#which defeats what i wish friendships would be

[thesingingrevolution]

hm

[seraphdreams]

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEGUMI!" | MEGUMI FUSHIGURO.

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃— synopsis. it would be so very cruel of you to not show your appreciation for your best friend, especially on his birthday.

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃— cw. smut, college au, reader calls him “megs”, mention of “angelcunt”, unprotected love-making, bimbo!reader / best friend!megumi, a bit of asphyxiation, megumi with a crush! fingering, and praise. mdni <3

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃— word count. 1.7k, a quick read !!

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 — dolled up! hellooo !! it’s a real one’s birthday, this is the least i could do to celebrate. i’m trying to get back into the groove of writing again so stay tuned n ready 4 fics in the future !! sweet college au best friend megumi is always on my mind, something about a stoic but secretly in love trope .. (he’s no better than his father, sigh) .. as always, if you enjoyed this, please reblog / comment. i’ll bake u you’re favorite sweets if u do !! thank u ♡

megumi has always been there for you. through ups and downs, taxing breakups, even the times you’d get exceedingly inebriated and ramble endlessly about your ever-growing appreciation for him — there was no denying the cordiality he’d shown throughout the many years of your friendship. sure, he could be quite cold, maybe even grumpy; but that was just the joy of megumi fushiguro.

and for that, it’d only be right to repay him.

for all of the times he would show up uninvited to your dorm with the notes of the lecture you’d fortuitously missed, blaming the absence on the absurdly quiet lull of your alarm clock, or when he’d let you have the last bite of his food, because only god knows megumi was never above tolerating you. it’d be the work of a terrible friend to let it all go unnoticed, especially on a special day like today.

“happy birthday, megs!” there you stood,

bubbly and bright as ever, in the doorway of his bedroom, clad in nothing but a tiny pink pajama set with a top reigning transparency, it barely left the skin beneath to the imagination.

he had invited you, along with yuuji and nobara, over to his dorm the previous night to keep him company after class — which led to a kugisaki-induced movie marathon, and eventually phased out into the four of you passed out on the fushiguro’s couch, hues of light omitting from the colorful rays of the forgotten television screen and onto your slumbering faces.

with megumi holding the title of competency within the friend group, it came as no shock when he’d woken up the others to send them on their merry way. all except you, of course. the light throw-over blanket clinging to your body neatly as you slept, soft snores resonating within your being aided in megumi’s decision to give you a few extra minutes to rest.

he could never interfere with your comfort.

after your unanticipated birthday wishes, it took a moment for megumi to come to, blinking away his awareness for your scantily clothed body and opting for a more stoic expression.

“thanks,” he replied, tone low and clouded with an air of vague appreciation.

“wanna know what i got you for your birthday?” your query was that of a sing-song manner as you swayed in place. megumi was used to being around absolute rays of sunshine, but you? you were different. it was as if you were the sun itself; warm and inviting yet shone luminous enough to blind onlookers. you were tooth-rottingly sweet, and as bubbly as you were naive.

matters weren’t made any better forgoing the fact that megumi had true feelings for you. it was a running gag within your friend group, jokes that itadori and nobara would make concerning the contrast between megumi’s unwelcoming behavior when it came to them, and impassive patience had times fell upon you.

in fact, obliviousness was your specialty in being ignorant to the feelings of the fushiguro. it wasn’t your fault, you truly didn’t know.

megumi responds curtly, although with a hint of sarcasm, “a break?”

you pout as you rest your head against the lacquered doorframe, reigning defeated already despite the conversation barely racking up a minute’s time. “no, silly.” the words come out as a giggle. “i got you me!”

a hint of confusion glosses over his features before it morphs into that of a neutral expression. shirtless from his shower just minutes prior, and puzzled from what your mind had conjured up this time, he questions again. “you? you got me you?”

you shake your head affirmatively as he starts up once more. “and what do i do with you?”

clear as day, your exchange took a rather suggestive turn, one that neither of you were intending. “well, you can do a lot of things with me,” now stepping into the room to close the distance between your bodies, your response is thick with an air of lust that megumi noticed seemed to come naturally for you. his heart picks up in pace from the sight of your pretty face, and even prettier eyes looking vacantly into his, as if you weren’t aware of the trap you set up for yourself.

he brushed off the slight arousal brewing up within him, chose to play it off as mirth like he usually did when it came to you. “i guess so.”

you held onto his arm, a more distinct, yet adorable look of seriousness on your features. truly, you were a little doll. “i’m for real, megs. it’s your birthday, i’ll let you do anything you want.”

yeah. you’re really going to regret this one.

the word “anything” came with free reign. and even though megumi thought of himself as anyone but a pervert, he certainly was bound to start acting like one.

“anything?” his question came out as if he was treading lightly while he moved to dig through his drawer, perhaps looking for a shirt.

you stepped back to allow him the space of rummaging, while nodding your head and confirming his suspicions. “anything.”

“let’s fuck, then.”

his tone was nonchalant, easy on your ears as his speaking voice regularly sounded, and you would have missed his request had he not straightened up to search your countenance for an answer — deadpan, as if he hadn’t said a thing.

in that moment, all of what you hadn’t noticed, no. all of what you chose to deny had finally been put into perspective.

megumi fushiguro was fucking hot.

“i mean, if that’s what you want then i don’t mind.” your response was succinct, gentle on your tongue and provided him the response he’d been aiming for.

this might be his best birthday yet.

he strode closer to you in light steps before his large, glacial hand found its place on your cheek and silken lips met yours, pulling you into a salacious kiss filled with hunger and want. the press of his tongue begging to be allotted within the slot of your lips was accepted with your own muscle dancing against his. it was dizzying, and dissimilar. for all your years of knowing megumi, you would’ve never thought up the occuring situation.

lithe fingers danced up the skin of your thighs where you part them on instinct, allowing his digits to work on their own to slip past the barrier of elastic fabric and into your little lace panties, softly drumming along the puffy nub of your clit.

“megumi,” you rasp against his lips, swirling your hips over his hand to build up the sweet friction surging from your core. the saccharine croon of his name tasted sugary like vanilla rolling off of your tongue and onto his. he was in pure bliss; ready to take everything you gave to him.

his body responded to your need, fingertips at your clit circling tightly, an action that pulled a string of mewls from you before you gasped at the intrusion of his long fingers dipping into your core. they curled upwards against your gummy walls just until they increased in pace while his thumb pivoted at your sensitive nub, and fuck! where’d he learn how to do that?

he pulled away only slightly to read your expression, the tent in his pants growing taller, tip leaking carelessly at the onsight of your face, screwed taut in pleasure — plump, glossy lips that were slick with spit and moans slipping past without prevail.

underneath him, your legs felt feeble, as if they’d fall beneath you from the surgence of pleasure. “m-megumi, wait, ‘m gonna!-“ you held onto his shoulders for leverage, your warnings of orgasm falling on deaf, distracted ears, until finally, you were a gushing mess in his palm, coating his digits in your essence.

“fuck. you’re so pretty when you cum,” in that moment, he gave you no chance to react when he gently positioned you over his dresser, pulling down your little shorts until they pooled around your knees.

“y’made me so hard, y/n. can you feel it?” he grinded himself over the plush of your ass, teasing before pulling his sweats down just enough so that his hard, throbbing and leaking, length could be free. it bobbed ever so under its weight while one hand began to pump from base to shaft to soothe the excruciating ache. once he felt satisfied in his ministrations, he lined his cock along your awaiting slit.

“a condom, megs.” your reminder came in the form of a soft lull. after all, you two were just free-spirited college students, unable to pay the consequences of spontaneous actions. “don’t have any.” with that, he sunk his cock inside to the hilt, a low groan rippling from his throat at just how tight your pussy clamped around him. it felt like fucking heaven. he could die in your cunt and be at peace.

while you adjusted to the stretch, he began to move; slow, deep strokes as if he were savoring this moment forever. who knows when he’ll be able to have the luxury to sink inside your perfect angelcunt again? you bit your lip to stave off impending moans which ultimately failed when his arms snaked around your body — one hand underneath the cloth of your shirt and pinching at your perked nipples while the other finds its place right back at your clit.

“sh-shit!” you cry out, eyes rolling and mind hazy from the pleasure. his rhythm increased gradually until he built up a vigorous pace. “i’ve been needing y-you so bad.” megumi groans along the shell of your ear. how he got so lucky as to have his dream girl engulfed around his cock, he doesn’t know. all he’s aware of was the tightening of his abdomen, signaling his own impending orgasm.

white hot pleasure replace all feeling in your body, counting down its time until the familiar numbness washed over you in euphoria. a pitchy moan sounded from your lips and an even whorish whimper when the warmth from spurts of his cum coated your insides.

after what felt like a minute of the two of you recollecting your breaths, megumi finally pulled out, shuddering at the added stimulation at his oversensitive cock.

he leaned your head back to meet his lust-filled gaze; calmness of his deep navy orbs now deepened with sin. megumi pressed gentle kisses all over your face while his hands took purchase at your now, exposed, neck and squeezed tight enough to keep you lightheaded.

“you’re the best birthday present.”

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

book 7 part 8 thoughts!!

***THIS POST CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7 PART 8 OF THE MAIN STORY!!*** Please note: this is NOT meant to be a summary or a translation; these are only my initial thoughts on the events that roughly unfold. There may be details overlooked or misunderstood in this post, so PLEASE do not use this as a translation.

Right off the bat, we're starting off strong with a video presentation from Idia!! He uses many MMORPG terms and analogies to better explain his concepts, even referring to allies as "party members".

The video is ~3 minutes long and the artwork used are Takashi Mifune-sensei’s LINE stickers. Yana says she is particular about functionality like Idia is, so she is pleased that they were able to implement this video. “Please watch Idia’s debut as. YouTuber!”

AGKVTIUOD8VQFVE IDIA SHROUD ASKS US TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE IF WE LIKED HIS PRESENTATION....... . . .. ...... .. . . . . .. . . . . I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU, IDIA... You popped off on the editing fr...

Idia tells us that there the population of Sage’s Island is roughly 20,000!

He basically explains his plan to defeat Malleus. Idia's going to fuck around with stuff in his own dream to make cheat codes to debuff Malleus (ie remove his invincibility). The others shall distract Malleus so he doesn’t catch onto what Idia is up to. Yuu, Grim, Sebek, Silver, and Ortho will infiltrate the dream worlds of classmates, "wake" them, and then recruit them to their cause. They will then lure Malleus into Idia's dream, at which point all the recruited students will JUMP HIM 🤡 Truly, the power of friendship but the NRC way…

Idia grants everyone the ability to DREAM FORM CHANGE!! By saying that phrase, it opens up a menu where you can magically change your outfit in an instant. The NRC boys are becoming magical girls… ✨

akjlfabidfbefeqof Grim has fun changing into his various Anniversary outfits! Ceremonial Robes, Labwear, Apprentice Chef...!

Silver and co. hop into Epel's dream! (Idia keeps in touch with everyone via his tablet while he stays behind in his own dream.)

Everyone at NRC seems to speak in the same Harveston dialect as Epel. And, well... here's apple boy...

IS THAT EPEL’S HEAD ON JACk’S BODY????????!!!!!?!?!?!!!?!?

THIS IS LITERALLY THE BUFF NATSUKI DDLC MEME 😭 I MEAN I WAS KINDA EXPECTING THIS BUTNIT FLOOKS SO FURGINGNGGGF GS CURSED

Anyway, the group just casually walks up to Epel and tells him everything is a lie??? And when Epel's world starts to go all wibbly wobbly, a dream!Rook and dream!Vil show up to praise him. Rook says he has heard rumors that Savanaclaw wants to recruit Epel for their own dorm, while Vil praises Epel as being both strong and beautiful, a perfect fit for Pomefiore.

I like that the implication is that while Epel still has a desire to be in a "tough" dorm like Savanaclaw, this dialogue seems to also say that he now also finds value in Pomefiore. This is why dream!Rook and Vil are tugging Epel in opposite directions; his soul must like BOTH options. Further proof is that Epel is still a Pomefiore student in his dream, he is not in Savanaclaw. To keep him under the sleep, the dream is trying hard to appeal to both sides of Epel's wishes.

So we battle the fake Rook and Vil!! Then Epel's memories come flooding back to him; the cracking glass effect is so pretty and calls into mind a mirror shattering as Epel gains his lucidity.

(Rook and Vil get similar "glass breaking" scenes upon waking, so I'm only going to comment on Epel's here and leave it at that!)

Cut to black to explain the situation to Epel!

Ortho invites Epel to join their "party" in Idia's dream! Then I believe he uses Epel's dream data to project a hologram of buff!Epel to remain in the dream while Epel joins the gang to hop into the next dream.

Next up is Rook's dream, and--

YUP, THAT'S A YEEHAWING ROOK HUNT IF I'VE EVER SEEN ONE 💀 I thought for sure his in-game 2D model would have larger arms (like, at LEAST Leona-sized arms, if not Jack-sized)... I guess not though, because we cannot have nice things/j

I love the extra detail of the leaves being stuck in the brim of his hat!! dfhlbafbiapia and bro just walks around with a quiver of arrows and a bow strapped to his back at all times...

ahbfg8yoadf9pbaegpb ROOK JUST DROPEPD A FUCKING BOMBSHELL ON US???????? Apparently Vil is a student at RSA and is besties with Neige???????????? BRO'S HEAD IS FR WRITING OUT FANFIC ABOUT HIS TWO MOST BELOVED IDOLS HOLDING HANDS AND GIGGLING TOGETHER

Uhhhh long story short, Rook runs off to his room and we chase him. What we find is--

YEAH THIS IS ROOK'S ROOM??????? It's probably what is depicted in his Savanaclaw Dorm Uniform SSR too. Note the split bed and the completely different carpets in the SSR artwork.

AEBFYVQEVYOFBQB THE WAY THE ROOM IS PERFECTLY SPLIT DOWN THE CENTER AND IS JUST STACKED WITH MERCH (including Tsum Neiges and Vils????????!????!?!?!?!?!??!!!!)

Rook starts to chuckle menacingly and pops off about his hyperfixations to us???? Then he wrangles us all to sit down and watch DVDs with him for the next *checks notes* 5 HOURS?????? AM I READING THIS CORRECTLY????? Rook... HONEY... THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO END, WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO THIS...

We keep trying to talk to Rook, but he isn't quite waking up yet. So we have an aside with the gang and Epel suggests... RECREATING OUR VDC PERFORMANCE??????? ? ?? ????? He shows Silver, Sebek, Grim, and Ortho the dance moves and the show goes on!

Rook is lured to the VDC stage and we get a new Absolutely Beautiful rhythmic with our current squad! Unfortunately, the vocals are the same as book 5, so we do not get a new variation with Epel, Sebek, Silver, Ortho, and Grim singing.

I love Love LOOOOVE that Epel is the center here!! He took the initiative to suggest the idea as well as teach everyone, and now he's REALLY walking the talk by serving as the "leader" of the group.

Watching the NRC Tribe makes Rook's head hurt and he starts to remember...!!

Well, wouldja look at that... Here comes dream!Neige and RSA!Vil to distract Rook. They say they are inspired by the NRC performance and start to perform Everyone Yahoo! This entrances Rook, making our task of "waking" him all the more difficult.

aihfboyfpie LMAO THEY'RE SO DRAMATIC?????? Vil steps up to defend Neige, and Neige is all like, "Nooo, Vii-kun! If anything were to happen to you, I'd be crushed by sadness :((" ROOK... IS THIS WHAT YOUR MIND COMES UP WITH...

Rook points an arrow at them and cries about how he betrayed Epel... (AYO LIKE THE HUNTSMAN????) and now he has to destroy Vil and Neige, who are "proof" of his betrayal. It makes him cry even more because he can't think of harming them, even if it's just a dream...

Anyway, time to pummel the sparkly duo! You can see from the battle sprites that RSA students seem to use REAL ASS SWORDS to channel their magic instead of magical pens. Man... Imagine being handed a writing utensil and then glancing over at the next guy and seeing them holding an ACTUAL WEAPON.

If you look closely, you can tell that Neige and Vil's pommels, grips, and rain guards are slightly different. Apparently, every RSA student has a unique one? WOW, I feel like NRC got ripped off then??? Cuz only the dorm leaders get unique items or staves to channel their magic and everyone else has the same standard issue magical pen but with a different magestone color. The only exception to this for the average student seem to be Diasomnia kids, who have baton style magical pens in their dorm uniforms.

Rook fully awakens and we rinse and repeat what we did with Epel (cut to black to explain things to him, make a hologram Rook to leave behind, and invite him to join us).

The last part of the update has us venturing into Vil's dream.

OMG, WE'RE IN FAIREST CITY??? AT QUEEN'S FILM STUDIO???? We just visited this place in a recent event! What perfect timing... I see you, clever TWST devs!

I swear that Vil's outfits are getting worse with each new one I see him in, but that's probably just my fashion sensibilities clashing with his 💦 I thought from the initial silhouette that we would be getting a slightly older Vil to show us how his values have changed since book 6, in which Vil declares he is always beautiful no matter what. Him being older would truly drive that point home; I feel this was a missed opportunity but maybe it wasn’t possible because these dreams don’t seem to be taking place in the “future” but mostly center on the present or past? Something, something, magic limited to what can be imagined and maybe the magic can’t reach that far “ahead”?

aefyeyovfyvqvf HIS NEW HAIRSTYLE KINDA LOOKS LIKE CROWLEY'S, DOESN'T IT...

Here, Vil seems to be highly popular + considered fairest of them all. Additionally, a certain SOMEONE has been relegated to being his mere assistant (and uh, Vil is somewhat demanding of them):

VIL... THIS ISN'T HELPING YOU BEAT THE MEAN GIRL ALLEGATIONS, SWEETIE...

On a more serious note, I think this raises an interesting point about Vil’s character. Try as he might to get over his envy of Neige, it’s clearly still something so deep-rooted in Vil, right up to the end of booo 5. Now this element also permeates in his dream world. Neige “has” to be demoted in so Vil can stand on top—but is that really “fair” to Neige?? Is it truly Vil’s jealousy that informs the dream of this, and thus the dream is spinning this shallow, easy victory for Vil’s satisfaction??? Because the noble Vil I know of in book 5 wouldn’t consider this a real “win”. Very fascinating topic to ponder!

Vil has Neige toss us out, which Neige does. The dream is preemptively acting this time, with dream!Neige coming at us. We make a getaway and somehow whack the head of the announcer + have Rook usurp his role.

As Vil is walking down the red carpet, Rook announces the various sins that Vil has committed. Vil panics and demands that someone shut Rook up, but then he starts to realize things aren't quite right.

We try to intervene, but Neige gets in the way and ultimately Vil is pulled deeper into his own darkness. Everyone else plunges into the dark with Vil?? I was worried that we'd have another battle map segment but thankfully there was none!!

We're back in the VDC backstage hallway area and stumble across a horrifying sight. Neige is on the ground (next to an empty bottle of apple juice) and all Seven Dwarves are surrounding him and sobbing. Ortho runs a scan on his vitals and Neige... FLATLINES...

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?????? THAT VIL ACTUALLY INTENDED TO KILL NEIGE IN BOOK 5????? 💀 Dude... No wonder why Vil was feeling so guilty and screaming that his actions were so "ugly"...

Epel uses his UM to encase Neige in a magical glass coffin to keep him safe. Then they run out onto the VDC stage and hear the announcer declaring that NRC has won. Vil is there soaking up all the attention and praise until we confront him.

Just as he is starting to "awaken", the darkness comes back and Vil alone is taken.

What I find really adorable here is that both Epel and Rook rush to his side and try to pull Vil out of the darkness. They're... OFFERING THEIR HANDS... TO HELP HIM OUT OF THE MIRE... OFFERED HANDS... A MOTIF THAT HAS BEEN IN TWST SINCE THE PROLOGUE... 👁️

Vil finally faces off against his Phantom. Like Idia in the last update, Vil willingly assumes his OB form to do battle. These fights seem very symbolic in the grand scheme of things. Idia and now Vil, confronting the worst, most unsavory parts of themselves, their inner demons, and rising victorious, proving that they have become better people… It continues the little bits of character growth that we’ve been seeing in each of the past books!!

He rises from the darkness and joins up with everyone else after conquering the fight!! The update ends here.

Okay, there's a LOT to talk about????????

