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#the bookstore had run out of the books I wanted (damn) so got cute things instead
aikatoru · 2 months
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Summer Nights for Red
~a blind date for @redlikerozez
A part of my 1 year anniversary matchmaking event (still open)
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It was a hot summer day and to add on it was humid too. You could feel yourself starting to sweat, it was starting to get unpleasant.
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You were waiting outside a bookstore for a blind date your friend had set you up with, she made sure to spare any details so that it’d be a surprise but she assured you that he’ll show you a great time.
However, as the minute hand hits 4 on your watch, you were starting to doubt that. First date and he was already running 20 minutes late.
Just then you heard rapid footsteps as if someone was running towards you.
“Yo!! I’m so sorry I’m late!” A voice called out.
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“Hi my name’s Yuuji! I’m excited for our date! What’s your name?” He asked enthusiastically.
“Hi I’m Red.” You answered a little skeptical, no one should be that energetic.
“That’s cool! Say, that is a nice looking book store!”
You looked behind you and nodded, can’t help but agreeing.
“Wanna go check it out?” He suggested.
“Yeah sure,” you can’t help but smile.
You loved bookstores and you had wanted to go in earlier but was afraid that you might lost track of time.
The bell chimes endearingly as you open the door.
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You can’t help but sniff the air, the smell of books was a welcoming one.
And as if he’s thinking the same thing, Yuuji says aloud, “I love the smell of books! Don’t you?”
You nodded as you start to browse through the shelves.
“Oh damn we actually gotta go, see I booked us this movie in the theater across town and we got to leave now if we don’t wanna miss it,” he says.
You sighed but followed him anyways. Not really keen on leaving the bookstore.
He noticed your saddened expression, “We can always come back next time.”
You raised an eyebrow, “Next time?”
“Yeahh if you’re up for it.”
You didn’t say anything as you walked beside him all the way to the movie theater.
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“Great! The movie hasn’t started yet, we still got a couple more minutes, wanna grab a snack?”
You nodded as you both went over to the candy counter line and looked at the menu.
“Oh they have gyoza!!” You can’t help but exclaimed.
“Yes, you want some?”
“But I really don’t wanna spoil my appetite before dinner.”
“No worries, we can share! Hi can we get a box of gyozas please? Thanks!”
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The man behind the counter handed you the box while Yuuji paid for it.
“Oh my gosh this smells so good!” You said immediately opening the box up and taking a bite.
“Hey save some for me!”
After the movie, you were both walking down the street talking about the characters and how the plot should have taken a different turn.
When you stopped by a cute Italian restaurant,
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“Hungry?” Yuuji looks to you.
“Ravished!”
And it was a wonderful dinner, you guys split a pizza and chatted the entire time.
“Oof! I’m stuffed!” You leaned back on your chair as you took a sip of your wine.
Yuuji smiled and you have to admit that he was starting to grow on you.
“So what next?” You asked.
Yuuji looks around and notices that it’s dark.
“Wanna take a walk to the park?”
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“Oh wow! I’ve never seen these many lights before!” You looked around in amazement, the lights illuminating the path making it look so magical.
“They’re having a Festival of Lights in the park. I heard that they’re putting up lanterns by the lake.”
“Let’s go then!” You ran ahead.
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“Wow! Look at all these lanterns!” You can’t help but fawn.
“Here,” Yuuji says handing you a lantern.
“How’d you get one?!”
“I came prepared, wanna sign it before we light it up?”
You nodded as you took the marker from him and signed your name and his.
“There.”
“Not quite right…” he says taking the marker from you and adding a heart in the middle of both of your names.
“Wow, pretty bold of you,” you remarked.
He shrugged, “Eh, I’ll take my chances.”
And as you lit your lantern and let it float up into the sky, he spoke.
“So, what did you think?”
“About what?”
“About the date, duh?!”
You looked up at him with a smile and a glint in your eye.
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~so what’s your answer??
Dividers credits to @enchanthings ❤️
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bottomdeanbigbang · 2 years
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Coming Soon!
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Title: Interesting Revelations
Author: redamber79
Artist: lamiasageart
Pairings: Dean/Cas, mentioned Charlie/Gilda, mentioned Sam/Eileen
Rated: Explicit
Length: 21456
Tags: minor injury, mention of past child abuse, anal sex, misunderstandings, mild drug use, idiots in love, mutual pining, first time, love confessions, college AU
Warnings: N/A
Summary:
"It's Dean's third year of college and he's having to adjust to a new roommate when his friend Ash transfers to MIT. The new guy, Castiel, is studying American History and Religious Studies, and Dean is certain the guy must be straight as an arrow. Too bad, 'cause he's kinda cute. But Dean grew up with more lectures about fire and brimstone than anyone wanted to hear thanks to his dad, so he doesn't mention to Castiel that he's bi. Not like it matters, Castiel is heartbroken over the death of Anna, his high school sweetheart. So Dean is determined to just be a good friend.
But...
What if Dean is mistaken, about so very many things?
It takes a fistfight with an interloper to clear the air between them, but then there's no stopping their feelings for each other."
Excerpt under the cut...
"Dean and Castiel mostly ignored each other the first month or so they were rooming together. Then, one day, Castiel came home muttering and tossed his Religious Studies text onto the coffee table before dropping onto the couch next to Dean. Dean glanced at the clock and frowned, continuing to type. He had an English paper due in a few days and needed to wrap it up.
""Don't you have class?"" he asked curiously, tilting his head at his roommate. Castiel was running his fingers through his already wild hair, and his eyes were stormy. From this close, Dean could see their colour clearly, a brilliant, breathtaking blue that rivalled the fall sky outside their apartment window. Get a grip, Winchester. No writing poetry about the straight guy's eyes!
""I dropped it. That… That assbutt Adler is the worst Prof I've ever had, and first year I had Roman for Business 101!"" Dean blinked. That had to be the first time he'd heard Castiel swear, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Assbutt? He shook his head a little and focused on the topic at hand.
""Don't you need that one to minor? Adler can't be that bad…"" Dean let his comment trail off as Castiel raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a withering look. Dean squirmed a little under that stare.
""I'm reporting him to the Dean. Yes, he’s that bad. He's not teaching Religious Studies, he's proselytising from his pulpit, and that damn textbook is one he wrote! I am not wasting my time. I'm just pissed I can't get my money back from the bookstore for this piece of inarticulate, brain-washed drivel. He's the worst sort of Bible-is-fact, In God We Trust Republican dickwad that I hated back home! I moved here to escape that shit, not smear it around.""
""Says the guy named after an angel…"" Dean teased a little, earning him an eye roll. Castiel dug into his backpack and hauled out a small bag of gummies, the label unmistakably identifying them as pot, then he looked at Dean warily.
""You're not gonna rat me out, right?"" he asked, and Dean stared in disbelief as his nerdy, innocent, apparently not-so-religious roommate popped an edible into his mouth. ""You want one?""
Dean closed his mouth, blinked, and then shook his head. ""Not today, got auto in a couple hours, need to be clear-headed. And you know who I rented with before, he recommended you. You think anyone Ash hung out with and rented with for two years would have a problem with edibles?""
Castiel snorted a laugh, his nose crinkling up adorably, and Dean looked away. Not being a religious whack-job and partaking in a bit of recreational pot were all well and good. Still. Not everyone was cool with a bisexual roommate.
""Fair 'nough. Wish I could get some money back for this damn book, though I'd really rather burn it than put it back into circulation."""
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bapydemonprincess · 1 year
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“ i just wish you’d notice me. " for sebmey please?? 😊
I hope you don't mind Anon, I got some fanTASTIC ideas for an AU to do this with my writing partner @grelleswife.. SO...
"I just wish you'd notice me," bemoaned Mey Rin, in one very lonely corner of the bookstore she now worked in, but continued on her journey of arranging and putting up new books on the shelves.
This whole job had been a dream come true, actually, and even if she had to work through even all of December, she wouldn't mind!
It was just..
Once again Mey Rin found herself running into a new crush, head on, no breaks in sight, and even KNOWING before trying anything.. it probably wasn't going to work at all.
This time the crush in question happened to be.. well, the very stereotypical tall, dark haired, quiet and likely brooding type.
God you need to stop bein' so predictable, Mey berated herself in her brain as she went on, day after day, trying to get to know this guy at least, trying to get something, ANYTHING out of him.
For some reason the most annoying PART was.. he didn't LOOK annoyed with her or brush her off openly. He looked RIGHT AT her when she tried to start a conversation, nodded and mumbled assessment or disagreements. His pretty, dark brown eyes actually staying focused on her and what she was saying.
But again, the whole TALKING thing...?
"So you um, live near by t'make it easier t'get here?"
"Mnn." Sounded kind of like "not really".
"Uh, have you worked here long?"
"...Hmn." Sounded like "yeah basically".
"W-what about this weather, huh? You.. do you like this time of year?"
"Mhm.." Sounded like "I don't mind"... Maybe. Or "I don't care".
AUGH, she was going to tear her HAIR out, he was SO DAMN CUTE and SO DAMN INTERESTING!!!
But he like so MANY dudes like him, probably thought she was a silly, peppy, boring girl and he probably was gay and he probably actually ranted online somewhere about girls like her and how annoying they were.
So, again, Mey was just so done.
She sighed as she finally took a break from bending and kneeling and reaching to just pull out her phone and check her tumblr dash real quick.
As usual some wacky memes were mostly getting reblogged, as well as gifsets of recent awesome shows Mey had no time to check out right NOW but she'd so get around to it on some off time, like the weekend. Probably would binge right through it.
She was just about to make a new post real quick to make a vague post about her current situation when--
"H-Hey, Mey Rin.."
The woman was frozen where she was squatting there in the corner, staring at nothing, not even her phone anymore.
Was that...
Was that who she thought it was???
"Uh.. I just... uh... is that... tumblr?"
Mey Rin wanted to scream. She didn't know if it was a good scream or a bad scream but just overall this predicament made her want to SHRIEK and cower or.. something!!
But she forced herself to get up, ignoring her face getting hotter and hotter as she stumbled up and shifted about, looking anywhere but.. but AT HIM...
"Oh uh, um, yeah, it's um, I.. I have an account an' have fer awhile, uh, just to stay up t'date on some things I like an' some friends I have and-"
"I, uh--" Sebastian suddenly was stepping up closer, practically tearing his own phone out of his pocket and, lifting it for her to see, "H-have one too."
His voice.
His voice his voice his VOICE...
Sebastian's voice was deep, sounded like it belonged to some guy MUCH older, was a bit cracked, though..
As if.. maybe he rarely used it, perhaps??
But..
Oh god his voice..
"M-Mey??" He suddenly broke through Mey Rin's little eargasm, and she beheld him staring at her in the BIGGEST concerned puppy look she'd ever seen on a guy.
"I'm.. I'm sorry, I.. did you uh, say somethin' 'bout tumblr??"
"Yeah, uh, just, I.. h-have one too, and uh.. w-we could follow each other and uh, we can also ch-chat on there, especially when we can't.. " He waved his arms about him and the area they were in.
Mey Rin held back the urge to squeal right there.
"OH, um, yeah!! That uh, s-sounds so good!! Uh- h-here, um, here's my tumblr--" She got carefully closer to hold her phone up and tapped through to her blog to show him.
Sebastian nodded and looked on with so much interest, and then quickly proceeded to go through finding it on his phone and following her, and then proceeded to awkwardly show her his blog.
Which was filled with tons of posts on elegant gothic fashion, black cats, Fall themed posts and Halloween themed posts, quotes from old literature, MORE CATS AND CAT MEMES IN GENERAL.. ect ect.
Mey Rin found herself awkwardly reblogging a few ten to twenty things from his blog in a row..
But found herself floored when she saw notifications that he was liking and reblogging some of HERS too!
And THEN in a few days, they were chatting on tumblr messenger.
And Sebastian.. was hilarious.
He had SO MUCH more to say in text, SO MUCH more to express!!
By the way, you asked some things early on when you'd first started working with us.
Yeah I did but you don't have to answer!! 💕
I know but I felt awful since then since you asked some pretty reasonable stuff and I was so cagey..🙈 I'm sorry by the way, being only online so much when I don't have to work has just degraded my ability to talk.. Though I guess I've always been a bit like this.
It's okay Seb, I get it!! The internet has so fried my brain too lmao 🤪🤪🤪
Ahahaha yesss .. But again, I want to like make it up to you now, seeing as I can answer everything much better on here!
Okay uh, it's been a while since then but uh I think I asked you like: Do you live near by the store??
Unfortunately not really, I live halfway across town 😒 It's hell getting here through traffic every day.
Oh damn, I'm so sorry!! I'm surprised you keep up with it though, you never have been late from what I've seen!!
Um well
Lately it's been even more easy to put up with it
Uh since you started working here!!
jdyttyfg UM thank you??? 🙈🙈🙈🙈
Um I also asked if you'd been working here long?? AGAIN you don't have to answer these silly snoopy questions!
It's okay! I don't mind really! I've worked here I think two years.. Two and a half, maybe? Yes, that's about it.
Oh man, you should just RUN it now!! XD
LOL haha no way, that would be overkill even for me. I might be a perfectionist but even we have limits! 😬
Oof yeah I get that XD
Ummm I think the last thing I asked was like if you liked the WEATHER lmao, it was like, the dumbest last resort question and I'm SO SORRY dytugihij I just really couldn't think of anything else at that point and like 🙈🙈🙈 You DEFINITELY don't have to answer that
Well, I think I have mixed feelings about Winter. Due to.. rough family stuff I'd rather not get into. But I mean, overall, I DO like it..
Aww oh man, it's okay dude, again I won't press you!! Happy you decided to humor me this far though XDD 💖💖💖
Well uh I wanna thank you for asking ME questions, actually. And making things so much more fun.
I have a feeling this Winter is going to be so much better this time around. 🖤
grsedrjyfygi I hope so too!! I mean, we can always like, plan to hang out if you want, after work!! Uh if thats too sudden I understand!!! 💖💖💖
Oh wow uh
I was going to ask you that myself! 🤷
OMG rgesjtdyktgi
We are one brain cell right now.
Hahaha I think I'm okay with that. 😌
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hikarimiyanaga · 3 years
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May I request the Dimitrescu family with their vicious mermaid S/O ? I genuinely enjoy your writings and look forward to more awesome works.
I had to do a double take on this because vicious?? Mermaid??
Forgive my very little knowledge of mermaids, please do blame the mouse.
But here you go, I hope you like it!
Alcina Dimitrescu / Lady Dimitrescu
Going on land was easy. Finding the right prey though was hard.
You've always preferred women in general but men were always out on sea so you decided to go on land and see... If you can finally catch a prey. One that you preferred.
You didn't count on someone recognizing you though. Particularly Karl. Who captured you within minutes.
He brought you to Alcina because a vicious mermaid certainly needs a vicious host.
You were placed on the pond on the Dimitrescu's property.
Karl had placed a metal leash on you so you wouldn't get away.
Alcina would always come and visit you. You would hide away every time and she started questioning whether you were truly vicious or not.
One day, the hunger for flesh got to you and you attacked Alcina who was going to visit you.
"Oh." She looks at you as you're trying to get to her and her bleeding hand. "That's what that man meant."
She brought some flesh and a bottle of blood for you and you immediately devoured them.
Immediately after, you said sorry and would do anything for her forgiveness, she unsheathed her claws and you thought it was the end of you but she just slashed through your leash.
She was freeing you, you couldn't believe it. Mermaids like you were rare and that was one of the reasons why you would hunt humans down.
And damn was this tall woman letting you go.
"Wait." You stand and wobble because it's been weeks since you got on land. "Why do you even have flesh and blood at your disposal??" You question and she turns to you.
"Want to find out?"
And you did, she told you everything and in return you also told her your story.
One day, Karl came to visit and make sure that you didn't escape when you were having tea with Alcina.
He counted that you would last long but damn.
What he didn't count were the two of you actually getting along and falling in love.
Bela Dimitrescu
Being a bookworm, a mermaid and a vicious murderer can be hard to balance.
It was a good thing that no one suspects a thing whenever you go to the Village to get some books to read.
A chill goes up your spine as the Dimitrescus arrive though. And damn they were regal.
You asked about them to the bookstore owner and said that they were the Dimitrescu House.
You hum as he tells stories about them.
One day, your curiousity gets the better of you and you began observing/stalking the castle.
One night, when you were waiting for people to either go out to sea or get closer to the shore, you see her.
She looked so lonely so you observed her from afar, not even noticing so many potential victims. That's when you realize.
"Oh. I'm interested in her." You don't get to kill anyone that night.
The next day, you were walking around the village, hoping to see Bela when she stumbles upon you, spilling all of her carried books.
You help her then she smiles gratefully at you.
You both introduce yourselves to each other, not knowing that between smiles were bloody personas that would even make you closer.
Cassandra Dimitrescu
One night, while you were busy killing a person, you didn't know that someone saw you.
Turns out it was Cassandra. She was waiting for a maiden to appear when she heard the screams of a man-thing.
She runs towards and sees you. You were covered in blood and smiling as you let the man bleed out beside you.
After that, she always go to the shore every night to observe you. You knew she was there since stealth isn't exactly her forte but you let her see your mermaid self.
One night, you decided to relax on the sand and just draw.
Cassandra stops in her tracks when she sees your face?? It was you but you have legs?? And you were drawing too. She tries to peek at your sketchbook but you just turn to her and she had the grace to blush.
"Care to join me?" She nods and you let her watch you as you draw your home.
Having night dates and her bringing you a bottle of blood so you could go on a night without brutally killing someone.
You laugh because you don't need the blood, you just kill when someone damages your home.
It was brutal but necessary.
You going on land to visit Castle Dimitrescu.
Her being a tour guide and being all cute as she describes all her paintings to you.
Cassandra introducing you to Alcina who approves of you.
Daniela Dimitrescu
Being a bard/storyteller has it's perks. You get to travel around the world while hiding the fact that you were both a mermaid and a vicious killer. No one suspects you since you were the mild-mannered bard who captures the hearts of those who listen to you.
Daniela was one of those hearts that you captured.
And while you were elusive, she was fast and can transform into bugs.
So, one day when you were trying to get back home and doing all the stuff you need to do so no one could see you, she was following you stealthily.
She was speechless when she sees you transform into a mermaid and just play around the water.
She watched you all day, just playing around the water when night came.
She knew she needed to go back but she wanted to see you more, to get to know you.
She was gathering her courage to approach you when she hears a scream.
She watches in awe as you cut off a man's head. You sigh.
"Fucking asshole." You grumble. "Stop polluting the ocean!"
"Wow." You turn to her and Daniela just gulps as you glare at her.
"Who are you?"
"I-" She gulps and calms herself down so she wouldn't stutter. "I'm Daniela Dimitrescu." You hum at that because you've heard about them. The DImitrescu House.
"Oh. You're part of the Vampire House." You say nonchalantly as you drag the man's body deeper into the ocean, some sharks will appreciate that. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to know you." You stop in your tracks because what?? She just saw you right? You sigh then smile.
She amuses you and you agree, not knowing, it wouldn't be long till she steals your heart.
A/N:
This prompt took me too long. Damn.
Also classes are gonna start soon. College is a treat. The professors are not.
The Loving You Sequel is 50% done. Please blame Genshin Impact.
Comments and thoughts are always welcome!
Thank you for reading!
If you can, please buy me a coffee.
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after-witch · 3 years
Text
Yandere Ransom Imagine
“That's some heavy-duty conjecture.”
Word Count: 2700ish
notes: unhealthy relationships, emotional and physical abuse, financial abuse, yandere
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Imagine being a struggling adult working a full time job plus freelancing gigs just to get by in your one-bedroom apartment where the ceiling always leaks when it rains and you have to perform a complicated maneuver to make sure the door doesn’t jam up on you and you’re constantly worried about your landlord raising the rent.
Maybe a well-meaning friend gets you a gift card to an upscale bookstore because they know you haven’t had a new book on your shelves in years, or maybe you find $20 on the street like a veritable Charlie Bucket but instead of buying a Wonka Bar you head into a this fantastic artisan coffee shop on the rich side of town, a place that everyone always raves about on Instagram, just so you can try an expensive latte with hand-ground beans and flavors you’ve never heard of before--because don’t you deserve a treat, for once?
Whatever it is, wherever it is, Hugh Ransom Drysdale is waiting inside and sees you there.
And oh my God is it obvious that you’re out of place right off the bat. I mean, what the hell is someone like you doing in this part of town?
With your worn out clothes that are worn from necessity and not from being fashionably thrifted and your ratty purse stuffed with papers and candy wrappers that spill out when you dig in for your card or cash and your winter boots that you’ve probably worn 5 years in a row, ripped in the hell and patched with black tape that you hope people don’t notice.
It becomes even more obvious that you’re out of your element when something goes wrong. The gift card isn’t activated. The $20? A fake, probably a movie prop that blew in the wind. Whatever goes wrong, it means that you’re suddenly at the register, impatient people with real money tapping their expensive shoes behind you, unable to pay. You’re left standing there like a deer in headlights, unsure of what to do or say.
Normally he might just roll his eyes and remind himself that people like you ought to stick to your own shops, your own place. But something about the way your eyes go all downcast and you seem to shrink down in embarrassment makes him take pity on you. Like a stray cat in the alley hoping someone will toss it some scraps.
So he strides up and flicks out a card and hands it to the cashier, dropping a friendly greeting to them because he spends like crazy and they probably know him by name at this place, and he’s the one who hands you your coffee or your bag and your hands touch ever so briefly during the exchange.
He leads you away from the register--don’t want to piss off the spoiled debutantes and assistants on lunchtime coffee runs--and you stammer out a thank-you-thank-you and you promise you’ll pay him back as soon as you can and Jesus Christ, isn’t that just adorable? Someone like you, some lost kicked puppy who can’t even afford new boots, promising to pay him back?
He doesn’t care if you pay him back, but he finds that he would like something out of this exchange, so he says that instead of paying him back you can do him the honor of going to lunch with him. His treat. 
He insists. And you can’t really say no, can you? You are hungry and he did just pay for your things and it’s the least you can do to oblige his request.
He’s not stupid. He doesn’t take you to some razzle dazzle fancy restaurant where you’ll feel embarrassed and out of place. Instead he takes you to a quiet diner, classy not greasy, where you can have an easy conversation and tell him all about yourself.
It’s funny. Normally he brings up his family name, his grandfather’s books, to women he picks up, to get them impressed and hooked and pliable. Something about you, though. Something about you is making him want to turn this into more than a lunch date and pressure for a quickie in the car to repay him. 
So he holds back to see what he can do with you on his own. No quickie in the car, but instead before he drops you off--at a bus station, you insisted--he brushes his hand over yours. Can he get your number? He swears he can feel the heat coming off your cheeks as you fumble for your phone and let him put his number in your contacts.
He waits a day, then asks you out again. Dinner, this time. He asks you if you know any good places and you recommend a dive bar that you can go to after work (because 1) schedule and 2) cheap) and shit, he’s all for it. There will be time in the future to impress you with restaurants that have dress codes instead of sticky floors. You sit close on the stools and you buy him a drink (real cute, real real cute) and just for you he keeps the baggie in his pocket there all night instead of heading to the bathroom to liven things up.
Your relationship develops with an almost shocking speed. He knows just how to reel you in. I mean--look at you. Working your ass off at some dead end job, living in an apartment so shitty it takes you almost a month before you reluctantly agree to let him see it.
He can understand, though. Because you’re not that stupid and you know he’s wealthy, even before he casually brings up his family in a “it’s no big deal but I don’t want to keep things from you because we’re getting serious” sort of way. 
You pretend to be casual about it all, but he can tell you’re suddenly wondering: why the hell would someone from this wealthy family want anything to do with me?
It’s a question Ransom asks himself a lot. He asks himself this when he’s snorting coke off another woman’s stomach (hey, you’re dating, but he’s got needs and they aren’t met with hand-holding) or when he’s eating another greasy burger at a shitty bar because you refuse to let him buy you a nice dress to wear so he can take you out somewhere fancy.
You’re not the type of person he normally goes for, not at all. He has strings of girlfriends and flings, but they all tend to fit that same cookie cutter mold: wealthy do-nothings with their parent’s credit card who want someone else to spoil them for a while, without caring who it is or what they’re like. They’re easy pickings that Ransom can burn through and then toss aside when he’s bored of them. Some of them cry but a few days later he’ll see them on someone else’s arm, it’s the circle of life.
With you, though, there’s more. You don’t expect him to pay for dates or anything at all (even when he wants to spoil you a bit) and you have actual conversations and you seem to actually give a shit about what he says and does. You argue with him, too, when he wants you to do something (just let him take you shopping, for Christ’s sake!) or he asks you to move in (again) and you say no (again). I mean, you really fight with him, spitting words and all.
And unlike his previous girlfriends, you don’t come crawling back a few hours later because you want to buy a new purse with his shiny credit card. Instead, you make him apologize first. Fuck, that’s hot. It’s also something he tucks away in the back of his mind to work on later--but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t admit that he sometimes has the overwhelming urge to push you against the wall and fuck you for the first time right after a good argument. 
But he knows that would destroy your image of him entirely, so he holds back. He’s good at crafting a version of himself that appeals to others when he has to, and you’re maybe the first person that’s been worth all the effort he’s put into you so far.
But you need a push, a push that makes it so you can’t go running back to your shithole apartment when you fight or when you question whether or no you two have a future. You do, you’re just too naive--too inexperienced with money, to say it charitably--to realize it.
So he tips off the fire marshal about your apartment building’s shoddy fire escapes and well, damn, in the process of the investigation all the little corners that your landlord has cut come crashing down. At least they were discovered before it was the building that came crashing down.
But the evacuation of the building leaves you--and countless others--high and dry. You don’t have any family in the area, and your only half ass-decent friend in the city lives in the same building but her parent’s aren’t going to let a stranger move in.
When you finally realize you have no options and call him, voice tentative and embarrassed, he knows just what to say to get you to pack your meager belongings and wait for him to pick you up. He’s no-nonsense about it. 
He knows how to avoid deflating your pride, how to keep you from deciding you’d rather stay in a shelter than take his charity. You’ll pay him back, he says, you’ll figure out a rental plan or whatever. He even teases--he’s not the best landlord, but he won’t take 2 weeks to change the toilet if you submit a maintenance request. It makes you crack a smile and bam, just like that, he knows he’s gotten in.
That night, after takeout and wine and a Netflix movie neither of you paid attention to, you fuck for the first time on his expensive sheets on his expensive bed and afterwards, when you’re both sweating and cuddling and reveling in the afterglow, he makes a note to buy you some new lingerie. 
It’s all very homey, for a while. He could do without you leaving for work and working your ass off, with your freelance shit, sometimes staying on the computer until two, three in the morning. But it’s nice to have you close all the time, available to him whenever (almost whenever) he wants. He brings home takeout and you snuggle on the couch and he finally even convinces you to go out with him to a nice restaurant wearing something he’s bought and hot damn, do you look good, head-to-toe in the clothing he’s chosen for you. Especially, later that night, in private, in the lingerie. 
Does he love you? The word hasn’t left his lips yet, hasn’t crossed yours either, but he can feel it underneath the surface. No. It’s more than love. He wants you. He wants to have you. And not just for the afternoon or the summer, but forever. 
