#❝ i’m standing in the field my feet lift off the ground. ❞ ( music. )

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Find the word tag

Thanks @ceph-the-ghost-writer for the tag!

My words: borrow, beg, steal, manage

Your words: tool, personal, appear, sour

Tagging @gracehosborn @thepeculiarbird @gothamxwattpad @blind-the-winds @jezifster @little-peril-stories @stesierra @sleepywriter00 @loopyhoopywrites @captain-kraken @herrmannhalsteadproduction @theharpywrites @buffythevampirelover @little-mouse-gardens @hippiewrites or anyone else who wants to play!

Keep reading for:

Halloween party snippet but Carla and George just learned what Halloween was last week

A traumatic event from Jedi's childhood (CW: child and spousal abuse; done through fantasy violence: attacking via electromagnetic fields)

Jack and the Beanstalk parody

Robbie & Akash dynamic

Borrow - from The Secret Portal Part One

“You’re dressed as Dr. David Pinchên.” Carla looked down at her sweater vest and khakis. “Wait, isn’t that the telepathic theory guy?” Ash asked. Carla nodded. “Hey, can I borrow some of his books?” “Sure,” said Carla. “Thanks,” said Ash. George turned to his sister. “Well, that’s everyone. Let’s go down to the break room.” Ash, Rose, George, and Carla went through the kitchen toward the elevators. Carla and George got off at the breakroom, while Ash and Rose stayed to change in the dorms. “Whoa,” George said, gazing around. There were black and orange streamers and fake cobwebs everywhere and what appeared to be spiderpig webs on every other surface. The lights were dim and the sources of flickering light came from inside pumpkins with faces carved out of them. A couple tables were pushed against the wall with candy and punch. Spooky music played in the background, and George and Carla weren’t sure they liked how it made them feel, but it certainly fit the mood. Tyler walked up to them, his black hair slicked back and wearing fake pointy teeth. Red paint dripped down his chin. “Velcome to the party.” “Why are you talking like that?” Carla asked. “Because… Dracula’s Romanian?” “Romania?” “It’s a country on Ceteri.” Tyler looked back over his shoulder for a second. “Hey, Carla, you want to get some punch? It’s directly from Ceteri.” “Um, sure,” said Carla, glancing back at George, who gave her an encouraging smile. “I like your outfit, by the way,” said Tyler. “Sweater vest, khakis. You even have fake stubble. You look like my seventh grade science teacher.” Carla blinked. “Is that a good thing?” “If that’s the look you were going for,” said Tyler. “But I don’t think you’re my seventh grade science teacher.”

Beg - from The Secret Portal Part One (Jedi POV)

“You bitch,” Dadaidh snarled. “Using your telepathy against me?” “You used your powers against me; you gave me no choice.” I could tell Eomma was crying. “I’m sorry, Tayler.” Dadaidh’s eyes grew darker. “You will be.” His eyes were on me, and a hot pain was in my head like nothing I’d ever felt. I placed my hands against my temple, gritting my teeth together and trying not to scream. “Tayler, no!” Eomma screamed, but Dadaidh held her back, causing her to curl to the floor. The world around me spotted as I dropped to my knees, bending over. My teeth soon couldn’t push against each other any more, and my voice ran out of my body in a cry that I didn’t know it was capable of making. “Tayler, I beg of you, stop!” I fell to the ground, relieved from the pain as my cheek fell against the cold tile. I choked as I sobbed. Eomma had sat herself up, staring my dadaidh in the eyes. “Jedi,” Eomma said weakly. “Go to your room. Stay there. Your father and I need to talk.” I slowly pushed myself to a seated position before rising to my feet. As soon as I was standing, I ran up the lift, climbing up to the second floor as soon as I could reach it and scrambled to my room as if my life depended on it. I slammed my hand against the frame to close the door before sliding my back down it so I could sit against it on the floor. I didn’t know what Eomma wanted to talk to Dadaidh for. I wasn't sure that I wanted to. I glanced up at the metal frame on my wall, a holoimage of myself, Eomma, Dadaidh, and Kirstie. All of us were smiling. I couldn’t remember what day it was; I had only been about five at the time. But we were happy; and that was all that mattered. The metal frame began to shake. I pressed my ear against the door, expecting to hear my eomma scream, but I heard nothing. I knew something was wrong, but I stayed where I was. I didn’t want to go back out there again.

Steal - from School of the Legends Year One

Beau knelt down beside a crate with holes poked in the top. He peered through one of the slits in the crate. “Merde, there’s a chicken in here.” “A what?” Jack and Jill chorused. All three of them whipped their heads toward the giants. Neither appeared to hear anything--maybe their smell was the only sense that was enhanced. They turned back to the crate, joining Beau in peering through the crate. Sure enough, there was a chicken. “That’s weird,” Jack stated the obvious as he stood straight again. His eyes rested on a harp leaning against the clock. He carefully set it upright, studying the instrument close. There was something about it that was inherently mesmerizing. “I think we need to take these things.” “Steal?” Jill asked. “It’s not like these belong to them,” Jack said. “But they don’t belong to us, either.” “We have chickens on our farm,” said Jack. “We could bring this one! What are they going to do with it?” Jill looked at the bag of coins in her hand. “Hm.” “It’s not theirs,” Jack repeated. Jack could sense how badly Jill wanted to say it wasn't theirs, either. “If we take this, we’re donating most of it.” She paused. “A good chunk of it.” She shook her head. “No, most.” “If it’s real,” Beau said. They turned to him. “Come on, those coins are way too shiny to be real. And not nearly heavy enough.” Jill exhaled. “Well, that makes me feel loads better.” “I’ve always wanted to play the harp,” said Jack, admiring it. “Since when?” “You don’t know everything about me.”

Manage - from The Secret Portal Part One (Robbie POV)

“Well, Jason slammed me into a locker and Ms. Bradley let me off with a warning.” I slowed my pace to sync with Ariel. “Well, Ms. Bradley likes you, and she probably saw Jason pressing you against the locker.” “Actually, she didn’t. Jason was already off me.” “How’d you manage that?” “Um,” I allowed my hesitation to carry through my opening of the exterior door and holding it open for Akash. “Something?” “Something?” Akash repeated, revolving Ariel to face me with a skeptical look. I stayed leaning against the door. “I dunno. This is gonna sound really, really weird, but when Jason slammed me against the locker, I felt… alive.” Akash smirked. “Kinky.” “Dude!” “Joking!” Akash protested, holding his hands in a surrender pose. I stepped away from the door, allowing it to close. I tucked my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “There was a red light. Just kinda… glowing.” Akash raised an eyebrow. “Glowing…? From where?” I shrugged. “I dunno, man. But then the lights flickered. And Jason freaked out, loosened his grip, and I pushed him off.” “And then Ms. Bradley came out?” “And then Jason went flying across the hall.” Akash opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. “Dude, I’m telling the truth.” “And I believe you.” “Wait, what?” Akash scoffed. “Why would you make it up? That’s weird, I agree with you.”

[babymilkawa]

Hii!! Congrats on 100~ So I'd like so participate in the event. How about Shoto Todoroki in a Howls Moving Castle AU! Thank you <3

hope you like it anon! the story is different than the plot of the movie, which is why it’s just an au ^^

shoto’s moving castle

todoroki shoto

gn!reader :)

word count; 1143

Your feet were sore from all the running. You couldn’t stop, however. Hearing the sound of the guards coming up from behind was enough to force your legs to keep going.

Why can’t they just leave me alone?

Exhaustion was pouring over you and you were about to collapse when you felt a pair of strong arms lift you up off the ground. Wait! That’s too off the ground!

Realizing what was happening, you shut your eyes tight. Not even daring enough to see who had saved you. 

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you”

You opened your eyes to see a brown and blue eye staring back at you. He had a red scar over his left side and his hair was in two different colors. Startled by his appearance, you made the mistake of looking down. Realizing that you were at least hundreds of feet off the ground, and walking in the air, you let out a scream and started thrashing around. 

“Woah, easy there y/n. We’re almost there” he said.

What? Does he know me?

Hands still on your arms, he slowly guided the two of you down until your feet gently touched the balcony of a building. You turned to face him and was about to speak when he said, “come with me.”

As he dragged you to wherever you were going, you couldn’t help but ask the aching question in your head.

“Do we know each other?”

He turned to you and gave you the kindest smile you had ever seen. It made you feel warm and cared about inside. 

“It’s me, Shoto.”

Although you had never seen this man before, knowing his name felt like everything clicked together. 

“You’ll know once we’re there.” he assured you before pulling you closer to him. 

Passing the streets, you could see people celebrating in the parade and guards standing outside stationed. They were wearing the same uniform as the guards that were chasing you earlier. 

“Sh-shoto?”

He turned to look at you but didn’t slow down his pace or lighten his grip on your hand. You continued, “How did you do that earlier? The flying.”

Again, he only smiled at you and the same feeling rushed over your body. “You’ll know once we’re there y/n.”

Then there was the way he said your name. It slipped off his mouth so elegantly and the sound was music to your ears. You were tempted to say something else just to hear him say your name again. But you knew that you’d be told the same answer. 

Looking around your surroundings, you realized that the two of you were far from the excitement now. In fact, you were in a much secluded place where a field of flowers stretched out before you. In the center of it, you could see a giant rock. Or was it a Machine? Something was there and it was huge. 

Seeing as Shoto was leading you farther and farther away from the town, you could only guess that he was taking you to that giant thing. Finally, he turned to you and said, “remember this? It’s my castle.” 

Then suddenly you did remember. That’s right. The castle even moved by its own. Oh no wait, it was powered by something. What was it?

“You’ve probably forgotten, but let me show you everyone.”

Opening the door that sat below the castle, Shoto lead you up a small flight of stairs to a space that looked like a living room. There was a fireplace and a large table that was piled up in trash. Shoto noticed this and quickly tried to clear the table. Wanting to calm yourself from the whole escapade, you sat in front of the fire to warm yourself up. Only to realize that the fire had eyes?? And a mouth? D-did it just say hello?

“Y/n! There you are! I see Master Shoto finally found you.”

Shoto turned to the two of you and said, “That’s Calcifer, y/n”

“What? She doesn’t remember me?!”

You mumbled a small hello and apologized. 

Shoto said, “Don’t make her apologize Calcifer, she won’t remember anyone.”

Feeling a bit guilty at this, you offered to help Shoto with the mess.

“Oh no, I’m alright. You get yourself situated.”

The atmosphere still felt a bit awkward, however, and you were about to speak until you heard running feet outside the door you had entered from. 

“Aah, that must be Markl,” Shoto said. The door opened to reveal a little boy around the age of 10. 

“Y/n! You’re back!” 

Feeling better that you at least knew his name without having to ask, you greeted him more confidently. 

“Gather around! I’ve got some breakfast for you,” you heard Shoto say.

You were about to sit down when you saw another fragile and very old woman walk in from the door. Seeing her struggle to climb up the stairs, you rushed to help her. 

“Oh, thank you y/n”

You looked expectantly at Shoto, hoping he’d say the woman’s name for you.

“She’s the Witch of the Waste.”

You grumbled, he didn’t have to make it sound like an introduction. The witch, however, didn’t seem to be paying attention to that. Before you sat down, you took a look and thought what a peculiar little group.

After eating the meal, you helped clean up. The dishes from the previous meal were still in the sink and you had a strong urge to just cleanse the entire room. Before you could do that, Shoto placed his hand on your elbow and took you upstairs. The room he led you in was small but enough to fit a king sized bed. Unlike the room below, this one didn’t seem as messy. You didn’t mentally criticize them on this too much because after all, the occupants was a kid, a talking fire, and an old woman. 

You both laid down on his bed and you were surprised by how bouncy it was. As Shoto cleaned up, the same warm feeling washed over you as you observed the man. You didn’t feel any discomfort at all, seeing as you were in a room alone with a man you just met. Instead, when Shoto laid himself on the bed and enveloped his arms around you, you let him. You took in his warmth and his scent wafted into your nose, relaxing you as well. His hand caressed your head in slow strokes while his legs entangled with yours.

“Now do you remember, y/n?”

Yes, you did. You remembered that this was the man rumored to steal people’s hearts. But you had also fallen in love with him. You knew that he loved you too. Everything in this castle felt so familiar. You felt like you were at home. In his arms. 

bnha masterlist

my 100 event

[writer-akihiko]

TWST Dorm Leaders + Singer!MC

So MC sings and what else to sing than Disney songs? Enjoy a romantic endeavor with your beloved dorm leaders! Covers are linked to the song name! Thank you to my child @cursedtwst for helping me with song choices. 

Rest of the dorm leaders under the cut. 

Malleus Draconia - Once Upon A Dream (Belle)

When he found out that you used to sing in your world, he wanted to hear you sing. He was quiet about it, not wanting to pressure you and especially not to remind you that you have somewhere to go back. Oh no, he had to keep his precious child of man here.

He brought you to his favourite hiding spot, surrounded by flowers in an empty field for a picnic. His close friends also came, bringing the foods and entertainment.

You actually had suggested the picnic to cheer up your Tsunotarou since he was quite sad. He was again not invited to a party at the Mostro Lounge.

You had your own selfish reasons for making a picnic… You planned to confess through singing. Lilia quickly caught on, making an agreement to handle the other two as you get together with Malleus.

You pretended to wander off, tossing away your slippers. Knowing the overprotective little dark fae, he'd follow you anyway.

You twirled around, humming to the tune. "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…"

Malleus, who had been watching you intently, was thrown off by your singing. So this is how his precious human sounded…

"I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam,"  You clutched your hands to your heart, pouring your soul into your tune. "Yet I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem…"

Malleus reddened at the selfish thought that the song was meant for him. The lyrics only made him adore you more than ever.

"But if I know you, I know what you'll do," You turned to the Prince himself, pulling him out of his hiding place. "You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream…"

As you hummed the bridge, you took his hand in yours and swayed together, laughing in song seeing how much he towered you.

Malleus was too stunned for words. His angel here was singing to him. What more could he ask for?

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…"

He grasped your hand, feeling how small your hand was against his.

"I know you, that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam,"  You brought your hand to his cheek moving away the hairs that shielded his beautiful coloured eyes from you. "Yet I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem…"

"But if I know you, I know what you'll do… You'll love me at once, the way you did…

Once upon a dream."

You hugged the larger fae, nuzzling your head into his chest. "I like you Malleus."

He couldn't restrain himself, picking you up and staring into your eyes as you did to his. You could see the blush that ran rampant on his cheeks, as his eyes panicked on what to do.

You kissed his cheek, him understanding it as a kiss of acceptance.

"Oh how romantic! Maybe I should take this to Cater to edit! It'll be viral!" Lilia's voice brought the attention of the loving couple.

Well, the picnic ended peacefully, save for the embarrassed screams of the Prince as he yells at his caretaker.

Riddle Rosehearts - Alice (Bruna Wesch)

Ace and Deuce found out you were singing to yourself with your precious guitar in the Ramshackle dorm alone. These two insisted that the next unbirthday they throw, you should definitely sing.

You seriously thought they were joking.

Ace stole your guitar from your room and here you were, about to sing in front of Riddle. It wasn't that you were scared no… It was just that your daft friends couldn’t understand the goosebumps you get at the thought of singing in front of your crush!

Ace and Deuce looked at you eagerly, presenting you your guitar. Cater already has his phone out, preparing to take a video.

You snatched your guitar out, deciding to just go with it. It's not like you have to confess or anything…

Riddle's stare at you made you tense up. Has he been looking at you this whole time? He kinda looks pissed… You decided to get on with it.

You start strumming, letting yourself relax, "Trippin' out, spinnin' around… I'm underground, I fell down… Yeah, I fell down…"

Your tone of voice surprised Rosehearts' audience. Starting to feel more comfortable, you raise your voice a little.

"I'm freakin' out; So where am I now? Upside down, and I can't stop it now…"  You stopped strumming. "It can't stop me now.. Oh~"

Riddle this whole time was impressed. Impressed was an understatement. He felt himself become more and more enchanted with every emotion as you sing it out loud.

"I~ I'll get by,"

"I~ I'll survive…"

Your strumming quickened, "When the world's crashin' down, when I fall and hit the ground, I will turn myself around; Don't you try to stop it! I~ I won't cry…"

You completely immersed yourself in the music, enjoying your guitar and the atmosphere, letting your head nod to the tunes.

"I found myself… in Wonderland…"

"Get back on… my feet again…"

"Is this real? Is it pretend?"

"I'll take a stand… until the end!"

Riddle felt the words flow through him…

As the final strums of the song vibrated through your fingertips, you finished your song.

They got up, applauding you. Riddle got up from his high throne, taking your hand in his.

"…Come and sing for me again please."

Well, here goes nothing.

You nodded, pecking the Queen of Hearts on the cheek before running off with your guitar.

"H-HOW RUDE! COME HERE SO I CAN RETURN THE FAVOUR!"

Oh silly Riddle… That's why YN fell for you in the first place.

Kalim Al-Asim - A Whole New World (Emma Heesters + Dan Berk)

Kalim just knew it! You were a singer! His princess was unfortunately too shy to sing a tune. He couldn't settle for this! If you can't sing alone, then he'll sing with you!

Kalim had arranged a sort of music night at the Mostro Lounge. He convinced you that it was a simple date night but you didn’t expect Jade Leech to announce you two as the next performers.

He gripped your hand, smiling at you. Your nervous self calmed down,  repeatedly telling yourself that Kalim was next to you.

The soft melody started and so did Kalim, "I can show you the world… shining, shimmering, splendid~"  He smiled at you, extending a hand. "Now tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?"

He pulled you close, "I can open your eyes… Take you wonder by wonder~ Over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride~"

Kalim held your hand, twirling you around. His melodious voice made you blush, wondering how on earth did you ever date someone like him.

"A whole new world~ A new fantastic point of view…" He sung out, always looking at you. "No one to tell us, "no" or where to go, or say we're only dreaming~"

Gathering your courage, you took the microphone and joined Kalim in the chorus.

"A whole new world…. A dazzling place I never knew,"  You continued.  "But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with you…"

"Now I'm in a whole new world with you…" Kalim sung after. His face turned red hearing his princess sing. Oh lovely you looked right now…

"Unbelievable sights… Indescribable feeling,"  You held Kalim's hand. "Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky~"

As you two sung through another chorus, you felt as if it was only the two of you there. Together…

"I'll chase them anywhere,"

"There's time to spare!"

"Let me share this whole new world with you…"

As the final notes of the song fell through, you and Kalim stared into each other's eyes, enjoying the magical bond that kept you glued to each other.

"For you and… me…"

The romantic moment was interrupted by the applause that the Lounge attendees thought that was well deserved. Kalim laughed, holding you up by your waist. "That was lovely my princess!"

Azul Ashengrotto - Part of Your World (Halsey)

[Lyrics were altered to suit the scenario]

After many days of insisting Azul to take you to the ocean, he gave in. Your puppy eyes made him give in. He did bring you to swim with him and the twins. He however, never transformed in front of you. You were as curious as ever, a little saddened that he didn't feel beautiful in front of you.

Jade told you that Azul wanted some time to swim in his octopus form for a bit. You watched as Jade and Floyd swum in the deeper water; too deep for your human self.

Instead you climbed on an overhanging rock, watching the twins swim. You decided to sing… after all Azul won't hear you…

"I wanna be where his people are…"  You hummed out, "I wanna see, wanna see 'em swimmin'… Flippin' around in the waters~"

Floyd heard you from afar, smirking to himself. Oh, Azul you made Shrimpy a little sad siren~

"Movin' your feet you don't get too far! Fins are required for swimmin', flippin',"  You joked to yourself. "Swimmin' along down a — what's that word again? – stream~"

You sighed, singing your thoughts out, "Down where they swim, down where they play, own where they stay all day undersea~"

"Wanderin' free…"

"Wish I could be…"

"Part of his world…"

"YN?!"

There Azul Ashengrotto was, red in the face, staring you up on that rock in an adorable octopus form…

"Azul?..."

You blushed, thinking about how long Azul had been there and probably how much he heard. From behind you, the twins grinned sinisterly as they lifted you up and tossed you into the ocean.

You screamed, but weren't covered in water as you assumed. Azul's soft but firm tentacles had caught you on instinct as he brought you down to face him properly.

"Um… I… liked you singing," He said, unsure how to approach the situation of the Leech twins literally throwing his crush into his arms.

"A-Azul… your… tentacle," You stammered, squirming in his tentacles.

He let go of you, settling you in the shallow waters.

The twins frowned, seeing how their plan didn't work too well. Oh well, there's always next time.

Idia Shroud - I Won't Say I'm in Love (Brittany J Smith)

When shy Idia, your crush, asked you to help you with his experiment, you could not say yes any faster.

Ace, Grim and Deuce kept teasing you on how quickly you agreed, not letting it down and even dragging Ortho with them too. This left you to be quite the tsundere.

You huffed at your friends, "If there's a prize for rotten judgement, I guess I've already won that…"  You sauntered away, crossing your arms. "No man is worth the aggravation… That's ancient history, been there, done that!"

The four joined in chorus, smiling at your denial, "Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'? He's the Earth and heaven to you~

"Try to keep it hidden? Honey, we can see right through you~"

"Girl, ya can't conceal it! We know how ya feel and who you're thinking of~"

"No chance, no way! I won't say it, no, no!"  You shook your head.

"You swoon, you sigh, why deny it, uh-oh!"  The quartet made love hearts with their fingers, surrounding you.

"It's too cliché!"  You retorted. "I won't say I'm in love!"

You walked through the gardens, unaware that Idia had settled in one of the bushes, keeping an eye out for his brother who had been hanging around a weird gang.

"I thought my heart had learned its lesson… It feels so good when you start out,"  You sung out as you walked around, catching Idia's attention. "My head is screaming get a grip, girl! Unless you're dying to cry your heart out~ Oh no!"

Idia turned to the three idiots who were dancing around you with his brother.

"You keep on denying who you are and how you're feeling-"

"Baby, we're not buying! Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling!"

"Face it like a grown-up. When ya gonna own up that ya got, got, got it bad?!"

"Give up, give in! Check the grin you're in love~"

Idia peaked out at you shaking your head and throwing your arms into X's. Your singing somehow calmed him despite you were retorting the idiot trio's claims.

"No chance, no way! I won't say it, no, no,"  You sung again. 

"This scene won't play, I won't say I'm in love!"  You said again.

"You're doin flips! Read our lips. You're in love!"  Grim sat on your shoulder, dancing and chuckling at your denial.

"You're way off base,"  You said to Grim. "I won't say it!"

"Get off my case!"  You yelled at Ace and Deuce. "I won't say it!"

It didn't deter the quartet.

"Now, don't be proud. It's okay you're in love~"

"Oh, at least out loud,"  You slump down to a pillar. "I won't say I'm in love…"

Ortho spots his big brother from a distance away and mouths to him: 'She's talking about you.'

This left his pale blue complexion burning a scarlet red, as he repeated the whole song in his head that was about him.

Oh, maybe it'd take more than a song and a dance to let the true confession come.

Leona Kingscholar - Can You Feel The Love Tonight? (Landry Cantrell + Brianne Brieno)

Of course, Leona brought you back to his hometown with Jack and Ruggie in suit. As you and Leona took your evening stroll, Ruggie pulls Jack to the side, spying on you two lovebirds.

"I can see what's happening," Ruggie said.

"I can't, what?" Jack asked, bewildered.

"And they don't have a clue," Ruggie continued.

"Who's they?" Jack asked again.

"They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line," Ruggie slung his arm over Jack's shoulder. "Our trio's down to two."

"Oh, I get it."

"The sweet caress of twilight," Ruggie exaggerated.

"Yep-"

There's magic everywhere," He sighed.

"It's everywhere," Jack commented.

"And with all this romantic atmosphere," Ruggie continued. "Disaster's in the air~"

"Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings,"  The lovely couple harmonised together.

You had been teaching Leona how to sing every time he'd take a nap on you.

"The world, for once, in perfect harmony with all its living things~"

"So many things to tell her…"  Leona sings to himself, pulling out a ring from his pocket. "But how to make her see… the truth about my past? Impossible! She'd turn away from me…"

You took a look at Leona who walked ahead, "He's holding back, he's hiding… But what? I can't decide… Why won't he be the king I know he is?"  You thought about Farena's talk. "The king I see inside?"

"Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings?"

Leona slowed down, taking you near him to twirl you across the gardens.

"The world, for once, in perfect harmony with all its living things…"

You brought the lion's forehead to touch yours, comforting him in a way he'd never felt.

"Can you feel the love tonight? You needn't look too far…"  The couple basked in each other's warmth, finding comfort in each other.

"Stealing through the night's uncertainties… Love is where they are~"

"And if he falls in love tonight…" Ruggie sniffled. "It can be assumed…"

"His carefree days with us are history," Jack added on.

"In short, our pal is… doomed!"

Later that night, before you rested in your sheets, Leona took the ring out, getting down on a knee.

The rest is history as they say.

Vil Schoenheit - I'm Wishing (Sierra Nelson)

You had stayed over at the Pomefiore dorm to… in simple words… observe your beautiful crush, Vil Schoenheit.

The little fluffy bunny Epel and you rescued from Rook's clutches cuddle into your arms as you sigh forlornly, near Vil's newly installed fountain.

"Want to hear a secret?" You mischievously told the fluffy bunny.  "Promise to never tell?"

You swayed your head, singing in your soft tunes, "We are standing by a wishing well…"

"Make a wish into the well… That's all you have to do,"  You recited, practicing your voice almost. "And when you hear it echoing~ You're wish will soon come true…"

The commotion of your voice called to Vil. He was wondering what was that melodious… BEAUTIFUL… voice that interrupted his skin care routine. There he saw you, sitting so elegantly with Rook's bunny in your arms as you sung like an angel from above.

He leaned against his window, lending his ear to your song.

"I'm wishing…"  The deep fountain echoed back.

"For the one I love,"  You professed. "To find me today…"

The one you love?! Why that must be no one but him!

"I'm hoping… and I'm dreaming of,"  You sighed dreamily. "The nice things he'll say…"

"Ah~"

As the sweet sound of your voice rung out through his courtyard, he let your melody help him continue his beauty care.

The moment you finished singing, he made his way down, hugging his little songbird.

"I heard you singing for me," He whispered into your ear, kissing your ear so tenderly.

You almost dropped the poor bunny as you blushed, being kissed by the one you love. Vil brought your face closed to his, staring deeply into your eyes.

"Only a sweet voice such as yours deserves to be worshipped by a queen like me~"

[ihearthes]

A Big Hit 

(Inspired by Harry’s Grammy Nominations)

Author: @ihearthes Pairing: Harry x Reader Insert (1st person) Rating: Fluff Word Count: 1364

24 November 2020

The rhythmic pounding of the small punching bag in the guest room woke me. Blinking, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with the back of my hand. What the fuck was he thinking?

“Jesus, Styles, it’s like the middle of the night,” I groaned, standing in the doorway as I leaned against the doorjamb and watched his lithe body work around the bag. “Barefoot even? What’s gotten into you?”

He blew his breath out steadily in between punches, grunting to me. “Love, it’s nearly 8:45. Not even close to the middle of the night.”

“Fine.” Crossing my arms, I continued to observe his footwork, listening to the forced air evacuating his lungs. “What’s on your mind?”

“Grammy noms today.”

Oh. Duh. I wanted to smack my forehead, but refrained. Fuck. How had this date snuck up on me? “What time are you due on set?”

He shook his head. “Not until noon. The anxiety is eating at me, though. I mean…” Dropping his stance and elbows, he starkly gazed at me. “If I’m not on the list, I’ll move on without blinking. But the lead-up to the event is…” He swallowed, and I watched his throat shift. 

“Sounds like you need a sparring partner. Let me grab my gear.”

“Love?” He called as I moved towards my room. 

“Yeah?”

“I won’t be gentle today.”

