#usually set it after filling my water bottle so j can close my water bottle. i am so done with today

[flippedorbit]

if one more thing goes wrong today i can and will have a breakdown

[gangrenados]

omg the alphabet for Dick was so hot 🥵🥵 please do one for Jason?

It took my like a whole week to finish this but it's finally here!! 😭😭

I may warn that this long and of course nsfw 😌

Everything starts below the cut!!

A = Aftercare

He isn't used to the other person staying around after the sex is done, so it's kind of awkward for him to see you lying there when there's nothing else to do.

Jason doesn't know what to say or do at first, but deep inside he admits that it's nice to have you there.

Jason is very sweet and caring during aftercare, part of this fueled by his eternal need to take care of you and show you how good he can be.

He will pepper kisses all over your face as he mumbles how good you have been to him, just to kiss your lips in such way that makes your knees weak.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Jason really likes your butt and he let you know this by either grabbing it or slapping it every chance he gets.

He also likes tights and boobs (big or small he doesn't care)...well to summarize he likes anything he can squeeze.

He hasn't think too much about what he likes about his body, it's always the thoughts about what he doesn't like that takes to most space in his brain. However, if had to choose then it would be his arms because they show how big and muscular he is and after years of being an slim kid, he's really happy with that achievement.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Usually prefers to cum inside of you, it just feels nice and is like a weird connection you both can have for a brief moment. However, he really likes to cum in your chest too.

Also there's something about cumming in your face that makes this guy happy. It's like something inside of him wakes up when he see your face covered in his cum...he's just in awe.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He likes lingerie, that might not sound really shocking or surprising.

Jason's jaw drops every time he see you wearing a pretty set of lingerie and he has to contain himself any time you dare to match that with one of his leather jackets.

What I'm trying to day here is that he kind of want to try one of those cute lingerie on him, just to see if someone as buff as him can look nice in one those cute lingerie.

Jason hasn't told you this because he's pretty embarrassed with this desire of him, and also he doesn't want you to think of him as less masculine just because he wants to dress up in pretty lingerie for one your hot moments together. Not all the time of course, just when he's feeling exceptional pretty.

It would take a lot of time and trust for Jason to build the confidence to finally confess this to you.

He'll be so blushed his face would look like a tomato and he would even be able to look you in the eye, he's afraid that might laugh.

However, if you do agree you'll signing up to see your boyfriend to look all nice, absolutely cute and of course handsome.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Jason may not be as experienced as Dick, but he has had his one night stands so you can tell he has some knowledge of what to do in sex.

Jason is a quick learner and takes notes on what generally pleases others. However, he feels more comfortable and relaxed exploring with a trusted partner.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Jason likes to see your face when he's fucking you, first of all because you're really beautiful and he's still amazed that someone as pretty as you is dating a guy like him. But the reason behind this is because he wants to know if you're enjoying this, and also it boosts his ego seeing you lose yourself in pleasure because of him.

•Cowgirl is one of his favorites since he's able to enjoy the show and hit deeper.

•It might sound boring, but he's into missionary too. You see, it's easier to set the pace and he gets to be closer with and therefore is amazing, especially for those intimate occasions.

•Speaking of romance? Jason likes having you sat on his lap with your arm around his neck as you ride him and he holds your buttocks. You're so close to each other, he thinks that's romantic.

•Okay but when you're lying on your back with yours knees bent and pressed to your chest or with your heels resting on his shoulders? That's a good one and Jason loves it cuz he gets to hit deeper and also because he gets see his cock going in and out of you.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

It deepens on his mood, usually he's more lighthearted and romantic about having sex with you. Jason see it as a way to have an intimate moment where you can enjoy each other and have a great time.

In the other hand if he just wants to take out some of his frustration then he’s gonna be rougher, not caring much about anything else than cumming. His thrust are firm and harsh as well as the way he holds you.

Aftercare will be his top priority after taking away all of that extra stamina from his body, Jason needs to let you know how good you have been to him.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He's pretty lazy when it comes to this kind of stuff, but he's well trimmed down there since it's uncomfortable to go around with a bush between his legs and also he wants to look presentable when the time to do the nasty comes.

He also have chest hair and a fine happy trail that goes from his belly button to his crotch. And yes, everything is as black as his hair.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

He doesn't take sex too seriously, yes he thinks this is a special moment for you two, but it's doesn't have to be too sickly cheesy, ya know?

Jason just likes to live in the moment when you finally have the time to fuck. He'll kiss you passionatly as he mumbles sweet yet dirty things about what he's gonna do to you.

Better belive he will laugh if sometime awkard happens before dismissing the inconvenience to get back into bussines.

Of course if it's an especial occasion Jason will do his best to make this more romantic.

Maybe setting the mood with a well done playlist filled with sexy songs,  a nice room with dim lights to set the mood and rose petals scattered across the bed with a box in it with a little gift like lingerie...it sounds nice, right?

If not then a bathtub filled with bubbles, a bottles of wine and some scent candles will do the trick.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Jason doesn't do it that much since he doesn't have the time for it, besides it's better to get the real thing rather than his hand.

However, when the time shows up is either because he's bored and wants to have some serotonin running on his body or because you two are apart.

Jason is rather quiet when he's getting off, just a few little groans and whimpers are the only thing that anyone can possibly hear since he's very cautious with not getting caught.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

•Sub/Dom: he likes to be the one in charge since it allows him to have control over the situation and show you how good he can be. Although he can be a pretty good sub when you get him to let you be the dom.

•Praise kink: Jason needs to know you're enjoying this and that he makes you feel good, his insecurities tends to strike up in vulnerable situations like sex and it helps him to forget them when you tell him how good he's making you feel.

He will do the same of you without thinking too much about it. Jason wants you to know how good you're being to him.

•Hair pulling: preferably on him when he's going down on you but Jay tends to grab your hair when you're giving him head or when he's hitting it from behind.

•Semi public sex

•Choking: It's a turn on seeing his big hands around your neck and how you trust him enough to do a thing like this.

•Size kink: Jason is a tall guy that's built like a truck, he can easily tower over people and he finds hot seeing how little and vulnerable you look beside him.

It also makes him feel in control.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Jason is not picky about this, as long as you get to do the nasty and you're both okay with it, he's more than fine.

He likes fucking you in semi public areas where he knows it's gonna be hard for you to get caught but there's still that chance left, his bike, your bed, kitchen counters, the shower, his bike, the couch, even you tried it on the stairs one time!

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

It doesn't take much to get Jason riled up, a good trick is wearing nothing but one of his shirts or wearing on sexy lingerie under one of leather jackets. Yeah it's a turn on for him when you wear his clothes.

He also finds really hot when you try to over power him or seeing you kicking some asses.

Also it's weird for him, but for some reason he finds arousing sometimes when you're being gently with him.

You could be cuddling, his head resting on your chest as you caress his scalp and then he pops a boner...maybe it's because he got too relaxed or maybe because he was so blushed that his blood couldn't help but go to his crotch? Jason doesn't know, but it's embarrassing.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Jason hates bondage or being tied up in general. He will refuse to do that kind of things, it makes him remember bad memories and he just feel vulnerable and nervous. Therefore BDSM and rape play is a no for him.

He also doesn't want to inflict you any kind of pain, you see, Jason is terrified of hurting and that you'll hate him because of that.

It would take a lot of coaxing from your part to get Jason to agree into doing something like the above.

Also fucking you in his suit is a no, why? Well his suit has been covered in blood so many times (both from him and unknown people who only God knows where they have been), sweat, dirt, unknown chemicals and sewer water.

Jason thinks is pretty unhygienic, but hey if you really wanna try it doesn't take much to coax him in that one!

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Jason loves to receive, especially after a long night of patrol or when needs to distress, but being honest any time if fine for him.

It's better to take it all with both hands and spit in it to avoid gagging. Also his hands tends to go to your hair and take a fistful of it as your trying to deep throat; he doesn't make you go further whatsoever, it just feels right for him to do it.

Also he have the tendency to brush away some strands of hair gently out of your face as your sucking him off.

One thing that drives him crazy is when you kitten lick his cock and give a kiss to the tip, another thing that he kinda likes having his balls played with.

Do you wanna know how he looks like?? Gotcha!

Ahh that gif is gonna be the end of me 😳

He's a big fan of receiving too, Jason really like to give his partner pleasure and he does his best to make that happen.

He'd be pumping your insides with his fingers as he looks for other areas to pleasure.

if you a gave pussy you better belive that he's really good at eating you out. He'll be knuckle deep as he licks on the clit, sucking on it and even nibbling it to tease you a little bit.

Jason is gentle, he doesn't want to cause you any harm, but damn that doesn't mean he's isn't going to eat you out as if you were his last meal.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Jason tries to be gentle but even then he tends to be on the rough and fast side. His hold on you his firm as he thrust into you, Jason will mumble sweet and dirty things and also will ask you between plants if you're okay since he's worried he might hurt you or make you uncomfortable.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Your relationship is filled with quickies thanks to his busy schedule. So if you got some time to have sex even if it's just 5 minutes, you better belive Jason will take advantage of it.

Jason likes them because he has to and also because he gets to be a little bit rougher with you, but he prefers to have more time with you and enjoy each other with more calm.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Jason is down to experiment as long as it doesn't harm you or bring back bad memories... and if it doesn't gross him out of course. You just need to talk about it.

Jason's life involves risk and one thing he likes is fucking you in semi risky places like empty halls of a library or an empty parking lot when you're going out of a bar, maybe getting handy in a cinema, you get the idea.

The thrill of not knowing if he's gonna get caught send chills down his spine. Of course he's not going to pressure you into doing any of this, Jason doesn't want to make you uncomfortable.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Jason can last many rounds before getting tired or starting to run out of cum. Just let him drink some water or eat something between breaks and he's all yours again.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

The only toys he has is the big collection of guns and any kind of weapon he can put his hands on. Not that you can use that in the bedroom...the majority of the time.

Leaving the bad jokes aside. Jason has a pair of cuff he got to steal from a cop one time, outside of that he doesn't have any sexual toy lying around.

However, he is down to use some toys on you, and if you ask nicely maybe even on himself too.

(He also owns a fleshlight...it was silly gift for his birthday)

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Jason can be a tease when he puts his mind into it and usually he is when he's giving you oral. But he's can get impatient really quickly although he likes the build up before having sex.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

 He's more of a grunter, and also he's low-key shy to moan out loud so he'll bite his lip to suppress them. However, the sound that comes out is a needy whine instead.

Speaking of, Jason's whimpers will make your knees buckle...they're glorious.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

I can’t take away Jason dressed as a slutty maid out of my mind, sorry.

Jason swallowed thickly at the the feeling of your fingers brushing against his inner thighs, they were going up and down causing his heartbeat to speed up.

"Are you nervous, maid boy?" you purred before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. He shook his head, ready to deny your acusations when you grabbed his clothed member and started to rub it.

"I'm fine." he said breahtlessly, trying to hold back a whine that was stuck on his throat.

"You sure?" You scoffed as you grabbed his hardening dick. "Because it doesn't look like it." his mind was starting to fog and it didn't took much for him to hump your hand to feel more friction."You're acting like a needy slut, but I like it."

It was embarrasing the realived moan that left his lips once you pulled down his boxers and played with his cock. He could feel the coil in his stomach building, the white hotness taking over him as you pumped his dick, smearing the pre cum all over the tip with your thumb.

He was about to cum and was really looking foward it until everything stopped and the absence of your hand made him groan in annoyance.

"Don't be mad." You teased with a fake pout as you pecked his lips. "Get on the bed, baby boy."

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on in those pants)

The big dick energy he poses is real, this man little friend is not so little lol He's thicker than average and a little bit longer, let's say about 18 -19cm aprox.

It's a pretty decent looking cock with a few veins that goes from the base to the top and the head is more reddish than the rest. Also it's the same shade as his body, well in fact is a little bit darker but it's hard to tell the difference.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

His sex drive is pretty high as well as his stamina so he's down to fuck any time, but if you don't want to do it he will back off and move to other business.

Also there are moments when he's not in the mood not matter how much you want him. It usually happens when he's reading a really good book or when a case is consuming all of his time.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

In regular basis it's hard for Jason to fall asleep and this doesn't make any difference. He just doesn't like the whole process of sleeping since it's like to being dead and that terrifies him.

So he will stay up even after you have fall asleep.

It's comfortable having you there where he can stroke your hair and feel how light his chest feels, if he's lucky enough he will fall asleep shortly after you.

Tag list @bathroom-sand @aterriblelangblr @simpery @jyarumu0619 @kellieriddle96 @adarksoul098 @rosethegothamhistorynerd @duckmylife18 @panic-attheplace @malfoys-demigod @darkraven1983 @magicisabluewish @hamdehlesmis @lucy-roo @lovelyartemisa @missmaskedwriter @c0-77 @ginevraxrogers @imagines-fluff-yandere-smut @shadygoateeprincess @nervousfandom @ghost-bitch @silverw19 @thegirlwholovesbooksblog @hecatemacbeth7 @unknowntoanyone @mistalli @screechingghostbananafarm @waroncheer @lady-stirling @ghostly-ginger @greeknerd007 @la-femme-lupita @jasonsballsack @violettessuniverse @wondergal23 @dreamxcollide @thirstiestpotato @magicalbeanie @dreamingforthosewholost @letlly

[parkers-gal]

why T.H.

wc: 6k (angst)

jerk!tom makes an appearance

You were angry, that was for sure. Tom knew why, it was his fault after all, but he'd never admit it. He would never 'man up' to you and just apologize like he should. At least, not when he should, but he would later, when the damage was already done and set in.

Truth be told, you were furious. How could he do that when he promised not to? You were more hurt than angry, if you were being honest. You didn't want to be the 'mother' but quite frankly, you were disappointed too.

It was your dream to own a bakery, but a bakery in London was something to get your hopes up. Dreaming big never ended well for you in the past, but after years of working your ass off, you had managed to achieve something you had wanted since you were young.

Your bakery, Flour Before Frosting, also happened to be where you met Tom, your boyfriend of almost 18 months. He had walked in one day, charming with a dashing smile, and asked for "your best made velvets, frosted with your number." You remember that day vividly, for it was one of the many times Tom would drop by before eventually taking you out and officially making you his girlfriend. Eight months and 17 days later, you moved out of your crappy flat and into his house (though it really just made things easier because you were already over every night).

You were in your shared bedroom, writing down new plans for how to decorate your bakery for the holidays.

"Hey, babe!" Tom called.

"In here, Tom," you yelled back.

"Oh- hey, luv. Got an old friend visiting next week, so I won't be by for our Wednesday lunch plans," he informed you.

"Oh, okay. Do you want some cupcakes and tea? Gonna have a new batch on Tuesday, fresh with new tea that Jackson just got. I think he made it- anyways, he gave me a sample a few weeks and I absolutely loved it. I think you'll like it too, it's just right for you." You rambled, and Tom laughed and shook his head at you.

"Yeah, darling. I'd love some cupcakes for my guest, gonna have to show off your amazing skills, aren't I?"

You blushed, waving your hand in the air as a hint for him to leave so he would stop flustering you. He ran over to kiss your cheek, leaving a Hershey kiss on your desk before yelling out that he'd be at the gym with Harrison for the next two hours.

Wednesday had come by, and you were on a lunch break, leaving Jackson in charge before heading to your favorite café for coffee and some light reading, and maybe even more planning. Heading in, you ordered and sat down in a booth. The door chime rung, making you look up from your papers and notebooks you had spread out to start your organizing. Tom, and what must've been his friend, walked in. You smiled as they went to the side of the restaurant with the small library of old, vintage books. They were facing away from you, sitting side by side in the angled lounge chairs. You were about to go over to and say 'hi' but your waitress came by with your coffee, so you stayed seated and went back to your work.

You saw Tom with the Tupperware box you gave him, enclosed with the small lunch note you always wrote him. He opened the box, giving a cupcake to the man talking to him (you were right in earshot), before reaching in for his, and the note. Before he got the chance to even look at it, his friend spoke up, frosting on his upper lip.

"You said these were made by a friend? This is fucking disgusting. Is it chocolate or..? Damn, ew, is this frosting healthy?" he laughed.

Tom nodded along, "I, uh, honestly couldn't uhm.." he trailed off, his friend looking at him with a confused expression, expectantly thinking for Tom to agree with him. "Yeah, man, I don't really fucking know."

His friend took another small nibble before playfully gagging, and looking at Tom while he bit into it for the first time. Tom reacted in the same way, 'gagging', to agree with his friend, before putting it on the table with his friend's cupcake.

"Who made that? Certainly wasn't Gordon Ramsey."

At this, Tom laughed. Whether he thought it was funny, or if he was just trying to ease the tension, you couldn't tell. You were too busy blinking tears away.

"You said you had tea?" he questioned Tom. Tom nodded. "Good, need something to wash away that disgusting thing people call a cupcake."

You cringed, turning your head to the side with squinted eyes because you truly couldn't sit there and listen to what someone thought was wrong with your life's work.

Tom didn't reply, just getting the tea in the thermoses in his bag, handing one to his friend while opening his. You were contemplating on if his lack of response was a good thing. On one hand, he wasn't completely encouraging the hate you were getting, but on the other hand, he didn't stick up for you either. Right now, that was all you could think about. But then, everything slipped your mind when both boys tried the tea you had specially made (early, for it wasn't to be sold in your shop for about another month) just for them.

Tom opened his thermos, smiling when he took a sniff at it, because you were right. It smelt like something he would love. His friend, however, would not agree. Taking one sip, he was just as rude about it as he was with the cupcake, going as far as spitting it back into the thermos.

He got up, taking both cupcakes with him, and dumped the thermos out in the trash can, the cupcakes following not long after. He sat down next to Tom, shaking his head with a coy grin before speaking.

"Next time, let's get Chinese or something," he laughed, Tom nodding along with him before slipping both thermoses back into his bag, dropping your note in the process. Before he got to pick it up, his friend crumpled it up and threw it towards the trash can, laughing probably a little too loudly about it. You were certain he knew it was a note from Tom's girlfriend. 

You were still for five minutes, stunned. Ultimately, you decided to cut your lunch break short, packing up your stuff as quickly as possible, leaving a tip and rushing out, your back to the boys.

You had yet to bring anything up, though you weren't noticeably acting different around Tom. But when he mentioned the next week that his 'old friend' wanted to "eat dinner and get drunk" you were hesitant. You hoped this 'friend' was temporary, because the effects were already starting to show, and you didn't like what they were.

Tom didn't tell you when he'd be out with, Andrew, he said his name was? but you didn't think it would be the immediate week after the cupcake incident.

You were sitting on the kitchen stool, jotting down ideas for your shop when he came in.

"Oh, Y/N! Andrew and I decided to go out this Friday, said something about clubbing or shit. Anyways, he said don't expect me home early, but I might sneak away if he's drunk enough," he said, rather quickly, for while he was talking, he was filling a water bottle and grabbing some fruit.

"Wait, this Friday? I thought we-"

"Thanks, Y/N! Gotta head out," he was practically yelling, running to kiss you on the cheek before racing out and slamming the door shut.

Did he mean this Friday? His only day off for the rest of the month, the one where you two planned a film night, with take away and late night talks and star walks in the park?

It was only eight o'clock on a Wednesday morning, your late opening day, but you decided to head in early. Walking in, Jackson had already opened for you, being the gentleman he is, just setting up for the day, knowing you didn't want to walk in to a store full of customers without being there. He was sitting at a window table with his boyfriend, Jeremy, giggling and eating a muffin. When the door chime rung, he looked up, his boyfriend turning around to smile and wave while Jackson was coming towards you.

"Hey, Y/N! We're a little short on shortbread today," he laughed at his pun, "so I put in a new batch about 20 minutes ago. The chalk board is set up and the cappuccino machine is on-" he was about to turn away before he stopped abruptly. "Oh! And Tom stopped by while I was in the back. Jeremy said that he wanted you to know something about not eating cupcakes for this new diet? I don't know, he mentioned something about Anthony telling him about some diet that would help fo-"

"Andrew!" Jeremy cut in from behind, correcting him.

"Right, Andrew told him it would help for his job. So he said to stop making his weekly order."

"Oh," you weren't quite sure what you could say. Thank you? What the fuck? It was all jumbled into your brain too fast. "Thank you, J. Well, guess we should open shop for the day." With that, you worked until seven-thirty, an hour later than you usually would.

Arriving home, you walked in and set your bag down, heading for the kitchen to get water. Mid-drink, Tom walked in.

"Why are you home so late?"

You swallowed, placing the cup down, "I was working," you deadpanned, maneuvering around him so your shoulder wouldn't hit his on your way out. He followed you into the living room.

"It's almost 8!"

"Yeah? I don't know what you want me to say, Tommy. I'm sorry? I'll tell you what you want to hear, but that doesn't mean I mean it. "

He was silent for a second, laughing slightly, seemingly letting it go. You weren't joking, but you didn't want to argue, yet. "Right," he laughed again, "Sorry. I did want to talk to you though."

"We are talking."

"Smartass," he joked. You giggled slightly. "I've got to go back to press next week. I leave on Tuesday." You stopped laughing. 

"For how long?"

"I'm always gonna be away for the same amount of time, Y/N, you know that. I'll be back mid October." 

October? It was only the beginning of April.

"Well, I'll be back in London for a few days in July so you'll have that. Press ends around September, but I need to finish up Chaos Walking. I'll be here for Halloween though," he smiled encouragingly.

You nodded. "Okay.. do great things, Tommy," you always told him.

Friday rolled around, and you you were going to close the shop early for your night with Tom, but he was going out, so your plans were out the window. Instead, [your best friend] would be coming over at around eight. Tom would be gone by that time, right?

It didn't matter, because he wasn't even home when you got back from work. It was barely seven, you two usually had dinner together. Well, not this past week because he had plans with Harrison, and his brothers, and Andrew, and Tuwaine...and practically everyone else. Seeing as you had about an hour, you decided to shower, changing into some casual clothes. Tom was going clubbing... he wouldn't be back before 4 A.M., right? You didn't care, [your best friend] would spend the night anyways. You had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

You were wearing a cute tank, your favorite sleepwear, and some loose sweat pants. You were drying your hair with a towel when the doorbell rang. It rang again, so with the towel in your hand you ran down the stairs, yelling, "just a second," but it rang again. You swung the door open, confused, because [your best friend] always came in unannounced because you two were completely comfortable with each other. Instead, you were met with the boy from the cafe, Andrew. You looked around, and saw Tom's car parked by the curb, Tom waiting in the driver's seat while talking to someone in the back.

"Hey, Tom texted you or- whatever. We're going clubbing, can you get his stuff?"

"Uhm.. stuff?"

"Yeah.. he said you'd put his stuff inna backpack so he could get ready at my place," he answered confidently, as if you knew about this.

"I'm- uh, sorry? I don't have anything," you answered.

"What?" his eyes were wide with annoyance and disbelief.

The car honked, and Andrew turned around, shrugging his shoulder and mouthing something to Tom, before Tom came out and up to you.

"Didn't you get my text, Y/N? About the stuff sitting on my dresser?" he asked, straight up without so much as a 'hello' or 'how're you?'.

"No, I- no. No I didn't get your text, Tom."

"Well-"

"Well?" you interrupted.

"Thanks for, nothing I guess," he responded, moving past you and into the house to retrieve his things. Once again, you were left with Andrew on your porch, only this time he was eyeing you up and down, winking at you before yelling to Tom and going back to the car, Tom following not long after. This time, he didn't even bother saying goodbye on his way out. Just as they drove off, [your best friend] walked up.

"What the hell was that?" she shrieked.

"What?"

"That whole, 'thanks for nothing' bullshit. What kind of boyfriend thinks he can say that to his girlfriend?!"

You started heading in, taking one of her bags with you as she followed you inside. Placing her things down, you turned around, giving her a bear hug which she gladly returned.

"It wasn't that bad. Besides, he's been worse this week," you explained.

She was silent for a moment, shaking her head before talking. "Okay, I see why you called for a girl's night on such short notice. C'mon, lets get changed into some pajamas and get the snacks ready. It's been far too long since we've had actual time with each other," she gave you a sentimental smile, soft and sweet. You nodded, already planning on what to get and where to make the fort of blankets you already knew she wanted.

About half an hour later, she was in comfortable clothes, and you were in the kitchen making hot chocolate, getting chips and dip and pretzels and candy and everything in between. You had both decided to use the guest bedroom, which was accompanied with it's own bathroom. The room was probably a little smaller than the master bedroom, which was normal, but the bathroom was more expensive than yours. Plus, this one was used when the boys came over, so the Xbox, all the video games, movies, and the music equipment was here. Even with all this expensive stuff, the room was still as big as ever, so putting a fort in front of the bed barely took up any space.

You had to make at least three trips for all the food and stuff you were bringing, and because this was a guest bedroom, it had a mini refrigerator. Both of you decided to keep it pg-13, no alcohol or rated-R movies. Tonight, it was a Disney marathon with hot cocoa. At around 11:30, you had just finished your third movie, Beauty and the Beast, when [your best friend] stopped the ending credits and turned to you.

"Before we watch anything else," she turned to you while you did the same, "let's talk. We can fall asleep watching Disney, but we can't fall asleep and keep talking," you interrupted her, laughing, before nodding away. "So.. what's going on? With Tom, I mean, because you mentioned that he was worse earlier this week than he was today, and tonight he was pretty nasty so I mean- yeah, what else has he done?"

You paused, looking down and sighing, giving in. "Well, it started with Andrew, some 'old friend' he wanted to catch up with. I gave Tom some cupcakes and tea from the shop to eat with him. I was on my lunch break when the boys came into the same cafe and started eating. They didn't like it and- well.. they sorta threw it out after gagging about it," you said. Her eyes went wide. "I don't know, [best friend's nickname], I mean at first I was stunned, hurt obviously because it seemed to be on purpose because Tom knows I always go to that cafe on my lunch break. Is it a coincidence that he came to the same cafe at the exact same time I have my lunch break?"

You went on to explain how Tom had cancelled two dinner dates and a movie night within the past two weeks, and that he was going clubbing without inviting you, cancelling his weekly cupcake order and calling you clingy after you texted him about making sure he ate dinner. Not to mention he only just mentioned him leaving next week on a press tour, and spending his only day off with Andrew even though you two had planned spending that day together for a month.

By the time you were done listing off all the reasons, you were sobbing into [your best friend's] chest, trying to catch your breath. It was too late though, because Tom wasn't here and the events leading up to an attack like this could have only been noticed by him, seeing as [your best friend] wasn't here to see them herself. You couldn't hear anything, your pounding heart being the only thing filling your ears. [Your best friend's] attempt to calm you down wasn't working, resorting to the breathing exercises which were slowly drowned out. You could't even get a breath in. The realization hit you: if you didn't take control, you would faint. You had never had an attack this intense in at least four months, so everything needed to help you would take too long to get.

You gripped her arm, unable to focus on anything except for the fact that you were going to faint.

"I'm here, Y/N, I'm right here. It's going to be okay, right? We're gonna work things out. Yeah? Everything's gonna be alright. We're gonna be alright. We'll be alright," she cooed.

You blacked out, only for about two minutes, but you did. When you woke, you sobbed again, finding a steady breath before completely crushing [your best friend] with a hug, gripping her tightly.

"Thank you," you whispered.

She got you settled, convincing you to snack lightly before brushing your teeth, making sure you drank water. The fort was ready, untouched since your movie marathon, so you both climbed in and fell asleep watching Disney.

Four hours later, it was four o'clock in the morning, and the front door slammed shut.

"Y/N!" Tom slurred, dragging out the last syllable of your name. "Y/N!" he repeated, the same way but louder. "Where the fu-! OH! OW!" he screamed.

You and [your best friend] were already starting to sit up, confusion spreading across your faces before she got up, following her directly after. She opened the bedroom the door, and you stepped out, making your way down the stairs and seeing Tom sitting on the ground, missing a shoe with a rip on his shirt sleeve.

"There you are! I wus at the club a-and Andrew and I were hanging out and he took home some girl- he said if he was getting laid that I should come home and get laid by my lame-ass girlfriend, so come here! Fuck me!" he slurred, talking too loudly for your liking.

"Did you just call her a lame-"

"Tom, you're drunk. Go to bed," you cut her off, knowing how protective she would get. Honestly, you wanted her to scream and shout and yell at him, and you wanted to join her. But if you were going to, you wanted him to be completely sober so the guilt would really sink in.

"No wonder you're a lame-ass," he muttered.

"What was that?" [your best friend] yelled.

"Nothing! I'm going up to bed, see?" He looked at both of you before running up the stairs like a kid.

You both stood there, a little hesitant, before going up the stairs, talking on your way.

"Y/N, I swear if you hit him, you better knock some sense into him because that boy is so ridiculously stupid and undeserving of your love."

You laughed, growing quiet because you were beginning to think she was right. 