He spins daydreams about how he’ll clean you up nice and introduce you to the family. Probably to Harlan, first, because everyone knows that’s whose opinion really matters. Harlan will like you--he would probably like you without any primping or fixing, actually, which is more than he could say for his parents or anyone else in the family. Then once you’re in, you’re in--you’ll come to family dinners and vacation retreats where people always end up in ridiculous arguments, and you two can exchange snarky comments about the family on the ride home.
And yeah, sure. You fight sometimes.
He throws out your old clothes and buys you a wardrobe befitting someone he wants to integrate into his family. You fight about that.
He makes comments about you how you should quit your job or at least try to get a degree--he’ll pay, as long as you agree to go to a university within driving distance--to work somewhere more respectable than a chain restaurant. You fight about that.
He gets pissed when you want to meet some “friends” at a bar without him, because why would you need to go anywhere without your loving boyfriend in tow, unless you were trying to flirt with someone else? You definitely fight about that.
And, okay. Maybe he’s hypocritical.
Maybe he goes out late at night when you’re stuck doing your “freelancing work” and he’s in a rotten mood about it, and he ends up on the floor of a swanky club with drugs in his system and lipstick on his neck. He doesn’t come home until the next morning and you’re pissed and red-eyed and arguing with him, accusing him even, but you have no shitty apartment to stomp back to anymore so you’re stuck. 
Until you’re not stuck. Until he casually snoops through your phone and sees that you’re looking up cheap-ass apartments and hey, you’ve already booked a few interviews already. The thought of you slipping through his fingers makes him more sober than he’s been in a while. He’s got to do something. Not to himself, of course. But to you. To keep you with him.
It’s easy enough to get you fired. He’s a ‘Thrombey’ after all, and some nice crisp bills anonymously sent to the right hands is all it takes for you to come home one night, cheap mascara (he notes: buy you some better quality makeup soon) running down your cheeks. Your freelancing isn’t nearly enough to get you into an apartment.
He assumes that you’ll give up on the idea after losing your job, but you’re nothing if not stubborn (one of the reasons why he likes you) so you start the job hunt the next morning, fresh mascara in place. 
Damn, do you keep him busy. Anonymous calls. Cash in nice white envelopes. Rejection after rejection. You get so sad, so depressed. You don’t even want to go out to restaurants, so he orders in and you snuggle in his lap while he feeds you bites of orange chicken and rubs your back. It almost brings you two closer again, starts to mend the rifts that began when you refused to get over his occasional late night out.
But then you break the uneasy mending by snooping and woah, you don’t like what you find on his phone. 
You fight. 
Damn, do you fight. This time there’s no pretense of potential forgiveness as you begin wildly throwing your clothes into your ratty duffel bag from the back of the closet, telling him to fuck off fuck off fuck off, telling him he’s crazy, telling him that what he’s doing is fucking illegal and--
It’s the shock that hurts you the most.
The shock you feel when he grips your wrist hard and pushes back on your shoulder when you try to yank away, pushing you against the wall with a hard thud. It’s like having a rug pulled out from underneath your feet when you feel a slight ache in your back, on your shoulders, when you tell him to Let go, goddamn it and he only pushes back harder to keep you in place. It’s Ransom. It’s Ransom who’s doing this.
His voice feels unrecognizably cold when he leans in and hisses in your ear.
“You think you can just leave me? After all I’ve done for you? Let me tell you something--you won’t get another job within one hundred miles of here, within one thousand miles of here, unless I say you can. So just put your clothes back in the closet, chill the fuck out, and stop being such an ungrateful bitch.”
It’s the shock that makes you numbly hang your clothes back up in the closet, fold them again with shaking hands, and sit on the bed until the dam breaks and you cry.
And oh fuck, he’s sorry. Really. He wraps his arm around your shoulders and then he’s the one who’s crying and confessing that he didn’t want you leave him because yeah, he knows he’s a fuck up, he knows he’s got a drug problem, but he loves you. 
It’s the first time he’s ever said it out loud. He loves you. “I love you,” he says, again and again, half-laughing.  And he tells you you’re the only person he’s ever dated that made him want to be a better person but he doesn’t know how.
You don’t know what to say because maybe you do love him--but he hurt you and got you fired, but the tears on his face seem so genuine and he tells you he’ll never, ever hurt you like that again and fuck, he says, if you want to go get a job he’ll drive you to the interview right now just-let-him-blow-his-nose-first-please.
You make him sit down and then you’re the one apologizing and the rest of the afternoon is a shaky truce between you two as you drink hot chocolate and order in takeout and watch a movie together.
It’s not until you’re both under the sheets, satisfied and then showered, that you think about what he did to you in a clearer light. The thoughts weigh heavy on your mind, pulling and tugging. You think you might love him. He hurt you. He took care of you when no one else would. He cheated on you. 
I love you, he tells you, when your mind is starting to tug itself into sleep.
He hit you. He said he was sorry.
He hit you.
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hcs for poly! tlb with a fem! s/o who’s style is dark academia and is really blunt/logical and smart. she basically gives off a ‘mysterious, quiet, dark, critical’ vibe (she also doesn’t really know how to handle people who are extremely emotional and she doesn’t know how to soothe someone. she’s just really oblivious/clueless when it comes to others feelings). i’m so sorry if what i requested doesn’t make sense or if it was too much. i am seriously incapable of writing anything without making it look like an essay lmao. love your work btw 💕✨
Dark Academia Fem! S/O 
Poly Lost Boys x Fem reader
I had so much fun writing this! I love the dark academia aesthetic! And it made perfect sense and it wasn’t too much! Having a lot actually helps me expand and write more so thank you. And I’m the same, once I have an idea, I write a lot, so you’re all good! And awww!!! Thank you!!! 💗💗✨✨ I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy!
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Okay, so you are very different compared to the large number of characters on the boardwalk. Your style consisted of button shirts, sweaters or turtle necks, dress pants or a plaid pleated skirts, cardigans or waistcoats, oxford shoes or even wire framed glasses if you wore them for seeing or just for the look. 
To say that you caught the boys attention would be an understatement. You seemed to stand out amongst the crowd and they became curious. You were a mystery to them and they love the challenge. 
Somehow, someway, after days or weeks later, you became good friends which soon lead to you dating four trouble making punks. It was tough on both parts, but it happened, and hey, you weren’t complaining. 
You were very blunt when you first met them, not really interested in them and more or less interested in the book in your hands. It took a lot of “accidental” run ins to even get you to hang out with them. 
You slowly opened up when they offered to take you out for dinner at a local diner. They’re constant joking soon had you letting out small, almost whisper-like giggles and tiny smiles that sent them into a frenzy. 
When you would start talking about yourself, your ideas of fun were different from theirs. You liked museums, opera houses, bookstores and going to theaters to see plays. The games you played were chess and cards, and the music you listened to was old. You were pretty sure they thought you were boring but you actually peaked their interest. 
After a while of being friends with them, they asked you out. You liked them and the only logical step was to see if you liked them the same way they liked you was to date them, so you said yes. 
In general, them having a girlfriend with a 1940s/1950s dark prep look was fun. David and Dwayne like it the most. Paul next, then Marko. 
David actually really likes picking out your clothing on most days. You have an extensive collection of clothing with material from cashmere to linen, all the colors consisting of browns, black, cream and even a little dark green. 
His favorite thing to put you in is trench coats. Doesn’t matter what color it is, he just likes seeing you in them. Also, there are a handful of times that he has MADE you wear his trench coat. Yeah it almost swimmed on you, but he thought it made you look cute and it fit in perfectly with your look. 
Dark academia isn’t only your style, but it’s your way of life. David is the one that plays chess with you. You had to reteach it to him and pretty soon, the two of you had your own little set up in the cave that was always ready for a game of chess. 
David is sort of like you… in a way when it comes to others feelings. But deep down he knows that he really likes you and tries to show it the best he can. He took you to a theater to see a play that you were constantly talking about and so he took you on a date. You being you, didn’t realize that’s what it was until he told it straight to your face. Let’s just say you were speechless for the next hour. 
Also, when it’s just the two of you, deep inside the cave where your nest is, classical music is playing from your record player. It could be Beethoven, Tchaikovsky or Mozart. Whoever it is, David is the one that will listen to it with you the most. I think he really enjoys classical music and he enjoys it even more if the two of you are cuddling in your bed. 
Occasionally Dwayne would join the two of you. You would be sitting in between David’s legs as Dwayne sat in between yours, his head leaning back against your chest. It was like a cuddle pile… cuddle train?? Whatever you wanted to call it, it was cuddling while the three of you relaxed listening to classical music. And it was darn cute. 
Dwayne loves listening to you go on and on about any books you were reading at the moment. Whether or not it was nonfiction or even about any type of history. He was down. He lived through a lot and he knew about half of the stuff you gushed on about, but for some odd reason, it never bored him when you talked about it. 
He would be the one to get you new books, leaving you sweet little notes tied to them. Of course you thought it was just him being nice and thanked him for it without thinking there was any romantic meaning behind it. Yeah he was one of your boyfriends but it never really crossed your mind that way. He would just shake his head at your obliviousness and give you a small peck on the lips. 
Don’t ask him why, but his favorite look on you is a light cream colored blouse with a plaid skirt and Mary Jane shoes. Dwayne is a leg man so… he’s very happy when decide to show off some skin if you decide not to wear knee-socks or stockings with it. Even if you did wear them, he would still be attached to your side the entire night. 
Like David, Dwayne would bring you out to a lot of places that were opened late at night. If there was an art exhibition in town or even a museum that was open late, just say the word and he will happily drive you on his bike. Heck, David might even tag along. 
Also, late night bookstore dates… oh my heart, it’s too sweet it hurts. There are times that he does have to throw you over his shoulder when the bookstore is closing and you're pretty much refusing to leave. When he does that, you just stay frozen over his shoulder, not knowing if you should be blushing or cursing at him for carrying you like a sack of potatoes. 
If anything, you and Dwayne connect very well. You’re naturally very quiet and so is he. Not much is said between you two but there's a mutual understanding that can’t be explained. While the others are out causing trouble, you and him are on the sidelines watching hand in hand or your reading and he's just staring at you as you do so. 
Paul and Marko kind of give you whiplash. They’re loud and rowdy and definitely 100% opposite from you. But they interested you. They had a very chaotic outlook on life which made you ask many questions. 
Paul found your look sexy. He’s horny and you give off preppy school vibes, he’s living for it 24/7. Constant teasing of you giving him ‘private lessons’ which results with you whacking a book against the back of his head. But it doesn’t stop the reddening of your ears which doesn’t make him stop.  
This man is also your designated jewelry expert. You only wear some accessories and they're very simple. So you are very surprised when Paul finds you jewelry that is your style and collects it for you. You like leather watches, guess what, he’s got it for you. You want some fancy victorian looking brooches, he’s got that too. Simple rings with a single jewel in the middle, expect constant ‘will you marry me’ jokes, but he gets you the best.
Also, he’s not overly big into your music selection. He does try to get you into his type of music, which you only like very few and far between. But when you do get him to listen to your type of music, it’s only if you agree to listen to his music the next night. You guys come up with a system and decide to switch every few nights. 
Each of the boys have their favorite look on you and Paul's is when you wear a button-up of any color with a simple black tie, a pencil skirt and a pair of Dr.Marten boots. He especially likes the tie… for reasons. God damn it, you know the reasons, get out of here. 
He’s a very affectionate boy and he finds your looks over confusion some of the cutest shit he’s ever seen. Probably the first one to tell you that he loves you and you honestly like glitched out. Did you feel the same way? Yes, but poor little thing you doesn’t say it right away, but Paul knows that you aren’t really used to saying things like that without warming up to it. Which is okay. He knows even if you don’t say it. 
He definitely steals one of your blazers to put pins on it. Marko helps, putting a few patches on it that they both know you would like. It’s the one item that stands out in all of your clothing and you will wear it if they ask you to. 
Marko definitely thinks the look is cute and it suits you very well, but why no color?! You wear dark colors but nothing bright like the colors that are on his jacket. He tries to slip in some colorful clothing into your everyday look, it never goes as planned but you give him an A for effort. 
He loves how dark you can be at times though. You want to go to a local graveyard just because? Sure! Let’s go! He’s your designated graveyard buddy. You have many date nights there, looking at all the different gravestones and finding it interesting when you jot down some names in one of your notebooks. 
Speaking of notebooks, you have many of them. They were filled with notes from books you’ve read, real life observations or even just some random poetry and short stories that you wrote. Marko would go through them a lot and even sometimes draw little doodles or rough sketches that were thought up from your writings. 
When you spend nights down at the Boardwalk, your go to drink isn’t a slushie or a milkshake or even a soda. It’s coffee or tea. Yeah, and only Marko knows your drink orders by heart. None of the others seem to remember them correctly which you thank them for trying but Marko has got them all beat. 
Marko likes seeing you in sweaters and in your trousers or linen shorts with chelsea boots. If anything, when the two of you are alone, just wearing a knit sweater and shorts were perfect for him. He likes how cozy and warm you look. He’s very happy when he cuddles you and you are warm. 
Now when they tell you that they’re vampires, you think that they’re joking. Vampires aren’t real, they’re a work of fiction. Yes there was a real man named Dracula, but there was no way that they were actual vampires. 
Then they showed you hard proof and then there was no denying it at that point. Instead of running away, you were fascinated. You wanted to understand your boyfriends vampire ways that lead to you conducting extensive research and a notebook dedicated to them. 
They showed you everything about them, how they feed, to which you didn’t bat an eyelash of watching them feed one night. You were one morbid chick but they saw that as a plus that you didn’t react. You had graveyard dates for crying out loud, nothing really surprised them at that point.
Flying came next and they had a lot of fun showing you just how high they could go with you in their arms. You never screamed at the height, you were too caught up in seeing the overhead view of the town. You could get used to seeing a view like that every night.  
Then came the other things; how they slept before you came along, what actually hurt them and what didn’t. There was one time that you stared at their vampire faces for hours because you were taking notes on how their facial features changed. 
Soon you had to stock up on more turtlenecks because of the many bite marks they would leave behind from feeding on you if the weather was bad one night. It wasn’t tough adapting to their occasional feeding. A lot of your clothing already covered up your skin so it was easy to hide from people on your nights out. 
Not too long after, they popped the question. Would you want to be a vampire? Live forever, never grow up? Be with them for all eternity? You didn’t really need to think about it for too long, you knew what your answer was and so did they even if you didn’t say it out loud. You loved your boys and not much would change.
When you did change, it was entertaining for them to watch. You soon started taking down notes about your progress, comparing and contrasting your experience to their own. 
To the eyes of many, you became even more dark and mysterious. You had an aura around you that drew people in, it’s what got you your four vampire boyfriends, only now, it brought in your meal for the night.
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Commission info for Love Letters from your favorite character here!
- Honestly, your probably meet him through his Dad or all people
- You meet Arthur at the store, you’re probably at a department store or the grocery store
- Maybe you work here, maybe you just come there weekly to run errands
- But you’re probably a personal shopper
- And you’re looking for something in particular, but every time you go to that section, there’s this lanky middle aged man just standing there
- And you really don’t want to get involved
- But your over active imagination gets the best of you
- What’s if he’s a widower? And he’s just not used to shopping because his partner did all of that
- Or what if he’s trying to get a gift for his new love interest and he’s just trying to get back out there
- And well, if he is a widower, and he just needs some help- shouldn’t you help him?
- Isn’t that just the right thing to do?
- So even though you don’t want to get involved, you very hesitantly approach this red haired man
- “Um, excuse me sir- but is there something I can help you with?”
- He lights up when you approach him
- Looks like the poor thing is a widower
- “Would you explain the purpose to me of this item?”
- He’s holding up a bath kit, one that comes with a bath bomb, some bath salts, and bubble bath soap
- “Um well it’s a bath kit sir”
- He looks at the package for several ing moments before pointing to the circular bath bomb
- “Is this a sweet? Is it a treat you eat when you’re in the bath tub?”
- You practically fall over yourself rushing to tell him that no, it is in fact not a treat
- “It’s like a bubble bath type of thing, you drop it into the water and it turns the bath a certain color, this ones a fortune type so after it’s done fizzing out you get a little fortune.”
- “Well isn’t that fascinating, you Muggles are quite remarkable”
- You don’t think it’s that amazing, just some baking soda and aromatics
- Also what’s a muggle? Is that some middle age slang for young people?
- You help him to the register, and you think that’ll be it, you’ll probably never see him
- So imagine your surprise when you see him again next week, this time in front of a completely different section with the same expression
- “Well hello again, can you help me with this?”
- It’s sort of a fast friendship, you learn a little more about him with each visit
- He is in fact, not, a widower
- He has 8, no 7 children
- And he works for the government
- “A glorified paper pusher really” he says, but you get the feeling he’s being humble
- “How old are you, if you don’t mine me asking?”
- You tell him and he smiles
- “That’s how old my Son is, you two would be a good match.”
- “Which one? Don’t you have seven?”
- He smiles, because you still count Fred as his child even though he’s gone, just like him
- “Take your pick, I’ve got a whole volleyball teams for you to pick from”
- You laugh
- He’s a nice guy, the exact image of what a dad is, you think
- You like him
- Arthur likes you too, he thinks you would be a good match for Percy, maybe George
- He wants to give Percy a fighting chance, he’s a good boy-
- But he’s got his nose stuck in a book most days, Arthur considers it lucky if he ever gets married
- So it’s in early winter that he drags Percy with him to the department store hoping he’ll run into you
- “Why do I have to come along again?”Percy asks grumbling as he walks beside his father
- “Because I’m buying gifts for my department-“
- “You never buy us any gifts” Charlie teases from his other side
- Arthur also brought Charlie, to seem a little less obvious about his intentions of setting you up with one of his children
- He figures Charlie is the most harmless, if you see Bill... well that would be disappointing for you
- considering he’s married and all
- And the scars might raise more questions than he’s willing to answer
- And then Ron was busy at the ministry today, an emergency or something.
- He’s already decided as he walks through the store that if this doesn’t work out, he’s bringing George next week-
- And if that doesn’t work out, well-
- Maybe Ginny would be more your type
- how solid are Harry and Ginny really
- He’s so caught up in his own mental gymnastics that he doesn’t realize one of his sons isn’t following him until he’s well inside the store
- “Where’s Percy?”
- “Oh, he left like 15 minutes ago to take a phone call for work, but I bet he snuck off to that bookstore across the street.” Charlie says casually eyeing a brightly colored display
- Arthur sighs, well he does need to get some gifts for the kids, almost Christmas and all
- “Hello Arthur, what are you dissecting today?” You ask when you see him
- “Just picking up gifts with my son-“
- A small frown lilts onto your face, his son?
- It’s only a little shift of your head and you see him
- Well isn’t he just gorgeous
- He’s got a firm build, toned arms littered with dozens of scars and burns
- His face is chiseled, with a light dusting of red hair, matching vivid hair is long and pulled into a bun
- And the deepest brown eyes you’ve ever seen
- Damn what a hottie
- Arthur should have told told you his son was a total smokeshow
- And he’s got 6 of them?!? Are they all this gorgeous?
- Arthur doesn’t miss the way you look at Charlie
- And one glance at Charlie is all He needs to know that the feeling is mutual
- Why didn’t he think of Charlie?
- Well- actually he had started to think that maybe Charlie just didn’t feel that way about people.
- And so, to be supportive, he wasn’t going to push him into any romantic relationship
- But well since he seems to find you pleasing-
- “This is my son Charlie-“ he says putting both his hands on Charlie’s shoulders and jerking him closer to you
- A light red begins to dust Charlie’s cheeks, wether it’s from embarrassment or attraction he’s not sure
- You fidget in front of him feeling oddly self conscious
- “Nice to meet you, I’m (Y/N)”
- He takes you hand in his with a firm squeeze and you feel a little lightheaded
- His hands are surprisingly soft
- On closer inspection he’s got a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of his nose
- Adorable really
- “So how do you know my dad?” He asks when Arthur is busy /giving you two time to get to know each other looking through the candle selection
- “Oh um I don’t know I guess we just became friends talking about how stuff works?”
- It’s a little weird to think about it, Arthur is your dads age, but he’s like your friend?
- It’s kinda weird tbh
- You wonder how Charlie’s digesting it but he just grins
- “Yeah that sounds like Dad.”
- It’s cute, the way he looks at his Dad
- You remember hearing about Charlie, that he works far away and that Arthur and his wife worry about him. And that he likes animals
- It’s kind of like meeting a celebrity, you know all about him
- except for the fact that he’s a wizard of course
- Well, it was nice meeting one of Arthur’s famous son’s, you suppose he’ll go back to Romania soon and -
- “I was wondering-“ he leans down, his voice low “if you might do me a small favor?”
- Your eyebrows thread together and your head tilts to the side a bit
- “It depends on what it is”
- Charlie only grins
- And so you find yourself standing in front of King’s Cross Station on your next free day, wearing a nice outfit that seems neither too causal, or like you’re trying too hard
- Your fingers fiddle with the hem of your shirt until you see Charlie round the corner
- Well doesn’t he look absolutely delicious
- He’s wearing a crisp white collard shirt and a sweater over it, with a pair of khaki trousers
- Very dark academia
- “Sorry have you been waiting long?”
- You shake your head
- “No only a few minutes, have you thought about what you might want to get him?” You ask and he flashes a little and shakes his head
- “The best I could think of was a gadget of some kind?”
- You nod, you can work with that
- The favor Charlie wanted was pretty simple
- He needed help picking out a Christmas gift for his Dad
- Oddly wholesome in its own way
- You take him to a large department store
- “Maybe this pasta maker?”
- “No, Mum’s already got one”
- He should know, his dad enchanted it to make pasta on its own
- “Than maybe this waffle maker?”
- He shakes his head again, they had one and it did not end well
- You go to several stores throughout the day, but there’s nothing quite right at any of them
- Eventually you both slump down on chairs, untouched mugs of tea in front of you, both of you utterly exhausted
- “This is so much harder than I thought” you mumble, Arthur seems like such an easy to please person
- “I’m sorry” Charlie says, honestly the reason neither of you can pick something is because he can’t be honest with you
- Yeah his Dad loves muggle gadgets, but he loves them because he wants to take them apart, to see how it works
- And then he wants to enchant certain parts to make the contraption even better
- But he can’t tell you all that now can he?
- Not when you’re a muggle
- He sighs leaning back in his chair
- Maybe he shouldn’t have asked you for help, he saw how close you and his Dad were, like you were already family-
- But it’s unfair to you to monopolize all your free time like this-
- “It’s no problem really, this is actually really fun”
- You’re not lying, hanging out with Charlie is really fun.
- Usually spending time with people you’ve only just met exhausts you
- But being with him makes you feel comfortable, the two of you falling into a comfortable rhythm
- Guess he’s kinda like his Dad in that way
- You feel your mouth quirk into a small smile at the thought.
- He kinda looks like his dad too on closer inspection, around the jaw and-
- “Are your ears pierced?” You ask, and Charlie immediately flushes. A hand nervously fluttering to his ear
- “U-um yes, I did it when I was younger-“ he lets out a nervous laugh
- You raise an eyebrow
- “What did some girl break your heart?”
- He sputters at that
- “N-no of course not”
- You feel a wicked grin curling on your face, he’s awfully fun to tease
- “Boyfriend then?”
- He’s burning so bright red that you think steam might actually start coming out of his ears
- “N-no it was nothing like that,” his eyes are looking into his mug, fingers still twiddling with his earlobe.
- “My brother and I got them at the same time with our other friend. It was really their thing, wanting to get the piercing that is, I just joined to be apart of it”
- You can certainly see it, Charlie getting swept up in his friends things.
- “Besides this sort of thing... it doesn’t really suit me” he lets out a nervous laugh and you feel your heart swell
- “I think it would look great on you” The words leave your mouth without even thinking and you feel your face grow hot when they do.
- What are you saying!?!
- You’re embarrassed, but Charlie’s flattered.
- He’s never been the favorite sibling, he’s not as brave as Bill, or as funny as George, Percy’s the smart one, Ron’s the charismatic one, and Ginny’s the athletic one
- He hasn’t got anything to compete with honestly-
- All he can do is try to emulate his siblings, he guesses he’s still trying to figure out who he is
- Which is a little pathetic at his age- at least that’s how he feels
- But hearing you say it would look good on him- well it makes his heart flutter
- Meanwhile you’re completely ignorant to the fact that you’re making his heart race
- Completely caught up in your own embarrassment
- Geez you’re just blurting stuff out like a kid
- A lightbulb goes over your head
- “Hey I think I might have an idea of what your Dad might like!”
- You practically tug him into the the next shop, his face contorted in confusion until you show him what you thought of
- “Oh Merlin, it’s perfect”
- You’re both standing in the toy section of a department store
- Charlie’s watching the bubble machine like it’s the best thing he’s ever saw
- His dad is going to love enchanting it
- While Charlie’s asking the clerk about gift wrapping and other things you wander around the store
- Stopping when you see a rack of candles
- They’re the ‘homesick’ candles, with a scent that’s a place
- And then you see something else glint from the corner of your eye
- “Thank you so much for your help today-“
- You’re both standing in front of king’s cross again, you’re about to go home
- Charlie takes a deep gulp, if he was brave like Bill he might ask you on a date- a real day
- But he’s not
- So he’ll just thank you for your time, and ask for a business card so he can send you a tasteful gift with maybe a card asking to spend time again with you
- But before he can get the words out you thrust something out to him
- It’s a neat folded striped pink and green bag
- He takes it carefully on his hands, leading inside
- “Candles?”
- You nod
- “They’re those homesick candles, they have a scent for places, I got you London and then another one that says English country- it’s amber, honeysuckle and moss, I thought you might like it” you’re blabbering-
- There really wasn’t a need to do anything like this for him
- But well- you know he probably feels so homesick, not to mention his rowdy siblings
- So maybe this will offer him some comfort
- But he’s not looking at the candles he’s looking at something else that’s glinting beside them
- Thick fingers gently pinch the end of the thick paper square
- It’s a pair of earrings
- They’re Dragon Earrings
- “Oh that.” You look at the item with a wide expression “it’s really like a gag gift, I know you work with animals and you’ve got the piercing so-”
- Charlie’s grinning
- “You didn’t have to do all this.”
- “O-oh no, it was no big deal at all, I um- I wanted to.” You give him a shy smile and he feels butterflies erupt in his stomach
- He’s never going to be as brave as Bill, or as Smart as Percy, as funny as George or loyal as Ron.
- But he wants to be kind
- As kind as you, if not more
- “No, I couldn’t possibly let you do something like this for me, especially not after all your help today”
- You feel yourself deflate, ah you were overstepping weren’t you?
- It’s just- you’ve heard so much about him and you work so well together,
- You had started to think of him as a friend
- But clearly it was too much -
- “Let me take you out to dinner sometime,” your eyes snap to his face, which is dusted with pink, deep brown eyes staring into your own
- “To repay you for all the kindness you’ve shown me today”
- You feel a smile spread across your face, arching into a goofy grin
- He’s looking at you hopefully, pieces ears burning red. A matching hopeful smile curled onto his face
- “I would love to”
258 notes · View notes
plush-rabbit · 3 years
Text
Sugar and Spice
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Word Count: 2K
A/N: This is set after he passes the gym to Marnie:P I hope that you enjoyed it!! Im sorry for it being so late!! Also, since sunday was a lot,, pokemon related things will go on ao3 like tomorrow!!
