#time >> 2128

[killerlookz]

heyyy💋 so could i request a fic where reader is an eurovision contestant and basically her & joost are attached to the hip. they are seen being all cuddly with each other, flirting, sitting as close to each other as possible, the cameras catching your non so secret glances.. generally acting like a couple. but when the press asks you about this whole situation, you both deny that you have something going on between you two, but deep down you know that those gestures are not so “innocent” at all🤭🤭

a/n: ooooh i love a cheeky little secret romance!! thank you for the request anon <3

Just Friends | Joost Klein

content: gn! reader, very brief allusion to sex, joost and reader are so down bad for each other its a little pathetic, mostly fluff, some angst if you look at it under a microscope. this fic contains rpf and has been tagged as such, do not continue if that makes you uncomfortable, and please block the rpf tag

word count: 2128

You sit on the edge of your hotel bed, you smile, your cheeks grow hot, letting out a small breath from your nose, replacing a genuine laugh.

Your phone sits in your lap, opened to a message

Joost Klein: When were you planning to tell me that I'm your secret lover 😓

What followed was a screenshot from some European tabloid sight, headed by: Eurovision Contestants Spotted Getting Cozy: Secret Lovers Revealed?!

Below were two grainy photos of you and Joost, taken just moments apart from each other. Taken from behind, they showed the two of you walking side by side, just outside the hotel you were staying in. It would have looked more like a friendly exchange if your hands hadn't been locked together.

You knew you'd have to explain everything eventually, that was the third headline this week that had come out about you and Joost. Another showed the two of you sharing a hug that looked a little too close for it to be friendly, in another you had a hand planted on his chest, and your head tilted back mid-laugh.

It all seemed a little ridiculous. You knew Eurovision was one of the largest events in all of Europe- but still, you couldn't have imagined how interested people would be in your personal life off the stage.

It was nothing too scandalous anyway, you and Joost had known each other prior to Eurovision. And sure, you were more casual friends, despite being from different countries, the two of you had run in similar circles with music and all. You had spent the last few years admiring each other's music, usually from afar, the times the two of you had genuinely hung out before all this were few and far between. Your conversations were usually reserved for more chaotic moments, either backstage at the end of a show or in the crowd for a musician friend the two of you had in common.

You couldn't exactly explain away all of the touchy-touchy stuff, but you never expected that you would have to, it had just always been like that, ever since you first met. Truthfully, the two of you were closer than the tabloid photos led on. But they didn't have to know that.

Hasty fingers tap at your phone screen

apparently it's so secret that i didn't know it either!

You send your response to Joost before closing your phone and tossing it somewhere on the bed. You lay back, landing on the firm mattress with a small bounce.

Your eyelids are lowered, trying your best to keep focus on the woman in front of you through heavy lids- though it seems impossible with the crisp white LEDs shining in your face.

"So, have you made any connections with any other contestants since you've been here in Malmö?" The woman asks, a curious eyebrow-raising as she guides the microphone in her hands in front of your face.

You know exactly what she wants to hear from you, the hunger is evident in her eyes, she licks her lips in desperation for a scoop, before her mouth pulls into a sly smile, it all feels so predatory. You swallow thickly, shifting a quick gaze toward the cameraman before flicking your eyes back to the reporter, who has an equally as hungry look on his face, and you realize, you are their prey.

"Yeah, absolutely," You nod, your face lights up, "I've honestly really connected with Bambi Thug, they're really bringing such a new and innovative sound to Eurovision, I really admire them for that, and don't let the makeup and costumes fool you they are an absolute sweetheart!" It wasn't a lie, Joost was not the only person you had talked to since the competition started. You did make friends while you'd been here.

The journalist loses her grin, her face now twisted with dissatisfaction.

"Anyone else?" She asks, nearly cutting you off, her microphone still stuck in your face.

"Marina has been an absolute joy too," Your smile lingers on your lips, "And Nemo- they're great too!"

"Well," The journalist starts, facing the microphone back to her, "I think we've all been hearing the rumors about some sparks flying between you and the Dutch representative, Joost Klein, is there any truth to them?"

You're a little taken back by her forwardness to just outright ask the question,

"I wasn't aware of any rumors," You furrow your eyebrows, shaking your head in vehement denial, "But Joost is great too, we've known each other for a few years now, and I've been a big fan of his music, and he's a great friend." You breathe out, silently hoping the answer is satisfactory for the journalist to cease probing any further.

"No potential for anything more than a friendship?"

"Oh no," You shake your head, nearly scoffing as the words choke out of your mouth, and you hope you're as good of an actress as you are a singer, "Again, Joost is great, but he's just my friend."

"Alright," She nods her head slowly, unsatisfied. The way the journalist's eyes linger on you makes it clear she doesn't quite believe you- but it would be inappropriate of her to ask you any more questions on the matter.

"Would you like to talk about my music now?"

"I just don't know why they're acting like we had a sex tape leak- do these people not hug their friends?" You throw your hands up, frustrated. The last two days had been nothing but interviews, but it seemed none of the interviewers were as interested in your actual Eurovision performance as they were in potentially getting the first scoop on what was "going on" between you and Joost.

"I mean that would give them something to talk about," Joost chuckles, standing at the foot of your hotel bed, he's clad in nothing but a white tank top and his underwear. The tight fabric of what little he's wearing clings to his body, leaving just about nothing to the imagination. He ruffles a hand through his already messy hair. You'd wondered what the tabloids would say if they got a whiff of this, "All press is good press"

"Are you suggesting something, Mr. Klein?" You flash a look at him, your eyes piercing his. Your words come out much harsher than you had intended them to, you couldn't help it, your frustration was evident.

Joost placed a hand behind his neck, rubbing anxiously, throwing a sheepish look in your direction as to insinuate he had been suggesting something. You knew he was only joking, but the thought of actually doing such a thing made your face hot. A light pink blush burned on your face as you stared up at him.

"You're filthy," You giggle, and your hands latch on to a pillow that sits next to you, and you fling it in Joost's direction.

He takes a step back as the pillow hits him square in the stomach, a loud thump can be heard in the room as contact between his body and the stuffed object is made. He choked out a breath of surprise, and his face winced as he grabbed his stomach in feigned agony,

"How could you," He shakes his head, "I think you broke every single one of my ribs."

"Shush," You scoff, "C'mon, get over here." You pat the bed next to you, shifting yourself over to one side.

In typical Joost fashion, he practically jumps onto the bed. He adjusts himself in such a way that his shoulder is brushing up against yours. He's warm, and you want nothing more than to crawl into his arms. It was almost pitiful the way you wanted him, completely desperate. And yet, you don't dare to act- not right now.

The room falls silent as the both of you hesitate to say anything. The room is thick with a humid tension, and words left unsaid. Your reccolection of the last few days seemed non-existent yet ever-present at the same time. Everything had left you wondering the same exact questions as every journalist who had talked to you today, what was going on between you and Joost?

"I can feel the stress radiating off of you," Joost finally speaks, "Are you okay?"

You furrow your eyebrows, looking down into your lap where your fingers are not fidgeting and intertwined. Your face twitches.

"Are you really so upset about those interviews? Do you want to stop this, I can lea-"

"No," you cut him off all too quickly, "No stay. Please." Your voice had shriveled down to nothing but a pathetic whisper. As confusing as your feelings had been, the confusion seemed to be better than not having them at all. It was hard being away from home and feeling like you were bracing the weight of the world or at least of Europe against your shoulders. Joost, at least, was a source of comfort, something to come back to.

"Okay," He nods, his head moving up and down slowly.

You'd be lying if you said you hadn't felt some sort of way about Joost before all of this. His affectionate nature with you seemed to cross all of the wires in your brain. He had always been affectionate with his close friends, not afraid to spare a hug or an arm around the shoulder when he felt like it, but with you it seemed different, especially taking into account neither of you would exactly consider the other as a "best friend."

Besides, even if you were, best friends don't usually stay up all night, lying on top of each other in some state of undress, lips hungrily pressed against one another. This whole situation had left you feeling like you were a teen again, the prickling feeling in your chest of excitement and anxiety of sneaking around to see a boy you liked. It was addicting, the adrenaline that flooded each and every inch of your body, as the two of you snuck off from the afterparties where your appearances were all but mandatory. You'd be lying if you said it didn't at least help a little to take the edge off of all the stress of the competition.

An arm snakes around your shoulder, and immediately Joost is clicking his tongue disapprovingly

"So tense," He mumbles, "Lay down, will you?" His voice is quiet, nearly pleading, and much more timid than you're used to. You feel compelled to oblige, spellbound, his soft words are like hypnosis.

Joost's arm slips from where it sits around your shoulder as you sink into the pillows below. You allow your body to relax into the support of the mattress.

A hand grazes your thigh, trailing down to your knee, Joost gives you a couple gentle taps, "Put your legs up, I'll pull down the blanket for you."

You oblige, bending your knees to pull them inward, and Joost hops off the bed for a moment, grabbing the thick white comforter in his hands from its neatly made position. You shift as he pulls it from under your body, allowing the blanket to slip down to your feet.

The bed dips as Joost crawls back to his position next to you. He reaches out to the foot of the bed, pulling the comforter up to cover the two of you.

"So," You start, rolling on your side, facing away from Joost, "Did they ask you about me?"

The blanket above you shifts as Joost adjusts himself to lie down next to you. He places a gentle hand against your hip, rubbing careful circles against the fabric that separates your skin from his. His chin rests upon your shoulder, and almost instinctively you nuzzle your cheek against his.

"Mhmm," His gentle hum vibrates against your skin, sending shivers down your spine.

"What did you say?" You ask and your teeth clench, your eyes shut tight, waiting with anticipation for his response, hoping for it to line up with yours. You could only imagine the suspicion that would arise if the two of you were to have given entirely different answers to the same question.

"I told them we're friends, just friends."

Your jaw slacks at the relief, and you let out a sigh, eyes fluttering open. But something about those words coming from his mouth, just friends, as his words graze your ears your relief is coupled with a stinging feeling in your chest, a sharp reminder of the peculiar position you had found yourself in.

"And are we," You pause, "Just friends?"

Joost picks his head up from where it rests on your shoulder, ghosting the exposed flesh of your arm with a kiss.

"Not if you don't want us to be."

a/n: i added a pt. II to this, read it here!

[steddieasitgoes]

not so dirty little secret

written for @steddie-week Day 1 prompt: Mystery/Secret Relationship Rating: T | wc: 2128 | no cw Read on ao3

Steve’s lounging on the Munson’s couch, right-hand wrist deep in a bowl of popcorn, when Eddie stalks into the room. He’s got two beers in hand and is mumbling about something, words muffled by the rim of the beer bottle as he takes aggressive sips. It’s not unusual to hear but not understand what his rumblings are — Steve’s become accustomed to his quiet but loud brainstorming sessions. What is unusual, however, is the pinch of his brows and the slight downturn of his lips as he does so. Curious, Steve perks up and leans forward.  

“Penny for your thoughts?” 

Eddie gasps, scandalized. “My thoughts are worth at least a dime, Stevie!” 

Taking a more calculated, calming swig of his beer, he drapes himself on the couch beside Steve and sighs. “I think Wayne is knocking boots with someone.” 

The words leave Eddie’s mouth with a nonchalance, as if he’s giving Steve an update about the weather.  It’s something he does often with no explanation, at least not one Steve’s discovered yet, and it’s quickly becoming another quirk in a long list of ones he’s coming to love about Eddie.  

This though… this is a whole other monster. 

Steve's eyes widen and blink in confusion. His lips fall into a soft, confused pout as he tilts his head to the side — the tell-tale sign that he has no idea what Eddie is talking about. It’s a sign Eddie picks up on immediately, with — the both of them well-versed in their non-verbal body language as of now, so he clarifies. 

“You know, knocking boots? Doing the dirty? Bumping uglies? Hanky Pa—“ 

Well, over-clarifies. 

“I get it!” Steve shouts, face reddening.

It’s weird, feeling the heat spread across his cheeks and down his neck. He’s never been embarrassed by sex before. Kind of hard to be when his entire high school reputation revolved around who he was (or wasn’t) jumping into bed with. Never mind the fact that he actually only ever did it twice. He couldn’t go a week without it being brought up at least once, and each time, Steve had glided through the conversation with flying colors, hardly embarrassed. 

Back then was different, though. It was all talk at the end of the day. Mostly make-believe talk. This, though? Listening to Eddie talk about his uncle’s very real sex life? He’d be concerned if he didn’t find it mortally embarrassing. 

Clearing his throat, Steve shifts in his seat. 

“Does it matter if he is? Ya’ know, bumping boots or whatever?” 

Eddie cackles, throwing his entire body into it until the bowl of popcorn topples over onto the couch between them. So much for movie night Steve thinks as he tries to save as many of the kernels as he can before they fall into the couch cushion abyss. Not like he had been looking forward to eating or anything. 

“Does it matter if he is?” Eddie huffs, half-mocking Steve as he shakes his head. “Of course, it matters! It’s my uncle! What if we like, walked in on him or something because we don’t know what’s going on? That would scare me for life, Stevie. I’d need therapy!” 

“You’re already in therapy.” 

“Well, I’d need another therapist. One who specializes in the traumatic experience of walking in on your parental figure getting his di—“ 

“Let’s just rewind for a minute.” Steve shuts his eyes, willing his brain not to conjure up the image Eddie’s so keen on painting for him. His therapy bills are expensive enough, he doesn’t need to add another session just to talk about whatever the hell this conversation is. “If Wayne is in a relationship, which you don’t even know if he is, why would he keep it a secret?” 

