#twice today she apologised and said she was going to

[dysphorie]

Im still in the fucking set-up stage ffs. So much exposition

Help 😩

[mysunshinetemptress]

2007

Leah Williamson x brothers best friend!reader

Warnings: thought I better post something so here’s part 2 of 2005, slow burn to shit

You huffed taking a breath after passing the ball up the pitch to find Jacobs feet letting out a smile as you sprinted towards the boy ready to congratulate him on the goal "what a goal Jacob." Jacob grabbed you squeezing you tightly "that long ball assist Y/n I swear you have gotten so good." The pair smiled at each other before hearing Amanda and Natalie screaming at them to get back to their positions as their opponents took tip to restart.

Leah couldn’t help but laughed at the six year old holding her medal looking at it like she had won the World Cup "happy with it then." You looked up at the now ten year old "I know it doesn't compare to any of your Arsenal medals Lee but this is my first one." Leah smiled grabbing the medal to look at it "nah this medal is better then any of my ones trust me." You couldn't help but smile happily as you grabbed the older girls hand walking to the car. "Hey don't leave me behind." The pair turned to Jacob as he ran up holding his golden boot trophy under his arm "Leah, Y/n guess what Dad told me there's trials at Tottenham and that I could go he signed me up already." Leah smiled at her younger brother "that's great buddy you will do amazing, but Y/n." You looked up at Leah "what do we think of Tottenham." You looked around quickly for any parents that might scold you before whispering to Leah "shit." Leah laughed before continuing on "and what do we think of shit." You couldn’t help but smile at Jacob as he pretend to be annoyed "Tottenham." Leah laughed swinging her hand that was holding Y/n’s "that's my girl." Jacob let out a laugh "no it's no she's my best friend." Leah smiled tugging you towards her "oh yeah bet you can't take her away from me." The pair gotten into a friendly fight of pulling and pushing you between each other as you laughed.

Jacob had been gone all day at the Tottenham trial as you sat in the front garden waiting for any sign of him. Amanda looked out her window watching the younger girl smiling softly before going out to you "hi missus what are you doing sat out here." You looked up smiling softly at the older woman "waiting for Jacob so we can play." Amanda looked at you confused"oh honey he won't be home till Sunday night  did he not tell you his dad and him are going to the match tomorrow after his trials today." You sighed standing up dusting yourself off letting out a quite oh in disappointment, Amanda's eyes softened as she looked at the girl "I'll tell you what is your Mum home." You nodded "right then let's head inside while I talk to her for a second." You sat in between Charlie and Melia tapping your leg against the couch as you anxiously waited to see what the older women were talking about, “Y/n stop moving your leg it’s so annoying” Melia snarled as she let out a huff you apologised quietly stopping your movements before your mum called for you "Hey Pumpkin could you come here for a second." You raced off the couch happy to get away from your sisters and into the kitchen. "I was just talking to your Mum and Leah and I have a spare ticket to the Arsenal women's match in Meadow park tomorrow as well why don't you come with me to Leah's training for Arsenal you can see what it's like tonight and your Mum has said if I think your good you can have a sleepover yeah." Your eyes lit up like you had just been told you was getting a puppy "can I really that would be so cool." Amanda smiled at the young girl "go get your clothes and head over to me when your ready then we will go get leah alright." You didn't need to be told twice as you raced up the stairs.

You stood on the sidelines watching the older girls go through their drills as Amanda stood beside her "you ok Y/n." You didn't take your eyes off the scene in front of you but nodded letting out a soft hum. The girls had broken into pair's practicing their passing when Leah looked around realising they where a player down "Lucy pair off with Casey I'll get a new partner." Leah walked over towards her Mum and the younger girl "everything alright Bubs." Leah smiled nodding at her mum "all good we are just a player short Y/n want to pass with me." Your eyes sparkled nodding your head before grabbing her hand as the older girl led you over before grabbing the ball "right stand here and we are doing long passes y/n just like in the back garden yeah." You nodded getting ready to receive the ball "and don't worry if yours goes the wrong way alright” Amanda couldn't help the smile that took over her face as she watched the pair pass back and forth you concentrating extra hard trying to make sure you could connect it to Leah as best as possible. "That was perfect y/n now this one is chipping it yeah” you nodded again getting ready to receive the ball. Leah's teammates watched on amazed as the six year old connected some of the balls to Leah as well as received it on a first touch no problem.

You was passed out in the back of the car on the drive home as the trio made their way back both Leah and Amanda keeping an eye on the younger girl making sure she was comfortable "I think you have a teammate in a few years Bubba." Leah smiled watching you sleep.

You woke up excitement coursing through her with the realisation that they would be going to an Arsenal match today. Leah groaned at the sound of her door opening "Lee it's match day." Leah let out a huff "I know but shhh it's not time to get up yet y/n go back to sleep." You sighed before looking at Leah “can I stay in here.” Leah sighed pulling open her duvet “come on.” You smiled running over to her and snuggling into Leah's chest closing your eyes as Leah welcomed it knowing she would get a lie in.

The pair had been screaming the minute Arsenal where lead out by Kelly Smith all the way to the final whistle when Leah had grabbed your hand pulling her in front of her as the players began their lap "stand here they might come over then mum can take a picture yeah." You nodded watching excitedly as Alex Scott came over "hi there what's your name "Y/n oh my god your Alex Scott you’re my favourite." Alex smiled looking at Leah "who's this then "you smiled at the older girl "this is my second best friend Leah she's a massive Arsenal fan." Alex laughed at Leah's offended face at the second place she had just been awarded "shall we take a photo and sign something." You nodded turning to smile at the camera Amanda was holding beside Leah grabbing her hand as a comfort before turning back to Alex "I don't have anything for you to sign but Leah has her jersey." Alex smiled signing Leah's jersey before looking around "I'll tell you what have mine I'll sign it." You nodded you head enthusiastically muttering out a thank you before Alex began taking off her jersey. Leah couldn't help but laugh as she watched the likes of Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey make there way over offering to sign the jersey and Isla refusing but taking a photo instead stating it was an Alex Scott jersey and she was the only signature allowed (something that both you and Alex would laugh about shortly after becoming friends)

The excitement of the Arsenal match lingered in the air as you and Leah made your way back home. "That was amazing, Lee!" you exclaimed, your eyes still sparkling from meeting some of the players. Leah grinned, her excitement matching yours. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Y/n. Maybe one day, you'll be out there playing with them." The thought made your heart race with excitement. "I'd love that, Lee! I'll train hard, just like you do." Leah tousled your hair affectionately. "I have no doubt about that, Y/n. You're a natural."

As the days passed, you found yourself spending more and more time on the pitch, honing your skills and soaking in every bit of advice Leah offered. You were determined to improve, fueled by your passion for the game and the dream of one day playing for Arsenal (or Man United) just like Leah.

At Leah's next training session, you were invited to join in a mini-match with some of the younger players. Your heart pounded with excitement as you stepped onto the field, wearing a borrowed Arsenal jersey that was a bit too big for you. But none of that mattered as you chased after the ball, dribbling past defenders with a skill that surprised even yourself.

Leah watched proudly from the sidelines, cheering you on with Amanda by her side. As the final whistle blew, you collapsed onto the grass, exhausted but exhilarated. "You were amazing out there, Y/n!" Leah exclaimed, rushing over to give you a high-five. You grinned up at her, feeling a sense of accomplishment like never before.

That night, as you lay in bed replaying the day's events in your mind, you couldn't shake the feeling of pure joy that filled your heart. Whether it was scoring goals on the pitch or simply spending time with Leah.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Dirty Work 4

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as bullying, familial discord/abuse, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You start a new gig and find one of your clients to be hard to please.

Characters: Loki

Note: Itcha gurl, back at it again.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

The doctor checks the chart then glances at the machine with your father’s vitals. Today, you’re father’s awake. He has been for a few days but today he’s alert. You know because he told you the jello was disgusting. Those are the first and only words he’s said to you in more than two weeks.

“You’re very lucky to have a daughter who knows what she’s doing,” Dr. Shearer remarks.

Your father grumbles, scowling as he doesn’t offer much else to the doctor.

“You must be happy to have her around,” Shearer continues, “it is time to start considering your discharge. You’re stable, breathing on your own again, your heartbeat is within a normal range.” You watch your father as he stares past the doctor. It’s as if he refuses to acknowledge that this is real. “You’ll have a few new meds to add to your day but with normal check-ups I think we can be optimistic.”

A grunt. You fold your hands and stand up, “thank you, doctor. Erm, could someone explain the new medicines to me?”

“Yes, of course. That’ll be in the discharge paperwork but I’ll have a Nurse Practitioner come to discuss with both of you,” he assures, “and some resources on quitting. The cigarettes can’t continue.”

“I’ll smoke if I goddamn want,” your dad snarls, breaking his shield of indifference.

The doctor gives him a sharp look but doesn’t argue, “I’m only here to diagnose and give me treatment suggestions. But you keep smoking, sir, and next time, you won’t make it to the hospital.”

“Good,” your dad sneers defiantly.

The doctor nods and his mouth seals grimly. He turns back to you, “let us know if you need anything else. We have some support groups and resources, I’ll make sure that info is also sent off with you.”

“Thanks so much, Doctor,” you squeeze your hands tighter. You want to apologise for your father but you know he’ll only get worse if you do.

“It’s alright,” Shearer says as if reading your mind, “these things are stressful. For everyone. Couple more days and he’ll be free to go.”

You try to smile but your cheeks can only tremble. The doctor leaves you with your father and you peek over at him. He grimaces at the ceiling.

“That’s good news, dad,” you say as you near the foot of his bed.

“Is it? You shoulda left me to die,” he barks.

You flinch, not once, twice. A chirp in your pocket further jars you as it shrilly erupts in the buzzing silence. You reach into the pocket of your hoodie and clutch your flip phone as it bings even louder. The little digital display shows the agency’s number.

“Sorry,” you apologise and flip it open, turning away to scurry out and answer, “hello?”

You hold your breath. Why are they calling? You didn’t have a job today and you only really get emails regarding clients. It must be very serious.

“It’s Clara,” your boss begins in her terse way. “Have you seen my email?”

She sighs, “you should be checking daily. Got a job today. You want it?”

You blink. This is the first time you’ve been asked to come in for an extra shift. You could use the money desperately. When your dad is discharged, he’ll be sent off with another invoice.

“Yes,” you accept without hesitation, “I’ll take it.”

“Great. Check your email. Details are there,” she sniffs.

“Alright, tha-nks,” your voice cracks as she hangs up in the middle of your last word. She must be busy, surely more busy than you, the lowest rung on the ladder she has to keep from falling over.

You close the phone and put it back in your pocket. You shuffle back into the room and find your father with his eyes closed. The machine continues to beep in time with his pulse.

“I gotta work,” you say, “that was my boss–”

“Then leave me alone,” he snaps without opening his eyes, “can’t you see I’m tryna sleep?”

“Sorry, I–”

“Go and don’t come back,” he growls, “I don’t need you crowding this shit hole.”

“Um, dad, I–”

He coughs and hacks and waves you off, swallowing thickly, “I said go.”

You dip your head down. You can’t imagine being in his position. Stuck in a hospital bed on the other side of near-death. You might not be very nice yourself.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I don’t care,” he turns his head and wiggles his shoulders as he tries to get comfortable.

You swallow down the hurt. You didn’t expect him to thank you for what you did. Not for anything. That’s just what you do for someone you love. Yet, you hoped he might have woken up a little bit nicer than before.

“Love you, Dad,” you murmur.

He grumbles. That’s all you get. You suck in a breath and hold it in, trying to keep from crumbling long enough to get out of that room.

🧹

At first, you’re not certain the information in the email is correct. You’re to return to Mr. Laufeyson’s house for the second time that week, but it’s a Friday night. In your days at the hospital, the calendar lines skewed between the alarms you kept in your phone for sanity. The return to reality is just as disjointing as the descent away from it.

You go home and change into your typical cleaning attire. All black. Plain. Clothes meant for getting dirty. Not that any of your wardrobe is particularly spectacular.

You grab your kit and your water bottle and rush out to catch the bus. You’re not used to being on transit near-dark. The prospect of getting home comes to mind as you cling to a pole amidst the crowded vehicle. It makes you nervous but you’re certain it will be okay. Mr. Laufeyson lives in a nice neighbourhood.

You get off the bus and bring your phone out. As you approach the house, it is lively with bodies milling in and out. You let yourself through the gate and peer over at the two cube vans near the front entrance. A white jacket, pristine uniforms, you can only assume they are some sort of catering company. The type you’ve seen on TV in those reality shows with women drinking wine.

You watch them for a moment. They are orderly and determined. What’s more, they work together in perfect harmony, words passing quietly and easily, trays moving smoothly between hands and set onto carts. It’s a shining contrast to your dim and lonely work.

You make yourself turn away and continue around the back of the house. You stop short of the rear corner and a gasp bubbles up. You watch a hummingbird buzzing over the bed of flowers. It’s so small and green and cute. You wince as it flits up towards the window, your cheeks bulbing to the smile as your gaze follows it. 

In a moment, it wings away, shyly retreating from your admiration. Your eyes fall to the window as you sense a shift on the other side. Just between the edges of the half-drawn drapes you meet a pair of green eyes over a long and cynical nose. Your smile dissolves as you recognise Mr. Laufeyson and his stony observation. You touch your fingertips to your mouth in self-reproach and tuck your chin down, turning back onto the path.

You go to the back door but it’s already unlocked. You let the handle go and linger outside. You noticed the email is shorter than usual. This isn’t your typical rote with Mr. Laufeyson.

‘Cleaner to be at standby for guests and cook…’

You glance down the paragraph. You’re to stay until after the ‘event’ so that you may tidy up. Your curiosity sparks but quickly fizzles. It’s best not to be too concerned. Just focus on what you need to do.

You let yourself in but forego the shoe covers and gloves as specified in the email. You hang your hoodie in the closet along with your kit. As you hook the strap of your water bottle over your head, a glimmer passes down the end of the hall and the lighting shifts. You look up as Mr. Laufeyson approaches.

He always dresses finely but he looks particularly put together. His hair is tidy and neat and he wears a velvet jacket in a deep shade of violet over a black collared shirt and matching trousers. His tie is narrow and blends into the fabric of his shirt. He keeps his hands behind him as he holds his chin up.

“I trust you understand your assignment,” he prompts as he stops a foot away, cornering you in the back hallway.

You nod. He tilts his head but his veneer does not break.

“Not that,” he points to the water bottle, “you may ask one of the cook’s assistants for a glass should you require it, but be rid of that ugly thing.”

“Oh–” you gulp back your voice and bow your head again. 

You untangle the trap from your torso and open the closet, tucking it away with your sweater and bag. You shut the door and find him closer than before, his hand on the door frame as he looms over you. His other wanders down the trim of his jacket.

“You are to keep yourself unseen. You tend to messes and that’s it. The rules remain. Are we understood?” He asks.

You look at him and nod. He sighs and stands straight, a deep breath rising in his chest. 

“You may answer aloud so I know we are clear,” he says.

“I understand, Mr. Laufeyson,” you eke out.

“Mmm,” his gaze lingers on you in unreadable consideration. Dressed in plain cotton, you feel wholly insignificant before him. “Go on, you will keep your vigil in the kitchen. They would require most of your assistance.” He backs away and buttons the front of his jacket, “you will not disturb my guests. Not a look, not a word.”

You know your turn to talk is over. You merely nod and he seems pleased by your deference. Not openly, he shows a hint of a smile nor does he praise you. But he is not unhappy and you know that is a feat.

🧹

The cook’s name is Corissa. She has spiraled red hair and pretty gold-green eyes. As you enter, she introduces herself and asks your name.

“I’m just here to clean,” you explain. “So if you need me–”

“Oh, hon, no need ta be shy,” she says in her wolfish voice, “we’re all in this togetha.”

You smile and stand against the wall, waiting to be told what to do next. She gives you a lingering glance but doesn’t comment. You see a question woven in her brow. She begins her work, directing her assistants at saucepan and cutting board alike, all while falling into a raucous rapport.

“Theo say ‘ma, did ya have ta tell that story?’” She cackles midway through a tale you lost track of, her hands moving expertly at her work, “and I say, ‘the gal deserves ta know, ‘specially if ya mean to burden her’.”

You bite into your lower lip. It’s like there’s an invisible wall in front of you. It’s been there your whole life. That one that separates you from others. You’re always on the outside watching. Just like in the schoolyard when the girls wouldn’t let you play with them. Or when your dad has his buddies over and told you to ‘piss off to your room’.

The first course is served on sleek black trays. As you watch the servers carry them out, Corissa calls your name. She makes you lurch in surprise as you’d be convinced you blend right into the plaster.

“Come have a taste,” she insists, “this one’s a bit mussed up.”

“Um, er, it’s okay, I’m not hungry–”

“Bah, come on, have some. I hate ta toss it in the bin.”

You don’t want to argue. That would be rude. So you come forward and accept the crumbly pastry with an ugly tear in the top, the filling bulging out.

“Lobster croquette,” she explains, “you’re not allergic, are ya?”

You shake your head and thank her as you back up to the wall again. You cup your hand under the misshapen ball as you bite into it. You could hum at the taste. It’s delicious and rich and savoury. You’ve never had anything like it. You’ve never even tasted lobster before.

“You like it?” She asks as you swallow your mouthful. You nod. “Quiet one, you.” She points at you.

You don’t answer. What can you say? You are quiet. You finish the croquette and go to dust the crumbs off your hand over the bin. You slide your foot off the pedal and let the lid drop. You take the cloth from your waistband and near the counter, going to work at tidying up the remnants of her work.

