#too many M sounds in that but it's got the spirit

[grlsinterrupted]

kiss me beneath the milky twilight ♡ ‧₊˚

inspired by the party scene in 10 things i hate about you 𖦹₊ ⊹ | dallas winston x soc ! reader

-

the air was thick with the scent of cigarettes, coors beer, and sweat as the sound of music blasting through the speakers and chatter overlapped one another. to say that this was out of your nature was an understatement— you weren’t much of a party girl to begin with, but you especially weren’t the type of girl to attend a party buck merrill was hosting. sure, the parties that your soc friends hosted were absolute chaos, but this? these kind of parties on the other side of town wreaked a different level of havoc.

as soon as you stepped in through the door, it felt as if there were a million stares of disgust and confusion watching your every move. with your voluminous french twist updo and your hands tucked into the cardigan over your a-lined dress, you stuck out like a sore thumb compared to all the heads of grease you were engulfed in. however, there was a particular head of grease that appeared to be making his way towards you.

dallas winston, also known as ‘that hood with the headache-inducing accent’ by your friends— but even though your friends had a deep hatred for him, you could never seem to care that much about what your friends thought of him. maybe it was his scruffy brown hair, or those gorgeous puppy-like eyes that you couldn’t help but lose yourself in, or maybe it was the way he embodied an adrenaline rush— just what you needed to distract yourself from the stress of reality.

“what’s a prissy ol’ princess like you doing ‘round these parts?” he says with his signature smug smirk that drives you head over heels. dally leans against the wall with a cigarette placed between his rosy lips, taking a drag out of his cigarette before blowing the smoke into your face.

you cough as the smoke invades your airways, your hands fanning away the smoke into another direction. god, you hated the smell of stale tobacco. you then grab a shot of cheap vodka, downing it and slamming it back down onto the table. coming to this party undeniably one of the most impulsive decisions of your entire life— you could barely handle staying at one of bob’s ragers for more than 30 minutes before it got too barbaric.

you choke on the bitterness of the vodka slamming onto your tastebuds, scorching down your throat.

“i’m getting wasted, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do at a party?”

dallas lets out a chuckle of amusement as he watches you down that vodka like there’s no tomorrow. he shrugs, removing the cigarette from his lips and crushing it onto the floor with the heel of his combat boots. “i dunno, i say do whatever you wanna do.”

“funny,” you mutter in a monotone voice, your words laced with sarcasm. you grab another shot from the table, downing it as you walk away from him, your hand in the air waving ‘bye.’

after one too many shots of vodka, your mind is practically on autopilot. in the blink of an eye, you found yourself on top of a table dancing to the song ‘jailhouse rock’ for an audience of hoods and greasers. it felt as though you’d been set free, your inner wild spirit was finally breaking through your ‘soc princess’ image. your hips swayed to the beat of the music with not a thought in the world, completely unaware of the ceiling light dangling right above your head. just as you raised your heels and shifted your weight onto your toes, your forehead collided with the light and knocked you down. just before you could land on the ground, you felt a pair of firm, veiny hands wrapping around your waist.

“at this rate, you’re gonna give yourself a concussion,” uttered an oddly familiar voice. that new york accent was instantly recognizable and belong to a certain greaser that you just ran into.

“‘m fine, dal..” you slurred, your voice barely above a whisper. all of that screaming and singing must’ve done some real damage to your vocal chords— your voice had a rasp that sounded as if you smoked 5 packs of cigarettes a day.

“sure, you’re fine ‘til you throw up all over my boots.” he huffs out a chuckle, leading you towards the front door as your arm his over his shoulder for balance.

dallas seats you at the curb in front of buck’s house, taking a seat with you. there’s a glint of admiration in his eyes despite your disheveled appearance. your updo is now holding on for dear life, your hair at the verge of falling down your back altogether— not the mention the sweat sticking the front pieces of your hair onto your forehead.

you slowly look up into his eyes, your lips parted and practically screaming for him to kiss them. you never seemed to notice how beautiful he was under the milky twilight, his features glowing in the moonlight. you cup his face, letting out a soft giggle.

“your eyes have a little green in them,” you mutter under your breath, at a loss for words as you scramble for ways to describe the beauty in his eyes.

dallas simply shakes his head, a light chuckle escaping his lips. although he tries to seem nonchalant and unaffected by your captivation, he looks just as head over heels as you are.

“cut that out, princess.” he playfully nudges your shoulder, scooting himself closer next to you. when he tells you to cut it out, he really means to keep on going. keep telling him how tantalizing he is, keep telling him how irresistible he is.

'you wear those shoes and i will wear that dress, oh.. kiss me, beneath the milky twilight' .ᐟ ₊˚⊹♡

-

[triflesandparsnips]

An abbreviated list of the many, many reasons I love that the season 2 OFMD episodes are being released more closely to a regular television schedule than a single huge binge drop:

1. It allows for this cumulative building wave of meta and art and conversation to develop between episodes, growing higher and higher, yes, but also wider, broader, bringing in people who might have otherwise been missed in some big there-and-gone surge, creating (when in any fandom where new canon drives enormous fan engagement and creativity) an experience that I consider to be the greatest benefit of being in a live, active fandom: immersive fannish compersion.

2. It gives time for people to come up with theories based on one ep, and then have those theories absolutely smashed with the next (an important part of learning to play in the tidepool of media analysis rather than making oneself stationed there).

3. It gives time for us to literally feel time-- as Stede and Ed must spend time apart in the narrative, we must spend time watching them apart in real life, providing an element of emotional consonance that heightens our understanding of the characters and our engagement with the text. (In game design theory this is called ludonarrative consonance, btw, and it's fucking fascinating.)

4. And relating all this together, the slower release helps with the long tail effect, where the longer OFMD is out there and being actively engaged with, the longer there's space for new fans to enter into the fandom while fan activity is at its most FOMO height-- thereby increasing the show's overall reach (in terms of accessibility to new viewers through word of mouth and shared experience) and depth (through fan engagement and iteration on the canon and one another's work).

[itneverendshere]

school spirit and all! - soccer!frat!rafe cameron (+18) - part iii (final)

warnings: angst; smut; reader being bad with feelings; jj is a flirt.

word count: 6.3k (sorry)

what the fuck. 

as soon as the words left his mouth, you wondered how many hits to the head soccer players got each match, because there was no way in hell rafe cameron was in love with you.

suddenly hyperaware of your nakedness, you stood up, almost falling off his bed in the process.

in a frantic scramble, you reached for your clothes, tugging on your jersey inside out and hopping around on one foot trying to pull up your shorts.

"what's wrong with you?! we just had sex!"

rafe blinked, still dazed from your anything but innocent activities.

“uh, yeah, that's kind of when these feelings hit me.”

you paused, one leg in your levis shorts, the other still “bare”, and shot him a look. 

 "you don't just drop the l-word after sex! are you insane!" you managed to get your shorts up and fastened, albeit a bit crookedly, “jesus christ.”

“i didn’t mean to freak you out, it just came—"

“yeah, well, maybe lead with something less dramatic” you snorted, tugging your shirt the right way around. "i mean, who does that?"

he laughed, the sound rich and warm, and for a moment you were torn between being annoyed and charmed, “i’m sorry. i meant it tho.”

“no, you didn’t.” you shot back, rolling your eyes as you fumbled with your shoelaces.

“i did,” he insisted, his voice earnest, but you were too busy wrestling with your stubborn converse to look up.

“you don't even know me."

"course i do," he looked offended, like you insulted him, "your birthday is on october 8th, and your favorite color is blue. your favorite food is picanha and kimchi ramyeon. you do this thing when you're happy where you just speak really loud, all the time and when your favorite song comes on, which is all of them really, you always squeal—"

you think you lost at least three brain cells as you stood there, jaw dropped to the floor, listening to him list all the things he knew about you.

correctly.

"y’know what sherlock?” you said suddenly, standing up, finally fully dressed but still feeling exposed. “i need some air. a lot of it.”

“what?”

“i’m leaving.”

“wait—" you hear the sound of sheets ruffling, “wait a sec—dammit!”

you didn't look back as you hurried out of his room, the sounds of the frat party thumping from downstairs, music seeping through the walls. the hallway was packed with people, and you pushed your way through the crowd, your mind racing. oh my god. everyone was seeing you leave rafe cameron’s room in a hurry. there was no way in hell you’d have a peaceful week after this.

you were almost reaching the door when you felt a hand grab your upper arm. you turned around to see rafe, now dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, “can we talk about this?”

the music was deafening, forcing you to practically scream to be heard. “what part of 'too much' don’t you get?”

“why?” he asked, his voice barely cutting through the noise. “why does it have to be too much?”

“because it is!” you shouted, then softened your tone just enough to be less harsh, “just let it go.”

he let go of your arm, but his eyes stayed locked on yours. “’m not asking you to say it back, okay?”

you felt the weight of curious eyes on you. the partygoers’ stares only made you want to leave even more. desperation clawed at your chest.

rafe closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly, “did that really feel like only sex to you?”

you bit your lip, the regret hitting you immediately, but you couldn't stop now. you needed to get out.

“yeah.” you replied, even though your heart screamed at you to take it back.

he stepped back, letting go of your arm completely. “fine. go on then," he said, his tone flat and lifeless. “just go.”

“i’m sorry—" you started again, but rafe's expression hardened. he’d never looked at you like that and you hated every single second of it.

he stepped back further, creating a physical distance, as if to save himself the hurt, “leave.”

you didn’t have to be told twice, you wanted to be anywhere but there. you couldn't delete the image of his face when you rejected him from your brain. 

as soon as you were outisde, you pulled out your phone, and dialed pope's number. he picked up on the third ring, his voice laced with excitement.

"the dick was that bad? i could've sworn—”

tears were already threatening to fall as you tried to steady your voice. "pope, can you... can you pick me up?"

“huh?”

"i just... i need to get out of here," you managed, voice cracking as you wrapped an arm around yourself, feeling strangely exposed.

"shit. okay. i'll be there in ten minutes.”

you found a quiet spot near the edge of the campus, too embarrassed to sit outside rafe’s frathouse with so many people coming and going. leaning against a tree, you sank down, hugging your knees to your chest.

what the hell were you doing? had you just permanently ruined your friendship with rafe? let your little mommy issues get ahead of you?

when pope finally pulled up in his car, you climbed in wordlessly, unable to meet his eyes. 

“what did he do? you want me to punch him? cause y’know i’ll call jj and we—"

you leaned your head against the cool glass of the car window, “this was such a fucking bad idea.”

he glanced at you briefly before focusing back on the road, “what? why?”

“because.”

pope's brow furrowed in confusion. "what did he say?"

"that he loved me.”

“what the fuck?!" your body jolted forward, your heart racing from the sudden stop. the motherfucker accidentally slammed the brakes.

“pope, what the hell?”

“my bad, fuck,” he muttered, regaining control of the car and easing back onto the road, “he dropped that shit on you?”

“yeah.”

“okay, that’s kinda fucked, but—“ pope glanced at you again, concern etched on his face. “look, cameron might be a lot of things, but he’s not a liar. man, he’s the complete opposite if you ask me. too fucking honest for his own good.”

“he picked the worst time to be honest,” you muttered, wiping away a tear, “i literally had his dick in my hands!”

“dude!” pope faux-gagged, “i don’t need the details, jesus.”

“sorry,” you said, half-laughing through your tears. “it’s just... how can he love me? he doesn’t even know me! that’s what’s pissing me off the most.”

that was a lie.

pope sighed, shaking his head. “i don’t know, but it sounds like he’s really into you. you spent a lot of time together, right? maybe he knows you better than you think.”

he does.

“don’t get smart on me pope howard. i need your support right now, not this sentimentalist bullshit.”

pope chuckled, “you’ve got to talk to him. y’know that, right?”

you groaned, lifting the palms of your hands to your eyes, “why?”

“because you care about him, you dumbass. that’s fucking obvious.”

“stop making sense,” you mumbled, sighing heavily. “i need you to be angry with me, pope.”

he shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. "i'm your best friend. my job is to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.”

you slumped further into your seat, “this is your fault anyway. you planted the stupid idea in my brain.”

“me? this is all you.”

your mouth dropped, “be fucking serious. you told me to sleep with him! for sports!”

“yeah, okay, i’ll take the blame but…”

“but?” you narrowed your eyes in warning, “but what?”

he shrugged innocently, “you never listened to me up to that point. i didn’t think you’d do it. that’s gotta mean something.”

“stop making me think,” you muttered under your breath, letting your head fall back against the seat. “i just want to forget this whole night happened.”

“maybe you just need some time to figure out how you feel.”

“i don’t feel anything,” you lied, staring out the window at the passing lights. “he’s just rafe cameron.”

pope sighed again, the kind of sigh that said he didn’t believe you for a second. “whatever you say."”

he dropped you off at your dorm, waiting until you were inside before driving away. you made your way to your room, collapsing onto your bed. why did you feel like such a terrible person?

you grabbed your phone and scrolled through your contacts, stopping at rafe’s name. your thumb hovered over the call button before you shook your head, tossing the phone aside.

you needed time. time to think, time to breathe, and time to figure out what the hell you wanted.

the next morning, you woke up with a headache and a sense of unease that settled deep in your chest. you dragged yourself out of bed. pope had texted you, a simple “hope you’re okay <3” that made you smile despite everything. you quickly replied, assuring him you were fine, even if you didn’t fully believe it.

you weren’t.

not when your first class of the day was with rafe. but you could do it.

you walked into class just in time, like you always did, only this time you were dreading the inevitable awkwardness of being sat next to rafe.

you hadn’t thought this through. he usually got here before you, real heavy on being on time for everything he did. you tried to keep your eyes locked on the professor, who was gathering the material for class, but you still took small peeks towards the door, expecting to see him stroll in at any given moment.

except he never did. as the lecture progressed, he never showed up. 

when the professor eventually asked about his whereabouts, kelce, his friend who sat a few rows behind you, raised his hand casually.

“rafe’s not feeling well today,” kelce spoke up, his tone nonchalant. he glanced over at you briefly, a knowing look in his eyes that made your stomach twist. 

oh great, so now you were the witch of the wicked west to all his friends. 

the professor nodded sympathetically. “alright, thank you for letting me know, kelce. make sure he gets the notes from today’s lecture.”

kelce nodded in acknowledgment, and the class moved on, but your mind was racing. rafe skipping class wasn’t like him. the timing felt deliberate, almost as if he was avoiding you after last night. 

as the lecture continued, you realized rafe wouldn’t be the only one needing notes. all you’d done for two hours was scramble down a few words, none of them making any sense. you struggled to focus on the material. every glance towards the door was met with disappointment.

maybe this was serious. maybe he hated you now.

after what felt like an eternity, the class finally ended. packing up your things, you hesitated before deciding to approach kelce, who lingered near his seat. you’d only spoken to him a handful of times, mainly when you and rafe studied back at the frat house.

kelce was nice. but the look he was giving you now, was anything but.

"hey, kelce," you began, trying to sound casual.

"hey," kelce replied cautiously, eyeing you up and down. 

you swallowed, suddenly feeling self-conscious under his scrutiny.

"um, is rafe okay? is he sick?”

he nodded slowly, his gaze unwavering, “the flu. got it last night."

"l-last night?” 

“yup.”

“oh.”

kelce's brows furrowed slightly, “look, i don’t know what happened. but, he’s…not doing okay.”

your stomach sank. it was clear rafe was avoiding you, and the guilt gnawed at you even more. "i just... i didn't mean to..."

kelce cut you off gently, his voice softening. "that’s none of my business.”

"yeah," you murmured, feeling utterly inadequate.

"he'll come around," kelce reassured you, though his tone lacked conviction.

you nodded dumbly, unsure of what else to say. part of you wanted to apologize again, but...you’d done nothing wrong. there was no need to explain yourself.

"thanks," you managed weakly, offering a half-hearted smile.

kelce nodded in response, his expression remaining neutral. with that, you turned and hurried out of the classroom, feeling the weight of kelce's gaze on your back. the hallways felt suffocating, with whispered conversations and curious glances that only amplified your discomfort. did everyone know? was there a journal column telling everyone who got laid last night? fucking hell.

back in your dorm room, you collapsed onto your bed, burying your face in your hands. this was worse than what you’d expected. you couldn't stop seeing the image of rafe's hurt expression, his quiet insistence that he meant what he said.

your phone buzzed beside you, and you hesitated before picking it up, sighing in realief when you saw it was a text from pope.

"baaaabeeee, how did it go?"

did he really want to know the mess you'd made of things?

after a moment's hesitation, you replied with a simple, "not great. think everyone hates me lol"

pope's response was almost immediate. “shit. you wanna to talk about it?"

you bit your lip, undecided between wanting to unload everything and wanting to bury it all deep down. in the end, you settled for a brief reply. “later."

that went on for a week and three days.

you avoided rafe’s usual hangouts, keeping your head down and focusing on your classes. you still hadn’t seen him, and it was starting to drive you crazy. you needed to talk to him, but you were scared. like, shitless scared, of what he’d say, scared of what you’d feel.

it was hours later when you finally saw him again. you were in the library, buried in your notes, the ones who’d stolen from pope because you hadn’t been able to focus properly in any class and you hated that you’d let a boy have so much control over your brain, let alone a jock.

when you looked up and saw him standing at the entrance. he looked a little too good. the typical shorts hitting just above his knees, a loose sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscles way too much for your sanity, and his hair peeking out from under a snapback. 

good enough to eat.

he spotted you almost immediately and then quickly turned his head to side, ignoring you. 

ouch. okay, fair enough all things considered.

your heart skipped a beat. it was now or never. for a moment, you considered hiding, but you knew you couldn’t avoid him forever. taking a deep breath, you stood up and made your way over to him.

“hey,” you said softly, your heart pounding in your chest, trying to sound as casual as possible.

rafe looked up for a second, then returned his attention to the phone in his hands, “hey.”

“can we talk?” you asked.

he shrugged, and it took everything in you not to punch him in the face. “sure.”

you swallowed hard, trying to find the right words. “sorry about the other night. i-i didn’t handle it well.”

he nodded, but his gaze remained on his phone, fingers typing away. “yeah, i get it.”

you frowned, sensing that something was off. he’d never ignored you before, he wasn’t even giving you the dignity of looking at you as you spoke to him. 

“are you okay?”

“fine,” he replied curtly.

before you could ask him what the fuck is problem was now, a girl approached, her smile bright, almost blinding you. she was ridiculously pretty, with long braided hair and sparkling brown eyes.

a literal doll.

she looked between you and rafe, “hi, are you ready to go?”

your heart sank as the girl slipped her arm around rafe’s arm and he finally put his stupid phone away and smiled down at her.

heavy on the ouch.

“yeah, let’s go,” rafe said, his voice softening, but then he turned to you, his expression blank again, “see you around.”

you stood there, watching them walk away feeling like a complete fucking idiot. like you were being pranked. what the hell was that? was he trying to make you jealous? or was he moving on that quickly? was there even something to move on from?

you returned to your seat, barely registering the world around you.

is that what he meant by telling you he loved you? you’ve been feeling bad over a boy who clearly only said what he said because you fucked him too good? wow.

you tried to focus on your notes, but your hands were trembling. without realizing it, you started tearing at the pages, ripping them apart. by the time you looked down, half of your notes were in shreds, scattered across the table.

“dammit,” you hissed under your breath. you gathered the torn pieces, stuffing them into your bag. there was no salvaging them now. 

with a frustrated sigh, you pulled out your phone and dialed pope’s number. 

“what’s up?”

“i need to get fucked up tonight.” you said bluntly, not bothering to hide the frustration you were feeling. 

“buy a guy a drink first?”

you could hear him snicker at his own joke, “shut up. are there any parties?”

“yeah, heard there's a big one at the delta house. everyone’s going.”

“okay. we’re going too.”

pope sighed, “i don’t remember signing up for this.”

“shut up and pick me up at 9.”

you decided that tonight was the night to go all out. no more hiding, no more feeling sorry for yourself. you rummaged through your closet, tossing aside clothes that were too plain, too boring, or just not the vibe you were going for. 

finally, you found it—the perfect outfit, and possibly the sluttiest thing you proudly owned.

you slipped into a sleek, black leather mini skirt that hugged your curves perfectly, hitting just the right spot on your thighs. you paired it with a cropped, red satin top that showed just enough skin to be daring but not over the top. the top had a deep v-neckline, accentuating your collarbones and drawing attention to the delicate gold necklace you wore. the outfit was completed with a pair of knee-high black boots, giving you an edge and adding a few extra inches to your height. you never wore them out, too worried that your feet would be killing you after a couple of minutes, but tonight, if you got drunk enough, you wouldn’t feel shit.

you looked at yourself in the mirror, adjusting the top and smoothing down the skirt. 

your makeup was bold, different from what you usually did—a smoky eye that made your eyes pop and a deep red lipstick that matched your top perfectly. you left your hair loose, allowing it to fall in soft waves. satisfied with your look, you grabbed a small clutch and headed out.

when pope arrived to pick you up, his jaw practically hit the floor. he stared at you, eyes wide, as you strutted towards the car.

“i'm sorry—are we going to a strip club or to a party?” he blurted out.

"are you slutshaming me?"

"no, but be real for a second."

you rolled your eyes, but a small smirk played on your lips. “don’t be dramatic. just wanted to look good.”

“look good?” pope repeated, still in disbelief, “sweets, you always look good, okay? but this? you look like you’re about to rip someone’s heart out.”

“good,” you replied, sliding into the passenger seat. “that’s the goal.”

he shook his head, muttering something under his breath about needing to keep an eye on you all night.

“you’re gonna tell me what happened?”

“nothing happened.”

“right.”

the delta house was already packed when you arrived, the music thumping so loud you could feel it in your chest. you walked in with pope by your side, determined to leave all your worries at the door.

“alright, let’s get some drinks,” pope clapped his hands, rubbing them together before leading you to the makeshift bar. you could feel eyes on you as you walked through the crowd, whispers and stares following your every step. you ignored them. 

so what if people knew you fucked rafe? that was your business, not theirs.

you grabbed a tequilla shot, downing it quickly and feeling the alcohol warm you up from the inside. pope handed you another, and you sipped it more slowly, trying to steady your nerves.

“easy. ‘m not holding your hair back if you throw up,” he warned, nudging you gently. “just relax and have fun. cleo’s joining later.”

“awwww, look at you being soft."

“shut up. don’t embarrass me in front of her."

you placed your hand over your heart, “i would never!”

the night wore on, the party growing louder. you danced, laughed, and mingled, trying to keep your mind off rafe and the mess you'd made of things. pope stuck by your side, and cleo, the girl of his dreams, joined you eventually, her energy infectious. 

you were happy he’d found someone. 

you were at the bar, grabbing another drink, when you saw rafe walk in.

your heart nearly dropped out of your ass, but you forced yourself to stay calm. he was with the same girl from the library and seeing them together made your stomach churn. he hadn't even noticed you yet, too busy talking to her.

"pope," you called, nudging him. "look who's here."

pope glanced over and sighed. "ignore him, please. we're here to have fun, remember?"

you nodded, drowning another shot, "right. fun."

it was easier said than done. every time you glanced their way, you wanted to storm up to him and punch him in that stupid perfect face. why did it bother you so much? he was just a guy. just rafe cameron. you downed another drink, hoping the alcohol would numb the emotions swirling inside you.

“goddamn mama, are you drinking yourself to death?”

jj’s presence barely phased you, “yes.”

“what’s got you so worked up?”

you groaned, not really in the mood for his antics. “nothing. just havin’ a good time.”

“yeah, right,” jj snorted, stealing your drink and taking a sip. “try again. this shit is 95% vodka by the way.”

you snatched it from his hands, “don’t drink my shit. don’t wanna talk about it.”

“alright,” he held up his hands in mock surrender, “dance with me then?”

“no.”

“pleaseee,” he begged, jutting out his bottom lip in a ridiculous pout, “c’mon.

despite your best efforts to stay frustrated, his infectious energy made you crack a smile. "fine, but just one song maybank."

jj whooped, “atta girl.”

he grabbed your hand with a mischievous grin and pulled you onto the crowded dance floor. you laughed as he twirled you around, his movements were surprisingly graceful. one time he made you faceplant the floor, so this was an improvement. 

his energy has always been infectious, jj was a literal golden retriever in human from and soon enough you found yourself letting go of all the worries that had been weighing you down. you moved in sync with him, your hips swaying, and your arms following the flow of the music. jj’s playful antics kept you entertained—he'd throw in a spin or a sudden dip, making you laugh even harder.

but then, he leaned in close, his voice barely audible over the music.

“guess who's watching?"

you raised an eyebrow, trying to catch your breath between giggles.

"who?"

jj nodded towards the edge of the dance floor, where rafe stood with a group of his friends. “my number one fan. been eyeing us since we started."

“uh,” you glanced in his direction, catching rafe’s gaze briefly before he looked away, “that’s weird.”

“i know you two fucked.”

your hand instantly reached out to shove jj’s shoulder, “shut up.”

“i'm serious. you’re gonna let him watch or show him what he's missing?"

on one hand, you were furious at rafe for bringing another girl to the party so soon after whatever had happened between you two. after telling you he was in love with you. sure you were a bitch after, but that didn’t mean you didn’t care for him. on the other hand, jj’s always made you go off the rails, in a way that stoked your pride. 

“fine,” you said with a defiant grin, “let’s give him a show.”

jj’s smirk widened, and without missing a beat, he spun you around and pulled you in closer, moving with even more enthusiasm than before. the music pounded around you, you couldn’t even tell the lyrics apart. every twirl, every dip, every sway of your hips was a message to rafe—whether he was watching or not—that you were done feeling sorry for yourself. as the song reached its peak, jj dipped you low, and you laughed breathlessly. you glanced towards where rafe had been standing, but he was gone.

then, without warning, from the corner of your eye, you saw a commotion erupting nearby. before you could react, the crowd around you began to murmur and part, revealing rafe. what the hell? what was this? a coming-of-age movie?

his usually friendly composed demeanor was gone, the glare in him was enough to scare anyone in his way. he stormed towards you, his eyes locked on jj. and then it clicked.

“oh for fuck's sake,” you groaned under your breath, knowing that nothing good would come out of it.

"hey, what the—" jj started, but before he could finish, rafe swung a punch at him.

yep, there it was. 

the blow caught jj off guard, knocking him back a step. the music seemed to stop, or at least fade into the background as chaos erupted around you. people gasped and shouted, some pulling rafe away while others checked on jj.

you pinched the bridge of your nose in annoyance as you watched jj touch his jaw gingerly. 

“what the fuck, cameron?” jj groaned, “watch the pretty face.”

rafe’s chest was heaving as he glared at the other blonde, fists typically clenched by his side, looking as if he was ready to pounce on him again. before he could take another step, you placed yourself in front of him, blocking jj’s figure sitting on the ground.

