#wow that took me like an hour and a half to write whoops

[thebigqueer]

👉👈 if you wrote the whole I just delivered a baby feel my hands interaction from Will's perspective I would love you forever

okay, i specifically had to read this scene again and let me tell you, i high key cringed because i just remembered how kinda bad the ending of blood of olympus was alskjskfdkfsd

anyway, i hope you love me forever because i will definitely be granting your wish. thanks for the prompt, and i hope you like this! 

and, as always: i usually do minimal editing on these, so please don’t judge my writing too much alskjjlkdf

Will will admit, the morning has been quite an adventure in itself. 

It started when his cabin awoke with the cries of a distressed Clarisse, who slammed open the door of the Apollo cabin at exactly 3:43 AM and screamed at the top of her lungs, while also banging pots and pans, “THE BABY IS COMING! THE BABY IS COMING! William Andrew Solace, GET your ass over here!” 

In all his life, Will’s cured lots of sicknesses and injuries. But never has he had to take care of a woman giving birth. 

All in all, he thinks he did pretty well. Save for the almost-fainting part of the birth, he got the baby delivered perfectly healthy and relatively easily (although he’s sure Mellie would disagree), and Coach Hedge was there to even see it. 

After handing over the child, the exhausted son of Apollo, savoring the sweetness of the new family’s moment, smiles and excuses himself. He's sure he is going to pass out any moment from both tiredness and excitement, and he is ready to recount all of the past two and a half hours to Cecil and Lou Ellen. 

He steps out of the infirmary, surprised by how much lighter the sky has become. The sun rises, spreading its golden glow over the camp, and he has to shield his eyes from the brightness. Despite the beauty, though, there’s a dread that’s settled over the camp, a nervous electricity that has demigods buzzing left and right.

Demigods trudge to Half-Blood Hill, decorated with armor over their bodies. Will frowns, his own heart thudding faster. He can’t quite believe there’s another war about to happen, in just a little bit, after just barely surviving one last summer. 

With a jolt, Will remembers the lives lost, the people who’ve slipped from his grasp in the last battle. His face burns with the shame of losing them, of failing them. Why couldn’t I have done better? he scolds himself. 

With the prospective battle, he feels an even larger weight on his shoulders, the mass of stress crushing him. He feels as if he is Atlas, carrying the bulk of the universe on his body, doomed to serve this job for the rest of eternity.

The pressure of tears and anger presses against his throat, threatening to let loose. He swallows, trying to suppress it, but he can feel himself failing at doing so; his body shudders, his fists clench. He wants to drop to his knees and sob right here, right now. He’s so useless to everyone here. He’s failed so many people. How many will he fail today? 

A voice calls his name from the distance, and for a second, Will stops thinking about all the horrors he’s seen. He turns his head in the direction that he heard the voice, but he can’t seem to find it. He frowns. 

“Psst!” the voice calls again, and this time Will realizes it is clearly feminine. He swivels his head to the bushes in front of him, and almost screams when he sees eyes peering at him through the leaves.

For a second, he doesn’t recognize the faces that stare back at him. Only after he rubs his eyes does he realize that it’s Lou Ellen and Cecil. A shaky smile wavers on his lips. “Hey, guys. What are you doing?”

The two wrestle out of the bushes, shoving twigs aside. They rush over to the son of Apollo, excitement plastered over their faces. “Wanna help us scout the enemy?” Lou Ellen asks, her voice rising with enthusiasm. A mischievous sparkle twinkles in her eyes. “I’m practicing my Mist-controlling powers, and I think I’m getting pretty good.” 

Will looks at Cecil, who nods in encouragement. “Come on, dude. You’ve been in the infirmary all day. I’m sure delivering a baby is probably more exciting than us, but...” He shrugs, and a sadness envelops his face. “I guess we just don’t know how much longer we have. Don’t you wanna spend it together?”

Will’s heart clutches and his skin prickles with goosebumps. He looks at his two friends, people he’s known for so long. He realizes that Cecil’s right; they don’t know how much longer they have with each other. The realization hits Will right where it hurts. 