“Eh, look at you, busy little bee,” she chuckles, “I was gettin’ ta tha.”

“My job,” you insist.

“Maid,” a snap of the fingers draws your head up as Corissa sprinkles seasoning into a new pan.

Mr. Laufeyson offers only a curled finger. Your eyes round and cross to him, tucking the cloth into your pants again. He’s already striding away as you get to the door. You trail him, uncertain at what he needs. 

He leads you to the dining room, the garble of voices and clinking of glasses preceding your arrival. He enters ahead of you and claims the seat at the head of the table. The serves pass you with empty trays and you gape around in confusion.

“Oh my, look at me,” a woman giggles as she uses a cloth napkin to pat along her collarbone. Thin straps cling to her delicate shoulders as her skin glistens beneath the golden chain strung around her throat, “making a scene already.”

You see the wine glass on its side and hear the contents dripping onto the floor. You put your head down and hurry over. The dinner guests laugh and are quickly onto their next topic, about some coast they plan to vacation at once the summer comes. You try not to eavesdrop as you sop up the puddle of wine on the table and get down to wipe clean the floor.

As you do, you feel a tickle on the back of your neck. You don’t let it stop you. It must be an accident. You’re so cramped between the woman’s seat and the next that you must be in the way. The fingertips remain and brush more firmly as you hear a low, gritty exhale. 

You ball up the damped cloth and stand, daring a glance at the man as he draws his hand back into his lap. His broad shoulders make the back of the tall chair seem small and his blonde hair is twisted into a low tight bun. He guffaws loudly at the table, seemingly unfazed by his own wandering touch. It must’ve been an accident.

You back up and peer towards the head of the table. Laufeyson’s eyes are slits as he stares in your direction. Surely, he’s not watching you. You’re supposed to be unseen. Get out of there.

You retreat quickly, the din thundering louder and louder at your back, rumbling behind you into the hall. You wring the cloth, now stained and stinking of wine. You hope you didn’t upset Mr. Laufeyson, you only did as you were told.

[icallhimjoey]

bookstore joe hits different and i want to be hit once more right across the face pretty please

im sorry to the girls who arent into bookstore joe and im very not sorry to the girls who are into bookstore joe - enjoy babes! Wordcount: 2.4K

---

I Want To Hold Your Hand

When Joe walked in just after three, he greeted Anne who was stood behind the counter, doing some till work, and he got a small grunt in reply.

Standard. Made him smile. No sign of you, though.

Joe looked, craned his neck, but every corner of the store was empty. You were probably doing something in the back. He’d see you in a second.

Like always, he found a book, found a seat, and settled in for at least an hour of reading. He had the time today. Time to sit. Time to read. To soak up the atmosphere. To maybe kiss you again, if he was lucky. Time to notice how Anne was being more quiet than usual. To see how she was helping customers in a voice so unnatural to her own, it kind of freaked him out a little. To see her disappear into the back and come out back on her own, and...

Where were you?

He’d kissed you a few days ago. Kissed you. And now, something felt... weird. Like something was missing.

It was nearing in on 4PM and Anne hadn’t yet told him to fuck off, or whatever, so he knew something was off.

It was quiet in the store when Joe spoke up and asked, “Hey, Anne... am I going insane, or–”

“It’s your fault.” she was quick to cut him off, not even looking up from her task.

Joe frowned. What had he done?

“What have I done?”

Anne sighed and gestured a vague hand at him as she said, “Just your mere existence.” like it was obvious.

Joe thought back to all of your recent interactions. Your granddad had sadly passed away just over two weeks ago. Last week he tried cheering you up by showing you some pictures from the shoot you allowed him to do in the store. He’d kissed you then. The funeral had happened, and Anne had let Joe help out behind the till for a second and... now, you were... hiding?

From him?!

Surely not.

That was going to make this plan of sneaking another kiss absolutely impossible.

Unacceptable.

Anne watched Joe go through every single thing he’d done or said over the past few days that could’ve upset you, and then begrudgingly sighed.

“You’re such an idiot.” Anne said, before nodding her head towards the door that read personnel - the same door Joe had walked through ten seconds into his first ever visit.

Joe didn’t need telling twice.

When he stepped into the breakroom, he wasn’t prepared for how he found you.

You were sat at the table, buried in your laptop, one leg up on the chair, chin resting on your knee, and it was obvious you’d been crying. No matter how sweetly you smiled at the sight of him, it was obvious. Your face still eyed somewhat blotchy, eyes void of make-up and the delicate skin around them coloured red.

“Hey,” you didn’t seem surprised at the sight of him, at the fact that he’d just walked right into a room he technically wasn’t really allowed to be in.

“Hey, you– I’m sorry, you weren’t in the store, Anne said I could–... are you all right?”

Your smile grew as you nodded.

“Yea, sorry. Something, happened... earlier, it’s nothing,” you were quick to wave a hand, dismissing whatever had gotten you to hide in the back entirely. “I’m okay. How are you?”

Joe didn’t believe you. Didn’t buy it for a second. He felt like he should, because it felt like it was polite to take you for your word, but he couldn’t help the suspicious narrowing of his eyes.

“What happened?”

“Well, nothing, really. I overreacted to something and–”

“To what?” Joe interrupted, and immediately apologised. “Sorry, I... I’m sorry, I just...”

He just, what? If Joe knew, he would’ve told you, but it was not that long ago that Joe found you crying in a closed store and this felt oddly similar.

He didn’t like you upset.

Made him want to fix it.

“I promise I’m okay, just... it was for the best for me to not face any customers for a second, and I had to do some administrative work anyway, so...”

Joe’s eyes fell on your laptop as you gestured at it, and then he saw what was next to it.

He recognised it instantly.

The book you’d never sell.

Was it insane to think that he knew something was missing in the storefront? That he’d subconsciously noticed that it wasn’t in its spot? On the shelf? Where it always sat?

Probably was.

“Oh, um...” you saw Joe’d noticed and laid a flat palm on the leather-bound cover. “Yea, this was,” you had to stop to swallow.

“You don’t have to tell me.” Joe quickly decided. He didn’t want to make you start crying again. He wanted exactly the opposite, actually.

“No, it’s not–” you cleared your throat and sat up straight. You didn’t want to get emotional again over such a silly thing. “It’s Anne. She sat me down here and refuses to let me do anything else.”

You used her as you excuse. You weren’t lying; Anne really had said that you could stay in the breakroom for the rest of the day. She’d man the front on her own fine. Would find you with questions but then would tell you everything was going okay and leave you on your own again. But she wasn’t keeping you there. You were keeping you there.

“Ah. Can’t piss off Anne, can we?” Joe smirked slightly.

“I think we piss off Anne all the time,” you laughed, and it broke the tension a little.

Joe awkwardly stood in the middle of the breakroom and you were sort of glad he was there, but you wished you would’ve just been in the storefront with him. That you would’ve gotten to see his face as he’d walked in. As he’d sat down with his book. As he’d crossed his legs and let his head rest in his palm of which the elbow pushed into the armrest.

Joe was still staring at where your hand was placed, and now that you couldn’t seem to move your hand away from the big book of fairytales and folklore your granddad used to read you stories from, it felt only fair to explain why you’d gotten upset earlier that day.

“Someone tried to buy it.”

It was so stupid, because, before, when someone would climb up a ladder and find it, you would smile and just tell them, “No sorry, that one belongs to the store, I’m afraid.” and calmly take it from their hands to put it back.

Where your granddad used to make you reach for it when you were little.

Where your mother would pluck you from a ladder and scold her father for making you climb up so high.

Where it lived.

Where it had always lived.

It had never been a problem before. People were allowed to touch it. To read it. To ask to buy it. You’d just tell them no, and that would be the end of it.

Not today, though.

“They caused a bit of a scene when I said they couldn’t.”

You smiled as you said it, but Joe saw right through it.

“They were right though. Why keep a book in a bookstore when it’s not for sale? It’s right in between all of the books that are... I should just, I don’t know. Keep it some place else, I guess.”

“Of course not.” Joe reacted matter-of-factly.

You’d just gone through something extremely traumatic, were still going through something extremely traumatic, and why would you listen to someone who didn’t know? Who didn’t understand?

Joe thought he barely even understood, but he understood this.

He understood the blotchy skin. He understood Anne banning you from your own store for the rest of the day. He understood why you weren’t moving your hand from your grandfather’s book that he used to read you your favourite story from.

“I hope this doesn’t sound insensitive, but... I kind of wish I’d have been here when that happened.”

Not so that he could be the hero. Not so that he could step in and tell them to maybe just accept what the store owner was telling them.

“I would’ve loved to see Anne’s face.”

That made you chuckle. Anne really was your personal guard dog, as so it turned out.

“It was a pretty great face,” you recalled, smiling to yourself. God, you really lucked out with her.

“Store’s fairly empty now, though...” Joe pointed a casual thumb over his shoulder, and you looked at the door to where Anne still was manning the front.

You took a deep breath and grimaced a little, “Yea, I know... but, I kind of... I have some things I can finish here,” you pulled your laptop towards you. “And we’re nearly closing, anyway, so...”

You had already decided this was going to be the place where you would do all of your work today, and didn’t really want to come out of hiding. You’d do that after Anne would lock up. When there wouldn’t be any chance of the bell above the door jolting you back into your anxiety.

Joe thought for a moment. Looked at you, your laptop, your grandfather’s book, and...

“Would you mind some silent company?”

That one other time he had found you all fragile and up in your emotions, he’d just sat down right next to you, started reading a book in silence, and it had worked. He kind of wanted to give it another go. See if it would also work a second time.

“I–...” you faltered and looked at the wooden chairs around the table you were sat at. “These aren’t half as comfortable as the ones out front.”

“I asked, would you mind it?” Joe let his eyes twinkle, lips almost smiling. It made you drop your shoulders a bit as you relaxed at the idea of a bit of Joe in the break room, just for your comfort.

“No, I wouldn’t mind it.” you copied his tone, and Joe’s almost-smile turned into a beaming one.

“Okay, one second.” Joe said, slapping the doorframe as he passed through it, and you heard how he rushed his steps.

“Not my fault!” you heard Joe call out to Anne.

“Absolutely your fault,” Anne calmly replied.

“Not my mere existence!”

“Just your face then.”

Joe jogged back into the breakroom with a book in hands and pulled out the chair opposite you. He sat down, found his page and gave you a last sneaky little look over your laptop screen.

Then, just like before, he offered you his hand.

His hand.

Joe laid his arm across the table, wrist up, palm open, with fingers just shy of touching your laptop.

You just looked at it a moment.

Joe didn’t need to comfort you the way he had done that day, in the store, when all you could do was think about your grandfather and cry at his memories and the fact that there wouldn’t be new ones made.

A customer hadn’t been very kind to you today about something you felt sensitive about, and over an hour had passed already. You were fine.

But the gesture was sweet. Joe offered his hand for holding and even though it wasn’t needed, necessarily, it was still a nice gesture.

Kind.

Joe was so sweet. So kind. Soft and gentle and lovely.

You remembered how nice the distraction of playing fingers had been. How it had calmed you down enough for you to reveal the source of your hurt that day.

“Come on,” Joe then softly said, not unkindly, and you made eye-contact for a second. If he wasn’t going to be able to kiss you today, he could still try for the next best thing.

“I want to hold your hand.”

Just like that, it all shifted from a comforting gesture that was meant to soothe you to just a thing Joe wanted for himself. It was a bit silly how that made it easier to give in.

You reached a hand over and let the tips of your fingers touch the warm skin of his palm before they spread out and found a way to hold onto Joe’s closing fingers. They curled together best they could in their position, and when you chanced another glance at Joe, you saw the faintest hint of a smile across his face as his eyes had found his page again.

You got back to your work on your laptop, and whilst it definitely was a lot trickier to work down your to do list with one hand, it was also definitely a lot more gratifying.

You sat in the breakroom together like that until you could hear Anne carry the A-frame into the store, and where before you’d wished the day had just been over already, you kind of wished you’d get at least another five minutes with Joe. All right. Maybe ten.

Joe stayed put until you closed your laptop.

Joe stayed put until you got up to go back out front.

And then Joe stayed put until you walked back into the breakroom to pick up your grandfathers big leather bound book; the one book you’d never sell.

Joe watched you place it back where it belonged.

Back on its shelf where Joe remembered finding it after your grandfather asked him to go fetch him something from up high.

“Thank you.” you said looking down from you position up on a ladder, and Joe just smiled.

“Thank you.” Joe said in return, holding up the book he’d been reading before putting it down on his little ledge where he kept them.

“Thank me.” Anne dryly said, mostly to herself, from where she was doing the till.

“No.” Joe gave Anne the same smile he’d given you, and made you giggle as he said goodbye and left the store with a small wave.

“Thank you Anne,” you made a point to say it, because Anne really had been the star of the show today.

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

---

The Taglisted

@ali-in-w0nderland, @alwayslindie, @babybluebex, @capricornrisingsstuff, @chaoticgood-munson,

@choke-me-eddie, @demonsanddemogorgons, @did-it-work, @dirtyeddietini, @djoseph-quinn,

@dolcevit4, @eddies-puppet, @emma-munson, @emotionaldreamer, @everythinghasafacee,

@figmentofquinn, @ghost-proofbaby, @ghostinthebackofyourhead, @hanahkatexo, @harringtonfan4,

@hazelenys, @jewellethief, @joesquinns, @keikoraven, @kennedy-brooke,

@lovelyblueness, @manda-panda-monium, @mandyjo8719, @mexicanfolklore, @munsonluvrr,

@munson-mjstan, @nadixq, @nglharry, @notverywise, @pepperstories,

@phyllosilicate-s, @royale1803, @sherrylyn0628, @sidthedollface2, @solzi1420,

@songforeddiemunson, @sweetberry47, @take-everything-you-can, @thebellenouvelle, @tlclick73,

@werepartnersnow, @winterwakesthewolf, @witchwolflea, @yelyahcardella, @yunirgo

taglist currently full, sorry

[ohmyeyesmyeyes]

beef with wasps

f!singer x andrei svechnikov

warnings: mentions of anaphylactic shock/severe allergic reactions, swearing, light joking of near death (to be clear: nobody dies in this), some fluff

liked by gracieabrams, rolemodel and 836,217 others

ynofficial: on behalf of y/n - she is conscious, well and in great hands. she told me to spare the details on what happened, but does want you guys to know that after suffering a wasp sting earlier this afternoon, she was rushed to the ER after going into anaphylactic shock. she gave us all quite a scare and will be in overnight for observations, but doctors are positive she'll make a full recovery

S x

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gracieabrams: thinking of you and wishing you the best recovery! <3

fan1: who tf is s?

fan2: that must have been terrifying, so glad she's ok now

fan3: sending love

reneerapp: ❤️❤️

comments for this post have been restricted

liked by olivia_dejonge, haleyluhoo and 921,375 others

ynofficial: they gave me so much fucking adrenalin i have a rocket up my arse rn and he's just gone to the vending machine bc im so hungry so im taking this opportunity to tell you guys that i almost died today but im ok and the reason theres no selfie is bc i look like a pickled dick rn and as charles boyle once said life is a party and im the pinata xxxxx and he did get me flowers without me even asking so im vv in love rn

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fan4: sorry you almost died?????

fan5: babe what did you think anaphylactic shock was

fan6: does the adrenalin also increase the meme usage

fan7: so she almost dies AND reveals she might be in a relationship??? my heart is breaking twice tonight

fan8: ok but the flowers???? she's got a real one there

fan9: i mean i'd like to think if you almost died your partner would get you flowers...

fan10: lmao you'd think so wouldn't you

liked by andrei_svechnikov37, madisonbaileybabe and 926,174 others

ynofficial: back home! i'm now on house arrest because "there aren't any wasps inside" (we have beef with their butts now). needless to say, it was scary for everyone, but as you can see, miley (the cat) is the only one unbothered. i'm currently typing this from under a human giant and i'm loving every second.

i'd also like to take the opportunity to apologise for my loopy instagram posting and let everyone who purchased tickets for the phoenix show know that they will be refunded. again, i'm incredibly sorry for any inconvenience!

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fan11: and you expect me to believe that human giant in the photo is NOT svech???

fan12: he also likes cats

fan13: and in her other post, it was signed off with 's'

fan14: girl don't apologise

fan15: is he ok?

ynofficial: bit teary but we're recovering!

fan16: NO SVECH DON'T CRY EVERYTHING IS OKAY

andrei_svechnikov37: ynofficial you almost died i'm not letting you go that easily

fan17: SVECH HELLO

liked by ynofficial, devonleecarlson and 57,931 others

andrei_svechnikov37: the family emergency has made a full recovery! (thank fuck) i also wanted to come on here and say that i'm unbelievably proud of this girl, and hilariously in love with her

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fan18: crying happy tears this is adorable

fan19: SVECH STOP RUINING MY STANDARDS

fan20: i love how she's wearing red in the last two pictures

ynofficial: shh he hasn't caught on yet

fan21: i've only had y/n and andrei for a day (officially), but if anything happened to them, i would kill everyone in this room and then myself

fan22: am i the only one who wants to know how long they've been dating?

fan23: no!! i do too

ynofficial: you're making me blush

liked by andrei_svechnikov37

fan24: y/n is so precious and idk who andrei is but i love him just for this caption

fan25: svech is definitely a cuddler

liked by ynofficial

liked by andrei_svechnikov37, sydney_sweeney and 1,028,285 others

ynofficial: i can't find the right words to express how happy and grateful i am to have you in my life, so i'm just going to settle with i love you so fucking much that sometimes i can't breathe because of it, okay?

