#you don’t wanna know how long Moon’s pants took to colour

[merrystar]

LDR Sun and Moon!

They both terrify me, Sun more so because Moon is baby, but this isn’t gonna stop me from reading the fic, it’s very good.

AU belongs to @spadillelicious

Close ups and one doodle under the cut.

[fivelakesinwriting]

hi! please write more barry x reader. i don’t even have a specific request, just anything with barry is fine with me tbh😂

Author's Notes: I thought about adding this as another chapter to Slummin' It - but you asked so sweetly. I ask that you please not judge me too harshly for this one...the moon and whatnot.. If this was your request, I hope you love it xoxo

Warnings: Sexual references - sexual innuendos, Mention of scars, Smut * (daddy kink, light choking, over-stimulation, unprotected sex - please be safe, your choice how!)

Requested? Yes! Requests for OBX are OPEN!

*My work is not to be transferred, copied, translated or reposted to any other sites without my permission. Please see my masterlist for all other works and warnings. Thank you! xoxo

It was the rare occasion in which he napped. He didn't like sleeping during the day, but he had slept terribly the night before and couldn't keep his eyes open. He had kicked his boots off, laid on the bed and fell asleep within five minutes.

He woke up at dusk, the little house on the edge of The Cut still blazing hot. He crawled off the bed, pulled on his boots and rubbed his eyes as he walked down the hall.

"Why you let me sleep so long, woman?" He grumbled, eyes still closed as he walked into the kitchen where he heard his girlfriend messing about.

"You looked so peaceful, baby. I didn't want to wake you. And you tossed and turned all night." She replied, her back to him as she rooted around in the cupboards above her head.

"You been walking around in just that thong all day?" Barry asked, pointing to the baby blue thong she wore on her lower half, and nothing else.

"Yeah. It's hot in here, baby." She stated as she turned around to face him.

"Anyone come by to see me while I was asleep?" Barry asked, his thumb running over his top lip as his eyes scanned over the thin layer of sweat between her breasts and the base of her neck.

"Did anyone see me in my thong and bra? No, Barry." She sighed a she leaned against the counter behind her.

Barry hummed in response as he took the few steps over to her. He stood in front of his woman and traced his thumb down her stomach to the top of her thong.

"I'm sweaty." She whispered as she nudged his chin with her nose.

"Yeah. Like this colour on you." Barry mumbled as he tugged at the waistband of her thong, then snapped it back in place.

"Thank you. I'm thinking you had a good sleep?" She laughed as he bent down to kiss her throat while he tugged the strap of her thong.

Barry grunted in response while his tongue licked up the sweat at the base of her throat. His hands grabbed at her backside as he licked over her salty skin. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers in his hair.

"You wanna come cuddle with me?" Barry grumbled against the column of her throat, pulling her hips to his.

"I'm not done cleaning in here, but I'll let you distract me for a bit. Sure." She laughed as he all but dragged her backwards to the bedroom.

Barry sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her onto his lap before he laid on his back, pulling her chest to his. He breathed out a smirk when she reached down to lift her hips, tugging her thong down to her knees.

The soldier easily pulled the flimsy material down the rest of her legs and off her ankles, tossing it somewhere int he bedroom. H e grabbed at her backside, squeezing her flesh firmly to make her squeal.

"Baby!" She laughed as she spread her thighs to straddle his hips, her hands pressed to his chest as she sat upright.

"Ride me." Barry ordered as he reached up to pull the cups of her bra down and roll her nipples between his fingers. He felt her wetness soak through the front of his pants, and he couldn't help but thrust up into that feeling.

"Yes, Daddy." She cooed, her finger on his trigger and Barry pulled his lips under his silver tooth. He wasn't sure he had the composure to let her ride him anymore.

"Don't play games." Barry growled as he stuck his thumb in her mouth and pressed on her tongue. He released a shaky breath when she wrapped her lips around his thumb and sucked, her tongue swirled around the pad of his appendage, making him wish it were somewhere else.

"No games. I missed you today." She spoke around his thumb before she kissed the heel of his hand.

"You gonna make me cum in my pants if you keep it up, woman." Barry mumbled as he shifted uneasily beneath her.

"You say my name in your sleep." She whispered as she leaned down, pressing her chest to his.

"Yeah?" Barry replied, breath in his throat as his beautiful, naked girlfriend rubbed herself all over him.

"Mmm. It's between this growl, and this sexy, sweet little whine. I thought you were having a nightmare at first, but it was the whole afternoon. It made me so wet, baby." She whispered as she pressed her forehead to his while her fingers tugged at the loose collar of his shirt.

Barry had hit his limit. Trigger pulled. He practically tossed his girlfriend off of him, and onto her back on the other side of the bed. He tugged off his shirt and tugged his pants just beneath his backside before he laid between her thighs.

"Said no games." Barry growled as he pressed a hand to her throat and looked down at her pretty face.

"No games! Baby, I'll ride you! I want to. I just telling you - FUCK!" She tossed her head back mid- apology when he thrust inside of her, giving her everything he had.

"Yeah. I know your little pussy is soaked." Barry groaned as his head dropped down to her shoulder as he bottomed out.

"Let me ride you. Please. You wanted it." She begged so softly, so sweetly that Barry couldn't possibly love her more.

"Why you wanna please me so bad? Hmm?" Barry mumbled while he gave her slow, even thrusts.

"Because I love you, Barry." She whimpered as she scratched his shoulders, careful of his scars from the war. Even though it didn't hurt when she pressed on them, and he had told her hundreds of times it didn't.

"Love you, too. Can ride me after. Feels too good like this." Barry panted as he hooked his bicep under her knee and pinned it back to the mattress, giving him a deliciously deeper angle.

"Oh! Oh, Barry!" She gasped as she pulled her nails down his arms, her toes curled.

"Feel good?" Barry asked with a grunt as hepushed some hair back from her face to see her eyes.

"Feels so good, baby. Do I feel good?" She whispered as she reached for the small of his back.

"You feel fucking amazing." Barry growled as he picked up his pace, pulling his bicep from under her knee to grip the back her thigh and push it to the bed.

"I love you so much, Barry." She cooed as she pulled her nails down his back.

"Love you, too." Barry grunted as he pumped his hips, hitting her g spot. His forehead nudged against hers as he kept a bruising grip on her thigh.

"Baby, will you play with my - "

Barry growled, leaning down to bit her bottom lip as he reached his left hand between them to roll her clit with his thumb. He pulsed his hips as he felt his high approached, licking inside her mouth.

"I want you to cum inside of me, baby." She whispered against his lips as her nails dug into his skin.

Barry shivered and came inside of her, feeling her quiver and clench around him with her own orgasm. He rode them through their highs then pulled out, his heart skipping a beat when she whined for him. Barry leaned back on his heels and looked his girlfriend over before he dropped down to his hands, face between her thighs.

"Baby." She giggled, one hand running through his messy hair and the other pressed her fingertips to her lips as he licked her folds of their combined fluids. It wasn't the first time he did this, but it always made her blush when he did.

"So good to me, woman." Barry slurred against her core as he licked her clean, fingers pressed into her thighs to keep them apart.

"Barry." Her hips arched into his face as the coil tightened in her lower stomach again from his loving over-stimulation.

"Gonna cum again? Just cleaning you up." Barry mumbled against her core.

She whimpered softly in response, pulling at his hair. She rolled her hips up into his face as she reached another high. Barry let her ride his face, more than happy to help her through her orgasm, then propped himself up on his forearms above her.

"What did you dream about?" She shivered as she reached for the back of his neck, her body shaking beneath him.

"Don't remember." Barry grinned as he licked his lips of her, then lowered his head to kiss her lips.

Hotties:

@starkey-babie @barrysjumpsuit @sodasback @fashion-fasting @maybankslut @beauvibaby @professional-busboy @soph0864

*tag list is open, please let me know if I forgot you or you would like to be added. I've removed the people that don't pre-populate :(

Please let me know what you think if you have a moment! Thank you so much xoxo

Requests for OBX ARE OPEN!

[nastybuckybarnes]

In a Heartbeat  -  Epilogue

Pairing: Fireman!Bucky X Reader

Summary: You’ve always been careful with your heart. With your condition, you don’t exactly have any other choice. The last time you let someone in, you paid the price. A price you don’t plan on paying again. Until Bucky comes in and shatters your carefully crafted world.

Warnings: Angst, Language, Minor Fluff

Word Count: 1.2K

A/n: Grande finale! Oof plz don’t kill me but it’s so cute I loved writing this series so much and low-key I’m sad it’s over but it was so fun to write. If y’all have any ideas for anything you want me to write in the future, send em my way!

Series Masterlist

~*~

The wind is crisp, biting at the exposed skin of his face, his fingers.

He doesn’t mind too much though.

The sky is gloomy, like it might rain later in the day. The clouds are a deep grey colour and there's sorrow on the wind. He can’t help but feel like it’s fitting.

“I uh, I’m not sure what to say, I guess. Bonnie said it would be good to come swing by for a little while but uh I’m not sure if she was right.” His voice is shaky and he closes his eyes, hating the silence that meets him.

“I got you flowers. Didn’t wanna get roses cause it didn’t feel right, so I got you some carnations. Nat said that they last a while too which is nice. They’re real pretty. A light yellow type. Maybe peach is a better description of the colour but-” he cuts himself off with a laugh, shaking his head.

“Here I am, trying to describe the colour of the flowers to you when I’m sure you’ve got other things you wanna hear about.”

Deep breath in, deep breath out, just like the two of you always practiced.

“She uh, she turns two in a few weeks, but you know that. I don’t know if I can do it though. Not without you.”

A cold drop of water splashes against his cheek and it’s only then that he notices the warm tears falling down his face.

“I miss you, doll. Every day it feels like it gets harder, and Bonnie says that’s normal, but I don’t know. I feel like it should get easier with time.” He huffs a breath and squeezes his eyes shut.

“Doesn’t help that Beccs is the spitting image of her mom, that’s for damn sure. But you knew that from the first moment you laid eyes on her. You were all smug about it too, said you gave her all the good genes.” He chuckles softly and shrugs his shoulders, “you were right about that.”

He stuffs his free hand into his pocket, rocking back on his heels and trying not to break down right then and there.

“She’s beautiful, (Y/n). Absolutely gorgeous. She’s stubborn, just like you. Real talkative too. I asked Steve when to expect this kinda stuff but he says each kid develops at a different speed.” He clenches his jaw tightly, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

“I miss you so fucking much. So damn much. I wish... fuck...” He stops, wiping away the tears and leaning his head back to allow the rain to clear his thoughts.

“I wish you were here. This whole ‘parenting’ gig would be a lot easier if you were here to do it with me. I feel like I can never do it right. And Beccs needs her mom. She’s got Nat, but she needs you.” He sniffles and wipes his nose on the back of his hand.

“I’m not saying this to make you feel bad, doll, I swear. I just... I can't keep it in. I feel like a failure. I need your help.” His bottom lip trembles and he makes the split-second decision not to hide it. No, he opens the floodgates and he lets the tears fall.

“Her uh, her favourite word is still ‘mama’. Got her sayin’ ‘dada’ though. And she absolutely adores Tommy. That’s her partner in crime.” He chuckles once, thinking about how the two interact.

A fresh wave of sorrow washes over him and he drops his head, looking down at the ground and letting out a shaky breath.

“I uh, I still can’t sleep in our bed. Steve says I should try but... I can’t. I need you there and I can’t sleep without you. I stay on the couch most nights. Nat gets worried but I think I’m okay. Yeah... I think I’ll be okay.” He lets out another pained breath then shakes his head and falls to his knees, eyes squeezed shut tightly.

“I miss you. I fucking miss you so much. And some days it just hits me so damn hard that I’ll never see your smile o-or hear you laugh. You won't be there t-to see Becca on her wedding day... you won’t hold your grandchildren... you won’t be there when she graduates and we won’t grow old together. No, you won’t see me all gross and wrinkled and old and you won’t tease me when I can barely lift my own damn body. Fuck, I’d give anything to have you back. I would give absolutely anything to see you again. I miss you so much and it’s so hard to live without you.”

He puts his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with sobs as he finally lets himself break.

And break, he does.

He shatters there on that gloomy Thursday morning, heart out for the gods to see, to pick apart. He bears his goddamn soul and he cries. He sobs and he all but screams out his sorrows.

It’s agony.

Living without you has been the hardest thing he’s ever done.

He’d lose his arm ten times over if it meant he could see you again.

When you died you took a piece of him with you, and he knows he’ll never get it back.

“I love you, Doll. So damn much. To the fucking moon and back.”

He kneels there for a long time, long enough for the rain to come and go, the sun peeking through the clouds and the birds emerging from their hiding spots.

He kneels there until his tears have run dry and his heart has stopped aching, his shoulders lighter even if the bags under his eyes are heavier.

“Daddy!” He glances over his shoulder, a wet smile spreading on his face as Rebecca bounds over to him clumsily.

He opens his arms and she runs straight into them, giggling madly and pushing her hair out of her face.

“Do you wanna give mommy the flowers this time?” He asks, handing her the bouquet of carnations. She nods eagerly, sliding out of his grip and gently placing the flowers down in front of the headstone.

“Love you, mommy,” she says quietly, pressing a kiss to the polished granite.

A gentle hand pats Bucky on the shoulder, and he looks up at the source.

Nat stands over his shoulder, a sad smile on her face.

“You’ve been here for a while. Thought we should come check up on you.” He nods, pushing himself to his feet and taking a deep breath.

“I’m okay now. Therapist said I should really talk to her, not just... lay down the flowers.” Natasha nods, pulling the man into a hug.

“We all miss her, it’s okay.” Bucky huffs out a breath, trying to fight the tears but they fall anyway.

“I want one too!” Rebecca exclaims, tugging on his pant leg. He chuckles and pulls away from Nat to pick up his daughter, holding her tightly to his chest and trying with all his might to keep it together, if only for her.

“C’mon. Let’s go get ice cream. My treat,” Nat says, ruffling Becca’s hair then leading the way to her car.

Bucky follows after, pausing for a moment and glancing over his shoulder, eyes tracing over the writing carved into the stone.

(Y/n) (Y/m/n) Barnes.

Beloved Mother, Daughter, Wife, and Friend.

Always on our minds.

Forever in our hearts.

~*~

Fin

[the-lady-of-stars]

Wishing you were somehow here again - part 1

Commander Wolffe x Jedi ! Reader

Summary: Wolffe loves you, his Jedi, more than anything. Nothing could ever come between your hearts. Or at least that’s what you believed up until he was commanded to kill you under Order 66.

A/N: Unfortunately for you all I have returned, once again inspired to write more heartbreaking angst for Wolffe. Luckily for you, however, this first chapter will exclusively be fluff. Kudos for anyone who knows what the title is a reference to. Enjoy my lovelies ;) 

You had always thought that Wolffe looked most handsome under the light of the moon. The way the silver glow framed his face made him out to be some ethereal being sent from the stars themselves.

From where you lay next to him on the grassy hill you could just about see the blissed out smile that graced his features. He had brought you out here away from camp to bask in the beauty of the night with him, and there you were, fingers clasped with his as his thumb stroked tender circles on your palm, grounding you in the moment. His eyes were gazing up at the vast expanse space above you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to peel your sight from him. Sensing your lingering stare, Wolffe turned his head to you, smile broadening at how enamoured his beloved looked. 

“What’s goin’ on in that pretty little head of yours, hmm cyar’ika?” he coaxed sweetly, squeezing your hand. 

“I really love you, Wolffe,” you spoke softly, not daring to break the pure serenity of the moment. 

He huffed in loving amusement, rolling onto his side to look down at you with fond eyes.

“And I love you, my starlight. But what’s brought this on? You goin’ all soft on me, General?”

“Can’t help it, Commander. ‘S all your fault. Might just have to court martial you for it,” you mused. 

“Court martial! And what exactly would the reasoning for this court martial be, might I ask?”

“Mm, well, quite a few things actually. For starters I’d accuse you of making your Jedi General fall hopelessly in love with you- that’s the most important one.” Wolffe grinned down at you as you spoke. “Next I’d accuse you of distracting your General from patrol and making her stargaze with you instead. Also important. Finally I might accuse you of having brought me here over an hour ago yet not having so much as kissed me on the cheek even once, although that can be rectified before it’s too late.”

