#things will probably slow down a little bit after i wrap up the next chapter

[mimicteruyo]

Yesterday: “I will literally never reach the end of this draft.”

Today: “...Hold on. I’m down to the final 10k.”

[seenoversundown]

For Death Or Glory : Chapter Eighteen

Jake Kiszka x Charlotte (Fem OC)

Warnings: Some vague spiritual mentions, VERY LIGHT spooky theme, yearning, pining (can you tell it's a jake chapter?) anxious themes, slightly tense conversation? (not an argument don't worry) fluff fluff fluff fluff, may cause butterflies, a lot of physical touch type of affection, and certainly important: Jake is the definition of 'if he wanted to, he would.'

Word Count: 6k 🤭 (couldn't stop yapping this chapter)

Summary: Jake has a cute little surprise for Charlotte, which is why he insisted on her spending the night.

Author's Note: FOLKS- this one is fucking cute. The words just kept flowing and I think we're at a point in the story where this is going to be a trend. (We're in the home stretch, which makes me want to cry, but also-there's just so much to say in the chapters, that I don't foresee them getting much shorter from here on out!) I can't wait to see how you feel at the end 🤭 ((I'm sorry in advance, don't yell at me))

Crystal - Stevie Nicks "Like the love that had finally, finally found me, Then I knew, In the crystalline knowledge of you."

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God, it’s early. 

I managed to carefully slide out of bed without her waking up, which was already difficult because I wanted nothing more than just to stay curled up around her. But I need to be awake for a little bit before I surprise her today.

She told me when she was upset that her best friend and she had a tradition of going to Salem for her birthday every year. She wasn’t super into the spiritual side of things, but she loves Halloween, and with her birthday only being a few days before, she’s a bit biased. 

Unfortunately, this year, they never made it, and my heart shattered watching her tell me that the funeral was just a week prior to her birthday. I’ve never wanted just to squeeze someone harder than her at that moment.  When I had gone and talked to Josh, I had asked if he minded covering the bar that night because she was so upset and I didn’t have the heart to just.. let her be alone after that. But I told him that I would stop by the bar before I came home so I could talk to him about today. Thankfully, he was happy to take care of everything for the day, with the help of Danny. 

I sip on coffee as I figure out what I’m going to wear for the day, assuming that she will probably look nicer than my typical outfits. I know it doesn’t really matter what I’m wearing, but I want to make sure she has a good day and that I can manage not to look homeless sometimes. 

Grabbing a few things from my closet quietly, I sneak back out of my room so she can sleep for as long as possible. I drop them on the couch, deciding to really just go for it today. 

I pull my hair back into a bun, stealing a little more of Josh’s shaving cream, it’s not super grown in, but I may as well. Taking the time to make sure my face is clean-shaven before waking her. Remembering the fact she said I looked cute on Facetime after I shaved reluctantly, but if this is what she prefers, then I don’t mind.  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

I sit on the bed next to her, just watching her sleep for a minute. She’s curled up with my pillow, which she must have stolen when I left the room. I don’t want to wake her up; she looks so comfortable. 

Softly, I run my hand down the back of her head, and she doesn’t flinch at all. I gently scratched her back, hoping that the contact would help, but still, she didn’t budge. 

I lean down, kissing her temple and then whispering. “Hey you,” into her. Pressing slow, soft kisses into the side of her face. 

“Mmm..” her sleepy little groan made me laugh. 

Peppering a few more kisses against her cheek, mumbling, “Goodmorning.”

It takes her a minute, but she finally opens her eyes slightly and looks up at me. 

I whisper, “There she is.” 

“Why are you up?” She mumbles, reaching her arms out to me. Wrapping her up in a hug, she tucks her little face into me. Maybe we can just stay like this instead. 

“You should get dressed and come with me. I have a few things I need to do,” I tell her, hoping she’ll not fight it. 

“How dressed are we talking?” 

I sit up a little to look at her, “Um.. we’ll be like.. in public.. Does that help?” 

She touches my face, ignoring my answer, “Did you just shave?” 

“Mhm,” I respond, choking back a laugh. “Come on, sleeping beauty, don’t get distracted.” 

”Your face is soft,” she says quietly, as she’s running her hand down my cheek and holding my chin. 

“Just for you,” I giggle before leaning down and kissing her. “I have coffee for you, too.” 

“What are you up to?” She squints at me; there’s no way she’s figured it out already. 

My eyebrows pull together, “What do you mean?” 

“You’re being extra sweet this morning..” her voice trailing off. 

“Am I not allowed to be nice to you?” I laugh. “I can be mean if you’d prefer.”

She laughed with me this time, “I can’t even imagine that.” 

“I don’t think I could be mean to you if I tried.” I would never. ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

While she’s getting herself together, I pull on the outfit I had picked out earlier. Cuffing the bottom of my pants so they sit nicely with the boots I’m about to grab. Am I hoping that she’ll think I look nice? Maybe. Opening the drawer of my nightstand, the few rings that I have and my watch sit there. I slide on one of the rings and decide to actually wear my watch today. Staring at myself in the mirror, I feel like I look kind of put together? I don’t think I could tell you the last time I tried this hard with an outfit. 

I’m sitting on the couch, just scrolling through emails, when I hear her walking out of the bathroom. I glance up from my phone as she walks over to me. 

Her voice was so low when she finally let out, “Okay, I’m ready.”

I take her in, her sweater tucked into a little plaid skirt, leaving her legs on display even if they’re covered by black tights. Even with a coat over it, she looks so good. I just quietly stand up, still looking at her but unable to form words. 

“Oh,” she squeaks, looking me up and down. “You look cute.” 

“Hah, thank you,” I can’t shake the nerves from my voice when I say it. “You–” I hesitate, not even knowing how to compliment her at the moment. 

“I’m what?” 

“You just look,” I start, glancing down at her again. “Wow.” 

She giggles at me as I struggle to find words, “Stop it!” 

I shake my head as if it’ll help me refocus. I wasn’t prepared for her to be able to look like this on a whim. 

“Alright, you, let’s go.”  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Once we’re in the car, I hand her my phone, letting her pick whatever for music. I had already put an address into my maps, just to at least get me to Salem– assuming that she would have something picked out by the time we got there. We hardly make it to the turnpike before I feel her staring at me. 

“Jacob,” she pauses, “Where are we going?”

“Well,” I glanced over at her for a second. “You said you always went to Salem around your birthday and that you hadn’t gone this year because of everything going on so..” 

“Wait- really?” Her voice was small. 

I reach over, resting my hand on her thigh, “Mhm. I figured it’s not fair for you not to do anything for your birthday, and I’m sure you already know some things you like to do there.” 

She leans over the center console, kissing my cheek a few times before letting a small “thank you” squeak out. 

“Of course,” I can feel my face warm, squeezing her leg a few times.  Her hand holds my forearm gently, and the little bit of contact gives me butterflies. 

“I’m assuming you’ve been to Salem?”

“Not in a long time, so whatever you want to do will basically be new to me.” Her eyes light up, and she quickly grabs her phone. 

She’s quiet for a few minutes, just buried in her phone until she holds it out in front of me, “Loook! We could do this!”  I pull it closer so I can actually see; it’s a video of people getting their aura photos done. 

“We can, if you want,” I tell her. 

She’s precious; the way her face lights up when she’s excited makes me want to just give her everything and anything she wants. 

She spent a lot of the drive there finding little things that we could do and excitedly telling me about them. Even if I had to keep reassuring her that whatever she chose was fine. I don’t think she’s used to people doing things for her.  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Her voice is quiet when she asks, “Can we get coffee?” as if she thinks I’ll say no.

“Mhm,” I hum back. “Just pick where from.” The way she gets shy asking for things makes me laugh to myself. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Mhmm,” I giggle, looking over at her. “Whatever you want, Char.” 

After finding the one she had decided on, I listened to her try and decide which drink she wanted to try; the way she was tied between the two made me laugh.

“Whichever one you get, I’ll get the other one,” I whisper to her. 

Her head whips over, “Oh, you don’t have to do that.” 

“I don’t mind,” 

We finally move up to order; I make her go first so I can order the other drink she didn’t pick. Avoiding looking at her when I could almost feel the wind from how fast she snapped her neck to look at me. I pull out my wallet and quickly pay as her jaw slacks open, staring at me. 

“What?” 

“You just-” 

My eyebrows raise as she hesitates, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Well,” her voice is low, looking at the ground for a second. “Thank you.” 

“Of course,” I tell her, grabbing her hand and pulling her over to a table. “I’ll go grab the drinks; make yourself comfortable.”

I pull out my phone while I wait for our drinks to be made. Clicking on the app for our cameras, which I honestly don’t really look at often. I can just look real quick, so I don’t have to bug them. 

Switching between the few, everything seems normal, but I still feel compelled to check my texts. Nothing. 

Me: hey, if you need anything just let me know okay? 

Me: Also, daniel will be there around like 4pm so you won’t have to close alone

Josh: i know! don’t worry about us just go have fun with your lady! 

‘Jake’ gets called, and it pulls me out of my phone. I grab our drinks and wander back over to the table. Her hands reach out as soon as I get close to her; she’s almost vibrating with excitement over it. 

She sips on her drink, letting out little ‘mmm’s as she does. It’s unfair how adorable she is. Thankful that the drink I chose wasn’t terrible, I finally tried it, realizing that she had her eyes locked on me. 

“Here,” I hand her my drink, her eyes lighting up as she takes it from me. The fact she didn’t hesitate to sip on it gives me butterflies. You would think I’d never kissed her with the way my body reacts to basic things she does. 

Josh: do we have more downeast somewhere or is this it 

Josh: it’s not urgent just whenever you get a second 

Mel: do you want me to go in at all? I can just help out if you don’t want me to make drinks. 

‘Motion Detected’  notifications from Josh opening the bar sit on my lock screen. 

“Hey,” she says, bringing me back to reality. Her hand reaching up and tapping in between my eyebrows lightly, “What’s going on?” 

“Just have a bunch of texts from Josh about the bar,” I tell her, trying not to let my eyebrows pull back together. 

Her eyes look between mine as we sit there, “Everything is going to be fine. Danny won’t let the bar burn down.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I tell her, sliding my phone into my pocket. “Where would you like to go first?”

“Do you want to see some of the witch trial sites?” She asks.  “Or is it too spooky for you?” Followed with a slight giggle as she looked at me. 

“Oh, don’t start with me,” I laugh before deciding to tease her back. “I’ll hold your hand if you get too scared, though.”  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

I can tell she really enjoys it here because she can just glance at her maps and then know where to wander off to. She really seems in her element getting to bring me to all these sites. Almost makes me wonder if this is what they would do every year. Telling me about everything that happened in each of the spots. She made sure to point out little details that she really enjoyed. 

My phone has vibrated a few times, and I’m genuinely fighting demons, trying not to look at what it is. Everything is fine. Dan is there. It’s okay. I spend a minute trying to shake the thought and refocus on her as we walk through a little bit of the cemetery. 

“Not too scared yet, are you?” she taunts. 

A slight grin sneaks onto my face, “And what if I was?” 

“Oooohhh, poor baby,” she teases me further, her hand running over my cheek. I know she’s trying to be funny, but hearing her call me ‘baby’ makes my knees weak. The way her lips pouted when she said it also made me wish I could just kiss her freely. 

“I offer to hold your hand, and you just make fun of me?” I let out dramatically. “I see how it is.” Hearing her laugh is worth having to be a bit dramatic. I pout my lip out at her as she giggles at me. 

“I’d take it back,” She starts. “But, you’re cute when you do this.” She taps my bottom lip gently, and I can’t stop the grin that forms when she does. Maybe I am scared. 

“Where else do you want to show me? Or are we just trying to pick up some spirits to bring home with us?” 

She finds a few that she hadn’t been to in a while, leading the way. I would gladly follow her around even if she were lying to me about every single thing. She kept touching my arm when she would tell me things, and it was taking everything in me to stay calm about it. It’s not that deep, Jake. Chill out. I try to tell myself, and then she tells me the history of the next place, and her hand lingers on my bicep for a minute, which makes all the hair on my body stand. 

I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket as we walk to another spot that she’s excited about. It’s not important. They have everything under control. I try to ignore the feeling and focus on her. But the incessant vibration against my leg is making it difficult. 

Bzzt.

Bzzt.

Bzzt.

For fucks sake, what could be happening? 

I pull out my phone for what feels like the thousandth time, seeing a handful of notifications sitting there. 

Josh: imagine I just get super drunk because it’s slow!! 

Josh: i’m so kidding 

Josh: or am I? the world will never know.

Danny: Please just ignore Josh. He’s cackling like a witch behind the bar so I know he’s being a little shit. 

Josh (in the Caravel Chat) : Hear me out- We just close early today for fun!

Sam: why is josh asking me to come help him lol 

Quinn: Did you leave Josh alone at the bar? 

Danny: Everything is fine I swear.

Sam: actually if you pay me for the night, i’ll do it 

Staring at all the texts that have come in, I can’t fight the way my hand rubs over my face. As I’m trying to decide what to respond to first, I feel her hand grab my arm. 

“Babe,” she says, squeezing me gently. My heart is simultaneously pounding at her casual pet name but also aches at the look on her face. Get off your phone, you dumbass. 

Locking my phone and shoving it into my pocket, I look back at her, “I’m so sorry.”

She gently grabs my chin, forcing me to look at her, “I think it’s wonderful how much you care about your job, but they can handle it.” 

“No, no, you’re right. I’m still sorry, and I promise I’ll stop,” comes out a bit sadder sounding than I expected. She leans up, placing a kiss on my cheek. 

“It’s okay,” she says quietly, “I just want you to have fun too.” 

“I am,” I whisper. “Come on, the aura photos are calling our names.”

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I pull open the door to the little shop that offers the photos, letting her excitedly go in first. She doesn’t go far, just waiting for me to come in with her. There’s someone already talking to the girl working there, so we just wander around looking at the selection of crystals and stones they have. She’s kept herself close to me while I pick up random crystals to look at them closer. Is she nervous? She has such a strong personality when it comes to her job, which I know is part of the gig for her, but it’s interesting to see how she acts when she doesn’t have to be in charge. The fact she has been attached to me from the moment we walked in is throwing me off. 

Hearing the door chimes ring, the girl behind the counter glances over at us. 

“Hi! Did you have any questions?” her voice was bubbly. 

I feel her gently tap my arm, seeing her stare at me from the corner of my eye. I have to fight the laugh when I realize she wants me to ask.

“Actually, yes,” I start. “Is there any chance we can get our aura photos done?” 

“Oh, absolutely!” She says. “Did you want individual ones?” 

“Please,” I tell her. “If you have time, obviously.” 

She laughs boisterously, “Lucky for the two of you– after Halloween, we die off so quickly! I have so much time; I don’t know what to do with myself.” 

She brings us to the area they have set up, explaining the process and how it works before having Charlotte sit down first. She’s so graceful as she gets situated. So, she carefully made sure her hands were in the right place after adjusting her hair a few times. The girl working here was so friendly and was talking her through it to help make sure that she was relaxed, so she got an authentic reading. 

I don’t know what it is about her that is so incredibly captivating, but the entire time, I can’t look away from her. I stand far enough out of the way that she can’t see me, but all I can think is– she is effortlessly beautiful. The feeling I get when I look at her scares me; my heart races, and the way my stomach turns. The witch trial sites could never compare. 

It only takes a few minutes before we’re swapping spots. She, on the other hand, stays within eyeshot for me. Doing everything I can to focus on the employee and not her, I feel myself calm down a bit. The girl leans down to take the photo, and I can see Charlotte in my peripheral. With the soft smile on her face, as she watches, I find myself unable to hold back the full smile as I hear the shutter of the camera.

“If you want, I can give you guys a little explanation of what your colors mean!” The girl offers, and we have the time to kill, so we obviously take her up on the offer. 

  We follow her back up to the counter, where she slides both of our photos over to us. My eyes go to her right away; our colors are not the same at all. 

“Ladies first,” the girl says, nudging Char’s photo forward a bit. “You have quite a bit of red in here, dear. Red typically represents a passionate, intense, loyal person. Depending on the shade of red, it can also have some romantic representations as well.” 

I glance over as Charlotte is just beaming at this girl while she explains. “You also have a little bit of a deeper purple in there, which means you may have something that is bothering you. Some sort of obstacle that you need to overcome.” 

Oh no. My hand finds hers, lightly tapping just to let her know I’m still there. She so softly wraps her hand around my index finger, squeezing a few times, almost like a ‘thank you.’

“And now for you,” the girl taps my photo forward. “You have majority green, which is usually characterized by the person’s nurturing disposition. You embody compassion and understanding. Since yours is also more of a mint green, you must be someone who just radiates peace and serenity to those around you.”

Charlotte’s soft laugh, “Sounds about right.”

“You’re obviously welcome to look up more about the meanings behind the colors! I just figured I would give you a baseline of what they mean,” she tells us.

“No, thank you so much for that, actually,” Charlotte finally chimes in.

The girl chuckles as she runs my card for everything, looking at me as she hands it back, “You know it’s kinda cute; your aura colors complement each other well.” Shooting me a wink as she glances down at the photos. Why is she trying to torture me?

There’s no way my face isn’t a little red at her comment, and then I glance over at her; the subtle pink in her cheeks makes me feel less insane. But is she just embarrassed, or is she into that? 

“Thank you again,” I tell her as we go to leave, pushing the door open for Charlotte to go out first.  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“Where to next?” 

Her excitement is palatable, “Oooo, I have an idea!” 

I watch her as she leads me to another little shop that she likes to look through. My heart feels.. different as I watch her. Seeing her get excited over these things that she looks forward to year after year, the way she just beams back at me like I’m the one who founded this town. She keeps holding my hand, and even when she lets go to show me something, she always finds her way back to it. She walks so close that she bumps into me constantly. Okay so.. I have a crush on her.. But how could I not? 

Her sweet face when she turns to me with something that she’s found. I don’t know what’s worse, the soft sparkle in her eyes or trying to focus on anything beyond how perfectly painted her freckles are over her nose. Her little voice every time, ‘Jacob look!’ she would whisper, made me laugh to myself. 

“Do you want it?” I whisper after she’s shown me just about everything in the store. 

And she’s suddenly shy again. 

“No, no, it’s just cute,” she tries to backpedal. 

I take the dainty chain bracelet from her, “It’s very cute.” Inspecting it closer, knowing I’m going to just hold onto it even if she tries to fight me on it. She can’t just show me a million things and think I’m not going to offer to get one of them, at the very least, for her.

I go to set the bracelet back in its place, “Do you want to keep looking around?”

She nods quickly, grabbing my free hand gently. As soon as she turns her head, I pull the bracelet back to me, keeping it tucked in my hand so she doesn’t see it. 

We spent a few more minutes wandering around with her, continuing the same routine of finding something she liked and turning to show me. 

“We can go,” her soft voice rings as we’re walking towards the front. 

I look over at her, fighting the urge to smile, “Give me like two minutes.” 

Walking up to the counter, I hand the bracelet to the employee, knowing there’s no way she isn’t going to notice. Her hand tightened around mine as they dropped the bracelet into a little paper bag, handing it over to me with my receipt. 

Tugging her behind me as we leave, I turn to her, holding out the bag, “For you.” 

“You’re so–” She starts, but pouting her lip when she’s stumped for words. “Thank you, babe.” 

Please just keep calling me that. If I thought her pet naming me woud be bad, I was severely unprepared. 

“Can you help me?” She sweetly asks, holding up the ends of the bracelet to me. 

I grab them from her, and she holds out her wrist for me. Something about the motion of clasping this little chain on her feels like time has slowed. The look on her face, her skin is so soft, and the dainty bracelet looks so perfect on her. I turn it around to see the little charm that’s on it, just holding her wrist for a second. ‘Crush’ may not be the word anymore.   ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

We spent a little while wandering in and out of shops throughout the little street. As we walk further, the iconic Witch House comes into view. A giant black house with three distinct peaks in the roof, it’s hard to miss, but she still points it out to me. 

“Ooooh! We used to take cute pictures in front of it every year.” 

“Are you saying that you want a picture?”

“Maybe,” She grabs my hand, tugging me along with her. She pulls her phone from her bag, and I reach my hand out, thinking that she just wants me to take it. “No, come here.” 

She pulled me close to her and reached out to take a picture of us. She wants.. a picture of the two of us? My arm wraps around her waist gently as she tucks herself into me; she beams at the camera; her smile could light up a room at this moment. 

“You better show off those teeth, Jacob,” she says, making me chuckle to myself. Smiling but looking at her, I can see her clicking the shutter button out of the corner of my eye. 

“Um, do you guys want me to take one for you?” a stranger quietly interjects as they’re passing by. 

“Oooh, yes!” she quickly hands them her phone. Okay, we’re doing this now, haha, that’s so fine. 

She comes back to me, leaning into my side and letting her hand rest on my stomach. Oh, uh.  My arm pulls her into me, and my hand sits on her lower back; I can feel her staring at me, so I glance over. Her lips pulled into the cutest smile; I swear she could feel my heart pounding. Her eyes dropped to my mouth and then back up, making me fully smile at her. 

“Perfect,” she whispers as she looks over at the person, but I don’t want to stop looking at her. I force my head to turn away from her. I looked over to the camera and felt her leaning against me slightly. It takes two seconds before they start walking back over with her phone. She clicks on her camera roll, quickly swiping through them and thanking the person for helping. She turns to me as she looks through them again. 

“Stop, this one’s so cute,” she turns it to me. They caught me looking at her.. We look like a couple; my stomach tenses at the thought. I... Watching as she sends me a bunch of them, taking a second to favorite a couple of them so she doesn’t lose them. “Oh wait, this one too!”  The one moment of her looking at me, her hand sitting on my stomach and full teeth smile on display, looking right at her– my heart flutters at the sight of it. I hadn’t considered how we look together.. from someone else’s point of view. I look like I’m in lo—.

She cuts me off, “Do you want to get some food? I don’t know how late you planned on being here, but at least then, we aren’t starving on the drive home.”

“Um, yeah, we probably should,” I stumble over my words for a second. “Was there somewhere you had in mind?” ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

We wandered around for a bit trying to decide what we wanted. It probably would have gone quicker if we focused and weren’t talking about all the things in the window displays as we passed them. But the way she hardly let go of my hand the entire time, I wasn’t about to stop her from doing whatever it is she wanted. 