Taking a deep breath, he nods. “Alright, I could use a break. Let’s do it.”

~~~

Fifteen minutes later, Will, Cecil, and Lou Ellen are clad in black clothing, giggling in the bushes on the outskirts of camp. They watch the enemy wander around, setting up their equipment, shouting to one another. Peering at them, a spark of confusion consumes Will. They look like normal demigods; why are they warring, anyway? Who decided on this? Why can’t they just get along, share their similar stories? The entire thing is pretty pointless and sad, Will thinks, since they could have been friends. But instead, the two camps decided only on warring, setting their differences first and foremost. 

It’s a little disheartening, to say the least. Will knows that this is the nature of humankind, that people tend to only see differences. But they are demigods; aren’t they a little above humans? Shouldn’t they know better?

But even then, they still have humanity in them. And as ugly as humanity can be, it’s still humanity. This is what humans are like. People must learn to accept. Will only sighs at this thought.

As he mulls this thought over, Will, Cecil, and Lou Ellen skitter over to Thalia’s pine tree, hoping to get a better view of the Roman demigods. Their faces brighten under the rising sun, illuminating their faces. The warmth seeps through Will’s skin, sinking into his bones. He want to keep that warmth there, absorb the light. He’s afraid of the darkness that might come after the war. 

As they reach the tree, Will almost stops in astonishment. Because standing righ there, in a ridiculously bright Hawaiian T-shrit and black jeans, a Stygian sword at his side, stands Nico di Angelo. Will almost trips over himself. 

For a second, Will stumbles. What on earth is he doing here? Didn’t he leave camp? Didn’t he go rogue? Didn’t he leave Will here, in the very same place, on a morning much like this one, just a year ago? 

Cecil and Lou Ellen stop with him, confusion spilling over their features. “What’s wrong?” Cecil asks, nudging Will. “Dude, we’re in the light. Let’s go.” 

Will only shakes his head in response and hurries over to the son of Hades, a strange feeling sparking in his blood. Is it resentment? Is it relief? He’s not quite sure. All he knows is that he never thought he’d see Nico again, and especially not dressed like that.

When Will reaches him, the son of Hades doesn’t seem to notice he’s right there. His dark eyes are also focused on the Roman demigods, peering over them, oozing hatred.

“Nico?” Will whispers, his voice quiet in the morning. Lou Ellen and Cecil crouch by Will, peering over at him in surprise. 

Nico whirls suddenly, a look of fear in his eyes. He snaps his sword in their direction, just barely missing Will. The son of Apollo stumbles a bit, trying to jump past it. 

The son of Hades’ eyes focus, clearing up as he stares at the three demigods. His face betrays a series of emotions: first confusion, then shock, and finally irritation. He opens his mouth to speak, but Will snaps first. Gesturing to the sword, he hisses, “Put that down! What are you doing here?”

Nico blinks, surprise written over his face. Then he shakes his head and frowns at Will. “Me?” he asks, eyebrows furrowing. “What are you doing here? Getting yourselves killed?”

Will’s blood boils with Nico’s tone. Their first time meeting in over a year, and that’s how he’s going to talk to Will? The son of Apollo scowls. “Hey, we’re scouting the enemy.” Spreading his palms, he assures, “We took precautions.”

A dark eyebrow rises on Nico’s face, a look of doubt painting his face. “You dressed in black with the sun coming up. You painted your face but didn’t cover that mop of blond hair. You might as well be waving a yellow flag.” He rolls his eyes. 

Will’s face feels warm, the heat of humiliation coursing through his nerves. “Lou Ellen wrapped some Mist around us, too.” 

The two looked over at the girl, whose eyes were widened in surprise. Suddenly put on spot, her own face turns as red as Will’s. She greets Nico and tells him that the demigod next to her is Cecil, a son of Hermes. 

A moment of hesitation burns between the four demigods, waiting for the next move. Nico’s eyes switch over the three of them, deciding what to do, testing how great they are. Will puffs out his chest, a look of determination in his eyes. You know me, he wants to say. Don’t play this way. 

Finally, Nico kneels and asks about Coach Hedge and his arrival at camp, whether he got here safely. Despite his irritation earlier, Will allows a smile to come over his face at the mention of the satyr. Lou Ellen giggles, and Will nudges her, though a bout of elation envelops him, too. He smiles at Nico, assuring him that the satyr is fine. 

Nico asks about the child, a look of momentary excitement passing over his face. The smile on Will’s face widens despite himself, elated to talk about the new baby. “He’s fine, too,” Will promises. “A very cute little satyr boy.” His skin crawls again, but this time with the memory of the birth. He’d never seen such terrifying yet beautiful scenes in his life. A shudder echoes through him. “But I delivered it,” informs the son of Apollo, grimacing. “Have you ever delivered a baby?”

Nico frowns, a look of confusion and disgust rolling over his face. “Um, no.” 

Will shrugs and tells him that he just needed the fresh air; the mission with Lou Ellen and Cecil would help him. A grin takes over his face again as he announces, “My hands are still shaking.” He holds out his palms and blinks at them. “See?”

Without thinking, Will takes Nico’s hand. In hindsight, he probably should have considered how Nico would react, and how strange this interaction might be after not seeing each other in months, but he isn’t quite thinking. With the baby’s birth, the potential battle, and with Nico’s sudden appearance, can anyone blame him for feeling frenzied and dazed, with having practically no brain functionality at such an early time in the morning? 

A buzz echoes through Will’s palms, electrifying his nerves. His bones resonate, hum, emanate energy. He isn’t sure why this is happening; it’s as if being with Nico again, feeling his fingers in his, he’s unlocked something. For a second, Will sees and feels and hears nothing but the son of Hades. But then, just a split second later, he feels it: a cold, empty darkness, seeping from Nico’s hands. Will’s not sure anyone can quite feel darkness, so this is quite the strange interaction for him. He feels void, alone, as if no one is around. He almost pulls away when Nico does it first. 

“Whatever,” he grumbles. “We don’t have time for chitchat. The Romans are attacking at dawn, and I’ve got to-” 

Will frowns, but what else did he expect? Of course Nico’s going to want to move straight ahead. A buzz of annoyance echoes in him. He doesn’t like that he’s talking to them as if they don’t understand the seriousness of the situation. Before Nico can continue, he snaps back, explaining that they know what’s going on. He raises an eyebrow at Nico. “But if you’re planning to shadow-travel to that command tent, forget it.” 

A look of rage passes over Nico, darkness roiling in his irises. “Excuse me?” he growls, eyes glaring. Will feels that he’s pushed too far, too much, but he stands his ground. Nico just got back to camp; he’s not going to risk his life just for this. 

Will holds his chin high. With a look of determination, and as much bravery as he can master in front of the son of Hades, he informs him that Coach Hedge was very descriptive in his warnings of Nico and his shadow-travelling. “You can’t try that again.”

Nico’s jaw clamps hard, anger pouring in bouts. He watches Will daringly, as if saying, Watch me. “I just did try it again, Solace. I’m fine.” 

Will almost scoffs. If that darkness he felt just moments ago was any indication, the son of Hades is not fine. Rage boils over in Will’s body; why can’t he just understand that maybe there are people here who actually care that he doesn’t risk himself again? Why is he always the one to put himself in danger? 

And yet, he feels a connection to Nico. He knows what it’s like to want to push yourself to the extreme, especially if it means that you save the ones you love. And for this reason, he finds himself even more irritated in Nico. If they’re so alike, then Will finds him just as equally annoying as he finds himself. 

He rambles to Nico about how he can feel the darkness oozing from him, the risk he’d be making if he makes that jump one more time. As he does, he watches the son of Hades raise his eyebrow, not surprised, as if he knows what this jump could mean. With a jolt, Will realizes that maybe that’s what Nico wants - to not exist anymore. Red hot tears push against his throat, but he grounds himself. “You are not shadow-traveling. Doctor’s orders.” 

Nico opens his mouth and starts streaming excuses about the Romans, but Will won’t have it. He’s not losing Nico after only just now seeing him again. The son of Apollo assures Nico that they’ll take care of them, that it’ll be fine. Lou Ellen even has the Mist to control; they don’t need Nico risking his life. 

Nico looks as though he wants to argue, say something, but he chooses wisely to keep his lips sealed. Instead, he stares at Will, dark eyes bearing into blue ones. There’s a depth to them, Will realizes. It’s as if he’s seen terrible, dark things. He looks shattered; broken; cracked. Will’s body relaxes with pity, with remorse, but he stands his ground. 

Will’s been begging the gods for Nico to come back for months. He left with barely an explanation, leaving Will at the summit of Half-Blood Hill so many months ago, wallowing in his confusion. He won’t let Nico escape his grasp again, not when he’s only now returned. 

A fiery hot tension stretches between the boys as they stare each other down. Will knows Cecil and Lou Ellen are watching them, surprised. The boys hold each other in this strange staring competition, trying to get the other to relent. 

But Will’s stubborn, just like Nico is. There will only be one winner in this battle. 

Will won’t let Nico slip away again.

Nico sighs in exasperation, throwing his hands up. “Whatever,” he grumbles, and a wave of white hot elation washes over Will. Relief consumes him. He won’t be shadow-traveling, Will thinks, relaxation taking over his body. 

Nico continues glaring at Will, but the son of Apollo doesn’t even care. Nico juts his chin forward, and dark wisps of hair fall into his eyes, fluttering over the dark brown irises. “You’ll follow my lead.” 

Will smiles, relishing the win of the silent argument. He spreads his hands in a placating gesture. “Fine. Just don’t ask me to deliver any more satyr babies, and we’ll get along great.”

[dreamqueenkala]

Heyya, do you mind doing a one shot where Dylan and a female counselor pretends to hate/dislike each other in front of other people but always give out little notes to meet each other in private? You can do fluff or smut or both it's up to you! Thank you!

I’ve been doing so many smut requests lately and I’m lowkey a little tired of it, so I’m glad you left this idea open to me. This is so cute imo too so thank you for the request! Hope it’s to your liking :) I also hope it’s alright for me to implement an OC this time around—trying to work on my descriptions and personalities in my writing.

MESSENGER

|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|

Warnings: Profanity; Implied Sexual Themes

Female OC x Dylan Lenivy

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“God—Dylan, can you grow the fuck up!?” She snapped, fingers threading through her wild cocoa curls and tugging lightly. Her cheeks were darkened with what seemed to be rage, blue-grey eyes narrowed as she glared at the brunette male, whom stood a mere ten feet from her with his hands on his hips. His nostrils flared, his neck and ears darkened with the heat of his own anger as he glared back, raising his middle finger to her in mock shock.

“Oh—wow! Whoops, ‘dunno how that happened!” Dylan hissed, extending his tongue and blowing a raspberry in her direction. “Maybe it’s just because you’re a bitch, Parker.”

Kaitlyn and Jacob stood at the other end of the lodge, near the stairs, eyes locked on the bickering duo with the formers arms crossed over her chest. “Man, I knew they hated each other, but this is getting old. What’re they arguing about now?” The short woman inquired, hip cocked and brow raised.

The jock beside her shook his head, hands in his pockets as they watched the two step face to face, screaming profanities and cruel words back and forth. “Dylan made a remark about the tattoo on her tailbone—saw it yesterday when we all went swimming. Called it a tramp stamp and, uh…weeeeell, she snapped.” Came Jacob’s reply, the tall broad-shouldered male fidgeting with his shirt hem.

Kaitlyn let loose a wince of distaste at the admittance, pursing her lips with a deep exhale. “Ooh, yikes. And I thought you were stupid.” Jacob grunted in agreement as the girl moved away, then blinked.

“Wha—Hey! Kaitlyn!?” He turned on his heel to face her, completely dismissing the duo fighting across the room and choosing to follow the shorter girl outside.

On the other side of the lodge, Parker slammed her palms against the tall male’s chest, scrunching a piece of paper against the fabric of his shirt inconspicuously. Dylan stepped back at the touch, hands reaching up to grasp at his shirt as if her hands had hurt him, discreetly grasping the paper in his left fist. “Just stay out of my way, loser.” Parker, licking her full dark lips, sneered at the brunette with a roll of her eyes, turning on her heel.

“Whatever.” Dylan clicked his tongue, honey butter eyes watching her hips sway almost hypnotically as she left the lodge. Glancing around the room, Dylan deemed the area clear enough and glanced down at the slip in his palm.

‘Boathouse. 9 PM. Miss you already.’

Dylan gritted his teeth to contain the grin pulling at his lips, slipping the message into his pocket. Kitchen duty. He reminded himself. He had kitchen duty. Just one more hour to go. The boy cringed at the thought as he entered the kitchen—son of a bitch, the towers these campers left behind. No wonder Nick refused to do the dishes after dinner.

Dylan sighed. He might be a little late.

•••

••

•

9:34 PM

Dylan stepped along the path, a sweater replacing the t-shirt he’d originally worn, sweats loosely hung on his hips. Stumbling slightly along the dirt path, the brunette finally made his way to the boathouse. The lights were out, a familiar silhouette leaning against one of the railings near the water.

Dylan stopped and took a moment to admire the girl as she gazed up at the half moon above them. The light reflected off the water made her soft cocoa skin glisten, giving her an angelic appearance. Her gold and chocolate curls fluttered around her shoulders with the light breeze, her thin fingers tapping against the railing lightly. Her lips were parted as she hummed softly to herself in time with the beat her fingers tapped out, back arched slightly and hips swaying lazily.

Dylan bit his lip and reached up to ruffle his hair slightly nervously, moving a little faster. His footsteps transitioning to the wood floor alerted Parker of his presence, her blue eyes flickering to meet his silhouette. She clicked her tongue and straightened up, a hand now placed on her hip.

“Damn, took you long enough. Was starting to think you weren’t gonna—“ Parker’s scolding was cut short by soft lips pressed against her own, her thin brows raising with surprise. She stepped back and found herself pinned to the boathouse post behind her, one hand gripping the railing to the side whilst the other squeezed his left bicep. Dylan’s hands gripped her hips and pulled her flush against him, a soft exhale of amusement leaving the girl at his desperation.

“F-Fuck, you’re gonna suffocate me—“ She managed to chuckle against his lips, once again quickly silenced by his lips greedily suckling at her own. Her reluctant protests ceased completely the moment his tongue pressed against hers, a breathy mewl escaping her lips as one of the males hands weaved into her hair on the back of her head, guiding her impossibly closer.

“I missed you.” Dylan mumbled, lips trailing down her cheek to her jaw and finally her neck, tongue tracing her pulse point in her throat. Parker’s head tilted back, teeth nibbling at her lower lip. She raised one of her legs to curl around his hip, his hand still grasping her waist sliding down to squeeze her plush thigh through her pajama bottoms. “It’s so fucking hard not to just pin you against the wall during the day.”

“I know. You don’t know how bad I wanted to kiss you this morning after that hike.” The dark-skinned girl replied, rolling her hips against his. The groan she received in response made her breath catch in her throat, the sensation of his teeth gliding over her neck making her eyelids flutter.

“You have me now, babe.” Came his reply, his back straightening as he guided her hands to slip under his sweater, shivering at her cold fingertips.

“How long are we keeping this a secret, Dyl?” She murmured, pressing her own open mouthed kisses to his collarbone.

“One more week, Parks.” His fingers traced the sweet sensitive flesh just below her ear, her soft swooning exhale drawing a smile across Dylan’s lips. “Just one more week.”

“One more week, then we’re official, yeah?”

“Official?” Dylan chuckled softly, nuzzling her cheek gently as he tugged his shirt over his own head. “You’ve been mine since day one. I’ve always been yours.” Parker bit her lip and giggled softly, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before her fingers slid down to tug at his sweats.

“Love me, Dylan.”

“I already do.”

[saladejin]

Body Pillow

Taehyung x Reader requested by anon (May) | 27.) First cuddle

Warnings: Literally fluff and gentle pining, drunken shenanigans 

Word Count: 2.2k

A/N: This is poorly edited, oh god. 

I give up on trying to teach myself what a drabble is, because idk if I’ll ever understand what it means to write a DRABBLE. Anyway this is hella overdue but I’m still working on these cuddle prompts! Hope anonnie May is still around to read this horrible mess 🥺💕

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵  

<< prompt list >>

Wow, you were getting sleepy.

It was the alcohol, no doubt about it, but for some reason this time getting tipsy felt a little different. Usually you were quite reserved and withdrawn when mixing alcohol and social interactions, but tonight it was just you, your roommate Jimin and his close group of friends having a pizza night in.

Well, after half a year of getting to know them they'd fast become friends of yours as well, but they were still a pack of loud, goofy college boys that drove you mad with their testosterone stink 90% of the time. You really did have to take them in small doses to begin with, but all seven were amazingly driven people through and through. You loved them for it, and honestly sometimes you really just needed to be in their presence to relax and de-stress.

Like right now, actually. 

You were drunker than usual, and it all had to do with the fact that you were relaxed. Carefree and laughing up a storm with the boys as they joked and hollered over whatever video game or story was being played out. For the first time in a while ... you could simply chill.

Yeah, chill out. Not zone the hell out.

You blinked harshly, eyes coming back into focus as a hand waved in front of your face cautiously, and all of a sudden a handsome view leaned into your field of vision. "Hellooo? You're so fucked honey." Taehyung chuckled, eyes crinkling in amusement as he shared a glance with Yoongi behind him.

"I'm- no way," you huffed, trying to downplay the way your cheeks were heating up at his proximity by slapping his hand away.

"Okay, but you're getting there." Yoongi stepped forward and nudged Taehyung back to reach for your plastic cup. "We know you're not used to having this much so just slow down, alright?"

Any other day you would've been frustrated at how the two boys seemed to baby you, but it was clear by their smiles that they were also getting some enjoyment out of it. In all honesty, you were having a great time and you had to admit that ruining it all by blacking out or making a mess was the last thing you wanted to do.

You'd still only known them all for a few months, so you didn't want to somehow damage the already comfortable relationships you'd built in such a short time.

"Okay, you're right." You let Yoongi lift the drink away from you, trying not to smile when Taehyung lightly chuckled again at the way you swayed in your seat. The other boys were already getting loud once more as Jungkook overtook Jimin in Mario Kart, the whooping and shouts of anger mostly coming from the remaining onlookers, Hobi, Namjoon and Seokjin.

You grabbed another slice of pizza from the table and stepped around Taehyung to reclaim your spot next to Jimin, feeling the younger's eyes burn into your back the entire way.

~

Thankfully, Yoongi and Tae had forced you to take a break at the perfect moment, because you were really feeling buzzed now. It was an oddly euphoric sensation, feeling the world spin ever so slightly with laughter falling from your lips for barely any reason at all. Why hadn't you done this with them sooner?

"A package? Well it's not for me..."

Your eyes flew open upon hearing Jimin hum from the front door, lightly slurred tone curious and confused. The rest of you who were gathered in the living room fell quiet as the murmurs of conversation between him and the delivery man came to an end.

There’s a package at the door?

Then your brain cells finally kicked into gear, because oh … it was also your door.

"Wait, it's mine then." You shakily tried to put your glass of water on the table to get up, and Namjoon tutted in disapproval while darting out a hand to steady your drunk form as you rose. The faces of the other boys swam in your vision for a moment since you'd been sitting down for what felt like ages, and it was genuinely hard not to snort out a laugh at the sight of Jungkook having six eyes.

"What is it?" Jimin asked as he rounded the corner with a large plastic parcel in hand, his plump cheeks very pink from the liquor and blown out cutely. Your focus came crashing back to the mysterious parcel in his small hands.

You tried to scour the corners of your buzzing mind but couldn't remember what you'd bought online for the life of you. You gently took the package from your roommate and squinted down at your name written on the label, earning muffled sounds of amusement from the rest of the guys watching you attempt to read. "I seriously forgot, but anyway let me open it..."

"Uh uh, no way," a scolding tone came from behind you when you reached for the scissors on the kitchen benchtop. You squeaked in surprise when Taehyung yanked them away from your grasp, and he darted to the side playfully before you could even think of chasing him up.

"Yeah, if anyone it'll be Tae using the scissors since he hasn't even had a drink." Hoseok laughed, poking your cheek when you grumbled and pouted.

The others went back to the game playing on the TV while you, Taehyung and Jimin stood around to open the package. It was incredibly soft underneath the plastic wrapping, and the more that was peeled away the more you remembered your spontaneous buy.

"Oh!" You pulled up the massive lump of lime green and white cotton, the largest smile breaking out onto your flushed face. "It's the wearable blanket I wanted!"

"Wearable ... what now?" Yoongi murmured from his spot on the couch.

"Blanket," you finished, and threw the long, heavy bundle of soft material over your head. It acted as a hoodie of sorts, only oversized to the absolute max. The warm buttery feeling of the wool against your skin had you melting on the spot in the best possible way.

"What's it like?" Taehyung murmured quietly when your eyes began to flutter shut in ecstasy, any hint of the chill in the air vanishing in an instant. He seemed to be gripped in a childlike fascination for how truly extra the item of clothing - or blanket? - was. You tried not to flush even more when he stepped closer to gently pinch some of the material between his long fingers, large wonderful eyes widening at the feeling.

"So soft, and warm," you hummed in response to his question, stepping away from him to sink back into the couch now that you were quite literally drowning in fluffy blanket-like fabric. Your hazy mind could barely comprehend anything that was happening around you now that you were reaching peak levels of comfort.

Taehyung followed you down, and you vaguely registered the dip in the couch cushion as he perched himself next to you. Your eyes were closed in pure bliss, but the brief aroma of his lavender lotion swimming around your head told you it was him. You could never mistake this addicting scent; you'd grown to like it way too much in these past few months.

Too bad you were too inebriated to really act on your small crush now, considering he was literally sitting beside you and giving his full, undivided attention for the first time ... ever, actually.

The following hour flew by, but you were still completely lost in the softness of your toasty hoodie-blanket hybrid. There was no doubt that the novelty would last a long time yet, seeing how Jimin would whine out of jealousy every ten minutes or so until you finally caved, letting him have a 'turn' for an entire 60 seconds before demanding it back.

It was cold, and you were a cuddly drunk...

As the boys continued with their game, you soon felt a slight pressure rest on your shoulder ever so slightly. You cracked one eye open to see a mop of black curls out of the corner of your eye, but the haziness flooding your brain meant you couldn't really feel as flustered as you would've - say a few hours ago.

Taehyung's fingers still fiddled with the thick fabric of your blanket-sleeve, but you could barely feel his touch through the sheer amount of wool in between your arm and his hand. Something about that bugged you, but you couldn't muster the energy to think any harder at this point.

"It's the softest thing I've ever felt," he commented, a small smile evident in the way his tone tapered off into a chuckle.

You sighed and sunk further into the bed of cotton surrounding you. "Yeah, won't last long though considering how much I'm gonna use it during winter. Make the most of it while you can, Tae."

His lips parted in slight shock. "Can I?" the boy asked in a low tone, but for what exactly you still weren't quite sure. You turned your head and blinked open both eyes drowsily, grateful that you'd managed to sober up enough by now that there weren't two of him floating around beside you.

Well, more like on you at this point. You took a quick glance at everyone else to see if they were aware, but nobody was looking, and you were sure nobody would even care. Taehyung was quite touchy with his friends and you'd definitely seen it on multiple occasions, but never with you.

Not yet anyway.

He seemed to take your pause as hesitation rather than confusion. "You just look so huggable all wrapped up in it. I wanna know if it's as warm as it looks, but it's okay I can give you some room." His eyes flickered away from your face for the first time and you instantly felt the absence of his lively gaze.

He wants to hug me!?

"No Taetae c'mon." You allowed the nickname you'd always wanted to use break free - a slip the tongue thanks to the alcohol coursing through your system - and opened up your arms to invite him closer. You watched his eyes light up again like a million stars in the night sky.

"Really?" He giggled, and the sound was so adorable paired with the way his lips formed that box-like shape as he smiled, but he spared you no time for a response.

You felt the air forcefully leave your lungs when he crawled over into your heavily padded arms, his own then wrapping themselves around your waist which was swathed in mounds of cotton. You could feel the way he gently buried his face into a place near your chest. Oh God, did he just nuzzle his way in even further?

Where did he end, and you begin? Your drunken mind couldn't really focus on one singular thought, but somehow you were even comfier than before. You brought your arms back down to rest around his broad shoulders and decided to savour this moment, because you sure as hell weren't going to be able to look him in the eye after tonight.

You weren’t even that close. You being nothing more than his best friend’s roommate, and him a newfound friend you might be harbouring the tiniest crush on, but tonight was different.

"So warm..." he murmured and tightened the hold of his arms, though now you wished you could feel more skin and less wool. You imagined what it might feel like, just you and him and nothing but a normal layer of clothes separating you as you cuddled on the couch. It caused a pleased sigh to float from your lips, and you heard Taehyung let out an amused chuckle in tandem.

Could he be thinking something similar? Hopefully?

"I guess I must feel like a massive teddy bear to you," you managed to say without slurring your words, too drunk on the feeling of warmth and comfort and blossoming affection shrouding your mind.

"Damn right you do, sweetheart."

Even in the midst of all the liquid courage circulating your body you felt your heart skip a beat at the deep, relaxed tone of his voice, not to mention the pet-name. He sat up straighter and pulled you along with him, the expression on his face completely blissed out as he hugged you tighter to his frame. You could feel your heart hammering away in your chest, and just hoped to God there was enough fabric there to muffle the clamour.

There you both sat, locked together and bundled up in the mounds of cotton that was your wearable blanket, all until you drifted off to the best drunk sleep you’d ever had. It was the first of many cuddles you would share, unbeknownst to you at the time, but with a giggling Seokjin using his phone to take a blurry video of you both and a snickering Jimin egging him on, it was easy to see how one thing would lead to another the next day.

Sometimes, it appeared the key to winning over a man's heart was to not only become a body pillow, but become his body pillow. 

Copyright © 2020 by salade. All rights reserved.

[isolemnlyswear]

hello! can i request a modern marauder (you pick) x popstar!fem!reader (while they're still in hogwarts) to the song breathin by ariana grande as if it were the reader's song? <3 <3

breathin

a/n : this is the most specified request i've ever gotten, so it's kinda shitty ! i really have never wrote anything like this - at all - and i didn’t know if the reader was meant to be a muggle or not ????????? so i made them not one. bc you’re anon i cant ask you questions abt your request, so next time please specify!

continued a/n : wow, this is interesting. i dont like it, but !!! hope u enjoy????

warnings : swearing, bad writing

taglist : @oldschoolkiddo @amourtentiaa @anchoeritic @faeinorbit @tomriddleswifey @inks-and-jinx @jxsperhxle @punkrific @the-gazette-of-tea @krasivayadarling @orifortheweeknd @fallin-4-ya @incxndio @daisyyy2516 @hoe4cedricdiggory @vsawyer1989

Remus sighed, glaring at the raven-haired boy beside him.

“What, s’gonna be fun!” Sirius grins, and the lycanthrope who’s refuting him simply laughs.

“Fun? Your idea of fun is a packed concert - full of muggles, nonetheless - for this...popstar woman?” Remus says incredulously, and Sirius raises an eyebrow.

