#ALSO the thread was closed shortly after this reply so. oh my god i think this might be legit

[turoce]

they found Eida's zombieslayer

[seosracha]

ㅡsun & moon | xxiv. the promise

wc: 2.7k

masterlist > next

yesterday…

“Look him up on Instagram” Wooyoung repeats. 

After countless failed attempts you finally find him. Shotaro Osaki. 

“He looks young” you comment and Wooyoung laughs. 

“He’s older than you,” he says looking at the birthdate in his bio. 

You just roll your eyes playfully.  Wooyoung's head lays on your shoulder as you go from his latest post to his first, seeing the “progression of his life”. He has some selfies and photos at the Big Hit studio, some with other fellow trainees. 

“Play that video,” Wooyoungs says as his eyes land on one of the few on his feed. 

You press it and as it comes to an end you feel the need for more. 

“He’s really talented” you gasp as he finishes the complicated choreography. 

“Well no duh, he’s a Bighit trainee” Wooyoung replies and you just slap his head. 

Shotaro was so smooth with his movements, and always finished with a sharp, significant move. 

“He’s also really hot,” Wooyoung said and grabbed the phone from your hand. 

You laughed and shook your head. He clicked on a mirror selfie and zoomed onto his face” 

“Oh my god,” he gasped and shoved the phone into your face. 

“Yes Wooyoung he’s hot,” you say and push his hand away. 

He gives you a proud smile and keeps on stalking his page. You chuckle and look at him lovingly as he gasps at every photo. 

“So I’m assuming you’re convinced,” you said and he giggled, handing you your phone back. 

“Yeah,” he said and moved his head from your shoulder to your lap “Play with my hair as you did in the summer,” he said and you obeyed his wish.

“You’re using a new shampoo?” you asked the boy, whose hair was surprisingly soft. 

“I am, but I haven’t dyed it in a long time,” he told you and you nodded your head. “But  I kinda want to try something new. San just dyed his hair pink or something” he added. 

“Seriously? He hasn’t posted anything on Instagram”  you questioned, and Wooyoung shrugged. 

“He’s probably scared to” Wooyung answered and repositioned himself on your couch. 

“You’re getting along with San, hm?” you asked and Wooyoung giggled childishly. 

“Yeah! I think we got close really quickly. I like him” he stated and you just smiled. 

Wooyoung was a new person since everything happened. Sometimes you guessed it was because he felt limited with Seungmin’s stern company and Chan’s intimidating persona. 

Wooyoung was also fairly new to your friend group. He was the person who none of you gave a chance to, yet he turned out to be a kind-hearted soul. He was the brightest star in the room. 

“When will San be here?” you questioned the older boy and he pulled out his own device. 

His short fingers started typing away at the mobiles keyboard as he found Sans contact name. He kept the bright screen in front of his face until the younger boy replied. 

“Aish Choi, he’s so stubborn. He never replies to my texts”  Wooyoung whined and kept spamming random emojis in hopes of a faster reply. 

“He always replies to me and answers my calls” you said and Wooyoung flipped you off with a jealous huff. 

“Pretty privilege” Wooyoung said as he blindly kept on sending emojis to San 

“Yeah right” you laughed. 

Wooyoung's phone chimed shortly after he exited the app, with a short thread of messages from San. 

“30 minutes? This child has a drivers license and can never arrive on time” Wooyoung whined and threw his phone harshly on the couch. 

“Don’t get too worked up about it buddy” you laughed as he kicked his feet with a grumpy facial expression. 

“Am not?” he said and playfully hit your arm. 

Wooyoung and San’s relationship was very weird to most of your friend group. They got insanely close in a short period of time, being comfortable together, and allowing one another to call each other degrading names (in a joking matter). Sometimes you envied Wooyoung's social skills, the ability to make people feel welcome around you. Even when your friends didn’t necessarily want him in the group he still managed to prove himself, and make his way in. 

….. 

“Took you long enough,” Wooyoung said as he got into the back of Sans' car. 

“Being beautiful takes time,” San smiled , and Wooyoung mouthed an offended ‘rude’.  

“Who are you even trying to impress?” Wooyoung asked sarcastically. 

San huffed an awkward laugh and scrambled up a simple answer. 

“Nobody” he replied and Wooyoung just smirked, massaging his shoulders playfully. 

“Are you sure San-e?” the older boy whispered directly into San’s ear. 

“Yah, stop teasing me Wooyoung” San pushed his hand off, and connected his phone to the car's stereo. 

“I know you like Y/n '' Wooyoung snarked under his nose, but San still heared the remark. 

San dramatically turned to face Wooyoung, dropping his phone to his lap. The older boy smirked and raised his eyebrow teasingly. San just looked at him sternly, and put a finger over his lips as he saw, from the corner of his eyes, your figure approaching the black car. 

“You better shut up right now Wooyoung. I don’t like her” he said, and turned around, not even waiting for Wooyoung’s response. 

Wooyoung knew he was lying.

He turned his phone back on and chose a song he knew you’d like. A part of him wanted to impress you by showing you how well of a music taste he has. The truth was, he stalked your Spotify account late at night to see what exactly you like, so when an opportunity strikes, he can be prepared. This was the opportunity. His fingers landed on a song by Troye Sivan. 

“Turn this off San, it’s so boring” Wooyoung exaggerated and slumped in his seat.

“Don’t turn it off, I love this song” you said, getting into the passenger seat. 

As the song started, you sang along quietly, giving San a warm smile. 

“You have a really good music taste” you complimented and San gave you a cheeky smile. 

This is what he wanted. 

“Yah, I saw his Spotify activity, he doesn't even listen to Troye Sivan. You know Y/n, he’s more of a Brockhampton or Kendrick Lamar guy, “ Wooyoung said proudly. 

He found joy in teasing San,  although it may have been an embarrassing experience for his best friend. It’s just the way he was, poking fun at his friends every chance he got. Although he had a very good sense of seriousness and knew how to act in specific situations. 

“People have the right to like other songs outside of their go to playlists” you  defended San. 

He quietly sighed in relief, when instead of laughing along with Wooyoung, you defended his name. 

Wooyoung just rolled his eyes and huffed annoyingly. 

“Where are we going?” you asked as he started up the engine. 

“We can just go to town and hang out there. Maybe get something to eat later” he answered, and you nodded your head. 

“Boring” Wooyoung grunted. 

“Then get out,” San said, stopping the car. 

“I was joking” he rolled his eyes emphasizing on the last word.  “You can never take a joke” Wooyoung said, messing up San’s pink hair.  

“Wooyoung!” San screamed “Fix it now!” he demanded and tried to focus on the road. 

“Do I look like a hair stylist to you?” Wooyoung pouted and put his attention back into the screen of his phone. 

You laughed and reached towards San’s messed up hair. Your fingers smoothly glided through his scalp, returning the ruffled strands to their previous position. San couldn't contain the heat erupting in his chest that threatened to decorate his chiseled cheeks. 

Wooyoung noticed and poked San’s waist, but the younger boy shoved his hand away. 

“What if we just roam around, find a nice restaurant, get take out and just go back to Y/n’s apartment? I don't feel like being social today” Wooyoung asks and you agree with him. 

“I’d actually prefer that” you said and San had no choice but to agree. 

He nodded and smiled at you. The song he started the journey off with ended and ‘Helium’ by Glass Animals played. 

“I don’t know this one” you said and decided not to switch the song on San’s phone. 

Ooh and I'm falling now but it's so wrong, You talk like a man and taste like the sun

As the song played, the thought of Hyunjin started to clearly appear in the back of your head. He was like a summer fling, being there for the best moments of your life, but disappearing as soon as autumn came. Of course sometimes it was your own thoughts eating you alive, because Hyunjin still remained in your life, but the constant feeling of his presence started fading away slowly. The worst part was the feelings that lingered in you, and grew every time you saw him. Even though your knowledge about him was mere 0, that exact thought made you fall deeper in love. Getting to spend precious moments with him, and go deeper into his story made your heart swell.

“I’m never taking you somewhere again!” San's groan pulled you out of your thoughts. 

Wooyoung’s squeaky laugh echoed through the car. You turned around and saw the older boy covered in soda along with San’s beige car seats. 

“If you weren't such an awful driver, this never would have happened!” Wooyoung giggled, taking his t-shirt out from underneath his sweater to wipe his face. 

You laughed along with Wooyoung, as San just made an offended face. 

“I hate you both so much,” San sighed. 

… 

Your group of three walked into the small restaurant, and San could already feel the stares of girls who arrived here earlier. You nor anyone else could undermine his attractiveness. He had slim eyes, a sharp jawline, chiseled cheekbones, and stood at a proud height of 180 centimeters. His shoulders were broad and all the world's clothes looked good on him. Although it seemed like a good gift to have, San himself hated the attention. It made him feel watched and uncomfortable. Especially when the girls would silently start approaching him with a soft smile and glossy eyes.

Exactly what he feared was rising from their chair. The girl's friends were pushing her and she just softly giggled. They gave her a subtle thumbs up, and she adjusted her skirt. She could’ve just been in need of a drink or maybe had a toilet emergency, but her piercing gaze made San sure he was her target. 

“Help him, please” Wooyoung whispered into your ear, and you knew what he meant. 

Your arm clung around San’s beefy forearm, and your head softly leaned against it. 

“What are you doing?” he whispered. 

You just smiled up at him, and soon you guessed he got the memo when his arm tightly grasped your waist. 

“What do you want, baby?” San asked louder than usual as the girl didn’t seem to be backing away. 

The nickname made your heart ping. Maybe it was only because San felt so much like Hyunjin. 

You looked ahead of you and the line towards the counter was slowly becoming shorter.  

“Just get me whatever” you said  sweetly and your gaze turned towards the girl. 

She had a look of  disgust on her face, and when her eyes caught yours, she just rolled them and stalked back to her seat in the corner.  You held back laughter as she and her friends began the shit talk. 

“Wow, you guys are really good,” Wooyoung said from behind you. “If I didn’t come along I’d think you guys are dating” he continued and you just chuckled. 

You sneaked out of San’s grip to go actually look at the menu, and he felt the emptiness devour him. Now instead of wishing the girls stopped  swooning over him, he’d love more attention. Even the seconds of intimacy between you two made him fall deeper in love with you. San saw beyond your gorgeous face and wished the feelings were reciprocated. 

“San-e, you’re so stubborn” Wooyoung whispered, and San just stayed quiet. His friend was right. 

“Text me your orders I’ll get them” you started “You guys can go to the car” you smiled. 

San was going to propose waiting with you, but Wooyoung pushed him out of the shop's interior. 

“Wtf dude?’ San asked, the sun shining brightly, making his eyes squint “Let go of me” he groaned. 

“I won’t tell you anything but please don’t get your hopes up too high” Wooyoung said sternly. 

San just looked at him with confusion decorating his face. 

“What does that even mean?” he asks. 

The chilling wind swept his pink hair in front of his face, making his nose scrunch. It was quiet until Wooyoung decided to speak up again. 

“I don’t want you to get hurt at the end” Wooyoung answered “Just drop the topic okay? Open the car please” he added and avoided San’s confused gaze. 

…

“God Y/n it’s so hot in here” San complained. 

His free hand grasped the hem of his shirt and removed it from his body, leaving San only in a  flimsy tank top. 

“Now the tank top, please” Wooyoung said, and soon realized it sounded better in his head.  

San laughed and pulled it up just for a brief second, revealing his impressive stomach.  Wooyoung gasped and pleaded for more. 

“Wooyoung stop, you’re embarrassing me” you said and he grunted under his breath. 

“I thought you liked boys who work out” he said “There’s one right in front of you” he finished stuffing his mouth with another spoonful of food. 

“Yet I’m not begging him to pull up his shirt” you said and Wooyoung just rolled his eyes playfully.  

“God I’m full” Wooyoung whined and rubbed his belly. 

You laughed and gave him a paper towel to wipe his mouth. He tiredly glided it against his lips. and gave you the towel back. 

“I think I’ll take a quick nap” he proceeded to get up from the couch “Can you please clean up after me, Y/nnie” he asked sincerely, and you nodded. 

His feet took him towards the direction of your only bedroom, where fluffy pillows and soft blankets awaited his arrival.  He didn’t even realize you were now left alone with your secret admirer. 

“God Woo is such a pig . He always makes the biggest mess” you exclaimed and San chuckled quietly. 

“Does he?” he questioned and you nodded furiously. 

“Belive me. We went on this camping trip in the summer, and he always ate so much his stomach hurt, leaving us with his huge mess to clean up” you finished and San laughed. 

His eyes traced your figure as you carried the empty take out boxes. Sometimes he’d touch himself to the thought of you. He could only imagine marking you up, and securing his spot as your boyfriend by making you feel good every night. 

“Am I dirty with something?’ you asked as you caught his gaze piercing through you. 

“Fuck, Y/n” he groaned and threw his head back. 

“San, is everything alright?” you hurried towards him and rubbed his forearm. 

His eyes were closed and teeth gritted. You thought he looked hot with his head thrown back and muscly arms exposed. 

 don’t get your hopes up too high

“Y/n, I like you” he blurred out, not even looking at you. 

 He chose to ignore every sign clearly telling him no. Just yesterday he was telling Hyunjin to shoot his shot, and now he’s confessing his liking for you. 

Yet everything you did today by simply fixing his hair, to pretending to be his girlfriend for the shortest time made it feel like this is the right thing to do.

“San..” you started. 

You had no idea what to say. Your mind was a blur and every response seemed wrong. He was quiet. 

“You don’t have to feel the same way. I just had to get it off my chest” he explained calmly. 

“No San” you spoke and he gave you a questioning look. “I want to give you a chance” 

Hyunjin didn’t feel the same. Hyunjin didn’t care. So why not try happiness with his best friend? 

“Promise?” he asked and you laughed. 

“Promise” you replied and intertwined your pinkie with his. 

summary: you'd never think unleashing your inner artist would cause a broken heart and a lifetime romance all at once. but will the value of friendship let your sun rise?

taglist OPEN [ @haesungie @lunaflvms @skzstaysstuff @soobin-chois @murderyoursoul @nattisbored @wooyaluvr @yumi-xox @tiinytete @arewrittenstar @97lovestay @haaymah @sivnic @cixhoneyhuns @hazzaloveschopsuey @arikimtanapon @cl0vr @purplewzrld @heart4mingi @rindomo @diestheticu @apolloxxivmin (bold text could not be tagged!) ]

a/n: sorry for the delay! i was in soo much pain yesterday and couldnt get myself to finish this😭 AGAIN, FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED!

[watchmegetobsessed]

Serendipity - Part II. (Harry Styles)

a/n: hello lovelies! thank you so much for the likes and reblogs on the first part, i hope you are enjoying the ride so far! here is part 2 for yall and as always, i would LOVE to read your comments and feedbacks!

pairing: Harry x OC (Annalise Lloyd)

word count: 8k

SERIES MASTERPOST  ⚫️ my masterlist  ⚫️  come and talk to me about Serendipity!  

Serendipity (n.) Finding something good without looking for it.

Annalise finishes up the lasagna with shredding some cheese on the top before sliding it right into the oven, listening to Benji reading up the text from his book, struggling with some longer words, but then manages to put it together in his head at the end. The doorbell rings and she tosses the dirty dishes into the sink.

“Good job, Benji. Read that last part,” she smiles down at the boy, sitting at the kitchen island, his legs dangling, hanging down on the tall stool, arms placed on the counter, his eyes following the lines.

“…However… the rabbit… slept longer…” Benji carries on as Annalise walks to the door, already knowing who’s gonna stand on the other side.

“Hi girl!” Chloé smiles at her upon pulling her into a hug before she walks in.

“Hey, I just put the lasagna in,” she smiles back at her best friend.

“Oh, amazing! Hi Benji! How is my favorite little dude?” Chloé scruffs his light brown locks, the little boy smirking up at her as she sits on the stool next to him.

“Hi Chloé! Wanna see my new dinosaur?” he asks, excitement sparkling in his eyes.

“Well of course! You know I love dinosaurs!” she cheers and Benji is already about to climb off the stool, but she stops him.

“Hey, what about reading? Have you finished?”

The look in his eyes tells her the truth that he hasn’t reached the end yet, he sucks his lips into his mouth, trying his best not to smile slyly. She can’t help but chuckle and shake her head at him.

“Okay, you can go,” she sighs and he is fast to shut the book and jolt upstairs to get his newest toys. Annalise just stares after him with a delighted smile.

“So what’s up? I can tell something happened today,” Chloé starts, leaning on her elbows on the counter, eyes examining her friend.

“How can you tell?” she chuckles furrowing her eyebrows as she puts away the leftover ingredients.

“I can see that little shine in your eyes,” she grins pointing at her. “So spill it!”

Sighing she washes her hands and dries them on the kitchen towel before she leans against the counter, folding her arms on her chest.

“Remember the guy I met on New Year’s Eve?” Chloé’s eyes light up at the mention of the mystery guy Annalise met a while ago, but she didn’t tell much about him, just that they had a great time and he kissed her. She was also mad at her when she found out she didn’t even give him her number, but has gotten herself over it by now.

“The musician? Of course!”

“Alright, so there are two things about him,” she starts, wanting to come clear, but right as she would continue, Benji appears, holding his latest toy, a vicious looking T-Rex in his hands.

“Chloé! Look!” he beams, handing her the figure.

“Oh, wow! This looks so cool! Does it have a name?”

“I call him Reggie!” Benji proudly states, making both women smile, because only he would name a murderous dinosaur Reggie.

“Love it, Bud. I’m almost jealous!” Benji grins up at her, hugging the toy to his chest.

“Hey, Benji, why don’t you go watch the telly a little, so we can talk over here?” Annalise asks and he surely likes the idea.

“Bye!” he sings running off without a question and a few moments later they hear the telly turning on with whatever cartoon he has turned on this time. Chloé turns back to Annalise, eager to hear what she has to tell.

“So hot guy musician, go on,” she gestures as Annalise leans onto the kitchen island across her.

“Hot guy musician’s name is Harry Styles,” she mumbles, lowering her voice, as if someone else was around and could hear her say that. At the same time, Chloé’s eyes basically leave his sockets, widened to the point where Annalise thinks she completely zoned out.

“What the fuck?” she whisper-yells, careful not to let Benji hear her cursing. “Lis! That’s like a major point you left out!”

“I know! I just… I never thought I would ever see him again, so I thought I would keep it to myself.”

“Wait, so you met him?” she gasps, almost falling off the stool, making Annalise laugh.

“I ran into him at Tesco today. Totally randomly in the cereal aisle.”

“Oh my God, I think I’m gonna have a heart attack,” Chloé gasps, placing her hands on her chest, taking some deep breaths. “So what happened? Did he recognize you or what? Wait! You were with Benji?” she gasps again and Annalise nods shortly. “You said you didn’t tell him you had a kid, oh my god!”

“It was so fucking awkward, I wanted to die,” Annalise chuckles awkwardly. “He came up to me all nice and flirty and I was in full panic mode and he was telling me how I didn’t give him my number and then Benji ran up to me calling me mummy.”

“Jesus, I wish I was there to witness it,” Chloe snorts and Annalise gives her a look, though she sees why she finds it funny, she is just not there yet to laugh about it. “What did he do?”

“I sent off Benji to get something and tried to explain it, he was shocked, to say the least. But he was more upset about the fact that I didn’t tell him, rather than that I was a mother. He thought I was married and that’s why I ran off.”

“Can’t blame him, would have definitely crossed my mind too,” Chloé comments with raised eyebrows. “So what else happened?”

“He was desperate to get my number, like literally desperate. When I paid, I could see the panic in his eyes that I’ll flee before he could pay his stuff and come after me. Felt bad for him, so I waited for him.”

“Oh my! You were giving him a chance already!” she cheers and Annalise shakes her head.

“I was not! I wasn’t planning to do anything!”

“Oh but you were. You can deny it all you want, but I can see right through you,” Chloé snorts and Annalise just rolls her eyes at her. “Okay, so what happened then?”

“He convinced me to give him my number. But I told him I’m not looking to date, he said he just wants to be friends. For now.”

“The dude wants to fuck the shit out of you.”

“Chlo!” you snap at her, glancing in the way of the living room, making sure Benji didn’t hear her.

“What? It’s the truth!” she laughs, clearly enjoying the sight of you all blushed and nervous.

“Well, that’s not gonna happen. I’m not getting myself into anything.”

“You mean a nice, satisfying relationship with a clearly amazing guy who is on his knees already for you? Yeah, sounds horrible,” she scoffs, earning another hard look from Annalise.

“No one is talking about relationships. Maybe he does just want to fuck,” she answers with a shrug.

“What’s so wrong about that?”

“Chloé,” she sighs shaking her head.

“I know, I know. You are pretending to be a nun just because you have a kid. I get it.”

Annalise rolls her eyes at her, taking a glance at the oven to make sure the dinner hasn’t burned down yet. It’s clear that the two of them are not on the same page when it comes to Harry. Chloé understands her closed-up behavior when it comes to dating, but she thinks Annalise is taking it a little too far, while Annalise thinks it’s perfectly fine to shut every male out of her life.

Just as they settle in a short silence, Annalise’s phone lights up with a buzz, signaling that she got a text. They both turn in its direction immediately, Annalise’s stomach dropping before her eyes snap at her friend.

“Is that him?” she asks, urging her friend to check the sender. Annalise walks over and grabbing the phone from the counter her lips part seeing the name on the screen.

Harry: Hope you haven’t spiraled and regretted giving me your number just yet.

“What’s he saying?” Chloé asks in excitement.

“Just… asking if I’ve regretted giving him my number.”

“Tell him you want to suck his di—“

“Don’t you dare finish that,” she warns her, typing her response to the text.

Lis: I’m sorry, who is this?

Harry: … very funny!

Lis: Sorry, I had to. And no, I haven’t regretted it, though I’m close to spiraling.

Harry: Oh no, then I have to do something about that quickly!

“You cheeky slut,” Chloé murmurs right from behind her, making her jump, because she didn’t realize she was standing there.

“Fuck, don’t scare me like that!” she scolds her before returning to the text thread. “And I’m not a cheeky slut.”

“Yeah, you are. Totally flirting with him.”

“We have very different definitions of flirting then.”

Harry: When do you have lunch break tomorrow?

Lis: Usually around 12.30

Harry: text me the address, I’ll be there

“Shit, he wants to have lunch with me tomorrow,” she sucks on her breath looking up at Chloé, who read the whole thing shamelessly over her shoulder.

“So what?”

“Should I say yes?” Annalise looks at her in panic, feeling like a lost, nervous teenage girl.

“Oh my God! If you don’t say yes I’m gonna literally murder you, Lis!” she groans, her head falling back in annoyance.

“Alright, alright! No need to be so harsh!” She quickly turns her attention back to the screen and just sends the address without a comment. No reply comes, he just likes the message.

“I hope he fucks you in a restaurant toilet,” Chloé bluntly comments, making Annalise’s jaw drop.

“You are so vulgar, I shouldn’t even let you into this household with that dirty mouth of yours!”

“Oh come on, I know it took you years to stop cursing around Benji, I’m pretty sure one of his first words were fuck.”

“That is not true! I hate you, why are we even friends?” Annalise grimaces, grabbing her oven mittens to check on the lasagna.

“Because I’m fun, I’m honest and I babysit for you sometimes,” Chloé lists with a proud smile on her face as Annalise pulls the dish out of the oven, the warm smell of the fresh lasagna immediately filling the kitchen.

“Right, remind me of that more often, please.”

They set the table together and Lis calls for Benji, who abandons the couch without a word. Annalise has always been grateful for having such an unproblematic boy. Becoming a mother at such a young age, she had many doubts and fears about how things would turn out and the worst was that she would somehow ruin him, watch him turn into a deviant, low-life criminal. Though Benji is only six and a lot can happen in his life that lies ahead of him, Annalise has been feeling a sense of relief whenever she looked at him. The way he handles his everydays, doing what he is told to do right away without a second guess or throwing a fuss, it makes her think that maybe, probably… hopefully she did a good job raising him. As a single parent, having been one for years now, this is all she wishes above all the happiness in the world for her son. 

The three of them sit at the small dining table, eating dinner while Benji rambles about how excited he is about the field trip that’s coming up soon, his teacher is taking the whole class to the zoo and Benji is over the moon to see his favorite animals up close.

“Which one do you want to see the most?” Chloé questions, pointing her fork at the boy.

“Giraffes and the monkeys!” Benji cheers, bringing a smile to his mother’s face, seeing him so enthusiastic about it. She knows that Benji doesn’t just want to see the animals, but can’t wait to learn about them. He is a curious little guy, Annalise knows that already.

Chloé helps to clean up the kitchen and they hang around the living room a little longer before it’s nearing Benji’s bedtime. Annalise walks her friend out, hugging her goodbye at the front door, but before Chloé could leave, she turns back around and gives a hard look to Lis.

“I’m serious about this whole Harry situation. Please don’t close up entirely, alright? You deserve to have some fun, get to know him better. You could never know what’ll turn it out to be.”

“That’s what scares me,” she mumbles quietly, eyes fixated on her feet. “Not knowing how it’ll end.”

“Take the chance. Live a little. You haven’t since… graduation?”

Annalise keeps quiet, biting the inside of her cheeks. She hasn’t let herself completely relax since she found out she was pregnant. Being barely out of high school, having to deal with the fact that she would be a somewhat teenmom was shocking enough for her to regulate her whole life to the point where she couldn’t even remember the last time she actually enjoyed herself without a worry. That night in the pub, Harry managed to make her feel that sense of freedom. Like she could finally let go of everything that keeps her tied down into this strictness in her everydays. For one night, she had no worries, no fears, she just allowed herself to be… herself. Her old self for once.

“You deserve it, Lis. Don’t convince yourself that you don’t.”

She just nods without a word and lets Chloé embrace her in another hug before she walks down the stairs of the small townhouse and makes her way home with one last wave in her direction at the door.

Annalise’s proudest achievement is that even with a child and being a single mom, she managed to get a college degree and score a job she actually likes. No, she adores what she does. As a caretaker at a retirement home. She works from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. Her boss let her have those one hours bunch up and get pushed back to Saturdays so she could drop Benji off at school easier on weekdays. Having to work on Saturdays weren’t a big deal, because Benji usually came with her, have the best time with the elders in the home while Annalise worked, they even helped him with homework. They would have lunch somewhere after work and have the rest of the day to themselves. 

Going to work the next day Annalise can’t push her excitement down, thinking about seeing Harry later that day. Arriving to the home she is immediately met with Eloise and Bart, one of her favorite pairs in the home. The old woman’s eyes light up the moment Annalise walks through the door and she greets her brightly.

“My Darling! Good morning!” she beams as Annalise approaches them. “How are you?”

“I’m splendid, how about you, Elly?”