Wolffe let out a genuine laugh before leaning down closer to you, putting his weight on his forearms, obscuring most of your vision but leaving a slight backdrop of the blinking stars surrounding him.

“Ah well, in that case I suppose I had better make a start. You have my sincerest apologies, Mesh’la.”

“I might find it in me to forgive you, but you’ll have to make it up to me first.”

“Yeah?” he cooed. 

“Mmhmm. Real nice.”

“I think I can do that.”

He began with a gentle kiss to your jaw, rising up your face to your cheeks, brows, forehead and nose, spoiling every inch of you in the loving way he thought you deserved. He muttered compliments and praise in between kisses, soothing you with his whispers of  “sweet girl,” “so beautiful,” and “so good for me.” You both sighed in harmony as he finally closed the remaining distance to meet your lips, locking them against yours. Your noses pressed together, eyelids fluttering at the sheer intimacy of the moment.

When you eventually separated from each other, you remained with your foreheads touching, both panting to reclaim the breath you had stolen from the other. You remained there, silence unbroken for minutes, just enjoying the moment. 

Wolffe was the one to break the stillness, pushing himself off of you to lean on his side again, eyes wandering over your face in thought. 

“What is it?” you spoke serenely, surveying his expression. He appeared to be deep in thought, although what about you couldn’t tell. 

“Do you remember when we first met?” he spoke up after a few more moments of thinking. 

“Of course, how could I forget?”

“We all knew that General Plo had trained a padawan to knighthood but we’d never actually met you. I remember on one campaign to some planet in the outer-rim we were resting for the night and Wildfire asked the General to tell us a story to pass the time.  That was the first time he told us about you. Told us how you’d taken out an entire squadron of clankers all on your own and without your saber. I’ll admit I fell a little bit in love with you right then. The more he told us about you the more I wanted to meet you. That night I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about what you might have looked like. I lay there picturing your face, wondering things like what colour your eyes might be. If there’s one thing I guessed right it was that your eyes would definitely be striking, had to be to match the personality that went with them. So in some way I suppose you could say I was in love with you before I had even met you. I’ve heard Master Plo saying before that the force can bring people together. I don’t know if that’s real or not, I’m no Jedi, but I like to believe that we were meant to find each other, you know?

“Wolffe, you’ve never told me any of this before,” your eyes were glued to his lips as he spoke, captivated by his words. 

“I was always too embarassed to tell you. Honestly I’m surprised the boys didn’t get to blabbin’ about it to you before now. And the first time I actually met you? Stars. If you ask the boys they’ll tell you that I looked hypnotised. According to Sinker my mouth was wide open like I’d been hit straight on by a gunship. Nothing I’d imagined before could even compare to how beautiful you were. If I wasn’t in love with you before that then I definitely was then. My vode still haven’t stop teasing me for that one. But you wanna know when I was sure you were the one for me? You remember that time I got injured on Naboo after that clanker we didn’t notice hit me good in the knee?”

You winced, the memory still fresh in your mind. “I still have nightmares about that sometimes. Thought I was going to lose you, and even though I hadn’t known you all that long I realised then that I couldn’t bare to live without you.”

Wolffe took one of your hands in his, pressing a reassuring kiss to your knuckles in comfort then moving to play with your fingers absent-mindedly as he continued to speak. 

“And that’s why I fell for you. You looked after me all day and night, even while I slept, making sure I was clean, hydrated, comfortable and not in any pain. You cared for me so selflessly. When I woke up and saw that you had fallen asleep next to me in exhaustion I wanted nothing more than to show you just how appreciated you were. But I just couldn’t find the words no matter how hard I tried.” He looked into your eyes, noticing how they had glazed over slightly from how close you were to tears. 

“I know. I felt your emotions through the force. No one had ever felt that strongly for me in my life. Which is why I kissed you when you woke. Couldn’t find the right words either,” you smiled at him, lips trembling with emotion. 

“You’ll never know how often I think of that kiss. Think I nearly passed out again when it happened, my heart was racing so fast. You had me absolutely doll dizzy. But you know what the funny thing is? You’d think that I’d have become more used to it by now, you kiss me at every chance you get, but I haven’t. Every single time you kiss me I feel that same way I did the first time. You’ve got me good, sweetheart. Point is- I don’t ever want to stop feeling that way. I want to be able to lean over and kiss you for the rest of my life. So, Y/N, I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and I’ve decided. I want to marry you.”

“What?” you gasped, heart pounding against your chest. 

“I know it technically won’t be a legal marriage seeing as I’m a clone and you’re a Jedi, but that doesn’t matter to me. We don’t need paperwork to prove our love for each other. I want you to be my wife. My wife who I can spend every day of the rest of my life spoiling in the way she deserves. So, what do you say? Y/N Y/L/N, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?” 

Both of you now had tears streaming freely, a sob catching in your throat as you went to reply. 

“Yes,” you choked out. “Yes, Wolffe, I would love to marry you.”

The two of you were crying your hearts out, smiles pulling at your cheeks so brightly that it was nearly painful. Wolffe wasted no more time before standing up and pulling you to your feet then into his arms, picking you up to spin you in pure unbreakable joy. 

He set you down and instantly brought your lips together, giving him a new most passionate kiss to think about for the rest of his life. 

“I love you,” he laughed through his tears. “I love you so much!”

“I love you too. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Wolffe paused for a second, visibly thinking before kneeling down to the grass. 

“What are you doing?” you asked, but he was too distracted with what ever he was doing to reply.

You watched as he plucked a long blade of grass out of the soil forming a loop with it then tying it off so it was shaped like a circle. 

“A ring. I’m sorry I can’t get you a pretty one straight away, so this will have to suffice for now, but one day, after the war, I swear to you I will buy you the most beautiful ring I can.”

Wolffe took your left hand delicately in his, sliding his grass ring onto your fourth finger. You once again sobbed at his actions, throwing yourself into his chest and tucking your head under his chin. 

“Wolffe, it’s perfect. I don’t need a fancy ring, I only want you. And if you think I’m not treasuring this ring made from the grass of the hill you proposed to me on for the rest of my life then you don’t know me like I thought you did.”

He laughed, a wide grin settling on his face as he pulled you tight against him, rocking you in a slow dance as you both tried to stop crying. 

Absolutely nothing could tear the two of you apart. Or at least, that’s what you believed. Palpatine, you would soon discover, thought otherwise. 

[nerd2614]

April's Fall - Part 5

Lost Memories

@write-it-motherfuckers original prompt

Part 1 // Part 4

“Run away with me!” The young teen exclaimed as he twirled away from my blade.

I laughed and parried his returning blow. He was joking about it more often these days.

“I can’t, Raph. You know we’re needed here.” A smirk crossed my face as he fell to the ground with a grunt.

“Oh my April, my Autumn moon! How could you wound me so?” Raph threw his head back with all the pompous royal arrogance he could muster. I rolled my eyes and held my hand out for him to grasp. Raphael’s hand in my own was warm.

“We’re only using wooden swords now because someone got scared.” I teased.

His grip tightened and I braced to help him to his feet. He winked and swept his legs under my own. With a thud, I fell on top of Raphael and was flipped to the ground. I felt the cold bite of his dagger at my throat.

“We’re using wooden swords because you spilled my blood.” He reminded me with a wicked grin.

“You are both using wooden swords because we can’t trust either of you not to lob each other’s heads off accidentally.” A firm voice reminded us.

“Hello Father, Mother.” I greeted them politely, brushing the dust off my training pants. Raphael inclined his head and murmured his acknowledgement.

“Are you training like you’re meant to, children?” Mother inquired with a teasing lilt.

“Yes, m’lady.”

“Yes mother.”

“Carry on then.” Father waved his hand to reset the match. Raphael and I turned to face the centre of the ring, swords poised at the ready.

“I’m getting better!” Raphael exclaimed as he knocked the gilded blade from my hand. Practising to fight in ceremonial garb was always a pain. The weapons were too heavy and the material too restrictive.

I huffed and crossed my arms. I would never tell him, but the last round hand jarred my wrist badly. “Only because I let you win!”

“Oh, come on, April -” Raphael boasted as he passed my sword back, “- it is I who lets you win!”

I growled and brought my blade to attention, ignoring the twinge of pain. “Wanna bet?” Instead of retorting, Raphael nodded to someone behind me. I turned to see one of the younger messengers from the court. We had all celebrated his centenary not two moons ago.

“Lady April, there’s been terrible news from The Twisted. They’ve captured your parents.”

Suddenly my wrist didn’t hurt so much.

I was informed to wear the gown of spider silk as we were meeting someone important today. Standing next to Raphael, I could not figure out what was so important about the toad in front of us. He had beady eyes that reeked of betrayal. His hair was weird too, more like matted fur.

“This is James,” Raphael’s mother introduced when it became clear that I would not inquire, “he will help protect the both of you. You can trust him.” The last sentence was directed to me. She then left us to get acquainted, as was the custom.

“Hi, James, I’m Raphael! It’s about time there’s another guy around!” My friend grinned and held his hand out. He nudged me to encourage me to introduce myself.

“I don’t like you.”

“April!”

James licked his lips. “Don’t worry, Raphael. April and I will be close before you know it.”

I was aiming the arrows with vicious accuracy. Raphael had requested James accompany him today so he could learn the ropes. So when a throat cleared behind me I launched into an attack.

“Your training is coming along nicely, April.” The guardian almost smiled as he halted the arrows with a flick of his wrist.

“Guardian Sebastian.” I bowed my head in deference. “I apologise.”

“There is no need to apologise, child. It is I who should extend my apologies. We found your parents bodies at sunrise.”

Walking around in the forest was never peaceful anymore.

"She's only young." The people whispered.

"Who would take care of her?" Those of the court gossiped.

Even the trees were not silent. "Evil witches." they hissed as I passed them.

“You’ve been feeding information to the witch.” Raphael's demeanor was calm, but his eyes were filled with contempt.

"No, I haven't! How could -" With a flick of my wrist, the ceremonial sword that had been dangling uselessly on the wall bit into James' fleshy neck. His tearful protests stopped almost immediately, replaced with a smug grin.

"I see you have progressed far more than you let on, April." He spat my name with a venom that only fueled my disdain.

"Answer the question." The only reason he was alive was because Raphael desperately wanted it to be untrue.

"How did you know, Elf?" I sighed at James' futile attempt at prolonging the inevitable.

"I may look young, but I’m much older than you, mutt." Raphael snarled. I smiled and forced the sword deeper into his neck, making James stumble backwards to avoid being beheaded.

"That may be." James mocked. "I just can't wait for the day you get what you deserve. The war is just beginning… and I'll take everything from you. Just wait." With that he stormed out of the room into the arms of the guardians. His yells echoed through the corridor as he was dragged to his new home.

"I never did like him." I pointed out smugly. Raphael rolled his eyes before sinking into a pensive state.

Only mere seconds had passed between you swallowing the potion and waking up. You were still trying to warn your not-so-stranger against fighting the hellhound that held you captive. “Run!” You croaked weakly. “Run, Raphael”

James cackled with his hand still gripping your throat. “How does it feel to have lost, Raph?” He taunted.

“Get your hands off her!” Raphael snarled dangerously, "I shall not tell you again."

"What will you do, lover boy? Once I discard you it won't take long for April to forget all about you again!"

"What have you done!?" The one you'd been calling Grandmother screeched as she stormed out of the front door. "All of my hard work! Wasted!"

In her anger, the witch sent James flying through the air towards herself. She flung his body into the ground and proceeded to send sharp pebbles to collide with his skin.

“Idiot!” She bellowed.

Before you could process what was happening, Raphael had hoisted you to your feet and the two of you stumbled into the woods. Your vision was still faulty. The trees started to blur together.

“April, my love, please hang on just a bit longer.” Raphael knelt next to you and stroked your cheek lovingly. Blood smeared across your cheek.

“It’s really you.” A happy sigh escaped you as you returned the gesture. His face was battered and his eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

“Yes.” Raphael took in a deep, laboured breath. His hands clasped both of yours, squeezed them gently and let them go. “Now run. Stay off the path. The others are coming. I will distract her.”

“But-”

“Go.” His voice was firm. “You will see me again.”

You glared at Raphael without malice. It was not a vow that you would see him again alive. He always had a way with words, manipulating the person to think the outcome would be in their favour if they followed his words. You were always more direct - sometimes forgoing words altogether.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Raphael’s lips. He knew you would escape and be safe. Only because it was he who asked you. You limped further into the trees. Away from James’ howls of pain.

Birds fluttered in the trees above you. Small game hopped, ran, and bounded around you, creating a path for you to follow. The leaves crunched under your feet. One foot in front of the other, you concentrated on moving forward as fast as you could. You stumbled and fell to your knees. Tears welled in your eyes but you blinked them away. A doe tip-toed out from behind the trees. She knelt beside you in order to nuzzle you up. Her nose was velvety soft as you stroked it.

It took all the strength you had, but you managed to drag yourself to your feet. The doe stood with you. Placing a hand on her back, you allowed yourself to be led through the thicket. The howls faded until there was nothing but the sounds of running water and the whispering of trees.

You made it to a river before you fell again. The cold water was refreshing against the bruises and cuts on your skin. You wept into the water. Nothing made sense. Memories were still whirling in your head. Disgust at James. Betrayal at your Grandmother - no, the witch. Your bruised ribs made it hard to breathe which exacerbated your rising panic.

Movement further up the river caught your attention.

“Lady April!” A voice called out. He was wearing light armour that changed colours with the trees. “You’re back!” The young elf grinned as he placed a hand on your shoulder. You flinched away instinctively. His grin dropped.

“Where’s the Prince?” He asked, voice curious and stern.

“The Prince…”

“Oh, my Prince!” I swooned into Raphael’s arms. He promptly dropped me onto the soft clovers we were practising on.

“That’s no way to win!” Raphael laughed, pinning me to the ground. His grip was cumbered by the poofy skirts that made up my dress. I used it to my advantage to flip him over.

“I say it is.” I giggled. “Use every element to my advantage, right?”

“That’s why you’re my knight, my protector.” Raphael breathed out.

“A great job I’m doing.” I rolled off him to lay beside him in the grass.

“You are.” The Prince of the Autumn court stroked my hand with his thumb. “You know, one day I’ll rescue you.”

"And, one day, I'll be a Princess." I snorted.

Raphael smiled softly. "One day."

You clamped onto the elf’s hand. “The Prince, you have to help him. He’s fighting with-”

“APRIL!” His scream echoed over the water.

“- her.”

The witch cackled as she levitated Raphael behind her.

Tags: @scuzmunkie, @wordsaremylife, @luarinne, @inuhuffclaw, @wayward-demigod

[simplyxdolxstyles]

Halloween Frenzy

 This piece is a bit old but just wanted to post it. It’s also 1st person this time so that a bit different. Let me know what you think, feedback is always appreciated.

Warning: badly written smut, d-bag gray, and an overall shitty halloween party but what can you do? 

Enjoy. (also the title is horrible but I just didn’t know what else to call it.

I was at a Halloween party with my friend (Y/F/N), a Halloween party that surely made bingo night seem fun. She was a cat and I was Minnie Mouse.

  Her costume was slutty, though mine had a bit more decency. I opted on doing my hair but decided against it and just wore a red bob wig instead, while (Y/F/N) wore some extensions to her already long auburn hair.

“I heard Grayson is around here somewhere.” (Y/F/N) told me. Grayson Dolan was a dirty, rotten, player. Hot, but a playing jerk. Sure, he may seem so innocent that the teachers and adults seem to fall for, me? It didn’t get very far. To me he was nothing but a good looking bad boy looking for trouble.

“Great…” I trailed of rolling my eyes. Unfortunately, I was like any girl here who had a crush on the schools rebel, I just didn’t show it, or give into his satisfaction like all these brainless zombies seemed to be doing.  Hating to admit like the other girls, I was drooling as I watched him play soccer. He wasn’t exactly the tallest person on the team, but having him sweat and take off his shirt at the end made up for so much.

 Just as she had said that, I heard someone’s loud, obnoxious laugh. I looked to my right to see a boy wearing a white tank top, and baggy jeans with chains. With his back turned towards me, I gave him the nastiest glare I could muster. I had found Grayson.

“Easy there, girl. He won’t like you if you’re glaring,” she teased, nudging me slightly.