“No problem. I don’t like it when you pull your punches anyway.”

Quickly, I divested myself of my nightshirt (one of Harry’s Fine Line Live at the Forum shirts) and dragged on my workout gear, sans shoes. If he was doing this barefoot, I wasn’t going to risk stomping on his toes in my shoes. 

The bass and drums of LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out fill the room, and I wince, worried my neighbors might not appreciate the vibrating walls. Whatever though. If they were still asleep at this time of the morning, that was their fault. 

“Ready,” I announced, standing in front of him as I wrapped my hands before slipping into my boxing pads. “What drill first?”

“Jab, lead uppercut, lead hook.”

Nodding, I silently agree that this is the kind of workout he needs. “You loose enough for this one?”

“Yep. Just get ready.” He took his boxing stance, holding his arms out in preparation. 

“Loose, H. This isn’t supposed to be a powerhouse move. We’re working on fluidity, remember.” 

“Got it. Let’s go.” He practiced the sequence three or four times, shuffling his feet as he threw the light punches. 

“Double up!” Quickly, Harry repeated the series twice in a row without stopping. “Less body! More arm!” His form was slipping, and I knew his attention was drawn elsewhere. As he paused, shaking out his shoulder, I asked, “What time, darling?”

“Starts at 9, but my categories aren’t right away.”

Shit. Nine o’clock had ticked past five minutes ago. “Mind if I turn it on just to listen?” 

His nonchalant shrug wouldn’t have fooled anyone. “Whatever you want.”

Walking to the television I use to play workout tapes, I searched for the correct channel, switching off the stereo first. Landing on the network, I turned back to him, my hands up, the pads ready. The voice in the background droned on. 

“Okay. Let’s go three times in a row, shall we? Relaxed. Loose. Work your arm and not your body. Check your angles.”

The sweat began to pour from both of us as we focused on the workout at hand, pretending to ignore the noise from the television. Stopping for a moment, Harry grabbed his water bottle, squirting the liquid into his mouth. 

“Ready for the other side? Straight, uppercut, hook.” 

Immediately, Harry started throwing the reverse punches, pushing air out of his lungs as the nominees for Best Folk Album were being announced by Lauren Daigle. Her melodic voice carried through the space, punctuated only by the puffs of breath drawn from Harry, his arms chasing the oxygen around the room. 

Sharon Osbourne was up next, announcing names I couldn’t recall from comedy and visual media. Harry’s punches slowed as she began to reveal the nominees for Best Music Video. The smile that spread over his face when he heard the words “Adore You” started at the left corner of his mouth, overtaking his whole face as the dimple deepened until he was grinning like a jack-o-lantern carved by the most excited kid on the block. The punches renewed their efforts as he doubled up, nearly causing me to lose pace and drop the pads to my side.

On top of the console, Harry’s phone began buzzing repeatedly. 

“Harry!” I yelled, sure he would want a break to celebrate. 

“Don’t drop your hands, love!” His continued punches kept me on my toes. “I’ve got more categories coming, and I am about to burst from nerves.” 

Classical fields were divulged next, and I urged him on, “Let’s go between the two, H. Left combo and then right combo.” 

Dancing around each other, we continued practicing the boxing moves, our feet shuffling and scraping on the mats on the floor. R&B categories followed classical, and I was starting to sweat more from the nerves than the workout -- although the workout was a close second with Harry’s controlled punches soaring through the air as I attempted to catch them all with the mitts in a gentle way that would encourage him to keep moving. 

Megan Thee Stallion started with Best Solo Performance, and Harry’s punches fell harder through the first three nominees. When his name fell from her lips, Harry slipped and skipped a hook. 

“Want to stop now?” I asked. 

But he shook his head. “Keep going, love.” Picking up the punches, he pounded my mitts, my hands going numb. 

“Next up we have best pop vocal album. And the nominees are…” 

Harry dropped his hands, planting them on his waist, sucking in air as he bent over. 

“...Changes by Justin Bieber…” 

Harry’s head moved from side to side, his reaction directed to the floor, though I could guess at his thoughts. 

“...Chromatica by Lady Gaga…” 

Lifting his gaze to mine, he smiled a tight smile, and I could see the excitement tinged with nerves. 

“...Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa…”

His hand pumped into the air at his friend’s name.

“...Fine Line by Harry Styles…”

Dropping his hands to his sides, he stood up straight, his mouth gaping at me. “Did she just…? Did I hear her say…? Tears rose to his eyes, and he buried his face in his hands. “Shit. She did, didn’t she? Three nominations, baby.”

Megan’s voice droned on, but we were on an island of glee. His shoulders shook. I felt tears forming behind my eyes too. The biggest categories were yet to come, and we listened to no avail. But the thrill of the three nominations couldn’t be dampened by the lack of general field nominations. 

Stripping the pads off my hands, I made a running start and jumped into Harry’s arms, his glove-covered hands cradling my weight as I pressed my lips to his again and again. 

“Grammy-nominated musician Harry Styles,” I whispered to him between kisses, repeating the phrase multiple times. “Three-time Grammy-nominated musician Harry E. Styles. I’m so proud of you, darling.” Peppering his face with kisses, I wasn’t at all surprised as he spun us around so that my back slammed against the wall and he ground into me. 

“How do you think it will feel making love to a Grammy-nominated musician?” Harry demanded as he swirled his hips into my core. 

“Pretty fucking amazing like always,” I replied. 

The frenetic buzzing of his phone led to it being knocked to the floor, and we both laughed. 

“You better answer that. Your adoring public awaits. Put your mum on speaker. And Jeffrey too! I want to hear all of the celebration!” Dropping to the floor, I headed to the door. 

“Where are you going?” 

I planted one hand on my hip, cocking it in his direction, “If you think I’m celebrating my GRAMMY-NOMINATED boyfriend without champagne, you should think again!” 

As I sauntered off, I heard his laugh following me. 

Thanks to @melissas173 for the title. 

[nincompoopydoo]

DEBRIS AND MISERY

DOUBT MAKES THE STRONG WEAK ; PART 8 / ?

PAIRING: Loki Laufeyson x Female!Reader WORD COUNT: 3.5k SUMMARY: From concussions to destruction, you find yourself developing an odd trust in the last two people you would even begin to have faith in and when the apocalypse seems unavoidable, you discover that there may be more to the mystery of the universe. A/N: Well, this chapter is long. And mainly pertains around the theme of 'doubt'. A lot more of Sylvie stuff and Loki just having heart eyes the whole time. I love this chapter and I can’t wait to write more as the story ends. Please tell me what you love, hate, anything (maybe theories lol). Thank you for showing so much love. gif from this gifset by @kamalaskhans WARNINGS: Swearing. Apocalypse. Injuries. Blood. support my writing through ko-fi💖 MASTERPOST ; MASTERLIST

You were once a fighter.

Hunter E-87 was the name you once knew, hollered through different fields and dimensions in time and space. You fought for what you thought was right, pledging allegiance to a cosmic establishment that held all power to a single timeline and never questioned the works of the Time-Keepers. The Sacred Timeline is indeed sacrosanct, too important, too valuable to interfere. You fight in the name of the single thread of time, the bark of a tree, forbidden to bare branches of a potential multiverse. You fight because the thought of alternate timelines used to scare you. Yet, if alternate universes were meant to be, the lives you took and destroyed are now in the grasp of your bloody hands. You hold the responsibility of the death of the innocent, taking part in mass genocide.

But promises must be kept.

The thought constantly haunts you in your sleep. You have dreams of death, war, destruction, and famine from across the universe. People seem to glide like specters in the world built by your imagination and mind. You have seen a lot, more than any being in the universe should, but no one talks about the aftermath of witnessing the tragedy of the universe as time goes on and on. No one talks about what it does to the mind. Music from cassettes and the wonder of human space exploration were distractions to cope with the grinding hole in you and the fact you might be turning truly crazy.

Sometimes, you would like to be human—Fewer problems and less time to live.

You blame the sickening and bizarre vivid images that come and go whenever you close your eyes as a symptom of being a hunter. The others are stronger than you. Well, they act like they are. Becoming an analyst made you sleep better but there was always doubt. Sakaar made you doubt.

Doubt makes the strong weak. Doubt makes you weak.

“You startin’ to have doubts?”

Green eyes. They watch you with curiosity with a hint of amusement. You hear yourself hum. “Would it be bad if I said yes?”

He laughs. It’s mighty. “Yeah. Definitely bad.”

A beat of silence. You feel your eyes start to sting. “I couldn’t even tell my mom.” A laugh escapes your lips despite the hurt you feel in your chest. “Did you tell anyone? Your wife?”

You see him now, blonde hair slicked back and deep-set eyes. He shakes his head. “Nope. Not even my wife.”

“She’ll be proud, you know.”

“I know...So will your mom. Jesus, you’re gonna be the first woman on—”

Wake up.

“—Is she dead?”

The voice is familiar. It pulls you back to reality but right now, your eyes are too heavy. Doubt is the first emotion that waves through your brain before the process of pain can even occur—uncertain if you are dead or alive.

You can’t feel your limbs, they are too weak.

Doubt makes the strong weak. Doubt makes you weak.

Maybe, you are dead.

“This is your fault! You’re the one who swung that sword of yours to her head! You’re careless—”

Sword...Sword...Careless? You remember a train, a fight.

“Oh, I’m the one who’s careless? You’re the one who’s drunk!”

Drunk...Who was drunk?

Then, your voice echoes in your head, images of a certain brunette with a deep frown. He called you a mewling quim. You quoted Hávamál. You then left him and wandered through the other cabins of the train. He blew his cover. He got you into a fight.

Loki. Loki Laufeyson.

Son of a bitch.

Your eyes are wide open now. All you see are the faces of Loki and Sylvie, looming over you. Just two floating heads. Then, the pain arrives, coursing through the entire back of your head. You wince in immediate reaction and the floating heads turn to you in an instant.

What a way to wake up from a concussion.

You remember everything now, but you certainly don’t recall being on the outside of the train. Must have gotten thrown out. The thought angers you, irritation practically boiling to the brim. Yet, it’s your fault. You hadn't thought to babysit the very person you wish were dead. As your palm grips onto the dirt beneath, muscling all strength left to lift yourself. Your head feels light and heavy all at once. Not good.

“Are you alright?” is the question that flies from Loki’s lips, tinged with an emotion you never knew he had for another but himself—worry. Whether selfless or selfish, you wish to ignore the complexity of Loki’s reactions and possible change in character, especially towards you. Ever since you stepped foot on Lamentis, all you felt was pain. You have never been injured so much within the last few hours than in your entire life and weirdly, you feel fine.

Sylvie is quick to stand, watching the two of you work in tandem. His grip finds the curve of your shoulders as you stick your hand out to grip him by the bicep. At your touch, you notice how his arm stiffens ever so slightly. You don’t say anything.

Some things about Loki are best left unknown and unanswered.

Today is filled with a lot of getting off the ground in the most unceremonious way possible.

A deep exhale leaves your lips, wisps of your hair drifting with the brutal breeze from your nostrils. Beads of sweat trail along the curve of your forehead and the back of your neck. Some entangled with the strands of your hair. Your hands feel clammy and dirty but you run them to push your hair back and away from your face anyway.

“I’m fine,” you mumble, pulling yourself away from his touch.

You finally get a good look at the two. Loki looks like complete shit but Sylvie manages to maintain the regalness to the locks of her hair despite her opposing overall behavior. It’s the Asgardian blood coursing through her veins. You cannot hide your ancestors' blood. It’s hard to believe the two are the same—one being. Yet, it's believable when you’re angry at the two of them.

The two messed up your career, that’s why.

Unbothered and uncivilized. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.

As your eyes shift along the train tracks that meander along a gorge with steep rocky walls that leer above it, you catch sight of a spark by your feet, glinting under the iridescent sky.

It’s the TemPad, shattered into pieces; you recognize the color gold of its border.

Your eyes grow wide, mouth agape. You don’t even feel angry anymore, it’s more than that. You stick out your hand to gesture towards the destroyed device, “Is that—Is that the TemPad?” you ask as your other hand lifts to hold the side of your head. “Or am I just seeing things from the concussion?”

Sylvie is the one to speak. “It’s not the concussion.”

You suddenly feel like you’re burning.

If it were possible, you could have instantly killed him with a look.

“You. You killed us!” you step closer to him and for a moment, Loki doesn’t exactly know what to do. “So, it’s my fault then? You were the one who left me alone in the lounge.” are the words that leave his lips. Completely useless. Trying to diffuse the tension is the exact opposite of what he does.

His silver tongue isn’t so shiny and silver anymore.

You don’t pull your blow this time. Your palm strikes his cheek, rocking his head to the side. Your hand is oddly soft. Loki winces and you stand your ground. “You’re a jerk and an asshole. You’ve probably been called that for all your life and yet, here you are. Still, the most insensitive and pathetic man I’ve ever met,” you articulate your words with frustration and rage. You don’t raise your voice like before, it’s low and frightfully intimidating. “And I’m not your babysitter.”

—

Battles, ruination, and fracas gave a sense of familiarity to Sylvie in a time of an impending apocalypse. When worlds end, benevolence is resolute. The tragedy of the end of lost souls—afraid to die. But as daunting as the apocalypse is, the beauty of their souls finally returning to the universe protrudes amongst the debris and misery.

She sees herself in the two of you, as much as she doesn’t identify as a Loki anymore, and her hatred towards the TVA. You have a temper and he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.

You’re mysterious in an almost enchanting way and possibly significant as you seemed to be at first glance. Sylvie is highly curious about you.

You don’t stray too far from the group, only to find rest by the edge of a pit made by a crashing meteor. You sit with your back turned against the very two beings you distrust as you watch the border where the bustling city of Shuroo is based. Your guard is down and you don’t care at this point. Everyone is about to die anyway.

Sylvie’s gaze finds Loki who seems to be only watching the back of your still figure, eyes glinting with an emotion unknown to her. Possibly regret? Sylvie doesn’t know what regret looks like. But fear and anger, she feels it radiating from you. She knows it. Something tells her you’re not solely angry at her and Loki.

She finds herself drifting closer to you. You don’t move. She cautiously settles beside you. “You’re not hiding a knife somewhere, aren’t you?”

You merely scoff, caressing your head, “You’re the one to say.”

Sylvie blinks. Fair enough.

Silence. Sylvie’s eyes shift to the handkerchief tied around your arm, stained with blood. “How’s the arm?”

You hum. “Surprisingly, fine.”

Oh, Sylvie knows it’s fine. She knows what Loki did. She decides not to mention the scratch she made across your cheek.

“Did the slap make you feel better?”

The question is hinted at near sarcasm, but genuinely, she wants to know.

“Yes, it did. You should try it sometime.”

She simply hums. “I would have but you beat me to it.”

A turn of your lips as they curve into a small smile. Sylvie watches with an odd sense of satisfaction. “You know, I’m still mad at you. For what you did to me.” Your words are slow. You find yourself swallowing. “But it’s nothing compared to what the TVA did to you.”

Empathy. Is this what empathy feels like? The moment when someone finally understands what it’s like to be alone for so long. Your lives are different but they reflect in certain ways. You have had your fair share of living in constant fear and constantly running. Sylvie finds herself wanting to tell you that she hadn’t simply pushed you into Sakaar. When it’s a mission, things are never accidental. She always has a plan.

Yet, she chooses not to say anything.

You speak again but merely whisper, fidgeting with your fingers, “Before Sakaar—did you enchant me?”

It's as if you're reading her mind.

“Are you seeing things?”

After a pause, the fidgeting stops.

“I’ve seen things all my life, images. Brief and insignificant. But ever since I was in Sakaar, it’s gotten a lot harder to differentiate a dream and a memory.”

“That’s because they aren’t dreams.”

Your hardened gaze finds hers for a brief moment, nearly growing wide at her words but in an instant, your guard is up once you hear the shuffling of feet behind you where Loki lingers. The subject is dropped immediately. He meets Sylvie’s gaze, the two share a knowing look.

Your anger is provoked and well deserved and yet, the last thing he wants is to be your enemy. Loki doesn’t know why. He has lived a life full of them.

You’re different.

He stills, wondering if you’re going to lash out at him again but when he notices your slow breaths, he decides to sit next to you anyway, awkward glances to you in his periphery. A deep sigh escapes his lips, fiddling with his fingers. “What now?”

Sylvie is the one to answer. “I don’t know. You broke the TemPad.”

“Well—”

“And that planet is about to crash into us.”

Loki looks up at the nearing planet of Lamentis. He blinks. “Well, yes, but—”

“Yes, but what?”

“Well, the entire moon is destroyed, right?”

Sylvie is trying to suppress your growing annoyance. “Yep. And everyone on it is killed.”

But Loki pesters on. “Including us.”

She raises her voice. “Yes, including us.” Loki glances at you momentarily. A pause. He furrows his brows in thought.

“What about the ark?”

“The ark never leaves because it's destroyed.”

Suddenly, an epiphany, his eyes light up. He turns to you and Sylvie, “Never had us on it.”

You suddenly scoff at his words. “Are you suggesting we hijack the ark and make sure it gets off this moon?” You turn to him to only spot a vague smile playing upon his lips. He nods in return. “Sounds like a good idea to me, Agent.”

You merely blink, watching the way his eyes shift across your face. First, you’re struck with uncertainty. It’s a risk, a huge one but you know, risks are meant to be uncertain. Risks are also vital in success. Hesitation, doubt—they make you weak. This time, you want to be strong. Strong enough for one last push to save your life.

“Okay.” is what you say, your expression reflecting his.

For the first time, since he took your hand in Sakaar, you’re starting to trust him.

—

The walk to Shuroo seemed endless. You trail behind the two, feeling like you’re about to suffocate.

“—To preserve the connection, I have to create a fantasy from their memories.”

Loki and Sylvie had been conversing about the science and functions of enchantment in a rather surprisingly calm manner. Loki hums, amused by her elucidation. “And you call me a magician.”

Her expression is unchanged as she continues to trudge alongside Loki, ignoring his previous statement. “That young soldier from the TVA, her mind was messed up. Everything clouded. I had to pull a memory from hundreds of years prior...before she even fought for them.”

Loki halts abruptly in his step, hand flying to grab Sylvie’s arm. “What? What'd you say? Before she joined the TVA?”

Sylvie blinks. “Yeah. She was just a regular person on Earth.”

His mind starts to reel, face muddled with confusion. “I was told that everyone who works for the TVA was created by the Time-Keepers.”

“That's ridiculous. They're all variants, just like us. Including her.” Sylvie gestures discreetly to you who has stopped to take a breather, hands on your hips as you blink up to the sky.

You, Mobius, all of them. All variants.

“They don't know that. She doesn’t know that.” he breathes a terrified expression.

Sylvie looks at you from afar. You’re now looking at them with a bewildered expression. “What?” you call out, voice echoing through the wide area, in a somewhat defensive tone.

She turns to Loki once more, voice nearly faltering. “I have a feeling she already knows it.”

—

Loki doesn’t realize the unfamiliarity of hopelessness. Throughout his life, he was constantly surrounded by those with unfaltering determination—His brother, family, friends who were warriors, The Avengers.

Never was it known that he would see it burning in your eyes as they reflect the growing fire of the Ark, crumbling down, tongues of fire engulfing it whole before you. His heart burns with it as Shuroo falls quiet—only the sounds of the metallic crashing of the disintegrating parts of the ship falling from above and the screams of the rich and deemed worthy to live. Every Lamentian still alive held their breath, a moment's silence for their lives must end. Everything must end.

So close yet so far.

Sylvie is gone by the minute as the city starts to descend in terror and panic. He stands behind your still form, just watching your only chance of making it out, swallowed by its own billowing smoke. He reaches out for you, tugging you by the sleeve. “We should leave,” he says with a sudden sense to protect you. There isn’t much to do at this point. It doesn't matter if you are hit by the falling pieces of the Ark because you are all going to die anyway.

But he considers it a gesture, as insignificant and small it is. The least he could do is to distract you from the end, whether for a mere second or minutes.

“I know things haven’t been the best between us and I concede I bring out the worst in you, but I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

You turn to Loki with his sudden words. He watches the way your expression softens so gracefully, face adorned with gashes and wounds. Your mouth twitches as you respond with a gentle voice. “I forgive you.”

Three words. Very powerful words.

His heart skips a beat.

You find Sylvie at the brink of the city, sitting on a stretched slab of rock amongst the dirt, watching the horizon where the planet starts to meet the moon. Loki still has his hand around your arm, but you don’t complain. It’s your only source of support at the moment. It’s an unconscious move, but everything about it feels right when the two of you settle beside her, shoulders brushing against each other. It only makes sense to want to feel the nearness, the closeness of another as the light at the end of the tunnel begins to dim.

It’s impending. It’s scary.

“I remember Asgard.”

Sylvie’s voice trembles, her eyes are somber.

“Not much, but I remember. My home, my people, my life. Then, the TVA showed up, erased my reality, and took me, prisoner. I was just a child.”

You turn to her, guilt bubbling in your chest, but you don’t say anything. You let her speak. It’s only right.

“I escaped.” she breathes, blinking the brimming tears in her eyes away. ”Stole a TemPad and I ran for a long, long time, which really sucked. Everywhere and every-when I went, it caused a Nexus event.”

Sylvie turns to you with a melancholic gaze. “The universe wants to break free, so it manifests chaos. Like me being born the Goddess of Mischief. But to you and the TVA, I’m not supposed to exist.”

For so long, you hadn’t realized the consequences of your work at the TVA. You believed you were right. That erasing, resetting realities were meant to be. You cannot comprehend how it only occurred to you to question the authority of the Time-Keepers over time itself after Sakaar. All those years of being ignorant and selfish. You hadn’t realized. You never did.

But now you know.

Sylvie continues, gaze shifting away from you. “I figured out where to hide. And so that's where I grew up, the ends of a thousand worlds. Now...that's where I'll die.”

Then, silence. It sits heavily between the three of you.

“The universe—isn’t she beautiful?” Your voice is soft, eyes trained on the horizon—a fleet of asteroids, they reflect the end. But they seem to dance to the silence of the apocalypse, drifting across the stratosphere, lining the firmament. Loki’s gaze shifts to you, training on every curve of your face and the tears slipping down your cheeks. He agrees, the universe is beautiful.

You’re beautiful.

“She brings turmoil, agony, and destruction but in all her flaws, there’s beauty in her very existence.”

Your hands find Sylvie and Loki’s hands, holding on to them tightly as you fight the wavering of your voice.

“You...Both of you might be the epitome of chaos but you must know that you have such beautiful souls. All of us, we're her children...and if she is beautiful, so are we. And the Universe is always right. If she created you then we are wrong.”

Sylvie’s face is soft. Loki squeezes your hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I should have known from the start...that the TVA was lying to all of us. I should have questioned. I should have doubted—”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault,” she says, smiling with saddened eyes.

You laugh. You don’t know why, but you do. Maybe, it’s because you know you are a part of the problem anyway, even if you were just doing your job.

You find Loki’s gaze that’s already on you. You sigh and speak through a whisper. “I’m sorry for slapping you.”

His lips curve into a grin, eyes crinkling like your own. “It was well deserved, but I forgive you.”

Fingers entangled with the hands of two unlikely people, you finally realize what it truly feels like to not be alone. To be in the company of someone you want to be with.

“Now long now.” Those three words leave the very lips of Sylvie and your chest feels like it’s about to collapse.

You never knew you were afraid of death, yet here you are—terrified.

The ground shakes beneath you. It’s dark and there’s fire everywhere. A meteor collides to the ground just across the way, it sends smoke billowing to its surroundings faster than you can blink.

Even in the last seconds of your life, you have doubts remaining. What if the universe isn’t always right?

Then, through the growing dust, you see a spark, like lightning. A glint of a figure, standing before you. White, pure, and serene. You’re standing now, staring ahead. Sylvie and Loki cease to exist in your mind as they gaze at you with bewilderment. They anxiously call you by your name but you don’t hear it. There’s only silence now, you don’t hear anything but the ringing in your ears.

A voice, she speaks with dignity. A voice so familiar.

“Doubt makes the strong weak, my child.”

Then, you hear it. A soft hum—a Time Door glows warmth amid your impending death.

Suddenly, she’s gone.

TAGLIST:

@lareinedususpense

@poubxlle

@mystoragehatesme

@the-maroon-panda

@kashasenpai

@nyxrae

@johnmurphys-sass

[just-my-fandom]

Death Awaits (Vanya Hargreeves x Reader)

Summary; When Vanya Hargreeves wife is put in a coma thanks to Hazel and Cha-Cha, the apocalypse arises. The other Hargreeve siblings must do all they can to stop the apocalypse, starting with making sure Y/N wakes up from her coma.

Request; Umbrella Academy Vanya story- where reader isn’t apart of the 43 children but she has powers, and she is with Vanya when Cha Cha and Hazel attack the manor, and she helps the others fight them off-her powers being able to control earth, and water, and air to where she can like cut off people’s breaths lmao fiesty- but Cha Cha gets a shot at the reader and Vanya has to watch the reader collapse with blood loss? Thanksss

Request 2; I know you said you haven’t watched Season 2 yet (Or even finished Season 1) but AH please write a story with Vanya where the reader somehow finds Vanya after they are thrown into the 1960s and Reader actually lands with Vanya and she’s scared Vanya won’t remember her?

Warning(s); Gunshots, fighting, near death, angst.

A/N; I finally finished the show! I had a lot of fun doing this story. It is EXTREMELY long. Sorry.

Another A/N; Leonard is JUST A FRIEND. Like, reader and Vanyas best friend kinda shit.

Date started; Demember 16, 2020

Date published; December 16, 2020

. . .

“Too high,”

Vanya grunts in slight irritation at your comment. Her hand slides up her violin to fix the miss-pitch of her note, eyes barely glancing at where you sat on her bed in the manor.

Your legs gently swayed, wearing black riding boots- acquaintanced with a checkered shirt you had bought not too long ago with dark jeans. Leaning on your knees, you watch as Vanya repeated her line of notes, smiling when the wrong note is now fixed,

A slight jerk of her hand causes Vanyas note to hit too low, her shoulders dropping in defeat as she huffs a breath, “It’s never right,”

“Not if you give up that easily,” You raise an eyebrow, your wife copying your motion, “Breathe, baby. You’ve got this. There’s no one else in the room but me,”

Vanya smiles, tilting her head down before raising her violin to her shoulder, starting from where she had first messed up.

A muffled gunshot directs your attention to the door, going unheard by your wife due to the music right against her ear, so when she sees your brows pinch and your body move to stand up, she stops to watch, “What is it?”

On cue, two more gunshots ring, louder, Vanya setting her violin down gently enough despite being in a rush, following after you with you already feet ahead,

You skid to a stop at the bottom of the stairway, two masked figures standing back to back with Luther on one side, Diego on the other, and Allison opposite of you,

“Stay back,” You demand to the woman behind you, Vanyas eyes shifting to the back of your head before she steps back, moving to the empty hall feet from her,

You move three steps forward before raising a hand, fingers curling as you watch the earth under you raise, the masked killers looking down when the ground cracks beneath their feet, both pushing away from each other to avoid being dropped into the earths crust, now raising their guns to you,

A gust of wind forces their guns into the air and behind them, free hand raising to throw off their masks, revealing one male, and one female,

Your fingers clench on your left hand to wrap an invisible field around the males neck, his hands instantly raising in reflex in an attempt to pry the false pressure off,

Before the woman could run back for her gun, a bubble of water wraps around her head, and the Hargreeves siblings are forced to watch her hold her breath in a panic,

“What do you want?” You hiss, moving closer to slightly drop the water from her mouth, allowing her to gasp in a choked breath,

“We just want the boy,” Cha-Cha spits, your eyes narrowing- Five. “And we’ll be on our merry way,”

“Well he’s not here,” You flick your hand to where Cha-Cha is thrown back into the wall, turning your attention to the male, Hazel. He has now turned blue due to his circulation for air being cut off, a slight smile in your face.