The next morning, you and [your best friend] got up at nine to make pancakes and bacon, your usual sleepover breakfast. The speaker was playing One Direction, both of you singing and slightly dancing when Tom came downstairs, disheveled and hungover.

It was Saturday, his last Saturday with you, but it had taken him too long to get interested in hanging out with his girlfriend. "Hey, Y/N. Wanna do something today?" he asked.

[Your best friend] looked at you, but you had already made up your mind. "Sorry, Tom, [your best friend] and I are going shopping together. Next time, though,"  you said, before putting your dishes in the sink and slipping out of the room, [your best friend] following you out.

That night, you and your best friend departed ways, telling her you'd call and let her know when she could come over again. You got home, and decided to put your new things in the guest bedroom, because your clothes from last night were still there. The mess, luckily, was cleaned up thanks to [your best friend], who convinced you to help with the cleanup.

It was nearly ten-thirty by the time you got situated. You were in a new set of pajamas, sitting in front of the tele in the guest bedroom on the floor, looking at all the new things you bought. You found this super cute sweater, and a pair of jeans [your best friend] insisted on buying for you. You also found a pair of shoes to go with an outfit you had planned in your head; it was perfect. People say your looks shouldn't matter, but you felt good when you looked good, so you loved fashion. Overall, you and [your best friend] must have spent at least $800.

At around 11, you heard footsteps running around the house, before Tom came into the guest bedroom.

"What're you doing in here? Aren't you gonna sleep in our room?" he looked worried.

You lowered the shirt you were looking at, making eye contact. You hesitated, "I- yeah... Yeah I guess."

"You guess?"

You just shook your head, trying to be playful with it, but ending up avoiding his gaze all together and going back to looking at your new things.

"Y/N?"

You looked up, "Yeah?"

He looked --  surprised almost? There seemed to be a glint of hurt in his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked.

You nodded, getting up and setting the shirt back in its bag, "C'mon, lets just go to bed."

He mumbled an agreement, turning around and walking to your bedroom. You left the guest room, closing the door and going into your room. It was weird-- to even consider it your bedroom, because you hadn't slept in it for about three days. The last time you did, Tom wasn't with you. Was it normal? Did all couples go through things like this? You didn't have much time to dwell on the thought, because you were already under the covers, sleep consuming you before Tom got the chance to talk to you about anything.

It was almost noon when you woke up on Sunday. Rolling over, you felt Tom's side of the bed empty. The feeling of the cold sheets didn't come as a surprise to you, he was gone every time you woke up even though he didn't start filming until around 10 A.M. . It was different this time, because it was your last weekend together. He was always at home on the weekends he wasn't away filming. 

You pulled the covers off you, walking downstairs into the kitchen where you were met with Tom and Haz, quietly whispering things to each other. You didn't get to listen long, for both boys shot up and stood straighter, smiling to you. You just looked at them, slightly rolling your eyes before grabbing some juice and heading back into the guest bedroom.

When you came down ten minutes later for breakfast, both boys were talking normally again.

"Just talk to her, alright man?" Haz spoke.

"What am I supposed to say man? I can't just go up to my girlfriend and tell her I'm fucking pissed at how she's been ignoring me. Not gonna be rude like her-"

"Woah- woah woah, Tom. She's not that rude. Just have a civilized conversation with her. It's easy, you're just overthinking it."

"Okay.. okay, yeah- yeah," he stuttered, turning around on his heal but abruptly stopping when he saw you standing in the doorway. His jaw dropped, noticing your anger immediately.

"Maybe I should go-" Harrison started.

"No, no don't bother. I'll go, it's obvious you both want it."

You turned around, going up to Tom's bedroom and getting a change of clothes, immediately putting on your jeans and the rest of your outfit, before Tom came barging in.

"No- Y/N, I'm sorry. Please, let's talk," he begged.

You ignored him, getting some more clothes, enough to last you two days, before going into the bathroom for your makeup bag and some deodorant. Going back into the closet, you grabbed your work backpack, making sure all your notebooks and journals were in it, before shoving the things you had in to join them.

"Y/N, please. I-  listen to me, please. I'm sorry, let's just talk. Talk it through, yeah?" he asked.

You looked up, talking rather emotionless. "No. We can talk when we've both thought our shit through, although I thought it was only you who needed to get their shit together, but obviously I was wrong. I'll be back after work on Monday, if you're even here to notice." With that, you moved past him, grabbing your phone and texting [your best friend], picking up your keys from it's hook and heading for the door. Haz was standing in the living room, and when you passed him he gave you a sentimental look, but you payed no mind as you glared him down, opening the door and slamming it in Tom's face, for he was downstairs too late.

About 10 hours had passed since you left, and Tom had only thought about you for two of them. Andrew and 'the gang' had called him, insisting that him and Haz join them for some fun. Tom had reluctantly agreed, much to Harrison's dismay.

At around eleven o'clock, Tom had had enough 'fun'. The guilt in him was killing him, but his anger for you was killing him even more. Telling Haz he'd be heading out, he drove home, getting into bed and thinking about what you'd talk about when you got back.

Monday had passed, and you were doing better than you thought you would be. You opened shop about 30 minutes early that Monday morning, knowing it was better to keep yourself occupied. It was [your best friend's] week off, so she offered to come with you to work, and 'volunteer' almost. She had quite some experience in waitress-ing , so you gave her that job. Around noon, Tom came into the shop, and [your best friend] called out, "Incoming, [your nickname]."

You looked up from the cappuccino machine, turning around to face the door Tom had just entered. The minute you saw him coming towards you, you spoke. Luckily there weren't that many people around who didn't know you, so they didn't react when you yelled at Tom.

"Get out."

"I just wanted to-"

"Get OUT!" you yelled, louder when Tom didn't listen to you.

He moved forward, leaving a Hershey kiss near the cash register, looking to you for your reaction. You picked it up, and threw it to [your best friend], who unwrapped it and ate it herself. He left after she pointed towards the door.

When you closed shop, you decided to head home, seeing as he was leaving tomorrow and you had obviously thought a lot about what to do. The only option, really: talk it out.

Walking in, you placed your bag by the door and went to get some water in the kitchen. Tom was standing there, staring into space. He noticed you come in, and immediately stood up straighter, obviously becoming more aware of his surroundings.

"Are you- are we talking now?"

"I'm here, yeah. Let's talk," you answered setting your cup down.

"What's your problem?" he asked. You looked at him like he was crazy, so he went on. "I mean, these past few weeks, you've completely ignored me. And when you did acknowledge me, it was a rather rude encounter. "

"You think I'm rude?" he nodded, and you scoffed. "Well I'm sorry you think I'm rude. You wanna know what I think is rude?"

"Look, I'm sorry my being honest upset you. But nobody said the truth was nice," he interrupted.

"Tom, what the fuck?"

"I'm just saying! Out of the two of us, you're the one who has more problems!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that you are always the one who cries over shit, and gets upset at little things," he answered. You looked at him in disbelief. "What I'm saying is you're over-dramatic and too sensitive."

"Oh for fuck's sake," you started. "You just- you just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"You said to talk! I'm talking!"

"You're being completely unreasonable."

"Am I? Because all you've talked about is how you think I'm crazy. Do you even have anything to say?"

"Fine! You want me to talk? I'll talk. I've been rude to you because you are the one who let that man you call a fucking friend insult my life's work. You completely agreed with him, took in my hate and didn't even stand up for me!" You yelled. Tom didn't know you knew about that, and he was about to interject but you kept going, "And to make things worse, you kept seeing him! Every single fucking week, it was 'Andrew said this!' 'Andrew said that!'. You cancelled dates to see him! Call me over-dramatic, but when your boyfriend cancels a date on his only day off, I think most girls would be pretty fucking pissed," you walked out of the kitchen.

Tom was in the living room too, following you. "Yeah, well I'm sorry I cancelled our plans, but we live together. Don't you think we see enough of each other because of that?"

"Wha- what?"

"Think about it! We see each other all time because we live together," he reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess you're right,"

"See-"

"If you were ever around, I would see you a lot. But you're never around, so no, Tom, we don't see each other a lot. I work too, remember!"

"Not like I do," he mumbled.

"What?" you yelled.

"Nothing."

"No, Tommy. If you have something to say, you better fucking say it or so help me-"

"I said 'not like I do'!"

"What? Because I'm not some movie star with his head up his ass, I don't work hard?"

"My head's not in my ass, yours is! All I wanted to do was talk things out, not get fucking blamed for things that aren't my fault!"

"Yeah? Well all I wanted was someone better," you quipped back.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"What have I done wrong! Please, enlighten me! All you've done is complain about the stupidest things!"

"So my feelings are stupid, now?"

"Did I fucking say they were?" he yelled, voice raising as he stepped closer.

"Sounded like it to me!" you yelled, raising your voice to meet his.

"Just tell me! Do you have anything else to say?"

"You- you really are stupid, Tom."

"No, Y/N. I'm not. You are, not even telling me why you're so fucking angry at me."

"I'm angry because I had my first attack in months because of you. You! The person who told me he'd always be there to help me through one, not cause one. I'm angry because you go out without even bothering to ask if I'd like to join you. A-And then you just throw it at me that you're leaving for, what? Seven months?!  Not to mention you completely stopped eating things from my shop because of a so-called diet? And you're off with that Andrew guy, who eyed me like a pervert even though he knows I'm taken. You know how uncomfortable I am with that! And don't you dare say you didn't know, when you're the one coming home drunk telling me he's picked up another girl and telling you that you should go home and get laid too. God knows you'd listen to him if he asked you to cheat on me. Not to mention how you called me fucking clingy because I was checking up on you. You want me to stop making sure you're okay? You want me to stop caring?" you screamed. "Because you say the words and I will fucking back off for good. "

He was silent for a second, only missing a beat, contemplating on if he should apologize or keep fighting. Because he didn't want you to be angry, but he wanted to win. He needed to win. "Yeah, I wish you would back the fuck off. You're always on me!" he screamed. "And I get wanting to be affectionate, but you're just fucking sickening. Too much love."

That made you stop. "You think I'm loving you too much?" you asked quietly, and Tom looked at you, really looked at you, after hearing the change in your voice. You were quiet, practically whispering now. It wavered slightly, your eyes were glossy and red.

"I- I didn't-" he started, but it was no use. The damage was done.

He knew better than anyone about your past, which had caused a massive buildup in insecurities that were inevitably killing you. When you met Tom, he had promised to discard each and every one of your insecurities until you loved yourself as much as he did.

"No, you did. And you fucking know it." You were walking upstairs, getting yet another bag ready to last you until Tom left for his press tour.

"No, no Y/N, I'm sorry. Listen to me, baby. I didn't mean it," he begged.

"You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it," you said, choosing a few shirts to shove into your backpack. "Your intentions were pretty clear, Tommy. I'll stop caring for you, stop putting in effort for this toxic relationship. I'll stop loving you, because right now, it seems like loving you is the one thing wrong with me," you said, finding some pants and your makeup bag.

You were making your way downstairs now, "Y/N, Y/N please. Please I need you. I can't leave us like this- not when I leave tomorrow."

"What 'us,' Tom? There is no 'us' anymore."

"What're you saying?" he asked, tears finally falling from his face.

"I'm saying it's time I move on from you. Moving on means not having you. So, we're done," you opened the front door.

Tom stood in the doorway while you gripped the handle. "So- we- we're.."

"I'll be out before you come in July," you filled in. With that you slammed the door, driving to [your best friend's] house, while Tom sobbed on the floor in what used to be a home of two people who loved each other.

[randomrosewrites]

Hey! happy to see youre accepting requests, can I have some fluff/spice with Albedo? Maybe since theres a snowstorm in dragonspine reader is really cold and wants... some cuddles

Thank you! please take care ♡

a/n: Albedo is like...one of my top faves thank u so much

Caught in the snow

Pairing: Albedo X GN reader Summary: After being caught in a freak blizzard, Albedo makes sure you're properly warm when you head back to his camp... unfortunately, you have to explain there's another way you want him to warm you up. Words: 1.3K Tags: Fluff, cuddling, making out to stay warm is totally scientific.

A chilly gust of wind whips at your face, threatening to tear your hat from your head. You grit your teeth, firmly planting your feet in the snow until the wave passes. In front of you, Albedo turns around, a crease forming between his brow. “Are you alright?”

You nod. “J-just a bit cold.”

He shifts his bag on his shoulder and re-wraps your scarf around your neck, exhaling puffs of white clouds. “The camp’s only a little bit further.”

Taking your hand in his, the two of you resume your walk, boots crunching the snow. You don’t know how Albedo survives the cold, dressed in his thin layers and short sleeves, but he never so much as shivers, even when the temperature on Dragonspine drops below zero.

For as much as you love him, Albedo’s occupation makes you frustrated at times. Him being one of the greatest alchemists in Teyvat - possibly the greatest that ever existed - made his services expremly sought after. There always seemed to be foreigners coming to Mondstat, in desperate search of the alchemist to assist them with their toughest problems.

Albedo is very good at his job. You’ve seen him solve all kinds of puzzles from encrypted ciphers and biochemical quandaries to making a thousand-year-old seed sprout petals. He’s talented enough to work for whoever and wherever he wants, capable of making more mora than the entire knight’s salary.

Yet instead, he chooses to stay in Mondstat as a captain, working on the icy terrain of Dragonspine. Albedo’s never been afraid to pursue what interests him - something you love him for.

Unfortunately, it means that there’s barely any time for the two of you to have proper dates. If he’s not needed back in the city, he’s almost always on the snowy slopes, researching this or that. Dates are usually lunches shared together while he reads over papers, or brisk walks around the city walls so he can stretch his legs after a long day inside. Occasionally, when you schedules line up, you’ll visit his camp on the mountains to assist him - like today.

What you weren’t expecting was for a freak blizzard to rain down on you while you were out gathering materials.

Your toes have gone numb by the time you see the outline of his camp. The two of you scurry into the warm mouth of the cave, sighing in relief from the wind. You shake the snow from your coat and hat, stamping your boots to rid them of slush.

Albedo lets go of your hand to move to his lab table. “Go warm up by the fire, I’ll make us some hot chocolate.”

You’re all too happy to take a seat by the fire, feeding it another log before bringing your hands by the flames to warm them. The familiar sounds of Albedo tinkering fill the air as you thaw out. He takes out the starsilver ore from his bag, examining the shards closely. He’s got that passionate look in his eye, one that means whatever’s in front of him has his full attention. He murmurs to himself, walking to a shelf to grab a pestle and mortar.

While he does that, you grab a blanket from a nearby crate and wrap it around yourself. Cocooned in clothing, you resume by the fire and watch as Albedo works, walking back and forth, adjusting this or that from various other projects as he goes along. His ability to multi-task is astounding.

When the water in one of the flasks boils over, Albedo takes it and pours it into a cup, handing it over to you.

“You’re not going to drink?” you ask, cradling the mug in your hands.

He shakes his head. “I’m alright, thank you.”

You hide your frown as Albedo goes back to work. Your only - if you could even call it that - complaint about him is that his fixation on his work sometimes takes up more of his attention than you’d prefer.

You finish your drink over the course of half an hour. Despite the many layers you have on, you’re still shivering. You shift in your seat, tuck your feet up, curl the blanket tighter, but no matter what you do, you’re never comfortable enough to get warm. Albedo is still at work, dropping chunks of starsilver into bubbling beakers of green liquid. You don’t want to bother him, but you also can’t help but want his attention, especially when you’re freezing and the thought of his hands against your cheeks makes you heat from the inside out.

After another half-hour of suffering, you’ve had enough. “Albedo,” you venture.

He’s silent, so you call his name again.

“Yes?” he says, half-distracted by what’s in front of him.

“I’m cold.”

“I can make you a warming bottle if you want, there’s also some heating pads in the crate that you can put in your shoes-”

“I don’t want those, Albedo, I want you.”

His head snaps up from his table. He blinks, eyes wide like an owl. “Pardon?”

You stretch your arms out, motioning for him to join you by the fire.

He seems to understand, a hint of red dusting his cheeks. “Ah. Alright.”

You hold back a laugh. He’s so cute when he’s flustered. “Is that ok?”

“Yes...I...it’s fine. Give me a moment, will you?” He lays down a set of tongs and turns the flame on the burner down, brushing silver dust from his coat. You scooch over so he has room to sit beside you. The second he’s within your grasp, you latch onto him, wrapping the blankets around both of you.

Albedo’s arms hold you close to him. He isn’t warm per se, but his presence alone is enough for your body to stop it’s shivering. You sigh in bliss, pressing a thankful kiss to his cheek.

“Do you feel warm now?” Albedo asks, his fingers idly tracing over your coat.

You give a thoughtful hum, lacing your fingers with his until your palms are touching. “I don’t know, maybe I need a bit more warmth.”

Albedo frowns. “If you’re that cold, that could be a symptom of hypothermia-”

“No, no, Albedo,” you rush to stop him. “I don’t have hypothermia.”

“But you said that you’ve been shivering for the past-”

“I mean I want you to kiss me.”

A range of emotions flash across his face, his lips parted slightly.

“Oh,” is all that comes from his mouth, strained and embarrassed he swallows. “I can do that.”

With the delicacy of an artist, cups your cheeks with his gloved hands. His eyes shift from your lips up to your eyes and then back to your lips. There’s a bit of hesitation in his movements, but it’s only from shyness. And as the space between you two shortens, your eyes flutter close.

He tastes like sweet vanilla, lips soft without any imperfections. His lips part and meet yours again and again, like the gentle flutter of a butterfly’s wings. You drink him up, almost feeling dizzy as your hands roam over wherever they can touch.

You push back against him, insistent, so much so that Albedo gasps. He nearly falls back but regains himself, then molds his mouth to yours once. It’s hot and a bit messy. Your hard, forceful movements counteracting Albedo's gentler, graceful ones.

Your heart is pounding and you’re winded by the time you part, leaning your forehead against Albedo’s and staring into his bright, blue eyes.

“I’m warm now,” you whisper. Albedo lets out a breathy laugh. “As am I.”

His mouth is on yours again not long after. As the storm rages outside the camp, the two of you keep each other warm all throughout the night.

[strawberrylemonz]

A Mother for Two

Welcome to the continuation! As always, time to dedicate these chapters! Hope you all enjoy, especially @applepie1000

@petrichormeraki I will fist fight you lmaooo /j

Part 3

Part 4 [CURRENT]

Part 5

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

“You two sure you have everything you need?”

“We’re sure, Xisuma, jeez. It’s not like we’re leaving for good, we’ll be back by tonight.”

Grian snickered as Tommy was swiftly swatted on the backside of his head by Xisuma. Huffing, the boy griped as the group walked over to the portal leading to the Hub. As Xisuma gave the two another look over, Grian finally spoke up.

“Tommy and I will be just fine. We’ll just set up the fliers, get supplies, get our asses back here. Done, easy work.”

“Yeah, easy work!”

“Nothing is easy work when the two of you are together for too long. Just don’t cause too much trouble, nothing more than usual.”

After bidding farewell to Xisuma, the two boys walked into the portal. Instantly, voices chatting with each other filled the silence. The two stepped out of the portal and into the Hub. Players of all kinds here entering and leaving several portals. As the two made their way through the portal transportation section, Tommy examined all the portals. 

Hermitcraft

Stampy’s Lovely World

Pixelmon

MCC

Hypixel 

Cops and Robbers

There were so many portals to so many places. He had only been through the Hub to get to MCC. He was always focused on getting to his destination that he didn’t stop to look closely at every other portal around him. Stopping in his tracks, he stared at a ruined portal. It was grand and beautiful, but falling apart. It was cracked and broken, no longer activated. The giant sign above it proudly held it’s name, keeping the world from being forgotten.

SMP EARTH

Grian was walking when he felt something off. Turning around, he noticed that Tommy wasn’t following him. Tilting his head and looking around, he saw that Tommy was just standing there, staring. Excusing himself as he pushed passed the crowd, he eventually made his way to his brother. Before he could get onto his brother for immediately separating from him, he saw what his brother was looking at. Making a humming noise, he nudged Tommy before pulling out a large banner. Tommy nodded in understanding, and helped Grian unravel the banner. Working with haste, the two strung up the banner on the inactive portal. Once it was secured, they stood back and admired their work.

GRAND OPENING!!!! 

HERMITCRAFT PROUDLY PRESENTS:

INNIT AN ADVENTURE?!

We, in Hermitcraft, happily invite you to join us in the opening day of our latest amusement park, Innit an Adventure! Created by our very own TommyInnit, we encourage you to spend the day with us! Come join us as we make unforgettable memories! Keep an eye out for festival week, and join us for a wonderful night of dancing! 

Are you innit with us?

“Looks great!”

“Of course it does, we made it.”

“Yeah yeah, lets just finish the set up.”

Smiling, the two boys set up two podiums underneath the banner. Taking out a good amount of pamphlets and fliers, they neatly set them down on the podiums. Content, the two began to walk away from the portal as people began to stop at the ruin, murmuring in excitement for the adventure park. 

“This is going to be a success, I can already tell you that. Good job, baby brother.”

The two laughed as they made their way through the portal Hub. Grian noticed some people he recognized and waved them over, already pulling pamphlets out of his bag. Tommy laughed as he looked around, fliers in hand, searching for anyone who was willing to get one. That’s when he saw it. Gulping, he quietly walked up to a neon green portal. 

DREAM SMP

Reading the sign attached to the portal, Tommy saw that only whitelisted people could enter. He was whitelisted. He could walk in, right now, and possibly lose his final life tied to the world. Shaking his head, he snapped himself out of his thoughts and scoffed at them. He liked it in Hermitcraft, he didn’t want to leave it for a terrible past. He didn’t have to worry about permanently dying in Hermitcraft. He didn’t have to worry about losing his shit or having said shit used against him. 

“Although...”

As Tommy mumbled to himself, he eventually came to a final decision. Nodding to himself, he crumbled a couple fliers and chucked them into the portal, sending them to the SMP. It was common knowledge that, even though people couldn’t enter, they could send items. With the fliers crumbled up, it would appear as if random passerby’s just threw trash in, making it easy for Tommy to deny inviting them.

Tommy knew that he didn’t want to go back to his past, that much was crystal clear. But what was stopping his past from going to him? If they missed him as if and wanted to see him again, they would need to make the effort. Humming with approval, he walked over to Grian, who was finishing talking to his acquaintances. 

“Hey, big man, maybe we should send some of the fliers and pamphlets into the portals.”

Grian thought for a bit, before nodding in agreement. Taking half of Tommy’s fliers, Grian gave him half of his pamphlets. Nudging towards the main server, he explained his plan.

“I’ll handle the portals and the travelers, okay? You go out and hang up banners and set up more podiums. Meet me at Feast Street for lunch, okay?”

“Okay, okay, calm down. I can do this, I’m not useless.”

“Far from it. See you later, Toms, love you.”

Tommy stood in silence, watching his brother walk away. His brother’s proclamation of love had caught him by surprise. A smile formed on his face as a warm feeling bursted through his chest. Looking around, he found some crates nearby. Standing on them, he inhaled before hollering out.

“GRIAN!”

He saw his brother turn around, confused. He felt his face flush as a couple of strangers faced him as well. Ignoring them, he yelled out in confidence through the crowd.

“LOVE YOU TOO, BIG BROTHER!”

He saw Grian laugh, a big smile painted on his face. The two exchanged waves of goodbyes before turning their separate ways, ignoring the cooing noises from the crowd. Tommy laughed as he situated his satchel. Nodding, he made his way down to the capital city.

--------

Things were going great for Tommy. Do take note of the use of past tense, just pointing that out there. Now, Tommy was being scolded as if he were a child again. For Nether’s sake, he was 18! Yet, here he was, being scolded for something he didn’t do.

“I swear that I didn’t do shit!”

“Then why are you being so defensive?”

“Because you’re accusing me of crap that I didn’t even do!”

Apparently, according to the stupid shopkeeper that was currently giving him a hard time, some kids were going around and stealing stuff from the shelves. Due to the stress, the shopkeeper immediately accused Tommy of being apart of that group of kids. She wouldn’t let him leave, even after he explained himself. So there he stood, feeling like a helpless child once again.

“Is something the matter?”

Tommy turned to see a petite woman standing behind the shopkeeper, arms crossed. Despite her height, or lack of it, she seemed very intimidating. At least, that’s what the shopkeeper seemed to believe.

“Oh, ma’am, my apologies! I was just reprimanding this deli-”

“My son. You’re reprimanding my son.”

“Son???”

“SON??? WHAT???”

“What is she doing?”

“NEW PARENT POG???”

“Huhhhhhh??????”

“FINALLY OBTAINING A MOTHER, POG???”

“MUMZA???”

“MOTHERINNIT???”

Tommy perked up at this, peering over at the lady once more. The shopkeeper seemed flabbergasted at how blunt the woman was with her. The woman, however, stayed firm with her stance and gaze. 

“You’re son, ma’am?”

“Yes, my son. How many times do I need to repeat myself? I sent him in here to buy some fresh fruit to snack on before lunch, but I now see that was a mistake.”

“W-Wait, no! Ma’am, I didn’t-”

“We will find a different shop to go buy fruit at, instead. Do think about things before acting. Here,”

The woman grabbed a flier and a pamphlet from Tommy, handing it to the shopkeeper.

“You can make things up to both me and my son by telling shoppers about this. Now, we shall take our leave. Come on, dear.”

The woman held her hand out to Tommy, who nodded his head and took it. She led him out of the store and to the street, ignoring the apologies coming from the shopkeeper. Once they were a good distance away, she let go.

“Sorry about that, but you seemed stuck with her hounding you like that. I was going to ask for a flier or pamphlet, but figured I should help you instead.”

Tommy blinked a few times before laughing alongside the woman. Chat was laughing alongside them, taking a liking to the mysterious woman who had saved their little pogchamp.

“Ah, I should introduce myself. I’m Kristin, very nice to meet you! I’m originally from SMP Earth, but I somehow ended up here many years ago.”

“SMP Earth? Holy shit, I’m from there, too! I’m Tommy, by the way. Well, my actual name is Thomas, but everyone calls me Tommy. I’m from Business Bay, but I eventually became the youngest prince of the Antarctic Empire.”

“Youngest prince? Are you Phil’s brother?”

“What? Nah, he adopted me as his son.”

Tommy was startled as the woman, Kristin, began choking on air. Alarmed, he pat her back as he gave her a water bottle he had on him. After a while, she raised her hand and nodded, indicating that she was okay.

“Wow, he has a son. The world is ending, hah.”

“Four, actually. He has four sons.”

“Oh my god, I’m going to have a heart attack.”

Tommy laughed before asking what was on his mind. Judging by the breezy feeling that moved across his starry face, he knew that Clara led this woman to him.

“How do you know Phil?”

Kristin’s face brightened up as a small blush painted her cheeks.

“Er, how about I tell you about it as we walk?”

“Better yet, why don’t you tell me and my older brother about it over lunch?”

--------

Grian was not expecting Tommy to come back with an older woman. He didn’t mind, however, after hearing how she saved his brother from the shopkeeper’s rage. Laughing, he ruffled the younger boy’s hair. 

“Haha, you found a mother!”

“We’re brothers, so wouldn’t that make her our mother? Sheesh, dumbass.”

Kristin laughed out loud in the background, holding her stomach and she doubled over. Tommy happily smiled, very glad to have someone appreciate his language. Once they all gave proper introductions and a reason as to why Kristin was with them, they all got food and sad down at one of the outside tables.  After getting a few decent bites into their meals, Tommy spoke up.

“So,  how do you know Phil?”

“Ah, yes, that old fart-”

She smiled as both boys snorted at that statement. Taking a bite out her bread roll, she waited for them to settle down before. Nodding her head, she continued.

“It’s true, he is! Anyways, I knew him when I lived back on SMP Earth. I was, well, am the princess of a smaller kingdom back there. Phil’s parents had started a small kingdom of their own, the Antarctic Empire. My parents, along with his, arranged for the two of us to be married to one another. I would have usually thrown a fit at an arranged marriage, like I always did when they brought up suitors, but Phil and I actually liked each other, so we agreed. I disappeared before the wedding, however, fell through my mirror and into a hardcore world. Once I made it out of there, I ended up here. Been here ever since.”

Grian started choking out of surprise. Tommy and Kristin both moved quickly to help him, worried. Once he gave them a sign that he was okay, he adjusted himself.

“You’re Queen Kristin?”

“Queen?”

“Yeah. I read it in one of the books in the archive when I was younger. Although you disappeared, you were still married to my dad, and the two kingdoms were merged into one.”

“What?”

Kristin stared at Grian, confusion and disbelief painted her face. Suddenly, she groaned and hit her head against the table. 

“This explains why some of the things I bought took way too long to finalize! My last name has been Minecraft this entire time!”

Tommy and Grian shared a look of disbelief. This was the only thing she was concerned about? Being married to Phil wasn’t troubling or shocking news to her at all! Suddenly, Tommy’s eyes widened as he gasped, pointing at Kristin. 

