#Do keeps wanting to get another pet but he barely has enough money to feed himself 😭😭

[simspaghetti]

Bonboon & Do -> Best buddies!

...Most of the time, that is.

[robininthelabyrinth]

"The Untamed", but Jiggy has a white cat whom he tells everything.- May or may not be sentient or 'spiritual' like Fairy in the book. (From an idea I've thrown around with my friend @yraelviii)

ao3

He found the cat in Qinghe.

“What are you doing here?” Meng Yao said, crouching down to try to scoop out the little handful of white fluff underneath his cabinet only for it to bare its infantile fangs and him and hiss, moving its butt around as if it thought his fingers ought to be running in fear from its fearsome pounce. “How did you even get in here?”

The cat – a kitten, really, small and scrawny, dirty and covered in ashes as if it had just run out of a forge, but no less passionate for it – squirmed in his hand as he picked it up.

“Who owns you?” Meng Yao asked, and the cat hissed viciously as if to shout no one owns me!

Something about that echoed in Meng Yao’s heart – no one owns me, he thought – and so he fished up some extra meat from his plate, filled a small platter with water, and used the sleeve of an old outfit that needed to be taken to be laundered anyway to wipe the grey ash off of the cat’s white fur while it was distracted by sniffing suspiciously at the food and water that it ultimately declined to consume.

“Just this once,” he told it.

-

Doing good work will often only bring you more work, Meng Yao reflected, and so it was with the cat as much as with anything else. He still didn’t know how the cat managed to get into his rooms, and he sometimes dwelled on paranoid suspicions that there were hiding-holes in his chambers designed to allow others to spy on him, just as there had been in certain rooms in the brothel – though even at his worst moment of uncertainty and doubt he didn’t really think so. He knew that it wasn’t Nie Mingjue’s style even if Meng Yao had been someone important enough to care about, and anyway he didn’t question his own ability to discovery such a thing if it had really existed. He’d checked.

At any rate, however it kept getting into his rooms, the cat was now a regular presence there, lurking around.

It didn’t want to be petted and greeted all attempts to feed it with utter disdain, but despite its general standoffishness it seemed to like being in the same vicinity as Meng Yao, enjoying nothing more than to settle haughtily by the window in his room and watch over Meng Yao as if it thought he might get lost without its supervision.

Meng Yao thought it was probably someone’s pet gotten lost, or maybe even just a feral cat from outside (Qinghe had a fair number of them) that had figured out that it could access the good life by going inside, but it was very hard to sincerely worry over the ill-intentions of a cat, and he was already very busy.

If he didn’t need to care for it, then it wasn’t adding to his troubles. Let the cat sit where it liked!

Meng Yao had found that life in Qinghe was both different and similar to life in Yunping, the only life he had to compare it to, and it amused him to think of the great and righteous Nie sect as an overly large brothel, with the main difference being that they sold their strength where women sold their bodies. In both places there needed to be order, someone to sort things out and tell people where to put things and what to do; in both places Meng Yao, with his quick mind and excellent memory, his sense of understanding people and anticipating their needs, was utterly invaluable in arranging such things.

He had, admittedly, expected it to take a little more time to climb up to the top – the only person he couldn’t understand in this place was Nie Mingjue, who was far too easy to deceive and smiled at him like he really thought they were friends instead of just being master and servant, who appreciated his talents and told him so, who shrugged off his mistakes and had faith that he would do better, who ignored his status instead of lording it over him the way Meng Yao had expected him to. Even when he was angry, when he shouted and slammed his hands against things, Nie Mingjue never once mentioned Meng Yao’s background, and the only things he seemed to hold against him were his own mistakes.

Meng Yao still didn’t know why Nie Mingjue would act so rashly as to promote someone he had just met to a position as high as viceroy, much less actually trust him, but it didn’t really matter. However quixotic his method of reaching a place of power, he was here and his next task was to keep his place until he’d made a reputation for himself.

Part of that he did through his work, good critical work that people needed and which had always won him gratitude even if not respect, but the other part of it was in cultivation. That was the way in which the Nie sect was not like a brothel: you couldn’t just be clever, you couldn’t even just be beautiful - to be respected, you had to cultivate.

Not that wanting to cultivate was a problem for Meng Yao.

He’d always had a memory like a sponge and a body that obeyed his every wish, his childhood of mimicking the beautiful dances of his mother and her ‘sisters’ serving him well in transitioning to learning the sword even if he was years behind everyone else; his mother had bought a thousand fake cultivation manuals for him and he’d learned them all, each one of them more useless than the next, and now that he was here in the cultivation world at long last, he was finally, finally, finally able to cultivate for real.

Using Nie sect methods, of course, even if that wasn’t what he really wanted.  

He’d started as soon as he could when he arrived, endlessly grateful that the Nie sect provided training sabers without cost, and he’d snuck one away back to his room so that he could practice on his own time, knowing it would take a long time to form his golden core. He’d debated with himself for a long time as to whether or not it was worth it to invest in a real one – if the training sabers were free, then real proper Nie sabers were somehow three times as expensive as the swords you could buy in the marketplace, and you could only put in a deposit without any notion of when you’d actually get the saber, apparently subject to the contrary dispositions of the spiritual weaponsmiths that made them.

In the end he decided to go for it more or less on a whim, emptying out his hard-built savings to place the order, even though he knew he would one day need to discard whatever they made for him in favor of a sword.

The Jin sect would accept him one day. He would make them.

(If the Nie sect cultivation style was good for one thing, he thought as he went through endless drills of slashing and thrusting, it was that you could work out your anger while you were doing it. There was nothing quite like imagining the face of someone you hated and then bringing down the practice saber in a vicious slash, and oh, but Meng Yao hated so very many people.)

The cat liked watching him train most of all, although Meng Yao suspected it was because seeing him jump around panting was funnier than watching him sit at his desk and gracefully write out letters. It would occasionally start purring, a sound a little like a crackling fire, and eventually Meng Yao got into the habit of going to run his fingers through its fur as a reward for himself when he successfully completed a training sequence.

After a while, he started talking to it, too.

“That commander,” Meng Yao said as he brought the training saber down. His real saber was still on the order, probably stalled purposefully; the smith assigned the task was probably one of the people that thought they were too good to deal with him because of who his mother was, and it’d all been a waste of money in the end. Completely a waste, even if Nie Mingjue had smiled so happily at him when he’d heard about Meng Yao placing the order, his eyes warm and soft and how had that man survived so long in this wretched world of politics and pain, didn’t he know he would always be deceived and betrayed?

Why should he be the exception to the rule, when everyone else had to suffer?

Meng Yao threw away the unhelpful thoughts and thrust the saber forward, as if piercing his invisible opponent straight through the chest.

“That commander.” He minutely corrected his form and stabbed again, this time as if piercing through the belly: a gut wound, a slow and awful way to die. “He’ll regret what he said to me.”

The cat’s purring intensified.

Meng Yao briefly had the wild thought that it approved.

“I just –” Another thrust. “– need to figure out –” An overhead slash. “– how.”

-

Meng Yao ended up taking the cat with him when he left Qinghe.

It probably was someone’s pet and he was opening himself up to a charge of stealing, a charge he wouldn’t be able to defend himself against now that he no longer had Nie Mingjue’s protection –

(Nie Mingjue who had wept tears and blood at what Meng Yao had done, betrayed at last after having finally encountered a deception he could not swallow, who had banished him from the Unclean Realm even after everything Meng Yao had done for him – who had, despite it all, still hidden an entire bag of gold and Meng Yao’s favorite Qinghe snacks in Meng Yao’s things with a short note claiming that it was for unpaid wages. As if Meng Yao had ever let a single pay period go by without claiming exactly what he was due. As if Nie Mingjue still cared despite throwing him out, as if he worried about how Meng Yao might live, as if he hadn’t given up the privilege of caring about things like that – )

He didn’t really care.

