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ilovepedro · 9 months

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Yellow | joel miller x f!reader

Summary: You and Joel take a well-deserved vacation to the secluded countryside of Texas. Unbeknownst to you, Joel has a special surprise up his sleeve.

Word count: ~3.7k (oopsies)

Rating: 18+ Minors DNI

Warnings: no outbreak AU (Sarah is alive and well, but she isn’t in this), established relationship, smut like lots of it, oral (f receiving), fingering, unprotected PIV (wrap it up y’all), overstimulation, soft!joel (idc if he’s OOC, i love that big ol’ softie), so much fluff, hella petnames (baby, darlin, babydoll, honey), reader is female, but has no physical description. NO USE OF Y/N

A/N: this is my first time writing any sort of fanfiction with a developed brain lol. i’ve had this idea for a while since Joel’s been rotting my brain for the past year-ish. i'm also a big fan of Pablo Neruda and i was reading some of his poems while listening to my love song playlist so i was feeling sappy lol. this is based on one of my favorite love songs, Yellow by Coldplay. feel free to listen while you read! shoutout to @gracieheartsspedro for your kind words and for giving me the confidence boost to post 🩷 and thank you to all of y’all for being so sweet to me and welcoming me here with open arms <3

star banner by @benkeibear 🌟

Look at the stars

Look how they shine for you

And everything you do

Yeah, they were all yellow

“Dance with me, honey.” The strumming guitar intro to Yellow by Coldplay flutters through the speaker and invades the cool evening breeze as the sun sets. The moon and stars begin to peek through the cotton candy skies. Joel holds his hand out to you as the two of you unwind in the field behind the remote Texas lake house you two are staying at for the week. A long overdue vacation for the both of you, you’ve spent your last full day basking in the refreshing water of the lake, seeking relief from the brutal Texas summer sun.

You gladly take his hand, flashing him a saccharine smile as you intertwine your fingers with his. “Joel Miller, ever the charmer,” you say as he wraps an arm around your waist. He hides his face in the crook of your neck, bashful like a schoolboy. Your stomach flutters as he still manages to give you butterflies after 3 years of being with him. He quietly rasps the lyrics in your ear.

I came along

I wrote a song for you

He lifts his head up to meet your gaze, matching the saccharine look that adorns your face. His heart is so full, so overwhelmed with how much he loves you. You’ve turned him into a sap, but he wouldn’t change a thing. “You’re so damn beautiful, baby. ‘M almost the luckiest man in the world.” You quirk your brow, a curious smirk lacing your features. “Almost?”

And all the things you do

And it was called Yellow

He twirls you with a smile, eliciting a giggle from you. His chest blooms with warmth - a mixture of bliss and nerves. He twirls you one more time, your head thrown back as you let out a hearty laugh. Suddenly, he’s down on one knee holding the most beautiful ring before he loses his confidence to ask you the most important question of your lives. You turn back to him, a gasp escaping your lungs as tears well in your eyes.

So then I took my turn

Oh what a thing to have done

And it was all yellow

“Almost, darlin’, ‘cause you’ll make me the luckiest man in the world after this. You know me better than anyone, darlin’, so ya know ‘m no good at this type of stuff, but I hope you know that I’ll do anything for you, baby. I didn’t expect to find my other half that day we met. Was just tryna get my coffee and go ‘cause I didn’t wanna be late. But, god, you looked so damn cute in that pretty blue sweater. Most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. So beautiful you distracted me and I spilled my coffee all over ya. ‘M glad I did though, ‘r else I wouldn’t’ve taken ya out to dinner to make it up to you. Ended up bein’ late anyway, but I’d be late everyday if it meant seein’ your pretty lil’ smile. You make me wanna be a better man ‘n I hope ‘m everything you could ever want ‘cause ‘s what you are to me. You're the best partner, best woman, best momma. You’re the best momma to Sarah, honey. Can’t thank ya enough for lovin’ her as your own. You make her, us, me, so goddamn happy, baby. I’d be a damn fool if I didn’t put a ring on your pretty little finger, honey. Shit, ‘m one for not doing this sooner. Thank you for lovin’ me and bein’ so patient with my stubborn ass. I know I ain’t easy to deal with. My knees are killin’ me though, baby, so I got a real important question for you: will you marry me, darlin’?”

Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones

Turn into something beautiful

And you know, you know I love you so

You know I love you so

You’re smiling so hard your face hurts. Tears cascading down your face, which you don’t realize until you taste the salty water on your lips. “Yes, Joel,” you unintentionally whisper, Joel having knocked the air from your lungs. His smile grows wider. He gently slips the ring on your left ring finger. You lean down to kiss him, but he meets you halfway as he goes to stand. He cups your cheeks in his large, warm hands with your hands encompassing his. Pressing a deep kiss to one another’s lips, a kiss full of warmth, life, love - a promise of forever.

“Joel, baby,” you say as you pull away, hands still resting atop his while he delicately holds you. Your voice is wobbly as you’re still silently crying. You’re rendered speechless for the first time in your life. Your heart has never felt this full. You’ve never felt so alive, so complete. “I love you so much. I can’t even put it into words. You’re everything to me and more. I’d be honored to be your wife.” He smiles, tears gleam in his eyes. Joel Miller, the serious, gruff man, is in tears - because of you; a side only reserved for you.

I swam across

I jumped across for you

Oh, what a thing to do

‘Cause you were all yellow

“I meant every word, baby. Every word in that song ‘s true too. ‘S why it’s our song. The stars shine for you, but I think you’re prettier ‘an all the stars in the sky.” He pulls you in for another kiss, just as saccharine as the previous one. You’re both smiling into it. You hum as you pull away. “Baby, what’re you talking about you’re ‘no good at this type of stuff,’ Joel Miller, you’re a poet,” you laugh as you playfully question him. He throws his head back, a belly laugh escaping him. He smiles even bigger as he spots a twinkle in your eye. “Only for you, darlin’.” He moves his hands to your waist again, holding one of your hands in his as he leads you into a dance again. The big, cheesy smiles never leave your faces. Placing your free hand on his shoulder, the two of you sway to the music.

I drew a line, I drew a line for you

Oh, what a thing to do

And it was all yellow

“Forever,” you whisper as you press your nose against his while he sways you both side to side. “Forever,” he repeats. Another kiss is pressed to your lips, a hungrier one, a combination of love and lust. He releases your hand to cup the back of your head while he pulls you in by waist, bringing you closer. You throw your arms around his sturdy middle - the kiss deepens. He licks into your mouth, eliciting a soft moan from you. “Take me to bed, Joel,” you huskily whisper. “Anything for my wife.” You beam at his words. “Not your wife, honey.” “Yet, darlin’. Yet.”

The moon peeks through the window, casting a cool glow on the entire room. The crisp late night breeze ripples the curtains hanging on the window the two of you mindlessly left open as you devoured one another earlier in the evening.

You stir, groggy as you’re awoken by the familiar dull ache in between your legs. Feeling a heavy, but comforting weight on your torso, you turn gently so as to not wake him. Now facing him,Joel’s arm still holds you flushed against his chest.

It’s the middle of the night, the bedside clock flashes 3:30 in small fluorescent blue lights. Both of you spent, as the events of the day having wiped you two out. He slowly, but deliciously wrecked your cunt twice, once with his mouth and once with his cock, before you both drifted off to sleep. He’s still sleeping. He is so beautiful. I’m so lucky.

His plush lips slightly parted as he softly snores. His full lashes lightly kiss his cheeks. Brows pulled into his infamous furrow. You carefully brush the curve of his strong nose, which you rode into the midnight hour, with your left hand. The moonlight catches a glimpse of the ring he gave you just hours ago. A delicate gold band adorning a diamond, 2 smaller stones surrounding it.

Your skin, oh yeah, your skin and bones

Turn into something beautiful

And you know, for you, I’d bleed myself dry

For you, I’d bleed myself dry

Tears well in your eyes as you recall his proposal from the evening. Your heart overflows with content as you admire the man in front of you. You get to fall asleep and wake up like this for the rest of your lives. He is my forever. You softly caress his face, careful not to wake him. Alas, your attempt fails.

Joel begins to stir while you continue to caress his patchy beard as you internally dwell on the thought of being his for eternity. Stretching his taut tan muscles, groaning as he does so. “Ya watchin’ me sleep, babydoll? How long ya been awake?” A sleepy smile creeps onto his face.

“I’m just admiring my gorgeous fiancé’s face. And not very long, only about 5 minutes,” you sigh. His sleepy smile morphs into a toothy grin. “Oh really? I’m sure he can’t be nearly as gorgeous as mine. She’s the most beautiful woman in the world. Your fiancé is a lucky man, honey.” He leans in to press a sleepy kiss to your lips, the two of you smiling into it. It’s soft and sweet, lingering like honey sticking to your lips.

It’s true

Look how they shine for you

He moves his hand from your torso to the back of your head, grasping your hair, deepening the kiss. He pulls you closer, completely flushed against his bare chest. The dull ache in between your legs blooms with desire, transforming into a throbbing need. You moan as his hardening length presses against your exposed cunt. Neither of you bothered to dress before falling asleep.

The kiss grows sloppy as he licks into your mouth, teeth clashing together. You break apart gasping for air. “Joel,” you breathlessly moan as he kisses down your neck and shuffles the two of you so you’re pinned under him. He sucks onto that sensitive spot on your neck near your ear. The spot which he knows drives you crazy.

“Joel,” you moan louder this time. It comes out more desperate than you intended. “Be a good girl and use your words, baby.” He’s so fucking smug, he drives you insane. “Need you, baby. N-need you so bad, Joel,” you gasp as he makes his way down to your breasts.

He hums, sucking a nipple into your mouth as he gropes your other breast, rolling your nipple in between his calloused fingers. “F-fuck, baby. Feels, ah, s-so good,” you say as you arch your back, granting him even more access to your breasts. He moans at your praise, the vibration of it sending shockwaves down your spine to your weeping cunt. Kissing his way down your tummy and finally making his way to where you need him most. Your exposed cunt aches for him to do something - anything.

He hooks both your legs over his shoulders as he kneels off the edge of the bed. He presses soft kisses and nips to your thighs, actively avoiding your throbbing clit. His scruffy beard scratches your thighs, causing more arousal to pool at your sex. Every teasing kiss causes your clit to twitch. He sees it, you know he can, but he continues to act oblivious. You writhe under his touch, growing frustrated as your body yearns for some sort of relief.

“Joel, please, n-no more teas - hmph - teasing” you whine, clearly exasperated. He chuckles at your neediness. “So needy, babydoll. Already fucked your cunt twice last night ‘n you still want more?” “Yes, Joel,” you beg, desperate tears begin to pool in your eyes. “Always want more. Always want you,” you cry out. You quickly see something soften in his eyes, but it disappears just as fast. “Always want you too, darlin’. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of ya. Always do, don’t I?”

Before you could answer, he licks a stripe up your folds, his nose nudging at your clit. Gasping at the relief of finally feeling something, you involuntarily buck your hips up into his face. He places one of his large hands and pushes you back down, the pressure on your stomach causing a new pool of desire to drip from your pussy. You can’t control the moans leaving your lips as he flicks his tongue against your twitching clit. “Joel, f-fuck oh my god, Joel,” you cry out, tugging on his hair.

Your hair tugging elicits a moan from him, the rumble of it causing you to shiver. He eats you out like a starved man, as if he wasn’t doing this just barely 4 hours ago. “Joel, n-need more. P-please, baby.” Obliging your request, he inserts one finger deep inside your pussy, drawing out a high pitched moan from you. He could always reach places you never could, his fingers much larger and thicker than yours.

“Sweetest fuckin’ pussy in the world, baby. My favorite meal,” he says as he inserts another finger into you. Another mewl escapes your lips. He returns his tongue to your clit, relentlessly flicking it. He feels your walls begin to flutter around his fingers as he curls his fingers, hitting your g-spot.

“Right there, Joel! Oh, f-fuck yes, baby.” It sounds obscene as he slurps up your slick while pumping his thick fingers deep into your squelching pussy. You feel light as a feather as your orgasm approaches. “‘s it, baby. Cum for me. Can feel ya squeezing my fingers. Come on, babydoll. Make a mess on my fingers.” He sucks your clit into his mouth causing your orgasm to crash into you. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as you seize up under his hold, endless moans streaming from your lips.

Lapping at your pussy, he drinks up all of your cum, letting no drop go to waste. He pulls away, giving you a brief moment of relief. The pale moonlight shines onto him, as if he were some sort of deity from above. He is - he is your saving grace.

He pulls himself up and slots his hips between yours. He teases your wet folds by rubbing his hard, pulsating cock up and down against them, slathering himself in the fresh new wave of slick that runs down your weeping cunt. Pre-cum dribbles from his angry, red tip, smearing over your folds. Without warning, he shoves his cock deep into your pussy in one thrust, buried to the hilt.

“Oh fuck Joel! S-so fucking big, so, shit, so deep.” “You can take it, baby. Ya always do.” His pace is brutal, his thick cock brutally kissing your cervix with each thrust. He hikes your legs up, placing your ankles on his shoulders, practically bending you in half. You scream at the new position. You’re so loud, you’re thankful there are no neighbors around here. He’s always so deliciously deep, you’ll never get used to it.

He picks up the pace, your thighs begin to burn and your cunt still aches from being stuffed repeatedly. The line between pain and pleasure blurs, but you feel so damn good. Tears begin to fall from your eyes as you clamp down on him. The pornographic sounds of moans, pants, and your squelching cunt fill the room. You’re already so close as you had no time to come down from your first orgasm.

“Fuck, darlin’. Ya hear that? Hear how fuckin’ wet ya are for me? Feel so fuckin’ good. Can’t believe I get to have this tight little pussy for the rest of my life. ‘S mine. All mine. Can’t wait til, ah, til you’re my pretty little wife.” He groans, as you clench around him. His words spurring you on. “‘S yours, Joel. ‘M yours, all yours, baby,” you manage to slur out. He’s close, you can tell as his thrusts get sloppier. “Come on, baby, gimme another. Need to feel you soak my cock.”

He licks the pad of his thumb and swirls it on your clit. You tumble over the cliff and plummet into your second orgasm. His cock, his fingers, his words, him. It’s all too much. You feel him everywhere. Your vision flashes hot white. The burning coil in your belly snaps as you come undone. A guttural moan escapes from deep within your chest. “Oh fuck, Joel! I’m gonna, ah, ‘m cumming,” you squeal from under him with your eyes rolling back again. You’re cumming again, hard, soaking his cock just like he asked. “Atta girl, baby. Good girl,” he rasps as he fucks you through the waves of your second orgasm. You’re squeezing him so tight you nearly push him out.

His pace is still relentless, not giving you time to come down from your second high. Suddenly, you’re being flipped around as Joel rolls you over him. He lays on his back with you now on top. The new angle has him even deeper than before, if that’s even possible. His cock immediately hits your g-spot again. A choked cry falls from your lips while you try to brace yourself on his broad, sturdy chest.

“‘M close, baby. Fuck, ya feel so fuckin’ good. Cum for me one more time, baby.” His breath is ragged now. You’re a babbling mess as he continues to fuck up into you. “I got you, baby. Just gimme one more. Come on, be a good girl and gimme one last one, babydoll.” He’s fucking up into you hard and fast, his thrusts growing sloppier than ever as he nears his orgasm.

“Baby, I-I can’t,” you hiccup. “Yes, ya can, darlin’. You’re so close, can feel ya clenching ‘round me again. Let go, baby. I got you.” He sits up and pulls you closer, you’re completely flushed against his strong chest now. He wipes your stray tears, his tenderness sends you crashing into your third and final orgasm - one more orgasm than last night. He’s so rough, but so gentle with you at the same time.

A drawn out high-pitched moan escapes you once again, eyes squeezed shut while mewling his name as you clench around him. “Fuck, Joel!” Your soul disappears from your body, floating around somewhere along with your brain. Joel, Joel, Joel being the only thought in your head as his name repeatedly streams from your lips - like a prayer.

He grunts and fucks up into you with three more thrusts before he comes undone. A loud, guttural moan escapes from his lips. He’s babbling as he’s shooting his load into you. “Fuck! ‘S it, honey! Take it, baby, take it! Good girl, shit, fuck, Jesus Christ!” You feel his cum coat your walls as he fills you up. There’s so much cum, it’s dripping from your swollen, wrecked cunt. Joel buries his face in the crook of your neck as you both pant, grappling with reality as you both come down from your highs.

He places tender kisses on your shoulder. Both of you are sticky with salty sweat, the periwinkle moonlight beaming into the room now. You feel a soft kiss brush against your cheek, causing your eyes to flutter open.