Piers is a rather intimidating person. He’s tall and wears dark clothing, a certain look of disdain on his features to anyone who looks upon him. He won’t necessarily be rude to people but he has a rather flippant personality that makes it hard for people to approach him first.
You on the other hand, you try to meet him. You may not enjoy his type of music, but you do try to approach him, wanting to attend his concerts or even just listening to some of his earlier music that is different from the way he sings now. It’s softer, harsh lyrics that are whispered into your ear accompanied by static due to the low quality of the mic but you enjoy it.
Truth be told, he inspired you to start your own musical journey. Different from his genre obviously, but still. It was easy to write the music, to let the flow seep into you and sing with a lonely voice and cute look. If he could keep his dark, gloomy aesthetic, then you could keep your pastel, cheery one.
Yet, despite the hopeful encounter that you wish you could have had with him, ended horribly. He hadn’t exactly called you anything mean and while you were aware of the tone he held, it certainly didn’t prepare you to be on the receiving end of it. It was a heavy feeling that it left, an unmistakable uneasiness that made you squirm and want to leave.
And yet, you still hold a strong admiration to him. You still want to meet him and go against him in a battle even if it isn’t his strongest suit just for the fact that you believe like everyone else that a battle is what people go against, what they put all their might into and see how they can prevail at the end of it. You wanted to see the light in his eyes up close and see how he would fight.
You’re everything opposite to Piers. Where he dresses in dark clothing and has a rather cold demeanor, you dress in soft colors and try to appear friendly to others, often accompanied by your team of fairy and mostly pink colored pokémon. You spent a good portion of your youth hating pink, wanting to go against gender norms but as you grew older, you fell in love with the color and the frills, wanting to be dressed in a cute way that while others may have seen as overbearing, you just liked it and it made you happy. Where as he sang metal and rock, you stuck with pop, you wore your dresses and had even jokingly called the type of music you sang “bubblegum pop”, no real reason behind it- agains, it just made you happy to call it. Despite the differences, you greatly admired the ex- gym leader. He had been able to hold his own in a town that was failing- no fault on his of course- and had been a caring brother from what you have seen. He was an admirable person and while the music he made wasn’t exactly your taste, you could learn to enjoy it.
However, due to your rising fame and the type advantage against him, people around the region- who knew of both of you- had begun to jokingly call the two of you rivals, wanting to see you both battle it out and see who would reign above the other. And while you would have happily accepted the chance to meet Piers, a trainer you strongly admired, he had only sneered at the idea of you and him having a battle. To say it hurt would be an understatement. He’s a personal inspiration and to have him act that way to the mere mention of you left you deflated. 
It’s a mere accident that you both are in the same area. Mentions of him of you are sprinkled into your notifications, buildings that match in the background and while you aren’t proud of it, you take to following the buildings and the threads. You walk around, your white tennis skirt paired with a soft, baby blue pullover and pair or white tennis shoes, an obvious giveaway to who you are, a yellow star shaped bag that crosses over your chest, and a bow with trailing ribbons falling and curving around your shoulders, tickling at your neck with every step until you finally seem to be in a surrounding area that he was last seen at. While it left you with an odd taste, you wanted to run into him and express your admiration for him- just for a quick second, to tell him how much you liked the music he put out and how he stuck with the aesthetic- you could understand how expensive it could be to stick with something as money-consuming as clothing.
You find him by accident. It’s a completely stereotypical moment when you do. You both stand at the opposite ends of the fountain decorated with carvings of various water types from the region, the sun shines and you can see in front of you with his sister and the rising champions. You hold onto the straps of your bag, your lips pulling into a flustered line, heat that rises from excitement or general shyness- you aren’t sure yet, and you stare at him with wide eyes. In the pockets of your skirt, you can feel your phone buzz and in the corner of your eyes, you can see people hurriedly take out their phones. And just like that, the serene, very stereotypical moment is over when he turns around and your eyes meet. Where you widen and flush under his gaze, he hardens his stare and grows an annoyed look, brows furrowing and lips pulled into a thin line. 
Your resolve is broken. You gasp, and look around, seeing people stare and a small circle forming, whether for the both of you or the rising stars of the region, you don’t know and you don’t find out, choosing to leave the area. You jump a bit, standing on the tips of your shoes and you turn to leave. 
You don’t want to stick around and see what he might have to say, the thought of the smallest bit of rejection far too much on your mind. You manage to make your way into a bookstore, the scent of coffee lingering in the air and you greet the employees with a tight smile, wandering deeper into the store, hoping to distract yourself and walk between the aisles and find something to buy. 
You stand at the end of the store, against a corner as you trail your finger against the spines of the books. In your peripheral, you can spot a figure, standing tall and you pay no mind. There is no real reason for you to worry- you may not look the part, but you can certainly fight dirty and the store isn’t abandoned so you could always call for help. You hum under your breath, pulling out a book and pursing your lips as you read the synopsis. The figure at the end comes closer and you turn, a soft squeak sounds past your lips. You feel yourself stand straighter, your shoulders squaring and the book held close to your chest, fingers gripping onto it tightly, enough to pale your knuckles.
“You ran away,” Piers muses, his fingers trailing along the spines, his steps quiet against the carpet. “You must be really scared of me,” he says, looking away from you, chuckling lightly. He stands in front of you, his brows raising as he looks down at you. 
His dual colored hair is pulled into a loose ponytail, a thick part of it obscuring half of his face and you can only do so much to not cower under his gaze, eventually breaking from his eye contact and looking at the top of your shoes that differ from his. 
“‘S not that,” you mutter, biting at your bottom lip. “I just… panicked,” you end, licking at your lips. “I- I didn’t mean to offend you.” 
You were kidding yourself if you thought you could talk to him. Much less have a battle against him. Once he showed up, your resolve fell, further than it did before when he looked at you. You take a small step back, your shoes shuffling and messing at the carpet underneath, and your eyes still locked on his boots. Just a second ago, you wanted to proclaim your admiration to him, enough to go and see him and find him and yet, here he is standing in front of you without any distractions or prying eyes and you can’t bring yourself to talk to him with faltering. 
“You’re a lot jumpier than I expected, ya know?” His reply to you is done with a simple roll of his eyes. “I mean, fuck, I guess it’s expected for a type user like you.” You stay quiet and you can almost hear his smug grin. “Lots of people comment how you’re a pushover because of your, er,  type and all.”
You look up at him, your brows furrowed and frown against your lips. You lean towards him, the book still held in your hands. “It’s- So what? I like pink and fairy types! They happen to be cute and they’re strong!” Your voice starts to raise, slowly raising into a higher pitch, shoulders raiing a fraction to meet the ends of your lobes. “Plus, there are a few fairy that have a dark counterpart and Mimikyu is one that I’m going to add to my team!” Your eyes narrow and you pull away from him, crossing your arms in front of you, a scowl on your lips, face growing hot under anger. “I just happen to be,” you make a small noise of discomfort and bite the inside of your cheeks, “quieter.”
He looks taken aback, eyes wide as he blinks owlishly at you. His down turned lips start to twitch, forming into a wicked smile. He snorts and shakes his head, a pleasant sound ringing through the small corner, and you soften, your arms slowly lowering from their harsh grip. 
“You got some fire in you, huh?” He asks, tilting his head “Damn, didn’t think you had it in you to actually stand up for yourself like that.” You meet his eyes and he flashes a quick grin that reveals his teeth. “Nothing bad about it, I swear.” he holds his hands up and brushes a hand through his hair. “Anyways-” he waves a hand and you watch it with careful eyes- “you oughta be more careful about who you yell it at, as all I’m gonna say,” he muses. 
“Piers?” He hums in response and you swallow nervously. “Wh- Why did you come here?” You don’t want to accuse him of following you here, for all you know it could be a happy, little accident. “And why did you talk to me?”
His milky complexion turns into a bright pink that fills in his cheeks, a flustered look on his face where his eyes narrow. “Oh, hah, I- Marnie needed a book and I-” his hand swings around at a much faster pace, circling around in front of him with an open palm and you react instinctively.
You make a pained gasping noise, the book dropping onto the floor with a thud as your hands come up to block your face, back hunched as you try to cower under the minimal protection that you offer yourself. You whimper and take a stumbling step back that leads you against the wall, your eyes pinched shut and it’s a second too late that you realize you messed up. You gasp and straighten up, an uncomfortable heat running down your back as you meet his eyes.
He stands frozen, his hand still in midair and his eyes are wide, darting down to the book and back to where your hands still hold a semi-protective barrier against him. His eyes turn from shocked into pitiful and you break away from his gaze, mumbling an apology under your breath.
“Shit,” he hisses out, bringing his hands close to his body. “I didn’t mean to trigger you or-”
“It’s not that,” you respond quickly. “I- Can we not talk about it?” You turn to look at him, your bottom lip trembling ever so slightly, your eyes glancing back to the fallen book. “Please?” He nods slowly and you return it in response. You crouch down to grab the book and pull it close to you only to look back at it with disdain. You turn and place the book back into the shelf, your hands coming down to play with the hem of your skirt. 
It’s silent. The soft music that plays from the music is not enough to drown the silence between the both of you and you want to chastise yourself for ruining a moment with your fears. Your teeth bite into the soft part of your cheeks, painful and enough to make tears spring into your eyes. In your pocket, your phone buzzes and you fail to pick it up, too frozen to care about the outside world. 
“Do you want to get a coffee?” You look up at him and he gives you a hesitant smile. He jerks his chin to the other side, his hands inside his coat pockets. “I was thinking of getting a cup while I was here,” he clears his throat, “I could get you one if you want. We can drink it here too,” he adds quickly.
You give him a tentative smile, slowly pulling yourself away from the wall and taking a step closer to him. “Do you want to look for Marnie’s book first? I don’t- I don’t mind.” 
“Right,” he says slowly, “her book. The uh- you know, let me message her to see what the title was, yeah?” He nods his head and moves to the side, jerking his head to allow you to walk in front of him first. “Let’s just get a drink first, all right?” He gives you a nervous smile, laughing quietly with eyes that come to a close. You come to stand next to him, nodding softly, your hands flexing at your sides in an attempt to calm down. “Neat,” he says. “Let’s get a cup
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halloweenhoneylover · 3 years
Text
the window
summary: reader gives spencer a really cute holiday gift, and he really, really appreciates it (spencer reid x gn!reader)
word count: 2.7k
author’s note: this was supposed to be a blurb lmao. also anon, u did not specify gender, so this is gender neutral!!! also, this is for the holiday season and isn’t specific to christmas (aside from mentions of secret santa gift exchange). also also, spencer knits canonically.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.
Rolling your eyes, you closed the seemingly menacing pop-up on your screen and continued to finish up your paperwork. A few seconds passed before a second pop-up appeared.
DO NOT CLOSE MY MESSAGES!!!
You heaved a sigh and stood, making your way to Garcia’s lair. Pushing the door open, you skipped a greeting entirely and chided, “Dude, you gotta stop sending scary pop-ups to my computer. People are gonna start thinking that unsubs are hacking the FBI and threatening agents.”
From beneath her horn-rimmed glasses, Penelope tutted and chewed the end of her pen. “You are no fun. Besides, you are forgetting my immensely cool and mysterious origin story. ‘The Black Queen’ was not one of the good guys!”
“That’s true,” you admitted, “but you’re one of us now, so that means no more suspicious messages unless you want to be fired.”
She gave you a contemptuous glare, “Not gonna happen. Also, I’m really shocked that you thought you could distract me from the matter at hand.”
Furrowing your brow, you replied, “I don’t even know what the matter at hand is.”
Garcia’s smirk curled devilishly. “You and Reid.”
Further confusion ensued. “And what about us?”
She groaned and threw her head back, “Oh my god, you really are dragging this out. I know that you did not get him for Secret Santa, but you still got him a present.” The quirking of her eyebrows was enough to indicate that she meant more than what she was saying, and you were hesitant to explore the implications.
“Okay, first of all, it is illegal to look at my credit card history, and secondly, he is my best friend, so yes, I got him a present. Is that a crime?”
“Certainly not...but this does solidify the fact that you’re in love with him.”
“Dear god, Garcia, I am not in love with Spencer Reid.”
The look she gave you was one of utter incredulity. Her disbelief was so strong in fact that she did not deign your statement worthy of verbal response. Instead, she sat there. Staring. And under her rather unnerving gaze, you began to fidget, your resolve slowly dissolving. Squeezing your eyes shut, you relented. 
“Okay, maybe I am the littlest, tiniest bit in love with Spencer Reid.”
“Well, duh, but what I really need to know is when you’re gonna tell him.”
“When? Garcia, this is not a ‘when’ question. Actually, it’s not a question at all because never in a million years would I ever tell him.”
“Why not?” she exclaimed, gesturing with her pen still in hand. “You spend almost all of your time together, at work and at home! You guys go to bookstores and museums and cafes. He talks about his silly little statistics, and you listen, and you make your silly little jokes, and he laughs; you’re a match made in heaven! And he’s so obviously into you! That boy writes the definition of heart eyes every time he looks at you.”
Steeling your jaw, you rebutted, “That’s just not true.” Your voice faltered. “Sure, I’ve noticed a certain...affection, but he does not love me in the same way I love him.” You let out a shaky breath before deciding to continue. “Did you know that in all of our years of friendship he’s never touched me? I mean sure, it’s happened once or twice in the field, but that was always an accident. And yeah, I know he has his thing with germs, but don’t you think if he liked me as anything more than a friend, he would have done something by now? A pinky promise, a teasing elbow jab—I don’t know—something?”
Penelope’s face softened, and she tried to recover your confidence. “He’s like that with everyone! He likes his space. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him initiate contact with anyone on the team.”
 “But isn’t that the point, Garcia? I’m just like everyone else to him. He wants space from me.” Bitterness roiled in your stomach and dripped from your tongue. “Not very romantic, huh?” 
Trying to piece together a counterargument, she stumbled slightly, “No, I will give you that.” She paused. “But I think he’s just scared. Not of germs, not of you, but of his feelings for you. He’s not the most well-adjusted person I know.”
You chuckled lightly, gradually resuming your normally light-hearted disposition, “I would agree.”
“Well, I hope he likes his present.”
The semblance of a tired smile graced your face. “Yeah, me too.” 
You turned to walk out and had almost made it out the door when her voice stopped you. “Also, I will stop sending suspicious pop-ups to your computer.”
Peeking back through the doorway, you grinned.“I think it’d be for the best. Texting does exist for a reason.”
——— 
It had been a really good day. It wasn’t often where an entire day in the bullpen passed only with friends and laughter and love and light, but today was one of them. Snow fell silently outside the windows, but everything inside felt warm like laughing so hard that your cheeks ache and your stomach hurts.
By now, a sort of daze had befallen the team as the giddiness wore on and the alcohol set in, fuzzing eyes and minds. Most everyone had paired off after the gift exchange a few minutes prior, but no one had drifted too far. (Maybe it was the team instinct: never stray too far from the pack, but it was also likely that everyone just enjoyed the proximity to their loved ones, their family.) Garcia seemed to be in heaven, tucked into Morgan’s side on a couch that had been dragged haphazardly into the bullpen, and murmured conversation stretched on with intermittent peals of laughter. Predictably, Hotch and Rossi had sequestered themselves to a nearby desk, their scotch glasses never dry and grins never fading. (Hotch during the holidays was something special. His often frigid demeanor thawed, and out from the ice peeked his former self who wasn’t so serious. (His rare giggles were quite the surprise though.)) Emily and JJ sat on the latter’s desk, discussing anything and everything (except for psychopathic murderers), while you had pulled your chair up to sit beside Spencer at his desk. 
“So are you pleased about your gift from Rossi?” you asked, a faint grin playing at your lips.
“I am,” he replied, clearly enthused. “But I don’t think I’ll ever understand how he managed to get an authentic TARDIS key.” His finger traced the edge of the authenticity certificate Rossi had bestowed on him that sat on his desk; the key was already hanging around his neck.
You raised your eyebrows and nodded. “Well, money is a powerful thing.”
“True,” he mused before furrowing his brow. “But that’s another thing, the expense limit is not a suggestion, but he always treats it like it is. Puts all the rest of us to shame.”
“There’s no shame in an inexpensive gift!” you argued. “As long as time or thought was put in, it doesn’t matter.”
“Penelope surely didn’t skimp on time spent for yours,” he said, pointing to the homemade knitted hat and glove set on the desk beside you.
“No, I did not!” she yelled from her spot on the couch, somehow having managed to pick up on your conversation, and you laughed. “Lots and lots of time and love was poured into those!” Her speech was slightly slurred as her eggnog intake began to infringe on her lucidity.
“I know this, and I love you for it,” you beamed at her.
“I love you too.” She proceeded to bury her face in Derek’s shoulder who could only chuckle at her antics. 
You picked up a glove and inspected it. “I truly cannot comprehend how she made these. Circular knitting needles are my living hell.”
Sitting up with renewed interest, Spencer said, “If you need help with them, I could lend a hand. I knit my mom a sweater this year, and I think I finally understand how they work if you ever wanted me to show you.”
“I’d love that.” Hopefully, the flush of your cheeks could be blamed on the wine you had had. “Speaking of your mom, how is she? Are you excited to see her?”
The corners of his mouth turned up, and he nodded. “She’s good; her nurse said she’s been doing really well lately. She’s less paranoid, more alert, so I’m really excited. I think this will be a good trip.”
“I’m so glad!” You sat there with a dumb smile for a moment, your mind lagging for a moment (damn wine) before realization crashed onto you. “Wait, speaking of your mom, I have something for you!” He cocked his head to the side as you stood up and went to your desk, rifling through one of the drawers. Pulling out a neatly wrapped gift, you trotted back over and offered it to him. “This is for you.”
He took it, running a hand over the wrapping paper (it was the one with cowboys wearing Santa hats that you had found when shopping together a couple weeks before, his favorite). “(Y/N), you didn’t have to get me anything.”
Shrugging lightly, you said, “Yeah, I know we did the whole gift exchange thing, but I saw it, and I thought of you and had to get it.” And you definitely did not actively seek this out for him in the search for his perfect present. Which is something somebody who is definitely not in love with him would do.
He looked up at you, eyes already glassy and searching your face for something. You weren’t sure what he was looking for, but then he met your gaze with unwavering certainty. “Thank you, (Y/N/N).”
“No problem, ya big sap, now open it already.” 
Ever the cautious one, he opened it carefully, sliding a finger under the edge of the paper and gently easing the tape up. The small action of unwrapping a present so attentively was just so Spencer your heart swelled as you suppressed the growing grin. From the paper emerged a book.
“‘A Collection of Poems by Geoffrey Chaucer,’” he murmured, smoothing a hand over the cover.
When he didn’t immediately react, seemingly frozen, nerves crept up the back of your neck, and you sputtered out some sort of reasoning. “I know your mom used to read Chaucer to you; you mentioned ‘The Parliament of Fowls’ when we worked the Fisher King case, and it’s in this collection, and I thought it’d be fun for you to take it to Vegas and read it together and—”
Your explanation came to an abrupt halt as Spencer threw his arms around you, enveloping you in a bone-crushing hug. Immediately melting into it, you embraced him with a similar intensity and buried your face in his neck. Something in his touch allowed you to let go, and it felt like the moment you could finally exhale. 
A breath you’d been holding for longer than you could remember. 
You could smell the cologne that he wore for ‘special occasions’ and his shampoo and something so faint but so undeniably him, and his hand slid up to the back of your head, cradling it in the most tender fashion, and you felt like you could cry. So you pulled him closer, and he did the same.
The hug definitely lasted longer than what most people would find comfortable, but neither of you could be convinced to retreat until you became aware of the silence that had settled over the bullpen. You felt the many pairs of eyes on you, and it pained you to pry yourself off of Spencer. Breathless, you looked around at the shocked faces of your co-workers who sat with mouths agape and eyes wide. You coughed slightly to try to ease the tension and then for some reason beyond your knowledge, you decided to wave at them in the most awkward fashion. Sitting back down, you could feel stares lingering as conversation resumed, and you looked up at Reid who looked like a deer in headlights. You laughed quietly, tugging his sleeve until he received the memo and sat down again. 
He cleared his throat and avoided eye contact, glancing at his present. “Thank you for the book, (Y/N/N).”
“You’re welcome,” you replied, your tone earnest as ever. Still reeling from the hug, you faintly became aware of the speed of your heartbeat and unconsciously brought a hand to your chest. You attempted fruitlessly to sort through your raging thoughts, while across from you, Spencer tried to think of something, anything to say now. 
He couldn’t really believe he’d done it. His germaphobia remained everpresent, but somehow the emotion welling in his chest at your sincerity and benevolence had overridden it, and he felt helpless in stopping himself. His heart had lurched in his chest as if it was suddenly struck with the need to be in your hands, propelling him forward. But it wasn’t like he hadn’t wanted to. He had wanted to for so long, but he’d never mustered the courage before. There was something so special, so intimate about touch, and so many people gave it so freely, and he just didn’t understand how they could allow themselves the indulgence. The absolute luxury of giving and receiving love. Spencer often felt like he sat by a window, watching his life pass by outside of it, and he had always wanted to open it, to really experience all the joy and all the grief and all the love that was waiting for him, but it was scary to open himself up to those feelings and the hurt that could ensue. So, he usually sat discontented by his window. But today, it was like he’d grabbed a hammer and smashed the glass completely and stepped through to be able to return the love you had offered him. 
It felt so good.
But now, he had no idea what to do. He stood there in the midst of the shattered glass, and deep down, he knew had to take the last couple steps to get to you, but he didn’t know how. 
His fingers fidgeted in his lap as he analyzed your blank face, trying to find something to give him the next direction when a realization hit him. “I didn’t get you anything!”
Drawn back from the depths of whatever thought you had been stuck in, you met his gaze and shook your head. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. I broke the gift exchange rules to get you something, so you had no way of knowing.”
“But I feel terrible.” His eyebrows drew together, and he frantically tried to think of some way to repay you. “You get me an incredibly lovely and wonderfully thoughtful gift, and I’m the loser who didn’t get his best friend a present!”
“Spencer—”
“Wait!” he interrupted, a revelation arriving. (He knew how to take the last steps.) “When I get back after the holidays, do you want to get dinner with me? Then, we can go to the bookstore on 10th that you love, and you can pick out a book, and I’ll pay.”
Your eyes widened further than you thought possible, and your heart which had only partially recovered was off to the races once again. You decided to take the plunge and ask the burning question. “Do you—um, do you mean like a date?”
“Yeah,” he answered, beaming so brightly. “Yes. Like a date. If you want to.”
You held each other’s gaze, and the warmth that had filled the bullpen all day filled your chests, and you smiled so hard your faces hurt. 
So silly, you thought, to have wasted all this time boarding up my affection and keeping it tucked away, safe and useless.
So ridiculous, he thought, to have sat by that stupid window for so many years when the real thing feels so sweet.
“I think I’d like that a lot.”
281 notes · View notes
mymegumi · 3 years
Text
canis lupus familiaris
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pairing: bokuto koutarou x gn!reader
genre: fluff
word count: 3.0k
warnings: meet-cute, dog walker!bokuto, maybe ooc!bokuto + swearing/maybe
note: if this piece seems familiar, it’s because it was the last thing i posted on my old account (@/zumisace) before i deactivated it! i loved it and really wanted it out there hehe. i’m gonna be posting some old works that i really enjoyed mwah. help reading this again the dialogue is so blegh
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Labrador Retriever
The first day you notice him, he’s dressed in a pair of athletic shorts, black leggings extending past his knee to the middle of his shin as he stretches. There’s a bright orange leash that’s looped around his hand as he crosses an arm over his broad chest, a happily panting yellow labrador on the other end.
He is single handedly the most beautiful man you think you’ve ever seen, and you have to be careful you’re not drooling when you steal glances at him.
You’re lucky you even saw him, because you never go through the park near Main Street. It’s too crowded, and there are too many men that try and assert their dominance over you—overall you avoid walking this direction towards your favorite bookstore every weekend.
You’d only done it this weekend because there was some sort of construction going on West Street, but you have to sit down at a park bench momentarily just to gape at the handsome man jogging around the park with a dog at his side.
His hair spikes up in discolored disarray, but what might seem messy and uncoordinated on a lesser man, seems attractive on this one. He’s got a wide chest, shoulders broad that fills out his dry-fit shirt as he does some more stretching, and watching him while he does so makes you feel almost like a pervert, really.
You’d taken a quick detour in the park just to sit and watch him, book in hands forgotten as he crouched down, hands rubbing underneath the dog’s jaw with a loving touch. The smile on the man’s lips are wide, and you’re almost positive you’ve seen the smile before but you’re not really sure where.
When he looks up, your eyes catch with his and the smile he sends your way is blinding. You have to hold the book in front of your face just to hide the embarrassment clearly written across your face, but when you peek out a moment later, he seems none the wiser to your blunder.
You’re not usually one to base your attraction to other people solely on looks alone, but there’s something about this guy that tugs at your heartstrings. He’s good with dogs, too, and men that are good with animals are always a plus because they’re good judges of character.
“Hey, how are you?”
You look up to see the dog walker smiling brightly at you, a yellow labrador sitting at his side with a smile that almost matches his. Setting the book aside, you match his greeting. “Hi, I’m doing good, how are you?”
“Ah, I’m okay.” His hand rests on the dog’s head, who whines when he removes it to scratch the back of his neck. “I’m Bokuto, I just saw you looking at Rusty here and thought maybe you were too shy to say something.”
Well, at least your cover wasn’t blown just yet. You introduce yourself quickly while you reach a hand out to run along Rusty’s jaw, heart swelling when the dog seems to lean into your touch. “You caught me. I love dogs, is he yours?”
“Naw,” Bokuto crouches down now, just below your eye level as he rubs Rusty’s chest with a heavy hand, “I walk dogs when I’m not busy with practice, because it’s good exercise and I can get some pet time in without having to make the commitment of a dog, yet.”
“Yet? Do you plan on getting one at all?” Looking up at him, you tilt your head to the side as he shrugs.
“I’m not really sure yet.” Bokuto looks off into the distance as Rusty gets closer to you, nudging your legs apart with a wet nose to rest his head on your lap. “I travel a lot for work, so I’m not sure getting a dog would be smart.”
You hum thoughtfully. Bokuto seemed like a different type of person, from farther away. You hate to make assumptions about people without really getting to know them first, but he really seems like he dives into things head first without thinking things through. It’s nice to know that he cares for the potential dog he might get in the future enough, though.
“I’d get a pet, but I’m not really sure what I would want,” you start as you look back up at him, “I’m not even sure I’m a pet person, to be honest.”
“Everyone’s a pet person as long as you love them enough,” Bokuto encourages you with his hands outstretching, orange leash dangling from his hand making Rusty pick up his head briefly, “I hate to cut this short, cause it was really nice meeting you, but Rusty’s owner here is gonna pick him up in a little bit, and I gotta run him back to his house.”
“Oh, totally fine, I’d hate to keep you here.” You wave as he begins to jog off, taking a semi-willing Rusty with him. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah! I’m here every week walking dogs, so maybe I’ll see ya?”
As his figure retreats into the distance, you can practically feel your heartbeat in your chest. Pressing a hand to your chest, you think it might calm the racing beat as you bite your lip, smile shy as you think about the exchange you’d just had.