“I don’t know. You’ve met him! He’s weird and secretive like that. I didn’t even  know his middle name until I was fourteen and swiped his license so I could buy cigarettes.” 

Steve remembers that story. It was one of the first of many never-ending cascades of embarrassing childhood stories Wayne shared with him that always turned Eddie scarlet. Eddie always gets upset when Wayne tells them, never failing to pout over not having someone on Steve’s side to badger for his own stories. Steve, happy to keep his past in the past, has grown used to shrugging him off and urging Wayne to tell him more.

“Not telling you his middle name is a lot different than hiding an entire person,” Steve continues to reason as he relocates the popcorn bowl to the table in front of them. “Why do you think he’s hiding someone anyway?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Eddie says, turning on the couch to better face Steve. He folds one leg under himself, the other hanging off the edge, foot planted and bouncing in an erratic rhythm Steve’s willing to bet is a new beat for a song. Eddie takes one more swig of his beer and then clears his throat as he claps his hands together. “Evidence número

 uno, he’s been smiling more lately.” 

“And I’m sure that has nothing to do with the fact that you’re back home and on the mend.” 

“Hey! Don’t interrupt me to remind me that my uncle loves me. It ruins my street cred.” 

Steve shoots his hands up in defense, shaking his head at his boyfriend's antics. 

“Evidence numéro deux—“

“You’ve been spending too much time with Robin,” Steve mumbles, taking a swig from his own beer this time. All this language-switching is giving him a headache. 

“Evidence numéro deux!” Eddie repeats, louder this time as he holds up two fingers. He’s kneeling now, knees sinking into the well-loved fabric of the couch. “He’s been using a new mug.” 

“Someone call the police! Wayne’s using a new mug.” 

If looks could kill, Eddie would be a modern day Medusa and Steve would be stoned to the couch.

“Evidence number three — and this is the most damning of evidence — Wayne has had plans every Monday night for the last two months.” He jumps to his feet now and begins pacing around the living room. 

Wait, Monday nights? But that’s — 

Oh. 

Eddie is so off base. So, so, so far off base, he might as well be lost in space. Steve bites the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. The last thing he wants to do is upset him more than he already has with his interjections. 

But this is hilarious. Downright hysterical. 

And honestly, the truth might be a harder pill for Eddie to swallow than this mystery lover he’s dreamed up. Because that is way easier to explain than the truth, that Wayne has been spending every Monday night for two months with Steve… watching football. 

“Two months, Stevie!” Eddie shouts, pulling Steve from his thoughts. “He comes home from work, changes, and then he leaves and doesn’t come back home for hours! I mean, maybe I’m being a bit generous since he is gone for hours. I can’t imagine he’d have that kind of stamina, but maybe he—” 

The front door opens, interrupting whatever cursed thought was about to spill from Eddie’s lip to reveal the older man in question. Steve’s never been so grateful to see Wayne — even if he’s the reason this entire conversation is happening right now. 

“Eds. Steve.” Wayne nods at each of them before crossing into the kitchen to fetch his own beer. He returns a moment later, collapsing into his recliner with the same dramatics as Eddie. “What are ya boys talkin’ ‘bout?” 

It’s kind of hard to be a religious man when he’s witnessed hell on Earth and had to claw his way out of it, no sign of divine intervention in sight. And yet, Steve can’t help but shut his eyes and say a silent prayer to whoever may be listening that his boyfriend keeps his mouth shut for once in his life. 

The power of prayer isn’t on Steve’s side though apparently, as he watches Eddie’s eyes get that twinkle in them right then and there, a mischievous glint that he has a love-hate relationship with. Sure, it’s cute as hell, but god dammit, every time it happens, Steve ends up having to bail him out of trouble. He really doesn’t want to have to do that right now, not for this. 

“Funny you should ask, Wayne—“

The intro to the seven o’clock news cuts him off. Maybe Steve’s prayers have been answered. Maybe this is what people talk about when they say that God works in mysterious ways. Maybe— 

“We’re coming to you live from The Hoosier Dome to bring you breaking news about our Indianapolis Colts.” 

“Bet it’s got to do with that coach they got runnin’ the place. Still can’t believe he ran that damn childish play on Monday.” 

“Tell me about it,” Steve says, shaking his head. “You know how I feel about the Colts, but you should’ve won that game.” 

“Least we get a rematch later in the season,” Wayne says, sipping his beer. “We gotta go to Diana’s for that game. If we lose, I can drown my sorrows in a real whisky instead of that cheap shit Glen keeps selling us.” 

“Us?” Eddie balks.

Steve watches in real time as Eddie puts the pieces together. His eyes widen then narrow into judgemental slits. His lips purse, head swiveling between the two of them and the television like he does when he’s DMing an intense session for the kids. Eddie’s sharp, always has been, and he wears his emotions on his face, so it’s easy to know when everything clicks in that chaotic mind of his. He might as well have buzzers going off behind him. 

“You!” He shouts, pointing an accusatory finger in Steve’s direction. “You’re the one keeping my uncle out late! Making him happy!” 

“What’s he talkin’ ‘bout?” Wayne asks.

Steve bits his lip. “Eddie, uh, thought you had a secret lover that’s been keeping you out on Monday nights.” 

“A secret lover?” Wayne laughs. “On a Monday night? Boy if I was gettin’ handsy with someone it wouldn’t be on no Monday night. I’m a Friday night gentleman, you know that. Maybe even Saturday mornin’ if I’m lucky.” 

“I don’t know anything anymore!” Eddie shouts, really doubling down on his theatrics. There’s a moment of calm before his brain conjures up something sinister — at least, Steve thinks it must be really bad judging by the paleness in Eddie’s face and the anger in his eyes. Finally, he explodes. “You’re cheating on me with my Uncle!” 

“I am not!” 

“Maybe not physically — Jesus H. Christ, ew, please please tell me it’s not physical. I think I’m gonna be sick.” 

“Now hold your horses a minute, Eds.” Wayne stops Eddie in his tracks with an easy hand around his wrist. “Steve here ain’t do nothin’ wrong but offer me his company during the games. I’d watch them with you. Hell, we both would. But, we know you hate ‘em.” 

“So it’s my fault then?” 

“I ain’t say that.” 

“You implied it, old man!” Eddie says, jabbing his finger in Wayne’s direction now. “You better keep your blue-collar hands away from my debutant boyfriend.” 

“You two are both ridiculous,” Steve laughs, shaking his head. He turns to Eddie, giving his best attempt as his puppy dog apology eyes. “It wasn’t meant to be a secret. You’re just never home on Mondays anyway, so we never thought to mention it. But if it bothers you so much, come with us this week. You’ll see for yourself no one’s stealing my honor, or whatever and it’s going to be a good game.” 

“Not for the Colts,” Wayne grumbles. 

Eddie makes a big show of considering the offer before shuttering. “And spend the night at Glen’s sports bar? I think I’d rather you cheat on me with my uncle—“ 

“Can we please stop talking about this?” Steve runs a frustrated hand down his face. “It’s grossing me out. No offense, Wayne.” 

“I’d be offended if you weren’t grossed out, son.” 

“Hey! I was talking,” Eddie squawks. Steve gives him his undivided attention, Wayne’s not so graceful, offering him a grunt and a hand gesture telling him to stop blocking the television. “As I was saying, you two can have your little sports bromance thing, butI do expect you to buy me a new mug for all my troubles, Stevie. S’not fair you got one for Wayne and not me.” 

“I’ll take you to the store tomorrow, and you can pick it up yourself.” 

“Thank you.” After a moment, Eddie sinks back into his side of the couch cushion and reaches for the half-full bowl of popcorn on the table. “Now, let’s start this movie night.” 

[guiltygearwiki]

The crusades are a major part of Guilty Gear’s story, and yet I feel like we know next to nothing about them.

So what is everything we know about the crusades? Is there enough content to form a decently sized timeline of the events during the crusades?

It is kind of ironic that we know so little about the Crusades despite how important they are to the world of Guilty Gear. I did my best to put together a timeline for the crusades, followed by some fun facts about them:

2074: Justice destroyed Japan, which is what is considered the start of the Crusades. Very shortly after the destruction, Justice controls an army of Gears and declares war on humanity. 

The UN formed the Sacred Order of Holy Knights the same year.

2103: Sol saves Kliff from a Gear. While both are affiliated with the Holy Order, it is an event we know happens in the Crusades. Kliff was 6 years old at the time

2115: Kliff was made the Commander of the Holy Order, we know this was not long after he joined, but we do not have an exact time for when he joined.

2127: Testament joined the Holy order against Kliff’s wishes. We know they were adopted sometime before this but are never given a year.

2128: Testament dies. They are taken by some organization (it's not very clear which) and turned into a Gear.

21XX: During an unknown year, Kliff single handedly battles the Hydra in London, severing three of its heads and four of its limbs before the Order sealed it. The Hydra never died and simply stayed sealed outside of London until the events of Lightning the Argent.

2161-2162: Ky’s mother is Killed by Gear. (I did the math for this one.) He meets Kliff and insists on joining the fight. Kliff tells him to survive for five years and then he can join.

2167: Ky joins the Holy Order at the ripe age of 10.

2172: Kliff convinces Sol to join the Holy Order and he is placed under Ky’s command. Sol joined to gain more information on Gears. Sometime during this year Ky challenges Sol to a duel, which Ky loses. 

Sol earns the nickname “God of War” during this time

2173: The Battle of Rome occurs. It was considered one of the deadliest battles in all of the Crusades.

Ky’s battalion (if that is the correct word) originally was called in as support.

Weird timeline stuff happens here that I will go into more in fun facts.

There's some conflicting information on some bits of it between the Xrd Short Story and the CD Drama, but we know for a fact both Sol and Ky were involved in the battle at one point or another.

Later in 2173:  Sol steals the Fireseal and leaves the Holy Order. He defeats Ky who tried to stop him, and later talks to Kliff, who allows him to take the weapon, saying he was going to give it to him anyways.

Even later in 2173: Ky is promoted to commander of the Holy Order and given the Thunderseal. He was 16.

2175: Sol fights Justice, leading the rest of the Order able to seal her in a dimensional prison, ending the Crusades. The order is disbanded.

Important note: Kliff fought Justice multiple times. It can be assumed in many places in the timeline.

Now for some fun facts!

It was tradition for Holy Order soldiers to carve words that are important into their belts. The ones we see are “Hope”, “Free”, and “Sacrifice.”

Ghost stories were apparently told by soldiers.

The Fireseal and The Thunderseal specifically were treasured by the Order and held in its HQ.

The HQ was in Paris.

 Saint George the Dragon Slayer was popular with Order soldiers. He was a real saint!. (LTA)

Order soldiers wore pendants used for communication and information storage. (LTA)

Members of the Holy Order were divided into platoons based on ability. (LTA)

The Magic Support Platoon we know was for recovery and Defense

Playable characters who were in the Holy Order include: Sol, Ky, Leo, Kliff, and Testament.

Soldiers could claim pensions after the war. (LTA)

Ky originally died at the Battle of Rome before I-No and Asuka changed the timeline

I-No was at the battle of Rome but Key doesn't remember. It's unknown if Sol does.

This lead to a timeline where Sol lead the Holy Order

If you want to read any of the stories outside of the games that elaborate on the Crusades they can be found here:

Guilty Gear XX Drama CD Red Script

Guilty Gear XX Drama CD Black Script

Guilty Gear Xrd Special Episode: A Brief Respite

Guilty Gear Series Story Digest Comics

Unfortunately… Guilty Gear Xtra

-Dunium

[tainbocuailnge]

rose salt has 360 atk at max level with trust, this should already include the -5% from her talent since she has that talent at e0 and it's about 5% less than ptilopsis and breeze have. with pots (remember she's welfare so these are guaranteed) the increased healing effectiveness is 17% before module meaning rose salt has 421 heal per attack or 147 healing per second offskill, which is coincidentally the exact same values as nightingale at max level and trust without module. max level no mod ptilopsis, breeze, and perfumer have 136/130/140 hps respectively (including perfumer's talent).

rose salt's module gives her +47 atk and increases the healing received buff to 22% with pots, so she goes up to 496 hpa / 174 hps. mod x nightingale gets +65 atk and a 5% healing amplification at lv3, which brings her up to 509 hpa / 178 hps, just barely ahead of rose salt. max mod perfumer has an offskill hps of 174, but she doesn't have any other form of team support.

rose salt's s2 at m3 reduces her attack interval to 1.5 seconds (from 2.85) and while it's active 50% of every instance of physical or arts damage taken by allies in range is instead spread out over a 5 second dot. during this skill she goes up to 280/331 hps without/with module respectively while increasing the amount of time you have to heal off each instance of damage, and it also allows operators to survive hits that would otherwise kill them instantly. mod x s3m3 nightingale has 321 hps, just slightly behind rose salt. maxed out ptilopsis with s2 has 610 hps and breeze s2 has 540 hps but I think nightingale is the most apt comparison because of the damage reduction, and ptilopsis/breeze have lower hps than rose salt and nightingale during skill downtime.

rose salt's talent gives her the effective stats of a 6*, and for the materials it takes to put nightingale's base numbers just barely ahead of her you could also just invest in rose salt with stuff to spare for someone else. rose salt's healing amplification is also larger, so if you're in a situation where you might need multiple healers (which is any situation where bringing damage reduction is also a consideration) you see more returns pairing them with rose salt than with nightingale. it's hard to compare their effectiveness at reducing incoming damage since it depends on the damage type and rose salt technically doesn't reduce total damage taken, she just gives you more time to heal it off, but in many situations rose salt will perform just as well if not better.

taking our good friend patriot as an example, in first phase he has 2400 atk and his attacks hit four times, instantly killing basically every operator save for the bulkiest on-skill defenders. if we take a lv 90 pot 1 mod x lv3 s2m3 hoshiguma (about the highest passive defense possible without external buffs), she's got 1357 def and 4050 hp, meaning patriot hits her for 4 x 1064 = 4256 damage and kills her instantly. with rose salt s2m3, hoshiguma instead receives 2128 damage and 425 damage per second over 5 seconds, leaving you with an alive hoshiguma who is getting healed with 17-22% increased efficiency and a blocked patriot.

healing amplification affects any heal that shows a green number, so rose salt's talent also increases the healing from musha and reaper traits, and the s2 damage reduction will apply to them. ulpianus' self heal talent also gets amplified, and with rose salt s2 he not only has effectively 50% sanctuary, he possibly will also trigger his talent off every tick of the dot, meaning he gets to heal 6 times off each instance of damage instead of once.

rose salt is strong!