“Hi,” he huskily whispers with a gentle smile. “Hi,” you say with a bashful grin, biting your bottom lip while you return back down to Earth. Staring at each other with the same hazy, fucked out gaze, he crashes his lips to yours, lazily kissing you. You taste yourself on his tongue as he languidly slips it into your mouth.

He sighs as you part to lift yourself off him, both of you hissing at the loss of one another. Worry laces his features as you settle on the bed beside him, laying down on his chest. His rapid heartbeat slowly returning to a steady thrum, grounding you back in the present. “You feel okay, baby? Didn’t hurt you, did I?” How on Earth you got so lucky, you’ll never know.

Your gaze softens once more, reaching out to caress his cheek. “I feel absolutely amazing, Joel. You could never hurt me, baby.” He gingerly kisses your palm. Steady breathing and comfortable silence fill the air - postcoital bliss settling amongst you two.

He toys with the ring on your finger as his strong arm rests on your torso, engrossing you in his embrace. “You’re gonna be my wife,” he says as he smiles at you, disbelief and contentment lacing his voice. Love filling his eyes to the brim, just like his heart. Tears well in your eyes once more as you fully drink him in. You’re so full of love and happiness, there is nowhere else for your emotions to go except flowing down your cheeks. Something that happens often as you feel things deeply within your heart. It’s one of the things he loves most about you. “Jus’ means you got lots ‘a love to give in that big ol’ heart ‘a yours, baby,” he once told you.

“I am. There’s nothing more I want in this world than to be your wife.” And that’s the real honest truth. Joel Miller loves hard - particularly you. His tenderness is only reserved for you and Sarah - his girls. You never expected to fall just as hard for him. You only ever heard of this type of love in romance novels; only dreamt of it. Somehow, he managed to tumble his way into your heart that day, literally, when he spilled his coffee on you that fateful morning. Before him, you never fathomed the thought of experiencing a love like this.

He has served you the world and more on a silver platter. His love is the warm sunshine that envelopes you on a beautiful spring day. It is the forest fire that roars higher when you fan the flames, engulfing you in his heart. Joel Miller is the color yellow, his love burning brighter than the stars in the sky. As you love him hard, he loves you harder. To be loved by him for eternity is the greatest gift anyone could ever receive. As long as you live, his love will never die, for you carry it in your heart, everywhere you go.

Look at the stars

Look how they shine for you

And all the things that you do

some moot tags: @nostalxgic @undrthelights @darkroastjoel @pedrospartner @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @modernperplexity @mrsquill @breakfastatjoels @tinygarbage @sin-djarin @jenispunk 🩵

this was so fun to write! got a little sappy at the end, i told y’all i was in my feelings when i wrote this 🤣 i truly do love writing, i just get very in my head about everything. may or may not already be working on a meet-cute prequel for these two 🫣 hope y’all enjoyed this and thank y’all for reading! <3

#joel miller x reader #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x female reader #joel miller #joel miller tlou #soft!joel miller #joel miller one shot #joel miller fluff #joel miller x you #joel miller smut #joel miller fanfiction #fic: yellow #one shot: yellow #yellow coldplay

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ewitsren · 11 months

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hi! can you maybe do reactions when the reader sees them getting into a physical fight with someone and gets scared (maybe from ptsd?) with ran, rin, sanzu, & hanma please? thanks :) also love your writing you’re so talented!

their s/o getting scared seeing them fight ft #ran, #rin, #sanzu, #hanma

pairings: haitani ran x reader, haitani rin x reader, haruchiyo sanzu x reader, hanma shuji x reader

cw/tws ⚠️: fighting, mention of blood, swearing, abusive parents, bullying, drug usage

requested: yes

barrista's note ☕: OMG I HAVENT BEEN ACTIVE FOR SOOO LONG i hope u see this and enjoy it darling 😭😭 i can barely keep my eyes open so i'm leaving hanma for later :(

#ran

ran had taken you out on a date in one of the clubs haitani brothers owned in roppongi cause you felt like dancing. and it was fun, until the leader of another gang tried to lay his hands on you. ran had dragged the guy out into an alley and both of them weren't their prettiest version to look at. you couldn't stand the sound of two men hitting each other, sight of the blood spilling on the floor gave you a sharp headache; reminded you of how your father used to hit your older brother.

"ran..." you couldn't even find the strength to call out his name so you sat down on the floor, wrapping your arms around your knees as you cried. ran, recognizing the sound of you sniffling even while he's fighting, handed the guy over to his men before kneeling next to you.

"darling i'm so sorry, okay?" you felt his hands running through your hair. "i try so hard not to get into a fight when you're around but that bitch was hella outta line." his other hand drew circles on your back as you shifted your head from your arms to look at him. he gave you a little smile and cupped your face before kissing every inch.

"let's get you home, 'right baby?"

#rin

it was a regular day, rin was checking documents for business in his office and you were reading your book laying on the couch, but not after some guy you didn't recognize barged into the office and attacked rin.

"y/n, get out, go to ran's office."

all you could think about as rin yelled was the sight of your 10 year old self cornered by bullies and getting beaten until you passed out. you tried to breathe but you choked, collapsing on the floor as you tried to get to the door. tears started streaming down your face as if the scars all over your body still hurt like they were made yesterday.

rin sweared and dragged the passed out guy to the corridor before shutting the door and kneeling in front of you.

"honey, look at me."

all you could do was to sob as he pulled you to himself, leaning your head on his chest and stroking your back.

"y/n, it's okay baby, i'm sorry 'right?" he kissed your forehead. "you're always safe with me, no one can hurt you."

rin tied your hair with your hairclip on his wrist before you tilted your head to look at him, his hand lingered on your nape, slowly stroking it to calm you down.

"look at my babyyy!" he pouted. "your eyes are swollen and your nose is red. let's go home and i'll take care of you, 'kay?"

#sanzu

it was an ordinary night for you and sanzu, him getting high on drugs in the back of the club as you sat on his lap and kept yourself busy with whatever you had in hand. sadly, your routine was disrupted when the rival gang members busted the place. before you could get a grasp on what's happening sanzu was there beating the shit out of some guy, swearing and talking about how he couldn't have a second of peace in this shithole.

suddenly all you could hear was your childhood friend crying for help as the older kids ganged up on him and beat him up as you sat there helpless, knowing you were too weak to interfere.

"haru, stop!" you were sobbing while sanzu kept beating up the wrecked up guy.

"huh? why ya cryin', doll?" sanzu threw the guy on the floor and made his way to you. he wrapped his arms around your body as he stroked your hair.

"shhh, stop crying; yeah? 's okay now darlin'. let's take you home, i'll make you forget about all this shit, yeah?" sanzu kissed your lips and picked you up.

"nothing bad's gon' happen when 'm with ya."

@ewitsren 's work, do not translate/repost on other apps and platforms

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mandiemegatron · 10 months

Text

ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜʟᴇꜱꜱ

Trafalgar Law x Y/N ficlet

Fluff, general care, hella smooching, slightly toasty 👀, hand massage, Law being a softie✨️💖

A/N: Something I thought up after seeing @kittycatzuka post here, it gave me the feels and this is what my brain thought up.

I hope you all enjoy! ✨️💖

Also, I just spent like an hour beta-ing it so if you see any mistakes, no you don't. 😎 okay love you my lil tangerines! ✨️💖

Header by @baka-tsuki / @baka-tsuki-2 💖

It was supposed to be a quiet night for the captain. All the man wanted to do was finish his paperwork, read some Sora and pass out into a restless sleep.

Since Y/N showed up, it never seemed to work out the way Law wanted. Every night, she'd knock on his office door to say goodnight, no matter the amount of times he tried to tell her she didn't have to, that she could just simply go to bed and he'd see her in the morning for breakfast. It never deterred her, her smiling face always popping in through the cracked door with a small wave.

This night was different.

Law glanced over at the clock on his desk, frowning to himself as he realized you were late, not showing up around the time you usually did. He then paused, curiously irritated at realizing the fact that he was worried, immediately thinking the worst had happened you.

He let his pen drop to the desk as his other hand ran through his hair, his eyes closing as he took a deep breath. God, he was exhausted.

There was a soft thunk as ceramic hit his desk, his eyes snapping open to see you placing a fresh cup of tea right above his incomplete paperwork.

"Y/N-ya."

You cracked a tired smile of your own before hiding a yawn behind your now free hand, lifting your mug in a silent cheers to him as you sat in the chair opposite his desk.

"Saw your light was on, thought maybe you could use a little something," your voice was soft as you spoke, unable to hide how tired you were from his prying eyes.

"While I appreciate it, you should be in bed already. We have a big day tomorrow," he replied, gently picking up the hot mug with a sigh through his nose. Yeah, he definitely needed this.

"So should you, dear Captain."

He huffed gently, staring you down before taking a long sip.

"I'm not done my job for the day."

You cracked a grin at the sight of him complaining, his distaste for the job showing itself very clearly.

"I can give you a hand, if that'll help?"

He hummed in disagreement into the mug, taking another sip before replying,

"You'd only make it take longer."

While there was teasing in his tone, you couldn't hide the way your grin slowly slid from your lips, your eyes glancing down at the mug in your hands. He kicked himself as a pain clutched around his chest, hating that he made you look that way.

"... I appreciate the offer, Y/N, thank you. Your company helps more than enough."

Your eyes flickered back to his at his words, your cheeks tinting pink as you murmured,

"... glad to help."

It was only for a moment but it felt like ages, the way his eyes bored into yours. It was like you were a puzzle he was trying to slove and couldn't, his frustration showing in his gaze. Your heart jumped into your throat, your mind screaming at him to just kiss you, to say something, to tell you everything you wanted him to say-

The moment broke as he went back to his scribbling, one hand around his mug while the other scratched away. You made yourself more comfortable in the large chair, your eyes wandering his face, not knowing he could feel your very hungry gaze on him.

Pride washed over him, his ego flaring as a smirk ticked up his lips. He did have a feeling you liked him, but this moment here proved to him that he was right.

"See something you like, Y/N?"

There was a heavy silence as your eyes widened, unsure of how to respond so you remained quiet, simply watching him for any signs of a joking manner.

You were incredibly confused when you could only sense a serious air around him.

It took a moment to gather courage but you did finally respond, looking down at your mug for a moment before glancing back to him as you commented lightly,

"Surely it's obvious that I do."

The air was so thick it could have been sliced with a butterknife. You both stared at each other for what felt like ages before you looked away first, unable to handle the heat of his gaze on you like this.

"... good to know."

His response caused you to grin, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth as you bit back a happy sound, not wanting to feed his already giant ego. A more comfortable silence covered you both as he went back to his work, now motivated to finish it quicker than before.

You'd drank your entire tea by the time he finally finished. You'd been slouched lazily in the chair, glancing around his office with mildly bored eyes, having already taken everything in to the point you could name off each book and it's order on the shelf. He yawned loudly, rubbing his face with both hands before standing, placing his completed work off to the side before coming around his desk to stand by you, leaning on it for support.

"You should get some rest," you started, giving a yawn of your own and going to move before you noticed him massaging his hand. You looked up at him, his exhausted expression filling your chest with a ache you didn't enjoy.

You had to do something.

Placing the empty mug beside him, you then reached out and gently took his writing hand into your own warm palms, you began massaging his own, your thumbs pressing down to the point where he grunted softly.

"Yeah, I know it sucks but this is what happens when you don't take proper breaks," you murmured, focusing on doing your best not to look up at him, your cheeks burning so hot that you began to worry you gave yourself a fever.

A particularly illicit groan left your Captain when you pressed at one point, your eyes finally flicking up at him for just a moment and you couldn't help but smile at seeing his relaxed expression. His eyes were shut, his chest rising and falling as he took slow, deep breaths.

Your heart clenched - you wished he looked like this more, so quiet and tender -

Your thoughts stopped as you looked back to his hand, your thumbs working down to his wrist and forearm, not noticing him leaning closer to you to give you better reach.

It took only a few minutes, letting his arm gently drop to his side as you held your hands palm up out for his other one.

"Other hand, please!"

He was silent the entire time, lifting his hand to you as you did the same thing, starting at his palm before going to his long fingers, showing them love and stretching them before moving down to his wrist and forearm.

You were so focused that you didn't noticed his free hand coming catch your chin, his long fingers lifting your face gently. Your eyes met and your stomach churned, knowing your face was still bright red as he looked over your face. Your fingers had stopped, clamped gently around his forearm.

You couldn't place the look he was giving you, trying to convince yourself that he was not giving you bedroom eyes - the man was exhausted, for fucks sake! But you couldn't help how your body warmed at his touch, wanting so desperately to lean into his touch.

The sudden fear of rejection hit you like a ton of bricks. You must have made a face because his thumb brushed over your bottom lip, almost as if trying to comfort you.

"You look worried," he breathed out, his breath so warm and so close that it danced across your face. Your eyes were locked in an intense gaze, his dark and craving; yours wide and needy in your own right. Warmth pooled in your lower region as his eyes looked down at your lips for a moment, the air suddenly heavy once again as his gaze met yours again.

"I... I am worried," you finally whispered, eyes never leaving his. He moved closer again, so slowly that it felt like he was teasing you.

"Why?"

Not a question, a demand.

"... because I'm scared that you'll kiss me and I'll get attached."

A slow, wicked grin came over his features when you finally spoke.

"As if you're not already attached."

His words felt like a punch to your gut, causing you to gasp out softly before his lips consumed yours, both your eyes falling shut as he took what he wanted. It wasn't a soft kiss, but it wasn't demanding either. It held just enough emotion that you felt the anxiety of earlier wash off you like a wave, your shoulders unconsciously dropping though your hands remained on his arm.

When he finally pulled away, you were a mess. Your heart was pounding so loud in your ears, it felt like vertigo. Your eyes slowly reopened, confusion and hope written across your face like an open book as you stared at him. You were nearly breathless as you somehow got out,

"Um... Wow."

Law blinked a few times before he broke down, laughing so loud and hysterically that he pulled away from you, leaning over with his hands on his knees. You sat there blinking, feeling even more confused, wondering what the hell was going on. His laughter echoed in the room, and probably the entire sub but clearly he was gone, absolutely fucked up.

Just straight up bonkers.

When he finally calmed, one hand came up to wipe away the laughter tears as he leaned back up, a wide smile on his face as he took a moment to collect himself.

He finally looked down at you, your own almost nervous smile etched into your face as you waited for him to explain himself.

"You, Y/N-ya, are something else, you know? How you've flipped my life upside down."

The amount of sincerity in his voice immediately made you begin to tear up, you're heart leaping from your chest into your throat and stopping you from responding. You simply gave your own genuine smile in return, one hand quickly wiping away the few tears that slipped out.

A heavy hand landed on the top of your head, long fingers rustling your hair as Law gave another chuckle. Your smile remained as your swiped at his hand, his own grin turning cheeky as he lightly slapped your hand away.

There was a pause between you two, with him running a tired hand through his hair as you rubbed at your face, biting back a yawn. As he took in your exhausted form, he knew it was time for you both to hit the hay.

"You crazy brat. Go to bed," he started, moving his hands to grasp your own and pulling you out of the chair. He turned you and walked you to the door just a few feet away, opening it but holding you to him, his hands on your shoulders. You noted they were shaking slightly through hazy thoughts as his warm chest hit your back.

"I'll see you at breakfast. Save me a seat?"

His breath brushed over your ear, causing your skin to erupt in goosebumps. He didn't give you enough time to respond, giving you a quick shove out the door before closing it behind you.

You stared at the wall of the Tang, blinking a few times before your mouth finally started working again.

"What the actual fuck just happened?"

A/N: HEHEHEE we love a sly, flirty Law 🙈🙈🙈🙈 I'm gunna smooch him so hard, idk abt you guys 😂😂🥵🥵🙈🙈 I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did !

Smooch smooch, be good my lil tangerines! 🍊💋

#mandies mumbles ; fanfics #ok to rb #trafalagar law #one piece trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law #trafalgar law x y/n #one piece #one piece fluff #we love a soft silly law in this house ! 💖#thank you sm zuka youre the best !!

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thatdeadaquarius · 1 year

Note

after scrolling through your posts i felt complelled to send an ask (i wonder why)

This kinda? relates to all the languages posts you've been making (was giggling and kicking my feet while reading them, and got inspired) but because I only speak English, I wanted to put a twist on it.

Creator who has audio processing issues and doesn't realise that Teyvat DOES actually speak the same language as them for a good while.

Because as a person with very good hearing, i sure don't fucking understand what people are saying most of the time, especially in big crowds. (its like listening to the sims sometimes man, i'm fighting for my life trying to understand😭)

So imagine a Creator getting dropped into Teyvat and getting found by a group of hunters or treasure horders, who instantly start panicking and talking all at once because 'omg our god is here' and all that.