“Ugh! Shut up…” I hissed. As if he could feel my stare, he slowly turned around till he too was looking straight at me. After studying me a few minutes he slowly smirked. Red cup in his hand and feeling so cocky, he walked over to me, (Y/F/N) running out of sight. ‘Gee, thanks (Y/F/N)!’

“Well, well. If it isn’t Minnie Mouse. What’s a matter? Couldn’t find a Mickey?” he chuckled at his own joke (boo, sorry for that lame joke xD)

“Last time I checked, this was a Halloween party, not a douchebag contest.” I said grimly.

“And last time I checked, this wasn’t a WHORE house” he retorted. I rolled my eyes and scoffed at him. It wasn’t like the other girls here weren’t dressed the same anyway. In fact, probably more revealing than I was.

“What are you supposed to be anyway?” I asked, even though I didn’t want to.

“I’m not in costume, but people think I’m a gangster. Either way I don’t care, this is a lame party anyway.” He shrugged, shoving his hands in pants pockets.

“I see, well you could’ve fooled me,” I muttered mostly to myself.  He was hot, but this outfit just made him look like an asshole, well more than he already was.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen. Time for a special performance by the ‘Cupcakes.’” Mark announced.

“Now if you don’t mind, I have to dance now,” I sassed.  (Just think of any song lmao)

  We head out to the make-shift stage out in the backyard. Walking up the stage we got into position. I caught eyes with Grayson briefly, throwing him a sly smirk. Let’s see you now hot shot.

  Showing our stuff this way and that, we were getting a rise out of the audience. With all the eyes that were on us, I could feel Grayson giving the most intense stare of all. Studying me, watching my every move.

  With the final moves of our dance, the crowd started going crazy with cheers and hollers. I saw Grayson give a cocky grin, though he was clapping. Seeming genuinely impressed with our special presentation. Something to at least give life to this dull party.

 As everyone was back inside once again, drinking, making out, and doing god knows what. I went to grab a drink to calm my nerves.

“Hey, you did well out there,” came from behind me. Turning quickly around, I only found (Y/F/N), secretly I wished it was Grayson.

“T-thanks, so did you.” I took a sip of the cheap, stale beer. Certainly not the best, but better than anything.

“Don’t worry, (Y/N), I’m sure by now he thinks you’re hot, he won’t be able to resist you.” I just gave a closed mouth smile. With a comforting pat on the shoulder, she stalked off to go get drunk or something. I snorted at what she said. It wasn’t likely to happen but. She did put an image in my head.

 Not long after, everything started to get fuzzy. I hadn’t seen Grayson since we did the routine. ‘He’s probably bangin’ some chick right now’ I thought to myself. At the thought, I felt myself moisten. Thoughts swam through my mind wondering how he was in bed. Exactly how many of the student body had he slept with? As I exited the bathroom, I froze when I saw who was just on the other side of the door.

“Finally, I found you,” he smirked. He had taken off the biker hat, his messy, charcoal black hair in show. “Yeah right.” I muttered to myself. He walked closer to me as if he heard me.

“I’m serious.” He whispered lowly in my ear. God! I just wanted to dig my hands in his hair and make an even more mess of it. I gulped hard. Pushing a way slightly, I tried to play it as he did. But I was crumbling, like a pie.

“Why, couldn’t find a lay?” this time I smirked. He narrowed his eyes at me menacingly.

“Come with me,” He demanded me. He grabbed my arm and roughly dragged me somewhere. It all happened so fast. He pulled me until we were in a room. Probably Mark’s guest room, and slammed the door shut behind him. Pinning me against the door, he held my writs above my head. Oh my God? Was this happening?!

Nose almost touching mine, I stared into his cold, dark eyes that held anger, frustration, and lust?

 “You know what you’re doing, don’t you?” he seethed in my face. I was genuinely confused. What was he talking about? His eyes that were usually a warm brown colour was only a thin ring as his dilated pupil was full blown.

“What are you talking about?” I stared at him, a confused look graced my features.

“Don’t play dumb with me! You act like a slut tonight, the dance for example. I know you like me! I’m not fucking stupid. You wanted to get a rise at me, we’ll you will fucking get it now!” he exclaimed with such a dark aura. He pushed me into the door, it was actually starting to hurt.

“Flaunting yourself around in that costume, dancing in front of all those people. You wanna be a slut fine, then I’ll treat you like one!” he pulled me off the door and pushed me on the bed, wig falling as he did so. Oh my god! This was happening!

He crawled on top of me, wrists held by his hands again. He was acting like a maniac, but looked beyond gorgeous as the moon shone light on his face.

“Go ahead, Make your move,” my blood was boiling. I was angry yet so turned on. He just knew how to work his magic.

“Watching me at those soccer games. You think I don’t notice you stare at me? Huh? I know you like me, just like all those other girls. You are the worst one of all, pretending to act all innocent. You are a slut, don’t you ever forget it!” he roared, pressing me further into the mattress. I whimpered in pain from the tight grip. God, it was so hot in here.

“Don’t worry, babe. You’ll soon be screaming my name. In pleasure.” he whispered lowly in my ear. How could a guy with a cute face have a sexy, yet aggressive side to him? I was enjoying every moment of this. He gripped me by the neck, carefully not to cut me out of breath and forced me to look at him. My now free hands landed in his hair, pulling at the roots. I lowered his head till I could feel his breath against my lips.

“Oh yes, I’m a big slut,” I cooed teasingly. He ran his thumb along my lower lip before he placed his lips upon mine. Kissing me twice before he licked into my mouth. I opened my mouth for him as he entered. He kissed me with raw desire, biting at my lips and tugging them, running his tongue against my teeth. I swear I could taste a little blood. After our little make-out session and leaving nothing untouched, he pulled me up and went for the zipper of my Minnie Mouse costume.

He licked a strip up my neck, teasing before he went to a spot on my neck that drove me completely mad. I was at his beck and call, and I enjoyed every second of it.

“Ahhh!” I gasped. I could feel him smirk against my skin. I knew he burst my capillaries, thus know sporting a hickey. He licked over his creation a couple of times before he pulled down the shoulder part of my dress. Grayson kissed my shoulder a couple of times before moving down towards my collarbones, again leaving marks.

I gently pushed him off me before I climbed onto his lap. I kissed from his jaw down to his neck, the same way he did to me.

“You know, you looked so hot tonight. I couldn’t control myself. I would have gone mad.” He whispered lowly. He let out a delicious groan that only infused my hunger. Seeing guys in pleasure was surely a sight to see. Letting go of his flesh I tugged on the hem of his tank top, signaling I wanted the offending material off. He chuckled as he pulled it over his head and somewhere in the room.

“Ha, couldn’t wait could you?”’ he teased. It was only fair if I took of my costume, throwing it somewhere in the room along with his tank top. Thank god I picked the good set of undergarments tonight. “Shut up.” I playfully nudged him.

He now laid on his back as I placed kisses down his chest all the way to his abdomen. His breath increasing, the heat was too much. He gripped the sheets as I got to the hem of his pants. Placing butterfly kisses here and there. Seeing him at his mercy was a pretty hot sight to see.

“(Y/N), please do something. Don’t tease me.” He whimpered, gripping the sheets again.

“Aww, where’s the fun in that, huh?” I cooed. I teased, but I couldn’t wait either. The anticipation was killing me. Popping open the button of the pants, slowly moving along to the zipper and pulling it down at a painfully slow pace.  I tugged down at his pants till it was at his knees, with his help of course. He was wearing black boxer shorts, but I could still see his outline.

The little trails of hair he had that led to the ‘promise land’ were fine, like baby hair just starting to grow. I took the band of the boxers and slowly began pulling down. His member slapped out hitting his belly button and a little past. He wasn’t huge, but he sure was thick. Twitching at my touch, he bucked in my hand. I wrapped my hand in a small fist and began to pump.

“Gahhh! Shit… Oh my God…” he released a loud moan. Eyes shut tight, eyebrows furrowed, biting his lip and writhing in pleasure. Pre-cum started to ooze out of his slit, I took my thumb and rubbed it all over the head of his member, jerking at the sensitive touch. I was about to take him in my mouth when he stopped me.

“Wait! Come here and turn around, you’re back to me,” he instructed. I pouted but did as he told. I took off my bra as I felt him tugging my thong down. Lifting myself to aid him in the process, it was finally off. God he looked so sexy. His cheeks flushed, his messy hair. I would have loved to take a picture of this moment, but that would have been weird. He pulled me by the hips till I was backed up to him, until we were both in line.

“Whenever you’re ready, baby.” I lowered my face, lightly licking from base to tip, the same time he licked up my wet opening. Twirling my tongue around the head of his member urged a groan to escape once again.

“Oh Lord! Don’t stop…” he practically begged. I didn’t. We both worked at the same pace, if I was slow then he was slow, if I sped up then so did he, we met the perfect rhythm. Not too fast not to slow. That was how Grayson worked, regardless anything.

“Ohhh!” I moaned around his twitching length that was in my mouth. He had hit a spot deep inside me as he fucked me with his tongue. Spots were soon seen in my line of vision. We were both close.

“On three, baby. One…Two…Three!” we moaned each other’s name as we wen spiraling into climax. Pleasure filled my veins as we gasped for air. I pulled off his dick and turned around to face him. He smiled a bright smile at me which I mirrored. ‘God, he was so cute!’ I thought. He pulled me up over to him and kissed me thoroughly, taking my breath away. His lips were so soft, it was like kissing a cloud.

“Don’t think we’re done just yet, I still need to fuck you, you’re still a little slut who hasn’t learned,” He gave a hard slap to my ass that made me yelp in surprise.

“On all fours! Ass up…NOW!” he barked, in his smooth, velvety voice. I got into position like he told me to, I could feel myself getting wet with want.

“Now, are you gonna be a good girl and listen? Or do I have to teach you to behave, Hmm?” I was all over the place at this point. He gave me another slap, this time I was more used to it.

“I’ll be good I promise. Just fuck me!” I exclaimed impatiently. He rubbed the head of his member against my slick opening, I couldn’t help but grind against him.

“Bad! Don’t move, or I will slap you even harder,” he growled, from somewhere deep within his chest. I wanted to object but I obeyed. It was probably better that way. He placed it back against my heat, but I didn’t grind this time.

“Beg! I want you to beg. Beg me to fuck you, c’mon. I’m waiting…” Man, he sure knew how to push someone over the edge.

“Please, Grayson, fuck me. Fuck me like the slut I am, I need to learn to behave!” I wailed in agony.

“No! Not Grayson, you will refer to me as ‘Master’ now. So tell me.” He smacked me once again.

“Master! Please, I need you to fuck me. I need to behave, just do something!” I cried out. I probably looked so pathetic right now compared to other’s girls. But wouldn’t you do the same if you really wanted someone. With that, he thrusted himself inside me.

“AHHHHHH!!!” I screamed. He was buried in there good. He gripped my hips steadily, moving in and out feeling everything inside.

“Faster GR-MASTER! OHHHH!” He obliged and started going faster. Each thrust sent me closer to release, sweet relief. He roughly pulled my matted hair in a ponytail, adding more to this sweet pain/pleasure.

 “How’s it feel? Do you feel good, baby?” he asked, smacking me once again. There was going to be an imprint of his hand if he kept that up.

“Yes, so good, master. I’m getting close,” I wailed loudly, the sounds of the party was loud enough to mask my moans so I could be as loud as I wanted. He jackhammered into me, touching all the right spots. I would’ve cum in no time, but sadly, he stopped.

“Ride me!” he spat. He sat up straight as I climbed into his lap once again. Holding himself as I sank down on him. ‘Wow, what a feeling!’

He filled me all the way up, just how I wanted him to. I held on his shoulders as I rocked back and forth. Then he guided my hips in movement as I slowly began to bounce.

“You look so hot right now, god you feel so good. Kiss me, baby!” He said weakly, his dark hair plastered to his forehead. I pulled him by the face and brought his lips on mine. He licked inside, exploring my cavern once again like how I explored his. The sounds of wet kissing and slapping filled room, along with our moans and grunts, we were ready. Grayson savagely attacked my neck and collarbones with kisses and hickies, hickies I would surely have to cover up.

“Ohhh, I’m almost there!!” I mewled as he continued to attack my collarbones. He hadn’t moved but moved his hand in-between us and rubbed my clit in circles.

“Mmm…” he moaned in my neck, biting it slightly. I could feel heat pooling in my lower abdomen. I started bouncing harder, getting him to hit the spot inside.

“I’m going to-ohhhh! GRAY-MMPHH” He kissed me hard, fueling the fire further.

“Scream my name, babe. Scream it!” he rasped. Hot flashed was going through my body, body feeling fuzzy and tingly.

“GRAYSON!!! AHHHH!!” I screamed loudly. I felt him follow not to long after. Feeling him shoot thick ropes of his seed inside as he lowly grunted. Exhausted, we feel back into the bed, feeling the post-sex bliss.

“Holy Shit!” I heaved. He chuckled, pulling me into his chest, muttering a quiet “I know.” I snuggled into him, inhaling his scent. Sweat, a tinge of soap, and himself. It made me smile. He pecked my temple softly as I drew patterns on his body.

“What are doing?” he asked, giggles as I traced.

“Nothing,” I answered cutely. I let go and looked up at him. He pecked the tip of my nose softly before he did the same.

“That was amazing.” I uttered, mostly to myself. It really was, it felt like we had done this before. “It was.” He agreed. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

“We should probably get going though, people might wonder where we ran off to…” although I could see he didn’t want to.

“Alright,” I just had one question, where did this leave us. Was this some hookup or did he actually want something. I had to know.

“Hey, Grayson? I just wanted to ask where this leaves us, you know…” I trailed off at the end. I saw him freeze a little as he went to get his shirt.

“(Y/N), you know I have a reputation to withhold. I can’t just drop it now. Especially because of a party. My head dropped and I nodded glumly. I knew it was too good to be true.

“Listen, tonight was amazing. Sweetheart, please understand that. But I will tell you this, I have never ever felt like this in all my time since we started high school. I wanted you for the longest time, but you are some much better than a guy like me, a lot better. I’m a no good loser who just passes by along every day, you don’t need me to hold you back.” He cupped my cheeks, I willed myself not to cry, though I felt a tear slide down my cheek,

“Don’t cry please, that last thing I want to do is make you cry. Shit.” He muttered the last to himself.

“I-I really l-like you,” I said. He quickly looked up at me as if he hadn’t heard what I said. He heard loud and clear.

“Baby, don’t do this. I can’t just say I’m taken. It’s so obvious.” He tried to reason. I knew he was right.

“I’ll wait for you,” I stared deeply into his as how he stared into mine. He gave a small smile.

“Perhaps, one day. But right now, it’ll be way too complicated.”

“I g-guess.” I sighed looking down. He nudged my chin up to make me look at him.

“Hey, it’s not the end. You know, if you’re always looking, you know where to find me.

“You have something those girls/guys never had. A heart. You see people differently, you see the good in them. I could try and not be too much of an asshole, but that’s about it,” He made a face. I chuckled at that, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I was determined to wait no matter how long it would be.

“Hey…” He began. He cupped my face softly in his hands and kissed me long and passionate, relishing the feelings into this one kiss. He pulled back and smiled a toothy smile, I mirrored it.

“You know, the assembly is next Tuesday, wanna skip and you know, fool around a little?” he threw a cheesy wink a little.  I had to laugh at his childishness sometimes.

“You’ve got yourself a date,” I replied, he pecked me one last time and waited for me as I got my costume back on.

  As we walked out, I saw (Y/F/N) and caught her eye. She looked between Grayson and I, her eyes grew the size of saucers.

“Tell me!” she mouthed. I laughed a little.

“Later” I mouthed back.

From then on, Grayson and I had a different relationship, sure he still did stuff here and there, but besides that. We had something that no one could or would understand. A Connection.  Everyone was too quick to judge just because he was a player, but I knew he was more than that. He was willing to work it with someone. On the day he is finally ready to take that step, I would gladly welcome him with open arms.

[tsumtsum-into-omiomi]

CHAPTER FOUR: THE PINK DIMENSION

warning(s): cursing

word count: 1.8k

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AO3

Located near the centre of Taishi, Inarizaki High is the town's pride for its design and prestige. The school used to house the prefecture's royalties and even though it has gone through multiple renovations over the years, its Japanese castle architectural elements are still apparent all over the school's exterior. Apart from its unique structure, academic practitioners from all over the world also flock the institution for its symposiums, which are held throughout every school term to discuss multiple magical subjects.

