#thought I may as well drop this while my head’s otherwise empty XD

[take-ya-to-the-ghey-bar]

I mildly regret the fact that I’m currently still awake lol (not that I feel like I’d be able to sleep soon anyways, even tho f my eyes feel fuckin dry) but— I can at least now report that I’ve watched all 8 eps of Hazbin Hotel available on prime~

[kyosohmastan]

If you are doing the fic thing may I request #15 for kyoru? 👀

There’s so many ways to incorprate that prompt ranging from ratings G-R xD. I went in the mild direction for this lol. I didn’t quite know where I was going with this but it’s alright I guess.

This was also requested by @knmartinshouldbewriting !

“Shhh, they’ll hear us.”

Kyo would have went to bed earlier but Momiji, the hyperactive nuisance of a bunny, was staying with them for the night, and he wouldn’t shut down. How is it that he has this much energy half past midnight? If only the party would end...

“Let’s play hide and seek...in the dark!” Momiji said while they were having cheesecake that Tohru had baked earlier that day around the kotatsu.

“That doesn’t seem safe. Do people actually play it in the dark?” Yuki asked.

“Yes. My friends from school play it in the classroom after school all the time!” Momiji replied.

“But that’s during the day,” Kyo said. This was a ridiculous idea, and a childish game at that. He would never participate in such a thing. “It’ll be pitch black here if we turn off the lights. What if someone fell down the stairs because they couldn’t see?”

“Stop being so lame, Kyo. Hide and seek is a very popular and enjoyable game. You’ll see!” The rabbit said, scarfing down the remainder of his cheesecake.

“For five-year-olds...” Kyo grumbled.

Shigure all at once jumped up. “I’m in!”

Kyo resisted his tendency to jump at Shigure’s sudden burst. But he did wince, and his hypothetical tail’s hair stood up on end. “You’re a freaking adult! Why would you play-”

“Actually that sounds fun. I’ll play,” Tohru said, gathering everyone’s plates and heading into the kitchen. “Just let me wash these first. And I’d love it if you joined us, Kyo-kun!”

That was it. It was enough to change his mind over an activity he’d never consider participating in otherwise. He blushed at his compliance. But he didn’t want to disappoint her. 

“Fine,” he mumbled and got up. “At least I can get away from that whiny kid for a little while if I hide.”

“Kyo! You’re picking on me again!” Momiji cried.

My point exactly, Kyo thought. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Who’s going to count?” Yuki piped up.

“Me!!” Momiji responded while hopping around and turning off all the lights in the house. 

“Um...” Tohru’s voice quivered from the kitchen. Kyo looked back to where her voice was coming from, but all he met was a sea of darkness. He blinked, trying to spot any sliver of her form. He took a step back, feeling for her. She was scared. He could hear it in her voice, in the way it carried on a shaking cry almost as severe as how she spoke to him when he was in his true form.

He shook the thought away and grasped the empty air until he felt her chill skin. He held her wrist, and she made a swift gasp.

“Okay, I’m starting at one-hundred!” Momiji announced and began counting, dragging out each number unnecessarily.

“Stay with me,” Kyo whispered to Tohru, dragging her in the direction that he hoped was toward he hallway. “I don’t trust you to get through the dark alone without breaking a bone.”

“Oh! O-okay,” she said way too loudly for what was appropriate for the game. 

“And try not to get us caught by that pitchy voice of yours,” he muttered. He shook his head. He loved the voice. Under other circumstances, he wouldn’t mind listening to it.

“Yes, of course,” she whispered. Well, that voice was just as nice.

He heard the bathroom door open and close, which meant either Shigure or Yuki had gone to hide in there. That was where he was headed since the bathtub was big enough to fit him and Tohru, but he’d have to go somewhere else. 

Momiji was on thirty. It appeared hat the farther he got down in his count, the faster he phrased each number. They didn’t have time. He pulled her into the hallway closet with him, taking good measure to leave her at arms length as he closed the door, though the probability of him transforming during the period of this game was high up there since he couldn’t see a thing. 

“You good?” he asked her, at last.

Her breath came out harsh and it gave him goosebumps...for some reason. “I’m fine. Honestly...I’m glad I get to hide with you, Kyo-kun. You take care of me.”

Stoooop, he repeated in his mind. Maybe hide and seek in the dark was a good thing if it meant she couldn’t see his blush. “Just don’t take another step closer or you’ll bump into me.”

“Right!” she whispered loudly. “Um..you feel really close though.”

She was right, he could feel the cotton of her shirt hovering over his skin. Their chests had to be a breath away from touching. Yet, he still couldn’t see her. He looked directly ahead, knowing she was right there...so close. Had he ever been this close to her for so long? It was unlikely because he’d never felt this emotionally erratic around her before. 

She took in a harsh inhale and he stood straight. “What is it?”

“Your eyes. I’ve never seen them do that.”

“Do what?”

“They’re glowing,” she whispered. 

That gave him some surprise. That hadn’t happened in a while. He spotted the tiny crack in the door which let in a bit of light from the moon. That explained it. 

He blinked rapidly as the light reflected off his retinas. “They get like that sometimes.”

“They’re gorgeous,” she whispered in a voice he could only compare to an angel’s, as cliche as it sounded. The edge of a finger touched his cheek and his breath just stopped...dropped off the face of the Earth.

“Wh-what are you doing?” he asked, cringing at how pitiful his trembling voice was.

“Trying to get a better look.” Her entire palm rested on his cheek and his knees shook. Her fingertip touched the bridge of his nose. When had she ever been this...bold? Had she thought about touching him? Was she acting on her desires?

He had those when it came to her. He loved those brief moments when he’d get the courage to touch her. She always allowed him to in ways he couldn’t understand. She invited him in so easily. Always. As if she were asking for it without words. 

He swallowed hard, searching out her eyes with his own that were still glowing a blazing red. The little light from outside the window directly across from the closet outlined a sliver of her face. There she was. He felt like he hadn’t seen her in ages. And yes, indeed, she was dangerously close. He only had to breathe and their chests would touch.

The sound of a constant drum permeated the air around him. It grew in tempo as she tilted her head up, the tip of her nose brushing his chin.

In an attempt to break the intensity of her presence, he said, “Stop tapping your foot. They’ll hear us.”

Her nose knocked against his jaw as she tilted her head up. “That’s not my foot. I’m perfectly still.” She giggled. “But I hear it too. I think it’s...” He felt her hand on his stomach, and it inched up until it found its destination on his chest. The pounding in his ears was deafening now. 

“It’s coming from here,” she said softly. “That’s your heart, Kyo-kun.” Something knocked against his chest. Oh, my, God, her head, his thoughts screamed. 

Her warm breath hit the front of his shirt. He was going to melt. “Such a beautiful sound,” she cooed.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her to back up. He didn’t want her to. As he already knew, he liked feeling her close to him. Touch as tender as this one made him feel secure, wanted, and loved. All the things he’s always dreamed of. And if he could hug her now, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he wouldn’t allow it. 

All he could do was hold the back of her head. One day, if she didn’t already know, he would tell her he loved her. But actions did have a tendency to speak louder than words.

The closet doors bursted open and he jumped out of his skin, knocking into Tohru and transforming. To be honest, he didn't know if he transformed because they embraced or if it was due to his rising emotions. 

Momiji and Shigure stared at them, Shigure’s brow inching into his hairline.

Tohru caught Kyo and started laughing. “Oh, Kyo-kun, I’m sorry”

Shigure joined in on her laughter. “My, my, Kyo-kun. This is supposed to be hide and seek not seven minutes in heaven.”

The cat bared his fangs at the canine. “Shut it! We weren’t doing anything!” But were they? Something happened in there that definitely meant something. He hadn’t felt such a piercing touch from her since the day she saw his monster form and he willingly hugged her for the first time. All he could hope for is that there were more to come. 

Even as she clutched his feline form to her chest, even in such a pathetic form, one he’s always had to deal with, he’d stay a cat forever if it meant he could always feel her touch.

[antihero-writings]

His Butler, and the Problem with Magic (Ch2)

Fandom: Black Butler | Kuroshitsuji x Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Crossover

Fic Synopsis: Life at Hogwarts isn’t all bad…usually. But when Valentine’s Day rolls around, and Lockhart throws an extravagant ball, the number of couples at school the next day skyrockets, and Sebastian finds himself a new object of devotion…Can Ciel save his butler from the spell on his own?

Character Focus:  Ciel (Edward Midford, Grell, Lizzie, Snape)

Notes: I bet you all thought I forgot about this fic didnt you? SIKE! I forget nothing.

(By the way, I'll definitely repost chapter 1 of this as well, in case you guys forgot about it XD)

I was informed that Valentines day with this coming Sunday and I couldn't believe it. I had been wanting to work on multiple valentines fics and I thought I had weeks left to write them XD So in light of that, I knew I had been slowly chipping away at a chapter 2 of this over time, so I decided to check it out and see how much work I had to do to make it postable in time for valentines day. To my surprise, the chapter was pretty much ready to go! So at long last, here it is!!

I really hope you enjoy it!! If you do, I implore you to consider commenting and/or reblogging!! I assure you its much much more likely this fic will get a chapter 3 if I know that people are interested in reading more <3

@elegantkittycat Tagging you in case you’re still interested in reading more!!

Chapter 2:

Ciel jerked his hand away as the cauldron sizzled, muttering curses under his breath—(the normal kind, not the magic kind). Usually Sebastian managed their clandestine dealings and he didn’t have to worry about burning his fingers off.

His conversation with Tom Riddle had left him with a list of ingredients, and a method of combining them into a potion that would allegedly cure Sebastian and others of this ailment.

He was fully aware trusting strange voices in diaries wasn’t the best decision he could make on the career path of life, but considering he had found no other options, and a whole lot of annoyance, he didn’t have much to lose. Besides, Sebastian was a demon, so even if it was supposed to make your eyes pop out or something, he’d probably be okay.

Ciel looked down the instructions and grimaced, reaching over for the next ingredient, trying not to look directly at it.

Despite the potions classroom being the main place to get potions, and potion making materials, he was not in the potions classroom. This late in the evening, Snape probably would have killed him. He was in a room on the seventh floor which Sebastian had found last May. It seemed to hold within it whatever the person walking by it required.

He dropped the last ingredient in, raised his wand, muttered a very complicated spell and sighed.

The only thing left to do was wait. It had to brew for twenty-four hours, which meant it wouldn’t be ready until six o’clock the next evening. Twenty-four hours was too much time with a love infested school to deal with.

Ciel packed up his stuff and headed out into the hall—making sure to check for Filch first. He was almost back to his common room when—

“CIEL PHANTOMHIVE!”

He nearly tripped and toppled to the ground taking all his supplies and homework with him.

As he righted himself, he jerked his head up to observe the source of the disturbance: a tall, blonde boy, a few years older than Ciel, sporting his Gryffindor robes as if he was the reincarnation of Godric goddamn Gryffindor himself.

Ciel had the displeasure of knowing this boy.

“Edward?!” he growled, recovering his dignity and dusting himself off. “Are you trying to kill me?!”

“That depends,” he said in a low murmur that seemed to hide waves of anger.

He marched up to his future-brother-in-law, stopped far too close, and stared into Ciel’s eyes like he could bore into his brain with his gaze.