“Oh, ho, ho, this is not any popstar, Moony. Plus, what else are we gonna do over the summer? Sulk around at your parents’ house?” Sirius grins again, and Remus lets out a sigh.

“The latter I can agree with. But who is this girl, anyway?” Remus inquires, and Sirius reaches into his back pocket to acquire his phone. Although Hogwarts doesn't allow modern technology, both Sirius and Remus have their own each for the summers. With how phone-centered the modern world is, they couldn't not.

He swipes through to find a picture of you - one obtained from your Instagram, which has over four million followers - and holds it up to Remus.

“Merlin,” he breathes, eyes scanning the image.

You're wearing a brown leather dress, the shoulders poking up just barely. Your hair is framing your face, legs tucked under you in a half-crouch, and you're looking into the camera with lips perfectly parted. It was one you took for the shoot of your newest album, and a particular favorite of yours.

“Gorgeous, right? She’s really talented, as well.” Sirius grins, looking at his best friend, who is unresponsive, with eyes glued on the screen. “Moony?” he waves a hand over the brunette’s face, who snaps out of his trance.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sure.” Remus says, blinking a few too many times.

“So, you up for it now?”

“Alright,” Remus replies, nodding at Sirius, who pumps his fists into the air with a grin.

“She's American, but doing a show in London in a few weeks,” Sirius informs, smiling.

“American, huh? How old is she?” Remus asks, settling back into the couch they're perched on.

“That's the best part. She's our age - just turned eighteen.” Sirius grins again, putting his phone away.

“Oh yeah? You say that like she'd notice us. Never gonna happen, Pads.” Remus smiles, shaking his head.

“Expect the unexpected, mon amie.”

---

You're fiddling anxiously with your fingers, hands out of use as someone else is doing your makeup, rather than yourself.

“Almost done, Miss L/N,” Madelyn, your makeup artist, says, brushing a soft highlighter over your cheekbones.

“Mads, I told you that you can call me Y/N. You only do my makeup every day,” you say, closing your eyes as the woman pats highlighter into your inner corner.

“And...” she mists your face with setting spray, “...Done!”

---

About four hours later, your back is facing the crowd that's piled into the venue, stage lights shut off as only the sounds of quiet murmurs and shuffling feet hit your ears.

And then, the lights come on with a thumping click, and you begin the routine that you've practiced time and time again.

The music to your first song, the least vocally challenging of the set, begins, and you turn around with a sway of your hips.

Holding the mic to your mouth, you begin a one-step, two-step rhythm, one that's second nature to you; your eyes survey the crowd, left hand reaching to flip your hair.

The tune changes, and the beat is faster, now, as the lights begin to flash and your voice, in a habitual fashion, changes to match. You stride out rhythmically to the center of the stage.

You crouch in a fluid movement, thankful for the coverage your outfit gives you. It's a black sparkling jumpsuit, bottoms being a high-waisted, glimmering fabric with two side flaps, connected at your stomach to a matching corset-like top.

After a few minutes of usual song/dance routines, followed by cheers from the crowd, you decide it's time for a crowd interaction. It's difficult, resisting the urge to pull out your wand and cast a silencing charm to get the group's attention, but you opt for speech, instead.

"Alright, alright, everybody," you say into the mic with a laugh, eyes scanning the crowd for someone to converse with.

There's one man - his ebony hair is swishing as he speaks - who's bouncing up and down like an eager dog, and you laugh.

"We all excited to be here? In London!" you say, garnering numerous cheers and screams from the group.

"I can tell you are." You walk over to the raven-haired boy, who's in front row, and crouch down. He'd previously cheered extremely loud, confirming his excitement.

The boy makes a loud whoop'ing noise, getting a laugh from his friend.

His friend.

You continue to speak, walking over to someone else, but now your eyes are glued on him.

He looks about your age, with beautifully disheveled sandy brown hair and chocolate eyes. He has numerous scars littering his face, some new and red, some older and whitening.

You can't help but wonder what the scars are from, and you feel a strange attachment to the boy, though you've never spoken before.

And after a while, it's time for your final song. About a thirds of the way through, at your favorite part, you meander back over to the boys.

You lean over, disguising your position as a simple concert move, but you're really staring into the brunette's eyes.

"You remind me of a time when things weren't so complicated." The words fall from your mouth effortlessly, and you're able to search the boy's eyes as you sing. There's a spark in them, a glimmer of light that pulls you in.

"All I need is to see your face." You sing, still singing almost directly to the brunette.

You need to see more of him, you suddenly think. And you continue to sing the song, but all that swims around in your brain is a plan. A plan to erase the mystery behind the boy.

The show comes to a close, but before everyone has left, you pull your manager aside.

"Hey, Martin, this- this is an odd request, but could you ask these two boys to come backstage? That sounds, um, interesting, but would y'mind-"

"What do they look like?" Martin interrupts you, and you sigh in relief.

"One has longer black hair, and the other... sorta sandy brown hair, and some scars on his face. Can you find them from that?"

"I'll try."

You nod and thank him, running backstage to your small lounge and bathroom to await your mysterious visitors, changing quickly into clothes that are more comfortable; a simple silk dress, in a y/f/c hue, and a sweater to go over it.

You fiddle with your wand in your hands, mentally berating yourself.

It was quite a reckless decision, really. It's not like you had a valid reason for inviting these people to such a VIP space such as this. Just because you feel some weird connection to one of them didn't mean you could disregard everything. These boys are probably muggles, and you are not. Merlin, you're getting shipped off to Scotland next year after being home-schooled by your magical parents for eighteen years - just in time for your last year of school -going to a boarding school called Hogwarts (which would be a PR nightmare, but your parents insisted you needed some 'real-life experience').

But amidst your train of thought, you hear a knock at your door - two taps, three taps, your manager's code that it's okay to open the door - and you shove your wand into your (enlarged via Engorgio charm) pocket.

You stride over to the door, fiddling with the hem of your sweater, and open it to see Martin.

"Here they are, Miss L/N." He steps to the side to reveal the two boys, the darker-haired male standing in front, and you refrain from gasping when he steps forward, allowing you full view of the other boy.

The scars on his face are glimmering in the light, and his eyes are warm, pulling you in with every glance. His hair is perfectly tousled, and he's tall, over six foot two, or so you'd guess.

"Come in," you say, stepping aside to allow them entrance. You nod to Martin, signalling him to leave, and he does so, shutting the door and leaving you with the pair.

"Holy shit," the raven-haired boy says, and you realize he's only slightly shorter, about an inch less.

You laugh slightly, gesturing for them to sit down.

"Why are we back here?" the shorter one says, and you smile. He's made himself comfortable, seemingly the more outgoing, but the other one is still standing awkwardly beside you.

"You can relax, I'm not interrogating you," you say, smiling at the taller boy, who seems to let out a breath. "Why don't you introduce yourselves, and then we can talk, okay?"

"I'm Sirius, Sirius Black." The boy runs a hand through his dark hair, grinning.

"Ah, like the constellation? Brightest star in the sky," you say, and he nods.

"I'm, um, Remus. Remus Lupin," the other boy says tentatively, offering a smile.

"Hi, Remus," you say, nodding. "I don't want to assume you know my name, I'm aware you're not American, but considering you're at this concert-"

"Of course, we know your name, we're British, not daft," Sirius says with a playful scoff, and you laugh. "You're Y/N."

"That I am," you say with a giggle, and Remus grins. Your heart stops for a moment, the world coming to a halt as his eyes meet yours.

Sirius clears his throat, and a blush spreads onto the apples of your cheeks. You gulp, looking down.

"So, you didn't answer my question," Sirius starts, tilting his head, but Remus kicks his shin.

"Pads, chill," he whispers, shaking his head. Sirius shakes his head, looking at you.

"It's fine, really. 'M not that interesting, no need to be uptight," you say, smiling again.

"I'd beg to differ," Remus breathes.

After what feels like no time at all, but is really three hours, you've gotten any and all formalities out of the way. Well, all but one - you're still unsure if they're muggles, and they don't know that you're a witch, either.

That is, until Remus gets up to go to the restroom, and something tumbles out of his pocket.

Your first thought is how did something that long fit in a jean pocket, but then you see what it is.

It's a wand, about ten inches, cypress wood, with a small bulb at the end of it. You gasp, and Remus goes pale, stumbling to pick it up.

"Is that-" you start, but Sirius cuts you off.

"It's nothing," he says quickly, but you shake your head.

"That's a wand," you say slowly, and Remus is wide-eyed, nervously fidgeting.

"It-"

"No, no, no," you say, reaching into the pocket of your sweater and pulling out your own. Sirius and Remus simultaneously gasp as you brandish it in your hands, and you grin.

"You're a witch?" Remus asks, jaw slack.

"You're a wizard?" you return, raising an eyebrow.

"Fuck yeah we are!" Sirius says, and you grin.

"What school?" Remus inquires, and you purse your lips.

"I was home-schooled, but this year - for my last one - I'm going to this school called Hogwarts? D'you know it?" you explain, garnering another gasp from the pair.

"That's where we go," Remus says, and your eyes light up.

"Really?!" you ask excitedly.

"Yeah! I guess you'll have some friends when you get there, at least," Remus assures, grinning.

"I bet Remus wishes you had a boyfriend to greet you," Sirius says, disguised with some coughs, and you blush. Remus kicks his friend in the shin again, and turns to you with a sigh.

"Sorry, he doesn't know what he's talking about," he says, and you raise an eyebrow.

"Does he not?" you ask flirtatiously, and it's Remus's turn to blush.

"Uh-"

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" you say with a mischievous grin, one returned by the sandy-haired boy in front of you.

[nerdycanible1]

Izumi's Coronation

I hope you guys like. This took me maybe 3 and a half hours to write to 4. This is a funny story with some shared kisses between Lin and Kya and Lin and Izumi. I hope you guys like.

There is exactly 4,000 words in this. OwO I am happy. Please enjoy.

Izumi inhaled softly as she stared at herself in the mirror. The noises was muffled, she barely paying attention. She was going to be Fire Lord today and it was still sinking in.

She was fixing her robes, it either was too tight or too loose. She sighed as she took her glasses off and hoped she looked more better. Once she did she only saw a blur of reds and black. She growled and stuck her glasses on.

"Wow the future Fire Lord already to burn things to the ground." Izumi jumped and turned around seeing Bumi with a smile.

Izumi frowned and smoothed out her robes. Bumi was stationed there that month for extra protection for the new Fire Lord. Him and Izumi have been getting along pretty well and were still learning new things about each other. Which is fine, new memories.

"I didnt set a single thing on fire today Bumi now shush." She huffed a sshe went for retie her robes.

BumI rolled his eyes and walked forward and took it from her. He tightened it a bit and soon began to tie them. "You're sure are scared today." He mumbled. Izumi kept her head down as she tried to hide the blush from him.

"I'm fine." she insisted. "Its just nerves." She muttered. "I'm fine." she muttered.

"Yeah you're fine." He agreed a bit too fast to which Izumi glared at him through the mirror. He smirked and tilted his head. "What?"

Izumi scoffed and walked away from him and walked to her desk. In front of her were piles and piles of letters from different suitors around the Fire Nation. She sighed as she had a lot of homework to do by denying each and everyone of them.

Bumi watched her and stood there with his arms behind his back. He had a goatee and he kept his beard at bay. He had groomed himself. He was looking out the doors while Izumi secretly checked him out. His nose a little crooked though that's to be expected from a man in the military.

His chest sturdy and he was fit. He had dressed well that day, though it just was his uniform had been washed and polished. Jsut them a smirk formed on his face. "I see you checking me out." He fixed his coat and Izumi scoffed again and grabbed her lipstick.

Bumi knew Izumi had been self conscious of her looks from a young age. Due to that stupid Fire Nation school. It had hurt him really seeing her try and starve herself or when she ate food that was not her favourite. And now with the damn lipstick. Her lips were beautiful, plump and a perfect mix between maroon and purple though a lighter shade.

He strolled over to her and plucked the lipstick from her hands. "You dont need that. Less is more beautiful." He scoffed as he hid it behind himself. "You're perfect, stop fussing."

Izumi glared at him and held her hand out to him. "Give me the damn lipstick Bumi. Now." She demanded.

Bumi snickered and hummed. "Now you're sounding like a Fire Lord." He uncapped the lipstick and looked at it and then at her. "You know... I've always wanted to see why girls fussed over this. Maybe I'll try it." He hovered it over his lips and Izumi looked at him. Her stare cold and ready to murder.

Not a second later she was chasing after Bumi around the room. Bumi laughed and ran and jumped on her bed and jumped off running. Izumi laughed seeing him try and put it on his lips though he kept missing and either hit his teeth or he got it on his face.

Bumi smiled seeing her smile, he would do anything to see her smile. All seemed to have been forgotten about the coronation as Izumi and Bumi chased each other.

Though when Kya and Lin walked in Bumi wss pinned to the floor by Izumi was she was trying to put eye liner on it. "Damnit Bumi stop moving I almost took your eye." she snapped as she snorted and laughed seeing how wonky the eye liner actually was.

"Get off I said the damn lipstick." He chuckled. Lin arched her brow and crossed her arms as she watched it all unfold.

Bumi screamed again and Izumi huffed and finsihed up and rolled over and laid down next to him panting. Lin and Kya chuckled and Kya walked inside.

Lin grabbed Izumi's glasses and shook her head. "What did I expect, I thought, Hey I bet Izumi is already dressed and sitting in the throne. Hey maybe Bumi is doing his job for once and protecting the Lord of the FireNation." Bumi and and Izumi looked at Lin in surprise and Izumi squinted.

"Wait are you wearing a dress?!" Izumi asked seeing a blur of black and green on Lin.

Lin blushed and handed the other the glasses. Once it was on Izumi saw Lin was wearing a dress suit instead of a dress. Izumi was a little disappointed not seeing the dress but seeing Lin in the suit was hot.

Kya noticed Izumi staring too long and smirked. She helped the other up and pulled her hair a bit and whispered into her ear. "Don't even think about it."

Izumi blushed and scowled at Kya. Lin was ordering Bumi around and was helping him remove what they can from his face. "I wasn't thinking anything." she muttered as she began to take her hair out of its messy bun and began brush through it as Kya helped.

Izumi and Kya were finished as Lin looked at a loss. "It looks like Bumi was out at a night if hooky. Izumi, how do you take makeup off?" Izumi rolled her eyes and pointed to the dressers. That in the blue jar." Kya hummed as she finsihed pinning her hair.

"Wheres Tenzin and Suyin?" She asked glancing up at Kya.

Lin rolled her eyes. "He was caught up with some FireNation girls. Asking him about his tattoos and does he workout." She muttered.

No one said it but they all knew Lin had a small thing for Tenzin but didnt want to be killed by her. "And Su saw a boy and ran off." Lin sounded disgusted and sighed.

"You guys all ready?" Lin asked unbuttoning her second button. It was a lot hotter than she expected it to be. She took off her jacket and held it over her shoulder and looked at them. Bumi, Izumi and Kya all looked at Lin.

Lin may have not been a feminine woman but she sure as hell was a looker. Bumi was the first to snap out of it and brushed his hair back into a undo sort of thing. He had yet to cut it. Izumi on the other hand looked at the two and sighed as she needed to stop being a raging bisexual.

Kya walked to her brother and helped removed what they could of the eye liner. Now Bumi was 10x hotter than he was which was going to be distracting for most women that saw Bumi. "Your father is waiting." Lin held a hand out to Izumi to take, she would escort her there. Izumi smiled and was ready to take the hand until Kya placed her hand there giving a look to Izumi.

Lin rolled her eyes and held her other hand out to her. Izumi took that and Lin began to escort the women. Kya being a little frisky and tried to flirt with Lin. Bumi just followed behind and just smirked.

Once there Zuko looked at the women and smiled at them. It made him feel so old to see them all grown up. Lin was stronger and had a more muscular built but was a beautiufl woman none the less.

Kya was taller of course but had softer features and would break any person's heart. And Izumi, his own daughter.

She had a sharp chin, something she got from his family, and of course she was easy on the eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her. The hall suddenly went quiet as the priests and court got ready.

Suyin was sitting on the bench talking to the boy before she went quiet and waved at Izumi. Izumi waved back and smiled before she got ready.

Suki was standing to the side though she did look a bit older that didnt mean she wasn't beautiful. Zuko stood before the court and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. It only just hit him that his little girl had grown up and could care for herself... to a certain extent.

"We are gathered here on this special day. This day will mark a new generation, a new world." He took a deep breath and looked at his wife. Mai smiled and watched with pride and happiness in her eyes. "Not only have my friends and I helped return the world to balance but... we each were given children that we can pass the world too." He smiled and his features relaxed. "The newer generation will make great changes, not just for their nation's but for themselves. For the world to better themselves. A 100 years of fighting and now, here we are. Prospering into soemthing greater. We will not know now, but soon we will."

Suki and Sokka's son smiled and let out a happy whoop at that. The court looked back at him and Ridge blushed and shrunk. He was almost as old as Kya but maybe a year younger. Ridge looked a lot like his mother, same skin tone and everything. But his bright blue eyes and personality was Sokka.

Izumi blushed and smiled at him and looked back at Zuko. "It appears that I am for at a loss of words... I am just so overwhelmed with pride for my daughter. I've never met someone with so much spirit and leadership."

With one last inhale he smiled and lead Izumi to stand before the court. "Now a few words from my daughter before she is crowned."

Izumi's hands were trembling as her eyes were watering. Emotions were just hitting her and it was nice. Izumi saw the camera's and heard a few of them go off. Lin saw this and scowled at the cameras. She slipped from view and soon told them off.

Izumi watched this and soon her hearing went back. She gulped as she released a shaky breath. "I am Princess Izumi of the FireNation. I-" she gulped again and Lin smiled at her and nodded her head and told her to take a breath. Izumi followed her movements and kept her eyes on her. "I am honoured to be able to take the throne. I promise to withhold my father's words of keeping peace and I promise to give my Nation a chance to prove themselves and show we are no longer a threat." Lin gave her a thumbs up and went back to sitting down.

"I will uphold the new generation of the FireNation, and promise to keep the citizens safe. To protect my country is what I will do." She gulped and smiled at her mother before she turned and looked over at Suki. "The Kyoshi warriors will always have a place here. Employment and homes will be provided for keeping me safe and my family." Suki beamed with pride and smiled at the woman.

Suki was like a second mom to Izumi, of course there was always a place for her. Izumi looked at the crowd. "There will be a few changes of course but that will be discussed privately, but I will say that our military will ally with Republic City's. We will not break that bond." Everyone in the room was quiet and gave their silent approval with a nod and hum.

"ALL HAIL THE NEW FIRE LORD!!" Yelled the court as Izumi had finished. The people all gathered around outside have bowed as did everyone in the room. Izumi has the flame in her hair before she began to walk down the stairs. Everyone followed her with their eyes and soon she stood before her people. The people have bowed to the ground giving Izumi the respect she deserved.

The love and affection from the people, from her family made her so happy. She bowed to them lightly before she smiled at them. She took her glasses off and lightly dabbed at her eyes to removed any stray tear before she watched the fireworks go off and the confetti fill the sky.

Music began to play and soon people began to line up to greet her and welcome her as the new Fire Lord.

Lina, Kya and Bumi hung back and watch Izumi hold a child and kiss their forehead and wish them luck and then go back to shaking hands. "She's perfect for the job." Lin mused.

Kya nodded in agreement as Bumi hummed. "She really deserved this." Suki smiled and walked up to them.

"Nice to see you kids again. It's been awhile." Lin saw her aunty and beamed as she hugged the woman. Totally losing her facade. Suki was always her favourite aunty while Katara was her second mother.

"Its always nice to see you." Lin said looking at the woman. She was a inch shorter than Lin but barely noticable.

Toph was teasing Suyin in front of the boy. Suyin's face was on fire as Toph told stories of her as a punk child or a crying baby. Suyin huffed and gave up and went to go lead the boy somewhere else.

Sokka pulled Toph into a kiss and smirked. "You should really leave her to her own. I'm sure shes thinking of way to get back at you."

Kya smiled and just watched Lin. Her family was now all together and it just felt right. This was how it was supposed to be.

Izumi, Kya, Lin, Tenzin, Bumi and Ridge went to the beach side. They left the adults at the palace to do whatever the older people did. And Suyin was off with the boy probably kissing.

Izumi was sitting next to the water and just watched the waves. Lin smiled at them and hummed. She sat down next to her and handed her a cup of the drink.

"You were amazing today." Lin said softly. "I'm glad you didn't go into full panic mode." Lin says with a chuckle. She sipped her drink as she loosened a few buttons. She could relax now, they weren't in the public view and it was shot as shit in the FireNation.

Izumi blushed as she stared into her cup. "It wasn't that bad Lin." Muttered. She pouted and looked down at Lin. "I got it, it worked out."

Lin looked at hwr before she rolled her eyes and smiled. "It did work out." She sipped her drink. "So what now?" She asked softly. "I mean... we all have our jobs we wanted and we're all living our lives now."

Lin was sad to have the thoughts drawn on her. Lin was a police officer now and Bumi was in the military, Izumi the fricken Fire Lord, Ridge a Kyoshi warrior and Kya... just living in the moment.

She felt fingers lace with hers and she gulped softly. The soft and warm feeling spread up her arm made Izumi blush. "We do what we always did. Stay together." She whispered softly. Izumi looked into Lin's dark green eyes and squeezed her hand lightly. "We're not dying Lin, we have years to be together."

Ridge yelped as Bumi pinned him down. Kya smirked as she held the alcohol to his lips. "Drink it already!! Lose your drinking virginity Ridge!" She laughed.

Lin blushed and smiled as she caressed her hand lightly before she stood up. She held a hand out to the other. "Let's go join them." She smirked.

Izumi smiled and grabbed Lin's hand and Lon lifted her without effort. Lin lead them to the fire and Lin laughed seeing Kya drowning Ridge in alcohol. Bumi had let go and was on his ass laughing. It was safe to assume they were tipsy. The alcohol their parents had during the dinner was stronger than most. The only ones that seemed the most sober was Lin and Izumi and partially Kya.

Kya finished up when she made Ridge finish the cup. Ridge was panting and wiping his face off as he blushed. He glared at his cousin and wiped his face off.

Bumi and them all gathered around the fire. Kya sat next to Lin on her left and Izumi on the right. Lin smiled as she finished her drink before she asked them to fill it. "So what game do you guys suggest? I'm tired of Never have I ever... you guys get too nasty."

Izumi laughed as she drank hers and looked around. "Well, I dont have any. How about you Kya?"

Kya smiled as she sipped her drink and hummed. She asked for another refill. "Alright you have to drink after every question okay? Cant skip or anything. We just ask questions to a random person okay? I should go first." She looked around the group and then looked at Lin of course. "What's the worst date you ever been on?"

Lin blushed and smiled a sshe looked down. "I didn't like this one, his name was Jin." She shook her head and everyone snickered. "We went to this cheap restaurant and he was cute." Her cheeks flared red.

"Anyways this man orders two big orders of fried noodles, a arctic hen, some stir fry. Just everything on the menu. He was a big dude so of course he'd eat that much." She groaned and shook her head. "This damn idiot then continued to talk with his mouthfull. You can practically see the food spot from his mouth." Bumi began to laugh as Lin huffed and smacked the ground. "That idiot then up and left when I told him to shut his mouth and left me with the 200 yuan dinner." She grumbled as she was heated up again. She sipped dher drink and smirked. "But I did get to arrest him for destruction of property."

Izumi laughed and Lin leaned back a bit. "Hey Ridge, what's the most illegal thing you've ever done and got away with?"

Ridge immediately blushed and shook his head. "No! No! I refuse this question." He avoided Lin's eyes as he blushed. Bumi chuckled and now everyone was looking at him.

"Don't say anything now Ridge and we'll cut your hair off." Bumi got ahold of him and Izumi pulled out her knife.

Ridge tried to squirmed but Lin bended up the sand and solidified it and locked him in place. Ridge screamed as Izumi grabbed his ponytail. She barely even got to touch it before he screamed out again.

"MY BOYFRIEND AND I RAN THROUGH THE STREETS NAKED!!!" Everyone was stunned and Lin was the first to crack up laughing. Lin let the sand go and it turned back to grain.

Lin's face was red as she just lost her mind. Who would've thought her older friend was a streaker. Lin didn't care about his sexuality but Izumi and Kya were surprised.

Bumi let go of him finally the laughter set in and everyone began to laugh. "Did you hear his squeal?!" Kya laughed holding her stomach.

Ridge blushed and threw sand at Lin for asking such a terrible question. "Meanie." He huffed. "Bumi you go." He grumbled.

"Well what's the question?" Bumi asked watching him drink his alcohol.

"I know you at least kissed one of the girls, which one?" He huffed as he fixed his ponytail. He had an under cut and he had tattoos on his head though it was a mix of earth kingdom and water tribe tattoos.

Bumi blushed and looked over at Lin. Lin looked away and held her hand up. "Before you guys ask how let me just say it was my fault." she laughed.

"It was a party meant for any military personal and of course I was invited. I was drunk and I was dared to kiss the first man that bought me a drink. so I hung around the bar and Bumi was being nice and bought me a drink and I kissed him."

Lin rubbed the back of her neck. "Now who's turn-" Kya pretended to gag as she looked between the two.

"Gross!!! Ew!" she teased. Lin glared at her and she laughed.

Bumi laughed at her and hummed. He sipped his beer and looked around for Tenzin. "Anyone seen Tenzin?" Lin nodded.

"He went inside. One of the firebender girls took him." She sighed and rubbed her lip.

Bumi hummed and looked at Izumi. "Izumi, I have a question for you." From his tone of voice Izumi knew it wasn't a good question. Kya seemed to perked up and everyone began to listen in as well.

Izumi lcneched her jaw and sipped her drink lightly. "And... what is it?" She looked at him hoping she didnt need to kill him.

Bumi giggled before her got serious. "If you could kiss anyone in the group who would it be? And if that person accepts it you have to kiss them." That sneaky bastard. Izumi thought ready to kill herself instead.

Ridge bit his lip to bite back a smile as he knew the answer. practically everyone knew the answer except Lin. Lin looked at Izumi, expecting an answer.

Kya gripped Lin's hand ready to protect her. Izumi cursed under her breath and gulped. She released a breath and took her glasses off. She then turned and looked at Lin. "You." Was all she said.

The air was knocked out of Lin and her face burned red. "M-Me?" She began to lean back and look behind her making sure Izumi wasn't talking about Kya.

Izumi squeezed Lin's hand to get her attention. "You... Lin you."

Lin blushed as she had no idea what the hell to do. Just.... Lin squeezed her eyes shut before she leaned forward and kissed Izumi's lips. Lin's lips were surprising soft. Her lips were moisturized, and she appeared to have applied lipstick that because it had smeared all over the others lips.

Izumi leaned into the kiss to deepen Lin pulled back and panted. "N-No." She blushed. Kya pulled her hand out Lin's hand ready to walk away before Lin grasped Kya's hand. Kya stopped and glared down at Lin ready to let go.

Lin pulled Kya down and kissed her lips and Kya exploded. Izumi blushed and watched as she tried to compose herself. It was safe to say Lin was drunk as fuck. Turns out Lin cant hold her alcohol.

Kya gulped as she stared into Lin's eyes as she could feel her ears burn. Lin pulled her fully in the sand and soon broke the kiss and she panted. Her lipstick was all over her lips as she squeezed Kya's hand and Izumi's hand.