And the Creator is still confused and diorientated, so all they're hearing is ✨words✨and they just assume that no one in Teyvat will understand them.

And then when they arrive in one of the nations and get to meet the vision bearers for the first time, the Creator makes a thirsty comment about one of them (probably would be Diluc in my case) and the entire crowd just goes SILENT.

So silent that the Creator can perfectlly understand what that vision bearer said in response.

Anyway, i love your blog :) not sure when you're going to get this, time zones are funny, but I hope you like it

Giggling and kicking?? Over my stuff??? 🥺🥺🥺💘💘💘 You sneaky little charmer ✨️

ALSO

AUDIO PROCESSING DISORDER ASK!!!!?????!!!!

IM IN THE MIDDLE OF TRYING TO GET ADHD DIAGNOSIS AND GOT AN APD TEST NOT TOO LONG AGO BC THOUGHT I HAD IT!!

FRIENDO!! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!! ✨️✨️✨️🌸🌸🌸

Have a cookie!! 🤲🍪 tysm for the ask im very very happy to see it!! :D!!

(subliminalmessagingyouwillgoclicktheaskbuttonandsendmeanasksubliminalmessaging)

AHFJDLLAHFAAJSK!! LOSING IT OVER THIS!!

(Me from the future editing: Sorry i wrote an entire sloppy written scenario over this its diluc focused, jfc sorry and i hope u get smth outta it 💀)

Oh good lord you being some kind of Creator god after getting sucked into the goddmn video game world is absolute HELL for your APD

Aint nobody tellin u nothing bc i can totally see that scenario happening bc everyone is like blabbering at you constantly, they all wanna get close to you to talk so its just [insert that general cafe crowd noises here]

Like u wish u had lofi to go with it bc u sure as hell cant get a word in edgewise

I know i keep writing abt Mondstadt, mostly bc first city -> intro to game -> therefore you land there

But i promise ill branch out guys but i got an excuse this time u mentioned Diluc 🔥

Honestly bc u probably arent trying to talk back to them (which they dont rlly know why? Bc they totally have heard ur voice while u were in ur world, when they were ur vessels)

They kinda assumed either A. You lost your voice B. You're overwhelmed, ppl r getting WAY too close to you, back off Npcs C. Or you don't speak THEIR language

So ofc Mondstadt brings you into the city and their planning a big ol festival, u came right in time for Windblume anyway, and by the time your done shaking hands and just waving and smiling (bc what else can u do u cant hear these fuckers, maybe u caught a "the" or a "hello" but you could've definitely been imagining it)

And finally you are free of the general crowd, but most of the Vision bearers (Allogenes) who were ur vessels wanna stick around, so u all end up in Angel's Share somehow

It's hella packed, and it's a bar.

So yeah u still can't hear shit, and now it just sounds like one of those fantasy medieval bar audios ambience videos

Ur just kinda kicking ur feetsies on a bar stool while like,, 4 or 5 differrent special character dishes are sitting in front of you

Diluc's behind the bar, and has been so sweetly attentive to you all evening, no matter how many tipsy patrons come up yelling for refills or drinks (or at least thats what u assume, bc u kinda end up just,, jumping and hitching ur shoulders up and trying to be lowkey about covering ur ears...)

He always comes and refills ur glass when it gets to even half-full, swiping away plates that have gone cold, and if you still want smth off of it, he's so perceptive no language needed bc he just sees your face and starts heating up the plate again with his vision with his hand :)

He's actually been the best thruout all this bc he already isn't super talkative, so ur pretty sure you've only seen his mouth open a few times, but otherwise u just communicated with him via actions/expressions

So ur chilling, well sorta, ur starting to kinda get overstimulated by the day and now this loud ass bar, and the fact that ur convinced no one speaks English here...

But hey!

Diluc's cool, u got food, and maybe u can charade to him u wanna find somewhere to retire to now for the night,,

You try and do that but he's pretty busy running around still,

"Damn, at least I get to see his ass though."

...

Diluc freezes.

You freeze.

Jean, Lisa, Venti, Amber, Kaeya, Rosaria freezes.

The whole bar goes silent.

Their god of gods finally spoke.

Oh they can understand you alright. (Also u were looking right at Diluc when you said it so, kinda obvious who u mean, somebody points to you behind Diluc)

Diluc just kinda,, sputters, like jerkily turns around and everything like a fried robot

"I- ahem- I- um- y-your Grace- I-"

Poor guy.

He doesn't even know what to say 🤷‍♂️

He has been progressively getting closer and closer to his hair color, his cheeks, his neck, his ears its a full white boy flush he cant escape its so obvious (should he say thank you? How do u even begin to thank a god for complimenting ur ass??!!)

He's caught between facing you and turning around and ducking back into the kitchen and never coming out again (unless it's just you two)

...Was it always this hot in here? Or did Diluc do this to you? 😵‍💫

(Well at least it's a lot quieter now)

You take the next logical step in this situation, and gently let your head thud into the bar.

...

It's a tie between Venti and Kaeya who busts out laughing first.

CHRIST ALMIGHTY IM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG I HOPE TUMBLR MAKES IT "READ MORE" BC I CANT FIND THAT OPTION ON MOBILE

IF U KNOW WHERE THAT BUTTON IS PLS LET A BITCH KNO 😭😩

UPDATE I FIGURED IT OUT FUCK YEAH

Cheers,

🌒🌊🌧Aquarius♒️🌌🌘

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snugglesquiggle · 2 months

Note

Do you like juzi or vuzi more

i'm gonna ramble hella hard about this, sorry, but that's the bargain you strike when you shoot an ask my way

but there's a fun story to my answer. you see, V/Uzi was actually my first interest, and in fact when i started kicking around the idea of writing Murder Drones fanfics, the first idea i seriously tried to work out was a V/Uzi fic

(for the curious, general shape of the idea was that Uzi encounters V first, railgun wipes her memory, fails to befriend her like she did with N and has to run away. Uzi then sneaks out again and again, exploiting the railgun-induced amnesia and errors to try and get through to V, leading to a kind of mutual rivalry as V tries to figure out why she keeps having gaps in her memory.

pretty sure it was going to escalate to Uzi hacking into V and potentially going dubious places. the working title for that fic was "Somnabulation". which means sleep-walking, so it would have been kind of ironic for Somnabulation to be the mind control fic and Hostile Takeover the one that spends half its wordcount in memory simulations)

but i'm rambling.

i never ultimately figured out how to make the V/Uzi fic come together into something i liked. and i didn't have that much motivation to do so, as there are good V/Uzi fics out there, like This World Couldn't See Us or Hold On Tight To This Time, This Place

but, as you'll quickly discover if you search the tag now, J/Uzi fics are a lot less numerous. i did like some of what i saw there, so i didn't have a full on "if i don't do this, nobody will" kind of motivation driving me

but then one day, out of the blue, a single thought occurred to me, an observation, comparison, an answer to the question of "what could a relationship between these two possibly be based on?"

and then the whole fic just crystallized around that thought.

(what was thought? i'll leave that as an exercise for the reader, or perhaps i'll save it for a minor reveal later on in Hostile Takeover. it's not very profound, but when it occurred to me i did have the distinct feeling that i'm not sure anyone had thought of the connection i just made.)

and i want to emphasize, when i say it crystallized, i mean it seriously came together, all at once. on October 31 last year, i jotted down the outline, initially as something to post in a discord brainstorming channel, but then i spent all evening writing more and more, and came out the other end with ten thousand words of notes and scene sketches

but anyway, all of that yapping is a long way to say

at the start i preferred V/Uzi (V was my favorite character, and J barely registered as anything but a joke to me), and i began writing Hostile Takeover essentially as a writing challenge or puzzle to prove something, or even just as a practice run for the fic i really wanted to write.

but i think my phrasing here gives the game away, doesn't it? i think very few people would write nearly 160k words in four months out of mere intellectual curiosity

so to finally, finally answer your question, my favorite is J/Uzi and by a long shot. the relationship absolutely grew on me as i wrote it. i'd genuinely go as far as to say my hot take is that it's actually easier to have J/Uzi make sense than V/Uzi, if you're being truly faithful to both characters. is this because J has less character to be faithful toward? shut up.

i think the biggest factor here is that in the course of writing HT, V stopped being my favorite character. i still find her a lot of fun when i'm reading her in other fics, but writing her has just brought a lot of her flaws to the forefront, and it's hard not to be increasingly frustrated with her character. (is this self-inflicted on my part for writing a plot where V causing problems is the central driver? maybe)

but yeah, i've found myself so much less interested in V/Uzi as time goes on. one of my mutuals has describe vuzi as something to the effect of the blander, safer alternative to juzi, and don't look at me i'm just misquoting him.

#hostile takeover #i'd tag the ships i'm talking about but i dont want vuzi fans out for my blood #love yall #my answers #my squiggles

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spid3rpunksimp · 9 months

Note

Hi! This is my first time requesting, you may ignore if you felt uncomfortable 🫶🏻

May I request a Black! Reader x Hobie please? The reader is actually Mile's older sister and also in a band (a hella good drummer if you don't mind👀) Tysm!

Alright I usually don’t want to do these cause I want everyone to be able to read my stuff no matter their differences but because it’s a Miles’s sister sorta thing I’ll do it

Hobie brown x fem! Black! Reader

Beat of the drums

You liked the drums. NO, you loved them. The way that you could hit them and let out all your anger on them without a care in the world made you feel like life is just a little bit easier. You often did it whenever Miles was gone. Being his older sister, you two did fight, but you loved him. You were only a year older than him, and you knew how hard he was trying to please your parents.

While you were caught up in your taughts you didn't even realize your phone buzzing quickly. The drums had your full attention. As you hit the drums in front of you harder and harder, pounding the bottom drum, you eventually heard a loud "Y/N" coming from the kitchen in the same voice of Mrs. Morales, your mom.

You quickly dropped the drum sticks and ran outside of your room to listen to her request, knowing shes probably been calling your name for the past 30 minutes. "Uhh-Yeah, sorry mom, what'd you need?" you said to her as she put her hands on her hips and looked at you. "Mija, do you know what time it is? You have your little concert thing in 45 minutes."

Your eyes popped open as you realized the times. "Oh sh-crap! Sorry mom, I gotta go." you said as you ran into your room grabbing your car keys and your phone, 10 calls from your band mate, and best friend, Kylie. You ran through the house out the door as you pressed the call back button, her voice erupting from the phone almost immediately. "Girl, where the fuck are you?" she said in what sounded like a panicked voice. "I'm sorry I got caught up in playing, I'm on my way."

As you pulled into the parking lot of where you were going to be playing you felt surprised that you weren't pulled over, you were 100% speeding the entire time. Looking at the time you realized you had 20 minutes to get ready, praying that they had already practiced without you.

"Look who finally decided to show up." you heard the familiar voice of your brother behind you. Wipping your head around you began to explain yourself. "Miles, I got caught up in playing don't ev-" immediately you stopped what you were saying as an older man was standing next to him. He was tall and skinny, however he seemed to be pretty strong. He had awesome large, gravity defying wicks that you could not miss. He was wearing a black vest with many different home made pins. He was wearing black ripped jeans and a band shirt. "Who's this?" you asked Miles with a questioning facial expression. "Oh. This is Hobie." he said as he smacked his back, giving him a smile.

"Nice to meet 'cha, luv." he said as he gave you a guy nod, looking you in the eyes. He had a very noticeable British accent, you just assumed he was a transfer student or his parents moved not too long ago. You felt your face get warm as you looked back at Miles and then back at Hobie,"Nice to meet you Hobie, I'm Y/N and I'm about to be late so sorry but I gatta go." you said as you turned and speed walk-ran over to the backstage doors.

Opening them you were met by groans of releaf as your band walked over to you. "Where have you been?!" one of your friends asked you as you walked past them and put your stuff down. "Traffic." you responded, the image of Hobie stuck in your mind."

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As you walked out of the backstage doors, you let out a sigh of relief and began to head over to your car, ready to go to bed. 'Should I get an Uber? I mean I am kinda tired. Nah, I'm good' you thought to yourself as you neared your car but began to hear the sound of someone jogging up to you. Turning around you pulled out your tazzer which you practically carried with you everywhere only to see Hobie hold his hands up and back away a little bit. Putting your tazzer down you gave him a tired smile,"Sorry, I thought you were some sorta creep." you said turning around and going to unlock your car and put your stuff inside. "Its 'ight, luv. Just came to say that was some bloody good drummin I heard ya doin" he said as he gave you a smirk. The heat of your cheeks coming back.

"Oh, thank you. I didn't do the best tonight cause of the rush to get here but I mean, it wasn't horrible." you said as you put your hand on one hip and leaned over to the side a bit, resting your body weight on one foot. "Do ya mind if I get ya number?" you heard him abruptly say in a kind tone. Your eyes went wide as you looked for any sense of joking in his expression. "You're joking right? What for, ya gonna ask me on a date or something?" you said in a joking tone as you felt your skin begin to burn. "Ma'be. Ya never know." he said as he shrugged his shoulders and held out his phone, already opened and on the contact page.

You grabbed it and put in your number giving the phone back after you were done. "Thanks." he said as he gave his phone a toothy grin. "No problem." you said as you turned to get into your car, not being able to take this experience any longer.

As you sat into you car you felt your wrist get tugged on as Hobie pulled you back out and kissed you on the cheek. "Make sure ya get to bed, ight? Ya need tha rest." he said as he let go of you and stepped back allowing you to get into your car and drive away. You simply nodded at him in return before getting in thought.

Oh what were you going to tell Miles

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I'm so sorry if anything in this sounds offensive or racist or if it wasn't what you wanted. I am not personally black but I do have friends of color and I used how they and their parents act for this once again I'm so sorry.

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prophecyqueen · 2 years

Note

Did you feel like that the people that survived rhaenys in the dragonpit will go back home and tell everyone else how their dowager queen, who is more like them in that she too doesn't have a dragon like all the special targs, stood her ground in face of what is basically a nuke and didn't move an inch? Basically i feel like this is how legends are made where people who are vastly weaker stared down a murdering monster and wins. I think optics wise rhaenys made a huge miscalculation. Also even if alicent was afraid I'm pretty sure the smallfolk will feel she is willing to stand up against a dragon and if they were not able to see the scene clearly (with all the chaos) still it shows alicent as a hero who didn't back down.

Basically i feel like they may feel as alicent is the queen they deserve. Also this staredown can easily spread to regions far from kingslanding and it feels like it would be a win for the greens what with rhaenys murdering a bunch of small folk for her moment.

yes, i do. i did not read the books but have seen a lot of people say that both alicent and helaena were loved by the people, and i can see how this can be part of it.

alicent, visbly not targaryen, not having a dragon, being reminded of rhaenys that her name is hightower, stood in front of meleys and basically said to rhaenys if you kill me son, i die too. and alicent was 100% ready to face death right there.

i don't know about anyone else, but if i was in that crowd and survived, i'd be traumatized, horrified and pissed. and to see a queen that i can relate to more do that for her children, stand up to a dragon, the very symbol of what kept targaryens in power for so long, i'd say that alicent was pretty brave and strong.

and we, the viewer, know alicent is not super chill with dragons.

i also think rhaenys made a mistake. how are you gonna save face when the people know you basically massacred a bunch of people to make a point? how will the rest of the people rally behind you? how is this the deed of those who say they supported viserys "the peaceful" the most?

let's be clear, for the smallfolk, they're never in the room where shit is discussed, and unless they know about things through people like mysaria, they never know it at all. most of them are probably hella confused as to why rhaenys did that, or believe she did it in the name of rhaenyra, which is... partially true.

and yeah, word spreads, quickly, we just don't know if we'll see people talk about it, if they’ll include this as part of the narrative.

the scene was badass to watch, and i like watching rhaenys because she's a strong woman (even when sometimes i criticize her choices), but obviously it's a massacre for the smallfolk.

though we both know there will be more of this from both sides i imagine. the smallfolk are really gonna be like this the whole series:

#asks #alicent hightower #i'm not gonna tag rhaenys simply because i don't want team black stans to be in my inbox #and i don't wanna tag it as anti because i don't feel like it truly is anti #or maybe it is idk

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traumxrei-archive · 2 years

Text

【 chapter 5 - of promises (and memories to be made) 】

author's note: it's been over a MONTH since i've updated this series,,,,so i apologize for neglecting you guys of leonayuu content sjkfjdsk this chapter turned out a lot different from the initial plan, but i like it !! it's fun and there's a lot of cute moments in it <33 leona's having a great time in this chapter haha *thumbs up emoji* i hope you enjoy !

word count: 5.8k (yeah it's hella long, fight me)

tags: new year's feast !!, they're munching on expensive food, yuu visits afterglow savanna (REAL), leonayuu first meeting storytime sjfkdjfk, ghost camera actually comes in handy, crowley makes a Mistake, leona's left to deal with the consequences, #pray 4 leona everyone >:DDD

[ baby it's cold outside series | or read it on ao3 ]

warning: depictions of being drunk.