[newtthetranswriter]

Surprise Flights - Toru Oikawa

Word Count: 2128

Paring: Toru Oikawa x Fem! Reader

Summary: Toru really just wants to make Christmas special for Y/n, luckily for him he gets the chance to give her the best present of all.

A/n: Hello everyone, this idea came to me while working on a different fic that will be out closer to Christmas. Anyways I thought it was a cute idea, and it definitely turned out better than i thought it would. Also I just want to say that I’m sorry for the random long break in posting, writer’s block kicked my ass, plus I just got a job after almost a year of searching and so I might not be posting as much but I will try to write something every now and then. Anyways enjoy, Happy holidays, and as always remember to hydrate or diedrate.

a/n 2: This is really my first time doing any kind of smau style stuff for a fic so please let me know what you think. I'd be willing to try out doing an smau series in between normal imagines to help keep the ideas flowing just let me know if that's something y'all would want.

   It had been almost a year since Toru left Japan to pursue his dream of being a pro Volleyball player. It had been almost a year since he wiped the tears off her face as he promised to call and visit as often as humanly possible. Toru was able to keep the promise of phone calls and text messages but his schedule didn’t allow for much off time.

  He had only been able to see her in person once since leaving for Argentina. For his birthday Y/n and Iwaizumi had managed to fly out to visit him. His two favorite people managed to surprise him by staying with him for a week, but he still had practice so it’s not like he could truly enjoy it. After they had returned to Japan, Toru had promised himself that he would be the one surprising her next.

   So when he found out in early November that the team would be getting the last two weeks of the year off, he began planning. Immediately he had told Iwa and made him swear not to let it slip that he would be coming home. Toru had it all planned out, he was going to make this the best Christmas she had ever had.

   The days leading up to his flight Toru had to fight the overwhelming urge to just come clean and tell Y/n he would be there soon. The only thing preventing him from spilling the beans was the thought of how happy she would look when they finally got to hold each other again. The image of her smiling and the sound of her laugh as they embraced for the first time in so long pushed him forward, promising that it was worth it to keep it a secret.

   On the morning of his flight, Toru made sure that he had everything ready. He double checked that he had his passport and ticket easy to grab as well as his charger and headphones. Looking over his entryway where he had his suitcase and carry-on placed and ready, he smiled to himself knowing that in less than two days he’d be holding his amazing girlfriend in his arms. Checking the time, he quickly ordered an uber before opening his messages.

  After sending his usual goodnight message to Y/n, knowing that Japan is 12 hours ahead, Toru looked over his apartment one last time before heading out to wait for his ride.

  By the time he reached the parking lot his uber was already waiting. Getting into the car he said a quick thank you to the driver, before turning his attention back to his phone as a new message came through.

   Toru smiled to himself as he read his friend's last message. As Toru sat quietly watching the scenery pass by, he kept thinking over his plan. Sure he had set his lock screen to a list of times he needed to text Y/n so she wouldn’t get suspicious, but he was anxious that she would notice something was up. 

   “Going home for the holidays?” The driver asked, breaking the silence that settled over the car. “Sorry, I know not a lot of people like to talk during these rides, I just can’t help but be curious. Of Course you don’t have to share if you don’t want to.” He added on, sending the brunette a kind smile through the rear view mirror.

   Smiling Toru nodded, happy to have a distraction from his thoughts. “Yeah I am. I haven’t seen my girlfriend in about five months and I have seen my family in about a year so It will be nice to see them all again.” He briefly explained.

   The driver nodded. “Well they all must be excited to see you, if it’s been that long.” He said while keeping focused on his driving. “I know I’d be thrilled to see family if it had been a year since I last saw them.”

   “Actually they don’t know I’m coming.” Toru said with a laugh. “Well, my best friend knows, he’s helping me with the surprise. But I wanted it to be a fun Christmas present for everyone.” He explained after seeing the driver's confused expression.

   Laughing joyously, the driver nodded. “Sounds like an amazing gift. Well here we are. Have a safe flight and Happy Holidays to you.” The driver said pulling up at the passenger drop off door of the airport.

  Grabbing his stuff Toru nodded. “Thank you, Happy Holidays to you as well.” He said, closing the car door and turning to the airport.

   After making it through customs surprisingly quickly for the holiday season, Toru pulled out his phone while finding a seat near his gate. Seeing that it was about two hours until his flight was set to depart he decided it was a good time to start his plan.

   Pressing send on the final message he did his best to calm his nerves once again. He felt slightly bad for lying to Y/n, but he knew that if he didn’t and just never responded to her messages she would worry. Sighing he pulled out his headphones, listening to music in order to block out the sounds of the airport while he waited for his flight.

Time skip to landing in Italy

   After landing in Rome for his roughly eight hour layover, Toru decided to check his phone for any messages.

   He fought the urge to respond right away, but reminded himself that Y/n thinks he’s still in Argentina where it’s currently three in the morning, so a text message from him would be suspicious. Sighing to himself, Toru decided to stay in the airport while waiting for the second half of his flight. Grabbing an overpriced coffee and breakfast from the airport Starbucks, He made himself comfortable close to the gate of his next flight.

   About five hours into the layover, Toru decided it was a good time to finally respond to Y/n’s early texts. After all, nearly twenty hours of ‘sleeping’ was a lot even if he was ‘sick’.

 

 Toru smiled at Y/n’s worrying, happy that she was believing him and she hadn’t caught on to his schemes.

   The two continued to text back and forth for the next couple of hours. As they chatted about their days, Toru fibbing just well enough that Y/n didn’t catch on, Toru noticed that it was getting close to his departure time. He was enjoying talking with his girlfriend but he needed to come up with a way to end the conversation so it wouldn’t be suspicious if he just stopped responding. Luckily Y/n beat him to it.

   Not even ten minutes after hitting send on his final message, Toru was on his flight. Overjoyed to know that the next time he texted Y/n, he would be in the same country and one step closer to being reunited.

Time Skip to landing in Japan

   Stepping off his flight, Toru was surprised he didn’t feel extremely jet lagged after only sleeping for a handful of hours over the last thirty hours. He guessed it had to do with the fact that he was extremely excited about the events that would be happening over the next couple hours. Mainly the thought of holding Y/n in his arms once again.

   While making his way to the baggage claim, Toru decided to text Y/n again. It was even more difficult this time around to not tell her he was back in Japan, but he remembered that she was probably at work right now so he couldn’t distract her too much. So he settled on keeping the surprise.

    He frowned slightly hoping her day wasn’t going to bad, and put his phone back in his pocket. Turning his focus to looking for his suitcase as he tried not to worry too much. As he spotted his bag on the conveyor belt, Toru felt his phone go off again. Pulling out his phone again, he laughed at Iwa’s usual name calling before responding quickly.

    As he texted his best friend he made his way to the passenger pick up, looking for Iwa’s spiky brown hair. Quickly spotting the former spiker’s pointed glare, Toru couldn’t help but walk a little faster. “Iwa, I’m so glad to see you. Thanks again for agreeing to pick me up.” He said in greeting, opening his arms to ask the stoic male for a hug.

   Letting out a fake groan, Iwa embraced his childhood friend before pulling away. “Don’t mention it. Now didn’t you want to stop at the store before going over to Y/n’s?” He asked, no longer hiding the slight smile on his face from being reunited with Toru.

Time skip to Y/n’s apartment

   After buying a few things at the store, Iwa helped Toru get all of his things up to Y/n’s apartment, telling him that Y/n had left a spare key out for him when he made up an excuse about needing to drop something off there. Once the two friends had gotten Toru’s suitcase and bags from the store into the apartment, Iwa gave his friend one last hug before leaving.

  Now alone in his girlfriend's apartment, Toru couldn’t help but be nervous about waiting for her to finally return home and see the amazing surprise he had for her. He knew she would be happy, of course she would be, after all she was so sad when he said he couldn’t make it back for Christmas. He just had to wait another hour or so before she would get there.

Time skip to Y/n getting home & P.o.v switch

   While it had technically been a short day at work for her, Y/n couldn’t help but feel that the day had drug on. When she finally arrived at her apartment all she wanted to do was lay down and wait for Toru to wake up so she could call him during his morning run, like they did most days. Getting to her front door though she was shocked to find out that the spare key she had left out for Iwaizumi was no longer under the mat and the front door was still unlocked. Opening the door and seeing a pair of men’s shoes in the entry way she assumed Iwa had just gotten there so she just shrugged as she took off her shoes and headed for the living room.

  “Hey Iwa, what was it you needed to drop off …” Her sentence trailed off as she noticed the brunette standing in her living room, who was very clearly not Iwaizumi. “Toru? Am I dreaming?” She asked, pinching her arm, not fully believing that Toru Oikawa was really standing in her apartment holding a bouquet of flowers with a sheepish smile on his face.

   Toru chuckled as he slowly stepped closer to her. “You’re not dreaming I promise.” He said, handing her the flowers.

   Instead of taking the flowers to put them in water she just set them on the coffee table before nearly tackling Toru in an extremely tight hug. Toru quickly returned the hug, resting his head on top of her as she pressed her face into his neck. After a few minutes of silence, She pulled back cupping his face in her hands. 

   “You’re really here.” She stated as if reassuring herself that this was real. “I thought you weren’t able to get time off to come home? And what about you being sick?” She began questioning.

   Chuckling, Toru leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I wanted to surprise you, after you and Iwa surprised me for my birthday. As for being sick, I needed a believable reason to not text you for hours while I was on the plane.” He quickly explained.

   She nodded in understanding. “Well consider me surprised.” She said, before taking a moment to just enjoy being in the same space as him again. 

   “Wait, does this mean you told Iwaizumi about you coming home?” She asked, receiving only a nod. “No wonder he wanted me to leave out my spare key. I couldn’t figure out what he could possibly have wanted to leave here.” Y/n finished laughing slightly.

   After a few moments of just standing in the center of the room, the two moved to sit on the couch deciding to just cuddle as they talked. The conversation eventually faded and the two sat in a comfortable silence. “I’m so glad you’re home.” Y/n said as slowly drifted off to sleep laying on Toru’s chest.

  “I’m glad to be home.” Toru responded, quickly following Y/n into the realm of dreams.

(dividers by @/cafekitsune)

[tragedybunny]

Slow Dancing In a Burning Room - Chapter 1

༺Summary༻

In a moment of weakness, Serafina helped Astarion ascend, forever altering him and their relationship. Irrevocably bonded in violence, can she survive life at his side, or will she be broken by the cycle of pain and terror.

༺Pairing༻ Astarion x Serafina (Female Tav)

༺Warnings༻ Dubcon / Noncon elements (mild this chapter), violence, toxic / abusive relationships

༺Word Count༻ 2128

༺A/N༻This will be a bit of a darker take on Ascended Astarion and the relationship with his Consort, and a bit of an AU for how I normally portray him and Serafina's relationship. As such I am not tagging anyone unless specifically requested for this fic. Additionally I would like to note this is my take on Ascended Astarion, or maybe one of my takes on him, but I will not say it is some definitive take and does not invalidate anyone else's headcanon or ideas about the character. Thanks to @leomonae for betaing this chapter.

꧁༺Chapter 1 - The Ascendant Vampire Lord ༻꧂

“Isn’t that what you want, to be mine forever?” the man that still bore Astarion’s appearance, but seemed less like him every passing moment, asked. 

A great, black pit opened in Serafina’s heart at his words. Never once had she indicated that she wished to be his spawn - or Consort, as he was so deviously calling it. “No, Astarion, that’s not what I want at all.” 

None of this was what she wanted. The ritual had promised him freedom, and in a moment of weakness, with his tormentor there on his knees, she’d agreed. The thousands of spawn couldn’t be loosed upon the world, and this way Astarion would be safe. Maybe it was the exhaustion and fear that had worn down her senses, maybe it was her foolish heart, so blindly in love, but something had clouded her judgment in that moment. And now nothing felt right; there was something different behind those crimson eyes she’d thought she knew so well. Or maybe she hadn’t; maybe this was him all along. There was something cruel and hungry, lurking, waiting, and when he stared at her too long, it made her shiver. And all those souls…

“Ah, pity. You deserve to be beautiful forever, my love.” Then those eyes softened and it was the Astarion she knew looking at her. Smiling warmly, he wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her forehead. “But whatever makes my darling happy.” 