“upstairs. right now,” rafe opened his mouth to spit something, but you cut him off, “now.”

he moved silently, following you up a flight of stairs to a quieter area. you could hear his breathing from miles away, he was still worked up. you found an empty room and stepped inside, slamming the door shut behind you.

“what the hell was that?” you demanded, turning to face him.

rafe ran a hand through his face, frustration evident in his every movement. “i don’t know, okay? i just—i saw you with him, and i lost it.”

“oh, so you’re a caveman now?”

"god, you can be so fucking infuriating," rafe exploded, throwing his jacket into a corner of the room, "i saw you. touching him like... like none of this matters!"

"none of what matters?" you shot back, incredulous. "you show up with another girl after telling me you love me, and now i‘m not supposed to move on? what do you expect?"

"me?!" he jabbed a finger into his chest, his face flushed with anger. "that was my damn tutor! i wasn't trying to—shit. you think i'm trying to move on? i told you i loved you. that shit doesn’t just disappear because you don't feel the same way."

now you just felt stupid.

"your tutor?" you repeated, trying to wrap your head around the new information.

“we weren’t exactly on speaking terms and i needed help with calculus,” he muttered, “didn’t think you’d want to speak to me. and i was still sad.”

rafe shifted uncomfortably in his place, his expression now softer. you felt the sudden urge to hug him, but you didn’t. 

“you said you were supposed to move on,” he says carefully eyeing you.

“i did?” you lied, suddenly feeling like the room was closing in on you, “i don’t think so.”

“you did,” he said firmly, taking a step closer to you. "i meant what i said that night. did you?” 

you looked away for a moment, “rafe—“

“i don’t care if you don’t love me, you don’t have to, not right now. i just need to know if you think you can, one day.”

this wasn’t the rafe who punched jj, or the rafe who stormed through the crowd in a fit of jealousy. this was the rafe you were used to. 

your ears were ringing as he closed the distance between you. his eyes searching yours, desperate for an answer. the anger had melted away, replaced by a raw, aching need. fuck, he was good.

“listen—” you started again, but this time your voice was softer, trembling. he was so close now that you could feel the heat radiating off his body, his breath mingling with yours, “can you back up? jesus. can’t think properly with you close.”

“don’t want to back up,” he whispered, his voice low and rough. he didn’t move, instead leaning in even closer, his lips brushing your ear, “yes or no?”

“cameron,” you breathed, trying to maintain some semblance of control.

but he wasn’t having it.

his hand cupped your cheek, tilting your face up to meet his gaze. “tell me you don’t feel this,” he murmured, his thumb tracing your lower lip. “tell me you don’t want me too.”

he held your face by the jaw before leaning forward on instinct to kiss you but stopped himself right before he did. eyes on his lips now, completely entranced, you leaned forward to finish what he started but he was stopping you with his thumb. you stayed close though, gaze still fixated on his bottom lip and when his eyes flicker up to yours again, they’re wild and dark.

“you gonna make me fuck it out of you?”

you couldn’t deny the way your body reacted to him, the way your pulse quickened every time he was near, “and if i do?”

he didn't answer immediately, instead closing the gap between you in a heartbeat. his lips crashed against yours, his hand sliding from your jaw to your neck, wrapping his fingers around it as he squeezed you deliciously. 

all of a sudden, you were pressed against a wall, his body firm against yours, pinning you with his weight. he got a groan out of you, tilting your head as his grip tightened on your hips to keep you there, secured to him.

“this isn’t fair,” you pushed at his shoulder with your palm so that he pulled away to look at you, “you’re playing dirty.”

“so what?” he breathes out, jaw relaxed as his hips start to grind against yours.

your hand reached out to grab his shoulder for purchase when your hips started to move on their own, “oh fuck.”

rafe arched his hips sharply, teasing your clit, eliciting a gasp as you leaned your head against the wall, your chin tilting towards the ceiling. he kissed your neck, where sweat-dampened hair started to cling at your nape.

when did it get so hot in the stupid room?

“you’re—oh, gonna f-fuck me in a stranger’s room? real romantic,” you tried to sound casual, but it came out all wrong when his fingers pressed into the plush of your ass. 

he laughed against your skin, the sound making you tighten your legs around him. you were glad his hands were currently busy because a single touch between your thighs would expose how wet you were. 

“you can say it.”

your arms slided past his shoulders and loosely locked behind his neck, “no.”

rafe shook his head, “you asked for it.”

“rafe.”

he was poking his tongue to the inside of his cheek looking at you as if he was ready do destroy you whole, “told you i was gonna get it out of you.”

you blinked slowly, savoring the sight of his face, then your wrists, still crossed behind his neck, tugged gently, drawing him closer, craving his threat, “you’re gonna fuck me until i confess?

he lowered his head until his forehead met yours, your fingers could sense the rapid throb of his pulse beneath his jaw, his eyes tender, holding an adoration you never knew was possible. no one had ever looked at you that way. 

you pulled him by the fabric of his shirt, hard enough to make him understand he needed to do something. you moaned against his lips, fingers threading through his hair as he trailed kisses down your neck, sucking and biting gently at the sensitive skin.

your skirt rode up as he rutted into you, and his hand slipped under the fabric, fingers grazing the edge of your panties, teasingly close to where you ached for him most. you gasped, arching into his touch, silently begging for more.

“rafeee,” you whimpered, “please."

he pulled back slightly, his breath ragged, eyes dark with lust. “say it,” he demanded, his fingers tracing patterns on your inner thigh, driving you crazy with anticipation.

“no.” you managed to choke out, feeling a flush of heat spread through your body.

he raised a brow, “no?”

his fingers slipped beneath the thin fabric of your panties, finding you wet and ready. he groaned at the feel of you, his thumb circling your clit with just the right amount of pressure to make you moan his name. you clung to him, hips bucking against his hand, chasing the pleasure he was giving you.

“you sure?” he murmured against your skin, his voice husky and full of promise. 

you barely had time to think about changing your answer before he plunged two thick fingers inside you, curling them just right to hit that spot that made your vision blur. your back arched off the wall, your head falling back as waves of pleasure crashed over you. he pumped his fingers in and out of you, his thumb never leaving your clit, pushing you closer and closer to the edge.

“rafe, i'm—” you couldn’t even finish the sentence, your body trembling as you felt the orgasm build, ready to spill over.

but then he was pulling back just as you were about to fall over the edge. it was maddening, the way he seemed to know exactly how to bring you right to the cusp of pleasure and then deny it. you’d only fucked once before, and it felt like he’d memorize every single thing you liked. every spot that made your toes curl. 

“please, let me—”

“you said no, baby” he interrupted, a mocking smile curling on his lips. “you’re not ready.”

his fingers moved with practiced precision, slow and deliberate, stoking the flames of your desire without allowing you any release. every time you felt the pleasure building to its peak, he’d ease off, bringing you back down, only to start all over again.

you clawed at his shoulders, trying to pull him closer, but he held you firm against the wall, his body a solid, unyielding barrier. “please,” you begged again, “i can’t take it.”

“oh, you can,” he scolded, lips brushing against your ear, sending shivers down your spine. “and you will.”

his thumb pressed against your clit, rubbing slow, torturous circles, while his fingers thrust inside you, curling just right to hit that spot that made you see stars. you bucked against his hand, your body pleading for release, but he kept you balanced on that knife’s edge, never letting you tip over. motherfucker.

“I need to come,” you admitted, your voice cracking with desperation. “please, baby. i need to come.”

rafe’s pretty blue eyes darkened with satisfaction at your words, but he still didn’t relent. 

instead, he slowed his movements even more, drawing out the pleasure until it was almost unbearable. you writhed against him, your body trembling, every nerve ending on fire.

“you want to come?” he asked, his voice a seductive purr, “that bad, huh?”

“t-this isn’t f-fair.”

“awww, sorry baby."

“fuck, fucking—"

“that’s my girl,” he murmured, his voice filled with approval. “just a lil more, yeah?”

he increased the pace of his fingers, his thumb rubbing faster against your clit, and you felt the pleasure building again, higher and higher, until you were sure you couldn’t take it anymore. but this time, he didn’t stop. this time, he pushed you right to the edge and then, finally, let you fall.

your orgasm crashed over like a train wreck, your body convulsing with the intensity of it. you screamed his name, your nails digging into his shoulders as you clung to him, riding out the waves of pleasure that seemed to go on forever. rafe held you through it, his fingers never stopping, drawing out every last bit of your release until you were a boneless, panting mess in his arms.

“good girl,” he murmured, his voice soft and filled with affection. 

he kissed you tenderly, his lips a gentle contrast to the intensity of what you’d just experienced. as you came down from your high, he held you close, his fingers still inside you, his thumb gently stroking your clit, sending aftershocks of pleasure through your body.

you couldn’t find the words to answer, your mind too foggy with pleasure. instead, you just held onto him, your arms wrapped around his neck, your face buried in the crook of his shoulder.

rafe’s fingers slowly withdrew from you, leaving you feeling empty and aching for more. he lifted you gently, carrying you to the bed and laying you down with his casual tenderness. he climbed in beside you, pulling you into his arms, his body warm and solid against yours.

“i love you,” his voice was a soft caress against your ear. “i meant it.”

you looked up at him, “i know,” you whispered, leaning in to kiss him, “i think i love you too.”

“i know.”

[kookslastbutton]

in your arms ༓ jjk (m)

✑ Summary: You wake up next to your boyfriend for the first time since moving in with him.

Pairing: boyfriend!jungkook x girlfriend!reader

AU/Genres: pwp, smut, fluff, established relationship, one shot

Rating: M, 18+

Word Count: 1,680

Warnings: cussing, jk teasing oc, soft pouty jk, of is restless sleeper which makes jk lowkey sad, sexual content

sexual warnings: dom!jungkook, sub!reader, morning s*x, kind of rough s*x, unprotected s*x (Don't be like them!) , d*try talk, m*ssionary, b*gging, b**b kink?, sl*t calling once (tame)

Now Playing: A Thousand Years

A/N: needed dometic koo after listening to piano guys play thousand years. I have not seen Twilight but I like the sound track lol. Hope you enjoy! 💞

"You snore." Is the first thing he says to you, eyeing you from the other side of the bed. He's downright adorable with half his face tucked behind the fluffy comforter.

"I do?" You roll on your side. The soft linen brushing against your skin reminds you of your bare state. Last night was the first time you spent the night at Jungook's since moving in. He was a little eager to get you in his bed to say the least.

Jungkook nods in response, eyes still barely peaking out from the covers.

"But...I don't." You smile sheepishly. Many things you're known for doing in bed but snoring was not one of them. You're sure of it. "I definitely don't," you repeat in disbelief. "You're being a little shit again aren't you?"

A grin slowly spreads on your boyfriend's face—his eyes revealing all. What a menace as always. His playful spirit makes you giggle.

"Did you sleep okay?" You yawn and rub your tired eyes.

Jungkook shimmies himself closer to you. His nose is inches away from your the nape of your neck. "No," he says. "You were so far away from me the whole night."

The comforter he was tugging on earlier is now folded under his arm. From this angle, you can trace every muscle on his inked arm, so you do, with the tips of your fingers. "I'm sorry koo, I'm such a restless sleeper. I didn't kick you did I?"

Since a child you've never been able to sleep in one position. You were always starfishing, flopping from side to side, or genuinely just in the twistiest pretzel-like positions possible. Now and then you'd punch or knee at the bed too, depending how vivid the dream you were having was. That's why for the majority of your life you've slept alone.

Jungkook on the otherhand could sleep anywhere in the same position. All he needed was a good grip on his blankets or in this case, you, and he'd fall fast alseep until the morning. But you were not an easy one to snuggle with, causing him to pout until all hours of the night.

"I'm okay, but can we try cuddling or spooning again tonight? Wanna fall asleep with the girl of my dreams in my arms." Your heart does about ten somersaults. Ever since you hit 6 months, Jungkook's been begging you to move in with him and now that you've finally agreed, he's been coordinating your new living conditions down to the last detail.

He's also stopped refering to the apartment as his—it's now our apartment, our haven, our home.

You remove your hand from his arm to fluff through his messy hair. Something about the silky texture makes you unable to stop yourself. Jungkook likes it too. "Of course we can." Your face drops a few shades. "But I'm not sure if it'll be any different from last night. I might hurt you."

In that very moment your boyfriend props himself up on an elbow and leans himself over your body just enough for you to fall on your back. "No you won't," he insists. The same inked arm curls around your waist, pushing your chests together. "I'll hold ya down this time."

Your cheeks warm up from the gesture.

"What's got you blushing doll?"

"Just that you're everything I was hoping for and more." You wrap both arms around his neck, his lips ghosting over yours. "I love you so much." It's hardly a whisper but Jungkook has no trouble hearing.

"You know I was thinking similar," he says, placing a light kiss to the side of your neck. You hum. This will likely be a regular occurrence now that it's Jungkook you'll be waking up to every morning. His affection knows no bounds.

"You're all mine," he continues, tracing circles on your waist with his thumb. Even with the blankets shielding your naked body from his, you feel every imprint of his touch. "I'm all yours, too. And even if you do end up kicking me in your sleep, I'll alway be back for more because I'm in love with you....just try not to kick my dick though, that would kinda be a bummer for both of us." He shoots a quick wink and you snort.

"Sorry," you cover part of your face. "That was so ugly of me." Jungkook's heard you snort a thousand times but you've still a little self conscious about it.

"Its cute."

"Stop, you dont have to say that."

"It's cute because I like making you laugh and seeing you happy make—"

"Makes you horny." You finish the sentence, cackling at his suddenly doe-eyed expression. "I can feel your erection on my thigh Kook."

"Oh," he looks down at himself. Did he think he was being smooth and all trying to hide it and all? You're boyfriend's cute but a good liar he is not. "Well can I stick it in or not?" He looks at you again, expectanty.

"Kook!" You just had sex last night and to be honest you're a little sore from it as well as flopping around in your sleep all night.

Jungkook however is imposible to refuse with his pouty lips and big, ferocious eyes. He simultaneously wants to cuddle you to death and fuck you silly every second of the day. You ask him which he wants to do, he will always want both....at least twice in one go.

"I'll make it quick, promise. And it'll feel good too."

Once you give the okay Jungkook climbs on top of you from under the sheets. You spread your thighs, allowing him to slip in—which he easily does given the fact that he wasn't the only one all worked up.

"Fuck," he breaths above you, hands gripping the mattress on either side of your head. "Such a perfect pussy you know that? Always so wet for me."

"Yes Kook," you let out a small whine. Jungkook's dick always makes you so full so fast. "Fuck me."

"You want it huh?" He teases even though it's him who started this. "You want my big cock to stretch your tiny pussy? Make you scream? Say you want it baby. Need to hear it from you."

You concede to your boyfriend and tell him how much you want it. "Mhm please, need your cock Kook. Want it so bad, want it to make me come, please."

"Greedy little thing aren't you," he seethes, thrusting into you at a slow pace. "Just got fucked three times last night and still want more. What does that make you hm?"

"A slut." Jungkook growls when the words leave your lips. He ends up fucking into you faster, loving the sight of your breasts bounce up and down at the quickened pace. You move to grip onto both boobs but he growls again, letting you know his obvious disapproval.

"Wrap your legs around my waist," he grunts. "And don't you dare think about covering yourself up. Wanna see every bit of you."

You do as he says and he sinks further in you, cock finding that sweet spot at the same time. "Fuckfuckfuck," he chants. "So needy aren't you? Swallowing my cock like it's nothing for your pussy. Who taught you how to take cock this well huh?"

"Jungkook!" You scream when you feel the knot get stronger in the pit of your stomach. You boyfriend smirks and starts kissing up and down your neck.

"Say it again. Who taught you to take cock this well?"

"You—you Jungkook, you did. Please, gonna come soon." You claw his muscular back, knowing your high is about to come swift and fast. You hope to god he lets you come too. Last night he made you wait and wait. You had to keep begging him until he was fully satisfied. You squirted a lot and it was hot but you can't do that again so soon.

"Come for me baby," he coos. "Show me what I taught you back when all you knew how to do was give head. Gonna soak my cock now aren't you? I'm already so wet from your slick, fuck."

"Jungkook—oh god," you moan one last time before finally releasing. Your boyfriend let's out a deep, breathy groan and continues to thrust into for the sake of his own high. "Kook, please, please tell me you're close. It's almost too much."

"Shit just hold tight for me a little longer baby, I'm so close." He fucks into a few more times then spills himself into your warm cunt. You both bask in post-orgasmic blish until your boyfriend leans his head down to capture your lips. It's a bit of a sloppy kiss but still fiery and passionate.

He slips off you after a minute or two of making out, hair sticking to his forehead. "I'm so glad you said yes to moving in."

"What? You just want me here for the sex?" You pant, playful glimmer in your eye.

Jungkook shakes his head. "Of course not." You move to rest your head on his shoulder. "The sarcasm's nice too."

You roll your eyes. You'll be doing this all over again tonight. Maybe he'll be able to keep you in his arms tonight this time—you truly hope.

A/N: thanks for reading! Lmk your thoughts 💞

Masterlist

no reposting, copying, or translating my work– © kookslastbutton

[takes1]

daichi x track team!reader meet-cute

this was really fun and cute to write. love me some daichi. working on an osamu request rn!

warnings. none / sfw info. sfw / fluff / fem!reader / daichi being handsome / sweet daichi / first-year!reader / track team!reader / scaredy-cat asahi / daichi smells good / big hands thirst / 1.6k words 🤍haikyuu collection more links. my ao3 / masterlist / requests open!

"Hey! Volleyball team! Let me see your Captain!"

Many different tones and sing-songy renditions of 'Daichi' sounded, even though he was already crossing the lanes to speak to the track Coach. He waved off his high-spirited team, sparing a glance back to their light warm-up that he left Nishinoya to lead.

Asahi and Suga jumped over to the grass in the center of the field, but Daichi was just stepping into Lane 1 when you came barreling down:

"GET OFF THE TRACK!!" You bellowed with what little air you could afford.

It came out heartless, but with all fairness, was completely called for. This was about to be a PR, you could feel it in your bones.

Daichi stumbled out of the way just in time- he felt a whip of air from your force a second after you were gone, many meters around the curve of the track and gaining distance between yourself and your partner.

The Coach's belly-laughing brought his heart back down.

He tore his eyes away from you and laughed at the situation, much softer and carrying more relief in its resonance.

Of course, a minute after he just grilled his team on staying out of all lanes except for the last two, he gets nearly trampled.

Just now feeling Asahi's iron grip on his upper arm, he patted his fearful friend to reality.

"Man," Asahi blew a shaky breath, "Track girls are so intense!"

Your Coach kept laughing at your ferocity and resolve to not slow down in the face of a great, hulking obstacle in your way.

Suga put his hands on his hips and craned to look at you halfway across the track, snickering, "She was definitely out to get you, buddy!"

He turned to see you already on the other side of the track, in front of your competition by a narrow gap.

"I know she's little, but-" He shuddered at the jet-like wind on his face, "It felt like I was about to get shot, or something."

"That's our (L/n)! She's a pretty promising first-year. On scholarship."

Daichi raised his brows and nodded slowly, impressed, watching you finish 15 meters in front of the guy you were racing.

"Just isn't..." He seethed. They all watched you stumble and wobble to a walk. "-Very polished yet."

You looked a bit pale- chest rapidly rising and falling as you stammered to a pained limp, holding your side. You leaned over the grass, hands on your knees.

"'Ey! Hands over your head (L/n)!! Keep walki- Great."

The Coach began to jog over with superior knowledge.

Daichi scratched his face and looked away as you threw up-- his polite, averted gaze fell to Hinata, who was finishing his race against Kageyama; pale, stumbling, putting his hands over his knees.

"Hinata! Don't-!" He did the same thing all over the concrete. There went a whole lane they needed for practice.

Now they were down to one and Hinata was put out for the time being. Daichi was just a bit too slow on the uptake.

"Hey-!," You were pouring water on the top of your head, one hand on your hip, making your way towards Daichi. Asahi moved back a little, but bumped into Suga and had to stay put.

"'M sorry for yelling at you, man," A glance back to your Coach to make sure he was watching you apologize.

You looked between all of them, still peeved that they were getting in the way when they just got here. "But- seriously."

They all tensed. Some little shrimp being upfront and rude was the last thing they were expecting when they got the chance to train somewhere different. It put a huge damper on their light mood.

Daichi picked up on it quick. Despite everyone being shocked you were so straightforward with their Captain, he stayed cool and carefree with a calculated response.

"Sorry about that, I've already told the team to stay out of your lanes."

Team. I've. 'I've told... the team.' You glanced around again, brain slow to put the pieces together with all the endorphins jumping back and forth. You shook your head with a laugh.

Man, these guys were giant. It hurt your neck to look up at all of them. They all had long arms and legs.

"Wait-wait, you're the... volleyball team. And you're--," You motioned to him with a thrust of your bottle, face steadily sinking, then retracted it slowly, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Your Captain was crystal clear at the start of practice, emphasizing how important it would be to show courtesy and respect to the Boys' Volleyball Team, since they agreed to share the track today for some joint training.

You made yourself a lot smaller being so apologetic.

"It's okay! It's okay, really, I was right in your way!"

"Oh, maaan," You looked back at your Coach, speaking to your Captain with a not-so-subtle head jerk in your direction, "Oh, fuck..."

Daichi's fast reaction left you shocked and standing alone, a bit weak in the knees, as he jogged over with a friendly, distracting wave to the pair.

You were so fucked. A first-year, yelling at the Captain of another team?

The last time you were in trouble, you got drilled so hard your teammates were scraping you off the concrete like a piece of chewed bubblegum. All you did then was line up the starting blocks backwards.

This? This was a cardinal sin.

The air was starting to feel cold again and when you turned to look at the team he left behind, they were all looming over you like a bunch of titans, ruminating all the ways they would crush you, cook you up, and eat you for dinner. The hair on the back of your neck went stock-straight and you felt your legs start to wobble.

Now your Captain was looking around Daichi with a violent, ruthless glare.

She pointed at you with a firm, crooked finger, mouthed something, then pointed at the ground. You gave a choked sound and slowly put some distance between yourself and the group of giants.

Your Coach's voice was a godsend and the guilty gavel all in one, "(L/n)! Run some 400s 'till I'm tired!"

"Moving!!!" You dropped your bottle where you stood and quickly sprinted away. The more distance between yourself and this judge, jury, executioner shit, the better.

The next morning you had to be convinced by multiple alarms to get out of bed. Your core, quads, calves, shins, ankles, hips-- they were all useless as you dragged your own body to your classroom.

You took the corner slowly because it was simply all you could do, but smashed the side of your face straight into a firm chest.

There was no give, and certainly no question that you were falling first when your legs decided this was the opportune time to give up.

You began to crumble to the floor like a sack of sand, papers flying out of the beat-up notebook in your arms.

"Watch where you're going--!"

The transgressor barely grabbed your wrist, popping it in the process, which gave you a moment to catch his.

Wide, terrified eyes flew up to an pair of kind, deep brown eyes and soft, forgiving, somewhat charmed smile.

You let go at once, opting for a cold, hard hit to your aching glutes instead of being seen anywhere near this handsome, bad-luck charm again.

"We keep just keep bumping into each other," Daichi- you learned his name after having to run a mile for each of the letters- chuckled and lifted you to your feet despite your protests with a startling ease.

Just for a moment, it felt like you were floating, finally a break off of your twitchy legs.

You stumbled forward again, onto his big shoulder, and he gave an apologetic smile, just as hunky as the last, when he realized why you were so clumsy.

His grip firmed at your waist to keep you steady. A bit warm and jittery at the motion, you smoothed out your shirt where his big hands wrinkled it once he let go.

"Thank you," You mumbled, all confidence dissipating when he leaned down to hear you, "For trying to save me."

Another chuckle. He was pretty easy-going, you learned. It helped your nerves when he bent to pick up your scattered papers.

"It's the least I could do," He held his hand up to keep you from leaning down, "Stop- stop, you must be so sore-,"

You blushed hard at his concern and his huge, rough hand. Volleyball guys were super hot.

"It's my fault you got in trouble," Daichi handed you a neat stack of papers.

The bell sounded, a gentle but dreadful reminder that you wouldn't be able to amble your way to your classroom without being late.

"Where's your class? I'll walk you over," He smiled. No bad blood. No worries.

This guy was a breath of fresh air.

It was the best 70 seconds of your day, having a strong arm around your waist, holding a third of your weight while he carried your bag over his opposite shoulder. He smelled like cotton and green tea, his voice a smooth and reassuring presence that quieted your frantic mind.

The late bell rang just as he deposited you at the door. At this point, you didn't want to go to class anymore. He handed you your bag with a kind smile.

"See ya this afternoon."

Your plans to skip practice today were entirely foiled in just four words. You had to see him much more than you needed your legs in operable condition.

masterlist.

requests/submissions are open!

[hl-obsessed]

my first fic rec ever! faves from the faves: ✨ and fics i would die for: 💎✨

Have I forgotten how to love; remind me once again by Harrystylesisgod24

(M, 108k) After a serious accident, Harry suffers from a case of retrograde amnesia where he hasn't only forgotten the fact that he is a part of the world-famous band, One Direction, but his fiancé, Louis Tomlinson, as well. Despite being immensely grateful for Harry being alive, Niall, Liam, Zayn, and especially Louis, struggle with accepting that Harry might never remember the many things they experienced together; hell, even their friendship is forgotten. And Louis can't quite push away the crippling fear of Harry not remembering that he loves Louis with all he got. Not that any of that is going to stop Louis from reminding him over and over again.

There You Are by lovelarry10

(E, 82k) Harry’s entire life has fallen apart - in one night, his carefully planned future is suddenly uncertain.

Then he meets Louis.

where the tide takes you, i will follow by @pinkcords

(E, 54k) There’s no way around his departure, their inevitable fate. Harry will leave and he will return to London and when he sits in his new flat, wherever it might be, he will think of this summer and the warmth the sun brought him and the way it felt to be loved. He will compare all his future relationships to Louis and when they fall short, he will be disappointed. Harry knows this.

Or, Louis lives in Gloucester and Harry tries to find a way to stay.

waiting for the tides to meet by @nauticalleeds

(E, 60k) Louis lets out a deep breath, thinking about Harry’s soulmate. Thinking about how Harry’s soulmate is probably as beautiful as Harry, some person that Louis cannot compare to, and how the universe has chosen them to be Harry’s. Fuck the universe. “Fuck you,” he calls out to the universe. He’s aware of how crazy he sounds.

Maybe he is crazy, with how he’s falling for Harry. And fuck that, too. 

Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly.