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fan26: is andrei the inspiration behind out of my misery?

ynofficial: yes

fan27: you guys make me sick in a good way

fan28: wow you've got taste y/n

andrei_svechnikov37: saying you can't breathe is a bit too soon

ynofficial: LMAO I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE

andrei_svechnikov37: i love the love though

fan29: y/n i can't-

fan30: how long have you guys been together?

ynofficial: one and a half years!

fan31: y/n not being overly mushy on instagram and casually announcing she's dating an nhl player is my favourite part of this year so far

[mountttmase]

An Unexpected Visitor

Note - so this is my first fic, just testing the waters to see how it goes 🙈 please don’t hate me if it’s bad

Pairing - Mason Mount x Reader

Word count - 2.6k

Warnings - a little bit of angst, a lotta bit of smut

‘Anything you want to share with the class?’ Your boss joked, catching you with your phone in your hand halfway through a very important meeting. Your face flushed out of embarrassment and also what you’d just seen on your phone.

‘Oh sorry’ you apologised, stuttering as now all eyes were on you. ‘I’m expecting a call from a client I thought it was them’ you lied before putting your phone in your pocket. Thankfully the messages had seemed to of stopped coming through now so you could try and forget what just happened and concentrate on the rest of what was being said.

Fifteen minutes later you were all released and you were the first one out the room, wanting to get back to the safety of your office as soon as possible. You were stopped in your tracks though by your PA Kim, greeting you with a huge smile. She was twice your age so like a mother to you and even in the mood you were in right now you couldn’t take it out on her.

‘Oh y/n, a Mason Mount turned up saying he had an appointment with you? i couldnt see anything in your diary but he assured me it was meant to be going ahead so I told him he could wait in your office’ she told you. Of course he was here and of course he’d managed to charm the pants off her too in order to get into your office but the way you were feeling right you didn’t want to look at him.

‘Thanks Kim, it’s okay I was expecting him’ you smiled, putting on a fake happy expression as not to arouse suspicion and she just nodded at you before returning to her desk.

You could see him as you approached the door through the little window and he was sat in your seat behind your desk, playing with newtons cradle you kept on there for show and you took a deep breath before entering. You faced away from him at first, pulling the shutter against the window closed so no one would be able to see you both and quietly locking the door. When you turned round he was looking at you with his usual cheeky smirk, but you could see from where you were stood that his eyes were dark, letting you know what mood he was in straight away.

‘Are you serious, Mason? Sending me nudes while I’m in a meeting?’

‘Oh, we’re using my full name huh? Wow I must be in trouble’ he laughed, but you were struggling to see the funny side at the moment. He caught on straight away when you didn’t laugh with him but he still kept that cheeky look on his face. ‘Come on baby, it was only a joke’

‘No Mason. You sent five in a bloody row I thought there was something wrong the way you kept messaging, only for me to open them up in a room full of men who barely take me seriously as it is’

‘Well you shouldn’t have left me in bed on my own this morning then when you know I wanted to fuck you’ he shrugged, speaking as if he was talking about the most mundane thing. You knew he was extra horny this morning for no apparent reason so you made sure to dress extra sexy in your right black bodycon dress. It came to your knees but there was a huge slit up the back giving mason a flash of your thighs every time you took a step. This was all in hopes of teasing him a bit, making sure he would be thinking about you all day before you would give him what he wanted when you got home, but you should of known Mason wouldn’t be able to wait.

The fact he was sat there, legs spread wide, hands on his thighs and the stupid grin still on his face made you even more furious. Clearly he was in a teasing mood today, only made more obvious by the way he looked you up and down whilst licking his lips slowly in order to try and seduce you.

If you didn’t know he was turned on by the way he was looking at you, the growing tent in his grey joggers made it even more obvious. A strange choice of his to wear out in public when he was feeling the way he was, or maybe he just wanted to make sure you knew.

‘You have no idea how sexy you are to me right now’ he told you in a low voice and your nostrils flared as you let out a short breath. You had to admit you were a little turned on yourself seeing him like this, but given the inappropriate setting you pushed that to the back of your head.

‘You’re in my seat’ you told him crossing your arms and he raised his eyebrows at you before standing up from behind your desk and making his way over you you. He stopped right in front of you, his hands on your waist and his breath fanning over your face. You refused to touch him back but you couldn’t help looking up into his lust filled eyes.

‘Go on, tell me off again. The way I’m feeling right now you might not even have to touch me to make me cum’ he whispered against your lips. You scoffed, pulling out of his hold and moving to sit in your seat.

‘Why are you here, Mase? What do you want?’ You questioned him as he took up the seat on the other side of your desk. He sat back in the same position he was in before and you briefly glanced down at the bulge in his boxers before you met his eyes again.

‘I think you know what I want’

‘You can’t be serious? I’m at work you idiot’ you scolded him and he winked at you in response. ‘Fuck you’ you breathed, a slight chuckle falling from your lips at his brazenness, before you unlocked your laptop to check your emails

‘That a threat or a promise?’ He enquired but you just ignored him, glancing over your screen before standing up to find a file on the other side of the room.

You heard him get up and follow you over but you made no effort of talk to him or move out the way when he brushed up behind you. The feel of him hard against your bum made your tummy flip but you were determined not to let him get to you. He knew exactly how to push your buttons though and when his lips landed on your neck, leaving open mouthed kisses all over it, you couldn’t help but shut your eyes.

‘You seem tense baby, come on let me help you relax’ he whispered in your ear, his hands on you hips now pulling you tighter against him and it took all your willpower not to react. He could tell you were slowly coming around to his way of thinking though so carried on kissing and sucking all the bits of skin he could reach.

‘We really shouldn’t be doing this’ you whispered, your mind no longer thinking about the file you were looking for.

‘You want me to stop?’ He asked, knowing if you told him to he would. He knew how to push the boundaries sometimes but he also knew when to back off if you really didn’t want it. This could have been one of those times but between the pictures he’s sent you earlier, his lips on your neck and the feeling of him against you sent you into a spin. Your normal morals flying out the window and all you wanted was the feeling of him inside you.

‘No, don’t stop’ you told him, and you felt him smile against your neck before detaching himself from you. He pulled you by your hand to turn you around, finally planting his lips on yours in a slow but heavy kiss.

‘Go bend over you desk for me’ he told you quietly, and you were about to protest but he cut you off with another kiss. ‘You’re lucky I’m not about to fuck you against the window, show everyone how well you take me’ he growled, nodding over to the floor the ceiling window in your office. You were high up enough so no one would be able to see you even he did want to do that, but the words made you shiver in fear. ‘So go bend over your desk. I won’t ask again’

You slowly walked over, clearing a little space but you didn’t bend over for him like he asked. Instead, you pulled your dress up so it bunched up around your hips and sat yourself on the desk with your legs dangling over the edge, trying to take some power back from him.

‘You forget Mason, we’re in my office so I make the rules’ you told him, slowly spreading your legs so he could get a peek at your underwear and his eyes shot down to look there immediately.

He slowly walked towards you, his hands grabbing the sides of your underwear as soon as he could reach, pulling them down your legs before getting down onto his knees, his head between your thighs. ‘Yes ma’am’ he winked and you leaned back with a smirk so he could have better access to your core. He propped your legs on his shoulders his arms reaching round to rest on your hips and he wasted no time before burring his face into you.

You knew you had to be quiet, but you couldn’t help the loud moans that came from you, you never could when he was working away down there. He pulled back after a particularly loud grunt came from you and you looked down at him with furrowed brows.

‘You need to be quiet for me baby’ he muttered ‘if we caught caught then I’m blaming you’ but he gave you no time to reply, ducking back down to repeat his actions from before. You tried your best to stay quiet but were getting closer to the finish line with every stroke of his tongue and he must of known you were close as he pulled off from you just as you were about to cum.

‘What the hell, Mason?’ You moaned but you turned silent when you saw the look in his eyes, staring down at you hungrily and you wished you could of taken the words back.

‘Payback’ he breathed, wiping his mouth with the cuff of his hoodie before pulling you up to stand and facing you away from him. ‘When I tell you to bend over, you bend over. No questions asked’ he told you, pushing on your back to force you over your desk and moving your legs apart slightly. ‘You’re lucky I need to cum myself cause otherwise I would have made you suffer a lot worse’ He told you and within the next second he thrust into you without any warning before wrapping your hair in his hand and pulling you up. You kept yourself balanced by holding you palms flat to the table but he was pounding into you so hard you could feel the table start to move.

‘So worried about what them lot out there think about you, if only they could see you now’ he said quietly and you bit your lip to stop any moans. ‘I bet you’d love to put on a show for them, show them what a good girl you can be?’

You whimpered in response and he fucked into you harder, your arms almost giving up on you but you managed to keep yourself up, even with mason going at you with this relentless pace.

‘You have no fucking idea what you do to me. Seeing you leave every morning in all your tight little outfits, knowing you’re off to boss people about. You’re so fucking sexy and you don’t even try’ he slowed down ever so slightly so he could lift one of your legs up onto the desk, letting him drive deeper into you and you both moaned out in unison over the new feeling.

He knew you were close by the way you fluttered around him so he sped up his actions, pulling you up to him fully so he could whisper in your ear. ‘you gonna cum for me?’ He questioned and you breathed out a quiet yes as he sucked on your skin. ‘Good girl, go on then’ he growled and a few seconds later you came over him, his hand over your mouth to silence your cries but the sound and feel of you bought on his own release. He thrust into you until he was spent, reaching over to the box of tissues you kept on your desk and grabbing a handful before pulling himself from you.

You could feel him trying to clean you up so you didn’t have any stains down your dress and you hissed at the contact.

‘Shit, sorry baby. Two seconds and I’m done yeah’ he told you, moving from behind you to pick your underwear up, handing them back over to you with a sheepish grin. He helped you put them back on, dropping a soft kiss on your lips when you were all sorted and you couldn’t help but smile. He was a pain in the arse but he was yours. ‘You okay?’ His whispered, wrapping his arms around you and kissing you again, rocking you from side to side.

‘Yeah, but next time you come here for a ‘meeting’ Mase, make sure you wear something a bit nicer so it’s more believable. Can’t having you turning up here in a tracksuit and expecting people to believe you’re a client of mine’

‘So I’m allowed back then?’ He smiled, his hands moving further down to pinch your bum and you nuzzled into his neck.

‘Not for a while no’ you scolded him but he just laughed and kissed your cheek. ‘Come on, you better go before people get suspicious. I’ll walk you out’ you said to him and with one final kiss you parted from each other, quietly unlocking your door and walking him over to the main reception. You could feel eyes on you, but from your quick glance around you could see it was just because Mason was in the room, not anyone realising what had taken place behind your office door.

‘Thank you for your time, Miss y/l/n. I’ll be in contact again soon’ he told you, stopping to face you and outstretching his hand for you to shake. You cottoned after a second or two, following his lead and shook his hand whilst giving him a smile.

‘You’re welcome Mr Mount. You’ve got my contact details so please feel free to get in touch if you need anything’

‘Oh I plan to’ he whispered, only loud enough for you to hear, before letting go of your hand and walking out of the building.

‘Was that Mason Mount?’ You heard from behind you, turning to see your boss who’d caught you on your phone earlier walking towards you.

‘Uh yes, the client i mentioned before, that’s him. He just popped by to ask a few questions’ you gulped, hoping he would buy what you were telling him and thankfully for you he did.

‘I’m impressed’ he nodded and you let out a little breath of relief. ‘Productive meeting I take it?’

‘I’d say so, yeah’

[slytherhys]

Keeping Secrets

Prompt: Cassian's allergies help him solve a mystery.

A/N: After a long writing slump I have returned with yet another Elriel fic. If you guys like it I might write a part II about elriel's not-so-secretive rendezvous... 🤭

Cassian couldn’t help but think, as he looked out the window from Rhys’s new office, that the City of Starlight was a sight to behold when painted in the colours of Spring.

Flowers seemed to bloom in every corner, painting the cobblestone pavement in purples and blues and pinks, greenery following close behind. Their fragrance spread through the streets as the sun shone brighter, its light sparkling against the surface of the Sidra. People walked to and fro the Palaces, laughter and joy in their voices as they visited their favourite shops and enjoyed the warmer temperatures. It wasn’t Cassian’s favourite season, but he had to admit it was a nice reprieve from the bitter cold winter they’d had to endure the past few months.

Besides, Spring in Velaris was never a nuisance to him – despite his allergies, it was rare that he would so much as sneeze.

Even if today, for some reason, Cassian couldn’t stop fucking sniffling.

Rhys eyed him with a raised brow, sending the tissue box on his desk a pointed look - like he had done many, many times since he had first arrived. Cassian pointedly ignored him.

“The season doesn’t seem to agree with you, brother.” The asshole said, pushing the tissue box in his direction.

Cassian pointedly ignored that as well, sniffling indignantly and moving away from the window – even if it did little to relieve him. The entire office smelled like those damned flowers, making his nose run and itch like it did on the rare occasions where he had been unfortunate enough to visit the Spring Court. 

It was Elain’s fault, really. When he had first gotten to the River House - albeit an hour early - he wasn’t entirely expecting her to be the first person he’d see. He knew well enough the garden in the back was being tended to by her - something he clearly had failed to remember when he pulled Elain into a warm hug, pressing a small kiss to her cheek before setting her down. Needless to say before he could even say hi Cassian was sneezing - not once, not twice but three times. Elain had laughed softly, apologising and explaining that she had received a new batch of flowers that she had just carried to the back to plant for the first time. Her sister, of course, would be the one getting the flowers first. For her kindness, El had explained. 

He adored Elain - truly, he did. He just couldn’t understand why, exactly, he couldn’t stop sneezing and sniffling hours after being near her. 

He had gotten better for just a few moments - just until Rhys and Azriel barged into the office. Rhys first, frown on his face that he assumed had something to do with Nyx (apparently the High Lord didn’t like the fact his son’s first words had been mama ), and Azriel just a few minutes later, looking more flushed than Cassian had ever seen him. He had questioned neither - he definitely didn’t ask any of them why they’d both been over 15 minutes late to a meeting that was going to end up being nearly two hours long. 

So what if he had to leave Nesta in their bed, forgoing her morning cuddles in favour of a stupid meeting that they’d both been late too? So what if every minute they were late meant another minute away from her? Cassian wouldn’t point it out. He was a General, the Commander of the Night Court’s armies - he was above such petty feelings and childish grudges.

He sniffled - indignantly, of course, not because of his allergies - stepping further away from the windows once Rhysand finally concluded their meeting. “Well, I know you both have no concept of time, but I plan to meet Nesta by the Sidra for lunch, and I'm already fifteen minutes late.” 

He was above such petty feelings and childish grudges most times .

Rhys smirked, opening the door of his office, not even bothering to acknowledge his remark as he leisurely strolled down the hallway, hands inside his pockets in a show of ease that had taken him centuries to achieve. Cassian fought the urge to remind him of his younger years and all the embarrassing shit their High Lord had done, just for the sake of it. He was a good friend, after all.

 Azriel followed close behind, Cassian grumbling as he joined him, following Rhys to the foyer. 

“You don’t seem to be in a good mood, brother.” Azriel smirked slightly, his flushed skin glowing. But before he could remark on that unusual occurrence, Cassian sneezed. 

Four times. 

Azriel grinned. 

“And why are you in such a good mood?” He muttered, surreptitiously reaching into his pocket for a tissue he had stolen earlier when no one was watching, observing Azriel with a critical eye. Because he truly was in a good mood - which was odd, to say the least. Besides the flushed skin, his hair seemed rumpled, and even if the bags under his eyes seemed more pronounced than ever, there was a glitter to his hazel eyes that told Cassian it wasn’t exactly nightmares keeping him up at night. Even his leathers seemed more rumpled than ever, dirt under his boots and…was that a flower pressed on the toe of his left boot?

He also hadn’t missed the fact that Azriel had chosen to follow Rhys and leave through the front door like a normal person, instead of simply flying out the open balcony like he usually did. 

Cassian frowned. “Late night, brother?” He asked, just as they reached the kitchen. Azriel’s expression betrayed nothing, his face as stoic as ever.

“Early morning.” He mumbled, a light twitch to his lips. There and gone in a second. Cassian narrowed his eyes, failing to understand what that actually meant, but the sound of two familiar voices stopped him from probing. 

Feyre and Elain stood by the doors leading to the gardens, talking softly and laughing until they both noticed their presence. Cassian felt, rather than saw, Azriel go still next to him as he eyed them both, eyes assessing as they usually did. Rhys, however, seemed to relax - like he always did - as soon as his mate’s eyes found his, pulling her into a kiss that felt more intimate than it should’ve been in the presence of three other people. Feyre giggled, slapping him softly in the chest, a blush taking over her pretty face as they spoke softly with each other. 

Cassian quickly looked away, choosing to eye Elain instead. She, too, had a healthy blush to her cheeks, her hair a bit messy, a loose bun keeping it from going to her face. Her hands were playing with the straw hat she was holding, eyes flickering between him and Azriel, something secretive shining in them as she watched them both. 

Cassian ignored the tingling in his nose. “How are the new flowers coming along, El?” He smiled at his sister-in-law, not missing the happiness in her entire expression that seemed to grow every day that passed, just as she found her place in their court. The last few months, especially. 