Burying her face in his chest, she could feel his hands softly rubbing her back. Was it possible she’d been imagining all that darkness? After almost a full day without sleep, and the trauma of the battle with Cazador and the ritual, she was no longer sure of anything. 

Just thinking about it made her yawn unconsciously. “Is my little love sleepy,” he cooed in her ear, hands running through her hair, just like all the nights they’d shared a bed and he’d cuddled close to her. 

It was her own guilt, that was all. The guilt for those lives that had been taken in the ritual. This was still Astarion; her exhausted mind was just playing tricks on her. “Mmm, yeah, I can hardly stand.” 

She gasped as her legs were swept out from under her and Astarion held her to his chest. “Private room, a little time for just the two if us before you sleep?” he asked in a sultry whisper, his offer clear.

Suddenly much more awake, looking up, she caught his gaze again, wondering at the sudden desire. “You’re sure?”

“Don’t be…” His response was almost snappish, but he caught himself. “Of course I am. I love you.” 

Three little words, everyone’s favorite. Was he sincere? But why wouldn’t he be, after everything? Gods, she really was too tired. “I love you too, Astarion.” 

“Always?” It sounded like a plea: like the man who told her that he’d deceived her into loving him, but that he wanted it to be real. 

“Always, my Starry Sky,” She kissed the hollow of his throat softly, content to accept his words, and let him carry her away to the room at the Elfsong set apart from the shared common area.

The room was full of soft candlelight and the bed was freshly made, the scent of clean linen mixed with Astarion’s own blend of bergamot, rosemary, and brandy. It felt vibrant, alive, and welcoming. He gently laid her down amongst the pillows. “Let's get you comfortable,” Astarion purred, pulling her boots off. 

Sera shifted, pushing up on her elbows as her boots were discarded, her exhausted brain trying to fend off the last of the drowsiness. Something cold slithered into her stomach as Astarion began to strip off his shirt, baring himself to the waist. No, they were celebrating, this was their victory. There was nothing wrong with it. 

“Like what you see?” he smirked, the picture of that roguish charm she'd fallen for. 

A hesitant smile answered him. This was what she wanted, Astarion happy and the two of them free to be in love. “Is there any doubt, my love?” He was too far away though. “Come to me, I want to touch you.” That would put things right, having him in her arms. 

“Soon, my treasure.” He was already tugging on the laces of his trousers. The way he was rid of them and his boots was too precise: methodical, not passionate. 

Sitting fully, she pushed back against those thoughts. They were finding themselves again. For a moment, she drank him in, in all his impossible beauty, as though hand-sculpted by some god. “Astarion.” The word was a plea: for him to touch her, to show her those doubts were unfounded. 

With feline grace he came to her, kneeling beside her on the bed, his lips capturing hers before traversing down. “My sweet Serafina,” he murmured, lips burning hot against her skin as fangs teased her throat. Fingers that no longer held the cool of the grave brushed her skin as he tugged at her shirt. Shrugging out of it, she pulled him to her, hands wandering his ivory skin, the lines of his scars rigid against her palms. A reminder that he had paid the price for all of this years before the ritual. Didn’t he deserve the freedom it gave him?

“I love you, I want you,” she moaned as his tongue ran along the shell of her ear. 

“Then you shall have me, my love.” Already his hands were working to free her from her pants, moving to them from her waist at such speed, she’d hardly noticed. He stripped them from her with demanding fervor. 

Greedily, his eyes roamed her bared body. “My love, all mine,” he growled, shifting to kneel between her thighs, spreading her legs. 

As he leaned down to kiss her again, the press of his cock against her already wet slit made her whimper and roll her hips against him. My love, the blood in her veins sang, echoing him; her whole body craving him and her heart trembling with love. 

“Mine,” he whispered again, darkness slipping into his voice. 

A shiver ran through her and her lips parted. Whatever words she might have said died on her tongue as his unyielding grip fixed on her wrists, pinning them above her head. A gasp was pulled from her as his cock pushed inside her, forcing her open for him. 

The pain was momentary as slow thrusts of his hips let her accommodate his girth. And it was so good to feel him inside her, to be together in this way. Rolling her hips, she met his thrusts, even as her wrists remained pinned above her. Soft whimpers filled the air between them as he lavished soft kisses on her skin from her chest to her throat. They lingered on the spot he'd bitten last, marks all but faded. 

Without warning, his fangs pierced her skin; Sera let out a yelp, but the sting faded into the haze of pleasure quickly. Blood pumped from her heart to his, nourishing the man she loved. “Astarion,” she breathed, feeling herself clench around him. 

“Come for me, my pet.” Something was wrong again, his voice like ice, the hands that held her turned to iron. Gasping, her release came, but his fangs remained in her neck, drawing out a crimson tide.

“Astarion, stop.” Her voice had already grown quiet, the edges of her vision blackening. Panic weighed down her already struggling heart. He had no intention of stopping, did he? Weakly, she tried to fight the grip on her wrists that held her in place and robbed her of her ability to cast magic. Far away, she could hear something: a slow thudding, her heart beating out its last feeble pumps. Eyelids that were too heavy closed and the cold of the grave Astarion had escaped enveloped her. 

“You’ll thank me later, little love,” the Vampire Ascendant said, with the voice of the man she loved. 

There was nothing, just an endless sea of icy darkness. It was peaceful though: no tadpole, no warlock pact, no family to run from and haunt her memories…no Astarion and whatever the ritual had done to him. If this was eternity, she could embrace it and lay down her burdens. 

It seemed that was too much to ask of the universe; awareness slowly came back to her. Limbs stiff and cold, not responding as they should, lungs that didn’t move of their own accord anymore, and a heart that barely beat. Flashes of images filled her mind, sensations and snippets of what had happened, Astarion on top of her, draining her life away, betraying her. Her dead heart ached and she hesitantly ran a tongue over her teeth, finding elongated canines sharp enough to prick. Maybe if she just kept her eyes closed, she could finish dying, and not face what had been done. 

“I can sense you stirring, Serafina. Open your eyes, love. Let me welcome you to your new life.” It wasn’t a command that compelled her and yet, she found herself inclined to do as he asked. Another wound to add to the others tearing her apart. He was her murderer and master in the span of hours. And she, his spawn and consort. 

Eyes opening, she found him sitting next to her, peacefully reading. “There you are,” Astarion’s smile was enough to bare his fangs as he greeted her. “How do you feel?”

Sera whimpered, eyes surprisingly wet for someone who was dead. “Why?” 

Astarion’s book snapped shut violently and his crimson eyes turned hard. “Are you really going to be petulant and ungrateful? I did this for you. You weren’t ready to accept it yet, but now you’ll live forever, perfect and beautiful.” Wetness dotted her cheeks and his voice turned gentle again. “Shh, I’m sorry I was short with you.” Sliding closer, he wrapped an arm around her, coaxing her to lay her head on his shoulder. “I love you Sera. I had to do this, I couldn’t bear to ever be without you. Don’t you understand?”

She hadn’t been ready for everything that had happened since she was taken by the Nautiloid. All she had wanted was freedom, not to become everyone’s leader and pillar of support, not to fall so helplessly in love. One misstep had brought it all crashing down. The striving had tired her, and it was easier to nod her head, stifle her tears, and agree with him. Easier to believe him. That it was for love. “I wish you would’ve given me time to think.” 

“Sera.” His voice caught in appropriate regret, “I’m sorry. I just did it, I didn’t think. We’ll be alright, won’t we?”

“We will,” she reassured him, taking his hand in hers. They were bound now anyway; looking back just meant more regrets. 

Tilting her head up, he brought his lips delicately to hers, leaving a pleasant haze in her mind, so unlike the last, violent, touch of his that had ended her life. “That’s more like it, my sweet.” A sudden pain in her abdomen caused her to wince, and Astarion cup her cheek softly, rubbing a thumb along it comfortingly. “You poor thing, I bet you’re starving too. Once we get some blood in you, everything will be alright. Let’s go get changed and see to it.”

Astarion rose, offering her his hand and helping her up. Her legs trembled slightly and she fought to steady herself. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he chuckled softly. “At least you didn’t have to claw your way out of your grave.”

He let her lean on him all the way back to the common room, his touch making her feel safe, wanted, loved. Perhaps there was something to this new Astarion: a stronger man than before, more sure of himself. Not that he hadn’t made her feel those same things before, but there was more confidence in him now. 

There was no mistaking what Astarion had done as their group gathered to plan their day. Her companions studied her, none of them remarking on the change for the moment. Finally, when their eyes seemed to harbor some unvoiced suspicion, Astarion whisked her away, explaining her need to be fed. 

As she changed for the day, Shadowheart wandered over, some laundry of Sera’s that had been mixed into hers in her hand. Sera was about to thank her, when she leaned in and whispered swiftly, “I thought you didn’t want to do this?’

Swallowing thickly, Sera let her eyes wander to where Astarion was discussing something with Gale. “I changed my mind,” she lied. They wouldn’t understand; they were so ready to condemn him as a monster. “Astarion needs me.”

[pengweng-quack]

Bloodbound

Carlisle Cullen x Human!OC

Summary: Place Carlisle in the Edward situation of falling in love with a human, and see what happens

Chapter 4/?

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Notes:

This is on Ao3 under the same title and username if you'd like to read it there (https://archiveofourown.org/works/54527830)

I genuinely forgot about posting Bloodbound for a hot minute lol whoops

Word Count: 2128 words

General warning: I used some religious references in this story so read with caution if you're not so keen into reading that

TW for this chapter: Smut (No penetration because we're not having another Bella situation)

PM or Comment to be added on the taglist for this one!

Masterlist

They walked back to the bar, with Carlisle closing the tab for the night and paying for the drinks, tipping 50% which made Celine bite her lip in excitement. After getting his card back, they rushed out of the building hand in hand. Carlisle noticed that Rosalie’s car was outside, a silent reminder of the watchful eyes of their family. He took Celine to his car, opening the passenger seat door and letting her enter the car

“I’ll be fast, I promise.” Carlisle whispered to Celine, who only nodded in response. He left a quick peck on her lips before rushing to Rosalie’s car. He knocked on the window, wondering why they were there

“Do not even think of doing something with her tonight.” Rosalie threatened immediately as the window was going down “You’ll hurt her.”

“I do not intend on bedding her while she has alcohol in her system.” He half-lied, knowing that the alcohol in Celine’s system is already almost gone. He could smell her blood slowly going back to its same alluring scent, hinting that she was slowly sobering up

“The rogue vampire is gone.” Alice informed him “Just don’t mind the scent in her place for the time being. It’s…sickening.”

“I’ll remember that.” Carlisle nodded “Are the others gone now?”

“Yes. I told them to leave after they’ve remove the vampire in her place.” Esme answered “Good luck, I think you’ll need it.”

“Go home.” Carlisle said, rolling his eyes at them and going back to his car, where Celine was waiting patiently

“What happened?” Celine asked, the scent of alcohol was still evident in her and Carlisle is having a hard time with just sitting still

“They decided to come to enjoy the night out, thankfully, we’re about to leave too.” He informed her, pulling the seatbelt from her side and buckling it, his eyes on her. He was looking at her face, admiring the features the gods have graced her with

“Is there anything on my face?” Celine asked consciously, about to look at herself in the vanity mirror in his car

“No, you’re just really, really beautiful.” Carlisle whispered softly before starting his car. A smile on his face as he drives back to her place

It was quiet, Carlisle was reaching for the gearshift when he accidentally touched Celine’s thighs. He heard her jolt up in shock making him quickly pull away from the gearshift, scared that he’s made her uncomfortable.

“It’s alright, I was just shocked.” Celine assured him

Her house was coming in sight. Alice wasn’t lying when she said that the scent was sickening. Carlisle couldn't ignore the scent that permeated the air. It was a nauseating mixture of alcohol, human blood, and the unmistakable stench of vomit. He’s happy that Celine couldn’t smell it, he’d rather save her of dealing with scents like these

Rosalie’s voice was echoing in her head “Do not even think of doing something with her tonight.” He could hear her threats. Carlisle understood that she meant well, and that she was right in this discussion. The memory of Edward's unintentional harm to Bella served as a stark reminder of the dangers inherent in their world.

‘What assurance did I have that I won’t do the same with Celine? What assurance did I have that I’ll be able to control myself?’ He thought, scared of seeing Celine hurt because of him

As Carlisle parked the car in front of Celine's house, a sense of resolve settled within him. He knew what needed to be done. With purposeful strides, he swiftly exited the car and made his way to the passenger seat, where Celine was just about to step out.

She grabbed his hand, pulling him into her house. Without hesitation, he allowed himself to be led, his steps quickening as they made their way into her bedroom. Carlisle lifted her up in his arms, cradling her bridal style as he carried her to the bed. Reaching her bed, Carlisle made him and Celine fall on the bed, a small ‘thud’ and a bounce getting them to giggle.

Celine positioned herself on his lap, pulling him closer for a kiss. It was deep, it was heavy, it was filled with desire. Her desire to feel him. She could feel him get harder, so she started slowly grinding. Carlisle pulled away, letting out a grunt before pulling her for another make out, only this time, his hands were exploring the curves of her body.