You drop your hand so Hazel dropped forward with his hands on his knees, gasps wheezed as he coughs and hacks for air. You lift both hands so walls of rocks came from the ground, pinning at his sides so he yelled in pain at the pressure of his body.

Then you feel it. Vanya sees it. They all see it. Your powers screech to a halt when the bullet pierces the front of your shoulder, the bolders dropping to release Hazel to collapse, your eyes widening when you see Cha-Cha lower her used gun.

Diego is first to lunge forward, catching the top half of your body before you could fully collapse, your vision already falling black before Vanya could make it to your side,

“Y/N!” Vanyas voice is high pitched, breathy, in alert, “Oh my God,”

“Get Grace,” Luther demands, jabbing his finger to Allison, who stood in high alert,

“Now!” Diego and Vanya shout, Vanya pulling off her button up so she was left in her sweater, pressing the button up to where your white and black shirt was already stained dark red,

Vanya forces herself to look up to your face, eyes shut and skin pale, Diego’s finger pressing to your neck in search for a pulse,

“We can’t wait for Grace,” He hisses, moving to lift you off the debris littered floor, Vanya following, staring at the blood that stained the ends of her sleeves,

She’s quick to follow after her brother, the robot she called her mother calmly waving Diego into the medical room that had been used too many times, Diego lowering your body into the table so Grace cut the front of your shirt, revealing the bullet wound that Vanya forced herself to look away from,

“Pogo,” Grace calls, softly, pulling on gloves as she glanced to the ape, “Please escort the children out,”

“Wait,” Vanya pleas, brows pinched as she steps up to the table, but Diego is swift to catch her at her front, leading her backwards to the door Luther and Allison stood, “I need to be with her,”

“Grace has excellent medical experience. Miss Y/N is in great hands,” Pogo reassures, Vanyas eyes snapping up to your face, before she allows the door to shut, her chest tight with fear.

. . .

“I always knew your family having powers was weird,” Leonard lowers his steaming cup from his lips, frowning, “But now it’s just scary,”

“I know,” Vanya murmurs, stirring her cup mindlessly, “Y/N was just trying to protect my family,”

“How-,” Leonard clears his throat, “How is she? By the way,”

“She’s resting. At home. She hasn’t woken up yet,” Vanya shuts her eyes, pressing her hands to her eyelids, “My tryouts for the front chair is this afternoon. I don’t know if I can do it,”

“Dont do that,” Leonard shakes his head, Vanya lowering her hands to pinch her brows, “Dont put yourself down because Y/N isn’t physically here. Just,” Leonard pauses, hand waving in thought, “Is there anything that Y/Ns ever said that just- stuck to you?”

“Breathe, baby. You’ve got this. There’s no one else in the room but me,”

Vanya smiles, nodding, slowly, “Yeah. Just this one thing. It’s always been a constant reminder she gives me when I’m rehearsing. No one else but her is in the room. Even when someone else really is in the room,”

“See?” Leonard chuckles, sipping the last bit of his coffee, “Y/N gives off that effect to make you believe what she says. She knows it’s a sense of comfort for you,”

“She’s always been good at that,” Vanya murmurs, watching Leonard set down his mug and nudge her arm, standing up,

“C’mon. I’ll walk you home. We can get your apartment nice and cozy for when Y/N gets back,”

. . .

“What is your name again?”

Vanya regrets it. She regrets everything. Coming to this audition, letting you nearly give your life for her family. She regrets it.

“Vanya,” She cant stop how low her voice is, but the conductors booming, louder, please, demands her to state, “Vanya Hargreeves,” Four notes higher.

“Right,” The conductor clicks his tongue, looking up at Vanya on the stage which makes her want to run off, “Well?”

“Breathe, baby,” Vanya nearly hears you say, as she lifts her violin to her shoulder, “You’ve got this,” She raises her bow, “There’s no one else in the room but me,” And plays,

She finishes her last note with a pause, terrified of opening her eyes, but when she does and sees the conductor staring at her in awe, she can’t help the breath she lets out, head tilting back with a smile of relief.

She had gotten the front chair.

. . .

A short gasp enters your lips. Whining out in pain, you force your head to the side. Home. How did you get here? The academy-

You sit up, shortly, crying out at the sting of pain it caused to your shoulder, eyes pinching shut before you raise your head, looking around.

“Three new voice messages,” The voicebox of your phone startles you to cover your face, heaving out an exhausted breath, “Hey, Y/N. Just checking on you in case you wake up and I’m not home,” Vanyas voice speaks, your head raising. “I’m currently at rehearsal, on March 29th, about four in the afternoon. I love you. Call the Academy or the theater if I’m not home,”

“Y/N, it’s Allison. I haven’t heard from you, not sure if you had woken up. But if you have, please call me back. Vanyas went missing. I think she’s with Leonard,”

“Leonard?” You push off the bed, stumbling into the kitchen. You lean against the wall beside the phone, running a hand down your face. Vanyas keys were gone. As was her violin,

“Hey, Y/N?” Diego’s voice comes next, “You remember that apocalypse? Yeah. Vanyas the cause. Get your shit together and meet us at the theater the night of the concert. We need you,”

Your eyes widen, flickering around for your shoes before you grab your keys, moving out the door with a shaky hand on the door, “That’s tonight,”

. . .

“What the hells going on?” Your voice startles four of the Hargreeve siblings to turn around, all watching you rub your patched shoulder,

“Y/N!” Klaus cheers, arms up, “Youre awake!”

“Vanya has powers,” Luther hisses, your eyes flicking to him, “She’s out of control, starting with slicing Allison’s neck,” He jabs a finger to said woman, where you see a patch at her neck,

“Why are we here?” You exhale, Diego stepping up,

“The apocalypse starts today. And you had hell of fucking timing waking up. You’re going to be our distraction,”

“Distraction, how?” You demand, Allison holding up her finger before jotting down words on her notepad,

She’s been scared you wouldn’t wake up. She may calm if she sees you.

“What triggered them?”

“Leonard?” Diego questions, “Yeah. He manipulated her for her powers. Good thing he’s dead now, huh?”

“Leonard’s dead?” You hiss, Luther shaking his head at you,

“We don’t have time. You need to go. Vanya needs to see you,”

You nod, shaking your arms out and wincing at the pull it gave your shoulder, moving forward to the entrance to the audience.

Your footsteps remain slow as you move down the walkway, eyes firm on Vanyas seated figure at the front of the stage. Her eyes remained a bright blue- nearly white, on her paper.

Her eyes flick up at the sight of movement, meeting your own so you stop your footsteps, smiling tearfully at where she sat. Her lips pull into her own smile, pausing slightly,

“There’s no one else in the room but me,”

Her hand is quick to catch up to her song, your feet moving back down the walkway, screeching to another halt when her head snaps to the side, in time for Diego and Luther to rush out onto the stage,

You watch in alarm as she stands up, a wave of blue thrown off her bow so Diego and Luther are knocked off the stage, the audience around you shrieking in fear and running off in large groups,

“Vanya!” You call, over the panicked shouts of the men and women around you, moving up to the stage, “Baby! I’m here!”

Her glowing eyes force themselves to look down at you, waving her bow so the musicians behind her sat back down, her jaw clenching,

“Y/N, get down!” A rough tug on your injured arm causes you to cry out, Vanyas eyes opening to see Diego pull you behind a row of seats, your back falling against his chest with a short gasp, your hand pressing to your shoulder,

“I need to get to her!” You heave, looking across the walkway to Luther and Allison, “She’ll listen to me!”

Allison shakes her head, gesturing to her own arm. “Screw the gunshot wound,” You hiss, Diego’s attempt to catch your arm when you stand up failing, where you stand in the middle of the walkway,

Luther and his siblings are quick to surround you, “Here’s how it goes!” Luther starts, “We go at her from all angles,”

“I call front,” You state, moving around him to jump onto the stage, stopping feet from your wife, “Vanya!” You plea, hand up as she continued to play, her suit now white, “Baby- it’s me! I’m okay!”

Her eyes don’t leave yours as you take another step forward, before she raises her bow, your body quick to drop before the wave of blue could hit you, the four boys behind you lifted into the air, her power quick to suck the life from their bodies,

You look up in a panic, pushing to stand up in a rush, crying out when a gunshot rings through, dropping the four brothers to the ground. Your arms jolt out to catch Vanyas fallen figure, your shoulder screaming in pain as you lower yourself to your knees, Vanyas head rested in your lap,

“Vanya!” You cry, hand running down her hair as your free pressed to her neck, “No! No, baby-,”

Your sob cuts short when feeling her pulse and no blood, looking up at Allison behind you with a false gun in her hand. “You didn’t shoot her,” You choke out, looking back down to the woman in your hands, “Oh, my god,”

You lean down, lips pressing to Vanyas forehead, sniffling as you clutched her hand in yours on her chest, “I’ve got you, sweetheart. You’re okay,”

“We did it,” Luther heaves, Klaus moving to point at the window in the ceiling,

“Then what’s with the giant moon rock flying towards earth?”

You look up, eyes blurred with tears, sniffling as you look back down to your wife, fingers tucking her hair away from her eyes.

“So much for saving the world,” Klaus mumbles, your head leaning against Vanyas as your eyes shut, hiccuping.

“This doesn’t have to be the end,” Five rushes, moving next to you and Allison knelt by you, “I have a way out of here. I just need you to trust me,”

“Five,” You call, now looking at him, “I trust you,”

You feel your body lift off the stage, Vanyas body leaving your arms so you flailed in mid air, yelping when you are dropped onto the concrete just seconds later

Dallas, Texas, 1963

“Shit,” You whisper, looking up at where the blue vortex vanished, “Shit. Shit! Vanya!”

“Miss?” You look over, to a blonde woman standing with her son, panic on her face, “I have a woman saying her names Vanya. Might she be who you’re looking for?”

“Oh my gosh,” You mutter, nodding as you push off the floor and follow her to her car, where you see two bystanders helping Vanya off the floor, “Hey! Vanya, are you okay?”

“I think so,” She murmurs, taking your arms as she stands, her eyes flicking to your patched chest, “What happened to you?”

“You don’t remember?” You whisper, brows furrowed, your hand sliding to her cheek. You turn to face the woman from before, “Ma’am, do you have somewhere we can go? She needs to be checked up on,”

“Did I cause it?” The woman, Sissy, panics, moving up to you, “I didn’t see her, I swear,”

“It’s okay,” You breathe, and look back to Vanya, your eyes teary, “You’re okay,”

She nods, warily, letting Sissy move you to her car.

. . .

“I’m sorry, I still don’t understand,” Vanya exhales, leaning forward on the couch you both sat on in Sissy’s house, “We’re married?”

“Yes,” You nod, licking your lips in fear, “Is that okay? We- we don’t have to,” You pull your hand from where you reached for her own, Vanya shaking her head as she takes your hand, tightly,

“No- I mean- yes, it’s okay,” She smiles, your own lips pulling upwards, tiredly. You lean forward, allowing your forehead to knock hers.

“You two look like you’ve had a long day,” Sissy speaks up, handing you a cup of (favorite/warm/drink), “I only have one guest bedroom,”

“I can take the couch,” You heave, reassuringly, Vanyas brows pinching as she tugs at your hand,

“We can share, Y/N,”

“You barely remember me,” You murmur, clenching your jaw and laughing, tearily, “Why would you want to sleep with a woman who you don’t know?”

“I may not know you but I trust you,” Vanya states, raising your hand and hers to show the rings you had, “You say we’re married. I will keep trying to regain my memories as long as I can to remember our wedding day,”

Your eyes flick up to hers, smiling, weakly, with a nod, sniffling as tears began to refill your eyes. Your hand raises to wipes your cheek, Vanyas smile dropping in worry as her hand touches your jaw, directing your attention to her, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” You whisper, shaking your head, “It’s just been a very long day,”

You suck in a deep breath and sniff, looking up at Sissy who smiled, sympathetically, “Do you kind if I borrow your shower? And maybe some help rewrapping this?” You lift your bandaged shoulder, Vanyas hand falling from your face to her lap as Sissy nods, gesturing you to follow her down the hall.

You run a hand through your damp hair, silently shutting the bedroom door behind you,

Your eyes shift to Vanya on the bed, resting in a pair of Sissy’s clothing, same as you, “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” You move to the bed, Vanya looking up at you- finally seeing the exhaustion in your eyes. What had happened to you today?

“Of course,” Your wife murmurs, extending her hand for you to take so you slide underneath the covers,

“I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” You whisper, now on your side to face her, “You don’t even know me,”

“But I feel like I do,” Vanya corrects, watching as the tear in your eye slipped from the corner and down your nose, “I’m trying to understand, but I can’t do that without you,”

Your lips purse to stop the sob in your throat, hand raising to cover your pinched eyes. “Hey,” Vanya panics, shaking her head as she slides her hand to the back of your head, guiding you to rest against her chest, “No no, please don’t cry. I’m sorry,”

You let your arm slide to her backside, tightly, hiccuping against the skin of her collarbone, “No, I’m sorry. I’m so emotional and tired, and I want things to go back to normal,”

“I know,” Vanya brushes her lips against your hair, her free hand dragging her nails soothingly across your upper back, “We don’t have to talk about it anymore. What do you want me to do?”

A pause, “Just hold me,” You whisper, leaning your head back to look at her, “Please,”

Vanya nods, quickly, her eyes flicking to your lips before she looks back up to your eyes, your body pushing forward to force your lips against hers.

Vanya exhales sharply against your mouth, her fingers tightening in your hair as you peck her lips, once, twice, barely pulling away so you still felt her breath on your skin,

“I love you, Vanya. I wish I could’ve helped you,”

Vanyas brows pinch, wanting to question what you had meant, but she only finds herself pulling you back in, allowing her lips to recollide with your own, slow against the darkness of the bedroom.

[hotdogct]

under the same sky ||| teaser

“An age where you feel like you could love anyone, where you put everything on the line for the smallest of things. Eighteen. Adults say that it’s an age where we laugh if a leaf tumbles by. But back then, we were more serious than any adult, more intense, and had our strength tested...That was how our eighteen was beginning.”

-Sung Shi-Won, 응답하라 1997.

Synopsis: 1999. Amongst the sea of white raincoats and balloons belonging to Club H.O.T. you befriend Kim Jungwoo - a boy with a secret - who immediately fills your world with vivid color. With the new millennium approaching almost as quickly as high school graduation, your heart belongs to one man only: Kangta. And as his own future looms in the distance, Jungwoo can’t decide if merely idolizes the man, or if he wants to be the next Kangta.

He is certain of one thing, however: he is absolutely smitten by you.

Pairing: Student!Jungwoo x (f) Student!Reader

Genre: late 90′s!au. fluff, slice of life. friends-to-lovers, angst-ish. painful ending, you’ve been warned. 💀 Word Count: 10k++++ (teaser: 1.5k) Release Date: ???

Snoopy0219: how am i going to find you tomorrow! Snoopy0219: should i sing out ‘baaa baaaaa’ like i’m looking for a sheep in a pasture?? Baabaakangta: hahahhahahahahhahahaaaa please Baabaakangta: would you actually?? Snoopy0219: ;) you underestimate me Snoopy0219: do you have a pager?? lets exchange numbers Snoopy0219: or you could dress up as a sheep hehe Snoopy0219: that would be one way to have kangta notice you!!! Baabaakangta: >:( not. funny. Baabaakangta: i’ll be wearing a cow print hat, i’ll have a snoopy related gift sitting outside my bag?? Snoopy0219: okay!! i’ll go up and down the line ‘baa baaaaaaa’ing until i find you!! ^__^ Snoopy0219: see you tomorrow, sheep!!!!!!

You nervously look around as you settle into your spot in line, in no immediate rush to sit down on the hard concrete. While there weren’t many others amongst the crowd, it dawns on you you aren’t the only one sporting a big, fluffy, cow print bucket hat. Thinking back to your conversation with Snoopy the night before, you pull the small dog plush you had bought as a gift for your new friend out of your drawstring bag, making sure it would be visible to anyone passing by. 

Time slowly passes once you sit. At first you’re eager to fidget with your pager - sending a quick ‘8282’ to Snoopy, checking nervously every few minutes for a reply. Eventually the device vibrates in your lap, notifying you that she was on her way. The atmosphere was getting livelier by the minute, with fan groups dispersed neatly all around the perimeter of the arena, identifiable immediately by the color of their balloons and raincoats. Fan club leaders equipped with bullhorns led their respective contingents in song and chants, a preview of the many performances to come later that evening. Club H.O.T. was no exception, with girls going up and down the ever-growing line handing out support goods and spare white balloons, while ‘Hope’ played on repeat through a boombox towards the front of the queue. When you first arrived, the unexpected fervor of fanchants made you flinch, but after a couple of minutes you found yourself joining in, mindlessly adding your voice to the collective. 

All of your senses were overwhelmed. There wasn’t much time for your mind to ruminate anxiously about finally meeting Snoopy face to face. Nothing about her had seemed dangerous - which is why you extended the invite in the first place. On the very slim chance that she turned out to be a creep, she’d be insane to harm you in such a crowded place. You weren’t really worried about getting along with Snoopy - you knew that wouldn’t be a problem from your extensive chat logs. Rather you were terrified of what she would think of you - if she would even want to be your friend after meeting you in person...

“Baa baa?”

Your pulse increases rapidly, hearing the agreed upon saying that you and Snoopy had laughed about last night. But when you stand up and turn around to get a good first look at your new friend, your jaw drops open.

Standing before you, scratch that - above you is a...boy? He towers over you, black hair with messy overgrown bangs that surely had to impact his field of vision, framed in contrast by the hood of his standard issue white raincoat. His features were round - expressive eyes, button nose, full cheeks and chapped lips, currently pressed together and curved upward in a smile. He blinks once, twice, tilts his head slightly to the side, much as a dog might. 

“Baa baa? It’s me, Snoopy.”

Unbelievable, you think to yourself. It takes you a moment to find your voice amidst the living nightmare you suddenly were inhabiting, but you knew you had to be assertive and stand your ground.

“Did she really send her brother to prank me?! Get lost.”

If the boy was insulted, he sure didn’t look it. He was unfazed - the same soft smile remained on his face despite your hostility, as if he was aware of something you weren’t.

“Sheep, it’s really me, honest.” 

“Prove it.”

You regret your words the moment they leave your mouth. Without hesitation or warning, the boy swiftly closes the gap between you two, his face too close for comfort as it grazes past your own; his hot breath tickling your forehead, cheek, and finally your ear, where he whispers:

“I know aaaaallllll about that dream you had the other day, the one where you ran into Kangta at the convenience store and then, you know...~~’ 

Stunned into silence, cheeks-practically-burning-off-of-your-face-they're-so-red, you resist your immediate urge to slap this guy across the face, the nerve of the pervert…! Instead you thrust your arms out, making contact with his chest and successfully managing to push him away. He stumbles two, three steps back, his hands up in defense.

“T-that was in confidence, you jerk!” you stutter out, looking down at the ground and praying your beet red cheeks would calm down sooner rather than later, covering them with your hands.

The boy laughs - rather loudly, melodically, and pulls a pager out of his back pocket. Seconds later, the telltale notification lands on your respective device. The sharp features of your face softened slightly at the realization. Snoopy, he really was...

Lifting your head back up, you scan the boy standing in front of you over once, twice - this time taking notice of his lanky frame, narrow shoulders, tiny waist. Certainly non-threatening, but you’re still skeptical.

“I’m really sorry, it was never my intention to mislead you. Let’s start this over.” the boy clears his throat, and then bows, softly. “It’s nice to meet you! I’m Snoopy, but since that hasn’t really worked out...you can call me by my actual name - it’s Jungwoo.”

“Uh-huh, Jungwoo. Is this how you pick up girls? Chat them up on Club H.O.T. and then-”

“I wasn’t lying about my love for H.O.T.!” He interrupts you, hands waving wildly in the air. “I think they’re the coolest!” 

At this he steps back and begins dancing the all too familiar choreography for “Candy”, singing out loud to the chorus timidly. You dimly recall Snoopy Jungwoo mentioning the hours he would spend learning each new dance routine, and the effort clearly showed - his movements bright and sharp throughout the chorus. You could’ve sworn he was defying gravity when he jumped - you had never seen someone so lightweight on their feet before.

And yet your expression was unreadable - mind a blur on account of the entire situation unfolding in front of you. Jungwoo notices this as he finishes, the smile dropping from his face as he catches his breath. Silence falls briefly between you both.

“...you really think I’d travel all the way here from Gimpo for a joke?”

There was now a tinge of sadness apparent in Jungwoo’s voice, and guilt washes over you in a sudden, cold wave. You can feel his eyes on you, the weight of your initial cruelty and skepticism like a hundred stones in each pocket.

“I love dancing, I love singing,” he continues. “I genuinely think H.O.T. are the best, are the coolest. I’m studying to be an engineer - I love school, I get good grades. Why can’t I enjoy both things?” When you fail to come up with any semblance of a retort, Jungwoo sighs, shifts his weight back and forth on his hips. 

“That's why I didn’t tell you the truth. It’s why I’m here now. If word got out back home that I was a card carrying Club H.O.T. member...” he fishes around for his wallet in his back pocket, fumbles through the card slots until finding his membership card, showing it to you with shaky hands, “I wouldn’t hear the end of it.”

There, printed in clean handwriting, was his name: 김정우.

You believed him by now - honestly you had the moment your pager went off while he was standing right in front of you. Snoopy, Jungwoo - whatever they wanted to call themselves - was your friend. What difference did his gender make, anyways? With a firm mental reminder to not share any of your dirty daydreams about Kangta going forward, you decided to finally drop your guard. It was time to have some fun.

“Some advice?” Jungwoo looks up at you upon hearing your voice, in the middle of putting his membership card back in his wallet. “If you don’t want your friends to find that card, maybe don’t carry it in your wallet.”

Jungwoo struggles for a moment before figuring out you were screwing with him. Once he puts two and two together, it doesn’t take long for his boisterous, musical laugh you heard minutes prior to fill the space between you and him, head thrown back to the late afternoon sky. It was now his turn to feel flustered - although his cheeks seemed to take on a much more flattering pink tone to them when embarrassed, a trait you were quickly envious of. An unspoken concession occurs between the two of you as you sit down.

To Jungwoo, however - it felt much more like falling.

authors note: my first ‘big’ fic!!! my baby!!! she’s very much still a work in progress, but after nearly 2 months of wanting to commit to writing something longer and then sitting on my bum lol. this is what i’ve got so far, but i do have a full outline and i’m chipping away at it day by day. any kind of feedback or general excitement for this would be so appreciated 🥺

[oolunar-spams]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

This chapter was written while listening to ShadowAtNoon's Desert music.

With her mouth running dry, stuck in the unbearable heat, she looked for any source of water nearby. Walking around on the soft yet rugged feeling of sand, the only thing they saw was fields of white-ish gold. They kept on walking for hour after hour, with no end in sight.

"If there’s nothing at the top of this hill, I’m done for." The air barely filling her lungs as she marched up the hill, "It was a mistake coming here, I should’ve gone to the Kentara region instead-" With the urge of collapsing "-Having the shade from those giant trees, the abundance of water available, or the soft and smooth grass…" Her arms moved in a weak motion; Aliyah reached the top falling over wanting to die.

What she saw in front of her left her in complete awe. Before their eyes was long, skinny ravine. Bustling with street tents, crowded areas and caves mining into the deep deep walls of the ravine, Aliyah saw that there was a small lake located near the end of the ravine.

The only issue? Getting down there. Absent of any ladders, stairs or even slides, it seemed the only way down was with a creature capable of flight. Aliyah walked a little closer to the edge, looking for anything of help. Trying to see if anything were on the walls that they were standing on, they leaned a bit more forward. Ignoring her foot slowly moving forward on it's own, Aliyah was still confused on how other people managed to get down. Before she knew it, she felt the air going to her face, arms in the air and the bottom of the ravine getting closer and closer.

"Quit it! Hey!" yelled the shop owner running and waving his hands. "Thief!" called out the owner. In the thief's hand was a Cloud in a Jar, which was worth around 2,000 silver coins, or 20 gold coins. The thief ran for his life, shoving through the crowds, dropping boxes and jumping over little kids. Still, the street stand owner was persistent, only a mere arms length away from grabbing the thief. As the thief blinked, he tripped over some stairs. Before his chin could hit the ground, the owner grabbed him by his hood.

The owner glared at the thief. "Give it back!". Right before the jar was taken out of his hands, a horrid shriek rang into their ears. They looked towards the direction of the bloody sound, only to find an elf falling out of the air. The thief saw his chance; punching the owner in the gut, he then lifted and threw the burly guy six feet into the air. As both the elf and the shop owner were falling nearly onto the thief, he opened up the Cloud in a Jar and dumped out a third of it. Jumping onto the cloud, he launched himself high into the sky, landing in one of many caves found in the ravine. The thief had successfully stolen the Cloud in a Jar, while saving the elf's life, and putting the shop owner's in danger. A wide grin started to grow as he walked deeper and deeper into the cavern.

Aliyah screamed as loud as they could, letting their throat run dryer than it already was. She knew she was done for, but she wanted everyone to know how she died.

"What a horrible way to die, but I hope my death will be on the newspaper." As they opened up their eyes, Aliyah saw a big looking man grab a dark figure by their cloak. She let out yet another blood curling scream. I really hope they catch me, or at least soften the landing! Aliyah closed her eyes again, getting ready to brace them self with the colossal amount of pain that was about to come. Instead, she was met with absolute bliss. Shocked from the lack of injury, she found herself on top of a cloud, next to a man, giving off hostile vibes. His bald head looked as red as a beet, as he angrily looked around for someone else.

Aliyah quickly excused herself off the cloud, and looked around confused as to where the cloud came from. The more they thought, wasn't there another person with the angry bald man? Taking a few more glances, they squinted their eyes to see the other person hop into a cave, holding an item that resembled a nimbus cloud bottle.

"I hope I can see them again." Aliyah said thinking out-loud in the crowded space. "Thanking them is the least I can do for saving my life. And if that is a nimbus cloud bottle, then they're probably rich too." Aliyah saw a small body of water, suddenly remembering her endless thirst. She ran towards the water with her new-found energy, with all exhaustion slowly fading away.

[multi-fandom-freak0221]

If Your Done With Embarrassing Me On Your Own Won't You Go Ahead and Tell Them

Oh my god y'all have just blown me away. I was not expect so much positive feed back. I was screaming so much I could not Believe how much you guys liked that. And so many people are asking to be tagged in the next part thank you guys so much. Also can I just say moving from Google Docs to Tumblr was a bitch to do and I hated it. But y'all inspired me so much that I decided to just go ahead and type it up on tumblr and move it to Google Docs afterwards.

This part's title is from "Impossible" by Shontelle. The song in this part is "Young Volcanoes" by Fall Out Boy

This is Part 2 of my fic based on @misashabunbun 's Love of Three.

Part 1

Tagging List (I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I NEED ONE.):

@thestressmademedoit @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @lizziejay @indecisive-mess-named-me @captainmac6 @luveverything12 @kris-pines04 @brokenwordsarehard2

To say Marinette was busy would be an understatement. Between working with Luka and Uncle Jagged producing her album as Neon Titanium and her friends insisting that they help heal her brokenheart she felt like she was caught in a whirl wind. But it was nice she had fun. Luka and Uncle Jagged knew how to turn the hard work of producing music into a fun experience while still being efficient. And her friends they had her laughing harder than she laughed in while and smiling brighter than their resident sunshine child. They did everything they could think off.

She went shopping with Chloe and Kagami. She watched horror movies with Alix, Nathaniel, and Adrien. Marc and Luka let her rant to them which turned into a crying session which then turned into a meditation session. And on top of that her and Peter hung out as well. Whether they just worked in silence together on their respective projects or they were pranking Uncle Tony, kwami did she have fun renaming the protocols on the Iron Man suit. Soon Peter easily fit his way into her group of friends abd he fit in perfectly. Everyone got along with him.