The highlight for me was definitely Idia's presentation. It was very fun to watch because of the slick editing and it was a silly way to lay out the plans. I appreciate that we get to see Idia's strengths on display here; he can get long-winded and throw in lots of eccentric gamer slang, but you can also see how quickly he's able to tailor a complex plan together while accounting for many variables. adfhlboafoiyebif I UNDERSTAND THE IDIA HYPE NOW, I UNDERSTAND IT ALL...

(Side note: I did not know where to insert this, so I'll do it at the end! BONUS POINTS TO IDIA FOR RIGHTFULLY CALLING MALLEUS SHALLOW 💀 because his understanding of constitutes as happiness truly IS shallow. Once again, Idia slays with his brutally real words...)

I already said my parts about Epel and Rook's dreams when they happened. It was great seeing how their characters have developed, especially Epel! I never much cared for him, but I really appreciate all that he has done this update.

This pretty much confirms that future updates will have us visiting every remaining classmate's dreams and "waking" them. Admittedly, I'm both excited and worried??? Because that's a TON to cram in, and I worry that not everyone will get proper screentime or development. On the other hand, I'm hype to see what their dreams are like and what other limited SSRs the game might throw at us.

I feel like with the reveal of Vil OBing to fight his Phantom/"inner demons", we'll get similar scenes with the other OB boys coming to terms with what they've done and where they can go from here. This... might lead into the highly desired and speculated about Overblot series of SSRs, which I theorize will be the limited SSRs for each of the OB boys. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for those, TWST... I wonder if we'll get a Neige card eventually too??? Since we did see his battle assets exist this time. Will Chenya get one too, assuming he comes in a futureHeartslabyul update??

Aaaaaah, next time... Scarabia... 🤡 I'm so hype for that, Scarabia is like my second favorite dorm next to Octavinelle!! (SPEAKING OF, WILL WE FINALLY GET EEL FORM CARDS FOR THE TWINS...)

I’m sliiiightly concerned for Silver because bro used his UM no less than, what? 4 or 5 times this update alone??? He used his UM to enter Yuu’s dream and then Sebek, Lilia, AND Idia’s. Presumably, he also has to use his UM no less than 13 more times (12 more for the remaining boys + 1 more time to return them all to Idia’s to ambush Malleus). And even worse, he has to transport an increasing number of people each time. HOW TF IS SILVER NOT OVERBLOTTING????! 😭

bxjsgwjwnwkcbjsbs This update was nonstop WTF moments sandwiched between genuinely heartfelt moments. It’s been really rewarding to follow along and see how the Pomefiore boys have changed since we first met them all the way back in late book 4, early book 5. Looking forward to seeing how the other boys play out!! (… Book 7 is fr about to be 200+ parts long 😭)

[amongemeraldclouds]

Ruin The Friendship

A letter gets mailed to its intended recipient. A letter confessing your feelings. A letter you never meant to send.

Lorenzo Berkshire x Reader

Warning: fluff, no use of y/n

Author’s note: My final entry for the Hogmarch challenge, prompt five. This was such a fun challenge, thanks for hosting @thatdammchickennugget ♡

✿ Masterlist | 1k words

“What letter? I didn’t have any mail to send, Daisy,” I ask our house elf as she updates me about the chores she’s done for the day.

“The letter beneath your bed. Daisy found it and to thank you kind miss for saving Daisy from your father’s fury yesterday, Daisy went the extra mile to send it,” she announces proudly.

“You mean,” I whisper, a sinking feeling growing in my chest, “the letter containing my deep and honest thoughts and feelings, about the boy I love, that I swore to myself I would never - and I mean never - send?” I exhale, feeling the edges of a panic attack creep in.

Daisy frowns. “Sorry miss, Daisy did not know. Daisy thought she was helping,” she apologizes, cowering in the corner.

“Stand up, Daisy. I’m not going to hit you,” I reassure her. “But I could hit myself so I don’t have to attend class tomorrow and face the mortifying events that are sure to follow.”

I jump up from my bed and nod, waving my wand. I could do that.

“Miss, please!” Daisy pleads. “Don’t hurt yourself. It’s Daisy’s fault,” she hisses. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Daisy!” She chides, punctuating each word by banging her head against my drawers.

“Stop, Daisy,” I reach out, touching her shoulder. "Fine” I sigh, “no one is hurting themselves.”

I am just going to have to go to school tomorrow and die from shame.

The letter

My sweet Enzo,  It’s ironic you admire me for my bravery for taking down our childhood bullies and for being one of the top students in our DADA class. Yet here I am in a moment of weakness, thinking of you. Actually, even when I feel strong, defeated, or happy, I still think of you. In an ideal world, I’d be brave enough to tell you face to face. But we live in an imperfect world where hearts can break and relationships end, far more often than anyone would like. So if it saves our friendship, I can and must lock my heart away. I wish I can tell you when or how it happened, but I myself don’t understand. All I know is that I’m hopelessly in love with you. There, I said it.

The aftermath

I peer into Enzo’s dorm, head snaking past the door.

Please, please, please, let it be vacant. Let it be vacant, I chant in my head.

I sigh when silence greets me and move the rest of my body inside, sagging against the door in relief.

What are the odds that Enzo has already read a letter that just arrived this morning? He’s probably at quidditch practice, which means I still have a shot at saving myself from utter mortification. And more importantly, to save our friendship.

I scan his room and hurry towards the table littered with books, dried ink splotches stain the oak wood. If the letter were anywhere, it would be somewhere he—

I yelp when a door opens and turn towards Enzo stepping out from the bathroom with damp hair clinging to his scalp, water dripping down his sculpted chest, running along his toned abs. All hail quidditch.

He clears his throat and I bite my treacherous tongue - the one that unconsciously moved across my lips. Salazar, if I don’t get my act together, I won’t even need some stupid letter to reveal my feelings.

My cheeks burn as I return my gaze to his amused expression. “What the hell are you doing here and why are you naked?” I accuse. That’s right, I’m just blushing because I’m angry.

He adjusts the towel across his hips and I turn away, shoving the image of his toned figure from my mind, trying not to imagine whatever else is beneath his towel. “First of all, not naked,” he states.

“And more importantly, you’re asking me what I am doing, taking a shower, here in my dorm?” he points to the floor for emphasis. I wince and kick myself internally.

“I thought you’d be at quidditch practice,” I try. “I just - I just lost something and thought it might be with you.”

“What is it? I can help you look,” he offers, moving towards me and I step back.

“Enz please, put some clothes on first!” I plead, reminding myself to breathe.

I stop midstep when I feel something cool and solid behind me and I realize I’ve backed into a wall. Why the hell is Enzo prowling towards me like I’m his prey?

I close my eyes when he stops just in front of me, heat radiating from his body. I will myself to disappear, to fuse with the wall, to—

“By any chance,” he starts, “the thing you’re looking for. Is it white and made of paper—”

No, no, no, no, I chant this time, my eyes opening to stare at him in horror.

He continues, “the one with your handwriting scrawled inside?”

All the words leave my mind.

He smirks, “it would be a shame if you lost it and wanted it back because I rather liked it.”

“Y-you do?” I whisper.

His smirk gives way to a warm smile. “Darling, you’re more courageous than I am and I still admire you for your bravery. You managed to write it. Here’s my response: I love you too.”

“Well technically, I never meant to send it. It was Daisy,” I try to explain.

“So I have Daisy to thank. I’ll bring her flowers next time,” he says, making a mental note before continuing. “I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time too, but I was also worried it could ruin our friendship if you didn't feel the same.”

“Now that we’ve established we feel the same…” I begin but trail off when he rests his arm on the wall above me and leans in. My breath hitches.

“I won’t need my clothes until much later,” he ends my sentence.

It’s not what I was going to say but the second I open my lips to protest, his mouth crashes into mine and nothing else matters.

[psychedelic-ink]

ㅤㅤㅤ✦ 𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐅𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐒

ㅤㅤjoel miller x f!reader x jack daniels

genre: smut, minors dni, dude ranch au, modern au

word count: 7.7k

summary: joel challenges jack to make you into the finest there possibly is in two days.

warnings: threesome (mfm), mlm dynamics, some jealousy, outdoor sex, piv, oral sex, dirty talking

a/n: happy birthday @fuckyeahdindjarin 🎉 I hope you enjoy you slutty cowboys--both of them nearly gave me a heart-attack while writing ❤️‍🔥 this gif was made my the lovely @pedrorascal who I am so grateful for helping me out preparing your this bday surprise!

**dividers by @saradika

You take a breath and sneak out of the cozy room. It had been hard parting away from your cozy bed. The warmth provided by the hand-knitted blanket and the scent of delicious wood made you want to never leave. They’ve really done a great job decorating the rooms of the dude ranch. It still holds the Western theme you love, but it's also adorned with rustic charm, from the weathered leather furniture to the handcrafted wooden accents, creating a welcoming atmosphere.

It had been a couple of days since your arrival. You were tired of... well, everything and desperately needed an out. You wish you could say that it happened like in the movies— a divine sign that made you come here, but no. There was no divine intervention, no mysterious flyer sticking to your face. You had to do an endless amount of research to find the perfect place, and when you were done, you picked the ranch that had the least foot traffic. You were running away from people. Choosing the most touristy one would defeat the purpose—you wanted to be alone.

And you were glad that you did. The place was amazing. Surrounded by large mountains and wide fields. This place wasn’t so people would come and see what was what. It was an actual ranch with actual people working all the time. Accepting guests was the side hustle and not the other way around. 

There were two cowboys that you constantly saw: Joel Miller and Jack Daniels. Both charming, both handsome enough to make you want to scream. Jack had been personally assigned to you, but Joel was always around, watching, observing, and, of course, running his mouth. You’ve grown accustomed to their odd friendship... rivalry? It was actually kind of cute to see Jack turn all red whenever Joel said something to undermine him. And the other seemed to know that well.

Two talented cowboys. And you, who had no idea what the hell you were doing. 

Which is why you were escaping your room like some kind of criminal at the brink of dawn. Joel’s teasing wasn’t only reserved for Jack, you got your fair share as well and it was even worse when Jack chimed in—the two seasoned horse riders letting you know just how out of your element you were. You needed to train without those two constantly spitting quips your way.

You silently make your way to the stables and blindly reach out towards Honeydust, the palomino Jack had gotten you accustomed to. You gently guide her away from the other horses. The rose-pink light of dawn has begun to trickle through the open windows, painting Honeydust’s coat in a gorgeous hue. You regret not bringing your phone; you would’ve loved to show Jack and Joel later on.

“Alright girl,” you mutter as you pat the side of her face. She whinnies slightly and digs her hoof into the ground. “It’s you and me. Let’s show them how it’s done.” 

As you reach for the saddle, you smile to yourself. You might not be that good at horse riding yet but you did learn some things—like the value of a good saddle. You take a moment to inhale the scent of it— a mix of leather, hay, and a hint of earthiness.

Honeydust stands patiently, seemingly aware of your fumbling attempts to secure the saddle. You take a deep breath, remembering the lessons Jack patiently gave you about saddling up. Slowly but surely, you manage to get everything in place. As you tighten the cinch, you feel a sense of accomplishment. A week ago, you hadn’t been able to do this. Maybe you're not a full-on cowboy, but you're determined to learn the ropes.

With the saddle secured, you grab the reins and lead Honeydust out of the stable, into the cool morning air. The sky is a canvas of pastel colors—blues, pinks, and golds blending together as the sun inches higher. It's a breathtaking sight. You pat Honeydust on the muzzle and press your cheek against her, watching the sky.

“Isn’t it beautiful,” you whisper to her. “Honestly I’m gonna hate going back. It’s been a couple of days and I’m already attached to this place.” 

Honeydust snorts and shakes her head. You smile wide as you pat her again, “You’re right. No room for sentimentality.” 

Mounting Honeydust, you settle into the saddle, adjusting to the feel of it beneath you. The quiet creak of leather is drowned out by the sounds of the waking ranch. Birds chirp in the distance, and you take a deep breath, your lungs filling with the fresh scent of the outdoors—

But then you’re slipping. 

And then falling. 

With a loud, sharp gasp, you find yourself unexpectedly upside down beneath Honeydust's belly. Panic sets in as you register the proximity of her powerful legs, your eyes widen, your heart pounding loudly in your chest. Honeydust remains still, your body still miraculously hanging to the saddle. 

Your heartbeat starts to slow, you take a deep breath. You’re fine. You’re okay. You just forgot to fasten one of the belts. 

“Need any help there, sweetheart?” 

Fuck. Busted. 

“I’m fine,” you answer, emphasizing the latter. Jean-clad legs come into view. “Just. . . trying a new riding style.” 

“Is that so?” Joel drawls, amusement dripping with every word. “And what would you call this one? The hangin’ fool?” 

“Rude.” 

His hips cock to the side and you see him placing both hands on his narrow hips, “Would it be better if I called it the hangin’ beauty?” 

“Yes actually, it would.” 

Your cheeks warm as he steps closer. You try not to stare, or perhaps that’s just you lying to yourself, but whatever your true intention was your eyes linger right over his crotch. Even with the thick jeans and the belt buckle, you know he’s packing underneath there. You can especially tell now since this is the closest you’ve ever been to it. Your mouth waters. Your brain delving further into sinful imagination when his low chuckle echoes in your ear. 

“A’right then beautiful, let’s get you out here.” he stops for a beat, his knuckles brushing down the outer part of your leg. You shudder, your legs tighten around Honeydust. “Unless you wanna show me this new ridin’ style of yours?” 

“You know what, I think I’ll take a rain check on that.” your voice is shrill and pitchy. Your eyes start to throb. “Especially since all the blood in my body is currently in my head.” 

“Oh shit—Okay, just gimme a sec.” he slides his hands under your armpits. “A’right now let go.” 

“What?” 

“Just let go, sweetheart. I got you. You’ll be okay, promise.” 

With a sharp breath, you close your eyes and loosen your legs. Joel's arms wrap further beneath yours, drawing you closer. You feel the tightening of his biceps, feel the huff of his breath against your cheek. He takes a step back and suddenly unbalanced, he falls backward, pulling you along.

With a huff, Joel lands on his ass, and you find yourself comfortably nestled against his chest. It takes you only a second for your gaze to find his. You hold your breath and so does he. His hand pleasantly curls around your waist, keeping you from moving away. His chest is firm under your own, your nipples tightening when you shift a bit, the graze of fabric makes you shudder. 

His other hand comes to brush a strand of loose hair behind your ear. You swallow not once but twice. The warmth of Joel’s palm cradles your cheek and a slow breath exits your lungs. 

“You a’right?” 

“Y—Yeah. . . thanks for helping me out.” 

“My pleasure.” His voice is deep, hoarse even, and it scratches your ears just right. You find yourself drawn to him. Your eyes dropping to his lips and back up to meet his heavy-lidded gaze. His lips part. The divot in the middle of his bottom lip more prominent than ever. You lean in without a thought, he mimics you, coming in closer and closer. Your chest heaves. Your heart beating madly against your chest. 

“What the hell are you two doin’ canoodling here?” 

You jerk away, your eyes lingering on Joel long enough to see the disappointment in his gaze. His eyes close slowly and he takes a ragged breath. Shifting slightly you see Jack holding a hay bale. His eyes are narrowed, his brows knitted together as his gaze flits between you and Joel. You chew the inside of your cheek, embarrassment heating you from the inside out. 

“We ain’t canoodlin’,” Joel answers, agitated. “I found her hanging upside down under Honeydust’s belly. Who’s fault do you think is that?” 

Jack’s mouth opens and closes, his cheeks suddenly flushed. His gloved hands tighten around the hay as he pushes it up his arms. Then finally, with a softened gaze, he turns to you. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” you reply, your heart currently beating in your throat. “I just forgot to fasten the other side of the saddle.” 

Joel squeezes your waist and you’re suddenly hyper-aware that you’re basically on his lap still. “It’s not your fault, sweetheart. You have a shit teacher.” 

“Excuse me?” Jack’s tone is enough to have you scrambling off of Joel’s lap. If looks could kill, Joel would be dead right now. On your feet, you move towards Honeydust, and with great comfort, she nuzzles your chest. Joel smiles lazily when Jack drops the bale of hay and walks up to him. “You better take that back, old man.” 

“Yeah?” his eyes glow with mirth. “Make me.” 

Involuntarily you cover your mouth with a hand. Is it bad that you’re secretly enjoying this? The amount of testosterone in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife. 

Joel slowly gets up, as if he has all the time in the world, and faces Jack. He’s slightly taller than the latter, smile still tugging at his lips as he tilts his head ever so slightly down. Jack’s nostrils flare. 

“You want me to knock you out in front of our guest?” 

“I’d love to see you try.” 

Joel takes another step closer, his chest nearly flushed against the other, he jerks his head to the side and places his hands on his hips. You swear you see Jack’s skin darkening with a deep shade of red from his chest to his neck. His jaw is wired tight, the muscle there twitching. 

“How about this,” Joel grins. “You manage to make our sweet girl here a full-on cowgirl in two days and I’ll eat my words right outta your hand, Whiskey.” 

Jack huffs and clicks his tongue, “Don’t call me that.” 

“It’s your name isn’t it?” 

“It ain’t and you know it.” 

“Your parents shouldn’t have named you Jack Daniels,” Joel rolls his eyes, “Do we have a deal or not?” 

You hold your breath when Joel extends a hand. Jack’s eyes briefly find yours, his fingers twitching. The morning chill is still in the air and despite it, beads of sweat appear on your skin. Two days. Two days and you still don’t know how to put on a saddle right. With a small shake, you attempt to warn Jack but that only makes him smile. 

He turns to Joel, “Deal,” he answers, taking his hand. “Two days. Be ready to eat your words, old man.” 

They shake on it and as they do Joel gives you a not so subtle wink. It reminds you of just how close the two of you were a mere couple of minutes ago. You avert your gaze, suddenly shy to face him, and think about what might’ve happened if Jack hadn’t interrupted. 

When Joel leaves, Jack lets out a long sigh and turns to you. 

“You slipped, darlin’, really?” 

“In my defense, it was early.” 

“Fuckin’ hell.” He shakes his head but you see the way his lips curl upwards ever so slightly. “Anyway, wait for me here and I’ll be right back. We gotta get you into tip-top shape because I ain’t gonna lose to Joel.” 

“I warned you, you know,” you softly kick the dirt with the tip of your boot. 

Jack’s tongue moves over his bottom lip, a shudder crawls up your spine and heat pools between your legs. He grips the bale of hay and throws it over his shoulder. 

“That’s why I accepted the challenge, sugar. No guest of mine is gonna leave here without feelin’ like they can conquer the world.” 

“Jack this is impossible I’m never going to get the hang of this.” 

“With that attitude you sure ain’t gonna.” 

With a crooked smile, Jack watches as you draw your shoulders together and stomp your boot against the soil. The lasso is tight between your fingers, the tips of which are chafed from turning the lasso again and again in an attempt to loop the rope around one of the wooden posts. He tilts his head to the side when you turn to him, a pleading expression etched onto your beautiful face.

"This is never going to happen," you huff. However, instead of keeping his eyes locked on yours, his gaze drops to where your flannel hugs your breasts, the poor buttons struggling to keep it all together. His cock swells at the thought of licking them, sucking on your hard nipples while the sweetest noises flee from your lips. "Jack?"

He doesn’t hide the fact that he’s been staring at your gorgeous tits, he drags his gaze back slowly, his smile only growing upon seeing your parted lips and glazed eyes. “Yeah, sugar?” 

“We’re never going to win this thing with Joel,” you say and he doesn’t fail to notice how breathless you suddenly are. “How am I supposed to learn to do everything a cowboy can in two days? Seems a bit unfair.” 

“Not everythin’,” he struts towards you and peels the lasso from your fingers. “We just need to cover the basics. No one is expectin’ you to catch a knife in mid-air with a lasso.” 

Your brows furrow, “What? You’re saying you can actually do that?” 

“‘Course I can,” he chirps back. “Unlike you, I’m a top-notch cowboy.” 

His heart breaks a little when he sees how defeated you look, with a small nudge to your shoulder, he draws your gaze back to him. “Want me to show you again darlin’?” 

“Sure but I’m not sure it’ll do me any good. I’m horrible at this.” 

With a reassuring grin, Jack steps back, unwinding the lasso he took from you. He takes a moment to adjust the coils and then demonstrates the art of lassoing, the rope flying through the air in a graceful arc before landing perfectly around a wooden post.