She took matters into her own hands, slowly removing his polo shirt, leaving a trail of kisses along his neck as she unbuckled his pants to lift the shirt over his head. Carlisle whimpered under her affectionate touch, his desire evident in every breath. With each kiss, Celine felt herself growing increasingly aroused. She pulled away, finally removing his top

“Need to please you.” Carlisle murmured as Celine’s hands were tracing down his torso, her eyes filled with seduction as he admires him. He wished that he had Edward’s powers at that moment to know what she was thinking about

‘What a masterpiece.’ Celine thought, seeing Carlisle's toned body. Her suspicion was right, he did take care of his physique, and she was blessed to see him like that

Carlisle gently laid Celine down and positioned himself over her, his hands delicately tracing the curves of her waist as he crawled onto the bed. With deliberate care, he began to play with the hem of her blouse, gradually removing it to grant himself greater access to her skin.

“You are divine. A masterpiece carved by the gods above.” Carlisle whispered, indulging himself as he left shallow bite marks on Celine's shoulders, his words an ode to her beauty. Each mark elicited soft whimpers of pleasure from her lips, igniting a symphony of desire between them

Carlisle tenderly explored Celine's shoulders and neck, marking her skin with gentle kisses that elicited moans of pleasure. With deliberate care, he trailed his fingers down to her legs, lifting her skirt and removing the barrier of her panties, eager to continue bestowing pleasure upon his beloved mate.

"Carlisle," Celine moaned softly, her plea laced with desire. "No teasing.”

"I have no intention of teasing you, my love," Carlisle assured, his fingers deftly caressing the growing wetness between Celine's thighs "I simply wish to savor every moment with you."

"Carlisle, please," Celine breathed out, her voice filled with urgency. Carlisle chuckled at her reaction; he hadn't even begun, yet Celine was already pleading

Carlisle gently slid two fingers inside her, giving Celine a moment to adjust to the sensation. She moaned, arching her back in response. Sensing her readiness and just how needy she already is, he abandoned his slow pace, opting instead to quicken the rhythm of his fingers thrusting in and out of her. Simultaneously, he brought his mouth to her clit, skillfully heightening her pleasure with each tantalizing touch.

"Carlisle," Celine breathed out, her racing heartbeat audible to him, indicating her nearing climax.

"Yes, my love?" Carlisle responded, withdrawing from her clit, a trail of saliva lingering as he used his other hand to heighten her pleasure.

"So close." She managed to mutter amidst deep pants.

"I'm aware." He replied calmly, maintaining the rhythm of his hands on her.

It didn’t take long for Celine to cry out his name, her back arching in pleasure as Carlisle continued the steady rhythm of his fingers on her. He even returned to her clit, using his mouth to stimulate her sensitive, freshly-orgasmed pussy

"C-Carlisle!" Celine squealed, grasping a handful of his hair as she grinded her pussy against his face. Carlisle welcomed her enthusiasm, releasing his hands from her and encircling her thighs, ensuring she remained in place.

Carlisle decided that he was gonna force a few more orgasm out of her before calling it a day, a perfect alibi in his mind already. He didn't need his vampiric senses to discern that she was nearing climax once more. Celine's fervent whimpers of his name resonated through the air like sacred incantations as her back arched in pleasure, instinctively tightening her hold on his hair, her fingers gripping the strands with increasing fervor

"Carlisle, I'm cumming!" Celine yelled, instinctively thrusting her hips. Carlisle gently pushed her back down, determined to ride out her orgasm before withdrawing from her.

“Think you can handle a bit more?” Carlisle teased, a smirk playing on his lips as he slid his two fingers back inside her. He watched with satisfaction as Celine's eyes rolled back in pleasure, soft whimpers escaping her lips.

“Oh my god,” Celine breathed out, her pleas for more barely audible amidst the moans

Carlisle chuckled and increased his pace, driven by the desire to get another orgasm from her. He placed his other hand on her clit, rubbing his fingers around to stimulate her more.

He was addicted to her every whimpers and her every moan, wanting to do everything in him to push more out of her

He was growing more addicted to her.

"I can't quite hear you, could you say it louder for me, my love?" Carlisle teased, curling his fingers inside her, eliciting a louder moan from Celine.

“I’m getting close.” Celine stuttered out, her chest heaving with each pant

“How close?” Carlisle only asked, making sure to settle his pace on one that could get Celine on her orgasm

“So close, please.” Celine whimpered, her hands gripping the bedsheets tightly

"Do you think you can hold on until I give you permission?" Carlisle asked softly, his other hand resting on her waist, his thumb tracing circles on her skin

“So close— can’t anym-m—

Celine's sentence was cut off as she succumbed to another orgasm, her pussy pulsating around Carlisle's fingers. He maintained his pace until Celine rested her hand on his, gently pushing his hands away, signaling that she had reached her limit.

“How was it, my love?” Carlisle asked her, pulling his fingers out looking at her flushed face. She was panting, and anyone would clearly be able to see just how used she had been

‘To think that it’s just been three orgasms’ Carlisle thought to himself, chuckling as Celine catches her breath

“How about you?” Celine asked, sitting up and gazing at him with concern “This was for the both of us, not just me.”

“Do not worry about me. All I want is for today to be about you.” Carlisle assured her, moving to sit beside Celine and gently pushing the strands of hair that had become damp with sweat away from her “Your pleasure is my pleasure.”

“Stay the night?” Celine asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes

He kissed her forehead tenderly in response, getting up from her bed and going to what he assumed was her closet. He grabbed some clothes for her to wear and brought it back to the bed. He grabbed a clean cloth and went to her bathroom, wetting the cloth and wringing it for it to be damp. Coming back to her, she was about to grab the shirt to wear when he stopped her

“Let me take care of you.” Carlisle whispered softly, his voice filled with tenderness “Please.”

Celine only nodded, allowing Carlisle to make her wear the shirt that he’s gotten for her. He soon followed to carefully pull down her skirt and panties, wiping the dried wetness in between her legs and inner thighs before helping her wear some house shorts.

Observing how Celine was now ready for bed, Carlisle hesitated momentarily before removing his own pants, leaving him in just his boxers. As he settled beside her, he initially felt uncertain, but eventually relaxed, allowing Celine to rest her head on his chest.

“Carlisle?” Celine called quietly, Carlisle let out a hum as response, focusing on matching her breathing “Will things have to come back to how it was after today?”

“My love, if you wish to come back to how we were before today, then we will.” Carlisle answered, looking at her “I just wish to make you happy, that’s all.”

Celine only hummed in reply. She wrapped her arms around her torso, trying to hear his heartbeat to help her fall asleep. Unable to find the familiar rhythm, her mind began to churn with thoughts of the unmistakable signs that hinted at Carlisle's non-human nature. Each revelation felt like a sudden realization, hitting her like a brick to the face.

The cold skin…

The golden eyes…

The non-existent heartbeat…

“Carlisle?” Celine asked again, sitting up and looking at him intently. It was most definitely gonna be her end, but she needed to ask it to him

“Yes, my love?” Carlisle asked, sitting up as well

“You’re not human, are you?”

[wwe-supernaturalxbands]

Star Crossed Lovers

Summary: Buck has been into Eddie for years, he assumed his feelings were reciprocated, just the timing was always wrong. However, Eddie begins to date Ana and Buck begins to distance himself and begins to move on after meeting reader when Ana was expected to be introduced to the firefam

Word Count: 2128

Eddie had started to date Ana Flores and for some reason he was hesitant to introduce her to his family and the 118, he knows it probably has something to do with the way his heart flutters around Buck but he needs to think about Christopher and how his mom had reminded him that Chris needs a mother. He knew Ana was getting impatient and wanted to meet those close to him. He also started to notice that Chris seemed to get sad. Chris also stayed hidden in his room on Fridays and it was because Eddie would cancel Movie Night with Buck so that Ana and Chris can bond but Christopher seems to not want to bond with her. Ana told Eddie it might help if Chris sees that she is here to stay by having her meet the 118. 

The day before the monthly BBQ at the Grant-Nash house Eddie looks at everyone sitting at the table eating, "Hey I'll be bringing Ana tomorrow is that ok?" Everyone looks shocked, they assumed the reason Eddie hadn't brought her over was because they weren't serious and Eddie would soon realize he is in love with Buck. Bobby is the first to recover and quickly looks at Buck who just continues to eat but looks down at his food, "yeah Eddie, she's welcome to come" and Hen and Chimney glare at Bobby while Eddie pulls out his phone to text her. Suddenly Buck gets up and leaves the loft, before anyone can follow him the bell rings. Since Christopher hangs out with Buck during the Ana/Eddie dates, Buck and Chris talk. Chris admits that Ana treats him like a baby and he doesn't like her but his dad won't listen and keeps trying to force them to have movie nights together. Buck also tells Chris that with Eddie and Ana becoming so serious, Buck won't be around as much as he used to but he'll always be a phone call away. Christopher understands, he knows Ana doesn't like his Buck, he heard her complain over the phone with her friend about how Buck is always there and the more her and Eddie date the more she is going to convince him to stop bringing Buck home. 

The day of the BBQ Christopher is done getting ready and walks to the living room where his dad is waiting for him, "we need to go pick up Ana and then we will head over" Eddie explains and Chris just sighs and walks out the door. Eddie is able to tell Chris doesn't like Ana but he really hopes tonight will change that, maybe if he sees Buck accepting her he will too. Eddie feels a pit in his stomach though at the thought of Buck and Ana meeting each other. He kind of hopes they won't get along but he also knows he needs them to if he wants Ana to stop mentioning that he should stop hanging out with Buck. After picking her up they arrive at the Grant-Nash house and walk in. Right away Christopher goes over to Harry and Denny where they begin to whisper and all three boys glare at Ana, the adults not knowing that Buck had texted Chris and informed him that he won't be able to make it tonight. Chris knows it's because of Ana. Eddie notices the adults are all sitting and have their plates ready, "you're late" Athena chastises him. Eddie looks down, not wanting to explain it's because Ana took forever to get ready because she had to make a dramatic appearance. Eddie gets himself and Ana plates and sits down, he notices Buck isn't there and gets upset so he sits next to Karen. "Everyone meet Ana my girlfriend, Ana meet Karen, Hen, Chimney, Maddie, Athena, and Bobby" Eddie introduces. They all are pleasant with her but Eddie is able to tell they don't like her, especially Athena and Maddie who can't seem to stop glaring at Eddie for some reason. He is itching to text Buck and ask why he's late but he knows Ana will get irritated. After a bit of conversing he takes the plunge and asks, "where's Buck", everyone looks shocked, assuming Eddie would be the one to know. Chris who was sitting and eating with the other two boys hears his dad and says "he's not coming" before turning back to his friends. Everyone but Eddie (even Ana who can tell Buck's in love with Eddie) know the reason Buck isn't there is because he couldn't handle the heartache of seeing Eddie in a serious relationship. Karen decides to change the topic of conversation.

Meanwhile Buck is at the grocery store, buying ingredients so he can make Eddie's abuela's chicken soup, his new comfort meal. As he's going through the isle he accidently bumps carts with another person. "Oh I am so sorry" the person apologizes, turning to look at Buck. Buck immediately finds this person comforting and beautiful, "oh no my apologies!" They look at Buck and can tell something is wrong, "I know we don't know each other but how about we go get some Mexican food, you look like you need a friend", Buck looks shocked but ultimately agrees. 

After the BBQ and grocery store day, Buck had told everyone (but Eddie) about Y/N, the quirky woman he met and how they were getting closer. Everyone was happy that he was beginning to move on. Chris could also tell there was something different about Buck but he didn't ask because nothing about them changed. He still made sure to make his dad drop him off at Buck's every weekend that Buck didn't work. Eddie was struggling, Ana wanted to make things more permanent by wanting to move in but he kept dodging it. He could also tell that Buck was talking to him but there was a distance between them now. They no longer basically sat in each other's laps, they no longer had lingering touches, they no longer hung out together after work. It was driving Eddie insane because he needed Buck in his life and although he knew he'd never have Buck in the way he wanted because Chris needs a mom, he still hoped they would still be close but it was beginning to seem like that was not the case. 

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

"We haven't had a day at the zoo, just you, me and Chris, so I expect us to go tomorrow, see you at 8am" Eddie tells Buck in the locker room on a Friday, it's been weeks since he's been with Buck in a nonwork related way. Ana had told him that he needed to prioritize her and he agreed because he knew he loved Buck but had to give Christopher a mother. Buck sighed, "You sure you want to come?" He asked surprised, he was planning on taking Christopher to a brunch place Y/N had introduced him to, so that Chris and Y/N could finally meet. He'd talked to both previously and they were both excited to meet each other. Chris was nervous about meeting Y/N because he was afraid she'd take his Bucky from him but Buck told him Y/N knew and accepted that Chris came first. Eddie nodded and walked away. 