“WHAT THE FUCK?! THAT MAKES YOU MY ACTUAL MOTHER.”

--------

Kristin helped them finish setting up banners and podiums. She also aided them in passing out fliers and pamphlets to passing people. Once they ran out, she walked them over to the Hub. As they stood at the entrance portal to Hermitcraft, Tommy hugged Kristin, who ran her fingers through her head. She may have been new to the whole mother thing, but her caring instincts were enough to comfort the young boy.

“I wish I could come, I really do, but I’m not on the list. I’ll have to wait until opening day.”

Before Tommy could whine, Grian spoke up. 

“What if we got you on the list? Would you move in, then?”

Kristin laughed as she pat Grian’s shoulder, a smile painting her face.

“Of course! I just found out I had family! You guys aren’t getting rid of me that easily. Here, take this. If you guys get me on the list, use this to get to my house.”

Tommy brightened up as he was given a compass labeled Kristin. He nodded as Grian promised. 

“Bye Kristin! See you around!”

“Bye Tommy, Grian, I’ll see you two soon.”

The boys watched as she walked away, a pep in her step as disappeared into the crowd. Nodding to each other, Tommy and Grian went home.

[quindolyn]

Midnight Walks Part 2 || James Potter

Pairing: James Potter x Reader

Word Count: 3020

Note: I finally finished part 2, this is horrible, just completely plotless and a lot of fluff but it was stuck in my head and I wanted to get it out before I started working on something else (what will that be? You know what that’s an excellent question). It’s a bit shorter than part 1 but also much longer than necessary. I hope you all enjoy it or at least don’t hate it, constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated.

Warnings: Nonsexual nudity, hair washing, fluff, comma abuse, the Addams Family (I watched it all the time with my dad when I was like 7), lots of fluff, barely proof read and done so at 11:36 pm my time so

Masterlist

Part 1

What you and James hadn’t counted on was for it to start pouring down on you as the two of you laid, splayed out along the playground structure, metal of the bars cutting into your backs. After the kiss in the rain James insisted on having the two of you had stumbled home, wrapped up in each other’s arms, smearing sloppy kisses on any exposed skin you could get your lips on. It probably took you guys a solid 20 minutes longer than it should’ve to get home, you must’ve looked ridiculous meandering down the residential street trying to swallow each other’s tongues, drenched in rain. Eventually you made it home, managing to fall through the front door without breaking anything in the house, yourselves included though there were admittedly a few close calls. “You want a bath doll?” James asked you, cupping your face in his rough, calloused hands, fingertips dripping with rain brushing small, soft circles on your cheekbones. Lifting one of his hands off your face you cradled it in both of yours, tracing a healing callus that sort of looked like a flower, with some very wonky petals, but a flower nonetheless, “Yeah, that sounds good. You’ll take it with me?” Pressing a kiss to your nose he spoke, “Of course, not gonna run a bath for my pretty girl and not take it with her. M’Not an idiot my love.” “Guess not,” You shrugged, a smirk playing at your lips, earning you a playful push against your shoulder. Lifting you into his arms bridal style he carried down the hall to your room where we placed you down on your bed, still being clad in his varsity jacket, you pulled it tightly around yourself to conserve any heat you may’ve had while trying not to shiver from the water that still soaked you. You could feel the comforter beneath you getting wet. “Damn you’re pretty in my clothes baby doll.” He simpered pulling your arms parallel to the floor so he could see how much longer the sleeves of the jacket were than your arms. “They just swallow you whole,” He commented, really more to himself than to you. “Be right back m’love.” He promised before he traipsed out of the room and across the hall to where your bathroom was. You leaned back on your bed as you listened as the water started running when James turned the faucet on, the thrumming sound quickly lulling you to sleep. You awoke in Jamie’s arms but 15 or so minutes later as he carried you into the bathroom once the giant claw foot tub had finally filled to his satisfaction. You smiled dreamily as the sweet scent of your favorite bubble bath flooded your nostrils, you blinked your bleary eyes to see the breathtakingly handsome face of your boyfriend. “Bath ready?” You mewled, your voice weaker than you would’ve thought after such an inconsequential amount of sleep. “Yeah, nice and hot (Y/N/N), just how you like it.” “Great,” Pushing the heel of your hand into your eyes you tried to wipe away the sleep that had so quickly overtaken you. James placed you on the bathroom counter with ridiculous care, as though you were the single most precious thing in the world, handling you with such gentleness you were almost afraid about getting used to it, knowing if you were ever treated with anything less you may just break. “Let’s get this off you.” As he pushed the jacket off your shoulders and down your arms, seeing an opportunity James took it, kissing the delicate skin of your shoulder. “That tickles Jamsie,” You scolded completely unconvincingly as his light, barely there stubble grazed your skin. “Sorry darling,” The shit eating grin on his face said otherwise, “Just couldn’t help myself.” As you reached around to undo your bra James pulled his shirt over his head, leaving it to rest on the closed lid of the toilet, once his pants were pooling on the floor along with his boxers he moved to you, still perched where he first set you in your shorts. You lifted your hips so he could pull down your shorts, still soaking from a mixture of fountain and rain water. Once he sliped them and your panties off your legs his hands were back on you, caressing the your sides as he stared into your eyes, a dazed look you usually equate with post sex washes over his face. “What are you thinking about J?” You asked, tangling your hands in the hair at the nape of his neck. “You,” He responded simply, leaning forward so that the two of your foreheads are melded together, his nose bumping yours, “And how much I adore you.” If you didn’t love him as much as you did you probably would’ve complained about how your face hurt from all the smiling you did around him, you knew smile lines were in your distant future but you couldn’t find it within yourself to care. Because everytime you looked in the mirror you would be reminded of him, almost as if you got to carry around a piece of him with you forever. “I love you too but I’m cold, can we get into the bath?” He nodded, pulling you to the edge of the counter, moving so your legs were linked together at the small of his back, hands clasping together at the back of his neck. “Let’s go, little koala,” He chuckled, one arm on your back, the other supporting your bum, a stray finger stroking your bare skin. You closed your eyes at the nickname, savoring the vibrations of his chest as he spoke and laughed. When the both of you were settled into the tub, him behind you, hands rubbing up and down your arms, his chin rested on your shoulder so that your faces were pressed together, cheek to cheek. “Did you like the walk bub?” “I did!” You smiled, turning to that your nose was prodding against the side of his face, “I don’t think I’ve thanked you-” “You don’t have to,” He shook his head, “You don’t have to thank me for spending time with you, I want to be here for you, you don’t need to pay me in ‘thank you’s’. I’m just glad I was able to help you.” “I still want to say thank you,” You murmured, reaching down into the soapy bubbles fishing around for his hand for a moment before he caught on to what you were doing and moved his hand to yours. You smiled gratefully when you felt his much larger fingers brush the back of your hand. His hum tickled your back forcing you to stop yourself from wiggling around so that the nearly overflowing water wouldn’t splash out the sides of the tub. “Can I wash your hair Jamsie?” You asked him, twisting around so that your chest was pressed to his, faces mere inches from each other. “You want to angel?” He let out a small chuckle when you enthusiastically nodded your head, your eyes going wide as you sucked your bottom lip between your teeth, excitedly gnawing at it. “Okay sure darling, how are we going to do this?

After you both had abandoned any pretense of keeping all of the bath water inside the bath, maneuvering was a lot easier. As you sidled up behind him you ran your hands down his muscled back, relishing in the feeling of his skin against your palms. “So pretty,” You murmured, leaning to gently kiss in between his shoulder blades. “Uh, Jamie?” You asked shyly. “Yeah?” “Could I wash your back once I’m done with your hair?” You asked nervously, as though he wasn’t already sitting in between your legs, the both of you stark naked. “I’d love that (Y/N),” He leaned back into your embrace, forgetting that he was much larger than you, but that didn’t stop you from wrapping your arms around his neck, drawing yours and his initials onto the skin of his stomach. Your eyes flitted over to the shelf next to the tub where rows of shampoos and conditioners, body washes and scrubs sat. You plucked a bottle from your collection and flipped off the lid, squeezing the eucalyptus scented shampoo into your hand. “Can you scooch down for me baby?” You asked, tapping his shoulder as he wordlessly complied sliding so that his body was submerged in the bubbles and water up to his nipples. Working the soap into his hair you massaged his scalp drinking up the soft whimpers and groans he let out as you cleaned his hair. “Feels so good baby.” He praised reaching a hand back to pet your wrist. “I’m glad you like it,” Your response came with a kiss to his temple. Once 10 or so minutes, give or take, had elapsed you figured his scalp was clean enough, “Alright baby, dunk for me,” You instructed, dipping your hands into water to clean them. “Don’t want to be done though bubs, felt so nice.” He whined like a petulant toddler, reaching back for your hands trying to get them back on his scalp. “I could conditioner it for you if you’d like.” You offered, feeling benevolent. “Yes please Princess.” As you pulled the conditioner bottle from its place on the shelf James rinsed his hair, quickly moving back between your legs. He hummed as you gently yanked at his tresses, fingering in the conditioner into his hair. “I could get used to this (Y/N),” He purred, closing his eyes as waves of pleasure crested over him. “Yeah?” “Yeah.” He confirmed. “When do you want to get married?” You wondered aloud to him as the thought swept over your consciousness as you continued to massage his scalp. “(Y/N) (L/N), are you proposing to me?” He quickly turned his head, craning his visage to try to meet your gaze. “Hey, stop it,” You scold, moving his head so he’s facing back forward, “Gonna get soap in your eye if you’re not careful.” “You’re avoiding my question (L/N),” James sang, relaxing back into you as you continued your ministrations on his scalp. “Shove it Potter.” “Calm down Mrs. Potter,” He teased you, “Of course I want to get married, one day. I haven’t thought about it too much though, we’re still so young.” “Oh,” You failed at masking your disappointment, “I guess.” “Baby,” He turned around to face you, hair still soapy with bubbles which ebbed at his hairline, “I am going to marry you one day, trust me, if I have any say in it I’m going to put a ring on your finger but I prefer to live in the moment with you, I need to savor every second we have together, can’t spend too much of my time looking to the future. Don’t want to miss what we have now.” HIs explanation brought a gentle smile to your face, “I get it.” You nodded. “But,” He began. “Yes?” “If I did think about us getting married…” He trailed off. You whined, removing your hands from his hair, “Come on just tell me.” “Don’t stop, why’d you stop?” James groaned going limp. “You’re a literal child, you know that Potter? Keep talking and I’ll keep massaging.” “Hmph,” After a minute he relented, “I wanna wait until we’re done with school, and not just high school, college, grad school, law school, I don’t know, whatever we want to do, wherever life takes us.” “You really want to wait that long?” “I want to wait until we’re stable, I don’t want to start our life together without a solid foundation.” “I understand that, it’s smart.” It was smart, James was a smart person and being captain of the football team and thinking through all of those pranks he and his friends were so partial to playing he had an amazing strategic mind, something you both admired and envied. Which is why you didn’t buy that he hadn’t thought about your wedding, even if he wanted to, you knew James, he couldn’t deny himself. “At our wedding I want a sit down dinner, buffet is too tacky.” You were right, he had thought about it. “Yeah?” “Yeah, and I’ve thought about your dress too.” A truly comically large grin spread across your face. “Obviously you should wear whatever you want but I think you’d look breathtaking in a ballgown. Lots of lace and bling.” “Bling?” “Yes, bling, you should look like a princess on our wedding day. But I’m torn,” “You are?” “Yes,” He exclaimed emphatically, as though he was being forced to make the most important decision in his life and both options were equally appealing. “Because you’d also look gorgeous in a simple dress, nothing too flashy, understated but still elegant, because at the same time I don’t want the dress distracting from your beauty. All eyes should be on you that day.” “You’re a sap James Potter, a sap.” Despite your words you felt a fluttering in your chest, James Potter was many things. An idiot, slightly arrogant, a pain in your ass, the sweetest man alive, and a genuinely good person, even if he was a sap. “I think I’m done darling,” He lifted his arm out of the bath, showing you his pruney fingers, “I’m turning into a raisin bub.” “But what about your back?” “Next time?” “Sure darling, next time.”

James’ shirt hung low around your knees, the soft, warm fabric tickling your damp skin, you laid on your back, your head resting against his chest which was steadily rising and falling, his toned arm wrapped around your waist, inching up the fabric of his shirt to get to your bare stomach. “You wanna watch a movie darling?” “Something stupid please.” After much debate the two of you settled on the Addams Family Values, James argued that it wasn’t stupid though you said it was pure “brain candy”, not anything too engaging or something you had to pay any attention to but still enjoyable. About 20 minutes into the movie neither of you had so much as uttered a single word, settling into the comfortable silence of merely being in each other’s embrace. That was until James spoke, abruptly breaking the silence, “Peonies,” Was all he said. “‘M sorry what?” You grumbled, your voice rough from being half asleep when he spoke. “Peonies, for our wedding, my mom has always grown them in her garden, she grows lots of flowers roses, tulips, carnations, aster, sunflowers too, but peonies have always been my favorite. Sirius and I, when we were little would sit in her garden and pick them, weaving them into little flower crowns for the other to wear, we were her Flower Princes.” “I’m a little offended you haven’t made me a flower crown J, You playfully griped, “Swear to God sometimes I think you’re more in love with Sirius than me.” “Never,” His voice was strong, certain, as he tightened his hold on your waist, pulling you closer to him as he flung one of his legs over both of yours, “Love you most (Y/N), for forever I love you most.” His words became slightly garbled as he babbled, sleep starting to over take him. “I know,” You soothed his wounded ego, stroking his arm, “I’m just playing with you Jamsie.” “Don’t want you to ever think I don’t love you.” “I’m not sure how I could,” You started, the events of the past 3 hours rushing through your brain, the phone call, the hug through the window, him tying your shoes for you, the fountain, his jacket, the bath, the Addams Family. You don’t show up for someone like James did for you unless you really love them, which evidently he did. “You, James Potter, are the most wonderful man and I love you beyond comparison.” “I love you too darling, forever and for always.” It didn’t take you long to fall asleep lying in his arms, he pulled up a blanket around both of your shoulders, both of you being too lazy to get under the actual covers. To the metronome of James’ heart beat, and the rhythm of him moving his leg over your you fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Sunday morning you woke up sorely missing the morning prior, waking up in James’ arms was unlike anything you could ever dream of. And instead of sleeping in until 10 like you had with him you were up at the crack of dawn to the sound of the construction going on next door at your neighbor’s house. After much resistance on your part you dragged yourself out of bed and downstairs to fix yourself some breakfast, wishing James was there to make it for the two of you as he had yesterday before going off to work at the local consignment store. Smearing jam over your toast you aimed it for your mouth missing by an inch or two as you were distracted, scrolling through your phone in your opposite hand. Apricot jam smeared across your face in a mess of orange-yellow glory when you jumped at the abrupt sound of the doorbell ringing. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” You murmured, dropping your toast onto your plate before rushing to get the door, not wanting a second ring to wake the other people in your house. “Hi,” You greeted opening the door to a middle aged woman with a worn face in a pair of khakis and a company shirt you didn’t bother taking too close a look at, “How can I help you?” “Are you (Y/N) (L/N)?” She asked, a pleasant smile gracing her lips. “Yes, I am.” You confirmed, puzzled as to why this woman was at your door so early in the morning.” “Someone ordered flowers to your house for you,” She explained patiently, detecting your befuddlement, “There should be a card in the arrangement.” She said as she handed you an extravagant bouquet of brilliant pink flowers. Peonies.

tagging: @randomoutsiders​

[jj-bxby]

if the world was ending ~ jj maybank song fic ✨100 special✨

summary - song fic inspired by ‘if the world was ending’ by jp saxe and julia michaels

gif by @toesure

word count - 4.0k

warnings - mentions of abuse and anxiety, angst!!, fluff

It was impossible to sleep. Hurricane Maggie was the biggest that Kildare had seen in years, and it was horrifying. Looking at your boarded-up windows, you passed a hand through your hair anxiously. You turned your focus back to the flashing television with warnings in bright colors filling the entirety of the display. Exhaling shakily, you turned on your phone. No new messages were shown and the screen soon flashed its “No Signal” warning. Shit.

It had been months since you and JJ decided to break up, and ever since you two had been slowly drifting apart. Even though your separation was technically mutual, it wasn’t. Breaking up with the boy was the last thing you wanted to do, but he thought it was best for both of you. After a year of being together, he still had a difficult time telling you about the mottled bruises on his body that you knew weren’t from biking accidents, about the nightmares he’d have that woke him up at night, about the way he would flinch when you moved too quickly. After hours of tear-filled argument with JJ, you two spent your last night in the same bed, and he was out of your house the next day. Despite still being friendly with the pogues, you didn’t show up to their parties or lake days as much. Seeing JJ flirt with other girls, even if it was 50 yards away from you, still felt like a knife in your heart. And him locking eyes with you during it was just twisting the knife.

JJ wasn’t your JJ anymore. And you weren’t his Y/N. Even though you hadn’t spoken in weeks, you couldn’t think of anything but him when the sirens began blaring. JJ loved to surf the amazing waves that hurricanes would create, and you doubted that Maggie’s waves would be any different. It made your breath catch in your throat when you thought of him out drinking alone, him surfing the hurricane, or, God forbid, him being stuck in his house for the duration of the storm. You felt tears prick at your eyes, knowing that he didn’t have any reason to tell you where he was or that he was safe anymore. Everyone knew Maggie would do damage, especially on The Cut, and your home was right in the danger zone. You could have stayed at Kiara’s place, but you wouldn’t have felt any safer there than you would have at home, alone. Honestly, you couldn’t care less about what happened to your house. It was a house, it can be fixed up or replaced. You laid back down on your bed, closing your eyes as all of the most dangerous scenarios your brain could conjure up flashed behind your eyes. JJ being sucked under by the surge, your home collapsing on you, JJ caught in the exposed wiring, everything scared you. You had no right to him anymore. But goddamnit, the entire fucking island was in panic mode, why couldn’t he just tell you that he was okay? Tears spilled down your cheeks as you maneuvered to settle your body under the covers, the sound of rain pelting against all sides of your home echoing through the room. You could hear one of your windows shatter, and you shut your eyes tightly. You were trying to picture being anywhere else, and what you pictured was JJ’s arms around you, holding you tightly against him while he set his head on your shoulder. It felt shameful to think of JJ as your safe haven when you hadn’t been in his arms in months, but it was the only thing calming you enough to steady your breathing as you choked back sobs.

As much as you didn’t want to admit it, JJ still held your heart fully in his hands. And right now, he was squeezing it tighter and tighter, the hole in your chest growing larger by the minute. You had thought that whatever tether attached you to him would be cut once he left you that day, but it just kept pulling. It was tighter than ever now, and the feeling of it pulling your soul from your body grew stronger the longer you stayed away from him, and it was cruel. The feeling made the whole of your body ache — Your head hurt, your chest felt tight, your legs were weak, and your arms were vacant and they pulsed with pain. It was unbearable.

The throbbing in your head worsened as something was flung against your front door. You sat up as the noise came again, even though it startled you, you knew it was likely a tree that fell. You got up to pad down the hall to your open kitchen as sleep evaded you. Trying to flick the lights on was no use, there was no power. Sighing, you grabbed a bottle of water from the counter and cracked it open. There was no alcohol in your house, as much as you truly wanted some right now. You’d given up drinking after splitting with JJ. It would have been to easy to swallow down all of the hurt, and not feeling it would have only been worse. As you walked to your couch to grab a blanket, your door swung open. JJ was standing there, sopping wet. You could see that a mixture of tears and rain stained his cheeks, his red and swollen eyes giving him away.

“Y/N,” JJ whispered, shutting the door behind him. His blue eyes contrasted the redness starkly, and they pierced through me. “I don’t… I was gonna surf the hurricane but I know you would’ve never forgiven me,” he laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “And I just — I sat in my room and the only thing I could think of was if you were alone. I know you aren’t mine anymore, I know I fucked that up. But I couldn’t stand thinking of you staying here alone.”

You didn’t know what to say. You’d been wanting him back for six months, and now he shows up at your doorstep at two in the morning. In the middle of a hurricane. Dripping wet. You didn’t say anything, you just walked towards him and wrapped your arms around his waist, holding him against you while you buried your head in his chest. You half expected him to push you off of him, but instead, he rested his chin on the top of your head before dropping it down to your shoulders. His arms quickly looped around you to hold you just as tightly while hot tears rolled down his face.

“God, I’m so sorry, Y/N.” He said, in between his hiccups and sobs. He wasn’t drunk for once. He was just so tired of fucking up, and he couldn’t handle it anymore.

You’d never seen him like this. He never let you. But now, JJ was breaking down in your arms, and he was trusting you fully. You were the one holding his heart, and he didn’t want it back.

“Shh, J. You’re alright.” You told him, fighting back the tears that welled in your eyes. You pulled back from him just enough to look at his face. “You’re gonna be freezing if you stay in these clothes. You need a shower and something dry to wear, okay?” He nodded sluggishly. “Here, come with me.”

You led JJ to your room and had him wait as you dug around in your closet to find the box of clothes JJ had kept at your place for the nights he stayed over. You debated tossing them out when you found them a couple of weeks after he left, but couldn’t bring yourself to part with them. Instead, you would find yourself digging out his Kildare sweatshirt to wear when you missed him, and his gym shorts to sleep in when it was one of your sleepless nights. Eventually, the clothes lost his scent and stopped being something consolatory. Instead, they became a source of resentment, but no matter how many times you tried to convince yourself to throw them out, they always wound up right back in the corner of your closet. You walked out with the bin, placing it on the bed and rifling through it to find something warm for him, finally settling on sweatpants and a worn Kildare tee.

“I can’t believe you kept those. I always figured you would have burned them or something,” JJ mumbled as he walked up beside you.

“I thought about it,” you said plainly. “I was gonna have ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ playing and everything.” JJ smiled slightly, knowing you were still half-serious. You tilted your head to look at him and sighed. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes red-rimmed and puffy, and he definitely smelled like malt. You sighed because you knew exactly how little you could trust him in the shower while drunk. Usually, after keggers, you and your boyfriend would shower together so that you could keep an eye on him, as you were usually the soberest between the two of you. You’d wash him as you dodged his kisses, giggling at how lovey he was. JJ had fallen before, the dumbass, so you didn’t want him in there alone, but being alone with him was also the last thing you wanted.

“JJ?” He hummed slightly, swaying. “You aren’t sober enough to shower by yourself are you?”

JJ’s eyes widened at you and his cheeks heated up. He shook his head, knowing damn well that he would fail a sobriety test before it even started. “I mean, I could probably do it or just go without—”

“Nope, you’re swaying just standing here, and you smell like a distillery, J. C’mon.” You start off to your bathroom while JJ trails closely behind. Once you’re in, you turn on the showerhead to let it warm up. You turn around to find JJ with his shirt already off and grabbing a towel from your cupboard, handing you one. “What’s this for?”

He looks at his outstretched arm with confusion. “Shower. We’re gonna shower, right?” He says to you, tilting his head. Goddamnit, he always was a cute drunk.

“J, you’re gonna shower, I’m gonna stay out here.”

“Oh. That’s right.” He sets your towel down on the ceramic of the sink. “So, like... are you gonna let me get undressed now?” You smiled to yourself at how flustered JJ was, and you knew it wasn’t just the booze in his system.

“We dated for a year, JJ, I’ve seen you naked plenty of times,” you say as you hopped up on the sink, dangling your legs off of the edge. You crossed your arms over your chest as the blonde nodded to you before he stripped down to only his boxers. As he walked to check the temperature of the shower you saw the bruises and scars that littered his back, sides, and chest, and you winced. He looked back at you, noticing the look on your face.

“Not used to seeing them anymore, I guess, huh?” He asked quietly. You shook your head at him, tearing your gaze away from the bruises to meet his eyes. “You sure you don’t wanna join me?”

You gulped, shifting your eyes off of him. Honestly, a large part of you wanted to follow him in there and have it be like it was months ago. The other part of you, though, still hurt just thinking of him and burned with rage at the thought of acting as though nothing had happened. “Don’t tempt me, Maybank,” you said quietly while averting your gaze. He nodded softly and pulled off his boxers before stepping in to take his shower. Setting your head in your hands, you exhaled harshly. You were trying to puff out all of your confusion and hurt, and inhaled confidence.

Before you realized what you were doing, you had stripped down to nothing and stepped inside of your shower to join JJ, making him jump slightly when he heard the curtains being pulled.

“Y/N you don’t have to do this, okay? What the hell are you doing?”

“Just let me be here with you JJ, alright? Just let me be happy for a minute. You at least owe me that,” you murmured, pushing his damp hair away from his eyes. The boy nodded at you, his eyes shining brightly as always.

“I owe you way more than that, actually.” You stared at him for a moment, taking in the sight you’d been dreaming of for the past hundred-and-some days. Once your eyes trailed back to meet JJ’s, you turned around to grab the soaps you kept on the shower shelf. Opening one up, you tell JJ to give him your hands before you pour some of the suds into his open palms.

“They haven’t changed since I left,” he says while lathering the soap on to himself. JJ would always use your shampoos and body washes when he stayed over, liking the sweet scent of your soaps rather than the sandalwood option you had purchased for him. You did get rid of that soap, it was about the only thing of his you could bring yourself to throw out. Probably because it wasn’t really his.

You nodded, also scrubbing some of the soap into your hair. He reached out to wipe away some of the suds that were making their way towards your eyes, and it made you grin. JJ dipped his head under the stream of water to wash away the bubbles in his hair before shaking it out. You two did a little swap of places so that you were able to do the same, rinsing the shampoo out before working conditioner into your hair, and twisting it up into a bun. Turning your head to look for the body wash, you see JJ has already grabbed it and poured some out onto a washcloth. He had that damned boyish look in his eye that he always used to have when the two of you were alone together.

Stepping behind you, JJ murmurs into your ear. “I know I owe you for a lot of shit things I did, but can I start with this?” He slid the soapy rag over your stomach, resting it there to wait for your response.

Your head was spinning, and you felt like you were the intoxicated one now. Without thinking, you nodded your head, relaxing your muscles as JJ smoothly moved the rag along the curves of your body. You rested your back against his chest lightly, enjoying the familiar feeling. You could feel JJ’s warm breath against your neck as he washed you, and the realization that this was the most intimate feeling you’d had in months slowly sunk in. You turned your head to look at JJ — He had his lip tucked between his teeth as his eyes shifted to your own. He knew that lip thing was always a turn on for you, even though he wasn’t doing it intentionally this time.

“You okay with this?” He asked with worried eyes, taking his hands off of you.

“Yes, yeah, I’m okay, J. I just missed this,” you sighed, passing a hand over your face. “I missed this more than I thought I did.” You looked away from him, wishing he didn’t move his hands away. “Look, I just don’t want to do this shit and then get hurt again, JJ. You know I loved you, I know you loved me, so why did you leave?”

“Y/N,” he said softly, tilting your head up to look at him. “You’re right, I loved you. I still do. But when I broke up with you, I did it because I was scared. I was scared I’d turn into my father, scared that I didn’t deserve you, scared I’d try and hide things from you like I do with my father,” JJ sighed. “I’m sorry I was so stupid, and I’m sorry that I hurt you. I thought I was doing it because I loved you, and I was saving you from myself. But I was just hurting you. I’m not Luke,” he said while shaking his head, “I won’t let myself be like him. I wouldn’t hurt you, I wouldn’t even think of it. I was running from you because I didn’t think I deserved you. I didn’t believe I deserved you loving me so damn much.” JJ had tears shining in his eyes that matched your own.

“JJ, I sat in my room for months crying over you. I was panicking that you’d be trapped with Luke tonight, I wanted to go find you. I was terrified when you didn’t even say that you were okay,” you whispered, tears tracking down your cheeks. “God, when you came through that door I didn’t know if I was angry or happy. I still love being in your arms, but it makes me so angry to be held by you. I still fucking love you, even though I tried not to.”

Tears slipped out from JJ’s red eyes as he ran his hands through his wet hair. “I still love you too, Y/N. I never stopped. I don’t expect you to take me back — hell, I'd be shocked if you did — but if you want to try again, I want to, too. I want to be better for you.”

You wiped at your eyes, not knowing which drops were from the shower, or which were from your salty tears. You didn’t want to be hurt again, but you knew your heart wouldn’t be whole again unless you were with JJ. You knew he wasn’t Luke. You knew because JJ kissed you sweetly, he talked to you lovingly anytime he got the chance, he held you when your mind was out of control, and he never got angry with you. Of course, you two had had your arguments — but you worked them out together, both of you listening to the other’s concerns and talking out solutions.

“Of course I want you back, JJ.” You shook your head at him and turned the shower off. “But we’re not going to be back at the same place we ended. I have to know I can trust you again. You know that, right?”