Bokuto was a weird guy, is the first thing you think of. Normally, people don’t come up to others in a park just because he’d managed to catch you staring. If he caught you staring at him, you appreciate the fact that he saved you the embarrassment and gave you the dog as an excuse. He seems nice enough, and you’re sure that in another world, maybe you’d regret letting the conversation flow as well as it had, but in this one, you liked talking to him like that.
Maybe you would be back next week, construction on West Street be damned.
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French Bulldog
You were absolutely pathetic.
Never in your some odd years of living did you ever think that you’d be the type of person to exercise just because you wanted to see a guy again.
A very tall, adorable, muscular guy that handled dogs well and came up to you with a smile brighter than the sun, but a guy, nonetheless.
Dressed in a set of workout clothes that had practically been collecting dust in your drawers, you were stretching very awkwardly at the park, feeling out of place and uncomfortable. You weren’t someone that worked out often, and you prayed to whatever upper being was out there that no one looked at you weird.
You’d been pacing around the front of your apartment for a good twenty minutes before you decided to jog to the park, trying to keep a slower pace than normal because you didn’t want to be huffing and wheezing when you got to the park.
When you got there, you spotted Bokuto almost immediately. He was surrounded by a small crowd of people, looking embarrassed as they seemed to be asking for his autograph. A thinner, royal blue leash was wrapped around his hand as he waved and posed with some people for pictures.
Was he famous or something? You weren’t exactly sure, but he did have a familiar sort of face. You’d thought you’d seen him before the first day you had seen him, so maybe you’d seen him on your explore feed on Instagram or something.
You weren’t going to intrude on the festivities, content to just continue stretching and maybe actually exercise, but when Bokuto caught your eye, he waved at you with a hand over his head, movements large and noticeable.
“Sorry, I have to go, but thanks for supporting me!” was the part of the conversation that you had caught as you watched him jog towards you, a small white and brown French Bulldog happily trailing after him.
“Hey,” you’re tying your shoe now, crouched on the ground and you hold out a hand for the small dog to smell, “Funny running into you again, stranger.”
“Nice to see you again, you really saved me.” There’s relief in his voice as he holds his hands on his hips, chest heaving gently as he smiles at you. “Y’know, I love my fans, and they’re usually really respectful, but I guess someone caught wind that I started walking dogs and a whole crew of people were here when I got here with Porco today.”
You really hope Porco is the name of the dog.
“Your fans?” You straighten yourself off of the ground and give him a raised eyebrow. “Are you a model or something? I wouldn’t be surprised, you have the looks for one.”
The words leave your mouth before you can really think, and maybe it’s worth not having a filter for that brief moment to see the rosy red blush spread across the bridge of his nose and across the planes of his cheeks. If you look close, you’re pretty sure you can see it start to creep up his neck and on the tips of his ears.
“I’m not–! I’m not a model.” His words are quick as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “I’m a volleyball player, I play for the MSBY Black Jackals!”
“Oh, I’m not really into sports all that much.” You shrug lightly as you feel a weight on your foot, looking down to see Porco resting his butt on your sneaker. “I’m surprised I’m just now finding out you’re, like, famous, though.”
“I thought you knew I was a volleyball player, honestly.” Bokuto looks a little sheepish as he says it. “Usually, people recognize me right away so I just talked about it like you knew.”
“It’s fine! Don’t worry too much, I didn’t even notice.”
Porco makes a strange noise, something between breathing in too hard and sneezing, and it honestly stops your heart for a good minute. Looking at Bokuto, you’re concerned but it soothes off of you when he leans down and just pats the dog’s back lightly. “Sorry, French Bulldogs actually have really bad nasal issues, so Porco tends to do this when his nose gets too dry.”
“Y’know, you sure know a lot about different types of dogs for a guy that doesn’t want one,” you remark as you crouch down with Bokuto to scratch under Porco’s chin lightly.
Bokuto’s laugh is something akin to an angel’s and you want to make him laugh for the rest of his life. “I really wanted a dog when I was a kid, but my mom thought I was too irresponsible, so I did a month long project where I just researched about different dogs.”
“Guess it stuck with you, huh?” He nods, and you’re not sure if he does it on purpose but his shoulder bumps yours gently. “Did your mom end up getting you a dog?”
“No! My sister got a hamster and my mom was worried a big dog, like I wanted, would terrorize it.” his tone isn’t accusatory or spiteful, just reminiscing on the past as he continues to stare at the small dog before him. “It was probably for the better, cause I think I would’ve been heartbroken if the dog died before I was able to make it to the professional leagues.”
Talking to Bokuto is one of the easiest things you think you’ve ever done.
The two of you end up walking around the park when Porco calms down after a while, and the conversation flows as smooth as a river. Whenever there might be a moment of awkward silence, he manages to fill it effortlessly by mentioning something, or even just talking about his experiences as a volleyball player.
Honestly, even the moments of silence aren’t even all that awkward. There’s something soothing about the sounds of both of your feet hitting the pavement and the birds chirping that makes the entire experience one of the better ones you’ve had.
So, when he asks for your number, you give it to him without a second thought.
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German Shepherd
Bokuto really likes texting people at odd hours of the day, you’ve learned.
Sometimes you’ll wake up to a text on your phone from the man that he sent at about one in the morning, often asking you something that he had just thought of and can’t bother anyone else with. When you wake up, you typically try and answer his question to the best of your ability, and if you can’t figure it out, the two of you brainstorm the next weekend at the park to see what the answer could possibly be.
The pair of you have slipped into such a routine that seems so domestic it makes your heart clench whenever you have to remind yourself you’re just friends.
Today, at the park, Bokuto has a dog that you’ve seen before. A friendly German Shepherd named Ace that loved to slobber on your hands if you scratched underneath his chin for long enough.
A bright green leash is looped around his hand as he does his triangle stretches, Ace sitting between his feet acting well mannered. Bokuto waves at you as you walk over, tucking your phone away as you greet them both.
“Any clue where in the park we want to go today?”
“You think you’d get bored of the park after a while,” you say off handedly, watching as Ace’s ears perk up at the sight of two squirrels chasing after each other.
When Bokuto doesn’t say anything for a good minute or two, you turn to look at him. “Well, honestly? I was gonna stop coming to this park a few weeks ago.”
“Really?” This is the first you’ve heard of it, and you’re sure your surprise is drawn on your face if the way Bokuto reacts is any indication. “Why’d you end up staying?”
He coughs into his hand, and you’re sure he’s tugging his jacket’s collar up to hide the red dancing across his cheeks right now. “...You.”
You couldn’t have heard that right. You stop walking for a minute, coming to a full stop in the middle of the walking path as you process what he says to you. “You were gonna stop coming to this park… until you met me?”
His hair shakes a little bit when he nods, and he doesn’t meet your gaze. “Yeah. I had that Labrador for some guy, and I was gonna go to a different park cause he seemed like, bummed at this one, but I saw you sitting at one of the benches.”
“I started talking to you, and then I just had to see you again, so I came back the next week, too.” He looks up at you with a sense of alarm in his eyes. “That’s not weird, is it?”
“It’s not weird, Bokuto,” you reassure, stepping closer to him and hitting your shoulder against his easily, “I might have done the same thing. I usually go near the park on West Street.”
His smile is radiant, and you think that you’d love to see that smile every day of your life if he’d let you. There’s something about it that makes a small part of your heart swell, the feeling that you’re the one making him smile like that rears its head over the part of you that knows you aren’t with him.
That could always change, though, you think as Bokuto tugs on your arm as Ace rushes ahead of the two of you, eyes set on a squirrel running up a tree somewhere. His laughter is contagious as you’re pulled along by the dog, and you know that Bokuto could stop him from running, but maybe he enjoys the way the wind runs over him like you are.
Bokuto insists that you wait for him to drop off Ace at his owner’s house, telling you that you have to come with him or wait for him at your apartment. You love Ace, but you’re not too keen on meeting his owner at the moment, so you’re sitting on the steps of your apartment, changed out of your athletic wear in something more fitting for your day to day.
He comes back to you, jogging lightly as he waves at you from down the street. His outfit is the same as earlier, just a pair of black shorts with a navy blue hoodie, and yet you’re sure he’s even handsomer than you’d just seen him before.
“Ready?”
You make a noise of agreement as the two of you set off, yet you’re still not sure where you’re going, instead just following after him without questioning anything. If you were more paranoid, you’d think this would be the perfect time for him to just kill you.
“So, no questions on where we’re going?” God, he always knows when to get you out of your thoughts.
“I just thought you were taking me to a dark alleyway to kill me,” you give him a smile as he makes an incredulous face, surely offended that you even thought that of him.
“No, I was just, uh,” he coughs into his hand, and you’re sure his cheeks are red again without even having to look, “hoping to take you on our first date.”
Smiling at the floor with a grin that doesn’t seem to fade, you clear your throat, “Walking the dogs doesn’t count as a date?”
“Ah, you’re right,” he concedes, dipping his head in a fleet apology, “our first date without any dogs.”
“Unfortunately,” you start, hand outstretching and seeking his, “I was only talking to you for the dogs.”
He laughs, hand intertwining with yours and tugging you closer. “Of course, the dogs were the only selling point I had, right?”
“Absolutely,” you nod in agreement, “I definitely didn’t want to go out with you, just wanted to see the dogs.”
The two of you are laughing and joking like you always do when you go into the small little diner, where you end up having your first date, without any dogs.
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roger-that-cap · 3 years
Text
jack pendleton
summary: moving into an apartment to get away from your last relationship was fun all fun and games until you met your extremely attractive across-the-hall neighbor, who makes awesome cookies and even better novels.
author!bucky x reader
warnings: no legitimate warnings besides swearing, it kind of moves just a weensie bit fast but i think it’s cute, minimal angst, I WROTE THIS IN ONE DAY and that is a warning tbh so expect mistakes in this hunk a junk-
word count: 6.2k!
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Searching for your new apartment was a terribly long and boring process, but even you couldn’t deny that finally moving in was heavenly. 
It was the first thing that you did by yourself after having a mutual break up with your boyfriend, and you would be damned if it felt anything but good. He confessed to you that he had fallen in love with a man that he met online. Not only that, but an Italian man that he was teaching English to over a website. He was brave enough to tell you as soon as he realized that he loved the man, so the heartbreak was minimal. 
You never told him, but honestly, you sort of respected him for that. So, with your hidden respect and gratitude, you wished him well and knew that you were going to be the one to find a new place. 
 So there you stood, right in front of your new place with a singular box in your arms, all the others in the smallest U-Haul available to rent that you drove there. You stared at your door for a moment, which read an embroidered C7, and then you fiddled with your keys to unlock it.  
  You had a lot of work to do. 
§§§
By the end of the fourth day, mostly all of your things were put away. You didn’t think you had much to begin with, but unpacking made you realize that you had more than you thought. So with your ambitious mind, you got everything done on your own, even the decorations that you had at your last appointment were on the walls. 
 By the seventh day, it was starting to feel like home again. And that called for a celebration. You got your purse and your car keys, your mind already in the shopping mall. 
  As you stepped out of your door, the door directly across from yours opened too. You didn’t pay them much mind besides flashing a smile and turning around to lock your own door, not even looking at whoever it was properly enough to see them. But when you did, you definitely did. 
 A man with long, brown hair and clear blue eyes was staring at you like a deer in the headlights, and you would have thought that he mistook you for a celebrity if it weren’t for the wrinkle of confusion on his forehead. The first thought that came to your mind was that he was as stiff as a board, and that it was almost comical. The second thought that came to your mind was that this man was very handsome, despite the way that he was looking at you like you had just said the dumbest thing known to man. 
 “Um, hello,” you said, not even having to be loud because you were just a few feet apart. You were tempted to be a smartass and say something rude about his incessant staring, but instead, you reminded yourself that you were going to have to deal with the consequences of your smart remark later on. Humiliation and awkwardness every time you saw him was not what you wanted. “Have a good day.” 
  You turned to your left and walked down the stairs, thankful that you lived on the edge of the hall and could just run down some steps to get away from whatever that “encounter” was. 
§§§
The mall was utterly packed, but that didn’t matter to you at all. You were there to browse for something that was going to make you even happier after your move, and a few people in line weren’t going to bother you. You went in and out of clothing stores, buying a few things here and there, and then on your way out, you passed by a bookstore. 
  You liked books, you really did. But you were avoiding that store like the plague. For you to go into a bookstore with so many options available, you knew that the safest route for your budget was to know what you were getting from the second you walked in. You stood in front of it for a second, debating on going in without looking online beforehand or just coming back another day. Your own feet answered the question for you, and then you were entering the huge book store.
 The shelves were high and wide and sturdy, dark brown and creating isles. Fantasy, Young Adult, Spiritual, Languages. The genres went as far as you could see. And that meant that if you weren’t wise, you could be buying a book from every aisle.
  You counted the number of shelves, seeing that there were almost thirty as far as you knew, and then took out the two dice that you took with you everywhere, for reasons like this. You were indecisive, and two little cubes with black dots on them were as sure as it could get. They were your Decision Dice. They had never steered you wrong before, and today wouldn’t be the day. You were going to roll twice, and if the sum was a number less than ten, then you would multiply it by two, which was your lucky number.  You liked to make things difficult. 
You saw a woman staring at you with cautious eyes as you bent down and shook your closed hand, and you heard her chuckle when she saw the two little cubes roll out of your palm. 
  “Four,” you murmured once you saw three dots on one and one on the other. You picked them up and shook your hand again. “Three. That makes seven, and seven times two makes aisle fourteen.” You picked up the dice (that you would never admit came from your grandpa’s set of Yahtzee) and walked past the still laughing woman in the science fiction aisle.  
  Of course, aisle fourteen was the aisle that you probably had the least business in. Romance. You almost walked away and went for the fifteenth instead, but then what would the point in rolling be? What would stop you from denying the Decision Dice in later situations? You sighed for a second after your own dramatics and looked the shelves up and down, trying to find a title that grabbed you. 
 You walked up and down the aisle, slowly combing through until you saw a book on the bottom shelf by some Jack Pendleton. You frowned. It wasn’t often that you saw men’s names in the romance section, and when you did, you hardly liked what they wrote. The love interest was always flat or too out there to be believable. The female love interest in men’s books always had to be “not like other girls”, and it was worn out. For some reason, you reached down for it anyway, ready to see what you had already seen a million times before. 
  What you really ended up seeing shocked you. 
It was about a man who served in the army oversees and came back an amputee, and became locked in a love triangle between his physical therapist and his best friend, all the while dealing with his sexuality. 
  That was a lot of man versus self. You wanted it. 
You stood up and without second thought walked to the counter, handing the cashier the book and getting out your credit card. 
§§§
You cracked open the book the second you threw your fast food trash away in your trash can. You made yourself comfortable on your little couch and put some light music on in the background, just so that it wouldn’t be completely silent. You didn’t do well with silence at all. 
 It took all of four pages for Jack Pendleton to surprise you again. His writing style was gorgeous and smooth, and you cold tell that he meant every word that was printed on the pages. His diction was brilliant, his descriptions even better. He didn’t give too much or too little, and you were already falling in love with it. 
  The main character, Elijah, was likeable but flawed. Within the first thirty pages, you could already sense that he was gaining feelings that he didn’t even know about for his best friend, Will, who wasn’t named until about forty pages at Elijah’ first physical therapy appointment. Will hadn’t even shown up yet. 
You had blown through nearly half the book when you realized that it was eleven at night, and that you had work the next morning. You swore to yourself and put a smaller piece of paper in your book this time, looking at it longingly and patting it on the spine before leaving it on the small coffee table. 
§§§
Work was horrible. It was boring, and you spent the whole first part of your day with a man who was mad at you specifically because you ran out of a special type of shoe that he needed to wear the next day. The store that you worked at wasn’t even really a shoe store. Then, he asked to see the manager. You were the shift manager. He got so pissed that he threw a hanger at you and stormed out, and all you could do was laugh. 
 You were so tired of retail, it wasn’t even funny. 
 You were a little more than a hundred and twenty pages in when there was a knock on your door, and it came right as you were about t flip the page. You resisted the urge to scream, completely and utterly fed up with the public for the day. There was no use in trying to ignore the knocking that already yanked your mind out of the fictional world, and so you left the book on your couch, sticking a piece of paper in it quickly to save your page. 
You swung the door open, expecting to find someone who wanted you to fill out a survey or maybe even someone from maintenance making sure that everything was okay with your apartment. You certainly didn’t expect to see your beautiful neighbor with a pie in his gloved hands and a pink flush on his face. 
  He spoke first. “Hi, I live across the floor,” he pointed towards the door that you knew he lived behind. “I was just coming to bring you a welcoming gift.”  
  You were stunned. The man who stared you down and didn’t even say a word to you was at your door with what looked like a homemade pie, and wow, was that a turn of events. It was something straight out of that cheesy romance section that you were in at the bookstore. “Wow, thank you. You made that?”
  The pink on his cheeks graduated to scarlet. “I-yeah, I did.” 
You couldn’t contain the grin that stretched onto your face. “That’s really kind of you, thank you. I’m sure I’ll love it.” You gently took it from his hands and smiled up at him. 
  “It’s also an apology, for staring at you like that when you were leaving.” You noticed his subtle accent and fought the urge to swoon. He was so adorably shy. “No one’s lived in this one for years, and I didn’t notice you moving in. Kinda scared me.” 
 “You didn’t see the moving truck?” You asked teasingly.
You saw the small grimace on his face, and your smile faltered. “I don’t really go outside much,” he said vaguely, and you felt that you hit a nerve. 
  You shrugged with the pie still in your hands, lips turning upwards at him. “It’s okay, I don’t, either.” 
  You were both smiling now. 
“Well, um,” he started to say, and you nodded your head at him, already knowing that he was about to go. “I have to finish something. I’ll see you later?” 
 “There’s a pretty good chance that you will,” you said, and he gave an awkward wave before turning around and walking away, right into his apartment without another look back. You cursed softly when he shut his door, and you looked down at the pie. 
You didn’t even get his name.
§§§
You realized after five days of nothing (and cleaning out the pan of delicious pie by yourself) that you weren’t going to see your neighbor by chance. You hoped that you would, more than you hoped for anything else before. But he was right. He didn’t go outside much. The doors in the building were all so loud that it was nearly impossible not to hear them opening or shutting, and you never heard his once. 
You had to do it yourself. Somehow, you needed to figure out how to see him again without it being incredibly weird, but you had a plan. In your eyes, it was pretty foolproof. Your mom’s chicken parmesan could never go wrong, and everyone liked to eat. You went to the grocery store without even having to roll the Decision Dice and got started on it the second you got home.
***
When it was done, there was a thin line of sweat on your forehead. You put a note to yourself in your head that the kitchen got insanely hot when you cooked, and you vowed to remember it next time. You took off your fancy apron and the chef’s hat that you wore for fun when you cooked and set it on the countertop. Now, the hard part came.
How were you supposed to get brave enough to bring a plate over to his place? Were you supposed to hope that he hadn’t eaten yet? Or, were you supposed to let him in to eat? Shit, that sounded too much like a date.
With all those thoughts in mind, you walked up to his door, C6, and knocked on it. You realized last minute that you forgot the plate on the table, so dinner was over at your apartment by default unless you did an awkward dash across the hall. The sound of boots coming towards the door were loud and clear, and then the door opened, barely giving you enough time to swallow your anxieties. You got a panging irrational fear that he wouldn’t remember you, but were relieved when he smiled down at you.
“Hi,” you said, sounding more like a telemarketer than a neighbor. “I made chicken parmesan.” It was silent for a few seconds as you both tried to make sense of what was happening, and you kicked yourself on the inside. “I made a plate for you because um, I wanted to thank you for the pie. It was really good.”
His face lit up, and it was like you were given a new burst of life and hope simultaneously. “Oh, thank you! That’s really sweet, thank you,” he repeated, his words getting slightly jumbled up the more and more he spoke. He was so cute. 
You realized that the both of you were just staring at each other, standing with smiles that were increasingly leaning towards more than polite by the second. “I can, uh, bring it to your door if you want.”
“I can come over, if that makes it easier.” Both sentences were spoken at the same time, and it caused you both to apologize once again at the same time. “No, no, I’ll come back with you,” he said when you two finally spoke your own sentences. 
You tilted your head. You were sure that he was shy, you could have bet money on him wanting to eat alone. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” he gave you a small smile and stepped out of his apartment, and suddenly, you were aware of how he smelled like a bakery. Flower, sugar, apples, cinnamon, the whole nine. Your eyes widened when you smelled more of it when he shut his door. It smelled amazing. You didn’t want to be greedy, but whatever he had in there, you wanted a slice. 
   Your apartment smelled good, but in the opposite way. It smelled like sauce and spices and chicken, like a good kitchen. You almost laughed when you saw his eyes widen after he caught a whiff. His eyes scanned the table that was already set up for one, and he saw all the food in the middle and only grew more surprised. 
 “You did all of this yourself?” 
You didn’t think it was a big deal. You knew how to plate food and you knew how to cook it fine, but it wasn’t too special, in your opinion. It was second nature because of your mother, but you could always go for a nice compliment. “Yeah, I have fun cooking.”
  “It looks amazing,” he said softly, and you smiled at him. 
“Let’s hope it tastes as good.” 
It felt oddly domestic. You got his plate for him and watched him make his first because he was the guest, and you warned him about touching the hot pan, even though he didn’t seem worried about it with his gloves on. You asked him if he wanted wine, water, or soda, and he got his own glass of water after saying that he felt bad making you do it. By the time you sat down and started twirling your fork in your spaghetti, you were starving. 
 You heard him take his first bite more than you saw him do it. “Holy-” he put his hand in front of his mouth. “You made this here?” 
You laughed. “Mhm.” 
“Are you a chef, or something?”
You were flattered. “No, but my mother is,” and man, was she a cook. She could cook anything and make it taste good if you gave her a flame. Always, she had pressured you into knowing how to make a meal, because making a meal meant providing for yourself and everyone else in your family. You watched him cut into a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth, smiling when he gave you the “food look”. “She taught me everything I know.” 
“Well, I’m about to call her and thank her,” he joked, and you giggled, twirling your own fork and getting some spaghetti in your mouth. You tilted your head. It was pretty good. 
  “And what about you? You can bake,” and there he was, all shy again, and you loved it. “Where did you learn?” 
“My father’s a baker,” he said, and a slow smile spread across your face. 
“Well, would you look at that,” you said, nodding your head in thought. He smiled back. 
 “Would you look at that.” 
For a second, just like the two of you had done many times before, you were stuck in a world where there wasn’t anything else, not even the food. It was just his smile and yours, and the fact that somehow both of you knew that the moment was genuine. 
  “I’m so sorry, what’s your name?” He blurted, and you frowned. 
“My name?” A flame of embarrassment and shame shot through you. You were fawning over a man that you didn’t even know the name of yet. You sister would be disgusted with you. “Oh, have we really not said our names yet?” 
 “I guess not...” he said, voice trailing off at the end. 
“Well, good thing names aren’t that important.” 
He gave you an intrigued look. “Names aren’t important?”
“They can be, but sometimes they don’t mean a thing. You can learn so much about someone before learning their name, and when you do, nothing changes what you already know. I cook and I like spending money in book stores, and you bake and stay inside. That doesn’t change after we learn names.” 
 He looked like he had just reached cloud nine. “You like books?”
“Of course I do,” you said, and your eyes trailed over to the book that was sitting on your couch. “I actually took that little name bit from what I learned from a book, so I won’t take credit for that.” 
  “What book was so in depth and interested with names?”
“I don’t even think that the main focus was the name, I think it was the opposite. His name didn’t matter because all that mattered were the emotions that came with him.” You took a second to think. “And I also think that saying his name made it real for the main character, so the dude’s name didn’t come up until he was in mid conversation.” 
  At first, you were worried that you lost him. But you hadn’t. “He was in love with this person?” 
“Madly. But he was his best friend.” You were so excited. You were really talking to a man who liked to read? And one who liked to analyze what he read? This must have been heaven. “For a while, all we hear about is how amazing the person is that he fell in love with and about how he struggled with loving him because he was a man. We knew everything about him before his name was even said and before he was even present, and that’s probably what I like most so far about the book.” 
   Through your rambling, you failed to notice that he was looking more and more panicked. “Um, what’s the book called?” 
   “Here, I’ll just go get it,” you said, standing up and walking over to your couch, pulling it off and walking over to him. You set the book down, and watched his eyes grow so wide that he looked cartoonish. “Have you read it?” 
  He blinked at the cover. “Y-yeah, I’ve read it.” He looked at his watch, swore so emptily that you swore it was acting, and then gave you an apologetic look. “Um, I have to go. I’m sorry.”
  So, you did scare him off. You hid your frown with a polite smile, and tried to remind yourself that even though it felt like one, it wasn’t a date. It was you paying him back for making you something in his own kitchen. “Oh, alright. I hope you liked it.” 
 Maybe he heard something in your voice that you didn’t, because he stopped frantically putting his jacket on to look you in the eyes. “It was amazing, I mean that. And it was very sweet, thank you.”
  This is crashing and burning. What the hell happened? It was going so well! “Well, I’ll see you later,” you called out, and you watched him wash his own plate with a shocked look on your face. “Thanks,” you whispered, and he nodded at you, a tight smile on his face as he wrapped a gloved hand around the doorknob and left. 
***
Maybe you hadn’t scared him away, after all. 
You had full intentions of leaving him alone until he came to you, if it was ever even going to happen. You only left for work and debated on finding something simple to bake for him to extend another olive branch, but then you decided that you would let the universe control what happened, if anything was even meant to happen in the first place. There was a knock on your door, and there he was, with a pan of cupcakes that had blue icing perfectly swirled on top. 
  Alright, so you hadn’t. 
He gave you the cutest smile, and you couldn’t help but to give one back. “Hi, I’m Bucky.” You gave him your name, too. 
From then on, you two were practically attached at the hip. If you weren’t at work, he was over with you, watching a movie and talking about foreshadowing or how good the book version would have been if it came first. He was also one of the only people you knew who had actually read Tarzan, and you got a kick out of it. You got so close that you even met his little quartet of friends, Steve, Natasha, and Sam, who all liked you after the first meeting. You fit in with them like a glove. 
 Speaking of... “Why do you wear gloves?” You had asked him one day, and he stiffened up like a board. 
“I get cold easily on my hands,” he explained coolly, and you let it go. 
There were little things about him that you questioned every time after he went back home. You questioned how he never left his apartment but made enough money to keep it. You asked yourself how he was so busy in there, and what exactly he did. You wondered why he got so funny when you mentioned the book, and how nervous he was to talk about it when you finally finished it. All of those things slightly worried you, but they had nothing on the one, huge thought that loomed over all the others. 
 You were falling hard and fast for Bucky Barnes. A part of you could admit that you were already on the ground. 
  If started off slowly. You admired his mind and his smile and the way that his eyes shined when he taught you how to bake a perfect cake without all the fancy, expensive supplies. You loved the way that his cheeks glowed when you complimented him or touched his hair or his nose. You loved that he started calling you “darling” and the way that his Brooklyn accent left out the last letter. You loved the way that things with him already felt so natural, like you cooking dinner and him helping you wash and dry dishes after. You were in for the long haul before you could even reach for the door handle of the speeding car, and you didn’t really want to. 