“What. Did you do. To my sister?”

“What did I— ?” Ciel blinked, rivalling anger disappearing in the face of concern. “What?”

Edward was the son of the proud, and not to mention handy-with-swords Marquess Midford, and all this noble, virtue-loving, God-fearing, paladin energy was often channeled into being protective of his younger sister Lizzie…who also happened to be Ciel’s fiancé.

“Lizzie. What did you do to her?!”

“Yes, I’m familiar with to whom you’re referring!” He pushed him back, “What’s wrong with her?!”

It was Edward’s turn to blink. “You don’t know?”

“You may or may not have noticed I am otherwise occupied! I’ve been running around trying to save my butler from this hell, thank you very much!”

“Oh,” his eyes flickered.

Ciel looked up at him, then blinked. “You think I caused this?!”

“Well you don’t exactly foster an atmosphere of peace and calm, now do you?”

“I’d thank you to have more confidence in me in the future! For your information, Undertaker caused this!”

“Undertaker?! Oh that slimy bloke hasn’t seen the last of me!” He turned, putting his fist into his palm, beginning to march out of the room.

Ciel lazily grabbed the sleeve of his robe, pulling him back. “Hunting him down isn’t going to get you any answers—and will likely make you more frustrated. Believe me, I’ve already tried. Now, if you’d be so kind, I’d like to know what’s wrong with my fiancé.”

Edward rubbed the back of his head. “Well…”

“Tell me, Edward.” It was Ciel’s turn to stare him down. Apparently it was effective, because Edward couldn’t meet his gaze.

“Well…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I went to go say hi, and I found her sitting in the common room, staring out the window. She barely took any notice of me. And when she did she started spitting prattling nonsense about this man she met,” he said the last words like men were the most revolting things in the planet. “Naturally I assumed this was a newfound appreciation for you, or she simply was admiring Lockhart like she usually does.”—Ciel made a face at this—“But apparently…not.”

Ciel blanched. He was about to speak, but Edward continued:

“When I learned it wasn’t you, I told her to have some decency, but it was as if she couldn’t even hear me!” His air of forced calm broke. “Apparently she’s madly in love with some—some—some idiot!”

“She’s… what?” The words were soft.

“I said—”

“I heard what you said!” He grabbed his robes.

Some third years walked by at that exact moment and stared at them. Ciel released him, and he and Edward paused and waved awkwardly. After they passed, Ciel continued in a shout-whisper.

“How the hell did this happen?! I specifically made sure she stayed away from the punch at that party!”

“The punch? What punch?”

“The punch Undertaker spiked!”

“Undertaker spiked—?! Oh…Maybe she drank some when you weren’t looking? You can’t have been keeping her under constant surveillance, can you?”

“I was watching her very closely, she couldn’t have!” He said, realizing his usually-more-than-adept butler was quite possibly compromised at the time. “When did these symptoms start? The morning after Valentines Day?”

“Um,” Edward put a hand to his chin, thinking, “I…I’m not sure.”

“Oh you’re just useless aren’t you?”

“More useful than you! If you knew it was spiked at the party, why didn’t you tell everyone?! Or try to stop him?!”

“It seemed like a harmless prank!”

“What are we up to?” Snape’s greasy form appeared, cutting the scene.

“Nothing, Professor Snape,” Edward said quickly. “We were just—”

“I wasn’t talking to you.” He folded his arms and stared down his hooked nose at Ciel. “Your detention is to take place tomorrow evening at six o’clock. Meet me in my office. Try not to earn yourself another one before then.”

“Yes, Sir.” Ciel said softly.

Snape’s black robes swished passed them.

“So Lizzie—? Wait, did he just say six o’clock?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Damn it!” Ciel groaned, leaning against the bannister.

“What’s wrong?”

He waved him off. “It’s none of your concern.”

Edward folded his arms and glared at him.

“I’m working on a potion to try to neutralize this whole…love mess.”

“I’d say that’s very much of my concern! You have the antidote?!”

“I said I’m working on it. It’ll be ready at six o’clock tomorrow evening—six o’clockexactly.”

“I guess you’ll have to get it after you get back.” Edward shrugged.

“It’s a very delicate potion I have to—Ugh Nevermind.”

After a pause Edward asked, “…And you’re sure this antidote will work?”

“I’m not sure of much of anything. The only thing I am sure about is if the potion doesn’t kill me, if I’m late to his detention, Snape just might.”

*****

As Ciel sat down to breakfast he made the silent resolve to quickly finish the potion at six o’clock, then speed to the dungeon as fast as possible, taking the bottle with him to his detention, and hurry to Sebastian right afterwards. Snape wouldn’t be happy, but, despite what he said to Edward earlier, the worst he’d do was give him another detention, or take a large sum of house points. And he wasn’t so strict he’d make students empty their pockets, so he shouldn’t notice while he sat sitting for a few hours cleaning viper guts off potion bottles. There was no telling what this potion would do if he left it for however long detention was, so it took priority. And even if his detention went into the night, that would be the perfect time to test it—the demon wouldn’t be asleep anyways.

Ciel was currently trying to make his seat in the great hall a little corner of peace and calm, and block out the chaos in the rest of the hall, setting down his knife properly, trying to ignore the food flying across the hall, when—

“Oh, Brat~!”

Ciel sighed resignedly as his least favorite redhead came swinging into his vision.

“What are you doing back here so soon?” Ciel grumbled, holding his scowling face in one hand, sticking his fork aimlessly into his eggs with the other.

“And when I came all this way to see you, too?!” He turned up his nose in disgust. “I couldn’t possibly get my beauty sleep after I saw my Sebas-chan in such dire straits.” He pulled a scroll out of his jacket pocket, “So I was up all night thinking of ways to get him back to his sexy self!” He unrolled its impressive length, the end landing in Ciel’s eggs.

Ciel couldn’t help but skim through some his ideas, if nothing else for a good laugh.

They ranged from the more simple and reasonable Find the spell, and make a counter curse, and Bash his head in, to the not-so-reasonable Maybe true loves kiss will work~?

“What’s this?” Ciel squinted at a particular line. “‘Put that brat he calls “master” in mortal danger’?”

It was starred and underlined several times.

“Oh you noticed that one did you?” He said in fake innocence. “That’s one of my personal favorites!”

Ciel’s eyes lidded.

“And how exactly would putting me in mortal danger solve the problem of my butler being in love with you?”

“For some reason—can’t see why—Sebas-chan is very attached to you—”

“Sure, it has nothing to do with the contract we made.”

“Yes, yes.” He waved him off. “Well he’s very against you being in any sort of danger. See the idea,”—He put a nail on the table— “is that if we put you in mortal danger his primal demonic—”—he said the word in a way Ciel was not fond of—“inclinations will override the spell and snap him out of it.”

Ciel blinked, staring down at the line of text.

The worst thing was…that actually made some smidgen of sense. You know, in a sadistic kind of way.

“And how would you propose we do that? You know, without actually killing me?”

“Oh all part of the fun. I have a number of ideas as to how we could push you riiight up to the edge! It’ll be delightfully diabolical. Of course, if it doeskill you, well…” he turned away and muttered, “All’s well that ends well, as they say.”

“Not that that doesn’t sound fun…” Ciel stood, pushing the list away. “I’ve found my own way of breaking the spell thank you very much.”

“Oh?” Grell blinked, intrigued. “Have you now?”

“Not that its any of your business, yes.” He brushed himself off, gathering his stuff, “If you’ll excuse me, I have my own business to attend to.”

“Well when that fails don’t hesitate to come crawling back to your favorite reaper Grellypoo ~!” He rolled up the scroll.

“You’re not even my fifth favorite reaper!” He threw over his shoulder.

“But at least I’m on the list!”

*****

Due to the fact that little real learning was happening on either side—unless you count learning too much about various students and teacher’s romantic habits—they had decided to cancel classes for the time being. This gave the teachers more time to devote to finding the cure as well.

Ciel decided to take this time to ascertain the validity of Edward’s statement the night previous and visit Lizzie.

She was a Gryffindor like her brother. Visiting the Gryffindor common room wouldn’t be first, or even last, in a list of things he wanted to do…but he’d half to bear it.

As he walked up the stairs he bumped into someone. At first they apologized and continued walking but soon the other person called back:

“Hey, I ran into yesterday didn’t I?”

Ciel turned to see none other than Harry Potter.

“Yes?”

“Did you happen to see a diary? Like when you were helping me pick up my stuff?”

“The great Harry Potter keeps a diary?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “It’s not my diary. Just a diary.”

“A diary that just so happened to find its way into your bag?”

“Well…yeah.”

“Sorry to say, I haven’t seen it.”

“Hmm…Alright. Thanks anyways.” He waved as he continued down the stairs.

As another Gryffindor left, he slipped into the common room.

Lizzie was sitting in a chair against the window, just like Edward said she would be. She rested her hand on her chin, her elbow on the table, and watched the rain fall.

“Lizzie!” he ran up to her.

“Oh…Ciel…it’s you,” she said in a dreamy, nonplussed tone.

“Yes it’s me. What happened? Have you completely lost your senses?!”

“No I’d say my senses are in tact thank you. And I’d thank you not to ask a lady such an impolite question.”

“Sorry but…what happened? Why are you—?”

“I don’t know. I just, of a sudden, found him to very attractive one morning, and I’m having trouble thinking of much else.”

“Who?” He sat in the chair across from her.

“That’s not really of your concern, is it?”

“It is when I’m your fiancé!” He said a little too loudly, making Gryffindors turn towards him.

“Mm…” She muttered like it wasn’t an issue.

“Lizzie, I tried to make sure you didn’t drink that punch at the party! How did this happen?!”

“Party?” She paused, and for a moment he wasn’t sure she was even going to continue the conversation. “…Oh I don’t know. I seem to faintly recall the most beautiful man I’d ever met saying I simply must try it.”

His eyes widened. “Someone gave it to you directly?! Who?! Why?!”

“I’ve already tried that, I don’t think you’ll get much luck. She won’t tell me either.” Edward arrived at his side, then leaned over and whispered, “I think she knows we’ll come after him.”

“I was going to opt for slow psychological torture,” he muttered back, “but I’d like to hear more about your method.”

Edward tried to suppress a smile.

“And you really love this man?” Ciel asked Lizzie.

“Oh, with all my heart!” She seemed to gain a rush of energy.

He sighed, realizing more questions would be futile, and getting up.

“Alright well…” He ran his hand gently over Lizzie’s fingers. “I-I’ll see you soon.”

“You’ll give me the potion as soon as you can, right?” Edward demanded.

“I’m going to use Sebastian as a test subject, but, if it works, then this will be my next stop.”

“The password is ‘chocolate frog.’ Feel free to wake me up. I can’t stand another minute knowing Lizzie is in love with some-some lunatic!”

“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”

*****

Ciel carefully held the porcupine quills, and gingko leaves over the cauldron, dripping them in one at a time, stirring counterclockwise with his other hand, glancing continually back to the instructions.

Finishing off the potion was proving no easier than making the rest of it, but at last, it gave a final sigh, and turned a foggy white.

Ciel gave his own sigh of relief, before using tongs to dip and fill the bottle beside him, making sure to clean off the sides of it—(it was a good thing he used a towel to do so, because the stray drops burned through the fabric).