JJ nodded at you, sniffling quietly. “I can do that... I can do that, Y/N.” He followed you onto the tiled floor, standing as water dripped off of him with quiet thuds. While you wrapped a towel around yourself and grabbed the other JJ pulled on his sweatpants. You walked over to the boy and draped the towel around his shoulders as he thanked you. JJ gazed adoringly at you, enamored by everything about you. The curve of your lips, the way strands of your hair were pasted to your forehead, the flecks of different colors within your y/e/c irises. He loved the mundane things he could do with you, and he loved the fact that you didn’t step back from him even more.

You cocked your eyebrow at JJ when you notice his staring. His eyes were focused on your lips, and he dipped his head down to level with your own. Your heart fluttered rapidly as your lips met, and it felt like your heart would beat directly out of your chest. His hand slid to cup your cheek, and yours moved to his shoulders. The only thing that mattered to you was JJ’s mouth on yours, and the throbbing pain inside of your head and throughout your body was replaced with a floating feeling. No more pain, just the warmth of JJ’s body enveloping your own. The kiss was soft and effortless — hypnotic, even — and the connection of your lips was reforming the burned bridge that linked you. The sweet scent of your skin made JJ grin and the velvety feel of your skin against his rough fingertips felt familiar; It was everything that he’d been craving for the last few months.

As he swiped his tongue across your lip, you pulled back to rest your forehead against his. His eyes were glittering like ice, as always. The intimacy of the moment felt so perfect, you didn’t want to say anything to ruin it, but you hadn’t gotten any rest all night, and you doubt JJ had either. “JJ, let’s lay down, okay?”

He hummed to you, his grin not faltering. He knew nothing more than kissing would happen tonight, but the thought of just sleeping in the same bed as you made him fidgety. JJ played with the strings on his sweatpants as he waited for you to finish getting dressed, having pulled on his shirt in the meantime. When you called for him to come out to your room he grinned, seeing you sitting on your bed while wearing one of the old tee’s he had left for you. You patted the space on the bed next to you for JJ to lay down with you. Once he walked over and slid under the covers with you, you both laid on your sides to look at each other. You reached for his hand, his fingers lacing with yours as he inspected your small hand enveloped in his.

“You never took that ring off, either,” he mumbled. The cold metal of the ring pressed against your skin, the one with JJ’s initials engraved in it that he had given you for one of your small anniversaries. You saw his matching one on his finger, the black metal had your own initials carved in. You let your gaze fall back on his face, seeing for the first time how tired his eyes were and the darkness underneath them.

“It's weird to lay like this, isn't it?” You asked with a small laugh, dropping JJ’s hand as he cracked a smile and shook his head. He would have slept on a pile of rocks if it meant that he would be close to you. You jumped as the thunder cracked violently and lightning illuminated the room. JJ opened his arms and you crawled over to him, his arms encircling you to hold you against him. Resting your head against his heart, you felt JJ press his lips against your hair and a wave of warmth washed over the both of you.

“I remember just how much you hated storms. I know you could never sleep when they happened,” JJ mumbled to you while tilting his head back to look at your figure, completely relaxed against him in the darkness. You opted to set your chin on his chest to meet his eyes. “Are you glad I came tonight? Or do you hate me even more, now?”

Even in the shadow of midnight, you could still see the sparkle of JJ’s eyes and the outline of his angular cheeks. His eyes searched yours in the second of silence before your response. “I’m so incredibly happy you came, J.” You moved almost imperceptibly, positioning yourself so that your face was slightly above JJ’s while his hands shifted from their previous position down to lay on your hips. You slid your fingertips along his jaw and lowered your lips to meet his as your eyes fluttered closed. JJ kissed you delicately, his lips sliding like velvet against your own. Your hand slid to the back of his head to tangle itself into his golden locks, his lips parting as you did. Butterflies erupted in JJ’s stomach and heat rose to his cheeks — it felt like the first time you had ever kissed him, and his head was dizzy from desire. The two of you laid like that for hours, your mouths moving together carefully, both of you entranced by one another yet again.

Finally, with JJ’s hand locked in yours, your world has stopped crumbling beneath your feet.

~tagging some moots~

@starlightstarkey @starksweasleymain @softstarkey @drewswannabegirl @shawnssongs @hmspxgue @livinglikepogues @jjsredhat @jjsbxtch @jjsmaybcnk @topperthorntons @obx-direction-sos @aesthetic-lyss @jiaraendgame

[bethpeaches123]

Oh, it’s you.

So I had an idea rolling around in my brain for a little while, and then a real-life situation presented itself that was eerily similar to this, and instead of acting on it in real life, I’m acting on it in fanfiction form. Because it’s less risky, ha. Here’s some enemies to friends to luvers. I’ve also posted it on AO3 for your reading pleasure. :) Enjoy! I would love some feedback too!

“Thanks,” said Katniss Everdeen briskly to the Uber driver in the front seat of the red Corolla. He grunted his acknowledgement in response as her hand grasped the door handle and pushed the rear passenger-side door open, swinging her slender legs out onto the sidewalk. She leaned back into the car and grabbed the bottle of wine off the seat, then ducked out and straightened up, slamming the car door closed as it drove off.

Turning to face the towering brick townhouse belonging to her cousin Gale and her childhood best friend Madge, Katniss squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.

“You don’t have to stay all night. Just a couple of hours,” she muttered to herself. “That’s like…four half-hours. Or...six twenty-minute periods…or 12 ten-minute chunks…or…anyway, whatever. Just do it. It’s Madge’s birthday, she wants you to be here, just suck it up.”

The night wind suddenly swelled, a gust whooshing past her, stirring up a pile of dead brown leaves around her feet that had fallen from the maple tree on their tiny front lawn. She realized with a start that she probably looks a little crazy to any onlookers, standing on the sidewalk in front of a picturesque townhouse after dark, staring up at it and muttering irritatedly to herself.

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “You’ve gotta get out more, you’re losing it being alone in that apartment all the time,” she muttered again, before stopping and shaking her head. You’re doing it again; quit talking to yourself already and just go inside, she thought.

She adjusted the crossbody strap of her clutch (the bright gold colour was out of character for her, but it was a gift from her sister and the nicest purse she owned) and curled the loose strands of dark chocolate hair that had slipped free from her side braid behind her ears. Smoothing her forest green shirt dress down over her slim frame, she tweaked the braided brown leather belt around her waist and absently brushed a piece of lint from the right thigh of her black tights, glancing down at her camel-coloured heeled booties.

She wasn’t entirely sure of the dress code of the evening, but at twenty-five, they were still at that age of being grownups, but not totally grownups, if that made sense; they were old enough to legally drink the copious amounts of liquor they downed at one of Gale and Madge’s house parties, but they were still young enough to thankfully not feel the full force of a crippling hangover the next day.

Hopefully this looks okay, she thought. Who are you trying to impress anyway? Stop. Stalling, she grumbled internally.

Irritated was her mood of the night and the night was only just beginning.

Clutching the bottle of wine with the golden bow on the neck, she pulled open the wrought-iron gate and proceeded up the short staircase to the house.

Leaning over and pressing the doorbell off to the right of the heavy black door, she glanced up at the night sky over her left shoulder and her eyes flickered to the wind blowing in the trees again. It was a warm night for the end of October – so warm she’d left her jacket at home and opted for just the long-sleeved dress. It wasn’t like she was walking anywhere. She’d take an Uber home later.

Katniss could hear the sounds of an upbeat indie tune floating through the open living room bay window off to the left. Her eyes flicked back to the front just in time to hear a voice on the other side of the door, where it swung open to reveal the guest of honour for the evening.

“Katniss! Hey! God, I’m so glad you’re here – Gale was wondering when you were going to show. Now maybe he’ll finally shut up,” said Madge, her smile spreading across her face and reaching her arms out to hug her best friend.

“Sorry I’m late,” said Katniss sheepishly, squeezing her back. “Carl the Uber driver wasn’t as prompt as the app said he’d be. He won’t be getting five stars from me tonight.”

Madge’s grin grew. “No matter – you’re here now, that’s what counts,” replied the pretty blonde. Her eyes softened as she looked at her old friend, hesitating. “How are you doing? How’s…everything? After…everything last week?”

“I’m okay. Really. It’s getting better every day.” Katniss said, quietly. She really didn’t want to go into details right here, right now. Or ever. The evening was supposed to be a happy occasion, for Madge. Katniss didn’t want to get into the depressing details of the collapse of her relationship with her long-time boyfriend Darius a few weeks before and the messy division of their things when he moved out of their shared apartment.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that...listen, I know it’s not the time or place, so I won’t pry, but please, let’s go for coffee again this week. You can bitch all you want about how much of a douchebag he is, and I’ll happily reassure you how you’re so much better without him,” said the birthday girl wryly.

“Deal,” replied Katniss, a small smile on her lips. “Here – this is for you,” holding up the bottle of Nova 7 that she knew Madge loved. “I know technically I should’ve gotten you champagne for your champagne birthday, but I thought you’d like this more.”

“Oh my God you’re my favourite person, you know that, right?” squealed Madge. “I mean, besides Gale, but whatever – where did you get this?! I’ve been trying all the liquor stores around town and they said they haven’t gotten a shipment in ages!”

“I had it specially ordered from their website! I’m glad you’re happy – I love you, but I’m never going through that hassle again. Customs are a bitch,” grimaced Katniss. Getting the white wine shipped from Canada seemed a bit much, but 25 was a big birthday and Madge had been Katniss’s best friend ever since they’d been paired together in Mr. Heffernan’s English Lit class in sixth grade. She deserved to be on the receiving end of a splurge.

“Well, you and I are going to drink this together tonight – no one else gets a drop,” beamed Madge. “Come on, I’ll stick it in the back of the fridge so no one can get at it before we do.”

She stepped over the threshold into the front porch and started to toe off her booties when Madge glanced down and stopped her. “No, no, leave them on, they’re part of your whole outfit. You look really good tonight, by the way,” she said, appraisingly. “I mean, not that you don’t usually, but, y’know, dresses are kinda rare for you. I’m babbling. Ignore me. It’s the wine. Come get a glass or three and start drinking with me please,” pleaded Madge as she turned back towards the kitchen down the hall and spotted her new husband. “Gale! Gale, Katniss is here! Get her a glass of Riesling, ASAP!”

“Hey Catnip! Good to see you – finally,” smirked Gale as he strode down the front hall towards them, but Katniss could see gentle concern in his eyes. He didn’t think you’d show, she thought to herself. She mentally huffed at her cousin.

“Obviously I’m here, it’s not like I’d miss my best friend’s birthday,” she said, somewhat shortly.

“Oh – of course not, I know that, I j-just...anyway, I’m glad you’re here. There’s a taco dip with your name on it so I hope you came hungry,” her older cousin stammered, glancing at his wife for reinforcement.

Both he and Madge seemed a little on edge at her presence, like they were afraid anything they’d say would set her off in some way. She knew they were only worried about her since the breakup, but it still irritated her to think that their shared glances probably meant they’d been talking about her before she’d shown up. Katniss hated being the centre of anyone’s attention or gossip.

It’s not gossip; they’re concerned about you because they love you, Prim’s voice popped in her head. Her younger sister was always her voice of reason and regularly called her out when she got in her own head and complained about people being interested in her personal life. With Prim on the other side of the country in medical school at Stanford though, she wasn’t here in person to call her out. But Katniss knew her as well as she knew herself, and knew it was exactly what Prim would say in this situation.

Steeling herself and wiping the scowl off her face, Katniss offered Gale a small, embarrassed smile and said, “I was really hoping you’d make your famous taco dip. I skipped dinner specifically for it.”

A flicker of relief passed over his face and Gale turned and gestured for her to follow him towards the dining room down the hall as Madge returned to the living room filled with guests. “I even covered it in extra shredded old cheddar, your favourite,” he grinned.

“Mmmm, hell yes. Where are the chips? I’m digging in right away,” she said eagerly, following behind him.

As they bypassed the living room and entered the dining room, she glanced back towards the front of the house and scanned the crowd. There was already a decent number of people here, some faces she recognized like old college pals Rue, Thom and Thresh, but others she’d never seen before. Gale’s work friends, probably, she thought absently.

“Is Joanna coming?” Katniss asked, turning her attention back towards the spread of food. “I haven’t talked to her all week. I meant to text her earlier, but I forgot.”

“Yep, she said she’s coming by once she’s finished at the office. Some big case she’s working on or something,” Gale replied. “Let me get you that Riesling, I’ll be right back,” as he turned towards the kitchen, leaving her to focus on the food. Grabbing a plate from the stack off to the left, she started piling taco dip onto it, her mouth watering in anticipation.

“Yeesh, Everdeen – leave some for the rest of us, why don’t you?” drawled a familiar voice.

Oh no. Not him, she groaned inwardly, the flush of annoyance rising up her neck and spreading across her face. She stiffened as she heard him chuckle softly and reluctantly turned to face the speaker.

“Oh, it’s you. Hello Peeta,” she said politely. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Why? Obviously I’d come to celebrate Madge. Besides, would you have stayed home and not graced us with your presence had you’d known?” Peeta smirked.

“Hmm, something like that,” she replied, pursing her lips before continuing reluctantly. “How are you? How are Delly and Connor? He must be, what, three now?” enquiring after his wife and son.

“…Yeah, he’s three now. Three and a half, actually, as he’ll tell you. Time flies when you’re having fun,” Peeta replied grimly, averting his eyes from her face. Confused at his response, Katniss was saved from having to reply by Gale appearing to their sides with her glass of wine.

“One Riesling for the lady. Hey Peeta, what can I get you? Beer? Liquor? Something to wipe that sour expression off your face?” asked Gale, wryly.

“Beer is fine, thanks Gale,” the wavy-haired blond replied. “I have to have something that’ll help wash down this taco dip, if Katniss doesn’t eat it all first.”

Katniss scowled at him. “Chill out, Mellark, there’s plenty there. I barely took any,” she retorted. Grabbing her plate and piling on a handful of nacho chips quickly, she turned and carried the plate and her glass of wine away from the irritating man before he could respond. Fuck, he’s such a dick, she stewed. Why does he have to be related to Madge?

Peeta Mellark and Madge Undersee-Hawthorne were indeed cousins, but he was also a former classmate of theirs from junior high and high school. It wasn’t like he and Katniss were friends though – they couldn’t have been further from that. Complete opposites throughout their early days, Peeta was a popular jock who seemed to get along with everyone. Everyone except quiet, kept-to-herself Katniss.

She had no idea why he never warmed to her – she’d sometimes catch him staring at her across the classroom or in the hallways, but he rarely spoke to her throughout their academic careers. She’d usually shoot him a puzzled look in return, because that’s exactly what he did to her – puzzled her.

Stupid Peeta Mellark. Why did he have to be here? And where was his wife, Delly? Katniss hadn’t laid eyes on the blonde bitch yet, but she was sure she’d know when she entered the room because the temperature would probably drop to below freezing, just like Delly’s chilly demeanour.

Katniss was never friends with Peeta, but she never understood what he saw in Delly. What was the title of that book she’d seen in Barnes & Noble one time? Why Men Marry Bitches? Maybe someone should’ve picked up a copy for Peeta Mellark because he could use some psychoanalysis as to why he married someone so horrible. Though, considering what she’d heard about the elder Mrs. Mellark while in school, maybe someone should pick up a book called Why Men Marry Their Mothers for him instead.

She moved through the crowd towards Rue and Thresh, when a flash of short brown hair caught her eye in the main hallway. “Jo! In here!” she waved to the petite brunette in a black pencil skirt and crisp white collared shirt. Johanna was her and Madge’s former college roommate-turned-other-best-friend who was currently kicking ass working at the hottest law firm in the city. She was fresh out of law school and had to article for a year before she could pass the bar and be a full lawyer, but the partners at her firm were already so impressed by her drive and her no-holds-barred attitude, they’d already offered her a position once she’d passed the bar in a few months’ time.

“Hey Kitty-cat, how goes it?” said Johanna, snaking her arm around Katniss’ shoulders in a side hug. “Ooh, gimmie that, I earned a big drink after the freakin’ day I’ve had,” pulling the glass of wine from her friend’s hand and taking a big gulp, then grimacing. “Ugh, never mind, I forgot you like girly drinks. I need something harder tonight.”

“Wine is sophisticated, thank you very much. Rough day?” Katniss asked sympathetically, taking the glass back and swallowing a mouthful of the cold, sweet liquid.

“Fuck me, it was brutal. This lawsuit is gonna be the death of me and I’m not even a lawyer yet,” Johanna groaned. “If I have to read through one more brief, I’m gonna stab my eyeballs out and shove them down the managing partner’s throat.”

“Graphic, but okay, sure,” winced Katniss. Jo was never one to hold back with her…colourful language. “Here comes Gale – give him your drink order, he’ll get you sorted.”

“Hey Jo, want a whiskey?” asked Gale as he approached, sizing up the brunette’s irritated expression.

“You read my mind, Hawthorne. Make it a triple? Or will we all judge me?” Jo drawled, glancing at her friends.

“Nah, the night is young. We’re celebrating!” Gale grinned. “ice, right?”

“Yep, thanks. So, Kitty, how are you? Finally feeling free of that douche canoe, Darius? Jesus, I’m so glad that’s finally over. You were way too good for him.”

“I can always count on you to not mince words. Jesus,” Katniss shot back. She knew Johanna hadn’t been Darius’s biggest fan, but now that they were broken up, she didn’t hold back on voicing her dislike of him.

“Well, at least you didn’t marry him. Divorces are messy. Though, you would’ve had me as your lawyer and I would’ve milked that fucker for everything he had, so maybe it’s a bit of a loss. I would’ve enjoyed that,” smirked Jo.

“God, you’re unbelievable,” sighed Katniss, but she said it with a small smile. Even though her bark was bad, Jo’s bite wasn’t. Katniss knew it was her friend’s way of showing concern and care for her.

“Whatever, you know you love me. Hey, is that Peeta? I saw his bitchy wife when I came in but didn’t see him,” Johanna said, gazing towards the dining room.

“Ugh, yes. What a tool. I was barely in the room when he started harassing me about taking too much taco dip. I’m pretty sure every one of our friends knows that taco dip was made with me in mind – Gale knows it’s my favourite.” Katniss grumbled.

“Well, maybe he needs a reminder. You can tell him yourself, because he’s headed this way.”

“Ugh, fuck me.” Katniss groaned, her eyes rolling back into her head.

“Sorry Everdeen, I’m a married man,” smirked Peeta, coming up behind her, a bottle of Stella Artois in his grasp.

Katniss flushed at his response, while Johanna smiled blandly at the young man. “I wonder for how much longer,” she muttered under her breath so that only Katniss could hear. Katniss’s brow furrowed at the comment, but brushed it off. Odd.

“Ah, Peeta. Everyone’s favourite prick,” smirked Johanna as she raised her voice, her eyes flicking between Katniss and the tall, brawny blond.

Katniss snorted. “What a lovely description, Jo. Very flattering.”

Peeta shot Katniss an irritated look before turning back to Johanna. “Nice to see you too, Jo. How’s life at your hot shot firm? Madge tells me your bosses love you.”

“Yeah, I think it’s more so that they’re afraid of me. Which I’m fine with. Men need intimidation a lot more than they realize.” Johanna replied, smugly.

“Well, you’ve got that covered then,” Katniss piped up.

“Speaking of intimidating women, Mellark, where’s your wife? Still got your balls in a vise or what?”

“Jo! Jesus.” Katniss blurted, her eyes wide and flickering to Peeta to gage his reaction. She didn’t like Peeta, but she also didn’t like awkward conversations about people’s relationships. Or any kind of conversation about relationships.

Peeta stiffened slightly at Joanna’s remark and drew his mouth in a thin line. “She’s over there talking to some co-worker of Gale’s. She’s fine.”

“Really? That’s not what Madge sa-,”

“Jo, I think Gale is waving at you – he’s got your whiskey,” Katniss interrupted. If there was one thing that could shut Johanna up, it was the promise of liquor.

“Finally, be right back,” Johanna threw over her shoulder as she strode towards Gale in the dining room.

Peeta glanced at Katniss, a slight frown on his face, which she ignored. She was eager to move away from the subject of his wife. “How’s Connor? How old did you say he was again?” she asked, nervously. She realized too late that by drawing Johanna’s attention to Gale and her drink, she was leaving herself alone with the person she despised the most at the party. Great. Just when I thought I’d escaped him, I land myself in another conversation with him. Good one, Everdeen.

“…Um…he’s three and a half…what was Johanna talking about? What did Madge say about Delly?”

Katniss pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it, stalling. “Oh, nothing. She just…she said Delly seemed a little off lately, that’s all. I think she was concerned.”

Peeta snorted. “Concerned. Sure she was. You’re a terrible liar, Everdeen,” he said, bitterly.

Katniss glanced at him again, thinking awkwardly about the conversation she’d had with Madge the week before. Madge had made a passing comment to her and Jo about Delly being bitchier than usual and said Peeta seemed withdrawn and moody. It wasn’t really Delly she was concerned about; it was her cousin. Peeta wasn’t a bitter person. But ever since he and Delly married a few months before Connor’s birth, almost four years ago, they’d all seen a shift in him. He was friendly to everyone (except Katniss, of course) but there was an edge to him that hadn’t been there before. It seemed to be getting more and more pronounced as time went on.

Why do you care if he’s out of sorts? She didn’t, really. She was just curious. Even though he wasn’t nice to her, he was generally nice to everyone else, so to see him so bitter confused Katniss. Not that she cared, though. Because she didn’t. Really.

“Yeah, well, ask her yourself then. Excuse me, I need a refill.” Katniss said shortly, turning and leaving him alone for the second time that night.

_________________________________

The night wore on, with Katniss managing to avoid Peeta for the most part, sticking to chatting with Johanna or Madge or one of their other college friends. When she noticed Madge’s wine glass empty at the same time as hers as they were both pleasantly buzzed, she said, smiling, “what do you think, Mrs. Hawthorne? Time to crack open the Nova?”

“Excellent idea, Ms. Everdeen. Would you do the honours?” beamed Madge, her eyes a little glassy by now. The two of them made their way to the kitchen, where a few other people were already gathered, chatting. Katniss pulled open the refrigerator door and poked her head in, searching for the bottle of imported wine, but didn’t see it.

“Where’d you put it, Madge? Did you forget to put it in?” she asked.

“No, it’s in there, I swear – you know I love it super cold.” Madge replied breezily.

“What are you looking for?” asked another voice.

“A bottle of wine I brought for Madge– ” started Katniss, turning around and stopping, her eyes on Peeta Mellark.

And the bottle of Nova 7.

The empty bottle of Nova 7.

“…what the fuck. Are you KIDDING me right now? Did you open and DRINK that?!” Katniss screeched. “Are you actually kidding me?? Fuck you, Mellark!! Do you know what I went through to get that for her?!” She could feel hot tears forming in her eyes, catching her off guard.

Peeta had started to smirk, but when he saw her face, he faltered and his mouth dropped open slightly. “I didn’t–I thought–Gale said there was white wine in–we didn’t–” he stammered, his eyes darting to his wife’s, then back to Katniss's. Katniss hadn’t noticed Delly off to the side, her hand clutching an almost empty wine glass.

“What’s the big deal, it’s just a bottle of wine, there’s plenty here,” said the blonde woman testily as she rolled her eyes. “Personally, I never saw the appeal of Canadian wines. There are so many better brands from Australia or Spain. Canada’s not even that foreign; they’re like, right next door.”

Madge groaned and launched into Delly and Peeta, shouting about the importance of the special birthday gift to the oblivious couple. Katniss tuned her out as she could feel the heat rising in her neck up through her face. She was already having a shitty day moping over Darius and didn’t even want to come to the party in the first place; she definitely didn’t want to have to deal with stupid Peeta Mellark and his stupid bitch wife; and the only thing she’d been looking forward to was sharing the bottle with her best friend.

And the two of them had ruined it.

She had to get out of there before the tears spilled over and she embarrassed herself in front of them. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room without a backwards glance.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[name-me-regret]

If The World Was Ending 4/?

If The World Was Ending Chapter Four: Los Angeles, I’m Yours

Read on AO3.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

“There is a city by the sea A gentle company I don't suppose you want to?

And as it tells its sorry tale In harrowing detail Its hollowness will haunt you

Its streets and boulevards Orphans and oligarchs A plaintive melody Truncated symphony. An ocean's garbled vomit on the shore Los Angeles, I'm yours...”

~ Los Angeles, I'm Yours - The Decemberists

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

‘Hey, Buck, it’s me. I just want you to tell Christopher I’ll be a little late picking him up, got our hands full here. It’s a good thing you’re missing it. Hope you guys are having fun.’

Buck was exhausted and lightheaded, but constantly looking for the boy with curls and a smile bright enough to light up a room. “Hey! There’s a kid under here!” a woman yelled.

“Christopher?” he exclaims, desperately clinging to any hope that it’s the little boy he’s looking for. “Hey! Hey, guys!” He hurries over, water sloshing around his legs and the Chris’s glasses hanging around his neck. “Hey, hey, big guy! Me and you, come on!” A man that’s almost four inches taller than him (which is impressive since he’s 6’2, hurries to help him. “All right, three, two, one. Go!”

They lift the heavy sign off the child, and as the others cheer and help them stand up, his hope is crushed when he sees it’s a twelve year old girl, not Christopher. The woman consoles the crying girl and Buck sighs in deep seeded exhaustion.

When someone says they might have seen Christopher at a Cupcakery on Strand, he forgets his fatigue and is moving again. He’s so wrapped up in wanting to find Chris and already numb, that he doesn’t notice that the edge of the sign has cut his arm pretty deeply.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony landed at a gas station, the water having receded, but the debris has done damage to the pumps and some were leaking. After pushing the emergency shut off button, he called it in and put up caution tape he’d snagged from a Home Depot store blocking off the driveway. Hopefully people would stay away, since there was a lot of spilled gas.

“Iron Man, there’s a fire at a Shell Gas Station on West Century Blvd,” he heard a woman’s voice from dispatch. He had just gotten back in the air as the call came in, heading toward the areas still heavily flooded with water. He was about to go put that fire out but saw a little boy in a yellow t-shirt sitting on top a car. “J, put out that fire out, I have eyes on a child in need of rescuing.”

He swooped down as the boy lifted his eyes to the sky, his small face covered in mud but looking relatively unharmed. Tony landed next to the car, making sure not to land too hard and risk upsetting the water and possibly knocking him over. “Hey, buddy,” he said, the faceplate lifting up.

“You’re Iron Man,” he said with a bright smile that made Tony smile as well.

“I sure am, what’s your name?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” he told him, making Tony grin again. He had an adorable lisp, and it made his heart melt. Despite what they said about him, he liked kids. It’s just that he feared turning out like Howard and messing up the life of an innocent child that made him never want to become a dad.

“That’s true and your mom and dad are smart for having taught you that.” He could tell he was having a hard time keeping his head up, and he didn’t think it was from fatigue. Maybe a disability.

“My mom... she’s gone,” he told Tony with a sad, quiet voice.

“Well, my mom is gone too, and my dad.” He sat on the front of the car, and besides shifting a bit, it didn’t move too much under the weight of the armor. “It’s okay to be sad, you know?” The kid nodded, squinting at his face. “How about this, my name is Tony. Now you know my name, besides being Iron Man. Is it okay to give me your name now? Or your dad‘s name?”

“I’m Chris,” he finally said.

“Alright, well, let’s get you to the nearest hospital, Chris. The nice people there will make sure you’re not hurt and get you home, okay?” He reached out and gently picked him up, the kid gripping his shoulders a bit clumsily.

When Tony took to the air, he made sure not to go too fast. If he did, he might hurt Chris and that’s the last thing he wanted. That meant it was slow going, but it also allowed him to hear Chris as he cried out joyfully at flying.

Tony smiled at his resilience, and was sure Chris was going to be alright.

The man took him to the field hospital they’d set up at the decommissioned VA hospital on Sawtelle, handing him over to a nurse, who was in charge of the kids; getting their names and the names of their family to reunite them later. “Stay strong, kid,” he told him. “I’m sure your dad will find you soon.”

“Bye, Tony,” Chris said as he waved at him as he was carried away.

“Cute kid,” he hummed, before blasting back into the air despite his tiredness to continue helping more people.

That’s how he spent the rest of the day, putting out fires and rescuing anyone that was trapped or stranded, and unfortunately finding a lot of corpses in the water. He hated to move on after tagging them, but there were other, living people that needed him. Tony nearly lost it when he found a drowned infant and he couldn’t just leave her, cradling the tiny body in his arms and carrying her to the nearest hospital.

He had to take a break then before he fell apart completely, stepping out of the suit for the first time in several hours. There were several relief workers also taking a break and he sat with them as they welcomed him and tried to hand him some rations. “I uh...” he hesitated, fighting back a full body shudder that went through him as memories of being poisoned as a child filled his head. He’d taught himself never to take anything that was handed to him ever again. “I don’t... like to be handed things,” he finally managed to say.