“Fantastic. Bart promised me to take a walk in the park today, right Bart?”

The quiet man nods with a shy smile. They are quite the pair, Annalise always thought. Elly being a chatty, lively, social butterfly, while Bart was more the kind to stand behind and let his lady shine and Annalise always found that endearing. 

“How is Benji?” Bart questions shortly.

“He’s good, getting better with reading day by day,” she smiles.

“I can sense something on you, Darling,” Elly comments, narrowing her makeup-covered eyes at Annalise. “There’s a little sparkle in your eyes, want to share what that’s about?”

Annalise chuckles shaking her head. Nothing and no one can fool Elly, she reads people like she does with the morning paper, easily seeing through them without a fuss.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” she smiles, though they both know it’s a lie, but Elly lets it slip.

Annalise says goodbye to them and heads to the dressing room to get ready for the day. Though all her thoughts were about Harry in the morning, once she gets down to work she easily shifts her focus back on her tasks. The hours slip by faster than she expected, always having to do something, and before she notices, there’s only ten more minutes till the time she told Harry she’d be getting her lunch break.

She finishes up changing the sheets in one of the rooms, drops off the dirty ones at the washing room before heading back to the break room to collect herself a little before Harry arrives. She thinks it’s silly, but she feels like an excited little girl with a crush, finally seeing her favorite boy on the playground. She never bothered to lie to herself about how attracted she is to Harry, because it’s quite obvious. She’s just still not sure what she really expects from the situation on her hands.

She pulls her hair tie out of her ponytail, letting her hair fall to her shoulders in loose waves. Tapping under her eyes she gets rid of a mascara smudge, fixing up her makeup quickly before she takes one last look at herself in the mirror. She is definitely not trying to look like she wants to impress the man, but she doesn’t want to look like a mess either.

Her phone vibrates in the pocket of her light pink scrubs and fishing the device out her heart leaps upon seeing the sender of the text message.

Harry: I’m right outside.

Lis: Coming!

She pulls on her knitted sweater she wore in the morning and throws on her coat before grabbing her wallet and heading out. 

“I’m eating out today, I’ll be back soon,” she calls out at the station downstairs where some of her colleagues are seated. They all smile back at her, carrying on with their work as she walks out the double doors of the home. 

Her eyes immediately find the tall frame leaning against the little gate that separates the foregarden of the home from the street. Harry is dressed in a pair of black pants and a navy blue sweater under his black coat, a pair of sunglasses covering his intent green eyes. 

“Hi,” he greets her, his smile bringing his dimples out as he watches her walk out the small gate and stand in front of him.

“Hey. Found the place easily?” she asks with a soft smile.

“Yeah, it was all good. Ready to leave?”

“Yes, but I need to be back in an hour.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Harry smiles and walks her over to the black Range Rover parked at the sidewalk, opening up the passenger side for her. She mumbles a quiet thank you sitting inside and once Harry is behind the wheel too, she turns to him feeling her nerves creeping up on her neck like it’s the first time they are seeing each other.

“Where are we heading?” she asks, but Harry just smiles in her way starting the car and leaving from the home.

“You’ll see.”

Harry effortlessly strikes up a conversation, asking Annalise about how long she’s been working at the home and why she chose it. She finds herself easily sharing all the information.

“I’ve been working at Golden Sunshine for about three years now. I absolutely love it, my boss is very flexible and understanding, which is kind of essential in my… situation.” 

“And why did you choose to be a caretaker?”

“I don’t know, I was always told that I’m great with taking care of others and I think I’m patient, which is great when you work with elders, especially when they have different health problems, having a hard time remembering simple things. You can’t imagine how many times I need to introduce myself to residents that’s been living there for years,” she chuckles softly. “But it’s alright. I like helping them, making these last chapters of their life as peaceful and comfortable as possible.”

Harry glances in her way with a genuine smile and he needs to push down the sudden urge to envelope her in his arms. He is fascinated by how big of a heart Annalise has and that she’s not afraid to share it.

“I bet they all love you,” he smirks, glancing at her shortly.

“I guess,” she shyly shrugs. “Though I think they love Benji more.”

Her smile fades for a moment. She can’t help but feel nervous to bring Benji up in front of Harry. She still doesn’t know for sure how he really feels about him and she is not trying to be the kind of mother who can’t talk about anything else than her kid.

Harry senses the change in her and is quick to clear the water.

“Lis, don’t feel bad about talking about Benji.”

“I just don’t know if…”

“If I want to hear about him?” he helps her out and she nods shortly. “I do. I think I made it pretty clear that I’m interested in you and that involves everything. Benji as well. I know he is a big part of your life so I wanna hear all about him. You don’t have to hold yourself back around me, alright?”

“I guess I’m just not used to… a man being interested in him.”

“I assume you had some bad dating experiences.”

“You could say that,” she chuckles bitterly.

“How did they react when they found out about him?”

Annalise doesn’t even realise that they have parked down and Harry has stopped the car. They sit there and Harry listens to her intently, genuinely interested in anything she shares.

 “Guys my age are not really ready to deal with a child. Most of them swore it wasn’t an issue, but at the end… it always was. So then I stopped talking about it, but I quickly realized that it’s not something I can just not tell.”

“Obviously,” Harry nods.

“So now I just don’t know what to do and what not to do.”

“Well, I know you’ve heard it plenty of times, but I really mean it that it’s not an issue to me in any way. From what I saw, he looks like a great little guy and though I was a little shocked last time when I met him, I’m not against seeing him again, if that’s how things turn out to be. I like kids, I really do, so don’t feel bad about talking about him. I want you to. I’m asking you to.”

Annalise is not sure how to react. She still has a lot on her heart and mind, but she genuinely believes Harry, something is just telling her that she can. Not sure what it is about him, but she is trying not to overthink it.

Moving her gaze away from him she looks out the window and sees that they are parked near a little park.

“Where are we?”

“One of my favorite places,” Harry smiles getting out of the car and Lis follows him to the trunk. 

He opens it up and there’s an old fashioned basket, one she always sees in movies when they are having a picnic. Harry grabs the basket and shuts the trunk once he has everything he needs and then the two of them start walking further into the greenery.

“I come here sometimes, just because not many people know it exists so it’s quite peaceful most of the time. Easy to stay unnoticed, ya know?”

Lis nods as they follow the graveled path that leads through the small park, squished between townhouses. It really isn’t big, she can see the other end from where they are, but there’s a lot to do and see. A nice playground takes up most of the space, but there are several benches, a little fountain a little further down the way, chess tables and even a small group of abstract monuments that’s also used as a playground by some kids. Annalise finds the place endearing and it’s like a hint of magic in the middle of the city. 

They aim for a bench, Harry sets down the picnic basket between them and opens up the lid, revealing that it’s filled with goodies.

“I wasn’t sure what you like or don’t like, so I packed a whole bunch of stuff,” he truthfully admits, making Annalise smile as she watches him roam through the basket, pulling some stuff out.

He really did think of everything. There are loads of fruits, sandwiches, all kinds with and without meat, cut vegetables, sauces, snacks, both sweet and salty. Even the worst picky eater would find something to eat in the load Harry packed for their lunch.

“You could have asked what I liked so you didn’t have to do all this,” she shyly tells him, but he just smiles at him with his head tilted.

“Wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, I’m surprised, so you succeeded,” she admits with a soft chuckle as Harry’s fist pumps into the air in victory, making her laugh.

Annalise chooses to eat a ham and cheese sandwich while Harry chooses one with salami in it and they have the little container filled with veggies sitting on the basket so they both can reach it.

Suddenly, she can feel the guilt crawling up her back and neck, reaching all her thoughts about how bad it was that she didn’t tell him about Benji. Even with her intentions of never seeing him again, she should have told him or at least mentioned it when she saw his interest in her. It’s been a struggle of hers for so long, wanting to protect herself and Benji, but also knowing that it’s not information you should keep to yourself for too long.

“I uhh-- I want to apologize,” she speaks up, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

“For what exactly?”

“For, um… That I didn’t tell you about Benji. I know I should have, but I--”

“You didn’t plan on seeing me ever again. I get it.” Glancing over at him, she sees that there’s no sign of anger or disappointment in his eyes, just a calm smile stretched across his face. “I’m fine to move on from this part. I understand your reasoning and I’m not mad at all. Would have been nice to know, but it’s all fine.”

“Are you really okay with it or are you just saying it because you know it’s what I want to hear?”

“I really mean it,” he tells her, looking at her with eyes that are completely open and she can read them like a book. She feels the relief coming over her.

“Okay. I just still want you to know that I’m sorry. It’s not like I’m ashamed of him or being a mother.”

“Doesn’t look like that.” Harry chews on his sandwich before speaking up again. “Can I ask… what’s the situation--I mean--”

“About the father?” she guesses and Harry nods. “Um… We started dating in tenth grade, he was my first… everything. First kiss, first boyfriend, first… love.”

Harry ignores the bitter taste in his mouth as she talks about loving this mystery man, but he chooses to stay silent as he waits for her to continue.

“I was planning my future with him, though looking back after the first year I was just desperately trying to hold onto the idea of being in a relationship, having a partner, it wasn’t healthy for sure.” She lets her hands fall to her lap, holding the remaining of her sandwich as she carries on. “So then, not long after graduation came the shocking news that I was pregnant. We barely turned eighteen, it was a proper shock for the both of us, I was terrified. We kept it to ourselves for a few days, trying to figure out what to do, but then I told my parents.”

She falls quiet for a moment and Harry doesn’t say a word, just lets her take her time, continue whenever she feels like. 

It’s been long since she told anyone about how she ended up being where she is, given the fact that her small circle consists of Chloé and her parents. She’s known Chloé since elementary school, she was there through the whole process, didn’t have to tell her the story. Outside that, she doesn’t go around and talks about getting pregnant at eighteen so she definitely needs to pull her thoughts together now.

“They were mad. Like, so fucking mad, I thought they are going to disown me,” she huffs with a bitter chuckle.

“Did they?” Harry finds himself asking.

“No. I could feel their disappointment for a while, but they said that they want to help me and be present. It never occurred to them to ever throw me out. I just had to deal with seeing it in their eyes for months.”

She scratches her neck, taking a deep breath and trying to find her words to get back to the story. To her story.

“So I figured out that I want to keep the baby and I told Austin about it.”

“Austin?”

“Oh, yeah. His name is Austin.”

Harry notices how she used present time, so he knows that the reason why he is not present is not because something happened and he died. Austin is very much alive, just chooses to be a douche and not care for his son.

“He tried to convince me to get an abortion, but I didn’t want to, so he had to accept my decision. Though he didn’t shy away from voicing his disapproval. Anyway, we tried to stay together, but it was just a whole lot. I didn’t know if I would ever be able to uni, I wanted to support myself financially and not live on my parents’ money, I just couldn’t deal with his behavior which was absolute trash.”

“Did he ever…?” Harry trails, hoping he doesn’t have to finish the sentence and she will know what he means. Luckily, she does.

“No. Austin never hit me, I think he is too chicken to do that, but he surely liked to give me all the pain through his words. Treated me like shit and I think he was trying to bully me into breaking up with him, so it wouldn’t be him who left his pregnant girlfriend.”

“Fucking asshole,” Harry mumbles, not able to hold himself back. He can feel the rage crawling up his neck, numbing his fingers, aching to bring justice. 

“Yeah,” she nods. “Well, he succeeded and I threw him out when I was in the eighth month. He tried to stay present for a while. He was there when Benji was born, though not in the room, but he was there. And he genuinely tried to get into the role of being a father, but I guess he just… couldn’t. He started coming over less and less until he barely even asked about Benji once a week, only seeing him a few times a month. And I still don’t know if I should have tried to reach out and help him connect with Benji and just the idea of being a dad, but… I didn’t. I just watched him break all contact with us and disappear into thin air. By the time Benji turned two, I couldn’t even tell if Austin still lived in our town or not. Haven’t heard from him in about three years,” she finishes and Harry is left at a loss of words. He can only imagine what it was like to go through all of this at such a young age.

“Though it seems like everything turned shit, I still think that I managed to bring the best out of it. A year later than my peers but I started uni, my school offered a chance for people like me to have a special timetable, manage my courses more losely than others, so I had only two days when I had to go in and I could bring Benji with me if I wanted. My teachers were super helpful so I got my degree and moved up to London when I got the job at Golden Sunshine.”

“Weren’t you afraid of moving out from your parents? I assume they helped you a lot in the beginning.”

“Oh, I was,” she chuckles softly, bringing a smile to his lips too. “I couldn’t have done it without them, and I’m very thankful for them. The moment they saw Benji I could feel them shift, I didn’t see the disappointment anymore, just the endless love and caring for him. They are in love with being a grandparent and maybe I could have stayed longer with them, but I wanted to find my own place, start my own life and not depend on them forever.”

“That’s very respectable,” Harry nods in awe. Not many would have thought that same way as she did in her situation. 

“I’m not saying it was easy at the beginning, because I had very little support system here in London. Luckily, my best friend, Chloé was already living here and she was always happy to help me with anything. She still is. But if I’m being honest I thought about moving back home a few times. Though I’m glad I didn’t. I think I needed to face this and I’m happy I didn’t try to push it too much, I forced myself to make the change before I could get too comfortable at home. Now I feel home here as well and I think Benji does too. I like to think that I’m doing a good job raising him, but I can only hope,” she chuckles lightly before bringing her sandwich back up to his mouth and she starts eating again. 

Silence comes over them, but it’s much needed and appreciated. It lets Annalise have a breather after everything she just shared, think about her words, while Harry is trying his best to process all the information he just learned. 

He thought he got to know her pretty well that evening when they met, having to talk to her for hours on end, but this just put her in a whole different lighting and though he wasn’t mad at her for not telling him about Benji before, he couldn’t have been now after hearing everything. Annalise went through more in just a few years than most people experience over a decade probably. And on top of everything, she nailed it all like not many could have. Harry envies her bravery and strength, her ability to start over after being thrown to the ground several times. He could have never done the same.

Harry feels the need to voice his appreciation.

“I know that you will probably doubt the validity of my words, but I just want to say that I think you are an amazing person. Everything you did, for yourself and Benji, it’s a miracle and it’s all thanks to you. If I can say that… I’m proud of you.”

Annalise is at a loss of words. She can’t remember the last time someone told her they were proud of her and she definitely did not expect to hear it from Harry, but here they were, sitting on a bench in a park, eating lunch together, seeing each other for only the third time ever. Though she was stubborn not to let her walls down too fast and easily, she can now feel them trembling. A lot. 

“Thank you,” she breathes out, feeling too shy to look him in the eyes, so she keeps her gaze fixated on her hands. 

Following the quite serious topic they just discussed, Harry manages to ease the mood a little, starting a conversation about things that are much lighter. He is pleased to see that they are able to pick up where they left on New Year’s Eve, talking and joking about basically anything without taboos. This is what has drawn him so forcefully to her right in the beginning. She is unapologetically herself regardless of who she is talking to or what she is talking about and it encourages him to be the same. He can so easily leave his ties back he usually feels on him most of the time in life. But not with Annalise. She can easily make Harry forget about the existence of any other human being on the planet and he is desperately trying to keep this feeling close to his heart. 

However that short hour is nearing its end quite soon and they are forced to head back to her workplace so she can make it back in time. Harry saw today solemnly as a chance to be her friend and strengthen her trust in him, but when they are sitting in his car heading back to the retirement home he finds himself having a hard time thinking about her in a friendly way. He wishes he could just easily switch it in his brain, but Annalise messed it all up so easily and gracefully that he can’t even be mad. However, he feels too weak to stand the tempting urge and not give in. 

As they are nearing Golden Sunshine Harry is chewing on the inside of his cheeks, gripping the wheel a little tighter than usually, trying to figure out what to do once they arrive. While right next to him, Annalise is having a somewhat similar fight with herself, because she genuinely enjoyed her time with Harry and though her strict side is telling her to keep her distance, her heart is screaming at her to let him get closer.

The car comes to a halt and they both just sit there for a few moments, lost in their own head, waiting for something to happen. Right when Annalise is about to say something and end this little meet-up on a neutral note, Harry speaks up breaking the silence.

“Annalise, I want to be very honest with you,” he starts seriously and she is a little taken aback by the tone, but nods.

“Okay.” Harry stares out the windshield, hands still on the wheel, as if he is trying to ground himself, have a grip of something solid in his fists to mask the nerves taking over him.

“I know that I said that I’m fine with being friends and I still think that, don’t get me wrong. Above anything and everything, I would love to be your friend. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t want more, because I do. I definitely do and I’m not gonna lie to myself or you. So this is kind of my warning that… I will shoot my shots as often as possible and I’ll see this—“ he gestures between him and her nervously, “as something that I want to work on and head in a…” It’s hard for him to find the right words, as if Annalise just made his mind blank when words are usually his best friends. But not now, because all he can think about is the woman sitting next to him.

Sighing he lets his hands drop to his lap, turning to face her finally, finding her bright eyes already staring back at him intently.

“I want this to head in a romantic way, Lis. I really do, because I just can’t stop this attraction I feel and if I’m being honest, I don’t even want to stop it. I remember and understand everything you said about wanting to protect Benji and how dating has been for you, but I want you to know that it doesn’t stop me from trying over and over again.”

Staring into her eyes he is desperate to read something out of them, but for once, she looks completely blank, just blinking at him, seemingly deep in her thoughts. He almost entirely regrets opening his mouth in the first place, but then she notices the tiniest smile playing on her lips.

“Okay,” she quietly says, clearly surprising Harry with her short, but unexpected reaction to his words.

“Okay?” he repeats the word, eyebrows raised at the woman beside him. Annalise nods.

“Yeah. Okay.”

Harry repeats it again in his mind, trying to find a different meaning behind it, but there’s none. It’s an okay which is neither bad nor the best kind of reaction, but way better than what he was expecting.

“Okay,” he nods, saying the word again, noticing how ridiculous this conversation just sounded, but he couldn’t care less. That okay means more than anything to him.

“Thank you for lunch,” Annalise smiles before opening the door.

“It was a pleasure,” Harry returns the smile and waves in her way, watching her shut the door and he stays right there as she walks up to the entrance. She glances back one last time, her smile widening for a split second before she disappears inside the building.

“Harry?”

Mitch’s voice snaps him out of his thoughts for probably the fifth time today as he has been far from the studio, clearly putting his mind somewhere else than into the songs they are recording.

“What? Sorry. Zoned out a little,” he mumbles rubbing his eyes, hoping to return to the present.

It’s been just two days since he has last seen Annalise and though they’ve been staying in touch through texts ever since, he is keen on seeing her as soon as possible.

“Care to share what’s got your thoughts occupied?” Sarah chimes in from the corner of the room. Her comment is not harsh or rude, more like curious and kind of delighted. Studio sessions between Harry and the band have always been seen as more of a creative environment where they get to do anything that helps the workflow, rather than a compulsion or pressure to create. They all know it’s not how good music is born, so it has never been taken badly when someone was not at the top of their game.

“If I had a guess I would say it starts with L and ends with Is,” Adam smirks from his chair, mindlessly pushing himself to left and right, his eyes watching Harry.

“I’m just trying to figure out what to do next.”

“Have something on your mind?” Sarah questions, leaning forward to rest is elbows on her knees.

“I do, but I just don’t know where the boundaries lie with Benji. If she would let me… meet him, I guess,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair, leaving his locks fall messily back, before they slowly return to frame his forehead.

“Why don’t you just ask her?” Mitch easily questions.

“I just feel like… I’m walking on eggshells. What if she takes it the wrong way?”

“What do you mean?” Adam asks.

“She said her encounters with men didn’t end well when it came to Benji. I’m afraid she would think I’m just trying to get closer to her through Benji, which is totally not the case. I want to get to know him because I know how important he is to her, so I obviously want to be close to him as well.”

“Harry,” Sarah smiles at him warmly. “Just tell her exactly this. From what you told us, she sounds like a smart woman. Worst case, she’ll say no to you meeting the kid. Just don’t take it to your heart too much.”

Harry nods knowing she is right. Fishing his phone out of his pocket he sends a quick text to Annalise.

Harry: Let me know when you have the time to talk so I can call you.

He doesn’t think she would get back to him too soon, but just when he is about to return his attention to the task on his hands, the screen lights up.

Lis: I’m free now.

“Sorry guys, I need to make a quick call. Be right back,” he excuses himself leaving the room, walking out to the empty hallway as his thumb glides across the screen, opening up Annalise’s contact. He draws a deep breath, keeps it in and then exhales sharply before he finally taps on the right button and starts the call. She picks up just after two rings.

“Hey!” Her joyful voice rings through the phone, instantly making Harry smile.

“Hi, I hope I’m not bothering you,” he breathes out.

“I literally told you it’s fine to call,” she chuckles. “How are you?” she asks and he just knows it’s not one of those empty questions. She is genuinely interested in the answer.

“I’m good, just working at the studio, but I wanted to ask you something.”

“Alright, shoot it.”

“I hope I’m not crossing any lines and please tell me if I do, but I would really love to have you and Benji over at my place for lunch or dinner sometime and I thought we could play board games. I have a bunch for times when my friends are over and I’m sure we could find something Benji would like.”

All his blood rushes to his head as his anxiety is reaching its maximum level. He has never felt this nervous about just a simple question, an invitation, but everything about Lis makes him go into a spiral, afraid he might lose what he has with her for now.

The silence on the other end of the call is wrecking him and he even goes to check if the call is still on, because he can’t hear a thing. Right when he is about to ask if she’s still there, she finally breaks the silence.

“When?” she asks shortly and that one little word means the world to Harry. For a split second he thinks he’s going to faint as all the blood rushes out of his face at the answer.

“Whenever it’s good for you. I can push around my plans in the next two weeks so I’m open to anything,” he answers eagerly.

“I’d rather not do it on a weekday, I don’t want Benji to go to bed late. I’m working on Saturdays and the afternoon is always our time, so that leaves us with Sunday,” she explains so precisely, Harry feels like he is listening to someone talk about the solution of a mathematical problem.

“Alright,” he nods following her trail of thoughts.

“He has a football game next weekend so this week would be the best for us.”

This week. This Sunday is only two days away, meaning that it would happen sooner than he expected, but there’s no way he would turn her down. Sunday it is.

“Works for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Lunch or dinner?”

“Maybe lunch? I take bedtime really seriously,” she explains and he makes a mental note, storing it along with everything else he knows so far about her and Benji.

“Perfect. Lunch is great.”

“Are you sure it’s not too soon for you? You can tell me—“

“Lis, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it, alright? I’ll text you the address and exact time after I pushed back my meeting.”

“If you have work to do, then we could—“

“None of that,” he cuts her off again, not letting her push it around until it won’t happen. That will not be the case if it’s up to him. “I said it’s all good and I meant it. Don’t worry about it.”

After a short pause, she finally gives in. “Okay,” she sighs. “Thank you for the invitation. And for thinking about Benji too.”

“Of course. I hope you’re not taking it in a negative way though. I really want to get to know him as well.”

“You haven’t given me a reason to think of you differently,” she states confidently before adding: “Don’t make me regret it.”

-

NEXT PART 

-

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[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 13

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

She twists around within the confines of his arms and nuzzles against his neck. He smiles, pulling her closer as early-dawn light seeps in around the blinds. She hums contentedly, wiggling against him, and he pulls in a deep breath, flexing his hips gently towards her with a sigh. Pulling her head back, she looks at him with a sleepy smile.

“Hi,” she says softly, her fingers grazing over his bare back.

“Hey,” he replies, “I have to say, I much prefer that morning greeting to ‘what the hell?’”

Her smile widens.

“You might also be a touch confused if you went to bed alone and woke up with someone beside you,” she says, though not defensively.

“If I went to bed alone and woke up with you next to me, the only thing I’d be saying is ‘praise the lord,’”

“I thought you were an atheist,” she retorts, her hand sliding down his back until it slips just under the waistband of his boxers.

He shrugs. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“Well, speaking of the Lord, I told my mother I’d go to church with her this morning, so I’ll have to kick you out shortly,” she says, fingers brushing against the tops of his ass cheeks and effectively waking up his dick.

“You said you’re Catholic, right?” he asks, and she nods. “I think you may have some things to confess, Ms. Scully,” he continues, bringing his own hand to her panty-clad backside and pulling her against him so she can feel him growing hard.

She smiles mischievously at him. “That I do, thanks to you,” she says.

“So how does that work?” he asks, “forgive me father, for I have sat on a man’s face?”

She laughs out loud, a true guffaw, and shakes her head at him.

“They really don’t like you to get that specific,” she answers, “more like...engaged in sex acts outside of marriage, fornicated, euphemisms like that.”

“That’s too bad,” he says, slipping his hand under her panties at the leg so he can squeeze her bare ass cheek, “I’m sure those poor priests could use come juicy confessions to break up the doldrums of celibacy.”

“Mmm, I’m sure,” she says, digging her fingernails into his flesh.

He kisses her, chastely at first, the sleep-warm smell of her intimate and comforting at the same time. When he brushes his tongue against her lips, she pulls back.

“I have awful morning breath, Mulder,” she objects.

“So do I,” he replies, kissing her again, and this time she lets him.

They paw gently at each other, slow and sleepy in their exploration. His hands drift up under her oversized T-shirt to touch her breasts, and down over the smooth skin of her thighs. She trails her fingers over his bare torso, dancing along the hem of his boxers, brushing over his erection through the cotton. They sigh and kiss, a soft moan occasionally escaping when something feels especially nice. He tugs at her panties and she pushes them down to her knees, then scissors her legs until she kicks them off. Her leg falls open as he touches her softly, not with a goal in mind; touching just for the pleasure of touch. When he slips a finger inside, he groans at how wet she is.

“Mulder,” she says breathily, her lips close to his ear, “let’s have sex.”

He feels a surge of blood flush into his already stiff cock.

“Are you sure?” he asks, slowly pumping his finger in and out.

“Very,” she answers, her voice catching.

“Do you have a condom?” he inquires, praying that the answer is yes.

She pushes his hand away and rolls on top of him, kissing him and flexing her pelvis against his as she reaches into her bedside drawer. Finding what she was looking for, she rolls back to his side and holds up a black square with a smirk.

He pushes his own boxers off quickly, then moves to hover over her. Tugging at the hem of her T-Shirt, he waits while she sits up enough for him to pull it off over her head, leaving them both naked with him cradled between her thighs. They resume kissing and he can hear the crinkle of the condom wrapper as she tears it open, then feels her hands stroking him lazily before the cool latex touches the head of his cock. She rolls it down his length expertly and continues down to cup his balls, giving them a soft tug that makes him groan. Next he feels her grip his shaft, positioning the tip at her opening before her hands come to rest on his sides.