Elain’s cheeks darkened further, her eyes widening slightly as she stared up at him. “Oh,” she laughed nervously. “Very well, thank you.” She said as she reached for her hair, letting it down softly as her eyes flickered to her sister and Rhys, quickly turning back to Azriel and Cassian when she saw them kissing once more. The scent that had followed him to the office earlier hit him full force again just as she let her hair down and before he could even mutter his confusion, he was sneezing again. Once, twice, three times. 

Elain smiled apologetically, but Cassian was entirely too focused on something else to even notice. A small flower , woven into her hair. A familiar sight, he thought, just one he couldn’t exactly place. 

Before he could think about it, he was reaching for it, taking Elain and himself by surprise with his sudden move. 

“You have something-” He trailed off, holding the small blue flower in his hand, trying to place it. 

“Oh.”  Elain chuckled softly, taking a step back as if to protect him from any more sneezing. He was grateful for it. “It’s the new flowers we got today.” She explained, smiling sweetly. “I spent the entire morning planting them in Feyre’s gardens.” 

Cassian frowned, eyeing Elain again. “Are you sure we don’t have these somewhere else?” 

Elain laughed, Az going suddenly very quiet. Cassian eyed him, oddly feeling as if he had been handed the easiest puzzle piece and still failing it somehow. “I’m sure, Cass. I ordered them specifically for Feyre’s new gardens a few months ago.” She eyed them both quizzically, something flashing in her eyes as she looked at Azriel, eyes widening comically as she backtracked. “Or… Or maybe I got some for Nesta? It’s happened before-”

“No, that’s not it.” He shook his head, eyeing Azriel closely. His daring eyes, his clothes, his boots…

And the fucking blue flower pressed to the toe of them. 

Cassian felt his eyes widen, his heart beating loudly before his brain could even catch up with what his body had already figured out. 

“Holy fuck, are you-” the rest of his words muffled by Azriel’s scarred hands, silenced by the flashing in the shadowsinger’s eyes that warned him about the dangers of even thinking about whatever was about to come out of his mouth. 

Elain looked entirely too calm - if only not for the panic in her pretty eyes as she eyed them both, unsure of what to say. Cassian wasn’t sure he wanted to hear her explain anything, if he was being honest. 

Her flushed skin, her rumpled hair… Not only from spending an entire morning working under the heat of the sun. The flower in her hair, suspiciously identical to the one pressed against the toe of Azriel’s boot. Not the sole of it, but the toe , as if he had been kneeling …

Oh, he was going to be sick. 

“What’s happening right now?” Feyre’s voice broke him out of his stupor, Azriel’s eyes flickering to their High Lady even if his hand remained pressed against his mouth. Cassian pushed his brother away, gasping for air. Had the asshole forgotten his stuffy nose or was he actually trying to kill him? 

Rhys sighed. “Don’t worry yourself about them, Feyre darling.” He said, taking her hand in his and pulling her in the direction of the front door. “You all know where the door is, so please make use of it sooner rather than later.” He said over his shoulder, just before turning around and sending Elain a charming smile. “Except you, Elain. Make yourself at home.” And then he was gone, his mate under his arm as they strolled down the sidewalk. 

Cassian stood dumbfounded, mouth gaping as his eyes flickered between the two people in front of him. Azriel simply rolled his eyes, as if Cassian was the one being dramatic. Elain simply tilted her head as she watched him with open curiosity. 

He wanted to throttle them both.

“How long?” He sputtered. “How did it even… What…” He took a deep breath, rubbing his temples. “Are you guys out of your mind?” He whined. “If Rhys finds out-”

“He won’t.” Azriel said with deadly calm. As if it were truly that simple. 

But Cassian was undeterred. “He will if you’re fucking in his garden, you genius.” He drawled, not missing how Elain pressed her face against Azriel’s stomach, trying to hide her laughter. As if it were funny . Cassian didn’t even blink at their sudden familiarity. As if, deep down, it simply made sense.

“He won’t find out, Cass.” He assured quietly, just as his hand reached out to play with her hair, stroking it, his eyes softening slightly as he looked down at the female next to him. 

No, he couldn’t say he was surprised. 

Sure, it had taken him by surprise, but not because he hadn’t seen it coming, he supposed. After months of odd behaviour from his brother, months of seeing him weirdly… content. Not to mention the fights over Elain’s privacy, the discomfort over Lucien’s presence…It was as if everything simply clicked. 

He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. Nesta would become insufferable once she got wind of this.

“Does Lucien-”

“No.” But it wasn’t Azriel that interrupted him, even if his brother moved slightly, as if to protect Elain from his words. Elain’s voice, however, left no room for questions, almost daring him to ask anything else. Cassian knew she had already made herself clear over where she stood concerning Vanserra’s affection. 

Cassian also knew what Nesta would do to him if he found out he had told his sister that she should take the male’s feelings into consideration. Such conversation had taken place when they had made a bet, only days after the solstice last year. I’m pretty sure they’re hooking up , Nesta had said casually as she watched Az and Elain talk softly on the other side of the room. Cassian had laughed - loudly - which eventually led to a bet being made. Nesta had looked entirely too smug when he had agreed to it, but he hadn’t even stopped to think about it.

He was seriously regretting his own life choices. 

Cassian sighed. “I hope you guys know what you’re doing.” 

Elain squared her shoulders, raising her chin as she looked at Cassian. Yet, she never once stepped away from Az. “We do.” She said, a quiet conviction to her voice that he wouldn’t dare question. She gulped, squeezing Azriel’s scarred hand. An assurance , Cassian realised. 

That Az didn’t immediately pull his hand away was probably the most surprising thing happening in the past few hours. 

“There are some choices that are worth being made, Cass.” She simply said, as if such words said enough already. Cassian supposed they did. To them at least. As if  they contained a multitude of feelings, of secrets that no one could really understand but them - no matter how much others tried to question them.  

Elain tilted her head, brown eyes assessing him in a way that made him question if she truly saw more than she let on. “No matter what or who might stand against them.”

A quiet promise, he presumed. A threat to those who weren’t even present to hear it, as if Elain was stealing herself and Az, for what lay ahead. Cassian wasn’t sure what to say, what assurances to offer, what support to give - not when the future seemed so uncertain to all of them. 

But Cassian couldn’t worry about that right now - not when he had to tell Nesta she had won the bet.

Mother save him .

[back2bluesidex]

Hey Babygorl,

Fluff express is coming up.

Can you write a little Namjoon one where the reader is Namjoon's favourite author and they meet by accident in a book store. Like he didn't know who she was, (they started talking through some book they both read) and then he realises somehow.

Take your time :))

You're awesome. Fighting ✨

Pairing: idol!Namjoon X author!Reader

Word count: 900

Theme: Meet cute, and it's SFW

A/N: @phenomenalgirl9 here you go girl. But please note that I changed the storyline a bit since I don't know much about books. It was hard for me to put down any reference. Hope you enjoy it.

**************

"What do you mean it's sold out again?" Namjoon almost screams. He tries his best to keep his composure intact but he fails. He is not like this. Behaving out of budding anger isn't really a Namjoon thing but today he is losing it. 

This is his second visit to this bookstore, in which he is a valuable customer but this is also the second time he has failed to secure the copy of the book he has been waiting so long for. 

"Look miss, I pre-booked it. I understand that many of us couldn't secure a copy for the first round but it can't happen twice. I asked Mrs. Han to secure a copy for me. You can cross-check if you want." Namjoon says again, staring at the girl at the counter. She looks apologetic but helpless at the same time. 

"I am aware of it sir. Your copy was saved initially but-" she says. The girl is apparently debating on whether to spill the information or not. Maybe she settles for the later resolution but Namjoon is gonna press it out of her. 

"But what?" He emphasizes. 

"Um… it was actually given to a VIP customer. I am so sorry for your inconvenience sir. We will save you a copy as soon as the third lot arrives, along with a 20% discount." The girl bows again and again. But it doesn't soothe Namjoon's anger. 

He wants to say a lot.  For the first time in 10 years he wants to use his power, his fame. He wants to peel out his mask and bucket hat and tell them that he is The Kim Namjoon of BTS. But he can't. He is about to say something when the book he is fighting so hard for is placed on the counter along with some other books.

He glares at it.

If it was some other time, he would have let it slide. But it's one of the books he has been waiting for, written by one of his favourite authors of all time. It's the book for which he has managed time despite his crazy schedule, cycling all the way to the shop risking his privacy. He won't let it slide. Not this time. 

"That's my book." He says, voice low but something akin to anger dripping from it. 

"I am sorry? What?" The so-called VIP customer asks. He doesn't look at the owner of the voice. Keeping his eyes trained on the copy, he says, "I said that's my book which was sold to you because you are apparently a VIP customer." 

"I-is that true?" The voice asks and that's when Namjoon lifts his eyes and takes a look at you.

Your question is directed to the girl at the counter. She lowers her eyes and nods slowly. 

You sigh, "you should have told me so. I don't- ah leave it." 

And then you turn to face him and that's when he gets a good view of your full face.

You're pretty. Something in you screams natural. 

"I am so sorry you had to face this inconvenience because of me. I wasn't aware of the situation. You can have the book. And please let me pay for it. Consider it as an apology from me." You smile at him. 

"You don't-" he tries to say but

"Please?" You cut him off. He can't really say no to the eyes you are currently making at him. He finds himself nodding. Your smile becomes wider. 

Now he feels really bad for behaving like a stubborn kid earlier. 

"Ah-thanks." He says slowly while he tries to think of a way to apologise to you. 

"No, please don't thank me. It's me who should thank you for being so eager to read my book." You reply. 

Namjoon's eyebrows shoot above to reach his hairline, at the same time his jaw drops to the floor.

"What? Wait what? Your book? You- you are L/N Y/N?" He asks, the pitch of his voice tells of his excitement. 

"Ah yeah." You reply shyly, diverting your eyes from him. 

"That's why you are a VIP customer?" He asks again, it's still unbelievable. 

"I guess so?" You trail off. 

"Oh my! I am- I didn't know- let me! I just-" he is now hyper aware of the fact that he misbehaved with you a couple of minutes ago. 

"Hey hey. Calm down." You say, stepping a bit towards him, placing your hand on the side of his one arm, trying to calm him down. 

"I am extremely sorry, Miss. L/N. The way I behaved with you was totally unacceptable. Tell me how I can make it up to you?" Namjoon tries to make the situation better. 

You laugh as if it's no big deal. 

"Maybe you can buy me a coffee and tell me what you like the most about my books?" You say, there's a playfulness added to your voice. 

Did just one of his favourite authors ask him out for a friendly date? Well, what the fuck? 

"What do you say, Mr. Kim?" You press on and he realises he has been silent for a while. 

"Absolutely! If you have time we can go now." He says then pauses, "wait! You know who I am?" 

You smile again and head towards the exit with him following you closely. 

"Another crazy day at work." The girl at the counter sighs. 

******************

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

A Swallow's Symphony In Spring (6/19)

Chapter 6 - in the Night

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Warnings: threatening an animal/animal abuse (the animal is fine in the end)

Word Count: 3294

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Roman was dreading today.

Today was significant for multiple reasons, though the main reason for that was that Virgil was leaving.

He had told Roman that today was a special day and he’d wanted to spend it with family, so he’d requested one of his few days of duty leave to take place on one random day in the leadup to winter, before the first of the year's snowfall, to go home and visit his family. Of course, Roman wasn’t upset with Virgil for wanting to see his family - Roman had gathered how much Virgil cared about them from the amount of letters he would send. His guard was fairly secretive about the people in his life for whatever reason, but whenever he had spoken of them, he had done so fondly. Roman almost found himself envious. 

Regardless, Roman was dreading the day Virgil had to go, because he would have one of the regular palace guards stand in as a replacement. Roman didn’t know most of the palace guards all that well, just that most of them were under his mother’s thumb. He worried that he would slip up in front of them with how comfortable he’d gotten around Virgil. Today would be a rather uncomfortable day, he had prepared himself the best he could and bid Virgil goodbye the night before, but he still wasn’t prepared enough. 

When he’d left his room the next morning, the time he always would in order to head to his early outdoor training session, he had been met by one of the Queen’s guard. Roman’s mother had six guards, two of which accompanied her around the castle and all six would accompany her when she left the castle. The man standing in front of him was twice Roman’s age, with a scarred face and hair pulled back tightly into a bun. The guard’s face never changed from the scornful look he had given Roman when he had stepped out of his room. 

“You are five minutes late.” The guard told him. Roman apologised politely on instinct. 

—-

The day had passed so much worse than Roman expected. He found that by the time one in the afternoon rolled around and the guard was hovering over his shoulder in a way that couldn’t be anything but intimidating, his appreciation for Virgil had grown tenfold. He had realised from the hours he had spent with this guard how much effort Virgil put into being as unobtrusive to Roman’s life as he could whilst they were outside of his room. The amount of effort it must take to fade into the background enough that Roman often forgot he was there. This guard made no such effort and it showed easily. 

He read his textbooks, a map splayed on the low table in front of him. He couldn’t read one of the books he enjoyed with this guard peering over his shoulder. He knew the actions he took today would be reported back to his mother. He couldn’t make a single wrong move. 

He saw a shadow move under the low table and Roman wondered if whatever greater being governed their world hated him, or something. The shadow moved again and Roman could see that it had grey swirls and pretty white toes. 

“Eugh,” The guard said behind him, “It’s one of those nasty vermin.”

“She’s a cat,” Roman said, before regretting opening his mouth immediately when the guard looked at him. 

“They’re the same thing,” The guard shook his head, Silver then peeked out from under the table and slowly approached Roman - who held his breath as she sniffed his boot. “Don’t worry, your highness, I’ll get rid of it for you.”

Roman hoped for a moment that the guard simply meant he’d take her outside of the library, but he heard a sword be drawn and whipped around, putting his hands up. 

“No wait-” He said before he could stop himself, for the three seconds the two stared at each other, Roman wished he had come up with something better and less emotional sounding to say to stop him, still, he’d try, “The cats kill the rats - sir - And I personally would rather have cats around the palace than rats, wouldn’t you?”

Trying for a mimicry of his mother’s normal tone usually worked with most of the staff, but after his outburst he knew he wasn’t fooling the guard. Still, he sheathed his sword. “As you wish, Your Highness.”

He nudged Silver with the tip of his shoe and she ran off, Roman hoped that would be the end of that. 

Somehow, Roman knew he could never be that lucky. 

—-

"I'd like to see you after dinner, Roman." The Queen said, tone already scornful. At this point, Roman had almost put the incident with the cat out of his mind, but as he ran through everything that he could possibly have done wrong today, that was the thing that stuck out. He paled slightly - wondering what on earth she would say to him. 

Nothing else was said for the rest of dinner while Roman stewed in his thoughts, after which the Queen beckoned Roman to follow to her study. 

In the lavishly decorated room - which had none of the cosy comforts found in Thomas' study - the head groundskeeper was already waiting. Roman had always regarded him as a fairly decent man. Not someone Roman could talk to - no-one hired by his parents really was - but he was an older gentleman and always seemed kind enough. 

Here he looked a little worried, a frown on his face that only grew as the queen walked slowly and elegantly to sit in her beautifully upholstered office chair. Nothing in this room was anything less than beautiful. The groundskeeper stood out like a sore thumb. 

“Sit,” The Queen ordered Roman, pointing towards the comfortable chair beside her desk, Roman sat. She ignored the groundskeeper.

“Roman,” The Queen said slowly, after taking far too long to sit down herself, “I heard you have taken something of a shine to the palace felines?” 

“I- huh?”

“That’s not how we answer, is it?”

“No - ma’am,” Roman said quickly, cursing himself for faltering, “I think that the cats serve an important purpose here, but-”

Interrupted by the Queen raising her gloved hand, Roman stopped talking immediately, “I heard from Sir Jaxon that you have been interacting with the vermin.”

“They’re not vermin-”

“Silence,” The Queen said.

“You - you can’t really stop me from interacting with the cats-” Roman protested, a sudden burst of defiance bubbling up from somewhere in the pit of his stomach where he was terribly afraid of losing one of the few things that could comfort him here, “What will you do, starve me?”

“Of course not,” The Queen said, shaking her head primly, “but it’s clear you care about that cat - and I can starve that vermin of yours. For every word you talk back to us, that's one day where the groundskeeper will keep that fleabag locked up," 

“What?” Roman asked meekly, looking over to the groundskeeper, who looked just as upset about this as he felt. Well… at least that was some comfort, that this guy didn’t want to be doing this. 

“I try and try to teach you this, Roman.” The Queen shook her head in disappointment. “Caring is your greatest weakness, the more you care about helpless creatures like that cat, the more things there are that can be used against you, but still you never seem to learn.”

“Caring is not a weakness,” Roman said, feeling tears well up in his eyes, he tried his best to choke them back.

“In that case… let's see if this horrid animal can survive its twenty one day sentence, shall we?” She flicked her wrist at the groundskeeper, “Take it away.”

With a soft sigh, the groundskeeper bent to lift a cage at his feet, covered with a black sheet. With a rattle the cage was lifted and from beneath the sheet Roman heard a pitiful sound that he immediately identified as Silver’s meow - the sound made him flinch. Moments after the groundskeeper left the room, Roman too was dismissed. He stood quickly, gave the politest bow to his mother that he could and hurriedly left the room. Originally his plan might have been to go after the groundskeeper, who he could just see turning a corner as he left the Queen’s study, but his guard had other plans. 

“We should return to your chambers, your highness.” The guard said, tone a little more commanding than it had been all day. In that moment Roman remembered that he was not with Virgil, he could not cry now. On the walk back to his chambers, Roman had to pretend to be as uncaring as his mother wished he was. The guard following him didn’t care, he wasn’t going to comfort Roman once they returned to his room. At this moment Roman was entirely and utterly alone. 