The woman, a few years older than him, smiled and nodded, setting the rations down on the seat next to him. Tony was grateful, since he usually got derisive looks or sneers from people that thought Tony was just a stuck up rich person. The woman’s eyes were kind, and maybe she saw that it was from a trauma, or maybe she didn’t. He was just grateful when she made no comment.

After a moment, he grabbed the rations and the bottle of lukewarm water. It wasn’t the worst thing he’d eaten, so he scarfed down the dry protein bar and chugged the bottle of water. The sun was starting to sink as they shot the breeze, Tony making a note to set up a relief fund for not only the people affected by the tsunami, but also the ones working tirelessly to help those in need.

It was almost half an hour after sunset that he stood and bade them farewell, stepping into his suit and going off to help once again. He was sore and exhausted, but there were so many people still out there that needed someone. If he had to, he’d be that someone. Although, he figured after an hour or two he’d take a longer break, and maybe drop by Evan’s house to finally reassure himself of his safety.

As he was flying over Oceanside, he heard Captain Nash calling for medical transportation for 17 people, recognizing his voice almost immediately. He wouldn’t be able to carry that many, but maybe he could help. As he touched down, he scanned the area and immediately saw the downed light post, sparks flying from it, and even more alarming is when JARVIS indicated the leaking gasoline truck. Bobby immediately hurried over to him as soon as he landed. “Tony, we could really use your help,” the man says.

He wasn’t sure what he could do to help, but he could see the strain on his face, both from worry and fatigue from a long day working, so Tony would do what he could. “If it’s within my capabilities, then I’ll do what I can, Cap,” he told him. The man usually liked to work on his own if he wasn’t with Rhodey, the Avengers having been a one hit wonder that hadn’t panned anything. After all, no one had come to help him when the Mandarin had destroyed his house and he’d been presumed dead. However, it was different with Nash and his people. They all looked dirty and tired, having been working all day. The crew of the 118, and a lot more other rescue personnel had been working tirelessly to save people, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to help them when they asked for his help. He motioned toward the light post. “I imagine it has to do with that Sword of Damocles over there? And the truck leaking gasoline?”

Bobby was momentarily surprised, but shook it off before he nodded. “Yes... you know, one of my men called it just that.”

Tony smirked. “I‘ll have to meet him when we aren’t sitting on a potential explosion that could kill everyone here.”

The Captain nodded. “Well, I’ve sent two of my firefighters to acquire some vehicles, but I would feel so much better if the gasoline could possibly be neutralized.”

His mind was going a mile of minute, wondering if it would be better to douse the gasoline with kitty litter, or try and move the lamp post up and out of the way. Tony must have been talking out loud without realizing it, meaning he was more tired than he thought.

“Wait, are you sure you won’t get electrocuted?” Bobby knew the man was a superhero, and had faced many dangers, which included terrorists and even aliens. However, he wasn’t invincible, and he was just as human as Bobby was underneath his high-tech suit.

“Not to worry, Cap my suit once took a hit from Thor’s lighting and I’m still here. I’ve had 36 suit upgrades since then,” he said with a smile. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Famous last words,” the man said with a strained smile.

“Bobby, are you making a joke about my possible potential death?” he asked with mock shock, then gave him a wink as the face plate snapped closed before the man could respond. He flew toward the lamp post, grunting as he felt the shock of the electricity surge through the suit. It wasn’t as bad as when Thor had blasted him, but it was constant until he lifted the lamp post and away a bit.

‘Power at four hundred percent capacity,’ JARVIS intoned like deja vu.

Tony chuckled as he moved away from the light post, the thrusters in his boots keeping him in the air and not touching the gasoline that had already spread this far. He gave the thrusters more power as he went higher into the air. “J, give me the location of the nearest pet shop.” Tony figured that the best thing to do was bury it in non-flammable kitty litter and hope for the best.

“Alright, Cap, I’ve bought you some time, but try and hurry your men,” he told him over the frequency. He hadn’t seen Diaz among them, so perhaps he was one of the ones that had gone to get some form of transportation.

He flew there as fast as he could, knowing the others were on borrowed time. The window of the PetSmart he arrived at had it’s glass doors still intact. “Remind me to pay for these doors, J,” he said as he crashed through them in a rain of glass shards and metal. He went to the cat’s section, and the lights were out but he had flood lights on his suit, and night vision on his HUD. Tony yanked a shopping cart along and started to pile inside several bags of kitty litter, as much as would fit inside the cart. He rolled it outside and then hurried over next door to the hardware store,. “I hope they don’t try to arrest me for looting.” He grabbed two tubes of sealant that he put in a bag and dumped it into the shopping cart, making another note to pay for everything he was taking. “Next time I’m going to aim for a Sam’s or a Costco,” he sighed, lifting the cart.

It was harder to fly back at high speeds without losing the kitty liter, but he managed without dropping a single bag. He cursed when he saw that the lamp post had fallen despite his best efforts, the sparks making the gasoline catch fire, and he dropped the cart. Tony didn’t want to move the post again, so he grabbed one of the ten pounds bags and tore it open before he upended it over the flames. This particular brand was made from bentonite clay, which meant it wasn’t flammable. He managed to douse the flames with a second and third bag, but to make sure it didn’t catch fire anytime soon, he used every single bag to spread it over most of the area around the lamp post. He also got the sealant and after managing to lift the truck at an angle where the gas wasn’t spilling, used both tubes of the white plaster like sealant so make sure no more would spill. When that was done and he carefully set it back down, waited a moment to make sure it wasn’t still spilling, and then used the caution tape someone had left behind to wrap around the whole area. Just to be sure.

He saw the firefighters of the 118 loading the patients into what appeared to be mail trucks and was amused. “Alright, Cap, threat neutralized for now, but I suggest you double time it out of here,” he told him. He knew that neither he or Bobby were military, but he remembered that the guy with the nametag Diaz had a military bearing to his movements. If he hadn’t served, then he’d eat his own helmet.

“Thank you for your help, Iron Man,” he radioed back.

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor tsunami, Captain Nash,” he joked.

He heard a groan on the other end. “I hope you and Chimney never meet and become friends,” a woman’s voice said over the radio.

Tony chuckled to himself as he continued on. As he went over the city where no lights were on except the occasional fire, he felt his eyesight go dark. If it wasn’t for JARVIS taking over, he’d have crashed, and as it was, he was disoriented as he came back around, and realized that he’d fallen asleep mid-flight.

Well, he guessed it was time for that break he promised himself, and changed course toward Evan’s house. Tony didn’t have many actual friends, since people always wanted him for either money, fame, or in the case of Sunset, to steal SI prototypes. So, wanted to make sure one of the few friends he had was fine, since he wouldn’t deny that he’d been thinking about him ever since this morning.

So, he was looking forward to seeing his friend face to face after all these years.-

[insfiringyou]

BTS - ‘One Last Time’ - V leaves for the military (V x Cassandra)

Contains: Angst. Smut.

Set a few months after V and Cassandra’s historical roleplay goes wrong and she was forced to use her safeword, and following the events of ‘Refuge’ where Taehyung moves out of their shared apartment, Cassandra seeks closure on their relationship before he enters the military. 

This is a major part of our headcanon universe and ongoing storyline (find out more here) - this is set after Jin, Suga, RM, J-Hope and Jimin have started their military enlistment. 

To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here: RM   /   Jin  /   Suga  /   J-Hope   /   Jimin   /   V   /   Jungkook 

& Our full masterlist can be found here

Rated Content below the cut

She unclasped the polka dot skirt as she locked the door and stepped out of the wide pool of fabric, turning to the pair of washed-denim jeans she had slung over the back of her chair before the show. It had been a two week stint at the small theatre and her throat was a little sore from singing. ‘Dreamboats and Petticoats’...her friend had shown her the advertisement for the part in the local newspaper and, while it wasn’t Broadway, the month of practise for the song and dance numbers had kept her mind and body occupied, preventing her thoughts from running wild.

The lighting was dim in the dressing room, but a sparkling glimmer in the large mirror caught her eye and her heart began to thud heavily as she eyed the large crystal vase on the table, a sea of blood-red flowers cascading over the sides. She considered who had let him backstage during the show, before she spotted the delivery receipt from a local florist on the dresser, weighed down by a tall bottle of Dior foundation. With a trembling hand, she knowingly teased through the lightly-spiced stems and petals until she found what she was looking for. The note had been handwritten; one corner of the paper slightly curled from the moisture of the bouquet. 

I leave on Friday

Always yours,

Tae

She put the note down slowly, surprised to find that her eyes had started to water. She had known for months he was due to go in and had subconsciously been avoiding the news websites she usually scrolled through for the past few weeks, not wanting to get involved. The flowers caught her eye once more, their fresh, sweet scent filling the room just as they had done on the day they met. Even the vase, a tall, crystal number, seemed identical and she wondered what had happened to the original. Had she lost it when moving apartments? Getting dressed and with a heavy heart that seemed to be beating too fast, she made up her mind and grabbed her car keys from her purse, deciding to forego the wrap-up party which was already taking place in the foyer, but gulping a free chute of champagne on her way past.

***

Roaming her eyes over the set of buttons, she struggled to recall which number Jimin resided at. A familiar pang of frustration rose in her as she reached in her jean pocket and pulled out her cell, flipping through the string of text messages between her and Taehyung, vaguely remembering him texting her the address a few weeks before. The fact he had sold his cozy, top-floor apartment in Gangnam to move into her cramped studio had been an arguing point from day one, and now, with an ounce of bitterness, she hoped he finally realised what a stupid thing he had done. It had been the first of many tense moments between them in the months leading up to the sex act which had gone so terribly wrong and she couldn’t help but wonder if they had been allowed more space apart, more breathing room, their lives wouldn’t have become so poisonously entangled that they needed to push each other to such extremes. It was pointless thinking of that now - what had happened had happened and, while they had texted intermittently in the past two months, with time healing some of the hurt he had caused her that night, she wouldn’t be able to forgive him completely. 

She found the message she was looking for and pressed the buzzer on the intercom, unable to remember which of the four floors Jimin’s apartment was on. She automatically took a step back as the front door opened, the sight of Taehyung on the doorstep, wearing a pair of frustratingly attractive glasses beneath his dark, curly hair, leaving her a little winded. He was clutching a crumpled paperback between his long fingers, the title unreadable in the small distance between them and she noticed how mature he looked; how his usually boyish features had changed in the months since she last saw him. She didn’t know what to say and could see he was likewise stunned into silence. Remembering why she had come; the flowers he had sent, she felt a stab in her chest and slowly moved forward, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace. His sweater was soft against her cheek, his scent familiar, as she held him close, feeling his hands cautiously touch her back, his fingers splaying as he hugged her gently.

“You’ve still got your hair…” She eventually murmured, realising they had been silent for half a minute as she pulled away. He looked surprised to see her; it was something in the way his dark eyes twitched which only someone who knew him as intimately as she had done would notice. 

“I thought I’d enjoy it while I still can.” He replied slowly, his hand moving subconsciously to touch the edges of the tightly permed locks, as though in a daze. “You got my flowers.” It was not really a question and when he stepped aside, she followed him into the building without a pause, waiting for him to lead her into the ground floor apartment. 

“How did you know I was performing?” She asked, waiting for him to close the door behind them before taking a few more steps into the narrow hallway. The pastel hue of the wallpaper along with the framed photographs which perched on the edge of a painted cabinet suggested the decor had been chosen by Ara; her and Jimin’s matching smiles filled the photo frame, the picture taken at a beach. She eyed, beyond that, a golden trophy she vaguely recognised from the MAMA awards and wondered whether it was Jimin’s or Ara’s.

“I saw a review online.” He shrugged easily beneath his pale turtleneck sweater. 

“I just took it for the money…” She paused, cheeks a little pink. The musical, which mostly attracted the older residents of the city along with their grandchildren, was not exactly the type of gig she had planned when going into acting. But then again, why should she have to feel embarrassed in front of him? “And the costumes.” She added with a smile.

“I love Buddy Holly.” He murmured sincerely, making her wonder whether he had even noticed her blush. 

“I know…” She whispered. A quick glance in the living room told her, as expected, he was alone. While the basics of the furniture were clearly not to his taste, the various objects lying around were clearly his; indicating he had been occupying the place for a number of months. She tried to recall how long Jimin had been away but failed. She guessed Ara must still be on tour, or otherwise happy to stay elsewhere while Taehyung stayed in the apartment. She wondered whether he had started looking for a new place yet, somewhere he could return to after all of this was over. “Do you have time?” She met his gaze.

“Yes...it’s just me here…” He confirmed, leading her into the adjoining space. She looked over the small pile of books littered on the coffee table as he put down the one he was currently reading. She could see the crumpled cover now it lay face up; the image of a train track fading into the distance beneath the title ‘Different Seasons’. “Do you have something else lined up?” He asked, hovering by the doorway to the kitchen, waiting to see if she would sit down.

“Not yet.” She turned to face him, once more taken aback by how bookish and academic he looked in this unfamiliar place. 

“I’ve been thinking about what happened…” He started, needing to say something to break the awkward air between them. She could see he had been holding onto this for months, unable to express his feelings in a text or phone call, and needing to see her face-to-face to explain in person. “I want you to know how sorry I am…”

The longing in his voice made her stomach drop, knowing he had spent months coming to terms with what had happened... He seemed so harmless and, looking at him now, she found it hard to believe how scared he had made her. A part of her knew, deep down, that this didn’t mean anything...that whatever had caused him to act out that night was still in him somewhere and she hoped that whatever toxic environment had caused their relationship to sour so quickly, he would know next time if it were to happen with someone else, to stop himself before it was too late.

“I just couldn’t leave things the way they were.” She admitted with a sigh, knowing that while it was not perhaps the most sensible option, it was the truth. “When you sent the flowers…” She found herself staring into space. “I remember why I fell for you in the first place.”

“Red carnations…” He murmured in a low voice.

“Because you wanted me...I know.” She nodded, recalling in perfect clarity how he had looked when she first saw him; the silk shirt he wore with the top set of buttons unfastened casually as she caught him in the foyer, the delivery boy ratting him out as being the one to have sent the flowers. She had not yet removed her long dress and the delicate beading and lace detailing had glimmered in the soft light, cast down from the chandeliers. She had been the queen of the fairies on stage and she couldn’t help but wonder whether he would still find her attractive up close, without the bold theatre makeup and glitter she had wiped off as soon as her final scene was over. The way that he looked at her as she tapped him on the shoulder, with his dreamy dark eyes, had quickly dissolved any doubts. His eyes ran over her features like she was the only woman on Earth; that they were meant to be together. It was the closest thing to love at first sight she had ever seen. 

“I still feel that way.” His voice brought her back to the present and her eyes snapped up to meet his. He held her gaze strongly, his usually dreamy expression replaced with something more fierce and concrete. 

“I meant to come and see you sooner.” She explained, both to herself and him as she moved closer.

“To end it?” 

“I hoped you wouldn’t argue with me.” She said softly, confirming his question. 

“I don’t see the point…” He murmured gently, rubbing his nose between his fingers and taking his glasses off. “You’ve clearly thought it over.”

She nodded, looking up at him. “Thank you.” Her voice whispered. “I wanted to come and say goodbye.”

His mouth twisted in acceptance, biting his inner cheek. “It means a lot.” She could see the tears starting to well in his eyes, making them glisten as his voice cracked. “I won’t bother you anymore.” He promised.

Her heart sank and she reached out for his hands, grasping them softly. “Don’t…”

He let out a sob as the first tears fell on his cheeks, his lips opening and closing a few times as he tried to speak. “I’m so scared Cass…” He eventually said, body trembling. She thought it was the most honest thing she had ever heard him say and felt a surprising wave of relief wash over her. His admittance wasn’t news to her; she had known it from the moment he received the letter, months before, but he had desperately tried to hide his feelings, masking them with wine and sex and pointless arguments. She wondered why he had fought it so hard, but realised she couldn’t relate; while her own sex faced plenty of challenges, it was only those with the Y chromosome which had to go through this particular ordeal. “I don’t know how I’m gonna make it through…” He wept, letting go of her hand to wipe his eyes messily with his sleeve.

“It’s not forever.” She reasoned, whispering soothingly. 

He sniffled. “I had this image of you being there when I come out…” His voice shook. “Of us getting married, having kids..”

She felt her cheeks grow warm, her stomach dropping unpleasantly as his face began to swim before her eyes, her own tears falling thick and fast. “It’s hard for me too…” She admitted, knowing that despite knowing him for three years, she had never seen him so vulnerable; he had never allowed her to get close enough to see him this way. “You’re not a bad person Tae.” Her brow furrowed, realising it was true.

He lifted his head from his chest, looking her straight in the eye. “I wanted to grow old with you.” 

“Stop…” She pleaded, her eyes and cheeks wet.

She felt his fingers tangle in the back of her hair as he bridged the gap between them, pressing his mouth gently to hers, their tears mingling as he opened his lips against her, wanting her to respond...to know how he was feeling. It was no use trying to resist; she could sense herself softening beneath his touch, knowing that she shouldn’t but unable to stop herself from kissing him back; their bodies pressing closer as she felt his warm breath against her skin. It felt cathartic and final, with her finally pulling away to press her forehead to his.

“One last time…” She nodded, agreeing with his silent plea, whispering against his lips. 

He was silent for a moment, nuzzling her warm, wet cheeks with his nose before tightening his fingers against her scalp, being careful to be gentle as he tilted her face upward, her long neck arched and exposed as he looked at her. 

“I loved you so much…” He gasped, his eyes glistening as he took her in.

“You too.” 

Their eyes stayed locked for a moment longer, savouring the mutual confession which was all that remained of their love. When their lips met again, she found her own hands moving to his hair, running it through the tight curls as he brushed the straps of her camisole off her shoulders, his palms holding her steady. She clutched him tightly to her as he opened his warm mouth against her chest, pecking her pale skin while she gasped above him, running her thumb over his exposed cheekbone. He continued for a moment, trailing along her collarbone before looking up, his eyes full of lust as she caught his lips between hers. 

Her fingers trailed along his lower back, appreciating the soft indents of his pelvis as she eased his sweater from his torso, throwing it to the shag-pile carpet before moving back to him, grasping his cheeks in her palms as they kissed ferociously. The band on her jeans was tight, but he slotted his thumbs between the gap at the back, moving them along her hips until he reached the button at the front. She allowed him to unbuckle her and slip his fingers beneath the hem of her panties, pulling them down her legs as he dropped heavily to his knees. Sweetly, he pressed his lips to her inner thigh, moving along the curvaceous parts of her skin where a light pattern of stretch marks adorned the fleshier part of her legs. She let out a moan, savouring his tenderness as he kissed her lovingly - seeming to trace the patterns with his lips, as though wanting her to see herself the way he did. Her lips parted as he tilted his head and moved between her thighs to the triangle of tightly curled pubic hair, pecking her slit sensually a couple of times before pulling away, a little breathlessly. 

“Can you stand up?” She asked softly, taking his hands in hers and pulling him to his feet.

She unbuckled his belt quickly, the sound of the metal clasp ringing through the cozy room as she eased the black fabric away from his crotch, reaching beneath the zipper to curl her fingers around his cock. She bent down as she uncovered him and kissed his long shaft gently. He was not quite hard; his emotions overwhelmed his desire, and she encouraged him onto the small, two-seater sofa at the edge of the room, sitting him down while she nested between his legs, the carpet soft against her bare knees. He didn’t protest as she wrapped her lips around him, clutching him gently as she sucked his cock. She knew his body intimately and she found herself brushing her tongue familiarly along the grooves and veins in his shaft, pressing against the underside of his tip as he hardened in her mouth. His head lolled back as she withdrew, letting him go almost completely before sinking down on him again. 

“You feel so good Cass.” He gasped, stroking her hair softly as she kept up the pace, working him slowly in a way she hadn’t done in years. It had been a long time since she had made love to him with her mouth, with her in control, setting the pace. She wondered when things had changed; when they stopped showing their love for each other through their bodies and instead became addicted to pushing each other to their limits, using each other like a drug. With a moan, she kept going until she felt his fingertips against her cheek. She let him go softly, looking up. 

“Can you fuck me?” He asked gently, his expression dreamy beneath his bangs. Slowly, she nodded, her thighs sticky as she stood up and removed her shirt and bra. His eyes fell to her breasts as she steadied herself against him, holding his bare shoulders and straddling his waist. His cock was wet, glistening and upright and she spread her lips with her fore and middle fingers, her clit brushing his pubic hair as she sank onto him. As always, it took a moment to adjust to his thickness and he held her by the hips, slowly moving her against him, up and down, guiding her and pressing his lips to her breasts. She appreciated the sound of their bodies coming together, the wet noise of his cock inside her, merging with their gasps. His mouth closed around a nipple, pecking it gently before moving to the other and pulling away, brushing both thumbs over the sensitive red tips, making them sheen with saliva. 

She realised, as his lips returned to hers, that he too had forgotten what it felt like to be together like this - without the toys and the kinks and the pain. Her stomach churned with sorrow and she was almost grateful when he wrapped his arms around her naked back and, clutching her close to him, lowered her backward onto the floor, the shag pile soft and comfortable against her skin. He slipped out of her, removing his trousers and underwear from his ankles, before pushing back into her, his body covering hers as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. Their lips came together as his breathing intensified, signifying the tell-tale start of his orgasm. She knew he was trying to hold off, to savour the moment and make it last, but eventually his hips bucked against her and he allowed himself to give in, burying himself deep as he clutched her naked body to his, their hips pressed together tightly as he came inside her. She kept kissing him, knowing that when they stopped, they would have to part, and she didn’t know whether she was ready to say goodbye just yet. He likewise seemed reluctant to let her go when his hips finally slowed, but eventually, he slipped out of her, his cock having grown soft inside her warmth. He pulled away, his breath haggard, and kissed her cheek gently. 

She lay for a moment in silence as he rolled off her, her own breath heavy; breasts heaving against her chest as she watched him stand up. “I need to go…” She murmured, getting to her feet. Taehyung turned to look at her, his eyes moving to her pubis as she straightened. She followed his gaze, a little dazedly, to the space between her legs and touched her fingers to the warm semen which dripped down her inner thigh, across her stretch marks and cellulite-puckered skin. 

“Here…” He reached towards the coffee table, past the paperback he had been reading, and handed her a box of tissues. She thanked him quietly, taking a couple to clean herself and trailing it between her thighs and over the bottom of her pubic hair. He put the box down and took a couple for himself, wiping his cock before reaching for his discarded underwear. 

“Um…” She looked around, searching for a trash can in the unfamiliar apartment.

“It’s okay.” He muttered as he adjusted the elasticated waistband of his boxers against his waist and reached for the bundle of tissues. He disappeared into the kitchen and she took the opportunity to get dressed, grimacing a little when she realised her thighs were still a little tacky against her tight jeans. 

Taehyung turned to the wall when he returned, dressing quietly as she slipped on her shoes, wondering if sleeping with him had been the right thing to do. She checked her pocket to make sure her car keys were still there and the little jangle caught his attention, alerting her to the fact she was leaving.

“Can I write?” He asked softly, voice full of uncertainty. 

She was silent for a moment. “If you want to...” She said quietly. If she had thought he looked more mature when he first answered the door, his next expression broke that illusion. His lip quivered slightly, though he barely seemed to notice. “Try not to worry too much…” She whispered, trying to reassure him. 

He followed her out of the living room and into the hallway. “What did you do with the flowers?” He questioned. 

“They’re still at the theatre. I’ll pick them up later.” She turned to face him as they reached the front door and they were silent for a moment.

“I meant what I said in the note.” He looked at her, his voice low. “No matter what happens...”

“I know.” She nodded, knowing it was true. While neither were virgins when they met, they had been each other’s first love, and that would never change. “You too Tae.” She sighed. “Good luck.”

“Break a leg…” He agreed and they both smiled sadly at the shared joke. 

“Goodbye.” She whispered.

***

Please stay tuned for more headcanon content, including from this storyline, coming soon!

Thanks for reading, please check out our masterlist for more fics and scenarios

To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here: RM   /   Jin /   Suga /   J-Hope   /   Jimin   /   V   /   Jungkook

You can support us by buying admins a coffee here (if you wish). :)

[angst-king]

Dr Suneater

(this is a special needs AU, No Mirio, Tamaki, and Nejire were placed in 1-R they’d gotten in before 1-R had been made they were accepted by pure luck and faith from the school...)

 Both Nejire and Mirio were so patient with their boyfriend Tamaki who lacked self confidence. He had anxiety in talking to people, being in large crowded places, even in his hero training but. He always managed to pull through. To many people Tamaki presented as a scared, fragile elfling who trembled at his own shadow but. To his boyfriend and girlfriend they saw how strong he was for not only dealing with anxiety and low self esteem but. For being strong enough to help the other two when they need him the most. There had been very few incidents where it was displayed in a public setting but one of the times was with Nejire.

 They were walking through the cafeteria, lunch trays in hand, Mirio was talking about a video game they had all been playing. They took their seats at their favorite table. When Nejire noticed she’d forgotten her milk carton. “Hey guys I’ll be right back, I forgot to get my milk.” “Alright Nej” She gets up from her seat and is on her way to the lunch line to get her milk. 

Smiling, she grabs her milk and heads back to go and pay for it before heading back to her table. As she walked back the feeling of dizziness washed over her. Her head began to blank and filled with a staticy sensation. She froze, her eyes couldn’t focus and she tried to stumble and regain sensation but she fell face forwards. Her body tensed up and started to shake and spasm around. The people she’d fallen around shrieked, jumping at this.

It had only been a minute and Tamaki was worried when Nejire hadn’t come back yet. He peered over and didn’t see her in the lunch line. He brought this up to Mirio who looked over and then seemed just as confused. “Huh? Where is she?” Then Tamaki saw a crowd of people  around in a circle in the middle of the room, he’d had a bad feeling about this and got up from his seat. “Mirio I have a bad feeling about this.” 

He puts down whatever he was doing and goes towards the large mob. Mirio followed the elf boy, as they grew closer to the crowd all that could be heard was. “Oh my god” “Should we do something?” “is she faking?” “let's get this on video” “This is kinda funny lets put it on tiktok” When the crowd gave Tamaki an opening, his blood began to boil. There she was lying on the cold tile floor convulsing and these people are just doing nothing but spectating and taking pictures! Something in tamaki changed his demeanor, he looked to Mirio with a serious look that sent chills his way. “Go grab Nejire’s spare bag Mirio” With nothing but a nod the blond hurried the other way.

 Tamaki pushed his way through the crowd taking no prisoners. He made it to Nejire and started to push her on her side. She was warm to the touch as well as ridgid, she was frothing at the mouth as her eyes went back into her head. Students continued to crowd, narrowing the space some were trying to find a way to take a video, that made Tamaki growl.

“Back away now!” This shocked his peers as they’d known him as this timid thing who shook under their gaze but. This Tamaki was different. He was trying to control the situation the best he could. He felt this overwhelming need to protect his girlfriend who was in her most vulnerable moments. This was when she needed him the most, when she needed Tamaki to take charge. Someone tried to get down and get a close up picture, that was what made Tamaki snap. He did a spider man stance over top of Nejire  which would block anyone’s view of her. Sprawling over top of her in a somewhat push up like position he yelled. “Get back now!”

 Luckily Mirio phased his way over with Nejire’s bag. While this was going on Nejire’s seizure began to slow to a stop. Sighing in relief Tamaki sat beside her on Nejire’s right. Using the book bag to keep Nejire on her side. Tamaki began to loosen her tie and overcoat she wore then switching sides to get behind Nejire. “Mirio I need you to get me a hair tie or something to keep her hair back please.” Mirio quickly searched through the bag and got out a ribbon. Hands working swiftly, Nejire’s hair was tied into a medium height ponytail. Still leaving her bangs where they were as he moved on to examining the girl for any injuries. He swore under his breath seeing the right side of her face was a bit bruised. He sees her lip is busted and asked. 

“Mirio, can you grab the bandaid pads please?” “already on it Sun” He’s handed a box of bandage pads and pulls out one and patches up the bleed. At the feeling of touch and voices Nejire starts to stir she’s struggling to get up but Tamaki gently pulls her down. “Shhh no Nej I need you to stay down for now.” She silently complied though made soft whimpers and whines as her body was slowly becoming limp. When Tamaki had finished his assessment he then asked Nejire. “Would you like to go to recovery girl, or your dorm?” “d-dorm please”  Tamaki adjusted himself so he could help Nejire up while Mirio packed up the spare bag. “We’ll get our stuff, an excuse for the teachers and then it's off to your dorm.” Tamaki spoke softly, keeping his arm around Nejire’s waist to steady her. The crowd had dispersed a little which facilitated the walking to get their book bags. 

Book bags over shoulder they went to the office to fill out an excuse to skip class which went smoothly. Now it was off to Nejire’s dorm. Nejire was starting to feel a little better but was still struggling to let their system rebalance itself. Making it to the dorm, Nejire began to feel sick to her stomach while her head was really hurting. “G-guys I f-feel sick” She warned them, Tamaki nodded and guided her to the large kitchen sink, they could rinse and clean it out. They were just in time a sharp gag caused the blue haired girl to lean over the sink and get sick.