He slowly pushes into her, listening and feeling raptly for any indication that he’s hurting her, but soon enough their bodies are flush, his scrotum pressed against her ass with every inch of him tucked inside. She is tight and hot around him and he stays still for a moment, their lips brushing together softly. When he slowly pulls back and pushes into her again, they both moan as her back arches off the bed, her head dropping back against the pillow. He begins a slow, languid rhythm as they kiss, her hands scraping over his back and her legs wrapping around his hips.

“You feel so fucking good,” he professes against her ear, and he feels her throb once around him. “Can you come like this?”

“Probably not,” she breaths, “but that’s okay, it still feels really good.”

“No, tell me what you need,” he whispers into her neck, sucking at her earlobe.

“Maybe,” she says hesitantly, “if you lay behind me, kind of spooning.”

He withdraws from her and rolls on to his side, pulling her back against his chest. He touches her breasts for a moment and then slides his hand down to push her leg up, hitching her ankle behind his knee.

“Like this?” he asks, reaching between her legs to press the head of his cock against her opening as he routes inside.

“Mmmmm, yes,” she moans, and he resumes a steady pace as his fingers find her clit, gently circling.

He threads his other arm under her, crossing it over her chest so he can cup her breast, pinching the nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She gasps, and he feels her clench around him again, the sensation incredible both physically and mentally. She moves her free arm back to rest on his ass, squeezing and encouraging him as he thrusts into her. They are entwined like human pretzels, hands working as he moves within her, her head turned up to find his mouth as they kiss and touch and fuck slowly and quietly, save for the occasional moan and the wet slip of her as he pumps in and out. When she stops kissing him, just holding her open mouth against his, he keeps his movements consistent, knowing she’s close.

“Oh yes, oh god, don’t stop,” she keens, and he feels his balls tighten in anticipation.

She pulls in a big breath and holds it, her body going rigid. Then she lets out a long, low moan and he feels her clench tight around him before erupting into rhythmic throbs. It feels so amazing that he soon follows her, clutching her to him as his orgasm takes off just as hers is coming down, their shared release a cacophony of muted groans and declarations to deities only one of them believes in. They stay there entangled as he slowly slips out of her, kissing her neck softly.

“I need to take a shower,” she says regretfully, “gotta get ready to go confess what we just did,” she adds with a squeeze to his arm, and he chuckles.

“Okay. I’ll call you later?” he replies, standing and stepping into the bathroom to dispose of the condom.

“Please do,” she says, stretching before she rises from the bed herself.

He pulls her into a hug, already missing the feeling of her nakedness against his own.

“Say a few Hail Mulder’s for me, would ya?”

She pulls back and smiles up at him. “Of course.”

———

She sits between Missy and her mother in the pew, Charlie seated on the other side of mom, as Father McCue delivers his Sunday sermon. Though they have varying levels of belief in the religion they were raised with, Bill being the most devout and Dana a distant second, Maggie Scully lives for the Sundays when one or more of her children attend mass with her. The fact that all three of those who live locally made it today has her in an especially good mood, which is why she doesn’t seem to notice her daughters whispering in the pew beside her.

Missy keeps glancing over at her surreptitiously until finally Dana turns and gives her a pointed look, eyebrows lifted expectantly.

Missy glances at mom to ensure her attention is on the pulpit and then leans in close to her sister’s ear.

“You had sex, didn’t you?” she says in the softest of whispers, and Dana shoots her a look.

“We are in church, Melissa,” she whispers back, shutting down the conversation.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Missy retorts haughtily, and Dana jabs her in the ribcage with an elbow. Missy winces, then adds “see you in the confessional, Sis.”

After mass and the confession booth, where Dana admits to fornication and impure thoughts (so many, many, impure thoughts), they head to Mom’s favorite little cafe for Sunday brunch. The place is bustling at noon on a Sunday and the three Scully children and their mother are cloistered tightly around a small round table, munching on omelettes and sandwiches.

“Dana has a boyfriend,” Missy says flatly during a lull in the conversation, and Scully shoots her another look.

“Nice,” Charlie says with very little interest, but Mom is looking at Dana with a wounded expression.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone, Dana?” she asks with furrowed brows and a frown.

“It’s very new, mom. Nothing serious.” Even as the words leave her mouth, she knows it’s a lie; her feelings for Mulder are anything but casual, even if she’s not quite ready to admit it yet.

“When will we get to meet him?” Maggie asks next, and Dana sighs.

“I don’t know, Mom. Like I said, it’s pretty new. I’m not going to accost him with a family gathering anytime soon.”

“Well, tell us about him, then,” she prods, “what’s his name?”

Scully cringes. “Um, his name is Fox Mulder.”

“Fox? Like the animal?” Charlie asks with a dopey smile, suddenly deciding to engage in the conversation.

“Yes, Charlie, like the animal,” she replies with an irritated tone, “but he doesn’t like to be called by his first name, he just goes by Mulder.”

“You call your boyfriend ‘Mulder’?” Charlie teases, and she sets her jaw, glaring at him.

“I’m sorry, Charlie, what was the name of that trashy woman you brought to Easter dinner last year, Bambi?” she says with a cutting tone. Charlie stops smiling and narrows his eyes at her.

“Her name was Fawn. It’s a totally normal name,” he says dejectedly.

“That’s enough,” Maggie declares, shooting a look at Missy who has been giggling through the entire conversation. “I’m glad to hear that you’re dating, Dana,” she says, placing her hand on top of her daughter’s on the table. “When you’re ready, I’d love to meet him.”

Dana gives her a tight lipped smile and a nod, and they continue their meal in relative peace.

After they’ve parted ways at the restaurant doors, she is walking the two blocks to where she parked her car when she passes by a sidewalk cafe. She does a double take when she spots Mulder at one of the outdoor tables, a smile immediately curling the corners of her mouth at the sight of him. She walks towards the table and is about to approach him when she stops, realizing that he’s not alone. He’s seated with a woman with long, dark brown hair, and the way he’s smiling at her makes Dana’s stomach turn.

She steps behind a parked car and watches them for a bit, noting the casual way he touches her hand on the table top and the familiar crinkle at the corner of his eyes that is paired with an affectionate gaze. It is unmistakably the look between two people who are more than just friends, who know each other intimately. She feels nauseous, her heart pounding in her throat as they stand and he pulls her into a tight hug, rocking slightly as his hands brush over her back. They are starting to separate and she can see that he is tilting his head to kiss her so she looks away, not wanting to see. She stumbles to her car, tears breaking free and slipping down her cheeks. Once in the driver’s seat, she lets the sobs overtake her. She feels betrayed, and stupid, and guilty. Stupid because she should have known it was too good to be true and she fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Guilty because she deserves this, after what she did to Ethan. Reap what you sow; isn’t that what she’d been taught as a child?

Maybe it was all for nothing after all. Maybe she ruined her life and a potentially happy marriage for a man who saw her only as a conquest. She sniffs hard, wiping away her tears, and collects herself. Buckling her seatbelt and starting the ignition, she drives home. Once there, she gets to work ridding her apartment of any signs of him. She strips her bed, washes her sheets, throws away the still damp toothbrush he’d just used that morning. She removes him from her life once again, a life that will start over fresh tomorrow; starting over seems to be something she’s becoming an expert at as of late. She just hopes that one day her new beginning turns into something she can hold on to, and that this painful cycle of hurt and healing will eventually stop.

[lubdubsworld]

Falling for you( Falling from grace) Jungkook

Falling for you ( Falling from grace) Jungkook

Read Chapter 1 here

Read Chapter 2 here

Read Chapter 3 here

Rated : 18 +

Warning : . Fuck buddies? Or rather enemies that have sex. They just really hate each other but also can’t keep their hands off each other. Fair warning this has no plot. its just them being idiots .

Chapter warning : a little bit of plot just to keep things interesting yeah? 

Chapter 4

The washroom on the seventeenth floor was the unofficial gossip hub and normally I would steer clear of that place but desperate times called for desperate measures. I was pretty sure I looked like I’d been dragged backwards through a hedgerow and I had to get it fixed before I got written up . 

Willing myself not to openly flinch with every step, I tried to curb the trembling in my thighs, almost painfully sensitive to how wet and messy my lower half as. What the fuck had I been thinking. 

When I entered the restroom, I moved to the huge ornate mirror in the center and took a nice long look at myself. 

 I felt my throat seize up in shock.

Good God. 

I looked ten times worse than I felt. The hair in the back of my head was sticking up , four even gaps from where he’d gripped my hair too tight. Yelping, I pulled on the dozen hairpins holding my hair up in a messy bun, letting my hair fall around my shoulders. Panicking , I threaded my fingers through the strands, wincing when I touched my jaw. What the fuck...

I leaned closer, peering at the small abrasion near my chin. It was a bruise, shaped exactly like Jungkook’s thumb. And it was already turning into an ugly shade of puce. 

Slightly hysterical because, Hoseok was so incredibly unbending when it came to office etiquette and  I did not want to get fired, I flipped at the fancy taps, sticking my hand underneath the cold water and splashing it all over my face. 

The door opened behind me and I flinched.

“Oh, hey Areum....” Three of my colleagues walked in . I recognized two of them , Jieun and Hana . The third one looked new.

“Hey...” I croaked out, trying hard not to look like I’d just been fucked to an inch of my life in a supply closet by the boss’ son. 

Oh fuck, what the hell was I thinking? 

The girls moved to the mirror , spreading out across the long counter and pulling out their compacts and lipsticks . I kept my head down, still trying to calm my pounding heart. 

“So let me get this straight, he called you at eleven in the night yesterday and wanted to meet you ? At your apartment?” Hana was saying. 

The new girl was blushing as red as a tomato.

“Yeah...he uh... he told me he was just returning from his training. He’s a boxer.” There’s a shy sort of admiration in her voice and I felt an odd sense of foreboding. 

“Booty call.... He wanted to fuck you for sure.” Jieun said firmly. “ You’re a lucky bitch, Sana... ”

Sana.....

My fingers started trembling when I heard the familiar name. I tried to calm myself down but it was impossible . A red hot sort of rage began licking its way up my spine. It wasn’t new. I knew he fucked other people. We both did. 

but I’d never stood within two feet of one of his conquests. 

“ Yeah...but then he called me like an hour later and said he wasn’t coming around.” Her voice was tinged with disappointment and I felt a sick sort of satisfaction. 

Jungkook had cancelled because of the pic I’d sent him. 

“Maybe he thought he wanted more.... like you told me he asked you to come meet him at practice tomorrow right? To get coffee afterwards... ? Maybe he wants to do this properly....take you out on dates...get to know you....”

I couldn’t stay there a second longer. 

“Ladies...” I bowed quickly and they offered me cheerful smiles. I all but ran out of the restroom, hating the sharp sting of tears somewhere near my lashes. 

I stumbled to the back stairwell, which was mostly unused and usually deserted. Gripping the walls, I slid down to sit on the floor, drawing my knees up to bury my face in. 

There was a reason I didn’t do public sex, I thought, shaking. Despite the way I mouthed off at Jungkook, sex with him always took a toll and I had always, always made sure I had space and time to recover from it. Gripping my thighs and trying to fight the urge to whine, I fumbled with my phone. 

“Areum?”

“Can I have the day off?” I whispered, shaking a little. 

“You alright?” Hoseok’s voice sounded genuinely worried and I hummed.

“ Got my period.” I said blankly. 

“ Gotchu. I’ll fill up the form and get one of the interns to pack your stuff up. You need to get some meds or something? Need a ride home?”

I felt warmth bloom in my chest. This is why Hoseok was such a great HR manager. He genuinely cared. 

“ I don’t need a ride. Or anything else.” I said quickly, “I’ll take a cab...”

There was a slight shuffling and then, an altogether familiar and unwelcome voice in the background went.

“Who’s that?”

Oh fuck. What the hell was he doing there? 

“Areum...hang on, Jungkook’s here....he wants to talk to you...” Hoseok said quickly and before I could protest , I heard Jungkook’s low raspy exhale against my ears.

“Where are you?” He said shortly. 

I considered protesting but remembered that Hoseok was still there. 

“ The back stairwell... I... I’ll come there , I...”

“Stay right there. I’ll come get you.” 

Before I could respond, he had hung up. I stayed on the floor, staring stright at the opposite wall. I forced myself not to think, trying to take deep breaths. The truth was I was exhausted. Physically and otherwise. 

Letting my head fall back against the wall, I closed my eyes, trying not to think about what Id’ heard in the restroom. Was Jungkook interested in Sana? Meeting him at practice? Coffee? 

That just screamed dating to me. I’d always assumed that Jungkook wasn’t into dating. That he just enjoyed quick fucks because that’s all he had ever offered me. So maybe, it wasn’t because Jungkook didn’t want to date. It was because Jungkook didn’t want to date  me. 

 Which was fine. I didn’t want to date him either. I really didn’t . 

“Hey....you okay?”

I had to inhale shakily, just to bring myself to look at him. I felt my heart ache something fierce because he was kneeling in front of me, strands of hair falling into doe back eyes. Eyes that fairly glistened with genuine concern. There was no infuriating smirk or haughty smile....instead his lips were parted in genuine concern, eyebrows furrowed in worry and one hand resting on my knee , fingers just so unfamiliarly gentle. 

I stared at him for another second and smiled evenly.

“Guess I’m gonna be needing that wheelchair after all.” I quipped. 

He stared at me for a second before his face split in a wide grin, a genuine bark of laughter spilling out of him. He looked so carefree and unabashed that I bit my lips, staring at him some more. 

“Let’s get you home , yeah?”

I nodded, letting him grip my arm to help me up. 

“It’s okay. I can walk... “ I said softly and he hummed, but still kept an arm around me and I noticed that he had my handbag slung on the other shoulder.

We reached the elevator and rode down in silence .

I followed him to the basement parking and he fumbled with the smart key to his car , pointing in the direction of the multitude of cars and I watched one of the flashy red ones blink. 

“Let’s go to my place...., yeah?” He said casually and I groaned.

“Jungkook, I know this going to make your ego swell but I’m not joking when I say that I cannot physically take your dick at least for another couple of days.” 

He rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t want to fuck you, God. I’m working on a project for the Art Fest down at the Museum and I’m staying home. You can rest there....” He said casually, moving to put his seat belt on. He fixed the mirrors by prodding a few buttons and I watched the tattoos on his arm flex as he gripped the steering wheel, one arm coming around the headrest of my seat so he could turn and back out of the lot carefully. 

I frowned at the broad shoulders near my face. .

“Why would I rest there? I have a home....” I protested , watching him hold the door open for me. 

“Because I know for a fact that , it being Monday, both your sister and your mother are supposed to be coming over today to cook and clean for you because you have no life skills, “ He grinned and I glared at him, “ . They’ll probably notice the limp and I just thought I’d spare you the humiliation.” 

I didn’t respond because he was right. My mom and sister were home and it would be impossible to get any rest with them around. The fact that Jungkook somehow knew this made me feel jittery and nervous though. 

“You have a fight this weekend?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. 

He kept his eyes on the road, sparing me just one questioning glance.

“How’d you know?” He asked curiously and I bit my lips.

 I’ve been following your boxing career for a three years.

 “ Just heard someone say something at the office...” I said vaguely. 

“You aren’t invited.” He said sharply and I gripped the seats, annoyed.

“I don’t want to be there anyway.” I snapped back. 

He huffed.

“I’m serious about what I do Areum... I don’t want you interfering in that part of my life, alright? We’ve been through this before.”

I sneered at that.

“I know....isn’t that why you literally banned me from your gym. “ 

He didn’t reply and I stared at my hands. 

He had invited that girl, though, my mind supplied helpfully. 

He invited her not only to the gym, to watch him practice, but also for coffee afterwards...you know...to get to know her better....probably because she’s not the kind of girl who would spread her legs as easily as you do.....

 I stared out of the window, remembering how pretty and put together Sana had looked. The dainty walk, the perfect make up and the long hair, styled perfectly. 

I was beautiful too. Of course I was and I knew it. 

Men like Jungkook didn’t go for unattractive women even if it was for a quick lay. But, there’s beauty and then there’s actual charm? I wasn’t charming in any sense of the word. But then, did I have to be charming and attractive and perfect to go see him fight? 

Why?

What about the other people there? If literally anyone could go watch him fight, why wasn’t I allowed? 

“I want to come watch you train....” I said impulsively, my anger getting the better of me. 

Jungkook turned to give me a shocked stare. 

“What? Why?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion and I shrugged.

“No reason.” I said shortly. I could physically feel his irritation build. 

“Areum....” He began , voice holding a note of warning but I refused to back down.

“Literally anyone can visit your gym. You own the thing and you love offering discounts to everyone you meet...and yet somehow, I’m ‘ banned’. Why?” I demanded.

“Because I don’t want you there...That’s a good enough reason for me.” He snapped back and I clenched my fists harder. 

“Well, sucks for you. I’m gonna be there. On the front row. Let me see what’s so great about Jeon Jungkook in the ring that drives women wild...” I scoffed.

He stared at me for a second and then chuckled.

“Ahh..... so you just wanna watch me get wet and sweaty.... ? Understandable.”

I sneered. 

“You have been wet and sweaty on top of me enough times and trust me the novelty has long worn off.”  

He groaned.

“It genuinely feels like anytime I try to be halfway decent human being to you, you repay me by being as annoying as you can....” He said thoughtfully and I couldn’t say anything to that. 

i flinched when his hand reached out, moving to my knees and squeezing /lightly.

“What are you doing?” I frowned slapping at his fingers and he merely moved his hand higher up my thigh. I flinched when he squeezed again.  

“The only time you’re remotely bearable is when I’m touching you....So I’m gonna keep my hand here...” He gave me a smug grin, eyes practically dancing with mirth and I grimaced. 

“I’m still going to come. I want to.” I said firmly. 

He didn’t argue further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much to my surprise , I slept away the better part of the day, buried in Jungkook’s soft white sheets , head pillowed in the dozen fluffy throws he kept around. It was vaguely arousing that someone so intensely masculine like Jungkook preferred a comfortable , soft toned bedroom. The sheets smelled exactly like him, a fresh citrusy scent that managed to be soothing and sweet and yet somehow seductively warm as well. 

I woke up to fingers in my hair, lightly stroking. The room was dim, a little bit of light from the streets spilling in through the gaps between the curtains. 

“Areum.... It’s almost eight.... I’m gonna order us something for dinner... You wanna wake up now?” 

His voice. Fuck. 

I rolled over , groggy and disoriented. My eyes took in the splendor that was Jeon Jungkook, taking in the fact that he was only wearing grey sweatpants . I stared at the smooth expanse of his chest, feeling arousal bloom , slow and steady all over me. 

“I wanna suck you off...” I croaked out before I could fully filter my own thoughts.

Jungkook chuckled a bit at that. 

“I’m not gonna say no to that, but why don’t you take a shower and wake up fully.

I shook my head.

“ Let’s get messy first..... we can shower later...” I whined, still blinking and he groaned, slipping into the bed with me, under the covers, grabbing me by the waist and lifting me up till I was on him, my chin resting on his chest as I stared at his beautiful face. 

 What am I doing here? Where is this leading?

“I’ve never seen you like this. “ He commented mildly.

“Like what?”

“Sleepy and horny....Usually you‘re just angry and horny.” 

I shook my head. 

 “I should go.” I said hesitantly.. Jungkook didn’t respond for a few seconds, merely staring at me with a blank look on his face. Then he gave me a slight squeeze around my waist and moved out from under me. .

“I can call you a cab...” He said simply, moving to get up off the bed again. I felt something jump in my throat . It was unlike him to acquiesce so fast, and it was unlike us to just.... hang out without mutual orgasms thrown in the mix and somehow that felt like a change I wasn’t ready for. A bit of panic flashed through and I reached out blindly when he stood up, grabbing his waist and yanking him closer.

I looked up at him, scooting to the edge of the bed and kneeling till I was right in front of him. 

Eager to get things back to normal, I smiled and casually, pressed both my hands behind my back, looping my fingers together at the base of my spine. 

“Get those handcuffs.” 

Jungkook’s dick literally twitched in his pants and he swore.

“Fuck baby....” He grabbed my face roughly, crashing his lips over mine. I kissed back, almost desperate, trying to remember all the reasons why he annoyed me, why this was all we were to each other. A quick fuck, a quick lay, fuck buddies. that's what we were......

“Stay here. Stay right here...Don’t fucking move.” He pulled back and dove for his bed stand. I watched as he pulled out a silky black tie. 

I grinned when he nearly fell, scrambling up on the bed and pushing up behind me. He grabbed the hem of my blouse, yanking it up over my head before grabbing my wrists together again , tying them swiftly behind me. 

“Only you...” He whispered against the back of my neck. “ Only you can do this to me. Drive me wild with want just by fucking existing....” 

And then he was lying down near me, grabbing my waist and jostling me around till I was straddling his waist. It took me a second to orient myself I managed to steady myself, staring down at him in surprise. 

“ Seeing as you said you needed a break from my dick, how about you come sit on my face, today?” He smirked. 

I tested the give on my hands, before carefully leaning down to him

“Sure you have the lung capacity for this , Jeon?” I whispered, lips brushing his as I spoke. 

He responded by gripping my waist hard, easily lifting me up till i was straddling his shoulders. 

“I’m ready to drown in that sweet sweet honeypot, baby...” He winked and it was such a ridiculously bad joke that the laughter got wrenched out of me. 

And just like that , we were back to being us again. Or at least, that's what I convinced myself of. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR’S NOTE : TELL ME WHAT YOU GUYS THOUGHT ....I WANTED THIS TO BE JUST PORN BUT APPARTENTLY I CANT WRITE ANYTHING WITHOUT ANGST FML. 

Also requests open :) 

[let-the-dream-begin]

In My Daughter’s Eyes Chapter 28: Storm Surge

Chapter 27

Read on AO3

Storm surge: rise in seawater level during a storm

——

Four days. That was how long Claire was stuck at the hospital, how many nights she slept on that shitty cot, how many days she’d eaten nothing but hospital food, how many days since she’d seen her daughter.

How many days that Jamie had spent with her daughter.

The roads were finally clear of debris at around noon, but her shift hadn’t ended until 8:30. She was racing home, desperate to get there before Faith fell asleep. She was certain she’d burst into tears if she couldn’t hug her after the longest separation of their lives. The last text she’d received from Jamie had assured her that they were both wide awake and watching The Little Mermaid, but who was to say that she wouldn’t crash during her drive home?

Unfortunately, the power was still not back at the apartment complex, and Claire’s drive home confirmed that it was not just them. People at the hospital were predicting it would be out at least a week. Claire prayed it would be sooner considering how upset Jamie said Faith had gotten when the lights would not work.

She pulled into the driveway, and did not even bother grabbing her duffle bag from the back seat. She snagged her purse and bolted up the front steps. The door swung open, and there she was, her little girl, bouncing with her arms stretched upward.

“Oh, hello!” Claire exclaimed, letting her purse fall to the floor and scooping Faith up. “Oh, my sweet girl, I missed you so much…”

Faith was humming loudly, squeezing her mother around the neck, and kicking her dangling legs uncontrollably. She began rubbing her cheek against Claire’s and running her fingers through her hair.

“Oh, yes, hello, love…” Claire kissed both of her cheeks over and over, then her head, then her cheeks again. Faith intercepted more kisses by slapping her palms against Claire’s cheeks, causing Claire to sputter and flinch, but she didn’t have the heart to scold her for it. Faith held her mother’s head in place, squishing their faces together.

“Yes, hi, baby, I missed you, too…” Claire nuzzled her nose against Faith’s, even as her little hands squeezed the life out of her cheeks. From the corner of her eye, Claire could see Jamie standing back, watching them. Claire shifted Faith in her arms, settling her on one hip so she could see again. Faith was not finished, however; she continued to rub Claire’s face and fiddle with her hair and rub their cheeks together.

“Hi,” Claire said, her voice thick with emotion, her face flushed.

“Hi,” Jamie answered, stepping closer.

Claire flicked her eyes down to the fort of sheets in the middle of the living room, and she bit her lip.

“It looked bigger in the pictures,” she said, laughing. “You really fit in there?”

“Aye,” Jamie said in mock offense. “It would be a failed endeavor entirely if I didna.”

Claire broke into an enormous grin, and she slid Faith down her body to set her on her feet. Before she could step into Jamie’s arms, Faith wrapped herself bodily around Claire’s legs, rubbing her face on her capris. Claire snorted with laughter as Jamie closed the distance between them, and she was still laughing when he captured her lips with his.

Behind Claire’s eyes danced every photo that Jamie had sent her over the last four days, every play-doh sculpture, every coloring book page, every lego structure, every selfie of the two of them in the fort, and she was overcome. She grasped his face in her hands, squeezing, deepening the kiss.

Despite how busy she’d been at the hospital, she’d had lots of time to think, many hours on that damned cot where sleep eluded her. And she knew, she knew to the very marrow of her bones the truth of what was ready to burst out of her like a storm surge.

Just when she was becoming dizzy for lack of air, she broke the kiss, and Jamie gaped at her. “What was that f— ”

“I love you.”

Jamie’s voice broke off immediately, his mouth flapping soundlessly. As Claire cradled his face close to hers, her stomach flipped, and her heart leapt into her throat. She’d meant it; meant it more than anything in her life. It was something she supposed she knew for a while, perhaps even before that first kiss, but it wasn’t something she’d allowed herself to feel until very recently. And it wasn’t something she was ready to say until it was ready to burst out of her. She was smacked over the head with it on that first night in her hospital cot, and the days and days before she could get back to him and tell him had been agony.

“What…” Jamie’s voice was light and airy, “did ye say..?”

Claire’s breath stuttered out of her with a tremble, and she wet her lips. “I love you, Jamie,” she repeated, resolutely, tightening her grip on his face.

His shuddering exhale danced across her skin, and she watched as his eyes welled up. They danced all over her face, as if to memorize her every feature the moment she’d said it.

“Christ…” His voice broke, and he laughed in spite of himself, a single tear spilling over. “I love you, Claire. God, how I love ye.”

As if he couldn’t control himself, he kissed her feverishly, threading his fingers through her hair. Claire nearly tipped backward at the force of his affection, being that her legs were rooted in place by a thirty-eight pound weight. Jamie quickly adjusted to catch her, covering the entire span of her back with his two hands. Their lips broke apart to laugh, and Jamie pulled her back upright into a tight embrace. They swayed for a good while to the tuneless melody of Faith’s joyful humming.

God, how I love you.

Claire inhaled deeply, breathing him in. He smelled of his aftershave, crisp and clean, and somehow also like spaghetti-os, like Angus’s dental treats, and like Faith’s shampoo that somehow always clung to her hair no matter how long it was between showers.

He smelled like home.