*Next morning*

As Eddie was getting everything ready for when Buck came to pick them up, Ana walked in, she was still trying to convince him to move in together but he was still saying no, he knew the moment he said yes, he would absolutely lose Buck forever. "What are you doing here?" Eddie asked surprised, before she could answer Chris walked out, excited for his day with both Dad and Buck, he missed these. As soon as he saw Ana his smile was wiped of his face, "I thought Ms. Flores wasn't coming" Chris asked, and Eddie knew in this moment that maybe Ana wasn't the best option for Chris. Maybe everyone had been right in telling him to follow his heart. He thought with time Chris would come to love Ana but the fact that he refused to stop calling her Ms. Flores and refused to spend time with her was a major red flag. After the BBQ Bobby had admitted that when he was talking about moving on, on the q word day, he was actually talking about Buck. Now though, he noticed that no one talked about Buck in his presence, when he was at work, it was all professional, he was losing his family thanks to his attempt to make his parents proud. He decided that after the zoo he would convince Buck to have Chris sleep over so that he could break up with Ana tonight. After, he would come clean with Buck about why he started to date her and admit that he actually loves Buck. "Where are we going" Ana asked happily, while also going to help Chris with his shoes even though he didn't need the help. "Buck and I are taking Chris to the zoo" Eddie tells her firmly, she looks at him with her lips pursed, clearly upset. "I thought we were going to take Christopher to the zoo next weekend" she asked. "NO THE ZOO IS FOR ME AND BUCKY" Chris yells and walks back to his room. "Maybe he shouldn't spend so much time with Evan" Ana told Eddie for the millionth time, she also refused to call him Buck, because "it's childish". Eddie sighed. Suddenly, Chris walked out of his room with his phone and handed it to his dad, "it's Buck, he wants to talk to you" and then walked back to his room. Eddie grabbed the phone, "hello" he asked confused, wondering when Buck would arrive to pick them up. "Chris mentioned Ana is coming? I figured we could just meet at the zoo instead then. I'm about to head over there instead since I was almost at your place, see you soon" is all he says before hanging up. Eddie gets upset, he was looking forward to finally being in Buck's jeep again like old times. Great, he muttered. "You're not coming, today is all about Chris and Buck. You and I will have dinner at around 8pm" is all Eddie says to Ana, she smiles thinking it's going to be a good night, in their many months dating, they've only slept together about 3 times, but she was patient, she didn't know it was because he felt like he was cheating on Buck. Eddie goes to Chris' room and explains it's just the 3 of them and that they would meet Buck at the zoo, which didn't lift Chris' spirit much. 

When Eddie and Chris finally arrived at the zoo, at the entrance they noticed Buck was talking with someone, Eddie immediately got jealous. Buck spots them and frowns, wondering where Ana was. "Chris buddy! I have a very important friend here who's been wanting to meet you forever" Buck tells Chris. Y/N hugs Chris right away, "Christopher it is so nice to finally meet you! Listen, Buck told me about your fears but just know that if he EVER tries to put me before you, I will leave him right away! You come first! Also we're not official yet because I need to make sure I have your approval, so after the zoo just let me know if you approve or not and be completely honest, ok buddy" she tells him truthfully, which Chris likes, so he can tell he'll get along with her right away. "Oh Eddie, you haven't met Y/N yet, Y/N this is Eddie" Buck introduces his 2 partners. Y/N knows all about Eddie and Buck's unrequited love. She also knows he's finally healing and moving on from Eddie. Eddie gets jealous, has Buck found someone? When did this happen. "When did you meet" he can't help but ask. Buck gets flustered, he knows the moment he tells Eddie, Eddie might figure it out. "The day I didn't show up at the Grant-Nash get together, when you wanted to introduce Ana to all of us" he says. 

That's when Eddie's world collapses. He realized the reason Buck didn't show up was because of the heartbreak of seeing Eddie with someone else, that same heartbreak Eddie is having by seeing Buck with someone. Eddie pushed Buck into the arms of someone else that unfateful day. Here Eddie was hoping to have a fun day at the zoo with his boys with the promise of tomorrow professing his love for Buck and asking him on a date, only to find out Buck has slowly began to move on from him after Eddie made his relationship with Ana serious by introducing her to the team. 

[ao3feed-piltovers-finest]

under the mistletoe

by aBitPredictable

“Three times in one morning!?” Caitlyn whined with a huff upon finding the object of her frustration dangling from the inner frame of the coat closet door.

In the span of a single hour, the damn thing had somehow journeyed from the shower curtain rod, to the inside of a kitchen cabinet, to here. And miraculously, all without her notice. How the culprit had gotten so good at this scheme of hers in only a matter of days, Caitlyn hadn’t a clue, and like each time before, Vi was ready to pounce.

OR: Vi has a little too much fun with the mistletoe and isn’t prepared for Caitlyn’s retaliation.

Words: 2128, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Caitlyn (League of Legends), Vi (League of Legends)

Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends)

Additional Tags: Prompt Fic, POV Caitlyn (League of Legends), Alternate Universe, unspecified careers, Established Relationship, Slice of Life, very little plot, Suggestive Themes, Implied Sexual Content, post-sex cuddles, Pillow Talk, aka very intimate and kinda horny but no smut sorry, rated M mostly for the mood, obv involves mistletoe but otherwise not Christmas themed

Read on A03. from AO3 works tagged ‘Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends)’

[sunriserose1023]

Point of Ignition [two]

WARNINGS: Hangover, mentions of throwing up WORD COUNT: 2128

masterlist

You moaned as consciousness finally took hold. You opened one eye to look at the clock beside your bed, groaning when you lifted your pillow from behind your head and put it over your face. 

“You are not allowed to smother yourself.” “Let me die in peace.”

Natasha chuckled at your muffled response. 

“I have coffee.”

You groaned, shaking your head beneath the pillow. 

“At least drink some water.” “Leave me alone.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, walking over and snatching the pillow from your face. You hissed at the light, the sudden intrusion hurting your eyes. 

“Good God, woman. You’d think you’ve never gotten drunk before.” “I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. It’s been a while.”

Natasha shoved a bottle of water in your hands, and you grumbled to yourself as you sat up. You squinted your eyes at her as she sat on her bed, guzzling a large cup of coffee. After you’d downed half the bottle, you looked her way. 

“How did we get home last night?” “Sam and Bucky walked us. Well… Sam and I walked. Bucky pretty much carried you.”

You groaned and put your head in your hand. 

“Did I say anything?” “Nothing untoward. Nothing sexual, despite Bucky’s multiple attempts.” “I think I’m going to be sick.” “Oh, it wasn’t anything too bad.” “No, I …”

You ran to the small bathroom, hitting your knees at the toilet. Natasha made a face before she stood up, walking in to gather your hair and hold it back. 

“Hey, at least you didn’t do this in front of him.” “Not helping.”

You sat on your bed with a blanket wrapped around you, watching Netflix on your laptop. Natasha walked in with a bag of food in her hands and went to you, bending to see what you were watching. 

“Grey’s again?” “It’s my comfort show.” “That’s saying something, when your comfort show is blood and guts and death.”

You stuck your tongue out at her and she laughed as she opened the bag. 

“Chicken sandwich and fries for you.” “Thanks.”

She handed your food to you, sitting on her bed and crossing her legs as she unwrapped her own chicken sandwich. You paused your show, eating a few fries, then speaking. 

“Hey, Nat?” “Hmm?”

She looked at you with her sandwich in her mouth and you smiled. She chewed, raising an eyebrow, your signal to go ahead and say what you wanted to. You took a sip from your water, staring at your sandwich while you spoke. 

“Did a whole bunch of girls come up to Bucky last night?”

She swallowed her bite, studying you. 

“Why?”

You shrugged your shoulders. 

“Can’t remember if I dreamed that or not.” “Is it bothering you?”

You rolled your eyes, eating another fry. 

“No.” “Muffin, let me tell you what I’ve learned.”

She lounged back, wiggling her red-tipped toes. 

“Bucky is charming. He knows the right things to say and he knows how to use his devastatingly good looks to his advantage.”

She sighed. 

“He’s … enjoyed the company of a lot of women. He gets what he wants and then he’s on to the next one. He’s not rude to them or anything like that. He’s just a one and done kind of guy.”

You slowly nodded and Natasha took a dainty bite of one of her fries. 

“He flirted with me when I first got here. I flirted back, but I didn’t sleep with him. I honestly think that’s just one of his factory settings: when he sees a new girl, he goes for it.”

You gave a quiet laugh, studying your sandwich. You didn’t say anything, so Natasha continued. 

“If we’re being honest, I think he’d show you a good time. A real good time, if the rumors are true. But if you’re looking for something substantial and long-lasting … he’s not your guy.”

You lifted your eyes to hers and smiled. 

“I’m not looking for anything, substantial or inconsequential. I have bigger things to think about. I just feel like he won’t give up until he gets what he wants.” “He’s not going to pester you until you give in, or stalk you or anything like that. If you make him understand that you’re not into him, he’ll respect that.”

You slowly nodded, and Natasha stood up, brushing the crumbs off the front of her shirt. 

“I think I’m going to go shower.”

You nodded, smiling at her as she gathered her things, then headed down the hall to the communal showers. When she was gone, you settled down into your bed. 

You had already told yourself everything Natasha had said. Bucky was a playboy, period. None of the girls you’d seen last night seemed upset with him. They flirted, he flirted back, they touched him, he touched them back. Kissed a few on the cheek. 

While you went and shot everclear. 

You imagined your stomach shaking her finger at you, so you set your sandwich aside. You settled further into your bed, eyeing your computer again. You started the episode back up, vowing to yourself that you would not let Bucky Barnes distract you any more than he already had. You had turned over a new leaf. You were an all-new person, and a bad boy that fights in an underground club was the farthest thing from what you needed. 

Right?

On the first day of classes, you stood before the mirror in yours and Natasha’s dorm, taking a long look at yourself. Today, you had on a soft blue blouse, more skinny jeans, and the same ballet flats. You were debating on whether to forego a cardigan since the weather was nice, but you were worried the classrooms would be cold. You decided to take one, just in case, folding it up neatly and sliding it into your backpack. You nodded, blowing out a breath. 

It felt weird, to be dressing like this and forcing this new persona on yourself. You set out to leave your past behind and start fresh, and you were, but at what cost? 

You shook your head. The only person who knew you here was Natasha, and she had promised to do everything she could to help you leave your past in the past. And your past is exactly why starting anything up with Bucky Barnes was a brilliantly bad idea. 

You blew out a breath and shook your head. You had to stop thinking about him. He was not a good idea, no matter how cute he was. 

You straightened your shoulders and lifted your chin. You had a goal and you were working toward it. Once you knocked today’s classes out of the park, you’d find your rhythm and be fine. No, you’d be better than fine. 

“Did you catch the fight the other night?”

Your ears perked up when you heard the whisper down the table. Two girls had just put their books down, ignoring their work to gossip instead. Of course, you’d come to the library to get a head start on some assignments, but …

“No, stupid family dinner. How was it?” “He won again.” “Of course he did.”

You tried to pretend to focus on your work, but you couldn’t help overhearing. 

“He looked fine as hell, too. I don’t know why he ever wears a shirt.” “God, me either. Those tattoos on his arms but none on his chest? It’s all I can do not to throw my panties at him.”

You widened your eyes, blinking at the blank piece of paper in front of you. 

“I just wish he’d give us another chance.”

Your pen scribbled down the page, and you could suddenly hear your heartbeat in your ears. The other girl shook her head. 

“You know how he is. One and done.” “I know, but it was so good. I don’t think—no. I have never come that hard in my life.”

You coughed, shaking your head as the girls looked your way. You shook your head again. 

“Sorry. I knew I should have brought some water.”

They looked at each other, leaning forward and talking so softly you couldn’t hear them anymore. You tried to focus on your assignment, but your mind was like a neon sign blinking BUCKY. You picked up your phone, noting that you had almost two hours before your next class, and with that time, you decided to do the only thing you knew to do. 

Cyber stalking. 

You pulled up Instagram, smiling at the first pic that came up, of Natasha and Sam cheek to cheek. He was smiling and she had that sexy closed-mouth smile she did, and you couldn’t help but double tap it. 

After a moment, you touched the picture again, seeing Sam’s name pop up where Natasha had tagged him. You went to his page, scrolling just a bit past shots of birds and a plane and the sky, landing on a shot of a group of men, Bucky next to a man beside Sam. You glanced up, then touched the picture, smiling when tags were shown. You touched the one closest to Bucky, a victorious smile coming to your lips when his page appeared. 

Unprotected, of course. Public, because duh. You rolled your eyes at his profile picture and bio, taking a good look at his feed. There were some random shots, some of what looked to be a gym, various gym equipment. Some surprising shots of food that you assumed he cooked, but you’d keep your doubts there. Multiple shots of him at a punching bag, some from when he got new tattoos. And one that made your breath catch in your throat when you let it fill your screen. 

He was standing against a wall, leaning back, with his jeans on, zipped but unbuttoned. He didn’t have a shirt on, and he was looking to the right with an almost sad look on his face. His muscles were on full display, and with the positioning of the open button, you knew he wasn’t wearing any underwear. 

“Chick needed a model for her photography class. But I’m still not sure she was telling the truth. I mean, look how shamelessly objective that picture is.”

Your face was in flames when you heard the whisper in your ear. You slowly turned to see Bucky almost with his chin on your shoulder, a shit-eating grin on his face. You swallowed as he pulled out the chair beside you, setting his bag on the table, shaking his head. 

“Insta stalking me.” “I was not.” “Oh, so you just happened to stumble across my page, just happened to be scrolling through my feed?”

You didn’t have a good answer, so you didn’t say anything. Bucky leaned closer, one arm stretched across the back of your chair, scrolling through his pictures on your phone himself. 

“This one I like. Makes me look badass, right?”

You kept quiet, but it didn’t deter him. 