"Okay I'm tired now." She mumbled. She stood up and looked st the ladies. "I'm gonna go seep, you're welcome to join." Lin slurred lightly. She stood up and wobbled a bit before Lin was walking off to the palace.

Ridge was so confused but happy, there was no fight that's a plus. Bumi was laughing as he watched the girls in shock. Lin's lipstick was over both of the girls lips before Izumi scampered up and Izumi followed after. Chasing after Lin.

Bumi laughed and sighed as he drank his drink. The night was warm and the fire left the area soft and warm. "Well that was an interesting dilemma dont you think? Did you think Lin swung both ways? I'm glad, she deserves a night."

[a-lonely-tatertot]

Kam and physical affection

Wow, anon you can't just give me this and expect me to not write an entire fic about it.

Just Keep Holding Me, Cause This Entire Time You’ve Been My Life Line

a/n: This is what I do instead of my school which I am currently behind in I hope you’re happy probably the fastest I've ever written and posted a fic so eyy, also unlocked spoilers

words: 1715

tw: nothing 

The first time it happened was an accident. The brush of knuckles that sent sparks of adrenaline through Tam’s arm. What the heck? he had thought. 

He had watched Keefe for a while now. How careless he was with his touch. He’d give Sophie hugs and friendly forehead kisses when she was tired. Sophie would lean into his touch. Fitz, Keefe would randomly throw over his shoulder when he was getting too uptight, too Vacker-ish. He bounce around till Fitz was giggling and weakly saying “stop stop” between gasps and everyone knew he really didn’t mean it. Biana he’d give piggyback rides, or catch her when she would dramatically pretend to swoon. They would dance around each other for fun, swinging, dipping, something they had done since they were kids and were not above showing off. When Dex was around Keefe’s arm was always around his shoulder, or he was giving cheek kisses and making Dex’s entire face seem on fire. Linh and Keefe would always greet each other with a hug and Linh lifting Keefe up off the ground for a second. Marella and him traded arm punches, fistbumps, high fives, whatever. Even Stina when she was in a good mood he would rest his head on her’s or link his arm through hers and drag her to some shiny thing he saw. Ever since Tam had known him Keefe was touch. But the one person he never touched was Tam, and Tam couldn’t explain how much he ached for it. 

When their knuckles brushed Tam tried to play it off. Tried to ignore the way his stomach flipped the way his arm buzzed. He just wasn’t used to it okay. But later that afternoon it happened again, and Tam caught Keefe’s gaze knowing he knew exactly what he was feeling. 

-

They were researching for the Neverseen and Tam and Keefe had ended up in the same time slot. Keefe was grabbing a book that was high up and was half climbing the bookcase when, as Tam had warned, he fell backward. Keefe grabbed wildly Tam’s arm and Tam gripped Keefe’s shirt. “Didn’t I tell you this would happen?” Tam scolded him when he caught his breath. 

“Yeah well I had to at least try,” Keefe said. Huffing Tam shook his head but didn’t say anything. Slowly he realized how close they were. How he was touching Keefe. How he couldn’t catch his breath because ancients why did Keefe have to look so good dissolved and grinning? He had probably been holding on for too long by then and he was trying to tell himself to let go but it wasn’t happening because Tam wanted the moment to last forever. But Keefe was noticing. “You can let go now Tammy, I’m not gonna fall over again,” Keefe laughed.

So Tam let go, ignoring how much he didn’t want to. They went to get the ladder and he banished the way he felt from his mind.

-

Keefe was out, Tam wasn’t. Everything in him was awake, screaming, replaying Keefe’s twisted face over and over as the shadowflux entered him. He hated every second. Please let him be okay, Tam begged. Please.

He was cradling Keefe’s head in his hands trying not to cry because that’s not what everyone needed. He needed to be strong, to get them out of there. Sophie said something, said she would get Keefe to Elwin, and all Tam could do was nod. And she was running and he was staring at a crime scene where he was the killer. 

-

Keefe was awake. Keefe was awake. And Tam was standing outside of Elwin’s door. To apologize? To see how he was? To make sure there was still some chance that Keefe would want him in his life? Honestly, Tam had no clue but he was here. Elwin answered the door and smiled softly in a way that tore Tam’s insides to pieces with guilt, before calling out to Keefe. Keefe showed up with a pad and paper and a grin that Tam didn’t know why it was directed at him. 

Shady McSilverbangs! Keefe’s messy handwriting wrote. Tam expected him to be mad, to not want to see him, to throw insults at him through paper. Not to greet him with a smile and a new nickname. 

Suddenly it was just the two of them, and suddenly Tam was getting dragged by his hand up stares to Keefe’s room where Keefe only gave him a second to breathe before he was crushing him in a hug. “Hi,” Tam whispered, arms hesitantly wrapping around Keefe. 

“Hi,” Keefe said so softly Tam thought he imagined it. 

“Everyone said I shouldn’t come, but I was just so scared you would hate me I’m so sorry-” Tam was cut off by Keefe squeezing him lightly.

“I don’t hate you. Not even for a second,” Keefe whispered. “I’ve never hated you.” All Tam could do was nod weakly into Keefe’s shoulder. 

They stayed like that for who knows how long until Keefe pulled away to show him around. They talked for hours, sometimes through paper, sometimes just speaking softly. When Tam went to leave finally, and the sun was starting to sink, Elwin came up to him. 

“I’m glad he talked to you, he’s barely talked at all.” Something like pride swelled up in Tam’s heart as he left.

-

It had been ten months. Ten months since Tam had saw Keefe’s face. He didn’t get a letter like Sophie and he honestly tried not to feel hurt but it didn’t work. Ten month’s later, in the middle of a fight with the Neverseen who, once again, trying to capture them he saw Keefe’s face. At first, he thought it was an illusion, maybe he was just too tired from fighting. Or maybe blood loss? He was bleeding. 

“HAHA SUCKERS THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!” Keefe’s distinct voice shouted from the distance, and Tam couldn’t help but grin as the world seemed to pause in surprise. Someone, probably Fitz or Dex let out a whoop and everything started up again. He was fighting, metal clinks surrounded him, and he could taste copper in his mouth. He pushed and pushed surrounding the figure in front of him in tendrils but there were too many and he was surrounded. 

“Hey Shady looks like you could you some help,” Keefe called. 

“No shit get over here!” Tam called back. They fought on, somehow Keefe had learned to focus his power,  putting the Neverseen around him to sleep. “That’s useful,” Tam noted.

“Yeah. Hey,” Keefe spun around to face him and gripped his arm, “when this is over we need to talk.”

Tam couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach. Apparently, ten months made everything worse, he cleared his throat, “Yes we definitely need to talk, but I think Sophie deserves an explanation more than me.”

“I’ve been sitting on this for ten months I can only wait so long Tam,” Keefe said something unnameable fulling his eyes for just a second, then he was off and something else was stealing Tam’s attention.

-

Everyone made it out alive, and the Neverseen was crippled in the process. So all and all it was one heck of a win for them. When it was all over and the Neverseen had retreated and Tam got himself out of his daze started to search for Keefe. He found Keefe getting dragged by the ear by Elwin who was happy and very very pissed and was making that very clear. 

It took about an hour for Elwin to get done yelling and checking everyone to make sure they were okay. As soon as Elwin said he was good to go Tam found himself getting dragged by Keefe back into the forest where they had fought. “You better not be trying to kill me,” Tam said acutely aware of how Keefe was holding his hand. Keefe let out a chuckle before turning to face him. 

“Uh no actually,” Keefe started and the first thing Tam noticed was that he was nervous. Why the heck was he nervous. “You know the first thing I noticed when I was in the Forbidden Cities? Well, other than the fact that ice cream is absolutely delicious. I noticed I missed you. I missed our banter, and I miss your smile that you do when you think no one is looking. The way you seemed too short circuit every time anyone seemed to show the smallest bit of affection for you. I even missed your bangs,” Keefe chuckled again and rubbed the back of his neck before continuing. “It took a lot of thinking and a new friend to tell me that I actually had a crush on you, which sent me full throttle into a sexuality crisis so that was fun. Apparently, humans have so many names for that stuff? Yeah well um, I guess what I’m saying is that-” he paused and Tam was thrown into a small rabbit hole of panic and wondering what he was saying. “Tam, I really like you, like ten months pinning and realizing I was so stupid leaving you type of I like you. And if you’d let me I’d really like to be your boyfriend.” Tam’s eyes widened as he tried to process everything. Keefe dropped Tam’s hand like it had burned him, “I mean unless I read everything wrong and you don’t feel like that I’m really sorry I shouldn’t have said that I’m going-”

Tam kissed him. Full throttle kissed him, their teeth clacked and his mouth hurt for a second but when Keefe kissed him back it didn’t matter. He grinned into the smile and let Keefe hoist him up and spin him around like some stupid human romance movie that Sophie had showed him. Not even the fact that their friends had seen them and started clapping and whooping and probably trading money could embarrass him. “So is that a yes?” Keefe asked softly when they stopped for a breath and leaned their foreheads together. 

“No,” he said in complete seriousness and watched as Keefe’s eyes widened. “Yes, it’s a yes you idiot!” 

Keefe let out a startled laugh before kissing him again and a new round of shouts rang out.

[maximumsnow]

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Linebeck (Legend of Zelda) Additional Tags: Ciela Link Tetra and Oshus are all here and Jolene is referred to, But I didn't think it was enough to tag them as characters, Mainly I started this because in the game I didn't remember Linebeck actually apologizing to Jolene, And then it turned into a little bit of Linebeck introspection whoops., Letter is in the second chapter, Teen rating is because there are a few swears sprinkled in

Summary: Linebeck kept most of his life on his boat, but there was one loose end he never fully tied up in the Realm of the Ocean King.

It's been a minute since I've played the game but from what I could easily dig up, I don't think Linebeck actually apologizes to Jolene, and a part of me kinda felt like she should have some kind of closure. If I'm wrong and he actually does, then just enjoy this as an AU version of an apology.

As the fog closed in around them, Linebeck couldn’t help but call out, “Kid? Sparkles? Old Man?” The kids hadn’t been that far away from him, and Ciela and Oshus had originally been right in front. But the fog was so dense that he couldn’t even see beyond his outstretched hands.

The rotting planks he was standing on seemed to change into the familiar floorboards of his ship when he wasn’t paying attention, and the familiar sway of standing on his steamboat nearly floored him.

As he stumbled against the rail, Oshus’s voice echoed around him. “Unlike the children, you’ve been here for several years. Did you want to stay here? You’ve established a life here, and it would be remiss of me to not extend the offer.”

Linebeck looked in several different directions before asking dumbly, “What?”

“You wandered into my realm years ago, and you seemed content to stay.”

“I didn’t even know when that happened. I just thought I found somewhere off the maps I had.”

“And you never sought to leave.”

The piercing implied question irritated him, and spilling his life story now wasn’t going to happen. “… It’s complicated.”

“Well, is it less complicated now?”

That made Linebeck bite back the sarcastic quip that had been building, and he reached up to rub the back of his head. “Home is wherever my boat is,” He said while fondly patting the railing. “Heading to different waters won’t change that.”

“But you will never have the same stomping grounds if you leave. I just want to make sure you are completely okay with that.”

“… Thanks, I guess. But…” He thought of a child who seemed to forget that that’s what he still was. “Kinda want to keep an eye on the kid, you know?”

A yellow ball of light appeared in his peripheral. “Wow, admitting to having a heart for once?”

“Oh can it, Sparkles,” he immediately spat out. “You know how he is.”

“Yeah, I do.” The fact that she lost her bite so quickly sobered him up. Right, this was gonna be the last time they saw each other. “He… Still hasn’t told you everything. He might not ever. But I’m kinda glad I didn’t need to argue with you to leave with him.”

“Can’t tell me why that is?”

“If you’re gonna find out, it’s better if you find out from him,” She said airily. Her wings appeared to shake a few times before she settled in front of him, “Since this got sprung on you suddenly, I’m here to make sure you don’t have any loose ends you want to tie up. Sort of as a last favor, and a thank you.”

“Uhhh. I really would have appreciated to find out about this sooner so that I could figure that out.”

“Hey, I didn’t know this rift was going to open up right now either, so don’t give me that. Just give me some money to close up your bar tab or something.”

Before he could retort, Oshus’s voice cut through the familiar banter. “Linebeck, your time is limited.”

Right. He quickly tried to think of anything that he was leaving behind. Despite Ciela’s jab, he had pointedly kept his bar tabs paid, and he didn’t have any other outstanding debts.

Wait.

He took off running towards the cabin on the ship. “Oh shit, I never sent that letter to Jolene!”

As if she wasn’t expending any effort to keep up with him, she floated by his head and scolded, “Really, Linebeck? I thought you took care of that.”

“I thought I had more time, Sparkles. I was trying to make sure I didn’t piss her off any more than she already was. Hell, I thought I might try and say it to her face.”

That clearly dumbfounded her. “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any braver, you go and admit you were thinking of actually talking to her instead of hiding.”

“Well, I clearly wasn’t brave enough considering I still only have a half written letter, and now I need to finish it. Now keep it down while I finish this, okay?” He waved the fairy away and settled at the charting desk.

After a few minutes of furious writing, he folded the paper up, and even added a postage stamp. “Just in case, don’t want to leave a debt after all.”

She floated by his hand and grabbed the letter. “I’ll make sure this gets to her. Promise.”

“Thanks-”

“I have to send you now, so hold on...” Oshus’s voice ended the conversation. Linebeck barely got his hand back up to wave goodbye to the fairy before the fog became so thick, he couldn’t even see the interior of his boat.

He wasn’t sure when it happened, but he was lying on his back in the middle of the cabin room when his eyes opened. Sitting up was an effort, like he had been laid out for hours, and his back made an unpleasant cracking sound. “Why was I on the floor...” He asked aloud to no one in particular. His brain was as foggy as if he had just woken up from a long nap. “Did I drink that much?”

He made an effort to stand while he tried to piece together what lead up to him passing out on the floor, and at first his mind drew a blank.

Strangely, there wasn’t any indication he drank the night prior. When he saw the still open chart on the floor, the last few hours came rushing back.

He frantically looked around for Link and his friend. “Kid?!” From what he could see, there wasn’t any sign of either of the teenagers that he had traveled with. He ran out onto the deck, and, when he didn’t see them there, he couldn’t help but look overboard.

After a few minutes, he finally looked towards the horizon, and, in the distance, he could see the fully intact ghost ship. The lack of fog confused him, but it didn’t stop his heart from stopping at the sight.

Another ship pulled up beside it, and at that point, Linebeck had to run back and pull out a telescope to get a better look.

His boat was facing the wrong way for him to get there in time, and he thought maybe if he knew what the unfortunate souls looked like, then maybe… He wasn’t even sure how to finish that thought.

To his great surprised, the kid and his friend hopped over from the ghost ship to the other ship, and started talking with the people on there. To say that he was relieved would be an understatement, but the distraction of the other people on board steered his thoughts away from that.

… Link had mentioned that Tetra was the captain of a ship, now that he thought about it. Given how the sailors appeared to be deferring to her, it seemed increasingly likely that they had somehow found their old ship. Despite that, there was an animated discussion going on, and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how that was going.

Man, he really had to give Oshus credit for not dumping them in the middle of nowhere.

A small part of him, however, was uneasy. Surely the kid wouldn’t need him anymore now that he was back with Tetra and all of his crewmates? The thought of slipping away while they weren’t looking crossed his mind.

He couldn’t deny the thought tempted him. He had been a loner barring some notable exceptions, and the thought of being pulled into a proper crew daunted him.

That and there was no way he would ever live up to his earlier moment of courage again. Link by now knew what a coward he was, but that moment of courage would be expected of him again, wouldn’t it? He didn’t want to be a dis-

Wait. He wrote an entire damn letter explaining why he ran from Jolene, and it was happening again.

If he ran away again, he wouldn’t have learned anything. And the kid seemed to like him, for whatever reason. And the way Ciela had talked about planning on arguing with him to go with Link had concerned him…

Well… It wasn’t like the kid was going to expect him to be a dungeon delver, right? He already knew that would be a disaster.

Maybe he should stick around.

Deciding to announce his presence, he went back into the cabin and blew the horn. When he looked out the window, he could see the kid practically leaning on the railing and waving.

Smiling, he waved back even though he wasn’t sure if they could see him, and steered the ship to the other boat.

He didn’t notice when the ghost ship simply disappeared, but when he managed to turn his boat around, the fact that the ominous ship was gone startled him. He figured it had to be Oshus’s doing, but he really wished the old man-whale-spirit thing had chosen a less foreboding way to handle the matter.

Either way, his thoughts turned back to the kid waiting for him, and he decided that he’d forgive Oshus this time.

He had a new life in new waters to figure out.

[purplesurveys]

1150

survey by reckless-ryan

When was the last time you cried? Like half an hour ago? I saw a short clip on Twitter of Jessi going out of her way to comfort this girl on an audition show who didn’t make the cut and ended up bursting into tears as she was walking off the stage. I thought it was such a heartwarming gesture and I ultimately cried along with the young girl, lol.

Is there anyone in your life who you won't ever want to lose? Of course. I can’t bear any of my best friends leaving me. It’s already happened with an old best friend, and even though I’ve already moved on from it I don’t ever want to go through something that devastating again.

What is your opinion on the world? Unfair, for the most part.

When was the last time you had gummy bears? The last day I was in school before the pandemic. Andi had just done a hosting gig the other day and the organizers of the event had given them this jar of gummy candies as part of their compensation, so they shared some with me.

Have you ever thought or wished that you were someone else? I mean I’m always wishing that I were richer, if that counts. Doesn’t matter whose shoes I’m filling; I’d just want to experience living in a big modern home with a fancy coffee maker and centralized AC hahaha.

Is there anyone you like? Not in the way I’m guessing you mean.

What was the last lie you told? I told my mom I had left my Hydro Flask tumbler at Angela’s house and that I just never asked for it back, when I actually lost it two years ago. HAHAHA my mom has now been nagging me to get it back so I have to buy one altogether and stage a pickup at Angela’s place :(((

Name one singer or artist you dislike a lot. I cannoooooooot stomach Chris Brown. Fucker should have had his career ended more than a decade ago.

Your siblings just ate the cake you baked for your friend. Your reaction? I honest to god cannot see them doing this because we always make it a point to ask for permission when it comes to food lying around and making sure it’s for everyone. But if I ever had a different and much ruder set of siblings, I imagine getting furious and demanding why they did it. Baking is no easy feat :/

Your crush/lover just gave you a dozen roses. What do you do? There’s no such person in my life. But hypothetically, I’d absolutely swoon and be over the moon. I love getting flowers.

What would do if the person you like started sweet talking to you? Be wary about it and report to my two best friends so I can get advice and/or different perspectives.

Are you shy? I am at work, when we’re speaking with clients or planning with other agencies. I don’t think I’ll ever get over being a grown-up doing grown-up things.

Favorite subject in school? I loved taking history and would’ve taken every available history elective if I could’ve.

What is your opinion on school exactly? Everyone deserves a quality education, and it’s infuriating how expensive tuition can get to the point that it has the power to force children to stop schooling. Do you like to play with fire? I’m deathly afraid of fire and squeak at the smallest flame, lmao. I ask my dad to light up my scented candles every time. This is also the reason why I doubt smoking will ever become a habit of mine.

Are you evil? Wow, no? And I certainly hope other people don’t think that of me.

What's the most eviliest thing you've done? Probably some stuff I did to my brother as a kid.

What's your favorite number? 4.

Are you in love? No.

The world is going to end. What will you spend the rest of the time doing? Empty my bank account and buy all the food I’ve ever wanted to get, have a long road trip wherever my car takes me, and probably break Covid protocols and throw a large party with and for my friends.

Your brother ate your last favorite brownie. What do you do? I’m estranged from him but we live under the same roof, so I will probably do something pettily passive-aggressive. He actually did this a few months back but with a doughnut, and I remember complaining while knowing he was within earshot.

Do you still write notes in class? I’m not in school anymore, but yeah I consistently took down notes no matter how uninteresting the class was or no matter how often my prof would get distracted and go off on a tangent about something completely irrelevant.

Have you ever got caught cheating on a test? No. I’ve only cheated once but I wasn’t caught then because I did it while a prayer was playing on the school speakers.

Have you ever done weed? Nope.

Have you ever drank? Sure.

What's one memory you'll never forget? Being at Nacho’s wake.

How many people are in the same room as you? None, I’m on the rooftop alone.

Are you currently sick? Thankfully I’m not and haven’t been since last year for something not Covid-related.

What's one thing that changed your life forever? I think it’s too early to determine something like that, but at this point in my life I think my break-up would definitely rank high on the list. I’m just happy there’ve been more good things to have come out of it than bad.

Do you have unlimited texting? I do, but it’s a promo that I have to pay for every week if I want to keep having it.

Who do you text the most? Mostly media friends we deliver gifts or PR kits to.

Who do you call the most? I’m rarely the one who makes calls.

What's the longest time you've cried for? An entire night, I’m guessing. I’ve had lots of those nights.

What did you cry about? Breakup, general depression, feeling alone and helpless.

Your crush just asked you out. What do you do? I don’t have a crushhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH

You got caught smoking/drinking. What do you think will happen? For smoking, I’d get the whooping of my life for sure. If I got spotted drinking my parents would just walk by me.

Have you ever cried in school? I think just once. I was campaigning to have an executive position in the org at the time and the miting de avance was taking place that afternoon, and I got overwhelmed and broke into tears. 

You friend at school gets arrested for doing something. What do you do? I mean in the Philippines, arrest means a completely different thing and the police here can arrest and kill just about anybody they wish to fire a gun on, so I’d imagine I’d be infuriated and share it on social media to spread the word.

How are you feeling right now? A little meh because this weekend was so uneventful. I’m not as down as I usually would be on Sunday evenings, though, because it’s the Holy Week and I only need to work until Wednesday.

Why do you feel that way? Whoops, one step ahead of you.

What's your favorite animal? Dogs or elephants.

What's your sex orientation? I usually just say ace so that I don’t get a confused look from people, but I generally don’t like placing a particular label on myself.

Do people have a problem with that? No. The ones who know have been nothing but accepting.

Do you have any problem with gay people? No.

How about lesbians? No?????

What's something red in the room you're in? There’s a static red light flashing from our Wi-Fi antenna thingy here on the rooftop.

[fairyqueenofthedragons]

Key to Knowledge

Fablekingdom chapter 3

Glad you all seem to like the story :D I'm having fun writing it. Sorry for the slight delay, life happens. Finals are coming up and I have a bunch of projects so I might be a bit slow on updates for the next few weeks.

(Find Chapter One with a server of “Fk ch 1″)

Come chat with me on discord: https://discord.gg/nwwcSQSUjh

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Breakfast the next morning was good. Lena had called it “cream of wheat”, mixed with berries and homemade raspberry preserves. There was also toast and butter, and orange juice.

Seth had his tongue poking out as he angled his butter knife to bounce sun rays in Kendra’s eyes. She was not close enough to the window to retaliate, so she settled for kicking his foot.

“Don’t blind your sister, Seth,” Grandpa said.

Seth put his butter knife down with a sigh, turning to Grandpa, “Where’s Dale?”

Kendra wondered the same thing, she hadn’t seen him today, was he still asleep? It was almost nine.

“Dale and I got up a few hours ago, finished most of the morning chores. He’s still out working, I’m just here to keep you company since it’s your first morning.”

“Will you guys be back for lunch?” Kendra asked.

“No, today I’m going to the North fields, I’ll be bringing lunch with me.” He studied the wall above them, looking uncomfortable. “I’ll likely be back for dinner.”

“Oh...” Kendra murmured, nibbling on some toast. She supposed he hadn’t particularly wanted them here anyways. He wasn’t required to spend all his time with them.

“You kids remember my rules?” Grandpa asked.

Seth nodded, shoving some cream of wheat in his mouth, “This is good.”

“Stay out of the woods and the barn,” Kendra answered her Grandpa. “And keep things neat and try not to break anything.”

“Good girl,” Grandpa said with a small smile. “There’s a swimming pool out back, it’s all set up so feel free to swim in it. If you don’t feel like swimming there are gardens as well, plus the yard as a whole to run around in. You might even find some surprises if you look around.”

He stood, folding his napkin.

“You’re also welcome to play in your room. Any questions?”

Kendra nodded, “When is Grandma coming back?”

Grandpa faltered, gaze darting to the clock.

“That depends on your Aunt Edna. If she recovers quickly than Ruth could be back next week, or it could be a couple of months.”

“Good thing Grandma’s not sick anymore,” Seth said, putting some jam on his toast.

“Sick?” Grandpa asked.

“You know,” Kendra said with a frown. “The illness that kept her from the funeral.”

“Oh yes,” He nodded. “That one. Well, she was still a little under the weather when she left but was feeling much better.”

“I’m sad we missed her,” Kendra said.

“Yeah, we haven’t seen her in years,” Seth added.

“She was sorry to miss you too,” Grandpa assured them as he pushed his chair in. “I’d best be off. Don’t forget sunblock if you swim and keep your video games inside.”

“Yes Grandpa,” Seth said.

“We’ll be good,” Kendra promised.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Kendra was dressed in her blue swimsuit, a towel over one shoulder, as she stepped onto the back porch. She had a water bottle under one arm and a very pretty handheld mirror she’d found in the nightstand by her bed in her hand.

She paused to admire the gardens that covered a good portion of the backyard. There were paths of white stones meandering through the flower beds and hedgerows. She could see the edge of a vegetable patch peeking out behind some hedges to the right of her, and some dry fountains over there too.

Just in front of the porch seemed to be an herb garden and around the pool were more flower beds and a ring of fruit trees. She didn’t recognize all the fruit there, only the two apple trees and cherry tree. Maybe that one was a peach tree?

She wondered if it was okay for them to eat any of them.

The flowers were really beautiful though, Kendra had never seen such brilliant blossoms.

Seth was already swimming, throwing some sinking toys and diving after them.

The pool looked really cool, with a black bottom and rocks surrounding it you could almost mistake it for a pond.

Kendra grinned and headed down the steps, following the short path to the pool side.

The garden around her was filled with birds and insects.

There were quick moving hummingbirds, wings nearly invisible as they moved from flower to flower.

Huge bumblebees buzzed around, two coming very close to her. She stilled for a moment, remembering the rule her dad taught her. As long as you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. They drifted past.

Kendra paused again as two butterflies alighted on some flowers by her, wings brilliant hues of blue and red. She’d never seen such brilliant butterflies. Then again, she’d never visited a garden this incredible either, it’s no wonder Grandpa Sorenson had so many chores.

“Beautiful,” she murmured.