But he wasn't the last to join their ragtag group. Everyone was shocked when Felix Graham De Vanily came to their group offering Marinette condolences on her lost engagement. He was sincere and courteous so of course no one was surprised when Marinette invited him to join in the currently planned game of dodgeball, except maybe Felix himself. But nonetheless he joined in the competition and found himself hanging out with the rest of the group as well. Soon his cold off-standish demeanor was traded for sly smirks and slick humor that nobody caught at first except Marinette and Peter who would laugh openly at his responses.

Soon enough Felix was a part of the group and felt comfortable letting his guard down. It help that they didn't treat him as the Graham De Vanily heir or Adrien's asshole cousin. They treat him like Felix, the boy who while very proper cried watching Big Hero 6. Also the boy who slam dunked on Adrien without breaking a sweat. Yet he still is the master of backhanded compliments and insulting people with a smile and having them thank him. He could truly be himself and he was thankful.

And while he easily was getting along with everyone, anyone with easy could see he had a soft spot for Peter and Marinette in general. It was in the way his face would soften when looking at them. Or the way he would smile when Marinette would get excited over something. Or the way he always paid attention to Peter when he was geeking out. It was the way he softly teased them over their height, Marinette being the shortest of the group and Peter only being taller than Marinette and Alix. And everyone knew Marinette's heart was still healing, so it came no surprise when Felix and Peter started dating. And while everyone was happy for them no one, but Marinette herself missed the looks of longing both boys would send towards her.

Believe it or not Felix was not the most surprising addition to their friend group. No the last addition came soon after Marinette formally did an interview after too much press took notice of Damian Wayne's fiancee being seen for the first time in almost a year, in New York of all places.

She remembered Uncle Tony setting up the interview with someone he trusted. She was glad that this was only an interview as Damian Wayne's (ex) fiancee and not MDC or Neon Titanium. She can only imagine how big a deal it will be when she reveals. But that was future Marinette's problem. Present Marinette had to focus on what to say without giving too much details because no matter how much he deserved it, she didn't want to throw Damian to wolves like that. She settled on saying that she was going through some things and no longer was content in Gotham. She claimed that she decided it was in her best interest to leave, but she didn't want to make a big deal about which is why nothing had been said until now.

The interview went well and everyone accepted her answers. It was released about a month after she left Damian and two weeks since Peter and Felix started dating. She still got news alerts for Gotham so she was waiting with baited breath for her interview to reach the Gotham, but it never seemed to. No announcements from WE or the Wayne family in general. She couldn't say it didn't hurt that no one even realized she was gone yet. But what hurt more was when 2 weeks after her interview she got an alert from Gotham Gazette saying the Damian claimed they set a date for their wedding. She cried that day. How could he not even notice she was gone? Was he so used to lying about her and their relationship that he didn't even give a second thought to what he was saying any more? And while she despaired, she relished in the fact that her friends did not let her be alone. Her face was buried in Peter's neck, she was sat on Felix's lap, Chole was threading her fingers through her hair, her feet laid over Peter legs and settled on Marc's, Adrien sat on the floor in front of Felix a hand rest on her back and everyone gathered around as close as possible trying to physically reassure her. Luka was even humming softly. She appreciated all the love amd support she had and soon she was feeling much better. Eventually it turned into a puppy pile napping session and if she ended up curled up between Peter and Felix? Eh, nobody said anything.

It was these series of events that led to their newest and by far strangest addition to their friend group. Here it was, two days after Damian's announcement and here in front of her stands no other than Jonathan Kent, Damian's best friend.

"Hey, Mari. It's been a while, huh?" She could admit Jon looked nervous. The way he wouldn't meet her eyes and how his hand was rubbing his neck. But him bring nervous did nothing to calm her nerves about why he was even here.

Marinette took a deep breath and drew as much of her inner Ladybug as she could. "Why are you here, Jonathan?"

Jon flinched at how she used his full name. "I'm so sorry, Nette. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I didn't push harder. You were my friend too. I should have checked on you. Damian was such a good liar, I never knew. I should have known but I didn't and that doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't there for you." Jon took a deep breath and finally met her eyes before speaking again. "But I'm going to do better, Nette. Whatever you need just say the word. Even if it means leaving. When we saw your interview Dad told Uncle Bruce to make sure his family was in order especially his youngest. He didn't give any details and Uncle Bruce got offended. I guess he did end up talking to Damian, but Damian doubled down on his lies and his family is believing him. But I know better because I saw what you said and I know even that wasn't the whole truth. So I want you to know I'm on your side."

Marinette was silent for a minute she study him and his words. The way she was looking at him made Jon feel like his whole soul was being judged, but he didn't dare look away. He needed her to know he meant it and that he was truly sorry for not being for. After a minute that felt like hours Marinette smiled softly at him. "I could always appreciate a hug from a friend." She held her arm open and Jon surged forward and hugged her tightly lifting her off the ground.

Marinette giggled a bit before he set her down. "Thanks, Jon for being here for me. I know Damian is you best friend-"

"He lost that right when he decided to lie to me repeatedly for his own benefit." Jon looked uncharacteristically upset at the fact.

"Well if you're in need of some more good friends, I know a group you should meet. Come on, we're about to have a pool day. I'm sure I have some swim trunks I've designed that you could probably fit. "

After they changed intl their respective swimwear, Mari led Jon to her Uncle Tony's pool where the rest of her friends were already waiting. "Hey guys! I'd like you to meet my friend Jon. He's in need of some good company."

Those who recognized Jon looked up surprised before see his nervous fidgeting and hearing Marinette's last sentence before nodding in understand. It was Peter who spoke up first. "Well any friend of Mari's is welcome with us. Come on we were about to play chicken fight!" And just like that their pool party was in swing. The played a couple pool games and had some snacks before Marinette decided to play some music. Soon a familiar tune was playing over the speakers.

When Rome's in ruins

It was Chole who started singing along first sitting laying on one of the pool chairs. In between Alix and Kagami.

We are the lions

Free of the colosseum.

In fields of poison

We're anitvenom

We're the beginning of the end.

Soon Alix was singing the next part as Chloe finished the first part.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

It's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Luka was quick to pick up the chorus while trying to get everyone to join in with him.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

While everyone was distracted with singing Luka had Adrien and Jon sneak with him behind the girls in the pool chair. Each of them grabbed one and threw them in the water. Luka grabbed Kagami, Adrien grabbed Chloe and Jon grabbed Alix.

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As everyone else's singing tapered off into laughing, Marinette picked up the next part solo as she walked to the diving board and climbed up.

Come on, make it easy, say I never mattered

Run it up the flag pole,

She ended her singing with a cannonball into the pool. Peter picked it up from his place in Felix's arms.

We will teach you how to make boys next door out of assholes

He sung his verse looking at Felix the whole time, who scoffed jokingly when Peter winked at him, but gave a him a kiss after he was done singing. Marc and Nathaniel picked up where he left off dueting together.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

And it's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Soon everyone was singing along again to the chorus playing around splashing each other.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

Soon everybody had calmed down slightly singing a little quieter. Marinette her self was floating on her back towards the center of the pool. Smiling at all her support around her.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As the song ended Jon was the first to speak. "What the fuck is in the water in Paris that makes y'all so talented?"

Peter laughed as he easily agreed, "That's what I said!"

Adrien chuckled at the Americans in their group antics. "To be fair, Felix is from London and Kagami is from Japan."

"Still! That is crazy. And Marinette I never knew you could sing like that!" Jon looked over towards the bluenette, his eyes softening at her.

Marinette giggled. "Neither did the rest of the world until Neon Titanium featured in Luka's last single."

"What?!" Jon exclaimed. "You're Neon Titanium?! I loved that song! Nette you're even more amazing than I thought."

Luka threw his hand up saying "Here, here." Making Marinette blush as all her friends joined in on complimenting her.

About a 3 weeks later, Marinette found herself working on a dress for her debut as Neon Titanium which uncle Tony insisted she do at a gala he's throwing. Which she suspects he's throwing just for her to debut because there was absolutely no gala planned before.

That was what she was doing when Jon, Felix, and Peter found her. It didn't take long for Jon to fit in with group. And with how often he stayed with them in New York instead of going back to Metropolis, no one was surprised when he started dating Peter and Felix. Marinette was happy for them even though it seemed like everyone was in happy relationships but her. But she knew she still had some things to work out before returning to the dating scene.

As they approached Marinette paused her sketching to look at her friends. "What's up guys? You needed something?"

The 3 boys looked at each other before Peter spoke up. "Yeah, actually. We wanted to tell you something." He rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a sigh. "We like you Marinette. A lot. And we would love for you to date us."

Marinette could feel the rejection on her tongue, but before she could say a word Jon cut her off.

"Let us finish first Nette. Please. After we're done you can tell us to never bother you again, but just let us get this out." Jon pleaded at her. Marinette just nodded and let them continue.

"We all like you a lot," Felix started his words very sincere. "But we all know that your still healing. We only told you because we thought it would be fair for you to know."

It almost seemed as they had planned and rehearsed for this because Peter effortlessly picked up after Felix. "We're not trying to guilt you into dating us because at the end of the day it is still you decision. And we know it may be some time before your ready to even consider dating us, but we're willing to wait."

Jon grabbed her hands as he prepared to finish them out. "We just want you to know how amazing we think you are. We'll be beyond lucky if you decide to date us when you're ready to make that choice. And until you are we're still your friends and we'll continue helping you heal and be better how ever you want us to. And if you decide you don't see us that way we'll still be some of your closest friends because having you in our lives is a blessing Nette."

Soon they all seemed to be holding one of her hands as they finished what they had to say. Marinette had silent tears streaming down her face, but the big smile she had eased away their worries. She pulled them into a tight hug for a moment before pulling back.

"You guys are the absolute best friends a girl can have." She smiled at them gratefully. "You're right that I'm not ready yet, but when I am, you guys will be the first people I consider dating. Promise. Now do you guys wanna see the designs I'm considering for my reveal?"

As the boys gathered around Marinette for her to show them her sketchbook she thought to herself with a smile.

I might not be quite okay yet, but with all the great people I have on my side, I know I will be soon.

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

Sound Proof

okay so this fic was from Wattpad and I found it in my google docs so I’m just gonna upload it here for ya’ll lol. I didn’t tag, I wrote this a while ago let me know what ya’ll think!!!

Warnings: Smut.

With dancing, came immense concentration and a lot of cardio.

That was all okay for Damara. She wore her silk pressed hair back into a pony, simple Polo Ralph Lauren hat on to keep her edges slicked back, high waist thin grey leggings, all white cropped tank, and matching white Vans. Damara held onto the aluminum double bar Ballet barre, studying her glistening reflection within the wall mirrors that covered every single area from floor to ceiling. 

Her chest rose and fell, right hand coming up to rub sweat off the tip of her nose. She had thirty minutes down, only twenty more to go. Being a pro dancer was fun when you posted tutorials on Instagram and YouTube, but when it came down to touring internationally and getting a chance to perform at Coachella, dance became a full time job.

Damara stares down at her version three iWatch, allowing herself to become consumed with the breathing app. She watched it expand with every breath, then declined whenever she exhaled. After her breathing returned to normal, Damara pulled up her iTunes playlist again, choosing to go sensual with a little bit of flash dance routine.

The instrumental to Kendrick Lamar- Love.

This song was always a warm up for her because it got her ‘in the mood’. She could feel the want and need behind the beat and his words. Damara snakes her hands up her frame, sliding slowly from the cuff of her ass, to her lower back, and lightly up and over her shoulders, forearms pressing into her large D cup breasts. 

One thing is for sure, Damara could move her torso like Shakira, body rolling and ticking to the beat with perfect harmony. Doing a sudden spin on her tiptoes, Damara Lowers herself to the polished flooring, arching her back off of the surface with her legs spread into a V, before lifting her lower half off the ground to do a series of air kicks like she was back in an 80s workout video or like she was in Kanye West’s video for Fade instead of Teyana Taylor.

She turned over onto her hands, hitting a side to side split perfectly before lifting from the ground to walk seductive and tantalizing towards the middle of the dance studio.

That’s where it began, the sweatiest most bewitching dance yet. Her hands cascade everywhere, eyes closed to take in the beat with heightened hearing. Her hands rubbed along the outline of her pussy in a teasing manner. Damara was so shameless when it came to dancing provocatively. She twirled and made an S with her body like a snake, body in sync to the beat. The sultry look in her eyes could trap you like Medusa. You would think she danced to one of Prince's songs from the outside looking in. 

The song came to an end, Damara lifting her shirt over her head and tossing it in the corner, picking up her gallon water bottle to take a huge sip. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, feeling the burn in her curvy waistline from all the crunching and belly rolling that came with dancing. Her gluteal muscles were on fire as well, causing Damara to admire her ass in the mirror, sweat staining the crack of her ass over the fabric. 

—

Finishing up, Damara grabs all her things before leaving the dance studio at the gym she finally snagged a membership for. The gym had two sections: one for premium guests who had VIP access to the soundproof workout rooms or standard. Sadly, Damara was standard. She always wanted to workout in the soundproof tinted glass rooms like all the extremely fit individuals did, but one look through those glasses at the equipment housed within would make you withdraw with fear. Her personal trainer had stressed for her to go VIP, bribing her with access to the ice bath room and luxury pool where you can watch the LA skyline like you’re in a hotel.

She made a left at the end of the hall, walking with her shirt and towel over her shoulder to the main gymnasium area full of musky people and terrible workout music. Even though Damara did a one hour session of dancing, she couldn’t help but to gravitate towards the stair master for a good fifteen minute burn. Once there, Damara climbs the stairs, beginning her workout on nine speed, instantly feeling the ache. Her eyes scanned the area, finally landing on a group of women huddled around one of the sound proof workout rooms for VIP gold card members. 

She let out a tired chuckle, shaking her ponytail clad head before pausing to drink some water. Of COURSE they would all salivate over some random ass man instead of working out, because that’s what gyms are for these days. On queue every day Damara comes to the gym, once the clock strikes 8 pm, a hoard of women suffocate the glass, fogging it with their heavy breathing and wetting it with saliva from their wiggling tongues. Damara would have been one of them if she listened to her group of girlfriends who didn’t come in tonight. Supposedly, there is this fine ass man that comes to the gym every day, around 8 pm. Damara never seems to catch him, and even if she did, no man was that fine to act like a hyena over. He couldn’t be that sexy.

“Ooo, girl, let me get off this got damn treadmill he back again!” Damara turned to find a short, slim, mocha skinned girl with a track runners body ogling the group of women, her friend who looked like she could be her sister, biting her lip.

“I wonder if he’s doing the pull ups right now, fuckk. You know his dick stay hard when he working out.” 

The other girl laughs, “I just want to suck it. Just give me one good time!” 

Both women laughed while Damara tries her best to work out and ignore them. But to her surprise, she couldn’t focus. Not because of the talking, but because she wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Maybe after this she could rub it in her friends faces that whoever this guy was, wasn’t about the hype after all.

Defeated, Damara stopped her workout, quickly lowering herself off the machine and towards some spray and paper towels to wipe away her sweat. Tossing everything, Damara makes her way towards the sound proof workout room straight across from the men’s locker room. 

Here she was, and yet just a few minutes ago she was laughing to herself at how ridiculous it was to come to a gym and stare at a man for two hours. Wasn’t no man fine enough for that.

The glass window straight ahead had about seven ladies standing in front of it, whispering and admiring at what looked like absolutely nothing to Damara. It was so dark she couldn’t see a thing. As she got closer, at first, all she could see through that glass was the usual workout machines of all types and weight racks. Just before she could walk away, he started lifting those weights. Suddenly, as if pulled by some type of force field, Damara turned into a fan girl with glossy eyes and a watery mouth. He had to be the one her friends were talking up. There is no way he couldn’t be the one with how fine he is. 

“This must be your first time noticing Erik.” 

Damara turned to the lady who looked to be twice her age standing next to her.

Damara didn’t respond, she simply looked back at him through that tinted glass. He was so fucking sexy that her jaw dropped; literally. Erik was definitely the one her friends were juiced up over. Not the juice you drink, but the drip from that pussy when she hungry for a nigga as damn fine as he is. 

Erik had been bench pressing weights and she couldn’t get a good enough look at him until he lowered the weights. Yeah, when he was laid out on his back, sweaty muscles moving as he lifted 280 pounds over his head he looked good, but GOD once he stood up was she slapped with his looks.

Erik was wearing sweat shorts that dropped low around his waist, a damp sweat top and a pair of Nike Air Max Trainer 1s on his feet.

His braided back dreads were damp from the perspiration; it really set off his caramel complexion.

Erik returned his weights to their respective places and stood facing that mirror with a bottle of gatorade. Damara could really see how perfect he was. Fine wasn’t even the word, it was so much she could say about him. The look in his eyes, the way his muscles moved in conjunction with him, the smoothness of his skin, the hairstyle that compliments him very well, and let’s not forget those lips. She figured he got many compliments on his lips, as beautiful and suckable as they were. That thick erection he was sporting was an added bonus. All she could see was herself lowering onto it and rocking like crazy, like she was riding a horse. When she returned to reality from her lustful daze, she noticed her hands were flat against the glass, jaw STILL dropped, and her nipples tender and hard practically clawing at him. They were so hard that they were hurting, and the feeling of his lips pulling and sucking and licking on them would have been exactly what she needed, just pull her shirt down and suck em.

All of that talk and fantasizing in her head, ironically made his eyes meet hers. Damara swore she thought those big, dark eyes could see her and only her. The lady she ignored next to her smiled, like she knew what Damara was going through. She did, that’s why her and the others were still there.

——

Feeling a little foolish and embarrassed by her behavior, Damara asked the lady next to her if Erik could see them or was it one of those half way windows.

“Girl, he can see us alright. That’s why his dick is so big and hard poking through those shorts. He sees something he likes.” 

Damara looked back at him, and right then like a spark had been ignited, he smiled a little at her with dimples, then winked before downing the rest of his gatorade. Damara could feel her knees buckle, body so nervous. She decided it was most definitely time to bounce. That night, Damara never told her girls about seeing the living legend, but she did go back the following day, a Wednesday, to stare him down at that window again. She purposely went there alone to have him to herself. It was crazy how obsessed he became.

——

After about a week or so of admiring Erik through that glass, Damara decided to take it up a notch and use the adjoining women’s workroom; yeah, like she could actually bench press any of the equipment in there. Getting into that women’s workroom meant that she had to become a gold member. The upgrade was about 20 dollars more, which landed her to about 80 dollars a month; great.

She felt like she’d been walking the yellow brick road to the emerald city. Opening those double glass doors to her new sanctuary,  she could smell musk no longer, only fresh air and a cool breeze. The music was even better in there, sicko mode playing low through the speakers. It was approximately 7:50 pm, so she knew Erik would be arriving soon. 

At about 8:15, a little later than usual, Erik pulled open the doors and walked into the men’s workroom. He had his dreads crinkled and messy, a pair of Beats solo 3 in black with gold trim over his ears, black Nike pro training top that clung to his body like it was two sizes too small, matching black shorts that hung low on his hips with the waistband of his compression pants peeking through. He hadn’t immediately seen Damara on the other side since she was in the corner tugging on the pull ropes that she couldn’t make budge. She didn’t really know what to do. If she popped out of nowhere near that window, she could scare him to death, and he’d be mad. He looked like the no nonsense type too. 

Damara decided that hiding wouldn’t fix anything so she came out into the open to do some yin yoga poses that helped stretch her body. Sitting Indian style, she started with the butterfly, bending forward while gripping her shoes. The stretch made her moan, all the tension in her back disappearing. Next, she decided on the dragon, bringing one foot forward in a low lunge, stretching out her glutes and back again. Admiring herself, she liked the way her ass looked in the tinted mirror, and apparently so did Erik. Her heart dropped to her stomach like she’d been on the tallest roller coaster, her eyes reverting towards the ground. Damara could feel his eyes on her still as she lifted from the ground, rolling her neck. With one hand on the back of her neck to stretch the muscles, her eyes met his again. That same slight smile graced his face again, almost innocent, but those eyes were dark and sultry, like hot coal.

The heat turned down just a little, Erik walking away leaving Damara a flustered mess.

——

He started out with a little cross training. Damara watched from her workout mat in between doing crunches. Next, he pumped a little iron. She noticed how he enjoyed admiring himself when he lifted weights. The veins in his arms would bulge so much it looked like they wanted to break the surface of his skin. She could see his mouth slightly opened, concentration set in his features, and she just knew he was making those grunting, straining noises that guys make when they workout. Watching those muscles flex and bulge like that made her weak in the knees again. She liked the feeling. When he lay on his back to do the leg lifts, that’s when she lost it in a major way. The weight Damara had in her hand to do Russian twists fell down on her shoulder. She screamed out without even knowing it. All she could feel was pain beginning to throb in her left shoulder, and she laid back on the floor massaging it with a whimper. Unfortunately, at that time Erik was the last thing on her mind. When Damara got enough nerve to look at the window, Erik was pressed against it looking at her. He mouthed to her since it was sound proof, “You aight, Lil Mama?”

After Damara figured out his words, she nodded and gave him the okay symbol with a tired smile. Erik stares at her for a few seconds, scanning her frame in that PUMA workout suit she decided to wear, then moved on to the leg machine again. Damara liked the way he scouted her, and that made the pain in her shoulder go unnoticed.

——

Throughout their workouts, they would peep each other, and he liked the attention she was showering him with. There he was again with those pull-ups, directly facing her with intimidation in his eyes. Somehow, he had lost his shirt along the way, sweat pouring off his body like he’d been doing push-ups in the rain. 

Damara’s workout suit was almost see-through and hugging all her curves, and he definitely paid attention because his erection was good and hard, tenting the front of those black workout shorts like wild. Damara wanted to think it was solely her making those pants tent like that, but working the hell out of those machines may have played a role in it. She’s good, but not that good.

The more she looked at Erik, the more she wanted to taste him, feel him pressing into her throat. 

Damara looked down at her iWatch and realized it was minutes to closing time, but she couldn’t leave that room, let alone that window. She hated to leave because he was worth staying and getting caught with. Knowing the kind of man Erik was, he probably got a kick out of the chicks staring his fine ass down, then going home to his equally fine ass girl. That was the kind of luck Damara had: finding the juiciest man on the planet, but not able to land him because he was taken.

Damara suddenly had a lightbulb moment. Erik was a gold member, with a passkey to leave the gym if he ever got locked in. Damara could lie and say she lost her passkey, having to go to him to get out...or to get off! Shit, lord knows she needs that, it’s been way too long. Suddenly, Erik made a move she hadn’t been prepared for. He stepped away from the weight trainer and approached the window again. Damara couldn’t move, couldn’t muster a speech, all she could do was watch him approach her with that sweaty, perfect body. Maybe not so perfect to some because it was littered with tiny raised scars, but to her it was absolutely perfect. Man, the closer he got to her, the hotter she got. In all her orgasmic nonsense with a pussy so wet and probably creaming her panties, it soon dawned on her that he probably approached her to ask her why she’s still there; that maybe he was tired of being stared at as if he were a zoo animal. Damara got scared and backed up.

Erik backed up a bit, confusion on his face before chuckling, giving her a head to toe view of him, then he got busy. His eyes stared into hers as he massaged that massive erection up and down through his pants. Damara could feel her nectar elevating within her core. Then it hit her, he was about to give her a private sex show. Was she about to bounce? Fuck no, she stayed and watched everything that pretty nigga did.

When his erection got hard and thick within his pants, he let out a fucking dazzling smile that could make her cum right there. No man had ever smiled so wickedly at her that her panties got wet; then again, she’d never met Erik. His pecs were mouthwatering to the point of drool, contours and ripples were everywhere. All her nasty little tongue wanted to do was lick, lick from his collarbone to his abs and continue south. Her hands shook as they clutched her chest, feeling her nipples brush against her fingers. All the while, her eyes never left his.

——-

Bending to remove his shoes and socks was a chore because that delicious dick was in the way, but he managed. His fingers beckoned Damara to get closer. Damara knew he was going to slide his pants down next, the nigga was clever with his seduction. She moved back to that window, and watched him slide his shorts to his hips. His dick bounced out, sprang to life, and she dropped to her knees, wondering how all that would feel stroking her insides. He was real heavy, the type of dick where the tip and about two inches could only fit in the pussy. The type of dick where you would push him away while he blew your back out from getting too deep. The type of dick where you had to use two hands to jerk while you sucked; you really gotta be a pro to suck a dick like that with no hands, not to mention ride a dick like that.

Erik bit at his plump bottom lip, massaging it with his tongue while his hand massaged that long pole; that damn snake. The more he stroked, the bigger and bigger it became within his hand. He strokes that beautiful dick until he was about ready to nut. He mouthed at her through that sound proof glass, 

“I want that throat.”

His muscles tensed, he squeezed it harder, and playfully rubbed it against the glass directly where her mouth was. She swore she could taste him, feel him sliding it between her lips and forcing his inches into her. Erik stroked it so hard that she could see the moisture forming on his tip. Damara couldn’t help herself, she had to reach between her thighs and stroke her pussy to match his tempo. Damara pulled her suit down, revealing her drenched sports bra and panties to him. She didn’t want to waste any time the way her fingers made its way to her panties, pulling the fabric to the side to reveal her wet sticky treat. The more he stroked himself, the deeper her fingers slide into her valley; all three of them. When Erik dropped to the floor, she scrambled to see what he was going to do next. It was fucking outrageous! That pretty ass nigga got on his back and moved his hips up and down like a bitch was on top of him. Damara screamed in ecstasy over the sight of it. Her fingers went deeper and deeper like she was trying to scoop her cum out the pussy. She turned around and arched her back, rubbing at her clit with one hand while fingering herself with the other. He pumped hard and long, perspiration dripping from him, muscles tensing. Damara just knew he was going to explode on the floor instead of her which was a damn shame. No. No fucking way. He turned over on his stomach, and did push-ups, pumping those hips and dick into oblivion. He still hadn’t cum for her yet. His arm shook when he did his one-handed push-ups, dick throbbing in his other hand. She felt her orgasm building deep in her belly, her legs shaking from muscle strain and intense pleasure. That was the grand finale, watching him cream into his own hands while staring her down. 

Damara screamed out, Cumming on her fingers with a shake of her body.

——

He returned to his back and pressed out so much cum that she almost fainted from the orgasm he gave her. When her breathing returned to normal, Damara looked into her hand, now covered with so much of her own thick moisture that her fingers were sticking together. Then she glanced up at him watching her with a sweet smile on those wonderful lips—his erection was still in his hand and still harder than boulders. 

The windows were nice and steamed by the time he and Damara finished. She watched him grab the rest of his belongings and headed for the showers. Damara took off as well, figuring that was all she’d get from him. 

Damara made her way to the showers herself, letting her plan go. At least she got a good show from him so she was thankful. 

While in the shower, Damara couldn’t help but smile as she wet her body under the steamy water. She struggled to fight the urge that this was it and probably her last sex show a man would ever give her and he didn’t even touch her. Damara allowed the warm water to trickle down her aching joints and relaxed. Her body mitt delicately encircled her breasts, pretending the sultry touch was Erik’s fingers, sucking on them gently before making a tongue track down to her core. She shuddered in waves of heat. Her body trembled, spasms, taking her mind off the pain from her injured shoulder. She completely gave in to pleasure and let the most tremendous orgasm hit her like no other one had ever before...well, until Erik happened on the scene. 

Then.

“Damn, girl.”

The words came from nowhere. Damara assumed they had been in her mind. Nonetheless, her eyes opened and she twirled around to see if anyone had come in. There Erik was, standing directly in front of her. Damara tried reaching for her towel but Erik snatched it from the railing before she could get it.