Reluctantly, Claire peeled herself away from him, then looked down at Faith. She debated using her harsher tone to make her let go, but then decided she didn’t have it in her at the moment. Instead, she melted to the floor, forcing Faith to topple on top of her. Faith got an idea then; Claire could see it in her eyes. Then she was being pulled into the fort, and there was absolutely nothing Claire could do about it.

Before Claire could even blink, she was nestled in a veritable bird’s nest of blankets and pillows, Faith in her lap, and Prince Eric was finding Ariel on the beach. Jamie crawled in after them, grinning impishly.

“I hope you realize what you’ve done,” Claire said. “I’ll never be able to take this down now. It’s going to become a permanent fixture. Are these pillows from my bed?”

She arched an eyebrow at him, attempting intimidation, but given the spread of Jamie’s grin, she supposed it was not at all working. He settled in beside her on the air mattress, brushing hair off her neck and kissing her there and then nuzzling the spot with his nose. Like a cat whose favorite scratching spot had been found, Claire’s body went limp and liquid against him until she was in his lap, pulling Faith with her. Eventually, they were in an indecipherable pile of limbs, all three of them. During “Kiss the Girl,” Jamie kept looking down at Claire and waggling his eyebrows absurdly until Claire rolled her eyes and obliged him for a quick peck. She lost count of how many times it happened by the end of the song.

Faith didn’t fall asleep during the movie, but neither did she want to move when it finished. Jamie retreated from the fort and returned with a plastic cup that came from the kitchen, a bathroom Dixie cup, and Faith’s toothbrush. To Claire’s bewildered look, Jamie replied:

“I wasna gonna let her get away wi’ no’ brushing until the power came back. So I brought it to her. It’s been working.”

Claire’s face softened as she remembered the meltdown over the lights that Jamie had mentioned on the first night. That he had found a workaround solution that did not distress Faith was astounding and heartwarming. She watched in awe as Faith sat in her nest of blankets with her mouth open, putting up no fight as Jamie brushed her teeth. He had her spit into the empty plastic cup, and then rinse and spit with the water from the Dixie cup.

“Good girl,” Jamie praised, poking her nose with her toothbrush. He departed then, and Claire could hear him washing the cup in the kitchen sink.

“Good job, baby,” Claire repeated, rubbing her shoulder and kissing her head. “You had so much fun with Jamie, didn’t you?” Faith hummed contently, swirling her fingers in Angus’s fur. “Such a good girl.”

Jamie returned shortly after, and Claire could not help but laugh at the sight of that Viking of a man crawling into the small opening. “So what now?” The words bubbled through her laughter. “We lay here all night?”

He blushed a little. “Well, that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Claire gawked. “Are you serious? I was joking.”

His blush deepened. “She got upset when I tried to leave. And she’d already melted down twice that day. Figured it wasna fair to make her go again just fer me.”

Claire could literally feel herself melting, inside and out. If she hadn’t already found the nerve to say it, she would have been overcome and blurted it out right then. Perhaps Jamie could see it, because he inched closer.

“Come here,” Claire crooned, holding onto Faith with one arm and pulling Jamie closer with the other, kissing him soundly. She pulled away when she felt something plastic poking at her nose, and she went cross-eyed trying to see what it was.

The medicine dropper.

“Right,” Claire said sheepishly, and Jamie smirked at her. Claire lifted Faith off her lap as Jamie simultaneously swiped the pillows that came from Claire’s bed off the air mattress. Faith settled in on her pillow, nestled under her blanket, and Claire gave her the Risperdal.

“Good girl,” she said, and she patted the space next to Faith, which Angus hopped into obediently. When she shifted in her seat on the air mattress, she saw Jamie lying on his back with his hands behind his head, a pillow on the floor for each of them. He raised his eyebrows invitingly and nodded toward the unoccupied pillow, and Claire groaned audibly.

“I am not sleeping here all night,” she grumbled, even as she nuzzled into him, mostly on him rather than the pillow. “Not after four nights on a cot.”

“Aye, alright,” he said, kissing her forehead. “We can move in about an hour.”

Claire sighed resignedly. “You’re staying the night?”

“I don’t have to — ”

“I want you to,” she interrupted firmly, resting her chin on his chest to look him in the eye. “It wasn’t really a question.”

“Aye.” Jamie chuckled nervously. “Alright.”

Smiling in victory she lay her head on his chest again. They lay tangled together, Jamie rubbing up and down her back, Claire tracing circles on his chest. Once Faith’s breathing grew heavy, they tentatively sat up. One by one, they inched out of the small opening to the fort, each of them holding a pillow, both of them having to bite their lips to keep from giggling like school children. Once they got to their feet, they crept quickly and silently to Claire’s bedroom, and the second the door was shut, they let loose the bubbling laughter. Jamie tossed the pillows onto the bed and turned back to her.

Even as they were both still laughing, Claire locked the door behind her and pressed her mouth to Jamie’s in one swift motion. She felt the growl in his chest before she heard it, and both sensations sent heat rushing to her core. They stumbled back until they landed in a heap on the bed, laughing again. Claire straddled him immediately, deepening the kiss and rolling her hips when Jamie greedily seized handfuls of her arse.

She sighed a delicious moan into his mouth, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and pulling it off between kisses. In return, he pulled off her shirt and undid her bra with an expert ease of someone who’d been having sex much longer than he’d been.

“Oh, I missed you…” Claire crooned, her entire body tingling with delighted electricity at the feeling of skin on skin, her breasts pressed flat against his chest. To further relish in this feeling, she scooted lower to suckle at his neck, delighting in his groans and how his roaming hands on her back would stutter and dig their nails into her when she nibbled. She made her way down to his nipples, having recently learned that he was nearly as sensitive there as a woman. She teased him for probably longer than he could bear, considering he yanked her face back up to his for a searing kiss. He abruptly sat up, pushing her up with him, so she was straddling his lap. He bore his eyes into hers while he undid her button and fly.

“Take them off.”

She shivered from head to toe at his command, and she immediately obeyed, getting up on her knees to slide her capris and underwear down, and he did not help her get them over her knees and heels. She stayed up on her knees and he growled hungrily, reaching up to kiss her, trailing his hand up her inner thigh, and resting to cup her, cover her entirely. She gasped raggedly, tugging on his hair roughly. His fingers slipped in easily, and she groaned loudly, unable to stop from thrusting her hips, riding his hand.

“It is such an honor…to worship this body…” he breathed into her neck, stroking her walls deftly. “To love this body.”

Love.

Claire had had sex. She’d had sex before Frank, had sex with Frank. She’d had sex with Jamie, of course.

But she’d never, ever made love.

That was what this was, what it had to be. Sex, fucking, was not enough to describe it. She’d never been caressed inside the way Jamie did, she’d never known such affection as his other hand roaming up and down her torso, tenderly squeezing each breast in their turn. Every touch said he loved her.

And she believed him.

It would have been too easy to let his fingers finish her, and she would have been all the more ready for him, but she couldn’t stand another moment without him inside her. Caught off guard, Jamie did not expect the rough shove she gave him, pushing him onto his back, forcing his fingers out of her. She undid his fly and slid off the remainder of his clothing until he was fully bared to her.

She greedily roamed her eyes all over his perfect form, her lips flapping uselessly. What could she say that could even come close to the poetics that Jamie had uttered to her? “I’m honored to worship your body, too,” would be ridiculously stupid, not to mention inadequate.

So, she settled on the only thing she could think to say.

“I love you.”

She whispered it against his lips as she took him in, inch by inch, his grip on her arse tightening and tightening with every inch. He kissed her then, groaning. She rode him slowly, savoring every second; every second of their love-making.

“With all my heart, I love you.”

Tears sprang to his eyes at that, and she kissed them away. She didn’t realize that she, too, was crying, until he flipped her over, staying inside, and kissed away moisture on her own cheeks.

“I love you, Claire,” he groaned into her ear, moving slowly inside her. “My heart is yours. I love you.”

He loved her tenderly, softly, wildly, hard, so achingly hard, loudly. They fell together in shared ecstasy, their hearts beating as one. 

If his heart was hers, then hers was his.

Even while Claire was still convinced she was in love with Frank, she’d never known what it was like to lose her heart. Not until Faith. The second her baby was put in her arms, her heart was no longer hers. She thought it was impossible to give away something that had already been given.

But, without her knowing, there’d been a piece tucked away all along, a piece that was waiting for Jamie.

I’ve waited all my life to love you.

And as the blackness of a deep, dreamless sleep overcame her, the scent of their combined sweat dancing in her nose, his arms like a vice around her, she knew it to be true.

——

From a dead sleep, Claire was woken by a sudden chill. For a terrifying moment, she thought she might be coming down with something. She listened to her body for aches and pains but felt nothing. And then she realized.

Jamie’s warmth had left her.

She sat up, too quickly considering how her head spun, and could see in the light of the moon that Jamie was getting dressed.

“Where are you going?”

Jamie turned around, putting his arms through the sleeves of his t-shirt. “Ye didna hear?”

A loud bang sounded, making Claire jump ten feet in the air and instinctually cover herself with the sheets. The bang was followed by a loud whine, and the pieces clicked in her head.

Jamie tossed Claire a t-shirt, one of his given the scent of it, and a fresh pair of underwear. Claire was too tired to remark on his going through her underwear, but she tucked that away for later. Now in flannel pants and a fresh shirt, Jamie made his way to the door, turning to make sure that Claire was dressed before unlocking and opening it. Faith did not even address Jamie, and before he could say anything, she was already shuffling past him and toward the bed. Claire glanced at her phone for the time, two in the morning.

She sighed in defeat, helping Faith as she climbed clumsily into the bed. Angus trotted behind her and hopped up onto the bed, settling at Claire’s feet. As Claire was getting Faith settled, she felt the bed shift, and looked up to see Jamie getting in on the other side of Faith. It did not take long at all for Claire to fall dead asleep again, Jamie’s arm draped over Faith’s body and around Claire’s waist. The last thing she heard was a muffled kiss to a curly head, and not her own.

“I love ye, sweet Faith.”

[tillthelandslide]

Jersey Love (Part 5) : I Lost a Friend

Warning: this chapter includes references of suicide so please do not read if it will trigger you. Here for anyone who needs to talk <3

Author’s Note: Hope you enjoy it, I’m struggling with part 6 atm so please be patient with me :) love you all so much and I know I saw it all the god dam time but your support truly does mean the world to me

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Part 1: Durrell Challenge

Part 2: Coffee Date

Part 3: Life With You is a Walk in the Park

Part 4: Movie Night

It was Saturday night and you had been invited to a karaoke night with your friends, you had invited Henry so he could get to know your friends better. You were getting ready, you had decided to curl your hair and apply a little bit more makeup than usual, not too much, it still looked natural but you had darker eyeshadow on than usual. You opted to wear black skinny jeans, a striped deep-neck blouse and toeless heels. You couldn’t stop thinking about last night and the events that occurred, you wondered if Henry was thinking about it as much as you were.

You had text Henry to meet you at the pub, planning to get there earlier than your friends, you ordered a cab whilst you got your things ready, ensuring your cats had everything they needed. The cab arrived shortly after and took you to the pub. You walked inside, greeting the staff as you entered, you sat down at a booth big enough for all of you. Henry arrived shortly after, dressed in black jeans and a grey cotton shirt, his chest hair on display which made you have to take a deep breath trying to compose your thoughts.

He waved at you a huge smile on his face, he came over to you sliding in next to you and hugging you tightly.

“Hello gorgeous” he says, pecking your lips making you blush.

“You look hot Henry” you said, which got the reply of a deep cough and chuckle.

“So do you” he said, his eyes flicking down to your chest making you and him smirk.

“Keep your eyes up here Hen” you joked, making him smile.

“Want a drink?” you asked “yes please” he said. “Guinness?” you asked, making him say yes please again. You left the booth and Henry couldn’t help but check out your bottom as you walked, he thought about last night as he did. You caught him as you turned your head round slightly, making him look into your eyes and shrug as if to say “I don't regret it”.

You ordered a Guinness and a pint for yourself, carrying them over to the table. Sitting down next to Henry his hand immediately panting itself on your thigh as the other arms hooked around your shoulders on the headrest of the chair.

“How are you?” you said, your own hand resting on his thigh, which somehow looked bigger in his tight jeans.

“I’m very good, how are you my love?” he smirked, placing a kiss to your neck where he could see the bruise he planted yesterday.

“I also happen to be very good. Coincidence?” you said making him chuckle.

“Hmm, maybe” he said his lips still moving against your lips.

“Henry people are looking” you said, your hand threading through his hair at his neck as your eyes fluttered closed.

“Let them look” he said, beginning to suck against your neck when you heard someone across the room cough awkwardly, making him pull away. 

His timing was impeccable as you heard the door of the pub opened and in walked Lewis.

“Hi guys.” he said nicely, shrugging his jacket off when he made it to you. 

“Hi Lew. This is Henry” you said, standing up to hug him before gesturing to Henry, he stood up and shook Lewis' hand.

“Nice to meet you mate. Yn has told me a lot about you” Henry said, smiling and sitting back down. Lewis sat on the opposite side of the booth.

“You too mate” he replied before the both of them said “good things I hope” at the same time making them laugh.

“No I bitched about both of you” you said, all of you laughing, the pub door opened and Amy walked in with James and Liam.

“Oh shit, I forgot to tell you that Emily can’t make it, she had to look after her sister's kids for the night” Lewis said, all of you standing up as they walked up.

“Hello gorgeous girl” Amy said, hugging you tightly, squeezing her as she did, placing a friendly kiss on her cheek, her eyes flicked down to your exposed neck and she wiggled her eyebrows at you, making you chuckle and flick your hair in front of your neck to cover it..

“Nice to see you again” she said, leaning over to hug Henry too.

“You too.” Henry replied.

“This is Henry” you said, introducing him to Liam and James who both shook his hand. They all sat down but you remained standing.

“Drinks?” you said, to which they all replied quickly with what they wanted.

“I’ll get it” Henry offered, making you shake your head and place a kiss against his cheek making him blush in front of your friends. You walked over to the bar ordering everyone else's' drinks, you leant against the bar, turning your head back to the table, Henry was laughing with your friends which was a good sign, he was sat next to Lewis with Amy, Liam and James on the other side of the booth, a space next to Henry for you to sit. The barman came back a short while after with all of the drinks.

“Cheers mate” you said smiling to him as he placed the drinks on a tray.

“Need a hand?” he said, being friendly.

“That’s okay, I’ve got it” you said, carrying the tray effortlessly to the table. You placed it down and sat next to Henry a round of “thanks” and “cheers” being heard.

“For someone as clumsy as you I’m surprised you managed to carry this back without getting it all down you” James said making everyone including Henry laugh.

“Ha Ha” you said sarcastically, taking a sip from your drink.

You all then began talking between yourself, your friends asking kind and interesting questions about Henry and his career, helping him to be comfortable around them which you appreciated.

“How long have you been together?” Henry asked James who was holding hands with Liam.

“4 years” he replied, smiling at each other which made you and Henry smile.

“They are so cute. They got moved to different sections at work because they couldn’t keep their hands off each other” Amy said, making everybody laugh.

Little to your knowledge, your friends had put your name into the hat that was being passed around the pub, you hadn’t known this as you were getting another round, so when your name was called you were shocked.

“I hate you guys so much” you said, putting your middle finger up to them as you were prompted to go on stage. This karaoke night had a machine but also had a guitar and a piano which you could play.  You walked on stage, still hating your friends, Henry smiled at you as he was laughing along with your friends.

“May I?” you gestured to the piano making the karaoke man nod.

“Introduce yourself and the song” the man said, making you smile.

“Hi everyone. This is super awkward, my friends put me up to this and I hate them for it. But um, my name is Yn, this is I Lost a Friend by Fineas” you said, making your friends and Henry cheer at you.

“She plays piano? Is she any good?” Henry asked Lewis.

“You didn’t know. Oof sit back and enjoy Henry” Lewis said making Henry confused. You began playing the first chords of the song and soon after your voice filled the room. Henry was instantly blown away by your voice, it was beautiful and he looked to your friends who were smiling at you.

I lost a friend Like keys in a sofa Like a wallet in the backseat Like ice in the summer heat I lost a friend Like sleep on a red-eye Like money on a bad bet Like time worrying about Every bad thing that hasn't happened yet

You sang, your fingers easily drifting over the keys, your eyes closing as you got into the song.

I know I'll be alright, but I'm not tonight I'll be lying awake counting all the mistakes I've made Replaying fights I know I'll be alright, but I'm not tonight I lost a friend, I lost a friend, I lost my mind, and nobody believes me Say, "I know that he don't need me 'Cause he made a little too much money to be 20 and sad" And I'll be fine without 'em But all I do is write about 'em How the hell did I lose a friend I never had? Never had

You continued singing. Henry leant forward in his chair, everything around him seemed like it disappeared as he heard you sing, every new piece of infomation he learnt about you he loved but he thinks this might be his favourite. Why doesn’t she do this for a living? he thought to himself she’s truly amazing. This song was sad and you sung it with so much emotion, the room went completly quiet, everyone on the edge of their seats, listening carefully to every word that fell perfectly from your mouth.

I'm on the mend Like I'm wearing a neck brace Like I'm sleeping in my own place Like I'm pulling all the stitches out of my own face I'm on the mend Like I'm icing a new sprain Like I'm walking on a new cane Like it's been a couple days Since I slipped and said something sorta like your name, I know I'll be alright, but I'm not tonight I'll be lying awake counting all the mistakes I've made Replaying fights

You sung, swaying slightly in your chair, really getting into the song. Your friends started swaying too which made you smile.

I know I'll be alright, but I'm not tonight I'm on the mend, but I lost a friend, I lost my mind, and nobody believes me Say, "I know that he don't need me“

Cause he made a little too much money to be 20 and sad

And I'll be fine without 'em But all I do is write about 'em How the hell did I lose a friend I never had? I'd apologize if I thought it might make a difference Or make you listen I'd apologise if it was black and white But life is different Just try to listen to me now, I know I'll be alright, but I'm not tonight I lost a friend, I lost a friend, I lost my mind, and nobody believes me Say, "I know that he don't need me 'Cause he made a little too much money to be 20 and sad" And I'll be fine without 'em But all I do is write about 'em How the hell did I lose a friend I never had? Never had 

You continued to sing the song until the end and everyone applauded you when you had finished, making you blush deeply.

“I wasn’t expecting that, that was amazing” the karaoke man said as you stood up making you laugh.

“Thank you” you said, smiling at him before walking back to your friends, sliding in next to Henry.

“I really hate you guys” you said laughing, you felt Henry staring at you so you looked to him as his hand rested against your thigh.

“Oh shut up, you were amazing” Amy said, making everyone nod.

“What?” you said, tucking your hair behind your ear, he leant in and kissed you firmly making your friends coo which made you blush.

“You never told me you could sing or play the piano. That was amazing Yn” Henry said making you kiss him again.

“What can I say? I’m full of surprises” you said, using the phrase you and him always said as a joke, your elbows on the table, leaning against the palm of your hand.

“You truly are” he said, leaning forward to place a kiss against your forehead as his arm rested over your shoulders.

You looked to your friends who were smiling at the both of you.

The night carried on like that, all of you laughing, singing along to the songs people went up to sing, drinking and having fun. Henry fit in well with you friends, there was never any moments of awkwardness, his hand rested constantly on your knee or on your thigh, occasionally wondering up (whether intentional you don't know) and every now and then he'd turn and smile at you, placing a kiss against your cheek or lips.

It was now later on that night and you had invited Henry back to yours, you entered your house, your cats nowhere to be seen, probably on your bed. You threw you keys in the bowl next to your door, hanging your jacket up, Henry doing the same. Little to no words were exchanged but it was a comfortable silence. Henry looked around again, he really did love your house, he had only been in your living room and kitchen but still.

“Bare with me while I go get changed okay?” you said, making Henry nod and walk to your living room. You got changed into a black pair of sweats and a loose top, cleaning your face of all makeup. You walked back downstairs into the living room seeing Henry stroking one of your cats.

“Ooo, you like nice and cozy, how are you still so pretty without makeup?” he said, making you smile, he sat back against your sofa, pulling you into his lap, his hand running across the soft fabric of your sweats which covered your legs.

“How do we always end up in this same position?” he said making you chuckle

“Hmm think yesterday looked a little like this” you said, swinging your leg over his thighs so you were straddling him again, you both laughed this time though, liking how this position didn’t always have to be sexual.

“You were truly amazing this evening Yn, that song... so good, very emotional, almost cried, I can’t lie” he said, you smiling at how sweet he always was.

“Thank you” you replied, pecking his cheek.

“I want to hear you sing more now” he said “You’re so talented, you know you could do it as a career right? I know you love conservation but it's true” he said, a crimson blush arising on your cheeks as he spoke

"Can I show you something?" you said as if reading his mind, your voice came out in a whisper and he nodded. He stood and you jokingly wrapped yourself around him like a koala, slowly dropping yours legs to the floor, taking his hand in yours leading him upstairs into a large room, you turned the lights on and Henry smiled at the sight. It was a studio, guitars were framed on the wall and an old standard size piano was placed at the back. Across one of the walls was a glass panel and a door which led to what looked like a recording booth. Brown leather sofas furnished the room and a coffee table was placed in front of them, sheets of paper lying across it, Henry picked one up and saw song lyrics.

"Wow" was all he said, sitting down on the sofa.

"Spent my first three paychecks on this room” you laughed “I don't really come in here anymore" you said, wiping some dust off your piano before coming to sit next to him. Henry didn't say anything, he knew it wasn't the time, it was the time to let you talk and for him to listen.

"There's something I haven't told you Hen, I was really scared too. I hadn't really told many people, only my family knows and Amy and Lewis" you said making him not.

"It's okay, take your time" he said kindly, you nodded and took a breath before talking again.

"Back in London, I was engaged" you said, he didn't gasp, he didn't get angry, he just nodded, trying to be as understanding as he possibly could.

"We met at University, he was studying to become a Marine Biologist, we became friends pretty quickly and we both loved music. Us and a few of our friends made a band" you said smiling at the memory which made Henry smile.

"We weren't huge, but we were quite popular around campus" you laughed "we performed in local pubs and clubs and at uni events."

"His name was Adam, he was the lead guitarist in the band. We left university, we moved in together, he proposed and I said yes. We were so happy" you said, a tear running down your face.

"Umm... One day, I um... I came home and Adam had taken his own life" you said, as you began crying. Henry didn't know what to do but he pulled you close to him, wrapping his arms around you, it was just what you needed.

"So the band broke up... And I began travelling the world, doing conservation, occupying myself with work. But every time I would go back home to London I hated it, I was reminded of everything about him. It got easier as time went on but I was hardly ever in London, always on the road, working for different conservation projects. I finally started to be happy again, I loved Adam and part of me always will... But I couldn't let it stop my life, he wouldn't have wanted that, he always said to me “we’re here for a good time baby, not a long time, you’ve got to make the most of your life”. I realised that I couldn’t spend all my time thinking about him and what happened, I had to accept that I loved him but he’s not around to love me anymore. I have to make a new life for myself. So when I got the job here, it was a blessing, I had my dream job, somewhere I could start a new... I made amazing friends and now... Now I have you" you said, now crying happy tears. Henry's hands resting against your face.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner" you said, making him shake his head and place a sweet, gentle kiss on your lips.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm glad you told me now. I'm so sorry that happened Yn, I really am" he said, kissing you again.

"I'm happy now though" you said smiling.

"I'm glad. Me too. Me too" he said, pulling you into his chest.

You got up, staking a guitar off the wall, walking over to Henry, sitting down next to him.

“This was Adam’s” you said, your fingers hovering over an engraving on the guitar which said “Those we love never truly leave us” which you got engraved.

“Tell me about him” he said, making you smile, you placed the guitar back on the wall before joining Henry, he moved you so your legs were draped over his, his hand holding you against him, beginning to play with your hair as your own hands landed on his chest, your head rested against his shoulder.

“He was a really nice guy, a good guy. He wanted to change the world. He always told me that I was too kind for my own good, but he was the king one” you smiled, making Henry smile too.

“He was an awesome guitar player, really good at singing too and writing songs” you continued.

“What did you do in the band?” he asked kindly.

“I was the lead singer, played keys and sometimes played guitar” you said, making Henry smile.

“What happened to everyone else?” Henry asked.

“After everything happened, the band broke up, we all went our separate ways for a while, just trying to move on from what happened, heal y’know” you said, making Henry nod.

“Just before I moved here, we all met up again, and it was like it was before, we all spoke about Adam, with nothing but love, we were no longer sad. I know that sounds bad, but why ruin his image with negativity?” you asked Henry who sighed and kissed you.

“You’re perfect” he whispered against your lips. 

“What’s everyone up to now?” he asked.

“Louie was our drummer, he’s a musical teacher, Ollie played guitar too, he’s got his own band now and Gemma, she played bass, she’s a full time mum now” you smiled.

“They’re coming to my birthday party, Amy has organised Ollie’s band to play, they live in London but are going to come for it which is really nice” you said, making Henry nod.

“It will be nice to meet them.” he said, making you smile.

“Thank you for being so supportive Henry, you’re the best” you said, resting your head against his warm chest. He held you in his arms, placing kisses against your head, his warmth radiating off him, into you, sending you into a gentle slumber. Henry picked you up bridal style, carrying you to what he assumed was your bedroom, he placed you down on the bed, tucking you in and placing a sweet kiss against your forehead.

He didn't look around your bedroom, he didn't feel comfortable doing that whilst you were sleeping. Instead he walked downstairs, grabbing a piece of paper and pen from your kitchen writing you a note.

“Good morning my sweet love. I hope you slept well and had wonderful dreams. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome, I tucked you into bed and went home. Thank you for sharing that with me last night, it means more to me than you will ever know that you trust me like that. It makes me sad that you went through that but I understand now how you are the strongest, most amazing person I know. I realise it more and more everyday, the more I learn about you, the more I realise I need you in my life - Your Henry” he put the pen down, grabbing his jacket, walking to the door and slowly closing the door to your home behind him.

Part 6

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

When it rains - an Edgejeanist backstory

Ao3 link

As I have mentioned before I wanted to do a drawing for this eventually but it would take a lot of effort and I don’t have that in me right now so I’m gonna share it with you in the form of a rather long jumble of words instead :D it might be too long to read on tumblr because it kept on crashing the app when I worked on it so please feel free to read it over on ao3!

I wasn’t really happy with the drawing I did for the injury prompt so I’m posting this to make up for it lmao

If you have not read my Edgeshot backstory (well the summary that I did), I do recommend it because it may give some context as to what they’re talking about!

This was originally meant to be happy but it turned out kinda angsty (unsurprisingly)...but then I managed to make it not as angsty?? Anyway ->

Warning: a few times they talk about death, mentions of injury, self-doubt and generally quite sad stuff.