   There was a knock on your door out of courtesy, and you called out for him to let himself in. You were way past knocking, but he was polite. You were tapping away at the keys on your laptop, humming to yourself as you looked into Jack Pendleton. 
  “Watcha doin’, darlin’?” He set down the items you two needed for homemade lasagna and his father’s recipe for some simple pumpkin bread on the counter. 
“I’m trying to find more books by Jack Pendleton,” you muttered, sighing when nothing else came up. “I can’t find anything.”
 “Why do you like that book so much, anyway?” You were far too into your laptop to hear the tremor in his voice. 
 “Because it was raw, and real, and it hurt my feelings.” 
Oh, and it had. Bucky witnessed the result of you finishing the book first hand. He walked in right as you got the first sob out and looked like he wanted to sink into the floor, but he came to you anyway. How were you supposed to know that the therapist, an equally important person in the main character’s life, was going to pass away not even days after he and Will got their happiness? 
  You remembered how he held you the whole time, and that for some reason, he whispered a very heartfelt, “I’m sorry.” 
  “If it hurt you so much, why would you want to read something by him again?” 
“It was brilliant, that’s why, cowboy.” You said, looking up and pointing at him with your fancy little stylus. He broke out into a smile at the name, like he always did. You called him that one time because you caught him watching The Longest Ride, and it stuck. 
  There was a stretched, tense moment as the sound of your typing filled the room. “I don’t think he has anything else out right now, darlin’.” 
“And how would you know, rancher?” 
He gave you that same deer in headlights stare that he gave you when he first saw you in the hall, only less confused. Then he sighed. “What’s in a name, anyway?” 
 You rolled your eyes, but you both knew that you were on the edge of laughing. You could never be serious with him. He was just so full of light. “You’re not going to get me quoting Shakespeare right now, I just asked you a dire question.” 
 He inhaled deeply, his face already boasting a rich scarlet. “How would you feel if I told you that I wrote that book?”
  Your world crumbled beneath your feet. You knew he wasn’t lying, because you knew that he had no reason to lie. His aversion to talking about Jack Pendleton and everything surrounding it made you believe what he told you right as you heard it. You gasped, and then saw him grimace. “Bucky, Jack stole your work?” 
  His face fell. “What?”
“Have you taken legal action yet?” 
  “No,” he said slowly, and then he took in another deep breath, preparing from something. “I don’t need to, because I am Jack.” He said slowly, a small and guarded smile resting on his face. You noticed that he looked the least comfortable you had ever seen him. “It’s a pen name.” 
  Different kinds of humiliation were coming in large, mean waves, and you bit your lip to prevent from talking. You had really gushed over a book right in front of the author the whole time? It was so horrible and embarrassing that you couldn’t even stop thinking about it. You felt like an idiot. “Why didn’t you tell me to stop talking?” 
There was a quick, hesitant intake of breath between the both of you. “Because I don’t want anyone that I know in real life to know about that.” 
You froze. There was no way that he was implying that what was in the book actually happened, right? 
 He took off both of his gloves, and beneath one of them was a silver appendage, very clearly a prosthetic. He was breathing heavily, like he had just lifted a weight off of his chest that was double his own size. You looked at it with a wild expression of your own, trying to make sense of what was happening. 
 “Almost everything in that book really happened.” You closed your mouth. “Some things are exaggerated, but nearly everything happened. Elijah is based off of me.” 
  Oh, fuck. That meant that he was actually bisexual, that he actually fell in love with his best friend, that he actually got his arm amputated after getting a grenade launched at him. His therapist actually died. You had no idea what to say. “I’m so sorry.” 
 “The main thing that didn’t really happen was the semi-happy ending for Elijah and Will. He and I broke up years ago. This all happened years ago.” Your heart broke again for him. “I put it under a fake name because it’s something very personal to me, but I felt like it should have been shared. Thought that it would maybe help some other kid who was going through it.” 
You knew exactly what it was. You had gone through it yourself. If you had read the book when you were much younger, you were sure that you would have been able to find some sort of peace in the turmoil that you caused yourself. Now, you were much better, and you loved the fact that you were part of the LGBT community, but that didn’t mean that the book didn’t mean something to you. 
The book was so raw that you should have known that it was real. There wasn’t a word that didn’t mean something, not a sentence that wasn’t thought out. It was such heavy material with realistic ups and down that you caught yourself relating with Elijah, not knowing that the real “Elijah” was right in front of you the whole time.
“But, um, I write science fiction under my real name, though.” You were too busy thinking about how you gushed about someone’s actual life story, and how that someone just so happened to be your super cute neighbor that you fell in love with. You gushed about his terribly sad life story right in front of him. “That’s why I’m always inside. I’m a hermit writer.” 
You didn’t even get into the science fiction aspect of the conversation. “I would have never read it in front of you or talked about it in front of you if I knew that, I swear.” 
“I know.” He slowly took his jacket off, and then you were seeing his arms in all their glory. It truly was a beautiful prosthetic, and from how much he used his hands, you knew that it was reliable and practical. “I just needed to tell you that.” 
You could sense his unease, and it made you feel wrong. It felt like you were taking steps back. “If this is about you being bisexual, I don’t care about that. That would never bother me.” 
 For the first time since his confession, there was a ghost of a smile on his face. “I know. And I know you are, too.”
“Really?”
“I’ve seen the bookshelf in your room. No straight person reads that many books written by and for the community. And you cuff some of your jeans.” You shrugged, a small smirk on your face. He got you there. “I need to tell you something else.” 
You didn’t know if you were ready for it, but if he was, then there was no way that you were going to stop him. “Of course, go ahead.” 
“First, I should start off with telling you again that all of that,” he pointed towards her computer, “was about eleven years ago. I’m not healing, not recovering, none of that. Yeah, I’m sad about my therapist every once in a while, but I don’t feel anything for the man that Will is based off of anymore. That’s all gone.”
You swore at yourself for feeling butterflies of hope. You squashed them all down and made yourself pay full attention to Bucky, even though your mind was starting to have stupid little fantasies about picnic and stargazing with him. This is what you got for reading romance novels. “Okay, Buck.”
“I’m telling you all of this because I’m pretty sure that I’m in love with you.” Your mouth hung open, and before you could even get a word out, he was all over it again. “I have been for a while now, and I think now is the best time to tell you.” There was a pause for you to cut in, but you couldn’t form a word. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way or if you’re weirded out by my story-” 
“I love you too.” You blurted, watching his face become shocked. “I’ve been dying to tell you that, you know?” 
He sputtered, trying his hardest to form a coherent sentence. “Now I know.” 
You felt a smile slide onto your face as both of your racing hearts stilled to a normal, content rate. In that moment, you swore that if someone came and checked, that your heartbeats were alternating, taking energy from each other to make one long beat. You just, clicked.
“It- none of that bothers you at all?”
“If anything, I feel bad. I feel like I intruded.”
He scoffed. “You didn’t intrude, Y/N, I’m the one who published it.”
“I’m going to hug you now,” you warned, and then you two met each other half way. Your face was in his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. You smiled when you felt him gently brush your forehead with his lips, and all felt right.
You stood there together for what felt like forever but two seconds all the same, swaying a bit subconsciously. “Are you- are you sure about being okay with all of this? I know it’s a lot. And I just kind of sprung it on you.”
There he was. The shy Bucky. You knew that he could be insecure, and you knew that he was insecure about being that way. But luckily, you felt for him so much that you could assure him for the rest of both of your days with no complaints. If it took a thousand times a day for Bucky Barnes to know that you loved him and Jack Pendleton and Elijah Harris, you would do it two thousand times.
 “Out of all the books in the store, I unknowingly chose yours.” Your voice was shaky, but you meant every word you said and were about to say. “And out of all the people in the world, I intentionally, without doubt choose you.” 
***
If someone had asked you three years ago where you thought you were going to be in life in the same amount of time, you would have told them that you were probably still going to be working in retail. That wasn’t the case at all.
  Your mother gave you a loan when Bucky persuaded you to take your talent and passion for cooking and turn it into a business. You had a medium sized restaurant that you let your mother in on, and you cooked side by side often times. It felt just like it did when you were back in the kitchen of your childhood home, but now you were getting paid for it, quite a bit. 
  Across the street from your restaurant was a bookstore that held a number of books that were written by Bucky yourself, but your favorite by far was the cook book that was technically a baking book, full of all of the recipes that he felt like giving away. 
  You didn’t expect any of that to happen within three years, at all. But what you hoped to happen most of all did, and it was proven by the simple diamond on your finger that Bucky had given you. You wanted him to think that you were surprised when he popped the question, but you weren’t. 
  After all, you could see the outline of the box that he carried for three weeks straight. 
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atlafan · 4 years
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The Real Him - One Shot
a/n: I’m not sure where this came from...a lot of this is sort of how I feel about writing, and reading, and how my brain works???? Hope you enjoy cause it’s fun! Book Writer!Harry x Y/N (not proofread) 
Words: 9.6K
Warnings: Fluff, wee bit of angst, and smut
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Books weren’t things Y/N found interesting. She hated reading the assigned books in high school for whatever English classes she had to take. She often would just read what she needed on Sparknotes, and that was enough. Then, in college, even if she wanted to read for leisure, she didn’t have the time. She had to read articles and academic journals constantly. By the time she was done for the day, the last thing she wanted to do was read.
Now, as a young adult living in the city, she noticed her anxiety was always worse at night. She lived alone in a little studio apartment, it had a wonderful view. She would watch TV or scroll on her phone until she fell asleep, but the screens were too much for her eyes. She knew it wasn’t good for her. Much to her friends’ shock, she texted them asking them for book recommendations. Y/N didn’t want to think too hard, she didn’t like scary stories, but she also liked a little bit of world building and romance. Fuck, if there was anything she loved, it was a good romance. Her friends told her about this young author they discovered whose stories were enthralling.
She took their word for it, and ordered one of his books off his website. He was self-published, which she found to be interesting. How good could he be if a major publication didn’t want him? She trusted her friends’ opinions though, so she went with it. He had this series called, The Unicorn in the Farmer’s Pool, that they raved about. She told herself she’d start with the first one and see how it goes. Sometimes Y/N had a hard time concentrating to even read a book, so she didn’t want to buy too many.
The title of the book itself was odd, but when she read the description she understood. Apparently, it was about this young woman, new to town, who was going for a walk with her younger sister, and one day they come across this beautiful old home and large farm. There was a pool in the back with one of those big unicorn floats, which they both found odd. They see the farmer outside, and the woman inquires about it. He explains that it’s his daughter’s. He and his wife were divorced, and she moved out to the city. Unfortunately, she passed away, so his little girl came home to live with him.
It was a certified slow burn, so when it came in the mail, Y/N couldn’t wait to get her hands on it. There was only one picture of the author, Harry Styles, on his website. The book, however, had a lovely picture of him on it. He even named his publication company after himself, trademarking HES Books. He was handsome, there was no denying that.
“Alright, let’s see how well this guy knows how to write thing from the perspective of a woman.” She says as she settles into her bed with the book.
For the first time in a long time, Y/N found a book that she just couldn’t put down. Sure, she passed out with it on her chest, but she’d get right back to it the next night. She was ripping through it. Her heart would race anytime the farmer and the woman had a scene together. She cried when he spoke about his divorce, and how he never slept knowing his daughter was so far away. He’d never wish his ex-wife ill, but he felt like it was fate to have his daughter home. He’d give her anything she wanted, even a giant unicorn float for the pool. Something she couldn’t have in the city. His daughter would paint his nails glittery colors, and he didn’t give a shit what anyone else thought of it. Y/N could feel her heart pounding as the woman slowly fell for him. They became fast friends but it was clear they wanted more, but they were both so scared.
“Oh, you son of a bitch.” She says to herself when she gets to the end of the book, it was a cliffhanger. They hadn’t even gotten together yet. They were caught in a rain storm, about to kiss, but they were interrupted. “Goddammit.” She groans and grabs her laptop to buy the rest of the series. “Welp, Mr. Styles, you now own my ass, I hope you’re happy.” She sticks her tongue out at his picture on his website.
By the time she finished the third book, she was inconsolable. It thrilling, but she knew it couldn’t be the end for the two who were now so in love with each other. She also couldn’t believe how well written their love scenes were, a little shocked there was a small dash of smut. She looked on his website and saw he was set to release the fourth and final book of the series soon, and there would be a big release for it. He would do a reading and signing. Y/N texted her friends and they all agreed they needed to go. They still couldn’t believe how much Y/N liked the series. It consumed her soul, she couldn’t get enough. She even bought his other standalone novels to read until the release.
Eliza: hey! HES just released the first book on audio, and he narrates it! Should hold us over until the release ;)  
Y/N: holy fucking shit! Literally about to go download it, thanks!!!
Now this was a way to fall asleep, she thought. She plugged her earbuds into her phone, turned her light off, and hit play. She gasps the second she hears his voice.
“He’s British?!” She says to herself. “Dear god.”
His voice was deep and sultry, and sounded incredibly crisp through the audio. Each night for the rest of that week, she fell asleep to the sound of Harry’s voice; it was euphoric. She felt sort of weird for becoming as big of a fan of him that she was. It was like she was in high school again having a crush on some unattainable celebrity. She couldn’t even talk about him to anyone at work. It was like this big secret between her and her friends. Instead of listening to music in her office, she started listening to interviews or podcasts he was involved in. Anything to just get a better understanding for who he was or how his mind worked. She found that he was incredibly private, only tweeting or posting on Instagram from promotional purposes. A PR person most likely running the sites for him.
“Okay, I think I’m obsessed with him, like, it’s bad.” She tells her friends at brunch one Saturday morning. They would all try their best to get together a couple times a month.
“Welcome to the dark side.” Eliza says.
“I knew if we didn’t push you that you’d come around at some point to ask us for a book rec.” Melinda says.
“You could have just showed me his picture, he’s so handsome! I can’t wait to go to the signing. I wonder what type of suit he’ll wear. Maybe all black?”
“I heard he’s into florals lately.” Eliza says. “I’m glad we got our tickets when we did, it’s going to be packed.”
“Yeah, like, at least we’ll have seats for the reading.” Melinda says.
“I can’t believe we’re going to hear his voice in person. That audio book? Oh my god.” She pretends to fan herself. “I’ve been enjoying his other novels too. He has such a way with words, I can’t remember the last time I actually enjoyed a book this much. Maybe The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?” She chuckles.
“Didn’t you read that in high school?!” Eliza laughs.
“Yeah!” Y/N laughs, and Melinda joins in. “I fucking hate reading. I wonder if he’ll ever sell the rights and have it turned into a movie or TV series.”
“People have been begging him. He said maybe once the fourth book has been out for a bit. He didn’t want to feel pressured, like, you know how with Game of Thrones the books didn’t come out fast enough for the series?” Melinda says.
“Oh yeah, that makes sense. I think a TV show would be good. Then they could take their time with it. The only thing is I can’t picture someone playing the farmer other than him.” Y/N sighs.
“Agreed.” Eliza says. “I can really only see him.”
“So, how are we dressing for the signing? I don’t wanna look desperate by dressing up too much.” Melinda says.
“Melinda…” Y/N starts chuckling. “You have a girlfriend.”
“I’m aware.” She swats a hand at Y/N. “But damn, Harry is too fine.”
//
Y/N curls the ends of her hair on the day of the signing. It was finally here, and she couldn’t be more excited. She found a cute yellow top to wear with some high waist jeans. She does some simple makeup, but makes sure to have her eyes pop. The rules were that people could only bring one book with them, so she grabs the first in the Unicorn series. She fully intended to buy the new book as well, and they said he would sign all new purchases too.
She meets Melinda and Eliza outside the bookstore where it would all be happening. They get in line to buy their new books, and head to their seats. They were able to snag tickets for the second row. He would be reading the first few chapters of the first book, and then would spend the rest of the time signing books.
“I’m so excited.” Y/N whispers to both of her friends.
A man comes out shortly to check the crowd of people waiting, and soon it’s announced that Harry would be coming out. Everyone stands up and claps for him. He was wearing a sleek black suit, and his hair was pushed back off his face. He looked bashful as he smiled out to everyone, and stood at the podium provided. Everyone sits back down as he clears his throat.
“Thank you all so much for being here. Whether you’re a new fan or if you’ve been with me for years, I appreciate your support. It feels surreal for this series to be over. I’ve loved these characters so much, and when I finished the final edits, it felt weird saying goodbye. I also want to say thanks for all the support with the first audio book. I fully intend to do one for the rest, it just takes a lot of time and editing, so hold tight for me, alright?” The crowd giggles, and his dimple grows deeper. He takes a sip of the water provided, and opens the book. “Let’s get started shall we?” He looks up at the audience who was waiting patiently. He makes eye contact with Y/N. It’s brief, but he looked at her…or at least she told herself he did.
His voice was just as smooth in person as it was on the audio. Y/N was swooning, barely paying attention to the words, but more so watching the way his lips moved. The way he’d lick his lips after getting a sip of water, and watching his Adam’s apple bob up and down. It all felt like a dream. He ended up reading five chapters instead of three, as a treat, until his manager came out to remind him to wrap it up.
“Right, well, I’ve been told I’m done speaking.” He chuckles. “I just need about ten minutes and I’ll be able to sign all your books. Thanks so much!”
He leaves as everyone claps for him again. Everyone gets in line and waits for him to return. There was a table waiting for him to sit at and a ton of markers.
“I wonder how long we’ll get with him. Like, a minute, right?” Eliza asks.
“Make every second count.” Y/N says.
“I’m gonna try to take a selfie.” Melinda says. “Then I’ll really remember it forever.”
As the girls got closer to the front of the line, Y/N felt herself getting nervous, and her palms were starting to sweat. She tries to wipe them on her jeans before she gets to him.
“Hello, love.” He smiles at her. “Whatcha bring f’me?”
“Huh?” She was so taken aback.
“Well, I know you didn’t come here to have me sign a body part…unless you did.” He shrugs. “Although, I don’t think my manager would appreciate that.” He winks at her and it makes her giggle.
“I have the first back, and the newest one.” She hands them both to him. “I have to say, I’m not really a big reader, but this really drew me in. I think I’ve fallen in love with reading for the first time in my life.”
“That’s like…I mean…wow, what a compliment, thanks.” He signs both of the books. “What’s your name?”
“Y/N.”
“Y/N.” He repeats as he continues to leave a nice note in both of her books. “You know pictures aren’t allowed, but if you turn around and happen to take a selfie they can’t stop you.” He points to the few guards.
Y/N turns around and takes a selfie with Harry. She turns back around and chuckles as she takes her books back.
“Thank you so much. I can’t wait for the next audio books.”
“You liked the first one?”
“Loved it.”
“So, it wasn’t weird listening to me for that long?”
“Not at all…” She starts blushing. “Your voice is sort of, um, soothing…I have a lot of anxiety at night, and, well, reading, and evening listening has helped me sleep a lot better. So, thanks again.” She smiles at him and he smiles back.
He wished he could hug her. He looks back at his manager, who just sighs at him and nods. Harry stands up from the table and walks around. Before she knew it, his arms were being wrapped around her. She got a whiff of his cologne, and she swore it was her new favorite smell in the world. She barely got a chance to put her hands on him before his manager said it was enough and Harry needed to get back to it.
“Sorry, that was just so endearing.” He lets go of her and sits back down. “Thanks for your support.”
Y/N steps aside and looks at her friends who were waiting for her to finish up. She looks back at Harry who was already talking to the next person. She sighs, knowing she was long forgotten already.
“Oh my god, I took a picture of him hugging you.” Eliza says. “What was it like? All he did was shake my hand.”
“He smelled so good.” Y/N whines. “Girls, let’s go out for drinks tonight. I need to get some energy out.”
“Great idea! We can drink and then dance the night away.” Melinda says. “What did he write in your books?”
“I don’t wanna look yet, I wanna save it.” Y/N smiles and holds her books close to her.
//
After grabbing dinner and dropping their books off at Y/N’s place, they all head to their favorite dance bar. They all get their drinks and stand near the bar to drink them. Y/N was happily sucking on her straw, swaying along to the fast beat of the music.
“Look, they actually roped off the VIP section.” Eliza points out. Y/N and Melinda turn to look.
“I wonder who’s here. Once in a while someone cool shows up.” Melinda says.
The group in the VIP section erupts into laughter, and the girls’ eyes grow wide. Harry was standing up from the booth, looking much more casual. He still had his dress pants and button up on, but his sleeves were pushed up, revealing his tattoos. He strides up to the bar as he shakes his head back at his friends. He brushes right by the girls, bumping into Y/N, causing her to spill her drink.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry, love.” He says to her, and then he looks her up and down. “Do I know you?” He slurs slightly.
“Um…we…we met earlier today. You signed my books.”
“I signed your what?!” The music was really loud, he must have thought she said something else.
“Books, books!” She really enunciates the k sound.
“Oh!” He bursts out laughing, and puts a hand on her shoulder. “I was gonna say, that sorta thing isn’t really my style. What are you drinking, I’ll get you a new one.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. There’s still plenty in here.”
“Don’t be silly, I feel terrible. In fact,” He looks at Melinda and Eliza, and then to the bar tender. “Their next round’s on me. I also need another bottle of Patron for my table.”
“Coming right up!”
“Lost a bet with ‘em.” He rolls his eyes. “So the next bottle’s on me.” He shrugs.
“We’ll bring it over to you.” The bar tender says as she puts up three new drinks for you and your friends.
“You really didn’t have to do that.”
“S’the least I can do. Your support is the only reason why I can afford what I have. I should buy your drinks all night.” He smirks.
“Y/N.” Melinds grabs her shoulders and whispers in her ear. “Go for it, bitch, go for it. He’s hitting on you. We’ll be over there.”
She lets Y/N go and drags Eliza with her over to another part of the bar. Y/N grabs her drink and smiles at Harry.
“Your name’s Y/N, right?”
“You must have seen hundreds of people today, how’d you remember?”
“I’m really good with names.” He grins. “Do you want to join me and my friends?”
“What?!”
“Come on, seems like your friends are busy anyways.” He nods over to Melinda and Eliza where Melinda was working as a wing-man for Eliza. “They’re bringing over the Patron, you’ll love it.” He grabs her wrist and brings her over. One of the body guards raises his eyebrows. “I’m baacckk, let us in Mike.” Mike lifts the rope up and lets Harry and Y/N in. “Everyone this is Y/N, she’s got to be one of my biggest fans, so she’s joining us.” He pulls her down into the booth with him and puts his arm around her shoulders.
He was drunk, this was very clear. No one seemed bothered by her presence. Everyone was just happy to have refills for their drinks. Harry takes a shot of the Patron along with everyone else as Y/N sips on her drink. She felt bad, Eliza had to be a bigger fan of Harry, or at least she had been a fan longer…
“So, how’d you know he’d be here?” Harry’s manager, Jeff, asks.
“I didn’t.” She blushes. “My friends and I come here all the time.”
“Right, like we haven’t heard that one before.” Jeff smirks. “Some of you fangirls-“
“Oi! Don’t make fun, she’s cool.” Harry defends her.
“I can prove I’ve been here plenty of times.” Y/N takes her phone out and shows them her Facebook page. “There, you can see how many times I’ve checked in here. I only live a block away, so this tends to be the spot.”
“See, Jess, this is the spot.” Harry smirks, and knocks back another shot. “We’re being rude, here.” He slides a shot over to her. “Have as much as you like.”
“That’s okay, I have this.” She points to her glass.
“Oh, I knew I liked you, you’re so nice.” He pulls her a little closer to him. “But really, if you want any, you can have as much as you want, okay?”
“Thanks.”
Y/N sort of just sits there and tries to listen as each person talks, but the music was so loud, and she was itching to dance, especially now that she had a couple of drinks in her. She was drumming her fingers mindlessly on the table.
“Do you want to dance?” He whispers in her ear. A shiver goes up her spine. She looks up at him and nods. “Alright, let’s hit it then.”
She gets out of the booth and he quickly follows her out to the dance floor. At first it’s just light and playful, he keeps one hand in hers, but keeps a respectable distance. If Y/N was dancing with her friends right now she’d probably be popping her ass no problem. She sort of wished they were still around. She couldn’t remember the last time she danced with a guy. She looks at him and feels a little bold, so she hooks an arm around his neck and dances close to him. His hands move to her hips as she essentially grinds on his thigh. When the next song starts, she turns around to grind her ass against his pelvis. He presses forward against her and she can tell he’s very happy to be dancing with her.
“You said your place was only a block away?” He says into her ear, and she nods. “Wanna head there?”
She stops dancing and turns around to face him.
“Are you serious?” She raises an eyebrow at him.
“Sorry, too forward?”
“No…I just…um…yeah, let’s go back to mine.”
He smiles and throws his arm around her shoulders. He looks over at Jeff who was still sitting with their friends. He waves off to him, and heads out side with Y/N. Harry whistles for a cab, and one pulls up almost right away. They both get into the backseat, and Y/N gives the driver her address. Harry rubs circles into her shoulder. She rests her hand on his knee, as her leg shakes with nerves.
“You alright, love?”
“Mhm, yeah.” She doesn’t look at him.
“No need to be nervous, babe, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
She looks up at him now and smiles. She wanted to do everything with him. It was like every fantasy she had was coming to life. She had dreams about this, but never thought it would come true. The cab pulls up in front of Y/N’s building and they both get out of the cab. She keys into the front door and she leads him to the elevator.
“I’m surprised you’re not exhausted, must be draining to meet so many people.”
“Caught a second wind.” He winks at her. She giggles as they get off at her floor.
She leads him inside as she flips the lights on.
“It’s just a studio.”
“It’s nice, just enough space. You’ve got a great view.” He says as he walks over to the window.
“Yeah, I got really lucky.”
“Mind if I pull the curtains?”
“Not at all.”
She watches the muscles in his back flex as he reaches to pull the curtains closed. He turns to face her and walks over to where she is. He cups one of her cheeks and she leans into his touch.
“I have to be honest, I don’t usually do this.” He says.
“Do what? Hook up with a girl from a bar?” She smirks.
“No, hook up with a fan…” He sighs. “But what you said to me earlier about your anxiety and how my books have helped you, it stuck with me all day. I’m really glad I ran back into you. I got kinda nervous when you didn’t message me.”
“What? Why would I have?”
“I wrote my number in your book.” He lets go of her and steps back. “You didn’t read my notes?”
“No, I…I was saving them for when I was feeling down.” She admits, a little embarrassed. “Why did you put your number in it?”
“In case you ever needed someone to talk to…if you ever got sick of listening to the same story over and over. It was a little impulsive, but no one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
“I’m surprised by that.”
“Usually people just tell me that they enjoyed it, or they try to flirt or something. It’s usually pretty hollow.” He shrugs. “But you…” He takes her hands in his. “Well…if you noticed, I didn’t really hug anyone else.”
“I did notice. You made me feel really special, Harry.”
“I’d like to keep making you feel that way…”
He releases her hands, and she wraps her arms around his neck. Her hands slide up through his curls, and she gets up on her tip toes while his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her close. His lips brush over hers, and she pulls his face closer to hers to deepen the kiss. She smiles against his lips which makes him smile and pull back.
“What is it?”
“I just…I can’t believe this is happening…” She presses her hips closer to his.