He wanted the cat, so he took it. It was the least Qinghe could do for him.

The cat spent all its time in his new rooms in the hotels he stayed out as he traveled: in his bedroom and study, the little gardens that, when available, he liked to use to train in the mornings and evenings. It would even follow him when he took a bath (although that was with great reluctance on the part of the cat, and only if Meng Yao were taking an especially long time in the bath and the cat was worried he’d drowned, yowling angrily as if it could revive him through the power of its voice). If it had once belonged to someone else, it now belonged to Meng Yao, and Meng Yao didn’t give away anything that was his.

“I’ve made worse mistakes,” he said defiantly to the cat, which blinked at him from its side of the carriage he’d used some of the gold to rent. “It’s only that I don’t want to review them in order to think of which ones those might be.”

The cat got up, stretched its back, and walked over to butt its head against Meng Yao’s hand before turning and going back to its spot by the window.

Meng Yao wasn’t sure if that was a sign of agreement or if the cat just thought there was a treat in his hand. Not that the cat had ever accepted treats from his hand.

He still wasn’t sure what the cat ate, actually, but he was sure the cat would make its feelings known now that they weren’t somewhere with a dependable kitchen, though he supposed there was always the possibility that it would start picking up hunting.

“Wen Chao said that they’d aimed at the Cloud Recesses,” Meng Yao said, deciding not to dwell on the things of the past. There was nothing he could do about it. Nothing he could do about Nie Mingjue’s betrayed eyes or the snacks he hadn’t even known Nie Mingjue had known he’d liked, about the hand-me-down guans and trinkets that Nie Huaisang had insisted were part of his wardrobe when he’d helped him pack even though he knew Nie Huaisang still wore them sometimes, about the fact that he should have been ordered to take the Nie sect’s braids out of his hair when he passed by the gates for the final time since he didn’t deserve them anymore but the two disciples there had just nodded at him and let him pass without a word – nothing to do about the saber he’d ordered, still on the list to be made, and maybe if he made something of himself out in the world alone he would one day come back to claim it at last. “That’s where we’re going now. Lan Xichen might be in danger. I have to help him.”

The cat made a sound like it was considering hacking up a hairball.

“He was kind to me,” Meng Yao said, feeling defensive. “The only one who never judged me –”

Since he’d decided to forget about Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang, wiping it out of his mind as if it had never been, that was even true.

“– and he’s a proper gentleman, a good man. I’ll help him.”

That Lan Xichen was also a powerful man was something he wished he didn’t think of, but he couldn’t help the way he was.

“After I help him, I’ll figure out what to do next,” Meng Yao said, like a liar, and the cat looked at him like he was stupid – which he was being, because of course he’d already planned out what to do next, figured out his next move, and there was no point in lying to a cat about it. Meng Yao had skills that were only useful in management, not labor, and the only thing he left to sell was information about the sect from which he’d just been ejected. “No one owns me, right? Let it be the Wen sect.”

The cat did not purr, but it didn’t condemn him, either.

That would have to do.

-

It was a good thing that Meng Yao’s cat was self-sufficient, he thought, because he had neither the time nor the stomach to feed it during his time at the Wen sect.

If he had thought he had worked hard at the Nie sect, he now knew differently: at least there the worst he had faced from his colleagues had been disdain and not outright murder attempts, back-stabbing and undercutting to try to show off to Wen Ruohan, and all the while the man himself demanded more and more from him without the slightest care for his own well-being. He was grist to the mill for Wen Ruohan, no matter how much the Chief Cultivator enjoyed having another man’s prized deputy as his own – Wen Ruohan might had been very nearly driven insane by the Yin Metal, but he still remembered old grudges – and it was night and day away from Nie Mingjue’s reliance on him that was based on trust, rather than reluctantly satisfied suspicion and paranoia.

Meng Yao had hidden the cat as best as he could from the start, thinking rightfully that people would try to use it against him, and to his relief it seemed that no one else had yet laid eyes on it and identified it as his own, despite its white fur standing out like a beacon to his sight. Unfortunately there were some people that had managed to figure out that he had a cat, even if they didn’t lay eyes on it themselves, and he’d had more than a few incidents in which someone had left poisoned meat out on the floor by his room in order to catch it.

The cat seemed as unimpressed with that as anything else.

Instead, the cat seemed to have taken up hunting as its pastime. It brought back the corpses of small birds, the Yin Metal-infused little spies, full of resentful energy, that Wen Ruohan had developed for his sons to use. At first Meng Yao worried about the cat getting somehow poisoned by them, but time went on and it seemed to be fine, even thriving. It had grown into a proper cat now, no longer a kitten, and it enjoyed licking its white and shining fur until it was gleaming.

It didn’t like Meng Yao’s training sessions as much – he trained with a sword now, two-faced just like him, and in a dozen different styles, Wen and Jiang and Jin, always Jin – so sometimes Meng Yao would go back to doing the old Nie sect style again, knowing the cat would recognize the familiar movements, and it was a surefire way to get the cat to purr.

The Nie sect style was also still the best for getting out anger, all aggression and sharp movements, and Meng Yao still had a lot of anger inside of him. He was starting to think he always would.

At least here in the Nightless City he could kill the people he hated, as long as he did so in low and dirty ways that didn’t trouble Wen Ruohan or interfere with his plans, and yet every time he did it, he felt no relief, only a vile and wretched stickiness that came, perhaps, from that awful Yin Metal that he had schemed over yet couldn’t seem to escape.

The cat didn’t like the Yin Metal one bit. It hissed and scratched, and in one notable incident seemed like it was going to pounce on it directly if Meng Yao hadn’t caught it mid-leap and shoved it into his sleeve before anyone had noticed it.

“You’re going to get me into trouble,” Meng Yao told the cat next time he trained, using the soft sword he’d hidden away for a time of need to hack and slash in the Nie way, which didn’t work with a soft sword at all but which made him feel strangely better. He was currently imagining Wen Ruohan’s head underneath a saber, his head and the heads of all those corpse puppets he’d created. “I will cut you loose if you do that.”

The cat rolled onto its back and showed its soft and fluffy belly, which only the truly unwise would seek to lay a hand on – Meng Yao still had scars – and Meng Yao rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know,” he said. “No one owns you, not even me. But do me a favor and don’t screw this up for me. Not when I’m so close.”

Lan Xichen had been accepting his letters and feeding them to Nie Mingjue, who trusted as blindly as he ever did. Meng Yao wished sometimes that he didn’t, that he would learn, that he would put some defenses up on that stupid reckless heart of his, but on the other hand it suited his plans very well that he didn’t.

Soon, he thought. Soon.

Soon he’d know what he needed to do.

-

“Now he chooses not to trust people,” Meng Yao complained to his cat. “Now. Now!”

The cat purred.

It wasn’t that Meng Yao (damnit, Jin Guangyao, he had a new name, he was Jin Guangyao now) couldn’t understand Nie Mingjue’s reluctance to trust him – fool me once, fool me twice, but three times seemed to be the other man’s breaking point – and in some ways he understood it more than ever now that he had been accepted back by the Jin sect, clothed in the gold he’d always deserved to wear.

Jin Guangshan hadn’t lost much in the war, not like the other sects, and the second it was over he was already scheming. Meng Yao – Jin Guangyao – was pulled right into the thick of it at once, less for his spying capability than for his sheer disposability, the fact that Jin Guangshan wasn’t willing to burden his pure and righteous heir with black matters that he was more than happy to taint the son of his whore with. With Nie Mingjue, general and hero of the Sunshot Campaign, representing the only real threat to the Jin sect’s domination, even if he didn’t want to be, Jin Guangyao was bound to be in opposition to him.

It made sense for Nie Mingjue not to trust him.

It irritated him regardless.