New Year's. Yuu didn't think that it would be a big deal in Twisted Wonderland as it was in their world but after Ace and Deuce started blowing up their phone about "coordinated magical laser shows" it seemed like a pretty big thing. It seemed that even in a foreign world, celebrating the start of a New Year wasn’t uncommon at all.

They had also gotten a message from Crowley saying that he was sending over a feast via Magi-livery— an abbreviation of Magic Delivery, apparently— to Ramshackle dorms. (This was the first message they had received from Crowley since break started and yet they were simply glad that he remembered about them.)

Now the hard part was convincing Leona to walk all the way over to Ramshackle to have the feast.

"Absolutely not," Leona has said, still buried face-deep in his pillow. It wasn't as adverse of a reaction as they were expecting. Maybe he was still hazy from his afternoon nap?

"Please, Leona-sama," His ears had twitched receptively at that. "Our dear headmage is sending over a high-quality feast for free. And there'll be a laser show to celebrate the New Year."

"A laser show!" Yuu grinned winningly when Cheka bounded over, hopping onto Leona's back to get to them.

So that was how Operation: Get Leona to Ramshackle For The Feast became a success.

Sure, they had to trudge through a bit of snow to get to Ramshackle, and sure, Leona was cursing under his breath the whole time. But the important part was they made it to Ramshackle with minimal losses. The only loss was the feeling in Yuu's arms after carrying Cheka. Cheka had started getting fidgety as the sun was setting and Leona sent them the most withering glare so far so...they had to sacrifice their arms just a little to make the plan a success.

Opening the creaking gate felt almost nostalgic after being away for so long. And if Yuu didn't want to be called crazy, it almost looked like the house missed them too. They rapped on the door, setting Cheka on the floor before the door opened.

Grim looked overjoyed to see them, "Henchman!!! Did you finally realize that the Great Grim is a better boss than that lazy lion?"

"Well, 'that lazy lion' wants to go inside, or else maybe I'll have you both for dinner," Leona grumbled, shoving past Grim and the ghosts who had curiously floated towards the front door.

"I'll explain more inside," Yuu said, shaking the snow off their jacket before hanging it up. They did the same with Cheka's before realizing that Leona had gone inside without removing his jacket, no doubt trailing snow, and- Yuu sighed, and walked into the living room, Cheka trailing behind them like a lost puppy.

"What is this place, Yuu-tan?" Cheka asked, staring at the gaunt paintings and the peeling wallpaper in what looked to be fascination. Maybe this wasn’t the most kid-friendly house to be in. It was a wonder Cheka didn’t start crying as soon as he saw the darkened hallway.

"This is my house. Or the place I'm usually staying in," Yuu explained.

"Your house?" Cheka's ears twitched. "Oh, so you don't usually sleep with Ojitan?"

"Hah? Why would I share my bed with them all the time?" Leona was all bundled up, sitting in front of the fireplace. And Yuu really couldn’t blame him. Although Ramshackle was as temperature regulated as the rest of campus, it didn't stop small drafts from making it through the cracks of the house itself. As they kept telling Crowley, this place was really due for a renovation.

"Mmm," Cheka bounced onto the couch with a giggle. "Cheka thought Ojitan and Yuu-tan were roommates since you guys are best friends!"

Grim let out a haughty laugh at that, "No way! The henchman is my roommate, and they're my best friend too!" As the two started to bicker over who Yuu's best friend was— without asking the person themself— Yuu walked over to Leona.

"C'mon, hand over the jacket," Yuu sighed, seeing the stubborn stare on Leona's face. "It'll be colder if you get wet, just hand it over."

"What're you, my babysitter?" Leona took the jacket off anyway. "You're gonna be living in...this all winter long?"

"I'm your servant, remember?" Yuu folded up the jacket. "And I guess. Unless you do all your school work."

"Ugh, there you go again mentioning work," Leona's ears folded as he sprawled out in front of the fireplace. "Where's all that food you promised?"

"It's practically nighttime, so it should be here—" A loud knock caused them all to jump. "—soon. I guess I'll go get that."

The ghosts were hovering near the front door, "Ooh, there's a package."

"It looks safe," Another ghost commented. "No malicious energy coming from it."

Yuu opened the door to see the inconspicuous-looking package with a note on top of it. The note was written in Crowley's rambling font, and their gaze swept over the hastily written words:

Dearest Prefect and Grim,

I have been informed that the Crown Prince of Afterglow Savannah is also staying with you over winter break! How commendable of my best student to take care of them! To reward you, I've prepared a grand feast within the box. Make sure to open this whilst you are in Ramshackle's foyer or else it would be a disaster.

And I trust that you are keeping up with your tasks for this winter?

From your favorite headmage,

Dire Crowley

"Favorite headmage my ass," Yuu muttered, ripping off the note and placing it on the mantle. "Okay, I'm not sure how this'll work so, stand back."

"No way I'm moving, 's warm here," Leona grumbled from his place on the ground.

"Suit yourself," Yuu shrugged. "Don't blame me if you end up getting some food propelled into your face." Now that got Leona moving, much to their delight. But Leona just ended up draping himself over them like a particularly tall and particularly heavy blanket.

"Can you...not...?" They gritted their teeth, trying not to buckle under Leona's weight.

"Mmm, you told me to move, you didn't say where," Leona's arms wound around their waist, and strands of brown tickled their cheeks. Great Seven, he was being more insufferable than usual today. They felt small hands by their pants and they spotted Cheka ducking behind both their legs in a flurry of giggles.

"H-hey, stop hiding behind my henchman!" Grim huffed, rushing to get behind them. "That's not fair, y'know! Leave a spot for me!"

"Okay, I'm gonna open it," Yuu announced, having finished peeling the tape from the edges of the box top. "Three, two, one."

As soon as Yuu managed to pry off the top, a bout of magical energy burst into the room. The house creaked and groaned as the magic wrapped around them all. The furniture moved, bent to the will of the strong magic flowing from the box into the foyer, and in its place appeared a large mahogany table. Chairs lined the table, followed by a table cloth in a sequence that looked straight out of a movie.

"Ah! There's food!" Grim's excited voice was distant as they watched the food appear, stacked high on top of multiple golden plates. Yuu's jaw nearly dropped from seeing how much...of everything there was. From sushi to steak to even...was that a chocolate fountain? The table had it all.

Yuu finally drew a breath as the room stilled, "Holy shit. That was...awesome."

Leona gave a hum, slipping away to sit in front of all the steaks, "Not bad for a feast made by that crazy crow."

"Woah! There's so much cake!" Cheka exclaimed as Yuu finally did a circle around the table. The food looked world-class, akin to the type of food that they usually saw at Scarabia's lavish feasts. And not to mention all the plates and table wear. How many hundreds of millions of thaumarks did this all cost?

"Make sure not to break anything, Grim," Yuu reminded the monster, who was already face-deep in what looked like a chicken pot pie.

Grim swallowed, smearing more juices on his face as he grinned, "Yeah, yeah. The old crow's probably gonna bill us for broken things, right?"

Yuu slipped into the chair next to where Cheka was precariously perched, before lifting the little lion up, "You've gotta eat some actual food first before you get to the cake, little guy."

"Mmm! I'm a good lion, even my Papa doesn't like eating veggies," Cheka giggled as Yuu grabbed a couple of pillows for him to sit on. "Can I have some of the fried chicken? Ooh, and that green stuff?"

Yuu passed over the food, glancing up at Leona, "I guess that's one similarity between you and your brother, huh?"

There was a tail swat to their legs, "Shut it." It was almost intriguing to watch Leona run through his second steak. It was like...he was some sort of vacuum with how fast he was getting through them.

They nudged at his leg, putting a cup of water next to his plate, "Don't choke yourself on it."

"What a nice and caring servant I have," Leona's words dripped with sarcasm, but even so, he took a sip of water before slowing down his pace.

"Would you guys like to sit down too?" Yuu glanced up at the ghosts who were still milling around the table.

"Hihihi~ How nice of you to ask~," One of the ghosts said.

"We're okay, dearie," Another said. "You go and eat your fill. It's a special occasion after all."

And with that, Yuu finally got to eating themself. They took on a bowl of ramen, knowing that Grim wasn't too fond of soup and the like. The ramen itself was delicious, and so were all the other things they tried.

Cheka was tugging at their shirt before long, "Yuu-tan, Yuu-tan! You gotta try this thing! It's all squishy and melty on the inside but the outside is hard like a cracker." As Cheka raved, he swung what looked like a fried stick of...something on his fork.

"Yuu-tan, you'll try it, right?" Cheka said, finally presenting the fork towards Yuu's mouth.

"Sure," They took a bite, feeling melted cheese flooding their mouth. "Ah, I think that's a fried mozzarella stick."

"Fried...mozzarella?" Cheka's ears quirked. "I don't think I've ever had that before."

"'Course not," Leona commented drily. "At the palace, all you get is traditional food, right kid?"

"Mhm! But Mama said it's okay if we order Magi-livery twice a month," Cheka recited before chewing through the rest of the mozzarella stick. "Ish becuth Pwapa wansh to."

"And wouldn't your Papa tell you to eat first and then talk, brat?" Leona gave a sigh. "I'm warning you if you start choking..."

Yuu hid their smile behind a hand, "Woah, this is a rare sight... Leona being...caring?" That earned them a snarl and they felt Leona hook a foot under their chair and tug. They yelped as their chair jolted from the force.

"Being awfully chatty today, huh, herbivore?” He gave their chair one last shake. “Want me to remind you who has more to lose?"

"You need not worry, Master," Yuu made a show of bowing slightly. "I'll be your faithful servant till the day the winter ends, I promise that on what little possessions I own."

A strange look passed over Leona's face, and he paused mid-bite, "So what? After winter, you'll just go on your merry way?"

"Yup! You don't gotta see his face anymore after," Grim said, his face a mess of all the dishes he tried. Yuu grabbed one of the napkins, shaking their head as they wiped up the mess.

"By the end of winter, your paid gopher will be back," Yuu couldn't help the teasing that slipped into their voice as they added. "Oh my, will Leona-sama miss me?" There was a pause before the strange look passed from Leona's face completely.

He folded his arms, challenging them with a crook of the brow, "As if, I'd miss your annoying ass."

"Well, I'm sure Ojitan is ly~ing," Cheka declared loudly.

"Yeah?" Yuu brought up another napkin to wipe at Cheka's mouth. "How do you know that, little lion?"

"Because," Cheka pointed between them. "You guys are best friends. And cuz I'm gonna miss you, Yuu-tan! So Ojitan has to miss you too. Oh, promise you'll come to the Savanna to visit me sometime?"

Yuu gave him a soft smile, "I promise." They did it simply because it was...nice to have plans for the future. Especially with how uncertain everything was. It was nice to have places to explore and promises to keep; if only for the time that they would stay here.

"And if Yuu-tan came, then Ojitan would have to come home too, right?" Cheka smiled brightly at Leona then. "It's been so long since you've come!"

"I'd only come to keep you out of trouble," Leona said, sending them a pointed look. "The palace is filled to the brim with hunters, and you're the freshest prey. And they won't be as lenient as I am."

"Oh yeah? As lenient as you when we first met?" Yuu tapped their chin. "What was it that you said? 'Hope you're ready to leave behind a tooth?'"

Cheka gasped, brows scrunching together, "Ojitan, that's not nice, that's violence!"

"Yeah! And you were almost ready to punch us," Grim piped in helpfully. "We were just passin' through, y'know!"

"Ugh," Leona scratched at his ear. "I didn't know them back then, and they stepped on my tail first."

"And I was going to apologize until you threatened to knock out my teeth," Yuu countered.

"Mmm, sure you were," Leona propped up his head as he reached for yet another cut of steak. "You and that monster looked two seconds from running away."

Yuu threw their hands up in defeat, "Y'know what, I give up."

And at that exact moment, a bright light flashed through the window, illuminating the room for just a brief moment. Yuu blinked, feeling Cheka suddenly latching onto them and Grim's claws on their other side. What...was that—?

"You guys really are a bunch of scared herbivores," Leona drawled, looking unfazed. "Didn't you mention something about a laser show?"

"That was the laser show?" Grim exclaimed, looking half-scared and half-intrigued.

"I was wondering how Ace was expecting me to be able to watch it from here," Yuu muttered, peeling Grim's claws away from their arm. "I guess it's just...really that bright."

"I wanna see!" Cheka announced, no longer afraid as he bounded for the couch. Grim wasn't far behind him and Yuu followed them as well. The lights danced, nothing like the laser shows they saw in their old world. No, instead these lights seemed to have a life of their own. They formed pictures, of different animals and sights from Sage Island recreated in the backdrop of the night sky.

“O-one day the Great Grim will be able to do stuff like that, y’know!”

“Will they do a lion? I wanna see them do a big strong lion, like Ojitan!”

“Wanna take a picture?” Yuu blurted, looking at the two kids. “I mean, I still have that ghost camera, so it’d be a waste not to take one.”

“That’s a great idea, henchman!” Grim proudly sat in the middle of the couch. “The Great Grim will take the center place, y’know!”

“I wanna sit next to Ojitan!” Cheka proclaimed before sending the biggest kitten eyes over to Leona, who was still at the table.

“No way. I’m not joining that.”

“Come on,” They shook the camera in Leona's direction. “Just do it for the memories! We haven’t taken pictures at all, so isn’t it okay to have one picture to commemorate this winter?”

And maybe Yuu was speaking too closely to their own heart because after the winter, this would really all be over. They were a first-year, so it wasn’t like they had many opportunities to see Leona in class. And it wasn’t like Leona ever attended class. They would have no excuse to seek him out again after their…contract was completed. But was it really wrong to want to hold on to memories of this? Of the first time since they've gotten here that they really felt like they belonged to something?

So Yuu was secretly overjoyed when Leona finally stood up, lumbering over to the space next to Cheka and sprawling out on the couch. “I’m allowing one picture. One. And you better not post it anywhere. I don’t want anyone thinkin’ I’m getting cushy with herbivores like you.”

Yuu ignored the off-handed jab, positioning the camera on the table. They stacked a few books underneath it, balancing it against a spare candleholder. They glanced towards the seemingly-empty hallway, “Would you guys like to join us for the picture? Since it’s a ghost camera, maybe it could capture ghosts too.” As they thought, the ghosts appeared one by one, all displaying their creepy-yet-also-kind-of-friendly smiles.

“We would love to,” One of them said, before floating over to line the back of the couch.

“Henchman, I’ll allow you to sit next to the Great Grim,” Grim placed a paw to the vacant spot next to him. “And I’ll let you sit next to me too, y’know.” Cheka smiled brightly at the permission, squeezing between Grim and Leona.

“Okay, I’ll set the timer for five seconds, so everyone get ready,” They glanced over at Leona, rolling their eyes. “Leona-sama, could this humble servant request an expression that isn’t one of such disdain?”

“Tch,” Leona’s face morphed into one that looked awfully like a cross between a sneer and a smirk. Well, it was better than the huge frown he was sporting earlier.

They clicked on the button, carefully making their way to the couch and sitting down. They made sure to lean towards Grim, giving the ghost camera a big smile as it flashed. As soon as it was over, the ghosts dissipated, returning to their wandering. And the two kids? They returned to watching the laser show.

“Ah! A lion, they did a lion, did you see that Ojitan?” There was a grumbled reply as Yuu tucked the photo onto the mantle for safekeeping. It was definitely a photo to remember. From theirs and Grim’s matching grins to Cheka’s toothy smile, and Leona’s disgruntled look, it was all captured in the ghost camera’s film forever.

Yuu walked back to the table, taking this as a good time to start cleaning up. As they stacked the empty plates, they could feel Leona watching them. "What?" They asked, adding a few more cups onto the precarious pile of dishes.

Leona's expression soured, "You're such a goody-two-shoes."

"Hey, I'm trying not to waste food," Yuu brought the pile into their hands. "Besides, I don't see you volunteering to help."

"You're right. I'm not," Then Leona was back to folding his arms. "Just do it quick before the brats get loud again."

Yuu made their way to the Ramshackle kitchen, which...wasn't really much of a kitchen. But hey, at least the stove and fridge worked. They carefully placed the stack into the kitchen sink before going back to pick up any dishes they didn't get. Leona was watching them for a while before he lost interest, looking more like he'd fall asleep in two seconds.