“You see, it's all in the wrist,” he explains as he smoothly tightens the loop, making it look deceptively easy. He repeats the motion a couple of times, each throw precise and controlled.

“You know who’s really good at this?” he asks, returning his attention to you. “Joel.”

You snort, “I feel like that man is good at everything. But I’m not sure why you’re telling me that.”

“Well, you know who used to suck at it—me.”

“You?” you raise a sole eyebrow, and a teasing smile touches your lips. “You who can catch a knife in the air, supposedly, that is.”

“It takes a lot of practice, sugar. That's what I’m tryin’ to tell ya. I sucked at it. Couldn’t even do one loop. Then the old timer helped me out.”

“Joel?”

Yup," he says, noticing your shock. He had been shocked too when the man had shown him how to properly do it. It was both amazing and terrifying. Jack had never had someone care about him enough to actually show him how it's done instead of letting him struggle on his own. "And eventually, I got the hang of it. So will you.”

You smile wholeheartedly and take the lasso from him, “Thanks, Jack. I. . . I appreciate it. You actually really respect him, don’t you? Despite all the banter and arguing.” 

“That’s just how I show love, darlin’.” 

“You never argue with me.” 

His eyebrows tilt up, along with the corner of his lips. You avert your eyes as you loosely hold the rope in your hand, the exercise quickly forgotten. Jack closes the distance until there's only a breath of space between you two. He entertains the idea of lifting your head by the chin, forcing your gaze upon him, but he refrains. He wants you to listen to him and oblige.

“Look at me, darlin’,” His eyes shine with delight when you do, he leans closer. “You want me to fight you?” 

Your brows furrow, your lips forming the most adorable pout, “No. Of course not.” 

“You sure?” This time he does cup your cheek to keep your gaze fixed on him. His pinkies move towards your neck, drawing soft patterns up and down your skin. You visibly shudder, a soft breath escaping your lips. “I see how you watch when Joel and I start to bitch and moan at each other, sugar. You sure you’re not into it even a little?” 

He knows your answer. But he allows you to giggle and escape his hold anyway. “You’re ridiculous,” you say and as a response Jack wants to touch on the fact that you can’t look at him anymore, however, he’ll allow you to escape him for now. 

“Come on then, now that you got your giggles on, let’s see you at least pull in one of those cones.” 

While you attempt to just do that, Jack ends up regretting teasing you because he ends up thinking about Joel instead. It’s hard to admit that the constant bickering is the obvious telltale sign of something more. And he knows there’s something. Joel only weaponizes his tongue when you’re around. Or someone else for that matter. But when it’s just the two of them it’s different. It’s lingering touches and heavy scotch-filled conversations. Sometimes Joel would even whisper so he wouldn’t wake the others. Jack shivers as he remembers how Joel’s lips felt against the shell of his ear. Downright sinful. 

It always remained at that, however. Touches and looks and talks. Nothing more and nothing less. 

“Jack,” you say, your voice drawing him away from thoughts he’s happy to be drawn away from. “How did you end up here? Like with Joel and the rest.” 

“It’s not much of a story. I was lookin’ for a job and came here lookin’ for one.” He lifts his hat and combs his hair back with his fingers. “I actually met Tommy first. Joel doesn’t like the hiring process and says his younger brother is a better judge of character. I met him after I was hired. Then I met the little munchkins.” 

“You mean Sarah and Ellie?” 

“Yes ma’am I do,” he reaches forward, letting his fingers nearly brush yours. He chuckles, "I also know what you're doing, so stop stalling and throw the damn lasso already."

You take your bottom lip between your teeth and all Jack wants to do is pry it away from the sharp edges, "Oh, are we arguing? Should I add this moment to my journal?” you manage to lock your gaze with his, a grin spreading across your face. “Does this mean you love me?" 

He takes a step closer, leaning ever so slightly into your personal space. A hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, he breathes, "How 'bout this? You throw that rope, and I'll kiss you, sweetheart. Then you’ll really know what I feel."

Your eyes widen, "You’ll... excuse me?"

A wicked glint in his eyes, he quips, "I'll kiss you, full-blown on the lips. And believe me, it'll be my pleasure to lay one on you."

"Just throw the rope? Aren't you selling a bit short?"

Jack takes another step towards you and you can feel the heat radiating from him. His voice low and husky, he counters, "Fine then, manage to actually lasso something, and then I'll kiss you."

"You're mean. You said you'd only do it if I threw it." You challenge him by taking a step closer and he’s delighted to see it. 

Cupping her face in his hands, he grins, "Changed my mind. And you have yourself to blame for it."

With all his heart Jack wishes for you to make the throw. Something primal and ugly in him finds extreme joy in being the one to kiss you first. He hated to admit it, but his heart broke a little when he found you and Joel together, lips almost about to touch. He hated feeling like an outsider. Especially when it came from Joel.

With a determined glint in your eyes, you take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Gripping the lasso in your hands, you start to swing it in a circular motion above your head. It’s sloppy and uneven but he can see how much care you’ve put into your stance. Jack watches intently, noting the way you shift your weight from one food to another, a subtle smile playing on his lips.

As the lasso gains momentum, you release it at just the right moment. It sails through the air, forming a perfect loop. Jack's eyes follow its trajectory, silently urging it to find its mark. The loop descends gracefully, and, with a satisfying thud, it settles around a nearby plastic cone and you pull it towards yourself, the plastic moving with ease. 

A triumphant grin breaks across your face as you complete the throw. “I did it,” you gasp in a low tone, panting. Your head suddenly snaps towards him, a shit-eating grin plastered over your perfect lips. “I DID IT!”  

Jack only smiles as he leans in and cradles your face in a rush. He crashes into you, lips meeting yours in an eager, lingering kiss. He teases the seam of your mouth with the tip of his tongue. Just a brief preview of how badly he wants this to happen. His hands slip to your ass, kneading the plump flesh, his cock stiffens at how you moan into his mouth. You press against him and Jack can’t help but roll his hips to feel more of you. It’s been so long. Too long since he felt something warm and tight around his cock. 

He parts away by dragging his lips down to your chin and from there to your neck. He nips at your pulse, feeling it beating against his mouth. 

“Jack,” you breathe. “I—Wow—” 

“Kissin’ is one thing I’m better at,” he chuckles deeply into your ear. “Among other things.” 

He holds you by the neck and gently pulls away. He can’t get enough of the expression you’re giving him; pupils blown and lips slightly parted. Your chest heaves heavily, your pulse beating wildly under his palm. Jack brushes your lips together, smiling upon hearing you whimper. 

“Now, throw that lasso again and I’ll give you another kiss.” 

And it all comes down to horse riding. You should be surprised but you’re not. 

The sun was finally setting over the ranch. A subtle chill settling at the base of your snake as the sun went down. It had been a tiring day full of lasso throwing, ax throwing, and knotting. Your back ached and when the final challenge finally befell you all you wanted to do was go back to your room and sleep. The only thing that gave you an ounce of energy was Jack’s proud smile after every challenge that was won. Joel seemed genuinely impressed. And you were genuinely surprised to find yourself acing every task. Seeing how smug Jack got made your heart flutter and stomach draw tight. 

The two of you had done a lot of kissing that day. It hadn’t gone any further but deep down you really wanted it to. 

You feel a deep sense of Deja Vu when you find yourself staring at Honeydust with a saddle in hand. You take a deep breath, fingers tightening around the leather. The open air gives you a sense of calm, the cloudy sky a pleasure to gaze upon.

Jack touches the small of your back, goosebumps rising across your skin at the gentle touch, “You got this darlin’ don’t worry so much.” 

You briefly glance at the track Joel and Jack had set up for you. Wooden fences stand tall at various intervals, creating a series of jumps that make you sweat just by thinking about them. Your eyes linger on the strategically placed cones that form a zigzag pattern. 

“Honestly no matter what happens I’m impressed,” Joel cuts in, cupping Honeydust’s cheek. Your gaze moves deftly from the track to the man standing before you. As always, he looks amazing in his red and yellow flannel. “You’ve done well sweetheart.” 

“Maybe you should just forfeit and accept we won then,” you answer, smiling. Joel shakes his head. 

“Someone is sure of herself.” 

“Hell yeah, I am.” 

“Look at that,” Jack pipes. “Soundin’ like a true cowboy already.” 

You expertly secure the saddle onto Honeydust's back. The leather feels cool beneath your fingertips as you tighten the straps, ensuring a snug fit. Adjusting the stirrups, you make sure they're the perfect length for your legs. As you stand beside the horse, you can feel the intensity of Joel and Jack's gazes on you. Their eyes trace the curves of your movements, a subtle tension lingering in the air.

With everything in place, you take a deliberate breath and swing yourself onto the saddle. The leather creaks slightly under your weight as you settle into position. Honeydust shifts beneath you. You catch Joel's gaze, and a sly smirk plays on his lips. His eyes linger a moment longer than necessary, you let out a puff of air, your legs tighten around Honeydust..

"Remember, just go with the flow. You and Honeydust are a team," Jack advises and with that, you head off. 

Gently nudging your heels against the horse's side, you urge Honeydust into a graceful gallop around the track. The steadying thud of her hooves pounding against the dirt creates a harmony that molds with the song of the wind, transporting you to a place of serenity. Each hurdle makes your heart jump with excitement. The jumps seem impossible at times. As you zigzag through the cones, you can feel Honeydust's muscles tense and relax under your hands, transitioning from one step to the next with the gracefulness of a dance—

A sudden jolt disrupts the rhythm, and you find yourself tumbling to the ground. You let out a deep groan as your back hits the earth and with the corner of your eye, you see Joel taking hold of Honeydust’s reins, calming the poor palomino. Jack’s face comes into vision a second later. 

"You okay, darlin'?" When you nod and begin to get up, his worry turns to frustration as he glances at Joel. "This was supposed to be about teaching, not pushing her to the damn limit."

"I didn't mean for her to fall, Jack. So don’t act like that was my intention."

“No, your intention was to make me look like I don’t know what I’m doin’.” 

Jack, eyes still glued on Joel, helps you up. Your head is still spinning a little from the adrenaline rush but other than that you feel fine. Your eyes flitting between both men, your stomach twists and turns at how they’re both glaring at each other. This time is different from the arguments. This time they both genuinely look like they’re about to explode. Joel has his jaw tight while Jack has both hands in tight fists. “Guys. . .” 

"Why you gotta make everythin’ personal?" Joel snaps, ignoring you all together. “It was just meant to be a harmless bet.” 

Jack's eyes narrow, he tears his hand away from yours and your heart drops, "You're the one who makes it damn personal by goadin’ me all the damn time."

“That’s. . .” Joel’s eyes grow soft, his demeanor changing entirely. You watch the furrow between his brows relax, his shoulders sagging ever so slightly. “I’m—” 

“Can it,” Jack hisses through gritted teeth and raises a hand. “I don’t want your apology, I just wanna go. Unless you think I’m gonna be bad at that too.” 

You reach out, head still spinning, your fingers graze the back of his jacket and he slips from between your grasp. You part your lips to call out to him. To tell him to come back. But Joel takes a hold of your hand and lowers it with the shake of his head. 

“I know where he’s goin’. Let’s go.” 

“Are you telling me he has a brooding spot?” 

“He does.”

The sun had set. The crickets now singing under the starry night, but Joel can't focus on any of it. He can’t because he might’ve actually screwed everything up for good this time— which would be typical of him.  

After months of contemplating whether he should take the next step or not, he’d finally made Jack snap. That had never been Joel’s intention, obviously. But he wasn’t the best at flirting. Never had been. And when Jack came into his life, all fresh faced and a lashing tongue, he couldn’t help but fall for him a little. 

You’re walking just a little bit behind him, trying to keep up. He can feel you staring at him. Your eyes curious like a newborn gazelle’s. 

“If you stare any harder I’m gonna start blushin’ sweetheart.” 

“I’m. . . I wasn’t. . .” 

“Sure you were,” he sighs. “It wasn’t my intention to be hard on him you know. It just. . . sorta happens. I care a lot about him and I just want him to. . . “ He clamps his mouth shut. What was he supposed to say? How he was hoping that all the teasing would finally push Jack into his arms? How he wanted to do more than touch Jack when he knew no one else could see. 

“You want him to. . .  what exactly?” 

“I don’t know,” he says through gritted teeth. “It’s complicated between us.” 

“You both have a crush on each other and don’t know what to do about it. It’s not that complicated.”

Joel’s mouth opens and closes— then opens again. “And how the hell do you know that?” 

“Because he talks about you a lot,” you answer with a soft smile. “He said he cares about you. And about your opinion.” Joel’s eyes narrow as you rub the back of your head, your eyes dropping to where you would be taking your next step. “I just don't know where I fit in all of this.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You and I almost kissed,” you say finger moving between you two. “Jack and I actually kissed. And well. . . I don’t want to get in the middle of anything. It might be a bit sudden but I like you guys, I care about you, and want you guys to be together if that’s what you want.” 

“It’s not your job to worry about us.” Joel huffs, his guilt gnawing at him. “But I get what you mean. We. . . we didn’t intend to put you in that position. I can assure you this wasn’t some twisted game we were tryin' to play. I can't talk for Jack but I care about you. And I care about him if that makes sense. But I fear that me being emotionally constipated might’ve ruined it with him. He gets mad every time I open my mouth.” 

“That’s because you tease him all the time and honestly he’s not doing any better than you.” Joel’s eyes go wide when you suddenly cradle his cheeks and bring his face towards your own. “And you haven't ruined anything Mr. Miller. You just need to tell him exactly what you’ve been telling me.” 

“You think so?” 

“I know so.” 

Before he can reach he feels the soft touch of your lips. You kiss him slowly—tenderly. Joel follows your lead, parting his lips, he allows you to slip your tongue inside. He sucks on your tongue, enjoying the way your body presses against his. 

When you pull back, you’re completely dazed.

“Now what was that for?” he asks.

“To keep everything even” you answer, smiling. “Now let's go get our brooding cowboy.” 

It doesn’t take long for that to happen. They find Jack sitting on the ground, his back pressed snugly against the wooden fence. He’s staring at the stars. The gentle light streaming down his face and down his neck, Joel’s heart skips a beat at the sight and he feels as though he can’t breathe. 

Only when they walk closer does he notice the bottle of whiskey. He lifts the bottle to his lips and takes a swig, Joel’s eyes follow the way drops of amber trickle down his sun-kissed skin. 

All Joel wants to do is lick the bitter drop off of him. 

The two stop before him. Neither of you knowing what to do or what to say. Joel attempts to apologize by parting his lips and that is the exact moment where Jack finally meets his gaze. 

“I know,” he says curtly. “Sit.” Jack extends the bottle of whiskey. Joel, without a word, sits down and takes the bottle. Just as he’s taking a swig, he notices you’re about to leave.  Thankfully Jack stops that from coming to fruition. “And where do you think you’re goin’? Sit your ass over here.” 

Joel almost cackles at how shocked you look. With the tiniest yelp escaping your lips you sit down right next to Jack. Taking a mouthful of whiskey, Joel extends you the bottle. You take it and chug it down immediately—Jack snorts and finally Joel feels comfortable enough to laugh alongside him. 

“Calm down darlin’, it ain’t runnin’ away.” 

“Sorry,” you hiccup, shoving the bottle into Jack’s chest. “I’m nervous.” 

“Well, don’t be,” Jack sighs and his head falls back against the fence. “I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I—” 

“We know,” Joel says with a fond smile. He throws his arm over Jack’s shoulder and cups the back of his head, his hat tumbling to the ground—it was now or never. 

For the first time, Joel brings their faces together without the tease of what he might or might not do. He kisses Jack tenderly, softly. Just like how he wanted to treat him during all those nights they were alone together. Jack digs his fingers into Joel’s shirt, nails nearly biting into the skin. Much to Joel’s surprise, the other man tastes sweet. Their tongues move together, still unsure but eager to explore. 

When Joel opens his eyes ever so slightly, he sees you staring in awe. 

He nearly breaks away laughing. But also, he can’t really blame you for your expression. 

It really does feel magical. 

You hold your breath. Every nerve ending you have is buzzing with want and arousal. The space between your legs pulsing as you watch Joel tilting his head, slipping his tongue through Jack’s eager lips. Deep down you feel like you’re intruding. That this is a tender moment that should just be between the two men but you can’t help but stay there, like a deer in headlights, watching.  

You shudder at the sound of Jack moaning, his hands grip Joel’s shoulder and host himself up the older man’s lap. He grinds down, swallowing Joel’s gasps, he parts away, a trail of saliva connecting the two. You’re still holding your breath. The tips of your fingers numb, your brain a whirlwind as it registers the sight before you. 

“Stupid old man,” Jack rasps, tilting his head to the side. “Gettin’ all sappy.” Then his heavy gaze finds your struck ones. He reaches out and in a dream-like state you take his hand, his fingers hastily close around your wrist and tugs you towards him. Your gasp is caught in your throat when he kisses you. The taste of Joel and whiskey still heavy on his tongue. 

A hand that doesn’t belong to Jack trails up the curve of your ass and squeezes. A choked-out moan drops from your lips only for Jack to shove his tongue between them. He sucks on your tongue and nips at your bottom lip all the while rolling his hips over Joel’s lap. 

“God, look at you two,” Joel groans, giving your ass another firm squeeze before moving his attention to Jack’s spread thighs. “I want to watch you eat that pretty pussy up, Jack. Bet you want that too. . .” 

Joel palms Jack’s cock through the denim, stroking him with a smug smile. Jack parts away from your lips with a whimper. His chest heaves. “Yeah,” he gasps, staring into your eyes, and his hips jerk, chasing the heat of the other’s palm. “Want you to make a mess of me, sugar.”

“Please,” you answer albeit not really needed. Your body falls back to sit on your heels, Joel crashes his lips against the younger cowboy’s, drinking the noises in like a starved man. He rips his flannel open while straightening himself, the momentum of the movement forcing Jack to grip Joel’s shoulders. He slides off of Joel’s lap, the kiss breaking when he directs his full lust-addled attention to you. 

His gaze is enough for you to start struggling with the buttons of your jeans. You kick them off in a rush and before you can take off your shirt Jack is already laying you down upon the soil, the stars above blinking down at you with mischief. Joel sitting close, pulls your head so you’re nestled comfortably above his lap. His hands cradle your face, thumbs stroking your skin gently. It’s a complete contrast compared to how Jack is. He slides your panties to the side, the pad of his thumb resting right above your clit, he stares at your from between your spread-out thighs. 

“Fuckin’ delicious,” he mutters right before delving in. He drags his tongue slowly up your folds while tenderly stroking your clit. Your back arches off of the earth, your eyes fluttering closed as he goes back down, only to kiss you tenderly. He takes his time with you. His jaw moving and tongue teasing your fluttering entrance. Your breath catches in your throat, your chest rattling, Joel shushes you while praising Jack at the same time. 

When your eyes finally open, you find Joel looking down at you. His thumb traces the underline of your bottom lip and moves down until he reaches the hem of your flannel. Flattening his thumb over your stomach, he pushes the fabric up until he exposes you to the sky completely. He cups both your breasts and smooths his fingers over your tingling nipples. 

“So hard already. . . you must really like what he’s doin’ down there huh?” 

Tears stinging the corner of your eyes, you nod. Your silent reply is answered with a sharp bite to the inside of your thigh. Your body jolts, a gasp of pain rattling your throat. Joel smiles. “I think he wants to hear you, sweetheart.”

“I love it,” you moan and as a reward, he pinches your nipples. 

“Good girl.” 

Jack presses his tongue deeper, your body clenching at both the words and the movement. He groans into your cunt, the bridge of his nose brushing your aching clit deliciously as he swirls his tongue. Your stomach coils tight and you push more of yourself into Joel’s palms, your mouth drops wide. You want more. You need more. You want them both to take and take and take—take until you forget your own damn name. 

“Joel. . .” you breathe. He looks down at you curiously. “I want to suck your cock.” 

Jack stops only for a moment before his eyes flutter closed and loses himself in you. Vaguely you can see the way he grinds down, a groan reverberating between your legs. Joel sucks in a breath and exhales from his nose. “You sure?” 

Your answer is ready on your tongue, and as soon as you give it to him, he expertly unbuttons himself. The tip of his cock pushes against your lips and your breath hitches. Precome smears over the soft flesh, your tongue darting out for a taste, you end up tasting from the source instead. Joel’s hips stutter. 