The butterflies fluttered back up, flying around her for a moment before drifting away.

“Wow,” she whispered as she arrived at the pool. This really was an amazing backyard.

The poolside was paved, with some recliners and a circular glass table with a big umbrella in the center.

Seth climbed out of the pool as she arrived, waving as he leapt from a stone outcropping with a whoop. He hit the water with a big splash.

Kendra set her towel and mirror on the table and grabbed a bottle of sunblock. She took a few minutes to smear it on her skin, rubbing it in until it disappeared.

While Seth dove under water for another one of the sinking toys, Kendra picked up the mirror, carefully angling it so it reflected the sunlight. When Seth came up she aimed a big splotch of sunlight right in his eyes.

“Hey!”

Seth ducked back under water, coming back up in another spot. Kendra pointed the light right back at him.

“Cut it out!” Seth called.

“But I thought you liked playing with sunlight,” Kendra said.

Seth turned to glare but had to look away with the light in his eyes.

“I only did it a little! And Grandpa already told me to stop.”

Because that always stops him from doing something, but Kendra put the mirror down anyways.

“Don’t try to blind me again,” she said.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, swimming over to the side of the pool.

“How’s the water?” Kendra asked, walking over to the edge.

Seth grinned, and shoved the water forward to splash her.

She shrieked, surprised by the cold, before her eyes narrowed and she leapt over him into the water.

It took a moment to adjust to the temperature but then she quickly swam away from Seth, ducking under the water to avoid his splashing.

It ended in a splash fight, Seth swinging his arms in wide arcs and doing big but weak splashes. Kendra pushed to water in focused waves, hitting Seth head on more, though he dodged more than she did.

She ducked under water after a few minutes, when the fight was slowing, yanking Seth under water.

The fight began anew, Seth and her wrestling in the water until they were both tired.

“I definitely won,” Seth said.

Kendra rolled her eyes.

The two of them played some games with the sinking toys, racing for them and seeing who could get the most. Then they tried different dives into the deep end.

Kendra was the best at the clean dives, making only a small splash. Seth was great at doing big splashes though.

Kendra grew bored after a bit, getting out of the pool to rest on the edge.

Seth had her judge his dives.

“Watch this can opener!” He yelled as he jumped with one leg straight and the other bent.

“Eight and a half,” Kendra called back when he surfaced.

“That was definitely a nine,” he said as he swam back to the edge to jump again.

“You bent your leg when you hit the water,” she countered.

“Oh, come on!”

Kendra grinned, standing to grab her towel, but stopped when she saw the mirror.

Hummingbirds, bumblebees, and butterflies swirled in the air around the mirror. Several more butterflies and a couple of large dragonflies were actually sitting on the mirror face.

“Seth,” Kendra called quietly. “Come look at this.”

“What?”

“Come here.”

Seth sighed, walking around to reach Kendra and doing a double take at the insects and birds around the mirror.

“What’s up with them? They’re acting like the fairies from Grandpa’s stories.”

“I’m not sure,” Kendra said. “Do insects like mirrors?”

“Ones that are secretly fairies do,” Seth joked.

Kendra rolled her eyes, “This isn’t Grandpa’s fairytales, Seth, what are they doing?”

“Admiring their lovely wings?”

“Well they are pretty wings.”

They stared for a moment.

“I dare you to grab the mirror,” Kendra said.

“Sure.”

He moved forward carefully, before snatching up the mirror and bolting to the pool, diving in.

Some of the insects and birds scattered, but most drifted after him for a moment.

“How strange,” Kendra muttered before shaking her head. “Seth, get the mirror out of the pool, the chemicals will ruin it!”

“Chill, it’s fine,” he said, stroking over to the side.

“Here, let me see it,” Kendra took the mirror from him and wiped it dry with her towel. It didn’t seem damaged.

She paused, eyeing the assorted insects around the pool.

“Want to try something?” Kendra said as she placed the mirror face up on a lounge chair and backed away.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” Seth asked.

“We’ll see.”

Kendra and Seth sat down at the table, not too far away from the lounge chair. Kendra sipped her water as they watched a hummingbird glide over to the mirror. Soon it was joined by a few butterflies, and then some bumblebees, and then some dragonflies.

“Go turn the mirror face down,” Kendra suggested. “I wanna see if they like their reflections or the mirror itself.”

Seth crept forward slowly, the animals taking no notice of his approach. He reached forward carefully, then quickly flipped the mirror and bolted back to the table.

The ones that had landed on the mirror took flight when it was overturned, but only a few of the creatures flew away. A pair of butterflies and a dragonfly landed on the lounge chair at the edge of the mirror.

Kendra gasped as they took flight and flipped the mirror over, nearly sliding it off the chair in the process.

“Is that even possible?” Kendra muttered.

“That was so weird,” Seth agreed as the swarm pressed close to the mirror again.

“How are they strong enough to lift it?”

“There were a few of them,” Seth pointed out. “Want me to flip it again?”

“No, it might break… I don’t think butterflies are strong enough to flip that, it’s too heavy.”

“I dunno,” Seth said, draping his towel over his shoulder. “I’m gonna go change.”

“Take the mirror with you?”

“Sure, but if I get stung I’m telling Grandpa it was your fault.”

Seth moved to towards the mirror slowly, then snatched it up and rushed to the path back to the house. Part of the swarm drifted after him but didn’t follow far before scattering.

Kendra stared after them for a moment, frowning as she tried to figure out what was up with them. Seth was right, it really did remind her of the stories Grandpa told them about fairies.

How strange.

Kendra sighed and wrapped her towel around her waist, grabbing the sunblock and her water. She headed back to the house.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Kendra found Seth dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved camo shirt. He was checking through the cereal box that served as his emergency kit.

“What are you doing?”

“Just checking if I need anything else,” he said innocently.

“How about some water?” Kendra said, eyes narrowed.

Seth brightened, “Good idea! I’ll grab some on my way out.”

He scooped up the kit and headed to the door.

“Where are you going?”

Seth paused, sending her a sly smile, “Promise you won’t tell?”

She huffed, “You’re going into the woods.”

He shrugged, “Wanna come?”

“You heard Grandpa, there are ticks in there, you’ll get Lyme disease.”

“Ticks are everywhere, so’s poison ivy. If people let possible dangers stop them then no one would ever go anywhere.”

“Grandpa will be mad, you’ll get in trouble.”

“Grandpa isn’t here. As long as you don’t tell, nobody will know.”

Kendra frowned, “Grandpa has been really nice. He didn’t want to have us here, but he opened his home to us. We should follow his rules, he only gave us like three of them.”

Seth rolled his eyes, “There’s no adventure in the garden.”

“Have you explored the whole yard yet?”

“How about this. If I don’t find anything interesting or weird or anything like that in the woods today, I’ll spend the next week only in the yard.”

Kendra considered, that sounded fair. What were the chances the forest had much in it?

“Grandpa’s livestock or whatever he has here doesn’t count.”

“Sure, but if I find a satyr or evil witch in the woods-“

“If you find an evil witch in the woods I’m not letting you back in the woods or you’ll get cursed.”

“But then how is Kendra the fairy princess gonna save me?” He asked, batting his eyelashes.

“Fight me.”

He laughed, “It’ll be fine, are you coming?”

Kendra hesitated, it did sound interesting but…

“No, not this time.”

“Will you tell on me?”

“If they ask I won’t lie.”

“I won’t be long,” Seth promised, hurrying out of the room.

Kendra sighed and stared around the room for a moment, what was there to do?

Oh yeah, she’d almost forgotten.

Kendra hurried to the nightstand, the mirror was resting on it. Beside the mirror was the key ring Grandpa had given her.

She’d already figured out what the biggest key opened, a jewelry box on the dresser that was full of costume jewelry, and a few pieces that looked real.

There were some fake necklaces and earrings and pendants and rings and bracelets, but also some that looked real. She was pretty sure the hair clip was real silver, and the bracelet looked like real rubies. She’d put them all back in the jewelry box, not sure if they were allowed to use it despite what Grandpa had said.

Did he mean for her to keep them in giving her the keys? Or was there a different purpose?

She wasn’t sure.

There had also been gold wrapped chocolates, only three of them, she’d had one and it was undoubtably the best chocolate she’d ever had.

She decided to check out the rest of the room for more key holes. She had two more keys, both smaller than the first. The smallest was no longer than a thumbtack. Where would she find such tiny keyholes?

The night before she’d tried all the drawers and toy chest, but none were small enough, and most unlocked anyways.

Her eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out what might have a small enough keyhole. They landed on the Victorian dollhouse.

Of course, if anything would have tiny keyholes, it would be a tiny house.

She unlatched the clasps of the house and opened it, revealing three stories and many rooms full of miniature furniture. Five doll people lived in the house—a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, and a baby.

The detail was incredible, the dolls had individual hairs on their heads and the clothing had patterns. The rooms themselves had just as much detail, with the beds having quilts, blankets, sheets, and pillows, and the couches having removable cushions. The bathtub even had movable knobs and the sinks had tiny cosmetic supplies on them.

The dollhouse’s master bedroom had an intricate armoire, with a large keyhole in the center, or well, large for the size of it.

Kendra inserted the tiniest key and turned it, smiling when the doors sprung open.

Inside were more of the gold wrapped chocolates, along with a small golden key. It was larger than the one that opened the armoire, but smaller than the one that opened the jewelry box.

Kendra carefully tucked the two wrapped chocolates away, they were two good to eat all at once.

She checked the rest of the tiny house, under every couch, bed, and carpet, behind every painting and dresser, in every closet and cabinet, but there were no more keyholes.

She closed up the dollhouse once more, determined to play with it later, this really was the dream dollhouse, she wished she’d had one at home.

Looking around the room, Kendra debated what to check next. There was one key left of the originals, plus the new one… was there a key in the jewelry box too?

She went back over to it, shifting through the real and fake jewelry to see. On a charm bracelet she found another little golden key, about the size of the one she’d found in the armoire. She took it off the bracelet and slipped it onto the keyring.

So that’s two new keys, and one of the originals.

She looked around again. Kendra had already checked all the dressers and toy chests and wardrobes (they were filled with fascinating stuff, the wardrobes had some of the softest fur coats and scarves and gloves she was jealous) but she could always double check. It was possible a key hole could be behind something, or under something, but she didn’t think it would be that crazy, the first two weren’t.

She decided to check the telescope, it seemed reasonable enough with all the knobs and different sections.

A thorough check later led her to be sure that there were no key holes.

Maybe she could see Seth through it though.

She opened the window, noticing Dale walking along the lawn at the outskirts of the woods. Kendra thought that he was out doing chores, why was he at the yard?

He stooped, putting something that he’d been carrying behind a low hedge, making her unable to see it. He set off at a brisk pace, glancing around as if worried someone would see.

Kendra considered for a moment, that seemed strange, but not bad. Her curiosity got the best of her though and she headed down the stairs.

OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO

Reaching outside, Dale was nowhere in sight. She headed over to the low hedge beneath the attic window, weaving through the beautiful gardens and past a few lovely fountains.

The hedge was about six feet before the edge of the forest and laying on the ground just behind it was a large pie tin full of milk.

Kendra crouched down, staring in fascination at the assorted animals hovering around it and drinking the milk.

An iridescent hummingbird hung suspended over the pie tin, along with several butterflies. One swooped down and splashed in the milk, before fluttering back up.

The hummingbird flew away after a moment and a dragonfly approached.

All the animals were very pretty. The butterflies wings the brightest colors and the dragonflies large and almost sparkling in the light.

“You’re all so pretty,” she murmured to the winged animals. “But why are you all drinking the milk?”

She gasped as a butterfly landed on her hand, wings fluttering delicately.

“Hello,” she whispered, staying still so as not to scare it away.

It’s wings fluttered, and after a moment it drifted back into the air.

She glanced back at the pie tin, surprised by how much the milk level had fallen.

Who knew that butterflies, dragonflies, hummingbirds, and bees liked milk?

She carefully straightened, grinning at the winged animals that drifted around her.

“I’ve got to go, enjoy your milk.”

She walked back towards the house, then paused partway. She studied the attic window for a moment. The house was pretty big, but the attic was fairly long.

Studying the window, she visualized the room. It only took up half the space that should be there.

She walked around to the opposite side of the house, distracted slightly by the many beautiful flowers, and the assorted fruit trees that dotted the lawn.

Arriving on the far side, she studied the top of the house. There were another set of attic windows, window that the room Seth and she were staying in couldn’t see. So, there was another side to the attic.

Maybe there was a secret passage to it in the playroom! Maybe that’s what the keys were for.

She was just about to head back to the attic to check when she noticed Dale coming from the barn with another pie tin.

She could always check the attic later.

She hurried over to Dale, frowning when he suddenly looked uncomfortable.

He pasted a smile on his face as she reached him, “Hey Kendra.”

“Hi, what are you doing?”

“Just taking some milk to the house,” he said, changing direction to head towards the house. He had been heading towards the woods.

“Why’s it in a pie tin? And why’d you leave the other tin behind the hedge?”

“Hedge?” he said innocently, looking incredibly guilty.

“There were a lot of butterflies there, drinking it.”

Dale stopped, studying Kendra intently. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course.”

He glanced around as if there were spies nearby. “We have a few milking cows, and they make a lot of milk. We sell some of it, and use some, but there’s a bit excess. I put it out for the insects, seems to make them happy.”

“Why’s it a secret?” Kendra asked.

“Well, I never really asked if it was alright. Your grandfather might not be happy about me doing it when I could be trying to sell it.”

“It seems nice,” Kendra offered. “The animals seemed to like it.”

He nodded, “Yeah, they seem happy with it.”

“So you weren’t taking that tin to the house.”

He coughed, “No, no. This milk hasn’t been pasteurized. It’s full of bacteria, you could catch all sorts of diseases. People should not drink it, but the insects seem to like it best like this. You’ll keep my secret?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks,” he winked at her.

“Where are you putting that one?”

“Over there,” he jerked his chin towards the woods. “I set a few on the border of the yard every day.”

“Does it go bad? Or attract anything dangerous?”

“I don’t leave it out long. And some days they’re empty when I collect the pans, haha, they’re thirsty little critters.”

Kendra nodded, “Cool.”

“I’d best get back to work, I’ll see you around Kendra.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

She turned to head back inside.

“Oh yeah, you seen your brother around?” Dale asked.

“I think he’s in the house,” Kendra said. “He wanted some water last I checked.”

“Kay, just checking.”

Kendra waved, heading back in the house.

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[steves-on-a-plane]

Waiting For You

Words: 1597 Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Timeline: Not Specific Request: “Omg u are taking requests? Can you write something about Bucky being readers boyfriend and she is just waiting for him to propose they have been together for yearssss and yearsss.” - Anon Summary: Bucky and Reader have been dating for seven years, but after dropping hints about wanting to get married for nearly a decade, Reader has finally accepted that it may not be in the cards for her and Buck. 

You’d  tried dropping hints over the seven plus years that you’d been dating Bucky. They were subtle at first. One time you left a stack of bridal magazines on the coffee table for a week to see if he said anything. Another time You started a conversation asking about which two colors he thought went best together. But over time the hints got less subtle. You talked about how nice your sister’s wedding was and how you couldn’t wait for your own special day. You’d read your friend’s Facebook posts aloud and talk about how they all seemed to be having kids. Every attempt seemed to go unnoticed.

“What are we watching tonight?” Bucky yawned as he snuggled up close to you on the couch. It was time for your weekly movie night and it was your turn to pick the movie.

“Twlight; New Moon.” You said pressing play on the remote. You draped a blanket across you and Bucky as movie started.

“The vampire movie?” Bucky sighed. “Didn’t we watch already?”

“Not this one.” You laughed. “There’s five of them.”

“Five!” Bucky complained. Alright well what happens in this one?”

“You’d know if you stopped talking.” You scolded him. You yawned and leaned against Bucky, your head resting on his chest. After only ten minutes Bucky had more questions.

“So Bella’s upset because she’s getting older and Edward is not? The dude’s 109!” Bucky exclaims pointing at the TV. He starts playing with a lock of your hair, twirling the strand around one of his fingers.

“But he looks seventeen.” You pointed out.

“That dude does not look seventeen!” Bucky argues. “Where’s my phone? I’m gonna Google how old this guy was.” Bucky strained to reach for his phone that was resting far away on the coffee table. He couldn’t quite reach with you laying on him. You handed him your phone without taking your eyes off the screen. “Ah-ha! I knew it!” He remarked a half-second later. “My dude was twenty-three when this movie was made.”

“Okay, but that’s not the point.” You sighed. “From Bella’s perspective, Edward doesn’t want to change her into a vampire at all. She’s thinks he is just going to stay with her until he she is too old for him and then he’d leave and move on. For Bella, it’s only ever going to be Edward, but she’s afraid that she will only ever be an insignificant blip in his life.”

“Why would she think that?” Bucky asked.

“Well, you’re missing the entire set up to the plot.” You whispered to him. “So please be quiet.”

As the movie played on Bucky eventually settled down and watched the movie. You were tired from the long day you’d had. You felt your eyelids grow heavy around the half-hour mark. You struggled to stay awake at first, New Moon was your favorite of the Twilight movies. But the security and warmth from being held in Bucky’s arms had you drifting off to sleep.

Two months past and you’d all but forgotten about that night. Your movie marathon had moved on from the Twilight saga and onto Harry Potter.  You’d given up on dropping even completely obvious hints about getting married too. You’d been together for seven years, at this point either Bucky was going to propose to you or her wasn’t. You were through with trying to force it to happen. It was the morning of your birthday and Bucky surprised you with breakfast in bed.

“Eat up!” He instructed. “I’ve got a full day of activities planned for us!”

“What kind of activities?” You asked, offering him a waffle.

“I already ate.” He waved the food off. He sat on the bed next to and leaned back on his pillow. He kicked his feet up and started listing off activities. “Let’s see, Breakfast in bed was first on the list, so check. Then I was thinking you might enjoy kicking my butt at a few rounds of Luigi kart…”

“It’s Mario Kart.” You snorted, trying not to choke on your food.

“Yeah, but I like Luigi better and there aren’t enough games named after him.” Bucky told you.  “So, we’re a Luigi Cart family in this house.”

“Okay.” You humored him. “And what are our plans after Luigi Cart?” ‘”I thought maybe we could go to the mall, do some shopping and eat at that restaurant you’re always trying to get me to go to but it’s closed on Sundays.”

“I can’t help it that the Chick-Fil-A curse means I only crave it on Sundays!” You exclaimed.

“Then after that I thought we could just come home and relax and snuggle. It’s been awhile since we’re spent the day just the two of us together.” He said.

“That sounds great, Bucky.” You agreed.

The day went mostly as Bucky described. You played Mario Kart for about two hours before heading to the mall. At the mall, Bucky was great about letting you drag him through all of your favorite stores. With your boyfriend’s arms weighed down with shopping bags, you took a break for lunch at Chik-Fil-a. A fast food restaurant that Bucky usually told you charged way too much for a food as cheap as chicken. Once you were all shopped out, Bucky drove you home.

“Just leave the bags in the car.” Bucky told you as he stepped out of the car. “I’ll cary them in later. I wouldn’t want my gal to lift a finger on her special day.” Bucky swoops in and kisses you before putting an arm around your shoulder.

“So movie night next?” You asked.

“Sure.” Bucky nodded. “But first, close your eyes.”

“Close my eyes? Why would I…”

“Humor me, please?” He asked.

“Alright.” You squeezed your eyes shut and let Bucky guide you into the house.

“SURPRISE!” You opened your eyes to see that Bucky had secretly put together a surprise party for your birthday. The house was decorated with streamers and balloons in lilac, your favorite color. There was a large six tire cake on display in the dining room, it too had lilac colored frosting and all of your friends were there, ready to celebrate the day with you.

“Wow! Thank you everyone!” You reached out and held Bucky’s hand. Parties or large gatherings weren’t really his thing so it meant a lot to you that he was willing to endure such a stressful envirement just for your birthday. “Thank you for putting this together.” You said, kissing him on the cheek.

“This is just the beginning, Babe.” Buck promised. “You guys hungry?” Bucky asks the crowd of Avengers around you. They reply with encouraging “Whoop-Whoop!”s and “Yeah!”s.

“We just ate lunch.” You frowned. “I don’t know how much more I can eat.”

“We’ll start with dessert then.” He said leading you into the dinning room. Bucky instructs everyone to gather around the table and with Steve’s help he removed the top layer of the cake. It is the smallest and probably only about four servings of cake.

“Do you remember a few months ago when we watched all of the Twilight movies?” He asked you. You nodded in response. “Well, those movies really got me thinking about something. Most of my adult life I’ve only ever seen myself as a monster. I thought I was destinted to be damned and I sure as hell didn’t think I’d ever catch the eye of a dame half as great as you.” Bucky reach out so that he was holding both of your hands in his. You were facing each other and looking directly into each others eyes.

“In a hundred life times, I’ll never understand how anyone so amazing could love me.” He continued. “And I don’t ever want my anxiety to get in the way of loving you. I don’t want to risk losing you because I was too afraid to let you know how I really feel. Happy Birthday [Y/N].” He sealed the birthday wish with a kiss.

“Thank you, Buck. No candles?” You teased him as you sized up the beautifully decorated but candle-less cake. Bucky didn’t comment as he handed you an ornamental cake knife. “Did you buy a cake knife just for this?” You asked him.

“It’s ours!” Clint shouted from where he stood in the back of the dining room with one arm holding his wife Laura close to him. “Think of it as something borrowed.” He told you cryptically. Holding the cake knife carefully you cut into the cake. You cut a small quarter out of the cake and slid the wedge out.

“I need a plate.” You laughed, completely missing the small silver object glistening inside the cake. “And a fork.” You added as Steve held up an empty plate to you.

“We’ll get you a fork later.” Bucky said. He takes the plate out of your hands and set the piece aside. “This wasn’t how I thought this was going to go but…” Bucky stuck his fingers inside the cake and seemed to dig something out of it. You couldn’t help but gasp when he produced a silver ring with a sapphire set atop it. “Something new, and blue.” He commened before lowing himself to the ground. “[Y/N] [Y/L/N], I’m sorry I made you wait so long, but will you make me the happiest mna on the planet and marry me?”

“I literally thought you would never ask.” You told him. You dropped down onto the ground so that you were kneeling next to him and threw your arms around his neck.

[marveloussupernerd]

Best Gift Ever - Driver Kim but fr

UNFORTUANTELY this one is not a shitpost. Well it kinda is but not in the same way. Here is what you actually asked for.

This was requested from my Christmas prompt list!

Prompt: “I’m your present. Why don’t you unwrap me?”

Warnings: suggestive

Summary: You wanted to surprise Driver Kim with a very special Christmas present. Driver Kim doesn’t have a full name btw UNLESS his first name is Driver hmmmm

You had wanted to surprise him for Christmas. This was his first Christmas with someone since his ex-wife, who was a psychopath. The thing was, she really liked Christmas. Tons of decorations, dozens of presents, all the like. So Kim just wanted peace this year, and you planned to respect his wishes. Still, you were able to convince him to come visit for the holiday while his son was at his ex’s house.

You had put on a festive red dress with matching red lingerie under it. It took a while for Kim and you to do the dirty, especially because he had been married for so long it just felt... weird for him. But now that you had done it you were addicted to him. And he to you. (Why am I writing this) You knew he didn’t want any real presents, so you hoped a romantic gesture would do.

He knocked on the door to your house and you excitedly bounded over to it, yelling that you were on your way. You opened the door to see him all bundled up, trying to stay warm despite the weather. “Merry Christmas!” You cheered, pulling him inside.

He handed you the large bouquet of roses he had gotten you slightly awkwardly, then began to take off his scarf and jacket, resting them on a chair in the dining room. He made his way back to you as you put the flowers in a vase.

“I’m sorry this Christmas probably isn’t everything you wanted it to be.” He frowned. “But I did get you flowers and this.” He reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a tiny box and opening it to show you a beautiful diamond necklace. You couldn’t help but swoon.

“Oh Kim!” You cupped his cheek in your hand. “That’s so lovely.” You pecked his lips. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s absolutely nothing. I appreciate you keeping this simple tonight.”

“Well... I did have to get you a little something,” you explained, wringing your hands anxiously. You were never this bold with him; hopefully it wouldn’t upset him.

“Oh? What is that?”

“Me.” You smiled, feeling heat rise to your cheeks. “I’m your present.” You took a step closer to him, closing all space between the two of you. “Why don’t you unwrap me?” You whispered in his ear.

His face went bright red immediately. “I- I-“ he couldn’t seem to get a thought out. “I’ve never gotten a present like this before.” He shoved the box back in his pocket; it was now a second thought.

“Well... I hope you still like it,” you cooed, keeping your seductive voice on. That seemed to be all he needed to accept your gift, resting his hands on your hips and pulling you close for a more passionate kiss.

You sighed into the kiss, looping your hands up to run through his silky silver locks. He groaned a little, hands reaching behind your back to unzip your dress, which fell off your shoulders and pooled to the floor. He took half a step back to admire you in your lingerie.

“Wow,” his eyes were sparkling. “I feel so lucky to have you here with me.” He kissed the palm of your hand. “You look stunning. This is the best gift I’ve ever received.”

You kissed him again. “Isn’t your son coming over after he’s done at your ex’s?” You asked, the thought finally popping into your mind. Whoops. That was part of the plan.

“Oh... yes. At 9.” He sighed, taking a step back and running a hand through his hair.

You hooked your leg around his waist, pulling him back to you. “We still have a half an hour. What do you say?”

Y’all I wanna say it again I hate you bitches so much (but I actually love you all this made me chuckle) this is the first more suggestive piece I’ve written and it’s driver kim. Fml

[peeterparkr]

limits of desire⤳t.h.||4

chapter 4: choose your flowers

MADE OF HONOR|AU

story summary: you met Tom a night he was trying to sleep with you, it didn’t work and you became best of friends. Wedding bells might be ringing for when you both realize what you really feel.

summary: the one with the songs and the running away

pairing: fuckboy!tom holland x best friend!reader

warnings: swearing, fluff-ish, angsty(a bit), tom is an idiot, guardians of the galaxy, wedding

word count: 6.2k (whoops sorry) 

As usual tell me what you think, this chapter was kind of painful to write because IT’S SOOO MUCH HAPPENING

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The world’s worst hangover, that’s what Tom was calling it. Facing the consequences of that night. Tom had faced the worst kind of memories from past encounters. Crazy girls sending him flowers, girls throwing their purses at him, girls stealing his clothes. Aftermaths that weren’t so nice to remember. But this one, he wanted to remember. 

But seemed that this one had the worst side-effect. A constant headache would’ve been better. Though it had been almost 2 weeks already. 

She may be the face I can't forget