Now it was the fun part: sorting all the leftovers. There were a couple of dishes and a lot of desserts that went untouched. Probably because Leona wasn't much of a sweet tooth, and the kids had filled themselves to the brim with the main dishes and appetizers. After putting them away into plastic containers, Yuu leaned against the counter with a sigh.

The two kids sounded energetic, despite it almost being twelve already, and they could hear them chatter and argue even from all the way over here. And last time they checked, Leona was slumped on the corner of the couch, scrolling through his phone.

Yuu grabbed one of the unopened glass bottles, pouring its contents into a cup. The liquid looked sparkly, almost like someone poured a tube of glitter into it. They gave it a cursory sniff. It smelled like some sort of...fruit juice.

As soon as they took a sip, they deemed that it was some sort of soda, as the liquid fizzed and popped against their tongue. They downed a whole cup of it in no time, the slightly-cold drink feeling nice after their hard work. And hey, who were they to deny some probably-expensive magical sparkly juice that Crowley bought them? Even when...wait, was magical juice supposed to make the temperature of the room rise?

There was a tug on their pants and they looked down to see Cheka standing there, "Ojitan said it's time for bed because it's almost twelve." Yuu fanned at themself before nodding, feeling the heat settling at the base of their throat. When they looked up again, it felt like the room was tilting and they stumbled right into the doorjamb with a grunt.

"Ah?" They felt confused. How come everything felt so floaty and weird all of a sudden? They crouched down, planting themself on the floor to avoid...crashing into anything else.

"Yuu-tan! Are you okay?" Cheka was there in seconds, little hands pressing against their face. "Your face is all hot... Ojitan! There's something wrong with Yuu-tan!! I think they're sick!" Their ears rang as Cheka yelled and they leaned their forehead against their arm.

They could practically hear the growl in Leona's voice as he answered, "What is it, I just got Grim to shut u- why does it stink of alcohol?"

"Al...cohol?" Yuu shot up immediately, stumbling over to the counter.

"Hey, slow down," They felt a warm hand on their shoulder, holding them still. "If you get hurt, 'm not taking responsibility, alright?"

Yuu blinked, trying to get the blurriness away from their eyes as they read the tag stuck on the other bottle:

This is the sparkling fruit liqueur I got for Kingscholar-kun as a treat since he is of age. Make sure not to drink it, Prefect, since it is quite strong~

Your most benevolent headmage,

Dire Crowley

"Shit."

There was a loud gasp from Cheka, "Yuu-tan said a bad word! Ojitan, they're sick...Yuu-tan's sick! " Cheka was now clinging onto their leg, which was doing absolutely nothing to help with their balance. They leaned against the counter before shoving the bottle into Leona's hands.

"I didn't...I didn't mean to-" Yuu pressed a hand to their head, wincing at the headache starting to form. Leona still held firm onto their shoulder, reading the note with disdain.

"Of course, you didn't mean to. No one's mad here, except maybe that birdbrain for sending students alcohol," Leona huffed, before turning towards the teary-eyed Cheka. "Hey, screech box, could you listen to me for a sec?"

"Are you gonna help Yuu-tan?" Cheka asked hopefully, climbing halfway up Leona's leg.

Leona held him in his arms for a second, "I'm gonna help the herbivore. You be a good kid and go upstairs, okay? Grim's waiting in the room, you can watch the rest of the lasers there while I take care of them."

Cheka's ears flattened at the instructions and Yuu felt...bad. They were the reason that Cheka was so distraught in the first place. So they leaned forward, hand reaching to pat the lion cub's head. His ears twitched receptively and he leaned closer to them, wrapping his little arms around their neck.

"Don't worry," They murmured. "I'll be okay."

"Can I get a goodnight kiss then?" Cheka's voice was muffled in their shoulder. "Just in case I fall asleep before you're feeling better." Yuu tilted their head. The request in itself wasn't strange, it was just...the first time that Cheka had asked them.

They found themself nodding, "O~kay." Cheka pulled back and Yuu pressed a light kiss to his forehead. They clumsily brushed at his hair, patting him once more, "Sleep well with Grim. Don't fight, okay?"

"Mmhmm," He scrambled back into Leona's arms. Leona, who was staring right at them.

"What?" Their tongue was starting to grow heavy. "You want one too?"

Leona shoved a hand to their cheek, "No. You sit down, I don't want to hear you crashing into shit while I'm gone, okay?" They hummed in reply, plopping down onto the floor. They gave Cheka a wave as Leona left.

So this was what being drunk felt like. It wasn't...unpleasant, but they did feel a little too floaty. They reached a hand out towards the cupboard only to wince when it collided a little too fast. And maybe it was better to lie down. The flat of the floor felt nice against their back, and maybe if they closed their eyes for just a second, the floaty feeling would go away...

They didn’t know how long it was till they felt someone nudging them. They let their eyes drift open to see Leona, "Up. Now." There was a firm hand under their arms as they scrambled for something to hold. The transition from lying down to upright did nothing to the buzz in their brain.

"Wait, y-you're going too fast," They slurred out, squawking when they bumped right into Leona's chest.

"How low is your alcohol tolerance that you're this hammered?" Leona muttered, going just a little slower.

"I don't've a low tolera~nce," They tugged purposefully at Leona's hair. "I drank a who~le bottle of that sparkly stuff." Leona stared at them like they were crazy. Or was he even looking this way at all?

"You stay on the couch, don't fucking move," Leona commanded, and the softness of the cushioning made them sigh. They wouldn't ever want to move from this. Oh but, it was nice having Leona there to take care of them. They could just imagine the frowny face Leona was making, all while doing his best to accommodate them. Ah, they really, really did like him after all. The thought of it all made them giggle.

There was a press of something cold to their cheek, "What're you giggling for, herbivore? Here, drink this and eat this." They sat up, or attempted to before Leona was dragging them into a sitting position.

"You're not sleeping until you finish all that." They took a sip of the clear stuff, which was water, to their delight. It was cool, trailing down their throat so smoothly.

There were still lights flashing outside, and they turned their gaze towards the lights, "'S not done yet?"

"No," Leona sounded a lot farther than before, sitting all the way at the other end of the couch. "There's still ten minutes till the new year."

Ten minutes.

They looked back at Leona and hoped that they would make it past the ten minutes. Having Leona be the first thing they saw in the New Year...well that made their heart swell. And look, Leona looked so pretty under the darkness. And when the lights hit him, ah, he really was handsome, wasn't he? They swallowed another gulp of water. They belatedly hoped that they wouldn't say anything incriminating. Wait…what were they just talking about?

[ omake : give me one good honest kiss ]

Leona didn't know if he had the strength to deal with this. After wrangling the two kids, he had to deal with a drunk herbivore? The Great Seven really were not smiling upon him tonight. And he definitely wasn’t letting that damned birdbrain off the hook. He was to blame for all this after all.

"Why're you so far away, anyway?" Leona watched as they leaned against the couch, taking a bite of the bread he gave them. "Blergh, this tastes like ashes."

"I'm not far away," Leona couldn't help but sound irritated, because really, he wasn't far away. He was close enough to reach for the glass in case they lost their grip on it. "And that's just plain bread, stop being dramatic."

The herbivore hummed in response, quietly staring at him again. The usually reserved and cunning Prefect, reduced to the starry-eyed person who offered him a goodnight's kiss.

Leona could feel the heat at the back of his neck as they continued to stare, "What're you staring at?"

"You," There was that damned smile again, the one that was never directed at him. "You're pre~tty. Or- do you prefer hand~some...?" Sevens, how was Leona supposed to last in these conditions?

"C'mon, finish up the water at least," Leona ignored the comment, reaching for the half-eaten bread.

But they moved their hand away, frowning, "Are you rejecting my compliment, Leona Kingscholar? I just called you pretty handsome. Usually, you'd be gloa~ting."

"I'm not going to gloat over a simple compliment," Leona caught their wrist, easing the bread from their grip and setting it on the plate he prepared. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"'M not," They gripped at his hand in return. "You're just being stu~pid." He really could not deal with this right now. He missed their normal self. He really took their normal self for granted, Leona thought sourly.

Leona glanced at his phone, "Okay, there's five minutes till New Year's. You're going to sleep in five minutes, alright?"

Yuu's frown deepened, "But I wanna stay here with you." And if that didn't make Leona's heart melt, he wouldn't know what did.

"You're here now," Leona ambled closer after figuring out they weren't letting go of his hand any time soon. "I'll take you upstairs after the New Year. Here, I'll turn on the radio so you know I'm not tricking you."

That seemed to satisfy them as they leaned back on the couch, eyes trained on the fanfare outside. The radio played in the background, the announcer talking aimlessly to fill in the time. Nothing could've prepared him for the question they would ask next.

"Have you ever had a New Year's kiss?"

Leona's mouth felt dry as he spoke next, "A...what?"

"New Year's ki~ss," They repeated, laughing lightly. "Don't tell me they don't have those here?"

"They...don’t," Leona lied easily, and he didn't have an answer as to why he did. Ah, but if they did offer to kiss him, he should refuse. He would refuse. That was the only way to keep their relationship as it was, right?

"Really? So you've ne~ver kissed someone at New Year's before?" They were fully facing him now.

"No." Now that one was a truth.

The tradition existed here, but it was something special to be done between two who loved each other very much. A lot of the times they were married or engaged couples, or people who were...dating. And Leona wasn't interested in anyone that way. Or that was until the recent months.

"How many minutes?"

And Leona swallowed as the radio answered for him with a cheery, "We have a minute left, folks! Get ready with your party poppers!"

There was a hand on his shoulder and he fought not to flinch as they closed the distance. "No," Leona said in what he hoped was a stern tone. "I'm not kissing you."

They laughed again, face dangerously close this time, "You're so boring. C'mon~ It's my first New Years here~"

He pressed a hand over their mouth, hoping to deter them, "You're drunk."

"And you're Leona Kingscholar," They still managed to lean forward just a bit more. "Stop stating the obvious."

"You don't even like me," He shot out, not caring for the answer. He just pleaded that they would give up. The countdown started in the background, his own heartbeat mixing with the sound of numbers.

"I do like you," Their eyes curved, and he could feel them smile against his palm. "'S why we’re here together, right?"

"-wo! One! Happy New Year!"

There was a press of something soft against his palm before they flopped onto his stomach, "Still kissed you… Happy New...Year's..."

Leona didn't know how long he was frozen in place. All that he knew was that it was long enough for the post-New Year light show to finish and that by the time he finally moved, the herbivore was fast asleep.

He closed his palm, nursing the ghost of warmth left there. His first New Year's kiss. It wasn't, by all means, traditional. But it counted to Leona. He let out a low laugh, because of course it would be Yuu to steal his first New Year's kiss away from him. He watched the slow rise and fall of their shoulders as they were blissfully unaware of the turmoil that they caused.

"If you're gonna kiss me, do it properly next time," Leona's hand stroked their hair cautiously. "Specifically when you aren't drunk."

Now he knew for certain. He knew here was no denying how simply and utterly in love he was with them. It was so dumb of him to think that he could just ignore it all. How was he supposed to ignore them when he was the one who made a contract where they would have to be with him for weeks on end? That was an oversight on his part, but it wasn’t like he could’ve predicted that he would’ve fallen this hard. The evidence being how he still couldn’t make his heart calm down even after the moment had passed so long ago.

He sighed as he pulled out his magic pen, casting a spell to make them float. He couldn’t trust his knees to hold their weight after what he was just subjected to. Still, he held them close as he made his way up the stairs. The steady thud-thud-thud of their heartbeat helped him to finally calm down.

Finally, the cramped bed that they usually slept on came into view. The two kids were predictably cuddled up to each other under the blankets. It was a surprise that Grim didn’t kick Cheka out. Then again, when did he start caring about things like that?

He gently placed them on the bed, his ears flattening as the bed squeaked. He made sure to tuck them in nicely. As he finished, they instinctively held on to his arm, mumbling incoherently as they drifted back asleep. Leona ever so carefully removed his arm, replacing it with the tangled mess of Grim and Cheka.

There was no way he would be able to lie down on the bed, so he grabbed a spare pillow before dragging himself back downstaira. The couch was surprisingly soft, and in no time, Leona felt himself drifting to sleep. And if he dreamed of them in his sleep, of New Year’s kisses and promises and memories to be made… That was something that he would keep a secret, even if the dream would slowly slip through his fingers by the time he would wake.

will leona ever get that kiss ? who knows ! (it's me. i know. but will i tell you ? ....no-) but i do hope you enjoyed this chapter >:DD if you'd like to see more of my works, check out my masterlist (i've been churning out leona fics n drabbles bc of leona rot lately so :')) have fun with that :')) )

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#/trau writes #/trau fics #holy frick another leona work ??#how unpredictable of you trau !!#it's not like you've got #kingscholarism or anything like that !#no but seriously help me #icb i wrote 5.8k words of leona brainrot #leona kingscholar #leona kingscholar x reader #leona x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst fics #twst fic #twst fanfic #twisted wonderland

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madam-melon-meow · 5 months

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Are you interested in a humanstuck/monsterstuck no sburb au? Do you slowburn Pepsicola and Vriskan? Does 300k+ words sound like heaven? Have i got a fic for you!

"Dave, are you alright?" Kanaya asked. He looked at her, snapping his finger-guns and smirking.

"You know me, I'll be cool as a cucumber. A little forest fire can't cramp my style." He flashed a glance towards John, who was still standing near Tavros, accepting a congratulations from Gamzee. "John might be a little rattled though."

"Worried John's sick bars will attract Gamzee's attention?" She teased, waggling her brows exaggeratedly. "I have to say, it was fascinating to watch the two of you get so passionate about the art form. Probably for the best you decided to battle via proxy, as the heat might have gotten a tad too intense if you and Gamzee had gone toe-to-toe once more."

"You should leave the matchmaking to your shipping friend," he responded, shaking his head. "Gamzee ain't my type. Too lanky, for one thing, what with all the shapeshifter noodling the dude likes to do. And, he makes me too squeamish. Makes it hard to get to know the guy." Hell yeah, played that off great.

Kanaya laughed knowingly. "I suppose you prefer your amorous targets to have a bit more substance to their form, hmmm?" She gestured loosely in John's direction, the motion unfocused. "A certain strapping young lad, a long-time friend to boot, seems to fit your specifications to a T."

Oh fuck. How did she know?!? He kept that shit on lock, he was absolutely certain of it. He couldn't risk letting his feelings slip. John still called Rose a homosexual, there was no way he'd ever be interested in him.

"Did Vriska feed you some hella illegal gossip from spying on my brain?" He blurted out, remembering the vampire's supposed powers, and the hells of non-platonic thoughts he'd had for John while crawling towards him on the Egbert's kitchen floor, which he'd done in full view of her. Stupid .

"I knew it ," Kanaya exclaimed triumphantly. "And no, Vriska hasn't said a thing. I used my sibling powers to ascertain the obvious, if I might be quite frank."

"Man, I liked it better when we were joking about me liking Gamzee," he muttered. "At least I'd have a chance if I was actually into the guy."

Get him to shapeshift into John, an intrusive thought stabbed into Dave's brain. He repressed it- coolly.

"What, you don't think you'd have a chance with John?" She asked, a little too loudly for a sober person. He winced, squirming at the question, not ready to lay it all bare and justify the mental hoops he'd been jumping through every time he thought about it. Especially not at a party full of people who probably had super-hearing.

"Kanaya, he doesn’t even know I’m bi, if we’re being real, I'm a double-edged sword and all- but I got a sheathe." he replied, exasperated. "I’m pretty sure he thinks Vriska is the coolest thing since ice pops- hell, you might have some competition if you aren't careful."

"Wha- competition?!? " She sputtered, her face flushing. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Now he had the upper hand. He snickered, rolling his eyes. "Sibling powers. Duh. You keep making moon eyes at her. Big ass fucking goo-goo-ga-ga-mommy-give-me-milky shit, but, y'know, blood instead of milk." He gestured at the vampire, who was chatting with the dudes rocking animal limbs. "She’s not so bad, aside from morally, if you're waiting for your big bro’s blessing."

Will Kanaya finally make a move? Read The Good, The Bad, and The Alternative to find out!

#homestuck #kanaya maryam #vriska #vriska serket #kanaya #dave strider #john egbert #vriskan #pepsicola #hom3stuck #the good the bad and the alternative

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0nlythrowharrybeaux · 2 years

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Young American - Part 5

FRIENDS, THIS IS A GOOD AND LONG ONE 😮‍💨😏 A little earlier than usual because I will be very busy this weekend, but I hope you like it! Thank you to all of you who read and interact, it means the world to me!