Also, it turned out incredibly long so imma stuff it all under the cut for those of you who don’t wanna read it :)

Hakamata Tsunagu wasn’t one to usually complain when sent on a mission, however on this particular stormy evening he really didn’t fancy the idea of being caught up in a case that wasn’t in his own area, simply because he was “passing by” trying to go home. But, he understood that this guy was quite the hassle and it would probably be best to sort it out as soon as possible. When he arrived to the area he could see that there were already many other heroes on the scene, including one of the higher ranking heroes - Edgeshot. They had met before and had worked together on various cases due to the two of them being known for rather rapidly climbing up the ranks, not to mention that their ranks were neighbouring and often would over take one another. So they knew each other, to some extent. He walked over to where the ninja hero was standing to ask him about the details of the villain they were going against.

“Fire-type quirk, troublesome. Had many sidekicks aiding him in an armed robbery. We’ve managed to apprehend most of the smaller accomplices, however this guy’s a pain, so I was told to wait for you to arrive in order to end this quickly.” The fiber hero hadn’t even said a word and had already gotten his answer.

“I see. I guess we should probably get to it then, as he seems to have his eye on escape.” Jeanist swiftly responded as he went on to restrict the villain’s clothes to prevent him from moving any further. Luckily, the area had been cleared out and the other villains had been carted away by the other heroes that were in the scene, so the only ones left in the area were the two of them, and this maniac.

The air around the two pros started to heat up and before they could act, flames burst from the open air around them causing them both to flinch and Jeanist to lose his focus. The villain started to sprint away from the scene but Edgeshot was one step ahead of him. The hero had rushed over and the two had started to engage in a fight, and the villain had no problem with using his quirk to aid in this. Jeanist tried to drag the villain back to the open space using the denim threads of his own clothing and had managed to grab hold of him, however, the two were unaware of what the man was carrying. He was taken back when a cold, sharp object came flying towards him, cutting through the high collar of his hero costume and through the skin of his ear and cheek - causing him to curse quite audibly.

“Watch it!” The silver haired hero hissed as he took another swing at the walking flamethrower, now also knife-thrower apparently, in front of him.

“My apologies,” mumbled the lanky blond as he regained his posture once more and continued to restrain the armed robber.

The other hero hesitated for a moment. “Ah- wait no, sorry, I meant uh- I meant the other guy, not you sorry.. you just got a knife thrown at you why would I yell at you?” They hadn’t properly spoken before so Shinya really didn’t want to give him the wrong impression of himself, especially since it was someone he kind of admired and...uh well...yeah. The two shared a rather awkward apologetic glance as they tried to come up with something to say but were rather rudely interrupted when-

“Oh for THE LOVE OF-” the villain angrily snapped around, “YOU TWO ARE REALLY DOIN’ MY HEAD IN! WOULD’YA GIVE IT A REST? OR AT LEAST JUST. SHUT. UP.” The heroes barely had time to react when the villain set his whole body and the air around it on fire. The flames engulfed the two who were previously fighting each other and briskly travelled along the threads that were restricting the man from escaping, and towards a startled Jeanist. The fire had reached the fiber heroes arm at this point and was obviously going to spread further if it weren’t for him removing that part of his sleeve, only shortly after the ninja hero had speedily shot forwards and cut through the fiber that connected Jeanist and the villain, his own arm very much ablaze. However, he didn’t look too concerned for his own injury as he eyed the taller man’s scorched arm.

The two heroes were now starting to get rather tired. Not because they were weak, or this guy strong, but just because they wanted to go home. They’d really had enough at this point and really wanted to just end this before the weather got any worse, but this stupid lunatic just wouldn’t give in! Maybe it was the fact that they had never really fought alongside each other before, so were holding back the more powerful, more dangerous side of their quirks - in case a mistake would be made that could injure the other. That was probably why it took so long.

After many more painfully long minutes, they had managed to wear down the robber enough to get close enough to knock him out. Tying him up, the two heroes handed the unconscious villain over to the police that had just arrived to help clear up the scene of any passer-by’s. At this point, it was the late evening and already rather dark and gloomy, the sky let out a large growl as if to warn that it would only get worse...and well, it’s point was proven as it started to rain.

The blond hero sighed and glanced up at the sky in dismay, realising that all that paperwork wasn’t going to get done by itself, and grumbling at the fact that he still had to get back home - which was going to be a real pain in this weather. He wasn’t a huge fan of the rain, especially with that denim hero costume of his, but he decided to ignore all of that and started making his way towards the train station, hoping to get home before the weather becomes too bad. Edgeshot noticed the other hero’s intent to go home and looked back up at the sky. No chance. That weather was way worse than Jeanist thought it was and he knew that by the time the other man reached the train station, there would be an unbelievable length of time before he would be able to get to where he wanted to go - not to mention how busy it would be. Taking a moment to think things through, he decided to chase after the lanky hero and called out to him, suggesting a better idea.

“I wouldn’t take the train right now if I were you,” Shinya advised the tall figure in front of him.

Tsunagu was confused, he wanted to get home and that was currently his only means of transport. “Why? What’s wrong? Please tell me there’s not another villain to deal with...” he murmured. Oh he really hoped that wasn’t the case, because there’s no way he could fight in this storm - especially with all these new burns, they may have been small but wow they hurt like hell! He looked down at the shorter man in front of him, weary of the answer he may receive but felt an odd sense of relief when he saw him let out a light chuckle. Or was it cough? Maybe a sigh? How would he know - that man was as mysterious as they get!

“Ah no, that’s not it.” Shinya couldn’t help but feel amused by Tsunagu’s response. The rain was soaking into his costume and was making it a little harder to breathe through his mask, so he tried his best not to laugh. “It’s just that this storm isn’t going to be easing anytime soon, and I feel that it’s only going to get worse - there’s no chance that transport will be easy, especially not for a hero in such a state as yourself.”

“Oh...I hadn’t thought of that,” Tsunagu replied, “do you...have any suggestions as to what I should do instead?” He understood what the other was saying, he had quite a few burns and a large gash across the side of his face - there’s no way that people wouldn’t notice that - but he really did want to get out of this miserable rain. So where could he possibly go, if not straight home?

“Yes, actually, that’s what I was wanting to talk to you about.” Shinya shifted his weight from one foot to the other, unsure as to how he should phrase his next question. “Um...well...my...my house- I mean, do you want to stay at my place? Until the storm blows over-” he stopped himself mid-sentence. That did not come out the way he heard it in his head, and why did he panic?

“Pardon?”

“Sorry, I-” Oh. Right. He probably didn’t understand that rushed mumble of his. Thank god, Shinya could have another go at mending his failed attempt at a suggestion. “Ah...my house isn’t far from here, it doesn’t take that long to walk there. And, well, I just wanted to suggest that you come with me. Those injuries could do with tending to, and with this storm getting worse, I just thought that it might be of help to you to stay at mine until the storm passes. Only if you’d be willing of course- It’s simply a suggestion I thought might be easier than you staying in this rain.”

“Oh. I see. That’s...thoughtful...I- are you sure?” Tsunagu was taken aback, but was definitely not opposed to the idea of getting out of the rain.

“Yes, of course. If you are okay with accompanying me?”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“...thank you”

Shinya glanced up at the taller figure in front of him and smiled. Not that you could really tell.

They both decided it would be best to stay somewhere warm, get patched up, and wait for the weather to relax. So, off they went, away from the scene that had just been up in flames - now basically back to normal - and toward wherever this mysterious little ninja’s home was.

————————————————————

After a while of walking through heavy rain, dodging leaves as they zoomed past on the wind of the winding path, and silently accompanying each other with minimal words between them, they finally reached Shinya’s house. Not in the middle of nowhere, but also not near any busy city noise. It was peaceful, well, as peaceful as it could be in a raging storm.

Shinya fumbled at the door handle with numb fingers, as he attempted to unlock it as quickly as possible. The door opened with a small click and was gently pushed open. He gestured for the taller man to enter and closed the door after them, relieving them from the cold wind. As soon as they were both inside, they shared a long sigh of relief - ahhh....warmth...

“Sorry, it isn’t much,” Shinya said as he set down his bags and rain soaked hero gear, “I’m the only one that lives here, so I never really thought about how small it was. But now that someone else is here with me...”

“Haha it’s fine! Lovely, even, I think it’s quite sweet.” Tsunagu chuckled, placing his heavy and rather soggy denim coat gently to the side. He’d always liked the more traditional style houses, they had this comforting feeling to them that he couldn’t quite describe. “How long have you had this place?”

Shinya smiled and led Tsunagu towards the living room, they could do with a sit down after all that walking. “It was my Gran’s, well, she wasn’t really my Gran but that’s what we called her. She took us in and looked after us - my sister and I - and after she died we kept this place. Eventually, my sister moved out to be nearer the main city, but I thought it best to stay. I’m comfortable here, you know what I mean?”

“Of course,” Tsunagu nodded, “I think it’s wonderful.”

“Thanks...”

Shinya looked up, watching as droplets of water dripped from the other’s droopy fringe, his own hair now clinging to the side of his face. They both still had their faces masked and breathing through damp fabric probably wouldn’t be very good for their health. As Shinya noticed this, he let out a startled noise that took Tsunagu by surprise.

“AH!”

“What? What happened? Is something wrong?”

“No, I just realised, we’re still stuck in our costumes. They’re soaked! It’s probably best if we get cleaned up before anything else...” Shinya exclaimed.

“Oh, right.” Tsunagu replied quietly. He’d actually forgotten about the rain, which was weird because normally he’d be grumbling about it louder than the storm itself!

“There’s a spare bathroom downstairs, just to the left of the kitchen. It’s quite small but works just as well.” Shinya handed Tsunagu a towel and some spare clothes, looking a little hesitant as he did so. “I had some spare clothes lying around, though I’m sorry they probably won’t fit you very well...you’re very tall compared to me...” Shinya muttered sheepishly.

Tsunagu chuckled at the shorter man’s rather obvious remark and folded the fabric that was now in his own hands. “That’s very kind of you, thank you. It’s okay, I’m sure I’ll be able to adjust it to fit well enough.”

“Oh, of course, that’s- you can do that can’t you...I kinda forgot about that.” Shinya felt even more embarrassed from that, but managed to brush it off as he looked back up at the rather amused figure in front of him. “Well anyway, I’ll be cleaning myself up upstairs and preparing the things we need to tidy up those troublesome injuries of yours-”

“And yours I hope.” Tsunagu briefly interrupted.

“O-of course,” Shinya stuttered a reply. He’d actually somehow forgotten about his own injuries, too caught up in the company of another for once. “Well, if you should need anything, please just call me, I’ll be down as soon as I’m finished- oh and don’t feel the need to rush, take as long as you need.”

“Thank you.”

Tsunagu watched as the other left the room before making his way towards the bathroom. It was quite a small room. He made sure the door was securely locked before peeling away his sodden hero costume, piece by piece.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he noticed how deep of a cut it was that ran across his left cheek and over his ear. The rain had washed away most of the blood but it was still quite the nasty injury. He grimaced. ‘That’s gonna leave a bit of a scar...’ he thought to himself. Oh well, just another one to add to his growing collection of them. Although, he suddenly realised something. He’d have to show his face. And what about Shinya? Didn’t he always cover his face as well? Would they really be able to trust each other enough to show their faces to one another - even though they barely knew each other?

He felt himself freeze as he thought about it. They were both known for masking their faces, but the idea of showing his face had always made him feel uneasy. Little did he know that about five minutes prior, Shinya had the same nerve-wracking revelation and was feeling just as conflicted as he was. ‘Stop it, dammit,’ Tsunagu frowned, ‘he’s been so kind and nice to you, I doubt there’s anything to worry about...’

He shook his head and brushed these worries aside before stepping into the running shower. Oh wow, that felt nice. The water flowed over his shuddering body and embraced him in a warm blanket of comfort. Though, it did sting a bit when it seeped into the crevices of the gash on his face, and over the burns on his arms. However, he didn’t mind. He was used to these kinds of small pains and, though he’d be ashamed to admit it, he found it oddly comforting.

At the same time, Shinya was preparing a first aid kit, disinfectant and some warm damp cloths (he, luckily, knew what he was doing. Even if I don’t lol). He’d already managed to clean himself up and had changed into some older, plain clothes - so fast, but as expected from someone as stealthy as himself! Humming quietly to himself, he listened as the sky let out another loud grumble. “Why are you so angry today!?” He chuckled at the noise the raging storm made as he tidied up, “you’re doing this on purpose aren’t you! You always seem to pick ever so specific times to conjur up a storm...is it because I seemed lonely? You want me to make a friend or something?”

The sky growled again and Shinya took that as his response. He’d always found himself talking to the nature around him when he was alone, it had just become a habit of his - he found comfort and company from doing so...and it always seemed to have a way of replying. He was a bit anxious at the thought of showing his face to another, but had managed to push away his concerns as best he can. ‘What else is there to be worried about, Shinya?’ He thought to himself. ‘He’s already in your house. So in terms of his knowledge about you now, you’d basically already be screwed! He knows where you live, so I don’t think that showing your face would be that bad. Plus he’s a hero, isn’t he? Not to mention he’s trusting you with his own identity too...it’ll be fine...’

He sighed and clutched his stinging, scorched arm. Glancing at the rain that danced its way down the cold glass of his bedroom window, he headed back downstairs to give company to his guest who was just as battered and tired as he was.

Shinya set the items he had prepared, down on the small coffee table and walked to the kitchen to grab some hot water. As he stood there, he heard the bathroom door click and turned to see it open ever so slightly. “You’re done? I’ve prepared some stuff to bandage up our injuries and disinfect that nasty cut of yours,” he called out.

“Ah, yes. Thank you,” Tsunagu replied from behind the door.

“...uhm...would you like me to go and wait-”

“Oh! No, there’s no need, sorry...” Tsunagu blurted out as fast as he could. “It’s just...well...I...” he trailed off. ‘It’s never been easy, will he understand that?’

“Don’t worry, I understand. But I guess that with it being just the two of us here... can we say that we may fully trust one another?”

Tsunagu let out a small sigh of relief, before nudging the door open further and emerging from behind it. Making eye contact with the smaller figure in front of him, he smiled gently as he allowed the other to view his face. Shinya doing the same in return. “I guess so.”

Shinya locked eyes with the man that stood in front of him. Wow. He...did not look anything like how he expected...not that he really knew what he expected. Damp, blond hair was messily ruffled across the top of the taller man’s head. He’d managed to make the spare clothes fit well enough to make it look as if they could possibly be his own, though they were still awfully short. They suited him well, actually, and Shinya felt himself stare a little at this gangly noodle in front of him. Why did he look good in those clothes? Hell, they’re old and rather tatty and are way too small for him, and yet he still manages to look like a freaking model in them! And to top it off, they were just some clothes that Shinya owned, that happened to be the longest things he could find! He was unsure of why, but the sight in front of him definitely made him feel rather “odd” (in his own words) - though he didn’t really know what that was.

There were so many things about him in that moment that seemed so out of character for “best jeanist” but what really caught his eye were his scars. Ignoring the large cut on his cheek, Shinya traced his eyes over the bottom half of Tsunagu’s face in a shared silence. Large scars ran from just above his chin, and down to his neck. Some ran over his lips, which had formerly been pressed together to form a small smile, but were now separated slightly in a shocked manner. Noticing where he was staring, Shinya felt his face heat up as he quickly averted his eyes and looked down at the kettle that he was clutching (he went to go boil some water, but had gotten distracted before he could actually put the kettle on). ‘What on earth are you doing, Shinya!? I mean he’s really pretty, sure, but you can’t just stare omg-’ he lectured himself as his face progressively got more unnaturally warm, ‘those scars though....whatever caused those couldn’t of been a small accident...’

Concurrently, Tsunagu was completely stunned. ‘Pretty...’ was the only thought that circulated around his mind for many long seconds. Not only was this man incredibly considerate and mysterious, he was also very pretty and wow did that make Tsunagu’s face redden like an overheated saucepan. He took in his sharp features with observant eyes. Shinya’s hair was no longer fashioned into spiky points, but was now pulled up into a high ponytail. He still had that long fringe covering his right eye, but instead of seeming blocky, it was now loose and soft - and oh wow was Tsunagu really resisting the urge to pat it - though it still looked to be quite sharp, as if you could cut your fingers on the edge of each strand. Tearing his focus away from the shorter man’s hair, he found himself softly staring at Shinya’s face. Though his first thought may have been about how pretty he was, he couldn’t help but notice the other’s scars. Yes, he had quite a few. They were mostly quite small and would go unnoticed by some, but there was one that stood out. A long scar, in the shape of a large gash just like the majority of his own, ran down from just under the corner of the uncovered side of Shinya’s mouth, and down to the middle of his neck. ‘What an idiot.’ Tsunagu thought to himself. ‘You were so busy worrying about showing your own face to even think that he’d be worried about the same thing...it’s...oddly comforting to see another that hides them...even though its not something I should probably be comforted about, since it means that there’s most possibly a painful story behind them...just like my own.’

After a couple of minutes of a shared, awkward silence, Shinya started the conversation back up again with a few stuttering words exchanged between them and nervous laughter. “Ah...um...I guess we should probably...you know...”

“Aha yeah, sorry...” Tsunagu rubbed the back of his neck, “the...uh...you...you forgot the hot water...”

“Oh! Yeah...sorry about that! Um, please, go and sit down. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Tsunagu made his way to the living room and sat down, his mind still curious about all these new discoveries. The pain in his cheek had started to sting even more than before and he was really wishing that he didn’t have to deal with that right now. Letting out a shaky sigh, he reached up to grab it in a hope to ease the pain slightly, but his burnt arm got caught on the edge of the sofa, causing him to let out a distressed grunt.

“Are you okay?” Shinya asked from just beside where the taller man was seated. Tsunagu was quite startled by the other, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

“Ah, it’s just this stupid cut. It’ll probably be better once it’s been treated,” Tsunagu brushed it off, still rather confused by the speed of which the other man seemed to appear without being noticed.

“I see. Well, everything has been prepared so we should probably take care of that first.” Shinya smiled and took a seat next to the other man, gently picking up a cotton swab and dipping it in disinfectant. “The cut just has to be disinfected before anything else though, who knows what else that bastard had been doing-”

“Haha! You’re approaching this just like a proper doctor! So serious and everything,” Tsunagu laughed.

This made Shinya chuckle in response. “Well, I do like to think that I know a bit about what I’m doing!”

They laughed together for a couple of minutes and the tension between the two of them started to dissipate. Tsunagu eyed the cotton swab in Shinya’s hand and realised, how on earth was he gonna do that himself? Well, I think we all know that the answer is he wasn’t. Even he came to that conclusion, as he exchanged funny words with the man in front of him. Shinya knew this, and decided that it was time to tend to the lanky blond’s wounds.

“Do you trust me?” Shinya slyly asked.

“Huh?”

“Do you trust me?”

Tsunagu was hesitant to answer, not because he didn’t trust him, but because he had a feeling as to what was going to happen. “...yes...”

Without missing a beat, Shinya leaned forward and pressed the cold, disinfectant-soaked cotton pad against Jeanists cheek. This caused Tsunagu to scrunch up his face and let out a tiny screech from the shock - it stung like hell - and he was not prepared. “Wrong answer!” Shinya chuckled. He was a little unsure whether he was actually going to do that or not, but knew that it would only hurt more if the other man had to slowly and hesitantly do it himself...plus he actually knew what he was doing.

“Argh! You- you’re evil you know that?” Tsunagu yelped and sat upright, trying to get used to the sting of the disinfectant that was seeping into his cut.

“I try my best,” Shinya hummed as he held the taller mans face, tilting it slightly upwards to better see the injury in the light. Whilst doing so, he noticed how many scars were littered across his face, and felt a little sad at the sight of them. ‘There’s so many...I didn’t really notice before, but now, seeing them up close...these all feel like painful memories. And no matter how much I understand his reasons for hiding them, I cannot help but wonder what on earth happened to him...’

Tsunagu held his breath, wincing every once in a while as the smaller man dabbed the gash on his cheek. He was so close! Not only that, but he was holding his face and wow, did he look like an angel as the light illuminated him from above. He felt the tops of his ears redden as he let out a small breath. As Shinya held his face close to his own, Tsunagu noticed things that he hadn’t spotted before, and made him even more curious than before. Like the front tooth that was slightly chipped, that he could see when the other’s mouth twitched open everytime he dabbed at his cheek. Or, the two rather odd but beautiful tattoos that were wrapped around his two wrists. ‘So much to take in, I didn’t really notice it before, but all these things are so unique and different. His face looks so soft....and pretty....But I truly do wonder what could’ve happened to cause that.’

“Your scar-” Tsunagu mumbled before quickly cutting himself off. ‘Tsunagu, you idiot! You weren’t supposed to just blurt that out...I guess there’s no other option than to just ask now you stupid- stupid, ugh!’

“Hm?” Shinya locked eyes with the other in a distracted confusion, before getting embarrassed and quickly looking back down.

Tsunagu stuttered as he tried to find the right words to say. “O-oh, well...I, uh...Sorry, I was just curious about your scar. It’s just- I, well...wondered-”

“How I got it?” Shinya interrupted quietly, almost in a rather hushed tone.

“Ah. Yes. Sorry, I don’t mean to be nosy, it was simply a curious thought.”

“No, it’s alright, it’s okay. It seems both our curiosities lay in the same area of thought.” Shinya smiled softly, lowering the cotton swab and throwing it in the bin. As he went to pick up the thread (you know, the one they use to stitch up these wounds) Tsunagu placed his hand on his arm and stopped him from doing anything else. Shinya handed the thread to Jeanist and watched as the blond man slowly and carefully stitched up his now clean wound in one gentle swoop of his hand - though it did look quite painful by the look on his face. “Woah!” Shinya exclaimed in awe. He often forgot about the beautifully handy and elegant things that the other man could do with his quirk. This caused Tsunagu’s ears to redden even further.

Shinya let out a deep sigh and sat back slightly to take a rest for a moment. “Ah, where do I start? You said you were curious about my scar, but I’m sorry to tell you that this isn’t any light-hearted story...” he started, scratching the back of his neck and wincing as the burnt skin on his arm brushed against the fabric of the sofa.

“Sorry, you don’t have to...”

“No, it’s alright! To be honest, I think it would actually do some good to tell someone for a change...because, for once I feel that I can trust someone, and that’s a weird thing...” he muttered the last part under his breath so that the kind man next to him wouldn’t hear it. Tsunagu simply smiled in response, looking down as he acknowledged the smaller man’s courage to reveal a very clearly painful memory.

“Uhm, well, are you...are you aware of the small band of mountainside villages down south?” Shinya asked, “if I’m correct in thinking that you are a couple of years older than me...”

“Pffft- did you just call me old?” Tsunagu snorted.

“No! Of course not!” Shinya quickly defended himself. “It’s just that, you are around my age, so I was just wondering whether you’d know of it or not.” He smiled sheepishly as he watched the other’s amused face turn into one that was more focused.

The older man hummed quietly. “Yes, I think I know which villages you are talking about. My mother used to take us there every year when my father was off of work, to go and watch the yearly festivals. Oh, and to visit the market! They had some amazing tomatoes!” Shinya laughed at this little comment. They truly were some good tomatoes, though he preferred the strawberries that they’d grow there. “But...we...we stopped visiting when...” Tsunagu trailed off with a frown and looked back up at Shinya, noticing the distant smile that was faintly spread across his face.

“Then, you know what happened...you know what happened all those years ago?” Shinya questioned quietly as he reached for the bandages that were tangled in the basket. But, doing so only made his arm quiver in pain even more.

“Ah, please, let me do that,” Tsunagu insisted, reaching out for the bandages and using his quirk to gently and swiftly untangle them. He gave Shinya a reassuring look and gently took his arm, starting to wrap it very carefully. “Yes. I was around...13? Yeah, I think I was about 13 when it happened. It was all over the news, I don’t think I could ever forget it. It...was so awful, just hearing what happened...” he had a rough idea as to what Shinya was going to tell him, and it made his heart sink at the thought of it.

The sky let out another huge growl, and a streak of lightning flashed past the window, causing Tsunagu to flinch. Shinya didn’t move a muscle, but simply carried on with what he was doing.

“Hm.” Shinya felt his face warm up slightly as the taller man held his arm softly. ‘So gentle’ he made himself blush even more, but shook these thoughts away before continuing with what he was saying. “I guess it’s kind of obvious then, what I’m about to say I mean.”

“I...I don’t want to immediately assume what happened, but if what I think is true...”

“Yeah.” Shinya sighed. “It was my home. I’d lived there all my life until that day...they...they took everything from me...”

Tsunagu stopped wrapping the other’s arm and looked up, their faces merely inches away, taking in the broken sadness in his eyes and allowing it to drown his heart even further into the pit that it had sunk into.

“Everyone I knew, my friends, my family, everyone, they all died in front of me. There was nothing I could do to stop it... I was the only one that survived...just me...a small, defenceless, 10 year old child. I grew up as part of a family that was renowned for protecting their people, yet I couldn’t even protect my own innocence...my...my own mother...” Shinya’s voice started to get weaker and smaller as all of the memories started flooding back.

Tsunagu could do nothing but listen in shock. This was a lot to take in, and Shinya was trusting him enough to tell him something this personal. It pained him, watching the small ninja’s face contort into a broken frown. “...I’m sorry...”

His voice made Shinya snap back to reality and look him in the eye, confused. “What for? There isn’t anything for you to be sorry for...”

“No, I mean, making you have to think back on a memory that painful...it must’ve been horrible.” Tsunagu finished wrapping the other’s arm and let go of it slowly, hands still slightly lingering over the injured area.

Shinya sighed. He couldn’t disagree with that, it truly was the most painful memory he could imagine. Tucking his silver hair behind his ear, he reached up and touched the scar on his chin. “This was from that day. The people who ambushed us tried to attack me. They had stolen my own grandfather’s sword and managed to just catch my face as my mother whisked me away. It hurt, but I didn’t really notice it until later on...which...well...it’s not like they survived either...”

“Oh dear.” Tsunagu muttered, his face and arm still stinging. The wind picked up and rattled against the window, startling him again.

“I guess you’re wondering what these are as well,” Shinya gestured towards the intricate patterns that were inked into his wrists. “My family was part of that village for many generations. Over these generations, the Kamihara name became rather well known as a family of protectors and guardians. When my family died, I felt like I had lost all my connections to being a ‘Kamihara’ and so I decided to get these tattoos.”

He lifted his left arm, “this represents my father’s side of the family, the Kamihara name.” Then proceeding to point at the other arm, he explained the rest. “This represents my mother’s side of the family, always one with nature. I find that it’s a comforting way to keep them with me at all times, even if they’re not really there. It means that I can keep them safe, and in return they keep me safe too.”