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by @kingsofeverything

(E, 109k) Louis’ life is steady and calm, moored by his marriage, and tied to his hometown, but after a chance encounter with another man, it’ll never be the same.

somewhere in between lightning by @nauticalleeds, @shiningdistraction, jassy117​

(E, 99k) A summer gone wrong (or very right) when, under Liam’s persuasion, Louis finds himself drunkenly applying for Love Island, and getting accepted. Oh, well. A summer spent on an island paradise couldn’t be all that bad, right?

Escapade by @haydolce

(M, 146k) In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

💎✨ Take My Breath Away by @realitybetterthanfiction

(E, 154k) Top Gun AU

love is a word, you gave it a name by @larrydoinglaundry

(E, 158k) After two decades in brutal show business, Louis Tomlinson is trying to restore his tranquility of mind in the peace of Northern Europe where the sun barely sets, Maria's bar is always open, and young Harry has an irresistible spark in his eyes.

✨ Shadow Dances by @itsmotivatingcara

(M, 101k) Louis Tomlinson has a begrudging gift, he’s able to communicate with the spirits of the dead. FBI Medium AU

Tired Tired Sea by @mediawhorefics

(M, 113k) As a B&B owner on the most remote of all the British Isles, Louis Tomlinson is used to spending the coldest half of the year in complete isolation, with his dog and the sea as sole companions. Until, one day, a mysterious stranger on a quest to rebuild himself rents a room for the winter.

For the Right Reasons by @juliusschmidt

(E, 106k) Bachelor AU

Late Night Talking by @kingsofeverything

(E, 53k) Louis Tomlinson has a new album coming out and a second world tour on the horizon. Promo season gets underway with a stop at Late Night Talking, the late night show hosted by Harry Styles, and Harry Styles just happens to be the man who blew a chance to date Louis a decade ago.

technicolor by @creamcoffeelou

(E, 81k) When the small town of Twin Lakes begins experiencing a string of serial murders, a team of detectives is called in to help. Louis is the head of the team and meets a hard-headed psychic who everyone else seems to believe is the one who will solve the case.

Louis isn't so sure.

The slow-burn, hate-to-love, crime au where Harry is a psychic, Louis is a detective, and the world is against them.

This Wicked Game by @cherrystreet

(E, 70k) An AU in which The Bachelor is gay, Louis is a contestant, Harry is the bachelor, everyone drinks a lot of champagne, the entire world gets to watch them fall in love, and no one plays by the rules

Like Water Over Fire (Like Water On Fire) by @mcssymon

(M, 119k) Prince Harry has 46 men and 13 weeks to find the husband of his dreams, Louis has a limited amount to time to live out a royal fantasy. They might just be exactly what the other needs.

Say Something by @kingsofeverything

(E, 105k) At fifty years old and recently divorced, Omega Harry Styles isn't interested in dating. When his doctor suggests a heat and rut matching service, he signs up out of necessity. It’s the only use he has for an Alpha in his life.

Twenty-eight-year-old Alpha Louis Tomlinson aims to change that.

Let Our Hearts Collide by @crinkle-eyed-boo

(M, 77k) When Harry, a lonely transit worker, saves the life of the handsome commuter he's been secretly pining for, an innocent mistake results in Liam Payne's family believing that Harry is engaged to their son. In the Paynes, Harry finds the big family he's always longed for...and a love he never saw coming.

A While You Were Sleeping AU

💎✨ Love After the End of the World by @mercurial-madhouse

(E, 162k) “Wait. Just so I’m clear in me fucking noggin,” Niall says. “An international worldwide takeover is well under way and the only thing standing between having hot showers and a second end of the world is us five fuckers?” 

***

Society shattered when all electricity suddenly cut off across the globe, plunging the world into darkness. Now, Prometheus Industries is the sole remaining supply of power, a saving grace to those who survived Lights Out. As fugitives in no-man’s land struggling to break into Prometheus HQ, death lurks around every corner for Louis and Zayn. Things get complicated when a routine recon falls apart and Louis collides with Harry and his mates Niall and Liam, survivors with their own agenda.

When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong.

(story sadly has been delated form ao3. link to download here)

✨ Stranger Stars by shaylea

(E, 212k) Five years ago, Africa offered a grieving Louis Tomlinson an escape from an England he couldn't tolerate. Now it's become home as he leads overland tours across the continent with his best friend and driver Zayn Malik. What's meant to be just another ordinary six-week trip from Cape Town to Nairobi turns into anything but, when future lawyer/current photographer and songwriter Harry Styles and his friends join Louis' latest set of passengers.

Gemma's Dad (Could Use A Guy Like Me) by @lululawrence

(NR, 83k) The summer before Louis and Gemma's senior year of college was supposed to be their last big hurrah before they graduate college and become Real Adults in the workforce. They had it all planned and it was going to be filled with mornings skateboarding, afternoons at the pool, and evenings hanging out with as many of the neighborhood kids they grew up with as they can.

Of course, Louis wasn't planning on getting home and learning that Gemma's dad had gotten the house in the divorce and was dealing with things by focusing on work, the house, and his newly planted garden. It becomes obvious early on that Harry is a bit lost and Gemma is worried about him. To help both of them, Louis is more than happy to help Harry find himself again.

As the summer goes on, the adventures and day to day happenings allow Harry and Louis to spend a lot more time together than either of them ever anticipated and Louis finds it more difficult to keep his growing feelings in check than he ever thought it would be. After all, there wasn't a chance that Harry would ever be interested in Louis... right?

red hands by @dystopianharry

(TNU, 133k) "I’ve never told anyone," Harry murmurs, voice so soft no one else would be able to hear, if it wasn’t just the two of them.

“But you’ve told someone,” Louis says firmly. “And that’s not gonna fucking happen around here. You don’t speak a word of it, or someone’s going to kill you, and we can’t let that happen.”

*

a dystopian au in which harry, an ex-soldier who’s escaped from his government run camp, accidentally stumbles across the biggest rebel movement in the country, and louis, one of the rebellion’s mysterious leaders who appears to hate him, seems to simultaneously have an obsession with keeping him alive. or: harry is wanted for treason, niall hasn’t changed in four years, liam is always smiling, and louis is angry. like, really angry.

another dream but always you by @nobodymoves

(M, 66k) Harry is a Dreamwalker; he has the ability to visit people in their dreams and help put them on the right path. He's assigned to Louis, who's struggling after the break-up of his band. It's an unusual assignment from the beginning; Harry has a crush on Louis, and Louis's subconscious immediately decides Harry is the love of his life. When Dreamers cast Harry as their love interest, he can usually redirect them, but Louis is insistent on being Harry's boyfriend, and despite knowing they have no future, Harry wants to keep up the charade.

Shake Me Down by @agreatperhaps12

(NR, 208k) Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

Nameless Night by green_feelings

(E, 155k) For their 18th birthday, every person receives a letter that reads a simple date. That is the date you'll meet your soulmate.

Harry and Louis have different beliefs, live in different worlds and have different dreams, hopes and fears. Yet, they're not so different from each other when it comes to love. When their paths cross, there is no doubt they belong together. Except for that one, essential difference: they didn't receive the same date.

Or, a fic about differences that make no difference at all: Harry and Louis are soulmates. In every way possible. Featuring Niall as a role model, and Liam and Zayn as a different kind of role models.

Light, Spark and Fire (series) by green_feelings

(M, 239k) Or, Harry’s working on taking Louis’ walls down, until he builds his own up.

Jump Before We Fall by green_feelings

(E, 114k) Louis and Zayn's lives revolve around running a hotel by the sea, Harry is a student who wants a life far from home for just a little while, Niall doesn't know where life leads him and Liam thinks he has already found all purposes in his life.

✨💎 my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach

(E, 160k) When Louis first saw Harry at the 2010 X Factor Auditions, he thought he was watching a peculiarly special stranger. But Harry has known Louis ever since he was five years old.

Because Louis has a rare genetic disorder that causes him to Time Travel to important moments in his past and in his future - and to Harry, always to Harry. When they're put into a band together, it seems like everything Harry has been waiting and wishing for has finally come true. Except for the small fact that Louis doesn't know that Harry is in love with him- that Harry's always been in love with him. Fate, it would seem, is just getting started.

A story about growing up and growing together, and the impossible love that makes it all worthwhile.

✨ you were in my dream by @harruandlou

(E, 59k) Louis woke up after having a sexy dream about his best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend resolved to never think about it again. He hardly knew Harry, so what difference would it make? But when they are thrown together only a few days later, Louis had to admit, his subconscious might have been onto something.

Desperation Was My Sanctuary by @insightfulinsomniac

(E, 102k) As a PhD student and transplant to New York City, Louis is struggling for both money and companionship. His roommate, Zayn, introduces him to a friend who is involved in New York City's sugar bowl. Reluctantly, he signs up for a sugaring app knowing he’s probably the least conventional sugar baby on the market. If he can find a sugar daddy who will pay his bills without asking him to sacrifice his own preferences and boundaries, he might just be willing to earn a bit of extra cash by faking a relationship with a millionaire.

At the age of 35, Harry’s spent his entire adult life devoted to his career as a fashion designer. With his label, Eroda, steady and flourishing, he finally has time to settle down. When he reflects on his adult life, he realizes that he’s never been in a relationship and therefore feels behind. Shy and insecure in his inexperience, he turns to a sugaring app to manufacture a “test relationship” on his terms.

Turns out, they’re both looking for something unconventional.

A smutty, non-traditional strangers-to-lovers story about finding yourself, friendship, safety, sexual discovery, and an unexpected collision with tender, profound love.

Of Mates and Men by bananaheathen

(E, 630k) In which, Louis and Harry meet as best men for their best friends' wedding... well... sort of.

Or, the one where Harry's just moved back from New York and Louis doesn't believe in romance.

Or, I guess... the one where Zayn and Liam are getting married.

✨ Next to your Heartbeat (where I should be) by jaded25

(M, 130k) "We were meant to be but a twist of fate made it so we had to walk away"

All it takes for them to fall in love is one night. All they have to do is wait one year to see each other again.

Yet, when Louis returns after his year abroad, the boy who's got his arms wrapped around Harry isn't him. It isn't a stranger either, which should make walking away all that easier. After all, friend's don't lust after their mate's boyfriends.

Technically, doing the right thing should be easy - but when has Louis ever been known to taking the easy way out?

✨ For As Long As I Can Remember (It's Been December) by green_feelings

(E, 128k) After recovering from a severe accident that causes Harry to lose his memory of three years, he moves to London to start his life over as a star chef. Little does he know that when he falls in love with Louis at first sight, it’s not the first time they meet.

Featuring an unintentional game of hot and cold, Harry chasing memories that won’t come back, Louis burying himself in work to try and forget what he can’t forget, Liam being torn between two of his best friends, Zayn as a moral compass and Niall saving the day with good music and brutal honesty.

✨🌸🌸🌸✨

part 2 (30-50k)

[hoseokslefteyebrow]

The Anomaly || JJK

Chapter 7: The Shibuya Incident

summary : In which you're isekai'd from your (own) parallel Jujutsu Kaisen universe to the canon universe.

wordcount : 2.5k

Pairing: Jujutsu Kaisen X Reader, eventually Character x Reader (idk who yet tho)

Masterlist | Next

[ Parallel Jujutsu Kaisen Universe ]

" Where are you even going at this hour? "

Sukuna glances up. He'd left the door to his room open, for no particular reason. 

Meanwhile, Megumi glances at the many cursed tools he's got spread out over his desk and bed. 

" M' gonna find the little shit. "

Megumi raises an unimpressed brow. 

" You've been looking for her for a while now. It's futile. "

Sukuna had expected the reaction. Especially from Megumi. Yuuji would've asked him to join, but he wasn't putting his 5 minute younger brother in danger like that. 

" Then I suppose I'm going for an evening stroll. Does that suit your taste better? "

Megumi blinks in annoyance. This is why he didn't get along well with Sukuna. He was stubborn, much like you. Megumi sighs, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. 

" Should I wake Yuuji and Nobara to join us? "

Sukuna glances at him in question. 

" That curse beat Y/N. And she's not weak. None of us have a change of beating this spirit alone. "

Sukuna and Megumi have a similar issue. They have a sincere issue in showing vulnerable emotions. This is probably the most sentimental they'd ever get with one another, and if you were here, you would be proud of them. 

Either way, Sukuna shakes his head. 

" We've beat cursed spirits in pairs before. The two of us will do. "

- 

Megumi doubts the two of them will do.

His eyes are wide, focused on the spirit in front of them. He's not sure if they found it or if it found them. 

" Heheheh. How cute. Two little Jujutsu students. " 

The spirit is laughing, mocking them as it looks down at them from their elevated position. 

Megumi's eyes widen, noting it's cursed energy. It was heavy, powerful. Megumi doubts this is a good idea.

" We should run." 

Of course, his pleas fall on deaf ears.

Sukuna is smirking at the spirit, his eyes wide in a kind of rage that even shakes Megumi. He knows Sukuna was a force to be reckoned with. Sukuna's heavenly pact made him one of the most powerful people around, even without cursed energy. With Y/N, he was unstoppable. 

" Where's the little shit?"

The curse raises a brow. ( Is it even a brow?), before catching on, its lips (are those even lips?), pulling into a grin.

" Ah, you mean that cute little girl?"

Something flashes in Sukuna's eyes. His hand reaching for his most powerful weapons. 

" What did you do to her?"

It's Megumi who asks, ready to summon Nue while Sukuna clicks the Chain of a Thousand Miles and Inverted Spear of Heaven together. 

The curse's eyes flash over the special grade cursed weapon. It knew it could exorcise it.

It knew it needed to avoid that from happening.

Nonetheless, it keeps up it's act, pretending to be as confident as before.

It crouches down, leaning its head on the palm of its hand as it looks at them.

" I sent her away. You won't be able to find her." 

Megumi's eyes narrow, before widening, realizing it's cursed technique.

" Rabbit escape!" 

As the shadows create a large amount of rabbits, Megumi grabs Sukuna by his collar  avoiding him from attacking. Sukuna is surprised. Annoyed too, but he trusts his classmate.

Soon enough, they're hidden away from it's view.

" It can teleport." 

" What?"

" It cursed technique must be some kind of teleportation. And it's range must be huge, considering we can't find Y/N anywhere. We can't exorcise it. We have to capture it." 

-

[ Canon Jujutsu Kaisen Universe ]

" So we're just meant to wait here?"

Takuma is the one asking the question you're all wondering.

Nanami nods.

" Yes. Our job is to exorcise a spirit if he misses it."

" That sounds awfully boring." 

" We could help him. It's a group of special grades right?"

You try your luck. You never know how it will end up after all. That feeling of unease still in your stumic.

Takuma grins at you.

" Ah right, you're from a completely different universe right? You don't need to worry. Our Gojo sensei is the strongest!"

He's beaming, yet you don't share the sentiment.

" That shouldn't mean that he has to carry that burden alone."

Nanami's eyes widen at your words, studying your expression. Nanami has met a lot of people. He's never heard anyone say words like those.

" Is your Gojo the strongest as well?"

You nod.

" Yes. He's quite the same. "

" Ooeh, what about me? Have we met in your universe?"

Takuma can't help himself, curious about where you're from.

" Yeah. We've done a mission together actually. " 

Takuma remains excited, asking you multiple questions about your own universe. You answer them as best as you can. After a moment, it falls silent again.

" Hey Megumi, where's Nobara and Yuuji? I thought they'd be with us."

He shakes his head at your question.

" Yuuji is on Mei's team.-"

His eyes glance towards Nanami subtly, like he wants to add something. He seems to decide against it, continuing.

" And Nobara is with Maki on team Zen'In."

You pout.

" There's a girl team and I'm not even invited?"

" Ah, don't worry Kamo! We're fun too!"

" Besides, you should be glad. They've got Zen'In's old man on the team. Do you have him in your universe?"

You nod.

" I think so. Never spoke to him though."

" You should be glad. He looks down on women. Maki hates him. I'm sure Nobara hates him too by now."

While the three of you had been conversing, Nanami checks his phone, subtly catching all of your attention.

" The transfigured humans who were waiting inside the building are now attacking non-sorcerers. Which is why we're ending standby and moving in." 

Soon enough he's stepping forward, shrugging his shoulders off. He lays his jacket over his arm neatly.

You wonder where he'll leave it.

" We may be acting against orders, but if we wait any longer,  it might be too late."

He sighs.

" This, my other concern is-"

Both Takuma and Megumi take his words right out of his mouth, while you listen patiently.

" The other-"

" The other veil that keeps sorcerers outside, correct?"

Takuma glances at Megumi in surprise, animatedly moving behind the two of them as they converse.

" Why deploy the veil now that Gojo sensei is inside?"

" Either something has happened inside, or they were waiting for this moment as part of their strategy. What I can say for certain is that they wouldn't move without a plan. Y/N and I focus on the enemies who lowered the veil. You two do your best to rescue civilians." 

All three of you nod in understanding.

And soon enough, all three of you enter the veil.

You wonder if the other teams were doing the same.

You're nervous.

You have no choice but to fight the disfigured humans now.

However, just as your team stepped a few ways in-

" Nanamin!"

Was that?-

" Nanamin, are you here?!"

That must be-

" Gojo sensei has been sealed!"

You lock gazes with Megumi, confirming your suspicious. This was, without a doubt, Itadori Yuuji.

Everyone's eyes widen.

" You three, change of plans. "

He turns around.

" We must join forces with Itadori at once. If he has indeed been sealed, it could spell the end for every human in this country."

Yuuji continues calling for Nanami like a child calling for his dad while you make your way over. 

In fact, he doesn't stop even when you're right behind him, until-

" Oi!"

Megumi has to hit him in order to get him out of his his trance.

" Ohh- Fushiguro, Y/N, Nanamin. And... who?"

Eventually, Yuuji ends up explaining what has gone down while the four of you were outside. Or rather- Mechamaru explains.

Apparently he's been carrying him around like an earpiece.

You follow his story, yet you can't help but notice the folded black and white fluff to your left. Wordlessly, you take a few steps towards the cat, and pet it.

It purrs in response. Megumi watches what you're doing, but no one comments on it.

" Geto did it?"

" The thing that's acting as Geto Suguru, to be precise. Shibuya is overrun with curses right now. It's overrun by special grades, weaker curses, and curse users who follow Geto, as well as transfigured humans and civilians. "

" Then attacking through the subway from neighboring stations does make sense. But in order to do that, we need that veil lifted."

" This is an emergency. We'll have to multitask."

You can see Nanami thinking as you get up from where you were petting the cat, which has now run off. Unbeknownst to you, he wanted to keep an eye on you. He couldn't allow you to die, sorcerer or not. This was not your universe. Who knows what would happen to your own if you were to die here. 

However, now that things have gotten more dangerous, he needs to be able to work without distracting himself. Gojo told him about your skills. You were nowhere near weak. You weren't the strongest either. Gojo also commented on Megumi's fondness of you. You'd be safe with your classmates.

" Some requests can only be submitted by a first grade sorcerer. I'll step outside and take care of those with Ijichi. In the mean time, I want you four to do something about the veil that's keeping the sorcerers out.-" 

He informs everyone, while walking past you. Finally, he turns to Takuma. He's seated on the ledge of the building, the cat you had previously been petting now curled into a rice ball next to him, enjoying his attention.

" Kusakabe and honorary first grade Zen'In should be inside the veil as well. If you meet them, please explain the situation  and request for their assistance. Though that shouting earlier might've done the job."

Takuma nods in understanding, his expression serious as he takes in every word. He must look ul to Nanami to react like that.

" And lastly, I'm leaving these three in your care."

And then Nanami is gone. He's disappeared through the door on the rooftop.

Takuma is quiet for a moment.

" Ino?" 

Yuuji checks.

" You guys! Before we start the mission, let me explain how serious the situation is. Starting with the two main issues with losing Gojo sensei. First! The fall of the Gojo clan. The Gojo clan is a one man team of himself. His whims and influences have saved many sorcerers.- Itadori, Kamo, you're one of them, correct?"

You nod.

" That's right!"

Yuuji looks silly as he confirms.

Takuma doesn't appreciate that.

" Take this seriously! All of those people are gonna find themselves in trouble, or worse, executed.-"

You swallow.

Why was the Jujutsu world so mean?

" The second issue is the collapse of the power balance. Those who have remained in the shadows because of Gojo will make their move.- If society is over disarray over the first, and the second will start a war, we will lose. That's how Nanami and I see it. And what do you think happens if we lose?"

Megumi looks nearly bored as he replies.

" At the very least, the age of humans in Japan would be over."

Takuma grins at him, tugging at his beanie/mask.

" I see you get the idea. Let's get going! By the time Nanami gets back, that veil will be destroyed!"

Takuma is visibly motivated, slapping a shoulder of each of you in encouragement as he walks past you.

" Let's save Gojo Satoru!"

-

[ Parallel Jujutsu Kaisen Universe ]

The two of them, were, in fact, not enough.

Sukuna finds himself wishing you were here so you'd summon that pretty blade which was as light as a feather. He could swear the sword you kept with you was simply more powerful than whatever he has in his hands now.

He hisses as he lands on top of a building harshly. From the corner of his eye, he sees Megumi do the same. The spirit was much stronger than they had initially thought. However, both refuse to give up, and soon enough, they're charging against the spirit at the same time.

The plan was originally simple enough. 

Get the Chain of a Thousand Miles wrapped around it, and force it to Jujutsu Tech.

The plan was still running anything but smoothly though.

" Two against one? That's hardly fair." 

It's mocking them though, charging up a white ball and throwing it right at Megumi. Both boys' their eyes widen. It had been physical, close up combat up until now.

It's too quick, and Megumi has no time to avoid. Sukuna throws his Chain his way, and Megumi is close to grasping it- when the white ball hits him

 First, it's a regular explosion at a decent size, nothing that would permanently put Megumi on the sidelines of their battle.

Then a huge soundwave follows, sending both Megumi and Sukuna in opposite directions.

Sukuna is quick to get back on his feet. He doesn't doubt that Megumi is too, unless he had landed harshly into a building. ( In which case he'll have to suck it up and get over it- Sukuna needs him.)

The spirit raises it's brow at him.

" You've got no cursed energy."

Sukuna scoffs, grinning.

" Yet I can still beat your ass." 

The curse grins in response. It opens it's mouth to say something, but Sukuna is done with his shit. Mercilessly, he throws the Chain skillfully his way. The curse had been stupid, probably underestimating him as it had gotten closer.

Now, Sukuna tugs it closer, bringing them face to face with one another.

" Last chance before I hand you to Gojo sensei. Where. Is. Y/N?"

The curse's eyes, which were originally wide, turn into smiling crescents.

" Why don't you find out?"

It's smiling, happy.

Suddenly, a golden ring appears below him. Sukuna's brow furrows.

And then he's falling.

He makes a mistake, holding the end of the Chain in front of him. 

Giving the curse a window to escape.

Of course it does.

And then he's falling again.

Eventually, he hits his face flat to the ground.

" Fuck's sake-" 

As he gets up, he wipes a hand over his nose. It's bleeding. He scoffs in annoyance.

He looks up, studying his surroundings. 

Wait- 

Why was he in Shibuya?

Now more annoyed than before, he huffs, finally getting up and grumbling to himself in annoyance. 

He turns to leave, intending to take the bus back to Jujutsu Tech.

However, he walks straight into...something?

He furrows his brows in confusion, glancing up, he only notices how dark the sky is now.

A veil.

Why was there a veil in Shibuya?

The Anomaly Taglist:

@luxylucylou @kalulakunundrum @strxbxrrylover @aethersslave @jenniferrvsesi @hanatsuki-hime

[aziraphales-library]

Heya, recently got finished binging the whole series and was looking for some heavy angst/whump and or torture for my good mans Crowley.

If it can also include his snake form that’d be a plus :)

Thanks! — Spaghetti

Hi. We have plentiful posts with loads of fics on our #hurt crowley and #crowley whump tags, so check those out! Here are more to add to the whump. Mind the tags and warnings!...

Pietà by crowleys_hips (M)

In the final moments of the last battle to save Earth, Crowley deals the last blow and he watches triumphantly as the Metatron collapses before him. But he doesn't come out unscathed. With a holy weapon pierced into his abdomen and time slipping away from him, he makes peace with his doomed fate as he awaits death in his angel's arms. Aziraphale will -not- have it though, as he does everything in his power to save the being he loves the most, risking everything to keep him.

Displaced Anger by EdosianOrchids901 (T)

Crawley becomes the target of Lucifer's wrath when he answers a simple question wrong. Demons are not allowed to trust, to show gratitude, to be weak. When Crawley meets an angel in the Garden, will his life change?

screaming birds sound an awful lot like singing by midnightdragons (T)

Aziraphale sighed exasperatedly, crossing his arms over his chest and casting a disapproving eye down to the clearly-in-a-lot-of-pain demon. Crowley groaned half-heartedly, and then, without Aziraphale even having to speak a word of chastisement or scolding, he gave in — which was concerning in and of itself, Aziraphale thought worriedly, for him to so quickly admit that something was in fact wrong. “Ffffine,” he mumbled exhaustedly, and then, stubbornly ignoring Aziraphale’s attempts to move forward and help him, he sat up the best he could, hunching over slightly and wrapping trembling arms around himself for a moment as if in minute comfort. Crowley hissed through his teeth as he began to peel up his black shirt with shaking hands, digging a fang into his upper lip so hard it looked painful and snarling in the back of his throat, an almost chillingly animalistic sound. 

Aziraphale comes to Crowley's aid when the latter is attacked and left beaten by demons, and the angel takes care of him while he's too weak to do it himself. Very unapologetic whump and BAMF Aziraphale.

When it all Went Wrong by flowing_river (T)

Adam refuses to start Armageddon. Heaven and Hell decide to have their war anyways.

Morose Delectation by Unuora (M)

The nightmare began when Crowley woke up in Hell. To most people that would seem like an expected place for a nightmare to start, but to Crowley, even with all its various trappings, Hell was mostly just a place. “We have a new assignment for you, Crowley,” Beelzebub says. There’s an ominous hum in their voice. For the first time in many eons it sends a shiver down Crowley’s spine. “Directly from the top. We think you’ll find it interezzzting.” Beelzebub snaps and then they’re gone. In their place is an angel. Not just any angel. In their place is Aziraphale.

brought by the sunlight of the spirit (to pour into rain) by midnightdragons (M)

He was a demon, he was Fallen, and he was used to it. Used to punishment. He and the other Fallen angels had been the first to ever experience pain; of course they would be experts in it. But what they did this time was something done only by the cruelest of demons, and it wasn't just torture. It was a violation to the nth degree. Crowley is punished by Hell, and is left in a state that leaves him, in his own words, broken. Aziraphale tries to pick up the pieces. (Heed the tags; this is a RECOVERY story, and it gets worse before it gets better. But it does get better. Promise.)