We almost walked past the restaurant she decided that she wanted to try, but I think if you looked hard enough, you would have seen the smoke from how fast she hit the brakes when she realized it was next to us. It was a treat for me to see her so.. joyful. 

The server dropping off our drinks and taking our order, we have time to just stare at each other and I listen to her tell me how she’s been looking at this place on instagram for a while. 

I finally ask, “Was this a good surprise at least?” 

“Are you kidding? Of course it was,” she said, leaning forward with a sweet little grin on her lips. 

“I know it’s not the same, but—“ 

She stops me quickly, “If I didn't think she’d hear me, I’d say it might be even better.“ Don’t tell me that. 

“I don’t know about that,” 

“Hey,” she almost scolds me. “It was very sweet of you– no but’s allowed.” 

I giggle at the tone of her voice, knowing she would absolutely yell at me if I kept going. The server dropped off our food quietly as we kept talking about the little things we saw today. She kept asking what I liked most, and I couldn’t be honest because it was just getting to be with her.  She told me about how she and Cass would always try to find new things every year, but they also just enjoyed wandering through the same historical sites because it was just interesting to see. 

“Are you still panicking over the bar?” She asks, scooting her plate away from her. 

It hits me that I’ve been distracted enough that I hadn’t even looked at my phone. 

“Actually.. I hadn’t thought about it,” I tell her. 

She fakes a gasp at me, “Well, look at that.”

“Growing up so fast,” I giggle.  Or it could be the fact I spent the whole day getting to watch a beautiful girl smile at me for bringing her here. 

“Proud of you,” she whispers with her foot grazing my leg. 

She’s absolutely killing me. 

Our server came over with our bill, and I had just held my hand out for the little black folder. I slid my card in without hesitation and handed it back to them. I quietly let out a small ‘Thank you’ as they took the small folder away from me. I look back over to her, and the pink tint to her cheeks is more noticeable than I’m sure she’d like. What is she blushing over? 

“You okay?” 

“Mhm,” she hums back.

“You sure?” 

“Yes,” she laughs. “..just you.” 

The server comes back with the folder, taking my card out. I can feel her stare as she watches me sign the receipt and slide cash into the folder for their tip. I look up at her and softly ask, “You ready?” Letting her lead the way out, my hand found its place on her lower back, trying to keep her close to me. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“It’s so cute here when it’s dark out,” she says as she’s looking at all the shops lit up now that the sun is set. 

I just watch her take everything in, the pure joy on her face, and my heart feels like it’s melting for the hundredth time today. She slides her hand into mine, leaning into my arm and wrapping her free hand over my bicep as we walk. What is she doing? 

“Thank you for everything today,” She squeaks out. 

I look over, placing a kiss on the side of her head, “You’re very welcome.” 

She stops walking, tugging my arm lightly. I turn around to face her when she closes the gap between us. Tilting her head back slightly as she leans into my chest, leaving a few sweet kisses against my lips. 

“I’ve been waiting for that all day,” she mumbles into me. She’s been waiting? I COULD HAVE DONE THAT SOONER?

“I’m sorry, hun,” I mumble back. “I’ll just have to make up for it now.” Earning the biggest smile out of her, making me laugh at how eager she just got. 

“In that case,” she laughs, wiggling herself out of my arms but grabbing my hand instead. “Let’s go, baby!” 

After a lovely little walk filled with giggles and a few more pit stops that she insisted on just to give me a kiss, we finally made it to the car. I can see her trying to readjust to be more comfortable, moving her legs around every which way. 

I look over at her, letting out a small ‘hey’ before patting my leg. I reach over, carefully grabbing her ankles and pulling her legs out over my lap. We sit in the comfortable quiet for a bit, whatever song she’s chosen playing softly while she just looks through her phone. My hand hasn’t left her since I moved her legs. Rubbing little circles on her ankle or just sliding up the side of her foot. Anything to keep some sort of contact, and she doesn’t seem to mind. 

She reaches over, lightly running her fingertips over my cheek. It’s hard not to smile at it; she’s so fucking cute. 

“Your face is still so soft,” she giggles. 

“I wanted to look nice,” I admit. 

She rebuttals quickly, “You always look nice.” 

“Mmm,” I start. “But standing next to you all day, I wanted to make sure I at least looked half as good as you.”  ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The drive home felt short in comparison, but the lack of anxiety I felt this time probably helped. We immediately head up to the apartment, surprisingly avoiding the bar.

“Sooo..” I start, keeping my voice low as I sneak up behind her, sliding my arms around her waist. “The bar doesn’t close for a couple more hours..” 

She twists around in my arms to face me, “Jacob, you’re not about to go to work right now.”

“That wasn’t my thought, but thank you for that,” I let out in the most monotone voice. 

“Oh! Are you turning a new leaf already? One day of me pestering you to stop working is all it took?” She teases me with a little smirk plastered on her face. 

“You really don’t have to make fun of me,” I say, letting my hands settle on her hips. “But, yes— maybe it helped.“

Her hands held the sides of my face, “It is nice to just enjoy you outside of the bar.” 

I mumble back, “Is that so?” 

“Mhm,” Her body leans into me. “I don’t have to share you with anyone else this way.” You’re not sharing me in there either, trust me. 

“Are you trying to say you want more attention?”  I question her. 

“From you? Absolutely,” her voice is so sexy; my body feels like it’s on fire. I want quite literally nothing more than to do that.

Pulling her into me, I whisper, “What kind of attention do you want, hun?” 

“Mmmm…” She hums, before her head tilts slightly and with a delicious little smile on her lips. And then she whispers, “You’re full of surprises today; why don’t you decide, babe?” 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Nineteen

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[liv2post]

Serenading Him

CHAPTER 6: Respite (FINAL CHAPTER)

Prev Chapter

AO3

Severus groaned softly as a gradual brightness roused him from what felt like to be a deep slumber. The fleshy color of his eyelids could no longer replicate the facade of darkness as he slowly fluttered his eyes open. He was first met with a plain white ceiling with a slight popcorn texture to it and something soft beneath his head and cradling his body. The second thing he registered was a fuzzy feeling in his head and throat.

The snake. Voldemort. He—

His hand shot to his throat as he attempted to swiftly sit up, but immediately regretted it, a heavy dizziness forcing him back down against his propped-up pillow with a groan.

“You’re awake,” a voice said softly.

His eyes flicked over to the side and landed upon you. You were slouched in a chair, head propped up by your fist with a tired expression on your face and watching his form with a gentle smile. He was alive.

“…Y/N?” He rasped out.

“Hi, Severus.”

He blinked dumbly at you before slowly scooching himself up more in a sitting position, glancing about the room. He had an IV in his arm and some magically powered machines keeping track of his vitals. He was in a hospital room, St. Mungos most likely. You were the only other person in the room except for the people who passed by on the other side of the blurred privacy glass.

“I died,” he stated, still thinking this may not be real.

You nodded lightly. “You did, but I brought you back. A little after you died, Voldemort called a one-hour armistice. I flew down from the tower to see how everyone was fairing and I overheard Harry and Hermione talking about you, how your “body” was in the boathouse. When I found you, I apparated us to the Potions classroom, healed your wounds, and got your heart beating again, and uh,” you blushed, “more or less stowed you away in my room until after the battle was over.”

His eyes widened. “Did we…?

You smiled fervently. “Yes, we won. And Harry is officially two for two in surviving the Killing Curse.” Your smile dropped a little. “We lost some people though, but the teachers are alright. Harry got you pardoned by the Ministry. Only a select few people saw whatever memories you shared with Potter to have your name cleared, but Kingsley is Minister now, so you have him on your side in the future. Unfortunately, you’ve become Rita Skeeter’s next target.”

Any words after the word “curse” fell deaf on his ears. Severus didn’t care. It was over. All of it. A slow exhale left him and you swear he probably got five years younger from the stress that seemed to leave his face.

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“You’ve been in a medically induced coma for almost a week now. The poison that circulated in you had done a bit of damage to your insides, so they needed to treat that. You hardly got any new scars though…except for the neck. The doctors said whatever special poison the snake possessed made it impossible to treat the scarring, but it might lessen naturally over time.”

The pads of his fingers lightly touched the raised skin on his throat. He summoned a hand mirror and grimaced at the sight of his neck. He could make out very clearly where his throat had been cut as well as the angry tearing and puncturing caused by Nagini. There was a yellow glow around his skin though, which meant you had applied that spell of yours. 

“I can take it off if you’d like.”

He shook his head with a sigh. “No, leave it,” he uttered and with some effort shifted over in his bed. “Come here.”

You pushed off the chair and quietly moved to the bed as Severus shifted into a sitting position to push off the edge, but noticed him wince a little as a pain radiated from his stomach to his chest.

“Don’t push yourself, Se—”

“Shut up,” Severus adjured, standing now as he wrapped his arms around you. He buried his nose in your hair, taking in your form as you sunk into his hold. Your hands slowly ran up and down his back, your touch soothing him through the cotton hospital clothes more than any potion or spell could. The two of you just stood there holding one another, your breathing falling in sync. You were both here. Alive. Despite having known him for multiple years, the days you spent together over the break were vital. It established an indescribable level of trust and had the war taken him, it would have eaten you up inside knowing he had so much on his shoulders.

He eventually drew you back towards the bed, a quiet gesture to keep you close to him. As you sat up against the metal frame, Severus wrapped an arm around your waist and laid against your side while you slinked an arm around his shoulders.

“Thank you for all you’ve done. I’m glad you are alive,” Severus murmured.

“I should be the one saying that to you . Your magic worked brilliantly. I think it got about fifteen Death Eaters in total before Harry dueled Voldemort.”

“Good…” he hummed, his eyes tiredly scanning his surroundings once more until they landed on two fuzzy silhouettes behind the glass exterior of his room. “Are those…guards by the door?”

“For your own safety, yes. Quite a few Death Eaters fled when they realized Voldemort couldn’t kill Harry a second time.” You grabbed a newspaper off the bedside table. “You being pardoned was the headliner two days ago. Since you weren’t on the toll list of those who died in the war, they know you’re alive. Also, you got a letter from Draco’s mother.” You opened the newspaper and out fell a tan envelope with a red wax seal with the name “Narcissa” scrawled on the front.

While he fumbled open the letter, you read the copy of the Prophet to give him some privacy. Based on the despondent sound he made, he was not pleased by the contents inside.

“My home was destroyed,” he muttered aloud.

You made a pained noise of sympathy and gently rubbed his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Severus.” 

“Some books were saved, but there was a Dark Mark. Aurors convinced the locals it was a gas leak, but…” he trailed off. Truthfully he knew this would happen should he have escaped the war alive. He’d be hunted relentlessly by anyone who became aware of his true loyalty and his betrayal of Voldemort which was now, thanks to the Ministry, the entire Wizarding World.

“Y’know…I still plan on relocating, but not to America anymore. ‘M gonna use some of the money my parents left me to get a place out in the countryside. Probably Yorkshire. Or maybe Ireland.” You tilted your head toward him. “You could come with me if you’d like.”

He was silent, neither verbally accepting or declining your offer, but the way his weight pressed slightly further into you and his hand squeezed your waist was somewhat of an indicator of his feelings on the matter.

Your fingers began playing with the length of his hair. “You’ve had some visitors, too. Harry and his friends came on your second day here, as did Hargid… Draco tried , but I wouldn’t let him in because he was drunk and waving his wand around like a knife. Professor McGonagall came yesterday to see if you had woken up. She is… adamant in having a conversation with you,” you chuckled.

“I know what she’s going to say. I don’t wish to speak to her yet,” Severus grumbled.

“Everything in its own time,” you declared smiling and pecked his head, bringing a light smirk to his face. “More importantly, you are in dire need of a trim.”

[to-the-stars8]

Reviving Love

Jason Todd x Reader Chapters AO3

Chapter 5

Jason didn’t realize the two of you had been sitting in the cafe for hours until his phone rang and he was finally forced to look at the clock. It was Roy calling, probably wanting to check in, but he was too far entrenched in your conversation to answer. Instead, he let it go to voicemail. This was going smoother than he had anticipated and the last thing Jason wanted was for something coming in to interrupt that. 

“I’m not keeping you, am I,” You asked, eyes flickering down to his phone. 

Jason shook his head. “No, not at all. Though, I think they’re just about to kick us out.” He glanced over to the baristas silently glaring at the two of you. It was a Friday evening and he assumed by the look on their faces the coffee shop was going to close earlier than expected, and the two of you had overstayed your welcome. Bashfully, you looked around before meeting his eyes. 

“Do…” You paused, thinning your lips in thought before saying. “Would you like to walk with me through the park? I usually walk that way to go home, but I don’t want to be taking you out of your way.”

“Sure,” Jason said, getting up. “I live a few blocks from that little bookshop—”

“The one on Sixth and Nicholson?” You asked, surprised. As he nodded, Jason did the gentlemanly thing and helped you with your coat. He’d done it once before when you were kids and remembered the way you always blushed. This time, you didn’t blush, but you seemed taken aback by the gesture. “Oh, I live right around the corner! In the building by that run-down barber shop.”

“I know what place you’re talking about,” Jason said, rolling his eyes. “They should have closed that place centuries ago. Smells like mothballs and cigarettes. Not to mention, the guy can’t even cut hair anymore.”

“You’ve gotten your hair cut there before?” You asked, amused. As the two of you left, you grabbed onto his arm, silently begging him to slow down. It wasn’t that he didn’t like you touching him, but it had been a while. So, the feeling of you being so close made him wary. You must have sensed this as you let go, opting to try and match his strides and he tried to match yours in turn. 

“Well, the guy’s blind, so no, I haven’t.” Jason let out a chuckle. 

“Ah, that would do it,” You laughed. After a few seconds of silence, you added, “So, you went to Gotham Academy, right?”

Jason thinned his lips, thinking back on the first time you had asked him that question, before deciding to repeat his original answer. From the corner of his eye, he could see the wheels turn in your head like you were trying to put together pieces that didn’t quite fit. It gave him a bit of anxiety, so he laughed to lighten your thoughts. “Why do you ask? Have a crush on me or something?”

“Just curious,” You said playfully, leaning into his arm. “Trying to see if I know you from somewhere. But, I only knew one Jason, and I seriously doubt you’re him.”

If only you knew, he thought. Jason only chuckled lightly, eyes shifting to the ground before looking up at you. You were so beautiful, and he couldn’t believe he was there with you. If someone had asked him two years ago if he had ever planned on seeing again, he’d say fuck no and that you didn’t deserve to see him. He’d always thought himself to be the worst person, and to put someone near that would be unfair. 

As the two of you strode through the park, the wind picked up and rain clouds rolled in. Jason wouldn’t be surprised if there was going to be a downpour within the next hour and dreaded going out tonight for patrol simply due to the weather. You wrapped your arms around yourself, shivering slightly under your coat, and side-stepped closer to Jason. When you realized, you apologized. 

“It’s okay,” He said, and wanted to reach around and draw you closer to him. Yet, his hesitancy wouldn’t let him. “We’re almost to your apartment, anyway.”

You looked up at him, eyes searching for something before looking back down, and you laughed a little. “I still can’t get it out of my head that we’ve met before.”

Jason was a little bothered that you were still holding onto figuring out who he was. “Maybe we have. You never know. I might have asked you…” The words died on his lips as rain began to fall. Damn, Gotham weather. 

Taking off his jacket, he threw it over your head and began pulling you through the park as the rain slowly started to get heavier and heavier. You began to laugh, saying something along the lines that with your luck it was bound to happen. Then, something Jason hadn’t expected happened. He began to laugh with you. Initially, he had been so annoyed that this would happen to him—Especially on a date, or not date. It hadn’t been established yet. Then, you made fun of something he only saw the horrible in and it made the day brighter. 

“Remind me to bring an umbrella any time you’re near,” He said once the two of you were safe in the doorway of your apartment building. 

You giggled. “Okay, deal.” Thinning your lips again, Jason knew you were about to say something that would have him at your mercy. “Do you want to come up?”

Jason’s heart leaped in his chest and butterflies exploded in his stomach. “I—I…um, I don’t know if I should.”

You suddenly realized what you said. “Oh—oh! No, not like that. I mean, so you don’t have to go out in the rain again. You’re soaked.”

You were right. Between the park and your apartment, Jason had managed to look like he’d been dunked in water, which made it a bit gratifying when he looked at how dry you were with his jacket still draped over your shoulders. 

“Come in,” You said. “I’ll make you some hot chocolate and I’ll wash your jacket.”

Jason hesitated but then agreed. After all, he thought, what bad things could happen over hot chocolate?

[softpascalito]

Pedro Pascal Kinktober Day Sixteen

Familiar Scents - Joel Miller/F!Reader

Summary: Over the span of many years, Joel Millers scent always stays the same. It starts when he takes you for a hike before the Outbreak- and continues for long after.

Relationships: Joel Miller x F!Reader

WC: 1400

Tags/Warnings: Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Pre-Outbreak, Fluff, Familiar Scents, Soft Joel Miller, Joel Millers Leather Jacket

AO3 LINK

notes: hello babes! university is kicking my ass already but this piece got so long that i wanted to split it up into three chapters! the other kinktober schedule will remain the same though, so the next two days will be double uploads <3

_________________________________________

8th of September - Before

“Come on, don't slow down now.” A voice a few feet in front of you hums and you groan a little, your gaze fixed on the rocky path below your feet, “Maybe I would be faster if you hadn't dragged me out of bed at five in the morning.”

The man chuckles softly at that but you can hear the teasing in his tone, “That was the deal for letting you stay over.”

“That's blackmail,” you mutter under your breath but from the small noise he lets out, you're pretty sure he's heard that as well. Still, he doesn't mention it, “Just don't want you rotting the summer away.”

For a few minutes, you just listen to the breathing in front of you, the steady sound of footsteps announcing little curves and bumps in the path you're walking on. The wildlife around you is clearly not as bothered by the hour as you are, birds chipping away on every side of the path, an occasional squirrel crossing it in a hurry and disappearing into the greens of a tree.

The sun isn't up yet, but the light horizon tells you it will be soon. It also lights the path that the two of you are walking right now, which is a good thing, considering you'd probably already have tumbled down a slope if it was any darker.

“Hey, how much further is this thing?” You pipe up again and Joel hums softly, “Just a tad.” He glances at his watch before shaking his head, “Think we're right on time.” A yawn involuntarily escapes you and you slow down for a moment to open your mouth, breathing in the fresh, summer air.

“On time for what?” You ask and speed your steps up slightly, trying to catch up again. Still barely looking up, you don't notice that the forest has opened up. You don't notice that the man in front of you has stopped, either and you collapse with his canvas backpack with full force and a muffled noise of surprise comes from your throat.

“Whoa, there,” he laughs, quickly turning on his feet to catch you, strong arms wrapping around your waist to hold you upright.

You lean into his touch and your gaze finally wanders up, past his worn-out jeans and leather jacket, past the soft cotton shirt and suddenly you're met with soft, brown eyes that are patiently looking down at you.

Joel smiles gently, the corners of his mouth curled upwards, “You alright, kiddo?” You're so close that you can smell him and suddenly, you're a lot more shy than before, a lump forming in your throat. So you just nod, not trusting your voice completely. He raises a brow at that, picking up at the small shift instantly and it makes you regret being so easy to read. You don't want to lose him.

You feel his arm leave your side and before you can think your actions through, you reach out to take his hand, quickly, gently, intertwining your fingers. A small sigh leaves him at the motion but he doesnt pull away. Maybe he senses that you need this.

His eyes linger on you a bit longer before he gently pulls on your arm, nudging you forward. It's only then that you take in where you have ended up.

It's a small plateau on the side of the mountain, cleared of trees and with a wooden bench facing the sky, the clear view stretching on for miles and miles below. Your mouth falls into a soft 'O' as you take in your surroundings and Joel hums happily beside you, clearly enjoying the reaction he is getting out of you.

He leads you to the bench that looks like it withstood more than one storm. Its wood creaks a bit when you sit down but it holds up okay and with a soft groan Joel sits down next to you, pulling you back into reality.

“You're getting old, aren't you?” You ask, staring up at him with a smirk and he shakes his head. “I wasn't the one complaining back there,” he points out, earning a roll of your eyes for that.

“We can't all be a fucking sunshine morning person,” you argue back and watch as he reaches down to his backpack, one hand searching it for something.

“I am not a- how'd you put it?- fucking sunshine morning person,” Joel repeats mockingly, producing a large thermo bottle from his backpack.

“But I do have this,” he nods down at it and offers it to you. You quickly reach out to grab it, your eyes widening a little, “You brought coffee?”

Joel can't help but chuckle at that, nodding a little, “I figured it might help to stop you from complaining too much.” It becomes clear by the way you enthusiastically screw it open that he was quite right, too and you're about to pour the warm liquid directly into your mouth when Joel nudges your arm and you find him holding out two camping mugs.

He holds them while you pour, handing you one in exchange for the bottle of coffee once you're done. You stare down at the steaming drink, opening your mouth to speak, “I guess we don't have any-” You're cut off by Joel taking out a small packet of milk and opening it, pouring a few drops into your coffee.

You stare at him in disbelief, “You- are sent from heaven.”

The man actually laughs at that, putting away the carton and leaning back against the bench. You watch the milk swirl and mix with your coffee for a bit longer, listening to the sound of his voice and movements next to you.

“Even if I wake you up at five in the morning?” He asks softly and your gaze flies up, taking him in next to you and you shrug, holding your mug towards him, “Even if you wake me at five in the morning.”

A soft clink echoes through the clearing as your mugs meet, silently toasting before you both drink.

You sit in comfortable silence for a while before Joel leans forward, his shoulder against yours as he points down towards the houses and streets below you. They seem to stretch on for miles, wrapping around the hills around them.

“I never realized how big Austin is,” you mumble, your eyes flying over one street after another, occasionally spotting a lone car driving on one of them. 

And then, suddenly, it's there. The sun.

You blink, letting out a soft noise as the rays hit you with full intensity and through your lashes you finally look up at the sky, Joel doing the same next to you.

It's a soft shade blue, the horizon a striking orange that looks like it's taken straight out of a painting.