 The school's main building is its Rectory and it would be the first thing for one to notice even from afar. The elegant white walls are in stark contrast to its black, pointy roof with golden details forged onto it. Other parts of the school have the same colour palette as well. The school would reach its peak of beauty during spring, when the pink flowers of cherry blossom trees planted around the vast fields are in full bloom.                                                                                                                                                                                    

Next to the Rectory, the Potions faculty building appears small compared to it, when in fact, the faculty is the second largest after Pentagrams. Its roof manages to reach only half of the rectory's structure, making it the tallest than the rest of the faculty buildings (the Pentagrams faculty only wins in size, not height). A group of students can be seen exiting the Potions building’s main arch as school session for the day is over, including you and Suna, who are walking together towards the gate.

 The sunny afternoon sky is decorated with puffy clouds, which are moving lazily in the wind's direction. Rays of sunshine threaten to dazzle your eyes but the cherry blossom trees lining up the stone walkway shade you from them. Soft breeze blows some petals into your way as you enjoy the scent of spring that wafts in the air. You are glad that there are no signs of rain at all today since that would meddle with your after-school plans.

 "Gosh, this school is so big, I swear I feel like all of my cousins come here," Suna complains while faking a smile at a first year girl, who is hanging out under one of the trees with her friends.

 "Well, literally everyone in Taishi studies here. What do you expect?" you laugh, attention now directed at him and not the surrounding anymore.

 "For them to go study somewhere else, I guess," he retorts, sliding his hands into his pants' pockets. The smile on his face has disappeared.

 "At least, your sibling is not here," your eyes catch the twins waiting for you under a tree upfront. They also notice your appearance and wave at you two.

 "Oh, shut up. If not for them, you won't have any friends," Suna raises a hand at Atsumu and Osamu.

 "Whatever. You sure you don't wanna come?" you ask Suna one last time before parting ways with him.

 Suna shakes his head, "yeah, I wanna go home."

 "Do you need anything?"

 "Oh, right. Can you get me some stocks? Sparrow and jellyfish," he takes his wallet out to pass some money to you.

 "Won't they go bad before next week's class?" you accept the notes from him.

 "It's already Friday, class is on Monday. I think it would be fine," Suna waves his hand, dismissing your concern.

 "Okay, see ya," you swerve towards the twins. Suna echoes a goodbye behind you and keeps walking.

 "He's really not coming?" Atsumu asks when you are within hearing distance.

 "Yeah, but he asked me to get some stuff for him," you respond before stopping in front of them.

 "Lazy ass," Osamu disses. "Anyway, can I teleport?"

 "Bitch, no," you and Atsumu say at the same time.

 "Your sense of direction is so shitty, it'd take forever to get to Kudo Street," you pull a face.

 Atsumu then adds, "a lot of people are using the travel dimension at this hour. You'll surely hit someone although I don't know how is that  even possible since it's fucking huge in there."

 "But if I don't practise, I won't get better at teleporting??" Osamu argues.

 Atsumu lets out an exasperated sigh, "fine, you can teleport us on the way home. Let's go," he starts walking to lead the way. You and Osamu follow him from behind, heading towards the end of the walkway where the teleportation station is located at.

 The teleportation station consists of five open top cubic spaces lined together, conjoined on their sides. Each cube fits at least five people and has three transparent glass walls with a white marble floor, where you are supposed to draw your pentagrams on. Two auxiliary police officers are on guard to control the flow of traffic, making sure that the students are queueing up to use the cubicles. At the end of the station, you see a group of younger pupils, whom you assume are waiting for their guardians to pick them up because they're not eligible to travel on their own yet. Teleporting licenses can only be acquired once you are sixteen years old.

 You, Atsumu and Osamu get in one of the lines and wait for your turn. Every time a cubicle teleports people, you can hear swooshing noises as they dissipate into coloured light sparks and vanish from sight in a blink of an eye. Before long, the pair of siblings in front of you enter the cubicle you're lining up for and you're now at the front of the line. The elder sister draws the teleportation pentagram, her face scrunched up in concentration, and you watch as she conjures blue sparks on the marble floor.  

 That's when Atsumu drops the bomb on you.

 "You teleport us," he nudges your elbow with his.

 You and Osamu look at him wide-eyed, "bitch, what??"

 "Why won't you let me teleport, if you're letting her?!" Osamu slaps Atsumu's shoulder with the back of his hand.

 "Bitch, I said you will on the way back, didn't I??" Atsumu readjusts his bag's strap that shifted because of Osamu's hit just now.

 "Nooooo, Tsumu-nii channnnn!" you whine with a pout, swinging Atsumu's arm in an attempt to change his mind, "I don't want to teleport!"

 "And that's why you're getting shitty at it," he shakes you off before pushing you into the now empty cubicle, "go."

 "Fuck," you clench your fists but do as you’re told anyway since you don't want to hold the line up with your siblings’ bickering. Plus, Atsumu's right, you haven't been practising ever since you got your license a few months ago.

 Once you, Atsumu and Osamu gather in the middle of the cubicle, you inhale a deep breath whilst recollecting the pentagram shape for teleportation. In order to accommodate the number of people teleporting, your pentagram has to be huge and made to fit the whole floor. This will definitely consume a lot of energy. You sigh at the thought.

 "She doesn't want to do it," Osamu tries again, "let me!"

 "Shut up, Samu. Give her a second. Come on, you're gonna be okay," Atsumu encourages you with a pat on the shoulder.

 You click your tongue at him, "I hate you."

 Pointing a finger out at the marble underneath, you begin drawing invisible lines from memory that transform into yellow light sparks on the floor. It's a struggle but you manage to complete the shape that now surrounds you and the twins. Due to its size, the pentagram's glow this time is almost blinding and the fizzing noise that it produces is loud in your ears.

 "Teleport," you whisper.

 The hissing pentagram then floats and spins around the three of you as it nets your bodies tightly. You can feel its particles squeezing to decompose you into molecules. There is stiffness in your muscles and joints that prevents you from moving. The bright light forces you to shut your eyes while the sound is shrieking in your ears. You grit your teeth together and brace yourself for what's to come next.

 The sensations become almost unbearable. But before it could get any worse, you find yourself already dissipated into tiny yellow sparks of lights, floating in a different dimension that you're familiar with. The pentagram that you drew has turned into a glowing net, holding your and the twins' dematerialised bodies together. Your mind, still intact even though your body is not, notices other nets of bodies swooshing pass by to get to their destinations through the pink abstract space that you're in.

 It's bright here, but not overwhelming. There's no sense of temperature, only the seldom Bernoulli pull by other nets speeding by. You wonder how it smells since you have no nose to take a sniff. Time is not relevant here; you always find yourself arriving at your destination at the same time you left. Often, the only important thing is your sense of direction (of which, Osamu lacks) because the only thing guiding you is a huge ass ancient wooden compass floating in the space above you like a moon (so you feel like it's always following you).

 It's a trippy place.

 You collect yourself, taking control of the net to carry everyone to Kudo Street- which is situated up north. One push is all it takes for you to zoom through the crowd as the whizzing sound of air friction envelopes you. With awareness of the traffic around, you navigate your way carefully to avoid accidents (it gets super messy when disintegrated bodies collide).

 Travelling in the Pink Dimension after school is like walking at a train station during peak hour. Everyone moves at haste in whatever direction they want to. There is not much that can be done to control individuals in a vast space as such. The only rule that applies to travellers is that they have to teleport to and from stations. This is to prevent practitioners from reappearing at a dangerous spot in the  physical world when they arrive at their destinations. If you're found to be teleporting from or to an unassigned place, you'll get a ticket for it.

 You stay on your path while trying to search for Kudo Street's teleportation station that is supposed to be some floating Greek marble vases. You would say it only took you a few seconds to arrive but time doesn't exist here, so when you see ten vases at your two o'clock, you're pretty sure it doesn't matter anyway.

 You choose an Amphora vase that no one was going for and jump into its opening. It becomes dark for a moment before the vase vomits you, Atsumu and Osamu out onto a marble floor, in three pieces. Your brothers stumble a bit before finding their grounds again while you, on the other hand, are bowing down with hands on your knees, panting to catch your breath. You can feel sweat breaking on your forehead and temple.

 "Fuck, you two are SO heavy."

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AO3

A/N: where would you teleport to if you could since Ms. Corona is making all airlines bankrupt?

[replicatortrash]

Answer 30 questions and tag 20 mutuals you want to get to know better

I was tagged by @datasupremacy & @androiidboyfriend 💛

Name/nickname: Rae

Gender: genderless. agender

Star sign: Virgo

Height: 5'9″

Time: noon now

Birthday: 9/9✨

Favourite bands: Typhoon, Portico Quartet, Brown Bird, Delicate Steve, The Cinematic Orchestra, Feist, Yeasayer, Beats Antique, Maribou State, Bohren and Der Club of Gore

Favourite solo artists: James Blake, Emancipator, Blockhead, Forest Swords, The Flashbulb, Joni Mitchell, Kishi Bashi, WHY? (these music questions are hard. I had to go adjust the time in here cuz it took too long lol)

Song stuck in my head: Bride by San Firmin

Last movie I watched: uh... I’m having trouble remembering honestly. It might have been... Seventh Son? like a couple weeks ago. We’ve been trying to watch Discovery in our TV time together and it’s going... slow.

Last show: I’ve been watching Stargate SG1 on my own & it’s been fun.

When did I create this blog: A few months ago I think?

What I post: Star Trek, mostly TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise. Lots of jokes and headcanons and a little of my art and writing.

Last thing I googled: "verner panton design” to show a friend

Other blogs: this is it, baby! I started this one after many years off the site because I wanted a timeline of only star trek content and a place to blabber.

Do I get asks: Occasionally. I adore anyone who sends them. Feel free to send them anytime <3

Why I chose my url: I mostly reblog star trek stuff. I am the replicator.

Following: 76 (star trek blogs, my beloved)

followers: I just hit 100 and I’m like wow how. I love ya’ll <3

Average hours of sleep: 8ish. Light sleeper and wake up at night tho.

Lucky number: 9

Instruments: Voice primarily. I’m like flub-through-it level on guitar/uke/piano

What am I wearing: a short sleeved blue cashmere crop top, thin green yoga pants, and huge mustard color wool socks with a hole in one heel.

Dream trip: the Galapagos or Thailand or the moon.

Favourite food: it’s probably sushi, but the food I eat most often is an egg on toast every morning for breakfast.

Nationality: American

Favourite song: ugh brutal question. I don’t have a fav, but I’ll recommend Manchester by Kishi Bashi cuz it makes me cry as my heart fills with joy

Last book read: I think it was the last Dresden Files book. Yeah, Battle Ground.

Top 3 fictional universes I’d like to live in: Star Trek, obviously. Ghibli and Mass Effect.

Favourite colour: neon salmon

TAG: uh lots of my mutuals have been tagged already, but if you wanna do it, please do. You are who I tag.  🌺

[nalgenewhore]

A Promise Is A Promise ~ Chapter Three

In a world in which Elide Lochan can only remember that she is someone’s prey and they will stop at nothing to find her, trusting Lorcan Salvaterre, a man whose past is as cloudy as hers is quite possibly the most sane thing she could do.

TW: Explicit death, past trauma, PTSD, traumatic amnesia, gore

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The white haired woman was sitting in a plush chair next to her bed when she woke up, the lamp next to her casting a shadow on her face that had her jumping slightly. The glimpse of her face that Elide had caught before the waves dragged her down again had shown high cheekbones and piercing eyes that seemed like they could draw blood with a single glare.

The woman blinked slowly, keeping her gaze on Elide. The colour was something she couldn’t remember if she had seen before, burnt gold that looked like it had been forged in the fires of the dark god’s realm. Something gleamed in them, an edge of iron to the flame as she surveyed her, her gaze scrutinizing. The woman frowned slightly at the dagger on Elide’s hip, an emotion close to fear flashing in her eyes before that cool, near boredom took over again. “Hello, Elide.” 

“Hi,” her throat felt like sandpaper and she swallowed past it. Her tongue was heavy and stuck to the roof of her mouth, rough and tacky. Elide tried to clear her throat and the woman stood smoothly, walking out of the room. She stared in bewilderment after her and furrowed her brow as her footsteps became lighter and lighter. With a sigh, she looked around the room, noticing that the light curtains were drawn back and the moon was high in the midnight sky, fat and full, looking like it would fall to the earth at any second. She felt a tug in her gut at the sight of it and that dreadful voice started again, slithering between her ears as it whispered to her the same words it had whispered in her dreams and brief waking moments. 

When she was a child, she had loved the moon, loved the way it hung way up high in the sky. She had sworn one day she would hold it in her hands and the Maiden would rejoice with her and claim her as one of her disciples, young girls who frolicked amongst the stars, danced along the constellations and feasted on the souls of the dead. 

She wanted to touch it. 

It was so close, close enough that Elide was sure she could reach it if she stretched her arms way up high. 

It was not entirely her choice as she swung her legs out of the bed and stood, walking slowly over to the window. She unlatched the glass pane and pushed it open wide, breathing in the sweet night air as it tickled her, lifting her hair up off her neck. The moon nearly blinded her as she stared up at it but she knew the Maiden would fix her ailments if she passed this test of loyalty and trust. 

Touch it. Don’t you want to feel the moon between your fingers? Don’t you want to taste that sweet milk and honey on your tongue? She’s waiting for you. 

Trust. 

Do you trust me?

Elide nodded and reached out, stumbling slightly and her heart raced when nothing caught her. Her arms windmilled and she rocked backwards, breathing hard as she gaped up at the sky. 

The voice hissed at her, Stupid girl. Foolish girl. She was waiting for you. 

She shook her head and panted, gulping down air as the waves rose again. 

“Elide.” 

She whirled at the voice, her eyes falling on the woman who stood in the doorway, a glass of water in her hand. Elide noticed the iron nails and her eyes widened, “The window w-,” she coughed, her throat sore and the woman crossed the room, clicking her tongue as she put the glass in Elide’s hand and guided her back to the bed. 

Elide sipped, the cool liquid an elixir as it washed down her throat. The woman closed and re-latched the window, looking up at the moon before saying a prayer under her breath. She walked back over to the seat, her feet silent on the thick carpet. “How are you feeling?” 

“Can you tell me where I am? And how did I get here?” 

The woman nodded, looking pointedly at the half full glass in Elide’s hand and she got the message, raising it to her lips and drinking until it was empty. The woman, she still didn’t know her name or remember her but the eyes, she had seen that colour before, somewhere. 

Elide pushed through the shrouds of darkness in her mind, searching and searching until the voice roared, Enough. Stop it.

She tried to brush it off but a pain like no other pierced behind her eyes and she reeled back, gasping. Her hands shook and the woman stood, gently taking the glass from her. There was something stiff about her movements, like she had never been soft before. “My name is Manon Blackbeak. I’m a very distant relative of your mother’s. You are in the Witch City, Elide.” 

Blackbeak, the name, she remembered it. 

She remembered the tales her mother would regale her with, grand stories of witches and brooms and wyverns and terrible beasts. Blue blood and wicked sharp iron teeth, a crown worn by the most deserving witch, the one who had brought their people home. A crown that held all the galaxies in the night sky within its confines. 

Manon continued, “We found you three months ago. At your parents estate, unconscious and covered in so much blood with couldn’t tell if it was yours or someone else's. You woke up long enough to speak in a language so old, we couldn’t find any recordings of it, no one knew what you said. You had a black knife of onyx in your hand, like the one on your hip.” A look of caution entered her bright eyes before it was swept away. “That was the last time you woke up until yesterday and the last time you spoke.” 

Elide stayed silent, trying to wrap her head around what Manon had told her. 

The voice stopped hissing at her and grew louder and louder, in its dreadful tone, Run. Get out. He is coming for you. He is coming for you. He is coming for you.

Foolish girl, thinking you can outrun him. 

Not forever. 

Not forever. 

She blinked hard, digging her nails into her palms as she fought to stay above the darkness that loomed below. “H-how long since they died?” Manon did not answer her and Elide looked up, staring deep into her eyes, “Tell me.” 

“It’s been ten years.” 

It was like someone had punched her in the chest, all her air knocked out of her lungs as her words struck her. 