He held up the bottle, staring at the potion. At long last. Finally, after three days of slow torture, he’d finally be rid of this curse, and the world could return to its normal state—demon butlers included.

He slipped one into his robe pocket and the moment he stepped out of the room, he sped off towards Snape’s dungeon for his detention without a moment to clean up the rest.

He hadn’t intended to burst through the door, but he found himself doing that a lot over these past few days.

Snape’s black eyes narrowed upon his panting form as if he were a worm to bottle. Then they flicked to the clock.

“You’re late.”

“I’m sorry, Professor, I—”

Snape held up a hand to stop him. “The last three days have been longer than the past few months, and am not interested in feeble excuses, Mr. Phantomhive.” He glided around his desk, but instead of setting him up at a desk, he marched past him, swung open, and exited the classroom.

Ciel paused a moment, leaning over to the side, watching him exit, a quizzical look on his face, before deciding he wanted him to follow him.

“Where are we going, Professor?” He asked as he caught up—(not altogether happy that he’d have to do more walking after the run he just made).

“Your detention is to take place in the Forbidden Forest tonight.”

Ciel’s eyes widened.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Is our dear Mister Phantomhive afraid of the dark?”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I’m just a little surprised, that’s all…due to it being forbidden and all.”

Snape smirked. “Most of the time, yes. But on some extra special detentions we may take students inside.”

He was right: The Forbidden Forest wasn’t exactly a common detention spot, though it wasn’t unheard of either. What was more surprising was that Snape taking him there. Usually Snape’s detentions consisted of pickling rat brains, or cleaning octopi suckers off desks. Not that he’d been to very many of his detentions—he’d always been pretty good at potions. It was this godforsaken spell that had reduced him to a less-than-model student.

“Professor, may I ask what exactly will we be doing?” He asked as they traversed the grounds, the trees growing ever closer.

“You will be coming with me to gather a rare flower that lives in these woods.”

Ciel gave a curt nod. It was a moment or two before he asked, “May I ask what it’s for?”

“I am a potions master, Mister Phantomhive. I encourage you to use your brain.”

“I understand that. But what potion is it for, Sir?”

“I am attempting to remedy the spell that has plagued the school.”

Ciel fell silent at that, resisting the urge to tell him he already had the solution in his pocket.

They arrived at the edge of the forest, the trees reaching towards them with gnarled claws, the darkness like curtains for a stage set.

“Lumos.” Snape spoke, and Ciel drew his wand and did the same as they ventured into the shadows.

The trees seemed to taunt them, to whisper about them, to dare them to come any closer, any phantom sound at home here.

After more than a few minutes walk in silence—quite possibly half an hour—Snape stopped and spoke: “They should be around here, nor should they be difficult to spot. Look for a glowing blue flower.”

Ciel made a move to venture off in search of them, but Snape grabbed his arm, warning:

“Don’t wander off where you can’t see me.”

Ciel nodded before venturing into the trees, scanning the ground for anything glowing, or blue, continually glancing back to make sure he could still make out the figure of his teacher.

It wasn’t long before he saw something glowing, and ran up to it. …It turned out just to be a mushroom.

As he sighed disappointedly, and stood back up, he saw two beady eyes staring at him from the darkness.

His heart began to pound as he stared, unsure if he should back up, stand his ground, play dead, or attack, the ghost of a certain name forming on his tongue.

He never had to fear beady eyes, bandits, or bullets with Sebastian around. This was the first time he felt real fear in a long while.

A black spectral horse reared out of the bushes, its eyes aglow with more than just a reflection of the dark.

It stepped towards him in slow, calculated hoofbeats, flaring its nostrils a little too frequently for his liking.

He’d read about these before.

He continued backing up, as the thestral didn’t seem like it planned on stopping its pursuit anytime soon.

“Mister Phantomhive,”—Snape’s voice was low, warning—“I am aware you likely don’t see anything but—”

“I can see it.” He continued his reverse walk.

Snape gave him a short glance like he had a newfound respect for him.

These creatures only appeared to people who had seen death, and he was sure the look in his parents’ eyes that night sufficed. But they didn’t commonly act like this.

Snape lifted his wand, casting a nonverbal spell, and the thestral fell to the ground with a bloodcurdling whinny too much like a scream, ropes binding its legs.

Ciel let out a relieved exhale as Snape joined him.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…Thestrals…they aren’t commonly…aggressive, are they?”

“No.” Snape muttered softly, gazing for a moment at the now-helpless creature, then turned sharply to Ciel, pointing his wand at him. “Empty your pockets.”

Ciel jerked his head to the professor, saying a little too loudly, “What?!”

The thestral fought against the binds, and Ciel took a step back.

“I said, ‘empty your pockets.’”

“Why?!”

Snape flicked his wand, and his pockets’ contents excavated themselves of their own volition.

Snape grabbed the potion from the air, and let the rest of spare quills and things fall helplessly to the forest floor. He held it up and stared at it, observing the contents, his emotion as imperceptible as always. Then he lifted the cork, sniffing it. His eyes widened and he jerked to look at Ciel, his eyes almost more terrifying than those of the thestral, and definitely not holding a look his eyes had ever contained for him before.

“Where did you get this?” He whispered.

“Excuse me?”

He lifted the potion up, and violently smashed it on the ground, the contents breaking out with a puff of smoke, spilling helplessly onto the forest floor.

“NO!”

Snape grabbed his arm as Ciel made to reach for it, as if to save the unsalvageable.

“I said—” he grabbed both his arms, forcing him to look at him. “Where. Did you get that?”

“Sir…. I don’t understand…”

Snape’s face was far too close to him for comfort.

“Listen to me and listen to me very carefully. That potion is more than dangerous—it’s banned in every major country. It’s not something I could easily mistake. If you were to use it, you wouldn’t just die an excruciating death, it would rot you from the inside, and leave you open to the possession of any vile spirit in the vicinity. A fourteen-year-old boy such as yourself shouldn’t be carrying it around in his pocket,” he spat. “And I’d like to think that you didn’t know what it was when you gained possession of it. Now.” His grip tightened on one of his arms, his nails digging in, as he put his wand to his throat with the other enunciating each word, “WHERE. DID. YOU. GET. IT?!”

[chubbyooo]

Blurred Lines: Cursed Past Chapter 89 - The Pitch of Revolution

it took 89 chapters for Gacen to interact with the Alliance but he's finally here XD Gacen arrives on Odessent to pitch their revolution to Lana

Gacen sat in the cockpit looking at his datapad intently, the blue hum of hyperspace was the only sound as he tried to calm his nerves. He had to pitch the idea of helping Dubrillion to the Alliance, at first he thought it’d be easy but they were gearing up for a war he doubted they’d give their full support. Nonetheless they had contacted Lana and set up the meeting with the Voidhound with little detail about what it was just calling it a proposition, Gacen was glad they had met before otherwise this would’ve been a lot harder he didn’t know quite what Lana thought of him but clearly it wasn’t awful.

Risha came through in his ear “you got the pitch ready Gacen?” Gacen didn’t normally practice for things he was more someone who’d wing it but for this and for her he’d made sure to practice vigilantly

Gacen nodded “yep I got it all written down in a datapad I’m gonna blow them away I promise Rish” he sounded a lot more confident than he actually was, he took a swig of his flask to calm his nerves

Risha responded “thanks Gacen I know this is a big ask” Gacen smiled he never minded at least it was something to do, Risha had helped with his directionless feeling but he still felt as guilty as ever. He doubted that would ever change though there was nothing he could do about that except move forward and also the obligatory booze.

Gacen leant back “hey anything for you Rish you know I’m all in” Risha chuckled clearly a little embarrassed by the kind sentiment

Risha smiled “I know but still it means a lot after I trusted you with your past” Gacen felt a knot in his stomach knowing that trust is what had separated them for years “Besides I think it’ll be good for you to visit Odessen” Gacen frowned she was pretty adamant of that

He sat up “you keep saying that, what’s so special about Odessen?” he couldn’t tell if Risha was just messing with him or not

He heard Risha stifle a laugh “nothing much I just think you’ll prefer it to the republic and the empire, management is more your speed” Gacen nodded he guessed that made sense

Soon the ship dropped out of hyperspace and the lush green planet of Odessen came into view, it was surrounded by all manner of ships; this place surely looked like the heart of an organization capable of taking down the Eternal Empire. In a way he’d been glad to miss out on a lot of the danger of the Eternal Empire but the prison and separation from everyone he cared about rather overruled that sentiment.

After receiving a clearance to land he piloted the ship down and the Alliance base came into view, he smiled it certainly was impressive, it kinda reminded him of Gabredor and Risha’s base but if she’d had an army behind her. He had no idea where to park and just found the first place in a clearing near some form of Hanger, it looked like there had been a ship on it for a while with the grass marks where it once was. 

Once the ship was parked he strolled out of it and breathed in “wow Rish you were right this place is wild, it’s certainly nicer than Coruscant or Dromund Kass” he walked towards a bridge looking at the script on his datapad

Risha laughed “yes well it was built during the Eternal war so had to be discrete and hidden while also being close to Zakuul” Gacen had never been to Zakuul from what he heard after the fall of the Eternal Empire it was just full of snobs but that may just be rumours.

Gacen smiled strolling towards the entrance “well whoever designed it has style that’s all I can say” some style he was being polite it could be better, he made his way into the hanger and after a bit he saw a figure walking up to him.

As she got closer Gacen recognised the blonde hair in a bun and set of armour “Elara! Is that you?” Elara walked up to him seemingly unfazed by his surprise

She nodded “yes it is Gacen I believe you’re here to meet with Miss Beniko right?” Gacen was very surprised to see her here wait til Ash gets a load of this

Gacen smiled “still as monotone as ever I see Elara come on give me a hug” he outstretched his arms but Elara just gave him a look

She turned around leading him to the elevator “I see you haven’t changed much, Miss Beniko is a little busy right now but she should be able to fit you in” Gacen followed her into the elevator

He had a million questions “wait so what are you doing here” Elara turned to him clearly surprised he was asking

Elara answered “I was recruited by the Basen’thor after some business on Iokath she rather impressed me with her resolve” Gacen nodded that did add up Kavaraa had always been very convincing

Gacen cocked his head at her “aren’t you gonna ask me how I’m doing” Elara shook her head “really not even how Ash is doing?” her eyes went wide and she turned to him suddenly much more interested

Her stoney expression broke a little “you’ve seen Commander Ash?” Gacen nodded as the elevator stopped and they began walking through another hanger

Gacen answered her “yeah I mean we’ve lived together for two years, she’s on a mission right now for me” he may be sharing a bit much but he knew he could trust Elara

Elara nodded “I see I always assumed she’d come back to the republic if freed” Gacen realised that may be a little awkward

He reassured her “I think after everything that went down with the republic she wasn’t very enthused to go back, but she was enthused with the possibility of working with the Alliance I’ll tell you that” Elara’s expression brightened a little

She continued walking through the corridors “I suppose that makes sense that’s why I joined despite the cons it does house, well if your meeting works out I look forward to seeing her” Gacen smiled those two had always been close, the whole of Havoc had he wondered who else was here.