His cool, seductive voice melted into her horny spirit. 

“Imagine how big this dick would be if I would have been standing right above that ass, watching you finger that pussy from the front. All I could see was that phat ass shaking and quivering to some sexual fantasy. Was it about me?” 

Damara couldn’t speak. All she could do was look down at the towel around his midsection, sporting a killer of an erection. Her mouth opened, her voice cracked. 

“I...I, uh…”

“It’s okay, babygirl. I already know that ass was thinking about me. How could you not after the show I gave you.” 

Erik moves toward her, one step away from entering the stall with her. 

“You liked that show I already know that shit. I already know I got you”— he slapped her pussy, then reached around to palm her ass roughly, smacking each ass cheek causing it to sting—“hot enough to want more, right? You should anyway since I gave you a little taste of what the fuck I got,” he pulled his towel off and entered the stall.

It was different from having that window in between them both, Damara covering her nakedness with her arms. Erik pulled them down.

“Don’t you dare cover up a fucking thing.”

The grip on her wrists were so tight her hands shook.

“So, you just walk in women’s locker rooms? What if I wasn’t the only one here?” 

He chuckles, letting her wrists go, “And? I don’t give a fuck about that. It’s okay for me to do whatever I fucking please in here.” He kisses her cheek. “I’m Erik—“

“I know who you are, Erik. Every woman within a five-city radius knows who you are.” 

“Yeah? And who might you be?”

“Damara; nothing exotic, nothing romantic, just regular old Damara.”

“Not from where I’m standing, girl. You are so fucking sexy. I bet you taste good too, I know that pussy enjoyed me pleasing you.”

“It did, I can still feel it.” She lets out a moan.

“Well then that pussy won’t mind if I please you again?”

Damara relaxed, his hands covering her breasts, much the same way they did in her daydream. He stroked the tight tips with his thumbs, then replaced them with his lips. She was right, that mouth was made to suck on some titties. Erik sucked them ferociously, licking them like they were candy. Her head reared back as he sucked like he was trying to milk her. Her back arched off that wall, his arm circling her waist and pulling her close.

“So, you want everything, huh?”

“Every single drop.”

Erik’s muscles tightened around Damara; their bodies pressed against the wall. As the water continues to drench them, he lifted her into his arms; her legs hugged his hips. She felt the tip of that delicious dick play with her opening, tease it, rub up and down on it. She faces him, staring into those delicious brown eyes of his. 

“It’s almost closing time, I couldn’t leave yet without a little taste.” 

It definitely wouldn’t be a little with how big he was. Damara prepares herself for the surprise, her pussy clenching and quivering on its own. Erik takes his fingers to caress her clit, taking a single finger to tease it with a flickering motion. Damara kept a firm grip on his neck, pressed against the shower wall. 

“I’m playing wit that clit good, huh?”

She responds with a bite to his shoulder, her pussy jerking in his hand. Erik brings his fingers to his mouth, spits on them, then brings them back to her clit. He was very generous with his spit, making her pussy extra sloppy. Clearly with him still going at it on her clit he aimed to make her cum this time with his own fingers. 

“Ok, you working my clit,” she felt him take his dick to finish it off, rubbing her clit in circles. The smoothness of the tip of his dick hit every sensitive spot on her clit. 

“Make that pussy cum,” she edged him on.

His hand came down to grip her ass while he worked, her body shuddering, legs securing around him even harder, moans echoing off of the shower walls. 

“Shit, fuck, damn…”

She could feel the sensitivity in her pussy too.

“Open up for me.”

Damara opened wider, Erik bringing his dick to her pussy. He pushed his way in slow, only by a few inches before she clamped up. Her guess was correct, he was too much to take. Damara was scared now, she didn’t know if she could go through with it.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking big,” her eyes grew wide.

“Ha, You knew that already when you saw me jerking it.” 

“I’m too tight.”

“So?” He moves his hips, teasing her walls to let him in further. Her body crunched, hand to his chest. Was she fucking a monster dick or what? His shit was too damn much.

“Chill,” her eyelids fluttered. She wouldn’t be able to stand.

“You’ve been eyeing me all fucking week, teasing me and shit and now you wanna cry about how big my dick is?” 

He kissed at her neck, causing her to moan and rub her wet face against his. She brought her hands to his biceps, squeezing them tightly. 

“Be gentle, okay? It’s too damn big.”

Erik takes that invitation, gripping her hips firm before pressing himself in inch by inch, pausing in between. Each time he entered her it felt like he was ripping her a new hole, but it felt so full in a good way. Along with the pain came a shock of pleasure. The vein on the underside of his shaft rubbed smoothly at the floor of her pussy, a new sensation she had never felt. It curves at the tip to hit her g spot, swiping it each time he moves his hips.

“I don’t think I ever had a dick this good,” she hissed the moment he fully entered her. 

“I already know you didn’t with all that crying you was doing.” He pulled out to the tip, purposely, to make her feel every inch again. Erik pushes back in, watching the way her face went through a series of confused and unprepared emotions. It was time to pick up the pace now. Erik started off slow, his strokes growing and her moans. Damara held onto the rails along the walls of the shower, watching with astonishment how Erik’s dick fucked her.

“Oh, oh, omg,” she shook tremendously, a single hand clawing at Erik’s chest. He simply fucks her with deeper strokes, reminding her what came with every inch. Clearly he had a fetish for making women cry from how big he was. That rock hard body came with a huge package. 

“Are you fucking kidding me!!!!!” She felt a rush of pressure forming in her lower belly, so big it pushes Erik’s dick out, a fountain of liquid pouring. The more she clenched, the more it flowed. Damara couldn’t control it and it shocked her. No way, this nigga made her squirt and for the first time ever. She’d always tried to make that happen for herself but it never worked so she would give up. 

That seemed to fuel Erik even more, he brought one of her legs up into a split, entering her body again. This time, he flexed his abs, bringing his dick into even more of a curve, really hitting her spot. Erik knew what he was doing, he wanted to see the reaction again.

“Come on, take this big dick,” he held her leg up even if it shook.

“Ah, fuck yes, shit it’s happening again!!” Before she could relax, here she was, squirting again but Erik stayed in. He smiled, slamming her so hard with his dick that she could feel it in her stomach. At this point, Damara might as well lose count of how many orgasms she’ll have. 

———

It was true.

Damara has missed two days of the gym for a reason. 

She couldn’t get out of the damn bed the morning after her and Erik had sex. Her pussy was sore and sensitive, inner thighs shaking when she stood from the bed. Damara didn’t bother exchanging numbers with him, unsure if she would even be able to take him up on a second chance. Deciding to be a big girl, Damara went to the gym for a dance session. 

She stood in the mirrored dance studio wearing a leotard colored bronze, a pair of sweats on and her hair in a messy bun with her vans. She skimmed through her playlist on iTunes, adjusting her AirPods to her liking.

Damara had to squat ballerina style to stretch her thigh muscles, bringing her leg up to extend the muscles of her inner thigh. Rolling her neck, she turns from the mirror, deciding to dance to a Nicki song. Once she got in the groove with the tempo, she started her routine. Her body moved like magic. The mirror wasn’t her own audience anymore, Erik was standing at the door watching her closely. He didn’t make a move, his eyes following her skillful moves along with her dangerous body, I mean, Damara was thick. Even through her loose fitted sweats he could tell. Now that Erik got a good look at her, he recognized her from Instagram.

DeetheeDancer.

She was pretty popular on social media for her dancing. Erik watched a few of her videos from time to time, loving the way she moved. She had this way of letting you know she was sexy from the look she gave in the camera when it followed her body. It was as if she was daring you to touch her, let her throw it back on you and see if you can catch it.

——-

Damara finished off to her first song, bending over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She paused her music, picking up her water to take a long sip. After recapping it, Damara’s eyes sweep the area, landing on the door and seeing a familiar face waving at her. 

It was him, the big dick nigga that had her on a two day hiatus. He looked to be arriving at the gym because he didn’t look worn out just fresh with a bomber jacket over top of his workout gear, beats over his ears and shades on. 

“Mind if I come in?” He mouthed.

Damara caught her breath before smiling, motioning for him to enter. He finally stepped through, dropping the duffel bag that was on his shoulder.

“Why ain’t you tell me you were a dancer? You ain’t so average.” 

“It’s kind of hard to do that when you were balls deep in me.” She mouthed tiredly.

“You talk hella bold but when I’m in there I have you running though.” He removed his shades, blessing her with his brown eyes.

“Mind if I watch? I got all day.” Erik removed his jacket.

“Fine with me,” Damara was okay with it, she had eyes on her with dancing almost all the time.

“She plugged her phone into the wall Bluetooth, settling on dancing to some pussy popping music from her freaky playlist. Yes, this was absolutely purposeful.

Right off the back, Megan Thee Stallion Freak Nasty began playing. She started off with a routine she already had to this song. She poses, hands rubbing down her frame before squatting down with a grip on her knees while swaying her hips. She did a turn, one hand in her hair with the other on her ass. Once the beat dropped, she got into the groove with a sexy hip hop routine that involved a lot of footwork and ass shaking. Her ass shook alright, like a goddamn tidal wave straight from the sea. She bounced in a circle, spreading her legs wide before landing into a perfect split that deserved tens across the board like she was a gymnast. 

Erik was impressed, and so was the huge dick that jumped happily in his compression briefs. She was clearly giving it her all, impressing him. He could fuck her ass royally with his dick, congratulate her for the little talent show. She was on the floor again, doing a perfect side split, her eyes moving from the mirror and zeroing in on his erection. She must have known that he was turned on because her eyes didn’t move from his crotch the entire time she grind, bent her body over, and twerked her ass. 

“You think that pussy can handle this dick today?”

She stops moving, hyperventilating before pausing her music.

“Nah, keep that playlist rolling, I want you to dance on this dick.”

She looked at him. He looked at her. She whispered, “okay, I admit it. You’ve got too much dick for me.” 

“Girl,” He wasn’t trying to hear that.

“I’m serious, I need to be able to move not walk like a cripple.” 

“It’s a gift,” he smiles wide.

Damara walks over to the mirrored wall, holding onto the bar before stretching her leg all the way up to her head. 

“See, you preparing yourself already.”

Erik began to approach her, Damara bent over with her head between her legs, looking from behind. She could see Erik making his way to her, the feeling in her stomach making her nervous. Damara lifts back up, grabbing a towel to wipe her neck off. Here he was now, fully enveloped in her personal space with his hands on either side of the bar, chin resting on her shoulder.

“I mean, you really got that shit up there, huh?” He was referring to her leg.

She chuckles, “Chill out, monster.”

“Monster? Hm,” Erik turns Damara around, his eyes scanning her heaving chest, “Well, it is October.” 

She smiles, licking her lips before looking at his, “You plan on scaring me again?”

Erik takes his thumb to stroke her chin, “I thought you were afraid of big, bad things?”

Damara swallows spit, eyes fluttering. She grabbed the bar on either side to brace herself.

“You ain’t know? This is my favorite time of the year.”

Damara places her hands on the back of Erik’s head, pulling him down to meet her lips. They kissed, Erik’s hand on her hips now, pulling her off and against him. The next song that played was dvsn- With me.

“C’ mon,” Erik kisses her again, their full lips in French kiss mode, “dance on me.”

Damara takes her time to work her hips into the slow beat, Erik easily matching her movements. She was impressed, turning now, dipping forward with her ass against his crotch, twirling her hips in a hypnotizing circle. Erik places one arm across her chest, his face buried in her hair, Damara turning to face him slightly while she moved her hips tantalizingly slow against him. 

“Mm,” Erik looked her frame up and down.

Damara turns, on her knees, arching back before rolling her body forward, grabbing Erik’s legs as she began to rise while her hips moved from side to side. She went to her tip toes then, one leg cleanly rising to rest on his shoulder before she arched her back, jumping up for Erik to catch her. He does, twirling her around before slowing down as the song slowed, their eyes meeting. 

“Wow,” she spoke breathlessly.

Before she could stop herself, Damara places her lips against his, Erik bringing her to the floor. Between frantic kisses, Erik undressed her, her naked sweaty body warm against his. She moans, arms around his neck. Erik takes his fingers, slipping inside to get a feel and taste.

“You taste just right,” He sucks slowly on his fingers before taking those same fingers to rub her nipples. 

“Fuck,” Damara pushes Erik down to the floor, her hands moving quickly to undress him. She needed him no matter how big he was. The sight of him again almost knocked her out. Damara grabs his dick, licking her lips before sinking her mouth over him. Erik instantly palmed the back of her head, biting his lip and saying how much of a good girl she was.

Damara sucked like her life was at stake, spit covering her hands and chest. She couldn’t fit him all in her mouth but she did her absolute best. Erik pulls her mouth off, watching the string of spit connect with her lower lip.

“Climb up, Baby girl.” Erik motions for Damara to come to him, Her legs straddling him on either side before her arms grabbed his shoulders tightly. She tried to prepare herself but the moment Erik slipped inside again she squeezed his biceps with her nails. Erik hisses, taking his hands to grab at her waist to keep her still. He started fucking up into her at an even pace, the pressure within her too much. She could feel the shit in her spine. Damara looked back at it, eyes closing in sweet pleasure before looking down at Erik’s smiling face.

“God, please keep fucking me.”

Erik grabs her ass, anchoring his hips before picking up the pace. The scream from her was so loud it bounced off the walls. 

“These walls ain’t sound proof, Baby girl.” 

She couldn’t move or control her cries. Erik was deep within her guts. Damara begged for Erik to keep going over and over, a series of please and I need more escaping her mouth.

“You gonna squirt on me like that again?” He bit his lip, raising his brows in a rude manner to initiate a response from her, “I said is that what you’re gonna do?!” 

“Yes!!!!!”

Damara snapped, squirting like he asked. Erik slaps both her ass cheeks for that.

“Good girl, I know you got more for me.”

“Yes, Erik.” 

She froze, mouth suspended open before cumming again. Within seconds?

“FUCKkkkkk.” 

“Mhm,” he fucked up into her at the same killer pace, “mhm...mhm.”

“STOP!” She cries out, the urge to cum right there.

“Stop it, I’m gonna cum again!”

“Girl, shut up and cum.” 

Erik was close himself.

“Shut that crying up and cum on this dick.”

She went silent, body trembling before cumming for a third time.

“Oh my God,” she cries.

“You gonna let me cum in that mouth, Baby girl?”

Erik bounced Damara a few more times before slipping her off, standing to his feet quickly while she stayed on her knees. Damara opened wide, waiting for his treat. He jerked his big dick, grunts deep and eyes low and dangerous. After three pumps the cream spilled, Damara’s tongue ready. He tasted so damn good. 

“All of it, I’m not playing with you.”

She grabs his dick, licking and sucking all of it off.

“Good girl,” he puckered his lips down at her, mouthing a kiss. She almost fainted.

“You gonna have them thirsty bitches mad”

Damara didn’t care.

[secretlysheikah]

Numbed

Ah the next chapter is finally completed! I hope you all enjoy, no major TWs for this chapter. I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my little fic. This is a labor of love and it makes me happy that people are enjoying it. Love you all and I can’t wait to see you all in the next chapter. 

Read the new chapter on A03 here Just as a reminder I hold no claim over the Linked Universe, that honor belongs to @jojo56830, check out the original comic, it is really good. 

Start here: Legend was such a liar, Twilight thought to himself as he walked about an unfamiliar forest. He should have guessed that that stupid tea of Legend’s wouldn’t actually work. He could already tell by the odd looking trees and the way they blew in the non-existent breeze that this couldn't be real. He walked up to one of the large trees and eyed the trunk thoughtfully. There were odd markings in the wood, strange, thick, stubby horizontal lines that cut deeply into the bark. He leaned in closer and squinted at them, they looked a bit like claw marks but they were too far apart and clean for any normal beast. He hummed thoughtfully not really knowing what the strange markings could mean though he kept their existence in the back of his mind. It wouldn’t do any good to be caught unawares by a beast, even if it was a dream.    

The woods looked ancient and wise, with the tall tree tops being obscured by impossibly low hanging clouds. He cast a glance down towards the ground and found that even the land below was covered in a thick layer of misty clouds. Faint music played somewhere far away, peaceful and a bit mournful but beautiful all the same. He didn’t know why he was here, or even where this place was supposed to be but he didn’t get the feeling that he was in any danger. For now anyway. So he kept moving forward, occasionally stopping to carve out a piece of bark below the other odd markings from a tree to mark his path as he walked just in case. 

The landscape shifted in subtle ways, rocks forming high walls around him before disappearing in a blink to be replaced by an open field lined by trees. Rivers sprouted up from the ground and carved out new waterways only to have everything shift back to the oddly ancient forest once again. Everything around him shifted and changed  so frequently that If he really paid attention to it he might have felt unnerved, but as it was he didn’t really care. He just kept walking, choosing to  enjoy the faint music and the light scent of wood smoke that warmed the air. It had been a while since he just enjoyed a nice hike, it was relaxing in a way, even though nothing around him was real he still found a smile stretching across his face.

There was a giggle from somewhere deep in the woods and he paused in his hike to look out into the gloom. He couldn’t see anything in the depths of the trees and fog but he knew for sure that he had heard something. Cautiously he stepped off the trail, marking the trees with heavy notches as he passed. Hidden twigs cracked under his feet, the fog swirled around his legs obscuring the ground below even as he walked. 

“Hello?” He called out tentatively not really knowing who he was calling out to. It had sounded a bit like a girl but there was no way for him to actually be sure. He strained his ears focusing hard on the ambient noise around him, waiting for a response. He stopped walking for a minute and waited. The silence stretched on and just as he thought that whatever had made the noise had run off he heard it again, a delicate tinkling laugh not too far off in the distance. 

“Hey! Who's there?” He called out again before he began to trot forward again, further into the gloom. Only faint sounds of tinkling laughter answered him and he could feel his heart begin to flutter with apprehension. The trees that once started out open and inviting now started to grow closer together making him slow his pace. He eyed the dark trees around him with distrust as he went and he couldn’t stop himself for noticing how they seemed to be crowding in closer, almost as if they were leaning in and whispering secrets to each other. The thought made his breath come out in short gasps as a chill ran down his spine. 

“I’m here! Just a bit closer!” A small voice said not too far ahead of him, making him jump at the unexpected call. Suddenly shaking with an emotion he couldn’t quite place he started forward once again into the gloom. His heart beat a tattoo against his ribs as he moved forward, making his fingers twitch against the bark of trees as he squeezed past them. Sucking in a deep breath he set his jaw, clamping down the fear that made his legs slow. He only had to squeeze past a couple more trees before he practically fell out into an open field, with a large pond at its center. He felt a pull at his back as air seemed to be displaced and he spun around, eyes wide and found that there were no trees at his back but a wide open field. 

He felt eyes on his back, and he slowly turned back around and saw a very small figure standing in the center of the water. He moved a few steps closer to get a better look, and to his surprise it looked like a small girl in a white dress standing on top of the water as though it were solid ground, rather than in the water. Small ripples moved out from where her dress gently kissed the mirror surface of the pond and she looked completely at ease. Her head tilted slightly to the side, her blonde hair drifted in the breeze as she looked his way. She looked very young, maybe around twelve, with wide blue eyes and red hair band in her hair. She looked slightly familiar but he didn’t know why that would be. He coughed a little before he found his voice to call out once again.  

“Excuse me?” Twilight called out delicately, she brought a hand to her mouth and giggled and he felt a flush spreading across his face. He coughed again and moved closer to the water’s edge. 

“Ma’am? Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need help?” He said and was graced with a little shake of her head. He felt water on the tips of his shoes, heard nothing but the faint music and lingering sound of a girl’s laughter. He swallowed, feeling a nagging sense of apprehension creeping up in his chest again. She must have noticed because she beckoned him forward with a wave of her hand. He felt his eyebrows raise as he looked at her, then to the water that lapped around her bare feet and then finally at his own shoes. Surely she couldn’t be serious. 

“I need to show you something,” She said with a small laugh, still continuing to beckon him forward. 

“I’ll sink into the water, surely you can show me from here on dry land. Just walk over,” He called back to her only to be met with a quick shake of her head. 

“Not this time, come here!” She yelled back and Twilight felt confusion hit him. Again? What did she mean again? He pressed his lips into a tight frown. Cautiously he stretched his foot out over the surface of the water, pausing for a moment before stepping on the flat surface. He expected his foot to pass right through the mirror-like surface but it held firm, holding his weight easily as if  it were ice.  He took a few moments to admire the ripples that spread out from his feet before he began walking forward albeit very slowly. He heard her laugh and he joined her shakily, not entirely trusting the surface of the water to continue to hold his weight and prepared for the moment the spell was broken and he would be plunged into the water below. When he was about five feet away from her he stopped and waited for her to address him. 

“You came back, I’m glad,” the small girl said and once again he felt another wave of confusion. He didn’t know how to respond to her comment so he just inclined his head. 

“You said there was something you wished to show me?” He asked bluntly and the smile that had been on her face shrunk just the smallest bit. She bit at her lip and nodded before inclining her own head to match his stern posture. He could feel a subtle wave of nervousness pulse off of her despite her act of playing it tough but he made no comment on it. 

“I do, and I hope for your sake you remember this time,” she said and he felt an unnerving coil of dread beginning to unspool in his stomach. What did she mean by remember? He didn’t recall anything like this happening before. 

“Who are you?” He asked, his voice becoming a bit strained as he tried to force the words out. The girl tilted her head to the side, considering before she slowly shook her head. 

“Who I am is not important, what is important is finding out where they are,” She said as she lifted a finger and pointed it towards the space between them. Twilight tightened his jaw, he didn’t like this, but nonetheless he moved his eyes to look into the depths of the water at his feet. Slowly an image began to bubble up on the surface of the water. A deformed castle with turrets poking out at odd angles and walls that seemed jagged and too tall sat in what looked like a center of a gigantic lake. The waters around the castle looked like the surface of a black mirror, and just to the front of the warped gate there was a seemingly dead tree. It’s mangled limbs stretched high and ended in sharp tips that reached for a sky dotted with purplish black clouds.

“I don’t understand, what is this?” He asked in a bemused voice, crouching down to get a better look at the opposing structure. He hesitated calling it a castle, it was just too odd for such an ordinary word. As he continued to look, the more he examined it the more it seemed like there were multiple versions of Hyrule castle smashed together rather than anything that mortal hands could have constructed. 

“This is the center of the in between, the home of Dark Link. It is also where your brothers are, well one of them at least,” The girl said leaning forward so her hair was just brushing the surface of the water. 

“What? How? Wait, who is in there? Are they okay?” Twilight asked quickly, head shooting up to look at the little girl. He met her familiar blue eyes and he felt a pang of recognition but shoved it aside. He had a lot of questions and he didn’t know how much time he had to actually get the answers. 

“The one you call Sky is there, but as for Wild I don’t know,” She said sadly and he felt himself jerk at how quickly she answered his unasked question. He swallowed hard and looked back down at the enormous structure. He felt his breath hitch as the picture seemed to change from the imposing ‘castle’ to a black nothing. 

“You heroes must act quickly for dark forces are at work, even now your friend is…” She stopped and Twilight looked at her expectantly. She was giving him a look that he didn’t much care for. 

“What is happening, what’s wrong,” He asked tersely and the girl straightened and hugged herself. He could see tears in her eyes and she was shaking her head very slightly. 

“Please, I don’t want to see it again,” She whispered and he felt his heart sink. What had she seen to make her so upset. 

“Please this is important, I need to know he’s okay,” He implored, he had to know. He couldn’t bear the curiosity and blind worry anymore. The girl must have seen it in his eyes because she gave a little hiccup before she wiped at her eyes with the heel  of her hand. When she got a hold of herself she made a gesture to the water and turned her back on him. 

Twilight’s eyes shot down to the water below and gasped in horror. Sky was sitting against a wall in a dark room, curled in on himself. His wrists looked raw and swollen. Looking closer he saw the skin looked blackened and cracked in places while other parts wept red. He was rocking back and forth, his hands pressed to his ears. Twilight tried to peer around his arms to see his face better and somehow whatever magic that was being used obliged and tilted the angle. Sky’s eyes looked wide and terrified while also seeming dim and lifeless. The skin around his eyes were red and puffy. He could see Sky’s lips moving, but he couldn’t hear anything. 

“Sky, by the Goddess,” Twilight whispered, he could feel tears tracking down his face. Sky looked absolutely wretched, his fingers dug into his hair, and now that he seemed to be closer he could see the extensive bruising that covered his hands and the dried blood that darkened his sleeves. He felt as though his heart was being cleaved in two, his fingers pressed against the water’s surface, wanting nothing more than to grab hold of Sky and pull him close. 

“Please” he begged, “you must know where, where is he, where is this castle?” Twilight said as he got to his feet and ran over to the girl. She only shook her head and refused to turn around. Twilight felt a sudden frustration take hold of him and he grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around before dropping to his knees so they were face to face. Her eyes shone with tears and he could feel misery coming off her in waves. It was practically contagious and he had to grit his teeth and force the words out. 

“I don’t know who you are, but please you need to help me,” He said as he felt tears bubble over his lashes, wetting his face and making his vision blurred. He opened his mouth to continue his plea but a bout of dizzy confusion suddenly sprouted up in the center of his mind and he felt himself sway. The sensation crawled across his mind and he blinked rapidly, dropping his hands away from the girl’s shoulders and looked at his shaking hands. What was he doing? He racked his brain but he came up with nothing. He wiped at his face and found it wet but for the life of him he couldn’t remember why that would be. Was he just crying? But why was he crying? He got clumsily to his feet and gripped the sides of head as a spike of pain flared behind his eyes.   

“No! Not yet!” The girl cried, and to Twilight’s ringing ears her voice sounded echoey and hollow. He felt his eyes growing wide and he shook his head suddenly terrified. What on Earth was happening? Where was he? A girl, (where had she come from?) let out a whine and made a sweeping gesture with her hand and Twilight found his eyes following the movement. They landed on the smooth surface of the water before he even knew he was doing it. He felt her grab on to his arms with a firm grip before she pulled his hands away from his head. 

“You have to listen to me, remember please!” She cried and Twilight could only nod dumbly. It was like his mind was drifting, forgetting even as he listened to her speak. He blinked at her, trying to round up his wandering thoughts but found that they were becoming well and truly scattered. He watched her face as she narrowed her eyes and her lips pressed into a thin line. He hadn’t realized he was staring off into the far distance until she gave him a little shake to bring his attention back to her. 

“He won’t last long on his own,” She said, directing his attention back to the water below with a gentle wave, and he felt a morbid curiosity pulled at his heart as he followed the motion of her hand. There in the water was Wild, face bruised with his left arm hanging loosely at his side, like it was dislocated. Twilight leaned forwards slightly and could see blood staining the pale tan tunic Wild wore. Twilight felt his breathing stop as he looked, moving closer despite himself. 

Her voice was still an odd echo and suddenly he watched as Wild snarled and drew a sword from a twinkling swirl of blue lights. Twilight let out a gasp, his blood ran cold and he cried out as Wild raced forward only to have something wrap around his ankle, causing him to crash to the ground. He couldn’t tell what had caused Wild to fall but he did notice as a heavy black boot stomped down on Wild’s wrist forcing him to drop his sword. 

“No,” Twilight said, his voice sounded thready and broken to his own ears. He fell to his knees and pressed his hands to the surface of the water, as if he could somehow push through the surface and grab hold of Wild and drag him back through. The vision shimmered and disappeared and Twilight let out a frustrated yell and pounded his fist against the water. 

“No! No no! Bring him back!” He shouted even as he felt the memory begin to fade away in his mind. He shook his head and pressed  his hands into his eyes, trying to hold on to the vision even as it faded to be replaced with a numbing tranquility. He looked back at the girl, focusing on how she was holding on to his arms with a tight grip. He breathed heavily through his nose and grabbed on to her arms. 