Tamaki and Mirio frowned and stayed close, pushing her bangs back and rubbing smooth circles. It wasn’t a long round this time which made Mirio and Tamaki feel better, with a paper towel she cleaned up her face.

 “Hey Nej, want some water?” Mirio inquired, earning a slow nod while she held her head. “Nejire, do you  think you can stomach your medicine?” “y-yeah” With that Tamaki lets her lean her back against the sink and fishes in Nejire’s extra bag and finds a few bottles of pills. Looking at Mirio he says. “Give her these I’ll clean up the sink” Mirio takes Nejire away from the sink while Tamaki cleans out the sink. It didn’t take long to scrub it down and wash his hands. Nejire had swallowed down the pills with the water, she was ready to go lie down.

 “Alright Nejire lets go get you to bed” Nejire tried to walk away from the counter she was leaning on but her knees buckled. Tamaki caught her “I’ve got you” He lifted her bridal style so she was leaning into his chest. Blushing a little bit as she noticed the look on Tamaki’s face, It was so serious yet gentle at the same time. Kind of like a doctor treating a patient. Very few people got to see this face and deemed it a rare occasion but. Those who were around Tamaki like Mirio and Nejire knew this was a decent recurrence. Mirio had a fainting disorder which could be triggered by his hypoglycemia, sudden weather change, or standing up too fast. Tamaki had grown used to taking care of his lovers and even his Kohai Kirishima Eijirou who also had epilepsy. 

Tamaki’s serious side would always trump his social anxiety in certain situations like these. He didn’t know why but it gave him a shred of confidence that he never brought up on his own. Usually it would be a teacher, his friends, or his lovers who brought on the acknowledgement of his ability to turn from cowering anxiously, to brave and able to take on the problem. 

Carrying Nejire up to her room, Tamaki let Mirio handle the elevator buttons as well as the girl’s bedroom door. Entering her room, Tamaki sets Nejire down and says. “I’m gonna go change ok”  Mirio follows suit leaving Nejire to change into more casual clothes in private.

Grouping up in Nejire’s room in their casual wear, Nejire had the boys sitting on the bed. She was curled up between them and just relaxed. “Tamaki, I have a question for you.” Tamaki looked down “hm?” Nejire continued. “So how come you’re so anxious around people until something like me seizing or Mirio faint. You get all serious, not that I don’t like it. Its just amusing seeing you change demeanors.” Tamaki blushes deeply at this question and shrank. “I-I don’t know honestly. I gu-guess something in me j-just clicks because I know how vulnerable you are in that state.” Tamaki was trying to put thought into his words, it was truly his own mini anecdote. “I was used to being in those situations. So I guess a part of me is reflecting that I want to do something. So I do the things I couldn’t do for myself for you guys.” He shrugged at the end, it felt as if he’d just been rambling nonsense. He then received a hug, four strong arms embraced him lovingly with kisses on both cheeks. He’d been pulled by both Nejire and Mirio who nuzzled him caringly. “Well we appreciate it so much” Mirio states with a smile “thanks for taking care of me, Dr suneater.” Doctor suneater was a nickname Nejire had given the indigo haired male when she was so out of it after a seizure. It stuck and sometimes Mirio would even call him that too. “Y-you’re welcome Nejire, I’m just glad y-you’re okay.” 

“We love you Sun” Nejire and Mirio say together. A pink hue made it all the way to the tips of Tamaki’s ears. “I love you both too” “Hehe Dr Suneater” Nejire giggles tiredly with a small yawn.

[go4blood]

taking orders // l.h.

Where you think you hate the new waiter at your job, but do you actually?

Yo! I’ve had this idea for a while so I hope you guys enjoy! this is my first time writing smut so spare me. Feedback is appreciated as always! 

Edit: I’ve decided to make a series called 9to5!sos where they have everyday minimum wage jobs, so this is the first one :)

Word count: 5.3k

Warnings: smut and strong language

Pairing: waiter!luke x reader

Tense: first person

I buttoned my ironed, white shirt to the very top and tucked it into my black pants. I looked through my drawer and found the one tie I owned and tied it around my neck. God, I was running late AGAIN. Going ten over the speed limit wouldn’t hurt, right? I quickly grabbed my apron from my chair and ran out to my car. Nothing like working the brunch shift. Waking up at an ungodly hour to try and beat traffic. Snobby, rich old people getting tipsy off of the mimosas and holding a grudge if you ever take more than 5 minutes to get them another one. My favorite shift ever, isn’t it? Yeah, right. It sucks. Everyday I regret not doing better in school and getting a scholarship to go to college and actually be productive in life. Instead, I slave away every weekend and evening after classes to pay for college.

Lucky for me, I barely beat the traffic and make it to work with 2 minutes to spare. I parked in the back with every other employee and quickly go in through the back door. I greet the people I work with today and go to the computer to clock in. After that, I go to the hostess stand while I tie my apron around my waist and see what five tables I’m in charge of until 4 o’clock. Patrons start rolling in within ten minutes and it’s time to start working.

Suddenly, my boss walked to me with a pep in her step as she usually does. Violet was a nice older woman in her late forties with kind eyes and a way with words that could make anyone smile.

“Honey, I thought I should ask you rather than surprise you, we have a new waiter I just hired. He’s a nice young man around your age, I was wondering if you could train him tomorrow evening? It’s Monday, so it won’t be busy. I would never make you train someone on a day like today.” She was rambling, as per usual, and I interrupted her as I often have to.

“Yes, I can train him. It’s no problem.” I smiled and she let out a sigh of relief. Everyone always complained about training new people, but I was always happy to. Violet gave me a chance after I graduated and was desperate to pay tuition, so it was the least I could do.

“Thank you, sweetie. Okay, I won’t keep you. Don’t be afraid to let me know if you need anything!” And with that, she walked back through the kitchen doors and to her office.

I walked to my section and waited for my customers to arrive. Not long after, two of my tables were filled and I could finally get to work. I took drink orders and made brief small talk. Most of these people were actually pretty nice and patient, thankfully. It made my shift go by a lot faster.

—

My shift ended after a grueling 6 hours with no break. I went into the kitchen and clocked out, getting ready to leave until I was told Violet wanted me in her office. I went into her office, closing the door behind me to see her along with a guy around my age.

He had blue eyes that looked like tropical ocean water you could dive into. His golden curls fell below his ears and he was insanely tall. He towered over me and Violet. And, not to mention, he was extremely broad. He wore a button up shirt that looked to be silk buttoned quite low that was tucked into his tight jeans. He was gorgeous, I had to admit. But he didn’t look friendly. His eyes stared into my soul and when he shook my hand, it was too firm. Not a good firm, a ‘let’s get this over with’ firm. But maybe looks are deceiving. I silently hoped so.

“Hey, I’m Luke, the one you’ll be training tomorrow.” His face just screamed ‘get me the hell out of here’. It was quite unsettling.

“Hi, I’m Y/N, it’s nice to meet you.” I gave an awkward smile. God, get me the hell out of here, “See you tomorrow night!”

And with that, I got the hell out of there.

—

“Ana, you will not believe what happened today!” I loosened my tie, pulling it over my head and throwing it on my desk and unbuttoning a few of the top buttons on my shirt.

My roommate, Ana, was lying in her bed watching Netflix. She was tall with auburn hair and brown eyes. Her eyes were like daggers, but her personality was far from that. She immediately paused her show and looked at me expectantly, “Tell me more! You can’t come in here yelling with a lame story so it better be good.”

“So this new guy got hired, and he is absolutely gorgeous. He is sent from the gods. Curly golden hair, blue eyes, tall, broad, blah blah blah, but! He has the personality of a fucking door. He already seems like an arrogant asshole. And I have to train him tomorrow! God, I am not ready for it at all. My boss said he has experience, so he probably thinks he’s so great, ugh! I already hate him.” I was pacing around the room, ranting, absolutely pissed. I was so unlucky.

“Maybe it was just an off day, y/n. He can’t be that bad already! Look on the bright side for once, let loose! Watch Stranger Things with me and forget about some stupid guy.” She patted the spot next to her on her bed, and I sat next to her.

“Steve is the only man who is relevant anyways.”

—

I clocked in for my shift, looking around for Luke. I spotted him in Violet’s office, so I let myself in.

“Ready for your first day?” I tried to sound enthusiastic, but it felt impossible. He silently nodded with an unamused look on his face, following me out of the office. This is gonna suck.

I led him to the hostess stand and showed him where our section would be, “So, right after you clock in, you’re gonna need to check in with the hostesses so they can start seating your section and so you know what tables are yours.”

“Mhm.” He was so unamused. He had no emotion. God, it was unbearable.

“After you get off of training, you’ll only get 3 tables for a week or two and slowly get more…” he nodded, still unamused.

One of my tables got filled. It was a couple in their late 40s or early 50s. This could be either great or terrible.

I went to their table and put on my customer service voice, “Hello guys! Welcome to Ophelia’s. My name is Y/N and I will be your server tonight. This is Luke, my trainee. He’ll be watching me tonight. Can I start you off with some drinks?”

“Can we get a bottle of Hermann J. Wiemer HJW Vineyard Riesling 2016, please? It’s our anniversary.” The husband looked at his wife lovingly, thank god, nice customers.

“Of course! Would you like some waters as well?”

“That would be great, thank you so much.” I picked up the pitcher of water nearby, filling the glasses on the table, then leaving to go to the bar.

We walked back to the bar and I stopped just outside of the entrance of it.

“So, when someone orders alcohol, you have to tell a bartender. In the case of wine, they’ll just give you the bottle and the glasses so you can pour it at their table for them.”

“Yeah, that’s how it was when I worked for my dad at his restaurant. Nothing new.” His tone was flat. He was obviously ready for his training to end but he had 4 more hours of it.

“Okay, good for you, but I still have to tell you what we do.” I snapped, then told the bartender what I needed.

After receiving the wine and the glasses we went back to the table. The customer service voice was back.

“Here is your wine,” I set the glasses on the table, then opened the bottle of wine and poured it in their glass. I screwed the cap back on, setting the bottle on the table, “Are you two ready to order? Or do you need a few minutes?”

They ordered their meals and I led Luke to one of the four computers to punch in the order.

“This is where you punch orders in. You’ll log in and press the ‘take orders’ button. It’s touch screen. Type it in and specify anything that needs left out or added in. But I’m sure you’ve done this before, right?” My tone was cold. I was absolutely pissed at him. I quickly punched in the order and pressed submit.

“You know, it’s not my fault I could run circles around you doing the same job even though you’ve had it longer. It’s in my genes, sweetheart.”

I couldn’t even begin to think of what to say. I silently walked to my other tables with him following behind, having to pretend I wasn’t filled with rage.

—

“Ana! He somehow got fucking worse!” I pulled off my uniform and changed into sweats and a t shirt, absolutely fuming.

“What did he do now?”

“He’s so arrogant! He kept disregarding everything I taught him, saying he already knew everything! He’s such a dick! I hate him!” I jumped face first into my twin size bed, groaning into my pillow, “why are all the hot ones shitty people?”

Ana sighed, squeezing beside me on the bed, “I wish I knew. But you know what you need to do now, right?”

“What?” At this point, I was desperate for answers.

“Make way better tips than him, give way better service, show him he’ll never be better than you! Make him come to his senses. You’re the baddest bitch I know. Act like it!”

I sighed, rolling onto my back, “I’m gonna be better than him. I am better than him.”

“Damn right you are! Let’s get drunk!”

—

A week had passed since Luke decided to ruin my life and start working at Ophelia’s. He was finished with training so he had his own tables now. It was my time to prove that he will never be better than me.

I checked on my tables frequently, making sure drinks stayed filled at all times. I constantly checked to see how far along the food was in the kitchen. I was on top of everything.

It happened to be Thursday, and my regular customers who always request me were there. I went over to their table to have conversation since I finally had a minute to breathe.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Fendel! How has retirement been treating you guys?”

Mrs. Fendel let out a sigh of admiration, “Oh it’s just lovely, I finally have peace. It’s really nice. How have you been honey?”

“Oh I’ve been okay, you know, college stuff.”

“What was your major again, love?”

“Forensic psychology, my dad did that, so I wanted to follow in his footsteps.” I smiled, clicking my pen subconsciously.

Mrs. Fendel looked over to the other side of the restaurant, “Who is that young man? I’ve never seen him before… the one with the blond hair?”

I knew exactly who she was talking about without even looking, “That’s Luke. He’s new.” I had a tone of disinterest in my voice. There was no way for me to show the slightest bit of interest in him.

“Well isn’t he a handsome young man?” She gave me the ‘why don’t you try getting on that’ look that old women give when they try match making. A look I knew all too well. But there was no way in hell that I would ever be caught dead trying to get with Luke. He was an asshole who only thought about himself. He was self centered and arrogant; I hate him.

“He’s just… not the nicest guy in the world. I’m gonna go check on your food, and I’ll be right back.” I forced a smile and walked away. God, it felt impossible to like Luke in any way, shape, or form. My thoughts were interrupted by a very late “on your left” and a tray of drinks being spilled all over me and glasses hitting the floor and breaking. My white shirt was covered in red wine and champagne. I looked to see who was the one who bumped into me with the tray, and to my luck, it was Luke fucking Hemmings.

“Are you kidding me!? You said you were coming out of the doors at the very last second!”

“Maybe watch where you’re going rather than counting on me to warn you! It’s common sense! But you wouldn’t know, would you?” He was picking up the shards of glass and staring daggers into my soul.

I didn’t even know what to say. I was unbelievably pissed off. I quickly walked into the kitchen, far away from him. What the fuck was his problem? Why did he feel the need to be a fucking dick constantly? I sighed heavily and walked straight to the bathroom, not even bothering to lend a helping hand to Luke. Once I was in the restroom I made sure I was alone before I slid down the wall inside the stall and started crying. ‘ I have to get revenge,’ I thought evilly to myself. Maybe Ana would know just what to do. Or maybe I could just kill him with kindness.

—

“Y/N, just ignore him! He isn’t worth your time and effort.”

“I wanna get revenge for his shitty attitude, Ana! He deserves a taste of his own medicine…”

She sighed, looking me dead in the eyes, “I have a few ideas.”

“Lay then on me. I’m open to anything.”

She hummed, closing the bottle of nail polish she was using and putting it on the floor, “Well, you could just be overly nice to him.”

“I want to scheme though.”

She sighed, “Okay fine… I have a great idea. You guys punch in orders electronically, right?” I nodded, eager to hear the rest of what she had to say, “You could delete the orders he puts in so the kitchen doesn’t get them, and then his customers will be mad at him for taking forever to get the food out. Little does he know, his order didn’t even make it to the kitchen. He’ll get in trouble, and he won’t be on his high horse saying he’s the best.”

Ana was a genius. I slowly smiled, I had my plan. This had to work. “You’re a fucking genius.”

“What can I say? I somehow got into college, so there’s gotta be a little bit of smarts somewhere in this brain of mine.”

“How do I make sure he doesn’t find out I’m the one doing it?”

She let out a chuckle, “Don’t get caught. Better get ready, your shifts in an hour and a half.”

—

I checked in at the hostess stand so my tables could get seated. It was Friday, so it was a little busier than usual. But not terribly. So it was the perfect day to sabotage Luke, if I went through with it. But my tables were first priority. Two of my tables got filled, so I quickly got their drink orders and had small talk. But as soon as I got the drinks to their tables I realized I accidentally gave the woman unsweetened tea instead of sweet, and as soon as she tasted it she had to give it back. I quickly went back into the kitchen, where I saw Luke’s stupid face.

“Can’t read the clear labels that say sweetened and unsweetened, sweetheart?” He had a sarcastic undertone with each word he spoke to me and had a stupid grin on his face. Asshole.

“Fuck off, asshole.”

“Well you’re sassy, aren’t you, princess?”

After this shitty encounter, I thought it was a good time to start sabotaging him. He walked out of the kitchen to take entree orders for a table of 4. He flashed a charismatic smile to everyone and walked away when he finished. Ugh, that stupid smile of his. Everyone just thinks he’s amazing, I hate it. He put in his order on the computer, walking in back to most likely get more drinks for one of his other tables. I quickly ran to the computer he just used and went to the ‘processing orders’ option. Lucky for me, Violet trusted me enough and gave me the login that gives me access to everything. I cancelled the order he just put in and logged out as soon as I finished. I wasn’t going to do this for every single order obviously, but enough to where Violet would notice and have to talk to him.

I went back to my table and took their orders as if nothing happened, like I normally would.

About twenty minutes passed pretty quickly, and I was going to the kitchen to see how far along the meals I put in were.

“What do you mean you didn’t get the order I put in? I put it in twenty minutes ago! It makes no sense. Fuck, now I have to somehow explain this. It was two pesto chicken pastas and two clam chowders. I need it as soon as possible, I’m sorry, it’s my fault I should’ve checked earlier.” Luke was visibly stressed out of his mind as he walked back to the table.

This would teach him. I only planned on doing it one more time, just to teach him a lesson. I walked back to my table with the water pitcher, filling the empty glasses as I eavesdropped on Luke’s conversation with his table.

“I’m so sorry for the wait, but our computer system glitched a-and your order got deleted so it’s just now getting started but I promise I’ll get it to you as soon as possible, um would you guys like an appetizer? For free, of course, on me.”

He was so stressed out, he desperately needed to be liked. He couldn’t stand the idea of anyone complaining about him. He thought he had to be perfect at all times, and it was refreshing to see him make a mistake.

The customers were very obviously frustrated, but took up his offer on the appetizer. When Luke walked away, worry was all over his face. He was stressed out of his mind. Maybe this would teach him a lesson.

I walked around my section, asking if everyone was doing alright and refilled drinks. A customer ordered a salad, so I had to go to the kitchen to make it for them. As I went to the salad station, I saw Violet talking to Luke in the corner.

“You cannot mess up this bad, Luke. It doesn’t make us look good at all. I know you just started, but with experience on your belt, I expected more from you. It happening to one table is an accident, but twice? You had to just not use the computer right.”

Luke was extremely upset, and he wouldn’t let her walk away without his side of the story, “I swear I pressed submit each time! Violet, I really need this job. This is the only thing I’m good at, I swear it won’t happen again. Just give me another chance, I’m so sorry.” He was desperate to keep this job. He was practically begging on his knees, proving he learned his lesson.

Violet let out a heavy sigh, “I’m not gonna fire you, Luke. But I have to write you up… I know you can be better. Prove it.” And with that, she walked away from him. I finally did it, I gave him the lesson he deserved.

“Y/N! Honey, I have a favor.” Violet’s distinct voice rang through the kitchen.

I turned around, the bowl of salad I just made on a tray in my hands, “What is it?”

“I need you to close with Luke tonight and tomorrow. After what he did, I think you need to teach him the right way to do things again.”

God damn it. I have to be alone with him. Fuck, shit. And I can’t say no either, “Yes, of course, no problem.”

Son of a bitch. Karma for getting revenge, I suppose.

—

“I don’t fucking get why she had to pick you to close with me.” Luke was fuming as he held trash bags in each of his hands.

I quickly ran up behind him and pulled the back of his shirt to make him turn and look at me, “I could say the fucking same about you, Luke! Listen, I get that you fucked up, but you could maybe stop blaming others for your mistakes!”

“Oh, cry me a fucking river! You just hate that I’m better than you! You can’t stand it!”

I could feel the tears coming, but I tried so hard to hold it in, “You’re a dick!”

“You’re a jealous bitch!”

“Fuck you, Luke!” The tears started streaming down my face, and there was no stopping them. I quickly walked away from him to the bathroom, locking the door and letting it all out. Why was I letting him get to me? I let out loud sobs that had no sign of stopping. He was right— I am jealous. I don’t want to be replaced because of him being better than me.

He knocked on the bathroom door, “Y/N? Please come out, I-I just want to talk. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings… if you want to come out, I’ll be at a table rolling silverware… I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean it.” I heard his footsteps fade away, and I was contemplating leaving the bathroom. It was hard to decide. Eventually, I had to leave the bathroom, so I got up and left to go join him at a table.

I saw him in a booth across the restaurant and sat across from him. I started to roll the silverware silently, keeping my eyes glued downwards at the task at hand. Sometimes, I would look up at him, but then he would look at me so I’d quickly look away.

This continued for ten minutes, and it was extremely awkward.

He finally decided to break the silence, “So, um, Violet said you’ve worked here a year?”

You were surprised he was the one to start a conversation, but you decided you should be civil and talk back, despite the fact that he just made you bawl your eyes out in the bathroom, “Yeah, um, I was desperate to pay for college so she took me in. I’m practically her daughter at this point. So... she said you have experience already?”

“Yeah, my dad owned a restaurant, it was the family business. It was my great grandpa’s, then my grandpa’s, then my dad’s, and I was supposed to be next… but we went out of business. I worked there as soon as I turned 15. I was so excited to inherit it, but that’s not gonna happen now, so. It is what it is.”

I frowned, he had a lot more to him than I initially thought, “I’m sorry about that…”

“It’s whatever, I guess everything happens for a reason,” his tone was cold. He was extremely upset about this. When he would look at me, it was like he actually had sincerity in his heart, “I’m sorry for being arrogant and acting like I know everything. I’m just… still angry. I got cocky whenever my dad told me I would be getting the business once he retired. But then shortly after, business wasn’t booming anymore and he had to close the restaurant. I’m basically full of angst and take my anger out on others. It’s a bad trait.”

I instantly regretted what I did. It was wrong of him to be arrogant, but he was just angry at the world. He wasn’t just angry at me, “Luke, it’s okay to be angry. I would be, too.”

“You’re not too bad of a waitress, I guess you may be a little better than me,” He grinned, cracking the joke to lighten the mood, “I’m sorry for making you cry… I wish I could undo that. Let me buy you dinner? There’s this diner a few miles away open 24 hours.”

“Okay, sure. Let’s get dinner.” I smiled, and for the first time, I think he smiled back with sincerity.

—

Surprisingly, dinner went really well last night. Luke wasn’t as bad as he initially seemed to be. He was actually really funny, and pretty nice once you get past his built up angst. My phone lit up with a text message.

‘I had a really good time last night. See you at work tomorrow morning :)’

I smiled to myself, quickly replying and sitting my phone down.

“What are you smiling about?” Ana smirked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Oh… just, Luke isn’t as bad as I thought, actually. He’s kind of cool.”

“Is that so? He isn’t actually an arrogant asshole?”

I shook my head, “No, actually; he’s full of angst, though. But he’ll get better eventually. We work the same shift again tonight.”

“Don’t let him be mean to you again!”

“He won’t!”

—

It was extremely busy at the restaurant. I messed up drink orders more often than usual, and I brought the wrong food to the wrong table more than once. I was stressed out of my mind. I walked into the kitchen and made 3 drinks quickly; the kitchen was a complete madhouse. I put the drinks on my tray and turned around to see Luke, but it was too late to stop, causing the drinks fall to the floor.

He sighed impatiently, a look of annoyance painted all over his face, “Y/N, today is not the fucking day to mess-“ He saw me wince when he started to yell, and he stopped himself, bending down to pick up the cups and lowering his tone, “Hey, it’s okay, tonight is rough. Just take a deep breath. I’m sorry.”

“Luke! You’re not helping, please just give me a break!” I quickly remade the drinks and walked away, feeling like I was about to cry my eyes out. This shift would never end. There was only an hour left, but it felt like an eternity. The tips tonight weren’t as good due to the several mistakes, which didn’t surprise me. Everything was going wrong. I served my last table their meals and went to the now calm kitchen to take a breather.

—

Once everyone left, it was time to close the restaurant. The only people left were Luke and myself. I was silently sweeping the floor when I heard his voice from behind me.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you today, I was just stressed out.”

“Luke you just don’t get it. I’m not good at this job; you’re so much better than me. I don’t wanna lose my job, but I’m scared that soon enough I will. I need this job to pay for college, but I don’t even deserve it!”

“Y/N! You deserve it way more than me! What do you even mean you don’t?”

“You know, when you first got hired, I claimed that I was better than you. But in reality, I just didn’t want anyone to be better than me because I can’t lose this. After today, Violet was so disappointed in me! I just don’t know what to-“

I was cut off by him grabbing a fist full of my shirt and crashing his lips onto mine. At first, I didn’t move. He pulled away, looking me in the eyes, “Relax, babe. You’re not gonna lose your job. You’re way better than I’ll ever be at this job. You’re amazing, and I never hated you. I was just cocky and stupid, and I’m sorry.”

I kissed him, tangling one hand in his hair. He held my waist, pulling away to take me to the empty bathroom. He pulled his tie off, then started to unbutton my shirt, pausing to ask if it was okay. I nodded eagerly, also unbuttoning his shirt and taking his tie off.

“Needy much, darling?” He smirked, priding himself on his cocky attitude.

I blushed, nodding quickly, “I guess you could say that.” His knee found its way between my legs and I bucked my hips forward in an attempt to create friction.

He chuckled darkly, “I’m sure once I give you the real thing you won’t need to put in this much effort, love.”

I clenched my teeth, speaking between my teeth, “Then do it, love.”

“My pleasure.” He lifted me onto the sink, pulling my pants down and pulling a condom out of his pocket. He slowly pushed into me, trying to give me time to adjust to his size.

I winced and gripped a handful of his hair, hoping to God  I’d eventually adjust. With my other hand, I gripped onto his shoulder, pushing my head back and breathing heavily, “A-ah Luke-“

“Doing alright, darling?” He kissed up my neck, leaving small marks here and there. His voice was filled with lust, “You’re doing so good, baby, taking my cock so good, aren’t you?”

I moaned in response, hoping he wouldn’t stop praising me. I can’t lie- it turned me on. He picked up his pace, gripping my hip and biting his lip in concentration.

“Luke, I’m so close, faster!” He went faster, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room.

“Come on princess, hold out just a little longer for me. Can you do that for me? Can you be a good girl for me?”

I nodded quickly, eager for release. His hand made its way to my clit, and I gasped at the sudden pleasure, “I’m gonna cum, Luke!”

“Me too, fuck.” I gripped his hair in my fist even tighter, and my orgasm tore through me.

Luke was close behind, “God, you did so good, baby.” His movements slowed down, and he was catching his breath. He slowly pulled out of me and slipped off the condom, disposing it.

I looked at him, in a daze, “So, uh, what now?”

He hummed, “Well, I guess we should finish our closing work. And then I can take you to dinner if you’re up for it?”

I chuckled, “It’s the least you could do for fucking me before our first date.” I kissed him softly, smiling at him. Maybe he wasn’t just some angst filled waiter after all.

—

I woke up the next morning to a text from Luke.

‘I had a great time last night, can we get coffee like, as soon as you wake up?’

I smiled, answering immediately, ‘see you there in 30 minutes.’

I quickly got dressed and left to my car. I drove to the coffee shop and parked my car in a pretty close parking spot. I went inside and ordered an iced latte, dropping an extra dollar in the tip jar. I sat at the table, waiting for him to arrive.

He arrived shortly after, ordering an americano and sitting across from me.

“So, last night was… really good. I enjoyed it a lot.” He smiled at me, putting his hand on top of mine.

“I did too. I really did. You’re a better guy than I thought, Luke.”

“Do you want to, maybe, be a thing?”

I chuckled, “You mean date?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Oh I don’t know Luke… you’re kind of the worst.” I smirked and he rolled his eyes, leaning over the table and kissing me sweetly.

“But you love it.”

—

Taglist

@blahehblah

@i-calumhood

@angelbabylu

[scaryscarecrows]

Out of Hell

AN: I have read the prequel comics (worth it because Alfred. They’re not bad in general but Alfred is the BEST.)

I do cherry-pick however. So this doesn’t COMPLETELY line up, but it’s close enough.

* * *

Joker hasn’t been back for a while. He broke out, Jason thinks, which means Boles comes down every couple of days to feed him and take up the slack a bit. Fortunately, he’s not creative, just an asshole, and he’s an idiot. Usually drunk. Why he’s made it as high up as he has is beyond Jason, but this is Arkham.

Jason’s just grateful Harley isn’t coming down as much. She is creative, and jealous, and he suffers no illusions that she doesn’t want to wind his intestines around a giant spool.

Boles is distracted today, for reasons unknown, and normally Jason wouldn’t care (he’s going to die down here, hopefully sooner rather than later), but…

There’s something shiny in his pocket. He almost doesn’t notice it, but the light catches it just so as Boles is leaning over the table. Knife. That’s a knife. Fucking idiot, doesn’t he realize these animals…

Eh, if Joker’s paying him, it doesn’t matter anyway. But. Knife. Sharp object.

Jason twists his fingers upwards a bit, feels the ropes around his arms. They’re not tight, and they’re not that thick; if Joker had used these at the beginning, Jason could’ve gotten out of them. Hell, when the clown’s here, they’re not in use at all; Boles is just paranoid and Harley’s a bitch.