It was almost funny. Roman should be used to being alone at this point. He’d been alone since he was just thirteen years old, Virgil hadn’t even been here for two months yet and Roman had already gotten so used to his company, the way he seemed to actually care for Roman and his feelings. The way he actually looked out for him like a guard probably should, even trying to protect him from his parents. The way he talked to him like he was a real person. He didn’t get treated like that often. 

The walk back to his chambers took what felt like an age. There were eyes on him the whole time that had him hypervigilant over his posture and expression, any body language had to be correct, he couldn’t show any kind of upset over this whole situation. As soon as the heavy door closed behind him and Roman was faced with his empty bedroom, Roman broke. 

He had had the whole walk back to come up with ideas for how to right this situation, what he should say to his mother, maybe he could bribe the groundskeeper to let Silver out from wherever she had been locked, but he hadn’t come up with a single idea that he thought stood a chance at working. So instead of doing something productive once back in his room, Roman found there was nothing he could do but burst into the silent tears that had been fighting to escape since dinner. 

Pillows and blankets piled up on top of him, Roman sobbed. There was nothing he could do, and Silver wouldn’t survive the Queen’s punishment if she really intended to keep the cat locked away for almost a month. One of the staff would lose their cat and it was Roman’s own fault, someone was going to lose what Roman could only assume was a beloved pet because of him and there was nothing he could do to fix it. He himself would lose a companion he had some to value - he had found a much needed friend in that cat, able to tell her things he couldn’t even tell Virgil. Who would he tell his woes about his apparent love to now?

Hours must have passed as Roman cried himself hoarse, and then lay under the mountain of pillows and blankets he had piled on top of himself, and then cried again. At some point it had gotten dark, and eventually he heard a commotion outside of his door. He had to strain his ears to hear what was going on whilst he simultaneously pulled the pillows closer around him. 

The door across his room opened - the one that vaguely registered as the door to Virgil’s room.

“Roman?” came Virgil’s voice from somewhere outside of the pillow pile. 

Roman tried and failed to choke back a sob hearing Virgil’s slightly concerned tone - suddenly tears were streaming down his face once more. Distantly he heard Virgil make a noise halfway between concerned and upset. Seconds later he felt the bed dip where Virgil must have climbed up onto it to get to him and Roman tried not to wince when one of the pillows was pulled back. He whimpered pathetically and hid his face in his knees so that Virgil wouldn’t see his tear streaked face. 

“Ro?” Virgil asked, even more concerned now, “Roman - what happened?”

“She- she-” Roman tried to answer, choking on his words. Virgil hesitantly placed a hand on his knee and when Roman didn’t push him off started rubbing gentle circles with his thumb. 

“Take a deep breath,” Virgil commanded gently - the words clear but the tone kind, “try and breathe, there you go, then tell me what happened when you’re ready, okay?”

“O-okay-” Roman forced out, stuttering the word - his mother would kill him if she saw him right now, he wasn’t even sure how much of an exaggeration that was. Trying to push that thought aside, Roman tried to take deep breaths just as Virgil told him to. He tried to time them using the gentle circles. Despite his trying, his breath stuttered a few times and every time he expected Virgil to get upset or angry with him, he never did. Throughout the whole thing, Virgil remained calm and gentle, working him through getting his breathing even, helping him calm down. 

“Would you like a hug?” Virgil asked him once he had calmed considerably. Roman looked up at him, aware he currently looked a complete mess, in astonishment. 

“A- a hug?” He asked, cursing himself for still stuttering.

Virgil glanced away before glancing back at him, “Only if you want to! I just thought - they usually help me calm down.”

Unsure as to whether he’d received that much affection since he had lost his brother, Roman hesitantly pushed himself to sit up properly and nodded in response to Virgil’s offer. A soft smile crossed Virgil’s face as he opened his arms for him and Roman practically collapsed in his arms. A soft surprised sound left Virgil when Roman collapsed into him, burying his face in his chest - he was wearing something soft, not his regular armour, probably from his day off. An arm was wrapped around his back and Roman jolted a little in surprise, but Virgil shushed him softly and ran the fingers of his other hand through Roman’s hair and he practically melted. 

Roman was pretty sure - though he could always be wrong, he didn’t trust most of his information nowadays - that hugs were not supposed to last as long as this one did. He felt his cheeks heat the longer they remained like this, with Roman practically in his guard’s lap, but Virgil didn’t seem to mind so Roman wasn’t going to complain. Eventually, without letting him go, Virgil spoke up. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to tell me what happened now?” he asked. Taking a deep breath, Roman nodded, rubbing his cheek against Virgil’s chest as he did. 

“She- sh-” Roman cut himself off with another deep breath and Virgil’s fingers returned to his hair - Roman closed his eyes and focused on that relaxing feeling instead, “She to-ok- she took Silver.”

“Your cat?” Virgil asked, tone gentle.

“Th- the cat that- that hangs around here sometimes,” Roman answered, saying she was his cat felt wrong, “She- she came up to me earlier - and - and the guard was gonna- so - so I - but-”

He was gently shushed when it was obvious he was getting too worked up, he quickly wiped away a tear. The way Virgil was rubbing a hand up and down his arm felt so reassuring and calm, but it didn’t take away from the feeling of dread that seemed to press in on him from all sides - wondering what would happen to this cat, just because he cared for her.

“What did she do?” Virgil asked, tone soft, “Did she…”

“Locked her up,” Roman said quickly - not wanting to think about what would’ve happened if she had had the cat killed right in front of him. He would’ve broken down right there, he thought, and then things would’ve been so much worse, “Said for - for twenty one days…”

“Fuck…” Virgil swore softly, “She won’t live that long.”

“I- I know-” Roman said, that didn’t really help - actually, he was pretty sure it had made him feel worse. 

“Do you know where?”

Shaking his head sadly, Roman looked down, of course there was still nothing he could do, “The- the head groundskeeper took her, I - I don’t know where.”

“Okay, okay - that’s good, Ro,” Virgil said - Roman was pretty sure he’d called him that nickname earlier, but this was the first time his mind actually caught up with it. He quite liked it - so simple, but he hadn’t been called a nickname in a long time.

“It- it is?” He asked, looking up at him in confusion. Virgil gave him a small smile, before slowly pulling away from the hug. 

“Mhm… just wait here for me, okay? I’ll be back before too long.”

Confused, but ultimately too tired to resist Virgil leaving, Roman let him go and Virgil stood up, ruffling his hair before walking off back to his room. It had seemed like he had some sort of plan - but Roman couldn’t fathom what that might be - he just really hoped Virgil wasn’t thinking of talking to his mother - that would end badly for both of them. 

No matter his worries, it wasn’t long before Roman was tugged down into the restless depths of sleep. He was already exhausted from his tears and relaxed from Virgil’s comfort, he was sure it was practically inevitable that he would fall asleep eventually. There hadn’t even been a chance for him to think about changing out of his day clothes before the darkness took him. 

The next Roman knew, he was being gently shaken awake. Groaning softly, he blinked his eyes open - they hurt a little, still puffy and red from tears - and looked around. Crouched next to his bed - hand on his shoulder - was Virgil, wearing a black cloak which Roman was fairly certain he was using to hide… something. 

“Hey,” Virgil said softly, looking at him, Roman frowned in confusion.

“Hello?”

“I stole your cat back,” Virgil said, simply pulling back his cloak to reveal the cat - safely held against his chest. For a cat, Roman thought she was being surprisingly calm. Silver was gently placed to stand on Roman’s bed and she immediately came over to him and sniffed at his face - making Roman wrinkle his nose despite the smile on his face as he sat up. 

“You… you got her back?” Roman asked, almost unwilling to believe it despite her being right in front of him - crawling into his lap the moment he was sitting and nuzzling his stomach - he giggled involuntarily and started petting her, “I- how?”

“I can be pretty intimidating,” Virgil shrugged, standing up. Roman realised looking at him that he wasn’t wearing his regular uniform, or the simple outfit he had on earlier. He was wearing a black cloak over fitted leather armour, all dark colours and vaguely threatening angles - Roman didn’t miss the amount of weapons on his person either. 

Roman himself wasn’t scared, he knew Virgil wouldn’t hurt him, but he could see why someone else might be.

“You look like a spymaster,” He said with a small chuckle, Virgil hummed and sat down next to him, reaching over and scratching Silver behind the others - she was purring like none of that had even happened to her. 

“I just prefer dark colours,” Virgil chuckles, “It helps me blend in.”

“Did you threaten the groundskeeper?”

“..I’ll be honest, it didn’t take all that much effort."

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[unrulywritings]

{Too Little ❤️‍🩹 Too Late}

Summary: In which Alex accidentally spills his guts to his best friend… his newly engaged best friend ❤️‍🩹

Word Count: ~3.4k ❤️‍🩹

Category: Angsty-ish/Fluff ❤️‍🩹

Trope: Friends to Lovers/Love Confession (part one?); GN reader (alluded afab like twice) ❤️‍🩹

Warnings: Not much I don't think, cheating (not Alex), some swearing, mostly they/them usage (sorry if I missed changing any, I decided to change it halfway through), usage of pet names (love, sweetheart, darling), usage of Y/N (just once I think), possibly cringe writing, grammatical errors, my first fic- (feel free to tell me if there's anything else)❤️‍🩹

A/N: I'm sorry if this is cringeeee- this is my first fic I'm actually posting to the world so constructive criticism is welcome- if this goes well I may start regularly posting idk but enjoy -🌈 Rainbow❤️‍🩹

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

🎼 You had been engaged for one week. One terrible exhausting week. Your boyfriend, now fiancé, was late home tonight… again. You'd been having your suspicions about him for a while but did nothing, I mean you had suspicions but no proof. So why blow up something good when accusations were unfounded… right?

Well that was until now-

“I'm sorry that you had to hear it from me,” the sweet apologetic voice says, “I want you to know that I had no idea he had a girlfriend or anything and I'm so sorry, I feel like a fucking idiot, and terrible person.” you listen to the poor girl on the other side, shuffling through the photos from the manila envelope you found in the mail today.

“Yep, those suspicions were founded then” you think as you see a picture of your fiancé with not one but three different girls in different photos. How one has the time to trick not only one person but four into thinking you’re in a committed monogamous relationship is baffling. The girl on the other side of the phone is one of those girls just like you. Apparently she had gotten your number from someone and felt so guilty she needed to call you to apologise.

“No sweetheart, you did nothing wrong, he was the one in the wrong. I'm sorry that he has deceived both of us. And thank you for reaching out, truly it means more than you could know,” she apologises again saying she's done with him and how much of a fool she feels.

“Oh trust me, I feel even more a fool, he proposed to me last week, and I said yes even though I had a feeling he was stepping out,” you sigh, you really were a fool.

You say your goodbyes to each other as you hear a key click into the lock and the door open. You take a deep breath and prepare to see your soon to be ex-fiancé walk down the narrow hall into the living room but instead you hear the call of your best friend.

“Darling? Are you home? You didn't answer my messages so I just came over,” he calls as he pads through the hall looking for you.

“Oh there you are love,” he heaves slightly with a bit of relief, as if your hour of not communicating led him to believe you were in peril.

Alex Turner, front man of the Arctic Monkeys, media proclaimed sex-god and unbelievably attractive man. To you it was all funny, you remember him as the cute boy in your maths class in university who was nervous to ask you to pass around the flyers to their next gig.

He made you feel welcome and comfortable in a new place, you'd foolishly decided you wanted to go to school in a new place— one far away from home and across the pond felt far enough to you. You were wholly unprepared to be in the world alone and in a foreign place but when that nervous boy in your freshman maths class walked up to you to give you a stack of flyers to his next show you felt welcome.

After he had introduced himself he warmed to you quickly and when he handed you a small stack of papers he'd told you to “Invite any of your other pretty American friends, we could really use more of those at our shows.” You blushed at his comment and when you'd told him you were utterly alone in the world he told you “That’s alright, you're pretty enough alone, you'd more than make up for the lack of pretty faces in the crowd,” and before he turned a heel and left the room he also told you “oh, and you just made your first friend here, so you're not so totally alone anymore,” he then flashed a cheeky grin and disappeared out the door leaving you utterly charmed in a full body flush.

When you showed up at the pub they were playing it was the first time in a while you didn't feel alone. You felt like you belonged, a feeling you didn't even have back home. That night was the night you also met your fiancé.

You stop yourself, “Nope— ex-fiancé as of tonight.” you think.

But that was years ago, and now that little indie band you used to hand out flyers for on campus is now internationally known. The boys had just finished another tour and you felt like a proud mother. It made your heart swell to see them so happy doing what they love everyday but you were glad they were home. You'd missed them dearly, especially Alex.

You really wished that he’d come at a better time though, you had to plan what you were gonna do when your fiancé got home. How you were gonna break the news to him that you were now broken up. You wished you could confide in Alex what your fiancé had done but you feared what he’d say. Your mind raced with anxiety and anger.

It seems you'd zoned our because when you tuned back into it Alex was calling your name, “Are you alright love?” he asks you concern crossing his face, “you kinda spaced out there, is everything okay?”

“Hm? Yeah, everything is fine Alex,” you let out a bit more aggressively then you had wanted, “I just got a lot on my mind you try to soothe, Alex had quickly picked up on your tonal slip up and poor cover-up.

“Sure,” he says skeptically, elongating the “E.”

You roll your eyes at him and you move to go to the kitchen, “What do you want Alex? I'm kinda in the middle of something and I gotta get dinner ready before—”

“I can come back at a better time? I'm sorry I let myself in, you weren't answering my messages and I got a bit worried,” he gives you his puppy eyes, trying to apologise for his intrusion but you weren't mad at him you were mad at your fiancé, your cheating, lying fiancé who was gonna be home soon.

You sigh, “I'm sorry Alex, I'm going through something right now,” you rub your temple as a tension headache starts to form. All of this was too much.

Alex steps towards you and wraps you in his arms, “It's alright love, do you want to talk about it?”

You shake your head “no” and bury your face in his neck. He smooths one hand down your back and the other in your hair instantly relaxing you, “Well when you’re ready I’m here you know. I’ll always be here for you.”

Goodness did he know you. The hug, asking if you wanna talk, everything about him puts you at ease. He was perfect, and his perfection only made the fact that your fiancé was cheating on you sting even more. You deserved better than a person who cheats and lies.

You nod affirmingly and reluctantly pull away, “Thanks love, but I really should get started with dinner, I’d ask you to stay but you know…” you trail off.

“Ironic” you think, that your fiancé was worried about Alex when he was the one stepping out on you. Projection much?

Alex’s shoulders dip, “Yeah, I know love,” he sighs, he looks troubled.

Your brow furrows in question and concern, “Alex?” you ask.

“Yeah love?” he asks right back.

“Are you okay?” you question him, just as he knew you, you knew him.

To any other person they may not have picked up on his mannerisms. The way his eyebrows have been furrowed the entire time he’s been here, a small crease forming between them. Or how he keeps fiddling with the pull on the zip of his leather jacket. Or how his dishevelled hair is even messier than usual. Or even the quiet storm that rages behind his eyes. You know he’s troubled with something but it was up to him to share that. You weren’t going to force him just as he didn’t force you.

It was nice to be understood like that, on a deep level that not a word needed to be exchanged to know the other. In a way that’s why you and Alex were best friends and why you were closer to him than any of the other boys. And if you let yourself think about it even closer than you and the person you had agreed to marry…

He clears his throat, “Yeah, yeah I’m alright love, no need to worry about me, yep, I’m alright,” he clears his throat again and runs his hands through his hair, “anyway I’m going to get going, see ya later darling.”

He was out the door before you could even blink.

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

🎼 I take the slick steps down to the street and get in the car waiting for me. I don’t even bother to try and avoid the pelting rain. It felt kinda nice letting the heavy rain sting my skin as I dip into the car, shutting the door.

“So, did you tell them?”

“Couldn’t,” I shrug.

“Really? After everything you did just to get here? The PI, the pining, the waiting, the songs, the—”

“I get it Matt,” I grit out, “they’re more to me than someone to hang off my arm and you know that. It was just the wrong time. I couldn’t do it.”

“I do mate, but you gotta act, how’re they gonna know if you don’t tell them anything?”

“Too little too late, I told you that last week.”

“You think they’re gonna stay with him after all he’s done? I doubt it. Y/N would be very stupid to say no to you, so it’s a good thing they are smart. They know their worth.”

“Just take me home,” I was done trying to argue, I’d lost them years ago, far before they got engaged.

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

🎼 It was even later than you expected for your fiance to get home. So late in fact that most of your stuff was already packed away in your car. You didn’t know what you were going to do or where you were going. All you did know was that you were going to confront the cheating bastard and leave him behind.

You sat on the loveseat in your cramped living room waiting for your fiance to walk in. You had heard the door open and close along with shuffling. You just sat and waited patiently for him to walk into the room wasting no more effort on him.

“Babe? Where are you? I totally got swamped at work, I’m sorry.”

You couldn’t help but scoff, even before you knew about his infidelity you hardly believed his stories about being swamped at work. You just assumed he wanted to hang out with his friends, and of course when you were most insecure, you thought he might be cheating yet each time you asked and he reassured you, you believed him. At your sound your fiance finally walks into the living room.

“There you are, did you make dinner? I’m sorry I’m late.” He leans down to where you are on the loveseat to kiss you but you swerve him, his lips landing on your cheek instead, “Huh? Is something wrong babe?”