“Told you we were right on time,” Joel hums next to you and you turn to smile up at him. His face is lit in a soft orange and you allow yourself to admire him for a moment, to take in the small wrinkles around his eyes, the beard he always wears, the slightly messy curls.

“Thank you,” you mutter. “For taking me here.”

The man gives a small nod and you balance your mug in one hand as you scoot closer to him, resting your head against his shoulder.

“You're welcome,” he mumbles back, looking down at you with a small smile as he takes another sip of his coffee.

You turn back towards the view and after a few minutes your gaze stops on a row of houses further out, one that seems oddly familiar and now it's your turn to point, “Hey, is that?”

Joel nods approvingly, smiling down at you, “Sure is.”

You both stare down into the valley, at the two houses that make up your respective homes. Then again, the Miller house, with its sunny backyard and the bay windows feels more like home to you than anything else ever could.

Joel seems to keep up with your thought process because the next moment, you feel his arm back around you, pulling you closer, your face pressed into his leather jacket. Your nose fills with the smell of him and you sigh contently.

You both stare out at the sky as he speaks.

“There's no place like home.”

[pinkandgoldensoul]

Already Home || Chapter 5 - Everything Has A Cost

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If this is your first time here on this blog, please check the Disclaimers here.

pairing: max verstappen x female!reader genre: friends to lovers, kind of slow burn, angst, fluff and comfort !tw!: swearing, online hate towards reader, insecurities, fluff, angst other notes: fake instagram things? Loosely based on Singapore GP 2022 word count: 10.1k (as always, feel free to use dividers to split the chapter into chunks!) A huge thanks to whoever reblogs or likes the story and a special thanks to @ally4and33 for her support in the last couple days! ♥ Love you all!

It felt soft. The light knocking on your eyelids, asking for permission with its warmth. As your entire body slowly moved, awakening, you snuggled up to the blanket you had wrapped around your shoulders and enjoyed its coziness. Max’s smell still trapped onto the pillow, you smiled with eyes closed. He wasn’t there, but you knew he had been all night, cuddling with you and falling asleep; you still could feel his thumb repetitively rubbing your skin as he held you close and the beating of his heart lingered on your mind as a beautiful song that you play on loop, knowing all the lyrics. By heart. Waking up to those memories – real ones, this time – made your insides twist in a pleasant discomfort; you knew you weren’t mistaken, you knew Max had stayed over with you, holding each other, and you didn’t have to fear or mistrust your mind. You had snuggled and cuddled together, and nobody could doubt it. No drunk, slurred mental estate could put those moments at risk. You owned them, forever.

You looked over to the side, only to realize Max wasn’t lying next to you. You weren’t surprised, though; you figured he may have decided to go training, have breakfast or simply get up. Staring at the ceiling, you smiled: your nose didn’t feel as stuck as it was the day before and an unknown wave of positive, bright feelings earned you a decent dose of optimism. You probably had been needing it for quite a long time. «Good morning, y/n.» Max’s voice made your head snap up towards the door, and you actually would’ve preferred not to see him. That smile wrinkling his lips, his eyes brimming with light, his whole appearance blinding you way more than sun beams could ever manage to: everything about him enchanted you. «Morning,» you whispered, stretching a bit. «Slept well?» he asked, getting closer to the bed. «Really, really well.» you answered, uncapable of stifling in a huge smile. «Bet you did, it’s 11:30!» Max said, laughing. «You sleep in way more than I do, c’mon!» As you said that, you rolled over the bed, facing the pillow, and you felt the mattress sinking down onto your side due to Max’s weight. «I’ve bought you some medicine.» You eyed the small plastic bag he still held in his hands. «I think I’m doing better.» «Doesn’t mean you’ve fully recovered.» Max added. «I know, but-» «No, don’t even bother telling me you don’t need medicine because I’m not listening to you.» After a small pause, Max looked at you again, almost unsure. «Do you really feel better?» «Yes, still a bit sluggish, but I feel fine.» Despite the positives in your feedback, he couldn’t help but get stuck thinking about the negatives. «Sluggish? Maybe you have a little bit of temperature?» «I don’t think so?» Max rummaged into the plastic bag and took out a brand-new thermometer. «Why did you buy a new one?» you chuckled at the sight. «Because now this is your personal thermometer.» «Thanks…? Didn’t know I’d need a personal one.» you raised a brow, still amused. «Oh, but this is special, y/n. It will know everything about you.» You inspected the packaging thoroughly, trying to convince yourself it would, without really succeeding. «You can give a name to it, if you want.» «Max, it’s a freaking thermometer!» you laughed. «So what? It may get offended if you don’t. You know, it’s really sensitive.» As he cracked that lame joke, you glared at him. «Tell me you didn’t say that.» Max’s cheeks immediately squished upwards to make room for his mesmerizing and innocent smile, happy and giggling as a kid would do after making a mess. And you couldn’t stop yourself from grinning at him as well. «You’re so stupid…» «And now I’m sure you don’t have a temperature, because your heart’s stone cold. Poor thermometer.»

After a couple of minutes – and a lot of insisting – Max dragged you out of the bed so that you could have some breakfast-brunch-lunch-whatever you have before noon; then, he persuaded you to take some medicine to relieve the dizziness and you started to feel better. Max noticed your eyes got livelier and livelier as time passed by and it only encouraged him to suggest new activities, as he would’ve liked to spend all day talking with you, relaxing on the couch, or onto the bed watching a movie, but in his mind a whim, an urge, a need and, ultimately, a duty, called upon him. Getting ready for Singapore. He needed to come back to his other house to get some simulator work done, he was missing it; but how could he ask you to come with him and get bored all alone? Or if you decided to stay at the apartment, how could he leave you alone again? Max felt troubled at the way he had gradually become unable to accept the idea of you being on your own; it wasn’t a matter of trust, despite the latest events. He simply couldn’t let go of your soft hands, of your scent, of your lips curving into a beautiful smile, of your voice chanting him like a siren.

Sitting onto the bed, Max played with your hair, combining strands into a messy braid. So lost in the process, he didn’t even remember when and why he had asked you to let him do so. «Are you going for a loose braid?» you enquired, enjoying the slow-paced rhythm of his fingers working on your hair. «Yes, my specialty.» As he heard you giggling, Max felt his heart caving in. «When did you learn to braid?» «When I was seven. My mum taught me how to braid Victoria’s hair.» A fond smile immediately bloomed onto your lips, and you were lucky enough not to have Max in front of you, so that you could hide it. He had shared with you a few of his childhood memories before, and his sister’s name always came up, either because she was present or absent during his karting days; you could tell he really loved her and somehow still felt sorry for taking their father and himself away from her. He had also showed you some pictures, which had your heart melting in awe, though you’d try to dissimulate. Max was a loving person and you cherished every seed of affection he would plant along the way, just so you could grow even fonder of him. «Is it done?» you asked, as the weight of your hair leaned back onto your skin. «Yes.» With a quick motion, you brought the braid forward, onto your collar bone, and stared at it. Max sat back in front of you and got captured by the sun light shining through the window behind your back, reflecting its gold onto some rebel strands of hair, as a perfect frame to your face. Reacting way too late to your “Thank you”, Max stuttered, realizing he still had to tell you about his plan. Had he prepared one? Not really. But his instinct dictated it to him, spontaneously, as he started speaking to you. «Tomorrow I need to go back to the house and get done the training for the race and I was thinking you could come with me.» Your eyes immediately flicked to his, a glimpse of surprise flashing inside of them. «A-are you sure? I don’t want to bother you…» «I’ll be locked inside a room pretty much all the time, how could you ever disturb me?» he chuckled. As you pondered in silence, Max prompted you with all the activities you could undertake there and reassured you about getting proper medications if you still needed them, offering to be the one to go buy them. As he kept maxplaining in order to persuade you, you giggled and stopped his rambling. «Max, it’s okay. I’ll come.» you smiled. His face immediately lit up, and your chest ignited at the sight; without noticing, his fingers had reached yours onto the bedcover and they had shared a rush of electricity, of magic. Of complicity. Of… something. Something you couldn’t name, but definitely something sweet, warm, comforting and almost painful at the same time. #

«This is the room. Do you need me to show you the bathroom?» «No, we’ve been here a few days ago, I remember.» «Fine.» Max scratched his head. «I’m… I’m going to ask what’s for dinner.» «Okay… I’ll take out my toiletries, then.» «Perfect!» Max rushed out of the bathroom quickly, eaten alive by embarrassment. He’d been awkward in his life before and obviously had slipped up countless times, but after that little talk, a thin veil of uncertainty, hesitation and discomfort weighed down onto his cheeks as a fire, covering the skin with a soft blush and making his hands slightly clammy. Max hated not being in control of his heart drumming inside the ribcage, pleading to get out and reach its half; he hated his voice cracking or sounding insecure despite the attempts at dissimulating; and he also hated his mind running, racing on its own and replaying moments he’d prefer not to be reminded of while standing in front of you. Could he really blame his mind, though? After all, he had been the one to ask you to come back to the house where you nearly had kissed, nearly had hooked up, nearly had crossed the fine line between friends and not-just-friends; still, it was the place you had danced clinging to each other, got drunk together with smiles, whispers, fingers intertwining and shivers, cutting all the noise and everybody else out of your piece of heaven. All these memories were mere rings to a longer chain and the more Max tried to trail back to its beginning, the further it would get due to the new – old – images of you two together, packed inside the same untitled folder of his heart. The only partial relief was he wouldn’t be able to spend too much time with you due to the simulator training.

He wasn’t alone in his struggles, though. You avoided the reflecting surface of the mirror in which you had seen played forbidden fantasies only a couple days before, and as you turned around taking a closer look to the bathroom, you eyed the bathrobe you had worn, all your attention channeled towards those three letters on full display. Max. You recalled yourself freaking out in there, convinced you and him had slept together, then stealing the robe away without a second thought. When did it all become so overwhelming you would fall apart simply going back to those memories? You closed the cabinet with a firm thud: getting through the sudden closeness had never seemed so hard.

«Hello?» Slowly waking up, you tried opening your eyes. «Hi, Alice, what’s up.» It was Max speaking; his voice was distant, but still clear enough to hear it. «No, I’m awake. Why are you calling, though?» He seemed like he was in the room next to yours, at the phone with someone. «Hope it’s not a new media activity, we already have a lot this week.» Visualizing the floor plan in your head, you reasoned he was in his bedroom. «What? Is this a joke?» As Max’s tone raised, you couldn’t refrain yourself from eavesdropping a little bit more attentively. «But where did they get these numbers? Did they make them up? Unbelievable…» Numbers? Was he talking about simulation work? «Well, we could sue them for defamation. ‘Cause we’re fine, right?» Nope, definitely not simulation work. Your forehead hurt, and with those words dancing in your brain confusion inevitably grew. «Alice, can we please talk about this on Wednesday? Just tell me that other thing.» Hands rubbing tiredness out of your face, you sat onto the bed. «For fuck’s sake… Is it bad?» Feet barely touching the ground, you tried gathering energies to get up. «THEY SAID WHAT?!» But Max’s altered voice got you flinching, startled, frozen in place. «How do they dare? Write down all their names, because I’m not being interviewed by those assholes! Don’t get them near me! Fucking dickheads.»

With featherlike steps, heart thumping in your chest, you leaned against the door frame of Max’s room, trying not to disturb him and hinting at your presence at the same time. «No, we’re not discussing it now,» he said in a hurry, after noticing you were standing a few meters away. You unsurely walked towards him. «But I want this to be clear: I am deciding what to do, and I don’t want anybody else to interfere.» As Max abruptly ended the call and put the phone back into his pocket, only to look at you, the breath you were holding finally released. «Who was it?» you managed to whisper, full of doubts and uncertainty. Max, noticing your distress and able to read that little veil of sleepiness you hadn’t been able to shrug off your face, tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, giving you a shy smile. «Alice Hedworth.» You raised a brow, in confusion. «The communications manager of the team.» he plainly answered. You looked down, recalling the quick-tempered replies he had given, then raised your eyes back at him. «Why would you have to sue people? What happened?» «Did you eavesdrop?» You gaped at him, feeling like a thief caught red-handed. «Uhm… It woke me up, so…» Max sighed. He’d rather not tell you, but he was aware it was inevitable for you to find out eventually, so there was no point in hiding it from you. Plus, there was probably nothing to worry about. Or at least Max hoped so. «Some journalists claim we breached the cost cap last year. They also say another team is involved, but of course, we’re the ones under the spotlight and now they’re complaining about how it’s unfair we won the championship, since we did it illegally, to their saying.» Max’s placid expression wasn’t able to instill reassurance in you. «But you guys are really fine?» «Of course we’re fine, they’re just coming at us because they cannot accept they’ve lost and scandal is the only way to bring us down at the moment, since their car can’t.» He slightly chuckled at his own comment, but again, it did nothing to calm your mind down. «How could they invent all of this? I mean, it’s a pretty big accusation, they must have some sort of proof in order to say it… How did they get numbers?» «I don’t know, I’m not an accountant. And you aren’t a detective, y/n.» Max said, smiling at you. «C’mon, let’s go have breakfast.» He was guiding you towards the kitchen with his fingers barely brushing against your lower back, when suddenly another thought crossed your mind. «What was the second thing?» «Uh?» he said, caught off guard. «You said you wouldn’t release interviews to some journalists.» you explained, taking a seat. He frowned. «You really paid attention to the conversation, didn’t you?» Max turned his back to you, grabbing two cups from the cupboard and hiding his reaction to the topic. «You don’t have to worry about it.» he downplayed. «Just paparazzi being annoying as always. But they’ll be taken care of.» You would’ve liked to pay more attention to the way his tone had subtly turned serious, suggesting bother and almost rage; the last bit of the sentence been spitted out of the mouth as a curse, in a lower voice, so that its darkness couldn’t reach you.

You should’ve known. You should’ve expected it to happen, sooner or later. It was bound to happen, you told yourself. After all, been dragged down the pitlane by one of the most famous drivers in the world under thousands of flashing cameras wasn’t really a gesture that would get anyone go unnoticed by the press. Of course, medias had gone crazy over those pictures taken in Monza, but the true bomb was dropped with the rumors of the probably-not-so-private party of last week. Suddenly, your name started to travel from mouth to mouth, even though nobody had ever acknowledged your presence before. You went from being a stranger to the Cupid’s arrow breaking into Max’s cold heart, the one who caused him and Kelly to argue and ultimately split, a mysterious girl no one knew who had unspecified intentions: clout? Money? Visibility? After all, you could’ve never gained those alone: you weren’t that beautiful. Kelly was way prettier than you; she brought a heavy and significant surname and was successful in her field. Who were you? A parasite? A gold digger in search of fifteen minutes of fame? A lot of people agreed on the fact that you definitely didn’t look like someone worthy of being pictured together with Max Verstappen. To be fair, nobody had prepared you for it anyway, but you couldn’t say Kelly hadn’t warned you.

The weather in Singapore was extremely humid; you couldn’t tell, though, if the sweat forming onto your skin was the product of the low atmospheric pressure or the fruit of being swamped and chased by a group of photographers, journalists and phones used as microphones, directly pointing at you like knives. It wasn’t a walk of shame; indeed, you couldn’t understand what was there to be ashamed of, you didn’t know what you were supposed to tell those people, and neither could guess what they expected to hear when there was nothing you had to say. Still, your gut sensed the hidden words and the secret turmoil you had to keep inside, paired up with the anxious oppression of the small crowd surrounding you, addressing questions at you, as you marched head-low towards Red Bull’s garage. «Are you the reason Max and Kelly Piquet broke up?» «How long has he been cheating on Kelly with you?» «Y/n, please answer some questions for us!» «How did you guys meet? When did your relationship developed into something more?» «Y/n, please, can you confirm the rumors about the party in Monaco?» «Can you tell us more about your family?» You abruptly halted your steps. Which family?, you bitterly said to yourself. Still lost in thought, you distinctly heard the clicks of a camera taking pictures. In that exact moment, you felt nothing more than a lifeless doll inside a lions’ cage: you weren’t a person anymore, you were just an object, without feelings and sensitivity, which had to withstand whatever they wanted to do to you or give them anything they tried to gain from you. Before rage could take the upper hand, you felt two hands dragging you away from the journalists. «It’s enough pestering for today.» You felt Carlos quickly grabbing your arms and guiding you towards the heart of the paddock, in order to leave all of them behind and preventing them from even daring to follow you. «I promise you the hospitality is a much quieter place.» he said, smiling. A veil of numbness, though, had washed emotions away from your face: reality had thrown an ice bucket at you, not only forcing you to face your inner chaotic magma of feelings, but justify the lack or the presence of them in front of the world as well. It was clear, you weren’t ready. You told yourself the timing of the news was absolute crap, unmerciful, cruel; if it had happened a couple months earlier, the situation would’ve been almost totally under control. Because you would’ve had nothing to control. «Don’t mind them, they’re going to drop it soon.» Carlos’ words momentarily distracted from your trail of thoughts, and you were glad they did. «Hopefully you’re right.» you sighed.

You both plopped onto a small couch in the living area, absentmindedly watching the tv hung on the wall. Sitting in silence, caught in your headspace, you didn’t notice the Spaniards eyes studying your expression. «So… Italy did good to the both of you, uh?» Carlos smugly looked at you. You rolled your eyes, kind of annoyed. «Stop it.» «I mean, now I get why you were so worried something happened at the party.» «Aren’t you supposed to help me relax?» «Isn’t it working?» Your furrowed eyebrows made your confusion clear. «No?» «I think it does. Now that you’re mad at me, you’re getting those journalists out of your head.» As a faint smile lingered onto your lips, a voice coming from the tv immediately caught your attention, drew your gaze, captured your undivided attention: Max’s. Seeing him suddenly lit up your opaque features, and Carlos noticed; unfortunately, he also witnessed distress and worry replace the fondness inside your eyes. You couldn’t bear the sight of it. No, as much as you tried to avoid it, there was an inner part of you that shattered in pieces while hearing journalists insinuating stuff without proof, implicitly – but not trying to hide it either – suggesting Max wasn’t worthy of being a champion, that the 2021 title had been robbed. Once again, his abilities and merits were questioned looking at parameters that didn’t include his outstanding performance and talent. And it hurt you; somehow, it hit close. When he had informed you about the rumors it didn’t seem that bad, or serious, or anything that could be real, to be honest; but everybody referred to it as a grounded certainty, a fact to deal with and, even before an official confrontation with the FIA, all cried scandal. Inside Max’s cold eyes, you read frustration and anger. You couldn’t stand it. So you stood up. «Y/n?» Carlos asked. You left the hospitality without adding a word.

Your feet automatically moved down the paddock with small and quick steps, trying to go as fast as they could. You didn’t cross eye with anybody, because the only person you wanted to see wasn’t walking in the crowd. There was un urge, a deep-rooted need to seek refuge in Max’s arms, unfold your distress and take out his, merge them together and let go of them. With fidgeting hands, you reached for your phone in the jeans’ pocket and called him. You had so many things to tell him; so many useless words to make sure he was doing okay, so many dreamed reassurances you wanted to give and be given back. Although he wasn’t picking up, you marched towards your destination until you finally saw Red Bull’s logo standing out onto the external wall of the hospitality. You were ready to approach the entrance, about to step onto the stairs and run inside, but someone sprung up in front of you warding you off with an arm. «Sorry, you can’t get inside!» This person from the team guided you a couple meters away from the door you desperately wanted to cross. You looked at her closely, and you saw a tag onto her Red Bull shirt. That Alice, uh? Now it makes sense. «What?» you simply asked. «You’re not allowed to get inside our hospitality, I’m sorry.» she quickly repeated, shaking her head. «But I need to talk to-» «Y/n, I’m sorry, but you can’t. I don’t know what Max told you, but we as a team have other problems to deal with at the moment and we don’t want rumors about you two to be on the list as well.» The stern expression she put on made you stand still, speechless, almost uncapable of reacting. «Also, you’re not allowed inside the garage throughout the weekend. As soon as the situation with the media gets better, you’ll be welcomed again, I promise.» «I just wanted to talk to him.» you whispered. She sighed. And she left. After exchanging a few words with people from the stuff – probably making sure they wouldn’t let you in – she disappeared inside the building, and with her all your hopes of relief.

«She can’t get near Max down the track, in the pitlane or here in the paddock, okay? Paparazzi are everywhere and they’re just waiting for those two to slip up again.» Alice spoke to some colleagues in the communication area with a peremptory tone; hearing heavy steps behind her, though, she immediately turned into ice. «Who’s slipping up?» Max asked, quickly taking a sip from his water bottle. Alice deeply inhaled, mastering the courage to confront him. «You and y/n, Max.» she replied, sharp. As your name was brought into the conversation, Max’s focus shifted completely on it. «What happened? Did you see her? Did you talk to her?» Alice, trying not to get intimidated by his pressing questions, kept her tough face on. «She came here to see you and I had to make her leave. There are too many eyes on you, and I’ve already told you this is an extremely delicate moment! Also, Kelly is involved, and we don’t need other troubles…» «But Kelly isn’t involved at all, this is only between me and y/n! And we’re not even together!» Max said, raising his voice in frustration. «Press doesn’t care about the truth, they just know what they can see! And they will try to dig deeper if you give them the opportunity to.» «So what? I can’t see her anymore? She isn’t going to come over to our garage for races?» Max asked, sarcastic. He probably expected Alice to match his sarcasm, but she hesitated, afraid to fuel his rage. Her silence, of course, did the exact opposite. «I told you it’s my decision! If I want to hang out with her, I will! You’re nobody to tell me who I can spend my time with!» «This isn’t meant to be against you, and you know it.» Of course not, he thought. It never is. They treated him like a little puppet for their PR content he didn’t give a shit about and expected him to accept restrictions on the people he could spend time with. His manager, approaching Max to calm him down, put a hand onto his shoulder. «Come on, Max, let’s go-» «What would you do if they asked you to stop hanging out with a dear friend of yours?» he asked Alice, gradually more uncapable of containing anger. «I’d do it, if it’s for the good of the team.» «But this only has to do with me! My friendships don’t involve the team!» «Yes, but YOU are part of the team! Guess what, for most you ARE the team, you represent it, and when they see you, they think of Red Bull!» «And do you think this is fair to me or to anyone else working in the team?» he replied, crossing arms. «Okay, Max.» Alice said, resigned. «Okay. If you don’t like it, you can call Christian and tell him yourself.» With that, Alice simply walked away: she had nothing else to add, since there was no one willing to listen.