Knife.

He might be able to…if Boles is here today, the Joker isn’t expected back for another couple’a days, at least…

He has to try. If he dies, well, he’s out of his misery and that’s fine. Death is better than this.

Boles is nowhere near gentle when he shoves the water bottle against Jason’s lips, and he nearly chokes. That’s okay, though, because the angle the man’s at means he can feel warm metal against his fingertips. He didn’t survive as a kid through being a shoddy pickpocket, either, and he gets enough of a grip to draw it from the pocket and slip it against his wrist.

Boles doesn’t notice.

Jason wants to laugh, or stop breathing because this is a set-up, Joker’s back after all and this is another one of his tricks, but…

But. But Boles leaves, flicks the light off like he always does so that Jason’s alone in the dark, breath ragged in his throat.

Death is preferable. If nothing else, maybe he can slit his own throat before they can get the knife away from him.

He adjusts his shaky grip on the knife. It’s closed, which is a bit of a problem. It’s also stiff, and for a few seconds he’s convinced he’ll drop it before getting it open. But he does manage, in the end-nearly slices his finger open, but still.

It’s difficult to get an angle on the ropes, and the process is both terrifying loud

RRRRRR-RRRRRR-RRRRR

and agonizingly slow. Every little sound has him flinching and freezing solid, but nobody comes down. Eventually, he hears the slip-slip-shuuuuu of the ropes falling away. His wrists confirm their freedom a minute later and he pulls his arms in front of him. They’re shaking, and they hurt, but they’re free.

He snaps back to reality and saws frantically at the ropes around his legs, nicking through the jumpsuit but who fucking cares he’s getting outta here or dying on the way, so help him god.

It takes a few minutes to actually stand up, and then he’s wobbly and shaky. Walking into the dark is daunting-is anyone down here?-but he grips the knife tight enough to make his hand hurt, puts his other hand out in front of him, and shuffles forward. 

His toes touch the bottom stair. Okay. He can do this. He can do this, if he gets up high enough he can also fling himself back down the damn stairs. Granted, he might end up paralyzed rather than dead, but if he severs the right nerve, the Joker won’t be able to inflict pain anymore. That might be better. There he’d be, unable to fight back, but unable to feel anything.

That’d be fucking hilarious.

Halfway up, now, and he thinks he can see a sliver of light in the distance. He can hear things now, shouting and running and gunfire and oh shit what’s going on?

The sliver of light grows and he reaches out, grasps the doorknob. It’s cold under his fingers and it’s not locked, is it, please don’t be locked, not now--

The Joker’s nightmarish cackle sounds in the distance and he jerks back, presses up against the door and strains to see if he’s behind him, if he’s been following him up the stairs.

No. No, he’s on the other side of the door, he’s…on the intercom?

Jason swallows once, twice, three times and takes the doorknob again, twists it.

It turns and the door opens with a soft click.

This is a trick, or a hallucination, Jason’s sure. But he’s come too far to stop, and that spark of hope that he thought was dead is flickering again.

He goes through the door.

It’s chaos in the asylum proper; there’s corpses and bloodstains and screaming. The halls are foggy with dust and smoke and he’s on the intercom, laughing and laughing and shit he knows he has to know God please no more he can’t he can’t--

He doesn’t know. Or he just doesn’t say; he’s talking to someone who can only be Batman,

Left me you son of a bitch I should look for you make you see what you let him do to me

mocking him. But no one’s coming. Jason’s standing in the middle of the hallway and nobody’s coming.

He runs, sort of, stumbling awkwardly, until he trips out of a side entrance and onto the grounds. It’s raining outside, and there’s mutated plants that can only be Ivy’s everywhere (one just spat spores at some poor, screaming bastard), but.

But he’s outside for the first time in over a year.

Honestly, he has no idea what he wants in this moment. Every single sense is being assaulted; the smell of the plants and the wet chill of the rain and sounds of the trees…

A bath. He does know what he wants, and that is a warm-scalding hot-bath. And...and to avoid...he just…

He wants to be alone, but not...not stuck. He wants to be alone to do what he wants, whether that’s sleep or shower or slit his goddamn wrists open. And to do that, he has to get off the island.

His ankle hurts from his awkward run, but he gives it a mental toughen up, you useless prick, and starts trudging gingerly towards the main gates.

Honestly, he has no idea how he ends up in one of Gotham’s crappy no-tell-motels with a wad of cash (safehouse stash? pickpocket?), but here he is. The clerk gives no fucks and gives him a room on the ground floor.

Jason hasn’t laid eyes on himself since...since Joker got hold of him. So he supposes it’s understandable that he doesn’t recognize the boy in the mirror for a second.

He’s filthy, hair matted and tangled, and the orange jumpsuit he’s been stuffed into is bloody and torn. But that’s not the worst of it. That would be the burn on his cheek, a crisp, clear J that still hurts and is barely healing. When he brushes his fingers against the skin under it, he can feel it shudder as the nerves tingle warningly.

He tears his gaze away from the mirror, lips curling, and runs a bath. While the water’s filling up, he strips the jumpsuit off, hurls it aside and resolutely doesn’t touch the still-healing bullet wound in his chest, pretends it’s no big deal that his ankle doesn’t look quite right.

He eases himself into the tub. The water’s the best thing he’s felt in forever and he adjusts himself so he can dunk his head under.

Oh God yes please--

He stays under until his lungs burn because he can, because he’s in total control of this situation. If he wants to just bob up and down, he can. If he wants to blow bubbles, there’s no one to stop him. No Joker to force him back or haul him up by the hair, no Batman to point and intone, stay back, stay out of my way.

For the first time in...maybe his whole life, Jason Todd is his own man.

And like HELL is he going to let anybody take that from him.

THE END

[enkelimagnus]

Status: Illegal, Chapter 2

Clary/Izzy, Space AU

This chapter has a fight scene and some of the same themes of chapter 1. This chapter also has some sexual content.

I was asked to credit a mysterious dark stranger for the information on Alec's aiming eye/where the contact lens would be. So here we go. Thanks to a mysterious dark stranger for the information!

Shoot me an ask or a DM on my tumblr @enkelimagnus, or reach me on my Twitter @enkelimagnus! I have anons on and curiouscat so don't be shy!

Read on AO3

“Welcome on board, Izzy, Alec.”

“Good morning Tessa!” They both replied in unison as they walked into the cargo of their ship.

Izzy knew that Alec and Magnus had been up early in the morning before to clean it, which made her slightly anxious as to exactly what had been in her brother’s warrant. She didn’t like when he took dangerous warrants. She didn’t want him to disappear as well.

The ship was relatively small. Designed for a team of 3, it left for a lot of extra space to the two siblings. They each had their own rooms, with the extra room left empty for important passengers or friends. There was an extra bed in the small medical bay, and cots could be arranged in the cargo hold, as well as in the cockpit. Fortunately, they’d never had to come to this.

It was the place that Izzy considered her home, despite the fact that it was just a ship. She slept there almost every night, even when Alec slept in Magnus’ bed. There was something comforting to her about this place. It was theirs, and it would never be taken away. The Clave did not have ownership over what they had.

Alec left her to go directly to the cockpit, while she stopped by her room to change and shower. She selected dark leathery pants and a black tank top, something she knew she would feel good in.

She slipped out of her clothing from the day before and put her hair up in a ponytail, and stepped into the shower cabin. She selected a simple shower and her usual body wash on the panel and sighed happily as the hot water hit her.

She’d been tense lately, she realized as the hot spray massaged her back. It was probably due to the fact that the Rec was now abhorring a terrorist, fugitive from the Clave, who was actively hunted by the Clave forces.

Clary was interesting, and she was attractive, two things that didn’t negate the fact that she was a danger to everyone that stepped into the Rec, and something that could cost Alec and Izzy a lot. Thankfully, she seemed to understand that she had nothing to do in the main room of the bar when it was open.

Izzy stepped out of the shower rather quickly, and checked the levels of body wash and other cosmetics products on the monitor. They needed to go do some shopping. She got dressed, sliding on the pants over some shorts, a black bra under the tank top, and grabbed a blue jacket she’d put on later. She re-attached her holster to her thigh and added a knife to her boot.

“We need to get to the Supplier soon,” she called as she walked into the cockpit. While she showered, Alec had taken off. “We’re low on cosmetics.”

“And on fuel as well,” Alec nodded. “We can do that after the warrant, before coming home. We’ll just have to keep an eye on how much they are filling her up.”

He sat at the pilot’s seat, looking serene as he always did when he flew. Alec liked flying their ship. He’d told her once that it made him feel free. That made her heart ache a little. Alec didn’t often talk about his freedom status, but when he did, it showed how utterly miserable he was.

“Where are we on money?” Izzy asked after a moment, knowing it was why Alec didn’t want the ship to be filled up completely.

“We’ll have enough in a couple of warrants,” Alec replied, and his voice denoted how hard he was trying not to hope. “Enough for the both of us, enough to get all of this -” he shifted his head to make the earring dangle, “-off.”

Izzy sighed happily, sitting down onto the copilot chair and settling in it. “Good. Then we’ll finally be free.” She whispered.

Alec slid his hand towards the space in between their chairs, and Izzy reached to take it. They exchanged a look for a moment, before looking back at the void they were crossing, the landscape of their journey to their new warrant.

“Are you going to still drive me when you’ll be free, Alec?” Tessa asked in the silence.

Izzy had a bit of a chuckle. Their ship had a bit of a preference for Alec’s driving, and Izzy understood. Alec was the one who piloted her more often. And he was also much more interested in the mechanics. Izzy did sleep here more often, and she had good conversations with the AI, and she was her favorite.  

Alec smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere,” he promised.

“What are we going to do once we’ll be free?” Izzy asked. She’d been wondering that sometimes, but she never let her mind wander too far. She didn’t want to give herself the hope for a life that she might not get to.

“Maybe we could leave the SHA,” Alec shrugged. “All I know is that I want to wed Magnus.”

Izzy watched him with a smirk. “Will that be the first thing you do once they take off your earring and chip? Run to the Rec and ask to wed him?”

Alec chuckled, looking down at his hand. “Maybe. That wouldn’t be an unusual thing to do.”

Izzy smiled. Alec and Magnus were something else. She’d never seen two people that fit together as well as they did. There were many people in love, but they felt different to her. Maybe because she knew them personally. Alec looked happy when he was at the Rec with Magnus, much happier than when he was on a mission.

“The SHA isn’t that bad. I know we didn’t choose it, but it gives us some freedom,” Izzy hummed.

“It gives us some, maybe, but what will it feel like when we’ll be Freed? Maybe it will just feel like a reminder of the past,” Alec pointed out. “But it’s true that this has been our job for years now. We’re good at this, and I don’t really know what else we can be this good at.”

“I’m not becoming a Clave soldier for anything,” she muttered. “Or an Arapheli Priestess.”

Alec chuckled. “Really? You wouldn’t enjoy living in a sauna?”

“I only like bathhouses occasionally, thank you very much,” she laughed. “And come on, you’d really see me as an Arapheli? Walking around repeating Praise Araphel, the Star that Warms our World ?” She asked.

Alec shrugged. “Maybe you would enjoy the uniforms? I heard the Temple garb shows a lot of skin,” he teased her. “And Araphelim aren’t supposed to stay chaste.”

“Join a religious order just to bang all the priestesses? Not in my ten-year plan, Alec,” she shook her head, a smile playing on her lips.

They settled into a comfortable silence, but Tessa seemed to think it was annoying because she started playing some music in a low volume over the coms, providing a nice background to their way.

They were leaving Sham to get to another system, not far from theirs. Izzy couldn’t see the planets disappearing, since they were behind them, but she would be able to observe them as they went back. She loved the sight of the six planets and the star in the dark emptiness.

Usually, when the ship was taking them away from Maon, she felt her worries being left behind, but not this time. Clary Fray stayed in the forefront of her mind, sitting there asking for attention that Izzy didn’t want to give.

She didn’t know how to deal with this woman. She was glad she hadn’t had to keep sharing a bed and a room with her, because she was attractive, and it seemed that she had no qualms about being mostly naked in front of strangers.

There was also the staggering revelation that she’d been the perpetrator of the bombing of the Clave. What Izzy had started to see in the woman’s eyes as she interacted with her in the last day was the spark of brilliance. She was lethally intelligent. And that was probably how she’d managed to do something like the Circle bombing.

Izzy had seen the news report. The screens that were set up in the streets of Old Town Idris had shown the images over and over again, the fire and smoke coming out of the high window in the Hall of the Circle. They’d shown the families of the Circle Councilmembers, in their white clothing, still perfect and unmoving, even in mourning. Izzy had been supposed to see emotions in their eyes, but she hadn’t seen any.

They’d shown Valentine Morgenstern, and he’d threatened to find and kill the terrorist and everyone that had ever met them.

Izzy shuddered. That now included her.

“So what’s it gonna be today?” She asked, shaking the morbid thoughts out of her mind.

Alec hummed, moving his head to try and relax it. “Well, Level 3-DL. Named Heidi McKenzie. Human, woman, Free.”

Izzy grabbed her tablet and opened the warrant. “Heidi McKenzie.” She was a blonde-haired woman with something wicked in her eyes. Izzy read the information under the picture. “Several accounts of murder, conspiring to commit mass murder over a Clave-colonized planet in the J-W system.”

Alec nodded. “I’m almost surprised it’s Dead or Live, and not a Kill warrant.”

“You wouldn’t have let me come with you if it was a Kill warrant,” Izzy replied, putting down the tablet and reaching for the bottle of water that rested on the middle console.

“I don’t like you killing, Izzy, we’ve talked about this.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “Yes, we have. And I still have the same thing to say. I’ve killed before, I’ll kill again, and it would be safer for you if I was on your side. Besides, I’m 26, I can take care of myself.”

Alec sighed, closing his eyes for a second. “What’s the point in having the same argument again? In a couple of warrants, we’ll be done with this. We’ll be done with having to kill people.”

Izzy swallowed. “I don’t believe that. The world of the Clave is made in a way that we’ll have to kill again one day. We’ve started, we can’t stop now. When we’ll drop out of the SHA, some might want to target us, as revenge for the warrants we took against them or their families.”

Alec stayed silent for a moment. They both knew she was right, but they were both willing to take the chance. Freedom was worth killing for, they’d decided that years ago, when they’d first been given to the SHA. They’d had a choice, kill or get killed.

They’d chosen to kill.

“It’s over, Izzy. There’s no use to us fighting about this anymore.” Alec whispered. “Soon, we’ll be free.”

Izzy sighed and stood up, walking out of the cockpit and down the stairs to the cargo hold. There, she grabbed a pair of knives and hit play on her training playlist, turning towards the large pair of targets. She grabbed a blindfold and slid it over her eyes. That made the entire exercise more interesting.

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

Magnus stood in the calm of an early morning in the Rec. Alec and Izzy had left at sunrise, Alec leaving a warm empty spot in Magnus’ bed. He’d woken him up for a kiss goodbye and had trusted him to go back to sleep. Magnus hadn’t gone back to sleep. He never did.

He was not a big sleeper. There were too many things happening, too many people to watch out for, and he’d been used to short nights and small naps during the day for a long time now. Many people thought it was because of the bar, and his supposed history with nightlife. Magnus never denied that story.

The place was still empty, so after tidying around the counter and putting everything back in place, he walked downstairs to room number 6, where Clary Fray had taken residence.

The day before, he’d given her some Old Town-appropriate clothing. The dress she’d been wearing had been painfully obviously from New Town. New Towners had a way of dressing, expensive fabrics, simple cuts, thin and made for the comfort of warm houses.

The dress had been dirty, but it had been a Clave official’s dress. Magnus hadn’t asked questions. He never did, but he had the feeling there was so much more to this story than he expected. Clary Fray was unpredictable.

He knocked at the door. The door was unlocked soon after, and she let him in. “Good morning, Mister Bane.” She said with a smile.

“Please call me Magnus. No one calls me Mister Bane,” he replied, one hand up.

Clary Fray nodded, and moved back, holding her arms straight on her sides. There was Clave upbringing was still obvious in the way she looked at him, the stillness in her entire body and the stillness of her face.

“Thank you for helping me,” she said softly. “I know it’s dangerous for you and the people around you.”

Magnus had a small sigh. “I cannot ignore the Clave’s behavior towards the population,” he explained. “I’m perfectly aware of the risks, and I will never ask you to thank me for something I consider entirely normal.”

Clary bit her lip for a moment. “I wouldn’t. If I was in your place, I wouldn’t do it.”

“I don’t believe that. After all, you’re here.”

“I’m here because I’m running away,” Clary replied, crossing her arms and moving from her previously still and emotionless posture. “Not because I want to fight.”

Magnus chuckled. “In that case, you shouldn’t asked me to contact the Rebellion and help smuggle you to them. You should have asked for an escape to another system.” He pointed out, watching her with a smirk. “I get you’re lying to keep yourself safe, but it’s not good to lie to someone who already knows enough.”

“I’m not that used to Old Town. Or to being on the run.”

That was quite obvious. Magnus didn’t remark on that, he just went to sit down on the bed. He crossed his legs. “I contacted them. The smugglers will be here as soon as possible. In the meantime, you will be staying here, you will stay in this room as much as possible, and if you go outside, it will be during the night, and hidden. And never, ever, alone.”

Clary nodded. “I can accept that.”

“You do not have the choice of accepting it or not. That is it,” Magnus said simply. “I do not joke with this kind of situation.”

The young woman nodded again, staying silent this one. She watched him differently now and he could feel it. People did not know who he’d been. Magnus had been so much more than a bar owner. It was a fine profession, but his past was much more complex and much more… bloody.

Magnus smoothed over a wrinkle in the gown he was wearing. It was a knee-length grey and blue gown with a wide piece of blue fabric wrapped around his waist tightly. Underneath, he wore black pants. It was quite comfortable. And hid a knife in the folds of the garment. Magnus had always loved a good knife.

Clary was still stuck in her rigid posture and Magnus had a little bit of a smile. “You can relax, now. You’re not with the Clave anymore.” He patted down the bed next to him.

Clary walked over and sat down. At first, she kept her back completely straight, but she started slumping lightly. She had a small smile. “Thank you,” she said. Her voice was full of unspoken relief.

Magnus gently patted her knee. “You can breathe. You’re going to be okay.”

Clary sighed and nodded. She let herself fall back, laying on the bed with a happy huff. “It’s comfortable, for a cheap bar room rental.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow. “You make it sound as if you’ve been to a lot of cheap bar room rentals.” He teased and she chuckled.

She looked young then, like the kid she probably was. He could not resist the urge to ask that question. “How old are you?”

“I’m 24,” she replied.

So she was just a kid. Magnus was not much older - if he converted his age in human years - but he could feel the child spirit that wanted to desperately get out of the woman’s stoic upbringing.

“I apologize for fucking up something between you and the woman that had the room. I could feel she was mad at you when she left. And when she came back.”

Magnus shot her a look. Clary was looking up at the ceiling. He swallowed and sighed. "You did not fuck anything up," he reassured her. "You were a catalyst, maybe, but I would have told her what I had to tell her one day. Hopefully she will keep the information to herself."

"Are you worried she’ll rat you out?"

Magnus chuckled. "No. Izzy is many things, but she’s not a snitch. I’m afraid she’ll tell her brother. I love him very much, dear. I do not want him to be mad at me."

Clary licked her lips. "I think he’ll be, whether she tells him now or you tell him later."

Magnus laid down by her side, closing his eyes for a second. Yes, Alec would be mad at him, but at least he would hear the truth from Magnus himself, and not from his angry sister. That was an important difference. Izzy had some hyperbolic tendencies when she was emotional.

"Who are they?"

"They are bounty hunters with the Shadow Hunting Agency."

"I’ve heard of the SHA. They have deep ties with the Clave, even up to the Circle," Clary whispered. "Though I don’t know if they have them still, I think the terrorist killed the council member that dealt with the SHA."

Magnus shot her another glance. She said those things with certainty and he didn’t doubt for a second that she was right. "You know a whole deal of things about the Circle, don’t you?"

"My family was employed as assistants to the Councilmembers. I have personally worked with them since my 14th birthday."

"Ten years."

"Yes. Ten years, the day of the explosion. I very much enjoyed that birthday present."

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

Alec and Izzy walked through the streets of the coastal metropolis of the planet of Qora where Heidi McKenzie had last been spotted. Alec’s wrists were encased in the fingerless bow gloves he was wearing, his favorite ranged weapon. When he turned to check on her, Izzy could see the silvery cloud of his visor lens over his left eye.

The streets were not very crowded for the time of day and they were both a bit annoyed about that. It was easier to hide themselves in a crowd. Right now, they really looked like two SHA agents, dressed in leather. Around them, the Qorani people wore cotton fabrics.

“We’re not really blending in,” Izzy muttered, as people around them turned to watch them.

Alec sighed. “Well, as long as we get the target, we’ll be fine.” He shrugged.

Izzy hummed and steadied her grip on the handle of her phaser. She could feel the steady weight of her sword in its sheath on her back. They turned into a smaller street, and there again, the people got rarer. Izzy frowned. It was high season for tourism on Qora, and usually, the commercial streets would be full of Sham visitors or Clave officials enjoying the heat of the sun, and the sweetness of the local cuisine.

Alec had noticed the same thing. “This city was crowded the last time we were here.” He whispered. “Something’s changed.”

“Maybe someone was made aware of McKenzie’s threats over the community,” Izzy pointed out.

“That sure would keep some people from coming around, but not this many.”

He was right. Izzy swallowed. “Let’s just go to her lair.”

They turned again into an even smaller street. The sky was obscured by long pieces of green fabric, stretched in between the building tops. It doused the street in a strange light yellow-green light, and… Stars, it looked like a bad filter on a movie from a small producing agency. Izzy did not want to be in this movie.

“I don’t like this, Alec,” Izzy whispered.

Just as she was saying that, a metal door banged open in front of them. Izzy felt them all immediately. The people that came through the door were not the only ones there, some had snuck up behind them as well. She shot a glance behind her and saw them, three tall people, with short hair and weapons in their hands. She heard Alec grumble a ‘fuck’ under his breath.

Out of the open door came another three people, and behind these three was Heidi McKenzie. Her hair was just as blonde as in the picture, her eyes just as wicked, and she held her hands behind her back.

Alec grabbed his tablet out of his pocket and held it up. “SHA agents. We have a warrant out for Heidi McKenzie. We ask that you come with no fight.”

The woman raised an eyebrow and laughed at them. “That’s so cute. Two Owned SHAs coming to try and capture me.” She looked at them. “Really adorable.”

“We don’t want any trouble, Heidi,” Izzy said calmly. “We just want to serve justice.”

Heidi walked towards them, stepping in front of her goons and looking at Izzy. She looked at her from head to toe. Izzy swallowed. The woman was a bit taller than her. She was always way less muscular. Way less ready to fight.

Heidi smiled at her and spat at her. It hit her jacket and started sliding down the leather. Izzy ground her teeth.

“Listen, Owned girl,” Heidi said. “The SHA doesn’t serve justice. We do. We are Clave citizens. The Qorani do not belong on our planet. You’re going to leave us alone now.”

There were a thousand things in Izzy’s head, on Izzy’s tongue, ready to be thrown back in her face. Qora was still the planet of the Qorani, and it was far from being Heidi’s.

“Please do not push us to use force,” Izzy replied, looking back at the woman. “That would be quite unfortunate for you.”

Heidi shrugged and took a step back. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to. You’ll already be dead.” She snapped her fingers, and in a second, the people that were surrounding Alec and Izzy attacked.

“Fuuuuuuuck,” Izzy groaned as she dodged a fist that was flying towards her face. She dropped to the ground, swatting her leg out to sweep the guy in front of her down. She grabbed her phaser in one fluid motion, the shot barely missing Heidi.

She could register Alec’s motions at the corner of her eyes, a flurry of black leather and shining white earring, white phaser shots and the blood red of the arrows his bow-gloves shot. Her own phaser shot a hole in the second man’s face.

She suddenly felt a flash of pain against her arm and cursed again. Blade, she guessed, wielded by someone that had gotten up. The someone had long hair and an arrow in the leg, but it didn’t seem to deter them.

Devoted to their queen, huh, Izzy thought.

Izzy changed positions, using one hand to gather herself on the ground and sending her foot first in the person’s knee, then right into their face. There was a loud crack but she didn’t give it any more thoughts. She rolled out and got back on her feet.

She made sure this one was dead too, with a phaser shot to the head. She ignored the pain of her arm and gathered herself, finishing another opponent rather quickly, even if he managed to punch her in the face.

Alec was busy with the remaining goons so Izzy moved forward. This time, it was going to be a bit more fun. Heidi was just not someone Izzy enjoyed having on the face of the universe.

Heidi was armed with a blade too, and Izzy almost rolled her eyes at how typical that was. Of course some Clave-obsessed supremacist would be using blades. At least it wasn’t an electrosword.

That thought brought the image of Clary, with her red hair and her hazel eyes and the chilling quality of her smile back, and Izzy missed Heidi’s first move. The blade shot towards her and Izzy felt it slice through her jacket, top and a bit of her skin as she scrambled out of the way.

She would have a nice horizontal scar above her left breast, but she would be fine. However, she was now quite mad. Izzy put her phaser back in its holster and slid the sword out of its sheath, the metal clashing against Heidi’s second try at killing her.

This time, Izzy could fight back. She’d trained herself for hours. She’d made sure she knew how to fight with every weapon she could get her hands on, she’d sliced her hands open on sharp blades when she was 13, mere months after her parents’ death, when she’d realized her survival didn’t hold to much.

Heidi sneered at her and Izzy almost rolled her eyes, pretending to surrender control to her and sliding her sword down. The blade caught right under the blonde woman’s breasts and sliced her there. Heidi howled.

Izzy moved back, avoiding the sword in Heidi’s hand that threatened to hit her as her opponent withdrew on herself from the pain and injury.

Izzy’s chest and arm were burning, there was blood trickling from her split lip, and she was starting to get a little tired. Guess she just needed some more training.

Heidi stumbled forward again but Izzy had the upper hand, and stabbed her sword into her heart this time. She fell to the ground. Izzy pulled her weapon out of the body and wiped it on the dead woman’s clothing.

Alec had been injured as well, and he looked over at her, panting. He always talked about how he didn’t want her to kill. Izzy knew he meant well, but she also knew it was unavoidable.

“So that went smoothly,” Izzy grumbled, unzipping her jacket to look at the wound. Great. Her jacket would need some stitches, and her top would need to be re-vamped to be wearable without straps, but it would be fine.

“We only need her,” he pointed out. She nodded.

The wound on Heidi’s stomach was deeper than expected and it was starting to gush out some things that would be better left inside of the body.

“You know, next time, we’ll just lure them into Tessa. Worst case, we’ll have to clean the cargo hold, but it’s just much better than having to carry that,” Izzy chuckled.

“Do you want to flip a coin on who’s gonna carry it, or are you gonna pull your weight?” Alec teased.

“Fuck off,” she rolled her eyes and closed her jacket again, and went to grab the feet. “Just take your side and let’s go.”

Heidi’s body was much heavier than it had looked when she was still alive, Izzy noted as she and Alec carried it through the streets towards where they had parked Tessa. They should have just taken her head and left the rest behind. The warrant had requested full proof of death though, and with the tourist species on planets like Qora, you never knew whether decapitation was really lethal or not.

Thankfully for them, they weren’t that far from the ship, and were able to put down the body in a freezing bag. Izzy huffed and walked towards the med area, stretching out her back. Heidi had just been too heavy.

She pushed open the door and walked in, opened a cabinet and looked over the boxes for the alcohol, some gauze and bandages. All the boxes were empty, and no matter how many times she looked through them, she could not find.

“Ah fuck this,” she grumbled and walked out of the med bay. “Alec!” she screamed, “we’re out of medical supplies!”

Alec cursed as well, loudly. “It’s fine. We’ll just ask Magnus.”

That’s great, Alec, but we need to go to the Supplier. Izzy didn’t reply, she just sighed and hoped they would get to the Supplier soon. This was all worrying. Alec was acting strangely and she didn’t like it. They could take more warrants if they had to, but they also needed to fill their ship with…. Everything.

Izzy closed her eyes for a second and shook her head. They had a whole flying back to do and then delivering the body to the SHA.

She took another shower, and took care of her wounds however she could, and it wasn’t long until they were standing outside of the prison part of the SHA base, a space station just off of Maon. They quickly delivered body and warrant, checked their bank accounts to see that the money had been added and left.

Then, it was only a few minutes until they were walking into the Rec.

It was, as usual for this hour, packed full of various people. The music was playing, loud as ever, the dancers were dancing, and Izzy was starting to feel a headache. She loved the Rec, it was basically one of the few places she felt comfortable in in the galaxy, but right now it was too much.

Magnus looked up as they approached the bar, and sighed softly. “Bad day?”