“Holy fuckin’ hell,” his hips jerk a second time, this time thrusting himself deeper into your mouth. You feel him leaning over, a second later you understand he’s reaching for the other man who is working you toward your orgasm. “Jack com’ere—Let me taste her.” 

Jack doesn’t make Joel repeat himself and unwillingly pulls himself away from between your legs. Your tongue swirls around Joel’s cock as Jack kisses him deeply. He licks himself deep into the older man’s mouth, stealing a moan deep within Joel’s chest. While Jack steals the breath from Joel’s lungs, he pushes two fingers into you with ease. Your eyes rolling, you take more of Joel into your mouth, prompting the other to instinctively thrust deep enough to make you choke around him. 

He parts from Jack with a gasp, “Fuck, that’s it, sweetheart, choke on it.” he says through gritted teeth. Both men look down at you with dark eyes, the shadows caused by the moonlight caress their backs, deepening every crease of their faces. You shudder. 

You’re surprised to see Jack dipping down, lower from where you’re sucking Joel’s cock, he sucks the tender skin of the base, and the sound that Joel makes almost feels inhumane. 

But Jack doesn’t linger. He pulls away from both of you, his torso tall between your legs, he strokes himself at the sight of your mouth full of the man he admires. 

“You like having your mouth full, darlin’? Such a dirty girl allowing two men to have you like this out in the open.” 

You whimper and nod, eyes flooding with tears as Joel shoves himself deeper. Spit and precome trickle down from where his cock stretches your lips. 

“Fuckin’ filthy,” Jack says giving himself a firm squeeze before swiping his palm over the head of his cock. With his other hand, he follows the contour of your leg, reaches all the way to your hip. “You’re ‘bout to feel much fuller.” 

He shoves himself inside you with a single thrust; your channel tightens around him, a moan escaping your throat. Your mouth is pulled away from Joel briefly, gasping for air, before he pulls you back. He adjusts his hips and slides back into your mouth, kneading the back of your neck.

“You feel that? How hot and wet you are? Both of us stretching you?” Jack's voice is gruff as he thrusts into you; your eyes close as pleasure radiates through your body, your skin left tingling. You can hear Joel moan and pant in the background, his cock throbs above your tongue and you hollow out your cheeks.

Your eyes flutter as Jack's cock glides in and out of you; his plunges getting deeper with every thrust. You feel overwhelmed by both of them. You’re left breathless and spinning. You feel only them and nothing else. 

You grip onto Joel to keep yourself teetered to the moment as Jack's movements become more desperate, Joel matching him thrust for thrust. With each gasp, Joel's cock slides further down your throat. 

The tightness inside your body grows; waves of pleasure cascade through you. The pressure builds and builds and builds—You’re so close you can taste it. Jack presses a palm over your mound, adding pressure as he draws quick and tight circles around your clit. Your throat convulses around Joel’s cock and he pulls out, his length resting comfortably above your lips. You breathe heavily against him, his cock slick and warm on your skin. 

“Atta girl,” he coos. “Just a bit more. . . Show us how pretty you look when you come.” 

You feel the pressure between your legs mounting with each hard thrust from Jack, your moans becoming louder and more desperate. Joel encourages Jack to go faster, and with each plunge you feel the tension in your core build higher and higher. 

And finally the coil snaps. 

Your whole body trembles and shakes. Your orgasm still rolling over your body like a violent wave. Jack pumps his hips into yours as he digs his hands into your hips. He keeps thrusting relentlessly, pushing himself as far in as he can before he pulls out. His jaw goes slack, cock gliding over your mound, he spills over your skin. You shudder at the trickle of his seed. 

Joel’s cock slides across your lips, teasing you. Your tongue darts out and quickly wraps around him, you tilt your head to take in all of his length. You push your mouth onto him, bobbing your head up and down until he groans. His hips buck erratically and at the same time you feel the touch of Jack’s mouth against the side of your neck. 

You swallow everything that he offers you, savoring every moment of the taste of him. You stay close to him until his breathing returns to normal, his thighs shaking underneath you as he pulls out. 

“Holy shit,” Jack chokes out as he collapses on top of you, head right above your chest. Joel wipes the sole tear that had escaped you eye and smiles. You bring his palm to your lips and kiss the rough skin. 

“It’s going to be hard walking away from all of this,” you whisper, shuddering when Jack’s mouth moves against the side of your breasts. 

“Who says you have to walk away?” 

You don’t have it in you to go into the details of your life and how you have to go. Or entertain the idea that maybe the things that you thought were important aren’t as essential that you thought after all. It’s pure chaos and right now all you want is to feel their warmth against your bare skin under the stars. 

For now, you are content and feeling grateful for the two amazing men who coincidentally made themselves an inseparable part of your life.  

[springnote]

You Catch Them Masturbating

includes: William Afton, Henry Emily, Phone Guy, Michael Afton, and Vanny/Vanessa

warnings: nsfw minors dni, gn reader (unspecified private parts), oral (male and female receiving), voyeurism (I think?)

William Afton:

• It was impossible to not be intimidated by him, especially when he was so attractive. So having him as a boss was more than enough to make you a flustered mess.

• You did your best to be respectful, always calling him “sir” and giving a smile before you had to look away from nerves, he seemed to appreciate all your work and obedience, and you never bothered him, until today.

•You just wanted to tell him that everyone left and you were about to go home too, but you got something more when you knocked on the door, a muffled groan sounding from the office before he answered you.

• “Come in~” he had practically purred as you opened the door, your jaw falling open at the sight before you. He was lounging on his couch, his cock out of his slacks as he looked at you with glazed eyes. “You look so surprised, well I’m happy to show you how much you excite me, bunny~”

• He shameless fisted his cock, keeping firm eye contact with every stroke as he licked his lips. “Of course you may leave if you wish, but that’s not what you want, is it, love? You want to ngh help don’t you?”

• “Yes sir.” You nearly whispered, closing the door behind you as he let out a growl at your words. “There you go- fuck again. Come here, show me how good you can be~”

Henry Emily:

• You didn’t see Henry as much as William, despite them being co-owners of the restaurant, but you still developed a bond with him. You took your niece and nephew by often, and one day you spotted Henry at a corner table looking absolutely miserable, and you couldn’t stop yourself from checking on him.

• Being a grieving and single father was tough on him, but the way you would bring him coffee and listen to him whenever you came by made him feel something he hadn’t felt in years. Of course he wouldn’t say anything though, but he couldn’t deny his feelings.

• Perhaps William was being his wingman when he told you that Henry wandered off during the big convention at the hotel, which eventually led you to the back meeting room, where Henry stood leaning against the table, pants and underwear around his knees as he stroked his cock, your name falling from his lips like a prayer.

• When he noticed you he sounded so ashamed and defeated as he closed his eyes, saying he was sorry he ruined the friendship you gave him. “You deserve so much better, you should go. I’m sorry.”

• When you didn’t leave, he looked at you with dark eyes, an intense and wanting look on his face as you stepped closer. “I want to help.” You said, making him throb as he groaned.

• “Let me take care of you after this,” he rasped as he watched intently as you got to your knees. “Shit you’re so good…I need you.”

Phone Guy:

• Somehow you survived your job as a night guard, and ended up thanking Phone Guy every morning after for his help. You were so grateful, it made him feel appreciated, so he asked to keep in touch.

• You would visit him at lunch some days, sharing greasy pizza and telling him about your new job whenever he wasn’t rambling about the pizzeria. Sadly you didn’t see him as often when he had to re-record instructions for the new guard.

• One day you decided to surprise him with some lunch, but once you saw his office was empty you felt the urge to snoop. You quickly spotted the phone he recorded all his messages on, and pressed the button, hoping to hear him being goofy again.

• Instead you heard an obscenely loud moan of your name. “Fuuuck fuck right there, o-oh you’re so good I can’t I- please do that again, (y/n) please-” You froze as the recording played on, his babbling and moans making your face hot.

• “H-Hello?” Of course he came back right then, looking just as flustered as he started sputtering out apologies. “That was an accident I didn’t know it was recording I’m sorry I shouldn’t have-”

• “Would you like some help..?” as soon as you said that, he relaxed, a brief while leaving his mouth. “Please…”

Michael Afton:

• Ever since Michael started his new job, he was on edge a lot more often, and as his best friend, you offered to stay at his house in case he needed anything.

• You made yourself at home in the guest room, reading late into the night til you heard noise from the living room. Part of you wondered if it was one of those robots he mentioned, but you knew it was probably his soap opera.

• “Psst~ can you turn it down, Mikey?” You whispered when you stuck your head into the living room, ready to quip about his show when you saw him laying on the couch, one hand rubbing the tip of his cock while the other tweaked a nipple.

• “Fuck! Um I’m sorry (y/n)!” He gasped and covered his crotch with a pillow, his face heating up with embarrassment. “Sorry…”

• You don’t know why but you suddenly asked. “Were you thinking about me?” There was an awkwardly long pause, but then he breathed out a “yes…” with a heavy sigh, seeming more embarrassed. “I can help.” You added, watching his eyes widen as he seemed to melt at your words.

• “C’mere, lemme feel you.” He cooed, patting his muscular thigh invitingly. “Catch me first.” You giggled, playfully scampering off when he jumped off the couch. “Oh it’s on now!”

Vanessa/Vanny:

• Despite her grumbling about it, the Pizzaplex hired you as another night guard to help Vanessa out, seeing as she was always tired and grumpy, and she wouldn’t say it, but she did like you.

• She frequently sent you to go clean bathrooms or take inventory, and you couldn’t tell why she didn’t want you in the security room or following her, so you decided to sneak up on her one evening and pop in the security office.

• You’d barely thrown the door open before she slammed you against the wall, a hand on your throat as she glared. “Wh- (y/n) the hell are you doing? You’re supposed to be on clean up duty!” “I finished early and-” you didn’t get much else out before you noticed she was in her underwear, a wet patch on her panties.

• “Nobody is supposed to get in here…” she mumbled as she backed away, her cheeks flushed as she put her other hand behind her back. “May I help?” You asked hesitantly, watching a sly smirk form on her face.

• “Well since you finished early on your job, and interrupted me…” she hummed as she went to sit in her desk chair, tossing her panties to the side as she beckoned you forward. You sank to your knees in between her legs, staring at her already glistening pussy.

• “I think you deserve a reward~” she chuckled again before pushing your face closer, her thighs keeping you in place as she leaned back to watch you.

[night-daily]

I thought I'd lost you forever | Roronoa Zoro x fem! reader

summary: After Zoro it's defeated on a duel, he's hurted badly and no one knows if he'll recover.

warnings: ep 5 and 6 spoilers, one piece live action, hurt/comfort

a/n: im obsessed with Zoro ngl :]

You were at the Baratie kitchen with Zeff and Sanji, ranting about your discussion with Zoro, just to make sure you weren't overreacting but they knew better than not take part because well, you were pretty mad and they didn't want you to pick up your rage on them.

Just remembering the discussion makes your blood boil.

You and Luffy walked into the room where Zoro, Nami, and Ussop were. All of them turn to see the two of you, “Hey crew!” , Luffy says but none of them replies, and your smile falters. What was going on? The vibe in the room was so tense.

“Zoro challenged Mihawk to a duel”, You were shocked. What was he thinking? He was even thinking?

Nami asked Luffy to convince Zoro to not fight Mihawk but he didn't do it, instead, he supported Zoro to fight the duel. You make eye contact with Zoro, shaking your head clearly disappointed. You turned yourself ready to leave but before you got the chance, his voice made you stop on track.

“What? You think I can't win?” You observed his face, trying to figure him out but he wasn't showing any emotion. “If you wish to die today, then go ahead, I'm no one to stop you” , Please don't go, If something happens to you I will lose my mind, that's what you wanna to say.

“You're right, you're no one” , You're everything to me, that's what he wanted to say and it was true. You're his world and Zoro has tried to make you know it but you're too oblivious to notice it and he's scared to tell you his feelings not because you may reject him, because he thinks he'll ruin your friendship. “I have to become the world's greatest swordsman” “I know but—” “No, you don't know how it feels like, you don't even have a dream.” Your brows furrowed, of course, you had a dream like everyone else, in fact, the only one you had told about your dream was Zoro, and you trusted him so much but here was he now, using it against you, it made you feel sick. “Fuck you, Zoro, maybe Mihawk won't kill you but your pride is.”

After that you stormed out of the room, his eyes following you with a heavy feeling in his chest.

  ⚔  ⚔   ⚔  ⚔ 

“So I was wrong?” you crossed your arms over your chest.

“Of course not, love” Sanji answered, Zeff rolled his eyes knowing what was he doing. “You know? I would never hurt you like—”

“MY FRIEND NEEDS HELP” Luffy burst into the kitchen yelling.

The anger left your body being replaced by worry. You ran as fast as your legs could carry you, heading to Going Merry without thinking twice. Sanji, Zeff, and Luffy going after you, you arrived and saw Zoro's body, his chest covered with blood and a serious wound. Your breathing was unstable and your body trembling, everything was blurry to you as Zeff treated his wounds faster and you couldn't help but think this was your fault.

“You gotta talk to him, make him stay here, in this world” You all nodded and thanked him for his help. Sanji decided to stay there to cook, Luffy, Ussop and you were sitting across him talking, well, they talking and you tried to focus on the conversation but your mind wandered thinking about Zoro.

While Sanji was cooking, Luffy was the first to move, ready to head to the room where Zoro was.

“Can I...?” Their heads turned to see you. You cleared your throat “Can I talk to him first, please?” Luffy hesitated for a second and he was about to refuse you but Sanji cut him off, “Ladies first” you murmured a thank you, walking to the room, behind you, you heard your captain asking them why he had to let you to talk Zoro first if he wanted to talk him too.

“Because they need it, they're more than friends” Ussop responds with a smirk on his face, which makes Luffy more confused, “They're best friends?” Sanji and Ussop laughed at him shaking their heads.

You closed the door behind you. Sitting on a chair that was next to him. Your eyes fell on his wound and instantly felt an overwhelming wave of guilt crash onto you. “I really don't want to lose you, so you better wake up” you hold his hand intertwining your fingers. “'cause I'm not gonna let you die” His breathing was slow but steady “When I said all that stuff earlier, I didn't mean it” Your eyes welled up with tears, replaying your last conversation with him in your mind.

Lost in your thoughts you didn't even feel when Zoro intertwined his fingers around yours. Then he squeezed your hand softly. While your heart was pounding in your chest. “did you miss me?” forgetting about his wound, you hugged him tight “you idiot! never do that again, I thought I'd lost you forever” He groaned painfully. “Sorry, sorry! I'm so sorry Zoro This is—” “Don't you even dare to say this was your fault, because it's not” you opened your mouth. He sent you a death glare. “Before I passed out, do you know what my only regret was?” He looked right into your eyes. “To not have the opportunity to beg for your forgiveness, what I said about your dream, it was wrong and I'm sorry, I will work to regain your trust, I promise” He brings your hand to his mouth, giving it a gentle kiss.

Something was different now and you both knew it, you were eager to know what the future would hold for the two of you.

[chodzacaparodia]

I kind of wish Hiori would actually give up football and the whole Blue Lock. Don't get me wrong, I love this character, I love the panels with him, and I was really happy when he committed to his game in the last chapter.

Throughout chapter 237, he kept saying he was going to quit football.

And let him do it if he really wants to.

He will find something for himself, not something he will do because of the talent he has or someone like his parents. If he wants, let him resign.

Because no one gives up on Blue Lock and such a representation would be really good in this series.

If someone leaves Blue Lock, it's because they were kicked out, not because it was their decision.

Even Nagi, who initially didn't care about football and didn't really want to participate in this program, later became really involved in this sport.

And throughout the entire manga, there wasn't a single character who left on their own. It doesn't really have to be Hiori (although he has reasons to do so), but it would be interesting if there was at least one character in this series who thought: "What am I doing here? This is not the place for me, I don't want to be here. I'm fed up, I'm quitting."

From the very beginning, Blue Lock was different from other sports manga because it questions cooperation and boycotts the belief in the power of friendship (which we had confirmation in this chapter again):

So it would be good if finally a character decided that this sport is not for them and they want to resign.

Because sports manga very rarely allows characters to quit.

Injury? This is not a reason to give up sports completely! A devastating defeat? It's not worth giving up, you have to keep fighting! Lack of heart for the game or bad motivation that started your sports career? You will surely love this sport over time!

But that's not always the case in real life. People give up. People are fed up. They don't have to do something against their will.

It's the same with talent. If you're good at something, do you really have to do it? Because talent will be wasted? What does it matter if you really hate what you're good at?

I'm glad that Nagi finally found something in football that excites him. But again, if a character in Blue Lock is good at football but really hates it, let's just let them stop playing. After all, not everyone will eventually be convinced to take up this sport.

So if there's a character in Blue Lock who gives up on it all, I'll take them into my arms and hug them tight.

Because being a quitter is human.

[fictoculus]

౨ৎ their voicelines for you; part 1...

send a request!┊masterlist┊taglist applications

part II┊part III┊part IIII┊part IIIII

FEAT... itto, ningguang, venti, tighnari, yae miko, gorou

✧ itto.

"huh? do i know [name]? well, yes, you could say that~ why do you ask? ... y- you think they're cute?! y- you don't like them, d- do you?! well, i- i mean, it's not like i care i just- i don't think you're... you're not... their type! yeah! *he scoffs* yeah, i just think they like taller guys, yknow? pretty sure they have a thing for guys with white hair too, sorry bud! *he pats traveller on the back before rushing to hide around the corner"

✧ ningguang.

"excuse my poor manners, but i really must be going, i have some immediate buisiness to attend to. by all means, leave me a- [name]? why yes, i do know them, they requested for me? are they alright? has something happened? where are they? do they- ah, i see. they were just looking for me... *she clears her throat* o- of course. baiwen, clear my schedule for the day, i have some more important buisiness to attend to..."

✧ venti.

"how do i play so effortlessly? well, i'm glad you asked! you see... the strings of the lyre, they speak to me, just as the wind does. *he strums and plucks the strings gently* i hear the melody of their callings and simply share them with my audience. speaking of which~ *his plucking comes to a halt* i hear a particularly beautiful melody... this announces my leave! it was lovely talking to you, truly, though i musn't keep my windblume waiting... until next time, traveller!"

✧ tighnari.

"what a truly wonderful specimen... this flower, i must bring it back with me. say, traveller, do you think [name] would appreciate such a gift? yes, [name]. why them? well... they are quite special to me, and i really do cherish our rela- *he clears his throat* our friendship. we share a very special bond, and i wish to strengthen it further for they are the one i wish to spend the last of my days with uhm- nothing, nothing at all. we'd best head back, the sun sets soon"

✧ yae miko.

"[name]? ah, they're a cute little thing, aren't they? *she smirks mischievously* always getting themselves into trouble, but no, i could never stay mad at that charming face of theirs. they are mine, after all... and i am just as equally theirs. *she chuckles* you should come by the shrine some time soon, if you're lucky enough, you'll get to see the real thing for yourself, these photos don't do them nearly enough justice..."

✧ gorou.

"i- *he sighs in defeat* yes... yes i am miss hina- sh shhh, keep your voice down! [name] is just around the corner! w-why do i c- care? well... y- you see, [name] is a very... a very esteemed individual, i- i couldn't possibly let them find out about this... that would be shameful, and- and they may not like me if they find out... no! n- no no i don't- i don't have a cr- no! hey, traveller! traveller! get back here! hey!!!"

part II┊part III┊part IIII┊part IIIII

thanks for reading ♡ want to read more? my requests are OPEN, so please feel free to let me know what you'd like me to write next!

© FICTOCULUS 2023; please do not steal, translate, or repost my works as your own

[cloudedgalaxies]

Thinking about how I really want the end of Book 7 not to end in a battle, even though it’d be so cool.

We’ve already seen that Malleus is incredibly powerful, and honestly as it is now, I don’t see a way for the students to be able to reasonably fight him and win. Yes, everyone at NRC is exceptionally powerful, but they’ve commented time and time again how Malleus is on a whole other level than anyone there. We’ve fought him a couple of times now, in and outside of dreams, and it has always ended in defeat.

So then how do we save him? The one way that no one would think of, except perhaps Diasomnia and definitely Yuu—the power of friendship making Malleus willingly stand down. 