And he had that stupid song stuck in his head. The entire night had been on loop. He couldn’t focus on anything. Not his lines, not in boxing, not in that stupid audition he had had. It was awful. There were no answers, it was dumb. It didn’t make any sense for him, because he was angry at himself, because he had to follow his stupid rules. Right? Couldn’t he break them? 

The only person that could comfort him was exactly the subject he needed to be comforted from. Good idea, to lose your wise adviser. 

He decided to go to the gym, maybe that could get her off of his mind. Everything about that night seemed to be blurry. He’d meet Haz there, he was also training. Maybe seeing his best friend could help him. Y/N was leaving on that day. 

Tom didn’t feel like training, however, and that was off-character of him. He tried lifting, but he couldn’t. He tried to run but fell off the machine.  Tom groaned,  making the whole gym turn around and stare. Nothing was working. 

Haz had seen him and gave him a confused stare, as he ran over. 

“You okay, mate?” 

“Yeah,” Tom lied. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everything is fine.” 

“Is it?” Haz questioned.

Tom hated when Haz was condescending. 

“Yes. Fine.” 

There was something they needed to talk about and Tom could not find a way to tell him, because if anything, Tom didn’t know exactly what he wanted to talk about. Tom decided to box instead. 

Haz didn’t push it because, honestly, he had been ignoring Tom those days. Tom had been extremely annoying, and clumsy. He was like a broken-hearted teenager. Like a small child throwing a tantrum. So, of course, Haz had been ignoring him. Tom didn’t blame him. He couldn’t stand himself either. 

He was so useless. He had broken the coffee machine, burned half of his breakfast and watched all Bridget Jones’ Diary movies on the first Sunday, then the next Sunday he had pizza for breakfast and watched Notting Hill, Best Friends Wedding and Pretty Woman and then Notting Hill again, he had cried on that one. ‘Bridget Jones is a classic and Julia Roberts is fantastic in everything she does’. 

Tom was...pathetic. But he was boxing now, he was getting back on track. So while giving a stronger than normal uppercuts to his punching bag, his friend watched him doing his own gym routines.

Cold sweat ran down Tom's forehead as he went through the events of that night, it had been two weeks already. He remembered, again and again, every single little detail of the night. Andrew Jacob’s wedding had been, in general, merely forgettable. 

But there are things one can’t dare to forget. 

Like that red dress, or those words, or that one dance. Things he’d love to forget, but that were roaming his head, things he hadn't thought about before, or maybe he had but had suppressed them all along. While punching, he couldn't stop shaking, his punch was not precise, and no matter how hard he hit he could not get anything out. The lack of concentration made him shudder, with the little courage that remained, he had realized the great mistake he had made.

Every single detail counted. But there had been plenty mistakes he had committed that night. 

Harrison approached him. “Alright, what’s up?” 

Tom looked up. “I fucked up.” 

----

2 weeks before

“Y/N hurry we’re running late already,” Tom yelled. He had been waiting for about half an hour already and y/n hadn't come out of her room. 

“Coming! I’m just…” She trailed off, her voice was muffled behind her closed bedroom door. “Two minutes!” 

Tom closed his eyes. “Y/N!” She had been so weird about this, so unlike her. It wasn’t the first wedding they’d gone to together. Sure, usually it took her a lot of time to get ready, but she usually had her bedroom open and he’d watch her put her makeup on, while he scrolled through Instagram. But not this time. She had been avoiding his calls and she had been barely texting him. He didn’t know what had gotten on to her, she had even come to premieres with him, what was up with being so serious about a damned wedding. 

“Actually, I need help, come here,” she said, finally opening her door. 

Tom rolled his eyes as he walked over. He scrolled through his phone. “It’s just a party y/n.” 

“Yeah, I know, but remember I might be leaving so it might be our last in a while,” she said, coming out of her restroom as she was putting on her earrings. “Would you mind helping me with my necklace?” 

Tom finally looked up. His breath was taken away, and he almost dropped his phone. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. With the red dress perfectly silking her body and her hair tied up in a bow, her bare neck inviting him to cover it with tattoos of his kisses. He had seen her with that dress, already, but he hadn’t… Observed her. Her lips were as bright red as her dress and her eyes had a certain sparkle leaving only to his imagination how stained he could get him with that lipstick. He cleared his throat. It was wrong to think of his best friend that way. 

“Um…” 

She bit her lip. “Too much? Is it too much? I should’ve bought the other dress, right? I could still change-I think I have another--”  

“What?” Tom’s eyes widened. “No, no, no, no, you look... don’t...it’s just, wow, you...Wow.” 

She chuckled. “Really?” 

“Yeah, wow,” he said, clearing his throat. 

“Wow?” She furrowed her eyebrows. 

“Yes, breathtaking...Wow.”

She blushed. “Thanks.” 

“You’re gonna make the bride feel bad,” he licked his lips “You...you look amazing.” 

“You don’t look bad yourself,” she complimented him. She walked over to him, just inches away. She cleared her throat. He gulped. “Uh, mind helping me...with my necklace?” 

He stared down at her lips but then cleared his throat. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he took it from her hands as she turned around. He was being stupid. But he put it on anyways, gently caressing her neck with his cold fingers. She went stiff as soon as he touched her, and he took his time to put it on. It was contrasting. Mistake number one.

“Uh, so now...uh,” He cleared his throat. “You’re ready, right?” 

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, yeah, oh, uh...perfume!” 

“Chanel, right?” 

“Is there any other?” She smirked. 

-

Glasses were clicking, and people were murmuring. In a room where the music was as loud as it could be, and the dresses as beautiful as they could get. Tom and y/n had arrived earlier at the venue, and they were talking to some other people. Tom already had a glass of white wine on his hand, trying to digest what was going on. He couldn’t stand it. Some of the other guests were very interested in y/n, they were not so subtly flirting with her, and she responded subtly, with smooth and soft fingers moving and cheeky grins. 

“The place is very pretty,” y/n commented. “I wouldn’t get married here, but you know.” 

Tom chuckled. “Where would it be?” 

“Something more fairytale-like, I guess,” she chuckled. “I dunno, guess somewhere magical.” 

“Magical?” Tom chuckled. 

“Oh shush.” 

“What would make it magical?” He asked. 

She sighed. “I guess… I’d have sunflowers,” she started. “Yes, and daisies.” 

“Flowers? That’s it, that’s the magic for you?” 

She paused. “No, I guess not, I guess the person would make it magical because I’d be marrying someone who'd love me, flaws and all, someone who knows me, who guesses my thoughts before I could even think them,” she explained. “Someone, who I trust, you know? Whom I don’t have to pretend with.” 

Tom furrowed his eyebrows. “I guess.” 

“But yes, flowers,” she chuckled. “Flowers are important.” 

Tom smiled but then let out a soft laugh. “You know what my ideal wedding would be?” 

She just looked up. 

“Non-existent,” he winked.

She gave him a forced chuckle. “Right.” 

Suddenly, all the muttering stopped. Everybody had their stares fixed on the newlyweds who were now happily prancing around with their rings. People were clapping at them, celebrating. But y/n and Tom were only faking to be happy about them, they were rather bored.

“Bet this will be the most predictable wedding ever,” Tom whispered on y/n’s ear, as he joined the clapping. 

She looked at him. “Hm?” 

“You know, all of them are, lately,” Tom said. “That’s why I’m never going to have one, I don’t want to fall into that cliché.” 

Y/N gave him a sad smile and then turned to the couple. “Their first dance,” she whispered. 

I must have been through about a million girls, I'd love 'em and I'd leave 'em alone.

“Fooled Around and Fell in Love” By Elvin Bishop. Not exactly the most ideal song for a first dance song, but he knew the backstory to it. Andrew’s and Michelle’s first date had consisted of watching Guardians of the Galaxy and their first kiss had been when Gamora and Peter Quill were listening to that song. 

I didn't care how much they cried, no sir, their tears left me cold as a stone

Tom saw how y/n’s eyes had glazed slightly as she mouthed the lyrics to the song, her lips curving just slightly to form a subtle smile. Tom knew he was supposed to watch the couple. He truly knew it. But he had time to do something else. Tom had time to observe a little more than usual. Observing how her red lipstick made her smile illuminate her eyes more, he observed the way her hair pushed back made her look beautiful, he saw how she was trying to pull a little hair back that was getting on her way, but he didn't mind that it wasn't perfectly combed, because she looked perfect. Tom realized that maybe in another context, the song was perfect for them. The song was singing to him. 

But then I fooled around and fell in love

He cleared his throat, hell, he would never tell her about all the songs he could dedicate her. He would give everything to her, and she seemed not to notice. Just as she didn't see how dazzled he was by all of her, from her playing with her hands to her lost gaze, to her lip-syncing to the song. Perfectly Imperfect.

Tom didn’t even notice when the song had ended. But it kept playing on the back of his mind. I fooled around and fell in love.

They were all clapping. Tom joined them, too. They toasted and then the couple kept their prancing through the tables. 

They ended up talking about how awful the wedding was going. Their vows had been...boring. Both y/n and Tom said they were dull, nothing too incredible. Of course, it was Andrew Jacobs they were talking about, but it was just too… predictable. 

“You know, I would’ve said something even more splendid,” she murmured to Tom. “You know, it’s the love of your life who you’re marrying.” 

“Some people don’t marry the love of their life,” Tom shrugged. 

“Well, I will,” she bit her lip. 

He chuckled. “What would you say?” 

She bit her lip. “I dunno.” 

“Ah, c’mon, you can’t just say they were plain and boring without coming up with something better,” Tom teased. 

She rolled her eyes. “Well, they said something that people usually say, I mean, saying ‘I’ve been waiting for my whole life for this’, like, really? So generic? Even if I was marrying someone I wasn’t in love with I’d come up with something more original.” 

There were lights all across the room, creating a perfect atmosphere for the already romantic ambience. The guests were thrilled to be watching the newlyweds. Y/N and Tom were sitting down on their table with Haz, Tuwaine and his girlfriend, and some other childhood friends. 

“Let’s see then,” Haz pushed. “Let’s see our writer in all her splendour.” 

Y/N rolled her eyes. “C’mon.” 

“Yes, go on, y/n, what would you say?” Tuwaine insisted. 

She chuckled. “I need… I need to say it to someone, so it feels more real, okay?” She laughed. “Okay, okay, okay, Harrison,” she looked at him. 

Haz laughed. “No, no, say it to Tom, let’s see how much he can resist without wanting to run away for listening to something that’s close to a commitment.” 

Y/N gulped and wrinkled her nose. “No, no, it’s fine, then.” 

Tom laughed. “It’s alright, I won’t run.” 

She gulped but turned to him. She smiled. “Thomas.” 

“y/n, my love,” Tom sang. 

She rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. They stared into each others’ eyes. Haz and Tuwaine chuckled. 

“Guys, please,” she giggled. She looked away. “Wait, should I pretend he’s someone else? I--I can’t,” she pinched Tom’s cheek. 

“No, no, imagine you’re marrying him right now,” Haz said. 

Y/N looked down. “I’m screwed.” 

Haz laughed. “You said you could come up with something even if you weren’t in love.” 

Y/N glared at him but turned back to Tom. Tom rolled his eyes and they stared at each other, again. He smiled. She bit her lip. 

“Y/N…” Haz insisted. 

“Sh, I’m thinking,” she defended herself. She blinked a few times, and Tom could take into her features again. She had a unique way to look into someone’s eyes as if she was trying to undress their soul. 

Tom felt naked with her, always. Not in the way he was with the other girls, but in a way that he could only be himself, in which he had no shield.

“They say love is easy when the right person comes,” she started. “I guess I had been dreaming a lie, waiting for that prince charming to arrive on a white horse, I just hadn’t realized that maybe he was riding a motorbike,” she cleared her throat as Tom chuckled lightly but kept looking her in the eyes. “I’ve always thought that I was wrong but suddenly, you became the right answer and I didn’t have to hide anymore, because you had always been there,” her voice was like a song he loved to listen to. “We’ve shielded under that label of best friends when we didn’t realize it didn’t have to be a boundary but a firm step in which we could always rely on because when it comes to choosing the person I’d love to spend the rest of my life with I couldn’t think on anyone else,” she paused, and Tom gulped. “Because it’s simple and as I said before when it’s the right person, it’s easy, and it doesn’t have to be the complicated mess we tend to make. So tonight, looking you in the eyes, I hereby promise you that I’ll always try to be the right answer, and to keep on strong to build over that firm step we’ve formed along because I know that although it is easy, we still have so much to discover, and so much to love.”  

Tom got lost into her words. He felt a dagger across his chest.  She looked away and laughed. “Wow, that was intense.” 

“Oh my god,” Tuwaine chuckled. “I even fell for it, man, you’re good.” 

“Fuck, how did you even come up with that shit?” Haz asked. “What the fuck,” he laughed. 

“See? Even if you’re not in love you can come up with something so not generic,” she coughed and downed her glass.

Tom blinked. What the hell was going on? 

He forced a laugh as he downed his glass, too. “Yeah, that was…” He cleared his throat. “Talented girl we have here.” 

She cleared her throat and blushed. “Yeah.” 

The wedding continued, the toast, the people dancing, the awkward pictures. Everything a wedding includes. Even the surprise for the groom. 

Y/N looked beautiful, and Tom had not hesitated to remind her all night. They ate, laughed as they used to, and even shared their desserts, they had given two cakes at the wedding, these millennials with their ideas, but they didn't complain as they could enjoy the perfect combination of chocolate cake and strawberry cake.

It was not until the time to throw the bouquet, that they began to circumvent the small motivations. 

Their friends insisted that y/n should go to catch it that maybe she’d find someone now that she had graduated, she said she was fine, that she didn't have to go, but they ended up convincing her. Y/N caught the bouquet, without even trying.

And that wasn't even the biggest deal, because, Tom had caught the garter. Tom laughed at how now they, following the tradition, should marry. They joked with that, trying to come up with ways he should propose, and how they’d serve pizza and lemon pie, with chocolate cheesecake at their wedding, or how they were going to have sunflowers instead of roses. 

“She already has her vows,” Haz laughed. “It’s perfect.” 

The dancing had started, and all the table had joined the dance floor. Tom was trying to show some moves as he pulled y/n to him. With each song, they’d find themselves a little more glued to each other, letting the music absorb them and enamouring them. 

A particular song started. She, from Notting Hill. They ended up getting closer, with flutters of butterflies in Tom's stomach from being oh-so-close. 

A particular verse hit. 

She, who always seems so happy in a crowd

They put their foreheads together, they couldn't blame the alcohol since they had not drank much, just a few glasses, but they were sufficiently sober for both of them to know what they were doing. 

Whose eyes can be so private and so proud

Their noses pressed against each other, and Tom's hands caressed her back slowly. 

No one's allowed to see them when they cry

A small skim of lips was what caused the first spark, to the sound of the slow ballad to which they danced along to. 

She may be the love that cannot hope to last

Tom wanted more, so he came closer again, brushing his lips against the corner of y/n's lips.

May come to me from shadows in the past

 Her hands were resting sweetly on the back of his neck.

That I remember 'till the day I die

Tom had leaned in, ready to seal the deal. But she had stopped him, only half an inch from his lips touching hers she had moved away from his gaze. 

“Don’t do this to me,” she whispered, her eyes were glazed again. “Please don’t.” 

Tom hadn’t even been able to respond before she left the dance floor.

Tom had followed her, he did not want to lose her, because he knew her. He knew how she loved to disappear whenever she wanted to cry. She liked to disappear. 

There was a bridge outside the venue, where she was leaning on, staring at the water and her reflection on it, with a few light posts decorated with red flowers. She was quiet, he guessed she was crying. Because he knew that she didn’t like to be seen crying. He gave her a few moments until he approached her. 

"You left, like Cinderella at the ball," Tom mentioned. Clearing his throat. “Though I guess I can’t blame you.” 

"I don't want to leave things on you so easy," she said without looking up, he confirmed it, she had cried. "Although, if I had actually done it, it would have been very easy."

"Why did you do it, then?" Tom asked. 

"Run away?" She laughed cynically. “You really are asking why?” 

"The vows, the dress," Tom shrugged. “You practically crafted it.” 

She stayed quiet. 

"Is there a reason why you don't want to?" Tom frowned. “Would it be such a sin if we had kissed?” 

"Friends don't kiss," she reminded him. 

"I know a few who do," Tom shrugged. "Though it’s clear, we’re not that type of friends, you’ve left that clear." 

“I’m protecting myself,” she frowned. 

“You’re protecting yourself by running away?” Tom chuckled, digging his hands in his pockets. “It’s not the first time.” 

"You’re right, and we’ve both ran away from it," She scoffed. "I dunno about you, but I have many reasons to, I don't want to be just one more."

"Just one more?"

"Another one who falls for the lie that your angel eyes are, another who got tangled up in your smile, and who you hypnotized to leave her the next day, I do not want to be another game, Tom," she answered. "Less now that I'm so fragile."

"It's just a kiss." He shrugged, looking away. 

"No, Tom, it's not just that, and you know that" she glanced seriously. "It's the fact that it's just a kiss for you, that's the point."

"Maybe I've always wanted a kiss." He bit his lip. 

"So you can throw me away the next day?" She pressed her temples, closing her eyes. 

"It would not be like that," Tom told her. "Look, let's forget it."

"It would have been easy now that I'm leaving, wouldn’t it?” She clenched her jaw.

"So, it’s decided, you're leaving," Tom finally turned back to her. 

"I decided to accept the job," she explained. "I need to get out of everything, my routine, my family, the school, I need a break from you, Tom, I need a break until we can keep our hands to ourselves."

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

"You know exactly what I mean, just… Forget it, okay? Let’s pretend it never happened” she turned to him. “Besides, it's also my dream, I'm going to fulfil my dream, would be stupid if I didn't."

Tom felt his heart breaking, shattering, completely destroyed, he couldn't let her go, especially now that he was taking things into account. Tom needed her, Tom needed her to stay sane. Tom had been away from her other times like when he was going to film or a press tour, but if she was leaving it would mean that many things would change. Especially after all that night. 

“We are drunk,” Tom said. “We can blame it on that.” 

“We are not, Tom,” she answered. “You know it, and I know it, it was stupid, you’re gonna end up shagging a bridesmaid.” 

“I won’t.” 

“You will, that’s how it goes,” she chuckled. “Lots of them had that doggy-bowl look.” 

Tom nudged her. “They probably don’t think my nose is bent.” 

“Your nose?” y/n frowned as she laughed slightly. “Who said that?” She turned to look at him, the moonlight reflected on her skin made her smile beautifully. 

“You did!” Tom giggled. “The night we met, you said it dropped down at the bottom, a feature accentuated by the thinness of my lips.” 

y/n threw her head back, finally laughing. “Oh my god, I did! Then I called you... What did I call you? I said you were desperate...” 

“Uh-huh, desperate for attention from being alone!” Tom continued. 

“And I said you validated yourself by having…” 

“Sport like meaningless, insatiable sex, yes.” Tom ended her sentence laughing. “Man you really ended me that night.” 

“I mean I was right about that, I’m still right” she chuckled with sadness. “But I lied about your nose,” she confessed with a small smile upon her face. Tom widened his eyes with surprise. “Wanna know what I was actually thinking?” 

“What? Of course!” Tom looked at her. 

“I thought you were hot,” she blushed looking down giggling. “But you called me boring.” 

“Because I was trying to sleep with you!” Tom laughed. “Haven’t tried since, what are the odds now?” 

She stayed quiet, as she looked up at him, she ruffled his hair. Watching her, made Tom feel a jolt inside her. He was blushing, too. 

“Tom, you won’t change, and I mean, I love you and all, but it’s always, I’m your backup plan.” 

“y/n, you’re not-” Tom tried to convince her, but she placed her hand on his mouth, impeding him from talking. 

“No, I know I am... you are not trying to hurt me, I know, and we are friends, okay, I know that, I just need us to stay that way, I know you can’t stop flirting, and I know that what was about to happen tonight was only because you were stuck with me, and I guessed I forced it.” 

Tom didn’t answer right away. Maybe she was right, maybe it had been just the moment. She looked down at her glass. 

“Did you mean it?” Tom asked her. “The vows?” 

“I…”She sighed. “I didn’t,” she sentenced. “I mean, in all seriousness, Tommy, it’s okay, honestly, I let it clear, we’re good like friends, and besides I don’t have that doggy-bowl look anyway, and maybe your nose is actually kinda bent.” She smiled at him. 

“6 months,” he said. “24 Sunday’s.” 

“6 months,” she repeated. 

Tom looked down at the blue water that was reflecting the moon, he jumped to sit on the edge of the bridge.

"Thomas!"

“I’m gonna jump I can’t survive without you,” he said, she laughed as she hugged him from behind.

“Oh my god, stop, can’t you take anything seriously?” She asked him.

“I can’t,” he answered, kissing her cheek.

“I’m gonna miss you,” she said as he laughed as getting back to his feet. He hugged her. Again, she looked up at him.

He stared down at her lips again, it could be easy, she was leaving anyway. He would have time to think about it. But no, she had made a point. It wasn’t just a kiss, it meant way so much more. It meant ruining a powerful friendship. Because he couldn’t give in, he couldn’t love her the way he was supposed to. She deserved way much better than him. Even if her words had said she didn’t want to kiss him, her eyes were begging him to do so.

He leaned over, anyway. And she did, too. But before she could do anything, Tom stopped.

“I can’t afford to lose you.” 

“You’re not losing me,” she whispered. 

“If I do this, if we do this, I’d have to let you go,” Tom cupped her cheek. 

“I’m leaving, Tom,” she said, staring at his lips then back to his eyes. 

“But you deserve someone who will stay, someone who is the right answer, and I’m just the wrong one, alright? I’ll never be able to feel the way I am supposed to feel, and I look at you and I know that if I do this, I’d have to find a way to sneak out of your life forever and I couldn’t do that to myself. I can’t do that to you.”  

She looked down. “I’m such an idiot.”

“No, I am the idiot.” 

“No,” she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Then, I guess, this is goodbye, I can’t keep making such a fool of myself,” she said. “Please, don’t look out for me now, you just can’t give a woman hope and then throw her away, see?” A cheek started to run down her face. “I’m just another one, we didn’t even have anything yet you know you’d throw me away, but don’t worry, I’m used to taking the trash out.”

“Y/N.” 

She smiled. “Don’t bother.” She kissed his cheek and left before Tom could ever say anything.

He didn’t go after her.  Tom did the only thing he knew how to do, he flirted with a bridesmaid. At the end of the wedding, they ran into y/n, again who was in her dazzling red dress, watching them with pain.

She rolled her eyes, and smiled at him, and then escaped.

He had not talked to her since. 

----- 

“And you didn’t stop her?” Harrison asked. “Even after all she said?” 

“I was drunk.” 

“We both know you weren’t,” Harrison scowled. “And you ruined your friendship with her, look, you should…Maybe it’s too late.” 

“At what time is she leaving?” Tom asked, getting up. “I need to see her.” 

Harrison stared at him. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask her, she only wanted her family to say goodbye, why didn’t you go yesterday? She probably doesn’t even want to see you today.” 

“Because I’m an idiot, I can’t let her leave without saying goodbye,” Tom reproached and left to the locker room. Haz joined him at the lockers. 

“So, you’re realizing stuff just the day she’s leaving?” Haz said as Tom was getting out his stuff to shower. 

“Realizing what? She’s my best friend, I just can’ let something stupid make us fall apart before she leaves,” Tom complained. “Hey, look, I screwed up and want to make up for it, is it that bad?”

“The longer that it takes you to realize that you’re in love with her, the harder you will fall,” Haz said, as Tom closed his locker door. 

“I’m not in love with her, I just want to mend things, okay?” Tom walked away to take a shower. His best friend knew him better. 

“Sure, Tom, keep saying that to yourself,” Haz yelled. Tom stepped into the shower, to dive back into the thoughts. Tom wasn’t sure if it was love, but that night, at the wedding he had felt something. 

Yes, of course, he had thought about her. She had been the only girl he had never scored with. Tom didn’t know if it was a mere whim, or if he actually wanted to have her for him. It was a fantasy that he couldn’t even try. Because he wanted her, but he didn’t know how he wanted her, friends with benefits, maybe? No commitment needed. No strings attached. But that was being so selfish because she deserved someone who could love her in her entirety and strictly committed to her. He couldn’t give her that.  

And he was about to lose her. 6 months without her weren’t going to be ideal, especially since this last week had been hell. He had done as told, he didn’t look out for her. Maybe that had been a mistake, he should’ve looked out for her. Their friendship was the best Tom could ask for, and he needed to talk to her, text her at least every day. So he had to look out for her, show her that he loved her more than he loved his rules. 

When he got out, Haz was there. “Dude, you gotta leave now, I called her, she’s leaving to the airport now.” 

“Shit,” Tom yelled as he looked down at himself, he looked horrible. He had brought the worst pair of sweats and an ugly t-shirt to the gym. At least they were clean. “Man, I can’t buy her anything, ah shoot, I’ll just-” 

Tom picked up his keys, gave his backpack to Harrison, and ran out of the gym. He hopped to his motorbike and off he rode to the airport. Time was going too slow and it seemed like every single car in London had decided to crash or make him stop. The traffic was bollocks and he was sure he had at least broken 3 laws while driving. He didn’t care, he’d pay for the tickets later. 

His heartbeat was almost as fast as he was going on the bike. It was until 10 minutes later, he realized he didn’t know from which of the airports she was flying off. He stopped and called Harrison. 

“Please tell me she’s leaving from Heathrow, please, I don’t want to pull a Ross and Rachel, she got off the plane, thing but please, it’s the closest one-” 

“Uh, let me ...Yeah, Heathrow!” 

So Tom continued, it would’ve been horrible if it hadn’t been that airport. Quite embarrassing really. He was letting the adrenaline of the situation move him. He knew it was now or never.

Now or never what? While he was stopped at a traffic light he realized he didn’t know why exactly he was going. To say goodbye? To apologize? To say he felt something more? 

He didn’t, he didn’t feel something more. That wasn’t the point, he needed to see her. To wish her goodbye, to tell her she wasn’t just another one. What a jerk he had been, he hadn’t even called her. 

He passed a flower shop, and debated whether to buy her one or not. He didn’t. So he arrived at the crowded airport, he parked in front of the front doors and ran inside. Seemed like everyone was acting against him, blinding his path along the way. But then, just like magic, he saw her, beautiful as always. She was hugging her grandma and her mother was letting out a few tears. 

Tom ran his way over, trying not to be rude while he pushed away everyone that was standing in between them. y/n was standing backwards. Her mum saw Tom, and he saw how her smile warmed. 

Y/N saw her mother smiling, and turned around with confusion. Tom saw how she broke down when she saw him. Her eyes filled with tears, as she jumped over to him, Tom picking her up in the air, and holding her tight.  

“I’m sorry, y/n,” was his initial statement. “I’m gonna miss you so much,” He whispered in her ear. 

“I’m going to miss you, too.” 

“I’ll give you guys some space,” her mum said, as she stepped off. Her grandma stayed there watching them with a smile. Y/N coughed and her grandma realized how inappropriate she was being and stepped back with her mother. 

Tom looked down at her, as the tears were streaming down. 

“Woah, hey, don’t cry, you don’t like people seeing you cry” Tom smiled as he wiped her tears off. “Look, I’m sorry, I was a jerk, and…” 

“Tommy, don’t-” 

“Shh...let me speak, I love you more anything, okay? You’re not just one more, you’re the best  friend I have,  and please don’t tell that to Harrison.” 

y/n giggled as she hugged him again. “Let’s just forget that night, okay? Please, it didn’t happen.” 

Tom knew he couldn’t forget it, but he nodded anyway, placing a kiss on top of her head. 

“I can’t believe I won’t see you in 6 months, gosh, you’re growing up!” Tom joked, as she punched him lightly. 

“I’m really scared...I won’t go, I don’t want to,” she said, with panic, Tom took her by the shoulders. 