“You’ve thought about this before, with me?”
She nods her head yes and he smirks.
“Is that weird?” She asks, cheeks heating up from embarrassment.
“Who am I to judge what helps someone fall asleep at night?” His voice was low now, eyes darker than they were moments before.
Maybe this wasn’t something either of them should be doing while inebriated. But from lack of better judgement they start kissing again. His hands slide down to cup her ass, and his large hands give her a squeeze. She groans into his mouth, giving him the perfect excuse to lick into her. Her tongue molds to his, and she starts pushing him to walk back towards her bed. He happily lets her lead the way.
The back of his calves hit the bed, and he almost loses his balance. He sits down and brings her with him so she’s straddling his lap. Lips only breaking for a moment to get some air until they’re on each other again. Her hands lace through his hair and he groans when she tugs on him. His lips move to her jaw and then to just under her ear. She gasps when she feels him suck on the tender skin. Her hips roll down over his, and he smirks against her. He licks over the spot he was sucking on, and goes back for more. She grinds herself against him, feeling his bulge press up against where she needs it most. His lips move back to hers so he can nip at her bottom lip before looking at her.
“You want this?” He asks.
“Wouldn’t have said yes to coming back here if I didn’t.”
“You could have changed your mind between the bar and now.” He tucks some loose strands of hair behind her hair. “I meant what I said earlier, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“I want to, do you?”
“I certainly didn’t change my mind.”
She smiles and leans in to kiss him again before getting off him. She reaches behind him quickly to snag one of her throw pillows to put on the floor. She sits up on her knees before him and reaches for his for the button on his dress pants. She looks up at him as he widens his legs for her. He wasn’t expecting a blow job, but he wasn’t one to turn it down. She pops the button and undoes his zipper. She reaches into his pants and palms him through his boxers first. His palms were flat on the bed, his arms keeping him up, but he can’t help but let his head fall back from her touch.
“Harry, look at me.”
He immediately does as she says so he can make eye contact with her.
“Is this okay? Can I take it out?”
“Yeah, please.”
She smiles and tugs his pants and boxers down slightly, he lifts his hips up to help her. He unbuttons his shirt while his dick slaps up against his lower stomach. She gazes up at him. Once his shirt is off, she can’t help but look over all his tattoos.
“You’re so…pretty.” She chuckles.
“Not as pretty as you.” He runs his hands through her hair, giving her a little encouragement to get started.
She blushes as her eyes fall to his hard cock, tip swollen and ready to go. She licks her right hand and gives him a few pumps first. He grunts as he watches her. She licks a stripe up from his base to his tip before she wraps her lips around him. His eyes flutter closed for a second, but he didn’t want to miss anything so he does his best to keep his eyes open to watch her work on him. She already had small droplets of spit rolling down her chin. Sloppy, he thinks to himself and he smirks. She sinks a little further down on him, testing herself to see how much she can take. He thrusts up slightly to meet her halfway and she gags on him, needing to pop off for a moment.
“Sorry, been a while.” She mumbles, and gets back on him.
“No worries, doing great, love.”
He helps keep her hair back as she starts to bob up and down on him. Her warm mouth felt so fucking good around him. She swallows around him before really hollowing her cheeks to suck on him. Her mouth moves up to his tip so she can lick away at his slit. She wraps a hand around him to pump him as she does this.
“Baby, baby, hold on.” He pants, and moves her face away from him. She looks up at him with big, innocent eyes that were slightly watery now. “I’ll come if you keep doing that.” He sounded almost out of the breath. She nods and stands up. His hands grips her hips and then slide to the button on her own jeans. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.” She says, taking off her shirt. He looks up at her and kisses on her chest as he undoes her pants.
He yanks them down her legs. He smiles at her mismatched set of underwear. She had worn a white bra with her yellow shirt, and a simple pair of blue panties with her jeans.
“I didn’t think, um, I would be…it was a girl’s night, and-“
“Do you really think I care about your underwear not matching?” He raises an eyebrow at her as he smirks.
She smiles and rests her hands on his shoulders as he kisses on her lower tummy. He stands up to kick his pants away, and lets her get on the bed. She lays on her back, propping herself up with her elbows. He crawls onto the bed and settles between her legs. His lips find hers as he grinds himself against her covered center. She bites her bottom lip, just wanting her underwear gone. He reaches behind her to unhook her bra. After a few seconds of fumbling he gets it, and watches the bra loosen around her. She pushes it off her shoulders, and tosses it to the ground. His hands cup her full breasts immediately. He kneads them and tweaks her nipples. She grinds her hips up towards his as they continue to move against each other. He dips his head down to kiss on her chest, and he rolls a nipple between his teeth. He works his way down her body and slides her underwear down her legs, tossing them aside where he feels like. She parts her legs for him.
He dips his down and licks from her center to her clit. He does this slowly but with precision. Her hips buck up towards him, encouraging him to keep going, so he does. He licks all around her until his lips are around her throbbing clit. He nibbles and sucks and flicks his tongue while his fingers explore her folds. Her hands were in his hair. She kept thinking she was going to wake up. Any minute now she would snap out of her dream. She would pinch her eyes closed and expect to see the morning sun creeping through her windows, but not this time. When she opened her eyes there he was, head between her legs, lapping away at her. The clouds covering the moon and night sky. He had her whimpering and tugging at his hair. He wanted her to come, but not yet, just get her to the brink. She pouts at him when he lifts his head. He licks his lips and smiles at her.
“Got any rubbers?”
“Mhm, in the bathroom, I can-“
“I got it, just tell me where.”
“The box in the cabinet below the sink.”
He pecks her lips before going into her little bathroom. He smirked to himself wondering how he might shower the next morning. He was taller than the showerhead. He bends down to open up the cabinet and spots the box of condoms. It was opened, but not many were missing. Not the he was one to judge. Harry hooked up a lot. He grabs a couple, just in case they feel like getting frisky again later on, and heads back out. He rips the foil packet open and slides it on over his length. She bites her bottom lip in anticipation.
“Tell me something,” He starts as he gets back on the bed, between her legs, hovering over her body. “When you had me in your thoughts was it ever like this?”
He rubs his tip against her clit, getting her to moan out. He pushes into her entrance but doesn’t go much further until he gets his answer. His eyebrows were raised, looking at her.
“This is usually the part when I’d wake up.” She whispers. “Before anything good could really happen.” She cups his cheek and runs her thumb over his cheekbone. “Please.”
He kisses her as he pushes the rest of the way inside her. They both groan. She was so wet, even with the condom on, it still felt amazing. He was nice and snug inside her. He moves slowly at first to not hurt her. He hooks an arm under one of her legs to bring it up a little higher. He wanted to get in as deep as possible. She clutches at his shoulders as he drives it in.
“Oh my god.” She gasps as his tip brushes her g-spot. “Jesus Christ.” She grits her teeth.
“Ever had anyone like this before?” He says into her ear.
“Never this deep, shit.”
He sits up and puts both of her legs over his shoulders. His fingers press bruises into her thighs as he holds onto her. She looks up at him as her mouth falls open. He was ramming into her and it felt so good to fuck like this. She didn’t want to be treated delicately. What he was doing was amazing, but her clit was missing the friction, so her hand slides down to rub at it.
“Fuck.” He breathes as he watches her touch herself. He lets go of one of her thighs and moves her hand aside so he can rub it for her. Her head rolls back the second she feels his thumb on her.
“Just like that.” She pants. “Don’t stop.”
He grunts his response as he continues to fuck her. He could feel her tightening around his cock and he knew she was close. He rubs her a little faster, and watches as her body contorts under his.
“Let go, come on, show me how you do it, Y/N.”
That pushes her over the edge. She cries out as she comes around him. He rubs her still, but slows his pace to help her through it. She tightens around him again as she comes down from her bliss. He drops her legs and pulls out. He sits up against her headboard and pulls her into his lap. He doesn’t have her face him, though, he has her sit on him facing away. Her head rolls back against his shoulder once she sinks down on him. She uses her knees to push herself up and down on his cock. He bites down on her shoulder, licks up to just under her ear to suck on the tender skin again. His hands find her bouncing breasts, and he kneads them.
“Harry.” She groans.
“Feels good, love?”
“So good.” She turns her head and sticks her tongue out slightly so he’ll kiss her. His tongue meets hers and they practically slobber all over each other as her pace quickens on him.
His hands slide down to her hips to help her. He thrusts up into her to get into a rhythm. He could feel his orgasm bubbling at the base of his spine.
“Fuck, oh my god.” He moans, which makes her moan. She tightens around him. He wanted her to come again, to come with him, so he rubs her clit while she continues to bounce him.
“Shit, fuck, Harry!”
They come at the same time, both of them crying out form the intensity. He gives her a second to catch her breath before he lifts her off of him. She gets up and quickly walks to the bathroom to clean herself up. He goes in after her to rid himself of the condom. She was about to throw on a t-shirt when he comes back out.
“Don’t bother.” He smirks.
“What do you mean?”
“It’ll just come off again.”
“Oh.” She blushes and puts it back into her dresser.
He gets on the bed with her and pulls her close to his chest. His fingers run up and down her back lightly, causing goosebumps to raise on her skin. She rests one of her legs on top of his, and wraps her arm around his torso. She wasn’t sure if she’d have the energy to fuck him again so soon, especially when the rhythm of his heart beat was lulling her to sleep. Her eyes flutter closed. He looks down at her and smiles when he sees her lips parted. He kisses the top of her head, and slowly falls asleep himself.
//
The next morning, Y/N wakes up cozy, head stuffed into her pillow, blankets wrapped around her. It was darker than usual. Her eyes flutter open and see the rain falling down. She hears it tapping delicately against her windows. It was a normal Sunday morning, or it would have been if she hadn’t completely forgotten there was a warm body wrapped around her. She rolls over slowly not to disturb the stranger. She gasps to herself when she sees it really is Harry Styles, not just some guy that looked like him. She really took him home with her and she really fucked him. He pulls her closer to her and she sighs.
“Your bed’s comfy.” He mutters.
“Thanks, I’ve got one of those foam pads under the sheets. Makes a world of difference.”
She feels his chest rumble as he chuckles. She feels him press a soft kiss to her forehead before pulling away slightly.
“Mind if I grab a shower?”
“Not at all.” She smiles up at him. “If you don’t mind smelling like my fruity shampoo, that is.”
“You’re funny.” He chuckles again and stretches as he sits up. He rubs his eyes, and gets out of the bed. Y/N couldn’t help but ogle his naked body as he walks away. He pops his head out of the door frame to look at her. “Are you coming?”
“Oh…you wanted me to-“
“Obviously.” He scoffs. “Wouldn’t mind fucking you again, either.”
Normally she’d wrap herself in a blanket, but if he was going to be bold, then so was she. So she gets out of bed and struts over towards him. She brushes her teeth quickly as he uses some mouth wash. She gets the water in the shower going.
“Does that head detach? I don’t know if I can crouch for that long.” He laughs.
“Yeah, it comes right off, don’t worry.” She pulls back the curtain and they both get in.
She helps him wash up, scrubs her nails over his head as she washes out the shampoo, and once they’re both clean, he hoists her up against the wall, and kisses her. She was plenty wet for him, and he smiles against her as he slips a finger inside her.
“You were ready f’me, hm?”
“Guess so.” She nips at his bottom lip, which delights him.
“Mind if I just slip it in like this and pull out after?”
“That’s fine.” She smiles. “Wouldn’t mind actually being able to feel you.”
“Christ.” He groans, and then pushes his hard cock inside her. Her head rolls back against the tile as his lips attack to her throat.
It was a nice, passionate morning fuck. When they’re done she gets him a towel, and wraps one around herself. He watches as she runs around to make her bed back up. It was a small apartment, so any clutter just made it look even smaller. He grabs his phone out of his pants pocket, and sighs.
“Alright?” She asks, sitting on the edge of her bed. He comes to sit down next to her.
“Yeah, just a ton of missed calls and texts. Thought I made it pretty clear to Jeff I wouldn’t be coming back to the hotel last night.”
“Do you have a plane to catch or anything?”
“Not today, tomorrow though.”
She watches as he types away to respond to the dozen or so texts he had form various people.
“Would you like any coffee or anything? Juice?”
“Just a black coffee would be perfect if it’s not too much trouble, love.”
“Coming right up.”
His eyes flicker up to watch her bum and hips sway as she walks into the kitchen area. She fills up her Keurig to get his coffee going.
“No cream or sugar, just black?”
“Please.” He smiles. “Thanks.”
She nods and gets a mug down from her cabinet to place under the machine. She thinks he’s talking to her for a moment, but when she looks over she can see he’s on the phone.
“I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I’m well aware, thanks.” He sighs and shakes his head. “I’m allowed to go out and have some fun.” He crosses a leg over the other so he can rest his elbow on his thigh, propping his chin up with his palm. “She’s making me a cup of coffee, is that alright? No, I don’t just carry those in my back pocket…” He rolls his eyes. “I’ll take care of it. Alright, bye.”
She comes over to him with a mug for him, and one for herself. She added a bit of cream to hers. She just couldn’t do black coffee.
“Thank you so much, feel like I’m about to get a headache.” He says, taking the mug from her, smacking his lips after he takes a sip.
“I have some aspirin if you need some.”
“Caffeine should work just fine, but thank you.”
“So, uh, not that I was listening in or anything, just, small space and all, but what don’t you carry around in your back pocket?”
“Oh.” He chuckles. “An NDA, that’s all. Jeff’s gonna email one over to me any second I’m sure.”
“What do you need an NDA for?”
“It’s not for me, it’s for you.”  She looks at him deeply confused. “I’m a very private person, and not that I think you’re the type to go around spouting your business, it’s just, well, you’re a fan and…”
“You need me to sign an NDA so I won’t tell anyone we fucked?”
“Basically, yeah. Sorry if that makes things a little awkward. It’s just to keep my personal life personal, that’s all.” He takes another sip of the coffee. “This is really good, what brand is this?”
“Green Mountain Coffee…it comes from Vermont.”
“It’s delicious, I’ll have to look into it.” He smiles, although she can tell she’s starting to feel uneasy. She’s painfully aware that this was just a drunk hookup, a one night stand. “Are you alright?” He puts a hand on her knee.
“M’fine, just a bit groggy.” She sips her own coffee.
“Well, I’m starved, you’ve gotta be too, right? What a good place to grab some breakfast around here?” He stands up and starts looking for his clothes.
“Um…there’s a place right down the street.”
“We’ll have to take a cab unless you have a really big umbrella.” He smirks as he pulls his boxers on.
“Do I have to sign an agreement saying I won’t talk about breakfast too, or?”
Harry sighs as he pulls his pants on. She looks at him as she sips her coffee.
“Guess I’ll find out when I read the fine print.” She stands up and walks back over to her kitchen area. He follows her there with his mug and sticks it in the sink.
“Why is it such a big deal?”
“It’s not, I just…I mean…what do you think I’m going to do? Go onto a blog and spill every detail about last night? As if I could remember every little thing.” She scoffs and rinses out her mug.
“You easily could. You have to understand, sometimes when stories slip or people feel like they know things about you, it’s harder to get deals or make business decisions. I want to be taken seriously, so I don’t post personal things on social media, and I have the people I hook up with sign NDA’s.”
“Well, maybe I should have you sign one for me then.” She says, crossing her arms. He raises an eyebrow at her. “How do I know our night together won’t be inspiration for your next love scenes? You’re quite descriptive in your works. You must take from real life when you’re writing those things.”
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll text Jeff and have him email me two, one for each of us. I won’t talk about you and you won’t talk about me. Now, can we please go get some breakfast?”
“Why do you even want to go anywhere with me if you’re so scared of people finding out?” She walks over to her dresser to pick out an outfit she wouldn’t mind getting wet in the rain.
“It’s one thing to be seen with someone at a diner, it’s another to have what you’re like in the bedroom aired out to millions of people.”
“It’ll be obvious we slept together. My neck is littered with kiss marks.” She taps over one of the spots. He watches as she wriggles a pair of panties up her legs, and then a pair of jeans. “You’re also wearing your clothes from last night.” She tosses him his button up.
“I don’t suppose you have a large t-shirt I could throw on?”
“I’m sure I could find one.” She find a bra and t-shirt of her own, and then rummages through her pajama drawer for one of her larger bed shirts. “Here.” She hands him the shirt. He puts it on and looks down at it.
“Cute.” He smiles. “You can keep mine, and I’ll keep this one, how’s that sound?”
“Guess I’m just glad that’s not my favorite one.” She grabs her raincoat and umbrella. She furrows her brows and then remembers where her rubber boots on. “Could you order an uber or something?”
“Sure.”
They get down to the street, and head into the car he ordered. The diner was busy when they got there, but since it was just the two of them, they didn’t have to wait long to be seated. Harry’s phone pings with the email from Jeff.
“So…I just need to digitally sign it?”
“Mhm.” He hands his phone over to her so she can read over everything. He rests his chin on his palm. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone read over it so diligently before.”
“I’m a lawyer.” She mumbles.
“No shit.” He sits up, suddenly even more intrigued with her. “Good for you.”
“Well, I’m in law school, and I work as a para at a law firm, but I’m getting there.” She says as she uses her finger to sign her life away. “I’d like to read the one he sent to you for me.”
“Just swipe to the next email.”
She nods and looks it over. It was the same as her. She hands him back his phone and watches him sign it.
“I’d like both copies emailed over to me.”
“Alright, what’s your email?”
“I’ll put it in.” She takes his phone back and puts her information in, sending herself the copies. “There.” She crosses her arms. “Happy?”
“Yes, actually.”
A waitress comes over to them, and they both order scrambled eggs with bacon, potatoes, and toast. It’s quiet between them for a few moments. She looks out the window to watch the rain fall, and then looks back at him. He was twiddling his thumbs in his lap.
“Harry?”
“Yeah?” He looks up at her.
“What am I doing here with you? You could have easily slipped out this morning, even last night…”
“I’m not that kind of guy.”
“So…what is this, a consolation before we never see each other again?”
“No.”
“Then what is this?! I feel like I’m not even looking at a real person. I’ve wanted to meet you for so long, and I would have killed for the opportunity to sit down and have breakfast with you. I have so many questions about your work, and-“
“So, ask me.”
“What?”
“Ask me all your questions. What can I answer that I haven’t already in an interview? You wanna know my thought process? Where and what I get inspired by? How long it takes me to write a book, a chapter even? I only have bullshit answers, to be honest. I keep notes on my phone for when I get inspired, and then when I’m able to be at my computer I’ll type for hours without stopping. It’s like I blackout or something. It feels like I didn’t even take a second to blink. I’ll work on multiple projects at the same time too. I have three other books I’m currently working, all with completely different topics and characters. I can’t shut my brain off, ever. I don’t know why I’m like this. Even when I go on a vacation to unplug, I have to keep a notebook with me to write things down. I started writing because I just needed to get everything out of my head. I feel a huge sense of relief when I’m done with a piece so I can just move on from it. I had to start my own publication because my content was going to be put in the same category as Fifty Shades, and I didn’t want that. Luckily, Jeff went to school for PR, and he helped me out, and now he’s my manager. He’s the best there is, but sometimes it would be nice to fuck a pretty girl and take her to breakfast without having to worry about every little thing.”
Before Y/N can respond their food is brought over. They both thank the waitress. She picks her for up and plays with her potatoes before looking at him.
“Not to mention, said pretty girl told me how much my work means to her, how it helps her sleep at night. Fuck, I mean, I thought I was going to melt into a fucking puddle right there. My anxiety gets bad at night too, I knew exactly where you were coming from, babe. I can’t tell you how many nights I try to go to sleep and can’t, so I just get up and go back to my computer until I pass out in my chair.” He blinks at her, as she still says nothing. “Are you…not going to say anything?”
“I’m not sure what to say, I’m trying to take in everything you said and match it to the person you were yesterday at that signing. It’s an act, right? Your cool demeanor?”
“I have a stage presence for sure.” He sighs, and takes a bite of his bacon. “What am I gonna do, get up there and tell everyone that the fourth book took so long because I had to have surgery for carpal tunnel?”
“For someone who likes to be so private, you’re sure telling me a lot of personal things.”
“You signed something saying you wouldn’t discuss any of this, so I feel a little freer to explain myself. Have I totally ruined your perception of me? Is this a never meet your hero sort of moment?”
“Not at all.” She smiles. “You seem comfortable with me, which is nice. I like that I’m seeing this side of you, you’re more than just the suave guy I’ve seen in interviews, or listening to on podcasts. You’re a person, just like me.”
“Exactly, so you understand why I might want some privacy.”
“I do.” She nods and finally takes a bite of her food. “I’m sorry if I got a little pissy about it.”
“Don’t be, it’s always an awkward conversation to have.”
“So, how many women do you hook up with exactly? You’re making yourself sound like a player.” She chuckles.
“I mean…I’m a guy who has needs. I’m not gonna lie, I probably do it a little too much, but I don’t usually spend this much time with the person, or if I do…well…it’s not usually like this.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to actually have a conversation with you.” He shrugs. “You peaked my interest.”
“Clearly.” She smirks.
“At least I’ve never rubbed one out to the thought of a famous person.” He smirks back.
“Oh, I’m sorry, do you consider yourself famous?” She grins at him. “And I haven’t rubbed one out, it’s usually just a dream. Don’t flatter yourself, Harry.” She shakes her head.
“My bad, so I’ll just assume you get that wet for every guy you hook up with?”
Where was this conversation going, and why was it happening in such a public place? Was he trying to rile her up?
“I don’t think this is appropriate to talk about right now.” She whispers harshly.
He smirks and continues eating. They look at each other occasionally as they eat. The waitress comes over with the bill, and Harry throws some cash down on the table.
“Let me pay the tip at least.” She says, reaching for her purse.
“Don’t be silly, I put plenty down for the tip. I’ve got it.” He puts his hand over hers. “Seems like the rain’s stopped, wanna walk back?”
“Do you not need to be anywhere?”
“Nope.” He smiles. “Today’s my free day, isn’t that nice? I’ve got a plane to catch tomorrow morning, and that’s all I have to worry about. So, I’m more than happy to walk you back home.”
She nods and follows him out of the diner.
“So, do I only get your email, or do I get your number too?”
“Why, so you can hit me up whenever you’re in the city?”
“Precisely.” He nudges her as she laughs. “Come on, I gave you mine.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t even look…I would have been so embarrassed, you would have forgotten all about me. I don’t even know if I would have even had the courage to message you.”
“I wouldn’t have forgotten you.”
“Did you manager know you just gave your number out like that?”
“God no, he’d murder me.” Harry chuckles. “Jeff’s great, but he’s way too serious.”
“So, maybe I’ll message you sometime.”
“I prefer chatting on the phone, to be honest.”
“Why’s that?”
“Anyone can send a text, but a phone is, like, I don’t know, it’s romantic.”
“Romantic?”
“Yeah, like, a phone is something you really need to make time for.”
She pouts at him and looks at him with big eyes. They stop once they’re in front of her building.
“I come back to the city in two weeks, I really would like to see you again.”
“What are you coming back for?”
“Another signing. This one sold out, and I felt bad. I think anyone who wants to see me should.” He shrugs. “I wouldn’t have anything that I do if it weren’t for the people who supported me.”
“That’s sweet.” She smiles. “Okay, I guess we could see each other again.”
“Great, just make sure you call me, okay? Then I can call you, and we’ll just be two people calling each other sometimes.” He blushes.
“Why are you so romantic?” She laughs and wraps her arms around his waist.
“I wish I knew. It’s a blessing and a curse, I think.” He sighs and cups her cheeks. He leans in and kisses her, she happily kisses him back and pulls him closer.
“Do you, um, need to go back to your hotel now?”
“Not necessarily, what’d you have in mind?” He raises an eyebrow at her. She leans up and whispers in his ear, making his cheeks grow hotter. He looks at her, a little stunned. “I definitely have time for that.”
“I figured you would.” She winks at him and yanks him into her building.
She wasn’t ready to let go of him just yet. Everything still felt like a dream, only better. Even when Harry had to go off to his next signing, she slept better than she ever had. She called him late one night, much to his surprise, and they spoke for hours. She didn’t have to listen to the same words over and over to fall asleep, she had him, the real him.
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daydream-believin · 3 years
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What About the Smaller Picture (3)
Summary: Merlin knows best. And what he feels is best for you and Douxie right now is to sit around and wait for him to come back from New Jersey, Merlin-knows-when. (3) You’ve adjusted to Arcadian life pretty well. (1) or (4)
Warnings: Swearing, sleep problems?
Word count: 2474
A/n:  sorry this wasnt out sooner I’ve had a week
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The curtains were blue. They had a little pattern of navy and white flowers and curvy lines like pottery painted with indigo. You had moved one of Doux’s bookshelves to be the second wall to allow the curtain rod to even be in place. This layout effectively created a nook of sorts around your little bed. To be frank the curtains weren’t absolutely necessary. The space kinda gave you university dorm vibes with the two twin beds across from each other. But there was no way you were letting this guy you barely knew watch you sleep. Even if you were good friends, you wouldn’t let him watch you sleep. That kind of vulnerability was special, reserved for only those closest to you.
Speaking of closeness, Douxie had been very adamant about you not calling him by his full name anymore. Made him feel like you were reprimanding him, he said. You could relate to the feeling, and so you were now being careful to replace all ‘Hisirdoux’s with ‘Douxie’s in your head. Or at least a ‘Doux’. Not ‘Babe’. Who told you that. You definitely never referred to him as Babe in your mind. Nope. That Is Not Something Friends Do.
“And,” Douxie rubbed the back of his neck, “Normally when people call me Hisirdoux nowadays it’s because they want to kill me. Only strangers and enemies call me that. Or Zoe when she’s pissed. So yeah, just Douxie is fine.”
“Just Douxie?”
He chuckled, “Yeah.” You looked up at him with a smile.
“Douxie.” He flushed, nodding. “Well, Douxie, what do you want for dinner tonight.”
That little nook you’d built hadn’t stopped Douxie from trying to talk to you all night, however. You’d think the curtains would be a clear message of don’t talk to me I want to be left alone but Doux hadn’t really taken that hint. You tried your best to brush him off the first few nights, even pretending to fall asleep. It didn’t stop him. By the fourth night you spent in Arcadia, you gave in. You had trouble sleeping anyways, as it was apparent so did your roommate, so might as well indulge him. It’s not like ignoring him did any good. Instead of staring at a blue-light screen that messed with your circadian rhythm, you talked about nonsense with Doux. And it was good nonsense. He was way too funny. Or maybe it’s that thing where if you’re into someone then everything they say is hilarious. You’ll never know. But it was nice, either way.
The funny thing was that not only did you actually start to like this, but now it was becoming hard to sleep without it. He helped. Your whole life you stayed up late, and then tossed and turned all night anyways. Now your bedtime routine was talk to Douxie for a few hours, slowly falling asleep, and then you’d sleep the whole night through like a baby. No more restlessness. No more waking up over and over again. Even if you did, you could just listen to him snore for a bit and fall right back to sleep. You guessed it was the feeling of safety he provided. Like someone was watching over you, even when you were at your most vulnerable. You’d never really had that luxury before.
 You had started noticing the trouble coming back when he would stay out late sometimes. And Douxie was gone one night and you suddenly couldn’t sleep at all. This was bad. A problem, if you will. But no matter. There were more pressing things to worry about.