Malleus has been alone for the vast majority of his life. Now, even when he is attending NRC, constantly and perpetually surrounded by students and mages, nearly everyone is too afraid of him to approach him. Because of that, when the potential of one of the few people who are near to him leaving arises, he is so terribly scared and sad that he doesn’t know what to do besides force them to stay. He would rather have the people he knows live out their days in eternal slumber and only interact with them inside their dreams than watch them age and fade and eventually disappear from his life entirely. He is willing to be the sole person in the entirety of Twisted Wonderland awake, just so that he does not have to lose a single soul.

That is an incredibly lonely fate, to be the one person left not dreaming. Of course, he can enter their dreams, control them, see them and touch them and live out lives that can endlessly and eternally restart. But that is not the same as being with them in reality. Dreams are wonderful, but they are not real. Some part of Malleus must realize that—that his actions here are condemning him to a future that is so much more isolating than what he thought. And yet, what else can he do? If he restarts time, if he reawakens everyone, they will die. They might hate him. And worst of all—they will leave, given enough time. No matter how terrible it would be to be the only person left conscious in the world, Malleus must believe that that cannot compare to the fate of being left.

So what can we do to stop him? We can certainly try to fight him. We will probably fail if we do. The mages defending the rest of the world from eternal slumber’s reserves will run dry, while Malleus will continue to rule over his domain of dreams, which will only grow larger with every attack and eventual defeat that comes.

Or, perhaps, we can try to save him. Diasomnia, as is, is not doing so well in terms of magical prowess as other dorms are: Lilia’s magic is fading, Silver is spending himself transporting himself and others from dream to dream, and Sebek, while powerful, is still only a freshman. Similarly, Ramshackle can hardly even hold a candle to everyone else: Grim, as much as he boasts, does not seem to be notably powerful (yet), and Yuu has no magic to speak of at all. 

Imagine how shocking it’d be then, if these people, so utterly weak in terms of magic, are the people who are able to take down one of the greatest mages in the world. And they don’t even do it through battle—they do it through understanding where Malleus is coming from and trying to calm his worries. They tell him that yes, people will go, and there is no way to stop it, no matter how much someone might wish for it to be so. But for every time someone leaves, someone will also come. Malleus’ world started with Lilia, and then Silver, then Sebek, and now finally Yuu. Lilia is leaving, and so might Yuu, but that does not mean that they will be gone forever. There will be memories and stories and dreams to last a lifetime, and, while their gaps will never be filled, more spaces will open up to accommodate more people. We’ve seen it through the way that Malleus has slowly come to know more of the student body—his ‘friendly’ fights with Leona, Cater perpetually trying to get pictures with him, learning a bit more about technology through Idia and Deuce…while these cannot quite be called friendships yet, there is something there that can’t be mistaken. And maybe, because the people telling him this are his first real friends and closer to him than anything, he’ll consider it.

Maybe Malleus won’t listen to reason. Maybe Book 7 will end with a breathtaking battle that encapsulates the world’s best mages to overthrow the fae prince—NRC, RSA, NBC, legends outside the schools, and more—and I would be okay with that. But I also think that Book 7 ending in peace, where Malleus takes the hand we offer and steps down from his reign of slumber without any more bloodshed, would be just as beautiful.

[wordbunch]

Winter Forest (Legolas x f!reader) > part 1

PART 2 HERE!!!

PART 3 HERE

a/n: here it is!! I’m really happy there are still people who’d want to read this, because I do want to write it, it’s been on my mind for a while. I hope you will enjoy it, and do let me know about it 😊 please try to be kind either way, this is just something from my imagination that I wanted to share with you! 😁🌿

warnings: none, it’s mostly just wholesome stuff!

SUMMARY: [Y/N], Lord Elrond’s daughter, and sort of a wild-card, and prince Legolas form a close friendship from their earliest childhoods. This story follows significant moments between them and how their relationship progresses over time. This part happens pre-Fellowship. Slow-ish burn, friends-to-lovers, mutual pining.

O N E

(a/n: let’s say their ages are somewhere between 5 and 9, in human years)

When Lord Elrond had meetings and duties to attend to, which was quite often, [Y/N] knew better than to disturb her father, or any of his esteemed guests. However, that meant hours upon hours of alone time, which could be quite monotonous for an elven child who was just bursting with energy.

Her sister Arwen was a much more peaceful girl, while [Y/N] was always looking for an adventure to engage in. Of course she did enjoy spending time with her sister as well, but she craved someone with more of a wild streak to keep up with her. Thankfully, a very tall elf with very long blond hair, who often had meetings with her Ada, had a son around her age, so she did not have to die of boredom. Or almost die from some unsupervised activity she recklessly chose for the day.

“Your Ada allows you to have a bow?” she gasped as Legolas, the son of the very tall intimidating guest of her father’s revealed his secret weapon. “I am still not allowed into our armory… because of a little accident,” her voice dropped conspiratorially, immediately catching all of Legolas’ attention. She was extremely interesting to him, albeit just a little odd. Legolas liked odd.

“I may own one, but it is a very small bow. The arrows are not even, sharp, look” Legolas proclaimed as he pulled out an arrow to show to [Y/N]. Her mouth was agape in wonder as she carefully touched the tip with her small finger. “What was your armory accident about?” now Legolas was the one whispering, as if afraid of their little secrets being discovered.

“I really like it,” the elven girl admitted, “I wish I had one. Now, why should I share my secret with you?” she teased, sticking her tongue out.

“I don’t know, maybe I know someone who could provide you with a bow, just like this, for you,” Legolas smirked, feeling all high and mighty. [Y/N] all but gasped in surprise and unexpected joy. Her expressiveness and energy drew Legolas to want to be around her all the time. The ideas she had were always fun, and time passed by much faster when they spent it together while their fathers had their boring meetings. Her hair was never tame like his, and she talked loudly sometimes, but she was just… warm.

“I’m afraid my Ada would find that bow really quickly, sadly,” she sighed, her small shoulders slumping in newly felt defeat. “He always finds out everything,” she muttered. Legolas nodded in understanding. “However… I was wondering,” she continued hesitantly, weighing her words for a moment, “if you could show me how to use your bow?”

[Y/N] was swinging her legs over the edge of a little wooden bridge they were sitting on, to calm her nerves, but she gathered the courage to look up into Legolas’ eyes.

She smells pretty, he thought. Like a forest in winter.

“If you’d like, I can show you my collection of really pretty rocks,” she offered in return, attempting her best charming smile, “you can even pick one as a gift. I think they are all very unique.”

“Really?” Legolas grinned, not even needing a moment to consider the counter-offer. As a little elven-prince, he greatly enjoyed pretty things from nature. Especially tokens from girls who smell pretty and have enchanting laughter.

“Of course,” she nodded excitedly, a lock of hair falling over her eyes. She giggled, got up as quickly as possible, eager to start her very first archery lesson with a rather charming and interesting elvish prince. She outstretched her hand towards the blond elf to get him up too – she was in a bit of a hurry, after all.

At that moment, Legolas decided he trusted her.

🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃

T W O

(a/n: here they’re a bit older children, but still children. would be around 10-13 years in human years)

“Have you ever kissed anybody?” [Y/N] inquired with ever-present curiosity in her eyes. Legolas almost stopped dead in his tracks. The two were wandering around the gardens of Thranduil’s palace, looking for the tallest tree to climb. As time passed, they grew practically inseparable - it was difficult to tell which one of them lived in Rivendell and which in Mirkwood; both of them spent a lot of time in both places.

“Uh- I- where did you get that?” Legolas stuttered, slightly afraid of meeting her eyes. “And no, I have not.”

“Me neither, [Y/N] exhaled seemingly in relief. “And to answer your question, I have been reading about it in a novel I borrowed from Arwen.”

“Borrowed, or stole?” Legolas chuckled, having grown accustomed to [Y/N]’s ways and occasionally impulsive decisions. Many times she did not seem to be very alike to anyone in her family.

“Borrowed” [Y/N] gasped in mock hurt. “I much prefer stories of great adventures and majestic kingdoms, than of damsels that wait around for a prince to save them. If I had to wait around for someone, I would simply wither away over time.”

“Maybe sometimes it can be the prince who is saved at the end,” Legolas suggested, “or they both go on adventures together and end up saving each other. And the kingdom.”

“That would be grand, would it not?” [Y/N] allowed a soft smile to grace her features and her eyes met Legolas’ for just a moment. “An adventure, turned into a love story that defeats all the odds, and is a sign of hope in turbulent times.”

Sometimes, though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, Legolas thought about exploring Middle-earth with [Y/N], discovering all the beauties as well as dangers. Having each other’s back through it all. Hopefully, he thought, soon they would both be grown enough and skilled enough to go off on their own. Maybe a small part of him wanted her just for himself someday. Without their fathers, tutors, and any other elf getting in the way.

“So, what do you think?” [Y/N]’s voice brought him back to reality.

“I was... I apologize, my mind was elsewhere. You asked me something?” the blond elf confessed, simultaneously hoping that [Y/N] could and could not read his mind.

“Do you think this tree is good enough? Shall we go and climb and see the view?”

“As you wish,” Legolas concluded and then inhaled sharply in a moment of unbelievable courage. “Do you want me to kiss you?” As soon as he blurted it out, he couldn’t believe his own ears.

Now it was [Y/N]’s turn to be taken aback, but within a heartbeat the soft smile on her face only widened.

“I suppose we could see what it is like.”

Legolas fidgeted with his hands, completely unsure where to go with them as [Y/N] began to lean closer into his face, her comforting scent enveloping him completely. He was just about to fully close his eyes when the girl gently bit the tip of his nose and burst into fits of laughter before taking off running towards the enormous tree that she had spotted earlier. Legolas felt his cheeks burning as he touched his nose with his fingertips, but a smile curved on his lips nevertheless. He ran off after [Y/N] in order to try and catch up with her, and somehow pay her back for her little trick. Her joyful laughter still rang in his ears – he enjoyed all sorts of elvish music, yet he found himself preferring that happy sound over anything in Middle-earth.

And not only that; he couldn’t stop thinking of how she had basically clouded his senses just by being in such a close proximity. She is really something else, Legolas thought to himself. A grand adventure.

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T H R E E

(a/n: late teenage years, perhaps? completely up to your own interpretation!)

[Y/N] winced as she fell to the ground with a thud, her right ankle twisting in an uncomfortable way. The horse she had been riding was running away swiftly, from dangers unknown to her. She heard no alarming noises, nor did she see anything threatening nearby, so she started slowly dusting herself off, still sitting on the ground, a bit scared to get up since a sharp pain started developing in her ankle. An attempt to get up was followed by another wince of pain, but she managed to get back on her feet, leaning all her weight on the healthy leg. Just as she was about to try and put some weight on the injured leg, the silence was cut through by an all too familiar voice.

“[Y/N]?! what happened?” Legolas approached her from behind, his steps hurried, but quiet. He swiftly offered her his shoulder as support, and the girl gratefully leaned against him.

“I took Eretor for a little ride,” she explained with seemingly no concern. Feigning nonchalance was probably the best way to go and not concern Legolas too much; she was well-aware of his protectiveness over her.

“The wildest, possibly most dangerous horse in the realm?”  Legolas continued inquiring, blue eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and worry.

“He was just...calling out to me,” the girl muttered.

“Well, that is so surprising,” Legolas chuckled, trying to conceal his concern over [Y/N]’s obvious injury. “I wonder if anything normal is ever going to call out to you, not just things that are deadly.”

[Y/N] wanted to glare at him, but she was interrupted by searing pain that sliced through her ankle, causing the blond elf to immediately stop pretending he wasn’t also putting on a careless façade.

“Are you alright? Can you walk?” he asked, looking her up and down. Before she managed to answer, she was easily picked up into his embrace, her arm still slung across his shoulders. When it came to this particular girl, he was overprotective to the bone, while, for [Y/N], breathing in the familiar scent seemed to soothe some of the pain right away as she allowed herself to relax a little bit.

“Lucky me, being carried all the way back by the prince,” [Y/N] joked, drawing out a smile from Legolas’ soft lips. “Any elven lady would kill to be in my position right now.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her, “Yet you seem to be the only one always getting my warmest affections.” It was completely true. Wherever [Y/N] went, Legolas followed, and the other way round, and they had been looking out for each other ever since they were barely able to walk and hold a simple conversation.

“Your horse adventure could have ended in a much worse manner, you are aware of that?” Legolas asked, his demeanor becoming slightly more serious once again.

“But it did not, I am alright,” she looked down at her already swollen ankle, but squeezed Legolas’ shoulder to reassure him. “It is nothing but a minor injury. It will heal practically overnight, and you appeared just at the perfect time.”

“If you say so,” Legolas exhaled. His mind couldn’t stop replaying all the possible bad scenarios, but on the other hand he found it enjoyable to carry [Y/N] and have her pressed flush against his body.

It made him feel like her protector, and he realized that her safety was one of his priorities. Of course, he was more than aware she could look after herself, but it made him feel better if he could contribute to it in any capacity. Silence fell on the two elves, as Legolas inhaled [Y/N]’s comforting scent - like a forest in winter, he always described it to himself. It made him crack a small smile when he looked down at the girl curled up against him and surprisingly peaceful, for a change. Maybe, just maybe, the comfort he found in her, she also found in him. He allowed himself to think so, as he tried to memorize the feeling of warmth and the shape of [Y/N]’s frame against him. It was so real.

“Next time,” Legolas began, after some moments of silence, “please choose another horse. Or at least a decent horse-riding partner.”

“Perhaps you?” [Y/N] quipped, looking up at him with a little smirk on her playful face. She swore she could see a light blush creep up on his usually pale cheeks. “I know that is what you meant.”

“Well,” he feigned perfect composure as his mind swarmed with possibilities, “that would not be the first time we did something questionable together. One of these days, Lord Elrond will make me pay for all the times I could have looked out for you more carefully.”

“He would not! I am nobody’s responsibility but my own… and sometimes, perhaps, I am my father’s problem,” she tried making a mock-upset grimace, but it ended up in a smile.

“One might say that you have become my problem as well, over time,” Legolas raised his eyebrows teasingly at the girl in his arms. She could never be anything even slightly inconvenient to him.

“And you, mine,,” she poked fun at him in return, “yet I wouldn’t have it any other way.“

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F O U R

(a/n: young adults just before the fellowship)

[Y/N] was strolling through Mirkwood halls in order to return some things to the library, when Legolas practically stormed by her and disappeared in his chambers. She could sense the attitude even from behind closed doors, and she had a couple guesses what might have upset the elvish prince. Deciding to venture to the library later, she softly knocked on his door.

“Mellon-nin, it is I. May I come in?” she inquired carefully. Before she even had time to continue persuading Legolas to open the door, he already did it; a frown twisted on his face and his hair slightly disheveled, probably after he’d run his hands through it in frustration multiple times. So, [Y/N] found herself in Legolas’ personal quarters.

“What seems to be the matter?” she asked in a soft voice. Despite Legolas’ occasional stubbornness, she always knew how to get his guard down. Most often she was the only person able to do it at all.

“I have had a… rather unpleasant conversation with my father,” he huffed, plopping down on the huge bed. [Y/N] followed to sit beside him. “I would actually rather call it a lecture, than a conversation.”

“Continue, I am listening,” she urged him, but in a comforting voice, and proceeded to move a strand of perfectly blond hair out of his face and behind his ear.

“I am aware that I have royal duties and matters to attend to, but he just does not seem to grasp – we are not the same! I have this need to go out into nature, to venture onto unknown paths, find myself in unpredictable and exciting situations. That is who I am, not whom he wants me to be” he rambled on as [Y/N] listened and watched attentively. Wasn’t the first time she heard such complaints from the young and energetic elf.

“It would be vastly better if he’d just,” he sighed “just let me follow my own path, and then I would be more agreeable if I had not been feeling confined here, in this life, sometimes.”

“You know I understand you perfectly,” [Y/N] reassured him, “and I share many of those desires myself, but I also do have an understanding of your father’s ways. He just wants to look out for you as much as he can.”

“Whose side are you on?” Legolas quipped, feeling the tiniest sting of betrayal.

“Yours, my friend,” [Y/N] placed a hand on his shoulder, and the tension almost magically left his body. “your side is the only side I have ever been on, it seems to me,” she chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood. Her effort wasn’t in vain – Legolas smiled warmly at her in return.

“Of course, forgive me,” he removed her hand from his shoulder and squeezed it in his for a moment. “I do not think there is need for me to explain the affinity I have for you as well.”

“Sit down on the floor in front of me,” [Y/N] nudged him, suddenly getting an idea. Without much questioning, Legolas obliged, and he was settled with his back leaning against [Y/N]’s legs. Wasting no time, she began brushing through his, still a bit tousled, hair, and Legolas’ breathing almost immediately grew calmer and deeper. There was no way he’d allow anybody else to do that – especially with him sitting on the ground – but [Y/N] always had and was always going to have special privileges. She felt like home and like comfort, but simultaneously an adventure. Like a winter forest – usually a familiar setting, but during the colder season slightly more unpredictable and challenging. But so wonderfully magical. Legolas got completely wrapped up in her presence and in his thoughts, as she quietly hummed an elvish tune from their earliest childhoods.

It seemed like it was just yesterday – the two of them chasing each other through forests and gardens of either Rivendell or Mirkwood, collecting stones, practicing any skill – from archery, to tracking, climbing trees… climbing together, falling together. There was no telling apart anymore where one of them ended and the other began – they seemed to forever be a package deal. Time flew by – responsibilities seemed to sneak up on them so suddenly, but both [Y/N] and Legolas were still rather young and restless (to dismay of both of their fathers), and neither of them was willing to give up spontaneous adventurous undertaking, still hoping for a great, unforgettable quest they would undertake together at some point.

[Y/N]’s gentle fingers were now busy weaving intricate braids in Legolas’ hair, and he allowed himself to close his eyes. His guard was down and he just wanted to enjoy this moment with [Y/N]; only that he feared if he spoke out about it, or gave a name to what he was feeling, the magic would dissipate.

🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 

“My life is nothing but room for you,” I said. “It could never be filled by anyone but you.” (Kurt Vonnegut, “Mother Night”)

-

“You are sunlight through a window, which I stand in, warmed.” (Jessie Burton)

🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃 🍃

[outerspacebisexual]

I Wish I Could Say - Steve Harrington

Summary: You and Steve Harrington didn't get along. He was more than a little surprised when you showed up crying on his doorstep in the middle of the night.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Word count: 4.7k

Warnings: swearing, angst, fluff, dickhead oc, sorta enemies to sorta lovers *chefs kiss*

Masterlist

Steve wasn’t sure what to do when you showed up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, crying as you stood defeated in the rain.

You were soaked to the bone, body quivering with the cold, but it didn’t seem like you even noticed.

“Jesus, L/N. Did you walk here?” he asked, looking outside to see if there was anyone else or a reason that you were there.

You didn’t reply, you just let out a strangled sob that had him pulling you into the warmth of his house.

Water dripped off you everywhere, and he quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around your shoulders. He was glad his parents weren’t home to get angry about the water on the carpet, not that he cared at all. He cared about the fact that you weren’t dressed for the late autumn chill outside. “What are you doing here?”

You swallowed and shook your head, your voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

That he knew, because if you had a choice, you would never have willingly come to him for help.

You and Steve had had an on-and-off again, weird kind of friendship since you’d left high school. You and him hadn’t run in the same circles at Hawkins High. He was popular and sporty, while you were smart and more reserved. At least, that was what he’d thought until Dustin had forced him and you—who just happened to be in your front yard across the street from the Wheelers—into a car to help with an escaped demo-dog.

That was when he found out that you weren’t necessarily the shy type he thought you were. You had no problem in telling him he was a fucking idiot. And you proved that you were one of the bravest people he had ever met when you stood between Billy Hargrove and the kids, baring your teeth, and managed to get Billy on the backfoot.

Not that Steve would ever tell you that.

Because you and him were always at odds about something. It didn’t matter if it was a tiny, trivial thing like which street got the kids to the arcade quicker, or a giant, world-ending thing like a theory on how to escape from a secret Russian base.

You two just didn’t get on with one another, much to the annoyance of your mutual friends who teased him mercilessly about the tension between you two. A tension that he denied furiously, not only because you were the most frustrating person he had ever had the displeasure of meeting, but because you were dating Hawkins’ biggest dickhead, and had been since senior year. There was no way that you had eyes for anyone but Rob Pickett, even though he was an asshole and left you hanging on multiple occasions.

And in your eyes, Steve became the worst person in the world whenever he pointed it out. Not that he cared what you thought of him.