She realized dully that she was nineteen or close to it, she didn’t know what month it was. Her entire life had been stolen from her, she had been robbed of everything that mattered. Her own body, it wasn’t hers because she should have been able to tell the stories behind every mark, every scrape and bruise and scar. She should have been able to tell what she had been doing three months ago before Manon had found her in her childhood home but she couldn’t and the fact that she didn’t know who she was, that she was living in a stranger’s body threatened to take her down. 

The last thing before that cold and dark room, the last memory of her mother. That man who had stood behind her as she bled out, his face was burned into her mind and it was familiar enough that she knew that the killing had not been an act of bloodlust but one of vengeance and near insanity. 

The voice cackled and drew her back in, holding her captive as she was helpless re-living the memory.

An arc of dark red blood sprayed as he dragged the blade across her pale throat, the red splashing onto her little shoes, sparkly and purple. A cruel laugh left his lips as she ran to her mother, the floor slippery and slick. 

Someone shook her and she startled, eyes wide as they settled on Manon. “The blade, the one he used to kill my mother, it was black. Black stone, like the one on my hip, it looked exactly like it,” she was rambling and the words poured out. “Please,” Elide cried, “Please believe me.” She couldn’t read the light of Manon’s eyes as she gently laid her back down and she lashed out, digging her nails into Manon’s arm. “I know what I saw. I’m not crazy.” 

She stayed silent, her face like a stone. 

“You don’t believe me.” 

Manon shrugged, shaking her head softly. “No, I think I might believe you but…” 

“But what?” 

“I misspoke. I believe you. Thank you for telling me, Elide. I suggest you sleep now.” Without another word, Manon left, closing the door behind her gently. 

Elide knew there was more she wasn’t being told and her thoughts spiraled as she slipped from bed and paced in front of the window, a lilting tone murmuring to her every time she glanced at the moon so she moved to pull the curtains shut. 

Just as she dragged them across the window, she felt a push at her shoulder and looked down, her eyes falling on a hulking man who moved like a soldier down the sidewalk, the shadows bending to his looming figure as he stopped at the building across the street. He glanced over his shoulder and for the first time, something clicked in her mind. 

A/N: if y’all wanna be tagged, lemme know and if you think of any other TW i could put, please please tell me

apiap masterlist ~ masterlist

@myfeyrelady @kandasboi @the-regal-warrior @highqueenofelfhame @rhysands-highlady​ @westofmoon​ @empire-of-wildfire @shyvioletcat @alifletcher2012 @tangledraysofsunshine @ttakeitbacknoww @tswaney17 @dayanna-hatter @lovemollywho @pilesoffriles @thephilosophyofblank @faellyrian-warriors @bat-wing-rhys @velarian-trash @chemicha @th-th-th-thats-all-folks @elorcanforever @littlehoneyybee @rowaelin-cressworth @mis-lil-red @lord-douglas-the-third @acourtofbookworms @ladydippinstone @flowerspringsea @sezkins79 @court-of-fuck-me-daddy @blogdaydreamerblr @over300books​

[normiewrites]

To celebrate the last Friday the 13th of the decade, I decided to write a small fanfic in honour of the nightmare before christmas, one of my favourite films. 

This is also my first time writing for Dazai, so I hope y’all like it!

I suggest hearing the song before reading

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouAt_5UO83s

P.S - this will be my last post till my winter break

Let’s find out (The Nightmare Before Christmas AU) - Dazai x (g/n)Reader 

The wind nipped at your skin, but it didn’t feel cold or warm, in short it didn’t feel like anything. You could never feel anything, being something constructed in a lab. You wished to know how the petals of the dragon lilies felt under your hands as you traced your hand across the stem, making sure not to get bitten by it, and how the glistening soil felt against your knees as you knelt in the garden. In the distance, you could hear the Halloween parade fading out, the annual celebration which was all that anyone in the town ever lived for. No matter how much you loved the gore and fanatics, you longed for something more, something that was different. Or rather, someone who was different.

You sighed softly, knowing that in a matter of minutes Doctor Finklestein would call you back to the lab to lock you up and labour for him, and despite feeling nothing you shivered at imagining how much he would scold you for ruining your knee stitches with the soil. Alas, you did eventually stop caring over the years, but he made you, so there was always the threat that he could break you. You longingly stared at the forest on your left, the dark trees so close yet so far together, as if hiding something from you. You knew to never go there, it was always mentioned when the Doctor let you out, yet that only fueled your curiosity.

“Y/n!!!!!!”, you heard the crackly and stretched voice from afar, the echoes telling you that it came from the tower, your supposed home.

Just as you were getting up, you heard a faint familiar voice, making you dash behind a nearby bush, the thorns of the toad snippers barely bothering you.

“There are few who'd deny, at what I do I am the best

For my talents are renowned far and wide

When it comes to surprises in the moonlit night

I excel without ever even trying

With the slightest little effort of my ghostlike charms

I have seen grown men give out a shriek

With the wave of my hand, and a well-placed moan

I have swept the very bravest off their feet”

You gasped softly, watching as the man in the bandages and beige coat walked through the garden, plucking a dragon lily and sighing softly as it nipped at his chin. He brown hair danced in the wind as he threw the flower onto the ground, walking towards the hill on the right of the garden. He slowly crept up the hill, hands in his pocket as his head faced down.

“Yet year after year, it's the same routine

And I grow so weary of the sound of screams

And I, Dazai, the Pumpkin King

Have grown so tired of the same old thing”

Your eyes widened in revelation. You had always admired Dazai from afar, scared of weirding him out with your revelations of the town, but you never knew how he truly felt. In some ways, it’s as if you both were the same. You never knew how the King of Halloween could feel so bored with it, but you couldn’t deny you felt the same.

“Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bandages

An emptiness began to grow

There's something out there, far from my home

A longing that I've never known”

Now with the yellow moon behind him as he stood on top of the hill, you could no longer see the way his brown dead eyes glistened in horror. His deep honey voice filled the emptiness of the garden as the wind made the ends of his bandages and coat trail behind him in the wind. He picked up his head, hands out of the pockets as he waved them around, a dramatic in play.

“I'm a master of fright, and a demon of light

And I'll scare you right out of your pants

To a guy in Kentucky, I'm Mister Unlucky

And I'm known throughout England and France”

You restrained yourself from screaming out as he started to walk forward, scared that he would fall, yet the tip of the hill grew and grew, following his every step as he walked down back to the garden, a soft blue essence floating behind him, leaving a ghost like trail. Of course, how could you forget, he was the King of Halloween.

“And since I am dead, I can take off my head

To recite Shakespearean quotations

No animal nor man can scream like I can

With the fury of my recitations”

You watched in awe, like every other citizen of the town would, as Dazai took off his head, holding it in his hand as it stared back at his neck. There was no blood, no pain, just pure magic and the true horrors of the Pumpkin King. He was now at the edge of the forest and you could see the darkness of it sucking him in. He couldn’t resist it either, and it felt odd that something so strange and unfamiliar felt so comforting and attractive. Putting his head back on, he went in, walking through the forest with his head down, his lament ongoing. You didn’t think twice before following him, hiding behind trees and trying your best to avoid the twigs and dry leaves on the ground.

“But who here would ever understand

That the Pumpkin King with the demon grin

Would tire of his crown, if they only understood

He'd give it all up if he only could”

He, who had everything, would give it all up if he could? The man so praised for what he does, would give his crown away? Nobody ever really knew him then, and you never knew that he would be the someone who was different. You would expect it to be one of the mice buskers who lived in the alleyways, not the Pumpkin King.

You both weaved through the forests, the threes getting thicker and lighter as you continued your journey through the barren foreign land. The first signs of the new day painted everything, the orange of the pumpkin sun appearing through the trees.

“Oh, there's an empty place in my heart

That calls out for something unknown

The fame and praise come year after year

Does nothing for these empty tears”

You could feel his longing seeping into your brain, the sadness of his voice snapping you out of the reality of the party town. Dazai stopped at a small opening just as his head whipped up, looking at the trees that circled him. It didn’t look natural, but then again what was natural in this world? What was more odd was the different markings on the doors, and doorknobs? There seemed to be doors on the doors, all leading to somewhere different.

“Oh, what’s all this?” he wondered out loud, looking at each of the five trees.

He first looked at the one before him, the tree marked with a big red heart, then the next, a tree with a green four leaved plant on it. What were these things? There were no pumpkins and skeletons, and such vibrant colours were absent in the town of Halloween. Then he turned around, looking at the other trees, marked with a colourful egg and a type of bird, but the one that caught his attention the most was the tree marked with another green tree, shiny balls and presents decorating it.

“So pretty, it’s the complete opposite of everything here” he whispered, loud enough for you to hear, as he walked towards the tree.

Your grip on the tree that you hid behind tighten, a few splinters entering your cloth like skin as you tried your best not to warn him. You watched with a held breath as he wrapped his hand around the doorknob. He was about to open the door, but he stopped and sighed softly.

“Wanna come along, y/n?”

You stiffened up, hearing your name whispered from his lips. Did he know you were watching him all along? Was he angry? What was he going to do to you now? You kept cussing out in your head, hands clenched into fists as you stepped out into the open, looking down, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.

“Don’t worry, I enjoy having a cute stalker, but I’m tired of the distanced stares. Why not look at me up close and personal instead, darling?” he charmed, smirking softly at you as you looked up into his eyes, cheeks flushed.

You don’t say anything as you walk towards his outstretched hand, biting your lip in anticipation. You felt awful for what you had done, yet your curiosity and longing for something different overpowered those emotions as you curiously looked at the tree shaped door, feeling his arm wrapped around your shoulders. For the first time in forever, you felt a warmth shoot down your body, the feeling unique as you softly leaned into his touch. You could feel his stare on your wondering face and you couldn’t help but stutter.

“W-What is this, D-Dazai?” you asked, mentally slapping yourself for stuttering in front of him.

You could finally see the deadliness of his soft brown eyes, a whole paradox that you wished to explore.

“Let’s find out, y/n” he whispered, opening the door in front of you, a gust of wind and white particles flowing out, accompanied by the darkness of the mysteries that lied beyond.

[the-fiction-witch]

Apologies P4

REAL LIFE: COUPLE: TBS X READER RATING: SWEET

I didn't want to go... All alone. I didn't have anyone who was going, I didn't have a date, I didn't want to go to prom. But my parents insisted and bought me a beautiful 50's dress, I put it on, did my hair and some mild make up and... For once I felt, beautiful. For once I felt, confident in how I looked. I got to the school, sitting on a chair close by the window alone, watching people dance in suits and dresses everyone having alot of fun. I didn't dance, not once. I was sitting with the one lemonade I got from the bar area and was fiddling with my phone toying with the idea of texting my family to them to pick me up "Hey" a voice smiled I looked up and it was Thomas and Dan, Dan of course cuddling close with mark "come on Y/n don't you wanna dance?" "No thanks you guys go" I told them so Dan and mark smiled heading back to the dance floor close by the stage "Can I sit with you?" Thomas asked "Sure" I shrug and he sat down "go on, tell me how awful I look, tell me how this dress makes me look fat, how ugly I look tonight" "You look really beautiful Y/n" "Yeah I look- what?" "You really do look beautiful Tonight Y/n" he smiled "Thanks Thomas" I smiled "you look nice" "Cheers, I wanted to talk to you?" "About what?" "You've skipped alot of school, been even more hiding away then usual... Did I do something?" "It wasn't you Thomas" "What happened Y/n?" "I don't want to talk about it" "Okay, hey want a little sugar in your lemonade?" He asked getting a flask out his inside pocket "We're at school! Teachers are here!" "Sssshhh our little secret Y/n" he winked pouring a little into my drink and a little into his own cola it didn't affect the colour of mine or his drink so it must have been vodka I laughed taking my glass and he took his own clicking it on mine and having a gulp of his glass "whoa... Umm that's strong" he laughs "I'm sure it's not that-" I began as I took a sip it hit the back of my throat like a punch taking all the air out of me making me cough "where did you get that?" 'pound shop, ooohh that's rough" he complained "want mine?" "You want mine?" "Shall we deposit this in a local sink?" "Hell yeah" I nodded as we got our stuff and went around to find a bathroom well a bathroom not filled with people having sex on prom night eventually we found one in the art block tipping our glasses and his flask down the pain covered sink he did have some non pound stone vodka in his bag so he refilled his flask we both left our glasses there having a wonder around the dark school corridors "Oooooohhhh.... Spoooooooookky" he laughs "Shut up Thomas" I laughed taking a swig from his flask before we started racing around the dark halls and corridors we had spend so long in so long we didn't need the lights as we knew where we where going and the occasional glow in the dark fire exit signs keeping us on track until somehow we needed up on the stairs for the pe changing rooms, where people left there football boots and knocked mud of trainers looking out across the school feild and up to the stary sky with a bright moon, the noise could barely be heard of the music in the main hall as we shared sips "Y/n, why have you been so out of it lately?" "It's a long story" "You really wanna go back in there for a while?" "True... I don't Thomas I just, needed time away, I honestly debated coming back at all" "Why?" "Because... I didn't want to be put in the situation again, with Daniel" "With Daniel, why what happened?" "I don't wanna talk about it Thomas" I sighed "What did he say?" "He didn't really say anything" "Did he... Punch you? Beat you up kinda thing?" "You could call it that" "Y/n, he... He didn't.... Did he?" "I'm not a fucking mind reader Thomas I don't know what you mean" I sighed "I don't want to say it but... Nod if I'm getting the letters right. R?" He asked and I nodded "A?" He asked and I nodded "oohh Y/n" he said hugging me tightly I felt nice to hug him it felt safe, strange that I felt safe in the arms of someone who made my life so terrible "you give the word, he's dead" he reassured "It's okay really" I said pushing him away slightly having another sip from the flask and so did he "Thomas... Tell me the truth, why did you decide to be a dick to me?" "Y/n..." He began "No Thomas! I want a fucking answer... Don't you think after all these years I deserve a fucking answer" "I know you do, and I wish I could tell you... But I swear this is the truth" he says "I don't know why I did, I don't know why I picked on you, I don't know why I did all those things to you" "You broke my ankle, you almost broke my wrist, almost gave me a concussion, called me names and made me feel awful every single day of my life for over eleven years," "I know I did... And I regret what I did, and I am so sorry Y/n" "You think sorry makes up for it?' "Then what will?" "Give me a reason..." "Because... I had to, I was coming from being this little kid at preschool that knowone gave a shit about, I had to crave out a name an identity or I'd be on the chopping block, and when I saw you I guess I just figured you where an easy target, it wasn't going to alienate me if I just made fun of you" "You pushed me to the bottom? So you didn't have to be? But why me?" "Because, you where easy. It's easy when your a kid to make fun of someone different" he says "Well... It's a reason" I sighed "It's not the only reason Y/n" "What's the other one?" "I liked you" "You- you what?" "I liked you, I really did. I don't know the first time I saw you when I hit you with my ball I just... I got butterflies, I thought you where cute, but I hated that I liked you because I knew if the guys found out they'd tear me apart, I hated that I had a crush on you!" He explained "So the easiest way to make sure you'd never want to like me was to be mean to you, and maybe I'd reach myself not to like you anymore... Or maybe even touched myself knowing I was making the girl I liked cry" "What changed? Why aren't you as mean to me as you used to be? You haven't called me manatee in weeks?" "Because, I can't fight it. And I was an idiot for trying to. You like who you like weather it fits into being the cool guy or not I still like you and the more I fought it the more it stuck" he explained "I hated what I was doing to you, when I hit you with that stupid ball I- I cried for weeks so scared I had really hurt you" "You did" "And I'm so so sorry, if I could go back with a time machine Y/n, I'd tell myself not to fight it and to be nice to you" "That's nice of you to say" I smiled "what's your plan after school?" "Why?" He smirked "I meant like after exam results" "Ohh... College" he shrugs "Same" I sighed "I suppose it doesn't really matter it's just more school with less dress code and more alcohol" "Yeah, it's gonna be fun" he smirked "So what are you doing after prom?" I laughed "Home, Dan's going to marks so home alone" he shrugs "what about you? Heading off to some boys place?" "Nope" I laughed "home alone" "Y/n?" He asked "Yeah Thomas?" I asked turning to see him, his tie undone hung loose on his half undone shirt, his suit pants tight to his skin, his Jacket on the stones behind us his golden hair reflecting the moonlight as the starlight danced across his skin he was looking at me with a sweet smile the likes of which I had only ever caught glances off he picked up his jacket giving it a dust before putting it on my shoulders keeping out the chill from around me "Could I walk you home?" "Sure" I smiled so he carefully helped me up as we gathered our things and began walking thought the dark streets even if I was starting to stumble half because of the vodka the other because of my heels "Come on take them off you can't walk in them" he laughs "I outran you in them earlier" I whined "Yeah well its late and we've had a few drinkies so heels off before you break your ankle again" he warns "I won't break it again it's strong" I giggled so he laughs picking me up and sitting me on someone's stone wall between there garden and the path he lifted my leg sweetly un doing my heel and slipping it off then doing the same with the other foot and I couldn't help but laugh "What?" "It's like a reverse Cinderella" I smiled "It kinda is" he laughs helping me up he carried my heels all the way to my door for me as he handed me back my heels and I handed him back his Jacket "Thanks for walking me home Thomas" "Your welcome," "Thanks for... Telling me the truth" "Your welcome" he smiled "Y/n?" He asked "Yeah?" I asked looking up at him he smiled a little blush dusting his cheeks he moved down and gave my lips a gentle kiss I was in shock as he kissed me but within a few seconds he pulled away his smile wide but so was my own "Whoa..." "What?" "Lindsey has just lost her place as the best kiss I've ever had" he smiled "she's second but it's a wide gap" "I'm not sure that's really judging her too fairly, it was just one little kiss" I laughed "I better get more evidence then for my comparison" he smirked kissing me again...