Like the fact that all week, Douxie had been hinting that he had something you two were going to do soon. He would not tell you what it was. In fact he was taking quite a bit of joy in dangling this “surprise” in front of your face but not telling you anything about it. It was driving you a little crazy. You hoped what he had planned was nothing too wild, though. It’s not that you weren’t down, you were just tired. But you could use a little shaking up. This bookshop existence was boring. You weren’t boring. You had enough crazy stories to last an immortal lifetime from growing up in New Jersey. Not just modern-day Urban New Jersey. Early colonial Quaker-dominated New Jersey was wild too. Especially as one of those infamous New England witches. Maybe Douxie was taking you on some magic errand. That would be great, you were dying to do something actually in your job description ever since you got here. Not that working in the bookshop wasn’t nice, it just wasn’t magic. You were craving magic.
But alas, as the sun was setting and the last patrons left the store, life moved on as mundanely usual. You flipped over the sign, scratched a sunbeam bathing Archie behind the ears, and started the process of re-shelving all the damn books that customers left strown about. The sunset turned the bookshop pink. There were fewer cars rushing by. Now that there were no customers, it was very peaceful. Just you, Archie’s snoring, and the soft lute music playing. The music was lute covers of popular songs, and at this point you were pretty sure it was Douxie himself who recorded this shit.
Speaking of Douxie, you hadn’t seen him all day. It had made working the bookshop extra extra boring. Like if he wanted you to be free labor, he could at least give you the decency of his lovely presence. But no, it was just you, all day long. All by your lonesome, with nary a cute theater-kid adjacent wizard to keep you entertained with his company. It was a travesty really. But anyways, where was he. Better not be having fun without you.
You like to think your thoughts summoned him. He came in through the back door, panting, disheveled. Singed? He frantically looked out the door’s window into the alleyway from which he had just came from, looking for something. Whatever it was, he must have seen it, since he looked panic-stricken. In a painfully obvious attempt to swallow the fear, he turned to you, trying his best to sound nonchalant.
“SO. You know that thing? The surprise? Well. It is here a little sooner than I expected it to bE—” A loud crashing noise came from the alleyway. “Oh, fuzzbuckets.”
You dropped the book in your hand. “WHAT DID YOU DO.”
There was another very loud crash, this time closer. Douxie glanced back for less than a moment before rushing over to you, taking you hand.
“I’ll just have to tell you on the way love, come on!”
You two fled out the front door of the shop like your tails were on fire. Speaking of tails on fire, once you rounded the shop to the alleyway, you found out just what Douxie had been running from that was making such loud noises. Hellheetis. Five large hellheetis. Blazing bright in the Arcadian dusk. How the neighbors haven’t already called the cops or the fire department was a mystery. The large lion-like creatures growled, stalking down the alley. It was only a matter of seconds before they smelled and or spotted you and went back into the chase. You had to make a plan and fast. Distracting you from your thoughts, Douxie nervously laughed beside you.
“hehe, uh, could you believe there was only one of these at the start?”
You slowly turned to the wizard, “Did you,, hit them, Hisirdoux?” You could call him that now because you were in fact pissed off at the moment.
“Only twice.”
“Only twice… Okay”
“I may not be the best at monster identification. Or remembering which tactic to use for which.”
“I can see that.” You tried to keep your voice as calm as you could, which got a little easier to do as the hellheetis turned down a different alleyway, putting some more distance between them and you. They were still searching though, that was apparent. Thankfully the stench of the alley trash was keeping you covered.
“Believe me, Archie gets onto me about this all the time.”
“It’s okay… just. I think I have a plan. But one of us has to be bait. And it’s going to be you.”
“That’s fair.”
You sprinted up the stairs of the bookstore and up through the ceiling hatch onto the rooftop. You first instinct was to get them to the center of the square, where you could use the fountain as a water source. The alley they had started going down opened up to the square anyhow. It would have been a straight shot. But dear Mr. Casperan made a fuss about that being too out in the open or whatever.
Next solution. The bookstore’s rooftop had a facet, Douxie told you. You’d like to imagine it was put there so some nice old lady could have had a sweet rooftop garden without too much hassle. Maybe you should start a sweet rooftop garden. You and Douxie could have a little oasis in the city up here. You could grow veggies and flowers for your table. Maybe make a cute little picnic area. Stargaze at night. The facet. You quickly found it and made work of turning it on. Or at least you tried your best. You could hear roaring, getting louder, getting closer. The scary growls and roars were punctuated by Douxie’s frantic footsteps, grunts, and gasps. Please don’t get eaten, Douxie.
The facet was so rusty, it took all of your strength to get it to budge. And then nothing came out really, the hose attached to it lifeless without so much as a trickle. You tried to unscrew it from the facet to see if there was a problem and the metal part of the hose disintegrated in your hand. Okay. No water was in fact coming out of that facet.
Imaginary sirens rang in your ears. You had to get water, fast, or your partner was gonna be kit & kadouxle. Hellheeti chow. Growl mix. Douxies. Fiery feast. The big cats were gonna eat him okay. After managing to get the facet turned as fast as you could, fueled on pure adrenaline, and still getting little to no water, you made a judgement call of fuck that. Magic time. To be completely frank here that should have been what you had done in the fucking first place, but hey, fear dulls the mind.
Gathering up as much water as you could, like, metaphorically feel in the pipe, you pulled that shit out with all your might. Aaaannddd because of this you may have not actually remembered that you would need to catch said water in order to, you know, use it. Instead of a nice bubble to be used at your discretion, a magic roof-water tidal wave washed over you and over the side of the building into the alley below. Thank your lucky fucking stars that Douxie just so happened to have gotten the fire felines to the right spot in time. The uncontrollable rain rushed down, dissipating the hellheetis, soaking Douxie darling, and flooding not only your alley but all the alleys connected to it. Holy shit, stop it! STOP IT! It took a second, but you did finally get the river to stop pouring out of your rooftop. Fingers crossed there were no basement windows open and all your neighbors had flood insurance. And that no one saw. Can’t be connected to you if no one saw right. Shhhhhh.
You peered over the ledge to see if Douxie was alright down below. He looked like a cat caught in the rain himself. You probably did too. Douxie’s soaked bangs covered his eyes. Nevertheless, he was able to see you up on the ledge and gave you a thumbs up. You awkwardly returned it.
Toweling off your hair, and now in nice dry pajamas, you walked out of the bathroom to join Douxie on the couch. His own hair towel hung around his shoulders. You took a moment to enjoy how cute he looked all ready for bed, cozy in the blankets on the couch. And that semi-wet hair was looking pretty nice too. You only allowed yourself to linger on this for that moment however, as you remembered you were supposed to be mad at him right now. You crossed your arms as you approached the wizard.
“SO, dearest Hisirdoux, may I have the decency of getting to ask the question, WHY.”
“Funny story really.”
“Really?” You raised a brow
“Really.”
Douxie fidgeted with his hands. You watched this little nervous gesture intently as you sat down next to him. He took a deep breath before beginning,
“First thing. You’ve been here for some time now, and I thought it was enough time for me to start sharing my little, er, excursions with you,” Douxie’s face flushed a little, “I like monster hunting, and now that I know that I like you, I thought I’d like it more if I brought you along with me?”
Your face was flushed a little too now. “Hey, stop it, I need to be mad at you.” Yeah well the smile you wore gave up any pretense of that. Sorry.
“I didn’t know how familiar you were with monsters or how skilled at fighting you were, so I decided to go get some test monsters from Mervin the Monster Dealer, just to make sure our first time would be safe. FIRST TIME MONSTER HUNTING TOGETHER.”
You stifled a chuckle. “And you didn’t just ask me?”
“It was supposed to be a cool surprise okay.” He buried his face in his hands.
“… Hellheetis?” Safe monster your ass.
“Yes, I mean no, I- Mervin sold me the wrong thing alright. I thought I was buying those cute little fire sprite things you can easily just put out with your boot.”
This time you did not hold back that laughter. And you laughed, and Douxie laughed, and soon both of you were uncontrollably cackling until you were out of breath. Archie came in to see what the commotion was about and then promptly turned back around to go back to his spot in the window. You clutched your chest, still cracking up despite the lack of oxygen. Douxie wiped some tears from his eyes you were sure hoping were just from laughing too hard. You rubbed a hand on his back.
“So, I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day. How bout movie night?”
Douxie’s tired eyes smiled at you, “Yeah, I think that would be lovely.”
“Hey, I had a good first monster hunt, Douxie. Thank you,” You pulled your cold feet up under your legs, “But could you stop hogging the blankets!”
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Mr. Sandman pt. 2 (Miss Venable x reader)
After one month I finally finished the second pt, whooho :) Well i guess its a bit different, than the first chapter, but i hope yall like it- I can imagine making a third pt of this, but it would be much more fucked up and weird, than this chapter..lol I wanted to say thank you for your nice comments under the first chapter, they made me really happy :3
summary: three weeks have passed and you are trying to understand everything
warnings: depression (idk if a robot can have depression-), uhm bruises,..
And if ur name is Laura, don't hate me! yikes hahah
here is the first pt. :
https://littlejeaniehugsbumblebees.tumblr.com/post/639876084639334400/mr-sandman-ms-venable-x-reader
hello google translate:3
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Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream Make her the cutest that I've ever seen Give her two lips like roses and clover And tell her that her lonely nights are over
It had been 3 weeks since the thing with the letter. 3 fucking weeks since you found out you were nothing more than a programmed machine.
And everything had gotten weird.
Ordinarily, you might call your behavior depression, but you were a goddamn robot and couldn't actually feel anything.
Sometimes you would spend hours in front of the mirror looking at your strange body. No.. to look at her body. You were just an image of her and your body was just a thing made of metal, tied through with cables and covered with a skin-colored rubber.
It all made no sense, all your memories of your family, your friends and your meeting with Mina (your first meeting in your bookstore, your first date, the first kiss, ..) all of this had to be real. But as Mutt had explained to you, your brain was just a hard drive with a stored script in which Mina had invested a lot of time to make your "memories" as detailed as possible. After all, she wanted you to be perfect.
To be honest, you had no idea how to act towards Mina. She was right somewhere, without her, you wouldn't exist. Maybe you should be grateful or happy that she created you. And on top of that, you really thought you loved her, needed her, or wanted her. But inside you knew that you only did all of these things because she programmed you to do so. Nothing you ever did was really your own excuse. You were just what she wanted you to be and in addition to that, you weren't even unique anymore. Mina had just copied you and used you for her own purposes.
Inwardly, you tried to fight the urge to kiss her, sit on her lap, or even smile at her, simply because you knew it wasn't what you wanted, but what she wanted. She wanted you to kiss her, wanted you to sit on her lap and wanted you to smile at her.
And all these feelings that cooked in you at the same time, the forced love for Mina and at the same time the hate because she was so selfish, let you get tired and pulled you down into a deep hole.
But you were a robot, you couldn't feel anything.
------------------------
"You should fucking stop coking while you're working on her", hissed Mina, staring into the stupid faces of Jeff and Mutt.
"She should be perfect, do you understand that?"
"Calm down", Mutt mutturd, raising both hands as Jeff swept the rest of the cocaine off the table. The fine powder fell like snow on the floor and the fact that these drugs were now on the white floor made Mina even more angry.
"We're the best at this and we know that if she doesn't turn out perfect, you'll probably kill us," Jeff explained with a smug grin on his ugly face.
"It's better for you if you know," Mina growled, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"How far are you?"
"So," Jeff got up bored to go to his project.
"All we have to do is insert her face and load your script from her hard drive and then we're done."
Mina's gaze wandered to the 3D printer Jeff was pointing to. Inside was the mask of a face ... your face. It was her eyes staring at some point, the same blush of her cheeks on yours, as was the gentle curve of your lips as hers.
"May I ..?" Mina asked and held out her hand for the mask. Jeff shrugged.
"Do what you want, but then bring the mask with you to her body, then we can finish it off."
The man turned to go to the computer next to the body on the table.
"Meanwhile I'll be loading your script on her hard drive", he called afterwards, but Miss Venable no longer listened to him. Her attention was fully focused on the mask, which she had carefully removed from the printer.
The face looked almost dead in her hands as not a single facial muscle was tense and yet Miss Venable could already tell that you were exactly as she had imagined. Just like she remembered Y / N.
Miss Venable stepped away from the 3D printer to walk past Jeff to your body.
She took off her leather gloves before running her fingers over the exposed skin of your arm. It was fascinating how much the rubber felt like real skin. It wasn't the first time, that she saw the result of your body, but it always fascinated her.
Her gaze wandered to your head and she was startled, when she saw directly in your head on the hard drive, that was connected to Jeff's computer by a black cable.
"And she won't ask any questions?" She asked, turning to Jeff.
"Nope," said Mutt, who stood with his arms folded next to his colleague to stare at the computer.
"I took the liberty of reading your script and apart from all the crazy sex you wrote down there, it seems to be very verbose."
Mina's eyes narrowed at Mutt's words and she bit the inside of her cheek to swallow all the insults that came into her mind. This script had been private.
On the other hand, she was tired of waiting for you and just wanted it to be over as soon as possible and that she could finally have you after waiting so many years.
"Okay, this is what we got," Jeff began as he got up from the computer and walked over to your body to pull the cable out of your head.
"Y / N will think, she was here to pick you up from work and then she would have passed out for whatever reason. So she won't wonder why she is here. Well, you know, she thinks that you've been together for a few years, so you have to play along right away. "
"I've spent so many years preparing for this moment," Mina hissed as she watched Jeff insert the face into your body.
And she was right, for years she had lived in her house like a second person was living with her. She had bought Y / N's size clothes, her make-up, her perfume, the books she liked ... Someone would have called it madness, but to her it was confidence. Just because she knew she'd have you one day. And today she could finally take you home with her.
"We're ready," Jeff said, turning to Mutt.
"You can power her up."
"Wait," Mina interrupted while she stared down into your blank face. Your eyes were closed and now it almost looked like you were sleeping.
"I want to be alone with her, when she wakes up."
"B-but what if something doesn't work?"
"It will work."
"Your decision", Jeff mumbled and went to Mutt to leave the room with him.
"Oh and Miss Venable, you know, that telling her about your her identity wouldn't be the best idea."
"She will never know, I'll make sure", Mina replied and went to the computer to switch you on. As quickly as she could, she came back to the table you were lying on, staring expectantly into your face.
And then you came to life.
First your eyes opened and Mina saw you blink a few times confused at the bright ceiling lamp.
"What's up, honey?" You asked her with a frown, but Mina couldn't answer. You looked so damn real, just like her.
"Are you okay?", You grinned crookedly while you sat up.
Your smile, the slightly curved eyebrows and your lively eyes, it was perfect.
"I- I am just happy that you're awake again," Mina finally managed to stutter.
"Naww you were worried about me? You're cute," you muttered, reaching for her hands.
"Can we go home now?"
Mina nodded slowly while she stared into the loving glitter eyes.
You were perfect
Wilhemina opened her eyes. The image of your sparkling eyes was still buzzing around in her head while she stared at the ceiling of your bedroom. Damn it, how many weeks had you not looked at her like that?
Miss Venable was usually not one to wake up at night, but since you knew what you really were, she slept badly and at night dreamed of the time when you didn't know and you were both happy. In addition, the weight of your head was missing on her chest..Your arm wrapped around her waist and the locks of hair that usually tickled her face.
It was almost impossible to sleep like this. She just needed to feel like you belonged to her. How many times had Miss Venable dreamed of Y/N in Jonathan's arms one night and then woke up only to see, that you were as close to her as you could possibly be?
And since you knew it, you just lay next to her in bed, curled up in yourself and felt worlds away from Mina. She was sure you were toying with the idea of ​​sleeping in the guest room. But you could never do that, because that's how she programmed you. You wanted to be with her.
Mina turned her head to the side to see you. You lay on your back next to her and stared out the window with glassy eyes. Lost, thought Miss Venable.
"Why are you awake?" She asked softly and grabbed your hand, which was on your chest.
"I can't sleep"you replied dryly without looking at her.
I don't need to sleep, I'm a fucking robot Wilhemina.
"Do you want to read? Uhm- We haven't read together in ages," she asked and began to run her thumb over the back of your hand.
You just shook your head before turning to her and looking at her with such a pain in your eyes, that she wanted to cry.
"I'm not real, Mina," you said in a thick voice as tears came out of your eyes. You reached your other hand to your face to wipe away the tears.
"These tears are not real."
"That is not true." Mina whispered and took your other hand as well.
"You are here and you are real."
"I'm not even alive. I'm just a dead thing made of cables, I live as much as your computer does."
"Don't say something like that.", Mina mumbled reaching behind her to turn on the bedside lamp. She actually wanted to say something, but when she turned back to you, her eyes fell on the small bruises on your arm.
"What the hell, Y / N", she scolded in horror and ran her fingers over the dark spots.
"Oh, it's not that bad," you said quickly as you pulled your arm away.
"It's actually quite interesting, you know, when we were in the office to fix my hand, Mutt explained to me that I have certain sensors under this rubber layer, that make me think I'm feeling pain. And how my skin changes color when I injure myself..you know, its really cool"
Mina looked at you disturbed, while you explained to her factually how interesting you found that.
"Mutt sent me the plans for my body too," you continued, staring thoughtfully at your forearm.
"It's so fascinating to see how my body digests food or how my emotions work."
"Why are you in contact with this idiot?", Mina frowned.
"Because I wanted to know how I work..I also noticed that I can't get any older and it's kind of funny."
"Funny", Mina repeated, planning a thousand ways in her head, how she would kill Mutt.
----------------
"You fucking idiot," she hissed the next day as she hobbled into Jeff and Mutt's office.
"How dare you even think you have the right to clear Y / N?"
"I thought, it would be good, after she found out everything," Mutt muttered without looking up from his computer.
"Oh yeah?", Mina's eyes sparkled with anger.
"And I thought, we said,  it would be best if she didn't know."
"I understand why he gave her the plans," Jeff interjected.
"Who the hell asked you ??", Mina spat and Jeff shrugged.
"I'm just saying, that I think it's better for her. You want her to be happy and I think that's only possible, if she knows who she is."
"Oh no," Mina shook her head. "I want her to be like Y / N again and unfortunately that won't work if you explain how her robot body works. You could have sent her the script right away."
"Who knows, maybe I'll do that too," Mutt mumbled and looked enviously at Jeff, who was already coking again. "She deserves to know everything."
"You won't do anything like that," Mina growled dangerously.
"You both still work for me and what I do with my girlfriend is my decision".
With that she turned to walk out of the office and eventually out of the building. She just wanted to go home, but at the same time she knew that you and not Y / N would be waiting for her there.
"I'm home princess", she called out loud as she always did when she came home and like the weeks before she got no answer from you. Mina sighed as she hung her jacket on the stand. She hobbled into the bedroom and saw you the night before, just lying there and staring out the window. You hadn't gone to work in the past few weeks, it felt kind of pointless.
"How was your day, princess?" Asked your girlfriend, who was lost in the doorway and tried to get you to talk somehow.
"Good," you said curtly. "You didn't want to tell me how long I've been around, but I think I figured it out today."
Mina's breath caught.
"Did Mutt tell you that too?"
"Nope," you mumbled. "It was me alone. Well, I noticed that based on what I thought I knew, we've been living together for 4 years, but there are only pictures of the last two years, so I think, I'm 2 years old. Somehow that sounds funny, doesn't it? You're dating a two year old. "
For a few seconds, Mina just stared at you. You were right, you were two years old.
"When will you finally get back to normal," she finally mumbled and stepped outthe door frame to sit on the bed. You snorted in annoyance and shook your head as you sat up.
"Define normal, Mina."
"When will you talk to me again? When will you kiss me again? Will you sit on my lap or at least smile at me?" She screamed, making you wince at her volume.
"You treat me like I did something wrong."
"Sorry, but do you find it normal to live with someone, who is actually dead and looks like your 'big love'?" You yelled back.
"It was normal until you knew it and now you pretend there was something wrong with it," Mina stared at you in disbelief, as if she didn't understand how fucked up these facts actually were.
"You could at least have made me unique with a will of my own .. I could have loved you anyway and if I had decided it myself, that's actually how it works," you spat as you leaned against the headboard.
"Then you wouldn't have been like her," Mina replied dryly and you just rolled your eyes.
"So what?".
"So what ?!", Mina repeated angrily.
"Maybe because the only person I love is her and not you?"
Your eyes widened at her words.
"You- you are insane, Mina," you stuttered and got up to walk out of the room. And you would have loved to leave, but you were a human boomerang, no matter how far away you went, you would keep coming back to her. Because that's how she programmed you.
----------------------
A few days went by and you thought a lot about the fact, that she had told you in the face, that she didn't love you but this woman. And you started to hate it all. You hated Mina for her incredible selfishness. You hated yourself for being completely at the mercy of her because she programmed you that way and you hated Y / N (although you were actually Y / N, only in lesbian and metal) because Mina loved her and not you.
You knew, that Mina regretted telling you that, at least she tried to apologize to you later, but you ignored her.
In your eyes, what Mina felt was no longer love, but madness. And if you hadn't hated Y / N, you would probably have prayed for her, that Mina wouldn't have the idea of ​​kidnapping her. Probably the next step on the insane scale. First Y / N had decided on Jonathan and then the stupid robot broke, so Mina was only left with kidnapping as a way out.
You really did your best to understand her behavior, but you just couldn't. Okay, well ... you were just a stupid robot and you only knew empathy from Mina's script.
"Well," you began when you came into her working space on Wednesday afternoon and sat across from her at the desk.
"I've thought of something."
That was the first time in days that you spoke to her without being asked.
You had actually decided to ignore her, until it was enough for her and she decided to leave you. However, the human part of you (Mina's ugly script) thought it would be fair to at least give her the opportunity to explain to you why she was the way she was.
Mina looked up from her laptop and smiled gently at you.
"Anything you want, princess".
You could hear the relief in her voice and you knew she was probably glad you spoke to her again.
And to be honest, you liked that situation. The fact, that she was so eager to talk to you again gave you an incredible feeling of power.
Usually you played by her rules and now you had the reins in hand.
You crossed your arms over your chest and looked at her for a few seconds with narrowed eyes. Despair literally glittered in her eyes and you couldn't help but enjoy this moment.
"I want to get to know Y / N", you finally said and watched as her brown eyes widened.
"You can't be serious," she whispered in disbelief.
"I am absolutely serious."
You shrugged your shoulders.
"You want me to get 'normal' again, but for that to happen, I have to understand you first, and here we are."
"But- ..", Mina started and then broke off herself. This stunned look sparked another war in you.
One side wanted to love her and tell her the idea was stupid, while the other side of you hated her profoundly.
"I hope you are aware, that this is not possible," she said quietly.
"And why not? Because then she finds out that you are a psychopath? This is your problem and not mine."
"Y / N, I can't do this," she mumbled, always seeing youstill horrified.
"I can dress up or something," you replied and immediately hated yourself for your willingness to compromise.
Mina shook her head.
"That's impossible Y / N ... your voice even sounds like hers."
"Nobody pays attention to the voice."
"Jonathan would notice," Mina said, pressing her lips together.
"Jonathan?" You repeated, confused, and raised an eyebrow.
"Her Husband," she mumbled softly.
"And why should your husband come with her, when I just want to see her?"
"He does not like me."
"And why should you come with me, when I want to see her?"
"Oh Y / N, come on", Mina rolled her eyes. "Do you really think, I'm so stupid and leave you alone with her? No way."
You snorted in annoyance and shook your head as you stood up.
"It was clear that you wanted to be in control of that too," you muttered, turning to walk out of the room.
"I'll leave the decision to you, Mina, but don't expect me to come back to you if you don't even give me the opportunity to understand you."
----------------------
And Mina actually didn't seem to have given up hope, when she told you on the same day, ,that she would agree to your request.
It was maybe a bit ridiculous to dress up because of the whole thing, but otherwise Mina would not have agreed and you also wanted to spare Y / N, what had happened to you the last few weeks. By being basically Y / N, you knew exactly what it would feel like for her to find out the truth about you.
"So .. what do you think?" You asked when you walked into the hallway to Mina, who was already waiting.
Mina looked you up and down critically.
You had to do your best not to look like yourself, or rather not to look like her.
Dyed hair, different make-up, more conspicuous clothing and jewelry.
"I don't like it," Mina muttered and you rolled your eyes.
"It's not about whether you like it, it's about whether I look like her."
Mina shook her head.
"You definitely don't do that and I still think it's ugly."
"Well, maybe I should always dress like this now," you muttered as you stepped forward to leave the house.
During the drive to the café, Mina explained her rules to you and that she would interrupt the whole thing immediately if you didn't follow them.
But you didn't listen to her at all. In your mind you were with Y / N and the life that was actually intended for you and it annoyed you, that Mina was so addicted to control.
"So, behave, understand?" She finished her sermon as she parked the car.
"Do I have any other choice? Otherwise you would probably take me to the junkyard," you joked and climbed out of the car, only for Mina to come to you and take her hand in yours. You wanted to push her away, her behavior was disgusting, but instead you gave her a warm smile and pressed a quick kiss on her cheek.
You knew exactly how much that would hurt her.
Mina pulled you into the overcrowded café and despite the many people you immediately discovered the young couple, who were sitting at one of the back tables.
Y / N, who had a child on her lap and her husband Jonathan.
Shit, shot through your head. They look so happy ..
You felt Mina's grip on your hand tighten a little, and if your bones weren't made of steel, you would have been afraid, Mina would break your hand. As you both approached the table, your eyes were glued to Y / N. In fact, she looked exactly like you, the only difference being that her hair was a little longer than yours. She moved like you, had the same posture as you and wore the same innocent smile on her face as you always did.
And as much as you loathe Mina, you had to give her one thing: she had done an excellent job designing you and you finally understood, what she always meant when she told you, that you were perfect.
She could have shown you a photo of Y / N and you would have been 100% sure that it was you.
"Oh Mina, hi", Y / N squeaked excitedly and got up from her seat when she saw Mina and you and you couldn't help but grin. Stupid thing.
"Hello Y / N," Mina mumbled when Y / N came and hugged her.
"I'm Y / N," Y / N said to you with a polite smile after letting go of Mina.
"And this is my husband Jonathan and our daughter Emily."
Your gaze wandered to the child who paid you no attention and to Jonathan who smiled crookedly.
"Uhm Y / N, that's my girlfriend Laura", Mina stammered and you looked at her confused. Laura?
"Hi," you mumbled tersely, trying to bring a smile to your face.
You watched Y / N turn away from you againe to sit next to your husband and put the child back on your lap.
"God, I'm so glad, that we can meet," Y / N said excitedly as Mina and you sat down (Mina across from Y / N while you sat down across from her annoyed husband).
"You know, I was really sad when you said a few weeks ago you weren't going to our college meeting .. I missed you, Mina."
You knew how much Y / N's words would hurt Mina and suddenly you found the fact, that you were sitting with her in this cafe with the real Y / N and her great life more than just amazing. And you knew that Mina made herself very vulnerable at that moment, which was actually a rarity.
"You know, Mina, I was really happy for you when you told me that you had a girlfriend," Y / N said while she stared at you curiously. Holy shit.
"How did you meet?"
"Uhm she-" Mina began, but you interrupted her.
"Let me tell her, honey."