“What do I do? Quickly now,” Twilight commanded as he felt a numbing calm clamp down around his mind. The girl’s face hardened as she nodded and stood, pulling him to his feet. 

“Open your eyes, tell your mentor what you can remember,” She said, gesturing for him to lean down so she could whisper the information into his ear. He obliged and leaned down so she could whisper to him. The world around him began to shimmer and fade as he slowly worked his way towards waking. By the time she pulled away from him she looked little more than a blotch of bright yellows and reds against a painfully white background. 

“Remember and open your eyes, there is no time to waste.” She said, her voice becoming airy and faint. Twilight nodded, feeling himself coming back to wakefulness. He felt his body grow heavy and stiff, a groan worked it’s way from his dry and sore throat as he came back to wakefulness. Even his bones seemed to ache with cold and fever and his mind felt dulled and hazy. It took way too much effort to open his eyes and he struggled to even crack them open a sliver. He didn’t know if that was due to the fever or the tea that he had drank earlier but either way it was a challenge that he wished he didn’t have to deal with just then.  

When he finally managed to open his eyes, he found the world blurry and out of focus. He squeezed them shut before he opened them again to the soft voice of Time calling out to him. He tried sucking in a deep breath and could feel the way his chest stuttered and bubbled and he let out a burst of wheezing half choked coughs. When the fit passed and he was able to catch his breath he shook his head trying to keep the fog away from the words the girl had told him. He could feel Time’s eye on him, waiting for him to speak and after a moment he was able to find the elusive words that the girl had whispered to him.

“Can’t forget, don’t forget,” He mumbled, as he tried to get his eyes to stay open, he couldn’t let himself fall back into dreams, not yet. He heard Time say something but it sounded muffled and far away. He focused harder on Time’s voice, desperate to cling onto something. Fog swirled around just behind his eyes and he felt himself start to slip. 

“At the center of the in the in between, where it all began, where he, no, it first appeared,” Twilight said quickly, trying to blink away the fog. He could almost feel himself starting to forget already and the thought startled him. It was like his thoughts were a tangled ball of string being quickly unraveled and eaten away. He hadn’t even known he had closed his eyes, hadn’t even felt himself drift until a warm hand gently patted his cheek. Once again it took far too much effort to open his eyes again, and even more of a chore to get his mind to focus on the concerned eye of Time where he sat next to him.

“What is the center? What are you talking about?” Time asked gently, and Twilight felt a rush of adrenaline course through him. He had to tell him, he had to make sure someone would remember. A shock of pain ricocheted through his skull just behind his eyes, making the world spin in a sickening spiral and he had to close his eyes to stop himself from getting sick. A firm hand landed on his shoulder grounding him just enough for him to pry his eyes open. It felt like his eyelids were glued together, constantly trying to remain closed despite his best efforts. The pull of sleep was growing stronger and it was all he could do to cling on to consciousness.  

“He is there, at the center, with a tree, there, there was water, and.. a…” He began but felt his mind becoming clouded and muddled, the thoughts spooling away even as he tried to hold on to them. His mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton and mud and it made speaking difficult. He tried to pull the thoughts back from the nothing, to keep them close so he could explain but it was like trying to hold water in a sieve.

 A motion in the fog just behind Time caught his eye and in the mist stood a small girl. Her eyes were pleading, mouthing something he couldn’t make out but deep down he knew she was begging him to hold on just a bit longer. He couldn’t slip away not yet, this girl, no, Sky and, and Wild, they needed him to remember what she had told him. What was it she had said? Time’s hand shook his shoulder firmly, bringing his attention back to his worried blue eyed gaze. 

“Who is there? Twilight, who is there?” Twilight heard Time ask and even to his fever-addled brain he could hear a note of curiosity and desperation in his mentor’s voice, though he could be just imagining it. Twilight swallowed hard, reached back through the haze and grasped at straws but found his memory was lacking.

“Wild? No, uh, S-Sky? D-ark, he, I think has him there, but Time I don’t, I don’t know how to ge’to them. Don’ know ‘ow to ge’them back,” He was losing it now. The tenuous grip he had on consciousness was well and truly gone. He felt himself drifting even as he looked at Time. He couldn’t tell what was real and what was the newly forming dreamscape. 

He felt Time pull him close, could feel the hum of his chest as he said something that just wouldn’t connect in his mind. He was so tired, so sore and weak and sad. But why? Why did he feel sad? He felt sad for some reason but he didn’t know why and somehow that made his heart race with fear. There was a pressure on his back as someone rubbed his back. He could smell the scent of wood smoke and wild flowers and he closed his eyes and just breathed. The world spun around him like a whirlpool and he tensed at the sickening motion before the floor seemed to open up beneath him and he was falling away into nothing. 

....

Legend was such a liar, Twilight thought to himself as he walked about the unfamiliar forest around him. He should have guessed that that stupid tea of Legend’s wouldn’t work.  

*****

A sweet melody drifted through the warm air of Twilight’s house, mixing gently with the faint pops of the fire that burned in the hearth. Time let himself lean back against the mound of soft blankets at his back as he played. He could feel Twilight’s gentle breathing underneath the pile, could hear the nearly silent groans as he shifted in his sleep. He stopped playing, resting the old ocarina in his lap so he could lean over and rest a hand on Twilight’s forehead. It was too warm, and the skin felt slightly clammy to the touch. 

Time could feel his eyebrows knitting together with worry, the pup had pushed himself way too far this time. Even in sleep Twilight’s eyes looked slightly sunken and tired. His breaths while smooth for now, but held the promise of bone rattling coughing when he awoke. 

He watched as Twilight’s calm expression twisted for a moment before he let out a soft gasp and curled ever so slightly inward. Time held his breath, waiting for him to wake but let it out slowly when the moment seemed to pass and Twilight relaxed, face going slack once again. He felt a shiver emanate from the mound of blankets and Time leaned closer and tucked the blankets up higher around Twilight’s shoulders. Twilight groaned a little louder this time, his breath quickened and he started to squirm, writhing around as his face twisted. 

“Hey, calm down pup, it’s alright,” Time soothed as he adjusted the blankets once more to allow Twilight a little more freedom of movement. He was still breathing heavily and Time could feel lightning zinging through his limbs in worry. He made more shushing sounds as he moved in closer and placed a heavy hand on the pup’s forehead, focusing on radiating a calm presence as he did so. 

He could see the start of tears at the corners of Twilight’s eyes, could feel as his breathing was ramping up to the start of crying. Worry and sorrow clamped down hard around Time’s heart as he watched, feeling helpless to do anything. Tears leaked out from Twilight’s eyes and he leaned forward and wiped them away. He didn’t know what could be making him so upset in his sleep but whatever it was he wished he could do something other than just sitting there feeling useless. 

Then as suddenly as the tears started, they simply stopped. Twilight’s face fell slack once again, his body relaxed and his breathing slowed. It was startling to say the least, and he didn’t know how to feel about it. Time’s hands shook slightly and he leaned back and carefully put his ocarina away, not trusting himself to hold it, let alone play. 

“You really did a number on yourself this time,” Time sighed, leaning forward as he rested his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers. He looked off towards the fire, letting his mind empty as he listened to it’s soft popping. Feeling agitated he rubbed at his face and leaned back with a sigh, feeling himself growing more antsy with the worry as the time ticked on. 

“I should have known you were pushing yourself too far,” He muttered, rubbing at his eyes as he felt heat building up behind them. He sighed and looked back at Twilight who was still sleeping peacefully for the moment. 

“Damn it pup,” Time snapped suddenly as he stood, no longer able to sit still and do nothing. His heels clicked angrily against the floorboards as he stomped around the lower level of the treehouse. Occasionally throwing a glance back at the sleeping form of Twilight, checking to make sure he was still sleeping soundly.  

“I told you, I told you that you needed to take care of yourself, but did you listen? No, of course not, none of you kids do,” He let out a frustrated groan and stamped back over to the couch, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. His emotions felt like a whirlwind of worry and frustration. He wanted to shake Twilight awake to yell at him, while another part of him also wanted to wrap him up in the tightest hug he could manage and soothe the worry in his own chest. 

He settled on running his hands through Twilight’s damp hair, working his fingers through the snarls that had formed in the dark blonde locks. Twilight’s face was still flat and emotionless even as his fingers twitched and grasped at the blankets. Time let out the breath he had been holding, knowing that even if he raged and screamed it would do nothing to fix the current situation. Twilight’s eyes moved rapidly under his closed lids and his breath quickened again before his eyes blinked open. It was clearly a monumental effort on his part and Time felt his hand slow to a stop in Twilight’s messy hair. 

“Pup?” He asked softly, moving to Twilight’s side in a moment and knelt down so he was eye level with the ailing hero. Twilight sucked in a breath and promptly began hacking and wheezing and Time felt himself wince in sympathy. He waited for Twilight to get himself back under control. Twilight shook his head from side to side as if trying to clear it all the while muttering something in an airy whisper. Brows furrowed, Time leaned in closer to try to get a better idea of what was being said. 

“I can’t forget, don’t forget,” He whispered and Time leaned in even closer. 

“Don’t forget what pup? What's happening?” He asked and watched as Twilight blinked slowly and groaned, clearly trying to gather his thoughts into something more coherent. 

“At the center, in the in between, where it all began, where he, no, it, first appeared,” Twilight said fervently, his misty blue eyes landing on him with a quiet plea. Time didn’t understand, and he gently placed a hand on Twilight’s cheek when he saw that his eyes had started to drift close again, and he tried to keep him focused. 

“What is the center? What are you talking about?” He asked, confusion filling his voice. Twilight winced and squinted his eyes shut, he almost looked like he was in pain. Time shuffled closer and  grabbed Twilight’s shoulder firmly to get the other’s attention back on him. Twilight huffed and opened his eyes again but it was slower, like his eyelids were too heavy. 

“He’s there, at the center, with a tree… There, there was water, and.. a…“ Twilight said but trailed off as his eyes settled on something behind Time’s shoulder. He looked around but saw nothing but the empty room behind him. Unnerved, he turned back around and gently patted Twilight’s cheek again, drawing his fogged eyes back to him. There was a dim light behind his eyes but he could see the light fading fast. 

“Who is there? Twilight, who is there?” He asked and he could hear his own desperation in his voice. He couldn’t understand why, but he knew this was more than just a normal fever dream. 

“Wild? No, uh, S-Sky? D-ark, he, I think has him there, but Time I don’t, I don’t know how to ge’to them. Don’ know ‘ow to ge’them back,” He slurred and Time could hear the heartbreak in his decedent’s voice. Time a pang of despair shot through his own heart and he pulled Twilight into a tight embrace. He could feel the way Twilight was shaking but he doubted it had much to do with being cold, or the fever that pulsed heat through his shirt. Twilight tense slightly for a moment before he relaxed and Time closed his eyes as he held him.  

“We will find them, you said the center is where it began, so we'll just have to figure that out. We can do that,” Time murmured, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat and squeezed just a touch tighter but felt nothing in response. He shifted slightly and he felt the way Twilight’s head lolled and how his body felt heavy and boneless in his arms. He placed a hand on the back of Twilight’s head before he slowly and carefully laid him back down on the cushions, making sure not to jostle him too much as he did so. 

Twilight was out cold once again, obviously losing his fight against the pull of sleep. His mouth hung open slightly, his eyelids flickered as he dreamed. Twilight heaved a sigh and tugged a little at the blankets. Time tucked the blankets around Twilight’s shoulders before he placed a hand on the pup’s chest; reassuring himself that he was okay with every heartbeat he could feel underneath his palm. 

He stood like that for a minute or two, feeling how Twilight’s breathing seemed to be just a bit too strained. Worry chipped away at his thoughts as he mulled over the possibility that maybe the near drowning was worse than they had originally thought. An unfound worry grew in his mind, that Twilight would just stop breathing and no one would notice. He shook the thought away, unwilling to let his mind travel down that line of thought. Worry like that had no place in a sick room.  

Twilight was starting to shiver again and Time hastened to pull up the blankets just a bit more, determined to make his protégé as comfortable as possible. When he was sure that Twilight was sleeping peacefully once again, he sat back on his haunches and looked around the room. His mind thinking back to when Twilight had been distracted not minutes before. A chill ran down his spine and he straightened suddenly feeling like he wasn’t alone in the small house.

His hand came to rest on his sword as he slowly moved away from the couch and the sleeping warrior buried the under blankets. He heard his footsteps creak as he stepped on older floor boards and he couldn’t help but imagine that the floorboards were screaming at him. His eyes continued to scan the room around him. The hairs on the nape of his neck began to rise and his hand tightened on the handle of his blade. Just as he felt his heart begin to well and truly and race; the door behind him slammed open causing him to let out a startled cry before he whipped around, sword drawn and ready to defend and pointed it at the front door. Wind stood there with a bag slung over his shoulder and he stopped mid-conversation with Four when his eyes landed on him. 

“Uh, is everything okay here?” The young boy asked as he stepped inside the house, trailed close behind by a worried looking Four. Time felt his heart beating out of his chest and he forced himself to lower his sword. 

“You scared the Hell out of me, don’t come barging in here like that, Twilight is trying to rest,” He scolded in a harsh whisper, resisting the urge to grab at his chest in an attempt to soothe his racing heart. He leveled a glare at Wind who nodded his understanding and squinted at Four when he noticed a small smirk flit across his face. 

“Something funny, Smithy?” He growled and he noticed how Four wouldn’t meet his gaze, turning his face away with a light cough. Though Time could see how his shoulders shook slightly with silent laughter. Feeling the adrenaline slowly leaving his veins Time bent down to one of the chairs, took up a pillow and chucked it at Four. It hit the smaller man on the side of the head, nearly knocking him off his feet and made him stumble mid-step. 

Four looked around at him shooting him a glare from where he had stumbled, but Time could see the mirth that danced behind his odd eyes. Four snorted and picked up the pillow, sending it flying back Time’s way and he side stepped easily and watched it sail by harmlessly to land on the floor. 

“Sorry for the scare old man, Wind was just telling me about the soup he wanted to make for Twilight,” he said as he jerked a finger towards Wind who had made his way over to the small kitchen table and was rummaging around in the contents of the bag.      

“My grandmother would always make it for us when me or Aryl were sick, it worked like a charm. I was even able to find most of the ingredients in town,” He said as he pulled out a fresh fish wrapped in paper. He replaced the fish back into the bag and cast his eyes towards Twilight. 

“How is he doing?” He asked softly, his brows knitting together in concern. Four had made his way over to the couch, placing his hand on Twilight’s forehead and humming as he judged the fever for himself. 

“He has been sleeping, though he woke up not too long ago actually,” Time said, making his way back towards the couch. He couldn’t stop his eyes from scanning the room around them. Even though there were more people in the room he couldn’t help but feel like they weren't completely alone. 

“Is that so?” Four asked as he fidgeted with the blankets, smoothing them and pulling at nonexistent wrinkles in the fabric. Time could tell he was worried, and he rested a hand gently on Four’s shoulder. 

“It is so, and he said some interesting things, I wonder if you would be able to help me figure them out. You are rather good at figuring out puzzles,” Time said and he smiled as the smithy looked up at him with a curiosity that burned like coals behind his eyes. Time could recognize the desperate need to do something, anything to help and he gave the small hero a determined smile. 

“Hm, how can you be sure it wasn’t just fever induced mutterings? What did he even say?” Four asked skeptically and Time was about to answer when the door suddenly flew open again this time revealing a wide eyed Legend as he panted and clutched at the doorway. 

“We saw him, we saw Wild in the spring,” Legend gasped, and Time felt frozen in place. He couldn’t mean, there was no way. He glanced around the room, at the wide eyes of Wind and Four, then to the sleeping form of Twilight who surprisingly, still hadn’t stirred in all the commotion.  

“Take us to him, Four, stay here with Twi, make sure he’s okay,” Time commanded and the smallest hero nodded quickly, and Time noticed how he grabbed the hilt of his sword. Wind was by his side in a moment and together the three of them jumped down to the ground and ran off towards the spring. 

****

Hyrule felt distinctly off kilter and not really sure what to do. The sound of falling water was his only companion, the white noise filling his head with a lightheaded emptiness. He was still reeling, they had seen Wild, and he looked okay. That realization in and of itself was enough to make him want to faint. 

It had been about a day since Wild was tossed through that portal; but even in that short amount of time Hyrule hadn’t realized just how much stress and worry he had been carrying around on his back until it had been suddenly pulled away. The sudden relief was enough to make his head swim. He took a few steps forward, not really knowing what he was doing. He couldn’t even say he was actually processing anything, he was there physically but mentally he felt a million miles away. 

He tried to focus on the water that sloshed around in his boots, the feel of the rocks under foot and slowly worked at calming the white noise that filled his mind. Wild was okay, at least for now, and Legend would be back in a few minutes he just had to keep calm. He found himself shaking with the rush of different emotions, he wanted to laugh in giddy relief and cry all at the same time. He took a shuddering breath, dipping a hand into the water and splashing his face with the cool liquid. 

“Get a hold of yourself ‘Rule,” He muttered as he raked his hands through his mussed hair. He could feel hysterical laughter boiling away in his chest and he beat it down with a vengeance. 

“Yes please, you look like a fool pacing around like that. You’re supposed to be a hero for the love of Hylia, maybe it’s time you start acting like one,” a bored voice drawled out from behind him. Hyrule froze where he paced, anger mixing with horror as he slowly turned to face the waterfall. There in the water of the falls stood Dark, he had a wide smile on his face as he eyed him up and down. 

“Surprised aren’t you? My apologies, I just thought you’d like some company while you wait,” He said kindly, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited for a response. 

“Where is he? Where is Wild?” Hyrule demanded taking an angry step forward, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword. Dark rolled his eyes and offered him a lazy smile. He looked like a cat that caught a mouse and was now fixing to have some fun. Hyrule bared his teeth in defiance, hand tightening on his sword. 

“Honestly, whenever I talk to you people you are always so on edge. Always demanding something,” Dark started as he began to pace back and forth in the waterfall’s reflection, hands waving about as he affected a mocking tone. 

“What have you done? Where are our friends? I’m going to kill you!” He said in an nasally voice and tossed a sneer in his direction. Dark’s eyes dropped to look at Hyrule’s hand that was clasped tightly over the hilt of his sword, 

“Oh please, you act as though you can hurt me, be a dear and drop the sword. If you do maybe I’ll take mercy on your friends. After all, I have one standing right in front of me as we speak.” Dark said, just as Wild appeared back in the waterfall, as if to illustrate his point. Hyrule could barely contain the rage building in his heart but allowed his hand to drop away from the sword. He couldn’t risk angering Dark and getting Wild hurt in the process.  

“Just give us our friend’s back and I’m sure we can work something out,” Hyrule hissed, as his hand tightened into fists at his sides. He had to keep a level head, it would only make things worse if he lashed out now. Dark leaned back and let out a loud bellowing laugh. 

“Oh I don’t think so, they both have something I want. Not to mention the sky child has become one of my favorite playthings. I dare say we're practically brothers!” Dark said and Hyrule couldn’t help but notice how he said the word ‘brothers’ like the word itself was a slimy curse. 

“Bastard,” 

The word slipped between his teeth before he could stop himself. Dark raised an amused eyebrow and smirked at him and somehow that simple gesture made Hyrule’s blood run cold. 

“I didn’t know you could swear, I thought you were better than that. Pity really, I guess that Vet’s proclivity for fowl language is rubbing off on you.” Dark said before a light seemed to jump into his eyes. He snapped his fingers and looked at him with a wide toothy grin. 

“Speaking of the Vet, I hope he realizes how foolish it was to leave you here alone. Hasn’t he ever heard of the buddy system?” He said with a sigh, like he had really expected better from Legend. There was another snap of his fingers and suddenly Hyrule felt cold, wet tendrils wrapping around his wrists. He gasped and tried to jerk his arms away but they were thoroughly trapped. To his horror his feet were quickly enveloped in the watery grip as well and every inch of him squirmed in alarm. He struggled and Dark chuckled at his ineffective attempts to free himself. 

Hyrule snarled and opened his mouth to spit out an insult but another cold tendril shot out and wrapped itself around his neck stopping the words dead in his throat. He let out a choked cry as the grip tightened and the tendril slowly wrapped around his mouth. He clamped his mouth shut quickly and worked harder to try to free himself. 

Hyrule could hear Dark laughing harder and he shifted his focus back over to the waterfall and watched as the flat surface bulged outwards in the shape of a man. Dark seemed to be using the water itself to give himself a body and he casually walked out from the falls and towards him. Fear and frustration poured through Hyrule’s veins as he continued to struggle. The water that surrounded his mouth felt like it was trying to pry his lips open and he forced them closed as hard as he could. 

“You know, I have come to realize that there is something that I want from you as well.” Dark said as he moved closer, circling around him as if looking him over. When he worked his way around him, Dark slowed to a stop and inclined his head and looked down his nose at him. Hyrule glared at him and jerked himself forward as if he could break free from the grip and throttle Dark himself. The water tightened around his throat and he felt his breath growing shallow as his airways were squeezed. 

“I have always been impressed with how well you can heal,” Dark started and Hyrule squinted his eyes at him, even as a thrill of fear rushed through him. Was he to be taken too? If that were the case he wasn’t to be taken without a fight. Hyrule jerked forwards again and Dark smirked. 

“I can see the look in your eyes, and no, I’m not going to snatch you away, I’m not really up for more company at the moment. Though I am in need of a healer,” He said as he moved in closer and Hyrule felt his very soul recoil at the proximity. He didn’t know what Dark was getting at but he was sure he didn’t like it. Dark just hummed and scrutinized him with cold, calculating, red eyes. He made a sharp gesture and Hyrule felt himself being leaned back slightly, his arms pulled back so he couldn’t bend forward, forcing his chest to be more exposed. 

Oh he really did not like that. The primal side of his brain screamed danger and his more rational side was inclined to agree. He tried even harder to break the water’s grip but he was being held at such an angle that it made it impossible to get any leverage, he couldn’t move an inch. He was trapped, stuck and completely helpless and the thought of it filled him with rage and fear in equal measure. His chest was heaving and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the hand that was raised, the fingers growing long black fingernails as Dark smiled softly at him. 

“You know, I was always amazed at how well you could heal.” Dark said distractedly as he lowered his pointer finger to just above Hyrule’s heart. He felt something in his chest stir and twist, like the magic that was held there was getting anxious just by the proximity of Dark’s finger. 

“Given the fact that your very blood holds the key to release that fool Ganon, who would have guessed that you would even be able to heal anyone at all,” He said as he very slowly pressed the sharpened tip of his fingernail through his shirt and into the soft skin above Hyrule’s heart. Pain raced down all the nerve endings in his body and he sucked in a pained breath through his nose. 

“I should have guessed that you would have somehow turned that curse into something helpful, maybe I should give you hero types more credit,” He mused and Hyrule felt something latch on to the magic that was stored in his very soul. His eyes went wide and Dark gave him a lazy grin and slowly withdrew his hand. Hyrule could feel as his magic was leached and pulled away. He watched in awed horror as a delicate strand of silver and gold wrapped around the long pointed black fingernail and somehow he knew this wasn’t just Dark absorbing some of his magic, it was like he was taking it away. As Dark moved his hand back further he could feel his own hands growing numb. 

“How interesting, I didn’t think your magic could be this pure,” He said as he worked the fine filament between his thumb and forefinger. Hyrule couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t think beyond the horror. He felt something warm beginning to drip from his nose, the world blurred and darkened at the corners and he was struck with the idea that maybe he was dying. Dark looked back at him and gently patted his face.   

“Aw, don’t pass out on me now, it’s just a bit of essence, I’m sure you have plenty to spare,” He said kindly. Hyrule could barely feel anything, he wasn’t even sure if he was standing or laying down. His chest spasmed and a wet cough forced itself out from between his lips. Judging on the metallic tang that coated his tongue he imagined the red that must be coloring the water around his mouth. 

“Or maybe not,” He said as an afterthought though Hyrule didn’t think he really cared. He could feel his eyes trying to roll back in his head, was he breathing? He didn’t know. Dark just leaned back, pulling the strand of silver and gold until it was taught and Hyrule felt his soul scream in agony. Tears dripped from the corner of his eyes, and Dark’s grin grew savage. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t take all of it, I still want you alive. And for what it’s worth I’m pretty sure you won’t notice much of a difference,” Dark said as he grabbed at a section of the thread and began to worry away at it. He could feel his magic growing thinner and thinner before it finally snapped away. Hyrule arched back his eyes slamming closed as he felt the connection hiss and writhe at the break. 

He heard a cry from somewhere and he just managed to open his eyes just enough to see the shape of boomerang slice through the figure standing in front of him before he was falling, crashing into the cold water underneath him. He couldn’t do anything as the water parted around his numbed body and instantly flowed back over top of him. Didn’t even register the cold shock of water rushing into his lungs. The only thought that made it past his numbed and aching mind was the feeling that something dreadfully important was missing. His mind glazed over and he watched the ripples in the water above him as he let himself drown.

[smuggsy]

heyo! If you feel like a prompt, I'll offer up one for the flyboys? How about, “Am I going to die?" pls <3

Thank you! I always feel like writing for these two! Two prompts in a day, wow, this is unheard of. I would feel accomplished except I should've been working on an essay for my medieval history class so I only feel guilty lmao.

Anyway. Here, have some pining idiots. Bit of angst sprinkled in but really this is just Collins biting off more than he can chew. You know I love putting him in these situations #sorrynotsorry.

Collins has always been the heavier drinker. He's more easy-going, always accepting pints from the younger lads and beating them at cards and joining in on their bets when dark clouds loom close to the ground and they're allowed to leave for the day.

It's usually Farrier keeping him in check, walking him back to base late at night and watching carefully from behind, giving him space but close enough to grab in case he trips over his feet after a good amount of beer has numbed his reflexes.

Collins naively assumes Farrier isn't a booze lover. Isn't that into alcohol in general; he never has more than two pints, not even when Collins refuses to indulge in it does Farrier let himself get too comfortable at the bar or at a table.

Never when Collins is with him, anyway. This is a thought that has just recently taken form, as in, about ten minutes ago when Collins caught up with the group at the local pub after returning from his daily rounds.

Today he walks into the crowded place brimming with pilots as a thunderstorm announces itself outside, and when he takes a seat next to his wingmate on the far-off corner from the door he finds Farrier doesn't look up to meet his gaze.

"Evening," Collins greets, but he's not sure he's heard him over the music and incessant chatting of their peers.

Even if he does, Farrier pays him no mind.

To say that Collins is instantly bugged by it is an understatement. Farrier stares down at something in his lap, he's hunched down and sports a permanent frown and the overall sight of him just looks wrong.

"Ey, alright?"

He realises, but only once Farrier snaps his head up, that his eyes are a bit too glassy, his breath smelling a bit too strong when he sighs in Collins' direction.

"What? Oh, hey."

Collins only sees the paper in a flash, before Farrier tucks it back into the inner pocket of his jacket. The quick motion clearly meant to keep it away from prying eyes is the only reason Collins doesn't ask. Yet.

"Having fun?" he says instead with a smile, trying to brush away the sudden heaviness of a conversation that hasn't even started, and he leans back on his own seat and surveys the table in front. He counts at least five empty pints close enough to Farrier's side.

"Fun," Farrier scoffs with a shake of his head.

Collins finds the irony dripping from the word so strong and uncharacteristic that he leans over and takes a chug or two of his own beer.

"Let them have fun," his mate continues, gesturing vaguely towards the youngest recruits fooling about on the dancefloor, "they don't know what's fucking coming."

At that, Collins can't help but stare.

He gently places his pint back on the table and doesn't tear his eyes away from Farrier, now stumbling out of his chair looking much drunker than he did just a second ago.

"M'gonna head back," he says, trying to walk past Collins who only manages to move his chair back once Farrier's already on the other side.