“There’s my bike, my baby. The duck at the pond behind the science building. Damn, I forgot about that carbonara. I’ll make it for you one day, pigeon.” “I don’t eat carbs.”

He snorted. 

“You ate four pieces of bread and two sleeves out of a box of Ritz crackers the other night.”

You blinked twice. 

“Momentary lapse. I was drunk.”

Bucky chuckled, leaning closer to you. 

“It’s okay to like me, pigeon.” “I don’t even know you.” “Well, let me take you to dinner and we can change that.”

You barked out a laugh so loud you were shushed by everyone around you. You clapped a hand over your mouth and sank in your chair while Bucky chuckled again beside you. You removed your hand and whispered to him. 

“Does that line ever work for you?” “It’s about 70/30.”

You sighed, sitting back in your chair and crossing your arms over your chest. Bucky held up a finger, sliding your phone towards him. You leaned up to watch him scroll to the top of the page, touching the blue “Follow” button. Then, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapping the screen until his Instagram was up, quickly finding your page and following you back. 

“There. Now we’re Insta friends and there’s no need for stalking.”

He looked down at his phone. 

“Or no possibility. Pidge, there’s one picture on your page.” “I’m new to social media.”

Bucky made a face like he didn’t believe you, but nodded. He clicked his phone off, standing up and sliding the phone into his pocket. 

“I’ll pick you up at seven. Have a wonderful day, Pidge.” “I’m not … hey, I never agreed—“

You were shushed again as he walked away, sinking into your seat as your face burned.

PREVIOUS//NEXT

[pherryt]

I wrote 3 Smubbles for the Wanskmas 2024 event, and the collection just came off Anon!

(Don't remember what @smubbles-etc are? They are specifically smutty drabbles, and they run multiple events per year centered around various holidays)

This time around, all my Smubbles are for My Hero Academia and could probably be something between M and E (so I marked them all as E)

1 - Gloryhole at UA - Yagi Version

Yagi/Others, Words: 2085 Summary: Somehow, when Toshinori signed on to teach the next generation of Heroes, this hadn't been a perk he'd expected.

2 - Gloryhole at UA - Aizawa Version

Direct Sequel to previous Yagi/Aizawa, Words: 2128 Summary: Aizawa is faced with a moral dilemma. He knows who's on the other side of the wall, and he would rather have Yagi in his bed, but he can't say anything without breaking the promise of anonymity.

3 - Logical Santa

Inspired by Official Artwork of Aizawa as Santa. Aizawa/Yagi, Words: 2146 Summary: Coerced by Nedzu to play Santa, Shouta comes home to his reward.

Reminder that while I view the Smubble premise as a challenge (and generally fail at writing SMALL), I write interconnected drabbles and post them as separate chapters to make a complete work. But you can click "Entire Work" if you'd rather read all at once

[tgmsunmontue]

Hi, for WIP Wednesday please W for Transformers AU (or P if you don’t have time) and P for Wrong number. Thank you.

Sorry - no words on either of those fics tonight, it's nearly midnight here and I've done... 5259 words tonight toward four different fic.

Transformers fic is always tricky for me because I am not super familiar with all the different versions of canon, and what versions of canon there are, are conflicting, so that gets frustrating until I remind myself it's fanfic, I can handwave as well as the next person.

Wrong number - it's the flow which is bugging me there, haven't yet hit the groove for how it's going to work, so even though I have written 3.5k of it, I'm not ready to release any of it out into the wild yet. Fics generally don't start getting posted until I have a rough plan, even if it's just in my head or a bunch of notes in a word document.

Saga of Solitude - 2128 words (first 7k of the next chapter is done and currently being read over just for funsies by Phisworld14)

Tracing Poetry got 423 words

You look like a bad idea got 1345 words

My TG Big Bang got 1363 words because RedFurryCat knows it's likely going to be long and wants to ensure it's definitely finished in time for my Beta.

🌻🌻🌻

[werezmastarbucks]

golden

april june masterlist 5/18

word count: 2128

music: creepin' by weeknd

and i've got nothing else to remember you by

"You're stuck with me forever, you know that?"

Taehyung tried to pull Jungkook away, but he hung onto you, his smile expecting for you to actually reply.

"Yeah", you beamed. "I'm not mad about it".

He let himself be dragged towards the karaoke machine, and you took a few steps back, knowing that the yelling that would ensue now should be avoided.

Ever since you realized your own humanness and mortality, you always knew you wanted more. You couldn't settle for the good. The good life, the good guy, the good job. You craved for the unattainable dream, and that's how you lost the only normal person from your life. The first husband, married young, decision made in one day spontaneously, in the countryside, got lost as soon as you started feeling that the life was too simplistic for you. You were creative. You wrote books, getting into insane writing fits that restricted you from eating and washing. From seeing people and communicating with your whats-his-name husband. The marriage lasted nine months and he was off. You wanted to travel, wanted to get a pet, wanted him to get into books you loved, wanted him to live. He wanted to settle at twenty-two and watch TV.

Then, years later, you met Jungkook. And he was finally the person you could sincerely be proud of, who you could even look up to, despite him being two years younger than you. He was alive, he wasn't just existing. He was as creative as you, and even more. He was proactive about this current life, tuned to people around him, he was passionate about his job, his hobbies, his brothers, and you. And he was painfully handsome: his gleaming eyes and open, childish smile just turned into the straw that broke the camel's back. He could use his good features to produce something on the outside. He had the capibility to admire others while being ridiculously gifted. You couldn't not love him; that's all formalities, but from the very beginning, you loved him, and skipped the period of butterflies tearing your stomach open. It was so reassuringly definite, you loved him. Like you met him twenty years ago. Like you were always married. He was drama-free; he wasn't capable of that. Jungkook was the summer of your life, a neverending summer. He sang in karaoke, hopping on the same spot, and you knew it only charged him more. He was the broken battery, never running out of charge. Only more. He said, you gave him energy. How, if you didn't have enough even for yourself. He didn't seem mortal.

Jungkook started noticing something strange after the first leg of his tour. You and Yoongi, leaning together over the water jar, although you didn't need to stand that close to each other. From time to time you two seemed joined at the hip; he never thought much about it. On that random night it clicked in his brain: maybe he should have? Maybe he should have been concerned all this time, seeing that Yoongi prefers your company over anybody else's in the world?

He found comfort in knowing that with his hyung, you will always be looked after. He giggled about it to himself: Yoongi hyung will run over anybody who comes close to you. The only one Yoongi let get close to you, was him, Jungkook. He found it amusing. Ah, you take such good care of my favorite, hyung. He thought it was Yoongi showing his love for him, always. He never had, even in the back of his mind, a thought that it wasn't right. Nobody thought that. Namjoon never took him to the side to say, hey, don't you think Yoongi is overly protective of Y/N? It was normal. Yoongi fought like an animal for people he loved.

Seemingly nothing changed, but now he looked at that water jar and thought, that's weird. She is my wife. I do not need him to tilt his head like that when he's listening to her. I don't need her to notice how notoriously good-looking hyung is. Me? I'm just a bunny. I am trying, but I am the summer boy. He, a full man.

He noticed it in the lingering glances you left for each other, in understanding you had with Yoongi even when you were safely hidden away behind Jungkook's arms. In the familiarity with which you discussed his music: yes, Yoongi is obsessing with snares this month.

He did three more songs with Tae, always looking behind his shoulder.

In between the second and third one, he heard Yoongi's voice from the back:

"I need a coffee".

And suddenly Jungkook remembered.

All he could do, as he set off for the second leg of tour (and you begged him, nagged and whined to kiss you again, to hug you again), was to hope he was wrong. Sometimes he forgot you've only been in his life for three and a half years. Because of how harmonious you looked next to Yoongi. Like he managed to travel back in time and steal you before.

It's gone on for almost a year.

When you're sitting on a pile of gold, and this gold is, in fact, the career, the family you have built, you get hesitant to sway.

Jungkook was watching his fear progressing: Yoongi with his arm around your shoulder, telling you the funniest thing you've heard that day. He couldn't do that. Jungkook could only laugh at your jokes and hold you at night, praying. You always came back home, eyes shiny as you saw him, throwing yourself in his arms. The fact that you weren't growing distant, weren't stealing looks when you were all together, the fact that Yoongi was calm and cool as usual, consoled him. He was feeling bipolar.

Your hand ran through his hair, and he opened his eyes.

"June", you said. The melody of this word sounded so good to him. "What's up?"

He smiled tightly, like he always did with excitement,

"I am not sleeping enough".

"Of course", you agreed, "what time did you fall asleep last night?"

"Three hours ago?"

No matter what Jungkook did, no matter how good he was, and what poses he tried, no matter how much he exhausted himself, he rarely made you come. You never reproached him, your simplicity about it burying his concerns. But it just usually turned into something that should've been much shorter. The lovemaking turned nights into years, you two tenderly spinning together, laughing, playfully scolding each other. His problem was that he was a perfectionist, and often wouldn't let you go until you finally orgasmed.

You couldn't resist him, it seemed. It was the biggest solace of his life. Should he look you in the eyes, you threw yourself onto his shoulders with a whine. Oh my cute boy, my favorite boy.

The morning was crisp, and nice. Acid-orange sunrise was crawling up the tall buildings outside. You cupped his face, tracing the features from forehead to his chin, as he chewed his breakfast.

"Stop staring at me, stalker", he chuckled, shoving the salmon into his mouth. Then he remembered,

"This girl with no pants started showing up again".

You laughed, entertained to no end at his and his band's suffering.

"There's so many of us, Jimin started stalling, and Mr Lee lost him, and she threw herself at him".

Hearing your laughter was instead of coffee. Feeling your fingers on his face as he was waking up was instead of ginger shots. Kissing your warm mouth as he was leaving was instead of morning exercise. You were his world.

He didn't feel betrayed when it dawned on him. It wasn't in his nature to be mad at people he adored that much. He got scared. He was afraid you'd slip through his fingers.

Jungkook was staring, eyes going dry, narrow straight line of light shining on you in Yoongi's arms. And it made perfect sense to him. And his mind became a lonely place. He saw hyung's hands holding you tightly, fingers curled, and the expression of peace on his face. And he fell through the missing step.

You noticed Jungkook started holding your hand more tightly, especially when Yoongi was around. His bunny eyes followed every move Yoongi produced. He called him hyung now with a new undertone of urgency. Always with a slight question. Twice bigger than Yoongi, Jungkook seemingly kept forgetting the body he was living in lately. He felt smaller. And kept saying, hyung? And Yoongi kept looking up with his shark eyes and nod at him, like an emperor nods at his subjects, who did good. Jungkook always did good, and he was set on carrying on that way.

You noticed the lonely look in his eyes and tried to kiss it away, holding his head in your hands, not letting go until he'd start nagging like a baby.

"Do you love me?"

You frowned with confusion.

"I love you to the moon and back, June".

He urged for these words like for the steps which he needed to get somewhere. It was tilting, tilting, like the ship. The shadow was coming. You all felt it.

Yoongi pushed his cheek with his tongue until it hurt. The ring in his ear got caught up with the hair and tugged. He released it, irritated, and put his hand back on the keyboard. Hearing the steps behind the door, he looked at the time and thought. He wasn't expecting anybody and Y/N didn't walk like that. The door beeped with the code: the only person who punched the code so violently that the door shook, was Gookie.

Yoongi turned himself with his chair and stretched his back. That's good. Whatever the maknae came for, will distract him a little. The door opened, and he saw Jungkook, hood falling off his head that very second, his flustered, uncombed look screaming alarm. Yoongi understood everything immediately. Jungkook stared like that when he was ready to fight. Lips parted slightly, rings turned away from his mouth, eyes, absolutely wild. Yoongi was always impressed upon seeing the rabid Jungkook; he was almost unstoppable. Whether he was chasing a pap that cursed at Jin, or sore that he was tricked in a card game, he was dangerous and serious. Yoongi was ready.

"Hey, kkoma", he greeted him, unable to hide a smile. Jungkook was still keeping his insane look, silent, just blinking at him. Yoongi tilted his head.

"Close the door".

He watched with disappointment as Jungkook complied, and the fight started sliding off him. Something broke.

"Yoongi hyung", he said quietly, bowing his head.

"What's up with you Gookie?"

"You should stop calling me kid and baby, and such", he said. Yoongi raised his eyebrows, spinning in his chair.

"What's gotten into you?"

"I am not a child anymore", he said heavily.

Yoongi decided not to push him. It's not his job to console Jungkook - it's Y/N's. He was there to protect and teach him, although there was not much left to teach. Maybe even nothing, but Yoongi liked to hold on to those crumbles, as if it could keep Jungkook close for longer.

He watched the maknae unzip and take off his heavy hoody, glistening with the rain.

"Put it on the desk, please, not the couch".

Jungkook obeyed again, twisting his fists like they hurt.

"Yoongi", he called again, and Yoongi stood up to approach him. His hands lay on Jungkook's shoulders, for which he had to raise them a little.

"What is it about?"

Jungkook blinked. He drowned in his eyes the way Y/N did, probably. Yoongi's stare is just not easy to handle.

"Is it about Y/N?"

Her name finally triggered the fire inside of him. Jungkook raised his own hand and wrapped in in a hold around the rapper's neck. Like they were about to hug. He tensed his arm, slight breath escaping his lips. Yoongi watched his face, waiting. Jungkook moved his body closer and put his head on Yoongi's shoulder, the hold so tight that a less collected person would panic. He was pressing on Yoongi's shoulders with both hands, trying to crush him, and Yoongi didn't breathe, but didn't falter either.