They arrived in what Gacen could only assume was the war room and his eyes widened, it was full of people coordinating things, displays and monitors he didn’t understand and in the middle Lana Beniko stood talking to a Voss woman.

Elara led Gacen to her “Gacen Zandar meet Lana Beniko advisor to the Commander” she moved back leaving them to talk

Lana didn’t turn around for a second finishing her conversation with the Voss, but soon she turned to face him looking tired “wow you’ve certainly got a lot on your plate Beniko” Lana rubbed her forehead looking at him

She gave a half smile “you don’t know the half of it but someones gotta keep this ship running” Gacen nodded looking around weren’t there supposed to be more leaders? “Most of our advisors and the Commander have found themselves busy with personal matters so the work has fallen to me and Theron Shan, although mostly to me” Gacen winced he could barely manage himself let alone an alliance

He gritted his teeth “yeesh my condolences to your spare time” Lana let out a half laugh rolling her eyes

She folded her arms “so what did you want Voidhound some kind of proposition, and please don’t waste my time” Gacen did his best to consult the script he wrote

Gacen held his neck “uh well I’m afraid we’re gonna have to speak about it in private some of these details need to be kept secret” Lana frowned at him her eyes narrowing

She walked up to him “if so I’m gonna need some kind of insurance policy to make sure this isn’t some kind of trap” Gacen’s eyes widened why would he do anything like that?

He gasped shocked “Lana come on you know me why would I do that” she raised her eyebrow “ok fair enough but here I’ll give you my blaster as insurance that’s plenty” he went to get his blaster but found his holster empty “ah shit I left it on the ship” he hadn’t been in a fight in while now he thought about it, he had no idea where it was.

Lana pinched the bridge of her nose and smiled “alright that proves to me I’m in no danger even if you are trying something come with me” Lana led him out of the war room to an empty chamber she pressed a button and a number of blast doors and soundproofing tiles came down from the ceiling “I had this installed after our last spy incident we should be fine to talk in here not even a Jedi could get through those walls” Gacen had a feeling he’d walked into a nest of paranoia

He laughed nervously “wow this is quite the setup” Lana tapped her foot impatiently “right yes well my proposition; as the Alliance I imagine you want capital and land with no allegiance to the republic or empire due to the coming war” he was reciting the script the best he could which was making him sound like a bad holonet salesman “but that’s pretty uncommon giving both their long histories but don’t worry I have such a planet for you with just a little investment on your part” Lana didn’t look impressed so far

Lana cut him off “Gacen I swear if you’re suggesting stealing a planet I’m going to throw you out of my base” Gacen was shocked he obviously wasn’t being clear, although that wasn’t a bad idea.

He shook his head “no no no don’t worry I’m getting there, the planet of Dubrillion is ruled by a paranoid King who’s making his whole planet contribute nothing to the galaxy at large annnd you see that’s not all, I have a rightful heir and replacement for that ruler” Lana nodded her expression changing from complete disinterest 

Lana questioned him “I assume that this heir is your wife Risha?” Gacen gasped he hadn’t said anything about her how had she known, Lana read what he was thinking “Gacen she’s the only noble person you know who else would it be?” Gacen nodded that was fair admittedly

Gacen continued “well yes it is she’s got a legit claim to the throne and more importantly the King is actually subjugating his people and being a huge tool, if we were to take control we would not only contribute Dubrillions sizeable industry and military to your cause officially joining your alliance but also stop the subjugation of innocents, all you have to do is give us some backup during our planned revolution” Lana seemed to be interested but she still looked skeptical

Lana held her chin “admittedly that could be very helpful but I have to know this is legitimate and you haven’t just come here with an idea” Gacen nodded that was absolutely fair

Gacen grinned “well that’s good then as Ash’shen’tor former Havoc Squad leader is currently on Dubrillion on a mission and Master Sumalee is on board to help us, I promise this is a legit operation Risha has been planning it for 5 years this isn’t an idea I came up with on a whim” Lana nodded she seemed to be coming around

She paced around the chamber “that does sound promising I have to admit but we’re stretched pretty thin at the moment I’m going to need some time to think over what we could supply and discuss with other advisors” she looked at him and smiled “how about you stay here until the end of the day and I’ll give you an answer then” Gacen nodded that was fair although he didn’t like waiting

Gacen shrugged “that makes sense I really hope you can supply us with some good help just from looking around it’s clear you have a great operatio-” Lana stopped him with a frown

She tutted “flattery will not get me to change my mind in fact it’ll do the opposite” Gacen nodded and rightfully shut up as Lana lowered the security

Gacen stammered “uh what should I do in the meantime” he didn’t like the idea of waiting around in his ship

Lana gave him a map “there’s a bar that I think should suffice your needs” Gacen smiled and chuckled

He took the map “this place is the best you have a bar in your secret base!” Lana grinned nodding as she walked back to the war room and Gacen made his way to the lift

Suddenly his comm cut back in “Gacen are you there is everything ok?!” Risha said seeming rather panicked

Gacen realised what had happened “Oh yeah right we were speaking in private so I guess it cut the signal don’t worry I’m ok” he heard a sigh of relief on the other end

Risha shot back “tell me next time ok Dumbass” Gacen walked to the elevator and headed up

Gacen defended himself “I didn’t know trust me I would have otherwise” that seemed to calm her down “hey do we have a bar in our secret base?” if not those droids had a new job

Risha nodded “yeah we like three, cocktail, regular and wine why do you want a new one?” Gacen cursed himself for not having seen them yet

He shook his head “no the Alliance just had one and I didn’t realise we had them, we have to go to them when I get back” Risha seemed very into that idea

The elevator arrived and he walked out  “ok but just don’t order that weird spicy cocktail you always get” Gacen gasped that was his favourite he knew everyone else hated it he had a very unique palette 

Gacen pouted “that drink is delicious and you know what I’m gonna order it just to spite you” Risha gave a over the top gasp

Gacen walked into the bar and sat down it seemed like a nice place “you wouldn’t dare you monster” Risha teased as he looked around

Gacen chuckled flirting back “oh just watch me Rish, one Spiced Rancor’s Toothpick please” the bartender nodded seemingly a little bemused by the zabrak talking to himself

Risha laughed “wow you betrayed me how could you” Gacen chuckled even though they had been back together for a bit now he still had missed it so much

The bartender passed him his drink and he sipped it the twinge of spice making him smile “sorry Risha you know you married a bad boy” there was a very condescending laugh in response

Risha then gasped “wait what are we talking about tell me how it went stop talking about drinks” Gacen’s eyes widened oh yeah he hadn’t told her 

Gacen rubbed his forehead “oh yeah sorry I got caught up in the flirting, Lana seemed enthused by the pitch but they’re ‘stretched thin right now’ so she’s gonna discuss it with people before she makes a decision on the degree of help we’ll get” Risha took in the information quietly

She sighed “well I suppose that’s better than nothing but being patient is a pain” see this girl just got him “was the Commander there? are they going to discuss it with Lana?” Gacen doubted the Commander would deal with this sort of business whoever she was

Gacen shrugged and sipped his drink “I dunno she’s not here right now ‘off on some personal mission’ or something like that” I doubt she’d concern herself with Dubrillion though, what with the war and such” he really had to educate himself on the Alliance a bit more if they’d be working together he hadn’t even known Elara was here.

He guessed that was the penalty of being drunk or in prison through the majority of their creation and rise, Risha tutted “don’t be so sure I think she would, either way let’s hope they agree to give us proper help this is going to take some doing” Gacen nodded as he sipped his drink he wondered who else was here that he’d met, Dzûsa and Lana had a thing right?

Gacen smiled “well I don’t mind waiting this place is quite nice” he certainly liked the bar it was pretty his speed

He was glad he hadn’t messed up the pitch “if you have the time then we should probably tell Sumalee” Gacen groaned he felt like he wouldn’t be able to drink while explaining it to her

He sighed “alright but afterwards I’m going right back to my drink” he walked out to the balcony to give Sumalee the sorta good news, she was about to ask a million questions he’d have to be careful weren’t overheard...

[nymphl]

Lie to Me - Hux x Reader - Ch. 6 - Friends & Foes

A/N - And here I come with chapter 6. I very much enjoy these first chapters of Lie to Me. In fact, my fav part of writing a story is the very beginning, the building relationship and so on. This chapter is just one big scene (not that big if compared to the chapters of BB and ITGB), focused on the aftermath of last chapter events. As always, I hope you enjoy it xD

Summary: Falling for the enemy… That’s probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. Letting him live… for he should be dead. And you should’ve been the one to kill him. You had him, right there… and you let it escape through yours fingers. He lived. And now only the time could tell if you made the right decision — more likely wrong — by saving the amnesiac General of the First Order and telling him he was your husband. [Hux x Reader - Hux x You]

Warnings for the entire story: Will contain at times; graphic violence, sex, drugs and manipulation, coarse language and OOCness.

AO3 Tags: from enemies to lovers; eventual romance; memory loss; fake marriage; fake marriage becomes real marriage; rebellion; married couple; canon divergence; slow burn romance; politics; rebel alliance; resistance; first order; OOCness; eventual smut; eventual sex; power play; power dynamics; syndicate; lies; you lie; Hux lies; Hux backstory; manipulation; political alliances; political betrayals; secret organizations.

Wordcount: 3920

PREVIOUS CHAPTER *** NEXT CHAPTER

YOU WERE SPEECHLESS FOR A FEW MINUTES — THE IMPRESSION WAS THAT HOURS HAD GONE BY  — AFTER WHAT HE HAD JUST SAID. 

Confessed?

Was that a confession?

You were not sure and was afraid of finding out.

Thankfully, as soon as he said those words, he left you alone in the bedroom. He did not say where he was headed to and as a matter of fact you were not interested.

A tired sigh left you as you removed your head from your hands. You ran your fingers through your hair, taking a moment to get yourself situated.

The corpse.

Right.

He did kill the member of the Resistance. He did put a hole in his head. He did it in spite of the fact you did not want him to.

Still sitting on the bed, you brought your legs closer to your chest. Chin resting on your knees, you took a few deep breaths to calm yourself. It would not do to lose it now.

But that was so kriffing difficult!

Part of you tried to see reason behind his actions. You lifted your head and started lowering your fingers one by one, as you began to number his possible motives.

One, the man would kill you. Two, the man would have killed him. Perhaps not him. He proved capable of defending himself — and you, a small voice nagged in the back of your head. By killing the man, he saved your life as well. He did not need to. He could have let you die, but he did not.

That makes you my greatest weakness.

If that was indeed the truth — and he had no reason to lie; he himself believed he chose you because of something… love… perhaps? More like possession, even though he did not recall it thoroughly — you had to somehow exploit it, right?

You gulped.

That left you with only one reason.

A nagging voice in the back of your mind said that perhaps he killed the man because he wanted to. Because it was fun. Because he… you did not know… belonged to an Order whose main objective was to enslave everyone and kill those who disagreed?

You shook your head. If you stayed in the bed forever, your unstoppable and guilty mind would come up with hundreds of reasons why he should not be trusted and why you should have killed him — left him for dead — and right now you needed him to trust you. You had to… exploit the fact he did not have his memories and use it for… good? Whatever good and bad could entail… You had to figure out how far he would go to bring his plans to fruition — whatever they may be.