“Combative warrant,” Alec replied. “Would you please have something for us?”

Magnus hummed, caressing his fingers against one another as he thought. “I probably have some scarring helper bandages upstairs. Catarina always leaves some in the room. I’ll be right back.” He walked away, not without gently tapping Alec’s hand.

Izzy sat down heavily on one of the tools. She needed scarring helpers now. Those were basically miracle workers, and she had two big gashes that she needed closed as soon as possible.

Alec sat down next to her and they asked for some whiskey. The bartender served the both of them, and soon after Magnus was back. He led them upstairs, to a big room with obvious medical use. Izzy took a sip of the drink she still had in hand and started looking through what Magnus had pulled out of various furniture.

She immediately grabbed the bandages she needed. Unfortunately, there was no rubbing alcohol to go with it. “It’s fine,” she mumbled, “I’ll just get it from the bar.”

She walked down the stairs and into the Rec, paid for a full bottle of the strongest they had, and went back upstairs. She hesitated, in front of the door. There was this knowledge that if Alec and Magnus were left alone in a room, you should not even think of going back in, because then you would walk in on something much too intimate.

So she took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and made a beeline for the bandages. She shot them a glance. Neither of them was naked, yet, but the way Alec was holding Magnus was definitely sign that that was not gonna last.

“Please take care of your wounds before you do anything,” she pointed out.

Magnus smiled. “Don’t worry, Izzy. I’ll make sure he’s all bandaged up.”

Izzy rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, and back to the main bar. She sat down at an empty table in the corner and slid off her jacket and rolled down her shirt. Some people looked at her but she didn’t care.

Back in the room she’d just left, Alec looked up at his boyfriend, smiling softly. Magnus watched him tenderly. “You need to get to the Supplier, love.”

Alec sighed, hands caressing Magnus’ clothed sides. “I don’t want to. I just want to do the next few warrants and go to the Clave for our freedom,” he whispered. “We’re so close.”

Magnus nodded. He understood perfectly what Alec meant but… “You won’t be able to be Freed if you die beforehand because of a lack of supplies.” He grabbed the various things and started helping Alec get clean and bandaged up.

As he’d told Izzy, he made sure that Alec was all fixed up before he put away the supplies and walked back to his boyfriend. Alec did look good when he was all scratched up. Hint of blood still on his face, disheveled and looking every ounce the rugged bounty hunter he was.

“I know that look,” Alec whispered, licking his lips.

“Well you’re all bandaged up, and looking absolutely gorgeous,” Magnus shrugged, going to lock the door.

Alec stood up and let his eyes roam over him. “And you do love when I get dirty like this, don’t you?” He asked, taking a few steps towards him.

Magnus tilted his chin up, raising an eyebrow. “I do.”

Alec pulled him towards him, pulled him up in his arms, and quickly carried him over to the small bed in the middle of the room. Magnus opened his legs, letting Alec settle in between them.

“I love when you’re wearing something like this,” Alec pointed out. “So easy to access,” he smiled, sliding his hands under the hem of Magnus’ gown and starting to slowly slide up.

Magnus was a bit ticklish, and it wasn’t long until he started giggling. Alec’s smile was wide and luminous, as he looked at him like he was the most beautiful person on Maon, before leaning in to kiss him deeply.

Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec’s neck, keeping him close as he kissed him back. Alec’s hands travelled upwards again, sending goosebumps and light giggles up his skin.

Alec kissed him back for a moment before he let go of his lips and started kissing down his neck to the crook of Magnus’ throat, kissing and licking and sucking marks there until Magnus was making soft moans against him, and the giggling was forgotten as Alec’s hands reached his hips.

“You’re not wearing underwear,” Alec whispered against Magnus’ ear, the low grumble sending shivers down Magnus’ spine.

“Discarded them when I heard you were coming home,” Magnus shrugged. “Thought it’d be much easier for both of us that way.”

Alec bit his lip and grabbed his hips a little harder, moving to pull Magnus closer to the edge and to move in closer too. Magnus’ hands left his hair and travelled down to undo his belt and take down his pants. He felt Alec’s erection and smirked.

“Told you it would be easier,” he whispered.

“I don’t need you going commando to get hard, baby,” Alec replied. “Don’t you dare imply that,” he teased.

Magnus batted his eyelashes, looking up at him. “I guess you’re gonna have to show me how you don’t need anything to get you going.” He shrugged.

Alec’s smirk was wide and wicked when he dived in to kiss Magnus again, stealing his breath away and moving a hand to start preparing him for what was to come.

Back in the Rec, Izzy was now alternating drinking alcohol and dousing her wounds and scratches in it. She knew perfectly well that Alec wouldn’t come out of the upstairs room before the morning. Whatever they were doing now, they would probably follow it up with going to bed.

Izzy smiled. Magnus and Alec almost succeeded in fooling everyone into thinking that they were just together for the sex. Almost. She knew better. She knew the way they looked at each other. It was almost sickening how in love they were.

Well, she thought, seeing as a tall Seelie woman was looking at her bare cleavage with sure hunger, she guessed she could definitely follow her brother’s example and get some tonight. She took another gulp of alcohol, and walked towards the Seelie’s chair.

[sm-entertain-me]

Dance With Me (M)

Contains: Jung Hoseok x (f) reader, smut, dance instructor!au, unprotected sex (don’t be a fool, wrap your tool kiddos), fingering

Synopsis: You mistakenly went into the wrong dance class but didn’t realize it would be the best mistake you had ever made in your life.

You watched as all of the dancers around you paired up with the ones who knew each other best, forming large groups that even reached to six per group, while you were left alone in the back of the room, you staring down at your sneakers. This was the first time you had ever tried to go to an actual dance class with a professional instructor, not just trying to teach yourself in your bedroom with the mirror that barely fit your whole body into it to watch your movements to see if they were being done in the way it was supposed to, so you weren’t really surprised that no one flocked to you to be your dance partner. But that was fine with you as you knew you weren’t here to make friends, you were here to prove to everyone that doubter you that you could make it as a dancer. Everyone around you had doubts about your potential dance career, insisting to just go to college like regular people and get a degree in something that carried weight in the world. This was your chance to prove that you had the potential to hang with the big dogs of the world of dance, and you weren’t about to give up on your dreams just yet.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves while you sat on the floor and spread out your legs into almost a split, showing off your flexibility as you reached over the length of your leg to grab the midpoint of you feet. You kept control of your breathing as your eyes closed, feeling the muscles in your body begin to loosen as you prepared for at least an hour of agonizing dance moves. Although you were enrolled in the beginner portion of the dance program they had offered at this establishment, you were not the one to underestimate anything in your life, so you stretched extra well as to not feel the painful tinge of muscle cramps later on tonight. As you were in the middle of your intense stretches, you heard the studio door open loudly and turned your head to see what was going on. In walked the most handsome man you have ever laid your eyes on; a man that was sort of tall in average standards, clear skin, smooth brown hair that clung to his forehead slightly, pair of sunglasses hanging loosely on the tip of his nose, a slight muscular build to his exposed biceps... Completely breathtaking. You could tell that by the way everyone had quieted down when he entered the room that he was indeed your instructor. Interesting.

The man crossed the area of the laminated hardwood floor, stretching his arms as he walked and moved to set his duffel bag down in the front of the studio, his arms stretching out to grab the ballet barre that mounted to the huge wall of mirrors. He made sure to look at everyone one by one, taking in their features as if he could tell how good they would do in his class by just their physical appearance. Some people earned light smiles, others earned bows to acknowledge their slightly older age than the man, while you didn’t earn anything but an intense stare as he tilted his head at you. He hadn’t seen you before in the program he had been teaching for at least two years, which was concerning for him since he could name every single person in the room with him, except for you. No matter, he held himself against the ballet barre as he began with introductions, “Hello everyone, I am Jung Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi or J-Hope, whatever suits your fancy. And I’m going to be your advanced modern dance instructor for the remainder of our time together.” 

Did he just say advanced modern dance instructor? You quickly looked around the room in panic as you forced yourself to your feet, rushing over to your bag that lay on the opposite side of the room off to the right of the lines of dancers, earning looks from nearly each one of the dancers. Digging through your duffel bag, you pulled out your phone and looked frantically through your notes that would shine some light as to why you’re in the wrong class. “And what do you think you’re doing?” You heard a dismissive voice come from right behind you, your frame tensing up as you could feel your legs starting to grow limp. Slowly, you stood up from the bent over position you were previously in, still gripping your phone in your hand as you returned the stare that Hoseok imbued onto your eyes, stammering as you spoke, “I-I think I’m in the wrong class, sir. I was j-just trying to figure out where to go.” Hoseok looked you up and down, taking in your features as he stopped on your toned calves, tight core, and slightly muscular arms, impressed to say the least, “I could tell from the moment I walked in here that you were in the wrong class. But this is your lucky day, you get to take my class for free instead of that measly beginner class across the hall, which you should be grateful for because this class usually costs $700 more than the beginner one. Now, take your place in the front of the room next to Raven and Eric and let’s see what we’re working with...”

By the end of the class time, you were a sweaty, panting mess that was ready to fall onto the floor and sleep for eternity. Hoseok wasn’t kidding when he said the class was advanced as he forced all of you to go through intense dance combinations, testing how flexible each and everyone of you were just to get a feel for what dance moves he could put you through before any of you would cry out from the pain, leaving no time for rest during any parts of the songs he was training you guys for. The whole experience was intense as you held onto your knees, doubled over from exhaustion as your forehead glistened with sweat, your feet aching, head pounding, heart racing... Hoseok saw how exhausted your were and instructed everyone to take five as he sauntered over to you, you being afraid he was going to yell at you for giving up on him after he allowed you to take part of this class at $700 less than the standard rate. Instead, he picked your chin up with his index finger and looked at you, a bright smile on his face as he handed you one of his water bottles, “You’re doing great by the way, I’m very impressed. But you still need to drink some water, even the most advanced dancers can’t go on without proper hydration.” “Thank you,” You breathed out hastily as you grabbed at the water bottle, you fingertips touching Hoseok’s warm and oddly comforting hands. As your fingers lingered on the top of his hand, you couldn’t help but feel tingling feeling flutter from your finger and start creeping up into your heart. It was something you weren’t used to feeling. In fact, you can’t really recall the last time you had ever felt something like that.

Hoseok seemed to notice the feeling as well as his eyes softened under you staring up at him, him clearing his throat as he let go of the water bottle into your hand, “You’re welcome.” With that, he turned back around and focused his attention to the whole class instead of just you as he decided to call it a day, “Great job everyone! Everyone is looking amazing and I’m very impressed with all of you and how far you’ve come since the last time I saw you guys. Keep up the good work, I’ll see you guys next week.” Sighing in relief, you waited for everyone to clear the area with all the duffel bags on the wall, finally reaching yours as you began to pack up all your things while simultaneously deciding if you should take a shower in the locker rooms that the institute provided or just wait until you get home. That was, until you felt a hand grip your shoulder softly.

You jumped at the sudden contact with your shoulder, startled even, “Jesus Christ!” You quickly calmed down as you turned around and came face to face with the handsome dance instructor, biting your lip lightly as you saw the way the seat glistened on his upper chest area. Hoseok laughed at your reaction to his touch, “Wow you scare easily... Just out of curiosity, where did you learn to dance because I have never seen someone dance with as much passion or precision as you and I’ve been doing this for a while.” Returning his kind smile, you slung your duffel bag over your shoulder before you responded, “I’m self taught. I really want to be a dancer but my family never approved of it, so I decided to take some professional lessons to see how I stack up. I guess I’m doing pretty well if I can hang with the advanced dancers and get complimented by the instructor. Do you always compliment your students like this? Like, take the time after class and say it to their face?” Hoseok shrugged his shoulders as he gripped the bottom of his white muscle shirt and reached up to dab his sweaty forehead, exposing his well defined abdominal muscles that caused you to suck in air abnormally fast. When he was satisfied, he let his shirt fall back down to cover his abs as he answered you, “Not really. None of them are as impressive as you, both in dance and in appearance.” That was sure to make you blush.

“Oh, well thank you,” You said as you pulled your head away to look at your aching feet, not wanting to show how red your cheeks were since you weren’t dancing anymore or working up a sweat to provide an excuse for you. Hoseok reached out to your crimson filled face, picking your chin up with his finger like he had done previously, parting his lips to say something but ended up being lost in your eyes before saying anything. Not that you minded because you too felt yourself become lost in his eyes, absolutely enamored with everything about him. Just then, Hoseok closed his eyes lightly and leaned in to you, his lips finding their way to yours as you smiled into the kiss, dropping your duffel bag to the ground with a loud thud as your hands found their way to the back of his neck. Hoseok’s hands wrapped around your slender waist, circling the small of your back lightly as he walked you backwards until your back came in contact with the wall behind you, making sure he didn’t overdo it and cause you to hit your head. You could feel yourself heating up as Hoseok’s tongue slid to your bottom lip, licking it slowly to ask for permission. Although you admit this was moving pretty fast for what you were used to, you figured that this could be an exception for you.

When you granted him access, Hoseok’s tongue slipped into your mouth and found yours, sliding over your muscle with his and essentially mixing your saliva together to form a sensual product that you both enjoyed. He made sure he left no part of your mouth unexplored as he made sure you felt the raw passion he had been saving for you ever since he locked eyes with you when you were in the back of his class. Hoseok then slid his hands from the small of your back to the bottom of your ass, gripping the skin in his hands only covered by the thin layer of your black yoga pants that he desperately wanted to rip off of you. “Can you take these off for me?” Hoseok groaned as he had pulled his lips off of yours and found themselves onto your neck, the vibrations of his voice sending chills down your spine, referencing your pants. You were too invested in how his lips moved gracefully over your neck to answer, so you just allowed him to do whatever he wanted with you as you gripped at the flesh on his back, digging your nails slightly into his back as he teethed a particularly sensitive area of your neck. Hoseok could sense that you wanted him to take them off for you while you relished in his sensual touches, slipping his hand in between your skin and the two layers you had on your lower body, looking up at you to get your consent before moving forward. You nodded at him with hooded eyes and a smile, watching as he slid the black fabric of your pants and your multicolored underwear down the length of your legs, pooling at your ankles before you kicked them to the side. 

“Fuck,” Hoseok muttered as he looked at your lower half, licking his lips in response as he stared longingly at your already slick sex as some of your essence as trapped between your thighs. You smirked at him as you gripped the top part of his sweatpants, cocking an eyebrow at him as you mimicked his previous tone, “Can you take these off for me?” “Yes ma’am,” He responded with a smirk as he basically ripped off his pants to reveal his throbbing length, the tip red with anticipation and need. Before you could do anything or react properly to his impressive length, his lips found yours again and kissed you passionately while his hands teased down to your hips before moving towards your core, circling the area just above your entrance. You tried to buck your hips at him to get him to touch you where you needed it most, but he pulled away, chuckling at how needy you were for him to fuck you. He admired your persistence and couldn’t say no to you and how you looked, a writhing mess in his hands as he hadn’t even touched your dripping sex yet, finally granting your wish of proper stimulation.

Hoseok’s hand slipped in between your legs, his thumb latching onto your swollen clit as he slid one lengthy finger inside of you, goading out a sharp moan as your thighs clenched uncontrollably at the touch. A smile lay on his face as he watched you intensely, testing to see what kind of touches, what kind of rhythm, and how many fingers he had to push into you to force out another barrage of moans. Your hands gripped at the back of his shirt as he pulled your leg around his waist to allow for you to spread out properly as he slid his third finger into you, you clamping down on your bottom lip to stifle the impending moans but were no match for your pleasures as the moan came out loudly, signalling to Hoesok that he had found the perfect formula to turn you into an absolute mess. “Hoseok please, no more. I need you to fuck me now,” You begged as your legs throbbed underneath his control, his thumb working your swollen bud in circles that drove you made with desire. Hoseok smiled as you as he pulled his fingers out of you, coated in your wetness as he licked them lasciviously, “All you had to do was ask.”

He grabbed you on either side of your hips as he raised you off of the ground effortlessly, moving a step closer to close the gap between your bodies as he ordered you to wrap your legs around his waist and hold on. You did as you were told, wrapping your legs around his waist tightly and holding onto the back of his muscle shirt as he slid you down onto his length, a gasp falling from your lips as your grip on his shirt tightened due to him stretching you out to lengths you could only dream of achieving. Hoseok’s cock filled you to the brim, reaching deep inside of you as he gripped onto your hips to keep you in place before he could start ramming himself into you, “You ready?” You nodded into his shoulder, still gripping onto the white clothing as if your life depended on it. With your approval, Hoseok drew back, sliding his length out of you slightly and ramming back into you, lewd sounds of skin smacking together filling the room. He continued to fuck you hard up against the wall of the studio, throwing his length into you at rapid speeds that you moaned loudly to every time he did it, you digging your nails into his skin instead of gripping onto his shirt. The amount of cursing and the sheer volume of your moans would make even a nun blush as you let the whole world know just who was fucking you and how hard you were being fucked, convinced that Hoseok would ram himself into your so hard that you would go through the wall.

“Hoseok!” You cried out as your legs wrapped around his waist the tightest they had ever been since you two had started your sinful activity, trying to hold off cumming for a little longer to feel the pleasure building inside of you rapidly. You looked down in between your bodies as Hoseok’s cock would bury deep inside of you, you biting your lip at the sight as you threw your head back from the delightful scene. Hoseok was absolutely enamored with the faces of pleasure you were making and was determined to force more out of you, but even he knew he was approaching his limit. “Baby, I’m gonna cum soon,” He groaned out as he continued to ram himself into you, smacking his hands on the wall behind you to get the maximum amount of depth he could out of you. Instead of responding with words, you felt the band holding back your eventual orgasm snap as you cried out his full name, gripping his back hard enough to draw blood as your walls tightened around his throbbing cock buried deep inside of you, pulling greedily at Hoseok’s cock inside of you to usher out an orgasm of his own. The minute Hoseok saw your face twist into the shape of ultimate pleasure, he couldn’t hold back as he blew his load inside of you, painting your walls white and mixing his cum with your essence to produce a sinful liquid. Hoseok helped the both of you ride out your highs as he gave small thrusts inside of you, slowing down to calm himself down as he pressed his sweaty forehead onto yours, his chest rising and falling against yours as he panted loudly. 

“That... was amazing,” Hoseok said in between breaths as he let your legs fall to the floor, him pulling out of you and watched as the liquid poured out of you and ran down your leg, rushing to the opposite side of the room to get you a napkin to clean yourself up properly. You gladly took the napkin and wiped up from your mid thigh up to your sex to rid yourself of any evidence of the amazing sex you just had with your instructor, nodding at his statement, “I agree.” Hoseok watched you with a kind smile as you put your pants back on, struggling to keep your balance as the whole ordeal made your knees a little weak, but you were determined to not fall. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself as he watched you, thinking about how all of this happened. Maybe it was fate that brought you into this classroom, fate that had Hoseok take you under his wing (and ultimately under him, lolol) and show you new techniques to which you mastered almost immediately. Whatever it was, you were glad it happened, and you couldn’t wait for next week’s lesson. 

[mind-writing0]

Chapter 17

One of the big things that was made to take his whole attention was the next Report. The last one had made him nervous to the point of nausea, but maybe this one would be better.

After Romelle had them run a bit late, what with her insistence of ironing Virgil's dress shirt twice, they were ready to go. Virgil joined the fourteen other Selected in the hall, and they walked together to the TV studio.

The procedure when they arrived was the same as the first, as they would be doing most of the same things. News, interviews, cameras flashing for magazines Virgil had never been able to afford before. They all filled in their seats when someone tapped Virgil's shoulder.

The black haired teen turned around to see Bill looking both agitated and frustrated. "Can I talk with you in the hall for a sec?" He asked, his voice sounding bittersweet.

Virgil hesitated for a moment. Why would he need to talk to him, and what could he do? Maybe he was trying to eliminate him, as he had been receiving a tad more attention from Roman than the others. Nodding, Virgil decided to follow Bill into a hall. If he did anything, Virgil could tell Roman and have him kicked out, right?

Bill found a room down the hall, a dressing room, that no one was using. Virgil followed him in, but he kept close to the doorknob.

"Your suit, I want it, give it over." Bill said, and his straightforwardness surprised Virgil. Here the blond boy was: threatening, intimidating, mysterious. Though just now he was cutting to the chase. And the oddity of the situation!

Virgil laughed a little, but it was a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry, what?" He looked down at his suit. It was a dark blueish-purple, bedazzled with tiny diamonds to make it sparkle like a night sky.

"Your suit looks better than mine, so I should have the right to wear it." Bill stated stubbornly, unbuttoning his yellow suit jacket.

"What the hell? No, it's my—"

"If you don't let me have it, I'll peel it off your—" Bill had reached up to the left sleeve and ripped some of the fabric off, leaving noticeable damage. "flesh. There, that's what you get for not comprehending me the first time. Bye!" He went around Virgil and slammed the door behind him, leaving him to bask in a problem that he hadn't caused.

Sighing and wiping away his watering eyes, Virgil calmed down before looking in the dressing room for any way to fix it. Luckily there was some sewing thread and a needle. Awkwardly, and with many pokes to the arm, Virgil half-heartedly stitched his sleeve. It still looked scrunched up and ugly, no where in comparison to the beauty his maids had created, but the show must go on.

Setting in his seat, he ignored Bill's smug look and instead insisted on small talk with Lance. When the show started, they stopped to listen.

"Oh, what's this?" Thomas said, "It appears Prince Roman has an announcement. What would you like to say, Your Highness?" He settled in his own round blue chair as Roman was handed a microphone.

Roman stood up from his seat and went to the center of the stage. He cleared his throat, looking out at all his potential subjects before beginning. "Hello everyone, I would like to use this opportunity tonight to inform you all of a problem that needs to be fixed."

Virgil nearly had an aneurysm right then and there.

"We, as participants in a life of luxury, have no clue what troubles the lower class faces to bring us these things. Things that we take for granted, like food, buildings, roads, and every day necessities. Though, sometimes, they must pay their own prices. I have been informed that some go without food, and water, and electricity. Some go without, while we take for granted what is given to us! That is why, as a small start, part of the salary for the Twos and Threes of the Selected will be taken." He was silent for a moment, as there was some gasps and noises of disapproval from the upper class Selected. "It'll be used for a good cause, as every District Services Office will now be supplied with a free meal for all Sevens and Eights. It's only one meal for now, but it has to get us somewhere. We have depended on the lower class, the backbone of society, for long enough. It's time we gave something back. Thank you." Roman handed back his microphone and went back to his seat. The king looked pissed, while the queen was practically glowing with pride, and it was an odd duo to look at.

Virgil couldn't believe it. He was past the point of where he thought Roman would kick him out for every little thing, though he still thought he had offended the prince somehow, as if he told him he was bad at his job before he'd even had a chance at it. But providing meals for the poor and homeless? Virgil could throw up from all the sugary-sweetness that Roman was radiating.

Soon, they started going through interviews, but Virgil was too excited to pay attention to the others.

"Sir Virgil?" Thomas asked, "Lost in a daydream?"

Virgil had indeed been lost in thought, but he snapped back to the reality of the fact that he was being interviewed. "What? Oh, yes...I'm sorry, what?"

"I said," Thomas smile patiently, "you are the last Five in the Selection. Do you think this effects your chances with Prince Roman?"

"No!" Virgil said immediately, offended in his tone. He then realized how passionate he sounded in the matter and decided to try to back it up with something less aggressive. "I mean, Roman would never judge someone on something like that."

Thomas sat up in surprise and interest. "Oh, really? And what else could you say about Roman?"

"Uh..." Virgil blanked out. He'd said just Roman on national TV, but everyone seemed more amused and intrigued than anything else. "I think he's great. Handsome and kind and..." he turned to Roman, meaning every word. "Unexpected."

"Interesting, interesting. Thank you, Sir Virgil, you've been lovely company. That will be all tonight, Ailea. Thank you, all!" Thomas concluded, and the camera crew stopped filming.

"Good j-job, Thomas." Virgil felt his stomach ache from nerves, which was odd considering the cameras were off, but Virgil wanted to put effort into talking to Thomas at least once. It would be cool to tell Valerie, after all.

"Thanks, Virgil! I thought you did too. You're doing well despite the stage fright, I'm proud!" Thomas replied before being handed a bottle of water by a stage hand, who then started telling him of more things he needed to do.

Virgil awkwardly walked off, and his eyes met Roman's. Grinning at him, he tugged his ear, and Virgil smiled back at the idea of a visit

Once he got to his room, his maids were all giving each other knowing looks for some reason.

"Hey, guys, Roman's coming to visit, so...you could leave, if you want. I dunno." Virgil said, feelings of immaturity creeping up on him. His maids all smiled politely and curtsied before leaving, so Virgil knew that his simplistic friendly tone did nothing to demean his status.

Virgil sat at his piano seat and began playing whatever song came to his heart. This one was something more upbeat, yet romantic. He'd usually think of the future with Dan while playing this, but now...now he wasn't sure what he thought about. After a while, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Virgil said, abruptly stopping his music. Roman entered, seeming lost and flustered. "What's wrong?"

"Your music...I'm sorry, it was just so beautiful, I didn't want it to stop, but...I also wanted to see you. I hope that one day, if we have the time, you could play for me?" Roman said quietly.

"Of course, Princey, no big deal. I play for customers all the time, but it'll come at a price."

"Really?" Roman raised his eyebrows in playful intrigue. "What would you want?"

"Um...I don't know." Virgil shrugged, then smiled. "More time to hang out with you, I guess."

"And that is a price I would gladly pay. Shall we go outside?" Roman offered, referring to the balcony outside Virgil's double doors. Virgil agreed with a nod, and they went out into the fresh air. Below them was the view and smell of the garden, and above was the full moon.

"It's nice out here," Virgil commented, "it makes me feel bad that I was so insistent on disturbing those guards that first night."

Roman sighed, and it sounded like a laugh as he rested against the railing with crossed arms. "I am so glad you did that, Virgil. You have no idea how much better you have made this experience for me. I'm not sure how some of these events would have transpired without you here to bring color to it."

"Oh," Virgil replied softly. "I—I don't know what to say. Thank you, Roman. I'm actually glad I got picked for this. I mean, don't get me wrong. It's prestigious and ridiculous and fake but...you're real, you know? At least, I hope so. Because if you are, I'd...I dunno, it'd be worth it. Not just the checks and the different life but...you too." Virgil felt his stomach almost flicker and his heart squeeze as he turned towards Roman. With a small puff of a gasp, he realized the prince was close enough to him to feel the heat on his cheeks. Virgil was surprised to see Roman was close enough to kiss him if he wished.

And he was even more surprised when he did.

It was not a magical first kiss, but it was alright. Quick, a little off aim, but he and Dan had had worse awkward firsts. Leaning back, Roman's wide sparkling brown eyes made him seem surprised by his own actions. "I am so sorry. I should have asked. Stupid, stupid!" Roman knocked himself lightly in the forehead. "I just thought...I thought you liked me, and I just wanted my first kiss to be with someone I really like—"

"Wait, Roman, calm down. That was your first kiss?" Virgil asked with a grin, and Roman looked relieved to the point of exhaustion to see it.

The prince nodded, "As I have mentioned, I've never had the honor of being in love before. Oh, you probably think I'm such a dork now!"

"I do," Virgil replied fondly, "but you're cute. And I do like you, but no offense, that kiss was kind of crappy. Wanna remake that memory?"

"What do you mean?" Roman asked, his cheeks a dark pink that contrasted his slightly pale skin. "Here," Virgil mumbled, reaching out for Roman's waist and guiding him until he was practically holding Virgil against the railing. The black-haired teen then raised his hand to Roman's cheek and leaned towards him, making this kiss a more romantic alternative.

They broke apart, and Roman gazed into Virgil's dark brown eyes with his own half-lidded ones, looking entranced than any man in any relationship. "Virgil Singer," he mumbled, still close enough to kiss every freckle on his face, and he made a note to do that one day if he'd let him. "Would you try for me, darling?"

"Yes," Virgil barely whispered his response, yet to Roman it seemed enough to last him a lifetime. "I'll try."

Next (Coming Soon)

Masterlist Previous

Taglist

@its-the-cat-queen @notalwaysthevillian @the-doctor-demigod-wizard @avocados26 @2-many-fandoms-to-chose-from @randomsandersides @misera-libera @kawaii-harmony @seeyoube @dabby-the-disappointment @kaioanxiety @toxicity-levels-critical @sandersfandersblog @tryingtoohard-noclue @amazable01 @hazelswann @ray-iplier @thats-so-crash @thatsthat24 @shootingace @marshmallow-the-panda @sortablue @random-artsy-space-dude @galaxy-lilies-main @magicaldestinayspaceunicorn @theunoriginaldaisy @lydixa-petal @sombraplayslazertag @ray-is-bored @pumpkinminette @ray-is-bored @shesawkward @your-anxious-nightmare