Still, lack of trust or no, Nie Mingjue had succumbed to Lan Xichen’s impassioned arguments and had agreed to swear brotherhood with him, even if Jin Guangyao suspected that Nie Mingjue’s primary motivation was to keep a better eye on him and scold him the way he did Nie Huaisang. It would be politically beneficial to Jin Guangyao to be tied in such a way to Nie Mingjue – it would suit his own desires as well, though that was less important – and so he had of course agreed as well, and he was planning on going to their oath ceremony in the outfit he had chosen for himself, gold from neck to foot, a sword he’d taken from the treasury since no one would order him one of his own, and a hat on his head like the ones his mother so admired to make up for his lack of height and to hide the Nie sect braids he still habitually wore underneath.

An old habit, and one he really ought to break, really. Ideally before Nie Mingjue figured it out and told him to cut it out.

There was a knock on the door, a familiar pounding, and the cat looked up, intrigued, even as Jin Guangyao sighed voicelessly to himself. Perhaps he had waited too long.

Perhaps it would be better to make a clean cut in this way, too.

He opened the door.

“Sect Leader Nie,” he greeted, thinking to himself that it would only be a few more hours before he was entitled to call the man da-ge as if they were nearly equals and how strange that would be. “Can this humble one help you?”

“Can I come in?” Nie Mingjue asked gruffly, his eyes lingering on Jin Guangyao’s uncovered and Nie-braided hair, just as he might have expected. Had expected.

Jin Guangyao nodded and stepped back, allowing him in, and closed the door behind him. “Could I get the sect leader some refreshments?” he asked politely, but Nie Mingjue seemed to have come to a stop right in the entranceway, surprise written all over his features. “Sect Leader Nie?”

Nie Mingjue was staring at Jin Guangyao’s cat.

“…Sect Leader Nie?”

Did Nie Mingjue not like cats? There were an endless number of feral cats in Qinghe, so it seemed implausible, and yet, here Nie Mingjue was, looking at the cat like he’d never seen such a thing before in its life.

Of course, at that exact moment, Jin Guangyao’s cat, the traitor, hopped off its pillow and went straight to rub itself against Nie Mingjue’s leg, purring like a little maniac.

Jin Guangyao stared at it, feeling thoroughly betrayed by what he would have previously said was his thoroughly unsociable cat, who had taken years to warm up to him enough to give him half the attention it was now bestowing freely on Nie Mingjue. Was this the heavens deciding to mock him for his earlier betrayals?

Alternatively, Nie Mingjue might just be very good with cats, which Jin Guangyao could believe. Perhaps he even carried in his pockets some of the Qinghe vine that cats were said to be so enamored of, although certainly Meng Yao’s cat had never once before shown an interest in such things before.

“…what’s its name?” Nie Mingjue croaked, voice hoarse. He was still staring fixedly at the cat, looking as though his entire world had shattered around him. He hadn’t even looked so unsettled when Jin Guangyao had so viciously mocked him at the Nightless City, and at the time he’d thought he was going to die and be turned into a corpse puppet to murder all his loved ones.

Jin Guangyao was tempted to say something rude or facetious, something like ‘I just call it Cat, why, do you name random cats?’, but the cat had been a good companion of his for a long time now and he couldn’t do that to it, even if he was currently planning on taking an extra long bath to force the cat to miserably linger by the door to the bathing room, screeching in unhappiness at the wet, but bravely (if grumpily) supervising him to make sure he didn’t drown.

“Hensheng,” he said, because that was in fact what he’d named it – it meant hatred for life, which was not exactly an auspicious name but which had stuck from the very moment he had thought it up – and waited to hear Nie Mingjue’s judgment. “It’s not normally quite so sticky,” he added in an attempt to save some face. “With most people.”

“Well, it’s me, that’s different,” Nie Mingjue said, and maybe the man really was just the human incarnation of the plant cats liked so much. Meng Yao really wouldn’t put it past him. “You...you cultivate in the Nie sect style? Still?”

Jin Guangyao blinked, surprised by the change in subject.

“Yes,” he said, a little hesitantly. He cultivated many styles now, although it was always the Jin sect style when he was in public. But he still had all the anger in his belly to vent – even more so now than before, anger at his father, anger at Madame Jin, anger at his brother born to a blessed life, anger at all those disciples that sneered at him even after he’d been legitimized, anger, anger, anger – and the Nie sect style had always been the best for that.

And anyway, it made the cat purr.

“Is that a problem, Sect Leader Nie?” he asked.

“Not at all,” Nie Mingjue said, and when he turned to look at him his eyes were warm and soft the way they’d been all the way before the fiasco with Xue Yang, shimmering with tears of joy and a smile that seemed to come straight from his heart, the foolish easily deceived man. It was so unexpected that Jin Guangyao actually took a full two steps back, his jaw dropping a little. “I’m happy for you. Very happy.”

He actually wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, dashing away the tears.

“You should come back to the Unclean Realm to pick it up when the brotherhood ceremony is done,” he added nonsensically. “I can’t imagine how long it’s been waiting for you.”

“…what?” Jin Guangyao said. “Pick up what?”

“Hensheng,” Nie Mingjue said, which – what? “Your saber. Hensheng.”

His saber?

The saber he’d never gotten, having been banished from the Unclean Realm before the order was finished, the one he’d spent all his savings on just in putting in the deposit, the one he’d never actually finished paying off? He remembered it, of course, and sometimes it still itched under his skin that he’d never gotten what he was owed because everything that was owed to him he deserved to get in the end. But…

“Hensheng is my cat,” he said.

Nie Mingjue blinked at him. “That’s not a cat,” he said. “That’s a saber spirit.”

Jin Guangyao’s gaze dropped down to the cat.

The cat that never seemed to eat anything or drink anything, that never once fell for the poisoned meat or accepted his offers of treats, that no one in the Nightless City had ever seen with their own eyes; the cat that could consistently get into his rooms despite there being no holes for it to enter, as if it had simply passed through the walls like a ghost.

Like a spirit.

The cat, which purred whenever Jin Guangyao practiced the Nie sect forms, swinging a saber with rage in his heart.

The cat to which he had confessed all his anger, all his frustration, all his rage, all the feelings he never gave to any human being around him – the sabers of the Nie sect thrived on such emotions, those feelings that encouraged them and strengthened them, developing the saber spirits that made each one of them a spiritual weapon unlike any other, with power and rage infused into the very blade.

Saber spirits, which only those born into the Nie sect or adopted early, raised in their ways, one of them, could form.

“A saber spirit?” Jin Guangyao said weakly, and his knees suddenly didn’t seem strong enough to hold him; he swayed and Nie Mingjue stepped forward quickly, catching him by the shoulders to steady him. “I cultivated a saber spirit?”

“The saber is back in the Unclean Realm,” Nie Mingjue said, not without kindness. “It was only ever waiting for you to pick it up once you developed the spirit, so that you could introduce the two.”

“It hasn’t been – I would have thought it would have been thrown away, or repurposed –”

“It’s a Nie saber, Meng Yao. It won’t obey anyone else ever again, not in this life; it is yours, yours alone. When one day you die, it will be buried with honor in our saber halls, just like all the others.”

The cat looked up at him and purred.

No one owns me, Jin Guangyao thought – the first thing the cat had said to him, and he’d always had a good understanding of what the cat wanted from the very first. No one had owned that wild spirit then, but it had stayed by his side, at first from curiosity and later from habit, and it was his now.

His, and no one else’s.

“Will you come pick it up?” Nie Mingjue asked, hope in his eyes. “Will you come home, if only for a little while?”

“Yes,” Jin Guangyao said. “Yes, I will.”

-

Later, Jin Guangshan told his son to kill Nie Mingjue, that fool who trusted too much and didn’t know when he was being deceived, finding him in his rigidity and righteousness too much of a burden on the power he planned to wield.

Jin Guangyao bowed as deep as he could, a smile on his lips, saying nothing, and the next day, when Jin Guangshan went to the brothel as he always did, drinking tea served by his son the way he always did, he never did figure out why his heart had stopped.