It wasn't his job to console Jungkook and squeeze out whatever blocks he had in his brain. As he was finally released, Yoongi shook his head to let the oxygen into the brain again. The spot where Jungkook pressed with his fingers pulsated with pain.

"I want to record the first verse again. It's just not good enough", maknae said.

They were looking in each other's eyes, and everywhere in the small studio room, there was a shift. Jungkook is much better on the inside, Yoongi realized. He completely forgot how this boy is. He thinks it's all his fault. Y/N, at this realization, would completely collapse, she would try to wrap around him with her small body, legs crossed behind his back monkey style, covering his whole head with kisses. Yoongi's way of doing that was to smile at him with his gums visible,

"At one at night. Of course, let's do it, June. Go on".

He allowed himself to feel a little better.

[dhr-ao3]

Through Time

Through Time https://ift.tt/sEKhfeP by vinewrappeddragon Hermione and Draco have shared a bond across centuries, their intertwined destinies leading them through lifetimes of love and loss. When an ancient mystery is uncovered, they must confront the ghosts of their shared past and decide if they can finally break the pattern that has haunted them. Words: 2128, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: F/M Characters: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Narcissa Black Malfoy Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Additional Tags: Reincarnation, Past Lives, Soulmates, Slow Burn, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Magical Artifacts, Mutual Pining, Fluff and Smut via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/RYcVZk9 November 26, 2024 at 07:59PM

[garricks4thwingqueen]

Always Yours Part 3

Raelynn and Liam have to face the parapet. Xaden has to prep himself that the day is finally here for them.

Trigger Warnings: Slight NSFW mentions, Swearing

                                                            Part 3 

Word Count :2128

                                                      Xaden’s POV 

I woke up to the sound of Sgaeyl’s voice in my head “It’s time for your first official day of being a wingleader. Get up or risk the raft of being late.”  I groaned. “ I could have fucking slept better if a certain dragon remembered to put her shield up when she was fucking her mate.” and then I felt her slam that mental door shut. “Great, at least you do it now.”  I groaned as I heard a knock on my door, “coming.” I groaned knowing far too well it was either Bodhi or Garrick or both. I opened it to both of them. “Man you look shit.”  “Shut it Boh, you can take my dragon from me.” “No thanks man, you can have that mated pair.” Bodhi responded with a chuckle. “Ready for today?” Garrick asked as we started to head down for breakfast. I huffed in the mildly cold morning air mixed with a sky that was a gloomy gray that threatened to brust through with a storm any minute. Hopefully after the parapet I said to myself. “Xaden, they’ll be fine.” Garrick siad reassuringly as we sat down at the leaders table for breakfast leaving Bodhi with Imogen. “I was terrified last year for Bodhi and Imogen, But this year? I may as well be a fucking trainwreck.” I said looking down at my breakfast plate which did not look appetizing at all, hoping that my sister and foster brother at least got a decent breakfast filled with protein. 

Garrick and I made our way up to the turret as we could see this year's cadets already lining up for their turn. Taking surveillance, I didn’t see a head of blonde or a head of blonde with burgundy highlights or any relics sticking out in my vision yet. As wingleader and section leader it was mine and Garrick's job to take down the names as the cadets started to cross. “It’ll be my damned fault if anything happens.” I heard Garrick sigh. I didn't even think I had said them aloud Stop blaming yourself. They don’t blame you. They’ll do fine. I don’t respond to Sgaeyl. “Xaden.” Garrick started to say as I asked the approaching cadet their name and he wrote it down and I motioned them forward to start. “What?” I snapped “They’ll be fine. We all have been.” “Yeah, do you know what it feels like standing here being the one to call your foster brother and biological younger sister to the start of what may be their death sentence.” Garrick sighed once more as the 10th cadet started crossing. “That's not fair on yourself or even to me. You know I care about them too and Bodhi and Imogen. For the millionth time Xaden we are all in this together, so stop blaming yourself because we’d all rather be here then dead, and you know as much as I do that Raelynn isn’t going to put up with the blame game.” I chuckled. “Yeah, you may care about my sister a little too much.” It was Garrick’s turn to chuckle. ” You kind of squashed that a year ago and if I have a feeling in what she's written back to me, they may be a little more than friends now. Get ready for the next one, Riorson.” He finished. I sighed, taking in my line of vision in front of me about 6 cadets back was Liam. Liam holding on to my little sister, kissing her passionately like no one was watching. “Damn they need to breathe.” I said to Garrick. “Guess I was right.” As they finally stopped what may be their last kiss; I shook the thought out of my head as Liam’s soft blue eyes locked with mine as he was now third in line. Stop it. Sgaeyl said in a very annoyed tone. This time it was my turn to slam the mental door shut that connected us as there was only one more cadet ready to cross in front of Liam as it officially started to downpour. “Fuck.” I cursed. The parapet was a lethal balance beam on its own, but with weather conditions it may as well be even worse. Their strength was about to be tested as Liam stepped up. Instead of asking for his name which Garrick was already writing down I whispered, “Good luck, see you after this shit is over with.” “You’ve got this. "Garrick said on my left. Liam nodded “See you guys later. Remind Raelynn I love her.” He said, stepping forward. I nodded, not trusting my voice. He’ll be fine I whispered to myself as Garrick nodded in Rae’s direction and that's when my heart skipped a million beats. All I wanted was to hug my sister, but I couldn't. I couldn't risk that target on her all ready and as leadership we weren't allowed to intercept during parapet. “I love you.” She whispered with an added “both.” “I love you too, find Bodhi.” “Slow and steady. Small steps with the wet ground.” Garrick added as I motioned forward giving her a little more time then other cadets. Hopefully, Liam was at least now out of her line of vision if anything was going to happen. “She’s on.” Garrick whispered as I sighed, motioning for the next cadet to come forward. 

                                          Raelynn’s  POV

I jumped off the parapet straight into Liam’s arms and buried my head into the crook of his neck. “I love you.” He whispered into my shoulder. “I love you more.” I said through a few rounds of tears; after facing one of the most stressful things I've done in my entire life, I never wanted to leave my man's arms again. ”Ouch, I thought you loved me the most?” “Boh!” I shrieked, flying out of Liam’s arms into my cousins. “Glad to see you both made it across. We’ve missed you.” I heard Liam chuckle as he pulled me back into his arms after he took his turn hugging Bodhi and placing a soft kiss on my lips. “So, are you two like what, official now?” “As of last night.” Liam said with the biggest grin on his face in Imogen’s direction. “Let’s just say I’m finally glad to have my best friend again. Dealing with these 3 alone this past year, it’s your turn.” Imogen said, giving me a hug. “Ha, I’ll gladly watch them all for a day.” I chuckled. “So how much of this is left?” I asked in Bodhi’s direction. “Let’s see, it's 11 am so it's about all day. First formation is at 6pm.” “Don’t worry we are all divided in the fourth wing evenly.” Bodhi said, looking between the both of us. 

Later that evening after dinner and after formation, Liam and I finally had a chance to step away before going to our cots in the dormitories. “I love you.” I whispered as he pulled me in close in an enclosed alcove area off of the courtyard. He lifted me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Not having the same bed is really going to suck.” I sighed as Liam let out a deep chuckle in response as his fingers slipped into my underwear. “Who said we can't share a cot.” He said in a low raspy voice as he playfully bit my neck, his fingers still exploring my lower region. “Li.” “yeah baby?” “I need you, now.” “So eager.” He chuckled and started sliding my pants just low enough. “Being frisky in public?” I heard my brothers familiar voice, “Fuck.” Liam cruised, quickly pulling my pants back up. “Anything you two want to share?” Xaden asked, now coming into full view. “That I missed you like hell.” I said as he chuckled, pulling me into a hug. “It was so hard not to hug you earlier.” I whispered. “I know. I was a nervous wreck the rest of the day; until Sgaeyl actually finally told me you both made it across.” He said letting go of me and hugging Liam. “Let’s go for a walk.” Xaden said, wrapping his arm around my waist, Liam’s already there. “I hate having to say this but you're really going to have to be on guard the majority of the time. Being my sister and who our father was.” “Xaden.” I sighed “You really think I’m going to let my girl out of my sight if I have any control over it.” Liam intercepted. “No and I’m thankful she has you.” Xaden said as we stopped under a tree. “Garrick!” He chuckled as he turned around from talking to Bodhi and Imogen. It took Gar only 4 steps to close the space between us, “I’m glad you both made it.” he said as we hugged. “Isn’t this illegal?” I asked, looking around our core group of 6 and leaning back into Liam as he rested his back against the fruit tree. “Technically.” Xaden answered, “but it’s also the one place besides classes that we can all be together.” Garrick added in. I sighed, grasping Liam’s hand a little more for the added comfort.  “The first year is always the toughest, not that it gets any easier.” Xaden said with a steady gaze on both Li and I. “Unfortunately, because of me, for us it's worse.” “Xad.” s started to say. “Told you Riorson.” Garrick chuckled. “Because of you we are alive.” I said, stepping towards my brother. Xaden was never one to show his emotions well. In fact, he was basically a solid rock when it came to expressing himself. “If you didn’t do what you did 7 years ago none of us would have a chance to even be standing here.” There were times I could break his tough exterior, but I knew it wasn't going to be now, especially when it involved mine and Liam’s safety. However, I did feel his tension release as we stepped out of our hug. “We just need to make sure that we all continue to help each other, so we all make it through.” He said while pacing back and forth. “We are safe in our squad. Those in the same squad can’t attack squad mates. That's why we split up.” Garrick explained looking directly at me.” The only class we have together is battle brief.” Imogen added. “ I wanna meet as much as we can here at night during the week.” Xaden said. “ “We come and go in twos. Splitting up pairs so it's not so obvious each time. It’s also getting late, and we all need our rest for the new year.” he added. “Let’s start heading back. Mairi goes with Garrick. I'm borrowing my sister as I can’t seem to trust you two tonight.” He said with a smirk on his face as I sighed, turning around to face Liam and giving him a kiss and a “Good night, I love you.” “I love you, Rae. I’ll see you at breakfast.” He hugged me tighter before letting go and walking away with Garrick, with Imogen and Bodhi following shortly after. “What’s your signet?” I asked as we killed time to leave.

“Shadow wielding.” He said as I felt a tap on my shoulder that I noticed didn't come from his hand but instead the shadows as if he had full control over them. “So Sgaeyl, coincidence or did she choose you because of Grandpa (who was one of her previous riders.) “Grandpa I’m 100% certain, even though she says it's because of my ruthlessness.” He answered as we started walking back to the campus, his arm around my waist protectively almost a little too tight. ”Xad.” I said “Hmm.” “My ribs would like to breathe.” “Sorry.” He chuckled, only easing up a little bit. “So you and Liam. Officially, official?” “Officially.” I said “I’m nervous as hell Xaden.” I said barely above a whisper as we stopped at the entrance to the hall that led to the girls dormitory; there was no point in giving first years their own room until after Threshing. “Losing Liam is my biggest fear besides losing you or anyone else close to us. I’m not even sure I’d be able to function without him. I’m not even sure I’m going to make it to October 1st. It's still the beginning of July and we’ve never spent a night apart.” Xaden chuckled letting go of me “You’ll survive that’ll be the least of your challenges up ahead even though I know it won't be easy for either of you.” “Speaking of night you best get to your cot before it's any later.” “Xad.” I said barely above a whisper trying to hold back my tears.

[resinfossil]

I keep tossing around this idea in my head for an AU where instead of getting killed Ptolemy gets sealed away or sent to the future somehow and ends up as Mr. Button's apprentice sometime between GE and PG

I haven't worked out all the details but roughly what I'm imagining is this:

Ptolemy's cousin is paranoid that he might have found a way to cheat death, so instead of having Ptolemy killed, he orders the Roman magicians to seal him away

Due to Ptolemy's trip to the Other Place, this actually works

2128-2129 years pass

Kitty has started learning magic from Mr. Button and is trying to find more information on Bart's masters

Mr. Button buys a bottle or similar item that is believed to have a spirit trapped inside with the intent of asking the spirit some questions

Surprise! It's not a spirit at all, it's Ptolemy!

Kitty immediately sees the resemblance to Bartimaeus's favorite form and knows that if she can get Ptolemy on her side then Bartimaeus will be that much more willing to help her succeed at getting commoners and spirits to work together

(Of course there is a language barrier between Kitty and Ptolemy, and this isn't exactly something she can ask for Mr. Button's help with, so that part may take a while, but she's determined to make it work)

Not sure where the main plot would go from there, but I kinda want a version of the succubus scene where everything starts out pretty much the same except Ptolemy is also there, but when the succubus shows her true form the expression on Ptolemy's face morphs from polite interest to unfettered glee. He starts peppering her with a million questions that just came to his mind about the connections between a djinni's true form and their powers, why djinn almost never show their true forms on planes visible to magicians, etc.

This throws the succubus off long enough for Kitty to recover and give her her orders, by which point the succubus has decided that maybe this particular summoning won't be too awful and she's better off not being suicidally reckless this time.

Idk for some reason I just want Ptolemy to befriend the succubus (it would be completely platonic, just to be clear. Sooner or later Ptolemy would start summoning her without the magical safeguards like he did with Bartimaeus and his other djinn, which Mr. Button would not be pleased about when he finds out, and she'd just start hanging out in the house sometimes)