And there was still a body waiting to be buried.

Errrr…

You were glad your stomach was empty; otherwise, you would be emptying it real quickly.

Ah, for the maker!

There was some part of you that doubted you would be able to eat for a few days.

You left the bedroom and walked to the kitchen — where he was not present at the given moment — and the hall, where there was no dead body.

“What in the kriffing hell?”

The door was opened, and you could see — a mere shadow — the General with a bottle in his hands — you did not need to look at the cupboard to know the Tihaar was missing — looking at a pile of ashes.

You even thought about going after him, but you were not sure you were ready for the conversation that was to follow. Or to see that corpse again without feeling the worst of monsters.

Turning around, you looked for some herbs to make tea, and this time you were relieved to know he did not cook.

Considering that he took care of the body, you were glad to be left with dinner, even if you had no stomach to think about food right now.

He needs to eat, you told yourself. He was still recovering, going a night by without dinner would not do.

And you yourself had to eat; getting sick when you had so many lives to take care of would be just reckless of you. Imprudent. The hospital needed as many healers as possible right now. And you stayed away for far too long nursing him.

You were so afraid he would die on you, you took some days off and even forgot to eat while taking care of him.

Taping on the water, you washed your hands and set the necessary items to make a tritacale pie on the counter. Triticale pie was not the most your favorite recipe, but you thought that eating something more consistent would do him some good.  

He was already on the threshold, leaning against it. You looked at him over your shoulders and bit your bottom lip. He did not seem keen of initiating a conversation — and whenever he did, he left you more nervous than you could deal right now —, so you did it yourself.   

“Please… Don’t do that anymore.”

He folded his arms at his chest and arched his eyebrows, as if saying you should continue.

You drew in a sharp breath. Looking at him was not helping, so you shifted your attention to the vegetables and started chopping them.   

“You know what I am talking about.”

He remained silent.

For the maker!

He was going to make it difficult for you.

You opened your mouth to continue, but he cut you short, “I make no idle promises.”

Realizing you were gaping, you closed your mouth. You were grimacing at the vegetables. Your heart was not in it, if he did think your cooking abilities were not that good before — you thought he did and again why did it matter? —, he would be sure now. 

“At least don’t do that while I am around.”

He did not give you any reply.

No idle promises.

Right.

He was insufferable!

Unable to take more of his silence and his intense blue eyes focused on your back, you trailed off, “The corpse…”

“Taken care of.”

“But—

“It has already been taken care of.” His voice was firmer this time, from the straight and harsh line of his lips, you knew that he was not pleased about the topic at hand. “Nothing you should concern yourself about.”

“I just…

“Mrs. Syndulla, let’s change topics, shall we?”

His whispered voice — so threatening, so low and so devoid of any amiable emotion — had you sweating.

There we go.

I’m doomed.

“Mrs. Hux,” you corrected, and the words felt bitter in your tongue. Now you wished you had a bit of Jawa Juice at hand. Tihaar would simply not do. Too strong and too bitter to your liking.

“It’s not the first time a member of the Resistance drops by to a short visit.”

It was definitely not a question.

You wetted your lips.

What to do? What to kriffing do?

You decided to go for the truth.

“No.”

Looking down, you washed your hands once again and dried it in a dishcloth. They were trembling slightly. You exhaled slowly, trying to calm your nerves.

“But it’s been some time since they last came by.”

He moved from the threshold, placed the bottle of Tihaar on the table, and walked to you. His steps forced you to back against the sink.

Oh, for the maker!

Would he just stop doing that?

By the way the words left his mouth, you were sure they tasted like ashes, “I find it hard to believe.”

You swallowed.

Yeap.

He was going to definitely make it hard for you.

“It’s the truth,” you whispered, walking to him. You stopped right in front of him, giving him no opportunity to corner you. Go for the truth, a voice in the back of your head whispered. Well… At least you could go for the partial truth. “I know I’ve not been telling you everything…” You touched his face, taking your sweet time with his sharp cheekbones and five o’clock shadow. You did like him like that — even if he disagreed —, it made him less alike your husband and the more differences you could find between them, the better for your own sanity. “But that’s because I worry for your health, if I told you everything… What I mean is, I am responsible for your health and I would not jeopardize it for the sake of some old memories.”

He placed one of his hands over yours, keeping them in place; the other moved to your waist, pulling you against him. He surely was a man who enjoyed getting physical with you.

“That…” He was focused on your eyes as he continued; his hand was inside your shirt, caressing the small of your back. You gasped, if for the words or the contact of his warm fingers against your skin, you did not know, “or you are afraid of what I may recall.”

Eyes widened, you partially forgot how to breathe for a moment.

You opened your mouth, ready to explain yourself — even if you had no idea how to do it —, but he placed a finger on your lips, silencing you for good.

“That does not require an answer.”

He brushed your bottom lip. Your heart was beating madly against your ribcages. You had no idea how to react. Your hands left his face and moved to his shoulders. You did not dare step away, not when he still had his hand inside your shirt, keeping you close.

“Let’s make a deal, Mrs. Hux,” he started; eyes intense and unreadable. You simply hated how easily he could read you and how difficult it was for you to do the same with him. “You tell me the truth for the next few questions and I promise to trust you in the future.”

You bit your bottom lip.

That was an interesting deal, but trust was not really something concrete. He could say he trusted you while mistrusting you.

And he was far better at pretending than you.

“And I promise to only touch you when you ask for it.”

As if you ever would.

You bit your bottom lip.

That was a certainly better — and fitting — proposition. He stepped away from you, as if to show you he would hold to his words.

“That’s no idle promise,” he continued and took a seat at the dining table. You joined him, unsure of yourself. That was a dangerous game, this one you were playing, but it was like that from the start. “I am perfectly aware you fear physical intimacy with me.”

You kept your mouth shut.

What else could you say?

He looked at you as if expecting an answer, but you merely bit your bottom lip.

“That was not a question, my Lord. You said I only had to answer your questions.”

He narrowed his eyes at you, but you could see that he was if not proud of your quick rebuttal; he was at least amused at your courage.

“Very well.” He poured some Tihaar for him in a glass and looked at you. You nodded.

Both of you drank it at the same time.

Kriffs! How you wanted some Jawa Juice right now!

“You never told anyone Aquilla Syndulla died.” He had his eyes completely focused on you as he continued, “why?”     

You shook your head.

Only a few people knew it. And certainly no one you worked with. After your husband disappeared, you left your home and everything you knew. You came back to a place you had lived before with Aquilla, in the beginning of your marriage; before he became a living legend across the galaxy.

You stopped using his name and everyone called you a healer now. It was mostly improbable someone of the Resistance — or someone who tried to use their name to gain some advantage over hopeful and poor people — would find you and call you by your husband’s name in this remote area.

To think they would know you were housing a member of the First Order was not only surprising, but actually shocking.

“No one even knows who I am,” you finally found your voice. Still looking down, you stared at your feet as if your toes were the most interesting things in the galaxy. “Only a few people… but mind their own businesses.”

There was silence for a moment, as if he contemplated your words and thought about a reply. He was a man who always knew what he said, you noticed, and this time was no different.

However, when he did speak, it was a surprise. You lifted your head and furrowed your brows at his statement.

“No one knows you are my wife.”

“Does it matter?” Before you could control yourself, the words just spilled your mouth. You brought your hands over your lips and thought how screwed you were.

Kriffs!

Now you had said it, you had to give him a decent explanation. 

“You are not with the First Order anymore, but—" You stopped yourself. You had to play this right, or he would never believe you. “They never—

“Let any of their assets go that easily.”  

You sighed in relief. He was finally starting to see reason.

“Your reasoning has some merit.” He looked away, hands interlaced over the table; you knew he was in deep thinking. “I do wonder, however, why I would leave the First Order.”

He rose from his chair and approached the windows. A shiver ran down your spine at the thought of someone coming for the man who died earlier. However, he was far too relaxed for that. At least, as relaxed as possible for him. He had his hands behind his back, his shoulders squared.

“They’ve tried to kill you?” You spoke as if that was obvious. You even approached him, but when he looked at you over his shoulder, you stopped right where you were. “I thought we were past that…” You mused quietly.

He looked at you over his shoulders, his eyes narrowed.

“I am aware of that. However, there always have been threats against my life.”

You looked down. If that was to work out, you had to crush this romantic notion he had about the First Order.

“This time they almost succeeded. And they would have, if I didn’t reach you in time.”

Your answer felt like a slap to his face; the way he looked at you said that much.

“You may not remember it, but they betra—

“I know it.”

You could swear behind his cold intonation there was some hurt. Subconsciously, you walked to him, reached for his hand, but he walked away before you could touch him.

Great!

Just great!

The silence was so thick there was a huge bantha in the room.

“Listen…” you started, not really sure where this might lead you. This time you were the one to lean against the threshold, arms folded on your chest; you were almost hugging yourself. “I… I… We are not with the Resistance. I mean… We are not with the First Order either and I am not sure we can trust any of them. The rebels would not have you and clearly the First Order descart—

“Enough.”

His voice and the way he turned on his heels to face you made it clear that speaking of the First Order was off topic. His next question, however, was what had you furrowing your brows and doubting his sanity.

“And why are we not with the Resistance?”

“I…I…” You reached for his forehead, sure he was feverish or something like that. He was not making any sense. He intercepted your hand, holding it between his. “I told you, they would not have you. They would possibly kill you or hand you back to the First Order.”

“Not General Organa.”

You bit your bottom lip.

He was right.

At least, partially right.

General Organa would never kill him. She did not use the same means as the First Order or the Empire in the old days.

She was different.

She was better.

But she did not rule alone. It was no Empire with a single Empress ruling above all. You were not sure she would go against the entire Alliance because of a single man. A single life. An enemy none the less.  

She didn’t in the past.

Not for your husband.

Not for you.

“There is no sovereignty in the Resistance. She will listen to her Council and do their bidding.” These words brought back some memories you did not want to recall. You looked down and remained with your eyes glued to the floor.

There was a moment of silence. You thought hours had gone by before you finally looked up and found him staring back at you with curiosity in his eyes.

“You resent the Resistance,” he stated, his eyebrow arched lightly. As if knowing you would not answer him, unless he made you a direct question, he added, “why?”

This time, you mimicked him and took your moment to reply. When you did, it was neither what the two of you had in mind.

“Why are you so interested in them?”

You surprised yourself with your boldness. Just like the day in which you demanded him to kiss you, you did not know where this bold attitude came from. You unfolded your arms and sighed.

“You just never cogitated the option of joining the Resistance…” You cast a glance at him. From his arched eyebrows, you already knew what to say next, “You still don’t. I see…”

Realization sunk on you…

…leaving you disappointed. No matter how much he felt betrayed and abandoned by the First Order, he still did not think of the Resistance as a viable option.

That was… frustrating.

And delayed your plans a bit.

Part of you wanted to take him to General Organa and see how she would act this time, face to face with a past enemy that could help destroy her biggest enemy and an entire organization… Part of you feared her reaction, feared she would let the past repeat itself in a gruesome fashion.

“You did not answer my question.”

His tone was low, and very close to you. You looked up and found him inches away. He was practically invading your personal space.

You would have sighed if his breath was not mixed with yours.