“You’re gonna do it okay? And they’re gonna love you, you’re going to report everything,” Tom chuckled as he made her smile. “I don’t know how that works, okay? But I want you to go and make me proud.” 

“Tommy,” she smiled. 

“And you will text me, every day, okay? Promise me,” Tom said. 

She smiled. “I promise.” 

“You won’t forget me, right?” Tom asked her, wiping away more tears. 

“I won’t, how could I?” She chuckled. “I can’t forget that bent nose.” 

He grinned and then wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t want to let you go, but it’s your dream, so I know I have to. I’m such an idiot for not seeing you these two weeks” 

And they stared deep into each other eyes, making sparks fly. Tom let her go before trouble could come. 

“Tommy,” she took a deep breath and hugged him again. “You know I love you, right?” 

“Love you, too,” and he hugged her knowing this would be the last time he’d be hugging her for 6 months. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but y/n…” Her mum approached her. “I’m sorry.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” y/n let Tom go, clearing her throat. Tom blushed as he played with his hands. The goodbye went so quick, and before Tom knew it he was watching her walk away. 

No, Tom hadn’t realized it yet, and by the time he would realize it, it would be too late. He still had that stupid song in his head. 

The meaning of my life is

She, she

Oh, she

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[naturaldisasterfanfiction]

25. Part 3

Sitting on the floor of my basketball court out of breath, these niggas are really working me today “you tired nigga?” Ryan dapped me as he sat next to me “a little” I laughed, I been playing basketball since we came back, I invited some of the boys over to do that instead of going back out. Clearly the police will be on high alert, I did nothing wrong so I just thought I would do this for the rest of the night. I mean it’s not late, it’s just turning about nine “I am going to get a drink” getting up from the floor “look at this nigga, as soon as he starts losing he sat on the floor” I laughed shaking my head, my hands on my hips as I left the court. Maybe I am getting unhealthy, but they are whooping my ass on the court right now, I think it’s me. My mind is on the fact I done nothing, I am ignoring the fact I have so much to do and I don’t know what to do. I am not sure, I think London is peaceful but like I got no niggas to do shit with, it’s like I am bound to stay with Robyn and her friends which are cool but like where is my little friends, like I don’t know. I do like it here when I am not high as fuck, out here having fun. I just don’t like Robyn cussing me out, like that is uncalled for. I don’t want to say anything to her, I respect Robyn with all my heart, she is my wife, so I am just letting her get on with it and give her space. Tomorrow I will do something, with my home anyways. I love this home too much to let it go, even if the shit has bad memories I worked so hard on it. Sinko’ head shot up looking at me “man, I am tired” I huffed out shaking my head laughing, opening the fridge door. Grabbing the bottle of Fanta, banging the frige door shut. Opening the bottle turning to him, Sinko looked up at me again all wide eyed “what?” drinking from the bottle “you dogging us out for Rihanna now? She is having your baby” Sinko turned his phone to me, seeing the picture of Robyn and I which made me spit my drink out “eew, what the fuck. My phone” my heart is in my mouth right now “where did you get that from!? That is photoshop” that is the first thing to come to mind “you fucking spat drink at me!?” slamming the bottle down “where is that from!?” Sinko is moving away from me, but I am beat his fucking ass “what the fuck, why are you chasing me!? This is from her page, oh my god” gripping his tee “give me your phone!” I shouted “here, man. What the hell, you been out here lying” grabbing his phone, this is the shade room. That is a lie, it’s photoshop. Nobody is supposed to know this, I know this is not photoshop because I was there for the picture, but I don’t know, I am in denial. Typing in Robyn’ name, tapping on her profile “see, I didn’t lie” my heart just dropped seeing that she posted it.

Placing Sinko’ phone down on the counter “why are you so upset?” he asked “because I am stuck here! With you niggas, I liked it when nobody knows. Now look!” I shouted; everyone is just staring at me. I am confused, Robyn wouldn’t just air this out, what the fuck. Walking by some of the boys walking back inside “what happened?” hearing someone say “check the blogs” Sinko laughed saying, jogging up the steps. I left my phone in my room because honestly, I just didn’t want to argue with Robyn, I didn’t like that she is swearing at me, I was just trying to be the better man, but this is not good for me. What about me, why didn’t she wait for me. I thought we was doing this together and now I am stuck here with the vultures, she dogged me out like this. Grabbing my phone from the bed “Oh my god” my phone is going off, the time difference. Robyn will not be awake it’s so early in the morning there, but I will try, ignoring my notifications and calling Robyn, she did call me but just the once and that is it. All I am getting is missed calls from everyone and I do not know what is happening “come on Robyn, come on” I said pacing my room “fuck!” I spat; I am angry because she dogged me out I don’t know what to do.

I decided to call Mel, she is in Barbados and she never sleeps. I don’t want to speak to anyone else, I need answers and people are coming at me “I got your text nigga, you know I don’t sleep. You barely let me read it, what the fuck is up?” Mel picked up “what the fuck is she doing Mel!? I have been playing basketball, Robyn and I have been in a disagreement, what!?” I shouted “calm down Chris, didn’t she tell you? This is actually your fault. So I got the notifications from these fans, sending me messages of is it true. Some neighbour took a video of Rihanna saying welcome to the neighbourhood and the video shows your Lamborghini. The fans worked it out which meant blogs would pick it up, I called Robyn as soon as I found out. She didn’t take it well and panicked, so this is your fault in a way because of your cars. So she asked me what to do, I said break it before they do, and she did just that. She is angry at you; she doesn’t need you now and that you let her down. I said run your own show, but the marriage part has not been told at all” I am in shock, sitting on the edge of the bed “but I never knew! Fuck, Mel what am I going to do? We were supposed to do this together. I am alone here” I don’t know what to do “so is Robyn, she had to do what she needed Chris. I know it’s the deep end but just don’t act out and go with the flow” I feel like crying “yeah, people will come for me. I get the abuse!” disconnecting the call.

I don’t even want to look at Instagram, I can’t even bring myself to do it because it’s me that gets it with everything. They will say I forced her to be pregnant, seeing my mom calling. She has been calling me since I have been on the phone with Mel so let me pick up this time “hey” answering the call “you do pick your women! You got Rihanna pregnant!? She has destroyed you Chris, I cried hearing that news, why!? Why did you do to yourself Chris, no wonder you have changed. Are you crazy, those people made sure to bring you down, you haven’t been the same since being with her” worse person to be talking “I don’t want to be rude because Robyn wouldn’t agree but as much as she did me over, I also did to her. We both destroyed each other. Those people are now my family friends” I don’t want to be rude to her, I really don’t want that that “you will never see that baby, she will make sure you are some pathetic man on the side” I clenched my jaw “I will have more say in this girl’ life then I did for Royalty and Aeko put together, I am going to London. Robyn and I will be living together, so I will hear every cry, every diaper change, every gurgle, every burp, every smile. And I won’t miss a thing, you destroyed me, you left me out. Don’t ever say Robyn’ name in vain” my mom laughed “reminds me of when you started dating her, I don’t hate her. I hate you together” shaking my head “well we are together mom and trust me I will be obeying by her rules. I am drug free” the phone disconnected, oh wow she put the phone down on me, oh fucking well.

I don’t know why but I feel emotional, like I want to cry maybe it’s the hurt I am feeling from Robyn because she is hurting so much. Just hearing those words back to myself, I will obey Robyn when I have upset her. I wish I never sent my cars there, but I do want to change, I want to move there. Looking to the side of me “yes” she is ringing me back “hello” answering the call “hi Chris” I groaned out, not Dennis “that was nice of you, this phone has woke me so many times but I saw you call so I called back “I guess you heard” he said, clearing my throat “where is she? Is she ok?” I hope she is “erm, yes. Robyn is ok. She is asleep, she gave me her phone and doesn’t wish to see the things being said so I am minding her phone. Making notes of the people she needs to contact back and whatever, minding her social media but it’s a mess. Can I give you some advice, I have been working with Robyn a few years now and she is a strong character, but she rarely asks for help, or looks to people for help and she has with you. It hurts to see her become vulnerable, where she has asked for help with you and you haven’t come, it’s hard to watch. She really wants you and needs you here. It’s happened now with the cars. And reading things, it’s rude. And I hurt for you both, you should be back” putting my head down “tell her to call me, please” I need to hear her “I will, think about it. You need someone to mind your social too” I don’t trust anyone to do that for me like that “yeah, tell her please” I can imagine Robyn not wanting to know and ignore this request, but I do feel so bad about this.

I didn’t want to go downstairs but I did, and it’s like nobody left even though I have been upstairs for a few hours, I want them gone “hey, y’all! I need y’all go to, something came up and I need to deal with something that came up” I sound like I am upset but they don’t know the half of it “congratulations, like you got the fucking crown nigga. You got Rihanna pregnant, like you won. You won in this, you fucking won” Ryan pointed at me “shit, I know every nigga wanted that, imagine being her baby daddy” licking my lips smiling “thank you but I do need y’all to go, everyone” they think I am joking “whatever you want boss” watching Sinko walk over to me “so that is it huh, London visits been for that?” nodding my head “it has” I mean it is out now “you really got the love of your life knocked up, I can’t even fucking write it. How?” Sinko is in disbelief “one night, like she said. It was just one night, it happened. I fainted when I found out, I just need to have some alone time. You know, it’s not easy and that. I am happy but it’s just politics” dapping Sinko “cool, I got you. I am just shocked man, you did the full thing” he doesn’t know that I am also married, I have already been a bad husband. I am taking Zeus and running, I need to run because shit is coming my way now, I am going to have a queue of people, I need to call my bodyguard too.

Feeling my phone ring out on my chest, I just closed my eyes too “oh god” Royalty is awake at this time, you got to be kidding me right. I am ignoring everyone but this is my daughter, answering the call clearing my throat “hello” I answered “you know damn well it ain’t Royalty, her ass is asleep” I closed my eyes hearing Nia’ voice “I knew you would pick up if it was her name calling, now what the hell is going on? I mean I called your mom, but she was no use to me. She said you ruined yourself and now she lost her son, Rihanna Chris? Really? I saw the post and the little devil herself smiled at me and didn’t say anything” I guess that was Royalty “I am also married” I blurted out “what!?” Nia shouted down my ear “hold up, Chris. What? Are you ok? I mean you aren’t drugged up right?” Nia said in shock “I took Royalty to Mexico and she was there for the day, I eloped with Rihanna. I am married Nia, I am not drugged. This is me, I stopped drugs since being with her” the phone fell silent, I just felt like saying it and I don’t know if it was a good or bad thing “I am literally getting emotional from the shock, oh my god. Wait, is that why. That child of mine knew” she said down the phone “you married your teenage love, awww Chris. Wow. That is shocking, I mean she didn’t put that on there” I swallowed hard “I know, that is us hiding away from the backlash, but yeah” I sound so sad “you don’t sound happy, I mean you married Rihanna!? Come on!” that made me laugh “I mess up things and it’s like I am losing things here, I don’t know” I am confused “fuck those things, like I don’t know. I mean we only share a daughter, that is amazing Chris. You stopped drugs? Wow, I am super happy for you. Like for my daughter too, but for you. Chris, this is really good” I literally made a mess, a mess Robyn is having to deal with alone “don’t tell anyone about the married thing, I need to go back to London. I didn’t manage to get Royalty’ gifts, tell her I am sorry”  I think I need to just go now “acting like you not going to speak to her, you can tell her that but I can always get it her, just tell me it. Wow, this is unreal. Married, but I won’t say anything. Just know that I am happy for you, I think also Royalty is happy for you, you know she is your biggest fan” that she is.

For my own sanity I didn’t bother to be with my phone, but my own mind is just racing. Dennis bless his soul; he is taking it for me. And it is what it is now, I guess it’s out there now but not the way I wanted it too. It was rushed, no content behind it “are you awake?” Dennis said outside my door “come in!” I shouted, I heard him earlier come to ask if I was awake, but I didn’t want to know so he has come back around again “drama, drama, drama. I feel like your assistant. Tina is awake by the way, she is helping me too, so. How is Robyn, and baby Fenty” Dennis climbed onto the bed “we are stressed” rubbing my bump smiling “stop it, I turned off your comments. First time ever, I was done. Sorry” nodding my head “that is fine, what is the damage?” Dennis should quit photography and be my assistant because he is good at this “me and Tina was going back and forth, both Jay’ are after you, shock horror. Oh yeah. Chris called, he was in hysterics and emotionally not happy, I told him. I said Robyn is asleep or whatever, he asked for you to call him” I rolled my eyes “I called him, he didn’t pick up when I was going through it. Was he being emotional about it?” if he is then that means he will not let me be sad, I will have to console him “uh yes he was, Mel told me she called him because he called her. He was going around the houses, so he does know, she also said he was emotional about it. He said that he will be get the abuse about it, so what next? The picture is doing pretty well, it’s doing it’s rounds anyways, around the blogs and whatever” Dennis says what is next, but I didn’t prepare for this “ouch” I didn’t prepare for the pain right now either “ouch? Oh we not doing birth now are we?” shaking my head “no, I hope not anyways. Erm, so this is all getting pretty wild, I need to face both Jay’ I need to have my team on my side, I guess. This was all supposed to be clean sailing, I swear I had a fucking plan. So yes, tell Tina to prepare that for me. Was anyone happy for me?” I need to know “there was a few, but I think there was more shock emojis then anything. But they have really ran with Chris being searched by the police, you have a thug in your life. That is the words they used” rolling my eyes “nice” I sighed out “if you can just give me my phone, I will contact Chris. Thank you so much for taking care of that for me. I know, pregnancies are supposed to be magical and loving, but you know. People won’t allow that” Dennis shuffled off of the bed “I wouldn’t have it any other way” he is a sweetheart.

I’ve been feel the tightening on the lower abdomen, but it’s very random it will happen, but I think it’s me. I am stressing out, like I am happy. Let me just call Chris, I wonder if he will let me be sad with him. Tapping on his name, I didn’t bother to see anything else just speak to Chris and then get out of bed. Letting it ring out on speakerphone, if he doesn’t pick up then I am not trying again “Robyn?” he picked “hey” taking my phone off speaker and placing on my ear “Robyn, man. What the fuck? I am so sorry, I didn’t think that would cause an issue, I am literally wanting to move my things to you, that was it” he said “I know, I didn’t blame you. It happened now and it happened in a way I didn’t want it too. I did call you, but you didn’t pick up, were you sleeping?” he must have been because he is awake now and it’s eight hours behind there so now he is all wide awake “I was uhm” I already know, he is not saying it straight up “I was playing basketball, all you were doing is swearing at me, it was pointless Robyn. I missed it because of that I regret it, I am sorry” I sniggered “my fault then, I don’t ask much from you. That could have been a call about me being in labour and you missed it, you had a tantrum because I swore at you, now don’t you think I am even more fucking angry now!?” I spat “I am sorry, I was sick of hearing you cuss me out” I swear he gets on my nerves “I barely fucking cussed you out, I said you are useless when I ask what you did! How the fuck are you doing a mixtape when I am ready to give birth, you don’t fucking think. You think of stupid shit, you know what. Me, it’s my fault. I sent you to California with no guidance, I should know that you have no sense. God forbid you upset your fucking friends that need your vocals. I mean what is the third baby, you missed the rest” Chris put the phone down on me, I expected much when he said he is fed of me.

Looking up at the laptop “so are well in agreement?” Tina said, I have no idea what she said, “what did you say?” I have to ask “that you release another picture, with more words and just say how you kept it from the world. Jen agrees don’t you” my mind is elsewhere, maybe I should calm down with Chris “as for now, your publicist said to not do anything. Jay Brown wants you to stop what you are doing until then, but I say release something else, keep it going until they understand why you kept it away. Not a pity party but to also show you are happy. Because the post, when I read it. It was like oh shit, we got caught we are having a baby bye. So I think we need to make another post, equally goes to Chris whatever he is doing. He needs to show more, including the fact he is an active father, he also needs to shut up his baby mothers before we do” Jen said, she is half asleep speaking “I will say it to him, I will think on it. But ladies, be here for the meeting later I guess” I smiled at them “we will, oh my god. You are so adorable pregnant” Jen said “it’s been so long, and I am amazed” I cooed out, it has been so long since she has seen me.

I called him back since he put the phone down on me, I am doing it because I have been on his case and I am disappointed in him, but his emotions work differently, and I got to accept that. He gets side tracked and he just can’t help it, he’s the very kid that will go up to something if it’s shiny and not think of the bad. It’s me, I feel bad I should know him “hi” he picked up at least “hey, what are doing?” least like to know “sat in my yard smoking a blunt on my own, why?” he’s on his own, I expected his friends to be around “just wanted to know, I uhm. I am sorry, for what I said. When someone is wanting to be better, I can’t just throw that to them. I just want you to know I am sorry for that, when I release that it wasn’t because I wanted too but it was because I had too, I had no choice and I am not asking. I am telling you to come back now, you drop what you are doing because we are supposed to be doing this together” I think I have decided, to myself that is. That I may need to help Chris with himself, like I do forget and think he is ok so when he is sad and I am sad, his sadness is even worse then mine and I can’t be sad, I married him for him and I am just going to back off, try my best to not want to cuss him out anyways “I let you down, I fucked up. Like I shamed you already, I am so sorry. They all right I don’t deserve you” Chris is a wreck clearly “Chris, I want you back. Like now, get on the jet. Bring a bodyguard with you to escort you, don’t act stupid when you land here either. No weed either, listen to me Chris. Don’t read into anything or speak to anyone. Just come back, I am not angry with you, I need you” Chris is really crying “I feel alone though, like I don’t know what to do” chewing on my bottom lip watching my mom sit down “you do, you’re coming back here. I will call you again, I expect you to be making movements ok? I love you Chris”  trying to hear out for him, I can hear him sniffling “I love you too” he seems really hurt, I think maybe I didn’t help, disconnecting the call “doesn’t he want to come back?” my mom asked “he’s not taking it well, I have been at him you see” my emotions is very much in the air.

[verai-marcel]

Ok hear me out, oh goddess of our Arthur smut, Modern day low honor Arthur (manager of [pick a store]) and fem reader, new hire. Work romance and pure smut, because I can see Arthur being the guy at work that comes in, in the morning and says “Ladies” and ALL THE WOMEN AT WORK SIMULTANEOUSLY SING “heyyyyyyy Arthurrrrr” back. XD

Business Time at the Bistro (Arthur x Fem!Reader, Modern AU, 18+)

Summary: You’re the new hire at a trendy bistro near your house; you were tired of commuting to the big city, and decided that less stress and a 10 minute walk to work was worth the pay cut. Your boss, Arthur, seems like a nice enough guy, but when he starts to handle your training personally? You start to feel things you shouldn’t feel for someone you work for. How will you deal with your budding emotions?

Author’s Notes: My title is a Flight of the Conchords reference. If you haven’t heard their song “Business Time”, go look it up. I know it’s not quite the mood I’m going for in the fic, but it made me laugh when I thought of it, so I just went with it. Anon, this is for your cute request.

Tags: low honor Arthur Morgan, smut, office sex, doggy style, dirty talk, slice of life

AO3 Link is here, you coffee snobs.

——————–

You walked into the bistro and fell in love at first sight.

There was soft folk music wafting through the air as you took in the scent of freshly ground coffee. A tray of scones and muffins, baked in house, looked appetizing behind the clean glass case, and the decor was cozy with a hint of modernity, resisting the urge to be hipster, and yet felt trendy as fuck.

“I want to work here,” you mumbled to yourself.

“Well, we’re in need of some help,” said a deep voice behind you.

You spun around and looked straight into a broad chest. Lifting your head up, you saw the owner of the voice, and presumably, the owner of the bistro.

He was a tall man with eyes the color of a lake and sandy brown hair, long enough to bury your hands in. His beard was close cut, uniform style, and accentuated his lips that you may have stared at for a second too long.

After a few moments of awkward silence, he tilted his head. “Sorry ma’am, did I mishear ya?”

You shook your head. “No, no, you heard me correctly. I’d love to work here.”

He walked up to you and held out his hand. “Arthur Morgan. I own this place. If you want work, let’s talk.”

His hand was calloused and warm, and held yours firmly but not aggressively. When he smiled, your heart skipped a beat.

***

An hour later, you had the paperwork to start a new job as a barista manager. You had prior experience with shift schedules and managing employees, and even though you didn’t have your resume on hand, you quickly pulled up your LinkedIn profile and gone over your work history. Your quick thinking and straight forward attitude had apparently won you points. 

Arthur, owner of Buell’s Bistro, said the original owner, a veteran named Hamish, had left it to him before retiring to Colorado. He said he didn’t know too much about being a business owner, but he seemed to be doing just fine, given the amount of customers you saw as you left.

Now all you had to do was give your two weeks notice to your current job, and you could finally make yourself happy.

***

You could not wait to start your first day at the bistro. The past two weeks had been a hell of a slog, trying to stay present and aware while you dreamed of an idyllic future. You were looking forward to walking to work and not having to drive an hour into the city every day. The corporate hell you escaped had made you strong, focused, and a nervous wreck at the end of each week. You were glad to be done with that career and moving on to something calmer.

Walking towards the employee’s entrance at the back, you saw Arthur get out of a dark green pick-up truck, sipping a coffee from a travel mug and checking his phone. You decided to wait for him, and waved as he walked up to you. He had told you to dress business casual, so you had on a black polo and a pair of khakis, but looking at him, you felt a little under-dressed. He was wearing a blue button-up, sleeves rolled up, with black slacks and brown Oxford shoes. 

You blinked and quickly looked away, hoping he hadn’t noticed you gawking at him. Last time you had seen him, he was in a bright Hawaiian shirt and jeans, looking very casual. You had thought he looked kind of cute at the time.

But right now? He looked hot as fuck.

“There ya are,” he said with a warm smile as he opened the door for you. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to the gang.”

***

“Ladies.”

“Heeeeyyyyyy Arthur!”

Three women—well, they seemed more like girls to you— chirped back to him in unison. It was a little eerie how incredibly rehearsed that seemed.

Arthur gestured to each woman in turn. “This here is Karen and Mary-Beth. They’re front staff. Tilly here runs things in the back, since she’s got a good head for numbers, and she bakes too, but we all do whatever’s needed to keep this place runnin’.”

Each of them smiled and nodded at you; they all seemed friendly. You introduced yourself, while Arthur told them about your business background.

“Wow, Tilly’s in school for business!” Mary-Beth said afterwards. “I’m just getting a degree in creative writing. Not sure how much good that’ll do me, but one day I hope I write somethin’ great!”

You appreciated her optimism and positive attitude. And her Southern accent was charming.

“Write an amazin’ play, so I can be in it,” Karen said with a smirk. Then she looked over at you. “I’m a theater major, so there’ll be some times when I won’t be able to come into work.”

You nodded. “So when it’s finals week, do you all have reduced hours?”

“Yeah, Arthur just takes over,” Tilly said.

You turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

“I can make coffee,” he grumbled, and the other girls tittered. 

“The guests know it’s finals week when there are no scones,” Tilly said.

You made a mental note to get her recipes so you could keep the scones coming when she was out. 

“Alright everyone, I’m gonna train our new lady, so y’all get back to it.”

“Yes, Arthur!” they all sang. It still seemed odd to you that they did it in unison.

“Are they always in sync like that?” you asked him after they had all gone off to the kitchen to prep for the morning.

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, they’ve all been friends since they started college.”

“Oh.” It suddenly occurred to you that you were probably about 10 years older than the girls. Your back twinged, reminding you of your age.

“Now, let’s get started,” Arthur said, distracting you from thoughts. “You know how to make an espresso?”

***

You thought you knew how to make an espresso. But clearly you had to learn his way to making one, which was slow and deliberate. His unhurried method chafed your quick and efficient sensibilities.

However, the result was a smooth, rich, delicious drink, and you couldn’t fault him for that. You figured you’d have to learn some patience.

When Karen and Mary-Beth came back to open up the doors, you helped in any way you could, basically shadowing them for the rest of the morning. When they both headed off to class, Tilly came out to help you for another hour, and when she left for her classes, Arthur came out to help you. 

“How’s it been so far?” he asked when the cafe emptied out and the two of you were cleaning up. You silently hoped that no one would come in during the next thirty minutes before the cafe closed.

“Pretty good! Learning a lot. I haven’t done front of house stuff in so long,” you replied with a laugh.

Arthur chuckled. “You got a natural warmth to ya. I’m sure you’ll be alright.”

You smiled shyly and laughed, a little nervous at how your heart was skipping beats.

He said your name and it sounded like buttered rum, smooth, warm, and sweet. Your throat went a little dry as he leaned towards you.

The jingle of the door opening distracted both of you.

“Hi, welcome!” you said, switching to customer service mode with a warm smile and friendly tone. Arthur was right, it did come naturally to you, to please people, to help make people happy.

You didn’t see Arthur scowl slightly before continuing to clean the counters.

You did, however, notice when he charged the customer just a little extra without him knowing. You didn’t say anything until after the young man had left, just as closing time hit. Arthur went to the door and locked it, turning the sign around to say “Closed.”

“You charged him incorrectly,” you said. 

“Oh. Whoops,” he said, unconvincingly. 

“Arthur!“ 

"He didn’t notice. Besides, he pissed me off.”

“By doing what?" 

Arthur was silent, opting to shrug nonchalantly as he closed the curtains and started cleaning up. You got the feeling that you wouldn’t get an answer out of him, so you just sighed and cleaned up as well. Once everything was put away and clean for the next morning, Arthur locked up and walked you to your car like a gentleman, looking around for anything or anyone that might cause trouble. 

As you reached for your car door, Arthur put his hand on your arm, his fingers caressing your skin, sending a delicious heat through you. 

"You did real good today. Lookin’ forward to workin’ with ya.”

You smiled. “Me too. Just don’t overcharge all your customers,” you said, half-jokingly, taking the sting out of your comment. 

“Only the ones that annoy me.” A half-grin appeared on his face. 

“What did he do?" 

"Talked to you fer too long,” he said, his voice dipping low.

You couldn’t tell if he was joking as he said good night and went to his car. 

***

Somehow, three months went by in the blink of an eye. You learned about the cafe’s customers, got feedback, and started implementing some minor changes that made a difference in how efficiently the place was run. There was less waste and more time to spend on marketing, which brought in more customers. You felt like you were really making a difference; it was infinitely more satisfying than working for a giant corporation. 

In those three months, you had gotten to know your coworkers and boss. The girls really were 10 years younger than you, though sometimes it didn’t feel that way. They were all mature and wonderful to talk to. By now, the four of you had gotten close enough to have a text chat group, and Tilly would occasionally ask you for help with her business class assignments. 