WC: 10.7k

Series Masterlist

Also on an unrelated note, I'm going to 2 more LOT show and was thinking of maybe doing a little merch giveaway? Perhaps a LOT soup tote? LMK if that would be something you're interested in if you were unable to attend any shows! ☺️

Warnings: Talks about Alzheimers, death, depression, cancer, blood, pain, tattooing

Y/N wasn’t really sure what to expect on Monday when she got to the shop in terms of her official friendship with Harry. Since Sunday was her “day off” she didn’t see Harry or even hear from him, but she still felt giddy and nervous as she got through her tasks quickly and eventually got to the drawing table. She had done herself up just a bit more in the makeup department, she always got a little more of a confidence boost when she did her make up. It wasn’t anything crazy, she just added a thin winged liner and a red lip tint with some gloss over it. It stood out a bit since she was just wearing a white tee tucked into her black, high-waisted jeans and her go-to checkered vans adorned her feet. Y/N kept telling herself that it was because she just felt good, she had a little bit of a pep in her step today, but all that flew out the window when she heard the back door of the shop open and she perked up, preparing to see Harry, he was always the first to arrive as she turned back when she heard the steps lead into the studio she was met with G.

“Oh, hey! You’re early!” She said with a smile as she stood and he scoffed.

“Early? It’s 9:30.” He said and she frowned.

“Is it?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled, “Got lost in the drawing, did you?” He asked and she smiled and nodded. She felt a little worried, Harry was never late, “Show me what you’re working on?” He asked and she guided him over. As she showed him the new designs they made some small talk about his grandparents anniversary party and he shared that he had also been out yesterday and was curious about the Halloween party she bit her lip for a second before speaking.

“Ummm, maybe we should go for a drink after work.” She said and he looked at her with some confusion.

“Well I can’t tonight. The boo-thing and I wanted to go see a movie, sorry.” He said.

“It’s cool, we can do tomorrow.” She assured and then the door opened again and in came Rosa, “She lives!” Y/N laughed and Rosa sighed.

“I’m so sorry! I got hella cross faded and it hit right before we were leaving to the party and I was vegged out and eventually just passed out. I texted Harry!”

“You did not!” She laughed and then pulled out her phone to show proof and as she searched through her messages she frowned and her and G just giggled.

“OK, I thought about texting Harry.” She laughed in slight embarrassment with Y/N and G. They chatted a bit longer and then Vy came in and cheerfully greeted everyone as she rushed to set up for her appointment and shortly after Rosa headed off to open up the shop and Harry still wasn’t in. It was a slow morning for G so he gave her some pointers on some of the new designs she had made so that they could be more tattoo friendly and she took note and as they wrapped up that conversation he let out a big yawn.

“Well, I’m gonna make some coffee, want some?”

“Yeah, I’ll come with you.” Y/N smiled and they walked into the lounge and she started getting out the grounds and their mugs. Suddenly they heard the door open and in came Harry, sunglasses still on his face, his motorcycle helmet nestled in one arm as he ran his free hand through his thick, brown curls. He was wearing some distressed denim, the fit was loose on his legs and his broad shoulders were draped in a worn leather jacket. He was wearing one of his usual t-shirts underneath, but god did he look astounding.

“Hey G!” He greeted happily as he passed by and when he reached Y/N he gave her a little side hug, “Hey you.” He hummed lowly as he pressed his cheek into the top of her head.

“Hey.” She responded with a bashful smile, trying her best to will away the rosy color of the blood rushing up to her face. After a few short seconds of being in his embrace Harry pulled away and headed to the storage lockers to set his things down. When she looked over at G he was smirking at her and she rolled her eyes and continued with adding the coffee grounds to the filter.

“Can you add a little for me?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, of course.” She smiled up at him, “Long morning?” She asked and he sighed as he shrugged off his jacket.

“Yeah, on my way here I got a flat on the highway. I had to get towed to a gas station to fill up and well, you know how tow trucks take forever and charge like hell.” He explained and both she and G hummed in understanding, “But it’s all taken care of now, thankfully.” He said with a smile as he came up beside Y/N to grab his mug out of the cabinet.

“That’s good. Glad to hear you’re alright and everything worked out.” G said and Y/N nodded along in agreement.

“Thanks.” He responded and then he turned to Y/N, “You look extra dolled up today.” He acknowledged her extra effort.

“Oh yeah? Just… felt like switching it up a little.” She shrugged nonchalantly, but internally she was happy that he had noticed.

“Well, you look good.” He said more quietly, probably feeling a little bit timid since G was in there with them, but it surprised her that his presence didn’t deter him from complimenting her at all.

“Oh! Ummm, thanks.” She smiled at him again and Harry smiled timidly at her and she could see G grinning from her peripherals.

“Did you already talk to Rosa?” He asked with a grin as he leaned against the counter as she started up the coffeemaker.

“Oh my god, yes!” Y/N giggled and Harry shook his head from side to side.

“At least we know she’s alive. She was in a proper state yesterday.” Harry disclosed and she giggled.

“I can only imagine.” Y/N hummed and she looked to G who was texting fiercely on his phone. She was just waiting for her phone to ding with a longwinded message.

“Speaking of the devil.” Harry grinned as Rosa walked in and she rolled her eyes with a grin on her face, “Morning.”

“Good morning, Harry. Ummm, do you have a minute? Someone is asking for you up front.” She said and he nodded and left with Rosa.

“OK, I cancelled the movie we’re going for drinks tonight.” He said and and she laughed softly and shook her head.

“It’s cool, it can wait.”

“Maybe it can, but I can’t. I need to know what is going on there.” He said quietly.

“Nothing. We’re friends now.” She shrugged.

“Bull! You hooked up.” He said more quietly and she shook her head.

“Really we didn’t!” He studied her face with squinted eyes, “Ughhh, we’re going to lunch then. I literally cannot wait to hear it all.” He said to her and she giggled.

“OK, lunch.” She agreed.

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

G could not stop smiling as Y/N told him about her time spent at the Halloween party with Harry. It was good that she and Harry were able to put their differences aside and have fun together. He was starting to grow a soft spot for him as she talked about how funny and sweet he was.

“-and then Vy took us up to the guest room so that I could go to the bathroom without waiting in the long ass line and we just stayed up there talking.”

“Talking you say?”

“Yeah, just talking, and drinking of course, but ummm… he was just really bummed about how we had gotten off on the wrong foot-”

“Still?”

“Yeah, he was so apologetic! And you know, I was letting him know that it was OK and we watched a rom-com turned drinking game…Well, I let him think I was drinking too but I just hate taking Ubers alone if I’m drunk and well he asked if we were friends and I told him that I think we are and he got really happy about that. You should’ve seen how pretty his smile was, I swear my heart grew five sizes just seeing him beaming like that.” She pouted with affection and G cooed, “Then it was just time to go and well, he had driven himself and didn’t want to leave his car so he let me drive his car-”

“The Ferrari?” He asked with shock and Y/N nodded.

“He was so drunk, I thought he was joking! But then he was like I swear I trust you and he wanted to go home so I agreed to drive him. Then he like passed out and I have no idea where he lives, so I had to take him to mine and he stayed the night.” She shrugged, leaving out the part where they shared the bed, “He stayed for breakfast and then left for the shop and that was it.” She said.

“And he remembers all of this?” G asked and she nodded.

“Yeah, he ummm, he checked in the next morning and apologized if he was a handful or whatever, which I assured him he wasn’t and yeah.”

“How do you feel about all of this?” He asked and she shrugged and smiled.

“Good? I mean, he’s literally the sweetest person ever and he’s really proven himself to like, makeup for the beginning.”

“Well, I’m glad you guys are good now because now I can say how fucking good he looked when he came in today. Not really the type I go for but damn.” G said with arched eyebrows and Y/N giggled with warmth in her cheeks.

“Yeah, he did. Didn’t he?” She said giddily before taking her lip between her teeth.

“He was totally flirting with you, by the way. This morning.” G pointed out and her cheeks felt warm all over again as he recalled this detail and recounted it to her.

“Oh my god…he was just being nice.” She waved it off.

“Sure, sure… I might be into guys but I’m not blind. Flirting is flirting in any sexual orientation.” He said pointedly and she rolled her eyes.

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

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet. Y/N was just doing some inventory in the supply closet while everyone else wither worked on their clients or on new designs. She was in the middle of counting the boxes of gloves when suddenly Harry came looking extremely irritated and she jumped a bit at his surprise intrusion.

“Sorry, I just need a moment.” He huffed.

“Alright. Do you want me to go?” She asked him as she set her clipboard down on the nearest surface.

“No. Stay.” He insisted, searching her eyes and she nodded as he looked down to the ground and took slow, calming breaths, but his hands were balled up in fists at his sides. She tentatively reached for one of his hands and he unclenched it, allowing her to take it and she just squeezed gently. He looked back into her eyes and she could see that he was so upset that it looked like he was going to cry.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked gently and he exhaled through his nose.

“Well, first the whole thing with the tow truck. I mean, it was an expense I wasn’t expecting to make and rent is due on Friday.” He explained, he was clearly stressed out about it, “And now, I got a call from the company that’s shipping over my things and they lost some really priceless art that I had. Stuff my grandfather had painted. They’ve been searching but still haven’t been able to track where it went.” He said and paused, that seemed to be what really was upsetting him, he exhaled shakily and she squeezed his hand again, “That’s all I had left of his.” He explained with tearful eyes.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Harry.” She said compassionately, her hand trailed up his arm from his hand and she smoothed over his bicep gently, “That’s super shitty.”

“Yeah. Fuck…I’m so angry I can’t even see straight…ughhh!” He groaned and she frowned and just hugged him. He stayed frozen for a second before he hugged her back. They were quiet for a few moments.

“Want to take a little walk? Get some fresh air?” She asked and he nodded against her, “OK, C’mon.” She said softly as she rubbed at his back before letting go. They headed out through the back entrance and he groaned again when he saw that his bike had a flat again.

“For fuck’s sake!” He exclaimed and sighed as he bent down to inspect the damage.

“Gosh, today is just not your day…” She said and he shook his head.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” He mumbled.

“Well look, one of my aunt’s friends is a mechanic, has his own shop and all. He does his own towing and I think he does tires too. I can call her and see if they can get this sorted out for you?” She offered and he turned to her.

“Do you know how much that might be?”

“Not sure, but cheaper. He never charges us if we need towing, being family friends and all. Or if he can’t work on what you need he can at least refer you to someone who will give you a good deal?” She said and he sighed. Harry hated feeling helpless and limited in what he could do. Things had been better, but he hadn’t replenished his savings enough to be able to deal with an unforeseen circumstance like this twice in one day.

“Yeah, please. Anything would help at this point.” He said and she nodded.

“I’ll call her now. Maybe if they come soon you’ll have it before the end of the day?” She said and he nodded, “OK, let me go get my phone.” She said and rushed back inside. She came back out and they started walking out of the lot with him at her side as she called her aunt and explained the situation. She was more than willing to give their friend, Andrew, a call and soon she hung up as they reached the corner of the street and they lingered there for a moment.

“Thank you.” He said and she smiled.

“I’m glad I could help with at least one thing.” She responded, “You wanna talk about the paintings?” She asked and he nodded.

“My grandfather and I were close. He was into art and that’s how I started to draw and paint.” He explained, “It was something we did together when I was growing up and when I told my mum that I was not going to continue in college to pursue tattooing he was… surprisingly supportive.” He smiled as he looked to her and she smiled.

“That’s sweet!” She hummed and he nodded, his dimple carved into his cheek and it made her swoon with endearment.

“Yeah, I was surprised but he believed in me, you know? Shortly before I started my apprenticeship with Eddie he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.” He explained and she frowned, “It was hard for my nan to look after him on her own and my mum could only help so much with work and all. Like we helped how we could but it was really hard when he’d have bad days, so eventually she got him into an assisted living home but that just really accelerated his deterioration. I would visit every week and we would paint together. He didn’t remember me as his grandson, just as the kid who would come paint with him. Those were the paintings they lost.” He said and Y/N frowned.

“I’m so sorry, Harry. I’m sure they’ll turn up.” She said hopefully and he sighed.

“I hope they do. They mean a lot to me.”

“Yeah, I can see why. Did he ever get to see you tattoo?” She asked and he smiled and nodded.

“Yeah. He had these few weeks where he was just super lucid, like right before the final crash,” he explained and she nodded for him to go on, “and he wanted a tattoo from me. That was the first official tattoo I gave. He paid me and everything.” He chuckled and looked at the ground as he shared the story with her. It brought tears to her eyes because this one hit close to home because the reason she wanted to tattoo was her aunt, Julie, a cancer survivor and so close to being in remission right now. There was a point in time where they weren’t sure if she would make it, but she had always said that she wanted Y/N to tattoo her before she died and Y/N intended on making good on her promise.

“Awww, Harry, that’s so cute.” She sniffled and he looked over at her when he heard her sniffle.

“Oh, don’t cry!” He pouted and she giggled and swiped at her eye to wipe her tears, “You’ve ruined your eyeliner.” He tutted, looking between her eyes with a small smile and she huffed, “Here, I got it, love.” He said softly as he leaned closer to her face and just swiped the wings away with a little rubbing of his thumbs. She felt her heart pounding hard in her chest as his eyes focused intently on her face to ensure that nothing else was out of place. She did everything to withstand the temptation of looking at his lips, “There. Sorry for making you cry and ruin your pretty makeup.” He hummed before pulling his hands away.

“It’s fine.” She giggled with a shake of her head and he smiled, “What did you tattoo on your grandpa?” She asked.

“A portrait of my grandmother from their wedding day.” He said and Y/N smiled.

“That’s so sweet.”

“Yeah, he was a romantic. He was so in love with her and always went above and beyond for her.” He recalled, “I don’t know, I just really looked up to him and he meant a lot to me, you know?” He asked and she nodded.

“You’ll see, they’ll turn up, Harry.” She spoke with certainty and he chuckled as he looked to the ground as he shook his head, “What?” She giggled.

“You always speak in absolutes. Like you’re just so sure of everything.” He pointed out.

“It’s manifestation 101!” She grinned and he chuckled.

“Hmmm, do you find that things usually go your way?” He asked and she shrugged.

“I’d say so? At least most of the time I feel like I get my way.” She pondered on it for another moment, “I’ll continue manifesting that they find your paintings.”

“Please and thank you.” He said lowly and a moment of silence passed between them, “And thank you for listening to me. I know that none of this stuff really concerns you but I feel better when I talk to you. So thanks for just being here, I guess.”

“Anytime, Harry. What else are friends for?” She asked with a smile and he smiled back. Just then her phone rang and she saw it was her aunt, “It’s my aunt!” She said and answered right away. She informed Y/N that Andrew was on his way to the shop to get Harry’s motorcycle and to just keep an eye on her phone because he’d call her when he arrived. She agreed and with that they made the short walk back to the shop. It was only 30 minutes later that Y/N was rushing over to Harry that Andrew was out back and they went over to meet him.

Harry handed over the the motorcycle keys and Andrew mounted it not he tow truck and got Harry’s number and let him know that he wasn’t too sure if they had the exact tires for his bike, but he would check and let him know. He said he’d also ask any neighboring shops if they had any in their inventory if he didn’t have it, if not he’d have to order one. Harry nodded and in a moment that Y/N went off to grab Andrew a water from inside he nervously brought up to him his concern about the cost.

“So ummm, do you know about how much this’ll be? Things have been a bit slow for me as I’m new in town and I’m just a little strapped for cash.” He confessed in slight embarrassment, “Or we could do like a payment plan if you’re open to that, or-”

“Don’t worry about it, kid. It’s just a freaking tire.” Andrew said with a steadfast smile.

“A-are you sure?” Harry asked Andrew nodded.

“Yeah, man. We’re good.” Andrew confirmed with a nod and Harry thanked him profusely until he took off.

He and Y/N did a few tattoos after that and it was around 6:30pm when Andrew called Harry and let him know that he didn’t have any tires that fit his bike in his shop, but that a buddy of his could get his delivery guy to send one over the next day and that he could have the bike ready for pickup by closing time the following day and Harry assured him that was fine and that if he ever wanted to get tattooed he was more than welcome to ask for him, that was the only thing he could really offer him and Andrew said very happily that he might actually take him up on that offer at some point and with that they were squared away. It was closing time and they were all tearing down for the day and before she got to cleaning Y/N came up to Harry.

“Hey, what did Andrew tell you?”

“It’ll be ready tomorrow by closing, he couldn’t get a tire today.” He explained.

“Oh OK, that’s good. Do you need a ride home? Save you a couple bucks on an uber or something.” She offered.