Max didn’t waste any time. His steps echoed through the corridors – followed by his manager, who vainly tried to stop him – and constant loud thumps could be heard from quite a distance, causing a few employees to peek the head out of their office to check who was passing by. He didn’t even knock on the door; there wasn’t time for formalities, there wasn’t enough patience to calmly handle the situation. «Can we talk?» #

You sat across each other. You weren’t there. It was hard to explain, but you felt some kind of comfort in being surrounded by silence despite a crowd of people going back and forth as little ants. Despite Sebastian sitting in front of you, sternly staring at you. There was tension; composure, studying of movements, distance. And it magically dissipated, as Sebastian’s sigh erased the wall of unsaid words dividing you. «I’m sorry for treating you badly last time.» you casually said, not daring to cross eyes. A pause. You quietly reasoned which words to use next, although Sebastian prevented it by breaking his iced silence. «You don’t need to apologize. I could see something troubled you, and I’m pretty sure it still does.» He was met with an unmutated expression. «You can talk to me, if you need it. Whatever it is, I’ll try to help you.» Yet another shower of silence. He then insistently searched for your eyes. «You don’t have to pretend you’re fine with all the media pressure. I’ve been there before, and I’ve learned how to deal with it.» «That’s not the problem.» you said, reluctant, diverting gaze. «Okay. Then what is it?» he persisted. Yeah. What was it? The press asking you about your private matters or them hinting at a romance affair which was non-existent, to your dismay? Was it the fact that you wished it was real and actually had to hide something, instead of fighting feelings you desperately tried to conceal and repress in front of anybody, Max and you included? «Or I’d better ask… Who is it?» Sebastian’s words had you like a deer caught in the headlights. «Guess Max is still the deal, right?» he inquired again, leaning his elbows onto the coffee table. «Yeah.» you hummed, mostly to yourself. «Do you like him?» Seb slightly smiled at it. «I don’t know. I mean, I think so, but- It’s probably just me, it’s not worth ruining our relationship.» you rambled. «Who said you are going to ruin the relationship?» Seeing Sebastian put a skeptical face, you swam in your own insecurities: the amount of paranoia you’ve been dealing with in a week made your head hurt, and for a second the clouds darkening your mind got away thanks to Seb’s light of reason. You would reflect upon it in another moment, though: the weekend already seemed difficult even after putting aside your emotions, and you clearly weren’t in a position to gamble. «I can’t afford to lose him.» you then stated, staring at the sky still lost in thought. «Trust me, Max won’t let go of you that easily. He really enjoys your company, you’ve got nothing to fear.» Sebastian smiled. You tried to do the same, but you told yourself you would’ve liked to be as confident as he was.

Max didn’t like losing. Not that hard to figure out, some would say. But it was a trait which he kept also off the track; there was something so confident and assertive in the way he would speak his mind, express his opinion, a sort of determination stemming from dead-certainty and belief. And Max had just conquered a small win, after all. You weren’t allowed to enter the Red Bull garage, but he had managed to convince Christian Horner to let you stay in the hospitality. «But I don’t want her to be here tomorrow and on Sunday, understood?» Christian asked, making sure Max wouldn’t take advantage of it. Max nodded, despite not being fully satisfied yet; after texting you to come over and seeing you enter the hospitality, though, a bright smile immediately spread over his lips, as he immediately searched Alice’s eyes to catch her reaction and enjoy it. She crossed her arms and simply walked away, visibly annoyed. At the same time, Max saw you getting closer with a cheerful appearance: without even thinking twice, his arms were ready to welcome you in a hug. «Thank you.» you murmured as you parted. Looking at you, Max couldn’t restrain a thought: winning had never tasted so sweet. #

«So many corrections, right?» «Yeah… I lost the count of all the times I was about to hit the wall!» Max and Charles having a little debrief after the first sessions of free practice was an established tradition no one ever really complained about. The two of them were walking inside the paddock, heading towards the hospitalities, and the discussion gradually shifted from track conditions to simply catching up with each other. Charles was quick to notice way more cameras than usual were pointing at them; he hadn’t really paid attention to the rumors, so he felt naturally weirded out by the sudden interest. «Is it just me or is everybody following us?» the Monegasque lightly chuckled. «Yeah, seems like it.» Max brushed off. «Did I do something?» Charles asked, utterly oblivious to the situation. «No, they’re here for me, don’t worry.» They stopped a couple meters before Red Bull’s entrance, but before splitting, Max stepped in. «I still haven’t apologized for how I treated you the morning after Zandvoort. So, uhm, I’m sorry.» Charles squinted, thinking hard, then let out a “Ah!” after successfully remembering the situation. «Don’t worry, I noticed there was tension between you and y/n. It’s fine.» As Charles added a smile to the sentence, a laughing filled the air and made the two drivers turn their heads: they saw you getting out of the hospitality playing and laughing with Sergio’s wife and, in particular, with her children. You had spent time with them and watched free practice together, and now that it was time to say goodbye. Exiting the door, you immediately perceived stares on you and couldn’t help but cross them. As you and Max made eye contact, a spontaneous and traitor smile appeared onto your lips, making Charles slightly spying on Max’s expression to observe his reaction. Acknowledging the newly relaxed atmosphere between the two of you, he didn’t miss the opportunity to tease him a little. «Did she already recover?» «Yes, almost fully.» Max answered, as they saw you discretely blow your nose. «She’s doing a lot better.» «And you’re both doing better, I see.» Max was about to look at him and reply, tell him off or something, but he wasn’t able to divert gaze as you gently tousled Sergio’s son’s hair, a fond and amused look in your smiling eyes. Charles’ goodbye reached his ears delayed, and Max got lost staring at you, in awe, his heart twisting in affection.

On Saturday, things didn’t get better. Max had texted you to ask if you’d like to have breakfast with him outside of the paddock before the third session of free practice, so that the team couldn’t have anything to scold him for. You had gladly accepted. You dressed up, combed your hair and pulled the door behind you as you got out; inside the lift, you felt a light comfort since you were about to spend some time with Max again. But no, things weren’t supposed to get better. In fact, as you tried to get out of the hotel, you were stopped by the presence of a bunch of journalists waiting outside the hall glass door. Do they care that much about me?, you wondered. You stood still, hands closed into cold-sweat fists, unable to take a decision. A voice inside of you told you not to pay attention to those jerks and to fiercely make your way past their ignorance; silence would kill their loudness. However, there was a gut feeling you couldn’t ignore, pleading you not to enter the lions’ den, because you simply wouldn’t be able to tolerate it. Paralyzed by fear, you retraced your steps.

Pushed the door, took your shoes off and passed a hand through your hair, breathing deep. There was nothing to freak out about. You got closer to the window and peeked down the street: they were still there. That’s normal, you thought, they were there a few minutes ago. You swallowed. You noticed your mouth had gone dry. Was it dry when you woke up? You couldn’t tell. Swallowing multiple times, you realized it still hurt a little bit. Did it hurt when you woke up? You couldn’t tell. You quickly took your phone out and texted Max. “sorry, I don’t feel good, I’m not coming” Had you just made up an excuse so that you didn’t have to show up? You couldn’t tell. You sent the text, then threw the phone onto the covers in distress. You peeked down the pavement once more: they were still there. Nothing to freak out about. You picked up your phone from the bed once again and did something you had never done, something you shouldn’t have, but that your irrationality reckoned as a good idea. Scrolling social medias to read what they had said about you. To your surprise, you found several debatable Instagram pages which posted stolen shots of you and Max. The most frequent attribute either one of you was given was “traitor”, oftentimes written in full capital letter onto your faces. The real cruelty, though, was stored in the comments section.

No need to freak out.

You run back to the window, your breaths picking up the pace as you noticed they were still there, still fucking waiting for you in order to assault you like a prey. You shut down the blinds, closing off the rising sun’s beams, drowning in the darkness. The phone, which you had let fall back onto the bed again without noticing, vibrated with a muffled sound. “Thought you were doing better…?” Knees gradually gave in under your shaky body, crawling on the floor with your back against the wall. “I thought that too”, you slowly typed. In that moment, your throat tickled and made you cough so hard you hoped to spit out the anguish’s knot in your stomach, emptying your body from the very bottom and finally getting rid of that discomfort. Before you had time to process it, coughs turned into sobs and a few ugly tears hid around your eyes, making your skin sting and burn. #

Sick. «What’s that pout, Max?» You had got better so fast, you’d had no problem for days… How come you were sick again? To be fair, Max easily guessed illness had nothing to do with it. «No, nothing.» Something was up yet another time. He knew you would avoid in any possible way further exposure, minimize the risk of being caught together and troubling the both of you. And this drove him mad. He couldn’t care less about other people’s opinions: he’d always had to fight against prejudices and poor thinkers, sailing the sea throughout major shitstorms, and he had learned how to handle the pressure from a very young age. He was used to it. But you weren’t. And he was aware. Though, he wished you would stop being so conditioned and influenced by other people. «Then put your helmet on, it’s almost time to go.» Lambiase’s voice brought him into the present, awakening the sounds of fervent mechanics bent over the car, the noise which had made him zone out in the first place. #

Vox media. A vox media is a word that has a neutral meaning per se, but can carry both a good and a bad one; it’s like a medal, with its two faces, both brought into the table whenever the term is mentioned. It’s funny how the chances of getting the wrong message it’s almost non-existent… Well, the context usually clarifies it. There are words that can only have good or a bad meaning in a specific situation. And as a driver, in the middle of your last flying lap of the last session, knowing the checkered flag is getting closer and closer and so is the adrenaline for a conquered pole position, taking all the possible risks you can in a street circuit, searching for grip in every single centimeter of asphalt, there’s probably only one thing you don’t want to be told. «Box, Max! Box, box, box!» «Why? What the… why?» A stab amidst the chest. This is what those words felt like for Max, leaving him breathless for a second, as his focus broke and fury took its place. «What the fuck!? What the fuck! What are you guys saying?!» They left him yelling in frustration on his own, keeping silent; but Max needed answers. «I don’t get it, what the fuck is this about?» «I’ll explain once you’re out, Max.»

As Max parked the car for the FIA to check it, his eyes flicked to the side: flashes got his attention, and a group of cameramen run towards Red Bull’s pit wall to picture their failure. And it was in that moment he finally realized how all the pressure the media had kept on the team had pushed the system to crumble like a house of cards, making them get stuff wrong with his car and preventing him from delivering as he was about to do. Did he really wanted to be filled up with crap excuses for their mistake? No. He had obliged to whatever they had instructed him to say in interviews about the cost cap, and they had thought banning you from the paddock would solve their problems. It clearly hadn’t. Max got out of the car and removed his helmet in a hurry: GP tried to hold him back, to no avail. He had already gone past him, not sparing a glance.

Max marched towards the hotel. The sweat clung onto his skin like a suffocating veil, and his frustrated rage certainly didn’t help getting rid of it. He passed the back of his hand on the forehead. He was on the edge. All because of the team fucking up his qualifying, the team who was in everybody’s mouth for the cost cap scandal, the team who had decided to get you away from him for PR reasons. His mind was filled up with racing thoughts, but one thing was extremely clear: he was fed up with all of it. There wasn’t any tolerability left; he would’ve stripped himself naked and run to you undressed, if that would get those paparazzi and “journalists” out of the way. Out of his way, out of yours.

Entering the building, the receptionist didn’t even manage to address him with practiced polite words, since Max simply sped right past him, thinking his racing suit would serve as a sufficient introduction.

He knocked onto your door with such a force you jumped, startled, still sitting in front of the tv in shock for the mishap. When you opened to him, your shock grew even bigger. Max didn’t give you time to react and stormed into the room as soon as there was enough space for him to sneak inside. You turned and followed his restless pacing back and forth, mouth still agape for the surprise. «Max, what happened?» you tried to ask, but the words came out with a shaky voice. «No fuel.» he replied, closing off the blinds to unwanted attention. «I… I’m so sorry… But I’m sure you’ll have the pace tomorrow! And- and there might be a safety car! Anything can happen during the race…» Rummaging through your mind in search of words of comfort, you stared at Max, who was giving you his back. He nervously passed a hand through his hair, as his chest started rising and falling quite fast. Why did he get there? It wasn’t your fault, and neither could you turn back time or change the situation. What was he searching for? What did he expect, what did he want from you? In a fraction of second, Max turned around and he immediately got the answer. You felt your wrist been pulled, while your bodies crashed together onto each other, molding together, melting, clinging. You could hear and feel onto your skin his hot, heavy and shortened breaths, as Max’s face nestled against the crook of your neck. It was so quick you didn’t see it coming; it was so natural you didn’t even try to avoid it. Because it simply felt appropriate and right to let Max loosen the embrace enough to stare at you and then quickly closing the gap, leaning in for a kiss. Hands full of your skin and lips dancing heatedly onto yours, Max understood: this was what he came there for. He hadn’t been able to resist without you, especially after the pressure he had withstood. He had needed you so bad. You couldn’t rewind time and prevent mistakes from happening, of course; but there was a lot you were able to do by simply standing on his side, smiling, encouraging him and checking up on him, things he had terribly missed. He just couldn’t stand the idea of you watching him from a screen, miserable, not even daring to put foot into the paddock in fear of people halting you and asking you inappropriate, nosey questions. And as his hands firmly held your head, perceiving the skin underneath them emanating warmth acted as a foot stomping on full throttle: suddenly, he needed to feel your body even closer, despite your faint attempt to regain breathing space gently pushing on his chest, and his tongue asked for permission to deepen the kiss, slowing down the rhythm only to make it more intense. Max had lost control since jumping out of the car, but he hadn’t realized; and even after running to you with his suit still on, ignoring every person around him, knocking on your door and kissing you out of the blue, then getting all worked up, no, he still hadn’t managed to notice. But your hands, still pressed down onto his chest, eventually splitting you apart… Yes, they were the ones to break the spell. The bitter cold that hit him as your body got away from his hold felt like a slap straight to the cheek. He sobered up, all at once, unable to speak or say anything now aware of his actions. On the other hand, you didn’t even know what had pushed you to move away: in fact, a part of you immediately regretted it. Out of breath, you vainly tried to come up with an explanation, some sort of defense, and quickly acknowledged your guards had completely fallen apart as soon as Max had crossed the threshold. «I didn’t… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.» Max said, clearing his throat, visibly embarrassed. «No, Max, I…» You what? You didn’t know, you couldn’t state it openly; was it a problem telling him or admitting it to yourself? Was it his unreadable expression making your hands clammy? Or was it him walking away defeated and disappearing as quickly as he had into the room? #

You tossed and turned under the covers, willing yet unable to find peace of mind: Max’s touch still lingered onto you, pervaded your senses and couldn’t brush him off your thoughts. You wished you had stopped him from leaving you in such a confused state; in fact, you wished you hadn’t stopped him at all in the first place. That kiss had felt like heaven: unexpected, unplanned, sudden, so that your heart sank into your chest; urgent and needy, as you were, even after not seeing each other for less than twenty-four hours; casted with tenderness, because it had stemmed from a comforting embrace; burning of desire, incomparably more passionate than whatever you had been able to imagine in your dreams after the party. Had it been another dream? Did you fall and hit your head? You sat straight up and pinched your cheek, scared to be living a lucid, feverish fantasy. It stinged. It was real. You crushed back again onto the pillow, staring at the ceiling and sighing. He had kissed you first. He had run to you, crossed the darkness of the night with his hair still sweaty only to kiss you and walk away. You wanted to torture yourself with how it wasn’t possible for you to love each other, but the only thing you could wonder with a smile written on the heart was whether Max had enjoyed it as much as you did. Above all the pictures journalists could’ve taken, opposed to the previous occasions, you told yourself you would’ve liked having been caught this time. Just to have a proof for your unreasoned happiness.

After unsuccessfully attempting at falling asleep, you had sent a text to Charles, asking him if they could have you inside the garage for the race. There was no way you would manage to lock yourself into the room, staring at the tv and watching Max doing everything he could to win the race and, possibly, the championship as well. Charles, a born gentleman, said yes despite being conscious of the extra spotlight the team would have to face.

You were surprised – and pleased – to see that nobody was waiting for you out of the hotel; strange, you thought, but people had probably got bored and tired of standing, and they decided not to harass you on Sunday. How kind of them.

Sitting with headphones in your hands, you watched the rain fall, mindlessly fidgeting with the wire. «Here you are, the star of the moment!» Charles chirped, taking a seat right next to you. «Y/n, an interview, please!» said Carlos, mocking one of the pleading journalists he had saved you from on Friday. You threw an annoyed glance at both. «I can still leave.» you threatened with a smile. «Oh, but you won’t.» Carlos confidently said, putting a pair of sunglasses on. Charles, amazed, eyed his teammate. «Carlos, you’re such a fashion icon!» «Tell me something I don’t know yet.» the Spaniard boldly replied. «Uhm… It’s raining and you don’t need sunglasses?» you asked, skeptical. Carlos let out a sigh in fake annoyance. «These aren’t for the sun.» he indicated them. «It’s a filter for all the bullshit you’re going to feed us with after we’ve asked you what we want to ask you right now.» He then turned towards Charles, who stared at him trying to telepathically read into Carlos’ head. «What… what was the question?» he whispered, still looking intensely at him. Carlos, flipping his head towards you, bore his eyes – well, definitely his sunglasses – at you with a knowing smirk. «Y/n.» «Yes…?» «I’m not getting in the car if-» «He’s not getting in the car!» Charles repeated after him, impressed. «Yes. I’m not getting in the car unless you tell me what the heck is going down between you and Max Emilian Verstappen.» Silence filled the air, as Carlos nodded in gloating and Charles shook his hand uttering a “Such a good question, mate”. After the little scene, they both turned to you at the same time. «So?» Carlos urged. «I… I don’t know what you want me to say!» you said, embarrassed. «Well, you could start with explaining what you were doing last night in the same room.» «How do you kno-» «Someone from the Ferrari stuff was down the corridor and saw you opening the door to him.» Charles confessed. Still a little bit mad about your privacy being violated, or better, about your vulnerability being exposed, Carlos pressed you even further. «Don’t you trust us? Charles, y/n doesn’t trust us.» he said, sad and offended.

You deeply inhaled, desperately trying to master the courage and tell them so that you could be over with it, but words died before you would even shape them. Charles, noticing how difficult it was for you, had an idea. «Carlos, why don’t we take a guess? And whoever loses, must stay five seconds under the rain?» «And the winner?» «The winner… The winner wins a hot chocolate!» Charles said, his eyes searching for confirm in yours. «Fine.» you breathed out. «Okay, I go first.» Carlos eagerly said, sitting on the edge of the seat. «You… you cuddled onto the bed!» «How sweet!» Charles chuckled. You shook your head, in denial, whispering “No, I’m sorry.” It was Charles’ turn, now; he leaned forward, forearms onto his laps, trying to read your eyes. Uneasy, your pupils flicked right and left in search of relief. «You kissed.» As he spoke those two words, a sudden cloud of warmth burned your limbs, awakening them from their sleep: your heart beat faster, your lips slightly parted in surprise and a pink flush tinted your cheeks. «You kissed!» Carlos yelled, jumping onto the seat, as if everything had become clear. Unable to sustain their astonished expression, you looked down. «It’s not something to be ashamed of.» Charles immediately tried to lift off your embarrassment. «It’s all wrong… I mean, all of this, we shouldn’t-» You stopped talking as you felt a hand touch your shoulder: it was Carlos, this time addressing you with a serious face. «Did you like it?» «Carlos…» «Did you like it, y/n?» «Yes, I did.» you whispered.

Feeling small in your chair, you hid the palms of your hand under your laps, still self-conscious. «I don’t know if he liked it…» «Bet he was the one to go for it.» Charles quickly jumped in. Yes, he had been. And the mere idea confused you even more, made your heart flatter and do somersaults inside your chest. «…But even if he did, we can’t go out or something, with all the hate we’re receiving. The team would never allow it.» «Y/n, listen.» Carlos began, addressing you. «After a qualifying session like the one he had yesterday, no driver would’ve crossed the city to leave a meaningless peck on a friend’s lips. He likes you and you like him, so there’s no need to overcomplicate things because of your fears when it is that simple.» «It scares me.» you whispered, still deep in thought. «I’ve got so much to lose…» Charles softly smiled, then cleared his throat to gain your full attention. «Imagine to be an f1 driver in qualifying: it’s Q3 and you just have one shot to set the pole. There isn’t time to be careful or afraid, you must send it, even if it means you have to take risks.» «Yeah, you gotta send it!» Carlos said, in excitement. «You get nothing for nothing, y/n.» «Guys, I’m not a racing driver.» you laughed. «But you’re going to be together with one of the best out there, so you need to gain some courage!» Charles, not satisfied with the discourage written over your face, tried to persuade you a bit more. «You will probably confront about it pretty soon anyway, and I think you should tell him how you feel. If you don’t, you would both miss out on an amazing relationship.» Uncapable of sustaining the serious atmosphere for so long, Carlos broke the short silence that followed Charles’ words. «Nah, would they really? I don’t think Max deserves it.» Saying so, Carlos took his glasses off and put them back into the pocket. «I’m getting emotional… Our little y/n has grown up so much, Charles…» he turned to him, «She’s about to have a boy now.» «And what a boy, Carlos!» the Monegasque chuckled. The three of you shared a laugh; as you watched them jokingly bicker, you couldn’t help but think you were lucky to have such amazing people to support you, despite them being famous and busy any time of year. Charles, feeling your eyes onto him, stared at you with a brow raised, as you seemed about to say something. «Thank you.» You both smiled at each other. «Oh, don’t thank me, y/n. You owe me a hot chocolate, after all.» Charles said, «And you have to go under the rain, Carlos.» «No, I don’t! It’s not fair!» he protested. «You gotta send it, Carlos!» you told him, Charles laughing uncontrollably at your joke. «You’re lucky I’m a gentleman.» he replied, raising his pointer finger at the two of you.