(The saber Jin Guangyao began to wear openly after the funeral – a gift from his sworn brother, he said with a smile, in remembrance of his time at the Nie sect – purred in pure satisfaction.)

[ill-be-your-honey-bri]

Call Me

I honestly am not a hundred percent sure where this fic had developed from but I thought it was an interesting plot that could have been manipulated many ways. and of course your girl went put smut mode on this one. 

That being said, the only warnings I have for you is smut, smut, smut, and some more smut. 

Don’t forget to like, repost, comment. You feed back means everything to me and I love seeing what you all like and don't fancy. 

Please enjoy and all my love,

I present to you, Escort Harry.

You were sitting at your dinette on the balcony of your penthouse, exceptionally frustrated. Sipping on your now cold coffee and pulling a cigarette from the gold case that was housing it. You lit the end with the matching gold lighter, slamming it on the table as you inhaled the nicotine to calm your nerves. You expelled the smoke from your lungs with an exaggerated sigh before picking up your phone to re-evaluate the email you just received.

Ms. Y/L/N,

You are cordially invited to the annual Forbes fundraiser for young entrepreneurs, blah blah blah…

Being that you own your own major company that has been featured in Forbes, blah blah blah.

We are expecting your attendance along with your plus one…

A plus one…

Well you are fucked now, aren’t you? You couldn’t remember the last time you had a ‘plus one’. You, this woman, fiercely independent, who built a company from the ground up on your own, and now you are expected to have a date to a fundraiser that you are being forced to go to.

You did the only thing you could think of at that moment.

You pull up Claudia’s number in your contacts, closing your silk robe over your nightgown while you put the phone to your ear and inhale the last puff from your cigarette before stamping it out in the marble ashtray.

The phone rings as you walk through the French doors from your balcony into your dining room, taking the last sip of your coffee before placing your mug on the dark mahogany dining room table.

“Hello, Y/N. To what do I owe the pleasure on this lovely morning at, fuck me, five forty?”

“Thank fucking god you’re awake!”

“Well, I wasn’t but —”

“Did you get that Forbes email too?” You put your phone on speaker while you pulled the email up for the millionth time that morning.

“I did,” Claudia said around a yawn.

“What is this shit with a fucking plus one? When has that ever been a requirement for these things?!”

You could hear her rustling around her bed, “I’m sure some man put it together and wanted to make sure everyone and the pope saw his new arm candy.”

“It’s ridiculous! Some of us don’t have time to have a ‘plus one’!” You sat on your suede sectional, curling your bare feet under your bum. Your long haired black cat jumped up and cuddled into your lap, both melting into comfort.

“I lay claim to Derek, he already said he would go with me.”

You began to stroke your cat’s ear, “Yeah well, you’re fucking Derek, so…”

“I can’t help that your assistant is young and hot, chickee. And so fucking good in bed…” Claudia began to stretch, letting out a moan.

“Thanks for that. Now what the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t you have any friends? Second cousins?”

You stopped your petting, your fur baby giving out a little mew in protest, “First of all, ew. No family. Second of all, I don’t have time for friends. I have you because we have worked together for years.” You let out a frustrated sigh and went back to petting the angel on your lap. “What the fuck am I going to do, Claud?”

You could hear Claudia clunking around her kitchen, attempting to make her latte, cursing at her espresso maker. “Why not hire someone?”

You stopped your petting again, Lady getting annoyed and deciding to jump off your lap. “What do you mean, hire someone?”

“You know,” Claudia hissed after burning her tongue on her hot beverage, “like one of those sexy male escorts. You pay them and they are a nice piece of jewelry for the night.”

“Where do you come up with this shit?”

“That old bag that is always at these events, donates a shit ton and then falls asleep halfway through dinner? You know the one.”

You hum in understanding because you do know the one. Her overuse of minks and emeralds at every event, her hackneyed Chanel No. 5. Oh, and her dentures fell into her champagne flute last year. Yeah, that one.

“Do you really think that the strapping young hunk with her is actually her significant other?”

“I thought that it could be her grandson, maybe.”

“Oh hell no! She hired the boy! I hope she got her money’s worth, if you know what I’m saying...”

Claudia began to laugh as you started to make gagging noises. You sat there, thinking of any other option and you really couldn’t think of one.

“Let me do my research and I will email you the links. But babe, relax. We will figure something out, yeah? You can take my little brother if you need to.”

“No offense Claud, but I don’t really want to present to an event with a 17 year old and be labeled a pedophile… Thank you for helping me, truly.”

“Any time, sweets. Now go mastuarbate before you get ready for work. Got a big meeting today and need you to be calm and relaxed for it.”

“Jesus, Claud!”

“See you soon!” Claudia blowing you a kiss over the line before she hangs up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You walked into your office with your go to Starbucks order in hand. Derek was sitting on the couch that was off to the side of your office, set up as a little meeting area with a set of armchairs and a coffee table in the center. Derek was sipping on his green smoothie and setting up your agenda for the day.

“I don’t know how you drink that shit. You’re basically grazing in the pasture,” as you take another sip of your overpriced corporate beverage.

“It is an energy boosting smoothie, thank you very much. It’s from the local smoothie place around the corner, it’s family owned.”

“Well good for you bud, but for me, it is about convenience and there are at least 50 Starbucks stores from home to here. A beautiful marketing plan if you ask me.” You smiled before taking another sip then placing it in its rightful place on your desk as you sit to turn on your computer and start your day. Derek stands up and places your daily planner in front of you.

“You have that big meeting today with the business partners. Claudia said she will be here in half an hour to help prep. And I have a list of escort services for you.” He had a folder in hand extended towards you.

You peered up at him, “Fucking Claudia.”

He began to smile and give a light chuckle, “Fucking Claudia. She never knows when to keep her mouth shut. There are a few men she had picked out as well, said she ‘knows what you like’. She will email you the links to their profiles.”

And sure enough, you get an email from her with an eggplant emoji as the subject of the email. You quickly exit the email, pulling up the documents you need for the meeting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After getting home from dealing with arrogant, self centered pricks in meetings all day, you knew you needed to treat yourself to a relaxing bubble bath.

You ignored dinner, going straight to your wine rack and grabbed the first bottle handy. You filled the glass and began sipping at the sweet nectar as you were walking to the master bedroom. You padded your way to the en-suite to begin filling the claw foot bathtub. You added some vanilla rose bath melts and let the aroma fill your lungs before returning back to your bedroom.

You step into your walk-in closest to begin undressing, putting your jewelry in their rightful place and hanging the garments that need to go to the dry cleaners. After stripping, you throw on your silk robe and pull your hair up before walking back to the bathroom. You grab your phone and wine along the way, finding your ‘bubble bath’ playlist, which you connected to the Bluetooth that you had installed in your bathroom.

You put your wine and phone on the shelf next to the tub and hung the silk robe before melting into the warm embrace of the milky water. Lady had hopped up onto the counter to keep you company.

You close your eyes, take a deep breath and lean your head on to the bath pillow before slowly exhaling the air from your lips. You were finally starting to relax when the incessant thought about the fundraiser reared it’s nasty head at the forefront of your mind.

You look to Lady, who is curled up on the sink counter, the sound of Ol’ Blue Eyes lulling her to sleep. You take another deep breath before grabbing your phone and opening up that email.

Reinhardt, Claudia

Subject: 🍆

So, this company seems the most legit and had the best reviews on multiple sites. Overall, had the best looking dudes too. I picked out a few that I thought that you would like, you know, best friends and all. I will only be slightly offended if you don’t pick one of my gentleman callers.

Good luck chickee! xo

You took another sip of wine before opening the links to these ‘gentleman callers’ pages.

Travis; he was cute in a ‘use to be a skater’ kind of way. Had some muscle, a decent smile. Age, 26. Perfect. Height, 5’3”. Well, that won’t work. You close out his link and go to the next one.