There was no need for him to say anything else. You knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Yes… I feel conflicted about them.”

You took a step towards him and this time he did not prevent you by walking away. He did say he would not touch you if you replied to his questions with the truth. And you did. All of them were answered with the absolute truth so far. He seemed surprised when you sought him out and this time invaded his personal space by yourself. You just stood there, in front of him, not quite touching him, but not far from his grasp either.

That was not a topic you felt comfortable talking about, but you realized that doing it would do you no harm either.

“We needed them in the past…” You took a deep breath. “Aquilla needed their help and they didn’t come…” You looked down, at your feet; you really expected him to not force you to face him. You could not take it right now. He did not. “And when there was word General Organa sent someone to help Emissary Syndulla it was too late.”

He kept silent.

And you never welcomed his silent nature more than in that moment. You did not know if you could take any word from him. There was no need for a comfort gesture — and why would he comfort you after all? If you were now with him, it was solely because Aquilla had… vanished in thin air.

“He never asked for help,” you trailed off. “I did… I did ask for their help, for him. He always thought he could handle everything himself.” You snorted. Eyes still cast on the floor, you watched how closer your feet were placed together. “Turns out he couldn’t.”

There was no answer or any commentary from him. Not that you expected it either. But his silence somehow bothered you this time. His lack of response — and from everyone who knew this story — made you believe they felt sorry for you. They pitied you. The young healer who lost everyone she held dear, including her husband.

“You still love him.”

His whispered words came out of the blue. And even if that was not a question, this time you found yourself answering.

“I do.”

The silence that followed made you look up — look at him. Instead of anger, disappointment or any hard feeling, you found understanding in his eyes. As if suddenly, everything made sense to him.

“I see…”

Realizing that maybe — just maybe — your confession had screwed everything, you reached for him, but he retreated, putting some space between you. You covered your face with both hands, feeling very tired.

Tired of lying.

Tired of pretending.

Tired of trying to guess what he was thinking, feeling or planning.

It was all so exhausting.

“He was my friend… My best friend.” You walked to the bedroom, completely forgetting about dinner. He followed you closely. “How could I not love him?”

You could say that you loved him as well, that you cared for him, but tonight was about telling him the truth and you simply could not say you loved your late husband in one minute and in the next say you loved him.

The fact he did not force you to say anything or asked for any more explanations made you sigh in relief. It spoke volumes about him. In fact, it spoke more about him than yourself.

You knew very little about the almighty General Amirtage Hux, but what you did, made it plainly clear he would never be someone to beg for anything — and certainly not for your love. You admired that about him. Most men — Aquilla included — would question you about your feelings for him, but the General kept his composure.

Making the bed, you looked at him over your shoulder.   

“I am sorry… I am tired. I…” You gestured towards the bed, “I think I will just sleep now.”

He nodded.

Still no answer.

That made you slightly worried, but you were so tired right now — emotionally tired —, drained even, that you shook your head and climbed under the blankets. He stood by the door of the bedroom and turned off the lights as soon as you adjusted the pillow under your head.

You would have said goodnight, but you decided to mimic him and keep your words to yourself. He was probably already gone. You closed your eyes and hummed to yourself — it was either that or end up crying again and even if you were sure he was not in the room anymore, you did not want to risk getting caught moping pathetically once more.

Once — twice, thrice and many other times — was enough.   

He did spoke, however. And what left the General’s mouth would probably hunt you for the rest of your life.

“Thank you…” he whispered, and your eyes shot open, in alarm. He was still in the room. “Thank you for your honesty today. Good night, (Y/N).”

A/N - And that’s all for today! Next chapter will be posted on May 10.

[yhormtheservant-blog]

Where Sleeping Prince’s Slumber

=====

Felt inspired to write this up before and after @ask-chubbydorf posted a very recent pic based off an ask I sent him, regarding his OC Vladimir, the tubby marshmallow prince being a very deep sleeper after a hefty meal. So! Like in the mentioned pic, my OC Yhorm just happens to find the prince in a deep sleep and...decides that now may be the best chance to get a feel of the famous prince’s smooth belly. X3

Hope those following me enjoy this little story!

=====

It had been a long day. Much longer than usual from what the young man could surmise. Yhorm had been busy in the kitchen throughout a minor banquet being held for a foreign noble family visiting the Hylian royal family. He had been prepping and cooking meals, in large quantities, checking over finished meals made by other chefs just to make sure that they were presentable and ready to be carted out to the dining hall. He even had a few arguments with the cooks when they unknowingly made a mistake, such as adding a wrong ingredient or not cooking something for the right amount of time. Despite his young appearance, Yhorm had a lot of experience under his belt of not only making food delicious and long-lasting in one’s memory, but also in presenting it properly. Also, he was a force to be reckoned with when it came to cooking.

“You were only supposed to cook the chicken until it’s been perfectly browned! You went and overcooked it to the point the skin is too crunchy!” He berated one chef who had left a roasted chicken too long in the oven.

“What in the Hylia’s name did you put in this sauce?” He questioned another when he discovered that a tartar sauce for a salmon platter looked rather...questionable. Yhorm was sure that tartar sauce was not supposed to look so green and smell odd.

“What’re you doing?!” He shouted at yet another cook, having seen in the corner of his eye the moment said chef had dropped a piece of boiled and buttered carrot from a steamed vegetable platter. And then proceeded to quickly pick it up and put it back on the platter like it was never dropped. That earned Yhorm’s ire as he proceeded to verbally punish the chef for trying to send out tainted food, grabbing the platter and tossing it aside into the dishes sink, “Never! In your lifetime, try and put back dropped food WITH the others! Otherwise you’ll just spoil the rest! Make a new one! If you drop a vegetable, leave it!”

While the kitchen staff didn’t have a top chef to overlook things, Yhorm was appointed the position about a month in after getting into the job as chef, having shown his understanding and prowess with food. He did grow up in a family who all seemed to be born with the expansive knowledge of cooking. It was a good addition to his job. Yhorm got to help the other chefs if they needed him, and he got to cook for the royal family! As well as a certain Gerudo king during some rare but special moments. But today left him mentally and physically drained.

“Ugh, by Hylia, I’m glad that’s over with,” The young man groaned while stretching his arms out to his sides, “Feels like it’ll be a sleep-in day tomorrow. Get to bed, get in my pajamas and just sleep forever.” He sighed, imagining the softness of his bed as he trudged down the hallway to his room. This specific hallway passed through a couple of the spacious bedrooms for Hylian royalty. While most of the rooms were empty, there was one that Yhorm walked by that was occupied. And a sudden snore came from within it, making the chef stop in his tracks. Who was that? He wasn’t expecting anyone to even have a room here. He passed through here numerous times as a shortcut to get to his own room, and never had he heard or seen anyone. Curiousity getting the best of him, Yhorm carefully stepped towards the room closest to him where the sound came from. Another sudden snore sounded, followed by a sleepy and somewhat blissful groan. And a deep muffled rumble that surprised the young man even more. Finally he peaked inside...and he froze.

It was Vladimir. Prince Vladimir, who was in the room. Asleep. A very deep sleep, from what he could see. Yhorm couldn’t stop a blush from forming on his cheeks when he noticed that Vladimir was only in his pajama bottoms, leaving his upper body completely exposed and...that huge, stuffed, bloated and grumbling globe of a belly free for all to see.

‘Oh sweet Hylia,’ Yhorm gasped mentally, ‘What the heck did I walk into here? I should go before he wakes up and thinks I’m peeping at him! B-But....I’ve always been...curious about how his belly feels.’

It was a huge risk. Huge. Yhorm knew he could be another of many others to face the wrath of the marshmallow prince. The nickname itself had been given to the Hylian prince by many others, both in the palace by Chubbydorf, and outside the castle walls by the townspeople. Of course, the nickname was in good fun, though Vladimir often had hated it along with his immense girth. But Yhorm found it very fitting, considering Vlad’s pale complexion and with just how soft and round he looked. But did he live up to his name? Swallowing, Yhorm slowly stepped further into the room, freezing whenever Vlad grunted and muttered something in sleepy gibberish, before going back to snoring. All the while there was also the occasional rumble and deep gurgle within his big white belly. The chef could only wonder just how much the prince had eaten during the banquet to look so full and....well, very well-rounded. In fact, he looked like he was a few inches bigger than the last time he had eaten such a big meal! Now right next to the prince’s bed, Yhorm quietly leaned over to check if Vladimir was still asleep. The prince was indeed still in a deep slumber, his cheeks a very light rose color, possibly due to his engorged belly.

If Yhorm had to take another guess, it had to be a food coma. But just to test, he held up his fingers, and prepared himself for whatever reaction might come.

*SNAP*

Yhorm prepared himself to run. Waiting for the moment Vladimir would sit up in his bed, look for the source of the noise and shoo out the young chef for intruding in his room. But...nothing came. The only response he got was yet another soft snore.

‘Well, that proves it. He’s out cold.’ Yhorm thought to himself, sighing in relief. With that out of the way, he turned and looked back at the ball of dough in front of him. His blush deepening, he worked up the courage to bring his hand up and lowered it closer toward’s smooth-looking skin. Finally, he pressed his hand to it and gave a testing rub. And his eyes widened at the whole new feeling, ‘Holy moly. He...He really is smooth! Like...super smooth! And soft!’ With that, Yhorm continued to slowly rub Vladimir’s belly, admiring it and enjoying the ultra soft and smooth surface of it as it slowly rose and fell with the prince’s sleeping breaths. It also gave off several gurgles and growls, still working quite hard on digesting the huge amounts of Yhorm’s and the other chefs cooking from the banquet. Most of the gurgles seemed to happen more from every single time Vladimir breathed in, his stomach churning and gurgling softly due to being packed tight.

And Yhorm noticed that the prince would give a little moan of what might’ve been slight discomfort. Maybe the young man could provide a bit of minor relief with more belly rubs. He could only smile as he brought his other hand up so he could rub with both hands, very gently pressing and kneading the smooth ball of dough, shifting everything around and freeing whatever trapped gas there might’ve been. Apparently, that had been the problem as Vladimir gave a soft belch every couple of minutes from the treatment. Plus, Yhorm was finally getting a proper and up close feel of the famed Marshmallow Prince’s belly.

Although...he couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t right, in a way. Prince Vladimir was asleep, in a very deep sleep, and had no idea what was going on. And Yhorm knew that he was also trespassing in a royal’s bedroom. But? He liked it. Granted, Chubbydorf had a just as big and round belly on him, Yhorm wasn’t denying that. And very few times he’d get to see the full view of it, finding that trail of orange hair leading from Chubby’s bellybutton and further down added to the handsomeness of his majesty. But now that he was here with Vladimir? He thought his smooth belly had to be the best. After finishing up his rubs, the chef brought his arm over the front of Vlad’s belly and gave it a soft but warm hug. Getting one last glorious feel of it’s softness with a smile. Oh, he was even better to hug too!

With that, Yhorm silently crept back out of the prince’s room, politely closing the door to give him some privacy while he slept. He stood there, staring at the door for a few seconds....before letting out a giddy chuckle as he continued on his way to his bedroom.

‘So soft! So smooth!’ Yhorm gleefully cheered in his head, ‘Truly the perfect belly!’