“Ummm, if it’s not a bother that’d be great.” He said and she nodded.

“You got it. Let me just finish cleaning up real quick.” She said and he started helping her sweep as she disinfected the chairs and stations.

Slowly everyone else started filtering out, calling out their goodbyes. She and Harry only stayed over about 15 minutes after everyone else and they soon were heading out to her car. He settled in and once again, that scent of hers just overwhelmed him completely, it took him over in the best way. It was sweet and fruity and completely intoxicating. As soon as the car switched on her radio started blasting Bon Iver and she rushed to turn it down and he chuckled.

“Jeez, sorry.” She giggled, “I have car concerts so that I don’t get road rage.” She explained.

“It’s cool.” He assured, “That’s me, too.” He chuckled, “I like Bon Iver too, they’re good.” He smiled.

“Sick.” She responded as she waited for her engine to warm up a bit. He was subtly looking around the space and then spoke up.

“You know, this is the cleanest girl’s car I have ever been in.” He pointed out as he looked around.

“Oh really?” She smiled with pride.

“Yeah. Usually they’ve got a mess in the boot and like a whole wardrobe in the back seat and like there’s always like fifty half drunken water bottles for some reason but you can hear a giant Hydroflask clanking around somewhere, though?” He questioned and she laughed loudly, her eyes watering with happy tears. She definitely had friends with that issue, he laughed along with her, he loved her laugh, it was probably one of his favorite sounds. “I mean that can’t be good for the environment, can it?” He posed the question through a giggle and she nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I don’t know the logic behind that but I do know some people with that issue.” She disclosed as her laughter dwindled into a breathy chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s my sister Or at least it was before she had kids.” He said and she grinned before she bit down her lip and looked over to him.

“Are you guys close?” She asked and he nodded.

“Yeah, pretty close.” He confirmed and then sighed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you or-”

“Oh no, it’s OK. I just forget that I’m so far away from them sometimes.” He explained and then smiled up at her, “W-would you like to stay over for dinner? I can order something in? Obviously on me, as like a thank you for all your help today.” He offered and she smiled at him.

“Ummm, yeah. That’d be nice. I’d really like that.” She accepted and he looked out the window and exhaled, as if he had been nervous to ask her, and it made her smile, “Let me just text my aunt real quick and then you can tell me where to go.” She said and he nodded.

After a few moments they were taking off and he was directing her towards his apartment. It was about a twenty minute drive to his place and about ten minutes of driving around the block and joking that the food would arrive before she found a parking spot on his street. Finally, someone left and she quickly fit her car into the spot and cheered excitedly at finally finding somewhere to park. It was around the corner to his building so he took advantage of the walk to call and order their dinner and soon they were going up to his floor in the elevator.

His building wasn’t all that new looking, but it was still nice and it looked like it had been remodeled inside. Harry also explained that his apartment had been upgraded, so he had some of the newer features and an in-unit washer and dryer which he was extremely grateful for. He pulled out his keys and let them inside before he flicked on the lights at the entrance. She immediately looked around and saw that he still had some boxes up against a wall and packages. He had been here for months already and the place still didn’t really look lived in, it looked like he had arrived a week before and it made her a bit sad for him. It did smell really good and relaxing though and it was very clean, which she was not shocked at, but it was still nice to see that since most guys living on their own tended to be a little messy and gross in her experience. He slipped out of his shoes so she did the same and followed him further in.

“Do you want water or wine?” He asked as he switched on the kitchen lights.

“What are you having?”

“Just water for now.”

“OK, same.” She agreed and he went ahead and served her a glass. She saw that he had no dining table in the spot that was presumably the “dining area". He had a couch though, it was big and velvety, so it looked comfortable. He also had a TV and coffee table before the couch and a rug underneath the coffee table and bordering the couch legs.

“I know this place is a state.” He said lowly as he came up beside her and she smiled up at him.

“I mean, you’ve only been here like four months.” She teased and he grinned and shook his head.

“Hey, in all fairness I do own more furniture, just building it is a bitch.” He excused, “Like my dining table is in there.” He said pointing to one of the larger boxes against the wall. “I built two chairs and just gave up on the other two.” He explained, “It’s hard doing it alone.” He explained and she bit her lip and looked up at him.

“I can help you if you want?” She offered, “I’m quite good with the Ikea furniture.” She smiled.

“Nah, I can figure it out. You’re my guest tonight, not my builder.” He said.

“You sure? I’m certain we can have it done by the time the food comes.” She said and he looked at her skeptically.

“I don’t know, but lets try.” He said and she smiled and he soon brought over a blade to open the boxes and his tool box. She didn’t know she needed to see him carrying a toolbox until he was coming over with it from down the hall that presumably led to his bedroom. They opened up the box and she glanced at the instructions as he set out the parts in the right places.

“Cool! Now that we’re organized, the rest is common sense.” She assured and he chuckled as they started working. There were definitely mistakes and plenty of laughter as they figured this out, but when his intercom buzzed indicating that the food had arrived they were just about to screw in the last leg of the table, “See!” She exclaimed with an uppish grin and he chuckled, “Just hold it for a second so I can screw it in while you grab the food.” He nodded and after a few moments he was dashing out of his apartment to find the delivery person and she was fastening in the final screws for the table.

When Harry came back the table was right side up and she was smiling to herself as she wiped it down with a rag she had found in the kitchen. It made his heart flutter in his chest and he just wanted to set the food down, go up to her and take her pretty face in his hands and give her a big smooch on the lips, but he refrained from it and just set the food down on the kitchen counter before heading into the cabinet.

“Now I have an excuse to use my plates and cutlery.” He said and she looked to him in some astonishment.

“Ummm, what’ve you been eating out of?” She asked in bewilderment.

“Just disposable plates or like the takeout containers if I’ve order in.” He responded nonchalantly, as if it were the most obvious thing.

Y/N wasn’t sure what about this made her heart hurt a bit more, but she felt so sad for him. She was a firm believer in the need to do nice things for yourself, especially when you’re feeling down. Break out of the routine and not opt for convenience every time, show yourself you’re worth the effort through the little things. And in his case, well she wasn’t an expert but she could see that Harry was a bit depressed. The evidence was all around her. He hadn’t bothered to make this place feel like home yet and it really showed in the way he was living. He was surely having a hard time adjusting to the move, he hadn’t settled in and it was super obvious to her that it wasn’t just because he “didn’t have help” as he’d said before. It was apparent to her that he actually wasn’t bothered to get help with any of this.

“Harry, can I ask you something?” She said as she came over to the kitchen where he was quite literally opening up the brand new box his dinnerware was packaged in.

“Ummm, sure.” He said looking at her with a quizzical smile.

“You can tell me to go fuck myself if I’m overstepping, but ummm, are you…regretful of moving out here?” She asked and he frowned a little at her question, “Like it’s just that you’ve been here for four months and it looks like you’ve just arrived a week ago…” she explained and he did feel a bit offended and was about to tell her to just leave it but then she continued, “and it just… makes me sad that maybe you feel like you can’t make this place your home. Like, I don’t know, like I’ve seen who you are as a person and then I see your space and it doesn’t align.” She said with a confused pout, “It’s like…void of all of the warmth and loveliness that you exude as a person. It’s like there’s no joy here, I guess, and it looks like you just haven’t adjusted well is what I’m trying to say.” She finished as she twisted her fingers nervously together and he sighed, “Sorry, if I umm-”

“No, you’re completely right.” He interrupted her with a frown etching into his expression, “I haven’t adjusted well. And I just don’t have the motivation to just…do it. Do all this. It feel overwhelming.” He shared and she nodded as she listened, “I’m not going to lie to you, it’s been…” he sighed, “It’s been really hard to make this feel like home and I don’t know if it will ever really feel like it.” He said morosely and she pouted. In all reality that’s why he liked being out of his apartment as much as possible; he went to pilates at 6:30 almost every morning and didn’t come back until after the shop closed, he didn’t like being here. It didn’t feel like a home, not in the slightest. There was no warmth, no comfort, no safety.

“Harry, I don’t like that.” Y/N said worriedly, “Is there something that would help? I mean, I just don’t like the idea of you feeling like you don’t have a place to call home. Where you can feel comfortable and safe and relaxed.” She said, “Happy even.” She added, her voice soft and sincere. He would eat her up with kisses if he could, she was too sweet.

“I don’t know, I just think I need to like set everything up, start making it my space, you know? Make memories here and all that. Like actually live here, not just come sleep here.” He said and she nodded.

“Yeah, that’s a great start. How about this? I help you out with setting everything else up and you can do a little housewarming dinner for your friends. Well those of us from the shop and maybe any neighbors or people you know out here?” She suggested.

“Yeah, s’just you guys…” he said with a timid smile.

“Well we’re excellent company. Think about it, you can use your dinnerware-” he laughed at that, “and you can get little gifts or gift cards from everyone so that you can buy more stuff to make this place more homey and we can play games!” She said with a smile and he bit his lip and nodded.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.” He said softly and she smiled.

“Yeah?” She asked again and he just looked into her eyes.

“Yeah.” He confirmed, and I really, really like you too, is what he wanted to tag in at the end.

“OK! Again, I can help you with getting everything finished up and even organize it if you want!” She said with a big smile and God was she making it so hard for him not to kiss her.

“Yeah, you’re the pro here.” He chuckled.

“OK. I’m gonna shut up now and we can eat.” She said.

Harry smiled and continued opening the box of plates as she opened up the take out containers their Italian food had come in. Everything smelled delicious and he was quick to rinse and dry the plates before handing them over to her to serve the food on them. He opened up the cutlery and rinsed those as well before handing her forks for them to use.They went over to the table to have dinner and used some of the complex’s newsletters as placemats to not stain the table. He brought out the wine and they ate and talked comfortably. He was really glad he had asked her over, it already felt a little more like his home. He washed the plates as she dried them off after they ate and they finished building the last two chairs of his dining table set as a TV show played in the background. It was near midnight when they finished doing that and they had consumed half the bottle of wine too. She was slumped against the wall and let out a big yawn, which he imitated.

“Can I use your bathroom?” She asked and he nodded.

“It’s in the bedroom, which is straight down the hall.” He said pointing to it and she nodded and stood with a groan and she stretched really quick before she started padding over, “And don’t psychoanalyze my bedroom, I’m well aware that it’s really depressing!” He called out after her and she laughed loudly as she headed into the dark room.

“Where’s the light?” She called out and he chuckled as he stood up and went down the hall and into his bedroom, “Behind you.” He said as he came into the dark space, but he was familiar enough with it that he went over to the bedside and switched on the lamp he had up there.

“Thank you.” She said and he nodded.

“And the light in the ceiling lamp just went out yesterday, I have to go buy a new one. I promise I’m not wallowing in darkness.” He said and she grinned.

“Oh shut up…” she mumbled and he sniggered as he let her head into the bathroom as he walked out of the bedroom and started stacking up the boxes that they had opened up. She came back out a few moments later, “Want me to help you take these to the dumpster?” She asked.

“Nah, I got it. There’s a chute down the hall.” He assured and she nodded.

“Harry, I’m sorry if I made you feel bad with anything that I said before. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, I just…well, I…care about you and want you to feel good about your decision to come all this way and t-” she froze as he grabbed her face in his hands, they were just centimeters apart. Y/N felt her heart pounding in her chest, making breathing oxygen a chore and for her stomach to flip with a whirlwind of butterflies. She looked up into his eyes, glancing between them quietly.

“I know, love. Thank you for caring about me.” He spoke so quietly, as if there were others listening in but message was exclusively for her, “Especially after everything I’ve put you through-”

“Harry-”

“I know. I know that you’re over it. I just can’t get over how you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Just…” he sighed, “Make everything better.” He said softly and she bit her lip and he mirrored her actions. He wanted to kiss her and bite on her lip and just make her feel good, as good as she made him feel, but in the best ways he knew how. She watched his eyes trail down to her lips and she decided to let her hands hug around his waist, making sure that she didn’t push him closer in case she was reading this tension all wrong, but she also wanted him to know that she was OK with this. He pressed his forehead against hers. He was mentally counting down from 5 before he just did it and kissed her, but suddenly her phone started blaring loudly and they both jumped slightly in response to the loud sound and he let her go so that she could grab it from the floor, the screen said Aunt Julie, so it was important that she answer it.

“Hello?” She answered, “Yeah, still here. Oh OK, I’ll head over right away.” She said softly, “Love you, bye.” She said before hanging up.

“Is everything OK?” He asked her in concern.

“Yeah, she just got really sick to her stomach and it really takes it out of her after all her chemo.” She explained and he frowned, “We can talk about it another time.” She sighed and he nodded.

“OK. Well, let me know if you need anything?” She nodded in acceptance.

“You too. Ummm, do you want me to pick you up tomorrow? So that you can just take your bike home after?”

“If it’s not too much of a hassle.” He said and she smiled.

“It’s not, don’t worry. I’ll text you, OK?”

“Yeah and ummm, thank you for helping me with all of this.” He said a little bashfully and she smiled a bit wider now.

“Anytime, Harry.”

“OK.” He chuckled and with that he let her out and she assured him that she could get down to her car just fine but he insisted on walking her all the way there. He could tell that she felt a little bit worried, but he didn’t press her for details as she agreed they could talk about this another time and so he just hugged her goodbye and waited until she was down the street before he headed back to his building.

***********

Y/N had a long night, but thankfully her aunt was feeling better in the morning and she was able to pick Harry up as planned. He didn’t press her to talk about what happened after she left his place, which she was grateful for. He did talk about the proposed housewarming dinner though, which was a good distraction, he wondered if maybe doing it as a “friends-giving” type of thing would be convenient and she was really excited over the prospect of that.

Y/N had a busy day ahead of her, she would be tattooing two people in the morning and then another in the afternoon from her new designs. Harry had Ria and their sister coming back at around 11:30, so he wouldn’t be able to sit through her tattoos, but Auree was more than willing to make herself available to pop in and see how Y/N was trucking along. Everyone was really excited for her and kept giving her a dew encouragements as the time for her first client approached.

“Which ones are you gonna do today?” Harry asked as he came over to where she was creating the stencil for her first design of the day.

“Gonna do these poppies as a filler on some guy’s sleeve.” She said and he hummed, “Then the second is the leopard with the heart spots.”

“OK nice.”

“And the final one is the little finger gun one with the heart-shaped smoke at the end.” She said with a smile.

“That one’s cool.” He smiled and she grinned as she continued working.

“Yeah, really liked that one too.” She said.

“I like that tiger you did too.”

“Same! But no one has inquired about it.” She said looking to him almost in disbelief, “I thought that it would appeal more to the men, but maybe I was wrong.” She shrugged.

“They don’t know what’s good for them.” He said and she smiled. Harry really liked her design and he decided that he would claim it for himself. He moseyed his way to the front office where Rosa was checking the rest of the bookings for the day.

“Hey Harry, what’s up?” She asked without looking away from the screen.

“I wanted to get an appointment for a tattoo.” He said and she glanced up at him with a playful smile.

“Well sir, we are pretty booked up until the late afternoon.” She said jokingly with raised eyebrows and he chuckled.

“I’m serious.” He said and her amused smile dropped, “That tiger Y/N did is fucking sick and no one has claimed it so I’ll claim it before someone else does.” He said and she smiled again.

“Awww, supporting your mentee.” She cooed and he chuckled and nodded.

“Exactly.” He confirmed, “So what slots are available?”

“Well sir,” she said playing along again, “we have 5pm or 7pm available for Y/N. Tomorrow we have 11am, 2pm, or 5pm.” She said and he hummed pensively.

“Hmmm, I think I’ll take the 7pm today.” He said and she grinned and nodded.

“Perfect, I’ll put you on the schedule.” She giggled and he grinned.

“Great. Thanks, Rosa.” He thanked her and walked back to the studio. He finished setting up for his appointment with Ria and then got to working on the stencil.

Harry was excited for his appointment with Y/N though. All day, he thought about the placement he wanted for this tattoo, he roughly knew the size of it, but the more he thought about it the more he decided that he wanted to speak to her about it first and see what she had envisioned for it when she drew it. Around 2:30 in the afternoon Andrew called him that his motorcycle was ready and Y/N drove him over, it wasn’t too far from the shop and after he came back from that, the day escaped him. Now he was cleaning up his station after a walk-in, it was about his tattoo time. Rosa came to the back and smirked at Harry before she went up to Y/N to inform her she had one last tattoo for the day.

“Oh cool, is it a walk-in?” She asked.

“No, it’s an appointment for one of the new designs.” Rosa informed.

“Sick, which one?”

“The tiger.” She smiled.

“Oh my god, no way! I was so excited for that one!” She said to Rosa .

“Yeah, the client too.” She grinned.