[stories-mostly]

Stark's Bug

Tony Stark x son!reader

I saw endgame on the 24th and all in gonna say is it sure was a movie and my knees hurt afterwards. (Please don't put any spoilers in the replies thanks) This is the last chapter before Iron man 2.

Words: 2188

Warnings: none

Chapter 14

Christmas Eve rolled around and you were too excited to go to sleep. That and the fear of having a nightmare again is what kept you awake. You hadn't had a nightmare in a week and 3 days so you assumed that it might happen again soon.

Repeating the same motions with your Captain Magic figure above you while laying on your bed got boring quickly. And the thirst was calling. Begrudgingly you went out to get yourself water or something.

The house was quiet beside your bare feet making noise as they took another step. The floor was cold for your blanket warm feet so you walked on your toes to avoid the feeling and the weird noise as much as possible.

Walking past one of the clocks you noted dully that it was already 11.27pm. Way past your usual dream land time.

You walked into the kitchen not expecting anyone to be in it. You jumped when you saw a man standing in it before realizing that it was your father.

Sharply you breathed out the shock and moved past him to get you a glass.

"What're you doing awake?" He asked vividly remembering having tucked you in a few hours back. You seemed pretty tuckered out then.

"I'm thirsty."

He hummed seeming concentrated on the drink he was making in your blender. It looked disgusting.

"What's that?" You pointed at the blender with the dark green thick liquid in it.

"A little healthy snack." He grimaced "Wanna try?" Suddenly smirking. He looked exhausted.

You shook your head, downing your tap water in two gulps, placing the glass in the sink after.

Tony followed your example basically inhaling the thing. He didn't look happy after.

"How is it?"

"Could be better."

The two of you just stood there in silence for a second. Tony looked you once over.

"You can't sleep, right?"

You nodded hesitantly. He smiled at that.

"Get dressed in something warm." He told you immediately turning to walk out of the room.

Confused you did as told and stood in the middle of the living room wearing your winter coat, warm pants and some boots over your Pjs.

Your father carrying several things came, took your hand without a word and started leading you through the house. Up some stairs, all familiar so far. He leads you out onto the highest balcony looking over the rought waves.

"Come on." He said waving at you to follow him.

At the point where Balcony and roof met was where he stopped.

"We're gonna climb up here." He explained hoisting you onto the roof and following soon after.

Climbing onto the highest roof of the mansion all the lights in and around the house turned off at once.

Your eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the newfound darkness only to find an incredible view.

There were thousands of tiny specks of light in an array of colours decorating the sky.

"Whoa," was the only thing you could muster to get out of your mouth.

"Right?" Tony was spreading out a blanket and pillows on the roof.

You looked back and saw him holding out a big box wrapped in Captain Magic themed wrapping paper. The box was longer than it was tall. Or taller than it was wide depending on how you propped it up.

"This is for you." Tony said as you just stared at the gift.

"What is it?" You took it and sat down on the blankets ready to tear through the thin paper.

"A gift." He smirked and told you to open it.

You didn't have to be told twice. With little effort the paper fell from the box and revealed the picture of a telescope on the side.

"This is so cool!" You jumped up and engulfed your father in the biggest Bear hug your small body could muster.

"Happy birthday Jesus." He said chuckling a bit at his own joke.

Both of you started to assemble your new telescope. Tony had already taken it out of the box once to get rid of all the unnecessary byproducts of the packaging. He had assembled and taken it apart before as well. Just to get it standing as soon as possible.

Within a minute or two your star looking tool was standing proudly before you already pointing at the sky.

All fatigue was gone as soon as you got a glimpse of the moon through the device. There was so much more detail to the moon than you could've ever imagined.

Tony smiled softly as you continued to steer the tube to the next source of light.

"Dad! Come here look it's a planet!" You waved him over in excitement careful not to move the Telescope.

With a grunt he stood up and waddled over leaning down to observe what you'd found.

"Wow that's amazing, Bug. That must be super far away."

Satisfied with his answer you grabbed your telescope again and continued exploring the universe.

In about half an hour you had found so many cool sights that Tony couldn't keep track of all the wow's and "look at this" he heard. Each time getting back up and looking at the star you wanted to show him. You were so excited he couldn't help smiling with you.

But the half hour was enough for now. Fatigue finally catching up to you.

"Let's go to bed, Bug. You're tired." He said softly when you sat down beside him.

"No I'm not! I wanna look at the stars some more!" You protested loudly, laying down on the thick blankets and staring up at the sky to make your point.

With a chuckle your dad copied your movements, laying his head down on his arm using the other to point out various stars.

"Do you know any constellation?" He asked eyes on the sky.

"Only the small dipper and big dipper."

"And where are they?"

You shrugged.

"I guess we'll just have to make up our own then." The next 15 minutes were spend pointing out various star clusters and assigning them a name. Together you named 6 constellations: Hero, Mermaid, dog, lane, spot and circle. Not very fascinating but easy to find.

"You see that star in the middle of nowhere?" He pointed to his right breaking the silence. You followed his finger up to the sky finding the lonely star.

"That's the one I'm gonna go built my new house on."

You giggled.

"What?"

"You cant do that! Stars arent made of dirt! It's like the sun! You can't build a house there." You said reciting all the things you had read about the sun and the stars.

"You don't know that! You were never there."

"I can check with my Telescope! It's not a planet!"

"Oh yeah? Then how come we can see other planets as stars?"

"Because...." you thought about it. That's sort of true. It could just be a planet or sort of moon from far away.

"You can't build a house there." You mumbled defeated.

"I can, and I will. Just you see Bug, one morning I'll be gone and you'll look through that telescope and see me wandering around on that exact star enjoying my new house. All, by, my,-self." He teased poking your side with his free arm. You laughed.

Silence settled over the two of you like a comfortable blanket. Tony shifted a little placing both hands beneath his head. You put your head on his arm and continued looking up. The universe seemed so much bigger when you directly looked at it like this. Like a thousand fairy lights strung along on the colourful ceiling of a dark room. Or flicks of white paint as finishing pieces of an amazing painting.

With some sweet thoughts about the universe you drifted off content and warm on the thick blankets and your warm winter clothes.

Tony smiled at the scene. His little boy laying content beside him, scooting closer as the cold seeps through his clothes. He wanted to move, it was way too cold out here for sleeping. But he wasn't able to. Frozen in place by his latest thoughts.

Carefully he checked if his son was actually asleep. He was, the little guy was in deep sleep his mouth hanging open and little puffs of air escaping it in regular intervals.

It was probably Christmas day already.

With a sigh he laid his head back down and stared up at the seemingly endless sky.

So this was it, this had been his last Christmas eve and will be his last Christmas. If he doesn't find a cure that is.

Tony was still in denial about the whole thing. He doesn't fully believe it yet, but he knows it's there. Just months after almost getting killed, he's slowly dying. Slowly being poisoned by the very thing meant to keep him alive.

That wasn't the worst part about it though. The worst part was that his mind was constantly telling him that he'll be leaving behind his very reason for fighting on. This fragile little boy full of emotions that he readily expresses. Plagued by nightmares about horrible thing he didn't want to reveal. Who wants to be friends with the world. And who slept in his fathers bed every night for the first 4 years of his life. For over half his life.

He was only 7. And Tony blamed himself for all the shit y/n had to witness in the small amount of time he had spent on earth. Not even a decade old.

With a shuddered sigh he picked up his son and brought him inside, dropping him off in his bed and removing the boy's warm clothes.

He cleaned off the roof and wandered down into the lab. He hadn't checked everything yet. There was still hope that he could survive, he had to. If not for himself then for his son.

The only human being that truly relies on his survival.

Bonus because I needed something lighthearted

Nickolas J. Fury had had a long day. Recently his agents were fucking up more than usual and a good chunk were currently on Christmas leave. So many in fact that he had to go out and deal with a bunch of wannabe villains himself. And now he was walking into the shield headquarters to complete a bunch of paperwork. On early Christmas day.

With an annoyed sigh he entered his office and stopped in his tracks at the sight before him. There was a package on his desk. Brown and unsuspecting. He took in his surroundings. Nothing seemed suspicious.

Fury stepped out of his office to look for someone who could maybe tell him about it. But the halls were empty. It was late at night after all.

He sighed and carefully walked closer seeing something written on top.

It was his name and the buildings address. And there was a return address as well.

"What?" He asked himself quietly. Why would Stark of all people send him a package?

The package looked like it had actually been shipped so it probably was from him. And wasn't just a weird joke.

Fury took his knife and cut through the tape holding it shut. Opening itcwith suspicion.

His face just grew more confused as he found a poorly wrapped box inside, everything was covered in loose silver and gold glitter. He lifted out the gift and found the glitter bomb that was a handmade Christmas card underneath.

When he lifted it wafts of poorly secured glitter fell off the front.

He shook it twice to get as much of that stuff contained in the box as possible.

Fury had a hunch on who sent the gift by the shaky child drawing of a decorated tree on the front.

He decided to sit down and read the card. Wrong move, as soon as he opened the card a spoonful of loosened glitter fell straight into his lap and onto his dark clothing. Fury tried to push the glitter off his lap with his free hand but some still stuck.

A frustrated sigh left his mouth when he gave up and read the card.

Dear Mr. Direk Director Fury,

I want to wish you a good Christmas and a happy new year.

You don't know me a lot but I would like to be your friend because you look really cool so I got you a gift for Christmas. Because we are not friends yet I got you something I like and hope you like it too. I told Phil and he said it was a good gift.

I hope you like it.

Your new friend, full/n-Stark

Ps I like your eye patch

Fury found himself smiling at the message. It was sweet and came from a place of certain innocence. He could forgive the glitter attack. It wasn't intentional.

Carefully he removed the wrapping paper from the box and opened the top.

Inside were several things. He took out a drawing first. It was of him and y/n next to a Christmas tree with the words we are friends written beneath with an arrow pointing at the figures.

The second thing that immediately caught his eyes was a stuffed animal. A tiger with a cape and the typical comic book eye mask thingy. The tag said it was from a children's series. The tiger was named Stripes.

And last but not least was a small, real tiny keychain of a orange tabby also in superhero gear.

Fury wanted to full on laugh while also cursing Coulson internally.

A cat. Of course.

He was gonna have to thank the kid the next time he saw him.

Tags: @shannonr2003 @art-estrange @nicholasbich @tater-thottie @tonystanktheirondad @gaylemonshark @emilaa2001 @kindahadeschild

[aedwardstyles]

BOXER HARRY FANFIC A/U

Chapter 4

(A/N) : I know this chapter took way too long and I’m so sorry extremely sorry for that. I was just swamped in shit that life brings and i wasn’t able to write properly. Really hope you guys like this chapter. All suggestions are open and requests are open as well. All the love - A ❤️

Warnings : swearing maybe. 

Sitting there in a small café in the wee hours of the morning, waiting for a man who had texted you earlier your mind raced to all possible places. Why did Louis want to meet you? Had something happened to Harry? Or maybe Harry had sent him here to tell you off or something. Whatever it was it had surely managed to keep you awake for the past 6 hours and you had a feeling you weren’t going to be subjected to a good nap anytime soon. Huffing you took your phone out to check the time. He was a whole 45 minutes late but before you could call or text him the small cafés glass door opened and in came the man you had been waiting for. He was huffing and rubbing his hands together. The dead of the winter had definitely got him good. He quickly spotted you and waved with a smile, you waved back and he quickly made his way to where you were seated. Pulling out a chair he quickly seated himself and smiled at you 

“I’m really sorry i got late. There was huge snow on the way and God it feels like fucking Jack Frost is nipping at me nose.” He said.

You replied with a smile. “Oh no worries. I..um didn’t order for you cause I didn’t know what you’d want.” 

“That’s fine. I’m not gonna have anything anyway. Jus’ came here to talk to yeh.” He said. His expressions were dead serious now and you too had become worried for the most part. “So um I know yeh must be thinking where I got your number and all and I just wanna tell yeh I’m no creep.” He smiled and you let out a breathy chuckle too. 

“I didn’t really think you were, but um where did you get my number.” I inquired while sipping my coffee.

“Oh yeah about that. So last night when Harry came back after dropping you off he just closed himself up in that little room  and kept drinking until his arse was on fire.” He chuckled. “So when I went to take him home he kept babbling about you in the car. Look love, I’m not sure what really happened between you too but from what I’ve seen he really cares about yeh. He’s always worried before shows and makes me check if you’re there. Gets a little disappointed when yeh aren’t. I found your number on a note in his pocket and thought I’d give you a ring myself cause he wasn’t going too. ” 

You swallowed thickly and began to speak. “Louis is he okay?” 

Louis quickly changed his demeanour realising he had just increased your worries by a hundred. “Oh yeah yeah don’t worry love.” He said smiling. “Look all I wanna say is that I need you to contact Harry. I would really appreciate it if you’d talk to him and try making him to open up to yeh. For the past 5 years the only girl I’ve seen walk up to Harry was to get in his pants and I see you’re not doing that. I see genuine care for him in your eyes and the same for you in his. I know this might sound really weird, but I’m asking you this as a favour.” 

You quickly nodded, knowing that you would never think twice about helping your best friend. Or ex best friend You suppose. “I’d love to help Louis. But um I really don’t have his number or anything and on top of that he’s told me strictly not to come to his matches.” 

“Oh yeah I know about that but don’t worry. There’s gonna be an art exhibition on the 15th, Harry’s gonna be there with me. It’s gonna be pretty underground and low-key so if you’re willing to come there I could arrange tickets for you and you could make it look like a coincidence.” He said 

“Wait, are you talking about the one at the Gagosian“. I inquired and he nodded. “You don’t have to get me tickets then.” He gave me a questioning look and I explained. “I’m a small journalist you see for a newspaper and my company’s sending me to cover that exhibition.” 

“Oh well then that’s great then. Look love, I’m sorry I know I’m probably asking you a lot and you really can say no to me. But its just besides being Harry’s manager I’m his friend too and I can’t see him drowning in his sink hole of a life anymore.” He sighed. 

“No no please Louis, don’t. It’s okay. I would love to help him in any way possible. He definitely isn’t the Harry I used to know and if in any way I can make him the old Harry I would love too.” 

“Thankyou (Y/N) I really appreciate you doing this. This means s-“ He was interrupted by his phone ringing and mumbling a quick sorry he took it. It was something important and he said he had to go. With a quick farewell he left and you kept sitting there since it was still an hour till your work day officially started. Sitting there all you could was look back on your old times with harry. How everything was so perfect. How I always admired the Styles/Twist family, they were all so perfect together. I was disturbed by my thoughts by a call of my boss who wanted to see ,e there and I quickly went about my day. 

—— 

Harry’s POV 

Harry had spent a handful of this evening admiring fine art. With every abstract piece from every little artist he was encapsulated by the art. All the paintings and sculptures had kept his mind at ease throughout the whole night, with a few glasses of champagne in his system and art around him Harry thought nothing could disturb his night away. That is until He caught sight of movement in his peripheral vision before a voice spoke. 