“Wow...I think they’re beautiful!” Tsunagu breathed. They really were. The patterns were so small and intricate yet they held so much meaning and story...just like Shinya himself. “That’s- quite the tragic past...”

“Hm. Well, that’s what happened really...not all of it, but I think it’s best if that is shared some other day.” Shinya plucked the bandages out of the lanky blond’s hands and gestured towards his arms, waiting patiently as the other hesitatantly held out his own scorched arm. He looked back up at Tsunagu’s face and, out of some sort of instinct, reached up and gently touched the long scars on his face, deep in thought. After a very brief moment of...whatever that awkwardness was, Shinya snapped his head down to look back at his hands and Tsunagu averted his eyes in a nervous manner, both turning much redder than they had been before. “A-ah, I’m sorry!” Shinya immediately blurted out.

“No, it’s- it’s okay...” Tsunagu managed to stutter out. Blimey, that was awkward, why did his face feel so hot?

Once they had both managed to laugh it off, Shinya decided to return the same curious question that had been on both of their minds. “So...your scars...how did you get yours?”

Tsunagu froze. He knew it would come up in the conversation at some point, but he still had that reaction whenever someone asked. Shinya noticed this, and panicked a little, “Sorry! You don’t have to-”

“No no, it’s only fitting for you to ask the same question...and I think it’s best you know, since you shared your own story with me.” The anxious Jeanist interrupted. “But, I must ask you not to think ill of me after hearing this, nor should you feel the need to keep me here...I’m...it’s just...I-”

“It’s alright,” Shinya reassured him, “I’m not gonna kick you out of my house, just because of your past...you...didn’t judge mine.”

“Heh,” Tsunagu smiled and watched as the small ninja bandaged up his arm delicately. “Well, it’s not a happy story either, I’m afraid!”

“Guess that makes the both of us!” Shinya let out a light chuckle.

“Yeah...” He paused. These memories still scared him. “When...when my quirk activated, I didn’t know how to control it, like most children. The only thing is, both my sister and I had our quirks activate at the same time, being twins and all this was expected. This, however, just made things worse. I was...I was wearing a scarf at the time, and, well basically...to put it simply, I strangled myself.” He looked up, realising how stupid that sounded.

“Oh! That’s awful, though I’m sure it was probably much more traumatic at the time,” Shinya smiled sympathetically. “I can’t really say the same for my own rather embarrassing quirk discovery....”

“Well that sounds like a story I’d love to hear!”

“Oh, I’m sure!” Shinya laughed and cut the bandage carefully, tying the ends around the other’s slender arm and making sure that everything was secured nicely. “So, was it that which caused those scars on your face? That sounds horrible.”

“Ah,” Tsunagu shifted his eyes in thought, “not exactly...you see, there was an accident later on in my childhood...and...well, it did a lot of damage...” he trailed off, “not only to myself...”

A loud clap of thunder startled them both, and Shinya darted his eyes up to see Tsunagu looking down at him with a solemn face. ‘Whatever happened, that doesn’t sound good...in any context...’ he thought, choosing not to interrupt the taller man.

“It was a villain attack that burst out in the middle of the street. My family just happened to be passing by, but there was this loud scream and I turned around just in time to see that this villain had taken a young girl, about my age at the time, and was planning on taking the rest of her friends too.” Tsunagu paused again, he wasn’t sure how to word this, he never knew how to say it. But this time, it seemed a lot easier. “Before I knew it, and well this is quite typical isn’t it, I found myself in the middle of it all, unable to breathe or move. There was...blood everywhere...pieces of fabric were piercing my body, strangling me, completely littering the area. I- I remember, just, hearing my sister screaming...the pain I felt...she had to go through it all...but I couldn’t do anything, the heroes couldn’t get near me.”

Shinya sat there, stunned from this information, unable to form words. It sounded like such an awful situation to be in, even from his own point of view. He watched as the blond man shifted in his seat and turned to lean back more comfortably with a sigh, unsure of what he should say. However, he thought that it would be best to allow Tsunagu to continue.

Tsunagu felt his chest tighten at the memory of what happened, but still carrying on. It felt nice to talk to someone about it for once. “I had managed to very seriously injure my neck and face, unable to breathe, especially from the panic that I felt. I thought that was the worst part...it really wasn’t.” Tsunagu looked up cautiously at Shinya, wanting to say something but too scared to go further. Shinya saw this and placed a small hand on his shoulder, trying to think of words to say.

“I’m sorry, I can’t say much in terms of comfort. But, whatever it is, please know that I’ll listen no matter what.” He gave a small smile. Despite the fact that they hadn’t really talked before this, he already felt that he could trust him, and wanted the other to feel the same way. He’d made many mistakes in the past, and had done things that had weighed down on him all the way through his life, so knowing that Tsunagu probably had the same thoughts towards whatever it was that happened to him.

Tsunagu felt relieved. No one had ever said those words to him before, and for once he felt that he wasn’t alone. And he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t feel like crying. He nodded slowly and took a deep breath before carrying on, “...well...I- I looked up to see the villain in front of me...he wasn’t breathing, he’d been caught up in the strands that I’d sent flying and...I...he...he didn’t survive...I killed him. Just a small, scared 12 year old child, yet I’d managed to kill a man in a moment of pure terror. I- I think it was how angry I felt that someone was being that bad, I don’t know...but whatever it was, I couldn’t stop it, and the fear from that day has haunted me ever since.”

Shinya was shocked, he had a feeling that something like that must’ve happened, but it was still not something he’d been expecting or hoping to hear. Though, he’d experienced the same kind of shock himself, so he knew that it wasn’t something to be taken lightly. “I...poor child...that’s not something that someone should go through...I know from experience as well...”

“Wh- really?”

“Yeah. Those villains that ambushed my village. In a moment of blind rage I had managed to rid of them entirely, completely unaware of what I did. So, I guess, we aren’t too different, huh?”

“Wow...yeah...look at us, just a couple of very traumatised, depressed and barely capable adults, trying to make a living out of helping others...heh.” Tsunagu remarked, making Shinya chuckle in agreement, his mind easing more and more. “Y’know, I got bullied a lot, trying to become a hero. My quirk was ‘not suitable’ for it and I was ‘weak’. The more they said it the more I believed them, and well, knowing what I had done and knowing that I’d not been able to save that man who was simply going down the wrong path...I really did feel weak. Ever since, I’ve just buried myself in my work, trying to give myself a reason to feel ‘strong’, taking on as many cases as I can even if I know that I can’t do them alone...and well these moments have caused me to make some...stupid...decisions in the past, and, well they’ve all left their mark on me quite prominently.”

Shinya’s eyes softened as he heard the other man spill all of these worries that he’d been hiding for so long. “Oh...poor Hakamata-senpai...” he said with a slightly saddened look.

“Ah, it’s alright. To be honest, I don’t think I’d be where I am now without their bitter words and mean, pain-inflicting prompts. Also, please, ‘Tsunagu’ is just fine!” He normally didn’t mind the formalities, but for some reason when the small ninja sitting beside him used them, it made him feel odd.

“Oh, okay.” Shinya’s face heated up slightly at the thought of using the other’s first name to address him, he wasn’t used to that. “So, I guess we both have kinda...depressing backstories...to our scars and ourselves in general.” (You may not be able to see it but eclair is currently smiling very gleefully)

“Yeah,” Tsunagu glanced at the rain dancing down the window, “I guess so.”

————————————————————

After a long time of exchanging funny stories (well, they aren’t funny at all really, they’re either sad memories or quite self-deprecating...but I guess that’s their way of bonding...to simply share their most traumatic experiences and become friends....huh) the tension between the two of them had almost completely lifted. They sat there chatting away, all bandaged up and tired as hell, simply making the most of each other’s company.

“Oh come on, how is that not funny-” Tsunagu exclaimed, gesturing towards Shinya as he laughed. The pain in his cheek had faded, almost completely, as he slowly became more comfortable.

“Because! You try tripping over, knocking yourself out for 2 hours on the edge of a stone fountain and chipping your tooth. It isn’t a fun experience!” Shinya said enthusiastically, very defensive about the little chip in his front tooth - in response to the taller man’s question.

“Of course, sorry! Poor little Kamihara-san~” Tsunagu replied with a smile.

“Please, just call me Shinya!”

“Shinya, huh?” Tsunagu felt a little bit shy at the thought of using his first name, but it would probably be easier. “You know, now that I think about it, being in the middle of this storm isn’t so bad.”

Shinya smiled. He’d always loved this type of weather, and seeing the lanky man in front of him start to agree, he felt like he’d somehow accomplished something.

They were startled from their little conversation by a loud beeping noise coming from Shinya’s phone. When he checked it, he let out a shocked gasp and this caused Tsunagu to be slightly worried. Was it something important?

“What? What is it?”

“I can’t believe it...it’s already 1:45...we’ve talked for so long!”

Tsunagu widened his eyes in disbelief as he checked his own phone. Yep. That was the time. They’d gotten so carried away by their conversation that they’d become completely unaware of the time. They shared a very shocked look before snickering at their own carelessness. “Hah! To think that there was a time I’d never imagined this would happen.”

Shinya quickly got up from his seat, and started to make his way to the kitchen. “Sorry, I realise that it’s probably way too late for this, but I realise I never offered you food!” He called out.

“It’s okay! I forgot about it myself! But to be honest, what food could we possibly have at 1:46am?” Tsunagu inquired, slowly becoming more aware of the hunger that crept through his stomach.

“Hm...” Shinya thought before looking back up at the confused man with excited eyes, “pizza?”

“Pizza?!”

“Uh-huh!”

“Who on earth sells pizza at this time?!”

Shinya chortled at the other’s comedic remark. “Oh, you seem to be forgetting all that I told you about my very first internship...” he said slyly.

“Of course...that’s actually a brilliant idea!” Tsunagu laughed. Well...who doesn’t love getting 50% off of pizzas, even at 1:47 in the morning!

So, they ordered pizza. Just...two pro heroes, chilling out at 2:00am, eating pizza instead of sleeping off their injuries. How fun!

After even more time, the two of them decided it was best to actually get some sleep, and Tsunagu watched as the silver haired man quietly said goodnight and crept up the stairs, before setting his head down on the arm of the sofa - his legs dangling over the edge.

He listened as the wind and rain battered against the window. Normally, he’d be fed up by these noises, however that night, he found himself listening to it peacefully, and he had a thought:

‘maybe the rain isn’t so bad after all...’

[zion-sakuri]

Discord Thread || Zion and Dorian

Discord thread featuring: Zion and Dorian @dammitdorian

When: March 26th 2021

Description: Zion and Dorian go on their first date. (Unfinished Thread)

Zion. It had been quite some time since Zion and Dorian got to hang out like this. It was easy to say that he was feeling a bit nervous. But, he never really liked to show that he was. The one thing his twin brother had taught him back in high school before passing. Was to always appear confident, because confidence was sexy. Boy was he shy sometimes though. Especially now after getting clarification from Dorian that he did in fact like him. They would always flirt, but tonight was going to be different. They were going on a date and Zion could already feel the butterflies starting to flutter in his stomach. The second Dorian walked into the tattoo shop where he worked to pick him up. He could feel his hands becoming clammy and a wide smile spread clear across his face. “Hey babe, thanks for meeting me here” he greeted the musician with a hug. Trying his best to not to appear too nervous as he grabbed his keys to lock the place up.

Dorian Ever since Zion mentioned taking Dorian out to dinner, the musician had been trying to discern whether or not it was a date. He was leaning towards yes, though, because shortly before bringing the idea up, the two had discussed the fact that they liked one another. There had always been a flirtation between the two, but establishing feelings was a whole other ball game. It was true that Dorian did like Zion. The other male was gorgeous, kind, creative, charismatic, and sexy as hell. It was hard not to like him, in Dorian’s humble opinion. So, if this was a date, Dorian would totally embrace that. He arrived at Ink & Silver, where Zion had asked him to meet him, and grinned as he walked through the shop doors and saw the other standing there waiting on him. “Hey, you,” He greeted, moving towards him and giving him a tight hug once his hands were no longer occupied with locking the shop. “Of course, I’m happy to see you.”

Zion. If he could remember to keep breathing tonight, he would consider that a huge accomplishment. Because the way Dorian looked in that leather jacket and those leather pants. God, it was so hard not to notice the size of his bulge pushing against his pants. “I’m happy to see you too” he smiled. His eyes falling down the taller males body before lifting back up again to pull his bottom lip between his teeth. Breath, Zion. Just breath he repeated in his mind as he stuffed his keys back into his pocket. “So, the Thai place, yeah?” he asked as he pushed his hair back from his face with his trembling hand. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous right now. It was just Dorian,  and it wasn’t like they hadn’t ever hung out before. But there was just something about the musician that he hadn’t ever really noticed before tonight. It had him feeling just a little bit intimidated. “You look amazing by the way” he complimented. His hand moving to tug softly on his jacket before speaking again. “I’ve always loved this jacket on you.”

Dorian The musician could sense Zion’s nerves and found it endearing. Now, seeing how nervous Zion was, that seemed to be the indication he needed that this was in fact a date. Why else would Zion be so nervous right now? This wasn’t their first time hanging out after all. Along with Zion’s nerves, though, Dorian didn’t miss the way the other leered at him, his eyes roaming over his body. He smirked, flattered and admittedly a little turned on by it. “Yeah, the Thai place. I’m excited to check it out. I trust your taste,” He replied. There was some slight awkwardness as they hovered in the middle of the shop, waiting for the other to lead the way out the door. “Thanks, babe. You always look amazing, too.” As Zion’s hand reached up to tug on his jacket, Dorian could feel himself wanting to close the space between the two of them even more. But, he figured it may be too soon to do so. Instead, he looked into the other’s eyes and smiled. “Yeah? That’s good to know. It’s my favorite, after all.”

Zion. Curse that smirk on Dorian’s face. Because it definitely left him feeling some type of way. A way he most definitely shouldn’t be feeling this early on in their date. He couldn’t stop the way his lips parted as Dorians eyes met his own. Letting out an libidinous sigh before instinctively licking his lips. “I’m glad” he replied. “and thank you, babe. I can definitely see why it’s your favorite.” He moved his hand to Dorian’s arm and lightly pulled him toward the door.   “Did you drive here?” he asked as they made their way out on to the busy sidewalk of New York. Quickly locking up the shop before turning his attention back to Dorian. His hand itching to grab ahold of his, but he resisted the urge. He didn’t want to come on too strong after all. He probably already looked like a love sick puppy the way his eyes kept exploring his physique.

Dorian The musician could practically smell the tension wafting off of Zion towards him. So much so that he couldn’t help but snicker softly to himself. Who didn’t love to feel wanted? And the feeling was mutual as well. There’d always been plenty of sexual tension between himself and Zion and there had been a couple times that they’d succumb to it in the past. But, now, they were on a date so there was a certain type of decorum that the both of them had to adhere to. i.e. They couldn’t simply ravish each other right here, right now. At least not yet. As Zion complimented his jacket again, the smile on Dorian’s face widened. He really was such a charmer. “Nah, I took the subway. Didn’t quite feel like driving,” He told him. “I also figured there was a possibility that we might have a glass of wine or two at the restaurant.” Dorian also found himself wanting to hold Zion’s hand. He hesitated for just a moment but then again, he’d always been a risk taker. So, he gently reached for the other’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

Zion. The second Dorian’s fingers intertwined with his own, he could feel his heart speed up again. His bottom lip once again tucking between his teeth as all he could do was nod. “Alright, so, an Uber then?” he finally asked after taking a good ten seconds just to stare at the man standing before him. He still wasn’t really sure why he felt so speechless and nervous. But he guessed anyone would be if they were being wined and dined by Dorian Taylor. He just didn’t wanna screw this up. It was then that he realized he was wearing a pair of washed out ripped jeans and an old long sleeved band tee and he probably looked like shit. But it hardly mattered at this point. At least he had his good combat boots on, and Dorian really didn’t seem to mind.

Dorian The musician could still feel the other’s nerves getting the best of him. As sweet as it was that Dorian made him nervous, he still wanted to do what he could to make Zion feel as comfortable as possible. He gently ran his thumb over the back of the tattoo artist’s hand as he nodded in agreement with his suggestion to get an uber. “Yes, babe. An uber it is.” He pulled out his phone and ordered an Uber to the restaurant, continuing to caress Zion’s hand as they waited on the car to arrive. “So, anything new and exciting going on in your life?”

Zion. Zi honestly felt a bit silly for how nervous he was acting. He had been around Dorian numerous times before. But for some reason he couldn’t help but feel the butterflies anxiously fluttering away in the pit on his stomach. “Right” he chuckled, feeling a bit idiotic. Of course they were gonna Uber. It wasn’t like they were gonna be walking five miles to the restaurant this late in the evening, or ever, at all. He smiled as he listened to the musician on the phone and then pulled him toward the bench in front of the shop. “Hmm.. nope. Not really. I mean, aside from this” he replied to Dorian’s question as he took a seat. “This is pretty exciting, don’t ya think?” He gazed over at the musician, his eyes smiling along with his lips as he rested their hands on his thigh.“How about you? Anything new and or exciting going on in your life?”

Dorian The singer was honestly still trying to figure out what exactly to expect from this date. He knew they would have a good time—as they always did whenever they hung out. But, clearly, there was a different air about this meeting. It was their first date. He tried not to think about it too much though, because knowing himself, he’d start overthinking it and he just wanted to enjoy it. He sat with Zion as he pulled him over to the bench, leaning subtly against him as he played with the other male’s fingers. “I agree, this is pretty exciting,” Dorian seconded, chuckling softly and raising Zion’s hand up to his lips to place a kiss on the back of it. “Besides RENT that I can’t seem to shut up about, no. But after RENT closes, I gotta start preparing to go on tour.”

Zion. Zion could feel his cheeks heating up as Dorian played with his fingers. His tongue slowly gliding along his lower lip as he tried to focus on anything else. Literally anything else. Which was made even more impossible as the musician brought his hand up to his lips for a kiss, “RENT, yeah, I remember you telling me about that” he nodded. His eyes still unable to peel away from the older males features. “I actually auditioned for that. I don’t remember if I told you” he chuckled. His heart practically stopping when he heard the word tour. “Oh.. you’re leaving?” he asked. The look in his eyes becoming a bit sadder unintentionally. “Tour sounds fun though. I bet you’re excited for that.”

[niallismymuse]

Wedding Date

“Are ya ready to get this wedding shindig done?” Niall’s voice crackles through your phone, and you wince at the static, throwing the device a reproachful look. You dry your hands, ignoring the wrinkled look of them – you haven’t been washing dishes for that long, but your skin is always so sensitive.

“Ready enough,” you reply after plucking your phone up and turning the speaker off, holding it against your ear. “I still have to get my nails done.”

Marley and David, two close friends of yours, are getting married tomorrow. They’re friends of Niall’s too, so he’s also invited to the big event. And because of that, the two of you decided to go together, since you’re both single.

“You’ve got time for that. Remember, I’m picking you up tomorrow at noon.” He reminds you, and you smile despite yourself, rolling your eyes.

“Yes sir, I will remember that.” You snip back, padding into your bedroom and throwing yourself back onto the bed. You let out a little ‘oof’ as your back hits the covers, and Niall lets out a quiet cough on the line.

“Ya alright?” he asks, suddenly sounding concerned. “Ya didn’t hurt yourself, right?”

You bite your lip, trying hard not to over-analyze everything he’s just said. “No no, Ni, I’m good. I just threw myself back on my bed.”

“Oh. Uh, good.” He clears his throat. “Can’t have my date to the wedding out of commission.” He laughs, and you laugh too, though it’s a bit forced.

Date. As if.

You have known Niall ever since you moved to London three years ago, and you just happened to become friends with those in his circle. Slowly, your own friendship progressed, and now he’s your best friend, the person you’d tell almost anything to.

Anything except for the fact that you’ve been in love with him for a year.

“Yeah,” you sigh out, admittedly a beat too late. “Listen, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? I’ve got to get those nails done.”

He’s quiet for a second. “Alright love. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After hanging up, you toss your phone behind you on your bed and exhale harshly. This wedding is going to be tough. Specifically, because you and Niall had agreed to attend together – not togethertogether, but as friends. Obviously. Which means that you’ll both be dressed up, and he’ll look sogood, and you’ll be with him all evening.

It’s going to be torture.

What happens if, at the wedding, some beautiful woman comes up and starts hitting on him? And, even worse, what if he’s into it? How in the world will you possibly deal with that? Do people even do that on weddings? You’re pretty sure you’ve read wedding drama like that on the Internet.

But there’s no point in dwelling on it now. You have nails to get done.

~

“See, look how nice!” You exclaim to Niall, holding your hands in front of his face, fingers spread wide. Your nails are painted a dark, shimmery blue. He squints at them, as if he’s examining them closely for flaws, and you smack his shoulder. He cackles, tossing you a wide grin as you frown.

“They look great, love. And so do you. The blue is an excellent color on you.” He smiles, gaze traveling slowly up your body, from the tips of your toes, up. You flush under the intensity of his eyes, shifting slightly.

You’re clad in a dress that matches your nails, dark blue with a shimmery top. It flares out at your hips, hugging nicely to your frame. It ends just below your knees. You picked it out weeks ago, pleased with the coloring and the shape of it.

“Thanks,” you cough out, trying not to look too thrilled by the compliment, “you don’t look half-bad yourself.”

Niall let’s out a throaty laugh, tipping his head back. “Thank you so much,” he chuckles, and then offers you his arm. If possible, you flush harder, and thread your arm through his. He leads you gracefully to his car, even pausing to open the door for you and help you inside before hopping in the driver’s side and taking off. Very gentlemanly.

And you underexaggerated, of course. Niall looks far better than you let on. He’s dressed in a pair of black, pressed pants, with a dark blue button-down shirt and matching tie. The shirt fits tightly, but not tootightly, and his shoulders look so fucking broad you want to die. That’s not even bringing up his thighs,in those fucking pants –

The worst part is that you two nearly match, in an endearing sort of way, but you can’t think about that too much.

“You do look really good, Ni.” You comment after a minute of driving, pointedly staring out the window. You don’t want to see the cocky smirk that’s sure to pull across his lips, because if you do, you’re going to be leaping across the seat and kissing it off of his lips. That will surely cause an accident. And more than likely ruin a friendship.

However, his voice is quiet when he answers, oddly subdued. “Thank you.” Niall answers, and when you glance over at him, he’s still looking at the road, though there’s a faint smile tugging at his lips, and pink spots on his cheeks.

The wedding is set outside of London, on a large property with a mansion-esque home and a pond set behind it. The ceremony will take place outside on the grounds, by the pond. The reception will occur directly inside, following a cocktail hour. You haven’t been inside before, and you’re excited to see the décor – and the wedding as a whole, of course.

Love is in the air. That’s the only thought in your mind as Niall parks his car. It’s spring-time, so everything is flowering. There’s a small, stone-lined pathway leading from the parking area to behind the house, where rows of chairs are set up in neatly together. The rows are separated into columns by a white carpet, which is surely where Marley will be walking down towards the altar shortly.

Niall, once again, offers his arm to you, and you take it, unable to stop yourself from grinning widely at him. He grins back, and then uses his free hand to brush a stray hair behind your ear. You blink, unable to process it, and he smirks to himself before leading you down the pathway to the chairs.

You find your places, and Niall is seated right next to you, of course. He spreads his legs wide once he’s sat, thigh brushing against yours, and you freeze in your seat. Does he fucking haveto? Absolutely not.

Other guests arrive and take their seats, and you bite your lip, smiling and waving at other friends as they come to sit down. David has taken his spot at the altar, and he’s smiling nervously and shuffling on his feet. As soon as the music starts, he visibly takes a deep breath and lets it out, beaming down towards the end of the aisle.

The ceremony is beautiful, Marley is resplendent, and you’re nearly in tears at the end of it. You would be, if one thing hadn’t happened: some time during the ceremony, Niall had set his hand on his thigh. Normally, this wasn’t a problem, but due to his stance, his thigh was pressed flush against yours. So half of his hand was on his thigh, and the other half is on yours.

You wonder if he notices. You definitely can feel it – his hand is pleasantly warm, and so fucking big. You’re trying not to call attention to it as the couple reads through their vows, but there’s a part of you that’s confused. Surely, he’s noticed his hand is partly on you. Why hasn’t he moved it?

You don’t get much of a chance to dwell on it further, because suddenly the ceremony is over, and everyone is standing up and cheering as the newly-weds grin and bow cheekily. Niall stands up too, removing his hand from your thigh, and you blink at its loss. You’re suddenly unsure of how to proceed from here, but you stand up and clap and cheer with everyone else.

Marley and David exit down the carpet and are removed to go have wedding photos taken, and since neither one of you are in the wedding party, you’re free to go inside.

“Let’s go have a drink,” Niall suggests, looking at you with raised brows.

“Oh, thank god, yes,” you sigh out in relief, because you’re not sure how you’re going to get through this reception next to him without alcohol. He looks at you in a puzzled way, so you cough and add, “oh, you know, weddings…they get to me.”

He seems to buy it, and the two of you head inside.

It’s a little chilly inside, and you shiver at the temperature change. Outside it was a little breezy, but the sun was shining directly on you. Well, at least your makeup isn’t going to sweat off.

You’re the first people at the bar, and the bartender whips you both up some wonderful, alcohol-infused concoctions. Niall was more prone for a beer, but he insisted. At the taste, Niall grins and shrugs, muttering that “it will do”.

After wandering away from the bar, you look up at him. “So. What now?”

“Wasn’t that a beautiful wedding?” Niall comments, taking a sip of his drink.

That didn’t answer your question, but it’s a start. “Yeah, it was really lovely, actually. It was a gorgeous day outside. The vows were really cute.” The vows part, at least, you’re not sure of, because you had been preoccupied by a certain someone’shand.

“I’ve always thought I’d like a wedding like that.” He murmurs in a rare serious moment, a faraway look in his eyes. You bite down on your lip, tilting your head to the side. What’s this all about? Niall has never been afraid to be proudly single and unattached – you’ve never really heard him yearn for a relationship.

“You’ve thought about it?” You ask, wrapping your arms around yourself.

“Yeah,” he replies, seeming to come back to himself. “You haven’t?”

You shake your head, and then shrug. “Well…maybe when I was a kid, yeah. But not any time recently. I haven’t ever really expected to…end up with anyone.” The last words leave your mouth as a whisper, because, well, that’s been your secret thought. That you would wind up alone. It doesn’t scare you really, because you do just great on your own, but it’s not exactly cheerful.

Niall’s eyes nearly bug out of his head. “What?!” he spits out, looking at you indignantly. Then his look softens, and the gentleness in his eyes makes your soul hurt. He reaches out and grabs your hand. “Love, you’re incredible. Any bloke would be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks, Ni,” you say sincerely, and he keeps holding your hand, stroking his thumb across the back of it. It makes you shiver, and he immediately drops your hand, cursing to himself.