- Mod D

[honey-flustered]

Cruel Little Vixen 5

Rockstar!Perv!Eddie Munson x Journalist!Reader

Enemies to Friends to Lovers (18+ MDNI)

Summary: You and Eddie go on a date extravaganza and the night ends with a bang. 😉

NO READ MORE LINE BREAK ADDED DUE TO GLITCH

A/N: Hello, readers! I do apologize for the delays with this chapter i was a lot and really long but it’s finally here. This is fluff to the max with some smuttiness. Eddie is a dom at heart so he’ll def show his rough yet gentle side of sex a lot more. Really hope you all enjoy this chapter! We’ve got 3 more chapters to go and things will be kind of tense but the love will grow exponentially. Thank you for the feedback, support, and love. I love writing for yall!

>>>>Series Masterlist Part 5 of 8

Word Count: 7.9k+

Warnings: lots of fluff, graphic language, tattoos, alcohol consumption, dirty talk, dom!eddie, facefucking, reader and Eddie are horndogs and flustered, semi-public sexual activities, Eddie being a tease, smutty smut, french kissing, nipple play, fingering, oral sex (m & f receiving), inappropriate use of belt (bondage), breath play, dacryphilia, hair pulling, scratching, biting, rough to soft sex

Tomorrow had finally come and, boy, were you nervous. Terrified. You’d had several intense dreams last night about the sexy rockstar that would put to shame a boy’s wet dream from how much you flooded your underwear. It didn’t help that you knew what his lips felt like. Now you were up this morning wondering how you’d be able to handle ALL of him when only a taste of him made you see so many stars.

It’s been a while since you had sex. What if you cum fast? Do men care about that stuff? Do they take it as a compliment? You curse yourself for your inexperience.

This looked like the time to call a friend. So you call Chrissy who was more than giddy when she found out you’d finally be getting laid.

“And to a rockstar, at that. Most girls would love to be in your shoes right now. This makes us sisters, ya know. Except you get to go all the way!” She says over the phone.

“I don’t know. Maybe I should just cancel…”

“Hell no! If you cancel, you might as well write the word ‘clown’ on your forehead. You deserve to have many orgasms which he’ll definitely provide.”

“Yeah, he really does.” You muttered, only to have your eyes widen because you spoke that a little to loud.

“What do ya mean?” Then you hear a loud gasp. “He ate you out?”

You blush. “Can we not be so vulgar?”

Chrissy rambles, squealing in a pitch dogs would cower in. “Oooh my god! He did! You loved it! I’m sure you did! Tell me details! Tell me how you feel! How many times did you—”

“Okay, okay,” You cut her off, laughing at her eagerness. “It was…in-fucking-credible. Insane. My breath was taken away from at a couple times through the whole thing. Then at the end…mind blowing.”

“Love that for you, babes. Sooo, where are you guys going?”

“I’m not sure but he called me this morning. Told me that the rule for today is that we can’t say ‘no’.”

“Ooo, sounds kinky.”

“I hope not. I don’t think I’m ready for anything too intense just yet.”

“You are! You’re a pretty, sexy bitch and you are unstoppable. Now say it.”

You say it with a reduced, conservative energy compared to her. “I’m a pretty, sexy—”

“Say it like ya mean it, girl!”

Now you’re yelling. “I’m a pretty, sexy bitch and I’m unstoppable!”

“Again!”

“I’m a pretty, sexy bitch and I’m unstoppableee!” You yell into the phone.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Now you dress in your hottest fucking outfit that you’ve ever worn and rock that boy’s world. He won’t be able to keep his hands off you with how much of a fiery force you’ll be so long as you embody your true spirit of…a vixen.”

Indeed, you were the vixen. You were the one who stood up to Eddie. Who put him in his place and made him act accordingly. You were the one you got through the hard shell he put around himself. You needed to be reminded that you weren’t like any girl he’s ever had.

“You’re my fucking soulmate, poms.” You smiled brightly.

“You know it.”

———————

The “Say ‘Yes’ Date Extravaganza”. A date in which you and Eddie would have no particular destination. He’d drive around blindly then if you both spot a specific model of car model in a specific color you’d stop and go to whatever place you’d stopped near.

The date was meant to be all day. So right after your call with your best friend, you got down to business. The look you were going for now. Angelic. A contrast of himself. You were going to be the face of innocence and he would be your devilish temptation. Little would he know that despite your pure appearance, you would be just as sinful seeking carnal corruption.

So you’d dress in all white. White faux leather thigh boots that gave you legs for days. Face makeup meant to give a soft touch to your face. Flowy hair down and kept slick and neat also a contrast to his wild curls. You were opposites but that’s what made this work all so well.

There’s a knock at your door and your heart nearly leap out of your chest. You sauntered over to the door, legs and hands slightly trembling. When the door swings open, you and Eddie exchange looks of enchantment.

Handsome was an understatement. He was sex on two legs. Adonis incarnate. The very depiction of Lucifer as an angel. You could feel yourself growing feral at the very sight of him. His hair up to keep up with his suave look.

Meanwhile, Eddie audibly gulped as he took in your frame. He wasn’t sure how he stood strong when everything in him wanted to crumble to his knees before you and beg for something he wasn’t sure he needed from you.

He carries flowers and a small gift box in his shaking hands, handing them over to you. His face a light shade of pink.

“F-for you.” He manages to get out.

It was so cute to see him when he’s flustered. Actually, it was a huge turn on, too. You reached for gifts, doing what you could so your skin wouldn’t make contact with his or you just might pounce.

“Really?” You asked, surprised at his refreshingly gentleman behavior. “You didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to.” He nods, mustering up a toothy smile.

“Thank you,” You smiled back, forcefully ripping your eyes from him to prevent yourself from looking down at the beckoning erection growing in his pants. You uncovered the small rectangular box and let out a astonished gasp. It was a beautiful silver necklace, the pendant in the shape of a treble clef and encrusted with diamonds. “Oh, my god. Eddie, this is gorgeous. I-I couldn’t.”

He rolls his eyes playfully before gesturing a spin with his finger, wordlessly guiding you to turn your back to him. You opened your mouth to protest but let the words die on your lips, removing your own necklace and obeying his wish. Moving your up and out from your shoulders and back, as he draped the expensive jewelry around your neck. The cold touch of the silver when it first contacts with your skin sends a shiver down your spine. Then, you felt his fingers ghost over the back of your neck and despite the goosebumps that lit across your skin you began to feel hot.

His hands linger on you even after he’s already clasp the necklace around your neck. You can feel his breath against your neck, your chest rising in falling at the sudden lack of oxygen. You slowly turned to looked at him, his fingers dragging across your neck line as you did.

Your stares magnetizing as your eyes attract from his eyes, the his lips, then back to his eyes.

I want him so bad.

He clears his throat backing away. “You should probably put those in water.” He says, referring to the flowers.

“Y-yeah. I will do j-just that. ‘Scuse me.”

Maybe I’ll be putting myself in water, too.

—————

Eddie rented a nice car to drive on the road in style or so he says. Really, you believe that the reason was for its speed.

“You wanna see how fast it goes?” He says, smirking menacingly.

“No, I value my life. Thanks, though.”

“You failed the test.”

“Huh?”

“I was testing you. We’re doing a say ‘yes’ challenge. Ya can’t say ‘no’.”

Oh, right. This challenge could either be the worse thing I agreed on or the best decision of my life.

You groan. “Okay fine.”

“If you said yes before I wouldn’t have done it. But as your punishment….” Eddie lifts his foot off the gas, reeling it back.

“No, no, no!” You put your hands over your eyes.

After a couple of seconds, you realized that you were still moving at same constant speed. You peeked through your eyes at him. Him giving you a wink then looking back on the road.

“You’re an asshole.” You pout.

“I know. But you just look so adorable when your scared,” He chuckles. “It’s your pick first by the way.”

You were meant to pick a model of a car and its color you to elect for this first round of dates. You looked up, finger on your chin as you dramatically contemplated your choice.

“Red Cadillac.” You decide.

“What year?”

“Does it matter?”

“No. I just wanted to be annoying. Maybe find out if you know cars.”

“Not me. My older brother. The guy was obsessed.”

“You have a brother?” Eddie asks, intrigued by the new information.

“Mhm, older brother. By 4 years.”

“What do you think he’ll think of me?” He smiles, knowing it wouldn’t be good.

You were mostly surprised by that fact that he would bring up meeting your brother. That meant meeting your family. The kind of step you’d take once a relationship becomes serious.

“He’d probably kick your ass.”

He laughs. “That’s fair.”

“Oh! There it is. A red Cadillac.” You point.

Eddie gets into a parking spot and you stretch over to his side to look in his window. The sign read as: Frieda’s Art Shop.

“An art shop,” You say, plopping back down in your seat. “How nice. Little shady with the sign but I’m sure it’s just an aesthetic thing. So far the date’s going my way. Hope the next one choice will take us to a nice seminar about female empowerment.”

“You’re just saying that to make me suffer, aren’t you?”

“Can’t say ‘no’.” You shrugged.

“Jokes on you. I actually wouldn’t mind. I support women’s right to fuck who they want.”

“Well…it’s not entirely what female empowerment is about but you’ve got the spirit.” You say, disingenuously. “Now shouldn’t we enter the art shop.”

Eddie looks through the window at the destination then he looks back with a smug look. “Yeah…’art shop’. Let’s go, little vixen.”

He exits the car, leaving you feeling both uneasy and bewildered. Why did he say it like that? That tone in his voice always signals that he’s up to no good.

He opens your passenger door, holding out his hand. You reluctantly take it, wondering what exactly have you gotten yourself into.

When you made it to the entrance, you began to question whether this really was what you thought it was. Your concerns were confirmed when you both entered the premises. It wasn’t an art shop. It was a TATOO shop.

“Oh, no.” You whisper.

“Oh, yes.” Eddie counters.

“You rigged this!”

“It was your choice. Not mine. I’m just really lucky.”

You couldn’t believe it. You had to ask someone in charge what exactly is this place. Scurrying up to the counter, you greeted the purple-haired lady with extensive tats and piercings on her body. “Hello. I saw your sign out there and so I was wondering is this the art shop or…”

“It’s a body art shop. Sorry that signs missing some letters and now it’s become like a running joke with us. Didn’t you see the drawing of the hand with the electric needle? I thought it was self explanatory.”

“I thought it was a paint brush!” You defended.

She shrugs. “You can still see some art. You look like a fresh one. Newbie. I like ‘em new. Wanna get a tat?”

You look behind you, Eddie urging you on. You slumped in defeat, turning on your heels to face the woman who also carried an mischievous smile on her face.

“Alright,” You sigh. “Let’s do this shit.”

“Follow me, freshie.” The lady beckons with one finger.

Unenthusiastically, you walk after, Eddie following behind with a lot more pep in his step. When you were sat in the chair, you looked panically at him when you spotted the needle.

“You’re fun Y/n, remember?” Eddie encourages.

“‘Fun but know her limit’ Y/n. I might pass out right now.”

“What if we get one together? That’ll calm your nerves. I was looking to get one soon and you said you’d be doing the same last time. Today’s the day.”

“Okay. Maybe seeing him do it first will calm me down.” You say to the tattoo lady.

“Alright, whatever calms your nerves, princess. Raul, help our mate over here please.”

You growled. Why did everyone take you as some pamper princess? Back then, you were viewed far from that label. Although, you couldn’t deny the feeling of happiness you felt being treated as such by Eddie.

“Hold on a moment. You’re the bloke from that new hot band, Corroded Coffin! I fucking love your music, bruv.” Raul says.

“Thanks, man.” Eddie says, shyly rubbing the back of his neck.

“You think you could play sign my guitar. I’ve got it right here in the shop—”

“No, ya wanker. Can’t you see the man is trying to have a night of fun with his girlfriend. He doesn’t need to be bothered as a celebrity. Treat him as any client.” The lady with purple hair chastises.

“Fuck off, Lilia. You’re no fun.”

“You fuck off, Raul. Grab a needle and let’s get this started.”

Your chairs were positioned side by side. Eddie rolling up his sleeve for a tat in his inner wrist. The moment the needle touches his skin, he lets out a strained yell.

“Oh, crap. It hurts that bad!” You asked, eyes wide.

“No. I just wanted to scare you again.” He laughs.

“One of these days, Munson. Mark my words. I will terrify you.”

Without warning, Lilia begins to tattoo your inner arm and you jerk up. “Watch it, princess.”

“You’re the one who started with no heads up,” You shriek. Eddie holds out his hand and you immediately grip onto it. “This is the craziest thing you’re making me do!”

“I wouldn’t say that just yet. The date’s not over.” His laughter turning into a hiss as the needle dug deeper into his skin.

—————

You and Eddie were now preparing to show off your tattoos as a surprise to each other. You were pleased with the tattoo and honestly it wasn’t so bad but you wouldn’t tell him this or he’d never let you live it down.

“Okay, reveal in 3…2…2 1/2….2 3/4…” He teases.

“Will you please hurry up?” You giggle, jumping up and down excitedly.”

“1.”

You both remove your hands from your tattoos. You both immediately burst into laughter at your tattoos. They were matching tattoos of cats. It was your tattoo artist’s pick and she decided to surprise you both with the matching tattoos.

“She gave us matching ones. How embarrassing.”

“To her defense, she buys us as a couple.” He nudges you with an elbow, your face growing hot.

You didn’t think he’d pick up on her commenting on you being Eddie’s girlfriend figuring it was best to ignore it. Were you his girlfriend? He hadn’t exactly asked.

Before leaving the shop you thanked the artists, Eddie even signing the guy’s guitar and talking about playing sometime together, exchanging phone numbers. It was a nice first start and the two of you had plenty more dates to attend.

—————

“My pick is a black…. Mustang. That’ll be hard to find. I don’t think anyone in this city drives a mustang. We might have to go farther out.”

“I have a good feeling we’ll be seeing one soon and that this time the venue will be in my favor.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy that tattoo. I saw your toes curling each time she forced the needle deeper. You like pain.”

You scoffed. “N-no, I don’t.”

“You’re very convincing.” He says, sarcastically. “So…tell me about yourself. I feel like I’m still kept in the dark about you.”

“You know who I was.”

“Not high school. Like your whole life or something. You know a lot about mine with this article thing. What about you though?”

“You’re taking the role as the interviewer?”

“Yep, make it good. I could use a juicy story.” He quips.

“I don’t know. My life’s pretty boring. I didn’t have a terrible childhood. I was just always kinda there ya know. You know, my mom wanted me to take piano lessons. Wanted me to be a prodigy. Be interesting, ya know. Like my older brother who’s great at almost everything. My mom would always brag about him to her friends rarely about me. She wasn’t trying to forget me of course. She was still kind to me. It’s just I wish she noticed what I can do to. What I’m actually good at. My dad was the same only a lot more misogynistic. He didn’t think writing was a girl’s thing. I just got so used to being ignored at home that it was only second nature in school. I found myself comfortable being alone. Sometimes alone doesn’t mean lonely….but I’ve known them both. I’m glad I met Chrissy. She really helped me out my comfort zone in college. Now I don’t feel so lonely anymore. And now with you…I don’t think I’ve felt that feeling at all.”

You couldn’t believe you just admitted that. Yes, you both were on a path to being more real with your feelings but this was too much. Too vulnerable. You wished a black hole could swallow you and collapse in on itself.

“I’m glad you feel that way. I’ve felt that way with you, too. For a while now.” He says in a tone sounded slightly relieved.

“That’s great. I’m glad I can be that person for you, too.” God, you were blushing so much tonight. Him, as well. The two of you staying in happy silence as you drove the narrow road.

Then, you spotted a black mustang.

———————

“Whoaa.” You both say simultaneously, staring up at the tall castle before you.

You were clearly showing yourselves as tourists in the crowd of people but neither of you cared. It was breathtaking. This was definitely set up in the cards for you.

“A tourist attraction where the atttraction’s a freaking castle. You don’t see things like that in Hawkins.” You say, wistfully.

“I don’t like museum but I can admit that this is pretty sick. You wanna explore?”

“Yes!”

Taking each other’s hands, you run up the flight of stairs to the front entrance and eyes taking in the sights before. Beautiful artwork of religious stories depicted on the tall, tall ceilings and endless halls to be explored.

You wanted to act your wildest childhood fantasies of running through a castle. If only you had a longer gown but, nonetheless, you wanted to roam freely without seemingly looking like a complete fool. Eddie must’ve sensed this because instead of following along with the crowd, he sneaks you both into the back of the line before guiding you up the nearest steps with him.

“Where are we going?!” You whispered.

“We can have a history lesson about this place some other time,” He imitates an old Cockney British accent. “Diving into the quest is a far better option, m’lady.”

“I guess we can have our own little tour,” You smiled, bashfully. “Race you to the top.”

Yanking your hand away, you run up the stairs as best as your heel boots would allow you. He laughs, following after you. He could easily surpass you but then he wouldn’t be able to admire you from behind and that’s something he couldn’t allow himself to do just yet. Especially, when the view involves the short hemline of your dress swaying side to side revealing just a couple inches of more of your soft, ample thighs. He regretted his perverted mind, psyching him up enough to want to chase you and pin you up against a wall.

You giggled away, unaware of the turmoil you’d caused within him. He finally catches up to you, wrapping his arms around you from behind and you squeal in delight.

You turned to face him, his hands lowering to your hip. Believing you would kiss him, he presses his forehead against yours. Your arms slide from around his neck, down his chest feeling the soft material of his shirt along with the hardness of his chest under your fingertips. Instead of doing what he’d hoped, you take his hand and run through the halls.

Every now and again, you’d stop and admire the views of gorgeous renaissance paintings and lavish architecture. By the time, you’d finish exploring the sun was beginning to set.

“There’s a maze here, too. This place is endless.” You say, in exhaustion mixed with excitement.

“Wanna explore it before it gets too dark? We can head to dinner after and then…whatever you decide.” He says, a glimmer of nerves in his tone.

Hw was making it your decision for how the night ends. You appreciated it knowing he was doing this to let you know that tonight didn’t have to end with you both sleeping together.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You smile softly.

Once you reached the maze, the museum guides explained that it would be a difficult maze and should you both need help, they’d come after you. But if you did escape the maze then you’d get a prize at the end.

The sun was still setting so there wasn’t much time to wait. You walked through hand and hand, neither of you saying a word. It wasn’t for the fact that you had nothing to say but it was more so that you both were really nervous.

You knew the time was approaching where after this date you’d have to make the decision if you wanted to go all the way. Not that you were being pressured but once you do it , there would be no looking at each other the same way. You know your feelings would only grow from that moment on.

“Yes.” You say, breaking the silence.

He whips head at you confused. “I didn’t say anything out loud…did I?”

You shook your head and laughed, “You didn’t. But this is my answer to you about tonight. ‘Yes, I want to…I want you to…”

He closes the gap between your bodies, causing your words to die on your lips. His hands are calloused and soft, cupping your face. You press a kiss to his palm.

“I want you more.” Eddie whispers, tauntingly.

“Not possible.” You say.

“Pretty sure it is. I’m the one who’s been trying to get your attention for these past weeks. I didn’t think you were interested til you kissed me.” Now he’s admitting things that he’d swear he’d kept all the way to his grave. That old man from the other night wasn’t a mobster…he’s a freaking wizard.

“Think I’m gonna need you to keep my attention some more,” You whispered against his lips. “Kiss me.”

He captures your lips in a chaste kiss. It’s like he’s afraid to go on further. Like he was still giving you room to change your mind. Placing, your hand around the back of his neck, you pull him deeper into the kiss and the ropes of restraint snaps. You’re frenching in the middle of this maze, his thigh between your legs for you to grind against. Little whimpers escaping your lips.

His hands cup your ass to guide your hips against him. Once he felt like you’d picked up on the pace he set, his hands went to the thick strap of your dress. He lowers it, setting your breast free. Instead of hiding yourself, you arched into him, moaning at the hungry look on his face. He dips his tongue in your mouth for one last kiss, you sucking on his tongue to stop him from breaking away but he does. He blows air against your neck before peppering kisses on the supple flesh. Your eyes flutter close, biting your lip at the sensation. Then, you felt a small lick on your breast gasping softly at the feeling of his expert tongue. He’s licking short, flicks up it’s curvature, purposefully avoiding your hardened bud.

When his tongue finally circles around it, you let out a cry loud enough for the guide to voice his concerns from the front of the maze.

“You guys need assistance in there?” The guide inquires.

You both laugh at the context of the question along with the sexual activities you both were participating in. Eddie resumes his ministrations on your nipple and bites down hard enough to jolt you and falters your grinding.

“Oh, fuck.” You whispered, shakily.

He pulls away and a line connecting his lips to your hardened nipple forms, breaking when you tug him by the hair for another kiss.

You almost got carried away, hands traveling down to his belt when he places a hand over yours. “This was just a preview of the fun we’ll be having later, little one. No more.”

“What happened to say ‘yes’ extravaganza? You’re saying ‘no’ to me.” You whined.

“With good reason,” He says, fixing your dress. “We’re in public.”

“Never stopped you.” You retort.

“True, but I’m a changed man.” His body peels off yours and you instantly miss the warmth of his body.

Snaking an arm around your waist, you both walked through the maze. It’s dark now and you could hardly see where you’d just come from.

“Okay, I think it’s time we call it a night. This is harder than I thought it was.” He cups his hands over his mouth to call for help when you place wrap a hand around his wrist and point at the few lights in the sky.

Sky lanterns. Without a word, you follow the lifht in awe not thinking of how fast you were going. You needed to see where exactly they were coming from.

It seemed like you were getting closer because more and more sky lanterns littered the night sky. Until finally, you’d made it out of the maze, a female guide waiting at the end with two sky lanterns.

“Congratulations! You made it to end of the maze. Very few could do it. Here are your lanterns. Straight through that walkway, it will lead you to an area near our pond where guests are releasing their lanterns. It’s a little treat before the holidays. Enjoy!” She hands you both your lanterns and you both walk down the stone pathway passed the tall trees and then you were where the clear skies were. Floating lanterns filled the sky illuminating the rippling pond. There were families, couples, all sorts of groups releasing their lanterns and the atmosphere just felt magical.

You made an agreement with one another to release your lanterns once you thought about something you wished for.

“What’d you wish for?” He asks.

“You know the rules. If I tell you, it won’t come true.” You flip your hair off your shoulders.

“You’re boring,” He says, pinching your nose. “Ready to release?”

“Oh, yeah.” You nod, eagerly.

“3, 2…1!”

You release, following your lanterns in the sky. They bumped and swirled against one another before disappearing in the sea of lights.

This confirms it, saying ‘yes’ was my best decision so far.

From your perspective, all you saw were the lights. From Eddie’s perspective, you were the light. A light brighter than any of the ones in the sky. You stared up and giggling to yourself at the beauty and he’s smiling to himself, lucky to see such a sight on you.

You glance at him, nearly missing his stare until you did a double take. You smile, curling up against his body, your head resting against his chest.

“You wanna get out here? I’m starving.” You sighed, hugging your arms tight around his waist.

“What are you in the mood for?”

“If I tell you, you’d probably look at me different. But for now, simply, I could eat some Italian.”

He kisses your forehead. “Let’s get you what you want.”

—————

You downed your third drink for the night. The nerves making you drink as you searched for a boost of liquid courage. Neither of you had ordered any actual food up until this point. When the waiter left, you let out a string of words in an attempt to carry the conversation away from sex. “I can’t believe I got a tattoo. What will my parents think when they see this?”

“Probably how awesome it looks and how they’ll wish they were as cool as us.” Eddie laughs only slightly tipsy.

“Oh, yeah, my parents would totally want tattoos of cats holding guns.” You snort.

He just looked so good. How on earth are you not supposed to think about sex when he looks at you like that? You didn’t realize you were biting lips and staring at him as he spoke until he stopped and chuckled. “You okay?”

“I’m fuck—fine. I’m fine.” You facepalm yourself mentally at the freudian slip.

“Someone’s got a dirty mind.”

“Oh, god.” You hide your face.

“I’m just playing around. I’m actually having a tough time not thinking about it either.”

“Maybe we should skip dinner and order takeout. I don’t want to avoid this anymore, Eddie. I want you to fuck me.”

Eddie nearly spat out his drink in shock. He must’ve heard you wrong? No way would you be this direct.

“H-huh?” His heart beat loud in his ears as he does what he can to focus on your words.

“I said, ‘I want you to fuck…me’. I don’t want to wait anymore. I need you.”

“Shit. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure if I can stand right now. That just made me so hard.”

“Don’t make me wait. I want to feel it.”

“How badly?” He leans in closer.

“So badly. I wanted it ever since I’d seen you this morning.”

“I wanted you ever since you walked in my dressing room.”

“Then, take me. Make me yours.” You were like horny teenagers again, ready to search for the nearest room to pounce at each other.

You wren’t planning on staying for the food. Dropping some cash on the, Eddie and you make your way out trying to keep your hands away from each other long enough so you wouldn’t tear at each other’s clothes in the middle of the restaurant.

———

Every red light was an opportunity to feel his lips on your, every now and then you’d palm the front of his crotch. He was so huge. You knew the first time he’ll enter you, it’ll hurt but you’d willingly take that pain over the aching you felt for him not being inside you now.

He was driving at a little under the speed limit, not wanting to scare you. His need was so strong that if he didn’t hold back, he’d slam on the brakes.

“Faster.” You whined.

“I don’t want to scare you.”

“Oh, now you don’t,” You groan. “Please drive faster. If I don’t have you, I think I might go crazy.”

“And you think I’m not going crazy with how needy your being. I want to take you in so many ways.”

“Then, do it. Right now. Fuck the hotel. Let’s do it here.”

“Y/n, not another word. We’re almost there.” He rests a hand on your thigh, rubbing up and down in an attempt to soothe you but it only made everything worse.

You brush his hand away. “No! Don’t do that or we won’t be leaving this car.”

“Almost there.” He says, breathing heavily.

When you spotted the hotel in the distance growing closer you felt such a relief. The tension had consume you deeply and in return you absorbed it’s energy. Once the car’s parked, your hands are each other once again. You make way with his hairtie releasing his wild curls and tangling your fingers into them.

It was a good thing that as you stumbled through the lobby that no witnesses were there aside from the front desk receptionist who neither of you could care less for the situation.

The elevator felt like a long ride up to but it didn’t stop your wandering hands and exploring mouths. By the time you reached his room, you could barely let him stick unlock the door, pulling him into another kiss whenever he’d try.

“Just a sec, babygirl.”

“No mor waiting.” You whisper, breathlessly. Pecking his lips over and over.

“It won’t be long.”

You reluctantly release him from your grip and he turns to quickly and frustratingly unlock his room door. Once he’d managed to open it, it’s like an unholy spirit bestowed upon him. His eyes that glimmer with excitement now replaced with intense dark eyes.

You take in his shift in demeanor. It was enough to bring you to your knees and it did…at least it almost did until he’d wrapped his ring-clad finger around your throat, guiding you back to your feet.

“Strip for me.” He orders.