Bret; could be a model with the blue eyes, black hair look and a jaw that could cut glass. You sit up slightly, scrolling down further into his profile. Age; 19. Fuck no. You quickly close the link and go to the next one.

You go through a few more and you begin to feel hopeless. They were all good looking but none of them sparked the desire to take them to an event where you will be spending endless hours with them.

You were officially going to give up until you saw that there was only one link left.

Harry; this guy can’t be real. Beautiful green eyes, silky curly hair, a really cute smile with dimples. The perfect amount of muscle. You held your breath as you continued to read his profile.

Age; 24. You could handle that.

Height; 6 foot. Perfect.

Reason why you joined this company; Honestly, I’m getting my masters in business at Columbia University. A scholarship and work study can only pay so much of the tuition. So he is smart and can talk about business if needed.

What can you bring to the table for your date; I’m personable and will make friends with anyone in a room. I’m the perfect date for a work related event because I can talk about anything. If you chose me, I promise, you won’t regret it.

You took the last bit of your wine as your finger hovered over the message icon. “I better not regret this…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry just got home to his rundown studio apartment from his day working in the college library. He threw his backpack on his mismatching dining set before striding into the kitchen to heat up leftover Chinese. He threw the container into the microwave and began to strip on his way to his bed. He pulled on a pair of old grey sweatpants and went back into the kitchen to retrieve his food and a beer.

He climbed into his bed and turned on the TV, throwing on Family Guy before digging into his food. He got up at one point to get his phone that he left in his jacket, where he couldn’t remember where he threw it.

After finding it, he climbs back into bed and continues to stuff his cheeks with lo mein. He unlocks his phone to see he has some texts, a few emails, a bunch of messages on his Tinder app that he has been ignoring and a new message on his work email. Not the library job, but the job that no one knows about.

He gets emails regularly on his work email. Usually older women who want to make a statement at an event. Like “I’m still young. Look at the young man with me.” He doesn’t mind it because they pay a shit ton for him to just sit there and look pretty, but it gets boring. He would rather work overnight at the library and he is pretty sure it is haunted.

He opens the message and he sees your name. He drops his Chinese container into his lap, cursing at the grease stains that are now on his sweats.

He knows you. He knows you very well. He has written multiple research papers on your work, how you built a company on your own. He’s even rubbed one out to you a few times because your so fucking beautiful and unbelievebly smart.

Harry,

I apologize for how this message reads; I have never done such a thing before.

I have an event for a Forbes fundraiser and we are required to bring a plus one. Unfortunately, I do not have one and need to go to such lengths as to hiring one.

I have read your profile, multiple times if we are being honest, and I feel that you are best suited for the situation.

If you accept my offer, I will pay you handsomely and will schedule you with my tailor to get a suit for the event. Anything involved will be taken care of by me, you will just need to present by my side.

Please let me know if you accept my offer in a timely fashion.

All the best, Y/N Y/L/N

Harry’s mouth was gaping like a fish. You, you, need a date to an event and you asked him. He must be dreaming. He rereads the email a million times and tries to compose himself enough to respond.

Ms. Y/L/N,

It would be an honor to be by your side. Please let me know where I need to be and when and I promise, I will not let you down.

Harry

A few moments after sending the email he got notifications of events being added to his calendar. The first thing was his appointment with your tailor tomorrow morning.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry was standing outside the tailor’s shop, being a few minutes early and the door was locked. He could hear the clicking of heels and heard a familiar voice. You had presented at Colombia for seminars multiple times, considering it was your Alma Mater. He knew that voice because he attended every seminar that you were a speaker at.

You had your phone in one hand with your designer purse in the crook of the arm that was holding your phone. You had a tray with a few coffees in the other hand. He thought you looked powerful and beautiful in your burgundy blazer with a black tank top tucked into your houndstooth black and white trousers. A gold Gucci belt pulling the whole look together.

You smiled at him as you told whomever you were talking to that you had to go and that you will call them back. He about melted into a puddle when he heard you call his name.

He nodded with a smile while you put your phone in your purse and coordinated the drinks so that you were able to extend a hand to shake Harry’s. Your hand was so soft, he never wanted to let go.

“Thank you for being able to do this so quickly. The event is this weekend and I wanted to make sure that your suit was done in time.” You were smiling at him the whole time, like you have been friends for a lifetime.

“It’s no problem at all.” He smiled back as you took in a good look at him, seeming to be pleased with your choice. He unconsciously stood up straighter and clasped his hands behind his back as you turned to press the buzzer of the store front.

The door unlocked and he quickly grabbed the door to allow you to walk in first, as you gave your thanks. You strutted in like you owned the place and Harry could feel his cock twitch in his jeans watching you own the room.

A beautiful person was standing there waiting for you with gorgeous red flowing hair. They looked angelic with their light and soft features.

“Harris darling, this is Harry. You will be working with him on finding the perfect suit and tailoring it like the artist you are.” You sat on the white sofa, handing out coffees to the people around you, including Harry.

“I didn’t know how you liked your coffee, so I got it black but I have cream and sugar if you need it.” You pulled out the little paper bag the cafe had given you with the coffee fixings from your purse.

“Black is perfect, thank you.”

You smiled up at him as you handed him his coffee, he gladly took a seat next to you as Harris handed the two of you their portfolio.

“These are what I have in the shop now and the fabrics in the back are what I have at home, if you would prefer one of those.”

Harry scooted a little closer to get a better look that you quickly took notice of, so you moved so that the portfolio sat on both of your laps while your thighs touched. Harry’s breath hitched when he felt the contact but quickly brushed it off to continue looking at the beautiful suits.

“Is my dress done by chance? I would love to do the final fitting today as well.”

“Of course. I also have a few ideas of suits for you Harry that would go with the dress. Not so matchy-matchy, but to make sure you don’t clash.”

“Let’s try those, hm?” You looked at Harry with a sweet smile. All he could do was gaulp and nod.

You put the portfolio on the table in front of you before taking your blazer off and laying it delicately on the arm of the couch. You stood up and began to wander around, looking at Harris’ fall collection.

“I can’t wait to see these on the models. Absolutely stunning, Harris.”

“Wouldn’t have been able to do it without you, my love.” You smiled as you continued to explore.

Harry couldn’t take his eyes off you. You were so ethereal in your movements, so effortless. You seemed so gentle and he has only been around you for a few moments. He has always known you as a strong willed, fierce, badass woman. But now, he sees you as delicate porcelain. Not in a way that you could easily be broken, he doesn’t think that could ever be the case. But in the way that you need to be taken care of and adored fondly.

Harry was pulled out of his trance when Harris returned with an armful of suits, calling Harry to the dressing room. Harris helped him with trying them on, all of them being breathtaking.

You had gone into your dressing room with Harris’ assistant helping you put on your gown. You were never one for flash at events, so you asked for a simple black gown with some red detailing, red being your power color. You wore red lipstick or a red pair of heels to every event, so people would be expecting it.

You had walked out as did Harry and he was frozen. The black gown had off the shoulder straps and a sweetheart neckline, showing off your silky decolletage. It had a hip-high slit on your left leg showing off the delicious meat of your thigh, your heels making your legs look even longer. It was form fitting around the torso and hips with the fabric draping beautifully around you, cascading softly around your feet. The bottom of the gown and around the bust was detailed with delicate red stitching, creating a floral design.

And you couldn’t take your eyes off Harry. His suit was the same blood red as your stitching. The floral details of his suit were stitched in black and he had a black button up underneath with the top few buttons undone. Harris had already pinned the suit so it fit him perfectly. His thighs looked strong and thick, his shoulders broad. He was exceptionally handsome.

Harris squealed with how amazing you both looked and you matched without it being obnoxious. Harris walked you to the platform so he could do his final fitting on you. You and Harry couldn’t stop looking at each other in the mirror, the eye contact being strong and unwavering. The only thing that pulled you out of your trance was when Harris called your name to tell you he was done with you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After getting back into your work clothes, you kissed Harris goodbye and Harry shook their hand. You told Harris that Derek will pick up the garments Saturday morning before the event.