“Shit, you’re cold, can’t have that,” he mumbles as he draws his jacket off of his shoulders, laying it across yours instead. Your cheeks pinken, and you shake your head wordlessly. This conversation has just…evolved past anything you ever expected.

You laugh out, “thanks again”, and Niall smiles softly at you, before proceeding to take your hand and lead you to the assigned table you’ll be seated at.

The feel of his hand in yours marvels you. You can feel the calluses etched into his palm, and the thickness of his fingers. These are both things you’ve known he has, but to feelthem, against your own hand…you’re drunk on him. The world is spinning slightly, and you’ve barely had two sips from your drink.

Niall, ever the gentleman, pulls your chair out for you and then settles you in before sitting down himself.

The rest of the evening flashes by with the bat of an eye. One minute you and Niall are chatting about everything and nothing, and the next, dinner is finished, and the sweet couple is beginning their first dance together. It’s lovely and beautiful, and you can’t help sighing to yourself as you watch.

Niall shifts slightly but doesn’t comment, watching along with you. Once Marley and David have finished, they bow, and you stand up to applaud them. Marley’s eyes meet yours and she grins, throwing you a little wink before turning to peck her husband on the lips.

The dance floor is open to everyone now. It starts out with the little kids running out and bopping to whatever tune is playing. Slowly, more and more people flock towards the activity, and suddenly the dance floor is full of people dancing and having a good time. You’re not one of them.

Niall must notice your urge to get out there, because after a light touch to your wrist, he flicks his eyebrows up and asks, “dance with me?” with a cocky smirk and all. Your stomach flips, butterflies making their presence known, and you smile and nod.

“Yes, please,” you reply demurely, and before he can stand up, you get to your feet and curtsy in front of him, extending an elegant hand. “Niall Horan, will you do me the honor of dancing with me?”

His eyes light up. He takes your hand in his and presses a kiss to the back of it, and your face ignites. “The honor would be all mine.” He stands, gripping your hand firmly, and leads you out to the dance floor.

A fun, poppy song is playing when you get there, and neither one of you particularly knows how to dance, so you just sway and hop together, giggling like mad. Niall grabs your finger and twirls you, and a laugh bursts past your lips. He does some sort of funky move that’s like a cross between the Egyptian and the sprinkler. You don’t even think it can ever be replicated, and you’re laughing so hard you’re nearly crying.

The music changes and shifts into a slow song. Couples all around you pull each other close, smiling happily. You’re about to suggest getting out of everyone’s way, at least for this song, when Niall tentatively takes a step closer, then shyly places his hands on your waist, smiling sweetly at you. Your breath hitches in your throat.

You make no move to pull away, instead you set your hands on his upper arms. You’re overwhelmed by the closeness of him – his lips are mere centimeters from yours, and his grip on your waist is firm. You can feel the muscles in his arms shift as he slowly starts to sway the two of you side-to-side.

Your throat is dry, and you swallow harshly. Niall’s eyes track the movement, and his tongue darts out to wet his lips. “So,” he starts, but then he seems to not know how to finish. He pauses, just looking at you, and you can’t help but laugh quietly, frazzled as you are.

“So?” you giggle back, and he grins, ducking his head. “What do you mean, so?”

“So,” he spits back, chuckling, “how are ya feeling?”

You roll your eyes. “Really, Horan? That’s what you want to know?”

The slight swaying stops, and Niall frowns at you slightly. Your heart jumps into your throat, and your lips part, because you didn’t mean to upset him –

But then he lifts one of his hands from your waist and brushes his thumb against your bottom lip, and you nearly faint.

“No. It’s not what I wanted to know.”

Everything slows down around you. It’s just you and Niall. He’s gazing intently down at you, blue eyes locked on your own. “I wanted to know how ya feel about me.”

“Uh, Niall-“ you stutter out, heart thumping hard in your chest, but he plows on.

“Because I know how I feel about ya, and I’m pretty sure ya feel the same way. I’ve liked ya…for so long now, love. It’s drivin’ me crazy. You’redrivin’ me crazy. Ya just…came into my life and turned it upside down, and I’m done pretendin’ that you didn’t. I want to be with ya, and I love ya. You’re sweet, and so fuckin’ funny, not to mention beautiful. You’re…all that I want, all that I could everwant.”

After his little rant, Niall’s face is a little flushed, and he’s still staring intently down at you. Your mouth is wide open. You don’t even know how to react. Niall Horan…lovesyou? How could he possibly love you, out of all of the other women he has met in his life?

“I don’t…I don’t know what to say.” You manage to get out. How are you alive in this moment? How has the floor not cracked and opened beneath your feet? Surely you’re actually dead, and this is some sort of dream or vision or something. This can’t be real.

He sighs. “Ya could start with tellin’ me how ya feel. I’ve been tryin’ to drop hints all day.”

Your eyes widen. “So that’swhat you were trying to do. I thought it was all just…a mistake.” You’re flustered, unable to articulate properly what you want to say. His confession has left you close to tongue-tied.

“Never. You’re not a mistake to me.” Niall says fervently, before pausing. “Well. Maybe more of a happy accident.”

You punch his shoulder and he cackles, that fully-belly laugh erupting from him. You smile and giggle, unable to help it, even as the other couples around you stop and stare.

“C’mon, love. Just tell me. Did I put myself out here for nothin’?”

You shake your head, taking a step closer, until your body is brushing up against his. His eyes darken, and you smile up at him, taking your sweet time. “I love you too, Ni. I have for at least a year. You are…the most incredible man that I have ever met. And I’m so lucky to have you in my life.”

Niall looks pleased, grinning widely like he’s never seen the light of day and now he’s bathed in it. Without waiting another moment, he leans down and presses his lips to yours hard, before pulling back just as quickly. You stare at him, shocked, and he smiles sheepishly. “Sorry. I, uh, got a little excited.”

You throw your arms around his neck and kiss him hard, and he laughs against your lips before kissing you back with all that he’s got.

Right then, out of everyone to notice, Deo suddenly starts hooting and hollering. “Lookie here! Ol’ Niall finallydecided to tell her how he feels. It’s been ages, mate! Took ya long enough.”

You rest your forehead on Niall’s shoulder as Deo continues to razz the both of you, smiling even as he continues his childish teasing. “Fuck off, Deo, you’re makin’ a scene,” Niall grumbles out to him, flipping him the bird. You laugh as Deo flips it right back.

“Oh, c’mon mate, ya know I’m happy for you. Just takin’ the piss out of you is all.”

Niall rolls his eyes and shoos his cousin away. “What a bloody idiot.”

“You can say that again.” You reply, shaking your head.

Niall tips your chin up with his finger, smirking down at you. “Now, where were we?”

Instead of answering him, you merely press your lips to his once more.

[myghostmonument]

13 x Reader: Dark [pt.1]

Notes: Okay so this is my first ever attempt at not only writing for 13 and the team, but also at doing a “character x reader” fic. I’d always been hesitant to do them before but I’ve read a few really good ones recently and they helped a lot with what’s been a pretty bad week, so I thought heck it, I’ll try my hand at it and maybe other people will enjoy my efforts. I had a lot of fun, and it uh... got out of hand. This is just the first “part” of what is almost 8500 words, which I figured would be.... a lot, to post at once. I’ll probably post the rest later unless I get an avalanche of negative feedback which is... fair. I did my best to keep everyone in character as much as possible, given the self-indulgent nature of this mess. I built this around a writing prompt: ‘Who did that to you?’

Also I’m open for requests, I’d really, really like to write more (and shorter) prompts for 13 I love her so much send help Summary: A cultural misunderstanding on an alien planet ends in mild violence, and the Doctor access a touch of the Oncoming Storm in response. Gentle romantic leanings but not in this part because like I said it’s over 8000 words in total rip

Warnings: “off-screen” reference to physical violence, description of bruising and a broken bone, fluff and angst 

“What happened- who did that to you?”

There hadn’t been any anger in the question, not initially. Anger didn’t come quickly to the Doctor (not to this one, not this bright, optimistic version) and certainly not as a first response. Curiosity, surprise, and perhaps stubborn denial, those were common fallbacks for her, and all three of them were present in the words she fired at you and Ryan as you two rounded the corner and limped into view.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Yaz echoed the Doctor, looking between you and Ryan. Ryan just shook his head, out of breath and looking quickly over his shoulder.

“We gotta go,” he said in a low, urgent voice.

“Hey? But we only just got here-” Graham, walking up with an assortment of exotic foods in his arms, stopped mid sentence, eyes flicking between you and Ryan. “Ryan?” He stepped quickly towards his grandson, immediately aware that something was wrong. Yaz had moved to you, and was hunched down, trying to get a good look at your face, which you kept averted. You weren’t sure why, it was Yaz, and the rest of Team TARDIS, after all. But your emotions were still turbulent, scraped raw and layered thinly over with a coating of shock, and you just felt like hiding, curling up and vanishing and not thinking about what had happened, just not… not thinking.

The Doctor had been looking between you and Ryan, frozen in some sort of confused indecision, her mind whirring away behind those bright, clever eyes. Then Yaz looked over at her, and whatever the Doctor read on her face made her step towards you, made that telltale crease appear by her left eyebrow. You flicked a glance at her, but you were too raw for the intensity of her regard, and the undefined, sick feeling in your gut that you’d somehow failed, somehow let the team down. You looked away quickly, head ducked, and when familiar brown boots entered your field of vision, you closed your eyes.

Slender fingers touched your chin, and despite your shame, despite your pain, you couldn’t deny them. Couldn’t deny her. You opened your eyes as the Doctor lifted your face, and though her touch was gentle, the change that her expression underwent was anything but. Apprehensive curiosity shifted into shock, and was quickly eclipsed by fury. Her lips pressed tightly together, the Doctor moved your face back and forth, her now blazing eyes sweeping from your bruised, bloodshot eye down to your split lip. Behind her, you heard Graham hiss in a shocked breath, and you closed your eyes again, swaying. Yaz had made a small, stifled sound of mingled outrage and concern and put an arm around you.

“Who did this to you,” the Doctor repeated, and now there was danger in her voice. You took in a ragged breath; you were too raw, too raw. The Doctor dropped her hold on your face and rounded on Ryan instead, coat flapping in the wind as she strode up to him, asked if he was hurt too. He shook his head, looking again over his shoulder. The absence of the Doctor’s touch left a sudden vacuum for you, and you started to shake. Her intensity had been too much, but without it you were left coldly adrift, reeling and unraveling as the adrenaline began to wear off.

“We should really go,” Ryan repeated.

“Sounds good,” Graham agreed, eyes on you and Yaz. “You can fill us in on the way. Right, Doc?” The Doctor made a low, dangerous sound, and you could feel her eyes on you again. Yaz’s arm on you tightened, gently propelling you forwards, and you began the walk back to the TARDIS, to safety. Home.

Distantly, you could hear the Doctor ahead of you as she dragged the story out of Ryan. How you two had gone exploring the alien city, the aliens so similar in appearance to humans but with such a vastly different culture and landscape, different technology. How everything had been bright, and exciting, and fun, until it hadn’t. How you had seen a child, crying, and approached them, knelt next to them and offered them food you’d purchased earlier. How suddenly a man had appeared, had started yelling and accusing you of interfering with his property. Had tried to grab the crying child, and when you blocked him, had knocked you down. And again, when you tried to get up. Had used his booted foot. Had gotten in Ryan’s face as he got between you and the man, had told Ryan to control you before storming off, child in tow. How the mood in the city had changed, how people had begun to stare at you. Watch you. Follow you.

Graham and Yaz were making suitably outraged, shocked noises as Ryan angrily recounted the tale, but the Doctor was silent. You could feel her anger, however, could almost hear it in the shape of her uncharacteristic silence. You wanted to say something, try and explain or apologize or make up for how thoroughly the trip had been ruined, but your thoughts were starting to slide in and out of your grasp and it was all you could do to keep walking. Were you still walking? You couldn’t always feel your feet, or Yaz’s arm.

“Uh, Doctor,” Yaz said, maybe. You weren’t sure. The world was tilting, darkening. Yaz’s arm was suddenly the only thing you could feel, an anchor as you sagged. Another presence loomed in front of you, and you caught the familiar scent of vanilla and TARDIS, felt the brush of a long coat hitting your legs, and you knew it was her, knew she was scanning your face, though you couldn’t focus on her. On anything, really.

“What’s wrong with her Doc?” Graham asked, distantly.

“Don’t know,” the Doctor replied tersely, and her voice was a beacon, something that you could focus on, cling to in defiance to the darkness. “Concussion, maybe. Head injuries are tricky.” Anger still commanded control of her voice, but worry threaded audibly through it now, too. Her hand touched your cheek, the unbruised side, and her careful touch was a brand, a blaze of sensation in a rapidly dwindling reality. “Hey, you need to stay with us,” the Doctor said. “You need to keep walking, okay?” You tried to focus on her, on those eyes that shone like so many stars.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” you tried to say. It hurt to move your lips, to speak, but you wanted them to know you were sorry you’d caused this, ruined their trip.

“Don’t talk, just walk,” the Doctor said shortly, moving to your other side and joining her arm with Yaz’s. Anger was still clipping her words, and you weren’t able to see the concern in her eyes as she looked at you. Time passed strangely; at times you were hyperaware of Yaz and the Doctor’s hands on you, of the tense conversation filtering through the group. Other times you drifted, felt reality loosen and warp around you and would lose several minutes of time in one jagged lurch.

One of those times, your legs gave out, and Yaz wasn’t quick enough to catch you. The Doctor was, but suddenly her grip on your arm sent a splintering web of agony through you and you cried out weakly, almost breathless with the pain as red curled around the edges of your vision. The Doctor said something under her breath, lowering you to the ground.

“Hold her,” the Doctor said, and someone -Yaz- propped you up as the Doctor ran her hands carefully down your arm, then shoulder, and then side. You hissed out a breath in another flare of agony. “Ah,” the Doctor said grimly, and lifted the edge of your shirt. Ryan swore quietly at whatever was revealed, and the Doctor made another one of her low, dangerous sounds.

“Broken?” Graham asked, after a tense moment. You felt the Doctor’s hand rest lightly on your side, and even that careful touch was enough to wring another stifled cry from you, though you clenched your teeth around it (that hurt, too.)

“Maybe,” the Doctor said, having withdrawn her hand. There was a rustle, then the familiar buzzing of her sonic as she ran it up and down your torso. A pause, as she deciphered the information. “Cracked. Some bleeding,” she reported. Her voice was very quiet, and all the more terrible for it. She stood up violently, rounding on Ryan. “How could you let this happen?” Her voice was still quiet, still terrible in its fury. Ryan blinked, looked away.

“Hold on, Doc, that’s not right,” Graham intervened angrily, stepping forwards. “He saved her, sounds like! You ought to be thanking him, not blaming him!” The Doctor made a savage sound and whirled away from them, fists clenched and eyes closed.

“She knows,” Yaz said quietly to Graham.

“Well, she shouldn’t be having a go at him then-”

“She knows,” Yaz interrupted, firmly but not unkindly. “But we need to keep moving, and I don’t think you’re supposed to walk with cracked ribs…”

“On it,” Ryan said, sounding grateful for the chance to do something helpful. He darted a wary look at the Doctor, but though she had turned around, she was watching without comment, her face set, hands still clenched.

“Careful,” Yaz and Graham said together, unnecessarily, as Ryan gently picked you up. It still hurt, in about a dozen different ways, and your breathing hitched brokenly around another involuntary cry.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ryan said, agonized but determined. The Doctor’s face had flickered at your cry, then she was striding forwards again, towards the TARDIS with quick, violent steps. Yaz, Graham and Ryan exchanged unhappy looks and followed, and you finally, mercifully blacked out.

You awoke to breath-taking agony, muddled thoughts, and shouting. A lot of shouting. Ryan was still holding you, but not gently- his arms were tight, and he was moving around, almost stumbling. You tried to lift your head, tried to see what was going on. There were a lot of people- too many for just Team TARDIS. The aliens had caught up with you. Alarm shot through your system like a drug, lending you sudden, respective clarity.

“Hey bro, back off, back off-” Ryan was saying. In the distance you thought you could make out Yaz and the Doctor’s voices too.

“Step back, come on now, Ryan, go, get inside-” that was Graham. Ryan turned, and your vision was suddenly filled with the most welcome, glorious blue. The TARDIS. You were almost there, you were almost safe- and then something hit Ryan, hard. Graham yelled a warning, but it was too late. Ryan stumbled, and dropped you, and the world exploded in a red haze. Time and space fragmented around you, splinters of sound and sensation. You thought maybe you were dead. You tried to lift your head, tried to breathe.

“DOCTOR,” someone screamed.

A face loomed. It was not the Doctor’s, and in that crystalline moment you knew, horribly, that you were not dead.

“Got you, you filthy human,” it said. You stared back blankly, almost numb with horror and pain as he- the man from before, the one who’d attacked you and Ryan, it was him and you were alone- seized your arm, jerked you towards him. The pain that ripped through you didn’t even leave you enough breath to scream, but you tried to resist, tried to lean away, to do anything, but he had your arm and was pulling you in, and you couldn’t, you couldn’t even scream-

A swirl of lilac-grey fabric and brown boots appeared in your vision, and the hold on your arm was released as the Doctor shoved her way bodily between you and the man. She was much smaller than him, but it was he who staggered backwards from the aggressive contact. The Doctor was a pillar, boots planted firmly with one slightly in front of the other, ready to pivot at a moment’s notice. 

She was so close to you that the edge of her coat brushed your side, and one of her hands was dropped towards you, fingers splayed protectively. You knew instinctively that the other hand gripped the sonic. It wasn’t a weapon, not in the conventional sense, but it still had a cautionary effect on most beings. As it should. The TARDIS, so frustratingly close, gave a sudden and booming toll, a sound felt as much as heard. There was a moment of shocked, ringing silence. The Doctor swept her blazing eyes across the frozen assembly.

“Yaz, Graham, get her inside,” she ordered.

“But-” Graham began, wary eyes on the crowd of alien men around the Doctor, “Doc-”

“Now,” the Doctor said, her eyes fixing on the man she had pushed away from you. “Ryan, with me.” Ryan’s legs joined the Doctor’s in your hazy field of vision. You tried to speak, tried to say the Doctor’s name, but your vision was darkening and you still couldn’t catch you breath, and Yaz’s hands were suddenly on you, you could hear her voice but it was muffled, fading in and out- and then you were unconscious again. Yaz carried you into the TARDIS, flanked by Graham. The Doctor didn’t move, didn’t look away. The TARDIS door clicked shut.

Yaz carried you to the TARDIS medical bay, and stayed with you while Graham loitered nervously at the console, watching the screen and ready to rush out and help Ryan and the Doctor if things went badly. You wouldn’t find out for several days what had gone down outside the TARDIS, the Doctor and Ryan facing a dozen angry aliens.

Ryan would tell you and Yaz later, in a tone of hushed awe, how the Doctor had asked the group how they dared to hurt her friends, how she had listened to a dozen different mumbling replies while her dark eyes had never left the first man, the one who had hurt you.

How she had waited quietly until he spoke, until he dared to open his mouth and justify what he did. ‘This one?’ she had asked Ryan, without turning her head. ‘Was it him?’ How when Ryan had nodded, she had then shouldered her way into his space, nose to nose, and how she had followed him when he tried to step away, a clear predator for all that she was more than half a foot shorter and armed with a screwdriver.

The Doctor had stalked him until he fetched up against a tree, and then she had leaned in, said something too quietly for Ryan to hear. ‘I wish I knew what she said, man,’ Ryan told you and Yaz, shaking his head. ‘He went so pale, I thought he might faint- I mean, he was sweating.’ 

He went on to say how the Doctor had stepped away, so that she could regard the entire group again. ‘You are not the best you can be; you are so- much- less,’ she had said, and though the words had been mild, the tone had been so devastatingly furious that it had swept through the semi-circle like the swing of a weapon, sending the aliens away into the gathering night. The Doctor had not waited to watch; she had merely turned her back, and strode to the TARDIS. They had been dismissed; they were prey, not worthy of a predator’s attention.

‘Absolutely mad,’ Ryan had said, rubbing his face. ‘Never seen her lose it like that before. Scary, almost.’

But all that had come later, when you were up and moving about the TARDIS again, when some of the horror had faded and everyone was starting to itch for the next adventure... 

[end pt.1]

Read part 2 here!

[rubys-art-blog]

I'm In Love (Angst Edition) - R!Bluespartanz (F&A)

Requested by @/unhappy_lemon on wattpad

A.N : im very sorry, this got kinda out of hand, but it's... -mostly?- a tiny bit fluffy, and quite long

Warnings: a slightly steamy make out sesh, screaming, panic attacks, swearing, self hatred voices, fear of rejection / abandonment, seriously don't read this if you've ever had "the depression voice(s)", blood, unintentional self harm, (seriously, this chapter has it all)

Henry's pov

I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling, but once I remembered where I was, a burst of happiness surged through me.

I sat up and stretched, reaching for my phone.

It wasn't on my side table, odd.

I must've left it downstairs.

I got up and slipped on some shorts and a fresh tee shirt.

I brushed my hair, put it into a ponytail, and slipped on a beanie after using the restroom.

I wandered downstairs to find it pretty quiet. I checked a clock and saw it said 10:12 am.

"Good morning." Came a voice from behind me.

"WHA- oh." I jumped and turned around, my tail sticking up.

"What, is my hair that bad?" Brandon asked.

He was wearing a tee shirt and.. no shorts, you could see his thick tail behind him.

I blushed slightly and turned back to the kitchen reaching for a coffee cup.

My ears twitched as I heard him move behind me and pour some cereal.

"So are we going anywhere today?" I asked, putting a tea bag in my mug.

"Uh, I think Diesel wants to go out for dinner with all of us." He said, a drawer opening and closing.

I turned around while the hot water poured into my cup. "So, we're the first ones up, eh?" I said, feeling a little awkward.

"Yeah, I guess we are." He scratched the back of his neck, causing his shirt to ride up.

I walked over to him, my tail swishing behind me and my ears perking in interest.

"So, we're alone then?" I smirked, standing in front of Brandon.

I may be shorter, but I can make him flustered.

"U-uh, well yeah, I guess we are." He stuttered.

"You gonna do anything about that?" I bit my lip and looked to him.

He blushed and stepped forward to cup my cheek, his scales cool against my face.

I quickly nuzzled into the touch, feeling his soft scales against my face and purring softly.

I looked back up to him to see his reaction, he was blushing harder.

"How are you so cute?" He mumbled under his breath.

I thought about responding, but decided to close my eyes and purr louder.

My ears twitched as I heard Brandon move around.

A hand lightly rested on my waist, I could feel the heat radiating off of Brandon.

I reached up, my hands coming to find his chest, I gripped his shirt and stepped forward.

He sighed lightly, wrapping his hand more around my waist before kissing me.

His lips were slightly rough, a welcome texture against my smooth lips.

"Mmnn..."

He took the lead, backing me up towards the counter.

I put my hands back to brace myself on the counter, tilting my head for a different angle.

His hands shifted, feeling around my body before settling on my bottom.

He squeezed slightly, lifting me up to be on the counter, I could feel his dulled claws through my shorts.

I wrapped my arms back around his neck and leaned towards him.

He moved his arms from around my waist to my thighs, spreading them and moving forward to stand in between them.

I shivered at the stimulation, my tail curling around and flicking.

He licked at my lips, one of his hands moving to pet my tail, which was moving around and occasionally touching his arm.

"Hhng- hah" I panted, opening my mouth to aid breathing.

Brandon waited a moment for me to catch my breath before diving back into my mouth, tongue tasting mine.

His tongue was strange, it was smoother than a human tongue, and shortly forked.

I moaned and my hands scrambled for purchase, intending to go for his hair but ending up with his horns.

He groaned, pulling me closer to the edge of the counter.

We had probably knocked things off the counter at this point, but I was too focused to notice.

My ears were drooped, flat against my head as Brandon pulled back.

My eyes were still closed when he spoke. "You shhould ssee yoursself, absolutely beautiful." He sounded raspy and out of breath, his tongue flicking as he talked.

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a couple times before looking towards Brandon.

His lips were red and covered in spit, his hair still fluffed up from sleeping, face a soft red.

I was slowly breathing through my nose, my tail still twitching behind me.

He reached up to cup my face, fingers threading into my hair, which had partly fallen out of my ponytail.

I couldn't help but softly purr, my eyes closing halfway.

He giggled slightly, a noise I absolutely love, I smiled unconsciously.

He gently scratched my scalp with his blunted nails.

Normally, a Lizards nails would be sharp and pointed, made for digging and catching food. However, modern day Lizards don't need to catch their food, therefore most Lizards get them dulled once a month so they don't tear clothing or scratch phone screens.

I shuddered, my ears twitching.

Brandon sighed. "I love you."

I froze, my eyes snapping open.

<><><>

Brandon's pov

"I love you." It slipped through my lips so naturally.

I regretted it immediately after though.

Henry's soft purring came to a halt, his eyes opening, pupils wide.

I backed up from the counter, internally facepalming.

"I- I'm ssorry I didn't, I didn't mean to- to.." I trailed off, tears threatening to make an appearance.

Henry just sat there, staring at me.

I turned to leave, my scales feeling colder than usual.

I walked out of the kitchen. "Brandon-"

I didn't want to hear it, I always mess everything up.

I walked faster, dashing up the stairs and passing a sleepy winged boy on my way to my room.

"Huh?" Tyler asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

I quickly shut and locked the door, tears forming in the edges of my eyes.

I sat on the bed, placing my head in my hands and sniffling.

It always goes like this doesn't it?

Everything is fine til I do something and fuck it up.

My sadness turned to anger, the voices in my head shouting and shouting, and shouting, and shouting..

"Stupid idiot he was only pitying you in the first place!" One screamed.

"You always do this, get way too attached way too fast." Another yelled.

"He wouldn't care if you were gone." A third one said, more forceful than loud.

I felt like punching something, or screaming til my voice gives out.

I pulled my legs up on the bed with me, literally holding myself together.

"All you do is whine and whimper, like a baby needing attention."

"He hates you."

"You're just a burden."

"He hates you."

"Crybaby."

"He hates you."

"You should just stop trying so hard."

"He hates you."

"He hates you." It repeated on a loop.

"He hates you." Increasing in volume.

"He hates you." Getting more and more aggressive.

"HE HATES YOU." The voice kept roaring, drowning out any other thoughts.

I whimpered, almost as if the voice was a person in front of me.

It kept going, and going, and going, chanting endlessly.

I wanted to scream, to hide, to kick something.

Anything to just. make. it. Stop.

I put my hands over my ears, claws digging into my skin.

It kept going.