No one was surprised to find a tensed atmosphere around Red Bull’s staff. People had tried to dig deeper into the cost cap story to see things clearer, pointing at the team and angrily accusing them of cheating “once again”. Max let it all rain down, wash the frustration away from him and erase the grip from the track at once. His mind was somewhere else. He couldn’t make sense of his escapade; he had overstepped any boundary and completely disregarded any resolution he had set for himself. The “fine line” has been crossed and there was no making up for it. «Like the rain?» Max peeked over his shoulder and saw Daniel approaching. «It’s relaxing.» he then answered. The Aussie nodded and stared intensely at him, then looked out the window as Max did. «Do you remember the morning after the party?» Daniel abruptly asked. «In the kitchen?» «Yes.» «Uhm, yeah, there was Carlos as well.» Max recalled. «Right.» he paused a few seconds before carrying on. «Before you got up, I talked with him a bit and he told me a few things about y/n.» Daniel knew he had perked Max’s interest as he felt a pair of eyes watching attentively, and couldn’t stop a grin. Max, thrown off by his behavior, sighed annoyed. «If you’re joking, this isn’t funny.» «I’m not.» Daniel replied. «Carlos said y/n was freaking out because she’d had some kind of dream about you two but couldn’t tell whether it was some blurred memory or her subconscious messing with her in hangover.» «What was the dream about?» Max found himself whisper. «I don’t remember exactly. But you can ask her.» Daniel, pleased by his reaction, looked at him. «Carlos told me y/n likes you.» Those words sent electricity through his fingertips and awoke his heart, which beat faster: Max felt caught by feelings he couldn’t control nor understand, and they took over him to the point he couldn’t stop himself from releasing them. «Dan, I kissed her.» Max blurted out, confessing. Daniel goggled at him. «At the party?» he asked, surprised. «No, yesterday. After qualifying.» Silence. Max scratched his neck, nervous, itching everywhere, the same electricity travelling onto his skin. «Dan, I don’t know why I did it, and… and I don’t know what to do, because at first she seemed to be okay with it but then she pushed me away! I have no idea what’s going on…» Daniel flicked his eyes to the side before inching closer to him, so that nobody else could hear what he was about to say. «Max, I know you’ve just broken up with Kelly and that it might be too soon to say, but have you, like… considered you could’ve fallen in love with y/n?» The dam of his heart’s lake fell apart and a waterfall of emotions poured down as the rain did outside the window. Needless to say, Max’s awareness of his feelings for you hid under the thick layer of unconscious knowledge, and being exposed to it upset him greatly. «Guys, it’s time to race!» they heard someone say, probably some engineer from Red Bull or McLaren passing by. «It’s showtime.» Daniel said, nudging Max.

You watched the race from the Ferrari garage, once again, and it was even more nerve-wracking than usual, as yellow flags followed one another. Your eyes were vaguely paying attention to the images onto the screen, but your heart was constantly searching for Max’s position, and when a massive lock-up brought him in a run-off area and forced the team to pit, you were caught by an indescribable sadness, since the championship title was inevitably postponed.

Walking down the pitlane, hiding yourself from indiscreet eyes with some of the Ferrari merch Charles had given you as a camouflage, you saw an orange suit waving towards you. «Daniel! Congratulations for p5!» you said, grinning at him. «Oh, thanks.» he replied, a bit absentmindedly. His answer left you a bit dumbfounded: after such a good result for the team – with Lando in p4 – and for himself as well, you expected to see a glimpse of happiness in him. Then you reasoned he had just got out of the car, drenched in sweat and physically worn out. «Are you okay? Do you need some water?» you asked, not able to read his expression, eyes gazing far behind you. In fact, Daniel was tired, but his poor reaction was due to focus: he was searching for someone down the pitlane, and that person was Max. The Dutch had asked him to detain you in the middle of the post-race crowd so that he could confront you and talk to you without leaving the track (as the team had ordered him, after the latest events).

Max had run to the weighing to be one of the first drivers on queue and had jogged back to the garage to drop the helmet; he was so impatient to reach you, despite not being sure of what to tell you exactly. Maybe he simply wanted to see you and have you close. Easily getting rid of his PR assistant – since she was too caught up speaking with Sergios’ – and lowering the cap’s visor in hope of going unnoticed, he fiercely walked with eyes scanning left and right, and when he finally spotted the two of you, every step was lighter, as he felt closer to finally break free and disclose his hidden feelings. «Max!» Or maybe… not yet. «Max, stop!» Alice’s voice halted his wide strides; Max turned around, livid, and he would’ve lashed out at her if only he hadn’t seen the worry covering her face. «Take a look here!» she said, handing him the phone.

What's wrong with this instagram story, you ask? Oh, nothing. Simply sets up half of the drama planned out for next chapter. (I can't believe next chapter could be the last one, don't wake me 'cause I don't wanna leave this dream)

AS PER USUAL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! ♥ I’D REALLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU LEFT A NOTE FOR FEEDBACK, SO THANKS IF YOU DO! HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY! . · ˚✧

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[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments Friday but in text format this time.

A fitting moment to repost my chapter 1 cover separately, now that the ARR arc has wrapped up.

The last beat is this ficlet, G’raha pov, ~1k words. Angsty af, implied magical suicide. May cause pain and upsetti. Go in prepared, or don't go in at all. Don't act like I didn't warn you.

───── ⋆✧⋆ ───── "He doesn't have to linger. Just give the command, the spell will float him, sparing his body the damage it would otherwise receive from remaining inert for gods know how long, the artificial slumber wash over.

Forever."

Preparing for a catnap in the Crystal Tower, G'raha takes a moment to look back when he really, really shouldn't.

───── ⋆✧⋆ ─────

The humanly impossible amount of ancient knowledge churns in his head, comforting him so strangely. He knows what he's supposed to do, it's no more complicated than flipping a switch. He knows everything.

Except...

Does he ever wake up?

Is this really as brilliant as it seemed some minutes ago?

Generations will change, the Tower will stay intact, just as the public knowledge about it, and when that mythical Right Time comes, someone finds a way to rouse him.

He'll be fine.

Right?

His throat dries up. Somewhat out of place, a thought that he didn't even bother snatching a flask of water makes him crouch right where he stood.

"You'd better think of me. You'd better miss me."

No way the Warrior of Light was genuine. The time they've spent together, the kiss, it has to matter to him at least one little bit?

Of course it was bluff! Just a friendly jab. His own way of saying "well, screw you too" because he does care.

Right?

G'raha curls up. Hugs himself tight because, probably, most likely, you fool, no one else ever will.

He doesn't know Vivi as well as he believed. Vivi doesn't know him. This entire summer, this incredible, fleeting thing that made him feel like he's been hit over the head with something heavy, they wasted all of it on frolicking around. It was fun, yes... Nothing brings you so close together as swapping the contents of the salt and sugar jars just before dinner at Saint Coinach's. It was fun. Fun.

G'raha has never shown his other facets. What if Vivi merely followed suit?

Ah. Empty worries now.

"Goodbye, Warrior. Find someone better than me."

A coward and a liar.

His body finally unclenches from itself. He stands up and wanders around, pointlessly, for he's able to teleport anywhere at will now.

His new home, - not tomb, he yanks himself, - is spacious and quiet. There are rooms and passages hidden from anyone but him, the caretaker of this place. When he's ready, he'll go to a room called Umbilicus. He doesn't intend to wait until he's exhausted, but... Just a little longer.

The perfect Allagan creation patiently waits for its master.

G'raha ascends the massive winding stairs, slowing down to look around here and there. Fresh memories pester him like flies.

What's Vivi up to? Dining at the Seventh Heaven? Perhaps back home already. Or wherever his wondrous life takes him next. Oh what he wouldn't give to-

G'raha gives himself yet another mental shake and rubs his face.

"Alright, enough. Umbilicus."

He remains still.

The grandiose structures of blue and gold loom over him. Decorative spires point at him like weapons. Surfaces that are polished enough to serve as mirrors show that he looks exactly like he feels: tiny and frightened. He wants to point and laugh at the reflection, the sound that comes out of his throat startles him back into silence.

"I am doing this."

Fists clenched and eyes shut, he teleports.

And there it is. A small room, oddly soothing after the open space of the main hall.

He doesn't have to linger. Just give the command, the spell will float him, sparing his body the damage it would otherwise receive from remaining inert for gods know how long, the artificial slumber wash over.

Forever.

His chest feels tight again.

This's it.

"I chose this. This's my destiny. This's my destiny."

Destiny, what a silly word to love. It always felt like a glorious path one takes to find the ultimate fulfillment. To rise like a new star.

Now that he's on the other side of the sealed golden doors... It's more akin to a dark maw preparing for a feast. No fanfare, no laurels, no one to watch a fool willingly walking down a cliff.

He shouldn't think of it this way.

And why, of all seasons, must it have been...?

He won't descend to comparing the end of his tale - the end of this chapter of his tale - to something as sappy as the last day of summer.

He inhales slowly, deliberately, yet his breath hitches on the exhale.

He whimpers.

Fear, grief, regret, like mad dogs off the leash. G'raha lets them pounce and knock him off his feet. He may even scream without worrying about being heard.

- I would've loved a different life.

A croaking, not-his voice.

He stands in the middle of the room and cries grossly, loudly, like a lost child.

What does it take to be a hero?

Now he knows.

Everything.

It takes everything.

Could he have ignored the pull? Could he still open the doors, live with shame, but live?

Promises don't go well with possibilities.

All of his being protests this choice.

This's why, he belatedly nags himself, he rushed all those people out of the Tower.

Be faster than doubt.

He smears the still-flowing tears with an irritated, hurried motion.

There's a spark of rage, and he grasps at it with all he's got.  He only needs to reach out to the Tower in his mind, and so he does.

It responds instantly. A flawless link.

The aether around him concentrates, swirls and shimmers, gently lifting him in the air.

It's not cold and not warm either. It's right. He's suspended in the middle of the darkening room that begins to look like a sea of stars. The incomprehensible power and knowledge are coursing through him, for he's the heart of the Crystal Tower.

His recent outburst feels so distant now, although his cheeks are still wet. He smiles vaguely and closes his eyes.

"Goodnight, Eorzea."

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Credit to this fic which inspired me to word-vomit my own version.

My AO3 is here if you wanna leave kudos or comment!

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Note: "Promises don't go well with possibilities" is a thick hint at G'raha and Vivi parting ways, not having bonded that much in ARR, despite the intimacy of their gremlin moments. G'raha's all about promises and Vivi's chaotic nature is endless possibilities. I generally use this as their ship name.

[slickchickchocolatier]

His and Her Perspectives - Chapter 1

I swear i'm going to finish the second chapter of MT, I was spending more time reconstructing that I had developed the urge to go ahead and start on the first few chapters of HHP.

Now brace yourself, the first few chapters (much like MGR) might start off just a bit slow, but as usual, all a part of the juicy buildup. Lots of good fluff and smut ahead.

Pairings: You and Heeseung

Warnings: None for this chapter.

Summary: Third arc to the MGR series, picks up right after MRE arc.

enjoy!

-Begin read-

Your eyes flutter open and take in the rays of the sun that beamed in through the windows of Heeseung’s room. His scent coats your skin as you find yourself laying on his bed. Unable to recall exactly what had happened, you stare at the ceiling and walked your mind through the last thing you could remember. ….Ethan.

Realizing that the intense session had caused you to become exhausted, not to mention already experiencing loss of energy from the physical assault prior to, you try to narrow down the exact moments before blacking out. The only thing you could recall was Ethan’s growls the moment released inside you as you were reaching the peak of your orgasm. Then you suddenly remember Samuel. You didn’t find yourself too concerned over him, it was more of a curious thought you had in regards to what happened after your mind went blank and you fell asleep. The moment you remembered Samuel, you then realized that Heeseung wasn’t in his room with you. After taking a moment to collect your thoughts, you sit up and noticed that you were still barely nude. The shirt you had on was the black long-sleeve that Heeseung had on over his white tee last night, though you don’t recall putting it on. The shirt was still unbuttoned, fully displaying the bare skin of your chest and torso. As you examined the shirt, you noticed that the blanket wrapped around you was your own. Heeseung must have grabbed it off your bed and covered you from the waist down, while using his long sleeve to cover your chest and shoulders before taking you out to his car. Even though the dorm and parking lot was completely abandoned for the weekend, knowing him, he would have ensured you were somewhat modest before carrying you out. Realizing that you didn’t have your phone, you buttoned up the shirt and sat by the window next to the bed. It was probably best to just wait for Heeseung to return. Nearly an hour had passed, and you found yourself still waiting. For reasons unknown, you started to feel tired again. You lay back down and decide to nap until Heeseung would return, figuring it was the prime option seeing as how there was nothing you could do other than sit and wait.

Awaking to the sound of the door clicking open and gently closing shut, your eyes open to find that it was already dark outside, the lights were all off and you could hear Heeseung walking over to the bed, using the little bit of glare from the streetlights coming in through his window.

The sounds of his footsteps draw closer to where you were laying, not a second later you feel him sit on the edge of the bed right next to you. His hand grazes against your face as he pushes some of the hair away, the habit he loves to wield whenever he can.

Upon feeling your face shift from the side to face him, you could hear him leaning in a tad bit closer towards your face, his hand continues to stroke your cheek ever so softly.

“How do you feel?” his voice was soft, deep, and tender, the traditional voice of Heeseung. Even though Ethan’s voice was just as calm and relaxed, his was much deeper, both in vibrancy and tone. It further added to the wickedness of his persona.

“I feel fine. What happened to Samuel?”

“He left, right after we...” His eyes glanced to the floor for a second as a sly smirk formed on his lips as he trailed off form his statement, before looking back to you and winking.

Heeseung explained that Samuel left sometime after, but also informed that he would fully explain the details to you later whenever you’re fully rested and healed from your injuries. Noting the curiosity and slight concern on your face, he reassured you that Samuel’s departure was fully mutual and non-violent, claiming after the event that occurred, he was more than willing to leave and would no longer pose a risk to you or him.

“He left for good? He’s never coming back?” You asked earnestly.

After what had transpired with you and Samuel, you never want to concern yourself over his presence ever again. In which Heeseung continued to reassure that not only was Samuel gone forever, but he was never going to speak your name or think of you. It made you happy to not only hear those words, but to hear Heeseung use a certain reflection in his tone that let you know the utmost sincerity of the meaning behind them.

Several days had passed, and just as Heeseung said, Samuel was gone for good. There was no mentioning of that night either, it was almost as if none of it had happened, except for the bruises on your face and even your arms provided a harsh reminder. No matter how hard you tried, you did your best to hide it with a combination of long sleeves and hats to cover your face.

At some point you had to explain to the girls and Emily about your absence from the party. After seeing the bruises that was caused by a “cycling incident” they paid no mind about you and Heeseung not making it to the festivities, they were merely relieved that you were alright.

Another few days passed by you looked at your calendar and couldn’t believe that it was about to be August yet again, and on your way to starting your second year while Heeseung begins his final one. The thought triggered you to think about what the course of action would be after he finishes college, seeing as you still have a significant amount of time before you finish. The thought led you to recollect the first moment you met him, back when he was still dating Vicky, or that night at the frat party, when he approached you, caressed your face, consoled your mind, body, and soul after receiving Samuel’s email. You thought about the first night that became the birth of your relationship...

H I S The day started off slow as you made your way finding the rooms and sub buildings for your newly registered classes. Already facing the final year in college, you recall the moments where you used to strongly wish for the expedition of time and complete your final year at this institution.

Beginning your first year, you immediately found college, much like high school, to be such a redundant daily event. The myriad of classes, day by day, and seeing the same people just became such a drag for you. Nearly every single day since then, you longed for the keys of time so you could speed it up and be done already.

The day you swallowed your words, was when you witnessed something that had not only changed your mind, but you also hoped for any higher power above to stop the clock so you could earn more than just a minute or two to savor the view.

The first time you saw your girlfriend’s roommate...

[thatwriterchaotic]

Noisy Neighbors Chapter 3

Murphy is such a sweetheart in this chapter. Being so nice and sweet towards the reader. I love this chapter so much. Seeing their relationship start. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did.

Summary: Murphy invited you over to his apartment after the bad day you had. It was nice finally getting to meet Connor. Maybe getting closer to the MacManus twins wasn't such a bad thing.

Pairing: Murphy MacManus x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 787

Warnings: [18+], slow burn, complicated feelings, miscommunication, fluff, little bit of angst because why not. drinking, cursing, mentions of drug use, smoking.

Your POV:

You had a couple of drinks, sitting on the couch. Murphy next to you. Connor was right beside him. Rocco had left awhile ago having to do something for his job. You three had been trying to find a movie to watch. But the twins wouldn't stop fighting over it. “Ugh! Would you two stop fighting and pick something already?” You scolded them both. Eventually Connor took the remote and put on another cheesy action movie.

“Really Connor? You an these stupid action movies” Murphy complained as he took a sip of his beer. His other arm draped behind the back of the couch where you sat. “Not your type of movie?” You asked as you looked at Murphy. Murphy turned towards you, moving slightly closer to you. His thigh touching yours. “They aren't bad las, just the same thing happens in all of them” Murphy explained. You smirked and grabbed your beer taking a sip.

“What? Don't like when the guy gets the girl in the end?” You said being a bit of a tease. Murphy's felt the tips of his ears run hot. Hearing you say that made him so flustered. Maybe if that girl was you.. You had just met him the other day. But Murphy thought you where very beautiful. He wanted to know more about you. What your favorite movie was, your favorite place to go. He wanted to know everything.

“Nah Murphy's more into Jaws, and maybe even the occasional chic flick” Connor said teasing his brother. Ending up in Murphy smacking his shoulder. The two ending up in another pointless fight. You thought their relationship was really sweet almost child like. You could tell that they where very close. Maybe you would get to know more with time. Excited to finally have some friends.

That's when your phone started to ring, you pulled it out of your pocket. Excusing yourself as you stepped out into the hall way. You answered the call. It was the journalist who had interviewed you earlier today. Finally telling you that your hired. You grinned and jumped up and down a little. Excited about the news. You thanked them and quickly ended the call. You turned back to go back into Murphy's apartment but he was already stepping out. Wondering where you went off to.

“What was that about? Was it your job interview las?” Murphy asked wanting to hear what happened. You smiled and pulled Murphy into a hug out of excitement. “I did it Murphy! They hired me” You said to him, Murphy picked you up and spun around once. The affects of the alcohol taking a tow on both of you. You where so giddy not even noticing his arms where wrapped around you.

Murphy set you down smiling down at you. “I'm happy you got hired, maybe we can go out sometime to celebrate” Murphy suggested. You smiled softly and nodded your head. “Yeah I would love to do that sometime, maybe next weekend. I'll give you my number so we can talk about it more” You said feeling yourself become more stable. You felt flustered, standing this close to Murphy. His hands placed on your hips. Yours where on his shoulders. You slowly pulled back brushing your hair behind your ear.

Murphy chuckled softly, feeling himself become bashful. You looked so adorable like this. Excitement mixed with embarrassment. Your cheeks flushed red. A small smile on your lips. Oh how badly he wished to lean in and have a taste. “Well um I should probably get going for tonight, getting kind of late” You said softly. Murphy simply nodded before he snapped himself out of his trance. “Oh yeah! Just let me grab a pen for your number” Murphy said quickly going into his apartment. Grabbing a pen and coming right back out. He handed it over to you.

You smiled and grabbed the pen and then his hand. Writing your number and with a small smile beside it. “There you go, don't forget to text me” You said softly, placing the pen in his hand. “Oh I won't las, I promise” Murphy said before watching you walk back to your apartment. Excited about spending more time with you.

[lagingersnapz]

Some Rain Must Fall - (Fallout Fic) Chapter 10: Ancient History

Chapter: 10/?

In the past, the tension between Lucy and the Ghoul comes to a head, or rather a finger, and a good ol' fashion honest exchange... of fingers.

In the present, Lucy and Cooper settle in for a night or two in Vault 4, and Lucy gets a chance to ask about why Cooper didn't want her to know who he was.

Characters: Lucy MacLean/Cooper Howard(The Ghoul), Dogmeat(CX-404), Original Characters

Word Count: 5245

Warnings: Violence, Swearing

Author's Note: Well, we made it to the final chapter that includes a scene from the show at the beginning. After this it'll just all be fanfiction stuff. Thank you again for everyone who has read my little story so far. Hopefully it continues to be a fun read. No end in sight yet, since I still have a lot to cover in my story. I would like to reiterate, though. this is a SLOW BURN. Really... really... agonizingly slow. Though I've read ones that took longer than I intend to take, so maybe it's not really that bad.