So, yeah. Steve knew you must have been beyond desperate to come to him for help.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it after a second. He had nothing.

As if you were a wild animal, Steve gently placed his hand on your back and guided you towards his room. You didn’t protest, and when he sat you on his bed, you didn’t even look at him. You just stared blankly at the wall.

Steve stood opposite you, his eyes searching your face. He wasn’t sure what to do. He decided on: “Are you OK?”

You didn’t answer him.

He sighed. “Look, I’m going to need something to go on here, L/N. You show up in the middle of the night, soaked after walking in the rain for whatever reason—”

“I broke up with Rob,” you interrupted.

The words on his tongue died, and you still didn’t look away from the imaginary spot on the wall. “Uh, right, OK,” Steve said after a moment, “But that doesn’t explain why you’re walking in the rain in the middle of the night.”

You sniffled, reaching up to wipe the water from your face with the edge of the towel. “He left me there.”

Steve’s eyes darted around the room, trying to work out if he was somehow missing something. “Left you where?”

“At the quarry.”

He blinked, and every thought eddied out of his head. “He left you at the quarry?”

You nodded.

“He left you at the quarry by yourself?”

You nodded again.

“In the middle of the night? When it’s absolutely pouring outside?”

You nodded once more.

Steve could only try and swallow down the rising anger that mixed with disbelief. Everyone knew that the quarry was dangerous, especially at night. The kinds of people who hung out there after dark weren’t the kind of people that you wanted to meet. Ever. Particularly by yourself.

And this fucking asshole had left you there. Alone.

And you had walked all the way into town in the dark while it was bucketing down.

It was a surprise that you hadn’t been fucking kidnapped, let alone fucking killed.

Steve was only shaken from his darkening thoughts when you spoke.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” you said, voice shaking. “My parents would kill me if they knew I went to the quarry with Rob, and I was so tired, and my feet hurt, and I was scared—” You hiccupped, and Steve immediately surged forward. “I was so scared.”

He placed his hands on your shoulders. “Hey, hey. It’s OK. You’re safe now.” The words seemed to calm you down a fraction, and it was only after your breaths returned to normal that he felt how icy your skin was. “We need to get you warmed up. You’re freezing.”

“I don’t have anything with me,” you admitted. “My bag is in Rob’s car.”

Steve sighed. You were getting colder by the minute. “I can take you home.”

You looked up in alarm. “My parents—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll turn on my charm.”

You scoffed. “Your charm usually has the opposite intended effect.”

Despite the tiny hit to his ego, Steve smiled. There you were.

It was on the drive to your place that the words he had said to you brought up a blurry memory he didn’t even know he had forgotten.

Steve wasn’t sure how long he and Robin had been tied up.

It had felt like an eternity. Every part of him hurt, and he could feel the blood drying on his face.

The alarm blaring made something start pounding in his head, but the high from the drug he’d been injected with drowned it all out. He had just narrowly missed having his fingernails torn off, and he was laughing about something he couldn’t remember with Robin.

The doors burst open, and the doctor was electrocuted by Dustin as he ran into the room, followed closely by Erica and you.

Steve was sure he was dreaming when you knelt before him and started undoing his restraints. You made quick work of them, and he began to fall forward, but you caught him. You placed one hand on his chest to steady him, while the other went to his face as you checked over his injuries.

“Steve? Hey, listen. We need to get out of here.”

Steve started mumbling. “The doctor. He’s going to take my fingernails. I like my fingernails.”

You gripped his shirt and pulled him up. “Doc is out cold. You’re safe now, Steve. You’re going to be OK. But we need to go, like right now.”

He could only laugh. At what, he didn’t know. Maybe it was the warmth blossoming in his chest at the thought of him being safe with you.

That was a nice thought.

+

Steve didn’t see you for a week after he managed to charm you past your parents with a bullshit excuse, one that you had tried to convince him wouldn’t work. But with a few big smiles and a little bit of confidence, you were in the house and up the stairs with no protesting from your parents.

You hadn’t looked back at him as you rushed past your parents, and he tried not to dwell on the fact that it had hurt a bit.

Now, he was standing at your front door again, this time behind a group of middle schoolers who had convinced him to drive them from Dustin’s to Mike’s because they desperately needed supplies. For what, he had no idea. And he hadn’t wanted to know until he pulled up out the front of the Wheeler’s and instead of heading inside, they ran across the street to your place.

The door swung open after their insistent knocking, revealing you.

You rolled your eyes as you saw the boys, and just stepped aside as they rushed past you with varying degrees of ‘thank yous’ and ‘you’re the bests’.

Steve stood awkwardly in the doorway. “Hi.”

“Hey,” you said. “Are you the taxi today?” You nodded towards his car across the street.

“Yeah.”

You nodded and looked around. “Are you coming in?”

Steve jolted. “Uh, yeah sure. Thanks.”

He followed you into your kitchen, where you were obviously in the middle of making something. He didn’t know what to do, so he took a seat at the bench, taking in the interior of your house. “So, where did the shitheads go?”

You pointed with the knife in your hand to a door the was ajar down the hallway. “Basement. My older cousin is a nerd, and he left a few boxes of wires and electronics stuff here when he left for college. I told Mike that he could have whatever they wanted, and now they come over and raid it whenever they need something.”

“Ah,” Steve said. The two of you fell into a silence that was only occasionally broken by the boys yelling from downstairs.

You looked better than you had a week ago, Steve thought as he watched you chop up fruit. But you were quieter than normal. Normally, you’d be three quips and an insult deep by now. He didn’t know why it bothered him.

Steve chewed on his bottom lip. “How are you?”

You stopped slicing the apple on the board, and he cringed as you looked up and raised a brow. He thought for a second that you were going to say something sarcastic, but his hopes died when you said, “I’m OK.”

He nodded slowly. “And how have you been?” He was fishing for anything.

You started cutting the apple again. “You mean since my asshole ex-boyfriend left me at the quarry by myself?” You dropped the slices into a large container. “Fucking brilliant.”

“Glad to hear it,” Steve joked. “I was starting to think you might be sad about it.”

You cracked a smile at that, before it fell and you returned to silence. “Thank you,” you said finally. “For that night. You didn’t have to do any of that for me, and you did. So, thank you.”

Steve could feel that warmth in his chest. “Don’t mention it. It’s fine.”

There was a crash from downstairs and you sighed, excusing yourself to go find out what the shitheads had broken.

Steve ran his eyes along the countertop, noticing for the first time a bunch of flowers on the counter. It didn’t take a genius to work out who they were from. They were dying, if not almost completely dead from the lack of water. That was a good sign, he guessed. That you hadn’t even bothered to put them in a vase.

They were ugly anyway, in his expert opinion. Even he knew that they weren’t your favourite. If he got you flowers—

Steve stopped that thought before it finished.

+

Movie nights had become a staple in the lives of your weirdly mismatched group of friends.

Steve and Robin managed to get the best new movies before they hit the shelves, and at least once every two weeks, the whole lot of you found yourselves spread out in someone’s living room.

This time, it was Steve’s turn to host.

He didn’t mind hosting. He honestly preferred it. His parents were never home. Plus, Nancy and you always brought food that you left there, meaning he had leftovers to eat for a week.

It was a win/win situation.

Like tonight, when you had arrived with a basket full of food that had him drooling before you’d even crossed the threshold.

“Harrington,” you said as you passed him and walked to the kitchen, “you’ll catch flies if you don’t close your mouth.”

He rolled his eyes as he shut the door. “I can’t help it when you decide to bring a truck full of food. What did you do? Raid the whole of Bradley’s?”

“That’s a funny way of showing gratitude from the guy I know for a fact loves it so much he eats it for a week.”

Steve could only chuckle as he watched you take out container after container and sit them on the benchtop. He did love your cooking; he made no secret of it.

You looked nice tonight. Better than you had at the movie night two weeks ago. That had only been a bit over a week after your breakup with Rob. He had overheard you talking to Robin about how you hadn’t wanted to go at all. But you showed up, dressed in your comfiest clothes. You also hadn’t cooked that week for the first time ever.

Steve had been slightly worried that you wouldn’t show up tonight. He was glad to be wrong about that.

“Where is everyone?” you asked, taking lids off the containers.

“Nancy and Jonathan are picking everyone up,” he said, coming over to help you.

“Great,” you sighed. “We’ll be at least an hour behind schedule.”

Steve laughed. You weren’t wrong. Nancy and Jonathan barely managed to get out the door on time on the best of days, and with them on pickup duty, he’d be surprised if the movie started before eight.

Once you were done, you leaned back against the counter, straightening your shirt. Steve eyed you up and down. “What?” you asked.

Steve shrugged. “You look nice. Who are you dressing up for?” It was half in jest, half in curiosity.

You narrowed your eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to know, pretty boy.”

Steve held up his hands in mock defence. “I was just wondering. I wouldn’t put it past you to make a move on someone now that you’re a free agent.”

You smirked. “Why the sudden interest, Harrington? You jealous or something?”

“You wish, L/N.”

That smirk widened as you stepped forward, getting into his personal space. Your eyes didn’t leave his, even as his own eyes betrayed him and glanced quickly at your lips. Barely a millisecond, but he knew you caught it. “Maybe I’m dressing up all nice for you.”

Your tone was playful, just like always, but he could have sworn that there was an underlying tone. One that made heat rise in his chest.

“I-I wouldn’t blame you.” He stumbled over his words. So much for his so-called confidence.

Your smirk turned into a smile as your eyes went to something behind you. “Look at that,” you said, still only inches from him. “Nancy and Jonathan are on time for once.”

And then you were brushing past him, leaving him blinking at the space you had been just moments before.

+

You hated the fact that you were standing on the street corner, waiting for Rob to decide to show up.

He had called you a few hours ago and said that he wanted to give you your bag back. The one that you had honestly forgotten about in all the weeks since your breakup. You had seriously debated if you needed it, but after a few minutes, you agreed to meet him on the corner across from the arcade.

You had no doubt that one of the kids would need a lift at that time of afternoon, so you agreed.

But Rob was nearly ten minutes late, and you were getting tired of waiting.

Your eyes flickered over to Family Video, grateful that you were out of sight from inside the store. The last thing you needed was Robin seeing you and berating you for meeting with Rob. It didn’t matter the reason, she would be down your neck about even speaking to the asshole on the phone, let alone see him.

You also didn’t want Steve to see you.

You didn’t know why. You had never really cared what Steve thought of you or your choices before. Of course, he gave his opinions freely, and you did the same to him, regardless of if they were particularly nice or not.

It was a surprisingly comfortable dynamic that the two of you had fallen into over the past two years. More so in the last month and a half when that line between contempt and genuine interaction had begun to blur. You weren’t sure why the back-and-forth banter had become the normal for the two of you. You hadn’t really spoken in school, but you had known King Steve from the sidelines.

When Dustin had forced you and Steve into close proximity, you had just assumed that he was the same Steve. You had begun to realise that he really had changed for the better.

You had actually started to enjoy seeing Steve Harrington, and he seemed to be around more than usual, chaperoning the kids when they came over to use your basement every time they did.

And you made the run to Family Video twice a week to rent a new movie, and just to see him. You had teased him that you would have to stop coming in because he had begun to expect you. He replied that no one could ever be ready for you.

Steve had been slowly taking your mind off your breakup with Rob one day at a time. And you were insanely grateful for it.

It made you smile, even as the cold weaved its way beneath your jacket. You would head into Family Video after getting your bag back.

You pulled your jacket closer, huffing a sigh of relief when you saw Rob’s car pull into the carpark.

He got out of his car, and you frowned as you saw his hands empty as he approached you.

“Where’s my bag?” you said, as he stopped beside you.

Rob had his hair slicked back like usual, the absolutely grating laugh leaving his lips as he said, “I had to get you to meet me somehow.”

“What are you talking about?”

He shrugged. “Well, you wouldn’t meet with me.”

“Because I don’t want to see you. What about that is hard for you to comprehend, Rob?” you spat, teeth baring as you wondered just how you had wasted two years of your life on a prick like him.

Rob stepped towards you, but you held your ground. “I know that you broke up with me, but I think you made a mistake.”

You scoffed. “The only mistake I made was ever agreeing to date you. You’re the one who’s been sleeping with other people.”

Rob looked taken aback, and you realised that he had never been on the receiving end of your spite.

You crossed your arms. “Either give me my bag back or fuck off. I’m not playing games with you, Rob.”

You caught movement out of the corner of your eye and your face dropped.

Just as you suspected, Dustin, Max, and Lucas needed a ride home, but they had gotten to Steve before you. And now he was looking at you across the road.

His face was unreadable, but you swore that you saw a flicker of hurt flash across his face. You dropped your arms, stepping towards him, but Rob grabbed your arm.

“We’re not done here.”

You turned back to him. “Yeah, we are. Don’t fucking talk to me again. Keep the bag. Maybe you can use the makeup in there to freshen up. You know, being the new town whore and all,” you spat.

Shrugging his hand off, you turned back to the carpark, but Steve’s car was already gone.

As you passed Rob’s car, you called out to him.

He turned and looked at you.

You smiled big as you showed him the keys in your hand, and his face dropped as you dragged them along the side of his car.

+

Steve didn’t show up at your house four days later with the kids.

You didn’t know why you expected him to. You didn’t know why you wanted to explain yourself. It wasn’t like you owed him an explanation.

But for some reason, the gnawing feeling in your stomach only grew with every day that passed.

You could have called him, but that would mean that he would know that you went out of your way to talk to him. Before now, every encounter you had could have been chalked up to chance or obligation.

If you decided to call him, that was you choosing to talk to Steve.

You didn’t know if you were ready for that.

“Hey, Dustin?” you called from the top of the stairs.

The curly haired boy stuck his head out so he could see you. “Yeah?”

“Did Steve drop you today?” You sounded apprehensive even to your own ears.

Dustin shook his head. “Nancy brought us here. Steve’s been moody and doesn’t want to drive us around for some reason.”

“Oh, right.” That was what you were afraid of.

Dustin disappeared again, and you half closed the door to keep the noise down.

This was a good thing, right? You and Steve had just gone back to how things had been before that night. That was what you were comfortable with. That was how things should be.

You scoffed and ran a hand down your face. God, you couldn’t even convince yourself.

After an hour of listening to the kids bicker about wiring for their new radio system, you were tempted to throw them out on the street, but you secretly enjoyed the company. You got to feed them and listen to their dumbed down explanations that were still outside of your comprehension.

There was a timid knock on the door, and you frowned as you checked your watch. You weren’t expecting anyone.

You really weren’t expecting it to be Steve Harrington, standing just as awkwardly as the first time.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.”

“I’m here to pick up the kids and take them to Dustin’s,” he explained.

“Oh, yeah. They’re inside.” You stepped back. “Would…would you like to come in?” You held your breath as he glanced between his car and your door. You could almost see him weighing up the two options in his head.

“Sure,” he said, and he followed you into the kitchen.

Unlike all the other times he’d been to your place, he didn’t take a seat behind the counter. He just stood with his hands in his pockets, avoiding eye contact with you.

“How have you been?” you asked, just to break the silence. “You haven’t been around with the boys.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been good.”

He obviously wasn’t going to ask about you as the silence descended once again.

“I’ve been meaning to come in a return the tape I rented.” I’ve just been trying to work up the courage to see you, you didn’t say.

Steve nodded again. “Cool. Robin’s working tomorrow, so you can drop it in.”

His indifference made something pain in your chest. You and Steve had always had some type of feelings towards each other; everything from hatred to respect. You had never been indifferent to one another.

Steve had never been indifferent to you.

You chewed your lip as you silently begged him to look at you. You swallowed down your pride, and said, “Listen, Steve. The other day—”

“Steve, we were waiting for you. Why didn’t you tell us you were here?” Dustin said as all four boys emerged from the basement with a wild assortment of bits and bobs.

You could have sworn that something in your heart broke as Steve pivoted and started towards the door with the middle schoolers in tow, not bothering to say anything to you, even as the others called out their ‘thank yous’.

You heard his car peel out of the street, and it left you wondering if you were totally wrong about everything.

+

Another three days went by without Steve visiting you.

You had gone to Family Video in the meantime, but he wasn’t there. At least, that’s what Robin told you, despite the fact that his red BWM was parked out front. You’d tried to not let that one hurt as you rented another movie, one you had already seen a bunch of times. It was the only comfort you had in the lonely days leading up to movie night.

You hadn’t realised just how much time you were spending with Steve until he suddenly stopped swinging by.

You hadn’t realised just how much you liked him swinging by.

And now, there was a palpable tension between the two of you. Even as you sat on opposite sides of your living room, Steve in an armchair and you curled up on the couch beside Will.

No one else seemed to want to address it. You were too scared of being rejected again to want to.

The food you had cooked had already been devoured, and your first movie already over. The rain outside provided a distraction from your thoughts.

Robin got up and put the second film in, and Steve stood.

“I’m going to get going,” he said to no one in particular.

You stood, too. “I’ll get you your food,” you said, ducking into the kitchen before he could protest. You had already packed away two containers in the fridge earlier.

Steve met you at the door. “Thanks,” he mumbled, taking them from you.

“You’re welcome. I tried something different with the sauce, so…let me know if you like it.” You hated how desperate you sounded. You had never been this person before now—before Steve ignoring you was a curse rather than a blessing.

He looked at you then, and you thought that maybe he had heard the meaning behind your words. Let me know if you want to talk to me again. He chewed on his bottom lip, his eyes roaming your face.

Last time he looked at you like this, you thought he was going to kiss you in his kitchen. But he didn’t. He just swallowed and nodded, heading out into the rain to his car across the street.

You stood there for a few seconds, staring after him as he jogged to his car to avoid getting wet.

You were running after him before you could convince yourself not to. “Steve!” you called.

He turned to you just before getting in. “Yeah?”

He attempted to shield his face from the rain. You were suddenly in front of him. And you realised you didn’t know what to say.

Steve was looking at you expectantly as the rain poured down, saturating his jacket. You could feel the water sliding down your back.

You couldn’t pull your eyes away from his. And before you could stop yourself, you leaned up and kissed him.

He was frozen for a long moment, and just as your heart started to drop and you began to pull away, his hands came up to rest on either side of your neck, bringing you closer as he kissed you back.

When he finally pulled away, he seemed dumbfounded. “What…?”

“I don’t know,” you said quickly, blinking the water from your eyes. “I just…” You couldn’t find the words.

Steve ran his thumb along your jaw. “Yeah, I get it.”

You couldn’t help it as you heaved out a sigh of relief.

You didn’t know, but neither did Steve.

And that was somehow the best part about it.

a/n: i hope you liked this! my requests are open if you want to request something! or check out my prompt celebration! <3 aeia

[tokkias]

tell me you loved me from the start ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia summary: There's nothing that can get between a friendship as strong as Natsu and Lucy's—or at least, that's what they'd like to think. Sometimes feelings are a little too complicated for it to be smooth sailing when you're feeling them towards your best friend. Lucy finds that one out the hard way. ao3

Lucy had always been good at keeping secrets. Many a friend or guildmate had confided in her before, and as such, she had gained plenty of dirt that she was sure the guild’s gossips would kill for, by virtue of being able to keep her mouth shut. She was, for the most part, an open book. There were a few things she felt the need to keep close to her chest, which would have been difficult to achieve in the first place considering just how nosy her best friend was.

Given their frequent close proximity, Lucy couldn’t keep a secret from Natsu, even if she wanted to. He knew everything about her, and she, in turn, knew everything about him. She trusted him, so there was no reason to keep secrets. They both spoke candidly to each other about their lives and their feelings, each seeing no reason to keep things from the other.

For the most part, anyway.

It was just one, teensy, tiny little secret, something she was sure would go away at first. She had expected it to pass quickly; what she had not expected was for her little, baby crush on him to spiral out of control into a full-blown yearning for her partner that consumed her entire being to the point where he was always on her mind at any given time.

Part of her felt guilty for keeping it from him, though the other reasoned that she was sure Natsu felt similarly on some things. Romance was never the type of thing they spoke about; he didn’t ask and she didn’t tell, but that was before her thoughts of romance involved him.

A brief period of contemplation had passed in which she thought about letting him know, but the realistic part of her brain reminded her of the irreparable damage that could be done to their relationship. She liked what they had too much to throw it away over anything. Instead, she resigned herself to the fact that Natsu would never know.