You grabbed Mina's hand, that was on the table and crossed her fingers with yours.
"Well, as you know, Mina works in this robot company. And because Mina is not stupid, she had the great idea to create a human robot that exactly meets her ideas, who wouldn't do that if you were CEO of this company? And unfortunately her ideas looked exactly like me and in front of you sits the end result of her experiment and thats our lovestory. "
Y / N and Jonathan stared at you in confusion and you could hear Mina holding her breath. You held this tension for a few seconds before you laughed out loud.
"Oh my god, guys..that was a joke", you laughed and immediately the looks of the others relaxed again. Mina cleared her throat only to growl a quiet "not funny".
"So you know, I work in a bookstore and she was my customer back then. Love at first sight and that shit. And then we started dating," you explained and looked at Mina lovingly from the side. Disgusting.
You heard Y / N squeak softly next to Jonathan and you wondered if you were as annoying as she was.
"Thats so cute," she said. "And how long have you been together?"
"4 years", Mina muttered and you hummed in agreement.
"I'm happy for you," said Y / N and looked back and forth between you and Mina, smiling.
"Jonathan and I have known each other since college, as Mina must have told you."
"Oh yeah," you said, staring at the child playing in Y / N's lap. It looked just like her, and who knows, maybe it was just a robot?
"Mina told me a lot about you, unfortunately a little late. Well, whatever, what are you two doing?"
"We're both mechanics and work in rocket construction," Y / N explained and Jonathan just nodded.
"You know, Jonathan is currently working with other mechanics on a rocket that will go to Mars."
Y / N gave Jonathan a proud look.
"Oh wow, that's so cool," you said with mock admiration as you stared at Jonathan with bright eyes.
"You know, Mina's work is really boring, but rocket building? That is so interesting, tell me more about your work, jonathan."
The man in front of you looked at you confused as you cocked your head and smiled sweetly at him.
"Uhm, so I work in a team with 14 other mechanics," he explained bored and crossed his arms over his chest. "And we plan to finish the whole project within the next two years."
"And should the rocket be for humans?" You asked as you put your hand on his arm to remove a lint that didn't exist. Beside you, you could feel Mina squeeze your hand tight and you knew, that she hated to see you obviously flirting with the man.
Jonathan cleared his throat and pulled his arms apart again so that you had to remove your hand again.
"This rocket is supposed to be for robots," he muttered, looking at his wife, who was sitting next to him, smiling gently.
"Oh, did you hear Mina? Robots?" You said as you turned to Mina to look at her with shining eyes.
"Maybe I should report to NASA, I would be the perfect astronaut for this mission".
You looked back at Y / N and Jonathan, who obviously didn't know what to make of your statement again. You grinned cheekily when you put your hand on Jonathans again.
"I understand, that all of the robot comments might sound a bit confusing, but you have to know, that Mina has some really weird fetishes."
------------
"What the hell was that supposed to be?" Scolded Mina after the two of you had reentered your house. You turned to her and shrugged your shoulders.
"I don't know what you mean, honey," you said with an innocent smile on your face as you approached her passed to enter the living room. Mina watched you angrily as you let yourself fall on the sofa to stare indifferently out of the window.
"Those stupid robot comments?" She hissed angrily.
"And then the disgusting way you stared at Jonathan with .."
You snorted in annoyance.
"Of course it is that thing that bothers you".
"Yes, it bothers me because you know that I hate him", Mina hissed and hobbled into the room to stand in front of you.
"You fucking belong to me Y / N .."
"Of course I'm yours," you mumbled sadly and while you were still looking out the window, you could feel her angry eyes digging into your skin. You thought back to the previous afternoon. Y / N had started talking about their perfect life in response to your questions. Her and Jonathan's career, and then cute Emily, who had been sitting at the table the whole time playing with a teddy bear. You noticed, that as a stupid robot you could probably never have children and you couldn't help but feel envy for this woman and again there was this hate for Mina.
"Okay, take that off," Mina suddenly said in a sharp voice. You looked at her confused and blinked a few times.
"Please what-?"
"Take. That. Off.", She repeated, growling, while her eyes wandered over your body. "This makeup, the jewelry and these clothes, that's not you. And I want you .. now"
"Oh no ... I definitely won't do that," you breathed as you stood up.
"I told you, I didn't want anything physical from you until things were cleared up."
"I waited a long time Y / N and nothing happened, so take this shit off," Mina spat, staring at you impatiently.
"Leave me alone, Wilhemina," you muttered as you stepped past her to leave the room.
"You will come back immediately, Y / N", Mina suddenly shouted in a tone that was strange to you and immediately made you jump. Her voice suddenly sounded so shrill that it gave goose bumps over your body.
You turned around automatically to go back to the living room, where Mina was still angry and looking at you expectantly.
"I want you to take your clothes off," she said sharply, and you just couldn't argue. There was that sound in her voice that she had never yelled at you with, even though you had argued a lot in the past few weeks.
"Now, Y / N," she hissed loudly before she hit the floor with her stick and you immediately began to take off all the jewelry, that you had only been wearing to not look like Y / N. You grabbed an unused kleenex, that was lying on the living room table to wipe the lipstick off your lips. Your fingers carefully removed the lashes, that you had placed on your eyelashes. Your eyes were still on Mina, who had meanwhile sat down on the sofa and watched your every move. You stood in front of her, undecided after throwing the handkerchief with your lipstick and lashes on the table.
"I want you to sit on my lap," said Mina and suddenly you understood why you were actually doing what she wanted. 
“I want.”
Damn robot.
You carefully climbed onto her lap and stared sadly into her brown eyes, which were dark with lust.
"Good girl," she hummed, sending warmth through your whole body.
"Its that what you want, isn't it? Be my good girl?"
You looked down at her with glassy eyes before you nodded.
Immediately her hands began to wander over your body and you knew that you had failed.
You had never hated yourself and your stupid body as much as you had for the next few hours. As warm tears of frustration ran down your face, you moaned her name like a whore. It was fascinating how your body reacted to her touch, you wanted her so bad, simply because she programmed you that way.
With that she had won.
You had fought her for 3 weeks, only to end up in bed with her again. You hated her for it and you hated yourself and still you let her fuck you so senselessly.
When you found yourself in your bed a few hours later and felt her naked body pressed against yours, you felt more terrible than ever. Mina had her arms wrapped tightly around you and you could feel her breath on your neck. It was all disgusting and you noticed how it got too much.
You carefully freed yourself from her iron grip to go quietly from your bedroom into the bathroom. You turn on the light and stand in front of the mirror to examine your naked body. Disgusting.
Your face looked completely tearful, with a swollen lower lip that she had a few hours agohad eyes.
Your body was covered with small bruises and the prints of her fingernails and suddenly you could feel her hands running over your body again. It was electrifying.
You hated this picture in front of you. You were only there to be hers. To do what she wanted. And there was nothing you could do about it.
Your fingers carefully traced her markings. None of this was real. Your skin was some kind of rubber that only discolored. An illusion to hide your cables. And you've had enough of this human shell, this illusion. You were a robot and you looked like a human, you acted like a human and that didn't make any sense. You finally wanted to know who or rather what you were. Your eyes wandered from your reflection in the mirror to the sink and the small nail scissors stabbed your eyes.
The whole thing was idiotic, but you couldn't help but hold out your trembling hand for it.
----------------
A few minutes after you got out of bed, Mina woke up too. The lack of warmth in your body was missing, as was your weight in her arms. For a brief moment she was afraid, that you would finally have run away, but then it occurred to her, that you couldn't run away, that's how she had programmed you. Still, she had the feeling that something was wrong.
Mina sat up to grab her dressing gown, which she pulled over her naked body, and then hobbled out of the bedroom into the hallway to look for you. She didn't have to look far as the light shone from the open bathroom and she saw you leaning over the sink.
"Princess?" She asked softly and put a hand on your bare shoulder. You winced at her touch as you turned and revealed to Mina what you had done. Mina let out a shocked scream and stared in horror at your slashed arm, which revealed all the cables and your metal bones.
"What the fuck are you doing ?!", She screamed angrily as she grabbed your arm.
"I- I just wanted to see my real body," you stuttered and hid the nail scissors behind your back.
"Don't you see that you are destroying everything?", Mina spat and looked at you hurt.
"You're the one who breaks everything."
"Mina, please," you mumbled and pulled your open arm back again.
"I just want you to be normal again," she breathed and felt tears come out of her eyes. You shook your head slowly.
"We already had this conversation, I'm not going back to normal, you have to understand."
"Oh I understand it now".
Mina looked at you thoughtfully for a moment before continuing.
"Get dressed."
"It's 5 am," you said and watched in confusion as Mina turned around to go back to your bedroom from the bathroom.
"You understood me, Y / N", Mina mumbled and heard how you ran after her angrily.
"Make up your mind Mina," you hissed as you walked past her to your closet. "Before you wanted me to take my clothes off, just so you would tell me now to get dressed again."
"You can also accompany me to my office naked," Mina hummed, who started to get dressed. You spun around and stared at her in confusion.
"You want us to go to your office?"
"Exactly".
"Forget it," you snorted and shook your head.
"I won't do that shit. You can't-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Shouted Mina.
"I want us to go to my office and you will come with me, do you understand me?"
She glared at you and you nodded quickly.
"Good," she hissed. "Now damn it, get dressed and shut up."
----------
Mina was incredibly nervous when she drove to her office. She didn't really know what she wanted there herself.
She wanted you to go back to normal, but you didn't go back to normal. She wanted you to be Y / N again, but you weren't. Mina could feel that you were scared when you sat silently next to her in the car without moving. But she didn't care, earlier she might have calmed you down, but earlier you were still like Y / N.
Mina parked the car in the company's parking lot before opening the door for you to get out. Without a word, she ran through the building, clutching your wrist with her free hand. What hadn't been cut open. She stomped angrily into the office of Jeff and Mutt, who were bent over the table again to coke.
"Look Mutt, Venny joins the chatroom," grinned Mutt as he lifted his head from the table and recognized Miss Venable.
"What gives us the honor?"
Mina put her hand on your back and pushed you forward.
"She is broken," she croaked. "She doesn't work anymore .."
"So what should we do now?" Asked Jeff, as he got up and walked over to you to look at your cut arm.
"I want you to fix her, she should be normal," Mina hissed and felt tears sting in her eyes again.
"Otherwise replace her if you have to, I don't want her if she is like that."
Mina looked sadly into your fearful eyes. There was nothing left of the loving glint she'd seen when you smiled at her the first time. You weren't like Y / N and as long as you weren't like her, she didn't want you. Damn robot.
Sandman, I'm so alone Don't have nobody to call my own Please turn on your magic beam Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
114 notes · View notes
kurt-nightcrawler · 3 years
Text
How to know if the lost girls have a crush on you
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐩! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫
Warnings: mentions of drug use and language
Word Count: 1.9k
A/N: I know requests aren’t open jddndjdj but I enjoy writing for the lost girls so enjoy!!
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Darcy
Darcy is a sucker for romance
She’s a bit shy and awkward, despite her semi-scary looking demeanor 
(She’s 6’0 and has resting bitch face)
Darcy isn’t going to be super obvious or up-front about her feelings at first though
It will be the cliche “we’ve been friends for 10 years and everyone knows we like each other except us” 
Darcy will always have a hand on you. She wants to feel your presence 
subtle touches, little “pinky holding” or her playing with strands of your hair
Her poking any freckles you have when she first discovers them
You’re one of the few people she let’s mess with her hair. Which is a telling sign
“Your hair looks nice Darce” “thanks, (Y/N) did it” “oh worm? 👀” 
She loves having you run your hands through her hair, it soothes her
Sometimes, if you can’t make it to the cave— bad weather, car trouble, etc.— shell come over and you guys watch a movie together
Darcy’s got an extensive tape collection of rom-coms, so she’ll pop one into the tv and snuggle under covers with you
She’s probably going to ask to borrow your clothes if she’s “really cold” since she exclusively wears sports bras and her leather jacket
Also she likes that your sweaters and sweatshirts smell like you 
But you’ll definitely have to have been friends for awhile before she even CONSIDERS telling you how she feels
“I live forever. I have to be sure about my feelings and what if I get rejected?” “Anyone who rejects you is stupid. Almost stupid as Michelle—“ “HEY!” 
But overtime she’ll try to make things more obvious— to the point where Pauline and Marcella are teasing you both and then she kind of HAS to come clean
But you find it sweet! 
And a bit shocking, someone as powerful and strong and amazing and gorgeous as her, has feelings for YOU??? damn okay babe 
Dominique 
Dom is going to be a bit cold at first
It’s not necessarily intentional, but she just has this aura of mystery around her
Those icy blue eyes that peer into your soul
And anyway she wants to get to know what you like and if you like her
If not, she can’t exactly force you 
Cough cough Michelle cough cough
 Anyway, Dominique will try to learn about the things you like so you have something to talk about
Even if they aren’t her cup of tea. She’s a good listener and likes seeing your face light up and you so passionate about a subject/hobby
Dom is going to steal buy you things she thinks you’d like
“You said you liked cherry chapstick. I got you some.” “I got you some chips and your favorite soda in case you’re hungry” “Here. I saw this giant care bear and thought of you.”
It’s sweet, but you feel a bit flustered and embarrassed, not giving her anything in return
“Seeing you smile is enough, Kitten”
Speaking of! Pet names! 
Dominique finds using your full/actual name too personal
So if you have a nickname she’ll use it. If not she’s given you pet names— most notable are Kitten and Pumpkin
She’s not big on physical touch but sometimes she’ll put the idea of it into your mind so you want it
She won’t manipulate you, but she wants you to come to her. She’s had too many bad experiences where she confessed first, and she doesn’t want another one
So when you do finally confess to her she’s all smug and knowing
“I um… I really like you… and uh well—“ “I know.” “Oh…” “I like you too.”  “Oh!”
 Marcella
She’s going to be playful and flirty with you but quick to deny anything the other girls accuse her of
“No I don’t have feelings for (Y/N)! Shut up!” “Haha you so do!”
She’s rowdy and high energy but also more quiet than Pauline
So she’s not going to just blurt it out or recite sonnets for you
Instead she’ll give you a patch she was going to put on her jacket. Or make you a cool little pin
She’ll constantly hype you up if you’re wanting to try new fashion styles or wear something out of your comfort zone
“You look amazing! Better than any girl out on the boardwalk” “You really think so?” “I would never lie to you. Honest.” 
She’ll let you braid her hair and stick all kinds of colorful little clips and barrettes in her curls 
(I know they weren’t popular until the 90s but imagining covering her hair in hundreds of little butterfly clips!) 
Honestly she’ll be like those movie scenes where “do you like it?” *it’s hideous* “if not you don’t have to wear it!” “No. I’m never taking it off.” 
She asks you to help care for her pigeons so you guys can bond together more
“Does Pauline or Sebastian usually help you feed them?” “No. No one does. I don’t let them.” “Oh…”
If someone upsets you she's ready to go and have them as her meal for the night
Sometimes you have to stop her
“Look! Cathy from my work is a total bitch but you can’t kill her! I won’t have anyone to cover my shift tomorrow”
“Fine… You're lucky I love you”
“What?”
“What?” 
She’d probably accidentally tell you and then act like she has no idea what you could be talking about
“Well I like you too. But I dunno… Dom’s pretty cute too—“ 
“Oh that’s it!” She’s definitely smothering you in little kisses and tickling you, getting you say you’re sorry and say you think she’s the cutest
 Pauline
She’s just going to blurt it out point blank. 
Why wait? If Pauline likes someone, she likes someone! She may be immortal but she’s also immortally impatient 
She tells you she likes you so much you start to think she’s kidding
But she’s not! 
She’ll bring you baked goods edibles and take you out to concerts and maybe steal your shoelace to wear on her wrist
Sometimes you’ll have little “sleepovers” and you’ll hangout at the cave. Usually this means sharing a joint and watching her play songs on her guitar
She’s definitely not exclusively playing romantic songs for you
One night she’ll get high and just pour her heart out to you
“And I think you’re one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a lot of people, babe… And sure, I’m definitely a bit ditzy but I’m not completely stupid! I know you don’t believe me, but I really really like you! I think about you a lot and I hate when you have to leave right before the sun rises. And on nights you can’t hangout with us it’s so boring! We do the same things every night, but you always make them special. I really like you babe… I really really like you…”
She’ll wanna take you out on a little date to one of the small bands playing on the boardwalk and you’ll both dance together and she’ll be real giddy and excited and probably kiss you but it’s really messy and quick because she was just so wrapped up in the music! 
 Michelle
She’s really obvious
Like, staring at you with heart eyes when she first sees you out on the boardwalk
She’ll try to not-so-subtly follow you around. She’s not being creepy, but she just wants to admire your beauty 
She thinks she’ll never see you again
Imagine her surprise when she sees you again! 
“Told you! She probably lives around town” “Shut up Sam!” 
You’ll eventually confront her and ask what her deal is
“Oh! Uh, um, well, I just— I... like... your outfit?...” 
She’s bad at coming up with an alibi
“thanks. I get most of my clothes at the thrift store away from the boardwalk. Wanna join sometime?” “Uh yeah! Sounds good!” 
She’s going to do some dumb things to impress you— racing on her bike, getting more piercings, dressing in lots of leather, offering to buy you food— but you think it’s cute
She’ll follow you around like a lost puppy at times, partially cause she’s new in town
Sam likes you though!
When you and Michelle hangout, you’ve usally got the braincell and you don’t tease Sam for liking comics so much
“No Samantha, I’m not taking you to the comic shop” “Aww Sammy I will!” “Thanks (Y/N)! You’re the best”
Honestly you knew the whole time she liked you! You had moments of doubt but she’s always so obvious about it. Once you even swore she drooled over you
A bit gross, but you were also eating ice cream so…
Visiting her at work! She’s a lifeguard down at the beach! She’s definitely trying to get you visit her ;) and go swim and sunbathe ;) maybe have her “perform cpr” on you ;)
But you’d still have to make the first move if you wanted it to go any further 
 Sebastian 
He’s got this aura of mystery around him 
But he’ll steal glances if he spots you in the crowd, thinking you’re cute
The lost girls will want him to bring you back to the cave
He will, but not for awhile
It will be small one on one hangouts and dancing together on the boardwalk 
Walking in and out of shops, saying you’ll buy things but you never will
Sebastian will offer to pierce your ears and paint your nails 
Night swimming together! 
Sebastian definitely has really floral swim trunks, almost like tacky dad Hawaiian shirt print 
He’ll do the thing where he’s under water for a long time and then jump up and scare you
Once you meet the girls you’re all playing games together like sharks and minnows, chicken
Sebastian always wants to team up with you though. Even if teams aren’t a part of the game
He likes to read. He’ll spend a good amount of time at the bookstore on the boardwalk, staying there for hours reading books, and leaving with a whole stack
If YOU have a book he wants to read/borrow he will definitely maybe leave a little sticky note in it as a thank you
“thank you! ur sweet :D <3” 
Laura will love you!! 
She’s very close to Sebastian and everyone thinks they’re siblings, and they most definitely have the dynamic 
So if Laura likes you, Sebastian will definitely like you. I mean, he already does, Laura just kind of seals the deal, ya know?
Dominique and Pauline will be the most blunt about Sebastian’s feelings for you
“He’s like Darcy. Not necessarily the most obvious but you can tell” 
“It’s so obvious. He like, talks about you all the time when you aren’t around and he’s got this real love sick look in his eyes”
Dominique is going to interrogate you to see if you’re “worthy” or not of Sebastian. 
“Sebastian is my— our friend— like a brother almost. Hurt him and I will kill you :) that is a promise” 
Once she deems you good enough she’s going to push Seb into asking you out. “You guys already go on enough ‘dates’ just make it official” “no” “-_-“ “hhh fine”
Sebastian is going to be really simple with it but also kind of coy and shy. He’s nervous. He’s much rather you asked him out or confessed your feelings but he’s willing to go first. He finds himself trying to compete and keep up with the girls. He’s the only boy, and while it may not matter he doesn’t want to seem weak and pathetic while they’re big strong vampires
Anyway once he tells you how he feels he’s all red in the face and nervous!! Poor boy
He’ll constantly ask to kiss you all the time, worried maybe you don’t want him to but you’re always reassuring “yes, Seb. you can have a kiss” “thank you” 
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On Oases
An excerpt from Memoirs of a Flesh Eater, never published
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I’ve talked a lot about the importance of safe places, of how important it is for us to be able to be our true selves. I’ve talked about how our families and the Society provide us those spaces, but I haven’t really talked about those spaces themselves yet, or how they operate. I call them oases. Kestrel calls me dramatic. She needs to lighten up {Editing Note: Does that sound funny or mean?}. As ever, though, I’m an anthropologist, and I need my definitions if I’m going to explain things clearly, so oases is what I’m going to keep calling them.
While I’m being scientific, indulge me in some definitions. An oasis is any place run by ghouls that caters to ghoulish needs or wants. I’ll subdivide those further into open oases and closed oases.
{Editing Note: As far as I know, I’m the first person to formally classify this stuff. Am I naming them right? If this book is as successful as I want it to be, these terms are going to be used forever. Should I stick my last name on one of these? Would that be egotistical?}
Whatever you first think of when you hear “safe place” or “ghoul haven” or whatever, you’re probably thinking of a closed oasis. A closed oasis is a place for ghouls and ghouls only. No humans allowed, and usually no ghouls that haven’t been invited either, given our usual security concerns. These places are usually specifically social spaces, like bars or private clubs, places specifically designed for ghouls to unwind without having to keep our true natures hidden. These places are more varied than I’ve probably made them sound, to be clear. Like, I’ve been to an all-ghoul book club meeting before.
We were reading Dracula, in case you were wondering.
The closed oasis that I’m most familiar with is a members-only poker club, at least in name. Obviously I’m not going to name it here, but a lot more goes on there than poker. They keep a bit of flesh on hand, obviously, but it’s not really an eatery. The proprietor, Goji, has done a little of everything to hear him tell it. I know he’s a damn good card shark, and I don’t know if I actually believe that he was in an all-ghoul circus, but he can actually sword-swallow. And he’s a talented tattoo artist, if a little too willing to work on drunk teenagers. Scarlet’s Shakespeare tramp stamp is exceptional, but for some reason he doesn’t like it when we tell him that {Editing Note: That might actually be too much identifying information. I don’t think that’s a common tattoo}. Spatha, on the other hand, really likes showing off the sword he did for her. I kind of wish she’d gotten it in a less intimate spot, what with how eager she is to flash it.
{Editing Note: Clean that paragraph up. The fine line between relatable and rambling keeps eluding me.}
Other than that, Goji’s place has got some nice couches and beanbags, a pretty good tv, and even a few old arcade machines. It’s just a genuinely pleasant place to unwind. It even has a pretty decent bar. Given the rest of his clientele, I don’t think serving drinks to minors counts as much of a moral quandary for him. I do wish he’d cut Scorpio off sooner, though. He’s of age now, but he gets drunk fast, and when he gets drunk he gets weepy.
Goji’s an accepting guy, though, which is mostly a blessing. Being a ghoul doesn’t make us immune to human prejudices, so it’s doubly nice to get a break from the less instantly deadly kinds of othering. We’ve met a lot of interesting people at his place, a lot of ghouls from a lot of backgrounds with a lot of stories to tell and ideas to share. Not that I’m always entirely comfortable with what they have to say. One of the advantages of a closed oasis is that it gives ghouls a place to vent their frustrations with humans, which is important, but some of the venting from the ghouls less integrated into human society, like the Hunters, goes places that I’m not comfortable with. Even if it’s just hot air, I don’t like hearing about how much better things were when “humans were our cattle.” Especially not from people who choose to kill for their food.
{Editing Note: I don’t know if it’s safe to include that here. I want to present an accurate portrait of us, not an idealized one, but I haven’t even talked about Hunters as a group yet. That might be too much, too soon, too bluntly.}
Open oases, on the other hand, are an entirely different beast. Open oases cater to humans as well as ghouls. Obviously the humans don’t know that ghouls are part of the target clientele, and they aren’t places where we can typically be fully ourselves, but they have other advantages. Open restaurants or candy shops or bakeries give us places we can go with our human friends and not have to eat food that makes us sick. Open doctors can check our teeth and claws for problems, and they can check the rest of our bodies too, for that matter - we avoid normal doctors like the plague for reasons that I hope are obvious. I even know of a few open butchers, though I’ve never needed to go to one myself.
I have, however, spent a lot of time at one particular open oasis: my patron’s shop. She runs it as a small indie bookstore with a cute little cafe attached. The cafe will serve you flesh burgers or sandwiches if you know the right signal, which makes it a decent place to meet new ghouls discreetly. I know Yaga uses it to meet other influential ghouls that she considers dangerous, since it’s too public for them to start trouble. Other than that, the shop floor just operates like a normal book store. Yaga’s fond of her collection and she likes talking to customers and making recommendations.
It’s what’s off the sale floor that makes the bookstore special. In addition to the normal storage space, Yaga maintains guest bedrooms, which she lends out to any ghouls that need a place to lay low, or just to sleep. She’s had all sorts back there - lone fugitives, feral children, sometimes whole families waiting on some fake documents to be ready. She’s especially good at getting ghouls off the streets and integrated back into human society. Kestrel was living in one of those guest rooms when I first joined the household.
I met her the summer before I returned to public school - high school, specifically - and my mom and I were still in the early stages of integrating into the household. Yaga offered to watch me while my mom was at work, and she let me hang out in the bookstore and read whatever I wanted while she handled customers. My mom ended up having to work late, though, so Yaga kept me around for dinner, and introduced me to a girl who was staying with her for awhile. 
Kestrel’s about two years younger than me, we think, and her growth spurt ended up being more of a growth bump when it finally came, but even then she was tiny. She was also quiet, but I’d always wanted a younger sibling, so I didn’t let that deter me. I asked a lot of frankly insensitive questions. I wouldn’t get real answers to most of them until later, and the ones I did get aren’t really mine to share, but suffice it to say that she was a feral orphan before Yaga took her in. Yaga didn’t think she was ready to interact with the human general public unsupervised yet, but I promised to watch out for her like a really good big sister if she got to come hang out with me the next time I visited.
I didn’t get an answer that night, but when my mom dropped me off again a week later, Yaga went and got her. She didn’t really appreciate me trying to be her big sister, but she did want to be my friend. It was a little awkward at first, but I’ve always been pretty good at getting to know new people, and pretty soon she was joining me and Scarlet and Scorpio on our afternoon outings. Turns out she didn’t need the extra family anyway; Yaga formally adopted her a few years later. She’s still one of my best friends, and quiet or not, I swear she’s better adjusted than Scorpio.
Yaga isn’t the only patron out there using an open oasis as a halfway house. It’s not the most common thing in the world - it takes a certain kind of person and a fair few resources - but I think it might be the most valuable thing the oases do. No one needs a space to learn how to be themselves more than the ghouls who slip through the cracks. Kestrel is taking a gap year before she decides on college, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she takes over the shop once Yaga’s gone. I hope, one day, that I can help people like that too.
{Editing Note: I might just be paranoid, but I think that this draft makes it way too easy to find the bookshop, especially since Yaga’s masque isn’t exactly subtle. There can’t be that many indie bookstores/cafes owned by old Russian women with  much younger adopted daughters. I’ll need to do some serious rewrites.}
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