Harry held the door open for you and let you walk on to the sidewalk first. You started pulling out your phone to check it, quickly turning off the screen before looking up at Harry.

“Do you need a ride? I walked here from my office but it isn’t far, I can drop you off.” You stood there waiting for a response and he was taking too long for your taste.

“Well come on then, I’ll take you wherever you need to go.” You started walking with a purpose, pulling out your phone again to give Derek a heads up of your plans. Harry quickly jogged to catch up with you.

“Thank you. Um, could you drop me off at campus?” You looked back up and smiled with a nod.

“Of course.”

When you got to the parking garage, you hit your key fob to unlock your car. You had a nice black Audi that you gracefully climbed into. Harry was treating it like a work of fragile art, not wanting to touch anything. You noticed that he was admiring your car, causing you to smile. “Are you a car kind of guy?”

“Um, yeah. I suppose. I know a pretty car when I see one.”

This caused you to giggle. “I may have another event for you then. One of my colleagues has vintage cars that he submits to a car show, he asks me to go every year. Maybe I’ll go if I have you by my side.”

Harry beamed at the idea, “I would like that.”

“It’s in the Hamptons so I would have to steal you for a couple of days. I have a beach house there. That’s if you don’t mind, of course.”

Harry had the opportunity to go to the Hamptons to spend a couple of days with you? How could he say no to that fantasy.

“That sounds great, just tell me when and I’m there.”

You started your drive to Colombia’s campus when you felt the need to talk about the one factor of this you had yet to approach.

“How would you like me to pay you? I can write a check or direct deposit if you would like.” You give a quick glance over to him while at a red light and you see him adjusting in his seat.

“Um, whatever is easier for you.”

“I think it will be more discreet if I direct deposit. I will give you my number and you can text me your bank information. I will be sure to delete it and would never do anything other than deposit money to you.”

He nodded in agreement, not that he was worried that you would take money from him. Not that he had a whole lot of money to his name.

You pulled up next to the campus and asked Harry for his phone to put in your number. “Whenever you get the chance, text me the information.”

“I will, thanks.” He stepped out of the car, slung his backpack over his shoulder and began to walk to campus.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry got home and relaxed for a bit, wrapping his head around the day. He got fitted for a gorgeous designer suit, rode in an Audi, and got invited for a long weekend in the Hamptons, all by the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

He finally sat up and began to dig through his piles of papers on his counter to find his bank information. He quickly texted it to you, double checking the numbers were typed out correctly. He set the phone down and went to hop into the shower.

When he stepped out with a towel around his waist and another in hand roughly drying his hair, he picked up his phone and saw a notification from his bank.

Direct deposit of $5,000.

He stared at the screen for an undetermined amount of time before going to his contacts and calling you.

“Hello, this is Y/N.”

“That is way too much, you don’t have to do that, please just —”

“Harry, it is my money and I do as I please. You are doing me a huge favor and you will be with me for a full evening. Plus, you have to deal with a bunch of assholes, it’s the least I can do. Now, don’t ever question my decisions again, okay? My assistant will drop off your suit on Saturday morning. Please text me your address so he can do so. Have a good rest of your day.”

The line went dead, Harry was still in shock. He has never seen four digits in his bank account before and it happened in the blink of an eye. He decided to text you his address and asked no more questions.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry was pulling on the perfectly tailored suit jacket and ran his hand through his hair one last time before spritzing on his cologne when there was a knock on his door. He walked over to open it, seeing a man in a black suit that he has never seen before. The man gave Harry a nod and he began to walk to the stairs. Harry quickly grabbed his keys and phone before following the unnamed, eerily quiet man.

When Harry reached outside, there was a black SUV with dark tinted windows. The uncanny man opened the back door, exposing you looking down at your phone. Harry gasped when you looked up at him, lips painted red, flashing him a dazzling smile.

“Well, don’t you look handsome.” You scooted over so Harry could climb in. He honestly couldn’t help himself, but he had to stare at you. You had your legs crossed, left leg over your right, exposing the full skin of both of your legs due to the slit on the left side. His mouth began to water looking at the soft glow of your legs.

“So, I apologize in advance if some wives try to take you home with them tonight. Those old hags probably haven’t been screwed properly in ages since their husbands waste their viagra on some girls who want their money.”

Harry raised his eyebrows at you with a smile growing across his lips, “Why do I feel like you're not kidding?”

“Oh,” you let out a scoffed laugh, “because I’m not.” You look back up from your phone to gaze at Harry, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” You send him a wink, causing him to blush.

He beams back at you, “My hero.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As you enter through the doors of the banquet hall, arm laced through Harry’s, you begin to get the urge for a cigarette.

You see previous partners to your company; ones that moved on to bigger and better things, others who screwed you over and you cut ties with. You see the old men that hit on you and the wives that stare daggers into you. They all told you that you weren’t going to make it and you proved them all wrong. Though some think you did it with a little help from what is between your legs or your harlot red lips.

You really need a cigarette.

You see Claudia standing across the way, holding out two champagne flutes for the both of you. You gently tug Harry with you, taking in how he is observing the room. He has an air of professionalism to him that can only come naturally; he’ll be a great business man.

“Knew you would pick this one! Had to save the best for last.” Claudia handed you both your bubbling spirit and put her hand out for Harry to shake, introducing herself and Derek.

“I need a cigarette and a stronger drink than this to get through the night.” You quickly downed the liquid, placing the glass on a nearby table, excusing yourself to the terrace.

Harry followed you out a few moments later, holding a rocks glass out to you. You smiled up at him reaching for the glass and taking a sip before handing it back to him so you could take a long drag. “Thank you.”

He leaned over the banister of the terrace to look out over the city, taking his own sip where your red lips had left their stain. You found it slightly erotic how he licked his lips after touching your mark, as if he had decided to take his sip at that specific part of the glass on purpose.

“So tell me, shall I be talking you up in there? Should be easy for me.”

You reach for the glass he is rolling between his fingers, taking another sip, “And why is that?”

He took the cigarette from between your fingers, admiring the vibrant stain before placing it between his own lips, slightly squinting his eyes as he took a drag. “I’m quite infatuated with you. I’ve followed your work from the start, wrote some papers on your business plans.”

You raised an eyebrow and watched him, studying his features that softened as the left side of his lip began to upturn, indenting his cheek to an adorable dimple. “To be completely honest? I started to follow you because I was terribly attracted to you. I saw you on the front of a magazine and…” he pursed his lips out with a smirk before he chuckled at himself. He looked up at you with his boyish charm before he stood back up and took his drink from you again.

“Oh, Harry, thought about me when you were lonely?” You gave him a false pout that grew into a smile.

He finished his drink before looking back at you, “Still do.” His smile and eye contact were never wavering as he stamped out your cigarette for you and took your hand to return inside.

Harry guided you to your table, hand on your lower back before pulling out your chair for you. He sat to the left of you next to another gentleman, who you had no idea what his business was. His wife was glaring at you as Harry was talking to the man, though the man was more focused on the cleavage exposed by your dress. Harry reached his hand to you, gripping onto the skin of your exposed thigh.

You could audibly hear the man whimper and his wife scoff as Harry’s thumb began to caress your skin. You could see Claudia’s smile grow as she takes a sip of her drink, watching Harry become possessive of you before her eyes. Derek caught her attention by kissing her cheek as the head speaker began his announcement for awards and donations.

As the night came to an end, you were thankful to have Harry at your side. He was holding his own, taking to other businessmen as if he had been conversing with them his whole life. He was able to talk business plans, discuss what he was currently learning in classes, he even gave a few men advice on future endeavors. To be completely honest, you were aroused by the power Harry held as he was working the room.