“Oh OK, are they here already?” She asked with an eager smile and Harry smiled to himself as he disposed of the paper towels he had been using to clean his needles with in the garbage can.

“Yeah, he’s here.” Rosa said again with a grin as she saw Harry coming over quietly.

“What is this little grin about?” Y/N asked with a nervous giggle and just then Harry came up and rested his arm on her shoulder, “Harry, someone made an appointment for the tiger!” She said glancing up at him excitedly.

“Oh yeah?” He asked with a smirk and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Why are you both acting weird?” She asked them.

“Y/N, meet your client, Harry.” Rosa giggled and Y/N’s jaw dropped open.

“Stop playing.” She scoffed as she shoved him away playfully.

“I’m not!” He insisted with a chuckle.

“Harry. Stop.”

“I told you I really liked the design.” He said sincerely.

“What’s going on here?” Vy asked as she came up.

“Harry wants Y/N to tattoo him.” Rosa grinned and Vy smirked at Harry.

“Oh really?” Vy said and Harry rolled his lips together for a moment and Vy raised her eyebrows at him.

“Harry, no way! What if I fuck it up?” She sighed and he shook his head.

“You won’t.” He assured, “I mean, I’ve trained you, haven’t I?” He asked with a mildly cocky grin and she giggled, “And if you do happen to mess up, any one of us can figure something out.” He said and she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Can we have a moment?” Y/N asked Rosa and Vy.

“G needs to hear about this.” Rosa said walking off and Vy giggled as she trailed after Rosa and Y/N looked up at Harry’s eyes.

“Harry, seriously?” She asked with a small and disbelieving frown and he nodded, “God, now I’m nervous.” She huffed with anxiety and he chuckled lowly.

“Why though? It’s just me.” He said simply. He wanted to reach out and caress her cheek with his thumb, it was tempting.

“Exactly! You’re you!” She giggled.

“And you’re you. And you’re fucking good and I want your art on my body.” He said pointedly and she felt her heart pounding erratically in her chest. Just the way he said it made butterflies swarm through her stomach and it made her want to just kiss his pretty pink lips. Suddenly Auree and G were returning with Vy and Rosa to catch up on this little spark of excitement to the day.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Of course!” He smiled confidently.

“Jesus, OK.” She exhaled with a timid smile and everyone cheered as she agreed to tattoo Harry, “Let me just go to the bathroom real quick and we can get started.” He nodded and she rushed off. She was nervous out of her mind and as soon as she exited the bathroom G was waiting for her with a grin.

“He so likes you!” He smirked and she rolled her eyes.

“Oh my god, no.”

“He does. And well, if you think of it, this is a little cathartic after everything he put you through you can give him a little pain as payback. It’s cute, really.” He said and she shoved him off playfully.

“You’re so annoying.” She mumbled under her breath as she came back to her station where everyone was standing around chatting with Harry, “Now, I don’t want anyone hovering because I’m nervous enough as it is!” She announced with a nervous laugh and they all grumbled against it, “Please, guys! It’s too much pressure.” She whined in an exaggerated manner and they chuckled, but agreed to just give her space to do her thing. Harry was happy about that though because he just wanted it to be them. If his apartment was properly set up he would have asked her to do it at his place, but alas it wasn’t ready yet so this would have to do for now. Everyone went about their business, stealing glances of them, but not intruding as she had requested. “Do you know where you want it?” She asked him quietly as she spared him a glance.

“Where did you intend for it to go when you designed it?” He asked and she sighed.

“Harry…” she whined and he chuckled.

“What? I want to consider your artistic vision for it. If I hate that I’ll tell you where I was thinking of putting it.” He bargained.

“Fine.” She said, “Come see the size again.” She said and he followed her to the drawing tables and she showed him the tracing she had done of it. It was the biggest one she had done for her new designs. It went a little over a medium size but Auree was cool with it when she had reviewed them, “Is that size good?”

“Yeah. Now where did you envision it when you designed it?” He asked.

“I was really thinking that it would look really cute on an ass cheek.” She said in the most serious tone she could and they both looked at each other before they burst out laughing and he shook his head as she knocked her head back like she usually did when she laughed and clutched at her stomach as she caught her breath, “Ah, I’m funny.” She exhaled and he giggled.

“Yeah, fucking comical. Now seriously tell me.”

“I was thinking upper thigh.” She said and glanced up at him, “What do you think about that?” She asked him.

“Ummm, I was thinking upper thigh too actually.” He said more quietly.

“Sick, we’re in cahoots.” She smiled, “OK, so let me make the stencil, did you want me to shave your thigh for you - like full client experience? Or can you do it yourself?” She asked and he chuckled.

“I can do it. You just finish that up.” He said and she nodded. It took her about 20 minutes to get the stencil ready and she let him look it over once more before got his pants down and got comfy on the chair, she glanced up at him and he gave her a reassuring nod before she laid the stencil down and pressed it against his thigh. It was thick and muscular and she had a primal urge to just get down there and sink her teeth into it and leave a hickey on it; mark it as hers. In a way, she kind of was marking it at hers. Her art was gonna live on it for the rest of his life. She glanced up at him once again and swallowed thickly.

“Are you sure about this? It’s pretty permanent.” She said lowly.

“I’m absolutely sure.” He smiled with certainty and she smiled at him again before getting the machine and getting comfortable on the stool.

His pants were rolled down to his ankles and he felt a tiny bit exposed but he didn’t care, the prettiest girl in the world was about to ink her mark into his skin and he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world right now. His spine tingled in excitement as she switched on the machine, he loved getting tattooed and he couldn’t wait for it to be her doing it to him. He watched her for just a moment and then she bit her lip nervously before glancing up into his eyes, his tummy fluttered in excitement and a heat started building inside of him at that innocent little gleam in her eyes.

“Ready?” She asked softly and he nodded almost robotically, “OK.” She whispered before licking over her lips and then focusing on the tiger stenciled into his skin and then she got to work.

She was quiet the first few minutes, really concentrating on getting the outline of it done and then she got to talking with him about his favorite tattoos and they had been at it for about half an hour before she finally asked him why he wanted the tattoo and he was honest, he just really liked it and she smiled at that.

“But I want you to promise me something.” He said and she hummed, urging him to go on, “You’re gonna shelf this design. I want it to be a one of a kind.” He said and she smiled as she continued working.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Come on, years down the line when you’re a seasoned artist and they feature you on some TV show or Inked magazine this’ll be like a seminal piece that you did and you just never replicated it again because it was a special piece.” He said and she hummed.

“And what makes it so special?” She asked with a grin and he smiled.

“You’re doing it on me.” He offered an explanation and she grinned wider, “Not because I’m all that special,” he added in, “but because you’re so special that I wanted one of your first tattoos.” He explained and she smiled more tenderly at that, “But also because I don’t want people to copy it, I want something that’s uniquely yours, you know?” He asked and she fought her smile of giddiness as best as she could, but he noticed it and he was happy that he had made her feel giddy over that.

They took a little break around the hour mark because her hand was getting a little sore, after all it was her first bigger piece and she worked more slowly than the rest of them. During that time everyone else came to check out the progress and with great reason praised her about it. The shop was dead, no one had come in during the time she started and now, so Auree just said they could close up early, there had been plenty of appointments and a good number of walk-ins to make up for an early closure. This made Harry even more excited because it really would just be them. G and Rosa lingered a little bit after they started up again and then left after about half an hour of chatting and looking on from afar.

“So what got you into tattooing?” Harry asked and she smiled.

“My aunt Julie, she’s got like full sleeves.” She explained, “As a kid I just found it so cool.” Y/N explained, “I got into drawing and painting and she told me that she would want to get one of my drawings or paintings tattooed on her. She was always kind of the black sheep of the family, but we were always close.” She said and he hummed, “Wait. You’re not in pain?” She asked out of nowhere since she had started on the final finer details.

“I mean yeah, but I don’t mind it. I enjoy getting tattooed.” He said and she smiled and continued.

“OK, well we were always close and I was around 16 when she got diagnosed with breast cancer. It wasn’t good and she’s been fighting for a while. There was a point where we were prepared to say goodbye, I was 18 then. And her final wish was to have me design a final tattoo for her and I worked on it and ummm, out of nowhere her treatments started working and she got better and ummm I moved in with her for college and took care of her until she was all good to go, or at least as good as it gets. And maybe it was silly, but I made a promise to her that I would tattoo the piece I designed for her on her myself. That’s why when you told me about your grandpa I got a little emotional. She’s kind of been that supporter for me on this journey. Obviously, I finished college, but I was growing my portfolio that whole time and started my Etsy shop. And after graduation I started to search for the apprenticeship and ummm, two years later here I am and she’s been in remissions for almost a year now.” She said with a smile.

“That’s really fucking cool, Y/N. I think she should be your first official tattoo, fuck Ian.” He said and she pulled away to laugh and he chuckled as well.

“Yeah, I want her to be.” She said and he smiled.

She kept working and it was nearing 9pm when he suggested ordering some food and taking another break to eat. She agreed and took advantage to notify Julie that she’d be late again before she was able to finish up. She maybe had about another half hour of work to finish. She was trying to work faster but Harry didn’t seem to mind, he encouraged her to go at a pace that made her feel comfortable. She ate quickly before resuming and Harry assured her she could pick it up as he finished up his own food. He was taking it like a champ, she could see how irritated and swollen the skin was where she was working, but he was doing well. Well, considering the amount of tattoos he had, she expected him to have some endurance.

“What was your most painful tattoo?” She asked.

“I think the laurels on my lower stomach.The butterfly on my stomach is a very close second. That one hurt just a wee bit less.” He said and she chanced a glance up at him. “What?!” She gasped in shock and he grinned and lifted his t-shirt and she saw half of the laurels sticking out from under his underwear and well, apart from his extremely toned abdomen, she saw the large butterfly inked into them. “Jesus, Harry.” She giggled breathily and he grinned, “Did you cry?” She asked.

“A little bit yeah.” He confessed and she smiled, “Why are you smiling?” He asked and she pulled away again to laugh.

“I’m not laughing because you cried during your tattoos, I’m just laughing because you’re bonkers, my guy!” She exclaimed through a laugh and he chuckled, “How do your parents feel about your tattoos?”

“They don’t really care anymore. Like when I got my third one in the span of a month and then the butterfly shortly after they just checked if I was alright. Like psychologically because well, I was moving quite fast.” He chuckled and she smiled, “Obviously to them some of them are a bit questionable, but as long as I’m not fucking up my life they’re fine with my choices. How do your parents feel about yours?” He asked and looked down at the tattoo to see it basically complete and then he closed his eyes and winced.

“Starting to feel it, are you?” She asked and he nodded and grimaced and let out a low groan through a pained laugh.

“Yes!” He chuckled and she smiled, “I shouldn’t have looked!” He said and she giggled.

“We’re almost done. I swear.” She assured and he nodded, “But ummm, to answer your question, my parents are not too happy that I have a tattoo, specially with the size of it. I’ll show you sometime. But ummm…we can talk about it another time. Don’t want to dampen the good vibes.” She said and he nodded in understanding and it fell quiet for a few moments. Only the deep buzz of the tattoo gun and the soft music playing from her phone filled the space.

“God, it always hurts when you know it’s almost done.” He said through gritted his teeth and she giggled.

“That’s a fact. I’m just doing the whiskers, OK?”

“Yeah, OK.” He squeezed his eyes shut and after a few moments she was pulling away.

“All done.” She said and he peeked his eyes open to look down at it and immediately flashed his biggest and prettiest smile.

“Fuck, that’s really good.” He exhaled happily.

“Yeah?” She asked with a bashful smile and he nodded.

“Yeah.” He hummed. A bit of blood was dotting to the surface so she grabbed the little water and antibacterial soap mix and spurted it on his thigh and glanced up at him before wiping over it with the paper towel.

“Ready for it?” She asked and he scrunched up his face and nodded.

“Just do it.” He said and held his breath as she gently wiped at the fresh tattoo, but the texture of the paper towel was rough and still made him tense up, but he didn’t let out a peep.

“Wanna take a look in the big mirror?” She asked and he nodded.

“Can’t waddle over with my jeans like that.” He chuckled and she giggled and grabbed one of his legs to untie his shoe and then the next one. Once they were out of the way she pulled his jeans off the rest of the way and draped them over the seat as he hopped down and headed over to the big mirror to inspect the work. He looked really happy with it and was getting all up in there as she took apart the machine and removed the plastic and continued with wiping down each part.

“Are you happy with it?” She asked him as she continued wiping down the machine parts.

“Fuck yeah! Yes, I fucking love it!” He called back enthusiastically and she spared a glance back at him in just his t-shirt and undies. She tried to not linger too long on the strong structure of the backs of his thighs or his adorable and perky butt, but it was sure tempting to stop and stare. She continued wiping down and disinfecting the machine as he snapped a few pictures of his brand new tattoo and kept admiring it, calling back compliments to her on her work. She felt proud of what she had done, also this was the longest tattoo she had ever done and she was pleased that she had made it through it with minimal breaks. She heard Harry coming back over as she removed her gloves and tossed the paper towels she had used.

“You really like it?” She asked as she turned around, leaning on the edge of the counter of the station, he was just a few feet before her.

“I love it. I really do!” He insisted, “Thank you.” He smiled at her and she smiled again.

“I’m just happy that you’re happy with it.” She said and he came closer to her.

“I really am, I promise you.” He assured as he put his hands on her shoulders and she bit her lip to suppress the gigantic smile threatening to split across her lips. And he smiled and brought his thumb up against her bottom lip, “Don’t hide that pretty smile from me.” He said softly, a small smile of his own played on his lips, “Should be really proud of yourself.” He reassured her and she glanced down out of nervousness and bashfulness.

Harry removed the other hand on her shoulder and placed it right under her jaw and angled her up to look at him. The timid smile melted away from her face as their eyes met. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the counter further in anxiety of what his next move might be. She watched his pupils grow larger as he watched her lips while licking over his own. She was struggling to breathe at this point, she felt light headed and tingly and completely out of control as he leaned in closer until the tips of their noses skimmed together and she let out an involuntary whimper which caused him to grin as their breaths intermingled in the minuscule space between them. She wanted to beg but she couldn’t even speak from how on edge she was. His eyes flickered up to her own for a moment before they fluttered shut and she followed suit as they inched closer together and everything felt absolutely right with the world as their lips met in a tentative and hasty kiss. They pulled back and looked at each other before giving in again and joining in a fiery and much- anticipated kiss.

Harry’s hands grabbed her face tenderly and her hands bunched up into his t-shirt as they moved in sync, the only sound between them was that of their ragged breaths, their lips smacking together in wet little sounds, and soft moans of pleasure at finally relieving the tension that had been building between them. His lips were warm and smooth and eager against her own. Y/N felt like she was floating on a cloud of him, him, him at the feeling of his lips and tongue against her own lips and tongue. He smelled so good and he was so warm, it was coming off him in waves. The entire experience was consuming her. He was a good kisser and all she could do was let him keep going for as long as he wanted. She felt like she was no longer grounded to reality.

Eventually, his hands left her face but only to tighten up at her hips and help her onto the counter as she draped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed his narrow hips between her thighs to pull him closer as their kiss grew deeper and more desperate. Both of their bodies were buzzing and their brains were fuzzy with overwhelm as the pleasure of their kisses sent a wave of warmth rolling through their bodies. Harry was quickly growing hard and he had nothing over him to tone down the feeling of his arousal, so before he lost control and went too far he pulled back from her lips with a soft smack and bated breaths and she pecked his lips once more and he smiled against them.

“Got the smoothest and sweetest lips, love.” He whispered and she felt her entire body shudder at his words and at the feeling of his thumb tracing along her swollen, bottom lip. Without any warning she rolled out her tongue and licked along the pad of his thumb and glanced up into his pretty, green eyes and proceeded to suck it between her lips, her eyes fluttered shut at the slightly salty taste of his skin on her tongue and she moaned softly, she wanted more. Harry groaned lowly as he watched this unfold and his jaw tensed a bit at the sensation of the warm, wet texture of her tongue against any part of his body. He wanted more too. So much more. But not here.

“Fuck, baby…please, need you t’stop that.” He swallowed thickly and her eyes blinked open as she gently popped off to see his eyes clouded heavy with lust and his lip bitten beneath his teeth. He wasn’t expecting her to listen right off the bat, it made him smile at her, “Such a good girl.” He whispered and she smiled and hugged around his broad shoulders to pull him closer so that her lips were up against his ear and his arms were still draped around her hips. She leaned a bit closer and her voice was as light as a tickle but it left him burning like a wild fire as her words processed and echoed in his brain.

“I’ll be your good girl.”

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