You swallowed hard but you knew you would listen with little ifs, ands, or buts. He releases you, taking a seat at the edge of the bed and giving you the spotlight. You remove your shoes first and showing off your legginess. Next came, the straps of your dress. You slowly move them down your shoulder, revealing your breasts before him. You’re given any room to feel embarrassed as he looked at you like you were the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

While you allows your dress to slide down your body, you notice his hands unbuckling his belt, snaking it out of the loops of his pants; eyes still glued to your figure. You stood before him now in your lace thong, making the next move to remove them.

“Keep them on.”

He saunters over to you taking your wrists in his hands. You look up at him with doe eyes, curious and filled with desire.

“Is this what you want?”

“Yes, please.”

“How do you it?”

“In any way you like. Just take me. Please.” You begged.

Wrapping the belt around your wrists and knotting it tight, you were at his mercy. That’s the way you both liked it. He guides you to the bed, you’re on your back with your tied hands above your head. You looked so ravishing before him. Submitting your body to him to do as he wishes. He won’t let you regret this. He aims to please you and leave you dumbified at the end of the night.

He starts by kissing up your legs, exchanging between the two. When he places a kiss on the top of your clothed covered pussy, you squirm in need as you’re reminded of the feeling of his lips between them. He dips a tongue into your bellybutton, chuckling as you moaned out loud.

He grips your side, squeezing as he adored your body. When he makes it up to your face, he kisses in heated passion. Busied by his talented mouth, you didn’t notice his hands push aside your under, dipping a finger into your tight, hot channel. He pumps away inside of you curling his fingers and wiggling it in spots that made you gush around him.

“Eddie!” You cried out, bringing your hands down to slow him but, with his free hand, he pins them back up over your head. Years of guitar and piano, had it’s perks for Eddie making him incredibly skilled at bringing a woman to tears from pleasure in a matter if seconds.

You were sobbing uncontrollably, feeling him the cold ring tap over and over against your clit. It was too good and mind-numbing to the point where you’d nearly forgotten you were in a hotel room where people can surely hear you through these thin walls.

When he pulls out, his fingers glistened, hovering over you. Your slick has the consistency of honey as Eddie spread his fingers apart to admire the way it dripped and clung to his finger. He tastes you, moaning.

“I love the way you taste, Y/n. Can’t wait to have more.”

You were dead. He’ll be using his fingers and his mouth down there and you were going to die from an overload of bliss. It’s not exactly a terrible way to die.

He slips your thong of you, inhaling its scent. God, even the way you smell was addicting. You were the death of him just as he were for you.

Turning you over on your stomach, he drags you by the legs, making sure you were bent over the edge; feet planted back on the ground. He spreads you wide, seeing your juices seeping from your puckering core.

He’ll mentally capture this moment. You bent over his bed with your perfect ass in the air. He gets on his knees behind you, toying with you clit with a few fingers and eliciting a broken record of moans. Then, his lips and tongue make contact and you began to ride back against his face in a desperate attempt to cum. His nails sinking into the flesh of your ass, enjoying the way you bucked against his awaiting mouth.

“That’s right, baby. Ride my face.” He rasps, smacking one ass cheek in the process. You groan, using the bed as leverage to rut against his face made for riding. His thick fingers are added back into the equation again, thrusting into you to produce more of your wetness. Whatever pours from you, he collects on his tongue wiggling around to drink of the aphrodisiac.

“You’re so fucking good, daddy,” Your eyes roll into the back of your skull. “You gonna make me cum so hard. Please.”

You throw a hand over your mouth, shoving your face into the mattress when you feel his long, fat tongue plunge into your pussy all while his finger played with your sensitive nub.

“Ohhh, unh my god. I’m close.” You pant, flashes of light spotting your vision.

He can barely talk. So invested on your pleasure solely, he couldn’t break his focus to speak when he wanted nothing more than to feel you quaking around his tongue.

“Eddie, oh fuck!” You came harder than you did the last time which was dangerous for you. You were hyperventilating like you ran a marathon as a wave crashed into you, causing your arousal to run down your wobbly legs.

He slurps up whatever he could, groaning at the aftershocks racking through your body that jolt you back against his face.

He stands to his feet turning you back to face him and your blissed and spaced out. You were boneless but alive.

You sit up once you recovered, sliding down the bed to your knees in front him; your hands resting on his pants.

“This is about you.”

“And this is what I want.” You unbutton the front of his pants, eyeing him as you did so.

You lower his pants along with his underwear, kissing his soft belly and the trail of hair. One more tug and he springs out of his confines, popping out like a 3D movie.

This is your first time seeing his dick. It’s obviously incredibly huge. Veiny cock with a pink engorged tip, super thick and long, you questioned how could any man be this blessed.

He’s mouthwatering. You take him in your hands, running the tip and base over your lips. You kiss his cock hoping it’s enough to express your craving of him. He stares down at you from above thumbs swiping sweetly across your cheek as you take him into his mouth.

He hisses. “Fuck, that mouth is good.”

He grips your hair, guiding you against him. Despite your hands being bound together you made it work. With the force of his thrusts and his cock hitting the back of your throat, you pump him in between these moments. Gagging and salivating as you’re attempts to swallow him proved to be a challenge.

“You look so fucking hot. Got your mascara running down your face trying to swallow me, little vixen.” He brings you all the way down, your nose hitting meeting his happy trail and taking in his manly scent.

He pulls out of your mouth, watching as you coughed at the vigorous throat fucking.

“Cum in my mouth. Wanna taste you on my tongue.”

“Stick it out for me.”

You do as he says, sticking out you the wet appendage to offer for his enjoyment. He run his cock back and forth over your tongue, then slams back into your throat again. Your lips stretching further to accommodate him and whatever your mouth couldn’t reach, you stroked energetically.

With his balls drawing in, you began to with them to the actions of your head bobbing.

“Aw, fuck, Y/n….don’t fucking stop. Such a good girl.”

He sounded so sexy, falling apart because of you. “Mmm, yes, baby. Yes. Show me how much you want it.”

You sucked harder, staring into his eyes daringly. You wanted his soul and he’ll gift it to you with a smile on his face. “Shit, shit, shit.” He chants in succession, flooding your mouth with his cum. You’re relentless as you continued to suck him off with fervent passion, drinking every last drop.

His knees nearly buckle. You were sucking him to the point of sensitivity and he felt like maybe his life force had been sucked away, too. He hadn’t even penetrated you and already he’s weakened by your touch.

You pull off him, looking like you were expecting more. He couldn’t be more proud at this.

“Can I have it inside me now?” You rubbed your head against his thigh.

“You want it hard?”

“Please, so hard.”

“I might ruin that tight little pussy. You have felt a dick like mine.”

“I can handle it.“

“Give me your hands.”

You extended you hands, he frees them from the restraints and you’re more than happy. You were rewarded with the permission to touch him.

“Should I get a condom? I’m clean but I’m not sure I’ll be pulling out if I’m inside you.”

“Don’t. I’m clean and on the pill. I got on it for you, hoping one day I’d get to have you. Thank you for giving me your cock, sir.” You kiss his thigh, you were a complete opposite of yourself. You could hardly recognize who you were but it was his affect on you which resonated so intensely with you.

You’re laid back against his bed. You complained of the amount of clothes, he still had on and he listens; throwing off his clothes. You love the way his body looked. He was covered in tattoos and he was had the kind of body that was fit yet soft enough for your to cuddle.

He wanted to watch your reaction once he slipped to you. Skin against skin, eyes locked. The engorged head of his cock pressed against your entrance.

“Tell me when it hurts, okay?”

You nod. He presses the tip into you and although you felt the burn of the stretch, it didn’t seem to bad. Until he’d knocked deep into you, splitting you open inch by inch. You’re eyes widen.

“Oh, my god. Wow. I’m being split in two,” You choked out, blinking back tears. No matter how wet you were, nothing could’ve prepared you for this. “Oh wow. Wow.”

He kisses at the teary corners of your eyes, circling your clit as he deep, slow stroke into you. You hear the noise of squelching build up as he pick up the pace, watching his mouth fall open at the feeling of you.

“So damn tight.” He growls.

You whimpered. The pain slowly dissipating to a bubbling pot of lust, love, pleasure combined. You dig you nails into his back, raking down on the freckled skin.

“It’s so good.” You mewled before capturing his lips.

Once he felt like, you’d gotten used to him. He’d gone rougher, heavy balls hitting against you ass as he pummeled into your sweet heat.

You closed your eyes, smiling a little at the feeling of him filling you over and over. You missed this feeling and you were most happy to know that it was him that would claim your body after so long being off men.

His chokes you, gently hitting a spot deep enough in you that made you yelp with every slam against it. He lit you up in ways that you didn’t understand. The lack of oxygen feeling euphoric. He releases his tight grip and you gasp for air only to feel it cut short once again.

He whispers the dirtiest things in your ear along the lines of ruining you for other guys and keeping you tied to his bed for the rest of the trip and it worked enough to have you spilling in his sheets.

“I’m gonna cum. Daddy, can I please cum?” You asked, your tone pornographic.

He hits up into your guts and you can feel him, prodding through your stomach, nudging the spongy button within you.

“Cum for daddy. Make daddy all wet.”

You weren’t sure how you would do that until you felt him reach a depth of you that flash your vision white and you screamed as the sensation built and built then released with a satisfying flow of wetness.

You whined loud as he bit into your neck, pounding and sloshing around in your pussy. You were clenching around him hard enough to keep him from thrusting with ease.

With one last clench, he spills within you not long after after you. Breathing heavily and stifling his whines, he wrings himself for all he’s worth within you, coating your walls.

You were being filled by a rockstar. By Eddie Munson. A man you admired from afar. A man you hated once. A man who you once considered as your friend. This very man made you cum so hard around him, making you already anticipate for another chance at this.

He stills inside of you with a satisfied sigh. You playing with the curls of his hair. The night had ended with a band, indeed.

He pulls out of you, the sudden lost making you feel cold again. With laying next to you, it isn’t to bad especially when he pulls you to his side to rest on his chest. He looks down, smiling at you. “You feeling okay?”

“I feel like I just experienced something so out of this world. I feel like a whole new woman!

“I’m thinking for the rest of the night I’ll continue to make you feel that way. Anything to keep my girl by my side.”

You tensed. “Your girl?”

“Y-yeah,” He laughs dryly. “If it’s okay with you, of course.”

You smiled, giddily. Maybe it was the butterflies in your stomach from those orgasms or overall having Eddie as yours but it felt like you were on top of the world.

“Of course, it’s okay, Eds. I’m your girl.” You kissed his sweaty chest, curling into him.

“Good,” He sighs his relief, squeezing you closer. “The night’s far from over just so ya know. I’ve waited patiently for you. I’m going to get my fill of you by the end of the night. If that’s possible of course.”

“Bring it,” You challenged with a smirk. “I was wondering if it was only a warm up.”

He chuckles, darkly. “Oh, you’re gonna get it now.”

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[go-river-flows]

The Lone Hunter

Summary: Jake’s kids are still wide awake from a day of playing, so he tells them the story of The Lone Hunter to get his little children to fall asleep.

Part 1 of 3

Next Chapter –>

Jake was huddling his young children to get sleep, but finding it difficult as his children were a rambunctious bunch, always full of energy and all over the place.

“Come on kids, it's time to close our eyes now,” Jake held his sons and daughter, with his wife and newborn daughter next to him.

“Aw, but we’re not tired,” little Neteyam whined.

“Tell us a story!” Kiri bounced.

Jake sighed, chuckling at his children, “okay, one story.”

“Yay!” the three children exclaimed.

“What story are you going to tell?” Neteyam asked his father.

“Hmmm. Have you heard the one about how I met your mother?” they nodded, “About how Uncle Norm and I became friends?” they nodded again, “What about the lone hunter?” The three kids’ ears perked up, they haven't heard that one before.

“No, what’s that one about?” Kiri chirped. Jake lightly chuckled at her question.

“Oh this one is an interesting story, and it involves Grace and Uncle Norm too…” He began to tell them the story of the lone hunter.

Many years ago

  Norm and Grace were out in the jungle taking some samples of flora, meandering through the thick jungle floor. They had their GPS just in case of getting lost and they found themselves at a beautiful spring, the clear water and rushing waterfall entrancing them. Norm was still whining about how Jake was at Hometree, annoyed that he didn't get a chance to go there yet.

“I can't believe that Jake is at Hometree and I'm stuck out here doing sciency stuff.”

“Yeah, but this ‘sciency stuff’ is important too, Norm. There is so much to research and we barely scratched the surface. Did you know that the Omatikaya clan is one in over forty clans around Pandora, all in different regions, in different environments. That means different adaptations through evolution, different flora, different fauna. Different, but similar cultures…The list goes on,” Grace emphasised.

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Norm grumbled in annoyance, keeping his head down already used to Grace’s speech after hearing it one too many times. He could practically recite it off by heart at this point.

  Grace was annoyed at Norms grumbling, trying to keep his spirits up as he trudged ahead. They had been walking for nearly five hours at this point, looking and taking samples of all the flora they came across. The sounds of the jungle gave them a sense of adventure, as were the noises of creatures, the light breeze, the fresh Pandoran air filling their lungs. 

  But suddenly it got very quiet, very quickly. Grace was first to notice as Norm was bent down collecting samples of an identified herbal flora. It was like all the sounds were sucked away, as if there was a predator nearby. They looked around, staying as silent as they humanly can. Their bodies felt heavy as their feet were frozen in place. Unsure of what to do, Grace reached for her small knife but was startled by a low hiss behind them in the brush. Norm started to vibrate next to Grace as he was still crouched with his head down, the sight of a black paw just mere inches away from him terrified him. He recognised in that instant, that it was the paw of a thanator, however it did not pounce at them or attack. His shaking intensified in a heartbeat. A slight movement caught their ear, a shifting movement from upon the thanator. However Grace did not turn, nor did Norm look up.

“Who are you?” a woman's voice caused them to flinch, Grace and Norm could feel eyes on them, “Are you demons?” the palulukan growled louder.

“M-My name is Grace. The na’vi next to me is Norm,” Grace mustered up her courage to say. The na’vi woman paused for a moment.

“If you are na’vi, why are you wearing demon clothing?” the woman questioned, she had looked Grace and Norm up and down, observing their strange coverings. 

“Uhh…” Grace didn't have an excuse for that. Her eyes fall on Norm, who by now looks like he is about to shit himself. His shaking was vibrating the plant in front of him, as sweat started pouring down his face. 

“We are…na’vi, from…the Jar–head clan,” Grace hesitated, the air getting caught in her throat, “Our clan wears clothes like these,” she partially lied. The na’vi behind them hummed in consideration before speaking.

“Turn around– slowly,” the na’vi stated. Grace gulped as she started turning to her right, grabbing a hold of Norm’s wrist and slowly pulling him up from his crouched position. Finally facing the painted Na’vi sitting on a midnight blue thanator, her queue connected to the beast. Grace silently gasped, concluding that the na’vi was a Palulukan Makto. Bonds like these were rare and majestic. Grace had heard that there were only one or even more rarely two of these riders in one clan. The Na’vi was painted in shades of green, which allowed her to blend in perfectly to the thick jungle surrounding them, to which an untrained eye could completely miss her. Grace was still holding Norm’s wrist, feeling his racing pulse and now much violent shaking. She though he was going to pass out.

The thanator sniffed them, taking in deep inhales of their scent, took a step back. Then planted it's bottom on the grass, snorting out a huff.

“My Hona will not hurt you. We are just not used to strangers in these parts,” the na’vi woman said, still perched on her thanator. 

“Your…palulukan… is beautiful,” Norm shook as his voice kept getting caught on his throat. Scared to look at the Na’vi in front of him. 

“Thank you, Norm,” the female Na’vi thanked warmly. Norm elicited a nervous smile and a strange noise, which the thanator reacted to, perking up and moved closer to Norm’s terrified face. It’s face cocking to the side, as if inquisitive, suddenly licking the man’s face. 

  That was it for Norm who fainted, collapsing onto the dirt. Grace was in complete awe, her jaw dropped as the rider stifled a laugh at his reaction. 

  The Na’vi brought Grace and the unconscious Norm a distance away from the Hell’s Gate Avatar facility. Grace sat behind the Na’vi and Norm flung in between them. Grace concluded that Norm had disconnected the link in fear as his avatar didn’t regain consciousness. Though Grace had a lovely conversation with the painted lone na’vi. Learning that her grandparents were once part of the Omatikaya clan, then banished for committing treason. Her mother met her father before the banishment and they too were thrown out. The lone female na’vi was born outside her clan and grew up in the wilds. Learning everything from her parents to survive.

“I cannot go any further from here,” the Na’vi told them as they came to a stop. 

“Oh, okay. Thank you very much,” she climbed off the thanator dragging Norm’s avatar off it's back, her hands under Norm’s armpits trying to get a better grip. 

“I see you, Grace,” the female Palulukan Makto finally greeted, extending her palm from her forehead. Turning her thanator around they took off into the darkening jungle.

That was their first encounter with the lone hunter. 

  The second time they met her was again near the spring they had found, a week later. This time Norm didn't faint at the lick of the thanator. Hona had taken quite a liking to Norm, especially after he made the strange noise, which Norm learnt was a sound used to call a thanator for affection. He also learnt the sound used to command an attack, in the same vein if the rider is not bonded. Grace was intrigued by the tamed thanator, learning from the lone na’vi that thanators have incredibly enhanced hearing, smell, sight and speed. The senses can be accessed through their tsaheylu, and that the rider and creature have an everlasting bond. They can mark their scents on familiar na’vi, as Hona has already marked Grace and Norm as friendlies, so that they are not to be attacked by other creatures, as a form of warning and protection. With that Grace and Norm could freely walk without the fear of being attacked.

  Much like ikran riders. That even children can bond with the cubs of a thanator, their bond even deeper as they grow up together. Grace took many notes. As days passed, Norm and Grace would go about their day in their avatars humming calmly as he collected samples which caught the attention of Jake. Who could smell the scent of a thanator but not see one, keeping him on edge. Later learning that it was coming from Norm and Grace themselves as he kept a distance from them. The scent of a thanator growing more pungent for the days to come, Jake now avoided meeting them.

  When they moved their research to Site 26 in the Hallelujah Mountains. Without Jake’s knowledge, Grace and Norm had been visiting the lone na’vi. They would return to Site 26 with bundles of leaf packaged food, enough to feed a family of na’vi. Jake became suspicious of the two. And one day when he wasn't training, he followed them. Neytiri, out of concern and curiosity, went with him.

  As they arrived near the spring, Neytiri was begging Jake to leave as the smell of the thanator grew stronger. As they peaked through the treeline, they saw Norm with a na’vi standing at the top of the waterfall. Norm was topless and Grace appeared behind them, wet from head to toe with a wide smile. Then Norm and the female na’vi leapt from the top into the lake below, excitedly shrieking as they plunged into the cool water. When suddenly a thanator leapt into the water from the top, Jake and Neytiri’s were jaw slacked from shock. When the thanator resurfaced with Norm and the na’vi it made what sounded like a snickering, before smelling the air it honed in on Jake and Neytiri’s form hiding in the treeline, letting out a loud hiss, it speedily swam straight at them. As soon as Hona’s feet touched the bank, it took off after them chasing them through the jungle, nearly pinning them to a fallen log.

“Hona! Return!” a female call ripped through the air, the palulukan slid to a halt snarling at Jake and Neytiri. It let out a deep growl before turning tail, kicking dirt from underneath it's paw at them as it ran to the voice.

*

The children’s breathing had evened out, their eyes clamped shut. Jake smiled contently, as his children slept. He eventually fell asleep to the warmth of his family.

Next Chapter –>

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. I have been looking for this fic for WEEKS!! , I read this fic many months ago, so I don't really remember it well. In this Wei Wuxian is kinda like possessed or something, it's like after his 3 months in burial mounds he comes out very changed he has become very emotionless and has become mute as in he neve ever speaks at all, he always obeys his Sect Leader (Jiang Cheng) and has over all just become a machine who listens to what his master say. Jiang Change,Jiang Yanli and Lan Wangji are very concerned and disturbed about his behaviour. There are chapters where Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng try to cheer him up or make him speak something but it never works.And as u can imagine lan Wangji is heartbroken as well

Then i don't remember how exactly but in the end they show Jiang Yanli,Jiang Cheng,Lan Wangji,Nie Huasiang, and an unconscious Wei Wuxian in the burial mounds and it shows that the burial mound spirits had bargained with wei wuxian when he was thrown in and in order to escape from the burial mounds and to protect his family Wei Wuxian had sacrificed his heart to it. But in the end he regains it and he goes back to being normal. And it's an Overall happy ending.

I have been searching through all the tags of ao3 that could possibly be linked to that fic but I just can't find it

Please help me find this soon

FOUND? between the shadow and the soul by Reverie (cl410) (M, 22k, wangxian, JYL/WQ, JC/NHS, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, Dark WWX, Feral WWX, Memory Loss, Magic, Magical Realism, Protective LWJ, Protective JC, Protective JYL, Grief, BAMF WWX, POV Alternating, Happy Ending)

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2. Hey! I’m looking for a certain fic. It’s a rogue cultivator wei ying. All I remember is that during a cultivator event, he takes jiang yanli on a sword ride. He leaves a note, but everyone gets worried she is missing. I think there were corpses attacking. Madam Jin accuses him of starting shit, but jiang yanli defends him. Hope someone’s know it, thanks!

FOUND? SanRen by Kyogre (T, 87k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Different First Meeting, Romantic Fluff, Action & Romance, Eventual Happy Ending) chapter 14

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3. hi i was wondering if you know the fic where lwj visits burial mounds but then a-yuan started crying so he said that he’ll stay once he calms down but ofc by the end both him and wwx have confessed their feelings for each other. please help me i have been trying to find it for the past hour. thank you very much!!! <333

FOUND? A Crying Shame by thunderwear (G, 16k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, A-yuan to the rescue, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, Domestic Fluff, Love Confessions, First Kissa, LWJ joins WWX at burial mounds, LWJ is soft pass it on, literally all fluff, Marriage Proposal, Oblivious WWX)

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4. Hello. I’m looking for a long fic. It’s wangxian HAPPY ending and after jin zixuan “dies”. The truth is, He’s not dead. Everyone belive he is, but the jin clan got him and put him on the underground. Some time ago, wen qing, who everyone think is dead too, ends up there with him. They stay years on that prison and, besides some jin and meng yao, no one knows. After some time they get out, I don’t remember how, and the fic continues from there. I looked at all my bookmarks and havent found it.

FOUND? You still sound like a song by Moominmammashandbag (M, 64k, wangxian, WIP, Ghost!WWX, Mystery, LWJ plays inquiry, AU from after the Wens came to Lotus Pier, Most people lived, not everybody died, Angst with a Happy Ending, river spirit!WWX, Angst and Feels, description of murder, imminent smut, Execution, bad dog names, Poisons, Discussion of Attempted Murder, BAMF WWX, Family Feels)

FOUND? 🧡 like speaking to my heart by SnowshadowAO3 (T, 613k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Daemons, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Some people live!, additional warnings in specific chapters, if you don't know what daemons are that's ok because I explain it in the author's note, also by slow burn I VERY much mean slow burn) That part happens near the end iirc / it might be this one? Chapter 37 is the bit the anon mentions

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5. Hi! (This part added to itmf) cuz I lost the one I’ve read where wwx has a sister who’s paired with xichen and I remember her having a kid with xichen but she died(?) and xichen had to raise their son alone and when she came back she lost her memories. Thank youu!! @gideonmorningstar

FOUND? your smile tells me im safe by TheDoctorDionysus (E, 143k, LXC/Female Reader, WangXian, XuanLi, Reader-Insert, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Eventual Romance, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Canon-Typical Violence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Blood and Injury, Crossdressing, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Suicide Attempt, Explicit Sexual Content, Semi-Public Sex, Blow Jobs, Inappropriate Use of Gūsū Lán Forehead Ribbon, Hair-pulling, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Marriage Proposal, Married Couple, Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Drunk LWJ, its brief but drunkji is there, Amnesia, Major Character Undeath, Canonical Character Death - WWX)

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6. hi im looking for an omegaji fic that was really beautifully paced and written, published sometime last year i think. it had an inn, really creepy atmosphere and background xiyao. i can’t remember anything else about it and i want to reread it so bad

FOUND? penumbra by globose (E, 21k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Bottom LWJ/Top WWX, Mpreg, YLLZ WWX, Demon/Human Relationships, Supernatural Elements, Omega LWJ)

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7. Hiii!! I am looking for a fic I read a long time ago, so I don't remember most of the details. Sorry about that. What I remember about it clearly is that WWX was never found by Jiang Fengmian or any cultivator. Many years later he becomes a minister/official of some kind for the emperor, who is not related to the cultivation world. Now comes the fuzzy part, so it may or may not be helpful for finding that fic. The emperor knows when the war breaks out and sends WWX to help settle the war, and WWX once again becomes a leading cause for the demise of Wen Sect. And obviously WWX and LWJ fall in love during that time.

Once again thanks for all the hard work you do to keep this fandom well fed. @songtaegguk

FOUND? Copying Scriptures by chiyukimei (E, 31k, wangxian, graphic depictions of violence, Genius WWX, Palace, canon wangxian dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, LWJ Bites, LWJ is the baby of the Lan Clan, Good Uncle LQR, WangXian are parents, Fluff, Blood and Injury, Self-Harm)

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8. Hi again! I'm looking for a modern AU where LZ gains friends after wy's death/disappearance.

So wy has a lot of friends, like jc jyl wq wn nhs jzx lqy etc, and by being in a relation w wy, lz also has access to them.

But once wy is gone lz thinks the link between wy's friends and lz is non-existant and starts to spiral from the loss of wy, alone.

But the friends don't let lz go, barge into lz apartment and makes a space for themselves and help lz grieve n move on from the loss of his partner.

Slowly through the years lz feels he also has friends.

Eventually wy does come back and wangxian rekindles their flame. @imstillthinkingaboutithmm

NOT FOUND! Sounds like it could be The transitive property as it applies to love by deliciousblizzardshark, part 2 of the series (T, 10k, wangxian, LXC & LWJ, LWJ & WQ, LWJ & WN, Modern, Grief/Mourning, Mention of substance abuse, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autistic LWJ) also as a side note, parts 1 & 2 are open, but part 3 is locked to AO3 users

FOUND? Love Don't Belong To Me by airinshaw (E, 21k, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Kissing, Intercrural Sex, Light Angst, Happy Ending, PTSD, Panic Attack, WWX's canonical self-esteem issues, Canonical Child Abuse, not as dark as the tags imply, Past Relationships mention) its not the WWWWXD series, but the focus isn't on LWJ as much as it is on WWX

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9. Hi! I’ve been searching for a fic I read a while back. It was a modern omegaverse AU (also maybe soulmates) with younger omega LWJ and older alpha WWX. They were in university (LWJ in his 1st year and WWX in his last I think). The uni had a research facility studying a/b/o dynamics, or it might have been soulmates? Anyway, Madam Yu was a professor, and she was actually good and liked WWX and was on his side. Lan Qiren was a professor as well, and I think Wen Qing worked at the clinic as a grad student. I remember one scene where Wangxian were in the clinic and they were fooling around and it was their first time, and the staff had to shoo all the doctors and researchers away (I think there was a 2 way mirror). I don’t remember much else but would really appreciate the help—I can’t find it anywhere and it’s driving me to distraction!