You scoff again and get to your feet, “Is there something wrong?” you mock, childish you know but surely you deserve to be a bit childish after everything you’ve been submitted to.

His face screws up in confusion and he steps back from you, “Seriously? What’s your problem? Are you on your period or something?”

His words make your stomach turn, “Seriously? You can’t even have an original retort? And for your information, you are my problem,” you spit back, and cross the room toward the hall and front entrance.

“W-what?” he sputters, “I don’t understand, how am I your problem?”

You throw the envelope to him and it lands at his feet, “That is why you are my problem,” he moves to pick up the envelope as you put on your coat and pick up your keys at the front door.

Somehow his face gets even more screwed up, “Huh? Wh–? It’s not what it looks like! Where did you get these? Baby I can expl—” you stop him with a hand, making him pause.

“I don’t care to hear what you have to say, and whoever sent them did me a favour. Goodbye and fuck you.”

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

🎼 You pulled into the drive not knowing how or when you decided to come here. Something in you just said it was right and as you turned off the engine to your car you looked up at the windows of the modest but beautiful home of Alex.

You sighed and willed yourself out of your car. You weren't scared if Alex would let you in or anything but you were nervous about everything that came after getting inside. What would Alex say to you about devoting so much of your life to a scumbag? To you it was probably one of the only things you couldn't predict about your best friend. You knew Alex didn’t care for your ex-fiance and you never really knew why but for the sake of yourself you typically just tried to avoid the topic of relationships when you were together. It made you wonder about Alex’s relationships now, I mean since you never really spoke of yours he never spoke of his. What you knew of his partners came from the media and what he told you in passing. Your thinking also made you wonder what Alex was like in a relationship.

You shook your head, clearing your thoughts as the rain picked up again. You quickly moved up the drive to the stairs as the rain soaked you to the bone. You climbed the few steps and gave a firm but not aggressive knock to the door. When there was no answer you knocked again a bit firmer. When still no answer you sighed and used your key. You knew he was home by the lights on inside but you didn’t like using your key unless need be.

You let yourself in, stripping off your soaked coat at the door along with your shoes. You’re grateful for the warmth inside the house contrasting your shivering frame. SIghing you grab the throw blanket from the back of the couch in the living room and wander to go find Alex. You assume he’s in his home studio. It’s sound proof in there so the chances he heard you are slim. You make your way there and as you do you hear Alex and what sounds like his drunken ramblings through the studio door left slightly ajar.

It’s not the first time you’ve heard said drunken ramblings and you roll your eyes at his ridiculousness. As you move closer to the door you can just make out a few words or what you assume are words as most of it is a slurred jumbled mess of sounds that vaguely resemble words. You’re just at the door when you hear Alex sigh and say your name. You freeze— had he seen you? Surely not, he hadn’t answered the door and you hadn’t made much fuss at the door. And as you listen further you’re sure he hadn’t heard you.

“They’re just so pretty, it’s like they’re made of sunshine and starlight,” he drunkenly slurs. You’re wide-eyed at that accusation, surely he wasn’t speaking about you— right?

“But I’m just a fool, a spineless fool to fall for me best friend and one engaged at that! Oh, Alexander, truly what a fool you are! To pine for a person taken before you could get the courage to ask them out and to spend years trying to recreate what you have with anyone else is embarrassing. All the times you tried to tell them such and floundered miserably; just like today. Oh, the time you’ve wasted on a person you can even have! And doesn’t it hurt to know that the bastard has been cheating on that beautiful soul and you’re to do nothing more. Ugh!” you hear a crash on the other side of the door, possibly a glass thrown but you were more preoccupied by the confession. The words bounced around in your head as you tried to make sense of them. You were so preoccupied in fact you hadn’t noticed the heavy foot fall heading right toward you.

“Oi and you’ve made a right mess of yourself haven’t ya? You certainly aren’t fit for a person worthy of more than the world or universe could ever conjure. A person wh—” he pauses as he flings the door open and collides with you in the dark hall.

You’re knocked back a bit but quickly steadied by Alex’s hands on your shoulders. His touch grounding yet electrifying and you jump back to reality. Both wide-eyed and painfully aware you stare at each other in the darkened hall, the only source of light the ambered glow of the lamp in the studio behind Alex.

“D–darling?” he stutters out nervously, “when did you get here? Are ya alright, you’re soaked! You’re gonna get a cold like that, here let me get you something dry to wear,” he tries to manoeuvre you out of the way but you stand firm.

“Alex?” you query and he tries to move you once again but you stand solid.

You shrug his hands away, “Alex? Is— is what you just said true? I mean— how— how did you know about the cheating? Do you really like me? When? How? What? I—” now that your head is catching up to everything you just heard a million questions flicker through your mind for Alex and even more for yourself.

“Do I like him? And if I did what would I do? Oh god am I blushing? I feel like I’m on fire! Did he say he wanted to tell me? TODAY? Is that why he got all squirrely this afternoon? Did he send the photos? How did he find out? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”

Alex steps back and pulls at his hair seemingly having just as many conflicting emotions run across his mind, “Oh god darling, you weren’t supposed to hear that. I— I— oh god,” he collapses on the couch in his studio, head falling into his hands as he mutters on about how he just ruined everything.

You cross the room to sit in the matching armchair across from where he’s sitting, avoiding bits of glass that seem to have been the cup he threw at the wall by the door earlier.

You look at him and ask again, “Alex,” you plead, “do you like me?” You’re not certain what you want his answer to be but you’re desperate to know.

He goes silent for a moment and lets out a sigh. He runs his hands through his hair, his dishevelled look becoming even messier, “Would you hate me if I said yes?” he asked right back, sounding so insecure. It was like you were back in that class and he was that nervous boy trying to introduce himself.

And you could help but love that boy.

“I wouldn’t,” you smiled, “in fact,” you implored further, “I think I might say I like him too.”

Your words make his eyes snap to yours, “Really?” he asks, looking at you bewildered and unbelieving.

You nod and bite back an idiodic smile, “I think so… I mean if I think about it, who wouldn't love a man like you?”

“But, you’re engaged and—”

“Not anymore and that doesn’t matter anymore,” you interject, “I think we both have a lot of things to catch up on and lots to discuss,” you stand and put out your hand for Alex, “come on, it’s gonna be a long night.”

He smiles and takes your hand.

Maybe it wasn’t too late after all.

A/N (pt two): This ended up way longer than I expected (I am very long winded in real life as well 😅) I also wrote much of this while watching Tangled on repeat (Eugene is so baby) ANYWAY I hope you at least mildly enjoyed this I feel like it’s too cringe but I am done trying to edit this 😭 Feel free to interact as you please I am going to disappear into the void now

-🌈 Rainbow❤️‍🩹

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

A Perfectly Normal Schoolgirl, part 2

Well, I managed to churn out part 2 of this! Take that, flu >:) Anyways, read part 1 here

I listened to the rest of the class with a single ear, so busy with plotting our next move was I. Mrs Cheng was going to want to take revenge for my little ploy, and that meant I had to keep on my toes. Things were going to get significantly more dangerous.

Dane, fool boy that he was, had taken it upon himself to become the teacher's pet, a deadly thing to do when the teacher in question was Mrs C. All through the day, I cursed him as I watched him present neatly written equations to Mrs Cheng with glee. It was a small mercy that she had no knowledge of our relationship, for my sanity and for his safety, and suspected naught of him.

As the bell rang and we were released, I shot her a mocking bow and strolled out the door. Soon as I was out of sight, I grabbed Dane's elbow and sunk my nails into his soft flesh. “You idiot,” I hissed in his ear.

His wide prey-eyes met my narrowed ones. “What did I do? Training today wasn't that bad, was it?” When my glare did not let up, he batted at my hand. “Kat, let go, please. I don't know why you're so pissed with me, but you're going to draw blood! So unless you want my mom to have some very awkward questions, you have to stop.”

I glanced down at my hand, with its too-long fingers and too-sharp nails. “Tch,” I said. “You nearly got yourself killed with your antics just now. And all the not-terrible training in the world isn't going to be enough when you end up going toe to toe with C.”

“C? You mean Mrs Cheng? Wait…” Realisation dawned on his broad features. “Oh shit. You gotta be kidding me, right? It's her?”

I barked a laugh at that. “Yes, Dane. It's her. Her and about a quarter of the school faculty. So think twice before you draw any more attention to yourself, understand? You're not nearly ready enough to fight one of them.” 

Biting his lip, Dane nodded. “I'm sorry, Kat. I should've thought things through more. Can I get you an ice cream to make it up to you?”

His inanity brought a smile to my face. “Don't apologise to me, silly. I'm not the one who's in danger. But yes, I would love to have an ice cream. Shall we try the gelato place that just opened up?”

He pulled out his wallet and made a show of noting how little there was in it. “You're going to drive me broke, Kat. These cafes are overpriced, you know. The convenience stores work just fine,” he whined.

I tapped him on the nose, and replied, “When you've lived a life like mine, you learn to appreciate the finer things in life, little Dane.” Besides, I thought grimly, I had upset the things running the convenience stores a tad too much to be comfortable eating something from there.

We walked, hand in hand, down the noon-burning street, and I could not help but revel in the heat. Truly, global warming was doing me a favour. Dane did not share my views, sadly. He leaked rivulets of sweat, fanning himself with a piece of paper and he strolled next to me.

It appeared we were not the only ones to crave icy relief, for the cafe was brimming with people munching on artisanal gelatos and sipping iced tea. There was only one person at the counter, a gorgeous woman with hair that fell in auburn waves and overalls that proclaimed her to be an employee. I slipped through the doors and pulled Dane behind me. Without them ever quite noticing, the customers parted around me, and I snuck my way into the front of the queue.

Without turning around, the woman manning the counter chirped, “Hello and welcome to Jelly's Gelatos! How can I help you today?”

I put on my best smile. “Oh, I'd like two scoops of chocolate gelato, please! In a cone. And two scoops of… Matcha, wasn't it? Also in a cone,” I said, winking at Dane as I did so. Matcha was his favourite flavour, and it had always delighted him when I remembered that, so I made the effort to. Indeed, he brightened up when I made his order correctly, and squeezed my hand appreciatively.

Smoothly, the woman scooped out our order. “You two make a cute couple,” she said as she did so. “I didn't know you liked little boys, Katherine.” My uniform had no name tag on it, and neither did anything I carried.

Ah, shit.

I tensed up, sliding into a fighting stance. “How the hell do you know my name?” A protective hand on Dane's shoulder, I leaned in to peer closer at her.

She looked up and tilted her head to the side. Eyes like burnished copper met mine, her pupils just a tad too elongated to be normal. Her hair was down, but I had a suspicion that it hid pointy ears. “Don't you recognise me, Katherine? I'm disappointed,” she purred. 

That voice was familiar, and not in a good way. I'd met her kinden before, men and women too beautiful to be purely mortal, the children of unholy unions. They were never up to any good. “You should be,” I replied, baring my teeth at her. “Don't expect me to remember the name of every random person I come across.”

The insult stung, as it was meant to, and she thrust my order under my nose. I took my chocolate and handed the matcha to Dane, who accepted it cautiously. “You think you're so high and mighty, Katherine? You've made too many enemies, and it's only a matter of time before one of us gets you,” she snarled, her pearly white teeth stark against blood-red gums.

I rolled my eyes in my best approximation of a rebellious teenager. “Sure, like, whatever. I'm so frightened by random minimum wage workers,” I jeered. “C'mon, don't expect me to quiver in my boots at you. You're only scary to the children of helicopter parents who point at you as an example of what happens when you fail your exams.”

“You bitch,” she hissed.

“So close, but no cigar, sweetie,” I replied. “And I don't think that's the proper way to treat your customers, is it? No tips for you.” Picking up a handful of change from my pocket, I dumped it onto the counter. “Toodles!”

On that cheerful note, I pushed my way back out into the sunny sidewalk. Dane followed like a lost puppy, looking increasingly concerned. “What was that about? That woman looked like she was gonna kill you!”

I shrugged. “Get used to it, kiddo. Everyone wants me dead. And when they find out about you? Well, you can bet they won't want sunshine and warm hugs.”

[ravenclawella]

True friends don't get mad, they get even.

Available on AO3 2099 word count Characters aged up (7th year) 18+ (Mature themes) Minors DNI Heavily influenced by New Girl: Season 1 Episode 22.

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Summary: 'Imelda takes it upon herself to get revenge on Sebastian for you.'

[You and Sebastian are fighting in the common room at the end of the night. Sebastian is clearly in the wrong. This is the end of the conversation/argument]

“Jealous? You think I’M jealous? You have some nerve!” You exclaimed, thinking back to the many times Sebastian had pushed himself in front of any boy who had gotten too close to you. “Aren’t you?” He smirked, looking you up and down. His arrogance caused your anger to bubble over. “Sebastian Sallow, you are INSUFFERABLE. Why don’t you just go and date whoever you want if you want to act that way.” Your jaw clenched, not realising what you had said before it left your lips. His face dropped in shock. “Maybe I WILL” he spun and stomped to his dorm, ignoring Ominis’ judgmental gaze on him. Ominis briefly looked up to where he assumed you were and gave you a sympathetic smile. “I’ll try and talk to him. You should sleep now. Let’s talk tomorrow.” The boy followed after his friend, the eerie red glow of his wand disappearing down the hall.  You breathed in deeply and let yourself fall to the couch, shuddering from the frustrated tears that were threatening to fall.  “That boy is an idiot. I don’t know why you put up with him” Imelda snickered and plopped herself down beside you. When she noticed that you were crying she put a tentative hand on your shoulder. “Hey, shhh. Don’t cry, shh. It’s okay. It will be okay.” She frowned at the entrance to the boys dormitories. Your sobs continued despite your attempt to fight them. “Let’s get you to bed. Mmm?”. She pulled you to your dorms and helped you settle into bed, repeating how much of an idiot Sebastian was being to you. Once Imelda confirmed that you were asleep, she snuck out of her dorm and made her way to the boys dormitory with a mission in her thoughts. The image of her tear stained friend etched into her mind.

Imelda placed a hand over Sebastian's mouth, causing him to wake in a confused state. She pressed her finger to her lips, indicating for him to be quiet. He lifted an eyebrow and watched as she indicated for him to follow her outside of the dorm. She sat herself in the common room and looked at him like a lion stalking her prey. He lazily sauntered over to her, loosening the tightness of his pyjama pants as he stepped. Imelda dove on him, crashing her lips into his causing him a brief jolt of shock. He had expected to listen to her talk about you, how he needed to apologise to you for his behaviour earlier. He certainly hadn’t expected this. He froze from the unexpected kiss and fell back into the couch from Imelda’s hasty shove. She straddled him with ease and looked down at him in disgust. “Close your eyes” She commanded. With a smile, he closed them. Imelda rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand, pointing it to his groin. With a quick whisper she cast her spell and his eyes snapped open. Imelda’s eyes were the last thing he saw before he passed out from the pain. They were the eyes of predator.

[In the great hall at lunch]

“Hey, has anyone seen Sebastian today?” You ask your friends at the table. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I sent him to the infirmary last night.” She pulled out her book nonchalantly. “What? Imelda? When did you? Why did you?” You stuttered, packing up your things. You couldn’t bear to see Sebastian hurt, no matter how much of a moonmind he could be. “Heh, you should have heard him cry.” She chuckled, flipping a page in her book calmly.  “Imelda, what did you do?!!” “I made him pay for hurting you.” She looked up briefly “He will think twice before looking at another lady. That’s for sure” She smirked as she lifted her cup of tea to her mouth. “Oh my god, Imelda!” You shook your head at her and hopped over the bench. Without looking back, you strode towards the infirmary. 

[Earlier that day, in the infirmary]

“Oh, you’re finally awake. I was worried when I found you passed out in the common room alone. What happened?” Ominis asked, concern laced his voice. Sebastian brought his eyebrows together. “Imelda…err. She did something to me” he frowned at his hands. “What? Imelda did? When were you in the common room with Imelda?” Ominis asked “Last night. After curfew” he mumbled. “Oh, Sebastian, I thought you were serious about Y/N. To think you would entertain the thought of someone else…. Wait a moment, you said Imelda did this to you?” Ominis’s face puzzled. “So you two weren’t…” He brought his hand to his head, confusion growing. “Hah. No. Y/N is the only one for me” Sebastian stopped abruptly. “But the matron has informed me that I need to, umm, stay still for a little while for this healing potion to work properly.” “What did Imelda do to you?” Ominis questioned “She …” Sebastian mumbled, slurring the rest of his sentence. “What was that? I didn’t quite catch that?” Ominis tilted his head towards his friend, hearing the embarrassment in his voice. “She broke my penis” he mumbled. Ominis pressed his lips together, trying his best to avoid the laughter that wished to escape. He was only able to contain it for a few seconds before the cackle erupted, causing the nurse to walk over. “It’s not funny” Sebastian hissed as the matron entered their section. “Mister Gaunt, I need to inform you that with your friends condition you must refrain from speaking about anything that may excite him.” The matron gave Ominis a knowing look, before realising that he couldn’t see her expression. She leaned down and whispered the point she was trying to make in his ear.  “[…] It will cause him quite a bit of pain until he heals.” The matron then stood up and left to attend her other patients. Ominis grinned towards his friend with a glint in his eye.