“Who would’ve thought Harry Edward Styles would become an art enthusiast.” The woman beside him uttered in a teasing tone and Harry quickly moved his vision at the familiarity of the voice. It was her. Again. The first thought that came to his mind was to tell her to bugger off but his thought was interrupted when his eyes betrayed him and he began admiring her. She stood there in all her elegance. Wearing a spaghetti strap black silk dress, her curls draped beautifully over her shoulders, small earrings that shone through, dark lipstick that brought attention to her cherry lips. And then he felt himself to be taken away from all the art to the simple grassed grounds of her mother’s garden looking at her admiring her, properly gawking at her without a care in the world, that is until she spoke. Again and made him nervous. Again.

“I’m not a sculpture Mr.Styles, stop ogling me.” She said, a slight smirk tugged at the corner of her lips and Harry felt a hue of red spreading to his cheeks. He quickly gazed away scared to be caught by her. 

“Why are yeh here, I told you I di-“ 

“Oh my gosh you are such a narcissist.” She exclaimed, the smirk on her lips had now widened and even though her  vision had not once turned to him, she still was able to make account for the heat rising on his cheeks. She decided to not push it further and knowing Harry from past experience she knew he was now in it for good.

With those words she turned her back towards Harry and began strutting throughout the small hallway towards the other artworks and before she knew she heard a pair of boots following her in suit. 

“What do you mean by that.” 

 “By what.”

“Calling me a narcissist. I’m not a narcissist.” 

“Are you sure about that Mr.Styles.” She inquired, her gaze still fixed on the art filled walls, and his on the living art walking beside him. She expected him to retort back with a clever answer or at least an answer but he didn’t. Just kept walking with her, the silence between wasn’t uncomfortable or unbearable yet it was soothing and knowing. After a few minutes of walking together he heard a slight buzz and she took our her phone. Receiving the call she mumbled a quick “okay” and hung up. She began walking towards the exit and soon we were out of the building. And finally she decided to bless me with her gaze. 

“I’m going home now. You should too it’s late.” She said

“Are you going alone.” I nervously inquired and she nodded. I quickly made my way to stand beside her told her that I would walk her home as it was too late for her to go alone. The walk to her home was filled with small talk and stolen glances. She told me about her job, her aspirations of becoming a journalist for the New York Times one day, about her shitty boss who always smelled like rotten tomatoes and possibly everything that she could fit in a 20 minute stroll. 

As she spoke I could not move my vision from the Aphrodite walking beside me. Her skin shone under the moon light, her eyes sparkled and oh when she spoke. Her voice send a surge of warmth throughout my body. Her laugh was like the first wave of spring after a harsh winter. 

I cursed to myself when we reached to her destination, wanting this walk to never end. She slowly turned towards me and began speaking saying her thanks for everything and anything but to be honest I wasn’t paying attention to any of it. All I could think about was her lips. Her cherry lips that were once laced with a beautiful colour now had specks of it. How they moved so gracefully when she spoke and how it was taking me everything in my body not to crash my harsh ones against her soft ones. 

“Harry, Harry” she quickly waved her hand infront of my eyes and I snapped back to reality from my unholy thoughts. “You sure have a thing for staring.” She giggled and that is when something inside me snapped. Without a second thought I crashed my lips against hers and my entire body felt as if I was in the Heavenly Kingdoms. Damn this woman is going to ruin me. 

[knives-out20]

Magnetic Pull - Erik Lehnsherr x Male!OC - Part 12

Fandom: X-Men: First Class (2011)

Pairing: Karmel Rosenstein (OC) x Erik Lehnsherr

Warnings: Spoilers for X-Men: First Class, Swearing, Internalized homophobia, Repressed homosexuality, Mentions of suicide (attempted), Angsty backstory,

Notes: I mention a piece of Karmel’s backstory that we’ve touched on before. A bit of a touchy subject, speaking of, so just an FYI. Hannibal references inside. Also I only have a limited amount of Karmel gifs (his faceclaim being Brad Pitt as Detective David Mills in the 1995 movie Se7en) so don’t be confused/surprised/etc if I happen to reuse gifs.

Karmel stood wearing a grey hoodie and matching sweatpants, which strayed far from his usual outdoor attire. Him and Charles stood outside the mansion, in front of a wall of the mansion with the least windows."What'd'ya need me to fuckin’ do, again?"

Charles sighed."You've gotten the hand of using your vines when they grow from out of your own body. I'd like to get you to practice having them grow from out the ground, is all. We can start off small, and work our way up somehow. I need you to grow your vines out the ground, and up this wall- careful to go around the windows."

"Like I'm drawing a line in a maze in some kids activity book?"

Charles paused. He shrugged, "strange comparison, but, yes, that's the gist. Unless you wish to make them form a picture of something. Easy enough?"

Karmel chuckled, "yea, I'll just shoot them up the wall, though."

"By all means, go ahead."

Karmel cleared his throat, slowly raising his hands, palms facing the wall. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away, never really being a fan of seeing his powers in action. Especially since twice in his life, they were -nearly- the death of him. Literally.

Charles exhaled, a look of concern on his face."Think I'll be able to teach you to face your vines in motion?"

"I'd like to s-see you try" Karmel stuttered.

"I understand what your powers almost caused twice...I'm sorry that your powers are integrated with these memories" Charles apologized, weeding his way through this pep-talk.

A quick glimpse through Karmel's mind at that moment brought him to the afterwards of Karmel's second attempt: Karmel in his twenties, crying in the back of his car with a blood-soaked patch on one side of his forehead. He was covered in marks and tiny scars that came from the thorns on his vines.

Charles saw tears forming in Karmel's eyes due to the flashback, like Erik earlier when he had a flashback of his mother."But, I do hope you know that you're stronger now, more than ever. Certainly more than you were in those dark moments of your life. You have me, the team, Moira...Erik-" he smiled when he noticed that saying Erik's name made Karmel sprout vines from out of the ground."So that's it." Charles thought, looking back over at Karmel. He now knew that Erik's powers would mostly spring from anger, and Karmel's would at the thought, mention, or sight of Erik. Why didn't he come to this conclusion earlier?

"I keep a lot of things in my head in fear of people like you- telepaths- existing and finding out. And...judging" Karmel started, wiping his eyes quickly.

"I'm not one to judge things that shouldn't be judged in the first place, Kar" Charles shrugged.

"My outburst at the base...over Erik," the vines latched onto the brick wall, slowly crawling upwards."Words can't describe how glad I am that Moira 'n' you didn't fire backlash at me, backlash I've lived in fear of my entire life. It just...I don't wanna talk about it right now."

"And you don't need to, Karmel. We can focus on this wall right now" Charles nodded, turning to the wall.

Karmel didn't look at his vines as they curled their ways up the brick wall, quick to dodge around any windows in their paths.

Charles' eyebrows knitted together as his head slowly panned up, noticing that the vines were making line art of...a face?

"Is it going up?"

"It's going up, alright" Charles answered, recognizing the shape of the jaw anywhere."What's something you like about Erik, then?" He pushed, most likely to test his theory from earlier about Karmel's powers when Erik's in mind.

Karmel exhaled through his nose."His eyes. Erik's eyes are like...two moons, I dunno. With blue-green pools in them- I don't know, man, they're beautiful, alright?" He kissed his teeth in slight frustration, not really that good at sappy stuff. But, his vines sped up, so that meant Charles was right.

"And what about his hair?" Charles suggested.

"Oh, his hair, fuck m-" Karmel opened a wide eye to glance at Charles, humming the 'm' he was so close to using to say 'me.'

Charles tilted his head, looking at Karmel as if he were saying "really, bitch? Seriously?"

Karmel continued humming the 'm', racking his brain for a way to save himself."-Mmman, I dunno, his hairs cool too-"

Charles rolled his eyes playfully, Karmel peacefully closing his eye.

Karmel grunted a bit, hands quivering as his vines looped around the wall, forming a jawline, a pair of thin lips, a perfect nose, and creases around a pair of eyes. His fingers bent a bit as the vines formed the archway of a hairline around a prominent forehead, the vines even spiking up in some places in the shape of hair. This was all unbeknownst to Karmel, that's the best part. He thought his vines were simply going straight up, and around the windows.

"It's reached the top."

"Finally-" Karmel panted, dropping his hands. He slowly looked up at the big brick wall, colour draining from his face when he could easily make out line art (or in this case, vine art) of Erik Lehnsherr's face. Karmel's head snapped in Charles' direction as his blue eyes went huge.

Charles chuckled simply."If you wanted to do someone instead of something, you could have just said so."

"No, no, no, it was an accident- I didn't- I wasn't- I wasn't even thinking of him, I- I just wanted the fucking vines to grow" Karmel stuttered, frantically waving his arms.

"Karmel, Karmel-" Charles called, putting a hand on Karmel's shoulder."It's okay."

Karmel slowly dropped his hands, raising an eyebrow. His vine art of Erik grew purple flowers, which bloomed quickly. Karmel's breath hitched at that.

"It's okay now, remember? I know, you know, we both know here. And I'm a hundred percent okay with what I know. As of our quick trip to Russia, so are you. It's okay, you're safe here. You can be who you truly are."

Karmel took slow, deep breaths, nodding."Yea, I- I just...I guess I'm gonna forget sometimes, that it's okay. But it's hard to forget that on a scale of one to ten, he's a certified twenty. I'm...I love Erik, man."

"Which is okay" Charles cracked a comforting smile."I'll be around to remind you. It's a slow process."

Karmel looked up at Erik’s face on the wall.”I have to deal with you,” he groaned, pointing up at it.”And my feelings about you.”

Charles looked up at the vines.”You cannot control with respect to whom you fall in love.”

Karmel turned to Charles. He donned a look of inner fear, as if he were still slightly afraid of his love for Erik. In reality, Karmel was just unsure of how long it would take him to get used to it.

Charles pat Karmel’s shoulder.”No one can be fully aware of another human being unless we love them. By that love, we see potential in our beloved. Through that love, we allow our beloved to see their potential. Expressing that love, our beloveds potential comes true” he explained.

"Hey, you two!" Erik's voice rang from a way's behind the two of them.

"Fuck-" Karmel swore, and gestured his hands downwards. The vines shot back down into the ground, a couple purple flower petals and a singular flower itself hanging around. 

The wall was blank again.

"Hi, Erik!" Karmel nervously greeted. He wondered why Erik smiled like that the moment he saw him.

"I saw that-" Charles grinned as he waved.

"Shut it, Charlie Chaplin" Karmel spoke through grit teeth as he checked out Erik wearing clothes identical to his."Goddamn..." he thought, biting the edge of his lip.

Erik put his hands on his hips, looking up at the wall like it was missing something."What happened to the green lines on the wall?"

Karmel almost choked on his own spit."My, uh, my vines. Charlie Chaplin here wants me to practice making my vines grow out from places that aren't my body. And- And wants me to practice making them move certain ways, up walls 'n' shit, so that I can control them better. They didn't go up the way I wanted-"

"I'd say otherwise-"

"Shut up, Charles. Anyways, they- they didn't go up the way I wanted, so I'm trying again" Karmel explained.

"Those flowers weren't there before" Erik pointed out, literally pointing down at them.

"Oh, yea, I can grow flowers from my vines. Not just leaves, or thorns. They could also have this weird poison effect. Ivy, too. Poison ivy, even. That's a thing" Karmel recalled, his whole body going rigid at what Erik then asked.

"Can I watch?"

"Uhm-"

"Sure!" Charles answered for him.

Karmel shot Charles a glare, slowly turning around to face the wall again. He raised his arms, forcing himself to pay close attention to the way his vines curved up the wall.

"Also, uh, Karmel" Erik called.

"Yep?"

"I'm sorry about what I said to Charles and you the day we arrived here. I remembered what you've told me about your parents, but it didn't dwell on me on how deep it really went, no matter how long ago it was. So...my apologies" Erik apologized.

"Shit-" Karmel cursed under his breath, Erik taking accountability of his actions only making Karmel fall in love with him even more. He moved his hands to the sides, vines smoothly darting out of the way of a window."It's fine, Erik. I don't bare any ill will towards you 'cause of it. Joking like I did was just...an automatic response."

"A coping mechanism?" Charles suggested.

"What are you, my therapist?" Karmel scoffed, getting slightly defensive."Yea, that, whatever" he agreed. Karmel watched his vines lurch this way and that way, recognizing what was now his own face, made up of vine-line-art. Once he finished, he eagerly dropped his arms."I felt like I'd look good up here."

"You thought otherwise just a moment ago-" Charles snickered.

"Shut up, Charlie" Karmel groaned. He waved an arm at the wall, purple flowers blooming on the vines that etched his face around the wall. Karmel turned back around to Erik, who grinned slightly.

"Impressive as always" Erik coughed.

"Beware, it goeth before the fall. How many times I gotta tell you guys?" Karmel joked, Erik and him gigging softly.

Charles arched a brow, looking between Karmel and Erik."I gotta go find Raven. I'll see you two inside later" he bade them goodbye, jogging off and around the corner, disappearing from sight.

Karmel and Erik kept, somehow comfortable, eye contact, Karmel cracking a small smile as he looked down, then turned away.

"So, uh, Karmel" Erik piped up.

"Hmm?" Karmel hummed, walking towards the wall. He knelt down, picking up a whole, purple flower.

"I have something."

Karmel stood back up, and walked back over to Erik."You have something? What? A flu?"

Erik shook his head."No, no, like...physically. I picked it up for you- don't ask when- and I thought you'd like it."

Karmel’s smile broke out into a bigger one.”No one’s ever done that for me...not even Grace. That’s real nice of you” he cooed.

Erik pulled his lips into a sheepish smile.”Don’t think too much of it, though. A simple gesture can only go so far sometimes” he told, digging into his pocket and pulling out a bracelet. It was made out of braided, brown leather, and bore a silver, metal clasp. Erik held it up, holding back a smile when Karmel cautiously took it.

”It’s so cool” Karmel gasped, gently putting it on his left wrist.”Thank you, Erik- I feel bad, I don’t have shit for you-“

Erik held up a hand.”Nonsense, Karmel. I don’t need anything in return.”

Karmel’s smile was glued to his lips, as he remade eye contact with Erik. 

Erik rubbed the back of his neck, a faint smile of his own on his face, thanks to Karmel. 

“Y’know, actually-“ Karmel looked down at the flower in his hand.”I do have something.”

Erik followed his gaze.”The flower?”

Karmel hummed.”A flower from my own vines, Erik. That’s super fucking personal” he said, reaching up to tuck it behind Erik’s ear.

Erik exhaled through his nose, glancing up at it.”How do I look?”

”Breathtaking, man” Karmel giggled, definitely in love at this point. Not even that ‘in love’ love with Erik’s body; Karmel was in love with Erik as a person, the whole idea of him sparked joy. At first he thought it was merely physical. But the more time they spent around each other, the deeper it grew. Now Karmel just wishes he could act on his feelings.

Erik glanced down, stricken by a sense of shyness.

“See, Erik-” Karmel started, pointing at the bracelet.”There’s so much more to you than you know, Erik. Not just pain and anger, like me. There’s good in you, Erik, I can feel it. I know it. I’ve fucking seen it, now.”

Erik looked up at him, surprised at what was said. Did Karmel really think that of him?

The two held eye contact again, standing in comfortable silence.

Karmel was the first to break his gaze, quick to sneak a glance at Erik's lips beforehand.”I should, uh- get going, though. Hank wanted to show me the library in this place.”

”Yea” Erik nodded, doing the same before looking down.”You’re a librarian after all.”

”Best one in the country” Karmel puffed out his chest, making Erik laugh. He sighed softly, privileged enough to earn a look of genuine happiness and innocence from the man. It felt rare. It felt good. It made Karmel feel like he was on top of the world.”C’mon, let- let’s, uh, let’s go back inside.”

Erik nodded, leading the way.

Karmel watched Erik walk, and groaned softly to himself. He threw the hood of his hoodie over his head and violently pulled on the strings, cocooning his face in the hood.”Stupid fuckin’ faggot fuck” Karmel cursed himself, his feelings for Erik only growing stronger by the second.

[forthepursuitofknowledge]

“You won’t hurt me, I promise.”