Meanwhile, Chubbydorf was just settling in for the night in his chambers, before he got an odd chill down his back. For some reason...he suddenly felt like as if he was number two on someone’s ‘favorite’ list.

=====

And there we go! Another lovely little story written down! Hope you all enjoyed the read! Also, this got me chuckling, I imagine Yhorm getting somewhat of a Gordon Ramsay-ish attitude when it comes to cooking. He only wants the best for the royal family! XD

OC’s and AU belong to @ask-chubbydorf

Yhorm belongs to me.

[headsarolling-blog]

in response to this post

Last Saturday at 8:08 PM

kilnkin arent you wearing a stetson like right now? its been pretty practical so far lol

headsarolling yeah but goths have hats too pants and adequate ridin boots can be more of a challenge, dependin on the look ur goin for

kilnkin this is such a science

kilnkin what if youre doing goth activities? whatever the fuck those are

headsarolling while its true that the aesthetic impact of bog wadin is minimised when one doesnt have skirts to swirl in the water around them one must also consider: if the cowboy cannot ride a horse, is one really a cowboy?

kilnkin if they can lean against a fence? whistle? i think so!

kilnkin im here with you on bog wading though thank god. no one here understands me i swear but is there anything better?? thats rhetorical dont answer that there isnt

headsarolling all the looks with none of the heart? it just aint right

kilnkin have you found anything resembling wetland since you fucked off bc im already sick of all this sand shit ): right!!!

headsarolling no. i found a lot of rock though if thats more ur style and skulls

headsarolling so definitely more my style

kilnkin rocks are ok i guess i can chew them though thats always a hoot what about bugs mosquitos suck moire got a butterfly but i havent seen any :/

headsarolling damn mud man. i can swallow small ones but chewin them is pretty hard core

kilnkin what am i if not hardcore like literally and shit

headsarolling lmao i havent seen a lot of bugs cause of the storm?

headsarolling ill keep an eye out though mosquitos can fuck right off tho u got that right

kilnkin ugh that makes sense i mean they dont bite me or whatever but i cant bite them either its like the cruelest impasse

headsarolling this is a remote island tho right? shouldnt there be like giant crickets hoppin around?

kilnkin im gonna take your word for that one on account of never having visited a remote island before

headsarolling its hard to tell with the excellent wifi and timespace fuckery but im fairly certain

kilnkin the wifi is good isnt it?? like better than druantia i didnt even really notice that rofl how twenty first century of me

headsarolling yeah there was a bit, on the east coast where the wifi dropped and i had to use data but otherwise its been pretty solid

headsarolling we the millenials are killin remote island survival with our apple phones and avacados

kilnkin what the fuck kind of data plan are you on

headsarolling i havent paid a single dollar for credit in my entire life i have no idea

kilnkin nice?? ive gotta try and get that for ma im killing island survival via isolation and lots of napping fyi much more anchorite than millenial

headsarolling i think the plan came with this phone and i cant even remember who i stole it from so unfortunately i cant give much advice damn nice tactic tho? ive got the isolation thing down but i think my nappin needs some work maybe bein in less rocky areas would help...

kilnkin yeah im with everyone in the caves now too but i can at least ball my dress up for a pillow. the stetson is probably less than ideal ): are you coming back anytime soon? or pressing on further. finding some softer pastures

headsarolling i would never consider disfigurin my hat for the sake of comfort! i havent decided yet. right now im rather enjoyin the company of these skulls

kilnkin so ominous. so goth!!

headsarolling well ive no horses or bogs so ive gotta get my aesthetics from somewhere

kilnkin dont even talk to me if you havent put the hat on a skull yet

headsarolling ive also performed a rivitin recital of certain lines of hamlet it feels weird sayin it to someone elses head

kilnkin lolol

kilnkin i expect a reprisal when we start another variety hour!!

headsarolling oh for sure id hate to disappoint my expectant fans

kilnkin and id hate to sit through any more of walkers showboating without a reasonably entertaining chaser (:

headsarolling ill be sure to stagger my release a bit more next time ensure ive a got a decent followup

kilnkin yeah youve really gotta consider how the consumer consumes if you wanna be successful in this climate either that or flood the market you know x)

headsarolling always an option but i fear that may result in backlash from the bottle blonde bombshell

kilnkin um? even better??

kilnkin i never got to get her back for not letting me get her back before getting stuck here anyway

headsarolling what did u need to get her back for?

kilnkin um there was definitely something

headsarolling lmao thats the best of geeting back *gettin

kilnkin the purest form of revenge is when you 1) forget whats is for 2) take yourself down in the process otherwise are you even trying?

headsarolling when i die itll be for a cause ive forgotten usin a knife meant for someone else

headsarolling or some weird poetic shit like that

kilnkin id buy a tshirt with that on it probably or at least steal one off a clothesline

headsarolling its always been a dream of mine to have someone steal a tshirt with a quote of mine off a clothesline

kilnkin ive had that one. its one of the biggies you know flying teeth falling out academic nudity

headsarolling i havent had the flyin dream yet i hear its craic tho

kilnkin no idea what that means but sure

headsarolling a craci? *craic its a good time

kilnkin oh i thought it wouldve been a negative if that sounds like a craig you should come cliffdive tomorrow basically the same thing

headsarolling not a fan of the flyin dream? wait u guys were cliffdivin? how did polly not have a heart attack?

kilnkin its ok but when you bust out the irish its normally not so nice lolol he mightve you know. he was just a little glowing speck from up there he was probably clutching his pearls the whole time but he didnt say shit

headsarolling i hadnt notice well maybe ill come back and check it out freakin misha out is always a fun time

headsarolling a craic, if u will

kilnkin lol loving your idea of fun theres ample opportunity to freak people out here but i think fucking off by yourself is really the peak oh man you could probably make the jump without a chaperone too im already jealous and you havent done it yet ):

headsarolling no one seem bothered by my disappearance so far. a very disappointin reaction tbh

headsarolling u tellin me u got a chaperone?

kilnkin its like you hopped out your bedroom window shimmied down the drainpipe and your old lady didnt even notice!! an empty rebellion indeed yeah wolff had to come with n give me a tow back to shore sucked ass but less effort on my part the better really XD

headsarolling one of the downfalls of being hardcore i suppose?

kilnkin unfortunately yes its a tough life but someones gotta do it :| thats my stuff upper lip soldiering on emoticon (:

headsarolling we appreciate ur sacrifice

kilnkin i appreciate your appreciation

[decembercamiecherries]

First-Name Basis

HAPPY KILLUGON DAY! :D

I actually wasn’t sure if I was going to post anything for today bc I didn’t know if I had the time to write a real full-length story….. 

BUT then I remembered this post that golden-chocobo​ messaged me about like two months ago and I changed my mind XD Please enjoy~

Ao3 link

Word count: 3104

Prompt:

does the “i slept with you the other day and i didnt know we had a mutual friend and now we’re sitting across each other for brunch and it’s awkward because i ran out when you were asleep” au exist bc i need that fic

Modern au :3

Killua had never been as mortified as he was now, standing frozen and utterly paralyzed while Kurapika introduced Leorio’s friend who had suddenly joined them for lunch on this random Saturday afternoon.

There was no denying it. Killua knew Leorio’s friend, had met this stranger with caramel skin and spiky brown hair last week at Palm’s party. It was this exact same bright-eyed man who had invited Killua back to his apartment, who Killua had spent the entire night with before waking up in said stranger’s bed, horrified, and sprinting away as fast as his legs could carry him.

This same person who was now gazing at him with eyes that burned gold and had Killua’s heart doing back flips in his chest.

Killua clenched his hands into white-knuckled fists. To say that he wanted to jump out of the nearest window would have been an understatement.

“Killua,” Kurapika said, startling Killua out of his mind-numbing shock. “Are you listening?”

Killua swallowed thickly. “Yeah, ‘course I was,” he said and the back of his neck prickled at the feeling of intense eyes locked onto his face.

Leorio snorted. “I doubt it, kid. You were staring off into space the entire time Kurapika was talking. What, did you see a ghost or something?”

Hot anger flashed through Killua. He snarled, “Listen here, old man-”

Leorio’s friend chirped suddenly, “So, your name is Killua?”

Killua’s mouth shut with a click. He shifted his eyes onto the other male, dragging his gaze over freckled cheeks and tanned hands and that brilliant smile. It was frighteningly easy to remember how those hands had felt brushing against his arms, calloused fingers finding his in the dark and intertwining, holding on tight enough to leave imprints-

“Killua Zoldyck” he said stiffly, trying and failing to ignore the way his cheeks were on fire. “And you’re Gon, right? Gon Freecss.”

Gon’s smile bloomed into a full out grin and something in Killua’s chest tightened. He hadn’t known Gon’s name until now. The night they’d met had been a whirlwind of…activity. They’d moved past the term strangers so fast that they’d left introductions behind in the dust. Names somehow didn’t matter when Gon had him shoved up against the wall-

Anyway. It was actually kind of nice to finally have a name to the fuzzy but warm face in Killua’s memory. Not that he would ever admit that, though.

“What are you two staring at, sit down so we can eat!” Leorio said impatiently.

Killua scowled. He plopped down next to Kurapika on the rectangular table, with Gon sitting directly across from him.

“Do you think they have any specials today?” Leorio mused aloud as Kurapika and Killua shifted in their seats. “If Machi’s on duty there’s usually some quality omelets or fish platter or something-”

Killua pointedly ignored the rest of Leorio’s question, staring down at his empty plate but barely seeing it.

He couldn’t ignore the way Gon’s pressing stare was digging into his face. Killua could feel it like it was real and tangible thing, crawling over his skin and leaving it tingling. It made him self-conscious. It made him want to duck under the table for the rest of the meal.

Instead he just lifted the menu to hide his now scarlet face.

“I’m sure you can ask the waiter when they come around, Leorio,” Kurapika said, tone amused. “In the meantime, though, you should tell us how you and Gon met.”

Gon said, “Oh, well, I’m a scientist! I do research on nature and different species around the world. But one day I got hurt by accident with one of the animals I was studying. Leorio was the doctor who patched me up.”

Killua frowned. A scientist, huh? He did vaguely remember Gon talking about a fox or something last week…

Leorio huffed. “And you’ve been a pain in my butt ever since. You’ve come back to my office three times in the last month!”

Gon laughed freely, not sounding at all embarrassed, and Killua’s pulse began to race. Gon’s laughter sounded like music, bells, and chimes. He gritted his teeth. It should’ve been illegal for someone to have as nice of a laugh as that. Especially when the idiot was laughing over something so completely stupid-

“Killua, are you all right?”

Killua blinked and dropped his menu in surprise. Kurapika was looking at him with concern, worry knotting his brows.

“Yeah, your face looks kinda weird,” Leorio leaned forward, eyebrow raised. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna whine about the quality of the water again-”

“Shut up, that was one time!” Killua hissed, hot embarrassment washing over him like a tsunami. “And I only said that to piss you off!”

Leorio sputtered and Gon laughed again, setting Killua’s cheeks aflame.

He looked away quickly to hide his expression. He reached for his water, saying lamely, “I’m just thinking about what to order since I’m not sure what I’m in the mood for. That’s all.”