“So, Sebastian. Are you going to apologise to Y/N for your behaviour yesterday? You truly were in the wrong, you know. You shouldn’t have let that other girl fawn all over you.” Ominis asked. “I dunno.” Sebastian shrugged and shifted in his bed. “Well then, I suppose have no choice” Ominis grinned further “What?” Sebastian squinted at his friend’s mischievous grin. “Dusty tomes” He announced with a whisper “What?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow at his friends strange announcement. “The restricted section.” Ominis continued. “What are you…” Sebastian froze, his body tensed up. “Ominis this isn’t funny…” “Dueeeeeelinggggg” Ominis added, making sure to enunciate every syllable  “AHHHH” Sebastian screamed in pain, clutching at the bedsheets. “Ominis. Don’t please dont.” The pain from his groin flowed to every inch of his body as result of his friend toying with his hormones. “This is pretty fun, don’t you think? I really must thank Imelda for this ingenious idea.” Ominis chuckled  “No Ominis.” Sebastian paused to breathe in deeply. His breath was ragged from the torturous pain. “This is not fun. Stop” Sebastian ground his teeth together. “Are you going to apologise to her?” Ominis asked with sincerity, tilting his head. “Maybe” Sebastian grunted “Not good enough Sebastian.” Ominis clicked his tongue “What? Wait, no…” Sebastian’s eyes flew open “Forbidden spellllllssss” Ominis let the syllables tumble and flow from his tongue, the words caressing his friend in the worst way. “AAAAAAHHHHHH. OKAY OKAY I’LL APOLOGISE. FUCK.” Sebastian gripped the charmed bag on top of his groin, trying to gain some pain relief.   “ Y/N taking down a troll” Ominis hummed, a grin plastering his face.  “I SAID I’LL APOLOGISE. OMINIS. PLEASE.” Sebastian pleaded with his friend, tears rolling down his cheeks. Ominis stood up and tipped his head to his friend.  “I better hear that you have apologised to her by dinner time. Tick Tock, Sebastian. Tick Tock” He mimicked his wand swishing side to side like a clock hand and walked away with a smirk. He truly would need to praise Imelda for her late night antics the next time he saw her. 

[…]

You bumped into Ominis as you flew through the corridors to find Sebastian. “Oh, Ominis! I’m so sorry, are you okay?” You quickly looked him up and down to make sure you hadn’t caused him any pain from your crash. “Perfectly fine, my dear. I was just visiting our dear friend” he chuckled, brushing himself off. “You’ve seen Sebastian? How is he?” The worry in your voice caused the boy to shake his head. “Despite his rudeness yesterday, you still worry for him” He smiled, “He’s been asking for you. Best head there now, if I were you.” He tilted his head in the direction of the infirmary. You quickly thanked him and continue your jog.

[…] 

“Oh my god. Sebastian! Are you okay?” you exclaim as you find the boy in bed, looking a little flushed. “I err. I will be. Just need to wait for the potion to work it’s magic.” He chuckled nervously. “What did Imelda do to you?” You looked him over frantically, trying to find an injury. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He shrugged. “It’s not nothing. Why would you be here otherwise” You frowned. While you continued your staring match with Sebastian the matron strolled over. She quickly whipped the sheets off Sebastian and removed the charmed bag from his groin. Sebastian’s face flushed bright red at the sudden disturbance. “Sorry dear. I just need to renew the charm on this and you can have it right back” the matron explained as she quickly charmed the bag and gently placed it back, pulling the sheets back over him. Sebastian groaned as he took in your expression of the sudden intrusion. “Are you kidding me? I WAS WORRIED FOR YOU” You frowned at him and turned to walk away when his hand grips your wrist. “Y/N. Wait!” Sebastian pleaded. You stood there for a moment before you exhaled and turned back to face him. “Ominis said you were asking for me?” You squinted your eyes, not looking away from his face. Sebastian paused. He had told Ominis no such thing, but he wasn’t about to defy his friend after what had transpired between them earlier. “I. Yes. I want to apologise for my behaviour yesterday. What I said. What I did. I didn’t meant to hurt you. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry Y/N”. He looked at you carefully. His apology was completely sincere as he stroked your hand. You sighed “You know I can’t stay mad at you Sebastian. I just wish. I just wish you knew what you were saying before you said it. Or doing before you did it.” You shook your head. “I’m working on it.” He tipped his head, keeping his eyes on yours.  “So. Imelda did this to you, huh?” You scanned him up and down. “What did she do?”  “She broke my penis” he frowned before seeing the shock capture your face. “With a spell. It was nothing like that” He added, cursing himself for letting his sleep induced state allow Imelda to be close to him like that. He would have never allowed anyone but Y/N to be in such a compromising position with him. “I didn’t realise she would go so far for revenge” you chuckled slightly. “Yeah, she’s a true friend” he added with hint of sarcasm. “I will never get on her bad side again. Or yours, for that matter. I really am sorry”. You sighed at his repeated apology and leaned over, planting your lips on his. He lifted up his hand to cup the back of your neck, pulling you in for a deeper kiss “AAAAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHH” Sebastian screamed against your lips, his head wobbled. You looked at him in surprise, his eyes met yours briefly before he passed out, his head hitting his pillow with a soft thump. The clicking of shoes announced the matron running towards the noise Sebastian had just made. “My goodness. I should have warned you not to do anything to excite the boy. Any excitement will cause him quite an amount of pain!” She explained. “Excitement?” you questioned, only to be met with the nurse raising her eyebrows at you with a knowing look. You blushed in response and looked to the boy who was passed out in the infirmary bed with his lips parted in a smile. 

[variety-fangirl]

Hear me out..so yk how us girlies get the feels when our man is being protective especially if his physic is yk *chefs kiss* and have that "dont fuck with me" glare/vibe?? so that got me thinking can I please request a one shot with Jimmy with exactly that - him and the reader have just started dating and someone keeps trying to come over and flirt w the reader but James is doing the silent protectiveness^ and then getting all touchy w the reader on purpose and keeps smirking showing she's his?

I so hope this makes sense lmao 😭😭

Protective Jimmy x fem!reader One shot.

Summary: Jealous and possessive Jimmy doesn't like some asshole flirting with his girl.

Warnings: 18+ NO MINORS SHOO! Sexual and flirty intent, threatening of violence, swearing, talk of sexual behaviour, jealous and possessive Jimmy, lmk if I missed anything.

Author's note: Oh absolutely, this idea is *mwah*! Thank you so much for requesting my lovely! I know this took a while so I do apologise! There was a family death a few weeks ago so I've been taking a mental health break to relax but im hoping I'll be back now. Thank you for reading and enjoy! Liking, commenting, and reblogging really helps me out.

Word count: 1.045k

You and Jimmy are at your favourite regular bar, just drinking and relaxing with some friends. Mutual friends you'd met through. It was a small get-together after a long week of everyone being busy. You and Jimmy often opted to stay in together and relax, finding it gives you more opportunity to spend quality time together than going out. You'd only been dating for about two weeks but you'd known each other for four months.

Jimmy was the type of boyfriend that was affectionate but not extremely, he saved that for at home when you were alone. He would do the normal holding your thigh or hand, arm around the waist or shoulder, kisses on the forehead or lips, etc... But today, you saw a different side of him that honestly turned you on so badly. It was embarrassing how wet or attracted to Jimmy you were right now.

Jimmy had the 'silent but deadly' vibe, most people who first meet him think he would kill you with one look. He gives 'don't stare at me too long or I'll fucking kill you' eyes. A lot of people stayed away from him or didn't bother to get to know him, even though he's amazing and incredibly lovely, he didn't make for the friendliest of individuals. That's why you didn't even know he liked you as more than a friend, he was very good at hiding it.

He had voiced to you that he was the jealous/protective type but you had yet to see it and were extremely curious to see to what extent. And today was that day. Jimmy stood beside you as you both were at the bar, it was hectically busy in the bar for a Friday afternoon and your group was simply waiting for a booth to open up. You all mingled, chatting mindlessly when some guy sat across from you walked over in your direction. You assumed he wanted to order a drink so you moved to the side of Jimmy, leaving a decent gap that wasn't cramped.

The guy turned to you with a flirtatious smile, the type of smile that would make any woman swoon. He was oozing charm and sex appeal but you only had eyes for your boyfriend. "Can I buy you a drink, miss?" Even his voice was attractive, you couldn't deny that but you simply just weren't interested. You shook your head with a polite smile as you lifted your drink up for him to see, "I already have one but thanks. I also have a boyfriend." You pointed behind you to Jimmy. The guy looked behind you with a smug look, seemingly not bothered but nodded and walked away regardless.

You move back to your original spot beside Jimmy, facing away from the bar and to the direction of where the guy had retreated. You paid him no further mind and picked up a conversation with your boyfriend. Not even ten minutes had gone by when you noticed Jimmy's eyes kept lingering in the direction of said guy, you followed his eyeline twice and he was indeed glaring daggers of death at the guy who came over to you. You were unsure why so you decided to ask, "Why are you glaring at that guy?" you question amused.

"He keeps eye fucking you." He growls, obviously unimpressed with his behaviour. You didn't like the thought of some random guy staring at you with lustful eyes but you could ignore it to enjoy your night, you'd said no and made it perfectly clear you had a boyfriend so whatever intent that guy had, you didn't care for. "Just ignore him, I'm here with you, okay?" Jimmy grumbled but turned to look at you and wrapped an arm around your waist as you turned to answer your friend's question.

The guy, not even ten minutes more once again, returns to the bar by your side and turns you after he orders a drink. "Are you sure you don't want a drink gorgeous?" he flirtatiously asks once again, leaning closer this time with a seemingly innocent but absolutely the opposite look in his eyes. You roll your eyes this time, "No thanks." you huff as nicely as possible, honestly just fed up at this point. Surely once is enough? Clearly not to this guy. He puts his hands up in defence before grabbing his drinks, "sorry." He was not, his tone said it all.

"If he comes over here again to do anything other than just order a drink I'm going to punch him in the face really hard." Jimmy growls, not clearly very fed up and pissed off. The jealousy was working wonders on you though, you were lapping it up. Even more so as Jimmy's arm protectively spins you around and pulls your front into his. His hand moves down into your back jean pocket and gropes your ass, his other lifts your chin up to look at him and lays a possessive kiss against your lips.

You wrap your arms around his back with a grin against his lips, giving Jimmy's tongue permission to invade your mouth to claim your tongue in return. You moan open loud enough for him to hear as his hand weaves into your hair, pushing your hair behind your ear but keeping the grip there. You pull away first, giggling as he tries to swoop back in for another kiss. You watch his eyes darkly look behind your head to where you presume the guy is and see Jimmy grin smugly. You can only imagine the look on the other guy's face right now.

You hum happily, "I like this side of you, turns me on." You confess with a grin, pulling his face towards yours with your hand. Jimmy groans as you gently pull the hair at the back of his head, "yeah?" He asks with a smirk, placing a kiss yet passionate kiss on your lips. You nod into the kiss, "Mhm, maybe I should make you jealous more often." You joke, half serious, but you would never purposefully flirt with guys to make him jealous. That was crossing a boundary. Jimmy growls as he pulls you closer by your ass, "you dare." You giggle as he kisses you once again.

[sofasoap]

Three apologies

Pairing : John Price x F!reader (aka OC Mini MacTavish) Summary: Three times the apologies, triple the pain. Part 3 of Five Times

Warning: Mature themes. if you don’t like the idea of age gap story, turn around NOW.

Thanks to mother of my Mini MacTavish @saltofmercury for lending me the character “Mini” from her story. Go read her “The Favorite MacTavish”  !

“masterlist” for Mini MacTavish expanded verse.

“I need to apologise.” “For what Captain?”

“For hurting her.”

Soap sitting on the opposite side of the desk, facing Price. 

“I am not the one you should be apologising to, Price, you should be saying it to her.” Soap sneered. He had a lot of respect for the captain. This is private business, not between Captain and Sergeant, but Price and MacTavish. 

Running his hand through his hair, slumping in the chair. “I tried.” Taking a big gulp of the drink before slamming it down on the table. “She wouldn’t take my call, nor reply to my text.” Soap had to admit he had never seen his captain so openly frustrated before about private business. Always calm and collected.

“Price. You have let her down not once, but twice. And even once is too much.” drumming his fingers on the desk, “She knew it wasn’t going to work, but she gave it a go, you know why?” Soap leaned forward, “She trusted me, my judgement, about you. And I trusted you, Captain. And clearly I shouldn’t have encouraged her. I have let her down as a brother. We both hurt her.” 

Leaning back in the chair.  “She’s not living in London anymore. I can’t tell you where she is.” Taking his phone out, flipping through to find your contact, “ I can try to arrange something. No guarantee though..” Price closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh and nodded his head once thanking Soap. 

February wind still has quite a decent bite to it, especially far up north. You ordered a nice mug size coffee with extra cream on top, trying to warm your hands up as you sip on it, cupping the mug. You don’t know what made you agree to the meeting. Are you still that naive to clenching onto that little hope, that everything will turn out fine at the end? Grow up Mini. Stop dreaming.

“Price wants to apologise.” “ Does he now?” You replied flatly. “ Look Mini. I am not pressuring you into agreeing to meet up with him. It’s your choice. I am just the messenger here.” “ I have wasted so much time waiting for him, I am not holding much hope he will turn up this time.” 

“I take that as a yes?” “Tell him this is his last chance.”

Shadow loomed over you as you were deep in thought. “Mind if I sit down?” Following the direction of the voice, stands Price. Somehow looks tired and smaller than his usual self. Gesturing him to the seat opposite you, he sat down, lips pressed tight together, both of you waiting for each other to start the conversation. “Johnny said you have something to say.” You broke the silence after thanking the waiter, expression impassive. 

“I do.” “Out with it then.” 

“I apologise for not getting back to you soon enough.” 

“I don’t expect much John, but a simple text or phone call would have been nice if you couldn’t make it.” Leaning back in the chair, folding your arms as you look into his eyes,”Do not make any promises or agreement if you can’t keep them.” “I’ve got a lot on the line, you don’t know anything.”

“If that is the best apology you can come up with, Jonathan Price, then you need to do better.” You snapped. “Do not tell me I know nothing. I might be younger and less experienced than you, doesn’t mean I am naive.” Standing up, grabbing your bag and coat from the back of the seat, “But clearly I am stupid enough to agree to come to see you again today, believing we can come to an amicable end.” He made no attempt to stop you striding out of the cafe, letting you escape out from there, saving yourself from the embarrassment and for him to see the disappointment yet again he had caused.

“I am sorry Mini.” You ran a hand down your face. Emotionally exhausted. “Johnny, I think I heard enough apologies for the moment. And it’s not your fault. This is between Price and I. Don’t let it get between you and him professionally.” The unpleasant end to the meeting really left bitterness in your mouth. At this stage you don’t know if you were more angry at yourself or at Price.  You are still beating yourself up for not trusting your logical brain. Always letting your heart rule over your brain Mini. Well done. “Even Simon can do better than him.” Soap winced. His captain has really messed up, royally. 

“Anyway I gotta run. My next shift is starting. Give the baby and your lovely partner lots of kisses and hugs for me.” “I will Mini. and seriously, I am sorry I made you meet up with him.” "Shuush. I don’t care anymore." Lies you tell yourself. "Alright love you lots. Bye!” you hung up before he could reply. Curling up in bed, your mind kept replaying Price’s words,I’ve got a lot on the line, you don’t know anything. Maybe he is right. Maybe there are a lot of things you don’t know about.

What you know is you will have a very hard time getting over him.

[basketballanonsblog]

Yours, only

TW for references of self-h**m and attempted su***de

Nsfw warning for smut, please don't read if you're a minor

Jeongyeon made her way through your law firm. It was only the second time she stepped foot into your workplace despite the fact that you gave her a pass, ensuring she would have access to the building.

She managed to navigate her way to your office on the top floor and thankfully, Mina and Chaeyoung were there as she left the elevator.

"Jeongyeon! We didn't know you were coming today." Chaeyoung greeted her.

"Mina texted me when y/n was on her lunch break. She doesn't know I'm here."

"Cute!" The couple smiled at her, causing Jeongyeon to turn her attention to the ground. Mina kindly patted her shoulder.

"Y/n's office is right at the end of the hallway. Just knock twice before opening the door." And with that, she did what she was told.

She was happy to hear your voice but her hand stilled when she heard the laugh of another woman. She tentatively knocked before letting herself in. Your look of confusion turned to a smile when you saw her.

"Jeongyeon!" She tried to return your smile but she stared at the woman who sat on the edge of your desk. Looking just a little too comfortable for her liking. And you, so focused on how happy you were, almost failed to notice this. Almost.

"Ha-rin. This is Jeongyeon, my girlfriend."

"And soulmate." Jeongyeon added to make a point, but nevertheless, you smiled once again at the term.

The woman- Ha-rin finally stood from your desk, bowing stiffly before her.

"Hello."

Your stomach rumbled before the following silence became awkward. It reminded her of the main reason for visiting.

"Y/n, I brought lunch for us." You took the bag from her and started setting out the food.

"Thank you jagiya. Ha-rin, please excuse us." You said without a second glance.

"Of course." She bowed once again although Jeongyeon didn't miss the way Ha-rin looked at her coldly.

What's her problem?

"Jeongyeon? You can sit down now."

"Right."

She barely took two mouthfuls before she blurted out what was on her mind.

"How long has Ha-rin been working here?" You shrugged.

"Just over four months. She was the intern I told you about."

"I see. And does she make it a point to hang out in your office?"

You had never heard Jeongyeon speak in that tone before.

"Only to talk about work. Does that bother you?"

Maybe. "Of course not. I just don't see why she has to sit on the desk when there are chairs."

Even when she's annoyed, she's cute.

"Why are you smiling? I'm serious."