It wasn’t the most well-kept secret: Levy knew about it, as did Erza, Mira, and Wendy; even Gray had been in on it too, but Natsu still remained none the wiser. It was nice being able to confide in others when she couldn’t with Natsu, but it felt wrong to keep secrets from him.

It had been about a year or so since her feelings had become too big to contain, and she had let it slip to Levy, and somehow it had become an open secret to everyone but Natsu. Perhaps it was out of pity, for fear of watching their sweet angel Lucy be rejected by a dense and romance-averse Natsu, but whatever the reason, everyone was sure to keep tight-lipped around him.

That’s what made it all the worse when it was Lucy who accidentally managed to let part of the secret slip.

Lucy rested her chin in the heel of her hands, her elbows balanced on the table below her where she sat in defeat, her gaze not even focused on Levy before her as she expressed her woes.

"I just wish he’d look at me, you know?" She sighed, resisting the urge to flop down onto the table in defeat. "I want him to say I’m pretty, or something, but it’s like he doesn’t even see me as a woman."

"Who doesn’t see you as a woman?" Came the voice of the man in question as he slid into the seat next to her, and Lucy immediately froze.

"Oooooooooohhh~ Lucy’s got boy problems," Happy chimed in with his sing-song teasing.

The two of them had been out on a solo job for a few days and hadn’t been expected back until tomorrow. Had she known there was a possibility that they would come to the guild hall today, Lucy would have kept her stupid mouth shut. Now, all she could do was gape like a goddamned moron as she sat paralysed in fear that she had just let it slip.

"Soooooo~ Who’s the lucky fella?" Happy sang, clearly trying to worm his way into information that could be used against her down the line.

"Yeah, I wanna know too," Natsu added, his tone and gaze much more serious than Happy’s.

Lucy looked over to Levy in a plea for help, but it seemed as though she had slunk away in the moments since Natsu’s arrival, leaving her to deal with this one on her own.

"How was the job? Did you do any cool stuff? Eat any good food?" She asked in a desperate hope of diverting the conversation.

"The job was fine, I kicked some ass and Happy ate so much fish afterwards that he passed out," Natsu replied in quick succession, seeing right through her. "Who is this guy you’ve got a crush on?"

"Crush? Who said anything about a crush?" She sputtered, trying to maintain her composure.

It wasn’t technically a lie. What she had going on was far beyond a crush.

"You did, just now," he said bluntly. "You said you wish he’d call you pretty. You only say that mushy stuff about guys you wanna date."

Lucy paused for a moment, surprised by how adamant he was about this. She’d assumed that getting him to talk about his job, all the cool things he did, all the bad guys he’d fought, and all the food he’d eaten along the way would be enough to divert his attention, but he was stuck on the one thing she did not want to talk about with him.

"Come on, I promise I won’t tell anyone," he whined through her silence.

That’s ironic , she thought to herself.

"No," was all she managed to get out without incriminating herself.

"Why not?"

"Because I don’t want to."

"What if I say please?"

"The answer is still no."

"Pretty please?"

The two of them continued to run in circles, neither willing to be the first to break, but knowing just how stubborn Natsu could be, Lucy was beginning ware down, only, not in the way he might have hoped.

"I’m not going to tell you, Natsu, so just drop it, okay?" She finally said, unwilling to let this go on any longer than it needed to.

"Why not?" He repeated.

"Can we not do this?" Lucy sighed. "Please?"

"Why?"

He sounded like a broken record at this point, and figuring that she was not going to win their little game, Lucy simply didn’t reply. Natsu, on the other hand, was not satisfied with this response.

"Tell me," he said.

Lucy stood her ground.

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me," he began to repeat, over and over again, until the words began to blur together and Lucy simply could not take it anymore.

Grabbing her bag and throwing it over her shoulder, Lucy stood up to take her leave.

"I’m going home," she declared. "Go bother someone else."

She half-expected him to follow behind and continue his nagging, but it seemed her foul mood had done enough to have her off the hook for now.

By the time her rent was due once more and it was time for them to take on a new job, Lucy had hoped that Natsu had dropped the subject. She had hoped that in the time between when she last saw him and now, he had found a new subject to fixate on. That was decidedly not the case.

Suddenly, she regretted agreeing to walk the scenic route.

"Have you changed your mind yet?"

"No, Natsu, I have not changed my mind," Lucy sighed, arms folded across her chest as they walked. "I’m not going to tell you."

"Come oooonnnnnn," Natsu drawled. "If you tell me, I’ll be your best friend."

Lucy quirked an eyebrow.

"I already am your best friend."

"Nuh-uh," he refuted. "Happy’s my best friend."

"Aye!" Happy butted in, much to Lucy’s chagrin.

"But if you tell us who you like, I’ll let you be my new best friend."

"Hey!" Happy added, clearly not pleased to have the position of Natsu’s best friend being used as a bargaining chip.

Lucy looked over at him to ensure he saw just how unimpressed she looked with his deal.

"You’re not very good at this whole bribery thing, are you?"

Deflating at her reply, Natsu’s shoulders slumped forward and he stuck his lips out in a pout, apparently having thought that worming his way into Lucy’s secret would be much easier than it actually was.

"Please?" He tried rather pathetically this time.

"Still no."

"Will you tell me?" Happy chimed in.

"Absolutely not."

"What if I promise not to tell Natsu?"

"Wh- Hey! That’s no fair!" Natsu cried out.

"That’s a lie, and you know it," Lucy said.

Happy responded with a sheepish look that told her that she was right on the money. That damn cat would backstab her for the promise of fish any day.

"What if I annoy you into telling us?" Natsu suggested, and Lucy grimaced at the idea.

Being annoying was certainly high on the list of things that those two were good at, and anyone not as strong as her may have caved right at that moment, but Lucy remained strong.

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" Happy began to chant, with the background vocals of Natsu’s "pleaaaassssssseeeeeee," ringing in the back.

Pressing her hands over her ears in some attempt to block the noise out, Lucy had never regretted not taking the train more than now.

The thud of Natsu’s pack hitting the floor was louder than usual as he let out his frustration on the poor thing. Though he had been all smiles just before, Happy was quick to notice the way his mood had soured into an almost sombre state the moment Lucy was no longer around, and he thought he had an inkling as to why.

"Are you sad because Lucy won’t tell you who she likes?"

"No," Natsu shrugged, brows furrowed as if he were deep in the dregs of thought—something Happy rarely saw on his face. "Maybe, I guess."

Natsu let out a hefty sigh, though the expression on his face remained inscrutable, even to Happy.

"I just-" He stopped, his brain unable to keep up with the words he was saying. "You know."

He didn’t have to elaborate. He did know.

Though Natsu was never really one to talk about his feelings too much, he’d confided in Happy on many occasions about his little Lucy problem. Though some liked to think of him as dumb, dense, and unaware, Happy knew better than that. He knew that Natsu had his complicated feelings and emotions just like anyone else; he just kept them closer to his chest and played things off like they didn’t affect him at all. In quiet moments like this, however, Happy caught a glimpse into what was really going on in that brain of his.

"Why are you doing this if it’s just going to hurt your feelings knowing that she likes someone else?" Happy asked, trying his best to be empathetic to his situation.

Natsu was quiet for a moment as he mulled the question over in his mind. Happy knew there wasn’t really an answer—not a rational one, anyway. Anything beyond admitting that this was just some unusual form of self-inflicted pain would be nothing short of a blatant lie.

"‘Cause I need to make sure they’re good enough for her," is what he settled on.

It sounded reasonable enough. If Happy didn’t know better, he might have almost believed him.

Almost.

"I can’t let Lucy date some loser who doesn’t call her pretty," Natsu huffed. "What kinda best friend would I be if I did that?"

Happy didn’t reply, instead letting him try to justify himself, though perhaps more to convince himself than Happy. He didn’t feel the need to probe further—he’d simply deny any accusations he made because Natsu was stubborn like that. If he wanted to figure out his Lucy troubles, he’d simply have to do it in his own time.

When Natsu hadn’t brought it up again the next time they were together, Lucy had thought she was safe. Little did she know, he had simply lulled her into a false sense of security that remained throughout lunch and all the way back to her apartment.

That was until the moment her apartment door clicked shut, and as if treating her secret as a reward for him to receive for not bringing it up all day, Natsu asked, "are you going to tell me who you like now?"

Lucy crossed her arms and let out a huff. He sounded like a damn high schooler, pestering her over some stupid crush, unable or unwilling to let it go. She didn’t even know why he cared so much, but she was certain that she cared more about keeping her secret than he did about knowing it, so instead of responding, she just shot him back a deeply unimpressed look.

Her lack of response did not deter Natsu, who, in the time between first bugging her about it and now, had come up with a new strategy.

"Is it Gray?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. "‘Cause he’s not good enough for you. You could do better than him."

"It’s not Gray," she dryly replied.

"Laxus?" He probed.

"No."

"Elfman? Gajeel?"

"No."

"Is it Bixlow?"

Realising he wasn’t going to stop any time soon, Lucy just gave him a blank stare, but he remained undeterred. He continued to list people until she was certain that he had named every single man in the guild, no matter how appropriate.

"Are you done?" She asked, fingertips pressing into her temples, thoroughly over whatever little game Natsu was playing.

The only solace she got from this situation was Happy’s silence. He had been quiet from the moment Natsu started nagging her—almost suspiciously so. Any other time, the cat might have jumped at the chance to annoy her until smoke was pouring out of her ears, but he hadn’t said a word. Supposing she shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Lucy was willing to take whatever small victories she could get in the wake of Natsu’s inability to just leave her alone.

"Was it any of those guys?" He asked.

"No."

"So he’s not part of the guild?"

Lucy stayed silent at his question. If Natsu was going to run around in circles, she would let him, but she wasn’t about to lie to his face. She was simply ready to wait until he would tire himself out and get bored of her lacklustre answers, but it seemed he didn’t have plans to stop any time soon.

"Is he from another guild? Sabretooth? Is it Sting? Rouge?"

With a groan, Lucy flopped down onto her bed, which Natsu seemed to take as a no.

"It’s not Jellal, is it?"

"No, I’m not interested in being shanked by Erza," she replied in earnest.

"Yeah, that’s probably for the best," he mused.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Natsu spoke up again.

"Was it that guy from the library?"

"Why?" Lucy finally responded, thoroughly sick of this game.

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to know?" She asked, irritation seeping into her voice.

"‘Cause I’m your friend, and friends tell each other stuff like this," he justified.

Lucy scoffed at his almost humorous answer.

Yes, of course they were friends—they were best friends, but this, whatever it was, was not something they did. They didn’t talk about crushes or romance because Natsu never showed any interest in it until now.

But even if she wanted to, she couldn’t, because telling Natsu that every time she read a romance novel, she imagined the love interest as him, would completely and irrevocably ruin their relationship. Lucy liked what they had too much to change that, no matter how much her heart ached knowing that what she wanted with him was always just a little far out of her grasp.

"I’m not to tell you, okay?" She huffed.

"Why not?" Natsu hit back, seemingly growing frustrated at this trivial impasse that they had found themselves at.

"Because I don’t want to."

"But I’m your friend."

"I know you’re my friend, but I don’t-" Lucy paused to let her mind catch up with her mouth before she said something she might regret.

She didn’t want to argue with Natsu. She knew that he didn’t want to argue with her either, but it just seemed like this was something that they wouldn’t be able to compromise on.

"Look," she sighed. "I’m not going to tell you, so you can either make peace with that or you can leave."

Her remark was met with an almost astonished silence. Perhaps he hadn’t expected her to put her foot down like that. Maybe he had just assumed that she would eventually cave to his pleas. Whatever it was that was going through his head, Lucy couldn’t exactly see it on his face, so they simply sat in silence as she awaited his reply.

It didn’t come the way she had hoped.

Instead, he turned on his heel and headed for the door.

"Come on, Happy."

All Lucy could do was stare and gape as he left without another word, Happy shooting her an apologetic look before following his friend out the door.

She knew she had given him an ultimatum, but she didn’t think that was the option he was going to choose. It all felt so childish to her, leaving over a silly little crush. That had always been her fear, but she had never thought it would happen before she got the nerve to tell him.

It had her heart aching in her chest and tears pricking in the corner of her eyes, and all she could do was let her pillow soak up her sorrows.

The silence on the way home from Lucy’s apartment was uncomfortable. Happy could practically hear the way that Natsu seethed and sulked as they walked the ever-familiar path back to the cottage in the woods. Happy never really minded the silence between them, but this time was different. This time, Natsu was hurting, and Happy didn’t have the words to make it better.

"I don’t get it," Natsu said, finally breaking the silence. "Why won’t she tell me? Is it someone we don’t know? I named everyone."

Perhaps the worst part of this was watching this all fly over Natsu’s head.

There’d always been an inkling in the back of Happy’s mind about the way Lucy felt. He’d always wondered if Lucy saw Natsu as a little bit more than a friend, but over time he had simply put that down to Lucy being weird. Now, though, after Natsu’s interrogation and Lucy’s little scene, the pieces were beginning to fall into place.

Happy knew better than anyone that Natsu was not dumb. A little dense, maybe, sure, but never stupid, so the fact that he couldn’t see what was happening right in front of him had Happy scratching his head.

"Well, you didn’t name everyone," he curtly replied.

Natsu was quiet again for a moment, contemplative, before he spoke up again.

"You think it’s Alzack?" He asked, evident confusion tainting his voice, so genuine that Happy wanted to throttle him right then and there. "‘Cause I don’t think Lucy would stoop that low."

"I don’t think it’s Alzack," Happy shot back, trying to keep a straight face.

For as much prank potential as there was in spilling Lucy’s blatantly obvious secret, it also had the potential of her never speaking to either of them again out of sheer anger and mortification. So in the name of maintaining their friendship, Happy kept his mouth shut.

"Who do you think it is?" Natsu said, glancing in Happy’s direction.

Happy looked at him for a moment before responding. There was genuine intrigue in his friends’ eyes, perhaps a hint of desperation. Happy had to break their eye contact and look forward to the path before them before guilt started to eat him whole.

"I don’t know," he lied, earning a defeated sigh from Natsu beside him.

It certainly didn’t feel good lying to his best friend like that, but even Happy knew it wasn’t his place to meddle in their relationship. At best, it was disingenuous; at worst, he was wrong and getting his hopes up for nothing. He simply had to have faith that Natsu would put things together himself. If he was going to continue to sulk the way he was, Happy could only hope that he figured things out quickly.

When Natsu had stormed out of her apartment without a word, Lucy had hoped that he simply needed some time to himself. He could be a temperamental sort of guy, but sometimes all he needed was a little bit of time to blow off some steam before he was back to his usual self.

Unfortunately, this time, it seemed he needed a little more than that.

It had been a week.

A whole week since she had seen Natsu, much less spoken to him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he had been deliberately avoiding her, and that fact was beginning to piss her off.

The last thing Lucy had wanted was for her feelings for Natsu to cause a rift in their relationship, but it seemed as though she had no choice in the matter. Either she told him and things would grow weird between them, or she kept her secret and he would continue to resent her.

Damned if she did, damned if she didn’t.

In the week since he had walked out on her, Lucy had done a lot of thinking between all the tears.

Would it really be that bad if he knew? Surely their friendship was strong enough to withstand the fallout from it. Though, the longer Natsu avoided her over it, the more uncertain she became.

But maybe he deserved to know. Maybe it wasn’t right to keep a secret so heavily involving him. Maybe he would understand, and if they just talked about it, they would come to an understanding and maintain the easy friendship they had.

Maybe she should have thought more about what exactly it was that she wanted to say to him before she had come all the way out to his little cottage in the woods.

She hadn’t really thought about why she was coming out here or what she wanted to say. There was an equal chance that she was going to chew him out or that she was going to burst into tears the moment she saw him. She was so angry at him for letting this get in the way of their friendship, but more than that, she missed him. She missed hearing his laughter from across the guild hall, she missed taking jobs with him. She missed his teasing, his warmth, his comfort. She missed the way he’d crawl into her sheets at night and pretend to be asleep, so she couldn’t kick him out, not knowing that these days she’d never make him leave. Just thinking about it was enough to make the tears almost breach, but as she bit down on her lip, she maintained her composure and rapped her fist against the front door.

Every semblance of composure left her once the door opened and she caught a glimpse of Natsu on the other side, looking at her like a deer in headlights, as if her mere presence had struck the fear of god into his heart.

In that moment, she was overwhelmed with so many emotions—relief, joy, sadness, absolute seething fury.

It seemed that last one was the one that took over when Lucy finally opened her mouth.

"What the hell is wrong with you!"

Part of her was expecting Natsu to slam the door in her face, but all he could do was stand there and gape as she yelled at him.

"You are so stupid! You storm out on me, and then you not only don’t speak to me, but you don’t even show your face at the guild? You dumb, stupid idiot!"

Her expression didn’t match her harsh words as her lip began to quiver, all the emotions of the past week coming crashing down on her as she spoke.

"You idiot, you don’t know—hic—you don’t even know how lonely I’ve been…"

With that, the dam burst, and she was in full tears, sobbing and wailing. She tried to step towards him but stumbled slightly, with Natsu catching her before she could fall. Feeling his touch once more only served to make her cry harder as she recalled how much she had missed it in their time apart.

With no words to make her feel better, Natsu simply wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as she cried.

"Please don’t cry…" He mumbled, resting his forehead on the crown of her head.

"I don’t understand!" Lucy wailed. "Why does- Why does who I like matter so much that you’re willing to hurt me over it?"

Natsu’s jaw clenched, and she could feel his grip on her tighten, as though her words had caused him physical pain.

"I don’t- That’s not what I-" He barely managed to stutter out, clearly struggling to find the words. "Lucy…"

Though her grief-stricken wails had subsided, Lucy continued to sob, gasping for breath between them as Natsu struggled for an answer. When the words didn’t seem to come to him, there was only one thing he could think to say.

"I’m sorry…"

Lucy could hear the remorse dripping from every syllable. Natsu rarely apologised, even rarer did he mean it. This time, he did.

He wasn’t apologising because he was made to; he wasn’t apologising because he felt he had to. He was genuinely remorseful for making her feel this way.

"I still don’t understand," Lucy murmured. "Why? I mean- I don’t- It’s so stupid…" She paused to suck in a breath and gather her thoughts. "You completely avoid me because I won’t tell you who I like? Why do you care so much?"

"I- I just-"

Natsu sputtered out the words, clearly unable to form a coherent answer to the question, almost as if he didn’t know himself.

Lucy looked up at him with glassy, pleading eyes. For the first time since she had shown up, she got a good look at him, too blinded by anger and tears to have caught a glimpse prior. He looked so terribly lost and guilty, his brain seemingly barely able to comprehend the speed in which this had all happened. She couldn’t quite find it in herself to blame him.

She had shown up out of the blue, chewed him out before bursting into tears in his arms. It certainly was not her finest moment, but keeping up appearances was the last thing on her mind. Natsu was her friend—her best friend. Not having him by her side was like some cruel, twisted torture, a reminder of days long past that she had hoped she would never have to relive. She never wanted to not be with him if she could at all help it, and if weeping in his arms was the best way to get that across, then so be it.

"I don’t want you to like some… stupid guy who’s gonna hurt you because he doesn’t think you’re pretty," he said, cobbling his words together with uncertainty as he spoke.

"You’re already hurting me!" Lucy blurted out, not taking a moment to think about what she was saying.

She hardly even registered what she had said until he was looking down at her in some gut-wrenching combination of horror and confusion. It was like her words hadn’t quite set in, but he got the gist of where she was coming from. It was like he knew how she felt but wasn’t sure how to feel about it himself, and the idea of that made her swallow thickly to push down the bile that threatened to rise.

He looked at her slack-jawed before he managed to sputter out, "me?"

With no backing out of this one, Lucy decided the only way she was getting out was through.

"Yes, you, stupid! Are you blind?"

Her insulting words didn’t seem to hit him as he simply stood, lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he finally spoke up again.

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"Because… I like the way things are between us," she breathed. "I don’t want to change that because I like you. It would just… make things weird, and I don’t want to lose what we have."

Natsu furrowed his brows slightly.

"Why would it be weird?" He asked, his voice low and soft, but she wasn’t certain he meant it to be. "I don’t think that’s weird."

"It is! It’s always weird when someone likes someone else, but they don’t feel the same, and it’s just-"

"Who said I didn’t like you?" Natsu interrupted.