Previous Next

Ao3

~~~

The sounds of the Wasteland had faded away, replaced by the pounding of blood in Lucy’s ear. There was nowhere to go, but she was going to try anyway. Ahead of her was a car. There was no time to go around, she needed every second she could get out of this head start. Rather than running around it, she slid over the hood, almost catching herself on a piece of jagged metal.

Rounding a corner, Lucy ran a few more steps and then stumbled to a stop in shock at the sight in front of her. Their surroundings had been a fairly standard broken down city, but suddenly all of it gave way to a massive crater, the likes of which Lucy had never seen before. It could only have been from one thing: a bomb.

Before she could finish processing what she was seeing, let alone figure out a way to get around it, something wrapped around her torso. Lucy had just enough time to look down and see that it was a rope, a lasso, before it pulled taught and she was sent flying backwards, butt over tea kettle through the dirt, her neck bending painfully. Thrashing, she tried to gain some traction on the ground, but the lasso stayed tight, and she was being pulled back in the direction she had just come running from. It didn’t take much to realize the Ghoul must have caught up with her. Where the heck had he even been keeping enough rope to make a lasso with?!

“Where d’you think you’re goin’? The pulling stopped and he threw down the rope, moving to stand over her. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere.” The Ghoul reached down for her, one hand grabbing the lasso still wrapped around her chest, and the other reached for the front of her jumpsuit, trying to get a hold of it to stop her squirming. Lucy became more frantic, and the hand came up to her face. She felt fingers trying to grab her jaw, and knew he was probably trying to make her look at him so he could threaten her some more and tell her how futile her escape attempt had been.

As Lucy felt the fingers brush over her lips, an instinctual reaction took hold and she bit down, feeling something crunch between her teeth. She swung her head, ripping, and felt something come loose, and as blood dripped into her mouth and over her chin, realization of what she had just done set in. Lucy had just bitten off the Ghoul’s finger﹘it was still in her mouth﹘and the two of them locked eyes.

“There you are,” the Ghoul said, more calmly than she expected. “You little killer.”

Lucy turned her head, spitting the finger as far away as she could manage, hoping he would never find it again. It didn’t seem likely that medicine up on the surface would be able to reattach a finger, but in this case she was hoping to make sure of it.

Hands closed on the fabric of her jumpsuit and the Ghoul pushed himself to his feet again, hauling her up with him, bracing her legs against his to make sure she stayed upright. With one hand he held hers, pointer finger extended, and with the other he drew a knife. Lucy realized what was about to happen, shrieking as she tried to get away, but his grip was like steel and she was stuck fast. The knife slid in a circle around her finger, slicing cleanly, though not painlessly, and Lucy screamed again in shock before the finger finally fell away into the Ghoul’s hand.

Holding the finger up in front of her, he twisted it around a little, driving home what had just happened. She had taken his finger, and in return he had taken hers. Ma June’s voice echoed in her recent memory, commenting on how telling it was that Lucy still had all ten of her fingers. Well, that certainly wasn’t the case anymore.

“Now, that right there is the closest thing we’ve had to an honest exchange so far,” he said.

Lucy was shaking, breath trembling in shock as she looked between him and the finger he held in his hand. The smile she hated so much, his self-satisfied, smug smile, returned to his face and Lucy hated that he felt like he was coming out on top in this situation. Even worse, she hated that she felt he had as well. She was right back where she started, in his custody. The Ghoul shifted his grip and took the finger back out of her field of vision, grabbing the lasso wrapped around her and pulling her back in the direction of the puddle they had been drinking from. On the ground next to it was his saddlebags, which he must have left there when he came after her.

“Sit down, Vaultie,” he drawled when they got closer, and he pushed her down so she was sitting next to a rusted out car. Her mind was still reeling, and the stump of her finger burned and ached in equal measure. While she sat, he pulled the rope off of her, coiling it back up and stuffing it into one of the bags. Then he pulled out a roll of cloth, and unrolled it enough to store her finger in there before returning it to the bag.

“Now, I feel it’s only fair to warn you that if you try anythin’ like that again, I’ll be obliged to cut off more fingers.” The Ghoul spoke as he pulled his gloves back on over his hands, covering his freshly missing finger from sight. Lucy still felt his blood around her mouth, and tasted the tang of it on her tongue. Rather than answer, she glared at him. She wanted to spit some of his blood at him, but considering her state of dehydration she didn’t think she could even work up that amount of saliva.

“Come on, now. We’re almost there.” Reaching down, he pulled her back to her feet and pushed Lucy in front of him, and their march continued the same as it had been before, minus a finger or two.

The Ghoul had been telling the truth, and after only another hour or so of walking, he steered her in the direction of a massive building behind a half collapsed chain link fence. The pair stepped through a hole in the fence, and Lucy looked back at him with uncertainty, feeling her stomach start tossing with nerves again. A sign on the side of the building proclaimed it to be an old Super Duper Mart, though what purpose it served now she couldn’t have guessed, and that inability to guess was terrifying.

Every step seemed more difficult than the last, and Lucy could feel herself stumbling more often than stepping. The Ghoul grabbed her by the arm, tugging her along, half guiding and half keeping her upright. Finally the pair came to a stop in front of an intercom, and the Ghoul pressed a button, holding it down to speak.

“Transaction,” he said. Lucy felt the world tilt violently on its axis. A transaction? What kind of transaction?

A voice crackled at them from the speaker. “Yes?”

The Ghoul pressed the button again. “Two month supply of vials. Exchange one female. Mint condition.” He glanced over at her, his eyes landing on her maimed hand, which she had tucked against her chest. “Near mint condition,” he amended.

“Condition grading requires physical evaluation. Please send her in.” The voice on the intercom was startlingly cheerful, considering they were discussing trading her like livestock. A door nearby buzzed, and she heard the sound of a lock disengaging. The Ghoul heaved a sigh, running his tongue over his lower lip as he turned to face her. Lucy’s mind was slow from fatigue and a lack of water, but she still realized what was happening. The Ghoul drew a knife and stepped towards her, but Lucy was suddenly more afraid of what was in the building than she was of him.

“What’s in there?” she asked as he cut the ties on her wrists with the same blade he had used to cut her finger off.

“You’re ‘bout to find out.” His voice was flat as he looked at her, sheathing the knife, eyes squinting at her from under the brim of his hat.

“You’re selling me?” Lucy didn’t know why she was so surprised. Nothing he had done up until this point had indicated he was capable of kindness. If he was willing to eat another person, what was selling someone into slavery by comparison?

The Ghoul drew one of his guns, only half pointing it at her. “You got problems out here, too, Sweetheart. Best you try your luck behind that door.” He nodded his head in the direction of the opening. Lucy met his eyes again, searching for any sign of humanity. Any sign that he might change his mind. She found nothing, and shook her head at him, wondering why she continued to be surprised at how much cruelty he was capable of.

He indicated to the door with his head again. “Go on.” His voice sounded tired. When Lucy still didn’t move he reached out, grabbing her by the arm and half pushing and half shoving her towards the doorway. Lucy started to shuffle forward, head spinning. Stopping just outside the open door, she gave him a last glance over her shoulder. She watched the Ghoul gesture her forward with his gun, the threat lazy, like he knew she didn’t have enough left in her to fight him on it. Then, steeling herself, Lucy trudged forward into the waiting gloom while the door slid shut behind her.

The next time the door opened, Lucy was coming back out, though she didn’t feel quite like herself anymore. In her head she heard the words ‘My name is Martha.’ repeating over and over. In one hand she held a gun, and in the other a handful of little glass vials filled with amber liquid. On her way out of the store, after witnessing the carnage of the feral ghouls, Lucy had been debating which hand she was going to need if she found her Ghoul still waiting outside. Her new finger, helpfully attached by the Mr. Handy that had met her inside the store on arrival, tapped the side of the gun. It still felt a little numb, and she wasn’t used to it quite yet, but at least she had a finger again.

The sunlight outside was nearly blinding after the darkness of the store, but the ground under her newly boot clad feet felt more sturdy now. The Ghoul was still waiting outside, though in a vastly different state than she had last seen him in. Rather than standing, gun in hand, he was laying in the dirt, with a growing puddle of drool around his mouth. As Lucy approached, she saw his eyes flicker up to her, but he apparently lacked the strength for anything else, and continued to wheeze from where he was.

Lucy stood above him, feeling the weight of each item in her hands, still deciding which one she wanted to use. The events of the store were telling. She was smart enough to put two and two together. Roger, the ghoul they had met in the gutted clinic, had been in the process of going feral, and the Ghoul had put a stop to it when he killed him, saving him from losing his humanity slowly. The process could apparently be prevented by the little vials she now carried. The same ones that had been destroyed by the gulper when she had thrown his saddlebags into its mouth to save herself. The same ones the Ghoul had just tried to sell her for to save himself from the same fate.

It wasn’t clear to Lucy what stage of the process drooling in the dirt was, but it didn’t seem like a good sign. The Ghoul, who had been her tormentor, was reduced to this. He was pitiful. Pathetic. Weak. Lucy sighed.

“You don’t get these, you turn into one of those?” She gestured vaguely back at the store, knowing she didn’t have to elaborate on what ‘those’ were. He was clearly familiar with this place. He knew what it was they did here, and what was going to happen to her once she had gone inside. “That how it works?” It was obvious he wouldn’t be answering her, but Lucy didn’t need him to.

Crouching down, she looked at the gun in her hand again, making sure he could see her doing so. She had made up her mind on what she was going to do. She had thought she made it up the moment she saw him, but maybe she had already known from the start, because Lucy knew who she was, and she knew what was important to her. Still, she tapped her new, grey finger against the trigger guard.

“I may end up looking like you,” she said, making sure to look him in the eyes as she spoke, “but I’ll never be like you.” Reaching down, Lucy placed the vials right next to his gloved hand where it twitched in the dirt, before rising back to her feet, looking out over the Wasteland and back to him. “Golden Rule, motherfucker.” Then she turned her back on him and strode across the parking lot, away from him, and away from the Super Duper Mart.

***

Despite herself, Lucy felt her body relax a little moving through the halls of the Vault. Even when their group was herded into the quarantine rooms to wait for doctors to come and look over them. Cooper, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin. His hand hovered over a weapon the entire time, gaining him wary looks from the Vault-dwellers, though none of them tried to disarm him. After Lucy’s last visit to this place, she couldn’t fault them. She and Max hadn’t set the best example.

Their wounds were treated, and a few were recommended IVs for dehydration, but overall their physical health could have been much worse. Their mental state, on the other hand, was abysmal. Although everyone felt a sense of relief at being inside the Vault and supposedly safe, nobody had had time to mourn and it was all starting to catch up to them.

Once they were all cleared by the doctors to be placed in housing units, the main group of survivors was placed in a large housing unit so they could be kept together. Lucy and Cooper, however, were placed in a separate unit close by, as they would not be staying long term. Kelly begged to be allowed to stay the night with them in their unit, and eventually Lucy relented.

The children had never experienced life in a Vault, and so much of it was like magic to them. Lucy showed them the bathtub and let them play in the warm water with soap and toys graciously provided by the Vault until they were all cleaned up, while Cooper sat stiff-backed in a chair against one of the metal walls of the living room, looking around like he saw ghosts wandering the halls and refused to let any of them sneak up on him.

Afterwards, the kids sat huddled in clean clothes on a couch, watching the Atomic King television and snacking and passing bits of food off to Dogmeat, who alternated between gobbling up every morsel and snuggling with a small stuffed bear she had managed to find, while Lucy put together something resembling a meal for them. It felt hauntingly domestic. None of them had had good sleep yet, and before the food was even finished the children had fallen asleep.

Lucy heaved a sigh and clicked off the stove top burner, leaving the pot of Blam-Co mac and cheese to cool before she could put it in a container for the refrigerator. “Cooper, can you help me?” Their unit had two bedrooms, and she gathered up Nate, leaving Kelly for Cooper to handle, bringing the little boy into the kids’ bedroom and tucking him into bed. Cooper was right behind her, and settled Kelly into the same bed as her brother. Dogmeat watched, teddy bear in her mouth, then jumped up in the bed with the kids, settling at the foot of the bed, putting the bear down between her front paws, nose turned towards the door like she would be keeping guard over them all night. Lucy brushed some hair out of Kelly’s face, tucked the blanket further around Nate, gave Dogmeat a thorough scratch on the ears and muzzle, then moved out of the room, clicking on a nightlight on her way out.

Back in the living room, Cooper looked around and shook his head, rubbing at his eyes. Lucy felt like her body was about to give out on her, and she debated whether she had the energy for a shower or not. Cooper’s hands clenched and unclenched until Lucy finally walked over to his side and stood, trying to think of what to say to him. There was so much that needed to be addressed. His name, for one thing, and his hatred towards the Vaults, but Lucy had no idea how to bring up any of them.

“I’m going to go shower,” she finally said. Cooper grunted in response, and went back to his chair by the wall. Water had never felt so good, and Lucy let herself stand in it for far longer than it took to get clean. It wasn’t until she started to sway on her feet and was afraid that she might actually fall asleep standing up that she made herself get out, dry off, and get dressed. She chose not to put on a vault-suit, instead putting on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top.

Cooper was right where she had left him in the living room, sitting in his chair, staring off into space. His hat rested on the table next to him, and the food remained untouched on the stove. Lucy ran her fingers through her uncombed hair, feeling them hit a snag as she chewed uncertainly at her lip. Eventually, she went and settled herself on the couch, facing Cooper where he sat in his chair.

“You’re Cooper Howard, right?”

***

Cooper almost laughed at the way Lucy ripped the band-aid off of the questions surrounding his name. It would have been funny if he wasn’t dreading it so much. The fact that she had figured out who he was shouldn’t have surprised him. He knew Lucy was smart, and maybe he hadn’t been as secretive about himself as he should have been. There was definitely a part of him that was happy she had figured it out. It felt good that there was someone who knew who he was again. But then he reminded himself that he wasn’t Cooper Howard anymore.

“Don’t call me that here,” he said, keeping his voice as even as he could manage. Lucy cocked her head to the side, her still damp hair falling over her shoulder.

“Why not?”

It was hard to say for sure why Cooper felt so on edge. Not that he had no reasons, but that he had far too many. The lack of sleep usually wouldn’t have been so difficult for him, but between the stress of getting the survivors here, the difficulties of losing people, and the discomfort of being inside a Vault, and not just any Vault, but one he had been in before, Cooper knew his nerves were completely shot.

“Because that’s not who I am anymore, so I don’t need anybody comin’ up to me asking questions about ancient history.”

Lucy continued to look at him with her big, hazel eyes, and Cooper squirmed a little in his chair until finally he couldn’t take being still any longer and rose to his feet to start pacing around the room.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that? Why didn’t you want me to know who you were?” Her voice was so soft and non-judgemental. Whether it was because she was truly not passing judgement on him, or because she was just too tired to be angry in that moment wasn’t totally clear, and Cooper realized he didn’t have a good answer for her, either. Why didn’t he want her to know who he was? His full identity of Cooper Howard wasn’t one he handed out often, but he had introduced himself as Cooper to people in the last 200 years.

“How many of my… How many Cooper Howard movies did you watch growing up?” he finally asked. He couldn’t bring himself to refer to them as his movies.

Lucy shrugged. “All of them, probably. My dad was a huge fan. Still is, I guess.”

Her answer stung a little bit. She knew what he had been before all of this. Before the ruined face and the harshness of the end of the world had changed him. Not just in a physical sense, but in every way. Cooper didn’t doubt that Henry would have talked about who Cooper had been if he was still enough of a fan to watch all of his movies with his kids. Had he told Lucy that Cooper was a good man? That he had been kind and generous and other bullshit from the time before?

“And how about you, Lucy MacLean? Were you a Cooper Howard fan?” In his life, Cooper had heard people say not to ask questions you didn’t really want the answer to, and as soon as this one left his mouth he knew he didn’t wanna hear what she was going to say to him. Rather than answer right away, Lucy continued to look at him with her searching eyes, taking in every detail of him as he stopped his pacing, waiting for her answer.

“Yeah, I was a fan,” she finally said, and the word ‘was’ was surprisingly painful.

Swallowing hard, Cooper pushed himself on. “And how about now? How do I compare to the man your daddy told you about growing up, huh? Am I everything you dreamed I’d be?” Cooper couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. He spread his arms wide so she could take in the full effect of him. Skin scarred, practically hairless, nose rotted away, and clothes tattered and filthy. Every cruel thing he had done to her and everyone else in the last 200 years passed through his mind. It wasn’t that all he had done was bad, but she hadn’t exactly seen him at his best since they met. He could almost taste the coppery tang of Roger’s blood on his tongue.

“You helped save these people,” Lucy said. Cooper fell back a step like she had struck him physically. Nothing she could have said would have startled him more.

“I ain’t done it outta the goodness o’ my heart, Sweetie.” Cooper’s voice was taking on the thicker drawl that he used when he wanted to get mean. The further he got from himself and the more he tried to be like one of the characters from his films, the thicker the accent. He wasn’t about to let Lucy see him as anything but what he was.

Lucy stood up and took a step closer to him. “Those kids,” she pointed off towards the bedroom they had laid Kelly and Nate down in, “are alive because of you.” Cooper opened his mouth to interrupt, but Lucy cut him off and continued, taking another step closer. “Whatever your reasons were, you stayed. Nobody tied you up or forced you. You made that choice yourself. If you hadn’t stayed with us, those Raiders might have killed all of us.”

She took another step. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that everything you did over the last couple hundred years was good or justified, because I’m sure not all of them were. I’ll bet there’s plenty of things you would take back if you could, and even more things you wouldn’t take back. But whatever has happened, it brought you here, and because you were here, these people are alive.”

Now she was toe to toe with him, and Cooper’s throat felt swollen and thick as he tried to think of what to say to her. Lucy didn’t give him the chance. “It’s not just about the bad you’ve done that makes you who you are. It’s about the good, too. I told you before I wasn’t familiar with your circumstances. That’s true. I don’t know what keeps you going through it all. But I know there has to be something, and I hope when you’re ready you’ll tell me.”

The two of them stood in silence, the only sound the background hum of the Vault, almost too quiet to hear. Lucy was seemingly unwilling to back down, and Cooper felt about two feet tall under the scrutiny of her gaze, even as he was looking down to meet her eyes. Her soft breath puffed over his face, and he smelled the mint of toothpaste. Her newest wound was visible on her chest above the neckline of the tank top from when the Raider had been trying to kill her, cleaned and with a butterfly stitch applied. When she had screamed out his name for help, he’d been terrified. When he found them he thought he’d been too late.

“You…” He started to speak and then didn’t know what he had been about to say. His eyes flickered down to her lips, which were set in a tantalizingly stubborn line. With a start, Cooper realized he was wondering if they were as soft as they looked, and if she would taste like toothpaste. So he said the first thing he could think of to make her take a step back before he did something they would both regret. “You’re a terrible judge of character. You don’t know me, Miss MacLean, so don’t pretend you do. I ain’t the men from my movies.”

Rather than be offended, a slight smile broke out over Lucy’s face and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe. Now go shower. You could use it. I already put some clean clothes in the bathroom.” She held up her hand to silence him when he started to protest. “It’s not a Vault suit, so don’t worry.”

Was he really about to let this young woman tell him what to do? Apparently so, because Cooper grunted at her, half in annoyance and half in amusement at her willingness to boss him around, then he turned and stalked off towards the bathroom.  He wasn’t sure what the name of this little battle they were fighting was, but mentally he knew this was another tally in Lucy’s favor.

Cooper’s clothes were practically a part of his skin by this point. They were the same clothes he had been wearing the day the world ended, other than the duster, and he hadn’t bothered with washing them often, if at all. The hot water of the shower felt like stepping back in time, and for a moment Cooper closed his eyes and imagined it rinsing away the scarring on his skin, returning him to the handsome Hollywood man he had been. If he still looked like that, would he have let himself kiss her?

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Cooper turned the temperature of the water down and hurried to finish. When he stepped out of the shower, he found his clothes had vanished. How the hell had he not heard her sneak in to take them? Growling in the back of his throat, Cooper dressed in the clothes that Lucy had said she left for him and hated when he looked in the mirror. He looked fucking ridiculous. In fact he might just have to kill her over this. Clothes was not the right word for the shirt and pants he was wearing. These were god damn pajamas. And there were actual slippers left out as well. Hell would freeze over before he put on a pair of slippers. Cooper stalked past them and out of the bathroom barefoot.

“Where the hell are my clothes?” he demanded as soon as he saw Lucy. She was putting away the food that the kids had fallen asleep before they could eat.

“In the washer. Don’t worry. I set it to gentle. Otherwise they looked like they might disintegrate.” She wiped her hands on a towel hanging from the oven. “Hungry? Or ready for bed?”

Maybe he was in Hell. Cooper had actually died in the swamp, and every moment after was Hell. That was the only explanation for how he was standing in a Vault dressed like this. “I sure as shit ain’t hungry, Sweetheart,” he snapped.

Lucy shrugged off his comment. “Alright. Let’s go to bed then. I want you to sleep in the bed with me.”

Cooper just blinked at her for a second. “I ain’t sleeping in the same bed as you.”

Now she was rolling her eyes at him, and Cooper felt his jaw tense. “How is it any different from me sleeping next to you on the ground? Besides… I have a very practical reason for it.”

“And what would that be?”

Shuffling her feet, Lucy held his eyes, though he got the distinct feeling she wanted to look at the floor. “After everything that happened… I’m afraid I’ll have nightmares. I don’t want to be alone if I do.”

“And you think my presence is gonna help if you have a bad dream?”

Lucy nodded. “You make me feel safe, Cooper.”

That took the wind right out of his sails. Cooper wanted to argue that safe was the last thing he should make her feel, but the look on her face made him bite his tongue. Rolling words around in his mouth for a little bit, he let them out as a long, put-upon sigh. “Fine. But I better not end up with kids piled on top of me again.”

Neither of them said anything as Lucy led the way to the bedroom and crawled under the blankets. Cooper looked at it like another swamp monster was going to come bursting out from between the sheets, before resigning himself to another sleepless night. He’d felt more at ease in his coffin than he did between the covers of the soft queen sized bed. Rather than keeping her distance, as Cooper had assumed she would, Lucy immediately tucked herself up against his side again, and this time there was nowhere for him to rest his arm but around her.