Noah looked to Kaz, his eye wide surprise at the statement. A part of him could tell that behind the confidence the man there was a very real truth. Perhaps he couldn’t even harm the Xaela? Maybe he wasn’t even capable of making the man before him flinch…

But he certainly had to try now didn’t he?

“Alright then…let’s see how true that can hold.” Noah spoke, his tone of voice calm, collected…almost jovial as he casually sauntered towards his weapon. The sky was black as pitch, stars gently casting their signature dotted shine but it almost seemed to hardly pierce the inky black void the resided above them. The wide plains of the Steppes were a fitting battleground to test all that he’d been learning, all that Syvard had been teaching him in the last few moons. Noah could feel that lingering mix of anticipation and anxiety as he looked to his opponent. Kaz was by no means anything less than intimidating, sporting a similar black garb wrapped around his eye, wearing a mix of armours and leathers that allowed him flexibility and protection where it counted. Green locks slicked back, and that piercing single eye of the Xaela were all a fierce mix of stoic, unbridled power.

 “I am not sure how far you’d want me to take this Noah…Or honestly how long you’d last under such duress. Didn’t you say you’ve only recently picked up your axe?” Kaz let a brow rise ever so slightly, a cautious, confused look to the behemoth.

“You heard right…but I’ve been taught very extensively.” Noah quipped, “Don’t get me wrong, I do ‘not’ for the life of me expect to win this, I’m not a fool! But…to not so much as hurt you? Well - “ The man laughed before placing his helm atop his head. Noah was adorned in a fine mix of plate and chainmail, the heavy metals covering him well bit still leaving some open areas to give ‘some’ ability to move. The royal blue armour accented by a golden trim, and finished with a few red robes that adorned him. These colours had purpose, meaning to him…and while he wore his armour he could feel his confidence at it’s peak. He felt like the very Knight’s he would try to idolize in his youth. “- I’m very eager to test myself to that.” Noah took a stance, his axe at the ready.Kaz smirked ever so slightly, a gentle tug to the end of his lips left before unhooking the massive greatsword he carried with him. “Alright then, but don’t be surprised by the result.”

It began without pause after Kaz spoke those words, Noah hunched forwards, lowering himself before darting towards his sparring partner. Kaz simply waited whilst Noah close the gap, and seeing Noah’s body turn as he wound up his initial strike, he could see where Noah was guiding his weapon. Noah spun his large axe around his person to the right, not intending to strike at Kaz but rather to build momentum for his follow up. With all the speed he’d hoped to build up as the weapon reached the end of it’s first swing, Noah fluidly sent the weapon of his into another swing, this time arching to come down upon the Xaela. 

Kaz sent his weapon upwards, the two heavy edges meeting one another. Though for all the force Noah had tried to build, Kaz was able to guard the attack with relative ease. As Kaz put his force into his weapon, his push back of the clashing blades sent Noah back a few steps. 

Damn…the man may have been right…maybe I ‘can’t’ hurt him. The Hyur thought, still though, he had to admit the notion of such an impossible task made it all the more interesting to try and tackle.

Kaz was on the assault now, his blade low to the ground as he ran full speed towards Noah. With a swing upwards swing Kaz’s blade cut vertically, the edge almost singing as it moved through air. It took damn near all Noah’s strength to guard that attack of his with the belly of his axe, the long pole horizontal and catching the weapon, if the swords travel ‘may’ have caused it song as it moved - then certainly the clash of the two weapons was the chorus’ valiant climax.

The smaller man stumbled back a bit, seeming on the ropes as Kaz moved in to close the gap and ram the pommel of his blade into Noah’s center. Despite the plating, Noah felt the blow as if he’d simply forgone his metal armour, being sent back in a roll backwards, ending up laying on the ground and coughing and hacking behind his helm, trying to catch his breath and tell himself the pain had to be shaken off.

“You ready to stop, Noah?” Kaz gave a confident laugh as he slung his blade over his shoulder, looking at the man clad in knightly armour struggle to get to his feet. “You know there’s no shame at all in just turning in on this.” The Xaela’s smile was most definitely that of the shit eating variety, though he meant no ill by it.

The armour clad form shaking just a bit, form trembling inside his plated shell could be heard panting before leaning slightly upon his axe. “Y-…You know…as appealing as that sounds…I-…” the man groaned as he stood himself up again, “I got more in me.”

“Then don’t hold back anything, I’d rather we go at this with our all.” Kaz spoke sternly, eyes narrowed on Noah as though knowing there was more to the man than just that.

As Noah finally got himself standing upright and proper he could understand what Kaz meant, he pointed to Kaz. “You asked.” He gave a small laugh before gripping his axe and drove the head to slam against the ground for a moment while he concentrated. Noah began to focus, conjure images and thoughts in his mind that drove him to relive some of the anger he’d at times withdrawn. The fights adrenaline already had him worked up, his body was already on that anxious precipice and so it didn’t take much more to get him to push off and find himself embracing the Beast.

Channeling his own Inner Beast, Noah’s lone optic suddenly blared to a red, intense life as from behind his helm’s guard that lone red flare had a bright eerie glow. The man’s panting intensified, his body trembled still as he struggled with that instinctive rage the Beast always had wrought.  The man’s grip on his weapon went taught and in a swift movement the mid-lander was rushing towards Kaz. A low, raspy growl from him as he drew closer until the man swing hard - sending the large, hammer like butt of his weapon towards the Xaela’s left side, arching towards his torso.

Kaz once more saw the direction of the weapon and again brought his weapon to guard…but the wide center of blade was struck much harder than the Xaela had anticipated. Kaz felt himself pushed back a bit, eye widening in surprise only to see Noah’s left arm swinging around. Using the full amount of force he would summon, putting a fine curvature and rotation of his hips into the strike - Noah sent a left hook to Kaz’s right kidney, the fist landing firm.

There was a loud clasping sound of fist hitting muscle as Kaz felt the impact hit him. Noah’s anger driving him forwards he slammed his reared his fist back and again sent it to Kaz’s open kidney, and again, each blow having a rather potent almost piston like amount of nearly combustible force. However, upon making way for a fourth blow Kaz caught Noah’s arm and swiftly responded with a strong knee to the Hyur’s center. The force of his counter enough to slightly lift Noah off the ground.

Noah wasn’t certain if he were seeing double, perhaps the blow cause his vision to scatter, but he could have sworn that following up on the knee, that two Kaz’s stood before him, both swinging their blades upwards and carving two jagged scars into the man’s blue armours.

Noah was thrown back, landing hard on his back as he gasped once more for breath, the man was completely wiped out, body aching - screaming at him to let it rest now through the many various pain receptors all signalling the extend of the damage was not lethal, but certainly painful. “O-…okay,” Noah spoke between pants. “I think my ass is thoroughly kicked…” he coughed again, groaning as he moved about slowly.

Kaz moved towards the fallen midlander, offering a hand to help him to his feet as he chuckled, “Not too bad, Noah. You did well for a newcomer.”

Noah took the hand and again groaned out as he was pulled to his feet by the massive man. Though as he stood a bit hunched, he watched Kaz turn and take a few steps as he placed his sword back onto his back where it held. 

“S-…so…what do you think Kaz? H-…Hurting at all?” Noah asked, still panting as he slowly looked to the departing Xaela.

Kaz just grinned to himself before calling back. “Not nearly as much as you, Noah.” He said, offering a wave while walking along.

Noah paused, thinking for a moment, “That is not a real answer!!!!” He shouted to the greatsword wielding behemoth. 

Only to be met with a small laugh carried along the winds…

So wow! Thanks for reading all this is you made it this far! I wanna thank @fujiwarakazunari for the ask and I hope this played out a bit like you’d had thought! Kaz ain’t no joke man! Noah’s got some brushing up to do, the scrub! Thanks for reading and hope to get more asks in the future!

[j-writes-and-suffers]

NaNoWriMo Day Seven

Actually waking up to his alarms this time, Philip was relieved to see that his phone was fully charged, and he wasn’t spectacularly late. He had time to eat a real breakfast, shower, and even put on clean pants. He realized he should probably dress comfortably; the parade around town would be a hell of a workout, and slacks were definitely not workout clothes. Settling on basketball shorts and an Elk Grove t-shirt, he headed out the front door, much more energetic than most mornings.

By the time he arrived, students and faculty were gathering by the football field. Lined up in the parking lot were a dozen parade floats, the drivers waiting patiently for their cue to head out. Philip found his liberal arts colleagues standing near one of the frontmost floats. “Is this always so big?” He asked, a little surprised by the massive turnout.

“Usually, yes.” Dr. Samuels replied. “Good to see you’re punctual this time.”

Philip forced a smile, wondering if his boss would ever let him live that down. “Yes, sir. I tried my best.”

“Good. Come on, the parade is about to leave. Get in position.”

Philip nodded, following his coworkers to their place in the parade. One by one the floats filed out, accompanied by hoards of Stags chanting pridefully. As they made their way into the town, passersby smiled and waved. When they marched through neighborhoods, many of the families, especially those with small children, were standing outside, cheering and staring in awe. Even though they saw it every year, something as colourful and energetic as a parade was bound to win over kids; they squealed in delight, when the mascot, Stanley Stag, waved in their direction.

The march around town was long and effortsome, covering nearly five miles and taking upwards of three hours. The weather was nice, though, and everyone was in good, if tired, spirits by the time they returned to campus. As the parade disbanded, Philip made a beeline for the picnic. Breakfast had been hours ago, and he was starving.

The courtyard was filled with the smell of homemade food and the chatter of hungry students. Most of them had only been eating takeout and cafeteria trash as of late, so this was a welcome and delicious change. Philip took a deep breath, savoring the smell, and his stomach growled. Grabbing a plate, he hurried to get in line, not wanting to miss out on anything. He piled his plate high with food, asking for a helping of anything that looked good. As he made his way down the row of tables, his eyes locked on a tray of cheeseburger sliders; he could see bacon peeking out of the buns, and his mouth started to water.

“Would you like to try one?” A familiar voice broke Philip’s starving focus, and he looked up, blinking in surprise.

“Oh, uh, sure, yeah…” He squirmed where he stood, not sure how he was supposed to speak to Lucien at the moment.

“Is something on your mind?” The taller man frowned as he placed a slider on Philip’s plate. “You look upset.”

The young blond looked up at Lucien with confusion. “Well, I mean… do… do you still wanna talk to me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Lucien raised an eyebrow.

“You abandoned me at the poetry slam yesterday. I figured you’d gotten sick of me.”

“No, no!” The brunette shuffled awkwardly behind the table. “I was just a bit... overwhelmed. It was getting really loud, and everyone was crowding us… I didn’t mean to ditch you or anything. I just kind of freaked out.” He admitted, staring shamefully down at his shoes.

“So… you still wanna do dinner next weekend?” Philip asked hopefully.

Lucien nodded. “Yes, of course!” He glanced down the line, looking at the hungry students piling up behind Philip. “We can talk more later. I think the crowd is going to kill you if you don’t move soon.”

“Right! Shit. See you later!” Spirits raised, Philip waved and hurried off down the table.

As the sun started to set, the food was running out. Many picnic-goers had left, and the remaining ones were simply waiting for the bonfire. Long finished eating, Philip climbed to his feet, gathering abandoned paper plates and half-eaten snacks to toss in the trash. As the sun went down, a few of the teachers gathered to start the fire. Another group brought out hot water heaters and cocoa mix, as well as ingredients for s’mores. Philip had cozied up on a bench, content to sip hot chocolate and chill, when someone dropped down onto the seat adjacent to him.

“Evening. How has your day been?” Even in the dim light, Lucien’s green eyes seemed to glow. A smile flickered across his face as he moved closer to Philip.

“It’s been… It’s been good. I’m kinda tired, but I ate good food, and the parade was really fun. It was great to see all the excited kids. Some of them even walked with us for a bit.”

“That sounds lovely.” Lucien mused, resting his arm across the back of the bench. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

Philip nodded, “Yeah… me, too.” He found himself unconsciously scooting closer to Lucien, almost leaning against the taller man. Lucien didn’t seem to mind it, his arm moving from the bench to Philip’s shoulders. The young blond sighed contently; for the first time all week, he was properly comfortable and totally relaxed.

The growing chill in the air was countered by the fire’s radiance, its glow casting long shadows around the populous courtyard. Students and teachers sat around the softly pulsing flame, roasting marshmallows and making friendly conversation. The last glimmer of sunlight faded, and the half moon shined overhead. Now that it was properly dark, Professor Noctus came creeping out of the administration building, a mischievous grin on his dimly-lit face.

“Good evening, friends. Would you like to hear a ghost story?”

While most of the crowd murmured in approval, once voice piped up from the back. “You’re not that scary. I bet your stories suck.”

“Oh?” Balthazar raised an angular black eyebrow. “You think my stories are bad, or you think my storytelling is bad?”

“Both. Ghost stories are lame, and so is your dumb gimmick.” The brazen boy was hard to make out in the firelight, but he had stood up to confront Noctus, and was planted firmly in place.

Philip and Lucien exchanged a glance, wary of what was to come. They waited patiently, but to their surprise, the professor hardly reacted.

“Then why not leave?” He shrugged, “If my stories bore you, get out. Or, if you’ll be so kind as to tolerate them, sit down and shut up.”

The boy dropped into his seat, bitter that he hadn’t started a real argument. Meanwhile, Balthazar had taken a candle from his pocket, lighting it in the fire. He held it beneath his chin, his features more sharp and bizarre than even in the flickering uplight. He bared alarmingly angular teeth in a broad grin, and Philip wondered to himself whether they were filed down or prosthetic.

Well into the night, Professor Noctus told tales, of monsters and men, and the world they shared. He warned of children whisked away in the night, regaled about families brutally slaughtered, even spoke of good friends that had met rather gruesome demises. Though none of the stories were remarkably original, the air filled with a chill that couldn’t be fought with fire. The audience’s souls grew cold as Balthazar drew them in, his remarkable wordplay and flare for the dramatic making generic old tales refreshingly horrific.

As the moon crept across the sky, the fables grew more ominous, more gruesome, and more bone-chillingly awful. Students started to dissipate, growing fearful or uncomfortable; certainly none left of boredom, for as the tales grew more terrifying, they also got more captivating. As a particularly nasty story drew to its close, Philip pressed against Lucien, shivering and snuggling up.

Without saying a word, the older man slipped off his jacket, wrapping it around the trembling blond. Though Philip’s choice of attire had been appropriate for a long walk during the day, the temperature had dropped massively, and even the fire wasn’t enough to make up for his light shorts and thin shirt. Lucien’s jacket was a welcome addition to his outfit - soft and insulated, it soothed the chill that had been creeping up Philip’s spine. He felt a tickle in his nose and stifled a soft sneeze, sighing in annoyance.

The evening drew on, and Philip continued to sniffle and sneeze. Lucien reached up to feel his forehead, worrying that the younger man might be ill. “You’re not feverish, I wonder what’s wrong…”

“I don’t know.” Philip shrugged, his voice nasal from congestion. “I’d say maybe allergies, but I don’t think anybody brought their dog…”

“Dog?” Lucien’s voice wavered awkwardly.

“Yeah,” Philip nodded, “I’m allergic. You’re probably confused cause told you about Callie, but she’s an Afghan. They’re hypoallergenic.”

Lucien nodded, pretending that’s why he was troubled, “Ahh, I see. That makes more sense.”

“She’s pretty great…” Philip mused, “you should meet her sometime.”

“Maybe,” Lucien shrugged. “I’m not great with animals.”

Philip shook his head, “Don’t worry, man. She’s super friendly. Really chill, too.”

“Oh… sounds… nice, then. It’s getting awfully late. I should probably leave. Feel free to keep the jacket for tonight, I know you have a long walk home.” Lucien climbed to his feet, waving briefly before slinking off into the darkness.

Philip frowned. He hadn’t wanted Lucien to go yet; it felt like they were starting to bond better, and he was a little uncomfortable listening to Balthazar’s stories alone. After one more hair-raiser, he ended up heading home himself, the whole way flinching and squealing at every snapped twig and shadowy movement. He continued to sneeze throughout the walk, grumbling under his breath about allergies and what the hell and he didn’t even notice a dog. By the time Philip got home, it was the wee hours of the morning, and he was ready to pass out. Still dressed, he curled up on the bed, tugging Lucien’s jacket around him.