Harry had his arm wrapped around your waist as you walked to your awaiting SUV, holding your hand as you climbed in and he followed suit. You let out a content sigh, enjoying the silence in the car.

Harry reached across you, grabbing the back of your knee to pull both legs to rest on his lap. He gently unclasped the buckle of your heel, slowly removing it before placing it on the floor by his feet. He did the same with your other foot and began to rub his thumb up the arches.

You let out a satisfied hum at the pressure soothing your aching feet, resting your head on the window as you watched Harry focused on his work in hand.

“You did amazing tonight, Harry. Thank you.”

He looked up at you with his dimples on display, making the tightness you have felt in your stomach all night constrict even more. He looked proud, as he should.

“It was a lot of fun. Learned a lot.”

You smiled back at him, slowly blinking your eyes closed. “That old colleague I was telling you about with the vintage car show, Jack, he asked if we would like to go. It’s in six weeks if you are interested.”

“I’d love to.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the six weeks since the fundraising event, Harry had joined you on multiple smaller level events, including some work dinners and client matters.

His closest had grown exponentially in the six weeks, whether it was a suit for an event that you had purchased for him or he had found something designer he liked and he bought it with the money from his ever growing bank account, thanks to you. He has found pleasure in Gucci, also thanks to you. He has found that the luxuries he now has in his life was all in your taste, subconsciously wanting to please you.

You would comment on his attire he has purchased without your assistance, always beaming when you talk about what line it was from and how well it suited Harry. He loves the feelings he gets when you praise him.

He was packing his bag for the weekend trip to the Hamptons, having just gone shopping for some outfits for the occasion. He had also bought some things to spruce up his studio apartment, making it look more put together and modern rather than a frat boy's bedroom. Your taste even makes its appearance in his decor.

You had knocked on his door, waiting with coffee in hand for the both of you. He opened the door with a wide smile before allowing you to enter the apartment. He had his clothes neatly folded on the bed, waiting to be placed into the leather duffle bag you got him for the occasion, another ‘thank you’ on your part.

You sat on his bed, sipping your coffee while watching him put his toiletries in the matching leather shaving bag, which was also a praise gift. He was dressed in grey sweat shorts and a simple black T-shirt with his short locks held out of his face by a red bandana. He was still barefoot walking around while he was finishing up.

“Do you have the word ‘big’ tattooed on your toe?” Your ever present smile grew as you leaned closer to get a look.

Harry chuckled, scratching his jaw “I may have been drunk and did it myself.”

You shook your head with a giggle of your own before taking another sip of your coffee, leaning back in Harry’s bed.

Harry was trying to will away the semi he was sporting. He had never seen you in lounge clothes and the black leggings you were wearing were doing crazy things to Harry’s body. You were wearing your Columbia Alumni shirt, tied in a knot at the waist to show off the curves of your hips that the leggings were hugging. Your hair was up messily, making Harry want to pull it down from its restraint so that he could muss it up with his own fingers. Your Clubmaster Ray-Bans sat on top of your head and your skin looked fresh and dewy with no makeup on.

Harry took a moment in his kitchen when he was getting his hydro flask to take a breath and squeeze himself through his shorts to take away some of the ache. He’s not sure how he is going to handle a whole weekend if this is what it will be like.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You stopped at a local gas station before leaving the city. Harry offered to fill your tank while you went into the shop to get some snacks for the trip, getting your essential Swedish Fish and Redbull while Harry asked for gummy bears and orange juice.

Harry was already sitting in the passenger seat when you returned, him now having his Wayfarer Ray-Bans on; he only bought them when you said he would look good in them. He was playing on his phone and perked up when you slid in the drivers side.

You handed him his goodies while you promptly opened your bag of candy to set between your thighs and cracked open your can of liquid energy. You began your hour and a half drive to your beach house in the Hamptons. You had your favorite Spotify playlist playing through your speakers, both of you humming along.

“Want some?” Harry looked up at you confused as to what you were talking about. You smiled as you glanced over before returning your gaze to the road. “Some fishies, help yourself.” You nodded down to the bag between your thighs as you took another sip of your drink.

“Thanks.” Harry reached over, dipping his hand between your thighs that you involuntarily widened when his hand approached. He looked up at your face when he slowly dipped his fingers into the bag to grip a few red fish, reaching for the few that were closest to the apex of your thighs. He could feel your heat at his knuckles as he pulled a few gummies out, sticking his tongue out as the candy approached his lips.

You adjusted in your seat, shocked that you were turned on by a man grabbing and eating a candy. Then again, it was Harry. He has been torturing you with his good looks since you clicked on his link.

The ride was uneventful for the rest of the time, Harry watching as expensive homes, luxurious boutiques and restaurants whiz by as you enter the Hamptons and make your way toward the beach.

You pulled up to your beach house, clicking the garage door button on your phone before parking. You grab your trash and put them in the appropriate receptacles that you keep in your garage. Harry was already grabbing your bags out of the car, allowing you to unlock the door freely. You held it open for Harry, stepping into your small mud room, both kicking off your shoes before walking further into the home.

The first view Harry had was of the beach through the windows that filled the wall of your dining room. He walks past the open concept kitchen to go straight to the windows, watching the waves crash on the shore. You open the french doors that lead to your back porch that has stairs that lead down to the sandy beach. You let some fresh air waft in as you go to the kitchen to take stock of what you need to go shopping for.

Harry was still standing at the window with both your bags in hand before you went over to rub his back and grab your bag.

“Come on, I’ll show you your room.” You guide Harry past your open living room to the stairs, leading him up and to the right. “This will be your room. You’ll have your own bathroom and there should be fresh towels in there for you. I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything. I’m going to hop in the shower.”

Harry watched as you walked away, seeing you pull off your T-shirt as you were shutting your bedroom door, briefly exposing your black bralette. Harry ran his hand down his face, feeling the pulse return to his groin. He quickly shut and locked the door before situating himself on his bed, promptly pushing his shorts and briefs down his thighs, reaching for the high end lotion you placed by the bed for guests.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry had taken his own shower after relieving himself after he made a proper mess on his thighs and hand. He climbed down the stairs to the smell of curry and Elton John playing through the speakers.

“Figured we should eat a proper meal since we haven’t yet today, so I ordered some Thai.”

You both sat on your back porch, enjoying the view as you ate your take out. You chatted about the next day, telling Harry about the car show and what to expect when it comes to Jack.

“He's like that eccentric drunk uncle at the Christmas party that you love but don’t want to deal with.”

You enjoyed each other’s company, watching the sun start to set on the horizon before calling it a night and turning in.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

After waking up from a restful sleep, Harry got dressed in his running shorts and hoodie, throwing on his running shoes before walking to your room to let you know he was going to go for a run along the beach.

Your door was cracked open slightly, Harry able to see you laying on your bed. He stepped closer to the door, about to push the door open further when he heard an ever present whimper. He wasn’t sure if the noise was due to your sleep, but his question was answered when he looked at you in your detail.

Your legs were spread open, two fingers deep to the knuckle as you were laid open on your comforter. You were pumping into yourself as you had your other hand up under your sleep shirt, groping your breast and rolling your nipple between your fingers.

Harry thought he was dreaming, seeing the delicious sight in front of him. Harry couldn’t help himself but to dip his hand in his shorts to start palming his hardening member. Your whimpers going straight to his cock, the arch of your spine off your bed making his mouth water.

You looked over at your door, eyes barely open, pausing your movements briefly when you saw Harry in the crack of the door. Your eyes trail to see him pumping his hand in his shorts, thinking that you should give him a good show.

He didn’t notice that you had seen him but he did notice that your legs had spread further as you pulled your glistening fingers out of your core to rub them on your clit, causing you to moan louder. You pulled your shirt up completely to expose yourself fully to Harry, all without him knowing that you were aware of his wandering eyes.