“How the fuck did I end up here?” he whispered quietly to himself.

“Go to sleep, Cooper.” Lucy’s voice was soft, and he could tell she was already starting to drift off.

The silence lasted long enough that he thought she had fallen asleep, but then she started talking again. “Hey, remember how you said you didn’t want anyone asking you questions about ancient history?”

“Yep.”

“Know what I did for work in my Vault?”

“What?”

“I was a history teacher.”

“Well… shit.”

[the-illiterate-pirate]

Part three of Selkie out of Water is here! Pretty proud with this one, might be my favorite chapter yet. The next update will probably be the final chapter unless anyone requests for some domestic life with your selkie hubby 👀

Selkie out of Water ⟨prt 3

Tomorrow

<- Previous Chapter

Despite the rocky start you were getting accustomed to the new life well. Unlike the busy city, everything was so... Slow. Your neighbor's were so nice, there was a cute old couple just around the block, the husband had some stories under his belt, and some nights the wife would come over to offer some extra supper. Honestly it's probably because of them you haven't starved yet. You've been on the lookout for a job but it's been rocky... Somehow you've gotten by.

You've just visited your favorite couple. Tonight's dinner was stew, the meat was mouth watering good and there was a pinch of spice that you couldn't place, it all came together deliciously. You walked home underneath street lights, snacking away on a small styrofoam bowl half empty of your food.

The apartments were in sight. You hopped down a tiny flight of stairs rather childishly, after a second thought, but who cares? Your stomach was full of good, warm food, in two days you had a job interview, you had some secret admirer, life was good. It really felt like everything was straightening out. For a change you felt... Genuinely happy, and you didn't have to worry about it all crashing down. Everything was good.

"This village has a rich history with the sea... Stories of mermaids and pirates and sea beasts, just about each and every family here can tell you a tale of the ocean, passed down to a generation after a generation. I like the story of the selkie. Have you heard of them? It talks about a spirit from the sea who fell in love with a human, so she used the skin of a seal to get closer to him. The seal skin became her own, and after showing her true self to the man, he worried that the spirit was playing a trick on him. The spirit promised that as long as he held on to her seal skin, she would always stay by his side.... It's a bit messy, but there's a man south of town that could fill you in better. His name is Sardina, he works at the fish market and his grandparents know even more amazing stories. It's because of this that the seals here are taken very good care of. If they come up to you at the beach, they're supposed to be symbols of good fortune. Have you had any luck with them?

Just as you expected, once you got to your door there was a gift wrapped in yellowing paper. Almost every day this stranger left you little trinkets, mostly shells and doodles but lately they've gotten bolder; a preserved loaf of bread, a tiny basket of freshly picked fruits, a half living fish... You weren't sure if that last gift was from the same admirer. With a new skip in your step, you unlocked your front door after picking up your latest gift and safely locked yourself away for the night. Carefully the gift was unraveled to reveal a note... And another wrapped gift. Before the other gift was open of course you read the note, left to you in the handwriting you've gotten so familiar with.

He never did finish his notes properly.

                 –Goodnight, sleep well"

The story of the selkie was touching, it was tempting to take his word for this Sardina man. And the seals... You never forgot your second day in the village, and that soft, sweet harpy seal you met. Was that a sign? That tragedy was behind you, and this town was your new, happy start at life?

Finally, the second gift. You were excited to see it and didn't take long tearing away the old newspaper keeping it away from you. It turned out to be a handmade plushie of a seal, made of soft brown cloth and black thread with big plastic eyes, it was easy to see it was made from an intermediate, the sew lines were mismatched and sloppy, but it gave the tiny plushie character. It was the cutest thing you owned now.

You waddled up to bed, placing your new friend on your nightstand after giving him a light kiss on the head. After switching into some pajamas you fell asleep softly, dreaming of fluffy pillows with big glassy eyes and the ocean waves.

Weather Report continued to lick at the nicks and angry red pricks scattered across his fingers on each hand. While shuffling away from your home as he did so just after leaving his newest gift at your door step, he pondered his next move. Weather counted the days of his courting ritual, in two days it marked your third month settling into the village, today it's been 89 days since he started his courting. He had something big planned for day 90. Was it too soon? Should he wait a couple more days? Diver Down was busy with his own affairs, so Weather Report couldn't look to him for help. He was stressed. If he gave you your final gift too soon, you could reject him, and Weather Report would be crushed. But if he waited too long... You could grow bored and find someone else. Weather couldn't stand that idea. Torn between rejection and boredom, he couldn't take it any longer, he can't afford to wait another day.

★ ★ ★

The time was now.

Well, tomorrow was.

He picked up speed was he sped through the downtown district. It was growing later, store after store was locking down for the night, but surely Michelangelo would still be there, and he'd be able to help Weather.

A single light emanated from a lone standing shop. In the window was a red head sweeping up dust and grime, a tap on the glass was enough to get his attention, he quickly put down the broom and was eager to let his friend in. "Yo, Domenico! Long time no see! What brings you here?"

The selkie got straight to it, "I'm looking for something in particular... You sell 'jewelry', right?"

A biting remark came to mind for Michelangelo. A quick peer behind his back at the extravagant glass cabinets and wooden boxes hiding all sorts of beautiful treasures was enough to say yes, he did infact sell such a thing. But Domenico seemed pressed, he was a bit of an odd duck anyway so Michelangelo wouldn't say a word.

"...It rings a bell. What did you have in mind?"

Weather gestured to his hands. Two fingers made a circle around the middle finger of the other hand as he explained further. "I'm looking for the tiny things you put on your hands... Like the ones all the older ladies have."

"Oh. It sounds like your looking for a ring, a wedding ring at that. Come check them out."

He led Weather Report further into the store to the check-out register, a wooden counter with glass walls that held a majority of the shinier jewelry. Underneath the register was a variety of rings ranging from golden bands and silver with enormous shiny stones. Weather Report was enchanted, watching them shine in chandelier light.

"Take your time. I don't have anywhere to be." Michelangelo said as he unlocked the registers bottom, counting money.

"They're all so beautiful... How much is your most expensive ring?"

Michel thought about it for a second; "The big one on top is around eight-thousand... I think it's a little out of your price range."

"Eight-thousand... That would have to be a hundred pearls." Weather mourned in horror, Michelangelo chuckled in response.

"Don't worry too much, top shelf is way over priced. I'm savin' those puppies for some out of town snobs looking to blow cash. No sane person would actually wear that..." The redhead put down a stack of tens to open up the ring case. With his own hand he pointed out (but didn't touch) a row of rings much smaller. "Now these ones are a lot better. Light weight, considerably cheap, and way less gaudy, they seem more your style."

Weather looked up and down. They were pretty. There was one that popped out at him, it was made of a darker metal with engravings similar to vines reaching up to a small jewel embedded in the band. "What about this one?" Weather said, repeating the number and letter printed on the tag tied to the ring.

"Oh yeah! This one's pretty cute." Michelangelo lifted the ring up into the air, twisting it to watch the light catch in the bright stone. "It's adjustable too, it would normally go for... seven-hundred."

That was easier to get.

"Deal."

Weather just needed to figure out how to get that kind of money...

Michelangelo settled his elbow on the cabinet, "Tell you what. I trust you, how about we set you up for a split payment."

It was obvious on Weather's face he didn't know what that was. "What I mean is, if you don't have the money now, you can come back later to give me the money, or you can make multiple transactions with the money until it's paid off. Make sense?"

"I suppose. You'd really let me do that?"

"Well, sure! Everyone in town knows you, you're like, one of the most trustworthy guys here. I've got faith."

Weather smiled warmly, "Thank you."

Michel set up some papers Weather needed to sign, locking in his payment of the ring and some more "legal mumbo jumbo" as the redhead called it. Finally, the ring was placed in a tiny red velvet box and put into a paper bag, free of charge.

"By the way, who's the lucky pick? I don't see you hanging out with anyone besides Narciso... Wait, don't tell me your proposing to that guy!"

"No, no. It's... Someone else. I can't say."

"Hm..." Michelangelo walked him to the door. "Well, send me an invite to the wedding after they say yes. No one else has invited me to a wedding... I want cake. And to see you two happy, of course. Hehe~." What the hell was a wedding?

They exchange goodbyes and Michel waved Weather Report off before he moved back inside and locked the door back. Ring in hand, the selkie began to walk back to the beach. The more he thought about it, the quicker he got, electricity sparking to life in his bones with every stomp. He was finally going to propose. Rings and marriage weren't exactly something in selkie culture. There wasn't any real labels to what mates did. That was it. There were just. Mates. But Weather saw the couples in the village. How the ladies looked at their husbands, and how men looked at their wives, especially the older couples, growing old together, always holding hands. He wanted that. He didn't want multiple mates, or only finding someone to repopulate with, what he wanted was to settle down with his one and only. You. Just the thought of you sent his heart into a tizzy, and the idea of you wearing this ring, holding his hand, growing old together... It was enough to make a man feel feint.

The ring was hidden under an extra pair of clothes and an old jewelry box full of trinkets found on the ocean floor. Weather couldn't sleep, but he couldn't knock on your door in the middle of the night either. He'd have to give you this ring in person after you woke up.

He stripped, but before leaving to the ocean he held his seal skin tight in his arms and shoved his face into the soft white fur. Lately he's refused to let it leave the shed. The horror of someone stealing it away was worse than ever, but without it draped across his shoulders his anxieties deepened. It was like a little blanket of security, and now in the comfort of his shed, he could indulge in it. Weather Report  looked forward to the day he could indulge in this comfort with you. For now he'd go back into the sea to look for more pearls and Diver Down, maybe he could tell Weather what a human wedding was.

★ ★ ★

After brushing your teeth cleaned you pattered down to the kitchen room for breakfast. Let's see, what was in the fridge... Half a can of soup, sliced cheese, some veggies, no eggs, and no meat...

"Toast and cheese it is!"

You really needed to go grocery shopping soon.

A bump with your hip and the fridge door closed and the packet of dairy product was thrown on to the kitchen island. Your hand just fingers just pressed down on the toaster button when someone knocked on your door politely. Confused, you left the kitchen to see who it was at the ungodly hour of nine AM. You opened the door to a polite looking man. He had hair tied back into a low ponytail, a flashy blue suit and an expensive looking fur coat thrown over his shoulders. When your eyes met a hand was drawn from his back holding a velvet box. Without saying a thing, a shaking hand opened the box for you to reveal. A very shiny ring. With a diamond on top.

"W-Wait. Is this... An engagement ring?" You asked extremely confused. Who the hell was this? He looked familiar in the face, but you swear you would've remembered someone who dressed so flashy.

The guy shuffled on his feet, trying to look proud and not break the exited eye contact. "For your final ritual gift, I'm giving you a wedding. That's something you humans enjoy, right?"

"....What?"

[i-eat-worlds]

Alex & Friends Part 12-Bandage Change

exactly what it says on the tin. Alex needs some love after last chapter.

cw: medical whump, aftermath of betrayal, panic attack, minor sh (biting cheek), gambling mention

The remainder of the evening was relatively relaxed. Eric had ordered everybody to rest and relax before tomorrow. Sil, Aarav, Avia, and Teri squared o in a high stakes game of blackjack, gambling with a bag of peppermints that Teri had on her for some reason. Sil had a habit of making enormous bets. He was twenty peppermints in debt already.

Joseph had pulled Eric aside, insisting on looking at the acid burn on his arm. It was mostly healed by now, Alex noted. He must’ve had some sort of super-healing ability. Still, Joseph took the time to take care of the wound, covering it with some sort of healing ointment and wrapping a bandage around it.

Alex was doing her best to catch some sleep, trying to ward off the heebie-jeebies the whole situation gave her. The one person she was supposed to trust had betrayed her. He’d betrayed her for Zorland. Zorland! He’d been there, he’d known what Zorland had done to her. Every horrible detail, every miserable thing. Was Zorland’s blood money more important than the thing he’d spent thirty years doing? She exhaled a shaky breath as she repositioned herself on the couch. Fuck. Tears were threatening to spill, and she couldn’t do that right now, not with all these strangers around. Half-strangers, really. She was going to set herself up as bait tomorrow, with their help. They probably didn’t count strangers anymore.

The wound on her leg had started aching again, now that the ibuprofen and adrenaline had worn off. She needed to change the bandages on it, but her limbs were heavy with exhaustion, and any movement would’ve sent tears rolling down her face. So instead, she stayed curled on the couch, breaths slow and quivering, as the tears slowly started to roll. “Hey, Alex?” A voice said. She jolted, whipping around to find Joseph standing next to the couch, medical bag in hand. Immediately, her hand went up to her face, trying to wipe away any evidence of crying. “Yeah?” She said, taking her feet down off the couch. “Whatcha need?”

“Oh, nothing. It's just bandage change time.” Joseph said nonchalantly. Alex twitched a little bit at the mention of him doing the bandage change again. Normally, she would’ve argued more. Tonight, she didn’t really have the energy, and it was kind of black and white. It’d been a couple hours. It was time for a bandage change. Joseph was team medic, who else was going to do it?

“Do you want to do it here or in the bathroom?” He asked. Alex weighed her options. If she did it here, she wouldn’t have to drag her exhausted self over to the restroom. It was tempting, but the thought of possibly breaking down in front of everyone was too much. “Bathroom.”

Joseph nodded and offered his hand for Alex to pull herself up. She swayed a little when she stood, leaning into her good leg. He seemed to notice her wobble. “Can I help?” “I’m fine, thank you,” Alex said. She wasn’t going to be touched more than she needed to. Besides, she could walk just fine, it was sitting up and standing down that made her unsteady. Once they were in the restroom, Joseph shut the door and set his bag down on the counter. “Tub’s probably the best place to do this,” He said as he unzipped his bag.

“Yeah.” Alex nodded, bracing herself against the wall so she was steady enough to step in. She slowly lowered herself down into the tub, facing her injured hip upwards so Joseph could access it. Joseph pulled the supplies he would need from his bag, setting them down on the counter. “How’s the pain?” He asked while he washed his hands.

“It’s not bad. Sucks but-” she shrugged “-I’ve had worse.” Alex pulled the top of her pants down, exposing the bandage.

“Okay. Do you want ibuprofen before or after this?” Joseph asked. Alex tried not to squirm as he pulled a pair of blue gloves on.

“After,” She said. Better to just get it over with.

She forced herself to relax. Joseph wasn’t Zorland. Or her handler, apparently. She didn’t really trust him, or Eric, or his team, but they were here, and her bastard of a handler wasn’t. It was probably thanks to them that her wound hadn’t killed her, honestly. There were worse people to be in hiding with.

“You know the drill,” Joseph said, squatting by the side of the tub. “I’m gonna touch you now.” Alex did her best to not tense up when his hands made contact with her skin. A shiver ran up her spine as he peeled the tape off. She felt so exposed right now, and not just because she was cornered in a bathtub, showing her injured hip to a person she’d known for less than forty-eight hours. Her handler’s betrayal had left her shaken. One person. She had trusted one person. And look where that had gotten her. Joseph kept his touch light as he cut away the ABD pad and revealed the wound. “It looks good.” He noted as he started removing the kerlix. “You did a good job of cleaning it out.” The remark sent a wave of nervousness through her, and she made herself to ignore it. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Joseph had figured it out. He’d seen her directly afterwards, and it wasn’t that hard to put the pieces together. Still, panic rose in her chest. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, trying to distract herself. Now was not the time for this. “Does it hurt?” He stopped repacking her wound. “We can take a pause if you need to.”

Alex shook her head. “You can keep going.” The wound hurt, but that was not her main problem.

“Okay.” His tone was neutral, but he hesitated before he began packing the wound. Alex did her best to read it as distrust, not concern. She failed.

Joseph pressed some new gauze into the wound, and she inhaled sharply. It stung more than she’d expected it too. Tears beaded in her eyes, and for some reason that Alex couldn’t explain, she let them fall. Quietly, they rolled down her cheeks. It didn’t take longer than two seconds for Joseph to notice. He’d turned away briefly to grab something, but the moment he was facing her again, he’d seen the tears. “I’m sorry.”

Alex opened her mouth to say it was okay, that she was fine, but no words came out.

“Can I finish dressing it?” He asked.

This time, she was able to pull a weak “yes” from her mouth. His hands were quick as he covered the wound with an ABD pad and taped it down. They were also uncomprehendingly gentle, and it made the tears fall faster. “I’m gonna pull your pants back up now,” Joseph said as he stripped off his gloves. He carefully maneuvered the waistband of her pants around the bandages. “Let’s get you that ibuprofen.” Alex wrapped her arms around her stomach, fingers digging into her sides. She shifted in the tub, trying to get comfortable on the cold, hard porcelain. “Thank you.” Her voice was coarse and quiet. “You’re welcome.” Joseph extended the cup of water out to her, then dropped three pills in her hand. “Here you go.” She quickly swallowed the pills, washing them down with the off tasting tap water. Joseph started to pack his supplies up, but he kept an eye on her while he did so. “It’s been a rough couple of days, hasn’t it?” Alex added a laugh at the end, but it did little to distract from her still shaky voice. “It has,” Joseph acknowledged. “‘specially for you.” He let a beat of silence pass. Alex swallowed nervously. “You know, if you don’t want to do this thing tomorrow, you don’t have to. We won’t hold it against you.” He turned to face her properly. “That’s a nasty wound there, and I know it hurts like hell.”

“I’ve had worse.” She shrugged. It seemed like he wanted to say something about that, but he didn’t. “We’re assigned to protect you. While going after that bastard of a traitor is important, I’m not, and nobody here is, going to force you to use yourself as bait. Your safety comes first.” “I want to do this.” Alex was finally able to summon some courage into her tone. “He fucked me over.” I want to make him pay went left unsaid.

And, from the look that Joseph gave in return, he wanted the same thing.

Taglist: @pigeonwhumps

[lyranova]

Children of the Future: The World to Come

Chapter 3: Nothing but Chaos

Hiya guys, I know I’ve been updating this a lot lately but it’s mostly because I just have lots of inspiration for this right now, it’ll probably slow down a bit after this chapter 😅. This chapter ties into COTF’s epilogue a bit and mainly focuses on Aloys but there’s still some Greyche family moments. Also the next three chapters will focus on Astelle and their family, so I hope you all enjoy~!

Note: Josslyn, who is briefly mentioned in this chapter, belongs to the lovely @/crazyclownthanos

Taglist: @thoughtfullyrainynightmare @acacia-may @crazyclownthanos @loosesodamarble (if anyone else wants to be tagged please let me know!

Word Count: 1,756

Warnings: None

———

Aloys watched as his father walked up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Aloys’s body stiffened at the unfamiliar gesture, usually Gauche would pat him on the shoulder or ruffle his hair at the most, and would save the hugs for Maelie.

“ I love you so much,” Gauche told his son softly as his hug tightened a bit more. “ And I’m so proud of you and the man you’ve become.” He added, and suddenly Aloys’s eyes widened.

That…was the first time his father had ever told him he was proud of him…and Aloys was left speechless as Gauche pulled away and gave the 16 year old a small smile.

“ While your mother and I are away on the mission, I want you to promise to take care of and look out for your sister. Alright?” Gauche asked, and Aloys nodded numbly.

“ Aloys. I need to hear you say it. Say that you promise.” Gauche said as he placed his hands on his son's shoulders.

“ I-I promise.”

“ Good. Look after her alright? We’ll be back in a few days, and try to behave while you’re around Finral’s brat. That boy tends to accidentally get himself in trouble.” Gauche tried to say light-heartedly, but there was this…heaviness in his tone.

Gauche ruffled his son’s hair before turning around and walking away. Aloys suddenly felt tears well up in his eyes before falling down his cheeks.

He was sad, angry, happy, and confused all at the same time.

His father finally told him he was proud of him, but he said it right before he and his mother Grey went out on a dangerous mission. Which only meant one thing.

They wouldn’t be coming back.

——

Aloys awoke with a start, he gasped for breath as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. This wasn’t the first time he had had this dream, but everytime he did it just felt so…real. It was as though he had actually lived through that moment, and everytime he woke up he had tears in his eyes.

Aloys quickly shook his head and wiped his eyes, of course that was only a dream, there had been many times where his father had told him that he was proud of him. It just didn’t seem like his dad to wait until he was going on a suicide mission to tell Aloys that he was proud of him, but at the same time it really did sound like something his father would do.

“ Big brother!” Aloys heard his little sister Maelie say as she knocked on his bedroom door, soon he heard it click and open.

“ So you are awake!” She said with a giggle, Aloys sighed but nodded as he turned to face her.

As the girl had gotten older she had grown to look more and more like their mother Grey, except her eyes were brown instead of blue, and she let her once short blue-brown hair grow until it reached past her shoulders.

She wasn’t quite as shy as she used to be either, at least not around the Bulls, whenever she was in a new environment or around strangers then she went right back to being as shy as their mother. Which was why she had decided to stay with the Black Bulls instead of going to a different squad like some of the other kids.

“ Yeah, why what’s going on?” Aloys asked tiredly, and Maelie looked behind her.

“ Well-.” She started hesitantly before someone quickly ran past her and went towards Aloys.

“ Aloys!!” Ezio Roulacase, Finral and Vanessa’s son, shouted as he ran and jumped onto Aloys.

A shout suddenly rang out and the bed creaked as the pink haired man jumped onto Aloys’s bed and held the brown-blue haired man in a tight hug.

“ H-Hey! Get off of me! What the hell is going on?” Aloys shouted as he tried to push his best friend off of him, he looked at his little sister before looking at Ezio.

“ W-Well-.” Maelie started nervously before Ezio cried and held up a letter towards his friend.

“ It’s Josslyn! Look!” Ezio cried dramatically and Aloys rolled his eyes before taking the letter out of the pink haired boy's hands, he read it over quickly before glaring.

“ It says she’s coming home today, so why on earth are you crying? And why the hell did you attack me like that?” Aloys growled with anger and irritation lacing his voice, Ezio sniffled dramatically before pointing to his clothes.

“ Because I don’t have anything nice to wear, and I was hoping you would lend me some clothes.” Ezio sniffled and Aloys instantly kicked him off the bed.

“ No! Now get out!” Aloys shouted as he grabbed his blanket and threw it over himself, Ezio was not deterred and quickly kneeled by Aloys’s bedside.

“ Please Aloys! I’m begging you!”

———

“ Mama, Papa, Aloys and Ezio are bickering again!” Maelie said as she walked down the hall and towards the common area, her mother and father looked over at her.

“ Of course they are, I think it’s their favorite pastime.” Gauche muttered as he took a sip of his coffee, Grey giggled.

“ I think it just shows how close they are, I mean, Luck and Magna bickered all the time.” Grey said as she placed a plate full of toast onto the table, Charmy had made a bunch of breakfast earlier in the day since she would be out looking for ingredients all day.

“ I think they just like being idiots.” Maelie muttered under her breath, causing Gauche to laugh. The young woman walked over to her parents and sat down next to her father.

“ Luckily my darling little angel is too sweet and kind to bicker like those two.” Gauche gushed as he hugged his daughter close, Grey giggled as Maelie blushed and tried to push her father away.

“ Papa,” she sighed dramatically. “ Please let me go, I’m not little anymore.”

“ I know, but to me you always will be no matter what.” He said as he hugged her tighter.