Gon said cheerfully, “I’m sure whatever you have will taste delicious, Killua!”

Killua choked at the implication. He spat out his drink and water spewed all over the table.

“AUGH- Killua!” Kurapika cried out and Leorio pushed himself away from the table with a howl.

Killua was too busy coughing up his lungs to give any kind of response. He gasped for air, stomach rolling.

Did Gon seriously just say that?! Was it on purpose, Killua thought wildly as the unwanted memory and taste of Gon’s soft lips pressed against his rushed to the front of his mind, or-?

Gon grinned at him from across the table, eyes shining mischievously, and Killua knew the answer instantly.

“You bastard,” he rasped and Gon’s smile only grew.

“Heh, sorry! I couldn’t help it.”

“Then toughen up and keep your smug comments to yourself, you little gremlin-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, you two!” Leorio said loudly and Kurapika yanked sharply on Killua’s arm in warning. “I wanted a calm lunch with my closest friends, not a brawl, okay?! This is a nice place, I don’t wanna get kicked out of another restaurant-”

Kurapika spoke over Leorio’s heated speech, “Do you two know each other, somehow?”

Killua’s blood turned to ice.

“No,” he said just as Gon chirped, “Yep!”

There was a tense pause. Leorio and Kurapika glanced between the pair with confusion while Killua glared daggers at Gon. Gon, on the other hand, just pouted.

“Killua, its mean to pretend you don’t know me,” he whined. “We had a lot of fun with each other the last time we hung out!”

Fun with-?!

Heat rushed to his cheeks as Killua made a strangled sound. Holy shit. If Gon kept this up, Killua was going to stab him with the restaurant knives before lunch was even served.

Hands curling into claws, Killua began to hiss, “If you say one more word, I swear to god I’ll-”

“Hi, may I take your order!”

Killua jolted at the sudden appearance of the waitress. He turned away with a scowl as everyone haltingly ordered their drinks. When the waitress left again, palpable awkwardness hung in the air.

Kurapika coughed. “So. You two have met before?”

Killua pressed his lips into a thin line. As if he was going to give Gon the satisfaction of answering!

“Mhm!” Gon cupped his chin in one hand and leaned forward on the table. Killua watched him warily even as Gon beamed at him. Gon continued, “Me and Killua met at a party last week and we hit off right away.”

“What?! You were invited to a party without me?!” Leorio exploded. “Who’s party-”

“Palm Siberia,” Killua said shortly. “Y’know, Ikalgo’s cousin? Girl with long wavy hair and blue eyes that you keep claiming is super-hot?”

Leorio flushed. “Why don’t you shut it, brat?”

Killua smirked. “Don’t ask, next time.”

“How do you know Palm, Gon?” Kurapika quickly interrupted before Leorio could get another word in.

“Hm? Oh, we used to date!”

Killua’s heart plunged to the floor. He suddenly felt winded, like the ground had been swept out beneath him. Date? But, then why had Gon-

“- we broke up a long time ago, though,” Gon finished and the air returned to Killua’s lungs.

It was stupid and dumb. Killua was stupid and dumb, to get this worked up over hearing about an ex-girlfriend of a guy he’d had a one night stand with. Killua cursed himself silently. Sometimes he really hated himself.

In the background Killua heard Kurapika ask, “And you and Palm are still friends even after that?”

“Yep! And I’m really glad we are, ‘cause otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to known Killua so well!”

Killua’s muscles locked in place. His blood boiled as he slowly looked up at Gon. 

“What,” he growled lowly. “-did I say about suggestive comments?!”

Gon innocently titled his head to the side. “Hmmmmm? I don’t really know what you mean.”

“You-!”

“But I really am happy I got to see you again, Killua,” Gon interrupted him. “You know? ‘Cause I was upset the last week when I realized I didn’t get your phone number, or even your name. I might have never talked to you again if Leorio hadn’t invited me to lunch today, and that would’ve made me really, really sad.”

Killua’s angry words died in his throat. Left speechless, he stared at Gon and Gon stared back. Killua’s insides squirmed under the intensity of that gaze and the restaurant around them disappeared as the silence stretched on.

Now that he was really paying attention, Killua couldn’t help but notice how ethereal Gon looked, even though he was simply sitting there. Sunlight streaming in from the restaurant’s windows hit Gon’s skin at just the right angle and set it aglow.

Killua’s heart pounded loud and heavy against his ribs. Gon was beautiful, and the sight of him took Killua’s breath away.

The waitress materialized next to their table. “Okayyyy, here are your drinks-”

Killua jumped so badly he fell out of his chair.

“Killua!” Kurapika said, alarmed, as Killua scrambled back to his feet. “Are you-?”

“Fine!” Killua said shrilly. His whole body tingled and he could still feel Gon staring at him, always staring at him and it was driving him insane-

“I g-gotta,” Killua stammered as his friends gaped at him. “- gotta go to the, the bathroom. Um.”

He turned on his heel and bolted. His heartbeat echoed in his ears with each step and his vision blurred as he sped past customer-filled tables.

Gon had been upset that Killua had left without saying anything. Gon had been sad that he might’ve never known Killua’s name. Gon was happy to Killua again.

And Killua couldn’t deny that deep, deep down, past the horror and the shock- he’d been happy, no, thrilled to see Gon again, too. That one night with Gon had been the best time he’d had in a while, and not just because of the ‘after party activities’.

Talking with Gon had been amazing; Gon made him laugh so hard his sides ached and his cheeks hurt for hours afterwards from how much he had smiled. There had been a click between them. A kind of chemistry that made Killua want to fly back into Gon’s arms even as he ran away.

Killua bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from screaming. What the hell had he gotten himself into?!

Gon headed for the restroom exactly fifteen minutes after Killua left.

He found the hallway where the bathrooms were located easily. He was about knock on the men’s room when he heard a loud laugh from inside.

Gon’s heart leaped. That was Killua’s laughter, he would recognize it anywhere. Even in the dark.

He leaned in closer to the door, curious despite himself. Killua always made him curious. Gon wanted to know lots of things about Killua, like his favorite color and what movies he hated and what kinds of music he listened to…Gon wanted to know it all; it was a desire burning in the pit of his stomach.

Gon shook the thought away. He could learn all that stuff later. Right now, he had to focus.

“-know, it’s crazy, right?” Killua was saying. Gon frowned at his tone- it verged on hysterical. “I mean, my first one night stand and the guy shows up at lunch the next week.”

Gon’s mouth went dry. Killua was talking about him, about Gon.

He heard Killua sigh heavily. “Yes, it’s the same guy. No, Alluka, it’s definitely him. I wouldn’t mess this up.”

He paused and Gon had barely a second to wonder who Alluka was before Killua was saying shrilly, “Shu-shut up! Y’know I didn’t call just for you to tease me the whole ti- what? Oh, god, no. Please, don’t start.”

Gon pressed his lips together to stop himself from giggling at Killua’s drawn-out groan. “Nooooo, c’mon, don’t say that. I’m not gonna- are you seriously suggesting I go out there and tell him how I feel to his face?! Are you insane?!”

Gon’s heartbeat began to race. What did exactly Killua want to tell him? Was it the same thing that Gon had been dying to tell Killua since he entered the restaurant with Kurapika?

Gon remembered so clearly how Killua had looked right before they’d fallen asleep in Gon’s bed last week- tousled silver hair, smooth stretches alabaster skin and beautiful scarlet-stained cheeks. The gentle smile Killua had given him then had filled Gon with an elation left him speechless.

Gon had closed his eyes that night with his hand in Killua’s, knowing somehow that he never wanted to lose sight of Killua for as long as he lived.

And waking up the next morning without Killua there….that had been the worst morning of his life.

But Killua was here, now. And that was the only thing that mattered.

There was a thumping noise on the opposite side of the bathroom door, starling Gon.

“Why do you always have to be right?” Killua moaned and Gon’s lips twitched. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re smart, smarter than a moron like me, I know.” He snorted. “Mhm. Sure. Whatever you say.”

“Okay, fine. I will. I said I will. What, you don’t trust me? I will. Okay? Okay, talk to you later. Bye.”

Gon’s pulse skyrocketed and he scrambled away from the bathroom. A second later, Killua opened the door, running a hand through his starlight hair with a long breath.

He stopped short when he saw Gon.

For a few seconds, they just looked at each other.

Gon blurted out, “You were taking a long time, so I! I got worried.”

Killua blinked. His normally pale face slowly darkened and Gon couldn’t help the warmth that spread through him. The flustered look was nice on Killua. Gon would know.

“You.” Killua wrinkled his nose. “You were saying all that stuff at the table on purpose, weren’t you?”

Gon scratched his cheek. “Eh, well.”

Killua narrowed his eyes. “Well?! All that, and the only thing you can think to say is well?! What do you think I am, an idiot?!”

Gon laughed at Killua’s enraged expression- Killua was cute even when he was angry! It was really incredible!

“Gon,” Killua growled. “You better have a good explanation, or else I’ll-”

“Sorry, I’m sorry!” Gon said breathlessly and grabbed Killua’s hands on impulse.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated as Killua’s whole body stiffened. “I’m not trying to make fun of you, I swear.”

Killua visibly swallowed. “Then. What do you want? You kept saying all that stuff and I didn’t know what you were trying to…”

Gon couldn’t stop the affectionate smile that spread across his face. He squeezed Killua’s hands, saying, “I was trying to tell you that I really like you, Killua! I liked you last week when we first met, I really liked falling asleep besides you, and I like you even more now that I know your name!”

“So,” he said, trying his hardest not to laugh at how large Killua’s blue eyes had grown. “-so, Killua. Wanna get lunch sometime soon? With just the two of us, this time?”

Killua opened his mouth, then shut it. Gon waited patiently, letting their hands swing back and forth between them. He would wait until Killua was ready to express himself the way he wanted. They had time, now.

Finally, Killua took a deep breath. He confessed quietly, “I’d like that.”

Gon’s heart soared. “Really?”

Killua nodded, face turning even redder, and his hands were warm in Gon’s.

“Then how about we go out now?” Gon asked excitedly.

“N-Now? But what about Kurapika and Leorio-?”

“I don’t think they’ll mind. We kind of ditched them already. And you did spit water all over them, so-”

“Shut up!” Killua snapped, but to Gon’s delight, didn’t pull away. “That was totally your fault! If you hadn’t said that stuff to embarrass me, that would’ve never happened!”

“You didn’t have to take what I said so literally, though.”

“Why, you-!”

Gon jumped forward and pressed his lips to Killua’s in a brief kiss, effectively cutting off the rest of Killua’s angry retort.

“Relax, Killua,” he breathed as Killua gaped wordlessly at him. “I was kidding. Can we go, now? I wanna take you someplace nice for our first date.”

A strange mix of emotions flashed through Killua’s eyes- irritation warred with desire, all mixed together with a soft fondness that made Gon’s chest swell.

Killua sighed. “Yeah, okay. Let’s get out of here.”

Warmth spread through Gon’s body. His cheeks ached from how wide he smiled but he couldn’t care less.

“Yeah. Hey, Killua.”

Killua tilted his head to the side. “What?”

“I’m glad we’re finally on a first-name basis.”

Killua’s sputtering laughter filled Gon to the brim with weightless joy.

“Me too, Gon. Me too.”