimental wiggle. It didn’t have any parts that would stick out and catch on anything, which she appreciated.

“We should have a longer engagement, though- maybe a year and a half? That way I can finish up in China, then we’ll have time to plan things out- I’m sure your family has a lot of traditions, so we’ll have to haggle that out with them...”

She glanced up at Neji for the first time since she’d put the ring on. He was staring at her ring finger, seemingly transfixed, looking so open and vulnerable that her heart clenched.

“Hey.” Tenten leaned over and placed her left hand over his. He jerked his head up to meet her gaze, and she grinned at him.

“We’re engaged.”

Slowly, he grinned back, looking both triumphant and boyishly sheepish. “We’re engaged.” He turned his hand over to lace their fingers together, then brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it tenderly.

Tenten could only stand the affection for a few seconds before she had to jump up and get away from him to hide her flush. “You want breakfast?”

She peeked at Neji out of the corner of her eye. He was watching her with his head tilted to the side, that same exultant smile tugging in his lips.

“If you’re making it dressed like that, definitely.”

Tenten paused and glanced down at her fully nude figure, then shrugged and continued towards the kitchen. “Fine, but I’m going to wear an apron for protective purposes.”

“Even better.” She could hear him shuffle around on the bed, presumably swinging his legs over and standing up.

Three steps out of the bedroom, Tenten paused and stared at the contents of Neji’s suitcase where they were scattered across the floor. “Uh-”

“Ah.” Neji placed a hand on her waist and looked over her shoulder at the mess. “I was in a hurry to get the ring. I’ll put my things away while you make breakfast.” He paused for a second, then thoughtfully dropped his head down and pressed a kiss to her neck.

The slightest shiver went up Tenten’s spine. “That eager to get me affianced, huh?”

“You have no idea.” Neji stepped back from her and knelt in front of his luggage. “I started ring shopping after our six-month anniversary.”

Tenten’s foot caught itself over the air, and she stumbled. “What?”

Neji just smirked up at her. “It was a good date.”

“I mean-” Tenten thought back to the sight of her office filled with flowers in the morning, followed by a delivery of her favorite lunch, and Neji picking her up at a little after five to take her to dinner at a very nice restaurant. (Plus, well, they’d gone back to his place- to exchange gifts, among… other things.)

It was a good date, but it wasn’t as if it had so spectacular that she was suddenly irresistible to Neji- after all, he’d informed her a few weeks prior to their anniversary that he loved her.

(She was on her way out of her apartment that morning, already running a few minutes late because someone didn’t want to let her out of their shower. Neji didn’t have to leave for work until later, and was making a point of walking around clad only in a towel, his wet hair dripping some very distracting trails of water down his chest. Tenten had paused to kiss him goodbye, and after he pulled away he told her, “You should know that I love you.”

“’Kay,” she replied, and left, clicking the door shut behind her to make sure it latched.

She was halfway down the stairs before she realized what he said.)

Tenten frowned at Neji in contemplation. “What was so significant about our anniversary? It was a nice night, but it wasn’t super unusual for us.”

Neji’s attention was suddenly diverted with laser-like intensity to neatly folding a sweater. “Hn.”

Tenten let out a little sputter, half amused and half offended. She hadn’t heard him say that in a while.

“Excuse you-”

“It was the first time you’d spent the night at my home.” Neji’s sweater was extremely folded. “It just… made me realize… that I wanted you in my life for as long as you would have me in yours.”

Ugh, Neji . Every once in a while, he’d turn a phrase that made her heart go pitter-pat in her chest. And he always meant them so earnestly- Tenten knew that her presence in Neji’s life had lightened it considerably, but he was still one of the most serious people she knew. But it meant that everything he did, he committed himself to fully. Romance included.

She didn’t tell Neji this, of course. Tenten got all flushed and squirmy when Neji’s intense affection was directed at her for too long.

Instead she leaned over and patted his head. “Save it for the vows, babe.” She turned around and started to walk into the kitchen, only to let out a shriek as Neji suddenly looped his arms under her ass and sort of tackle-dropped her on the ground.

“‘Save it for the vows’,” he muttered, hooking one of her thighs around his waist. He laced her left hand with his right and pinned it to the ground near her head. “You’re ridiculous.”

Tenten grinned up at him. “I’m one-hundred percent original, bay-beeee.”

Neji very effectively used his mouth to shut her up.