“ I wonder who your father dotes on more, you or your Aunt Marie.” She joked light heartedly before they heard a shout down the hall.

“ Thanks for the shirt Aloys! I’ll be sure to give back when I return!” Ezio shouted as he ran out of the base, with Aloys hot on his heels.

“ Hey give that back you bastard!”

Gauche, Grey, and Maelie all looked at each other before they shook their heads and stood up. Gauche quickly ran up and held Aloys back as Ezio ran out the door.

“ Let him go, if you want your shirt back in one piece I’d wait until after he returns it.” Gauche told his son, the young man scoffed a bit before he shook his head.

“ The old man actually has a point for once.” He muttered, causing Gauche to glare at him.

“ What did you say, brat?”

“ You heard me, unless your hearing is starting to get worse as you get older, old man.” Aloys said as he pulled his arms out of his fathers hold, he walked out the door and saw Alistar Vangeance standing there with a confused look on his face.

“ Alistar.”

“ Aloys.”

The men greeted each other politely before Alistar walked inside the base as Aloys stood outside and looked around the front yard.

“ Captain Yami’s upstairs.” Gauche told Alistar as the young Captain of the Golden Dawn looked around, he nodded in thanks before walking towards the stairs.

Gauche, Maelie, and Grey all followed Aloys outside as Gauche grabbed the back of his son's shirt.

“ If you don’t stop calling me ‘old man’ I swear-!” Gauche started but he quickly noticed something else had Aloys’s attention and he turned to look and frowned.

Crouching in the bushes was a young woman with purple hair and green eyes, when she noticed Gauche and Aloys looking at her she quickly ducked down in order to hide. But sadly her pointed witches hat still stuck out above the bushes.

“ Aloys,” Gauche started with a confused tone to his voice as he let his son go. “ Who is that, and why is she crouching in the bushes?” He asked as Grey and Maelie came up beside the two, they all turned as Aloys sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“ I…don’t know what her name is, I just know she followed Ezio and I from town and anytime I look at her she…does that.” Aloys muttered as the purple haired woman had peaked her head out from the bushes but as soon as Aloys looked at her she ducked down again.

“ You and Ezio went to town a while ago, how long has she been out here?” Grey asked softly as she glanced at her son, and he sighed again.

“ She’s been out here for 3 days.”

“ 3 days?!” Grey, Gauche, and Maelie shouted in unison as they looked at Aloys with wide eyes.

“ Yeah…anytime I try to talk to her she hides or runs away,” he shook his head. “ She's weird.”

“ Anyway I’m gonna go find Ezio, I’ll see you guys later.” Aloys said as he walked away from his family, Maelie quickly ran after him.

“ Wait for me big brother!” She shouted as she caught up to him. Grey and Gauche watched as the purple haired woman hiding in the bushes slowly followed behind them, while staying hidden of course.

Grey giggled as she walked up to her husband and wrapped her arms around his and rested her head against him. Gauche smiled softly as he moved his arm wrapped it around her waist, pulling her close.

“ Do you think there will ever be a time where life isn’t chaotic for us?” Grey asked as she giggled again, and Gauche shook his head.

“ I doubt it. When has there ever been a time where life as a Black Bull has ever not been chaotic?” He asked and Grey nodded in agreement.

“ It looks like that chaos has been passed down to our children too.” Grey said, but her husband noticed a nervous tone in her voice and he hugged her just a bit more.

“ But they’ll be okay, we made it through just fine, and they will too.” Gauche told her softly as he kissed the top of her head.

The two had hoped that their children’s lives would be full of peace and quiet, but now that looked to be the opposite of what was happening.

———

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[writing-forever]

Chapter 4 I’m a professional, I promise.

first, previous, next

tw: blood, injury, almost panic attack (sort of)

Candy felt Alex go limp in her hand as she placed him in her pocket.

 He must’ve passed out from blood loss, she had to get him out of here now. She stood up slowly, inching carefully toward the door.

“Candace where are you going?”

Candy froze, trying to come up with a good excuse.

“I- uh, I- have to use the restroom, all this blood is gonna make me throw up.”

“Well make sure to come back ok?!” 

Candy didn’t bother answering, instead opting to walk out the door. 

The door shut behind her with a click, but she could see her teacher glaring at her from behind the glass. She flashed him a bright smile before turning and walking as fast as she could to the front doors of the school keeping her hand in her pocket so as to not jostle Alex.

She pushed open the doors with her free hand and looked out to make sure nobody was going to see her leaving. Not that it would matter anyway, kids could get away with anything at this school. 

Except for stealing a borrower. Candy was pretty sure she would get her ass kicked if she was caught doing this.

Once she had determined that no one was there she started speed walking so fast that she was practically jogging, only slowing down once she had crossed the street. 

She looked around, she was pretty sure she knew the way home from here. If she walked straight and then took a right…

She paused feeling Alex squirm in her hand. Fuck, he was probably still bleeding. She looked around for a place to hide, if someone caught her with a bleeding borrower she’d probably get arrested no questions asked.

 Her eyes stopped on an alleyway behind a store. There was a big trash bin blocking most of the entrance, and she couldn’t see any cameras. It was probably her best bet. 

She walked quickly, pausing at the entrance of the alley to make sure no one was watching her, before ducking behind the trash bin. As soon as she was out of sight she sat down and took Alex out of her pocket. 

She gasped when she saw him, he was covered in blood and still bleeding. What was she supposed to do?! He was gonna bleed out! She was panicking now.  She wasn’t prepared to deal with this. She tried to think logically. What’s the first step? What was the most important thing to do? 

She looked at the blood slowly pooling on her hand. Probably stop the bleeding dumbass. She thought to herself. But how? She looked around. Any fabric around here was probably really dirty, and she didn’t have a first aid kit. She guessed she could use her jacket but she would need to set Alex down so she could tear it into strips. She looked around for a safe place to put him before deciding that everything was too dirty and he would probably be safer in her lap. She whispered a quick apology before setting him down on her thigh. Alex stirred at this, moaning in pain. It took all of Candy’s willpower not to pick him up and comfort him.

Once she was sure he wasn’t gonna fall she took off her jacket, and after deciding it was too thick to rip into strips, took off her shirt as well. She put her jacket back on zipping it all the way up before tearing at the bottom of her shirt trying to make strips small enough to use on a borrower.

She picked Alex back up when she was done and pressed one of the strips to his chest. He groaned in pain and Candy shushed him gently, she didn’t want to hurt him but she also really didn’t want him to bleed out. She put a little more pressure on the cloth trying to stop the bleeding. She could see a little bit of red soaking through the fabric, so she grabbed another small piece and placed it on top of the already used one.  She stayed like that for a while, not daring to take her eyes off the borrower. Eventually, she figured that the bleeding must've slowed down so she picked up another strip of cloth. This time though, she wrapped it around his waist and chest, tying it tightly, but not too tightly.

 Alex didn't stir at all this time, it seemed like the excitement of the day had finally caught up to him.

 Candy watched the borrower's chest rise and fall in a sort of calming rhythm. He looked so delicate laying there, like if she made one wrong move, took one wrong breath, he might break. She sat there for a while. She hadn't realized it before but she had never held a borrower in her life. I mean sure she saw them regularly, they were about as common as redheads, but she had never gotten close enough to talk to one much less hold one. It was pretty amazing actually. Alex was just so small, he barley weighed anything. And seeing him sleeping like this, it really put into perspective how big she was, how much power she had. she was determined to use that power for good. But right now she really needed to get home. 

Carfully she stood up making sure she didn't jostle Alex too much before putting her hand in her pocket. She kept it flat so that his injuries wouldn't get bumped, but at least now he was out of sight. She would be in so much trouble if someone saw her 'kiddnappng' a borrower. 

Once she was sure that Alex would be safe she peeked out from behind the trash bin. There was no one there so she stepped away from the alley walking quickly toward her house. It occured to her that in order to get to her room she would have to get past her parents she guessed she could just say she had a lot of homwork. But her parents weren't the type to care about grades usless she was failing. Maybe she could say that her class was getting a prize or something. 

Candy shook her head realizing she was already at the front door. she checked the time on her phone, making sure that school was out before raising her hand to the wood. Here goes nothing.

She knocked.

Immediately she heard shuffling from inside followed by a loud "I'll get it." The door opened and her mother greeted her. 

"Oh, hey Girlagoo, hurry up and come in, it must be freezeing out there."

Candy stepped inside, eager to be out of the cold. It probably wasn't good for Alex either. She looked to her mother. "Thank you," 

She paused. 

"Why is your face covered in tomato sauce?"

Her mother touched her face like she had forgotten that it was dirty.

"Oh, that, well, I was making enchiladas and your mom, ever the gentlewoman, decided she wanted to help."

Candy nodded, she was used to her parents shenanigans.

"Is it edible at least?"

"Don't worry I managed. It's in the oven as we speak." 

"Oh thank god, I would never forgive you if you skipped enchilada friday. Could you call me when its done? I have homework to do."

"Course Girlagoo."

Candy said a quick thank you before rushing up the stairs to her room. Once there she brought Alex back out of her pocket. She looked around for something soft to set him on, eyes eventually landing on a small pillow. She set the pillow on her desk and carefully placed Alex on top of it. 

Once again she was hit with the fact that he was just so small. She crossed her arms on the desk , setting her chin on them and just watched him for a while. she could see the slow rise and fall of his chest, the small bit of stubble on his chin, and the way he winced even in his sleep. She really wanted to say sorry, but she didn't know if Alex would even talk to her when he woke up, if he woke up... 

No, she shouldn't think like that. He was gonna wake up, he was gonna be fine. She just had to take good care of him. He was only sleeping because of blood loss, his body needed to recuperate. Yes, he'd be fine, he'd wake up tomorrow and they'd talk things out and maybe Candy would make a new friend. Candy nodded to herself. she had a plan, now she just had to wait.

[linaket]

Writing Update (2/18/23)

Tinder Saint Progress:

8 / 15 chapters complete

word count: we made it to 20k! (projected: 40k)

Excerpt:

Cathan’s gaze fell to the small flicker she cradled. “I am tired of being afraid.” She wrapped her other hand around the fire, holding it close enough to burn. “I’ve always been afraid. Every day. Look at you, Vahn. Even if I wanted to ask, I can’t. You are bleeding and no one has bothered to say anything about it.”

Vahn lifted a hand to his brow, scraping over the dried flakes of blood and wincing from the bruise. “Not bleeding anymore, technically.”

“There has to be something better than this. I have to believe that. If the wars don’t take us, there is always someone else waiting. ”

Salinae’s heavy, willing hands were a ghost at Vahn’s throat, and Ilye’s too-loud voice bracketed the memory. 

“Maybe they're waiting," he said, "but these trials will kill you a lot quicker.”

Cathan’s smile was an elegy that had long been written. “Then I won’t have to be afraid anymore, will I?”

🎵 Music: Eyes On Fire, Hahlweg ft. wayfie

I’m taking it slow Feeding my flame Shuffling the cards of your game And just in time In the right place Suddenly I will play my ace

I've been listening to some version of this song since I first started writing SP, but it is usually a Kanna song (the Blue Foundation, Zed's Dead Remix lives on her playlist).

This one didn't really inform any of the current chapters I worked on. It's actually far more consistent with Vahn in later chapters or even after Tinder Saint closes, but it's been keeping me excited to get these early chapters tightened up so I can show him growing and getting there and have my powerful, confident Vahn come out the other side of all this.

Thoughts:

I'm actually doing this a day early because I start a long stretch of work days tomorrow. I planned to do these on Sundays, but it's probably going to be... around Sunday because I'm very bad at knowing what day of the week it is.

Technically, I only have two scenes left lingering in what I'm considering my "early" section to complete... I had a lot of lingering bits that needed to get edited in and I managed to get that done, so its just those two scenes remaining.

I am getting more excited each day as I get closer to actually hitting the part of this story that I'm dying to write. Somehow, all three of my days off are in a row the week after next (Feb. 27-Mar. 1) and I want to have all this early part cleaned up enough by then that I can marathon through that section. It's hmm... 2-3 chapters and not even the "biggest" reveal, plot wise, it is simply the thing I'm most excited about in terms of being challenging and tricky in the best way.

It feels really strange, though, to think about how little I have left to write? Technically I've already written half of what I projected this novella to end up at and that took forever but... I have a feeling that after I get these last lingering parts from the beginning out of the way, if I had a free week to just write morning to night I'd be able to finish this in that time because its all knocking-down instead of carefully setting up and I tend to wrecking ball through that part of things.

I can probably get pretty close to finishing this draft by end of March... middle of March, depending on how far I can get in those three days that I do have off and if nothing out-of-bounds happens which... it really might, I have a lot of odd things floating around in my life right now that I'm expecting to hit right when I don't want them to.

[prev. week]

[ambroziadelphine]

Madara in the real world: Chapter 5

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning just as my phone buzzed and a knock on the front door sent Seth barking like crazy. I whined from my position surrounded by warmth, reluctantly trying to push away from the hard chest of Madara to tend to the door when he pulled me tighter to him. He had an arm holding my back and another resting on my waist, curling me closer without opening his eyes.

"I need to get the door." I said quietly, Madara squinting an eye open to look at me.

"Hn." He huffed, reluctantly loosening his grip making me grin, giving him a kiss on his jaw before I got up. I shivered at the cold hard wood floors as I picked up my phone from its charger and slipped my slippers on, heading downstairs as I tied my hair up in a messy bun. I opened the door, Seth immediately springing out only for no one to be there, just a few packages left on my front porch as a delivery van drove away making me grin. I almost forgot I had some toys coming in soon, along with some other stuff. I quickly hauled it all inside, some of it quite heavy as I had ordered some stuff for Seth too, and then headed up the steps only to see Madara coming out of the room just as I walked into the hall.

"Who was it?" He asked, his voice extra husky from his slow wake up.

"Just someone dropping off some stuff I had ordered a bit ago." I said, smiling as I walked up to him, wrapping my arms around his bare waist making him chuckle.

"You sure do like hugging me." He said making me pull back and pout.

"I believe you are a very touch starved person, and I would like to fix that. Do you have a problem with this?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow as he mimicked the motion.

"'Touch starved'?" He mused an amused smirk resting softly on his lips.

"The world hasn't given you the physical love and care you needed, I'm here to fix that." I said, pulling him down so I could reach to peck his lips before I turned and walked away, his hand reaching for mine which I grasped, leading him down into the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?" I asked him, turning the coffee maker on and looking to him.

"I'm alright with whatever you make." He said making me sigh.

"Fine, but I don't want to hear any complaining then." I joked, setting ingredients out. "You're lucky I know how to cook the majority of food from your world." I joked, deciding to make some tamago kake gohan for the both of us. Seth started barking at the door to be let out, racing between Madara's legs as he whined making me chuckle.

"Would you mind letting him out? He knows to come back inside so you can just let him run around." I asked, Madara nodding as I started cooking. 

I hummed a little as I cooked, looking out the back window to see Madara stood on the back deck, keeping an eye on the wild puppy running around. I only took like, a half hour or so to cook so I was able to plate it and serve it soon after he and Seth came back inside, I set it on the table and moved to sit at the end of the table when Madara put a hand on my arm, stopping me from leaving his side for a moment.

"Sit here, beside me." He said, I blushed and smiled.

"Sure." I said, grabbing my food and sitting down beside him.

"Could you show me how to use your phone? How it works and everything? I figure I'll need to know how it works in the future with how close you keep it." He asked as he took a bite of his food, I looked at him in slight surprise but nodded, pulling out the phone and setting it on the table for us both to see.

"So, calling and texting in pretty easy. We'll probably eventually get you a phone but for now I'll just show you with mine." I said, beginning to show him all the cool things you can do as we ate, the time quickly passing and we moved up to my room, so I could better explain the internet to him.

"Wait so, this is how you upload your.. videos?" He asked hesitantly, clearing his throat uncomfortably making me chuckle.

"Kind of. The internet has a lot of websites on it, each with a basic purpose that is different from site to site, some are kinda the same but the world has chosen a few as the sort of 'default' choices like for search engines or popular social media." I explained, finding his curiosity entertaining. "I upload on a few sites, the main two being called Pornhub and Patreon. I also have an OnlyFans account but I don't like using that platform as much." I said, shrugging a bit as he nodded slowly.

"Can I see it?" He asked making me look at him with wide eyes before I laughed a little.

"You want to see it?" I asked, seeing his face turn pink as he looked away.

"I just don't think its fair that I've seen so little of you when the world has seen so much it seems." He muttered making me chuckle, standing up from my desk chair and standing between his legs from where he was sat on my bed, slowly lifting his chin up to look at me as I straddled him.

"Oh, but they've never even seen my face, I'm very careful with what I post. I cover my tattoo's where I can, I hide my face, they've rarely even see my hair because its always tied up." I said, smirking down at him. "I've told you before, Madara. I'd do anything, you just have to ask." I whispered to him, seeing his gaze darken as his hands gipped my hips tightly, looking up at me.

"How far will you let me go?" He asked, voice low with lust making me shiver in anticipation.

"How far do you want to go?" I asked him, seeing his eyes burn into mine, before he suddenly pinned me to the floor, kneeling between my spread legs with my arms pinned above me. I gasped as he pressed his erection into my clothed heat, moaning as he pressed a little harder.

"Fuck.. you really are just my little whore, aren't you?" He growled out, sending heat spreading through me. "I wonder how much it would take to make you scream for me..." He mused, an electrifying smirk on his face making me whimper, squirming beneath him as I tried to buck my hips, looking for any kind of friction that I was so badly craving he'd give me.

"Master~.." I whined, arching my chest up to him making him let out a dark chuckle.

"So needy and I haven't even done anything." He teased, a hand trailing from my pinned wrists down my chest and side, his hand ghosting over the waistband of my shorts. "Is this where you want me, baby?" He asked, his hand cupping my core making my breath hitch.

"Madara.." I moaned before getting a sharp slap to the thigh making me yelp.

"You can't call me that until you're screaming." He growled out, rubbing my thigh softly where he had hit as he placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "Do you understand?" He asked, his lips trailing soft kisses and nips down my neck, leaving plenty of hickey's and bites visible that I'll need to cover later.

"Yes, Master.." I whimpered, feeling him smirk into my soft skin, his hand slipping under my shirt and quickly removing it, leaning back to look at me. I didn't have a bra on so I was naked aside from my shorts, my face flushed and my body hot as he took in my form.

"So beautiful.." He muttered, swiftly kissing me, his lips working their way from my own, down to my chest where he took a nipple into his mouth, rolling the other one in his fingers to make me gasp and moan loudly.

"Master~!" I mewled, my hands tangling in his hair and gripping his shoulder as his tongue continued its assault on my perky buds. I arched my back into his mouth as his hand roughly groped my breast, his tongue switching sides as his other hand trailed down to my shorts, easily slipping the material off as he traced the soaked cloth of my panties.

"So wet for me, baby.." He muttered, leaving open mouth kisses all down my stomach to my throbbing core where he hooked his arms around my hips, shoving his face into my covered cunt and breathing in heavily, a breathy growl leaving his throat. "You smell so good.." He cooed, licking a strip up my slit over my panties making me gasp.

"Please.." I whimpered, feeling him pull away from me.

"Please, what? What do you want, baby?" He asked, leaning up to my face making my head dizzy, being able to smell myself on his face was an intoxicating experience. 

"Please touch me.." I whimpered, closing my eyes making him chuckle.

"Just touch you?" He teased, pulling my panties down my legs as he looked at me. "You don't want anything else? Not my tongue? Or my cock?" He asked, a smug smirk on his face as I whined beneath him.

"Please, Master.. Please, make me feel good.." I mewled, looking at him through my lust blown pupils, he grinned darkly.

"Don't worry, I'll make you feel heavenly, my little slut." He growled, his fingers quickly finding my entrance as he slid them up and down my slick heat, rubbing my clit occasionally making me twitch as I let out moans of ecstasy. He leaned down, holding my thighs in place with his strong hands, his tongue diving into my entrance making me let out a loud gasp, my back arching as my hand found its way into his hair. He kept a thumb on my clit, rubbing tight circles on it as his tongue thrusted in and out of me at an alarming pace, my orgasm coming quickly as the pleasure made me cry out. I felt my orgasm wash over me, my body tensing as I cried Madara's name, thankful for my lack of neighbors right now as he tongue fucked me through my climax.

He didn't stop there though, hooking his arms around my thighs tightly, he held my hips in the air, his lips still locked with my lower lips as I cried out, the harsh sucking of my clit and sudden thrusts of his tongue making me see stars. He kept me locked so tightly to him as he ate me out, I could feel the bruises forming on my hips from his tight grip, thighs trying desperately to clench around his head. My mind felt like mush as he overstimulated me, bringing me to multiple quick orgasms until one rocked my body so roughly it had me convulsing in his hold, my eyes rolling back in my head as I came, soaking Madara's face and chin with my arousal. He gave my clit one last flick of his tongue, my thighs twitching as he finally released me, grinning down at my spent figure as he panted lightly.

"God, you taste divine. I could drink you in all day." He breathed, leaning over me to plant a soft kiss on my lips, moaning softly as I tasted myself on his lips when I wrapped my arms around his neck. We broke apart slowly, Madara smirking down at me. "This just makes me want to see those videos even more, to see what dirty things you do to yourself." He teased making me grin softly.

"Maybe next time I record something, I'll leave the door unlocked if you really want to come in." I said playfully, seeing him grin mischievously at me.

"I might just do that." He said, before picking me up and setting me on the bed, going to the bathroom and returning with a warm washcloth, his own face also now clean as he carefully cleaned me off, tossing the cloth in the laundry hamper and laying down with me. He held me tightly in his arms, letting me drift off to sleep with a content smile on my face.

--------------Madara's POV------------ 

I let her drift off to sleep just as her phone buzzed, I carefully reached over to it and unlocked it after a moment of struggle, thankful she had told me her password as I looked to see a text message from someone named.. Jack. I frowned and opened the message, a group chat with a few of her friends showed up, Jack had also private messaged with a few others asking Alex to respond ASAP. Something about doing another live tonight making me roll my eyes before I thought of something. You can send photo's using this device.

I took a quick photo of Alex asleep in my arms, just enough where they could tell she wasn't alone at the moment. I sent it to the group chat, with a text saying she was too tired to respond at the moment and I'll make sure she gets back to them. I smirked and shut the phone off, tossing it to the side just as Seth hopped up on the bed, coming over to try and get under the covers making me chuckle. I pat his fluffy head and grinned as he settled on the other side of Alex, this dog really was fond of her. I looked at her peaceful face as she slept, a small soft smile coming across my face.

I was becoming quite fond of her too.