"It'll be pouring outside!"

Just then, a thunder rumbles low and menacing under the sweet voice of The Andrews Sisters coming off the gramophone. Farrier stops dead in his tracks for a moment and just when Collins thinks he's going to turn around and sit back down, he shrugs and walks away.

"Ah, s'only a bit of rain, innit..."

He only stops by the bar to pay for his round of drinks, pushing through one or two excited couples dancing away the night and apologizing to one of the gals for almost stepping on her foot.

Collins watches the whole exchange from his spot, a bit taken aback by Farrier so easily brushing him off.

He gives himself a few moments to feel hurt and then he stands up and pays for his own unfinished pint, only catching up to him as he rounds the corner and the first droplets of rain start announcing a hell of a storm.

"Yer gonna be wet straight through if ya walk back now!"

"Yeah," Farrier says over his shoulder, lighting a cigarette and sending a sour smile Collins' way, "I am."

His gaze seems only a bit clearer as he stares Collins down, giving him a once over and taking in the sight with an approving nod. It makes something in Collins' stomach turn.

In a good way.

"You go back though, get yourself a nice bird to dance with. Put in all that effort to walk me back like I'm your granny?"

With the dragging of his words and the cigarette he keeps firmly placed in between his lips, Collins almost doesn't understand him.

He lets out an emotionless laugh and starts walking again when Farrier does.

"What effort? I always look like this."

Farrier blows away the smoke and nods again.

"You do."

"Something happen?"

There it is. He asks.

Farrier almost halts, just almost. He looks like he's about to answer but then the cigarette is back in his mouth and he openly ignores his question for a whole minute. Collins gets the cue but he still doesn't turn back. He figures he can play chaperone tonight, like Farrier's done with him so many times before.

Except, he's always ranting on after his round of pints and his wingmate's not much of a talker. No way to fill in the awkward silence. Collins can't help himself.

"You got mail," he tries again, a statement, just a simple comment that doesn't mean any harm and it definitely doesn't mean to make Farrier turn around like that - like he's properly annoyed at him for asking. For caring.

"Just go back," Farrier bites out, harshly, "you just got 'ere. Go on, don't lemme spoil your night."

"You're not."

"Collins..."

"I'll go if you really want me to."

That makes Farrier look at him again, truly look at him like the words have taken a bit of the alcohol off his blood and sobered him up. He stares for a long moment and then starts walking again without a word. Failing to answer again but answering nonetheless.

The lamp-posts they walk past light up the heavier drops of rain as if warning them of what's to come. Collins' hair is still wet from the shower so he doesn't feel much of a difference.

"You're a good kid, Jackie," Farrier says after a while, hands in the pockets of his trousers and looking up to the moonless sky. When he does, he seems to lose a bit of balance that he quickly regains before Collins can actually grab his arm to steady him.

He reckons it's better he didn't get to, judging by Farrier's general snappiness tonight. Can't be completely sure his help would be welcomed. 

"What did you just call me?" he teases with a grin.

He sees a smile tug at Farrier's lips.

"A good kid."

Jackie.

"I'm twenty-fuckin'-five, thank you very much!"

At last, Farrier lets out a laugh. Collins feels like a heavy weight's been lifted off his shoulders.

"You're a fuckin' tease, s'what you are."

It's just as well that mother nature stops him as he intends to give an answer, because the words get stuck in his throat at the implication of that sentence.

The sky goes white for a split second, lightning flaring up above their heads before the cracking of thunder seems to switch on the merciless pouring rain once and for all. They're already far enough that they'd still end up drenched from head to toe even if they walked back to the pub.

"Shit, come on!"

Farrier starts running forward, where there's a couple of leafy pines by the road before the clearing starts the path back to the airbase: a very long and tree-deserted runway and training field.

In short, they're fucked.

Farrier beats him to the cover of the canopy and Collins thinks that perhaps he wasn't that drunk after all.

"Quicker in the air than on the ground, eh lad?"

"Want to race me, old man?"

"Nah, wouldn't want that spotless suit wrecked with mud."

Collins turns to answer and finds Farrier grinning at him playfully, looking him up and down again for the second time in twenty minutes - the spark in his eyes doesn't go unnoticed because he's never caught him staring so openly before. It makes his pulse quicken and turns his filter off.

"You really like me in my suit, dontcha?"

Farrier's next words sound fuelled by beer, as does that almost imperceptible lick of his lips.

"Why, of course I do."

He looks away to the curtain of falling rain in front of them, pooling down on the grass, and he shakes his head and talks so low that Collins almost doesn't hear him again.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"I'm drunk."

"Yeah, I know. Ye keep lookin' at me like ye want to eat me or somethin'."

Farrier snaps his head back to look at him, mouth half-open like a fish out of the water - like he can't quite believe what he's just heard, and Collins panics, thinks he's misread the situation completely (thinks that even if he didn't, he really shouldn't have called Farrier on it because, as his wingmate so bluntly put it, he is drunk). Thinks that's a very reckless and stupid thing to say and that he hasn't even downed half a pint of beer so he can't even use that as an excuse.

Collins stares back, for a moment he considers stepping away, jumping over that poodle increasing in size and running away in whichever opposite direction Farrier means to walk.

Try and pretend he didn't fuck this up royally.

"Well, would you want me to?" Farrier blurts out all of a sudden, openly staring at Collins' lips and neck and cheeks and hair now.

"What?"

"I said, would you want me to."

Another lightning. Farrier's face is so close that Collins can count the scattered freckles on his nose and cheeks where stray drops of rain slide down on his skin. He has very long eyelashes.

"Eat you or something."

The thunder following the light drowns out that pitiful noise that escapes Collins' throat. He feels drowsy like he's the one who spent hours sitting down at that table in the wet sweet air of the pub gulping down pint after pint.

Farrier is very, very drunk even if he doesn't look like it anymore.

He must be.

Collins wonders: if he answers truthfully, will Farrier remember it tomorrow?

"Yeah," his wingmate snickers, and after what feels like ages he takes the slightest step back and smiles that sour smile from before, fishing another cigarette out of his pack and putting it between his lips, "thought so. Pretty boy like you."

Pretty boy like– what the fuck's that supposed to mean?

"Answer me this, Collins. Am I going to die?"

And just like that, the conversation steers away from longing looks and unspoken words. Farrier's back to smoking that ciggy that's already wet and his hands return to his pockets and Collins feels he's just lost an opportunity that isn't going to arise again any time soon.

"What?" he repeats, like a broken record, refusing to let his own eyes derail from Farrier's face, refusing to look away to the falling of rain, the runway, the clearing, the town far away like Farrier himself is doing. Refusing to let the moment go.

"What are my chances? What are our chances?"

Collins shakes his head in frustration.

"Surviving this shit. Let me tell you: they're very thin. So it's better this way. I mean, it's me but– well it's just not worth it, is it? Forget it."

"Forget. Forget what? Tom, the fuck are you on about? Is this about that letter?"

"Fuck that letter."

He tosses the cigarette to the ground.

There's no remorse in the words, no hatred despite Farrier turning back to him and suddenly standing up straight, shoulders broad, gaze unwavering and challenging. Collins is still a bit taller but that doesn't mean he feels taller.

"I– sorry I– didn't mean to–"

"My fiancée," Farrier cuts him off, cocking his head and studying Collins' reaction for a moment before continuing, "got killed. A bombing over Portsmouth."

He drags the paper out and almost shoves it in Collins' face, who just stands there at a loss for words, again. Stammering like a broken record, again.

"I–," didn't know you were engaged, "–sorry, I'm sorry that happened."

He wants to kick himself for his lack of eloquence but it's the least of his concerns because he was just flirting with Farrier a moment ago, and Farrier was leading him on for some fucking reason – a fiancée?

That tends to mean one's attracted to women.

A dead fiancée.

"Sorry, Tom."

"Don't be."

Another lightning, another thunder, more heavy rain and Collins is already starting to feel the cold reach through his layers of clothes.

"I'm not. Fuck, I'm relieved!"

Farrier runs a hand over his face.

"I'm– fuck."

"It's okay," Collins offers uselessly.

"She's dead and I'm relieved I don' have to marry her. How fucked up is that?"

Collins thinks he hears a cry, and when Farrier tries to look away again he knows he heard a cry, and he doesn't let him turn around and steps forward to hold him in a tight embrace instead. Farrier wraps his arms around him tightly like he'd been waiting for Collins to hug him.

"I'm fucking horrible," he says, words muffled in the fabric of Collins' suit and sniffing through a runny nose. Jack keeps a hand rubbing at Farrier's back in what he hopes is an empathetic touch.

"No you're not, you're not."

They stay like that, holding onto one another against the trunk of a tree that's doing a really poor job of sheltering them from the rain at this point, but is better than nothing. Farrier doesn't really cry, stubborn as he is even in this state of inebriation, and after a while Collins feels his stubbly chin brushing against the side of his neck and smells the scent of alcohol again.

"I like it when you use my name," Farrier mumbles, words still muffled and burrowing his nose in Collins' shirt like it belongs there.

Collins' only thought at that moment, frozen and unable to say anything back, is that Drunk Farrier is a real piece of work. He thinks he understands, now, why he doesn't drink.

[junjungsunwoo]

To My Past, My Boyz | My First Love

What happens when letters you wrote in the past about your old feelings are sent out?

What’s going to happen when old feelings resurface?

Word count: 2.2k

Taglist: @kvydence , @yeongwvnhi, @geminirules, @yuta-senpai , @geniejunn, @mingyuwus, @jaxminskale​

To My Past, My Boyz masterlist

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- December 2012.

It was a cold day today, winter had just started days ago, making the temperature in Seoul cold. Even though you were inside the school, the skirt you had to wear for your uniform was not making it very warm for you. You look out the window to see the ground covered in white powder. Under the shining sun, the snow had looked like tiny piles of diamonds which made you smile.

You loved the snow, you loved how gentle and fragile they are. How a single touch could melt or break them, how each and everyone is different from another and are unique in their own way. You love how they were so beautiful, and yet so difficult to keep.

As you admire the snow outside, you don’t hear the teacher coming into the classroom. As he walks towards his desk, the class continues to talk as if they didn’t even notice the teacher coming in- which, they probably didn’t. The teacher slams his books onto his desk, making everyone turn their head to look at him. He was wearing a smile on his face, his usually bright eyes, somehow even brighter today.

“Good Morning Class!” he begins, as the class finally quiet down completely, everyone in their own seats waiting for him to continue. “Today is a very special day for Deobi high school!” He exclaims with the most excitement you’ve ever seen a teacher shown.

“Since you guys are freshmen, I don’t expect you to know what today is so,” He grabs a piece of chalk before turning around, his back facing you- as he starts to write onto the blackboard. 

Winter Fair Preparation Day

“Tada!” He turns back around, his arms extended to his side his smile still on his face. “Today is the preparation day for the fair we are having tomorrow,” He begins, “it’s called the annual Deobi Highschool Winter School Fair, and we hold it every winter!” He excitedly announced. 

As the teacher starts to explain about the fair, you look out the window once again. This time, there was a boy walking across the field. He was talking to someone happily as he walked past your view. He had black hair and his eyes were turned into crescents as he smiled. Just as you were about to get a better look at the boy, the teacher finishes explaining about the fair.

“Alright, who wants to help with the preparations today?” Your teacher asks and a couple of students raise their arms up. You were still looking out the window when your seatmate- also your best friend elbows you and signals to you to raise your hands. You did as told without even knowing what was happening. Just as you were about to ask Eric, your teacher speaks up once again. 

“Alright thank you for volunteering to help set up the preparations for tomorrow!” Your teacher says before he asks the students to turn to the textbooks. “What the heck Eric!” you whisper to your seatmate. “Why’d you tell me to do that? I didn’t even want to volunteer!” you whine to him.

“Well then you should have paid attention,” he whispers back to you, “and I needed someone with me, so please y/n?” He begs you with his puppy eyes, he knew you couldn’t help but say ‘yes’ whenever he uses them.

“Ugh...fine. But only this once.” 

“Is there a problem Miss Heo? Mister Sohn?” Your teacher interrupts your conversation, the whole class now looking at the two of you. 

“Ah no sir, sorry sir.” You tell him, as the two of you turn back to face the front, now focusing on the lesson.

As you put on your winter coat, Eric drags you outside to where the other volunteering students were. As you got to the group, they were already starting. You were all instructed to different jobs, and unfortunately for you- Eric was sent to build the temporary stalls that are used for tomorrow with some of the others, and you were on your own to move boxes to each stall.  

As everyone moved to their own places, Eric comes up to you to apologize for not being able to stay with you and help, before he ran back to meet with his group. You were now left in the cold with all of the heavy boxes next to you. Figuring that you had no other choice, you start to move them.

Trying to finish this as soon as possible, you try to stack boxes onto one another. Picking up the pile of boxes, you didn’t expect the weight of it to be so much heavier than what you had expected, and it causes you to almost lose your balance. As you finally stable yourself on the slippery road, you begin to walk forward. Not being able to see anything over the tall stack of boxes, you carefully walk in small, awkward steps. Just as you finally got used to the feeling and started to walk a bit faster, you bump into someone, knocking you butt first into the snow. 

“Oh my god!” You hear someone say, ignoring them, you try your best to get up quickly from the freezing snow.  As you were about to stand back up again, you slip from the slippery, snow-covered road under you, and you fall back onto your butt once again. “Here-” the voice says as you see a hand reached out for you to grab, “I’ll help you up.” 

Placing your hand onto the stranger’s they pull you up from the cold snow. You look up only to see a very handsome boy in front of you- it was the boy you saw earlier in the day, the one that was smiling while walking across the field. He was staring at your legs that were still covered in snow, his face scrunched up in concern.

“Hey, are you okay? I mean- I did bump you into the snow, and you’re wearing a skirt.” Your eyes travel down your arm as you see that your hands were still connected,  as he also notices that he was still holding your hand, he quickly lets go and apologizes.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You told the boy, “Thank you for helping me, and sorry for bumping into you, I couldn’t see where I was going.” You bowed to him, as a sign of apology as he tries to tell you that it was okay.

“Uh, were you trying to move those boxes?” He points to the now fallen boxes on the snowy floor. You nod, as he starts to stack them up like you once did, before picking them up with ease. “Then let me help you!” He sends you a small smile.

You could feel your cheeks start to warm up, but you shrugged it off, thinking that it was just the cold. As he begins to walk towards the stalls, you quickly pick up the slightly smaller ones before walking a bit faster to catch up to him.  

“Thank you! Uh…” You pause, as you realized that you didn’t know this boy’s name.

“Sangyeon. Lee Sangyeon, I’m a senior here.” He flashes you another smile, as you unconsciously look away. 

“I’m y/n. Heo y/n, a freshman.” You introduce yourself.

“Oh! So I’m your sunbae huh?” He lets out a small chuckle before he realizes something, “Heo...are you perhaps Heo Hyunjun’s sister?” He asks you, as you nod in confirmation. 

“Ahh...no wonder you looked like someone I knew.” you didn’t know Sangyeon knew your brother, but it was none of your business anyways. As the two of you moved the boxes to their own stalls, you start to talk more and more, getting to know each other as time passes. Soon, all the boxes were moved and the two of you were exhausted. 

Grabbing your bag, you pull out a water bottle- it was one that was unopened. You give it to Sangyeon, but he tries to refuse. You tell him that it was a sign of gratitude, and force him to take it before he eventually gives up and opens the bottle to take a drink.

“Thank you for helping me Sangyeon- or do you want me to call you sunbae?” you asked him, your head tilted in curiosity- which Sangyeon found cute.

“Ah, you can call me whatever really, I don’t really mind.” He flashes that damn smile again, and your heart starts to beat a little faster, as you feel the heat that you thought was gone come back. “And, you’re welcome. I saw that you had to move those boxes by yourself in the middle of winter while wearing that,” he pointed to your skirt, “and I just knew I had to help.” 

“Well, thank you for helping me Sangyeon, really, thank you.” You bowed to him in gratitude, before he lifts you back up, telling you that you didn’t need to bow. Just as you were about to say something else, a single snowflake lands on the tip of your nose, distracting both you and Sangyeon from the conversation you both previously had.

“Look! It’s starting to snow!” Sangyeon excitedly tells you, as if you couldn’t see it for yourself. He holds out his hands to catch the small, fragile snowflakes and watched them before they melt. 

“Don’t they look beautiful?” he asks you as he watches the snowflakes in his hand melt.

“Yeah,” you looked at him, 

“They look very beautiful.”

- January, 2013

It’s been weeks since you’ve met Sangyeon, and you just can’t get him out of your head. Even though it was just a small moment of him helping you move boxes, you can’t help but remember everything about him. How his eyes would turn into crescent when he smiles, or how he says he likes to make music in his spare time. No matter what you were doing, he was always there in your head.

Ever so often when you’d see him in the halls he would always flash quick smiles or waves or hellos to you as a greeting. When that happens you‘d find your cheeks heating up and your heart beating loudly. You don’t know what was wrong with you, but you knew this wasn’t something normal. 

You didn’t want to ask anyone about it since you were scared that people would avoid you or make fun of you because of it, so you kept it to yourself instead. You were scared, so scared and you don’t know what to do. So you did the only thing you could think of- avoiding him.

Now every time you see him down the halls, you’d go the other way, and if you can’t you’d look down at your feet and ignore him. Every time you’d make eye contact, instead of smiling back at him, you’d look away. You’d act as if you didn’t see him even though he was clearly in front of you, or you’d simply pretend like he didn’t exist. 

But the feelings never went away.

Instead, they feel like they’ve only grown. How he doesn’t even have to look at you, the moment you hear his voice you’d immediately turn hot, every time someone says his name will bring a smile on your face. You couldn’t take it anymore- what was happening to you?

Finally, you gather your courage to ask your mom, you tell her what you’ve been feeling, and you tell how everything that was happening was caused by this one boy. She couldn’t hide her surprise on her face when you tell her. You were scared that it was going to be something dangerous, but your mom simply puts her hand on your head.

“Sweetie, that means you like someone.” She tells you. “You’re not sick or anything. It’s a normal feeling when you like someone.” 

After that, you head to your room, where you sit down on your bed to think.

Like. 

You liked someone.

That someone was Sangyeon.

God, you were stupid. Why didn’t you figure this out earlier? That way you wouldn’t have started avoiding him like the plague. Thinking back now, you remember that every time you’d avoid him, he’d have this look on his face, as if he was...hurt by what you were doing. 

You doubt he was actually hurt, there was no way he’d be hurt by someone as insignificant as you. You were nothing by a new freshman at Deobi high school like the 100 other new students. But you really did regret what you did, but it wasn’t like you’d have a chance with him anyway. He was a popular senior while you were a new freshman that nobody knew, there was never a chance with him. 

So instead of sulking over a relationship that would have never happened, you walked over to your desk. Sitting down, you stare at your diary, debating if you should write down your feelings. As you grab a pen and open your diary, you think of a better idea. Setting down the book and closing the book, you grab a spare piece of paper instead and a blank envelope. Garbing your pen once again, you start to fill the paper with your feelings and thoughts.

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

- Dear, Lee Sangyeon, the popular senior of Deobi Highschool,

Uhh...hi? I’ve never done this before so I don’t know if I’m doing this right. 

[josiebeale]

Cheerleader

Request:  I’ve been have a rough couple of weeks. Do you think you have any hosie or just hope, Josie stories??

Pairing: Hope Mikaelson x Josie Saltzman

A/N: I’m so sorry the last couple of weeks have been tough but I hope this little something will help make you smile. 

ps: i’m sorry if this sucks, i’ve been having a bad case of writers block for weeks.. (let’s pretend I know everything about soccer and if they have cheerleaders at all) 

/

Hope should’ve said no. Really.

She doesn’t even like soccer. She’s never understood the whole concept of eleven boys running around a field chasing a ball for forty-five minutes. It makes no sense and to be frank, it’s quite boring.

She barely glances up from her phone when the referee blows his whistle and the match starts. She doesn’t think she missing anything.

Normally, she wouldn’t even be at a soccer game but when her self-proclaimed best friend and classmate MG begs and begs to get her to come to watch him play, she figures she can survive one night out of the house. Plus, she made him promise to buy her food after so Hope thinks it’s a pretty fair deal.

The stance consists of eleven people in total. Really, Hope counted.

And as number 6 trips on his way to kick the ball and face plants roughly into the grass, Hope can understand why many people opts to instead go to the football game on the other side of the school that’s conveniently happing at the same time as the soccer game.

Hope thinks it’s unfair even when the team sucks.

Especially when she sees MG run his fingers through his hair in frustration and grabs the back of his jersey and  roughly yanks him back on his feet and take his place instead. She feels a twinge of sympathy for her friend. Maybe she should be more supportive and show these people how to cheer.

So, when Mg sinks the penalty kick deep into the net, Hope stands up, woos loudly and claps, ignoring the stares she gets from the other onlookers.

It’s pretty worth it though when MG whips his head around and smiles so widely that the corners of his lips almost touch his ears and waves excitedly. Hope waves back, even going as far as yelling out, “That’s right, MG! You rock!”

MG jumps in place, his frustration suddenly gone and Hope feels better.

One of the cheerleaders standing on the sideline glances briefly over her shoulder at her with an amused smile and Hope barely catches herself from stumbling over her feet before sitting back down on the mental bench.

The girl is really pretty. Hope supposes it’s pretty much a given since she’s a cheerleader but still.

Her chocolate brown hair is pulled up in a neat but wavy ponytail on the top of her head, flowing down on a muscular back. Her sleeveless, short skirted uniform shows off super smooth looking skin and her legs are going on for miles and –

She needs to calm down.

It’s not like she didn’t know cheerleading was a thing. She’s more of an artsy type of person not so much of a sports fan but come on…who doesn’t know about cheerleaders?

She just wasn’t paying that much attention.

Well, until now.

She tries really hard to focus on the game but her eyes drip down to the waving pom-poms and perfectly executed splits that the cheerleaders try to encourage the players with when the enemy keeps scoring points. More specifically at the pretty brunette who Hope swears keep glancing back at her and smiling.

Half-time rolls around faster than Hope thought and the cheerleaders run enthusiastically to the middle of the field to get in position. Hope bits her bottom lip to keep her jaw from visibly dropping to the floor as the music starts and the girls starts to dance.

They are...really good. In a totally professional way.

Hope honestly can’t take her eyes of off the brunette, who dances in the back row to the left. She moves effortlessly, letting the music guide her body through the choreography perfectly in synch with the rest of the squad.

Their eyes meet for a moment and the brunette subtly throws her a wink.

Hope doesn’t think she’s breathing until the music starts to fade away slowly and the cheerleaders take their usual place on the sidelines. They cheer when the boys’ jog back from the bench and the game starts again.

The rest of the match is a blur that consists of chestnut brown eyes and twirling blue and yellow short skirts. She’s vaguely aware of the final whistle ringing out signaling the end of the match and Hope glances at the scoreboard and winces.

The Salvatore Stallions have lost again miserably.

Hope tries to smile and claps loudly as the boys leave the field to change but MG doesn’t look up from the ground and quickly disappears with his team. As soon as he’s out of sight, Hope sighs sadly and settles down on the bench to wait for him. Maybe she could buy him pizza to cheer him up.

“Hey.”

Snapping her head up from her lap, Hope’s eyes widen in surprise when she sees the brunette cheerleader - the one Hope’s been checking out and quickly starting to develop a crush on - leaning on her folded arms on the railing that separates the seats from the field, mouth stretched into an easy smile as she holds her pom-poms in her hands casually.

Hope’s mouth gapes for an embarrassingly long moment before she slaps it shut. She’s desperately trying to find something to say back but her brain doesn’t seem to function.

“I haven’t seen you around here before.” The girl fortunately fills the silence, “Do you know somebody on the team?”

“My friend MG, um number 12,” Hope squeaks out unable to look away from the doe brown eyes, “He’s the quarterback.”

The girl bits her bottom lip to hide her amused smile, “You mean the striker?”  

Hope’s eyes squints, “I don’t know,” She draws out the words, “I’m not the biggest sports fan. I don’t really know much about soccer.”

The girl shrugs, “I haven’t either before I became a cheerleader. It’s actually fun, though,” She tilts her head to the side with a sly grin, “Maybe you can learn a thing or two when you come next time.”

“Next time?”

The girl lifts one eyebrow, a sultry look slipping on her face, “Yeah so I could see you again.”

Hope’s cheek flush at the flirtatious tone and opens her mouth to say back something but the girl names gets called by one of her teammates.

“Josie!”

Josie.

The brunette turns back to Hope to send her one lasting smile before she jogs back to her team, feeling Hope’s eyes on her the whole way.

Hope takes a second for the butterflies to settle in her stomach before she lets out a disbelieving chuckle.

It’s safe to say, Hope goes to the next game.

/

[randomfandomimagine]

Love’s Worth Running To. Chapter 2: Catch Up

Pairing: Barry Allen x Stephanie Williams (OC)

Fandom: Justice League / DCEU

.

⬅ PREVIOUS CHAPTER • CHAPTER INDEX • NEXT CHAPTER ➡

AO3

A/N: A few disclaimers about the series. One: this is a first draft and some little things may change, and also forgive any typos as I will be editing the series more during the second draft. Secondly, I’m not a hardcore DC fan so I might get some things about the characters wrong, bear with me with that.

Anyway, here’s chapter two, I hope you like it! Things are starting to really set into motion and after this chapter they get a little crazy, even more so than at the end of this one. 

Remember to give this some love, please reblog and leave feedback! It would make my week! 🙏💜

His feet rhythmically drag along the ground, shuffling as he sways and snaps his fingers. The music loudly plays in his earphones, drowning out the sound of the elevator as it comes to a halt. He can’t hear the soft murmur of voices as the Justice League chats in the Batcave, reunited there one more day. The dark room feels brighter as he walks further into it and the team comes into his field of vision.

“Clap along if you feel…” Barry nods his head along to the song and points to Victor. “Like happiness is the truth”

Victor stares at him, frowning in confusion. He makes to lift his hands and clap, but ultimately doesn’t. He only glances at Diana, who chuckles at Barry’s good mood.

Bruce calmly makes a gesture, asking for Barry to remove his earphones. When he does, letting them fall and hang off his shirt’s neckline, he grins.

“Good morning!” He cheerfully says, but the group doesn’t reply. “What?”

After a brief pause and a few glances, it is Bruce who speaks up.

“Who’s the girl?”

“What girl?”

“You’re singing...” Arthur eyes the boy. “And dancing”

“So? Can’t I just be happy in this beautiful day?”

“There’s definitely a girl” His friend insists. “Spit it out”

Barry pouts and looks at each of them. The way they fondly stare at him fluster him a little, but he doesn’t really mind talking about her. In fact, it feels like a good thing to share his excitement with his friends.

“Her name’s Steph” Barry sighs with a dreamy sigh, but hurriedly corrects himself when he sees their even fonder expressions. “I-It’s nothing like that, though”

“What is it like then?” Diana asks, grinning in amusement.

“We’re old friends, but we haven’t seen each other in… like… more than ten years” Barry takes deep breath, overwhelmed by that rush again as he remembers the moment he spotted Stephanie Williams. “It was so cool to see her again”

“Why did you grow apart?” Clark wonders, crossing his arms over his chest. “Did your lives go different ways?”

“Not exactly…” Barry suddenly grows bleak, overcome with frantic memories.

That dreadful day in which all happened and he never saw her again. He didn’t even get to say goodbye, and all the things left unsaid still burn intensely inside him. Knowing that is all part of the past now and he will se her soon, he forces to forget about it.

Knowing the other noticed his brief change of demeanor, he claps his hands and changes the subject.

“But anyway! What are we doing today? Anything new?”

“Maybe” Bruce responds, even if he sends a quick look at the rest with the corner of his eye. “There have been some strange things happening around”

“Like what?”