FOUND?🔒 I is for Instinct by beeswaxing (E, 71k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, Scenting, Possessive Behavior, Getting Together, First Time, First Kiss, Public Display of Affection, Public Claiming, Omega Verse, Good Parent LQR, Alpha YZY, Good Parent YZY, Family Feels, Fluff, Romance, Aftermath of Violence, Slice of Life, Modern AU, College/University, BAMF WWX, Soft WangXian, Barebacking, Knotting, Semi-Public Sex, Shameless, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg)

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10. hi !! just wanted to let you know that this fic could possibly be deleted, but i hope it isn’t. i vaguely remember this is abo — wwx is an omega and lz is an alpha, wwx is kicked out of gusu for reasons (i think lz had something to do with it), madam yu then trains wwx to be this spy/assassin who is to protect jiang cheng and yanli, during xuanwu wwx pretends to be someone else but lz and nhs find out, wwx fakes his death during/after xuanwu, last chapter is letters from nhs (to madam yu?)

FOUND?🔒Pendulum by ShippersList (M, 69k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, A/B/O Dynamics, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Misunderstandings, Canon-Typical Violence, Spies & Secret Agents, Fake Character Death, Slow Burn, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, Attempted Sexual Assault, Canonical Character Death, Mutual Pining, Good MY, Introspection, Self-Sacrificing WWX, Love Confessions, Protective LWJ, past child sexual abuse)

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11. hello ! I recently lost track of a wangxian proposal au, like the movie lol. pretty sure it had something like “the proposal au no one asked for” in the summary. Ik that’s not a lot to go on, but I was hoping you could help. tysm!

FOUND? The Grandmaster of Foolproof Proposals by chronicallylethargic (G, 16k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, The Proposal Fusion, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Mutual Pining, The Proposal AU, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Angst, Fake Marriage, deportation, Green Card Marriage, Miscommunication, Horseback Riding, wwx isnt adopted by the jiangs in this fic)

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12. fic finder request! having no luck looking through my history for a fic, where i only rmb the ending. wangxian are with dafanwen. after giving lwj two flowers (or sth similar) from himself and ayuan, wwx reveals that he is expecting their second child by presenting lwj with a third flower. i can't rmb if ayuan is wangxian's biological child in this fic.

thank you so much for what you do and happy new year!

FOUND!🔒Blooming in white by luckymoonly (T, 38k, WangXian, XuanLi, MianQing, NieLan, ChengSang, Canon Divergence, Mpreg, Getting Together, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending starts from chapter 71, hidden pregnancy, Mutual Pining, Drama, Misunderstandings, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Miscommunication, WWX and NHS are BFF, matchmaker!NHS, Fix-It)

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13. Hi! I’m trying to find a fic and I can’t remember the name. From what I do remember, it focuses on Lan Sizhui as WWX’s son while he was dead, with Jiang Ching repeatedly inviting him over to get to know his Jiang heritage. I don’t think he knows his other parent is WWX? LWJ doesn’t really want him to go but he eventually goes anyway and learns about his dad’s sect. @finmoryo

FOUND? Would You Come Home? by s6115 (Not rated, 46k, WangXian, Junior Quartet Centric, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Junior Quartet Dynamics) this story doesn't feature a lot of actual wwx (tho he very much plays a part) but technically it fits the prompt and it's a great fic

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14. Hey, Can you help me find a fic? In the fic wwx owns an apothecary. Lwj and wwx meet bcz lwj is injured. Wwx is adopted by either the apothecary owner or a doctor who owns an apothecary. Hope you are able to find it for me. @mayavsworld

FOUND? A Heart Made of Jade by makkurokuro93 (E, 66k, WangXian, Historical, Ancient China, Politics, Drama & Romance, Love Triangles, One-Sided LXC/WWX, Slow Burn, Sexual Content, Angst with a Happy Ending, Top WWX/Bottom LWJ, Top LWJ/Bottom WWX, of course they switch ssh, Fluff, Eventual Relationships)

FOUND? what builds a home by Stratisphyre (T, 45k, WangXian, MY & WWX, Canon Divergence, Adopted WWX, POV Multiple, warning for JGS behaving exactly as expected, child endangerment, Brother Feels, Minor Character Death) probably isn't "what builds a home" by Stratisphyre but I wanted to mention it in case -- wwx & meng yao are brothers in this fic, meng yao runs an apothecary, and wwx meets lwj (and saves him) b/c lwj is injured

is it a historical/no cultivator clans AU where the Twin Jades are a pair of outlaws a la Robin Hood?

FOUND? Eyes by SplitGirl28 (M, 60k, WIP, WangXian, Adopted by Doctor, WWX Isn't Adopted by the Jiāngs, Cultivator Apothecary WWX, No Golden Core Transfer, Meet Different, WWX has a secret, Secret BAMF WWX, Pining LWJ, Oblivious WWX, WangXian Get a Happy Ending)

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15. I'm looking for a Xicheng fic that I once read and I cannot find It was a 'smut' fic. Modern day. LXC was the son of the owner of a restaurant in which JC and NHS worked. it's LXC's birthday and he comes to the restaurant to celebrate and he had a 'special service' dinner planned out, but the waitress is not available or something , so NHS asks JC to do it instead and LXC and JC have ***. Turns out this was set up by LXC and NHS coz LXC had a crush on JC! If anyone has an idea please help out !

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16. looking for a fic where wwx makes a bet at the cr that he’ll kiss lxc before the summer is up but he actually ends up w lwj obviously

FOUND? Bet Your Heart by Vamillepudding (G, 14k, wangxian, LXC & WWX, Canon Divergence, Romantic Comedy, Mutual Pining, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together)

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17. Hello, I’ve been desperately looking for a particular fic but all I really remember is one scene, where after wangxian reunion and justice being served and all (at least I think that bit has already happened by that point of the fic), it turns out that Wen Qing survived after all but had been kept prisoner. I just remember this scene of her in her cell considering her imminent death because her meals have stopped for a some time already (since JGY is no longer around to provide them or something along those lines, but she doesn’t know that) and then she hears a familiar voice outside and she calls desperately despite barely having a voice and despairs for a moment thinking no one noticed but then WWX, who very much did hear her and was wandering around Koi Tower with Lan Zhan for some reason I can’t remember, brings down the entire prison around her and rescues her. I’m fairly certain there must have been a happy ending, because that’s all I ever read. I know it’s not a lot to go on but it’s been driving me insane trying to find it. Thanks for all your wonderful work!

FOUND? Reunion by LtLJ, last part of the series (G, 3k, WWX & WQ, wangxian, WQ & WN, Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, WQ Lives, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Angst with a Happy Ending, YLLZ WWX, BFFs)

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18. Hello I'm translating on Google Translate, so sorry for any mistakes. I'm looking for a fanfic at the time of the siege at the tombs, instead of Jiāng Yànlí, he stood in front of Weiying to protect him and Lan Zhan, who was injured and Weiying thought he killed him, until he handed himself over to the Lan clan.

FOUND? If I Could Go Back in Time by Runningbarefoot (M, 122k, wangxian, JC & JYL & WWX, LXC/NMJ, LXC & LWJ, LXC & WWX, Canon Divergence, Role Reversal, Not Everyone Dies AU, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Grief/Mourning, Loss, YLLZ WWX, Eventual Happy Ending, The Twin Jade Brotherhood, Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Slow Burn)

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19. Hi, I'm looking for a wangxian angst fic I read a while ago? It was a modern au, and I can't remember if they were married or not but it was definitely an established relationship and it was about lan wangji being upset because he thought wei wuxian had moved his mother's urn and wei wuxian ended up apologizing after lan wangji got mad even though he hadn't done anything. The fic had a really nice make up afterward and i want to read it again so bad waaah

FOUND! under my skin by wqngji (M, 3k, WangXian, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Misunderstandings, Established Relationship, Fights, Crying, Married Couple, Insecure WWX, Self-Worth Issues, Hurt WWX, Sex in a Car, Car Sex, Day At The Beach)

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20. Hi I am looking for a fic in which wei ying wakes up in the burial mounds, which have turned green.

He basically growns flowers and seems to be some kind of deity @pigtruffles

FOUND? the trees welcome with open branches by defractum (nyargles) (nyargles) (T, 13k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Supernatural Elements, Getting Together, Fix-It of Sorts)Wwx turns himself into a forest on the burial mounds. Lwj visits, and they Communicate

Is this a time travel fic? Where he wakes up and sees the wens alive and the burial mounds flourishing with life? And he's so confused because he doesn't know how it happened? But it was because he wished for the wens to have a better life before he died or something? I can't remember the name of that fic but maybe some one else can?

FOUND? 🔒 Of Destruction and Rebirth by demoniqt (M, 88k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, major character death, underage, rape/non-con, graphic depictions of violence, Slow Burn, Canonical Character Death, God WWX, God Verse, BAMF WWX, Grieving LWJ, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, Gods & Goddesses, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Rabbits, Fix-It, Attempted Sexual Assault, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Castration, Lots of it, repeatedly, Punishment, Hell) He didnt wake up in burial mound but he is a god and make burial mound green

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[1dmonthlyficroundup]

— 1D Monthly Fic Roundup —

Hi, and welcome to the 1D Monthly Fic Roundup for December 2023! Below you’ll find 1D fics that were all published this month and arranged by writer due to the number of fics this month as there were too many tags for tumblr. We hope you’ll check out these new fics! If you would like to submit your own fic, please check this post on how to submit or visit our blog @1dmonthlyficroundup​. You can find all our other posts here.

Happy reading!

＊ Heart Beat by @allwaswell16 [E, 33k, Louis/Harry]

Hideaway Haven is the place that Louis has always called home. It's also the place that Harry had tried to leave behind him. When Harry returns to start a music academy in his hometown, he finds himself face to face with his high school crush—and his charming daughter who wants to learn to play the drums.

A 2023 Advent Fic

＊ Daydream [T, 2k, Zayn/Louis]

Every Thursday, Louis nods hello to her fellow regulars at Horan’s Cafe, one of whom is the woman of her dreams.

＊ One [E, 4k, Louis/Tommy Shelby (Peaky Blinders)]

When omega Louis Tomlinson becomes pregnant after an unexpected encounter, he decides his only option is to flee his pack. But Tommy Shelby, pack alpha of the Peaky Blinders, might not be willing to let him go so easily.

＊ to wake up by your side is all I wanna do by @beardyboyzx [G, 1k, Zayn/Niall]

Sometimes, Niall still thinks about the way Zayn’s laugh sounds when they watch TV and Niall makes up fake answers for whatever quiz show they’re watching.

＊ it's a holidate by @disgruntledkittenface [M, 4k, Harry/Nick Grimshaw]

“So you know me well enough to come in my mouth–”

Nick’s head, along with Fiona’s next to him and those of practically every other attendee of the company holiday party, swivels in the direction of the girl in the red dress whose voice has risen enough to be heard over the music being piped across the 17th floor.

“–but not well enough to get me a Christmas present?”

Most of the crowd politely looks away at this point. Nick bursts out laughing.

When Nick meets Harry at his company holiday party, he never would have predicted that he’d met his match. Luckily, he’s been known to be wrong on occasion.

＊ Red [E, 4k, Harry/Louis]

Louis is wallowing after the breakup. He's never felt this kind of heartbreak before. All he wants to do is lie on his couch and listen to Taylor Swift alone. But when the pain is too much to handle on his own, he calls the one person who understands how this feels.

＊ You Don’t Have to Be Lonely Tonight by @neondiamond [G, 2k, Louis/Harry]

Louis is stuck working the Christmas day shift at the coffee shop. Harry is the sad stranger who comes in to spend the day there.

＊ An Annual Affair [G, 1k, Harry/Louis]

One Direction’s annual Christmas dinner, featuring pregnant Harry and his overprotective Alpha Louis, nervous Liam and his calm and collected mate Zayn, and clueless Niall who may or may not have a death wish.

＊ Not Quite Structurally Sound [G, 1k, Zayn/Liam]

Zayn and Liam help their two kids build a gingerbread house.

＊ You’re Family [G, 2k, Louis/Harry]

Louis is a little nervous about meeting Harry’s family for the first time for Christmas. Harry’s Mum shows him he has nothing to worry about. Part 3 of Inner Crisis universe

＊ A Special Bond [G, 1k, Niall & Harry]

Baby Lilah goes to see the Christmas lights with her Daddy Harry and her uncle Niall.

＊ Mistletoe Kiss [G, 1k, Louis/Harry]

A little bit of mistletoe is just the thing Louis needed to let his roommate Harry know he’s got quite the crush on him.

＊ Cookies and Christmas Cheer [G, 1k, Niall & Zayn]

When Niall is feeling a little sad at having to work over the holidays, his fellow nurse Zayn shows him a little Christmas spirit is still possible.

＊ All That Counts [G, 1k, Louis/Harry]

A soft Christmas morning in the Tomlinson-Styles household.

＊ Lonely Cards Club by @hellolovers13 [T, k, Harry/Louis]

Harry's life in Cardiff is rather uneventful. Until he receives a strange Christmas postcard.

It gets even stranger when he finds another one the next day.

An Advent story about missed opportunities and second chances.

＊ It's okay, 'cause you're not alone [T, 896 words, Niall/Zayn]

Niall focussed on Zayn’s steady heartbeat, tried to use it to ground himself.

thump, thump, thump

One, two, three.

He was safe.

Always safe in Zayn’s arms.

＊ tell me that your sweet love hasn't died by punk_pillow_princess / @punkpillowprincess [M, 27k, Louis/Harry]

“Remember when I said that I came out to my parents last summer, and told them we were together, and they took it really well?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate.”

Louis tries to settle better in the seat to see Harry. “They didn’t take it well?”

“No...I didn’t tell them.”

OR Louis and Harry have been in a relationship for a year. While on their way to Harry's parents' house and his family's legendary annual Christmas party, Louis discovers that Harry has not yet come out of the closet to his family, who are also full of secrets, fears and afraid of a bad reputation in town.

A Happiest Season AU

＊ Chaos by @haztobegood [M, 100 words, Louis/OMC]

Against the barricade, it’s complete chaos.

＊ Baking Memories [T, 2k, Louis/Jack Cochrane]

After a long day of songwriting, Jack convinces Louis to bake mince pies together.

＊ Jump! by @reminiscingintherain [M, 15k, Louis/Tommy Longhurst]

He let out a noise of surprise as his arms were suddenly full of a sweaty body, as Tommy threw himself at Louis and held on tightly. “Thank you so fucking much,” he muttered against Louis’ shoulder, squeezing a little. “You have no idea how much this means to us.” Louis softened a little, gently tapping Tommy’s back. “I absolutely know what this means, lad,” he replied, his voice gentle and supportive. “The way you’re reacting to being out there? That’s exactly why I chose you for the support slot.” He gave a reassuring squeeze. “You deserve this, okay?” He pulled back a little, gripping the back of Tommy’s neck and looking him in the eyes. “You deserve this.”

＊ don’t let the fire die by @nouies [E, 8k, Harry/Louis]

Harry makes a long trip to take back what is his. Part 2 of burning bright

＊ Ride My Sleigh Tonight by @kingsofeverything [E, 9k, Louis/Harry]

In exchange for free food and drinks at Liam’s office holiday party, Harry pretends to be his boyfriend.

But this is not that story.

＊ “Are there any gays in here?” by red_panda28 / @red-pandaaa [E, 7k, Harry/Louis]

“Maybe you just need a different approach,” Niall suggested, as Louis stopped by to pick up Clifford and was whining about not having met anyone in ages.

“Yeah, cheers. Very helpful,” he replied sarcastically. But as he took Cliff for his evening walk Niall’s words stuck with him.

OR Louis is fed up with meaningless hook-ups, Harry happened to visit Starbucks on a Wednesday, and Clifford is the best

＊ Stuck in Midnight Traffic by LetTheMusicMoveYou / @letthemusicmoveyou28 [M, 2k, Louis/Harry]

The curly haired man sniffles again, but the tears seemed to have stopped for now at least. “I was supposed to spend Christmas Eve with my boyfriend, that is until we got into a horrible fight.” He seems to wince at his own words. “I guess I should start getting used to calling him my ex-boyfriend. But anyways, we just couldn’t stay there any longer. Kevin and I had to get out.”

Louis blinks before looking around the empty tube car confusedly. “Kevin?”

The man nods and then squeezes a little tighter to the little potted plant clutched in his arms. “Kevin is a Christmas Cactus, but he doesn’t bloom.” He quickly adds. “Which is completely fine, because I love him just as he is.”

Louis’ not sure what most of that means. All he does know is that he needs to make sure this strange, beautiful creature is never sad again.

(Or the one where two broken people meet in an empty tube car on Christmas Eve. Can they find a way to heal each other?)

＊ Let Me Inside by @enchantedlandcoffee [E, 286 words, Louis/Harry]

Louis gets a surprise visit from his alpha in the shower.

＊ Feel My Traces [M, 2k, Harry/Louis]

“Oh. You actually have a tattoo gun?" "Yes, Harold, I actually have a tattoo gun. What did you think I was gonna tattoo you with? A cucumber? You do talk some shit sometimes," Louis teased, walking up to Harry with the tattoo gun in his hand. "Right, what do you want?" Harry looked at the device and paled. "Um…" "Not backing out on me now, are you Styles?" Louis teased, a gentle smile forming on his face. "You see, the thing is, I didn't actually think you had a tattoo gun,” Harry chuckled nervously, eyes still fixated on the device.

Or, temporary tattoos, a misunderstanding and a passionate moment.

＊ Do you really want to be all alone? [G, 601 words, Louis/Harry]

Harry, Louis and the kids wake up on Christmas Morning. Part One of Three, Part 6 of The Coach Tommo Universe 

＊ hope we grow old but we never grow up [G, 5k, Niall/Harry]

But Niall was convinced that Harry couldn't like him back, that just wouldn't make sense. Both of them couldn't be that oblivious to how the other one felt. …Right? So he did the only logical thing his 17 year old self could think of. He flirted back.

OR Three key moments in Niall and Harry's relationship.

＊ I'm Missing Half Of Me... [T, 233 words, Louis/Harry]

Louis calls Harry after he's shaved his head.

＊ Always You [G, 922 words, Harry/Louis]

“You heading home, mate?” Liam asked as the movie ended. softly nudging Zayn to wake him up. “Is it alright if I just kip here, Payno?” Louis answered, taking a sip of his beer as he stretched his legs out, having been sitting on them for the majority of the movie. “You sure, Lou? You’re only down the hall and I’m sure Harry’d be worried if you didn’t come home?” “Nah, I'm sure he'll be just fine by himself for one night. Besides, I’m pretty sure Nick’s over there.” Louis drawled, finishing off his beer as he searched his pockets for his phone. Liam winced at the bitter tone in his friend’s voice.

Or, Louis calls his ex on Valentine's Day.

＊ Have yourself a larry little christmas [T, 2k, Louis/Harry]

The two of them had planned to exchange presents for Christmas and Louis’ birthday before they separated until New Years and Harry thought it'd be a perfect time to introduce Louis to his cat. However, they’d run into a small obstacle shortly after they'd arrived. That obstacle being British weather. An alert from their weather apps had popped up on their phones, signalling to them the start of a freak snowstorm and advising everyone to stay indoors.

OR A plan to exchange presents lead to more than both Harry and Louis bargained for.

＊ All The Way Home I'll Be Warm by @justanothershadeofblue [T, 2k, Louis/Harry]

Harry & Louis jokingly send out holiday cards together as friends, and now everyone is congratulating them for finally getting together. A 5+1 fic, for Christmas.

＊ Be Merry All [M, 30k, Harry/Louis]

there is a specific sort of oppression that comes with a miserable so-cal christmas, when it’s dark and dirty and rainy or else it's too hot and too bright and everyone’s hustling, and your family is all far away and the laundry machines in your building are broken and you’ve eaten too much take-out and all you want is two seconds of quiet and maybe a morsel of holiday joy.

an advent fic, posting daily (in theory).

＊ Santa Baby (one little thing I really need) by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed [T, 3k, Louis/Harry]

When Louis himself had first heard those words - all the nurses at the A&E have a secret line to Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve-, not nearly long enough ago to be considered a child himself, but long enough that he hadn't really felt like an adult all the time, he’d laughed them off. Thought they were sweet, of course, but just a line, something said to appease the kids who ended up having to stay overnight. Something to explain the presents that parents brought to the hospital on Christmas morning, or that were waiting for them at home, if they were lucky not to have to stay any longer.

Something that would allow a little bit of Christmas spirit in the sometimes sterile rooms of the hospital.

But that was before he’d met him.

＊ Snow In Love by @lululawrence [NR, 33k, Harry/Louis]

Harry and Louis are best friends and have been for basically as long as they can remember. For the first time since middle school, they are both single for the holidays leaving them with the brilliant idea to take each other as their dates to work events. To make things easier they will pretend like they’re dating. But then they learn something funny.

People thought they were already dating. Weird.

An advent fic featuring childhood friends, fake dating turned actual dating, really horrible secret keeping, and a winter weather surprise.

＊ Damsel in Christmas Distress [NR, 5k, Louis/Harry/NIck Grimshaw]

Nick's door was open. He didn't leave it that way. Maybe his gorgeous neighbor will help protect him from any possible murderers who have made their way into his flat while he was gone.

Merry Louis' birthday, Happy Stylinshaw.

＊ Step Into Christmas by babyhoneyhslt / @babyhoneyheslt [G, 4k, Harry/Louis]

Louis just wants to celebrate his birthday in peace, without all the Christmas antics.

Instead he wakes up in a strange bed, a confused stranger next to him and a self proclaimed elf calling him Santa. Part 1 of Holidays Are Coming

＊ 'tis the damn season by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf [E, 17k, Louis/Harry]

Harry returns to her small hometown over the holiday season and starts to think about the road not taken.

＊ A Christmas at Home by @parmahamlarrie [T, 3k, Harry/Louis]

After meeting his boyfriend in the emergency room, not having Louis home for Christmas Eve (and his birthday) was not a big surprise to Harry. What he didn't expect was just how hard that would be on his six year old son, Arlo.

Or, the one where Arlo wants nothing more than to celebrate Louis' birthday with him, and Harry hates having to be the parent who says no. Part 2 of Arlo's Christmases

＊ Get Out Of My Head (and I'll get out of yours) by Imogenlee / @imogenleewriter [E, 29k, Louis/Harry]

“You really that desperate, are you?” Despite it being a shitty thing to say, Harry didn’t mind too much, as the bitterness in Louis’ tone sounded like music to Harry’s ears. Harry was winning tonight. “Can’t find anyone new to be interested in you, so you try to hit on Zayn.”

“I can’t find someone interested in me?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re having a laugh, mate.”

“Yeah, well, where are they, then? Because from what I’ve heard, you’re here alone.”

“As if I’d bring anyone to somewhere I knew you’d be. I wouldn’t wish your presence on my worst enemy.”

“Aw,” Louis cooed in a way that made Harry want to slap him. “You’re saying I’m not your worst enemy?”

“For someone to be an enemy, you have to give a shit about them. So, no. You’re not even on the list.”

“Oh–kay. Well, it’s been lovely as always, gents,” Zayn said before knocking back the rest of his drink.

Or the one for the Bottom Harry Fic Fest where Harry bottoming is more of a side plot, because angst got in the way--but it doesn't really matter because the fest stopped existing when I was halfthrough.

＊ Oh Christmas Three by @tommokat [M, 1k, Harry/Louis]

A birthday surprise goes awry. Louis doesn’t understand. Harry blames the oven.

— Fic Fests —

＊ Louis Rare Pair Fest / @louisrarepairfest [AO3, masterpost]

A rare pair fest for all Louis rare pairs

＊ The Show Fic Fest / @theshowficfest [AO3, masterpost]

Fics written for and inspired by songs from Niall Horan's third album The Show

— Podfics —

＊ [podfic] Season 2, Episode 13: Oh Little Town of BATHlehem [a fic by ladylondonderry] by podfic_pals / @podfic-pals [G, Louis/Harry]

Louis Tomlinson needs a small pink bathtub.

He needs it.

His fucking family had forgotten to include him in the email chain for Doris for Christmas, with her very carefully thought out Christmas list, until every easy item was gone. Only when he asked Lottie if anyone else had heard from Doris yet, only then did they realise their mistake and forward the email chain to him.

So, it’s either a small pink bathtub or an entire bouncy castle. And if he had the money for a bouncy castle that would be fine, but that fucker costs more than his monthly rent and he simply does not make that much working as an optometrist assistant.

＊ [podfic] Season 2, Episode 14: I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm [a fic by haloeverlasting] by podfic_pals / @podfic-pals [NR, Harry/Louis]

Louis takes a deep breath, and replies very quickly to get it over with, “Well, see, I don’t have any heat in my flat right now and it’s hard enough to go to sleep when I’m bloody freezing—”

“Oh god. And my music’s gone and made it even worse,” Harry cuts in.

“Well, it only went out today,” Louis explains, “So it wasn’t that bad before, erm. Now.”

“Before?” Harry asks, horrified. “How long has this been?”

“Oh, erm,” Louis folds his hands where they hang in front of him and admits, “All week.”

Harry visibly wilts. He looks so sad, it makes Louis feel awful. He’s gone and crushed someone’s Christmas spirit. Some beautiful boy who looks like Danny Zuko is sad now and it’s Louis’ fault, which means he doesn’t stand a chance at being the cute neighbor from the floor below. And now he’s going to have to sleep in his freezing cold flat knowing he may as well have ruined Christmas.

Or, Louis' heat is out, Harry's a terrible upstairs neighbor, and an empty Christmas tree is the perfect excuse to fall in love.

＊ [Podfic] All I Do the Whole Day Through by Panda_Podfics / @pandapodfics [NR, Louis/Harry]

Louis reached up and grabbed the ridiculously thick jumper that had the planets all over it and slammed the wardrobe doors shut. It was only as he turned around that he realized why Harry’s bedroom door had been shut.

There was a nest on Harry’s bed.

But why was Harry using Louis’ clothes and items that probably smelled like him in his nest?

＊ [podfic] Season 2, Episode 15: room for your love underneath this tree [a fic by we_are_the_same] by podfic_pals / @podfic-pals [T, Harry/Louis]

“IwannameetHarryStyles,” Daisy mumbles, and Louis blinks.