I tightened my grip, my claws digging even further into my skin.

It didn't stop, it wouldn't stop.

I screamed, letting all my emotions out, louder than the voice.

All I could think was

"Make it stop."

"Make it stop."

"Make. It. Stop."

I screamed for what felt like an entirety, but in reality was probably a minute or two.

My voice slowly tapered off, leaving me to quietly mutter to myself. "Make it ssthop, make it ssthop, make it ssthop.."

There was a loud bang, someone pounding on the door. "BRANDON"

There was a thud, like something big hitting the door.

"Brandon please." Henry's voice came from the other side of the door, soft and worried.

My ears were ringing and I felt something drip down my face.

I slowly took my hands away from my head, wincing at the pain as my nails left my skin.

I opened my eyes I didn't realize I closed, and looked down at my hands.

Blood.

My blood, drying on my scales and coating my claws.

I almost screamed again, but my throat was too sore and I didn't want to worry anyone.

"Brandon please open the door." Henry called, sounding like he was on the brink of either crying or kicking the door down.

I slowly stretched my legs out, standing up.

I walked over to the door, hesitating.

I'll have to talk to him at some point, better to just get it over with.

I reached for the doorknob before remembering the blood. I wiped my hand off on my night shirt, staining it red.

I slowly unlocked the door and turned the handle, taking a deep breath, I opened it.

Henry was leaning against the door frame, upon noticing the door was open he looked up.

"Thank god I-" He stopped in his tracks, looking me over.

"Brandon! What the fuck happened?" He asked, trying not to be loud but failing.

<><><>

Henry's pov

He opened the door, finally.

"Thank god I-" I stopped, looking at him.

His face was covered in dried tears and blood, which was also smeared on his shirt.

His eyes were red and glossy, I looked further down to see his hands were also coated in blood.

"Brandon! What the fuck happened?"

"I'm fine." He croaked, trying to crack a smile as if to prove his statement.

"Fine? Fine!? I think you are anything but fine!" I was mad at myself.

He flinched away, picking at his scales. I sucked air through my teeth.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? Can I.. can I help you?" I asked, reaching out towards him.

"Why?" He mumbled quietly.

"What?" I didn't hear him.

"I said, why?" He spoke, looking down.

"Wha- Brandon, what do you mean?" I asked.

"Why would you want to help me? I mean, all I've done is cause issues and annoy you.." He replied quietly, coughing slightly.

I was taken aback, I had no words.

"Brandon, just let me help you." I said firmly.

He nodded. "Okay."

He moved and I walked past him, into his room.

"Okay.. let's see, new shirt, bandages..." I mumbled a list to myself.

I walked around, gathering the items I needed and then shoved Brandon into the on suite bathroom.

I dumped the stuff I needed onto the counter and turned to Brandon, who was sitting on the closed toilet.

"Alright, let's clean you off first." I said, picking up the washcloth I grabbed and rinsing it with warm water.

I gently cleaned his scales, occasionally rinsing the blood off the washcloth.

"Alright, lemme see these." I cupped his jaw and turned his head to see his right ear.

I extremely carefully wiped the dried blood off of his face and hair, taking some shampoo and using it to get the blood out of his hair.

I continued to his left side and once he was all clean I rinsed the washcloth and put it up.

He sat still and quiet while I pat dried his head. "I'm not upset you know." I said, pulling out the first aid kit.

"Really?" He rasped.

I found the Neosporin and squeezed some out onto my fingers.

"Really." I brushed his hair out of the way to apply the Neosporin.

"Even thhough.. thhe sscreaming?" He asked, his tongue flicking.

"Even though the screaming." I repeated, finding the roll of gauze.

"These cuts are in a bad spot, so I'm gonna have to go all the way around, okay?" I said, rubbing his shoulder.

He nodded slowly.

I began wrapping the gauze around his head, being wary of his horns.

Once I was done and had taped him up, I was closing up the first aid kit.

"Hey, uh, I know thhat you probably don't want to, you know, date, anymore? A- and thatss perfectly fine, uh, but can we sstill be friends?" He stumbled around his words.

"Or- or not, thhatss okay too.." He said, voice cracking.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" I said turning towards him.

He looked up confused, but before he could say anything I kissed him.

"I love you too."

<><><>

2150 words

yeET that was a fucking rollercoaster

sorry about that

i uh, yeah

Ruby out ~

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

So yesterday, the Environment Society at my old university (which I co-founded, and whose President is a close friend of mine still) shared a post on Facebook. It was a post by the upcoming “Flat Earth Society”, looking to recruit members ahead of forming officially. (The Environment Society shared it with the comment “Looking forward to the hotly anticipated Climate Change Deniers Society we expect will follow shortly!” I’m explaining that now, in case anyone thinks they were supporting it.)

The whole thing has been deleted by now so I can’t show you all, but the photo these people used had a fucking Illuminati triangle on it, and they’d used the tag line ‘Looking for members around the (university redacted) globe!’ So like... obviously a joke, right? Tedious white boi society, I thought. Someone wanted to make fun of flat-Earthers, and so set it up ironically. But they used the stupid Illuminati symbol, and that set the alarm bells to jingling because you know, the understanding of social nuance on the average tedious white boi is not strong

So I just commented, “Given that they’re using the Illuminati symbol, I presume this is going down the anti-Semitic route. Be interesting to see how the SU respond.”

I wasn’t going to look at it any more than that, actually, but the Society responded - apparently, the SU had already had to remove some comments for “slurs and other language”, and I’m nothing if not bizarrely attracted to raging dumpster fires, so I clicked through to the original post for a look. And I’m still, at this point, almost sure that the whole thing was an ironic joke by a tedious white boi who thinks this’ll be a good humour substitute for genuine creativity, like, because daaaaaaaaaamn, you should have seen his responses to some of the questions. Like, there’s no way that’s real. It was like a less funny and more by-the-numbers version of a bootydiaries thread, you know? But a lot of people were taking it at face value, and asking questions like “So how do you reconcile this with the laws of physics?”

Except one person had asked, “You say NASA invented space as a conspiracy, but why would every world government go along with it?”

To which they replied, “Because they’re all in thrall to the Bilderberg group.”

So back on the Environment Society’s post of this, I mentioned this, because while I’m 99% sure they were being ‘ironic’, that’s still anti-Semitic, right? That’s still going “Evil Jews are secretly running the world.” And I feel like in a time of rising alt-Reich Nazi bell-blisters running around, maybe that’s not a particularly great joke to be making. Step in two new people:

One: The President of the SU. A comment that basically read OH GOD WE’RE TRYING TO POLICE IT BUT IT’S BLOWING UP I HAVEN’T SPOTTED ANY ANTI-SEMITISM BUT PLEASE POINT ME AT IT IF YOU DO because he’s a very sweet lad, well done Rob.

Two: The worst and most insufferable mansplainer I personally know, whom I will here refer to as Crack after the part of his body he speaks through and also because it rhymes with his real name. A comment that straight-up said “The Bilderberg group thing is just a reference to the lizard people conspiracy theory, that’s all - anti-Semitism is a bit of a reach here.”

YES, CRACK, YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT

NO ANTI-SEMITISM AT ALL IN THE LIZARD PEOPLE THEORY

FAMOUSLY JUST STRAIGHT-UP ABOUT LIZARDS

So I corrected him. With links.

Anyway this is how I have just found out that this year for my birthday  I have caused the Students Union at my old university to voluntarily seek training on spotting anti-Semitism in their societies, which may be the greatest impact I’ve ever had on anyone

Plus the whole thing has been deleted by someone, so I don’t have to deal with the otherwise inevitable mansplanation that was sure to be on my way next

[crypticnala]

r/supdating

Erumike supernatural week!

Day 1: Vampires and Werewolves

Summary: In Erwin long life he had seen many things. He wasn't really surprised by anything anymore. Sure, he still felt fascination and wonder. But nothing like having your breath taken away. And yet...

Rating : T Warning : No warning applies Wordcount : 1k6

Read on ao3 here  or under the cut!

2018 - City Unknown

I clicked on the small round red icon with a white robot on it and soon enough was redirected to the home page of reddit. The small red envelope on top let me knew that I had one message to read, but I set it aside, preferring to browse the "best" of the subs I was following. Five minutes later, and a little deeper than where I was at the beginning, I couldn't take it anymore. That little red icon kept calling me, the bright color always in the corner of my vision, in the corner of my mind. I knew who it was. It could only be him, and the thought both filled me with excitation and dread. I ignored it for three threads before giving in. Sighing, I clicked on the inbox button. And as expected, there is was, the only message in my unread box. Mikemotor had answered. You would ask "What the hell is a vampire doing on reddit?" And I would answer with "Well, everyone needs to pass the time, especially vampires who have copious amount of it on their hands". So yes, this is how I found myself on reddit, wasting hours and hours away on popular and not so popular subs. What had brought me here first was my interest in modern mechanics and more particularly in mechanical transports. Cars, buses, trains, planes, motorcycle… It was so fascinating the way humans found new ideas to move themselves! Hell, I was as excited as a child when the overboard got out! And yes, I did buy one. And also, yes, I did fall and then kept the damn thing in my closet never to be brought out again. But it had been fun. So, in my constant search for more information about these moving vehicles that did not involves any animal of any kind, I stumbled upon the website reddit and decided it was good enough to feed me information that I was seeking. The community aspect was also what drew me to it. You actually interacted with other people, and for a vampire as old as me, it was something I was always searching. Interacting with other humans, it helped me stay in touch with the real world, helped learn the slangs, the new trends… It was the best way for me to try to keep an ounce of humanity. It was hard trying to keep up when you could only come out at night. And even if I could come out during the day, the truth was, after years of being a vampire, there was this impassable barrier that kept you from the humans. You sought them out when you needed them, but socializing? God forbid.

So I took what I could and lived on social interaction through a screen with stranger. And this is how I met u/mikemotor. It had started with small interactions, I saw him make a comment on r/MotorcyclePorn, and then on r/Motorcycle and then on every subs that I had a relation by far or not with motorcycles. I had first responded to one of his comments on one sub, then on another sub, and before I knew it, we were following each other and started a private conversation about whether one should go Italian or Japanese when choosing a racing motorcycle. But that was two five hundred messages ago. I had learned quite a few things about him, his name was Mike (big surprise there), he was a mechanic working in a garage that specialized in motorcycles (which explained all the motorcycle subs he was on), he was 34, was an only child, liked old and classic rock though he rarely went to concert or festival, liked spicy food (that one was very interesting as people eating a lot of spicy food had… interesting blood), and a surprise encounter on a gay nsfw sub let me knew what was Mike's sexuality and that he took working out very seriously and was what the gay community would label as "a wolf". We both learned that we lived in the same city, and it was only a matter of time before one of us asked to meet "irl". The day was tomorrow night. Mike had asked if I fancied having a beer with him, and while I told him I did not drink beer (I did not drink except blood really) I agreed to meet him after sundown. The message he had just sent me was to confirm the time and place. I replied shortly, telling it was fine on my end. I closed the computer, rubbing my eyes, it was an old habit very humanlike that I had actually never gotten rid of. I never needed to actually rub my eyes. Musing about our meeting of tomorrow I closed the computer and went about my night. As I lay in my bed, getting ready to sleep for the day, I couldn't help the small flutter of nerve that buzzed in my stomach. That was new, and I for one, did not dislike it. I glanced around the street, crossing when there was a pause in traffic, heading to the pub on the other side. The Beacon red in green letter above the door of the bar. It wasn't a fancy or too modern bar like you found in the city center. This one was in a discreet street, the front in warm brown wood, the dark green letters on it giving a comforting vibe. The music inside was good, the people there nice, the drink (from what I gathered) where good, everything inside was comfy and clean. Said like that, it was a perfect bar. Little did people know, The Beacon was also a "mixed" bar, like the community liked to call them. And I'm speaking about the general supernatural community. The bar was owned by a couple of demons, and contrary to some more selective club that used witchcraft to keep humans at bay, The Beacon welcomed everyone. Now, did Mike knew that? Or was he just a normal human that had stumbled upon this gem and decided it would be a good place for a first date. I mean, first meeting an "irl" friend. I shrugged the slight discomfort that had settled in my stomach and opened the door. Immediately the noise and the smell were too much for me. Cons of being a vampire with super sensitive sense. Still in the entrance, I tried to get my bearing. Relaxing, I searched through the crowd for Mike. He had told me he would be wearing a black leather jacket, but really, how many people wore leather jacket to go out? That's right, a shit ton. Apprehension growing, I scanned the crow once more, trying to find something, picking up leather jackets man before setting them aside, and then, there, at the back, sitting alone at a table, I saw him. I would have recognized the built and the presence everywhere. Strong arms, large chest, long brown hair, and eyes so dark they almost seemed black in the dimmed light. Something dropped, setting heavy in the pit of my stomach. I made my way to Mike, keeping my eyes on him, soon enough he shifted and looked up my way. His gazed fixed mine, and there, just now it came, his eyes widened in realization. I stopped in front of the table and looking him up and down. For a wolf, Mike was a damn wolf. As in, a fucking werewolf. I opened my mouth to speak, not even knowing what was going to come out, before Mike’s guffaw interrupted me. "You must be Erwin, I'm Mike" he stood, extending a hand, "it's a surprise, but I can't say I'm mad.", we shook hand, and I belatedly noticed that my body had decided to act on its own accord. I nodded to him, hand still clapped together. When they had first touched, the deep feeling in my stomach had stirred, filling from my head to my toes with warmth. Mike's hand still in mine, I stared at him, that feeling, that warm feeling, I knew it. It was the feeling that I knew this man. I was familiar with this hand, with this half smile, with that twinkle in his eyes. I knew him. And as sure as I knew him, I also knew that this was the first time I was seeing this man in my entire life. "Mike," I finally took my hand away, not sure how to respond to this new development. Mike smiled back, but it was strained, like something was also on his mind. His eyes went unfocused a short time before fixing on me again. "Erwin", he sat down, gesturing to the seat in front of him for me to sit too, "I'd offer you something to drink, but I guess you wouldn't be quite pleased with what they have on the menu here". I sat, smiling faintly, still trying to figure out how to go from there. We sat, staring at each other, not saying a word. A damn werewolf. Mike was probably thinking the same thing, trying to figure out how in hell had he befriended a damn vampire. I cleared my throat, trying to find something to say. "So you come here often?" I heard my mouth utter the word, while my brain was simultaneously screaming at me to shut it. All those years living, all the beauty of poetry, romance, music I lived through, and all I could say was that awful pickup line? But Mike laughed, his eyes crinkling, and once again that warm feeling washed all over me. "Come on, I'll go get something to drink, we'll talk and who knows, maybe you will get something to drink later tonight", he said standing up. He winked at me before disappearing in the crowd. Oh hell. You might as well enjoy your night, you old bat.

[sleepychai-fics]

Bruce Wayne x Reader - Look After Each Other

Request: @verdonafrost ;  Hi! Can I please request no. 25 and Bruce Wayne for the dialogue prompt? For the setting, maybe Batman gets captured and reader, also a vigilante, called Batwoman saves him and gets injured in the process? Thank you

Dialogue Prompt #25: “Oh god, you’re bleeding!”

here you go I hope you enjoy!

it took me a while to come up with a title, I think I came up with close to twenty titles before choosing this one and even then I’m not exactly happy with the title....

anyway here it is!

Tag List:

@fanderrawr @thecinnabitch

Words: 1501

My knees slide on the ground, back arching and head thrown back to avoid the sharp edge of the pointed knife.

I twist my body around, my hand making quick movements in retrieving batarangs from my utility belt and throwing them expertly towards the suited villain.

Penguin squawks in surprise and opens his umbrella, using it as a shield, protecting himself whilst also blinding himself. The batarangs bounce off his umbrella and slide across the warehouse floor.

Once he believes he’s safe, he folds up his umbrella, expecting to see me standing there. Except I’m not.

He manages to look up in shock, a flash of terror phasing through him, ultimately making him freeze in place, leaving him no room to react.

I let gravity take over, feet pointed as I descend. I jab my toes in the side of his neck, rendering him unconscious, and jump off of him as lays flat on the ground.

I land a few feet away from him, turning my head towards him briefly to ensure he’s knocked out.

I only spend three seconds looking at his un-moving body, before sprinting to the other side of the empty warehouse.

I manage to catch Batman before he has a chance to make contact to the ground. I kneel down with him, cupping his cheeks as his large, gloved hand rests on my hips. I guide his forehead onto mine, gazing at his blood-dripping lips before flicking my eyes to his white glazed ones.

“Batman, hey it’s okay. You’re going to be okay, just stay with me.” I tell him in a hushed whisper.

I see his pupils stare into mine, his lips parted letting out puffs of air.

I gently pull his head away and quickly gaze down his body, noticing the grazes in his suit as well as the small amounts of blood seeping through.

I curse under my breath and wrap my arm below his shoulders, looping his around mine and gripping his hand with my free one.

“Come on, we need to get you patched up.” I grunt as I slowly manage to lift him up.

I feel his weight slowly begin to drag me down but thankfully he catches himself and takes some of the weight off of me.

I begin to lead him towards the batmobile, which luckily is only a few feet away from us. The door opens automatically as we approach it.

I struggle to guide him into the back seat but with his help we manage to get him in and secured safely.

I can see him holding back his sounds of pain, small grunts being the only evidence of his struggle of pain.

“Bruce, you need to relax. Stop tensing your muscles, that will only make the pain worse.” I say to him; my worried gaze being iced with the white contacts of the mask.

He breathes through clenched teeth and goes to sit up but I push him down with a firm hand.

“You need to lay down and rest. Get up one more time and I won’t hesitate to knock you out.” I threaten quietly, staring at him with fierce eyes.

Bruce chuckles dryly but obeys anyway. “Always so stubborn.”

I take off my cape and use it to wrap around his shoulder, which has blood leaking down his suit and pooling on the seat behind him.

“Who else is supposed to match your own stubbornness, huh?” I reply in a rhetorical tone before jumping into the front.

With a touch of a button and a foot to the pedal, the batmobile speeds out of the warehouse and onto the road.

I swerve the batmobile onto the busy road, weaving in and out between the cars, narrowly missing them but being nothing but a blur to drivers. I turn the steering wheel sharply and accelerate down an alley-way. At the end of the short alley, a dumpster opens up revealing one of the many secret batcave entrances.

I jump as I feel a large, warm hand below my ribs, a piercing sharp pain occurring shortly. I hold back my groan of pain and look down to see Bruce’s un-gloved hand placed gently on my side with blood slowly spilling out.

“Oh god, you’re bleeding.”

I furrow my brows in confusion. “I didn’t even notice it until now. But that doesn’t matter, what matters now is getting you to the bat cave.”

I return my attention to the illuminating tunnel and press my foot harder on the pedal. In a matter of thirty seconds, the bat cave comes into view, the lights flicking on as we enter.

I steer the batmobile into an open space next to the med-bay and slam on the break, making it screech to a halt.

The roof opens up letting me leap out. I carefully help Bruce up, his cowl now removed, and lead him towards the med-table. Once he sits down on the table, I let go of him and rush to the cupboards, pulling out medical supplies.

After grabbing the necessities, I rush back to Bruce who lifts up his skin tight shirt with a pained face.

I put down the supplies beside him and inspect his deep gash stretching across his torso. I carefully graze it with my fingers but retract my hand once hearing his sharp his of pain.

I snatch the hydrogen peroxide from the supplies and pour some over a cloth. I look up at Bruce with sympathy, noticing how his muscles tenses slightly, preparing for the pain.

I return my focus to the large, bloody wound. I waste no more time and press the soaking cloth onto the flesh. Immediately muscles clench together and flinch.

I lightly wipe away the blood, cleaning the skin and leaving the wound.

“Luckily the others are just bruises and small cuts but this one will need stitching.” I inform as I dump the cloth and grab the needle and thread.

“You’re hurt too. You need to take care of yourself.” He says with a firm voice.

“I’m not worried about me; I’m worried about you.” I reply as I carefully thread the thread through the needle.

“(Y/n).” Bruce grabs my wrist gently and stares at me firmly.

“Bruce.” I say in a lot tone, returning hi gaze with the same strong gaze, if not stronger.

We stay there, staring at each other intensely.  A few stray minutes pass before Bruce huffs out a frustrated sigh and let’s go of my wrist.

I take no time in carefully piercing his skin with the needle. I stitch it with professional ease, weaving in and out of the skin, pulling on the thread from time to time to ensure the wounds closure.

I tie up the thread and snap off the excess and throw it in the bin before packing up the supplies.

But before I can pick up the supplies to put them away, Bruce’s hand plants firmly on my forgotten wound. I gasp and bite back my cursing shouts to a sharp hiss.

“If you’re not going to look after yourself, at least let me.”

Bruce leaves me no time to argue as he kneels down to inspect my wound. I let him lift my suit’s shirt a little, revealing the damage of the wound.

Bruce sighs in somewhat relief. “It’s not too bad. Just needs a clean-up and a bandage.” He informs as he reaches for the supplies, grabbing a nearby bottle of water.

He dampens the cloth with the water and begins to rub at the almost dried blood.

I hiss at the cool wet feeling of the cloth as it makes contact with my sensitive skin.

He stops after being satisfied of the cleanliness, and puts away the cloth. He rummages around the supplies until finding a medium sized white covering and some tape.

He gently presses the soft white material to my wound and holds it there.

He skilfully manages to hold the material in place and rip off strips of tape with his free hand and teeth. He tapes the material with extreme caution and precision.

Once done, he immediately wraps his muscular arms around my waist and buries his head just below my chest. I instinctively wrap my own arms around his shoulders with one hand roaming in his hair.

“I know you were worried about me, but you need to look after yourself as well.”

“Look who’s being a huge hypocrite right now.” I reply, slowly leaning into him.

Bruce doesn’t verbally reply, instead choosing to hug me tighter. I do the same, leaning down and burying my nose in his hair.

Nothing else was said. There wasn’t any need for words in that moment, because we both knew, that as long as we remained together, our actions would speak for us and our love and affection exchanged between us would heal any and all our wounds, whether it be mental or physical, it doesn’t matter.

Our bond will eventually heal them.

[p4rasite]

Carlos and Leon for the acrostic asks

carlos

---

C - Confession - which of you admitted romantic interest in the other first (if they’re the flirty type, when did they admit they were really serious about the other?) how did they do it? what was the reaction?

they kind of admitted at the same time tbh. carlos is kinda flirty, so for a while vita assumed he was just doing his normal charismatic/smooth-talking stuff w/ them and they’d “flirt” back. both of them were actually trying to flirt & thought the other person wasn’t really interested / was just being their normal self. it drove the other survivors up the wall for WEEKS because they kept hitting on each other and it kept going nowhere. it finally reached a head when they were in a trial together and vita tried to hide in a locker and saw that carlos was already in it, but they both knew they had no time to find somewhere else to hide before the killer was going to come in, so carlos pulled them in with him and closed the locker door. problem was that carlos had his back against the back of the locker and vita was facing forward when they got pulled in, so the two of them got smashed up against each other w/ carlos’s arm still around vita. carlos was dying bc vita’s boobs were pressed up against him and vita was dying bc they were face first in carlos’s chest (and was also VERY quickly aware that carlos either had a flashbang shoved in his pocket or might have something to talk to them about). they had an excruciatingly painful several minutes of hiding while the killer circled the area and they both had to keep quiet. i haven’t plotted out exactly how the conversation goes but either right after that (or shortly after the trial) they have a conversation that boils down to “okay that drove me fucking insane actually”

A - Art - do they draw or paint? what about any other kind of art? what’s their favorite style/subject/another artist who inspires them?

i don’t think carlos draws or paints, but i do think that he would enjoy something where you’re physically shaping the art, like sculpting or pottery, even if he isn’t very good at it. (there’s just something about working with your hands, you know?)

R - Rainbow - what colors do you associate with them and why?:

i associate green (like, a dark/muddy olive green in particular) w/ carlos! mostly bc of his fatigues when he’s working for umbrella

L - Language - what’s their love language? what’s yours?

i think carlos’s love language is a mix of physical touch + verbal affirmations. he’s a very touchy & warm person with anyone he’s friendly with (when he congratulates someone, his first instinct is to clap them on the back while he’s just beaming and talking about how he’s so proud of them), but that gets amped up SO much more in a relationship. he’s always looking for an excuse to thread his fingers with his partner’s or rub his palm on their back or lean over so he can brush up on them while he’s murmuring something in their ear. he’s also very, very big on verbal affection— he has lots of sweet nicknames/pet names for his partner, he’s constantly spilling “i love you”s into their conversations, and he showers his partner in affirmations and praise. i think my own love languages are physical touch + verbal affirmations

O - Online - what is your f/o’s social media presence like, or what would it be like if they had internet in their world/era?

oh god hmm. in a casual AU where he has a diff profession/etc i think he mainly uses it to go back and forth w/ friends like chris and leon. (there’s an edit that someone did of like, person A saying something in a post, person B replying to say that’s dumb, person A replying w/ coordinates, and person B saying “im sorry” and person A is chris and B is carlos. i think thats very accurate) if he posts any selfies or anything though god help him bc ppl are gonna be thirst posting NONSTOP under his stuff

S - Story - if you and them were in a fairytale, which story would you be and who would play which character?

oh, god, i’m not good w/ fairy tales or anything like that. if we wanna go off of the most abstract interpretation in existence, carlos did unfortunately get hit with the werewolf au stick, so they could be red riding hood & the big bad wolf (“bad” lol. as if he isn’t a big sweetheart)

leon

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L - Language - what’s their love language? what’s yours?

i think that leon’s love language is a mix of physical touch and quality time. with how hellish his work is, he doesn’t get to see his partner all the time (assuming they don’t work alongside him of course), so he really savors any and every minute he can get alongside them. he’s not an overly touchy person in general, but with a partner he craves physical affection all the time and looks for any excuse to get it.

E - Emotion - is your f/o open with their feelings or do they keep them close to their chest?

i think leon keeps his emotions close to his chest. he’s reserved about his feelings and honestly is a little paranoid that if he talks about how he feels about someone it’ll cause bad things to happen to them, because hell, trouble seems to follow him and anyone he cares about, and is it really paranoia if he knows they’re actually in danger? it’s hard to get him to talk about how he feels because he copes with everything going to shit by deflecting and joking or being sarcastic. (of course, if his partner wants to sit down and have a serious talk about his feelings, he will— it’s just not his default state.)

O - Online - what is your f/o’s social media presence like, or what would it be like if they had internet in their world/era?

screams. i think in a modern/casual au setting leon doesn’t use social media super often but he’s just an absolute DUMBASS when he uses it. chris gives him shit about it constantly

N - Nostalgia - what’s your f/o’s favorite memory?

honestly? i have no idea on this one. i’ll have to think on it, maybe i’ll come up with something later