“Glitches and minor crimes” Victor projects an image on the air, of a map of the surveilled cities with some red spots on them that mark the occurrences. “They’re all over the cities”

“Something bad?” Barry frowns, his eyes scanning the map.

“Nothing big, but we want to keep an eye out” Clark nods. “Just in case”

“Should we check it out?” The boy asks him, earning another nod from him.

“It won’t hurt” Bruce adds to, tapping the table in anticipation.

“Let’s suit up then” Barry speeds off, always bearing Stephanie in mind despite it all.

And so the Justice League prepares to exit the Batcave on a small routine mission.

_

When she looks at the clock, it’s already past 3pm. Stephanie clicks her tongue in mild annoyance and rushes to gather her things. She doesn’t want to be late.

“Bye, Ben!” Stephanie is almost at the door when he replies.

“Where are you going?” Ben does a double take, not believing his eyes when he looks at the clock. “You’re not staying late?”

“Do I…?” She mutters hesitantly. “Do I have to?”

“No, no” He fondly chuckles. “It’s just odd, do you have anything else to do?”

“Actually…” Stephanie can’t help but to grin, even if eager butterflies release in her stomach once more. To hide her thrill, she looks down and plays with her hands. “I’m meeting an old friend and… I’m honestly really excited to see him again”

“Oh, that explains it” Ben warmly grins. “Well, have fun!”

“Thanks!” Stephanie grins, bearing that wide genuine smile she showed the other day.

As he watches his coworker run off like a child on an adventure, Ben’s smile slowly fades as her previous presence now leaves room for a cold empty absence. A tiny pang of jealousy prickles the back of his neck.

_

Lazy clouds cover the sun, attempting to shadow its light. They threaten to flood the sky in darkness more and more with each passing second. Still, the day feels brighter than most. At least to Stephanie.

She rhythmically hits her nails against the glass surface of the table. Her eyes are directed to the door one more. Where is he? A heavy weight has settled in her chest. She chews on her fingernails. What if he doesn’t show up?

Soon enough, Barry comes barging in, out of breath and looking disheveled. He’s late, but he’s there. The girl stands up and takes a deep breath of relief.

“Hi” She greets him, earning an apologetic smile from him.

“I’m so sorry, Steph” He hurries to the table, nervously combing his hair with his fingers. “You wouldn’t believe the day I had”

“It’s okay” Despite his lateness, he notices, she’s smiling. Barry awkwardly chuckles as they both stand there.

Stephanie bites her lip, wondering how to act around him. Time has cooled their once close and nonchalant relationship, but she is determined to warm up to it again. Although they have known each other since they were little, they feel like strangers at the same time. They don’t know the other anymore, but they’re adamant on changing that. Besides, she still feels as comfortable with him as before, like not a day as gone by.

“Well, hi” Barry opens his arms, going on for a hug, just at the same time that Stephanie is leaning close to him in order to greet him with a kiss on the cheek. Noticing this, they awkwardly pull away between embarrassed chuckles. In the end, and after a few more seconds of stuttering and fidgeting, Barry finally holds his hand out. Stephanie smiles and shakes it.

Happily plopping down on the chair, he sighs and stares at her. When she sits down in front of him, her fingers absently trace across the edge of the table that separates them. The tension looms above their heads until he breaks it with his cheerful energy.

“Stephanie Williams” Barry says in awe, fondly tilting his head and peering at her.

“Barry Allen” She reciprocates, smiling as the name of her beloved friend fills her lips.

“So talk to me, Steph, um…” He puckers his lips in a thoughtful gesture. “How’s your day going?”

“Good, it’s good so far…” She nods, not knowing what else to say. “And yours?”

“Great! A bit frantic, but… good” He bites his lips, awkwardly lingering as well. “Good...”

“Tell me!” Barry starts. “What have you been doing? I haven’t since you since...”

“Since we moved to Metropolis...”

“Well, yeah... I never really found out why that happened”

“My parents insisted on leaving Central City” Stephanie gravely nods, averting her eyes. “They said what happened with your mom was affecting me too much”

Barry quiets, watching her with a frown. He opens his mouth to say something, but he doesn’t find the right words to express the extent and variety of his current feelings.

“I’m so sorry…” He drags his hand across the table, reaching out to pat hers as it now rests on the surface of the table. However, and after a second of hesitation, Barry decides not to touch her. “I had no idea…”

“It wasn’t your fault, Barry. You were having a hard time already”

“Yeah, but…”

“It’s okay, I just… I hated seeing you suffer like that”

The two lock gazes, and an unnamed emotion shines in both their eyes. Like a wave has washed out all the deeply buried memories, a weight settles on their shoulders. One that they had been carrying since childhood and they had nearly forgotten about. Now it has returned, just like that. In only a second.

Trying to brush it off, Stephanie smiles. Like the gesture makes him happy, he grins too.

“So how is your dad?” She asks in a friendly tone. Barry’s smile slowly fades, only to be replaced with a melancholic frown. Stephanie is hit with realization. “Oh, so he’s still… I’m so sorry, Barry… I thought…”

It had been years since that terrible thing happened, and knowing of his innocence Stephanie hoped the situation would have changed by now. She’s unfortunately wrong. The girl groans in frustration, mentally scolding herself for not having thought about that possibility before speaking. Barry shakes his head and mindlessly waves his hand in the air. He smiles again, although this time it’s obviously a facade.

“It’s okay” Barry says, but he can’t hide the sad hint to his expression. “I go see him almost every day”

“Is he doing okay?” She cautiously asks, knowing how hard the situation must be for the two of them.

“For the most part, yeah…” His crestfallen look breaks her heart, and so Stephanie wrecks her head to find a more light-headed subject to talk about.

“O-Order” She rushes to say, holding her hand up in the air to catch the waitress attention. “We should order something to drink”

Barry chuckles at her attempt, nodding his head in silent agreement. When the waiter arrives, it’s the girl that speaks for the both of them.

“Um, yeah, hi” She looks up at the blond waiter. “I’ll have a coffee and he’ll have a chocolate milkshake”

“I’m not a child anymore, Steph” He playfully rolls his eyes. “I can order my own chocolate milkshake”

Stephanie laughs out loud, surprised by his retort. Barry fondly grins at her reaction.

_

Their shared chocolate milkshake has nearly run out. The cream at the top has melted as the liquid reaches the bottom of the container. Their identical pink frosted sprinkled donuts are half eaten, left forgotten in their small plates for the time being.

“Oh, hey!” Barry utters, changing the subject from his criminal justice major. “Did you get your own lab yet?”

Barry lets go of his red and white straw once he’s done sipping while Stephanie absently plays with hers.

“No…” She pouts a little, soon recovering part of her usual spark. “But I’m an intern at STAR Labs”

“That’s great!” He gulps, nearly chocking on the milkshake. “That brings you a step closer!”

“Yeah, I guess… I’m just so impatient to get there”

“You’ll get there” He carelessly waves his hand in the air. “I’ve got no doubts about it”

Stephanie smiles, feeling that once familiar warmth spread through her. There’s that unconditional support he showed her years ago. They haven’t talked in so long, but his unwavering faith on her hasn’t shifted.

A silence establishes after, although the frequency and intensity of them has lessened over the course of the afternoon. She picks up tiny pieces of the donut with her fingers and puts them in her mouth. Barry, meanwhile, absently nibbles on his donut, letting his eyes wander around the quaint establishment, before he boldly pipes up again.

“Are you seeing someone?” Stephanie chokes on the crumbs on her mouth at Barry’s question.

“What?” She coughs, sipping the last of the milkshake to shove the crumbs down.

“Sorry, I…” He chuckles, trying to conceal his amusement. “I was just wondering…”

Stephanie chuckles too, more surprised by the question than offended that he’s so obviously trying not to laugh at her.

“Well?” He says, bearing a playful tone that she had dearly missed. “Answer the question, Steph!”

“Actually… no” She shrugs a little, embarrassed to admit it. “It’s been a bit hard to connect with people”

“How so?” Barry turns serious once more, frowning as he intently listens.

“I don’t know… I’m just trying to pick up where I left off and…”

Stephanie leaves the sentence hanging in the air, but she doesn’t need to complete it. Barry nods. He understands what she means, even in a way that she can’t imagine.

“Well, you’re in luck, miss Williams” He says in a silly voice. “Because I am here to save the day”

“My hero” Stephanie replies, placing a hand on her chest in feigned bewilderment.

They both smile at each other, lingering on their reciprocated gazes. The spark between them has been rekindled, and they can feel it softly beating in their hearts.

_

It is with great sadness that they must say goodbye. They can’t stay there forever, as much as they’d like to. Still, it’s a bit easier to say farewell knowing they have each other’s numbers now and will meet again soon. They get up from the chairs slowly, putting the moment off as much as they possibly can.

Barry takes the jacket for her, holding it in the air to make it easier for Stephanie to put it on. She smiles, endeared by the chivalrous gesture, and shoves her arms on the sleeves.

“Thank you” Stephanie says as he also holds the door open for her.

The air outside is slightly chilly, and the clouds have darkened in the sky, perhaps announcing a storm. Reeling in the rush that still lingers from the lovely soiree with Barry, Stephanie looks up, unfazed by the gray clouds gathering before the sun. When she peers down again, she catches Barry’s eye.

“Barry” She laughs. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You did change” He replies with a frown, although it’s not exactly a sad one.

“How have I changed?”

“I don’t know… there’s something about you”

“Wisdom and maturity?”

“Maybe…” Barry smiles, hiding his actual thoughts. Ever since they were reunited, he has noticed a certain tint of sadness hanging over Stephanie. He doesn’t dwell too much on it, though, because it’s been slowly fading away as the afternoon advances.

“What about you? You’re not so shy anymore”

“Oh, I’m still shy” The shadow that had darkened his expression disappears, replaced with his usual affable expression. “I just hide it better”

“Are you sure you’re not just shy but you’re too embarrassed to admit it?”

“I’m pretty sure” Barry is replying, grinning as he sees her smiling. “I’m...”

He then trails off, never finishing his sentence. Something’s wrong, he can feel it. His eyes are directed to the traffic light not far from them. The lights aren’t changing, stuck on green. On every traffic light. His instinct kicks in before his brain can comprehend what his body is doing.

“Barry, what’s…” Stephanie his cut off by his urgent movement. Before she can wrap her head around what is happening, the entire street has developed in havoc.

Car horns loudly honking hurt her ears, and soon she sees why. Losing a sense of order because of the unexplained glitching of the traffic lights, all vehicles are crashing into each other. Fortunately, an imposing figure is halting their movement before the damage can be too big. A car has impacted close to them, however, and while doing so knocking a street light that heavily falls their direction.

While this developed, Barry has urgently taken hold of her. When she becomes aware of his closeness, Stephanie is pressed against his chest as he protectively moves her out of the way. Her heart is wildly racing as her senses overload.

The both of them are falling to the ground, with Barry losing balance in his desperate need to protect Stephanie. He still manages to turn and break her fall, tightly squeezing her with his arms to be shielded against his chest. His back takes the hit as he heavily falls to the ground with Stephanie safely landing on top of himself. Unaccustomed to the chaos, she is screaming and protecting her head with her arms in a panic, pressing herself against Barry and hiding her face on his shoulder as he still holds on to her.

“Steph!” He immediately calls, keeping one arm locked around her and using his free hand to press it against her cheek, urging her to look at him. “Steph, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She peers up in a daze, somehow finding comfort in his eyes despite it all. Despite the concern in them. Despite the chaos that engulfs their surroundings. In spite of it all, Barry’s still there with her. The thought calms her and she manages to take a deep breath. It helps settle the panicked pants that shook her being.

Stephanie wants to speak up, but she has momentarily lost the ability to speak. All she can do at that moment is catch her breath while she lays there on top of him, arms pressed against his chest as it quickly moves up and down with the same urgency as hers does. Barry’s hands are protectively pressed against the small of her back. Their faces are so close that their noses nearly touch. This closeness brings a flushed blush to their cheeks that can luckily be excused by the frantic situation.

“I-I’m okay” She finally replies, even with a shaky voice. “And you?”

“I’m fine” He absently says, immense relieved even if distracted.

Barry then lies on his side and carefully pushes her off him. The two of them still hold on to each other as they scramble to their feet. As they glance around, they see the disaster that the street has turned into.

A flying figure covers the sun for a split second while the clouds slowly float away in the sky. Stephanie gasps when she looks up and sees him, recognizing the cape and the strong silhouette of the hero that saved the day.

“Superman…” She utters, pointing up and gathering Barry’s attention there too.

“Oh, no” He mumbles under his breath, starting to understand what has happened.

Stephanie is too becoming aware of what happened, although in a different manner. She glances around, seeing the fallen street light that could have crushed them, the numerous cars that have crashed into each other and the traffic lights still stuck on green. How could Barry react so quickly if she barely had the time to notice any of it?

“Barry, what…” Stephanie swallows, trying to put some order into her messy thoughts. “How… Why…”

He isn’t listening to her incoherent babbling. Barry is still looking up, although his gaze is fixed on the roof of a building. A dark figure looms there, and his heart skips a beat in realization. Barry checks his phone, feeling a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he reads the screen. He has three missed called and ten texts.

“I gotta go” Barry stumbles over his words, suddenly even more frantic that during their near death experience. “I-I hate to leave like this, but I’m really late, I’m supposed to be somewhere else”

“Y-Yeah” Stephanie tries to recover from the shock and confusion. “Okay…”

“Can you walk home, are you okay?”

“I think so”

“Are you sure”

“Yeah”

“Steph?”

She stares at him, finding her lost concentration when she locks eyes with him. His worry seems to lessen when she manages to finally focus her gaze. Showing him that gesture that warms his heart, Steph nods and reassuringly smiles at him. He heaves a sigh in relief.

“Take care, okay?” He mumbles, in a sudden urgent hug. “I’ll call you soon”

“Okay” Stephanie clings on to him, lingering in the embrace and treasuring it for just a moment longer. As she does, she takes the breath she has needed so badly during those long minutes in which she couldn’t breathe.

When he pulls away, she has to hold back a groan of complaint. Her warmly smiles and waves goodbye at her. She does too. Then, Barry briskly walks away, urgently holding on to his phone.

Stephanie watches him in fascination, her eyes fixed on his back as he distances himself from her. There had been a new look on his face, an expression of mature determination and somber commitment. She had never seen anything like that. Barry has changed, and she doesn’t know in which way exactly. Stephanie is left with thousand of questions buzzing in her brain as she walks home in a daze.

Tag list: @scared-to-be-lonely345 // Ask to be added to be notified when I post for this series!! ​

[puckinghell]

The Plus One Pact | William Nylander | Part 2

Summary: Your ex is getting married, and you don’t have a date, which means the unavoidable “why don’t you have a boyfriend” question is about to haunt you for the rest of eternity. But then there’s Will, who could be the answer to all your problems. A simple business pact, no feelings involved: that won’t be hard for you, because you really don’t like him anyways. Except pacts were made to be broken… or something. Right?

Note: This is part 2. Click here for part 1. 

-- 

“I’m sorry I bailed.” Zach is sitting on the couch, his leg up on a pillow. Lady is laying on the floor, and both of them are looking equally guilty.

You think maybe Lady puked in Zach’s shoes somewhere again, and maybe he kinda deserved it.

“I hate you,” you tell him, but there’s no heat behind it. Alannah comes out the bedroom holding a pair of shoes.

“See if these fit you,” she orders, giving them to you.

“I like your wife more than you,” you say to Zach, who just laughs. He knows that’s not true: you love them equally.

You may love Lady a little more than both of them combined, however.

“I think it’s good that you’re going with Willy,” Zach says. “You can practice looking like you don’t hate him.” He holds out your cup of coffee, and you take a sip before handing it back to him.

If he’s not going to this wedding with you, he might as well hold your drink.

“I don’t hate him,” you mumble. “I just don’t adore him like you do. You worship the ground he walks on.”

“I think you’d get along great, if you tried,” Alannah says, although you can’t remember asking for her opinion – fine, maybe you’re a little grumpy about it all. “He’s very funny, and he’s easy to chat to. Your family will love that.” She grins. “Besides, he’s hot.”

“Very hot,” Zach nods in agreement, and it would be weird if it wasn’t how everyone responded to William Nylander.

It’s exhausting, to be honest.

Zach, being the great friend that he often is, must notice your reluctance, because he smiles, and his voice is gentle when he says: “Hey, you look beautiful, Y/N. Honestly, nobody is gonna believe that you brought Willy, you’re way outta his league.”

You’re about to tell him to stop lying – you’re not stupid, thank you very much, and William Nylander is still very much not in your league, maybe not even in the same sport - when there’s a knock on the door.

“Must be him.” Alannah fixes your hair and your dress, and Zach gets up and hobbles towards the door, Lady on his heels.

“It’s gonna go great,” she whispers with a wink, and you wonder if you look that nervous, or if your friends just know you very well.

It’s just…

Fine, normally you don’t like Will, but you can stand him for an hour or two. Especially because you’re never alone with him, so you just plaster yourself to Zach’s side, or Mitchy’s, or Dermie’s, or…

Well, anyone, really.

But now you are alone with him, and for multiple hours at that, and you’re going to have to convince your boss and your colleagues that he’s your plus one.

How on earth are they ever going to believe you? Worse, what if someone recognizes him?

“Wow, you look great.”

You turn around to see Will staring at you, a genuine smile tugging at his lips. He’s cleaned up nice, to be fair; his grey suit fits just right, hugging his muscles in all the right places, and you can tell he’s actually put effort in his hair today.

“Already told her she’s out of your league, buddy,” Zach jokes, slapping Will on the shoulder the way bro’s do, sometimes, and then there’s some pleasantries exchanged and Alannah fixes your lipstick and then suddenly you’re in Will’s car.

It’s a nice car, but it’s not overly posh or flashy, and it surprised you a little. With Will’s ridiculous clothing choices something – Balenciaga socks, really? – you’d expected him to have some sorta matched car to Mitchy’s stupid sports car.

“You look like I’m putting you in a tractor,” Will laughs, as he starts the car. You must’ve been looking around a little dazed, and you feel your cheeks heat up at the notion that you’ve been caught.

“Sorry,” you say. Then, because you wanna start this day off on the right note: “It’s a nice car, just not what I expected from you.”

Will hums. “Usually when people say that, it’s not a compliment.”

But he doesn’t say it in a malicious way, just very matter of factly, so you don’t bother to defend yourself – he’s kinda right, after all – and just listen to the music that he puts on.

“Country?” you feel yourself smile. “Where’s the ABBA?”

“I was born in Calgary,” Will rolls his eyes in a playful way, then turns up the music.

It’s not until you’re almost there that Will speaks.

“So, how do you wanna do this?”

For a second, you wonder what he’s talking about; you were lost in the music and staring out the window at the beautiful scenery surrounding you. Your boss is getting married in an old, beautiful mansion somewhere in the countryside, and you’re surrounded by green fields and scenic streams.

“Oh, I thought we’d just go in and like, see what happens. We’re only gonna go to the reception, not the ceremony, so it should be good. Drinks and food and music, and stuff.”

“I meant more in regards to the fake dating stuff.”

“Oh.” Now your cheeks are truly flaming. “I mean, I guess I could just introduce you as my plus one and they’ll assume we’re dating?”

Then, - and you have no idea where this came from - you add: “We could try to look flirty, so it makes more sense.”

Willy nods in agreement. “You’re a smart one.” When you snort in response, he raises an eyebrow. “What, I can’t say that?”

“No, you can.” You decide to tell him the truth. “It’s just funny cause the one thing I never liked about Noah was that he would always compliment me on my appearance when I was dressed up or whatever, but he would never compliment me on any accomplishments or my characteristics or just, anything other than my body, basically.” You look out of the window. “I’ve been thinking a lot about him because of this wedding stuff, and I guess it’s just one of those things that tells me it was never meant to be.”

It stays quiet in the driver’s seat, and when you glance up at Will he’s frowning.

“Literally everything you’ve said about this guy makes me want to punch him in the nose,” he finally says, and there’s an edge to his voice. “You deserve so much better, Y/N, and…” He cuts himself off, settles on; “He just sounds like a dick.”

You must be staring at Will like he grew a second head, because that’s not what your… acquintanceship, has ever been like. You’re not even really friends, and Will has never said anything to you that wasn’t a mere observation – “nice restaurant” – a question about logistics – “did you wanna hop in this Uber or are you going to ride with Matts?” – or, well, a chirp.

But he seems genuinely offended on your behalf and you have to admit it warms your heart a little.

Maybe, just maybe, you kinda see why Zach likes him. This type of loyal, fierce protectiveness reminds you of your best friend a lot. Maybe Will isn’t so bad.

“We’re there,” Will says then, and the mansion that dooms up in front of you is big enough to be classified as a castle, you think. Will parks the car, but doesn’t get out. “So,” he asks, eyeing you carefully, “you ready?” 

Not really.

But you nod anyway. 

--

As soon as you walk into the building, which is massive and beautiful, one of your colleagues comes running up to you.

“Ellie,” you greet her with a smile, and she kisses your cheek quickly.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she beams. “It’s just no fun without you.”

Ellie is one of your favorite colleagues, always down to go on coffee breaks with you and talk about whatever is on your mind. If anyone would know that you were going to take Will to the wedding, it would’ve been her, except she hadn’t known, so you’re not surprised by her wide eyes as she takes Will in.

“Hello?” she asks, an obvious question mark at the end of her sentence.

“Hi, nice to meet you.” Will’s smile is bright and polite. “I’m Will, Y/N’s plus one for the night.”

“Oh, how lovely!” Ellie smiles, then turns to you and hisses: “You didn’t tell me you were gonna bring a hot guy!”

Except she’s not being quiet or subtle at all, and a smug smirk appears on Willy’s face.

Just when you thought his head couldn’t get any bigger.

It turns out to be way easier than you thought it would be, to go around and introduce people to Will.

Nobody mentions that they recognize him and you’re glad for it, because the one time someone stared at him a bit too long Willy started shuffling on his feet and staring at the floor, as if the attention made him uncomfortable.

You know it doesn’t, because you’ve seen him with fans before, but you can’t help but be glad that he doesn’t have to be William Nylander from the Toronto Maple Leafs, tonight.

It’s not like you would really know how to handle that.

Apart from that moment, Will fits in like he was always supposed to be there. He charms your coworkers, your boss, and it doesn’t surprise you because you don’t think you’ve ever met anyone who’s not been charmed by him, but it still lifts a weight off your chest.

At first, Will follows you around the room while you talk to people. He stays close enough that his shoulder keeps brushing yours, and every now and then his hand lays heavy on your lower back.

You suppose it’s better that way, to make people think that you actually like each other.

Somehow, though, and you really don’t remember the exact time you lost him, Will ends up talking to some people you’ve not even ever met before, while you’re standing by the bar with Ellie.

“So,” Ellie says, and the knowing tone in her voice puts you on edge. “You forgot to mention you have a smoking hot boyfriend.”

Immediately, you go into defense. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s a friend of Zach’s, and he’s come as my plus one as a favor.”

Ellie knows Zach from your birthday dinners, and she nods knowingly.

“I figured. He plays hockey, too, right?”

How the hell does she know that?  

The question must show on your face because she laughs. “It’s not rocket science. Have you looked at his ass?”

You can’t say you’ve never looked at it, but you haven’t looked at it today. However, now that she’s mentioned it, you can’t stop yourself from letting your gaze travel.

His ass looks really good in that suit, you have to admit.

“If you thought he was my boyfriend, why were you looking at his ass anyway?” It’s mostly teasing, but Ellie hears the underlying edge under it and rolls her eyes.

“I don’t have to drive the car to admire the engine.”

It such a ridiculous comparison that you burst out laughing. You’re still giggling when Ellie adds: “However, if you’re not dating, maybe I’ll go shoot my shot.”

Something twists in your stomach, but there’s absolutely no reason for it. Why would you care if she flirts with Will? He’s not actually dating you. 

“You do that,” you tell her, and you ignore the heavy feeling in your stomach as she winks at you and saunters over at Will.

The thing is, Ellie is exactly the kinda girl you’d expect Will to be interested in. She’s beautiful, with long legs and long hair, and she’s witty and funny and smart. She’s also actually good at flirting – you’ve seen her in enough bars to know that.

You watch as Will turns to her, welcoming her with a sly smirk and a hand on her elbow. She throws her head back when she laughs, and suddenly your wine doesn’t taste so good anymore.

You don’t really see Will – or Ellie, for that matter – the rest of the evening. You go around and mingle with people you don’t really care about, congratulate the happy couple and drink a little too much wine.

It’s a lot later when suddenly, a familiar hand lands on your lower back.

“Don’t kill me,” Will’s voice sounds low in your ear. “But I did something kinda dumb.”

Oh no.

You put on your fakest smile as you excuse yourself from your conversation and let Willy pull you with him through the crowd, until you’re in an empty hallway that you think leads to the kitchen.

“What did you do?” you hiss, and Willy’s hand drops away from you as he stares to the floor.

“First, you need to promise not to get mad,” he says.

You really can’t promise that, but Will has crossed his arms and is stubbornly staring at you, and you know Will is used to getting what he wants and won’t tell you unless you agree with him. So you do.

“Fine.”

“So your friend Ellie was flirting with me,” he starts. Instantly, your blood runs cold; if he did something to upset her… “Fucking hell, Y/N, I didn’t hurt her.” Will rolls his eyes. “What kinda jerk do you think I am?”

He seems genuinely offended and you chide yourself for rushing to conclusions like that, when you’ve never known Will to be that kinda guy.

Sure, he’s annoying, cocky and loud and flippant, sometimes, but he’s not evil. He’s one of Zach’s best friends, after all.

“I was nice to her,” Will continues, “and she was nice, too. Super hot.” His eyes twinkle, and you have to shove back the flash of annoyance that tears through your body. You don’t need Will to see that.

“Anyway, I’m here supposed to be dating you, so obviously I didn’t flirt back, but she wasn’t giving up and it was getting a bit much, so I thought, if I just talk with someone else she’ll get the hint. And I was just being nice to that other girl, but I guess it looked like I was flirting.”

The most horrible thought crosses your mind.

“You didn’t flirt with the bride!”

The sigh Will lets out is heavy. “No, obviously not. You have a really low opinion on me, huh?”

You kinda do, but you just stare at him blankly.

“It was just some girl who maybe kinda has a boyfriend, and now that boyfriend maybe kinda wants to break my face.” His eyes widen comically. “I have a very nice face, I don’t want to break it.”

You can’t help it; immediately, you’re snorting out laughter.

“Willy,” you giggle, “are you telling me you’re about to get beat up at a wedding?”

Will huffs. “It’s not funny. He was massive.”

Suddenly, you think of something. “Oh my God, please tell me it’s not Rick from finance.”

“What does Rick from finance look like?” Willy’s eyes are wide and a little wild.

With every detail you describe, he gets paler, until he nods. “Yep, I’m pretty sure it was Rick from finance.”

“Rick from finance does MMA fighting in his spare time,” you tell him, finally feeling a little sorry for him. “He could destroy you.”

Will reaches out and grabs your hand, squeezes it tight as if that will somehow keep him safe. “We have to get out of here.”

Maybe, if you were a lesser person, you would’ve stayed, just to see Willy sweat. But you do feel bad for him and to be honest, you’re tired and kinda done with the wedding, anyway.

“Okay, let’s go home,” you promise him, softly patting his hand with yours. “But when we get home, I’m so gonna tell Zach you nearly got beat up by some guy in finance.”

“Don’t you dare,” Will threatens, but he’s smiling again and you won’t admit to yourself that you’re glad for it.

“Hey, Y/N?” 

“Yes?”

“I really wasn’t flirting with that girl, or the other girl. I wouldn’t do that when I came here with you.”

And it shouldn’t matter, it really shouldn’t. 

It kinda does, anyway.