“What?”

“She says she wants to meet Harry Styles.” Phoebe pipes up, and Louis blinks again, absently switches the camera to himself because he knows that his followers will want to catch his baffled expression.

“You-” he starts, and then stops himself, because he did tell her she could ask for anything she wanted, and how can he go back on his word and tell her that he doesn’t actually have the power to make that happen?

Because Harry Styles is -- he’s next level kind of famous. Louis has two million subscribers on his YouTube, but Harry has eighteen times as many followers on his Twitter alone. He’s had three number one hits in the last year, and his last album had charted at the top spot for a record breaking 27 weeks. He’s a singer, actor and philanthropist, and there is no way in hell that Louis can get him to come meet Daisy for Christmas.

So of course he laughs, even if it’s a little bit breathless, and nods at her. “One Harry Styles for Christmas, coming right up.”

＊ [Podfic] Christmas Special 2023 by Panda_Podfics / @pandapodfics [T, Louis/Harry]

three fics full of Christmas Fluff

All the lights are sparkling for you, it seems written by @thebreadvansstuff

Do you really want to be all alone? written by @enchantedlandcoffee

You Don’t Have to Be Lonely Tonight written by @neondiamond

[wangxianficrecs]

You still sound like a song by Moominmammashandbag

You still sound like a song

by Moominmammashandbag (@moominmammamia)

M, WIP, 64k, Wangxian

Summary: "Wei Ying, are you well?" Lan WangJi plucks the strings with great concentration, tries to calm his shaking hands. Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli will not care how slowly he is playing. The important thing is not to make a mistake. They all hold their breath. The guqin strings explode into a flurry of movement,a cascade of notes over and over again. Lan Zhan ! Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan! Kay's comments: I absolutely love this AU and just like Moominmammashandbag's other stories, this one is incredibly creative as well and just has you hooked like a little fish. In which Wei Wuxian dies when the Wens come for Lotus Pier and that leads to a major divergence. Yunmeng Jiang comes out on top of the battle and now, they've got their own river spirit, not that anyone knows about it. After the war, the Jiang siblings ask Lan Wangji to come and play Inquiry and then so many things happen! Never let them see your next move! If you love creative narratives, then this story is for you! Excerpt: “They threw him in the river, after they cut his hand off.” says Jiang Yanli. Dinner is over. Lan WangJi could not have told you what he ate, which seems a pity. Hopefully he will have other opportunities to eat Jiang Yanli’s cooking, other chances where he is not too distracted to notice what is in his bowl. Now they are seated once again in the family room, where Wei Wuxian’s sword sits in its stand on a low shelf, surrounded by torn pieces of paper, scrawled notes and little drawings. Lan WangJi keep looking at it, eyes wandering despite himself when he should be concentrating on what Jiang Yanli is saying. He wants, and does not want to hear this story, but if he does not listen he will not know the right questions to ask. “He could still have survived. He could swim like a fish, always. Even with only one hand, I think he would have survived. But they weighted his feet.” She looks up at Lan WangJi. “Wang Lingjiao told me this. She delighted in telling us, Father and me, when we got home that day. That woman, that evil woman told us that A-Xian was drowned. Like a dog, she said, and she laughed.”

pov lan wangji, canon divergence, canon era, dead wei wuxian, ghost wei wuxian, river spirit wei wuxian, bamf wei wuxian, angst with a happy ending, yu ziyuan being an asshole, angst and feels, hurt/comfort, grief/comfort, family feels, yunmeng siblings feels

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[aquietwritingcorner]

Enter the Competition

(for @tmntstorycomp )

Ms. Morrison clung to the arm she was holding, as a cacophony of noises assaulted her ears. She hadn’t been out in crowds much since she’d lost her sight, bus trips to and from doctor’s offices with the help of disability services, and friends and neighbors being about her only outings. She was confident enough around her home, but outside of it she was uncertain. All of the noise didn’t help either, making it hard to pinpoint where things were.

“Easy, Ms. M, I gotcha.” Raphael gave her hand a squeeze and patted her arm. “Me and Donnie are right here with ya, and we ain’t gonna leave your side.”

She was lucky that, wherever she was, Raphael and Donatello had ended up with her. They were good boys, and she knew that they’d help her out, although she was a bit worried. She didn’t want them to get caught up in things that wouldn’t be good for their future. Good boys like them deserved a good future.

“Where’s Lucy?” She asked, knowing that her cat had come with them, but not sure where she had ended up at the moment.

“She’s sitting on Don’s shel—uh, shoulders,” Raphael said. “He’s trying to figure out how we got here.”

Ms. Morrison frowned. New York City had been quite crazy as of late, with aliens and invasion, and all sorts of things that she had thought was simply another War of the Worlds radio situation, until one of the ladies from upstairs had confirmed that it was real. She hoped this wasn’t another fictional situation turned into reality.

“Any luck, Don?” Raphael asked his brother. Ms. Morrison could hear the undercurrent of worry in his voice.

“None,” Donatello said, an undercurrent of frustration in his. She heard the zipper of his bag, and what she thought was the sound of him putting things back inside it, before he zipped it up again. “No signal on the shell cells, and nothing I do to enhance it works. There are anomalous readings, but there’s also an interference that is messing with them.” He sighed heavily, and Ms. Morrison heard him shift around, and Lucy’s purring. Donatello must have brought the cat into his arms. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do to get us home, Raph. We’re just going to have to keep moving and see if we can figure it out.”

One of Raphael’s arms left hers, and she could tell that he was reaching out to his brother. “Hey, it’s okay, Don. You can’t have all the answers all the time. We’ll figure a way out of this one way or another. We always do.”

She wondered about that “always do” part, just as she wondered about many things when it came to these two boys, but as always, she kept her silence. If they wanted to tell her, then they would when they were ready.

In the meantime, the least she could do was try to keep their spirits up.

She tapped on Raphael’s arm. “Can you two describe to me where we are?” she asked them. “It seems like there are a lot of people here.”

“There are,” Raph said. “Lots of people. Most of them, ah, well,” he hesitated, sounding slightly nervous. “They ain’t human, Ms. M.”

“What he means,” Donatello said, “is that we seem to have ended up in a place where there are both humans and non-humans. But there seem to be a mix of ages, and no one seems to be outright aggressive.” She could feel him step a little closer to her and lay a gentle touch on her arm. “I don’t think we’re in any sort of immediate danger. Human or not, they just seem to be… people.”

They were holding something back, and she wasn’t sure what, but Ms. Morrison just nodded. “Alright. That makes sense. If humans can be good or bad and not all the same, then why not aliens, too?”

Some sort of unknown tension seemed to ease in them at that, and she wondered why that was.

“Yeah,” Raphael said, a strange sort of relief in his voice. “That’s a good way to look at it, Ms. M.”

“As for the space we’re in,” Donatello said, and she could practically hear the frown on his face. “It’s big and spacious, and there appear to be some places to sit down scattered about. But there’s also a lot of junk lying around. Toys, gaming systems, jump ropes, things like that.” His voice trailed off thoughtfully.

“Hey, brainiac. Come back to that later,” Raphael said. “Let’s focus on the here and now.”

“Right,” Donatello said ruefully.

“What about that fellow that spoke earlier?” Ms. Morrison asked, redirecting the conversation. “Is he in charge here? He sounded young.”

“Seems like it, yeah,” Raphael said, and his grip tightened on her arm.

“Sounded young, yes,” Donatello said thoughtfully. “But I’m not going to bank on that quite yet. Appearances can be deceiving.”

“Is he human?” Ms. Morrison asked.

“No, he’s not,” Donatello said. “But he does appear to be the same species as a majority of the beings here.”

Ms. Morrison frowned but tucked that bit of information away. “He said something about a competition. Games, entertainment, themes—”

“—a battlefield—” Raphael muttered under his breath and tensed back up.

She continued on. “—what did he mean by all of that?”

“I’m not sure,” Donatello said. “But my guess? All of these different beings here, all of these groups, we’ve all been gathered as some sort of entertainment for the person who spoke. And that entertainment involves us competing somehow.”

Raphael let out a growl. “I ain’t nobody’s entertainment. And if that little punk thinks he can make me entertainment for him, I’m gonna shove my—”

Donatello cut him off before he could finish his threat, although Ms. Morrison had a pretty good idea of where it was going. She wasn’t born yesterday, after all.

“Raph. Let me remind you that ‘that little punk’ wrote some things on a piece of paper, threw them to the side, and items appeared. Twice. Its obvious he’s got some sort of magical ability,” Donatello said. “Best to bide our time and figure out what’s going on.” Donatello’s voice shifted, and Ms. Morrison was fairly certain he was looking around the area they were in again. “After all, someone’s got to know what’s going on here.”

Ms. Morrison gave Raphael’s arm a squeeze, and then reached out, finding Donatello’s and pulling him a little closer to her.

“Well,” she said. “If we’re going to be here, and we’re going to try to figure out what’s going on, then it’s best we start trying to be friendly to people, isn’t it? A little kindness can go a long way.”

Donatello let out a chuckle, and Raphael snorted lightly, the tension broken.

“Yeah, okay, Ms. M. Point made,” Raphael said. “But stay close to us, alright? We still don’t know what’s going on here.”

She squeezed Raphael’s arm again. “Oh, don’t you worry. I’m old and blind, not senile,” she said with a chuckle. “I don’t plan on letting either of you get out of arm’s length.”

She heard the brothers chuckle in amusement again, and the group started to move forward. Ms. Morrison still had no idea what was going on, or where they were. But she knew that she had two very good boys with her, and that she would do everything she could to help them as they tried to find their way through this competition and back home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello!

Ally here, the author of this little piece and the story it comes from, Sanctuary (ff.net, AO3, tumblr), and my story is officially part of the @tmntstorycomp !

Sanctuary is a TMNT 2003 Raph and Don story based off of the season 3 episode, Touch and Go. In the episode, New York City is recovering from the Triceriton Invasion, and Raphael finds himself being chased by citizens who have armed themselves in an effort to protect themselves. He ends up in a dead end, outside of a door. An elderly lady, Ms. Morrison, opens the door and mistakes Raphael as a teenager who was supposed to come over to help her. Being blind, she can’t see that he’s a giant turtle, and brings him into her home, unintentionally shielding him from the alien hunters. Raphael, being the good boy that he is, helps her out, and makes friends with her cat, Lucy.

It turns out that Ms. Morrison is being evicted from her home, as she can’t afford to live there anymore, not since her husband passed. At the end of the episode, Raph goes back to Ms. Morrison with a case full of money that Mikey and Splinter got a hold of during their plotline of this episode, allowing Ms. Morrison to stay in her home.

In my story, Sanctuary, Donatello notices that Raph has been asking him about repairing things that neither they nor April have. Suspicious, he follows Raph one night, only to see him going into Ms. Morrison’s home. He ends up being caught by Raph, and invited in my Ms. Morrison. In the end, Don helps teach Raph how to repair a few more things around Ms. Morrison’s home, and promises to keep his knowledge about Ms. Morrison to himself, so that Raph can have his sanctuary with her.

In this competition, Raph, Don, Ms. Morrison and Lucy (the cat) have gotten pulled into Masaccio’s world with all the other competitors, and now have to make it through and around as best they can!

Let’s hope it all goes smoothly for them!

Or not. We’ll see ;)

(FYI, feel free to reblog!)

[twola]

What if Arthur gets the reader sick and she dies before him? I need the angst 🥹🥹🥹🥹

Agh, I am a sucker for angst. Chapter IX of Seven Deadly Sins is along these lines, of Arthur getting reader sick and the angst therein.

BUT.

Here's a mini-angst fest for you.

He hates himself.

His worn old gambler’s hat is placed down on the chest at the foot of his occupied cot. The canvas sides of his tent are drawn down as the sun fades across the mountains - here in Roanoke, darkness settles in much earlier than in the Heartlands.

He hates himself.

Clearing his throat, he grimaces as a cough bubbles up from his taxed lungs, and he swings his arm to stifle the grotesque sound.

A soft moan comes from the cot.

He wipes his mouth on the back of his sleeve and steps closer, the heavy feeling in his chest becoming suffocating as he lays his eyes upon you.

You’re shivering, huddled under a blanket in his cot, suffering. He came back from Guarma to find you under the weather - but as time went on, you got sicker and sicker, weaker and weaker. And so did he.

It all made sense when he was dragged into a doctor’s office in Saint Denis. 

Tuberculosis. Consumption.

And you were dying far faster than he was.

When was it, when was it that he cursed you, that he damned you and damned himself?

Was it when you kissed his bleeding knuckles after a brawl? Was it when he breathed your breath as you squirmed beneath him in his cot? Was it when he poured himself into you after one too many drinks in Saint Denis when he spirited you away to a hotel for the night? Was it through all of the kisses goodnight and good luck when he was going out for a job?

Was it then? Was it then he sealed your fate, so tied to his own?

You’re so small in his cot. So frail. He knows he’s half the man he used to be, losing weight and sunken eyes - but you - you always looked half-starved anyway. A waifish figure that he returned from Guarma to find sickly and weak.

A cough rattles through your chest, your breathing heavy, gasping, drowning. Teeth stained red, unable to catch your fleeting breath. Your eyes flutter open, bloodshot, and struggle to stay that way in your exhaustion.

He stoops down on his knees next to the cot, his lungs rattling against the movement, and softly brushes a lock of your hair from your flushed, clammy forehead with his pointer finger.

“Out by Bra-Brandywine-” You manage to rasp, “bury me th-there.”

Arthur grimaces, taking your hand from where it rests at your side and bringing it to his lips, holding it tightly between his palms.

“Darlin’-”  

“Last little campin’ trip we made t-together,” you wheeze, having just enough strength to pull your hand out of his, and cup your palm against his cheek, brushing against the beard he had taken to growing out to hide the gauntness of his cheeks.

“Please don’t talk like that-” He mumbles, eyelids falling to stave off the wetness gathering behind them.

“You made love to me under the stars that night - it was p-perfect.” You sigh, a small smile creeping across your red-stained lips.

He cannot fight anymore. All of his life, he’s been fighting. Scraping by - and for what? In the end, he’s dragged everyone he’s cared about into the abyss of damnation that awaits him. Tears openly fall as he reopens his eyes, clouding you over as you lay dying in his cot.

“It’s alrigh’, Arthur.” You rasp before another coughing fit overtakes, your hand slipping away from his face and landing on your chest as if to steady yourself through the harrowing process. As it finally ends, you shudder beneath the flimsy blanket covering you against the Roanoke chill.

Your eyelids struggle to open, your breath a heavy, labored thing.

“Don’t leave me, sweetheart… not yet.” He whispers as he leans down further to place his forehead against yours.

“Arthur -...” you gasp, “C’me lay down with me… ‘m c-cold.” 

He sits back up, nodding. He pulls his boots off and leans over to gather your body up - even in his weakened state, you’re so easy to pick up, too easy. Gently, he lays himself and you down in the cot, curling you over his body - the one way the both of you could fit in his cot.

It feels different, of course, now, as compared to early days of your hushed giggles and elbows knocking into ribs to the eventual hurried shedding of clothing.

“I l-love you, cowboy.” Your voice cracks as you settle down in his embrace.

He holds you tighter, keenly aware of how frail and tiny you are in his arms. Your head is pillowed against his collarbone, your hand sweetly rested over his heart.

“I love you too, darlin’ girl.” Tears track down his cheeks and into your hair. 

The two of you lay like that until his tired body succumbs to sleep, with yours tightly held against his. It would not be until the morning light creeps between the roughspun canvas that he awakens to find you cold and still in his embrace.

[thewidowsghost]

Seeing the Beauty (Piper McLean x Fem!Jackson!Reader) - Chapter 14

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Piper dreams she's back in Medea's department store. "Please let this be a dream," she mutters, "and not my eternal punishment."

"No, dear," says a woman's honey-sweet voice. "No punishment."

Piper turns, afraid she'd see Medea, but a different woman stands next to her, browsing through the fifty-percent-off rack.

The woman is gorgeous — shoulder-length hair, a graceful neck, perfect features, and an amazing figure tucked into jeans and a snowy white top.

Piper had seen her share of actresses — most of her dad's dates were knockout beautiful — but this lady is different. She's elegant without trying, fashionable without effort, stunning without makeup. After seeing Aeolus with his silly face-lifts and cosmetics, Piper thinks this woman looked even more astonishing. There's nothing artificial about her.

As Piper watches, the woman's appearance changes. Piper can't decide the color of her eyes, or the exact color of her hair. The woman becomes more and more beautiful, as if her image is aligning itself to Piper's thoughts — getting as close as possible to Piper's ideal of beauty.

"Aphrodite," Piper says. "Mom?"

The goddess smiles. "You're only dreaming, my sweet. If anyone wonders, I wasn't here. Okay?"

"I —" Piper wants to ask a thousand questions, but they all crowd together in her head.

Aphrodite holds up a turquoise dress. Piper thinks it looked awesome, but the goddess makes a face. "This isn't my color, is it? Pity, it's cute. Medea really does have some lovely things here."

"This — this building exploded," Piper stammers. "I saw it."

"Yes," Aphrodite agreed. "I suppose that's why everything's on sale. Just a memory, now." The goddess gestures around the department store. "You have other trials to face, my sweet. Medea will be back, along with many other enemies. The Doors of Death have opened."

"What do you mean?"

Aphrodite winks at her. "You're a smart one, Piper. You know."

A cold feeling settles over her. "The sleeping woman, the one Medea and Midas called their patron. She's managed to open a new entrance from the Underworld. She's letting the dead escape back into the world."

"Mmm. And not just any dead. The worst, the most powerful, the ones most likely to hate the gods."

"The monsters are coming back from Tartarus the same way," Piper guesses. "That's why they don't stay disintegrated."

"Yes, their patron, as you call her, has a special relationship with Tartarus, the spirit of the pit." Aphrodite holds up a gold sequined top. "No . . . this would make me look ridiculous."

Piper laughs uneasily. "You? You can't look anything but perfect."

"You're sweet," Aphrodite says. "But beauty is about finding the right fit, the most natural fit. To be perfect, you have to feel perfect about yourself — avoid trying to be something you're not. For a goddess, that's especially hard. We can change so easily."

"My dad thought you were perfect." Piper's voice quavers. "He never got over you."

Aphrodite's gaze becomes distant. "Yes . . . Tristan. Oh, he was amazing. So gentle and kind, funny and handsome. Yet he had so much sadness inside."

"Could we please not talk about him in the past tense?"

"I'm sorry, dear. I didn't want to leave your father, of course. It's always so hard, but it was for the best. If he had realized who I actually was —"

"Wait — he didn't know you were a goddess?"

"Of course not." Aphrodite sounds offended. "I wouldn't do that to him. For most mortals, that's simply too hard to accept. It can ruin their lives! Ask your friend Jason. His poor mother was destroyed when she found out she'd fallen in love with Zeus. No, it was much better Tristan believed that I was a mortal woman who left him without explanation. Better a bittersweet memory than an immortal, unattainable goddess. Which brings me to an important matter . . ." She opens her hand and shows Piper a glowing glass vial of pink liquid. "This is one of Medea's kinder mixtures. It erases only recent memories. When you save your father, if you can save him, you should give him this."

Piper can't believe what she was hearing. "You want me to dope my dad? You want me to make him forget what he's been through?"

Aphrodite holds up the vial. The liquid casts a pink glow over her face. "Your father acts confident, Piper, but he walks a fine line between two worlds. He's worked his whole life to deny the old stories about gods and spirits, yet he fears those stories might be real. He fears that he's shut off an important part of himself, and someday it will destroy him. Now he's been captured by a giant. He's living a nightmare. Even if he survives . . . if he has to spend the rest of his life with those memories, knowing that gods and spirits walk the earth, it will shatter him. That's what our enemy hopes for. She will break him, and thus break your spirit."

Piper wants to shout that Aphrodite was wrong. Her dad is the strongest person she knew. Piper would never take his memories the way Hera had taken (Y/n)'s.

But somehow she can't stay angry with Aphrodite. She remembers what her dad had said months ago, at the beach at Big Sur: If I really believed in Ghost Country, or animal spirits, or Greek gods . . . I don't think I could sleep at night. I'd always be looking for somebody to blame.

Now Piper wants someone to blame, too.

"Who is she?" Piper demands. "The one controlling the giants?"

Aphrodite purses her lips. She moves to the next rack, which holds battered armor and ripped togas, but Aphrodite looks through them as if they were designer outfits.

"You have a strong will," she muses. "I'm never given much credit among the gods. My children are laughed at. They're dismissed as conceited and shallow."

"Some of them are."

Aphrodite laughs. "Granted. Perhaps I'm conceited and shallow, too, sometimes. A girl has to indulge. Oh, this is nice." She picks up a burned and stained bronze breastplate and holds it up for Piper to see. "No?"

"No," Piper said. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"Patience, my sweet," the goddess says. "My point is that love is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness. Their noblest, bravest acts are done for love."

Piper pulls out her dagger and studies its reflective blade. "Like Helen starting the Trojan War?"

"Ah, Katoptris." Aphrodite smiles. "I'm glad you found it. I get so much flack for that war, but honestly, Paris and Helen were a cute couple. And the heroes of that war are immortal now — at least in the memories of men. Love is powerful, Piper. It can bring even the gods to their knees. I told this to my son Aeneas when he escaped from Troy. He thought he had failed. He thought he was a loser! But he traveled to Italy —"

"And became the forebear of Rome."

"Exactly. You see, Piper, my children can be quite powerful. You can be quite powerful, because my lineage is unique. I am closer to the beginning of creation than any other Olympian."

Piper struggles to remember about Aphrodite's birth. "Didn't you . . . rise from the sea? Standing on a seashell?"

The goddess laughs. "That painter Botticelli had quite an imagination. I never stood on a seashell, thank you very much. But yes, I rose from the sea. The first beings to rise from Chaos were the Earth and Sky — Gaea and Ouranos. When their son, the Titan Kronos, killed Ouranos —"

"By chopping him to pieces with a scythe," Piper remembers.

Aphrodite wrinkles her nose. "Yes. The pieces of Ouranos fell into the sea. His immortal essence created seafoam. And from that foam —"

"You were born. I remember now. So you're —"

"The last child of Ouranos, who was greater than the gods or the Titans. So, in a strange way, I'm the eldest Olympian god. As I said, love is a powerful force. And you, my daughter, are much more than a pretty face. Which is why you already know who is waking the giants, and who has the power to open doors into the deepest parts of the earth." Aphrodite waits, as if she can sense Piper slowly putting together the pieces of a puzzle, which makes a dreadful picture.

"Gaea," Piper says. "The earth itself. That's our enemy."

She hopes Aphrodite would say no, but the goddess keeps her eyes on the rack of tattered armor. "She has slumbered for eons, but she is slowly waking. Even asleep, she is powerful, but once she wakes . . . we will be doomed. You must defeat the giants before that happens, and lull Gaea back into her slumber. Otherwise the rebellion has only begun. The dead will continue to rise. Monsters will regenerate with even greater speed. The giants will lay waste to the birthplace of the gods. And if they do that, all civilization will burn."

"But Gaea? Mother Earth?"

"Do not underestimate her," Aphrodite warns. "She is a cruel deity. She orchestrated Ouranos's death. She gave Kronos the sickle and urged him to kill his own father. While the Titans ruled the world, she slumbered in peace. But when the gods overthrew them, Gaea woke again in all her anger and gave birth to a new race — the giants — to destroy Olympus once and for all."

"And it's happening again," Piper says. "The rise of the giants."

Aphrodite nods. "Now you know. What will you do?"

"Me?" Piper clenches her fists. "What am I supposed to do? Put on a pretty dress and sweet-talk Gaea into going back to sleep?"

"I wish that would work," Aphrodite replies. "But no, you will have to find your own strengths, and fight for what you love. Like my favored ones, Helen and Paris. Like my son Aeneas."

"Helen and Paris died," Piper says.

"And Aeneas became a hero," the goddess counters. "The first great hero of Rome. The result will depend on you, Piper, but I will tell you this: The seven greatest demigods must be gathered to defeat the giants, and that effort will not succeed without you. When the two sides meet . . . you will be the mediator. You will determine whether there is friendship or bloodshed."

"What two sides?" Piper's vision begins to dim.

"You must wake soon, my child," says the goddess. "I do not always agree with Hera, but she's taken a bold risk, and I agree it must be done. Zeus has kept the two sides apart for too long. Only together will you have the power to save Olympus. Now, wake, and I hope you like the clothes I picked out."

"What clothes?" Piper demands, but the dream faded to black.

. . .

Piper wakes a table at a sidewalk café.

For a second, she thinks she's still dreaming. It's a sunny morning and the air is brisk but not unpleasant for sitting outside. At the other tables, a mix of bicyclists, business people, and college kids sit chatting and drinking coffee.

She can smell eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passes in front of quaint little shops. The street is lined with bottle-brush trees and blooming azaleas as though winter was a foreign concept.

In other words: they're in California.

Her friends sit in chairs around her — all of them with their hands calmly folded across their chests, dozing pleasantly. And they all have new clothes on. Piper looks down at her own outfit and gasps. "Mother!"

She yells louder than she meant. Jason flinches, bumping the table with his knees, and then all of them are awake.

"What?" Hedge demands. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabs the table. "No — not falling. Where are we?"

(Y/n) blinks, trying to get her bearings. She focuses on Piper and makes a little choking sound. "What are you wearing?"

Piper probably blushed. She's wearing the turquoise dress she'd seen in her dream, with black leggings and black leather boots. She had on her favorite silver charm bracelet, even though she'd left that back home in L.A., and her old snowboarding jacket from her dad, which amazingly goes with the outfit pretty well. She pulls out Katoptris, and judging from the reflection in the blade, she'd gotten her hair done, too.

"It's nothing," she says. "It's my —" She remembers Aphrodite's warning not to mention that they'd talked. "It's nothing."

Leo grins. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen."

"Hey, Leo." Jason nudges his arm. "You look at yourself recently?"

"What . . . oh."

All of them had been given a makeover. Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.

"God, Leo." Piper tries not to laugh. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I think he looks good," says Coach Hedge. "'Course, I look better."

The satyr is a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffs and then eats.

Jason is wearing a baby blue collared, short sleeved dress shirt, tucked into khaki slacks, a pair of black dress shoes, and a navy blue tie.

"Well," (Y/n) says, "at least your mom overlooked me."

Piper knows that isn't exactly true. Looking at her, Piper's heart does a little tap dance. (Y/n) is dressed simply in black skinny jeans, a clean sea-green t-shirt, a black leather jacket. She has new track shoes on, her hair is newly trimmed, and she is wearing her bead necklace – four beads for four completed summers at camp, and on the necklace, is two wedding rings and Piper wonders if they're hers, or her parents. (Y/n)'s eyes are the same color as the sea in the distance. Aphrodite's message is clear: This one needs no improvement.