"Jeongyeon." You held her hands. "You don't have to worry about her. Or anyone else. I only need you." You pressed a hand to her cheek, and she leaned into your touch.

"I'm sorry, I might have overreacted."

"Don't apologise for your feelings, jagiya. I understand." You kissed the back of her hands.

"Although I must admit, I'm liking this side of you." She blushed when you gave her a wink.

"Y/n!"

~◇~

"Are you going to tell us what's wrong, or are you going to keep sulking?" Nayeon's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Huh?" Tzuyu, Jihyo, Momo, and Nayeon all came over for their weekend movie night, but Jeongyeon couldn't concentrate.

"You've sighed every ten minutes since the film started. A film that you picked, no less. So come on, tell us what's on your mind."

"Well there's not much to say. There's this intern and I feel like she wants to make a move on y/n."

"Are you worried that she might succeed?" Jihyo asked this time, and Jeongyeon timidly nodded.

"We've only been together for eight months, but losing y/n would break my heart."

"But that's not all that troubles you, is it? Because I don't think y/n would be swayed easily."

Of course, Jihyo would notice.

"We haven't taken our...physical relationship to the next level."

"Just say you haven't had sex, Jeongyeon." Nayeon interrupted.

"I was hoping for a bit more tact -"

"We're all adults here. Don’t be a prude."

"Don't start arguing, you two." Any squabble was shut down by their leader. "Carry on, Jeongyeon."

"I worry that y/n will get tired of waiting, that she'll seek company elsewhere."

"There's one way to find out." Tzuyu contributed.

"How?" Instead of answering, the youngest pulled out her phone. Everyone was curious until they heard a familiar voice.

"Tzuyu, are you okay?"

"Mina unnie, Jeongyeon needs to talk to you."

"Is something wrong?"

"Well-" Nayeon snatched the phone from Tzuyu before Jeongyeon could fully answer.

"Mina! Tell us about Ha-rin. Poor Jeongyeon here is worried about her seducing y/n."

You could hear a pin drop before...

"NAYEON!" Four voices shouted.

"What? There is no point beating around the bush." Jeongyeon took control despite how red she had gotten, explaining and Mina, bless her, kept a reassuring expression.

"I agree that Ha-rin has been a bit forward, but I've known y/n for a long time. She would never hurt you like that. She loves you, Jeongyeon; you're her everything."

Her words put her mind at ease. "Thank you, Mina."

"Anytime. By the way, are you guys free this weekend? We're going out on Saturday night. Join us, it'll be fun."

"We'll be there!"

The call ended and Nayeon wasted no time.

"Alright Jeongyeon, we're going to make you so irresistible that y/n won't know what hit her."

~◇~

"Cheers!" The chime of glasses clinking together rang through the air.

You waited for Jeongyeon to arrive, Nayeon had sent a message saying that the four of them were helping her get ready. But that was an hour ago. You were about to check your phone when four wolf whistles cut through the air. You looked at your friends, confused. Sana gestured behind you.

"Damn, y/n. Jeongyeon is looking gorgeous tonight." You whipped around, and your jaw dropped at the sight of her. She was definitely turning heads, especially in that outfit.

Meanwhile, Momo, Tzuyu, Jihyo, and Nayeon giggled at your reaction.

You stood when she got closer.

Oh, how you wanted to take the time to appreciate your girlfriend.

"Jeongyeon, you look amazing."

"Thanks, babe." She kissed your cheek before gently pushing you to sit back down, proceeding to sit on your lap. It was out of character for her, but you weren't complaining. The night of coaching from Nayeon and Momo paid off.

The waiter had brought another round of drinks, and you had ordered a cocktail. You took a sip before offering some to your girlfriend.

"Jagiya, try this. It's nice." Instead of taking the drink, she kissed you, and you could've sworn she lightly ran her tongue across your bottom lip before pulling away.

"You're right. It's nice and sweet." You nearly dropped the glass and turned pink. For someone who isn't keen on PDA, when did she get so bold?

"What's gotten into you?" You asked but not unkindly, just curious. She leaned closer, her mouth right by your ear to whisper.

"Well, actually -"

"Y/n!"

Ha-rin had appeared, making Jeongyeon frown. She brought someone with her and approached the group.

"I didn't expect to bump into you tonight. Do you mind if my cousin and I join you guys?"

"Oh. Um." You look at Jeongyeon, gauging her expression.

"Of course, the more the merrier!"

You quietly ask if she's sure but didn't press further when she said yes, even though her smile was forced.

~◇~

Her mood soured as the night went on. Despite your best efforts to keep Jeongyeon involved in the conversation, Ha-rin would steer the topic into territory she wasn't familiar with. Her grip on your shoulder would tighten, and you tried to reassure in return by gently squeezing her hand.

But everyone could feel the building tension.

Jihyo dragged Jeongyeon into the bathroom to calm down. She looked on in worry as her hands were clenched into fists.

"Are you okay?"

"No! How can I be okay if she's not even trying to be subtle about her intentions?"

"I know." She rubbed her shoulder to comfort her. "But you know what I noticed?"

"What?"

"While you were staring at Ha-rin, y/n kept looking at you."

~◇~

The pair eventually made their way back to the group once Jeongyeon cleared her mind.

That didn't last very long.

Ha-rin was laughing and casually placed her hand on your shoulder. You removed it, but she then moved her hand to your thigh. Jeongyeon knew you were feeling uncomfortable, based on the way your eyebrows furrowed.

That was the last straw. As soon as she was close enough, she slapped Ha-rin's hand away from you.

"Keep your hands to yourself."

Ha-rin immediately stood face to face with Jeongyeon, both feeling irritated.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," she shot back sarcastically, "but you've been flirting with my girlfriend all night. Y/n is mine!"

She emphasised her statement by giving Ha-rin a slight push, which, in her intoxicated state, would've caused her to stumble, had her cousin not been there.

"Jagiya." You instantly stood by your soulmate, hoping to placate her, before things escalated.

"You bitch." In the corner of your eye you saw Ha-rin raise her hand to strike Jeongyeon but you grabbed her wrist.

You were livid now, and for some reason, Ha-rin looked surprised at your reaction.

"Y/n-"

"How dare you try to lay a hand on her."

"She pushed me first!"

"I don't care. Your actions tonight have been inappropriate. I let it slide. That was my mistake. But I'm certainly not going to let you hurt her."

No one had ever seen you so angry. Ha-rin didn't dare argue back. Her cousin pulled her away, but not before bowing their head in apology.

You sighed, calming down, but turned your attention back to your girlfriend.

"Are you alright-" She cut you off, kissing you deeply. It took a moment for you to comprehend what was happening, but your mouth instinctively parted when you felt her tongue touch your lips.

It was different and new. Your kisses were always tame and sweet, but this was hot; if the jeers from your friends were any indication. You captured her bottom lip between your own and tugged slightly before releasing it, eliciting a whimper from Jeongyeon.

You definitely wanted to hear that again. Both of your faces were flushed, pupils dilated with lust.

"Take me home, y/n."

~◇~

The journey to your apartment was a blur. Neither of you could keep your hands to yourself.

She pushes you against the door once you're inside.

"I didn't know you were capable of being that angry outside of work y/n." You brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Just trying to protect the woman I love."

"Then show me how much you love me." She didn't give you time to answer, giving you a repeat of the kiss you shared at the club. You lifted her up, making sure her legs wrapped around your waist.

Your kisses would only break for a second to breathe, but you only stopped once you reached the bedroom.

The gravity of what you two were about to do only hit once Jeongyeon was lying under you. You sat up in mild panic.

"Y/n? Babe, what's wrong?"

"Jeongyeon, you- you've never done this before, right?"

"No, I haven't."

"Maybe we should wait." She sat upright, looking dejected.

"You don't want me?"

"Believe me, I want to-"

"As do I."

"Jagiya."

"Please." She implored. "Touch me."

She knew she had broke your resolve when you tentatively kissed her. Although, it didn't take long for the kiss to grow heated again.

You pulled away to slowly remove Jeongyeon's top. She laid back down, with you hovering over her. You took time to drink in the sight of her.

"You're so beautiful, my love." You planted kisses all over her face, making her giggle.

Your hands unhooked her bra, flinging it to the floor, and one at a time, your mouth latched onto her breasts. All the while, the attention was making her squirm.

Your lips continued to trail down her body until you reached the shorts. You pulled them down, and her panties were the only remaining barrier.

She was soaked, and it nearly made you moan. She gasped when you pressed your lips over her clothed core. To her, it felt painstakingly slow, but you finally took off her underwear.

She was fully bare before you.

It felt like too much, and you were nervous all over again.

"Y/n?" She picked up on your hesitance.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Because your first time isn't something you can get back."

She pulled your hand to her slit. "I'm sure." Your index finger lined up with her entrance as you released a shaky breath.

"You have to tell me if you don't like it, or if it hurts."

"I will."

"Promise me, mi amor."

"I promise, but it's not necessary. I'm ready."

As carefully as you could, you slid a single finger in. Naturally, there was resistance, and her fingers dug into your shoulders as she got used to the sensation.

You waited until she gave the go-ahead for you to start moving. You pumped your finger in and out a few times, only adding a second finger when she didn't feel quite as tight.

Her face contorted with pleasure as her moans got louder, meaning she was almost there. At one point, you angled your fingers differently, touching her g-spot.

"Right there, y/n!" You kept your fingers there, rubbing that spot, wanting to bring your soulmate over the edge.

"Tell me." She begged. "Tell me you're mine." You firmly intertwined your free hand with hers.

"I'm yours, Jeongyeon. You are the only one who gets to see and have me like this. I submit my body, heart, and soul, only to you." You emphasised your words with one last curl of your fingers, making her climax.

"Y/n!" Her back arched off the bed, and you kept lightly thrusting to help prolong her high. You only stopped and pulled out when she stilled.

You licked your fingers, groaning at the taste.

"That was amazing." And you agreed.

But she was confused when you skimmed your lips across her inner thigh.

"What are you doing?"

"Did you think that was it?"

"Maybe?"

"Oh honey, now that I've had a taste, I plan on taking my time in showing just how much I worship you."

Jeongyeon shivered in anticipation.

~◇~

Jeongyeon opened her eyes, being greeted by the sunlight spilling through the space of the curtains. She looked to her side, pouting because you were not there.

Quickly throwing on some clothes, she went to find you. Thankfully, she knew the layout of the apartment. It gave her time to reminisce the night you shared. The memories definitely had her toes curling.

She found you working out. You hadn't noticed her yet, so she admired you. Especially those abs. She remembered feeling your toned muscles under her palms. And oh god, she was getting turned on again.

But she noticed something else across your arms.

"Jagiya." You called out to her, pulling her into your embrace. "Did you sleep well?"

"Definitely. You weren't kidding last night when you said you're insatiable."

"You can't blame me though right? Especially when my soulmate is so insanely gorgeous." You remarked.

"Y/n?" She sounded serious this time.

"What is it, my love?" Jeongyeon rubbed her hands up and down your arms.

"How did you get these scars?" Now that she thought about it, Jeongyeon realised that it was rare for you to wear short sleeved shirts.

You knew she was going to eventually notice and ask questions. You sat on the balance beam behind you, patting the space next to you.

"When I turned eighteen, I was reluctant to find my soulmate. I wanted to make the most of my freedom, and for quite a few years, I did. But over time, watching others fall in love made me realise I wanted that, too. I spent years travelling, looking for you, essentially. It broke my heart every time I failed. I gave up on making friends because I knew I'd outlive them. The loneliness and pain were so great that I-" Your voice cracked.

She kissed your shoulder, her way of saying take your time.

"I really tested my immortality." Tears sprung to the corner of Jeongyeon's eyes. Even if it was next to impossible, the thought of you not existing at all haunted her.

"That's actually how I met Mina. I was standing on the edge of a bridge when suddenly I was yanked backwards, away from the railing."

She made it a priority to thank Mina for being there for you. You wiped her tears, as well as your own.

"I'm sorry for making you cry."

"And I'm sorry you had to go through that." She wrapped her arms around you. "But you found me. I'm here. I promise to stay by your side."

Safe in her embrace, you believed she meant it.

[sinsdaycorp]

No beta, we die like Weems.

Here, have a WenClair Drabble cause I had half a moment to myself today.

-

The first day back at Nevermore, Wednesday walks ahead of Lurch who was carrying her trunks filled with all her items. And was met with a surprise embrace as soon as the door opened to the dorm she shared with the blonde.

Enid’s muscles had come in, her hair was slightly shorter and she was definitely a few inches taller.

Wednesday had never experienced the need for water as much as she had in that moment.

She’d kept in touch with Enid, she promised the blonde she would, and choosing to ignore the stalker, she instead sent Enid a message after working the number out of Xavier.

She then blocked his number so he wouldn’t bother her.

She only kept in contact with Enid. She knew the reason, she saw it when she was around her parents. She wanted to treat Enid the way her parents treated each other.

But she wasn’t going to, because Enid was special and deserved so much more.

The acts of affection started small.

Enid and Wednesday would be sitting in the quad at the usual table they’d always occupied, sitting beside each other, pressed together from shoulder to ankle.

Enid was talking animatedly to Yoko about classes and that’s when it started.

Enid flourished her hands out in exaggeration and swiped her tray off the table with the flurry of movement.

Yoko was laughing so hard at Enid’s heartbroken look at her nearly full plate.

Wednesday, without taking her eyes off her book, slid her half eaten tray to the side and picked up her fork, holding it out towards Enid.

The blonde cheered up and started to eat as she continued talking to yoko, the way her foot tapped Wednesdays in a light thanks was enough for Wednesday’s heart to stutter.

Another time, it was in the greenhouse at the Addams’ home, Enid was getting too close to a plant while walking backwards as she spoke to Morticia about her own plant studies in school.

The subtlest touch to Enid’s elbow to stop one of morticia’s plants from biting the blonde.

Wednesdays hand felt like it was burning from touching the colourful sweater the rest of the day, but it was worth it to see Enid not be hurt.

At a parents day, Enid (and Wednesday just standing there) was talking to Gomez about her fencing classes when the blonde stopped, a scent catching the wolfs nose and she let out a low shuddering growl from deep in her throat as her eyes flickered across the entrance to the quad to see Murray and Esther Sinclair were making their way over.

Wednesday took Enid’s hand, letting her know she was there. As Gomez and Morticia stood and protectively shielded Enid from the blondes parents passing by, selectively ignoring Enid to go see her brother and cousins.

Enid excused herself and gave Wednesdays hand a light squeeze before leaving.

“Go to her, Wednesday,” Morticia said softly.

Gomez nodded.

Wednesday didn’t need to be told twice, taking off after Enid. She found her hiding in an alcove beneath some stairs, claws extended and hands planted over her mouth as she sobbed silently.

Wednesday carefully took the hands, gently stroking her thumbs across knuckles. When Enid took a shaky breath and opened her eyes to meet Wednesdays obsidian gaze, Wednesday brought a hand up, her sleeve pulled over the heel of her palm, she brushed the tears away.

“Don’t cry because of them, they’re not worth your tears or the breath you’ve wasted thinking of them. We are your family ma puce,” Wednesday murmured and pulled Enid’s hands to her waist before settling her hands on Enid’s cheeks. “You’re an Addams by extension, don’t waste time thinking about those people.”

Enid sniffled and nodded, dropping slightly to bury her face against Wednesdays neck, sliding her arms from Wednesdays waist to curl around her back, holding her tight.

“I’m sorry.”

“Never apologise to me, Enid. Not for feeling, not for anything. You are precious to me, and I will take you into my arms whenever you need me to. I will use my last breath to tell you I love you.”

Enid lifted her head. She knew their friendship had changed, the night Crackstone was defeated it had changed. She felt her love for Wednesday growing stronger every day since then.

But hearing Wednesday say those eight letters, Enid’s heart slammed heavily against her ribs.

Their eyes met again and as Wednesday licked her lips, Enid’s eyes dropped to watch the tongue peak out and disappear once more. Her throat dried.

This was t the first time she’d thought of kissing her best friend. It wasn’t the first time Wednesday had thought about kissing her either.

But it was the first time they acted on it, Wednesday curling her fingers into the hair as the base of Enid’s neck as she shifted to lean up on her toes. Enid leaning down, tightening her fingers to grip into the back of Wednesdays jacket, knuckles turning white in her grip as their lips finally touched for the first time.

Brief, and soft, and enough for them to know that their love was definitely returned by the other.

“Come along, Enid. I believe you challenged Pugsley to an eating contest, yes?”

Enid nodded, her eyes flitting back to Wednesdays lips. The goth pecked the blondes lips once more and pulled away from her completely, holding out a hand.

“Together, we shall go back out there, no one has to know you’ve been upset. Put on a mask, and smile. We can talk more about this later. Okay?”

Enid nodded dumbly, taking Wednesdays hand. Their fingers threaded together as they made their way back out to the table to find Gomez and Morticia gone, but Pugsley was still there, talking with Eugene.

Eugene gave them a welcoming smile.

“Wednesday, you didn’t tell me your brother was coming to Nevermore.”

Wednesday raised an eyebrow. “Yes, well… I thought you didn’t like bad news.”

Enid scoffed a laugh, shaking her head as she gave Wednesdays hand a playful squish.

“Be nice.”

“Yeah, Wednesday, be nice,” Pugsley said with a poke of his tongue.

Wednesday’s eyebrows shot up. “On the other hand. Having him here would be nice, I am getting rusty on my arrow shooting on live targets. Pugsley will be a great target.”

Pugsley grinned. “And water boarding?”

“Every day.” Wednesday promised.