You still refused to chirp along with the girls when they greeted Arthur in the morning, though. Seemed like it was straight out of a sitcom, and you felt embarrassed whenever you thought about doing it. 

And Arthur. Getting to know him had been a bit tough at first. For all of his friendly smiles, he dodged personal questions very well, distracting you with questions if his own, or just vaguely answering you. It seemed he didn’t want to talk about his past, so eventually you let it go. 

When you talked to the other girls about his aversion to speaking about his history, they absolutely confirmed it. 

“Yeah, he doesn’t like to bring it up.”

“Shuts up completely if you push him.”

“Whatever happened in his past, he sure as hell ain’t gonna talk about it.”

Recently though, the girls’ favorite topic was you. Specifically, their observations of Arthur in regards to you. 

On a foggy morning, before Arthur arrived, the four of you huddled around the kitchen oven, waiting for Tilly’s mushroom and kale scones to finish baking. 

“I’m tellin’ you, he’s into you.”

“Nope, not going there,” you said as you went over the inventory sheet on your clipboard. “He’s just a nice guy. He does the same for all of you.”

“There’s a difference when it’s you,” Mary-Beth insisted. “His tone is softer, and he stands closer to you.”

“And he brings you lunch sometimes. He doesn’t do that for any of us,” Tilly casually mentioned. 

“You girls usually aren’t here for lunch!” you responded, a little exasperated. 

They all laughed and kept pointing out little things that Arthur did for you and you alone, as you kept denying that it was anything more than just a simple kindness. 

But just a little bit, they got into your head. 

Right at 6AM, as per usual, the door opened. 

“Mornin’ ladies.”

“Heeeeeeyy Arthur!” the girls greeted. 

“Good morning!” you replied separately. 

Arthur’s eyes met yours with a warmth that filled you from head to toe, and gave you a smile that made your heart stutter. He said your name in greeting, his voice low and soft like velvet caressing your skin. 

Then the moment was gone as he went to his office and shut the door. 

The girls looked at you, a knowing smile on their faces. 

“See? He’s definitely into you.”

This time, you couldn’t even deny it. 

***

Another month had passed since you finally thought that maybe, just maybe, Arthur might potentially have some slight interest in you. 

For fuck’s sake, who the hell were you kidding? 

This past month had been sheer torture, as each time the two of you were alone, he’d sidle up to you and ask how you were doing and encourage you to talk to him. He’d brush a hand against yours, or lightly touch your shoulder, or if he was feeling bold that day, he’d say “c’mon, bring it in,” and open his arms for a hug before leaving for the day. 

Of course, you hugged him back. Arthur hugs were big bear hugs, his arms wrapping securely around you as he squeezed you close. They were the best. 

And you were pretty sure he knew you weren’t going to say no to any physical contact. You slowly became addicted to his touch, nearly jumping into his arms whenever he opened them. He didn’t touch you so openly when the other girls were around, but he stood close by so you could feel the heat coming off in waves from his body. 

Every day, you told yourself you’d stop inviting his touch. And every day, you let him get closer and closer to you. Like a spider weaving his web, wrapping his threads of warmth and desire around you, he’d give you little smiles and tease you gently throughout the day, making you feel like a schoolgirl with a crush on the new teacher. It didn’t help that you had a bit of a thing for a man in a position of power over you who happened to be kind and paying you a lot of attention, for that was exactly what Arthur was doing.

You had a feeling your boss kink was going to be the end of your career. But at the end of every day, when you said good night and saw the heat simmering in his eyes as you left, you wondered if it’d be worth it.

***

“Does Arthur hug you girls when you leave for the day?”

Tilly, Karen, and Mary-Beth all gave you varying looks of disbelief.

“No, he never gets that close to us. He even apologies if he accidentally brushes my arm as he’s walking past,” Mary-Beth said. Tilly & Karen just nodded when you looked at them for confirmation.

“Arthur’s got a crush on you,” Karen teased in a sing-song tone as she waggled her eyebrows. “He’s never been very touchy-feely with any of us.”

“That’s because he sees us as his little sisters,” Tilly said, matter-of-factly.

“How do you know?” Mary-Beth raised an eyebrow at her.

“He told me, one night when we were closing the cafe, during that first year.” Tilly measured some flour for the scones and gently added it to the mixer. “He said he was grateful we all were here to help when he inherited the place. Hamish told us we didn’t have to stay, but Arthur was so lost, we couldn’t leave him. Said we were like his family.”

“Awww!” you exclaimed, warmed by the thought of Arthur saying something so sweet.

“So, you thinkin’ about accepting his advances?” Karen asked all of a sudden.

The change in topic was like whiplash in your head. You had to blink a few times before what she said finally sank in. It took a few extra moments to come up with an answer.

“That doesn’t seem very professional—”

The door opened. 6AM, on the dot.

“Ladies.”

“Heeeeey Arthur!”

You sighed quietly to yourself before plastering on your game face and got ready for the rest of the day.

***

That night, as you swept the floor, you were lost in thought. What Karen had said, about accepting Arthur’s advances; weren’t you basically doing that?

You were thinking so hard that you didn’t notice that Arthur had closed all the blinds and come up to you while you were sweeping the corner of the room. You looked up just as he put a hand on the wall in front of you, stopping your progress and literally cornering you. 

“Penny for yer thoughts?" 

You felt heat suffuse your cheeks as you saw how close he was, forcing you to look up at him. He leaned down a little, his eyes flickering to your lips as they parted, your small intake of breath more telling than anything you could have said.

“Just spacing out, that’s all.”

A bit of worry crept into his expression. “You feelin’ alright? Have I been workin’ ya too hard?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

He smiled. “That you are, sweetheart.” He slowly reached out to hold your hands in his, gently took the broom from your hands and set it aside. Then he took another step closer to you. Leaning in, he caressed your cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Real fine.”

“Ar-Arthur, we can’t.”

“Why not?” He shifted nearer.

“Because I work for you!”

“I wouldn’t force ya. If you’re not attracted to me, then say so and I’ll back off. No consequences, I promise.” He said the last part with a sincerity that you believed. Then he leaned in to graze your earlobe with his lips. “But I think you are.”

You let out a small whimper of need from his touch. He softly cradled your face in one hand as he reached around to splay his other hand on the small of your back, pulling you closer until you were flush with his warm body.

“Last chance, sweetheart.”

You were silent, staring into his eyes, your body melting against his.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he whispered against your lips before he kissed you. You could feel him pour all of the desire he had been holding back into his kiss, his tongue invading your mouth as he held the back of your neck and wrapped his other arm tighter around you. 

You wrapped your arms around him in return, grabbing at his shirt and pulling him closer to you, desperate for more of his touch. He pinned you to the wall, pressing his entire body against yours as he stole your breath, took your moans as his hands reached down and stroked your curves, brushing close but not quite touching your breasts. His hands traveled to your hips, and he squeezed with his fingers.

“I want more.” He pulled back. “I want you in my office.”

He had the look of a starving man, and you were his first meal in days. He wanted to take you, consume you, devour you.

You nodded.

Smiling, Arthur took your hand and led you to his office.

***

“Always wanted to do this,” he murmured as he lifted you up onto his desk, his hands sliding your skirt up your thighs. His fingers made their way to your panties, where he rubbed you slowly, feeling the damp fabric and smirking. “Feels like you want this too.”

You nodded, unable to verbally admit that this had been a fantasy of yours lately, a fantasy that you may have jilled off to on several occasions. 

His fingers pulled your panties aside as he touched you intimately for the first time. You let out a sigh of pure ecstasy as he caressed your core.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Just enjoy it.”

Then he kissed you once more, stealing your breath as he coaxed your tongue to play with his, the two of you making out with a frenzied passion you hadn’t felt in a long time. His other hand wrapped around the back of your neck and held you still as he kept fingering you, driving you higher and higher.

“Take yer shirt off,” he commanded. “I want to see all of you.”

You quickly unbuttoned your blouse and tossed it aside. Reaching behind you, you unclasped your bra and flung it away as well. Arthur pulled back to admire your body, a look of admiration on his face.

“Beautiful,” he breathed before he went straight for your breasts, grabbing one of them and teasing the nipple while he took the other into his mouth, sucking and licking you. All the while, he was still stroking your core, building your pleasure up more and more.

The increased sensation to your body was enough to drag you to the brink. You held onto his hair with one hand, grabbing his wrist with the other and pushing his fingers harder against your clit as he stood up straight to tower over you.

“Come for me,” he ordered.

You broke apart, burying your face into his shirt as you moaned wantonly, your legs shaking as he pressed his fingers heavily against your center, rubbing in circles.

“That’s it, good girl,” he crooned.

Catching your breath, you watched him grin and pull back long enough to unbutton his fly. Pulling out his manhood, he stepped back to you, touching the inside of your thighs. You spread your legs and smiled up at him.

“Guide me in.”

You reached out and grasped the velvet steel of his cock, stroking it twice so you could watch him let out a soft moan before you pulled him into your waiting entrance. He leaned forward, his hand cradling your cheek as he pushed himself inside of you, never breaking eye contact as you felt him stretch you.

“Oh my god, this feels so good,” you whimpered.

“Sure does,” he said in a hushed tone. “Better than my fantasies.”

When he finally hilted inside you, he leaned in and kissed you. Then he pulled out and slammed back into you, making you cry out in surprise.

And that set the tone for his passionate fucking, gripping your hips so he wouldn’t smash the desk as he took you with his powerful thrusts. He groaned against your neck when you grabbed at his clothed back as you succumbed to his unrelenting pace.

“I want you bent over my desk.”

He pulled out and manhandled you until you were bent over his desk, your ass in the air.

“Perfect,” he growled as he slid back inside of you and rammed into you again and again. “Yer so hot like this.”

Then he leaned over you, and said lowly in your ear. “You like it when your boss fucks you?”

Oh shit. He knew your kink. You moaned uncontrollably and nodded, feeling your pussy clench around his cock. He smirked, knowing how you had reacted to his words.

“Say it.”

“I like it when my boss fucks me.”

“Call me Mr. Morgan.”

“Yes, Mr. Morgan.”

“Good,” he purred, and reached down to stroke your core. “My best employee deserves a reward, don’tcha?”

“Yes, please!”

“Beg for a reward, sweetheart,”

“Please, Mr. Morgan, please give me a reward!”

He stood up and slowed his pace, but the intensity of his thrusts remained, the sound of his hips against your ass echoing in the small office.

“I’ll give you what you want.” He grabbed your hair and pulled. “I know exactly what you need.”

You felt his hand grab your shoulder as he suddenly fucked you hard and fast. The only warning you had was when his grip tightened on you before he let out a harsh moan and a string of expletives as he emptied himself inside of you, pushing his cock as deep as he could go, huffing as he finished.

“Fuck, that was… that was amazin’.” He picked you up and sat back in his chair, you on his lap, his cock still inside of you. He idly caressed your breasts as you both caught your breaths. When he finally slipped out from you, he laughed.

“Guess we should clean up,” he mumbled. You leaned your head back against his shoulder and nodded.

“Sweetheart?”

“Yes, Arthur?”

“You alright?”

You smiled. “Yeah, I’m alright. Better than alright.” You turned your head and kissed him on his stubbled cheek. “I’m glad I took this job.”

He chuckled, nuzzling you. “So am I.”

——————–

End Notes: This… got way longer than I intended. Oh well! Hope you enjoyed the ride!

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer Chapter 26: Turtle

You’ll wait a long time for me...

Master List

Lu Mingfei stretched his arms over his head and yawned. He glanced down at me. “It’s getting kinda late. Shouldn’t you be going home?”

Fingel was already snoring in the recliner, having eaten half the pizza Lu had ordered for us. 

“Yeah probably…” I leaned my head against the back of the couch. Since his roommate was here, unhelpfully chaperoning, we hadn’t been able to share any ‘S-class’ secrets and instead stuck to playing video games late into the night. 

“You don’t think he’s going to write about this in his paper are you?” I asked him.

“Heh. Knowing this place? People are already chatting about it on the forums.”  He reached into the bottom of a bag of chips and pulled out a few fragments to munch on, brushing his hands against his shirt.

“They’re probably going to say nasty things about me. I didn’t think about that.” I sat up a little, stretching my back. “Johann’s supposed to be my boyfriend after all.”

Lu looked puzzled. “Supposed to be? He’s not really? He took you out on a date, right?”

I let out a puff of air, lifting the braids in front of my face. “He said that was just to keep me from getting burnt out, so I doubt that counts as a date.”

“He said that. Wow.” Lu looked away in dismay.

“I don’t mind it. I mean he is older than me, knows a lot more. Way more skilled… Why would he want to be my boyfriend?” I smirked at him. “I’m sure he has… pretty high standards…”

Lu Mingfei let out a little groan. “You sound a lot like someone I know.”

“Oh yeah?” I pulled my feet up on the couch to be more comfortable.

“Yeah!, Once upon a time there was a guy who never confessed to the girl he liked because she was way out of his league. Even though he obviously made her happy and understood how she felt. They enjoyed each other’s company… etcetera” He sighed. “It didn’t help that she was with someone else at the time that was way smarter, richer and more talented….”

“This sounds like a soap opera. He needs to get over her and fast.” I rolled my eyes. “She’s an idiot!”

Lu’s eyes snapped over to mine. “What?”

“Look, I know where this is going. She’s dating this guy for status but she’s not happy with him. She is happy with someone else but she doesn’t dump this guy she’s with… because…” I wave my hand in the air. Waiting for an answer.

Lu Mingfei stared at me, his gaze growing distant.

“Don’t get me wrong. Few people know what they want. And no relationship is perfect. But you can tell… come on…” I give a slow disapproving headshake. “You can tell when someone hits the spot for you. Because even when you’re sad, you can’t stop laughing. You can talk to them and they get you. Anyone who trades that for a big old empty house and parties with people they don’t know and money and stuff… They’re an idiot.”

I picked up a can of soda, feeling that there was not much left inside. I could feel the pang in my chest. “You know. I could give up everything to have my family back. To go back to sitting in Robbie’s beat up car with no heat. Just so I could feel that love again.”

“So… maybe I shouldn’t judge because I don’t know the whole story…” I drank the last of the soda. “I’m a little biased.”

Lu had gone very quiet.

 “Uh oh… this girl’s not a friend of yours is she?” I giggled, flinching. “Whoops!”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “She is.”

“Okay well… back tracking a little bit. I guess they’re both in the wrong. He needs to either let her go, because she’s not right for him, or confess and stop wasting time. The worst that could happen is she says no, which is kinda what she’s saying already… if she’s smart that is.”

“I feel sorry for your friend.” I glanced over at Fingel.

“So… you and Johann aren’t going to stay together after the three months.” Lu finally said.

“I mean… We’re probably still going to train and study together. We are still on the same team. And Johann told me flat out that he wanted to keep this going. I don’t see that changing.”

Lu sat up straight. “He did?”

“Yeah! I told him at the Six Flags that he didn’t have to do all this boyfriend stuff and take charge of my training and everything and he said he wanted to continue. I said he was free to go. If we were going to end it, we would have already.”

“Wow…” He said quietly.

“Yeah, I was surprised too. I don’t feel like I know him that well. So, I don’t know what he’s thinking. That was the first time I actually got to ask him how he felt. He plays his cards close to the chest.”

“You can ask me. I’ve … known him a while.” Lu said.

I brightened. “Oh okay. He does actually like girls right?”

“What? Of course he does!” Lu exclaimed.

Fingel murmured and stirred in his sleep. We both froze. Thankfully, he didn’t wake up.

“He’s got girls hanging on him, he’s super-talented and single. It’s a valid question!” I whispered.

“He uh… kinda had a thing with a girl before. It didn’t work out. She…” He paused.

“..died?” I finished the sentence.

“Yeah and… before that? She betrayed him on a mission. He nearly died too.”

I gaped in shock. “Are you serious?” When he nodded, I sat back against the chair, looking down at my hands, astonished. “Oh wow… wow… yeah that’ll do it.”

I scooted closer to him. “See… the thing about betrayal is… it makes you question what’s real and what’s not. I saw it a lot in foster care.”

“It didn’t matter how much you told those kids you loved them. There was always this question: Do you really? And that was if they even acknowledged the words. With some kids it was like… ‘No you don’t.’ And that was just it. You can’t get through to them. It makes it really hard to get close to anyone.”

I chewed my lip and then groaned, putting my face in my hands. “Aw man… if I’d known that… I never would have done this…”

I sat back up. “...but he said he was okay with it so…” 

I felt awful. When we fell into silence again, I stood. “I should get going.”

“Are you… going to be alright walking home?” Lu asked. “Text me when you get there.”

I turned to him and smiled. “Sure. Thanks for letting me play your games and eat your food… and talk smack about your friends.”

He laughed. “Hey, any time. Hopefully, next time I’ll get rid of the spy.”

As I walked home, I pulled out my phone. Lu’s questions had gotten me questioning. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked about the nature of our relationship. I scrolled down our text messages together. We kept things friendly, cordial. That’s why the invitation to the theme park was so out of the blue, why his explanation was so credible. 

Once home, I still read and reread, clutching the stuffed bear. Soon an hour had gone by and I hadn’t fallen asleep.

The next morning Johann met me to walk together back to the gym as usual. 

As soon as I saw him and groaned again. “Oh, won’t you cover that up?”

The bruise I’d left him was clearly visible above the collar of his shirt. “Why?”

“Because, I feel guilty about it. Even though you say it’s okay, it really wasn’t. I’m sorry.” That morning I was determined to be more open and honest about my feelings. Being more open myself was a way to get people to be more open with me. That’s why I always felt so comfortable about Lu. I knew he wasn’t hiding anything.

Or at least, not much. 

“You learned quickly and reacted accordingly. But… apology accepted.” Johann responded, turning to start walking. “Schneider told me you fought lab techs too…” 

I flinched. “He did, huh?”

He faced forward, unsmiling, as usual. “Yes, he was very impressed. Not much impresses him.”

“That’s cool.” I glanced up at him. “You talk to him a lot?”

“He’s my mentor. He asks me a lot of questions about your progress. That means he’s set on having you in the Executive Operations Department.”

“Isn’t that where you work?” I kept my eye on him, watching for any signal at all and getting complete facial radio silence.

“That’s right.”

My eyes flickered from his face to the ground. “That… makes me really happy.”

“You should be. You’ve worked hard for this.”

My eyes widened. Did he really just say that?

“What?” He noticed my surprise and paused in his step.

“I was… just surprised you said that.”

“Professor Schneider is not someone who usually goes looking for recruits...” He tilted his head slightly, reminding me of Lieutenant Commander Data from Star Trek.

“No, no… I meant… I was happy working with you!” I said, with more emphasis.

“Oh. Well… thanks…” He hesitated a few more seconds and we continued walking.

That was it? Even if it wasn’t true, the natural thing to say when someone said they liked working with you was, ‘I like working with you too.’ But twice now, my expressions weren’t returned.

I had gotten my hopes up that something might have happened while I wasn’t aware of it. But no… there was nothing going on. I guessed Lu was wrong after all. His curiosity got me to say what I needed to say though, so I was grateful.

We’d arrived at the gym.

Training continued at its blistering pace, focusing more on offense than defense. Johann wore protective equipment, noting with some dismay that I didn’t have any because there was none in my size on campus. He’d had to request it from Manstein.

We were having our noon-break eating in silence on a bench outside the gym when he suddenly said. “I… am happy working with you too.”

My mouth was full of sticky sushi rice and I couldn’t answer without choking. What a turtle! This had to be the slowest turn around time for a basic response I’d ever seen. 

I swallowed my rice, a warm feeling spreading through my chest. 

I liked it.

I gave him a light bump with my shoulder and smiled.  “Hey, let's go out and see a movie later!”

“I can’t…” He replied.

“Oh… busy?” 

His yellow eyes met mine. “No… I’m still on suspension. I don’t have any A-rank privileges. That includes the ability to leave campus.”

I pouted. “I still can’t believe they suspended you…” I grumbled.

He looked down. “I invited you to the Ferris Wheel when I should have taken you home. We left late. Even if we hadn’t had to deal with Hydra, I wouldn’t have gotten you back in time.”

I took a breath, then forced my mouth shut.

“There was nothing I could have said in appeal. It was completely my fault. I accepted responsibility. Don’t blame Manstein.”

Johann Chu, the one who was famous in school for planning his day down to the minute, just admitted that he was late and risked suspension to take me on a Ferris wheel? When he didn’t even like theme parks?

“I’m glad you did…” I suddenly covered my mouth with my hands. 

Was this really happening? If only Robbie were here. He would be able to tell me what to do. He probably would have known long before me. He would have seen right through all the smoke and mirrors, even more than Lu had.

“W...what’s wrong…” His eyes grew wide and he tensed up.

“No, nothing!” I had to calm down. I clasped my hands down in my lap. “I’m just… really happy you did!”

“Oh…” He let out a breath, relaxing again, still eying me.  “I’m glad. Too.”

My thoughts slowly drifted back to planet Earth. Poor Turtle. This must have been so far to go all at once. It was time for a break.

I cleared my throat. “Well… we’d better get back to training.”

He checked the time on his phone. “You’re right. We should have started two minutes ago.” He put it back in his pocket, then did a double take because I was laughing.  “What is it?”

“I’m just really happy!”

[dollarstorethomasjefferson]

!!! History Rant !!!

I wish our schools taught us about Captain John Paul Jones in school. Most people only know him as a “traitor” but lemme tell you a thing. He was NOT a traitor in the slightest. There is a sea shanty about him saying he has no loyalty to anyone and that he went rouge. 

John Paul Jones actually was very loyal to the American cause, to the point where he refused to denounce his adopted country when he went to work for Catherine the Great. He considered himself an American citizen despite living in France most of his adult life. John Paul Jones went to the edge of the world and back to help his adopted country gain the freedoms and rights it deserved. 

Jones was a very stunning figure, both in personality and appearance. He was only 5′6″ but very attractive nonetheless. He had a sharp jaw and nose, he was slender and round-shouldered, had neat brown hair and soft hazel eyes. John Adams described him saying “Eccentricities and irregularities are to be expected from him. They are in his character, they are in his eyes. His voice is soft and small; his eye has keenness, and wildness and softness in it.” Abigail Adams was not as impressed as her husband was. She wrote to a friend saying “And John Paul Jones was a decided disappointment” She pictured him a “rough, stout, war-like roman” but instead was “tiny, soft-spoken, and a favorite with the french ladies.” 

History either sheds light on only the good or only the bad. In school we are typically taught a one-sided story about a person or event. John Paul Jones is the kind of man you have to see both sides of to fully appreciate. The ‘good’ half of him is the courageous, determined, and fierce leader that most Americans saw him at the time. The ‘bad’ half is the reckless, prideful, and depressing side. I feel our schools should put emphasis on our historical figures’ personalities and show that no person is perfect and that even the most courageous leaders we look up to had issues they suffered with when they were alive. 

A lot of people don’t see a painting of John Paul Jones and think “Wow! He’s so cool and a very interesting character at that!” If we were introduced to Jones at a younger age and given opportunities to research him and get to know him, I’m sure a lot more people would be talking about this dead sailor bro. Since I’m here, I’ll go ahead and give you some small details of Jones’s life up to the Battle of the Bonhomme Richard vs the Serapis.

Jones was born on July 6, 1747 in Scotland to a lower-class gardener and his wife. It is rumored that Jones was an illegitimate son of the Lord of the land Jones’s father worked on. At age 12, Jones got an apprenticeship with a Scottish merchant. In 1766, the business failed and Jones was forced to work on a ship trading slaves in Jamaica. Jones was disgusted with the conditions of slavery and after 2 years quit and left back to Scotland. 

1772 rolled around and Jones bought a ship and whoops “accidentally” killed a man. (Jones dubbed him the ‘Ringleader’.) Jones then fled the country and assumed a fake identity. (He literally just added Jones to the end of his name, so Jones isn’t even his real name... sorry) In 1775, Jones joined the continental Navy and was given the rank of Senior Lieutenant. 

Jones rode around in his ship, the Alfred, and caused havoc in the Atlantic. He burned down some enemy ships, sunk a couple, and took a few as prizes. The Marine committee was very pleased with Jones and, in 1777, gave him the brand new, shiny, Ranger. Jones did some more burning and taking prizes, as you do, and was praised for being a hero by the French. 

Now!! For the most exciting battle that I want you all to read about! Jones was given the Duc de Duras, which he renamed the Bonhomme Richard (which was a name taken from Benjamin Franklin that he used as a pseudonym) in 1779. He had 4 other really small ships accompanying him when he sailed the British Isles. He had a run-in with the British ship, the Serapis. Jones disguised himself and his ships to make it appear as if they were part of the Royal Navy too. Jones’s ship inched closer and closer to the Serapis, when Captain Richard Pearson, the captain controlling the Serapis, hoisted up the Royal Navy ensign. 

Now, Jones knew that meant Pearson could see right through his disguise so he ordered the Continental Navy ensign to be raised on the Bonhomme Richard.The Serapis and the Bonhomme Richard fought for 3 1/2 hours!!!!! That’s a long time on water my guy! After all that time fighting, one man aboard the Bonhomme Richard threw a little bomb onto the deck of the Serapis. Now, listen, if you are in the Navy, what is the one thing you don’t want laying around the deck? That’s right, gunpowder and other explosives. Somehow, someway, the crew aboard the Serapis didn’t consider this and just left all these flammable materials around the floor. So now both ships are on fire, they’re both destroyed, men are drowning, it’s absolute and utter chaos. 

This was the battle that Jones reportedly yelled “I have no yet begun to fight!” when asked if he surrendered to Pearson. I’m no historian or anything, but when quotes like these show up on my feed, I get suspicious. It is actually very likely the Jones did not say that quote exactly. We only know he said words similar to those because of an eyewitness who wrote in his diary after the whole ordeal. When Jones wrote to Louis XVI about the fight, he claimed to have said “Je ne songe point a me rendre, mais je suis determine a vous faire demander quartier.” (I haven’t yet thought of surrendering, but I am determined to make you ask for quarter.) Yeah.. that’s a lot less charming than I have no yet begun to fight, but whatever floats your boat I guess. 

Anyway so uh after Pearson surrendered (I guess Jones did make him ask for quarter, good for him) he was asked to dine below deck in the Bohomme Richard. It was a complete mess, worse than some of our lives (sorry for the call-out smh) Jones wrote “I found her in the greatest distress... A person must have been an eyewitness to form a just idea of the tremendous scenes of carnage, wreck, and ruin to which everywhere appeared.” After the battle, Jones got to keep the Serapis, but the Bonhomme Richard was no more. 

Jones then went into a small depression because the thrill of battle had ceased. 

Well uhhhh yeah I could’ve made that way more interesting and eye-catching, but I don’t want to force you all to read that if you don’t care lol. If you are interested in John Paul Jones, I recommend you read “John Paul Jones  Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy” by Evan Thomas. Or if you want a quick rundown here’s a link to Britannica . Or if you want to read an eyewitness writing of the battle I just talked about, here’s a link to that. Anyway uhhh thanks for listening I guess lmao.