And Piper agrees.

"Anyway," she says uncomfortably, "how did we get here?"

"Oh, that would be Mellie," Hedge says, chewing happily on his carnation. "Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I'd guess. We would've been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie's last gift — a nice soft breeze — cushioned our fall."

"And she got fired for us," Leo says. "Man, we suck."

"Ah, she'll be fine," Hedge replies. "Besides, she couldn't help herself. I've got that effect on nymphs. I'll send her a message when we're through with this quest and help her figure something out. That is one aura I could settle down with and raise a herd of baby goats."

"I'm going to be sick," Piper fake gags. "Anyone else want coffee?"

"Coffee!" Hedge's grin was stained blue from the flower. "I love coffee!"

"Urn," Jason said, "but — money? Our packs?"

Piper looks down. Their packs are at their feet, and everything seems to still be there. She reaches into her coat pocket and feels two things she hadn't expected. One is a wad of cash. The other is a glass vial — the amnesia potion. She leaves the vial in her pocket and brings out the money.

Leo whistles. "Allowance? Piper, your mom rocks!"

"Waitress!" Hedge calls. "Six double espressos, and whatever these guys want. Put it on the girl's tab."

It doesn't take them long to figure out where they are. The menus say "Café Verve, Walnut Creek, CA." And according to the waitress, it is 9 a.m. on December 21, the winter solstice, which gives them three hours until Enceladus's deadline.

They don't have to wonder where Mount Diablo is, either. They can see it on the horizon, right at the end of the street. After the Rockies, Mount Diablo doesn't look very large, nor is it covered in snow. It seems downright peaceful, its golden creases marbled with gray-green trees. But size is deceptive with mountains, Piper knows. It's probably much bigger up close. And appearances are deceptive too. Here they are — back in California — supposedly her home — with sunny skies, mild weather, laid-back people, and a plate of chocolate chip scones with coffee. And only a few miles away, somewhere on that peaceful mountain, a super powerful, super-evil giant is about to have her father for lunch.

Leo pulls something out of his pocket — the old crayon drawing Aeolus had given him. Aphrodite must've thought it was important if she'd magically transferred it to his new outfit.

"What is that?" Piper asks.

Leo folds it up gingerly again and puts it away. "Nothing. You don't want to see my kindergarten artwork."

"It's more than that," Jason guesses. "Aeolus said it was the key to our success."

Leo shakes his head. "Not today. He was talking about . . . later."

"How can you be sure?" Piper asks.

"Trust me," Leo says. "Now — what's our game plan?"

Coach Hedge belches. He'd already had three espressos and a plate of doughnuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would've eaten the silverware, except Piper had slapped his hand.

"Climb the mountain," Hedge says. "Kill everything except Piper's dad. Leave."

"Thank you, General Eisenhower," Jason grumbles.

"Hey, I'm just saying!"

"Guys," Piper says. "There's more you need to know."

It's tricky, because she can't mention her mom; but she tells them she'd figured some things out in her dreams. She tells them about their real enemy: Gaea.

"Gaea?" Leo shakes his head. "Isn't that Mother Nature? She's supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her and deer and rabbits doing her laundry."

"Leo, that's Snow White," Piper looks amused.

"Okay, but —"

"Listen, cupcake." Coach Hedge dabs the espresso out of his goatee. "Piper's telling us some serious stuff, here. Gaea's no softie. I'm not even sure I could take her."

Leo whistles. "Really?"

Hedge nods. "This earth lady – she and her old man the sky were nasty customers."

"Ouranos," Piper says. She can't help looking up at the blue sky, wondering if it has eyes.

"Right," Hedge says. "So Ouranos, he's not the best dad. He throws their first kids, the Cyclopes, into Tartarus. That makes Gaea mad, but she bides her time. Then they have another set of kids — the twelve Titans — and Gaea is afraid they'll get thrown into prison too. So she goes up to her son Kronos —"

"The big bad dude," Leo said. "The one they defeated last summer."

(Y/n) lets out an annoyed grumble, and Piper wonders if she'd remembered anything else – Piper makes a mental note to ask her about it later. Well, Piper's brain betrays her, if we live long enough for me to ask.

"Right. And Gaea's the one who gives him the scythe, and tells him, 'Hey, why don't I call your dad down here? And while he's talking to me, distracted, you can cut him to pieces. Then you can take over the world. Wouldn't that be great?"'

Nobody says anything. Piper's chocolate chip scone doesn't look so appetizing anymore. Even though she'd heard the story before, she still can't quite get her mind around it. She tries to imagine a kid so messed up, he would kill his own dad just for power. Then she imagines a mom so messed up, she would convince her son to do it.

"Definitely not Snow White," she decides.

"Nah, Kronos was a bad guy," Hedge agrees. "But Gaea is literally the mother of all bad guys. She's so old and powerful, so huge, that it's hard for her to be fully conscious. Most of the time, she sleeps, and that's the way we like her — snoring.''

"But she talked to me," Leo says. "How can she be asleep?"

Gleeson brushes crumbs off his canary yellow lapel. He's on his sixth espresso now, and his pupils are as big as quarters. "Even in her sleep, part of her consciousness is active — dreaming, keeping watch, doing little things like causing volcanoes to explode and monsters to rise. Even now, she's not fully awake. Believe me, you don't want to see her fully awake."

"But she's getting more powerful," Piper adds. "She's causing the giants to rise. And if their king comes back—this guy Porphyrion —"

"He'll raise an army to destroy the gods," Jason puts in. "Starting with Hera. It'll be another war. And Gaea will wake up fully."

Gleeson nods. "Which is why it's a good idea for us to stay off the ground as much as possible."

Leo looks warily at Mount Diablo. "So . . . climbing a mountain. That would be bad."

Piper's heart sinks. First, she'd been asked to betray her friends. Now they are trying to help her rescue her dad even though they know they are walking into a trap. The idea of fighting a giant had been scary enough. But the idea that Gaea is behind it — a force more powerful than a god or Titan . . .

"Guys, I can't ask you to do this," Piper says. "This is too dangerous."

"You kidding?" Gleeson belches and shows them his blue carnation smile. "Who's ready to beat stuff up?"

. . .

Leo had hoped the taxi could get them all the way to the top.

No such luck. The cab makes lurching, grinding sounds as it climbs the mountain road, and halfway up they find the ranger's station closed, a chain blocking the way.

"Far as I can go," the cabbie says. "You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you."

"We're sure." Leo is the first one out. He has a bad feeling about what is wrong with the cab, and when he looks down he sees he was right. The wheels are sinking into the road like it is made of quicksand. Not fast — just enough to make the driver think he had a transmission problem or a bad axle — but Leo knows different.

The road is hard-packed dirt. No reason at all it should have been soft, but already Leo's shoes are starting to sink. Gaea is messing with them.

While his friends get out, Leo pays the cabbie. He's generous — heck, why not? It was Aphrodite's money. Plus, he has a feeling he might never be coming off this mountain.

"Keep the change," he says. "And get out of here. Quick."

The driver doesn't argue. Soon all they can see is his dust trail.

The view from the mountain is pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo is a patchwork of towns — grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives—the kind Leo had never known.

"That's Concord," Jason says, pointing to the north. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way . . ."

He points west, where a ridge of golden hills holds back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. "That's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco."

"Jason?" Piper looks at the son of Zeus. "You remember something? You've been here?"

"Yes . . . no." He gave her an anguished look. "It just seems important."

"That's Titan land." Coach Hedge nods towards the west. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get."

But Jason looks towards the foggy basin with such longing that Leo feels uneasy. Why did Jason seem so connected with that place — a place Hedge said was evil, full of bad magic and old enemies? What if Jason came from here? Everybody kept hinting Jason is an enemy, that his arrival at Camp Half-Blood was a dangerous mistake.

No, Leo thinks. Ridiculous. Jason was their friend.

Leo tries to move his foot, but his heels are now completely embedded in the dirt. "Hey, guys," he says. "Let's keep moving."

The others notice the problem.

"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbles. He pops his hooves free from his shoes, then hands the shoes to Leo. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice."

Leo snorts. "Yes, Coach. Would you like them polished?"

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez." Hedge nods approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asks.

(Y/n) points towards the peak. Drifting across the summit is a plume of smoke. From a distance, Leo had thought it was a cloud, but it wasn't. Something is burning.

"Smoke equals fire," Jason agrees. "We'd better hurry."

The Wilderness School had taken Leo on several forced marches. He thought he was in good shape. But climbing a mountain when the earth is trying to swallow his feet is like jogging on a flypaper treadmill.

In no time, Leo had rolled up the sleeves on his collarless shirt, even though the wind is cold and sharp. He wishes Aphrodite had given him walking shorts and some more comfortable shoes, but he is grateful for the Ray-Bans that keep the sun out of his eyes. He slips his hands into his tool belt and starts summoning supplies — gears, a tiny wrench, some strips of bronze. As he walks, he builds — not really thinking about it, just fiddling with pieces.

By the time they near the crest of the mountain, Leo is the most fashionably dressed sweaty, dirty hero ever. His hands are covered in machine grease.

The little object he'd made is like a windup toy — the kind that rattles and walks across a coffee table. He isn't sure what it could do, but he slips it into his tool belt.

He misses his army coat with all its pockets. Even more than that, he misses Festus. He could use a fire-breathing bronze dragon right now. But Leo knows Festus would not be coming back — at least, not in his old form.

Finally Jason crouches behind a wall of rock. He gestures for the others to do the same. Leo crawls up next to him. Piper has to pull Coach Hedge down.

"I don't want to get my outfit dirty!" Hedge complains.

"Shh!" Piper says.

Reluctantly, the satyr kneels.

Just over the ridge where they are hiding, in the shadow of the mountain's final crest, is a forested depression about the size of a football field, where the giant Enceladus had set up camp.

Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing is littered with extra logs and construction equipment — an earthmover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver — must be a tree harvester, Leo thinks — and a long metal column with an ax blade, like a sideways guillotine — a hydraulic ax. A lake sits about fifty feet to the right of the bonfire.

Why a giant needs construction equipment, Leo isn't sure. He doesn't see how the creature in front of him could even fit in the driver's seat. The giant Enceladus is so large, so horrible, Leo doesn't want to look at him.

But he forces himself to focus on the monster.

To start with, he is thirty feet tall — easily as tall as the treetops. Leo is sure the giant could've seen them behind their ridge, but he seems intent on the weird purple bonfire, circling it and chanting under his breath. From the waist up, the giant appears humanoid, his muscular chest clad in bronze armor, decorated with flame designs. His arms are completely ripped. Each of his biceps are bigger than Leo. His skin is bronze but sooty with ash. His face is crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure, but his eyes glow white, and his hair is matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones.

From the waist down, he is even more terrifying. His legs are scaly green, with claws instead of feet — like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enceladus hold a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dips its tip in the fire, turning the metal molten red.

"Okay," Coach Hedge whispers. "Here's the plan —"

Leo elbows him. "You're not charging him alone!"

"Aw, c'mon."

Piper chokes back a sob. "Look." Just visible on the other side of the bonfire is a man tied to a post. His head slumped like he was unconscious, so (Y/n) couldn't make out his face, but Piper doesn't seem to have any doubts. "Dad," she says.

Leo swallows. He wishes this was a Tristan McLean movie. Then Piper's dad would be faking unconsciousness. He'd untie his bonds and knock out the giant with some cleverly hidden anti-giant gas. Heroic music would start to play, and Tristan McLean would make his amazing escape, running away in slow motion while the mountainside exploded behind him.

But this wasn't a movie. Tristan McLean is half dead and about to be eaten. The only people who can stop it — four fashionably dressed teenaged demigods and a megalomaniac goat.

"There's four of us," Hedge whispers urgently. "And only one of him."

"Did you miss the fact that he's thirty feet tall?" Leo asks.

"Okay," Hedge asks. "So you, me, (Y/n), and Jason distract him. Piper sneaks around and frees her dad."

They all look at Jason.

"What?" Jason asks. "I'm not the leader."

"Yes," Piper replies. "you are."

They'd never really talked about it, but no one disagrees, not even Hedge, and not (Y/n), who could've pulled the 'I've been at camp longer' card or the 'I was offered immortality by the gods' card. Coming this far had been a team effort, but when it comes to a life-and-death decision, Leo knew Jason is the one to ask. Even if he has no memory, Jason has a kind of balance to him. He can just tell Jason been in battles before, and he knows how to keep his cool. Leo wasn't exactly the trusting type, but he trusts Jason with his life.

"I hate to say it," Jason sighs, "but Coach Hedge is right. A distraction is Piper's best chance."

Not a good chance, Leo thought. Not even a survivable chance. Just their best chance.

They can't sit there all day and talk about it, though. It has to be close to noon — the giant's deadline — and the ground is still trying to pull them down. Leo's knees had already sunk two inches into the dirt.

Leo looks at the construction equipment and gets a crazy idea. He brings out the little toy he'd made on the climb, and he realizes what it can do — if he's lucky, which he almost never is. "Let's boogie," he says. "Before I come to my senses."

. . .

Piper scrambles along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Leo, Jason, (Y/n), and Coach Hedge walk straight into the clearing.

(Y/n) and Jason summon their magic weapons – Jason's coming up as a lance. (Y/n) brandishes her sword over her head and yells, "Giant!" which sounds pretty good and a lot more confident than Leo could've managed. He is thinking more along the lines of "We are pathetic ants! Don't kill us!"

Enceladus stops chanting at the flames. He turns towards them and grins, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger's.

"Well," the giant rumbles, "What a nice surprise."

(Y/n) doesn't like the sound of that; Leo's hand closes on his windup gadget. He steps sideways, edging his way towards the bulldozer.

Coach Hedge shouts. "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up you –"

"Coach," Jason deadpans. "Shut up."

Enceladus roars with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals."

"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowns at Leo. "I don't think that was a compliment."

Enceladus opens his mouth wide, and his teeth begin to glow.

"Scatter!" Leo yells.

Jason, (Y/n), and Hedge dive to the left as the giant blows fire — a furnace blast so hot even Festus would've been jealous. Leo dodges behind the bulldozer, winds up his homemade device, and drops it into the driver's seat. Then he runs to the right, heading for the tree harvester.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jason and (Y/n) rise in unison and charge the giant. Coach Hedge rips off his canary yellow jacket, which is now on fire, and bleats angrily. "I liked that outfit!" Then he raises his club and charges, too.

Before they can get very far, Enceladus slams his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shakes.

The shockwave sends Leo sprawling. He blinks, momentarily stunned. Through a haze of grassfire and bitter smoke, he sees (Y/n) and Jason staggering to their feet on the other side of the clearing. Coach Hedge was knocked out cold. He'd fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters sticking straight up, with his canary yellow pants around his knees — a view Leo really doesn't need.

The giant bellows, "I see you, Piper McLean!" He turns and blows fire at a line of bushes to Leo's right. Piper runs into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her.

Enceladus laughs. "I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"

Leo's gut twists. This is the moment Piper had warned them about. They'd played right into Enceladus's hands.

The giant must've read Leo's expression, because he laughs even louder. "That's right, son of Hephaestus. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"

Leo can see Piper's dad more clearly now. He wears a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet are caked with mud. He isn't completely unconscious, because he lifts his head and groans — yep, Tristan McLean all right. Leo had seen that face in enough movies. But he has a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looks thin and sickly — not heroic at all.

"Dad!" Piper yells.

Mr. McLean blinks, trying to focus. "Pipes . . .? Where . . ."

Piper dares her dagger and faces Enceladus. "Let him go!"

"Of course, dear," the giant rumbles. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die."

Piper looks back and forth between Leo and her dad.

"He'll kill you," Leo warns. "Don't trust him!"

"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellows. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren – I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"

(Y/n) is on her feet now, sword ready; but before she can act, Enceladus roars — a call so loud it echoes down the valley and is probably heard all the way to San Francisco.

At the edge of the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rise up. Leo realizes with nauseating certainty that they hadn't simply been hiding there. They'd risen straight out of the earth.

The ogres shuffle forward. They are small compared to Enceladus, about seven feet tall. Each one of them has six arms — one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wear only ragged leather loincloths, and even across the clearing, Leo can smell them. Six guys who never bathe, with six armpits each. Leo decides if he survives this day, he'd have to take a three-hour shower just to forget the stench.

"What the hell are those?" (Y/n) asks.

Piper's blade reflects the purple light of the bonfire. "Gegenees."

"In English?" Leo questions.

"The Earthborn," Piper replies. "Six-armed giants who fought Jason — the first Jason."

"Very good, my dear!" Enceladus sounds delighted. "They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They're good with construction equipment —"

"Vroom, vroom!" one of the Earthborn bellows, and the others take up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual. "Vroom, vroom!"

"Yes, thank you, boys," Enceladus says. "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."

"Yay-son!" the Earthborn screams. They all pick up clumps of earth, which solidify in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. "Where Yay- son? Kill Yay-son!"

Enceladus smiles. "You see, Piper, you have a choice. Save your father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death."

Piper steps forward, her eyes blazing with such rage, even the Earthborn back away. She radiates power and beauty, but it has nothing to do with her clothes or makeup. "You will not take the people I love," she says. "None of them." Her words ripple across the clearing with such force, the Earthborn mutter, "Okay, okay, sorry," and begin to retreat.

"Stand your ground, fools!" Enceladus bellows. He snarls at Piper. "This is why we wanted you alive, my dear. You could have been so useful to us. But as you wish. Earthborn! I will show you Jason."

Leo's heart sinks, but the giant doesn't point to Jason. He points to the other side of the bonfire, where Tristan McLean hangs helpless and half-conscious.

"There is Jason," Enceladus says with pleasure. "Tear him apart!"

The biggest surprise: one look from Jason, and all four of them know the game plan. When had that happened, that they can read each other so well?

(Y/n) and Jason charge Enceladus, while Piper rushes towards her father, and Leo dashes for the tree harvester, which stood between Mr. McLean and the Earthborn.

(Y/n)'s instincts kick in, and her gut tells her she'd dueled opponents almost this big before. Size and strength equaled slowness, so (Y/n) just has to be quicker – pace herself, wear out her opponent, and avoid getting smashes or flame-broiled.

(Y/n) rolls away from the giant's first spear thrust and jabs Enceladus in the ankle. Jason's javelin manages to pierce the giant's hyde on the other ankle, and golden ichor – the blood of immortals – trickle down the giant's clawed feet.

Enceladus bellows in pain and blasts (Y/n) with fire. She scrambles away, rolling behind the giant, and strikes again behind his knee.

It goes on like that for seconds, minutes — it was hard to judge. (Y/n) hears combat across the clearing — construction equipment grinding, fire roaring, monsters shouting, and rocks smashing into metal. She hears Leo and Piper yelling defiantly, which meant they were still alive. (Y/n) tries not to think about it. She can't afford to get distracted.

Enceladus's spear misses her by a millimeter. (Y/n) keeps dodging, but the ground stuck to her feet. Gaea is getting stronger, and the giant is getting faster. Enceladus might be slow, but he isn't dumb. He begins anticipating (Y/n)'s and Jason's moves, and they're attacks are only annoying him, making him more enraged.

"I'm not some minor monster," Enceladus bellows. "I am a giant, born to destroy gods! You're little toothpick can't hurt me!"

Neither (Y/n) or Jason waste energy replying. Jason is already tired. The ground clings to his feet, making him feel like he weighed an extra hundred pounds. The air is full of smoke that burned his lungs. Fires roars around him, stoked by the winds, and the temperature is approaching the heat of an oven.

Jason raises his javelin to block the giant's next strike — a big mistake. Don't fight force with force, a voice chides him — the wolf Lupa, who'd told him that long ago. He manages to deflect the spear, but it grazes his shoulder, and his arm goes numb. He backs up, almost tripping over a burning log. He has to delay — to keep the giant's attention fixed on him while his friends deal with the Earthborn and rescue Piper's dad. He can't fail. He retreats, trying to lure the giant to the edge of the clearing. Enceladus can sense his weariness. The giant smiles, baring his fangs.

"The mighty Jason Grace," he taunts. "Yes, we know about you, son of Jupiter. The one who led the assault on Mount Othrys. The one who single-handedly slew the Titan Krios and toppled the black throne."

Jason's mind reels. He doesn't know these names, yet they makes his skin tingle, as if his body remembers the pain his mind doesn't.

"What are you talking about?" he asks. He realizes his mistake when Enceladus breathes fire.

Distracted, Jason moves too slowly. The blast misses him, but heat blisters his back. He slams into the ground, his clothes smoldering. He is blinded from ash and smoke, choking as he tries to breathe.

He scrambles back as the giant's spear cleaves the ground between his feet.

Jason manages to stand.

(Y/n) moves in front of Jason, and Jason can feel the power radiating off her.

"Ah, the sea god's brat!" Enceladus bellows.

"Piece of shit," (Y/n) replies, and she charges the giant on her own.

Jason can only watch, his body dragging with exhaustion, as (Y/n) advances on the giant.

A lake about fifty feet to (Y/n)'s right explodes, dousing the bonfire, and putting it out, making the clearing darker, and suddenly, Leo, Jason, and Piper feel a strength wash over them as water laps at their shoes.

(Y/n) dodges the first strike, and then stabs the giant in the kneecap, and then jumps off her sword, ripping it out of the giant's knee and scrambles up and stabs him in the ear.

Enceladus lets out a roar so loud, it distracts Piper from her dad. She stares at (Y/n) atop the giant's shoulder, watching as (Y/n) stabs her sword into his neck.

Jason takes a deep breath and charges.

Enceladus shakes (Y/n) off and she rolls, landing on her feet, though she staggers with the momentum.

Jason fakes a strike and rolls between the giant's legs. He comes up quickly, thrusting with all his might, ready to stab the giant in the small of his back, but Enceladus anticipates the trick. He steps aside with too much speed and agility for a giant, as if the earth is helping him move.

He sweeps his spear sideways, meets Jason's javelin – and with a snap like a shotgun blast, the golden weapon shatters.

The force knocks (Y/n) off her feet and squeezes the breath out of her chest.

When she regains her focus, she and Jason are sitting side by side at the rim of a crater. Enceladus stands at the other side, staggering and confused. The javelin's destruction had released so much energy, it had blasted a perfect cone-shaped pit thirty feet deep, fusing the dirt and rock into a slick glassy substance.

Neither Jason or (Y/n) are sure how they'd survived, but their clothes are steaming. Both demigods are out of energy, and Tsunami had skittered across the clearing at Leo's feet.

Both demigods try to get to their feet, but their legs are like lead. Enceladus blinks at the destruction and laughs, "Impressive! Unfortunately, those were your last tricks, demigods.

Enceladus leaps the crater in a single bound, planting his feet on either sides of the demigods. The giant raises his spear, its tip hovering six feet over (Y/n)'s chest.

"And now," Enceladus laughs, "my first sacrifices to Gaea!"

. . .

Time seems to slow down, which was really frustrating since (Y/n) still can't move. She feels herself sinking into the earth like the ground is a waterbed – comfortable, urging her to relax.

(Y/n) can't feel her arms. She can see the tip of the spear coming towards her chest in slow motion. She knows she should move, but she can't. Funny, she thinks. All that effort to stay alive, and then, boom. I'll just lie here helplessly while a fire-breathing giant impales me.

Leo's voice yells, "Heads up!"

A large black metal wedge slammed into Enceladus with a massive thunk! The giant toppled over and slid into the pit.

"Jason, (Y/n), get up!" Piper calls. Her voice energizes (Y/n), shaking her out of her stupor. She sits up, her head groggy, while Piper grabs her under his arms and hauls her to his feet. And then Leo grabs Jason.

"Don't die on me," Piper orders. "You are not dying on me."

"Yes, ma'am." (Y/n) feels light-headed, but Piper is about the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Her hair is smoldering, and her face is smudged with soot. She has a cut on her arm, her dress is torn, and she is missing a boot. Beautiful.

(Y/n) looks down in the crater and sees Enceladus struggling to rise, an ax blade the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.

Amazingly, the giant manages to pull the ax blade free. He yells in pain and the mountain trembles. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but Enceladus stands.

Shakily, he bends down and retrieves his spear.

"Good try." The giant winced. "But I cannot be beaten."

As they watch, the giant's armor mends itself, and the ichor stops flowing. Even the cuts on his dragon-scale legs, which Jason and (Y/n) had worked so hard to make, are now just pale scars.

Leo curses. "What is it with this guy? Die, already!"

"My fate is preordained," Enceladus says. "Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes."

"Only by both," Jason says. The giant's smile falters, and Jason sees in his eyes something like fear. "It's true, isn't it? Gods and demigods have to work together to kill you."

"You will not live long enough to try!" The giant starts stumbling up the crater's slope, slipping on the glassy sides.

"Anyone have a god handy?" Leo asks.

Jason's heart fills with dread. He looks at the giant below them, struggling to get out of the pit, and he knows what has to happen. "Leo," he says, "if you've got a rope in that tool belt, get it ready." He leaps at the giant with no weapon but his bare hands.

"Enceladus!" Piper yells. "Look behind you!"

It's an obvious trick, but her voice is so compelling, even Jason buys it. The giant says, "What?" and turns like there is an enormous spider on his back.

Jason tackles his legs at just the right moment. The giant loses his balance. Enceladus slams into the crater and slides to the bottom. While he tries to rise, Jason puts his arms around the giant's neck. When Enceladus struggles to his feet, Jason is riding his shoulders.

"Get off!" Enceladus screams. He tries to grab Jason's legs, but Jason scrambles around, squirming and climbing over the giant's hair.

Father, Jason thought. If I've ever done anything good, anything you approved of, help me now I offer my own life — just save my friends.

Suddenly he can smell the metallic scent of a storm. Darkness swallows the sun. The giant freezes, sensing it too.

Jason says to his friends, "Hit the deck!"

And every hair on his head stands straight up.

Crack!

Lightning surges through Jason's body, straight through Enceladus, and into the ground. The giant's back stiffens, and Jason is thrown clear. When he regains his bearings, he is slipping down the side of the crater, and the crater is cracking open. The lightning bolt had split the mountain itself. The earth rumbles and tears apart, and Enceladus's legs slide into the chasm. He claws helplessly at the glassy sides of the pit, and just for a moment manages to hold on to the edge, his hands trembling.

He fixes Jason with a look of hatred. "You've won nothing, boy. My brothers are rising, and they are ten times as strong as I. We will destroy the gods at their roots! You will die, and Olympus will die with —"

The giant loses his grip and falls into the crevice.

The earth shakes. Jason falls toward the rift.

"Grab hold!" Leo yells.

Jason's feet are at the edge of the chasm when he grabs the rope, and Leo, (Y/n), and Piper pull him up.

They stand together, exhausted and terrified, as the chasm closes like an angry mouth. The ground stops pulling at their feet.

For now, Gaea is gone.

Word Count: 8931 words