"I-"

Lucy stuttered around an answer, not truly knowing what to say. No one had said that. She’d simply assumed that there was no possible way that her feelings would be reciprocated because it was Natsu. Natsu, who had never shown romantic interest in anyone, let alone her. It was just an informed assumption based on years of friendship that she thought was just that—friendship. She had never considered the idea that he might feel the same way, and now it felt like everything she knew about him had been flipped on its head.

"I just didn’t think that you-"

Her breath hitched in the middle of her sentence as her mind began to race with the possibility of being loved back.

"Why’d you never ask me?"

Because I didn’t want you to reject me. Because I couldn’t handle seeing your face as you tried to let me down easy. Because I knew that if I did, things would never be the same between us again.

There were so many answers to his question running through her head that she just couldn’t seem to figure out which one she wanted to hear.

"Because I wasn’t sure I was ready for the answer."

Natsu was quiet for a moment in response, and Lucy felt her heart sink to her stomach. He still hadn’t given her a real answer. For all she knew, she was simply getting her hopes up only to watch her friendship with Natsu come crumbling down.

In a small, dwindling moment of courage, Lucy squeaked out a soft, "do you?"

"Yeah," he breathed. "I do."

His words were a little shaky, but he said them with such conviction that Lucy couldn't do anything but believe them.

"And for the record, I think you're really pretty."

Those were the words that she had been waiting for him to say for all too long. She had dreamed of hearing it from him for longer than she could recall.

Suddenly, everything started to fall into place.

"Is that… Is that why you’ve been avoiding me all week?" She asked. "Because you were jealous?"

Well, it sounds bad when you put it that way…" He murmured.

"It sounds bad no matter what way you put it!" Lucy exclaimed.

So much of the pain and despair she had been feeling could have been foregone if he had just told her how he felt. She had never felt such joy and such frustration at the very same time, because, god, he felt the same way about her, but he had put her through such heartache over a little secret that it made her want to scream.

"I don’t know if I should be mad or if I should kiss you senseless."

She knew she couldn’t be mad, even if she tried. He was protecting his heart the same way she was protecting hers—she could never hold that against him. She’d be a hypocrite to pretend she was any better.

"Can you do the second one?" Natsu asked, drawing her back into the moment and away from her thoughts—and who was she to deny him?

With no reply, Lucy placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed her lips against his, sending them stumbling back into his home. He caught her by the hips, hands gripping tight, and Lucy hoped that he wouldn’t be letting go any time soon.

[hobbylobbyy]

Okay! How about a Lucifer x male (or gn if you’re more comfortable) reader in a platonic fic? Reader is like a servant who helps Lucifer through depresso days

A/N: This sounds like a really nice friendship dynamic, I’m rlly happy I get to write it!

Also btw you’re an imp for the sake of not knowing what a duck is

Coping Methods

Summary: It’s been a few months since Lilith left Lucifer and he’s been taking it about as well as you think he would. He can barely get out of bed until you manage to coax him into a fun activity to ease his mind.

Platonic Lucifer x Male!Reader

Nobody expected Lilith to leave. Maybe that’s what made it worse when she did.

She didn’t leave anything behind either, not her clothes, not her shoes, not even a single letter.

Every being in that castle fell into a deep depression, it just felt so gloomy without her there. Though, it hit the Morningstar’s the hardest.

Charlie had moved out nearly a month after Lilith’s disappearance, claiming she wanted to find herself and have her own independence rather than rely on her father for the rest of her life.

Lucifer, however, barely even left the castle, let alone his own room. Very few people were allowed near him at the time, only his personal servants, and you just happened to be one of them.

Today was one of those days where Lucifer couldn’t even bring himself to get out of bed, so you found yourself outside his door, hesitating to knock.

You couldn’t deny that you were terrified, but you had to make sure the king was okay, it was your duty as one of his personal servants.

You took a moment to collect yourself before knocking a few times.

It took a moment before he answered, “Who is it..?” The way he sounded so fragile almost broke apart of you, not once in your thousands of years of working for him have you heard him sound so vulnerable.

“It’s me, sir.” You replied, twiddling with your thumbs.

The door creaked open with a blur of golden magic, no doubt his own.

You stepped in and closed the door behind you, knowing that he’d prefer if nobody saw him in this state.

“Why are you here?” He asked, not looking at you as he curled into a ball on his humongous bed.

“Nobody has seen or heard from you all day, sir,” You started, making your way over to the edge of his bed but not daring to step any closer, both out of respect for him and fear for your safety, “We needed to know that you were still alive.”

“Alright, well, you’ve seen it now, haven’t you?” He asked rhetorically, “Just leave and take the day off for all I care, I-I just want to sit here for a little bit.”

“Sir..” You started, keeping your voice firm, “As your servant, I respect all your wishes, but as your friend… I will have to deny you this one.”

Before he could respond, you continued going, “In fact, I’m going to have to request that you stand up for me” you knew you were definitely going to get in trouble for this, whether by him or by one of your superiors.

“A-Are you trying to command the king of hell?” He asked, “You are nothing but my servant, I.. I don’t have many friends right now..”

You weren’t going to stop so soon though, your persistence was what got you this job in the first place, “Sir, I’m not trying to command you, I am just asking that you at least sit up and look at me”

It took him a second but he groaned in defeat as if he was a small child. He sat up, letting you see just how much he’d been crying. His hair which was usually neat was now a mess of curls and his face seemed redder than usual.

“I’ve done what you asked.. Is this all you wanted?” He asked.

“No, I actually wanted to request that you.. Uhm…” You had to think of an excuse for what you wanted to do first, “Could you accompany me to your workshop for a moment..? This is the only time I’ll ask you to do this, I just… N-Need to know where you’d like everything to go so I can clean!”

You commended yourself for being quick to think of an excuse, you knew how much the king liked his neatness.

“…There’s no need to clean it” Well, that stunned you.

“S-Sir?” You stuttered, “It definitely needs to be cleaned, just.. please?”

“I already know where everything is, just leave it be” Lucifer waved his hand dismissively before flopping back onto his bed, gripping a nearby pillow.

Well this won’t do. You needed him to get out of his bed. You needed him to actually do something.

“Sir, please, just accompany me to the workshop and I’ll leave you alone” You pleaded.

He sat still for a moment before shifting his head towards you, “…You’ll leave me alone for the rest of the week if I accompany you, do you hear me..?”

You nodded enthusiastically, “Yes sir! I-I can totally do that!” Not only did it give you an excuse to just do nothing for the rest of the week, your plan might actually work.

“Alright, just let me get ready first” He yawned as he sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed.

You quickly left the room for his privacy, as much as you loved your gracious king, you didn’t love him that much.

He left the room almost immediately, not having bothered to clean up his hair or the bags under his eyes. He knew that nobody in their right mind would point it out anyway.

“Just so you know.. I’m going to leave as soon as you’re done in there” Lucifer said.

“That’s alright with me, sir,” You flash a grin, “I’m just glad you got out of that messy room of yours”

“Watch it.” He rolls his eyes.

You chuckle softly as you approach his workshop, but you’re surprised once you open its doors.

The workshop that was usually a mess with his inventions and dreams and even dioramas of his theme park was now barren, only holding the pictures on the walls and his work bench.

“Wow, would you look at that..” Lucifer started, “Guess you don’t need me anymore, I mean, no mess to clean up!”

But you’re not gonna let him off the hook so easily.

“Uh, sir?” You smirked, “Could you at least spare me one request before I stop bothering you for the week?”

Lucifer groaned childishly, obviously not wanting to spend another moment out of the bed that he once shared with his love.

“Fine, fine, I guess it’s the least I could do since you so desperately wanted me over here” He conceded, walking with you to his workbench.

“So, what do you want?” He asked.

You grinned before pulling out some supplies from your pockets, “So, you know how made that thing on Earth before you fell? What was it called… Cuck..? I-I don’t know, but it made that quacking noise”

“A duck?” Lucifer cut you off.

“Ah, precisely!” You nodded.

“What.. What does that have anything to do with this?” He asked.

“Well, Mr. Lucifer, my request is that..” You paused for dramatic effect, “You recreate that! I wanna see what it looks like, and you seem to have pride in the fact that you made them, so maybe it’ll make you feel better!”

Lucifer paused for a moment before laughing. It might’ve been aimed at you rather than with you, but you’d gotten him to laugh at least.

“A-I’m sorry- Is that really all that you want me to do? Make a duck?” He said as the laughter died down.

“Yup! That’s what I want!” You nodded, making him chuckle once more.

“Alright, alright, fine” He sighed, “I’ll make you a duck, but then you let me wallow in self-pity, mkay?”

“Sounds fair!” You responded.

He didn’t say anything back to you as he started to work. You could see sparks flying as he melded metal together, shaping it into the form of a small creature.

“Pass me my yellow paint, would you?” He asked, pointing in the direction of his paints.

You hummed, grabbing his yellow paint for him and setting it down next to him on the table.

“Oh, and the black paint too” He said.

You huffed, “Couldn’t have told me that while I was getting the yellow?” But you got it for him regardless, wrapping your tail around it and ignoring the cold paint as it splashed on you when you brought it over.

He didn’t respond, too focused on painting it perfectly.

Then, the sparks and painting stopped, he smiled softly at his little creation.

“Here it is,” He said, picking it up with gentle hands, “This is what a duck looks like”

You looked at it in awe. It looked so.. cute. It looked so different from all the life in Hell, like it didn’t pose any threats at all.

You took a moment before nodding, “Alright, that’s uh… All I wanted” you smiled before standing up.

“I’ll lead you back to your room and you won’t have to worry about me for the rest of the week” You continued to speak before he cut you off.

“Actually…” He said, “Stay, I think I might need your help grabbing supplies for me while I make some more of these”

You took a moment to process what he said before your eyes lit up with excitement, “Really?!��� You had actually been successful in getting the king to enjoy something!

“Really” He chuckled.

A/N: I hope this lived up to your expectations. I noticed too late that the reader doesn’t really have a gender specified but I guess that just means you can depict them however you want to!

Look at him :)

[stvrni0lo]

𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

matt sturniolo x reader (fluff, hurt/comfort)

summary: reader gets stood up on a date, but Matt comes and saves the day

warnings/notes: like one use of Y/N

requested?: yes! number 7 “a telling b they deserve better” and number 24 “if only you could see yourself how i see you" from my actions and dialogue prompt list

> > >

You had been waiting for your date to arrive at your agreed meet-up spot. The dress you wore revealed your legs to the cold air and you pulled it down for the 10th time this night.

Pulling your phone out again, you texted them one more time. There was a myriad of messages from you stemming from “where are you?” to “are you coming?” and even a series of not so nice words.

To be fair you had been waiting for almost an hour and there was still no sign of your date.

Sighing, you clicked on Matt’s contact, listening to it ring before he finally picked up.

“Hey, you okay?”

You picked at the skin of your nails, feeling defeated.

“Not really. I think I just got stood up,” you said dejectedly, your head hanging low.

You could hear Matt sigh, before you heard the sound of him getting off what you presumed was the couch. Hearing his keys jingling, he was in his car in less than a split second.

“I’m on my way - stay where you are,” and with that, he ended the call.

You felt so stupid. You should’ve known something was wrong when Matt pointed out some of the strange stuff your date was doing…

- - -

Matt opened the passenger door for you, smiling as you let out a laugh of disbelief.

“You’re not the one taking me out, remember?” you joked. Although you wished it was him. You had always wanted it to be him - but neither of you ever made a move. You weren’t even sure if he liked you like that.

‘Maybe he does,’ you thought to yourself. Shaking your head you let the idea go.

You had spent too much time pining for him. It was time to move on - which is precisely the reason that you agreed to go on this date.

“I might as well be. I’m the one driving you aren’t I?” he retorted. You knew Matt wasn’t too fond of the person you were going out with, but you couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

You chalked it up to him being upset that your date didn’t pick you up themselves. Although you personally didn’t care, Matt had said it was a red flag that they didn’t confirm your date this morning - AND refused to pick you up.

You should’ve listened to him.

- - -

Matt’s car halted in front of you, and you could see him leaning against the console to open the door for you.

You hopped into the seat, deflating against the headrest as you clicked your seatbelt in. You thew your handbag in the back seat.

“What happened?” asked Matt carefully.

He could sense you were upset, so he didn’t feel like saying ‘I told you so’. In truth, he just wished he was the one taking you out, but he could never seem to bring himself to ask you. The fear of it being too awkward and ruining your friendship was a big factor in why he never made a move.

“They never showed up,” you mumbled against the window. Your head was leaning on the cold glass, your eyes shut.

You lifted your head for a moment, your hand coming to grasp at Matt’s forearm. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

Matt’s cheeks were tinged pink at the contact of your fingers against his exposed skin. If only he had the guts to confess to you.

“You know I always will,” he said.

Putting the car in drive, he began to make his way out of the parking lot. You felt so stupid. It was even worse that Matt had to see you like this; especially after warning you about the date. He was right.

“Matt?” you said, watching as the colours of the sun set reflecting brightly against his pale skin.

He hummed in response, briefly sparing a look at you before paying attention to the road.

“You were right.”

The car was silent for a bit, your words settling in. Of course he was right. He was your best friend, he only wanted what was best for you - why else would he have been so against you going?

“Don’t say that. You couldn’t have known this was going to happen,” he said.

While it was true, he did try to warn you beforehand so you should’ve known.

I mean what kind of date doesn’t pick the other person up? Especially since it was so far away from where you and the triplets lived.

“I should have listened to you,” you replied.

Matt found a quiet spot to park, setting his car off to the side of the road. It was a little car park near a diner. It wasn’t too far off home.

“I was only saying that because-“ Matt paused for a moment, his body swiveling to face you.

“Because what?”

The look he had in his eyes made you heat up. Your heart raced as you looked down at your hands, trying to avoid contact with him. If you stared into his eyes for too long you would make yourself belief that he actually liked you. But he didn’t…right? Although the way he was looking at you said otherwise.

“Because I know you deserve better.”

You scoffed lightly, looking out of the windshield. The sun had almost fully set now, the streetlights gradually turning on one by one.

“I’m serious,” he said, his hand coming to grasp yours. “You deserve someone who sees how special you are - who won’t ghost you or ignore you. Who will treat you like you deserve to be treated.”

Your heart fluttered at the feeling of his hands intertwined with yours. His thumb moved back and forth on the top of your hand, gently calming your nerves down.

“I’m not that special,” you laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

Matt’s eyes softened. He leaned his head down slightly to look into your eyes. Your eyes which were still trained onto anything but him. Lifting your jaw with his free hand, he made you look into his irises for what felt like the first time tonight.

“Oh Y/N, if only you could see yourself the way I do.”

Your heart felt like it skipped several beats. Scratch that, it felt as if it had stopped completely.

His blue eyes were trained on you. His brows furrowed in adoration as he watched you nuzzle into his palm. Your eyes drifted to his as his thumb now caressed your cheek, too.

“And what do I deserve exactly?” you whispered. It would’ve been inaudible if it wasn’t for how silent you both were - or how close your faces were to each other.

Matt’s lips curled into a smile.

“For one, someone who will communicate how they feel.”

Ironic, considering he never had the balls to ask you out.

“So this is me communicating. I like you. I really like you - and seeing you get all dressed up for someone who isn’t me was killing me. I want to be the one to take you out on fancy dates, drive you around. I know your worth, and you should too. Fuck that other guy if he couldn’t see what he was missing out on,” he said.

Your chest filled with warmth upon hearing his words.

You were almost surprised at how coherent it all was. He seemed so confident and sure of what he was saying. Now you felt blind for not seeing it before - of course Matt liked you.

His other hand came to rest on your jaw too, leaving your hands sitting on your lap. Now both his hands were on either side of your face, causing you to not be able to look away.

“Say something.”

Lips lifting into a huge grin, you leaned in slightly.

“If you didn’t want me going on that date you could’ve said so. I’ve been wanting you to ask me out for ages,” you laughed.

His nose nudged yours playfully before leaning his forehead onto yours. Your hands came to wrap behind his neck, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“How about I make that happen, then? Let me take you out, I’ll make up for all our lost time.”

Your eyelashes fluttered against his as you closed your eyes. Matt had always made you feel so relaxed in his presence.

“I’d like that.”

And with those final words, Matt leaned back just an inch so that he could see your face again. His thumb grazed your bottom lip, his eyes never leaving the sight of them.

“Can I?” he asked, his eyes searching yours for an answer.

You nodded before pulling him in by his collar. Thank God you got stood up.

- - -

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭:

@lollibumblebee

@dwntwn-strnlo

@gracietaylorsversions

@20nugs

@thetriplets3

@sunshinewwx

@gwenlore

@gabbylovesreading

@ssturniolo

@opheliaofficial07

@stargirlv0id

[moonmacabre01]

Hey, I wanted to show y'all my Swap au ^^ Uuuhh list of what and how characters were swapped under cut(incomplete list)(warning: long af)

Kirby: Swapped with Dedede. The king of Dreamland, brave and noble! At least, that what he wants you to think. In truth he's gluttonous and kind of childish, and a bit of a coward. But he has a good heart, willing to step up whenever Popstar is in danger! If he manages to avoid getting possessed first . . . At least his friends will be there to snap him out of it! He's scared of spiders.

Dedede: Swapped with Kirby. The brave and darling hero of Dreamland, Dedede would much rather play and eat than he would fight. But when push comes to shove and evil threatens his home, you can count on him to be there! Always willing to make a new friend, he'll happily welcome any newcomers, even if they aren't what they seem at first.

Bandee: Swapped with Meta. commonly known as Brave Knight, he and his crew are well known and much wondered about among residents of Popstar. More laid back than one might expect a knight to be, he's none the less formidable in battle. He and Kirby are old friends and trusted partners, despite rifts in the past.

Meta: Swapped with Bandee. Kirby's second-in-command and Dedede's best friend, Meta's often anxious or insecure about his abilities, and will turn to his friends for support. But under the fear, he's skilled with a sword and has a noble heart, and people have surmised that he has the makings of a great knight. He has an extraordinary sweet tooth he likes to indulge in, with a particular fondness for chocolate.

Ribbon: Swapped with Queen Ripple. The selfless queen of Ripplestar, she didn't hesitate to send away the crystal shard with her younger sister when Dark Matter attacked. Even after her possession by Nebula2, she remained as kindhearted and fair as ever. After the king of Dreamland helped liberate Ripplestar from Dark Matter, the two struck up a close friendship.

Ripple: Swapped with Ribbon. The younger sister of the queen of Ripplestar, she went on a quest with the hero of Dreamland after her planet was attacked by Dark Matter. After Ripplestar was freed, Ripple became close friends with Dedede and Drawcia. Though rather clumsy and a little anxious, she's full of energy and possesses an brave spirit equal to that of her sister.

Drawcia: Swapped with Adeleine. A painting brought to life by a mysterious artist, only to flee her creator and come to Dreamland, where she started to create art of her own. After joining a quest to liberate Ripplestar from Dark Matter, she discovered friendship to be a joy like nothing she'd ever imagined. Nowadays she splits her time between Popstar and Ripplestar, painting the many views.

Adeleine: Swapped with Drawcia: An artist derided and mocked by her peers, she left her home planet to wander the galaxy. In her travels, she found a wonderous paintbrush capable of bringing her work to life. Remembering the scorn with which her art was treated, her heart darkened, and she vowed to show the galaxy the beauty of her work - by transforming the world into a one of paint. After her attempt was foiled, she disappeared, but the work she created with that mystical brush remains.

Sectonia: Swapped with Taranza. The queen of a land in the sky, she gave her love a gift, a mirror rumored to grant wishes, unaware of it's true nature. Tricked into believing her subjects planned to rebel, she descended to the lower world with the plan to take it's hero as protection. however, she mistakingly took the king instead of the hero, and Dedede immediately followed in pursuit. Her love was defeated and his lies unraveled, and ever since she's been trying to do better as a ruler.

Taranza: Swapped with Sectonia. A mage unsure of his abilities, his beloved queen gifted him a mirror rumored to grant wishes with the idea it might increase his power. And so it did, but it also warped his mind and body, and his love became controlling and possessive. He tricked his queen into the believe her subjects planned to rebel, in hope she would turn to him for protection. Instead, against his wishes, she descended to the lower world to take it's hero for her guard. Eventually he was defeated, and the truth of what he'd become revealed much to the grief of the queen who'd loved him to the end. Never the less, it is hoped he is happier now.