Having him watch you work yourself got you to your brink. Your eyes were glued to his pumping which was now frantic, causing you to lose control, snapping your legs shut around your hand as you came undone. You could hear Harry attempt to muffle his grunt as he made a mess of his shorts, causing a blissful smile to grow across your swollen lips. You gently rolled your fingers around your clit, spreading your legs again for Harry to watch as you ease yourself down from your high.

The next time you looked at your door, Harry was gone.

You got out of bed with an annoyed huff, getting a shower before wrapping yourself in your robe to head downstairs to make coffee and a quick breakfast. You grabbed your plate of eggs and toast with your coffee and cigarettes, stepping out on your back porch to enjoy the air while trying to calm your aggravation.

You don’t know why you are annoyed with Harry not making a move on you while you were self pleasing, but you were. You wanted that to be the moment to break down the walls built by the pure sexual tension between you. You knew he wanted you, he had told you he had touched himself to you, and now, you had seen him touch himself to you. You were on the brink of sinking on your knees and pulling him out to prove how much you wanted him too.

Harry climbed up the stairs, all sweaty from his run as you were finishing up your cigarette. He could sense the irritation coming off of you but he wasn’t sure why. Maybe you had caught him and you weren’t happy about it. He would just die if that was the case. He sat down in the chair that wasn’t taken over by your resting feet. He noticed that you were only picking at your breakfast as he untied his shoes and kicked them off so as to not trail any sand inside. He leaned back in his seat, taking a deep breath before pulling his hoodie off, T-shirt coming off with it.

You couldn’t help your mouth watering seeing him now topless and glistening with sweat, watching his chest rise and fall while trying to catch his breath. You sat up and ripped a piece of toast before popping it in your mouth, now refusing to look at him.

“Have a nice run?” You continued to poke at your eggs, acting like you're eating them but you are just trying to occupy your eyes.

“Yeah, it was nice. Been a while since I ran on a beach.”

You hummed at his response before standing up and grabbing your things. “We will be leaving in an hour, Jack wants us to meet him at the country club before the car show.”

Harry nodded at you but you promptly walked inside, ignoring his reply before dropping your dishes in the sink and going to your room to get ready.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You knew you were being petty. You knew that he couldn’t read your mind but god you wished he could. You were just finishing your hair when you heard a knock on your bedroom door. You walked over to see Harry clad in red and white gingham trousers and a white button up with the sleeves rolled up, just sheer enough to make the outlines of his black ink. His hair was perfectly slicked back with a few curls having some definition to them. He had a look of cowardice as he tucked his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

“Looking handsome, as always.” He gave you a soft smile at the compliment before fully taking you in. You were in a white knee length sundress that had big roses printed on the fabric. Your one shoulder strap annoyingly falling down, which Harry promptly grazed his fingers against your skin to slide the strap into place.

Harry’s gaze raked back up your frame before looking you in your eyes, “You ready?”

You nodded at him, grabbing your Michael Kors wedges off your bed before walking out of your room ahead of Harry. You made your way to the mud room to switch your purses and to sit on the bench to slip on your shoes.

Harry grabbed your shoes for you, kneeling in front of you, gingerly wrapping his fingers around your ankle to slide your foot into the wedge, pulling the zipper up at the heel. He had done the same to your other foot, this time watching you watch him. He gently placed your foot to the floor before standing up straight and putting his hand out for you to help you up before walking to your car.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The car ride was silent, omitting the random questions Harry had regarding the country club and Jack. You adjusted your sunglasses after you had parked, reaching into the back seat to grab your bag. You were about to climb out but Harry gripped your wrist, pausing your motions.

“Y/N…” you looked at him as he had reached to push your sunglasses off your face to look you directly in the eyes. “I’m sorry about this morning, when I saw you. I should have left you in private but I just couldn’t help myself. I needed to see you, need to see you like that. If it ruined any type of relationship we may have, I thoroughly apologize. You should know that I never meant to invade your privacy but… fuck, I just can’t help myself with you. My body takes over when it comes to you and I am so sorry. Please, forgive me?”

You sat there in silence, trying not to smile at how cute Harry was. He was giving you the puppy eyes as his thumb ran over your wrist in gentle circles. You were pondering on how you should approach it; Do you tell him it was no problem? Ignore it and act like nothing happened? Or…

“I only got off because I saw you pump your cock watching me.” You leaned over to kiss his cheek before stepping out of the car to the entrance of the country club.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jack loved Harry. They were chatting it up outside, Jack with a cigar in his mouth and Harry with his mimosa in hand. You were ordering you both another one when Jack’s wife, Sharon, approached you at the bar.

“He’s a looker, sweetheart.” You smiled at her before telling her honestly how you met. Jack and Sharon were always supportive of you. You had been Jack’s intern at his company when you were in undergrad, Jack promptly hiring you when you were getting your masters. He taught you everything you knew and Sharon taught you how to enjoy the finer things in life, including Harry.

“Cut the shit with the escort thing and make him your man. He’s a looker, he’s smart. Jack already adores him and is calling him son. You know how hard it is to please that man.”

You looked back to Harry and Jack, both laughing at one of their dad jokes. Harry looked up to see you looking at him, smiling and twiddling his fingers in a wave. He finished his drink, prompting him and Jack to walk back inside to you girls.

Harry had adjusted the strap of your dress that fell down again and you were handing him a new mimosa, sipping out of your own glass. Harry placed his hand on your lower back, watching you as you engage in the conversation Jack and Sharon were having.

An announcement was made that the fairway was now open for guests to look at the cars. Jack quickly downed his drink before exiting like a kid being allowed free range of a candy store. Sharon promptly followed her husband as Harry guided you to follow, grazing his hand down to your bum to give it a soft rub and light tap.

Harry followed Jack around as he was explaining to Harry all the ins and outs of all the vintage cars on show. What gave them value, their rarity, what he likes and dislikes of each car. Sharon and you following behind, enjoying the sun and the wine slushies you had grabbed from a vendor.

Harry took a particular interest in a white 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230SL, stalking around it to take in the details. He smiled to the owner when they came over to talk to Harry, showing the car with the roof down.

“He’s got good taste. He’s enamored by you and the car.” Jack elbowed your shoulder, causing the strap of your dress to fall again. You looked at him as you adjusted the dress with a smile.

“How can you tell?”

“Well, I can tell he loves the car because that’s how he looks at you, doll.”

You look back to Harry, who is now sitting in the driver's seat, running his hands along the steering wheel. Harry shakes hands with the driver before walking back over to you, grabbing your slushie to take a drink himself.

You look up at him, pushing your sunglasses into your hair to take him in fully. “You like?”

Harry put his hand on your hip, taking another sip of the slushie. “She is a beauty. My dad has something similar but not as pristine.” He looked back over his shoulder to look at the car as his hand continued to rub at your hip.

“She is pretty. Looks like a pearl.” You looked over his shoulder with him to take her in.

Harry kissed the top of your head, handing back your drink before going to follow Jack and Sharon as you sneak off to talk to the owner.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You enjoyed your dinner with Jack and Sharon, catching up on your businesses as well as discussed Harry’s future plans. Jack had offered Harry an intern position at his company if Harry was interested.

Jack and Sharon wished you and Harry a good night before you went your separate ways to your cars. Sharon gave you an extra squeeze and told you to “be nice to that boy”, sending you a wink.

You climb into your car to see Harry beaming. “I think they liked me.”

You smiled back at him, “I know they like you. Wouldn't stop coming up to me to tell me how i should keep you around.”

Harry was leaning his head on the headrest to look at you, “Do you want to keep me around?”

“Should I keep you around?” You started your car and began to drive away, Harry still watching your every move. You could see him in the corner of your eye, both of your smiles growing. His hand made its way to your thigh, pushing your skirt up so that his hand could rest on your bare skin. You hummed at the warmth of his palm.

“So you liked when I was watching you?” His hand began to slide further up your dress and your legs had spread further for him, as they tend to do more frequently than not as of late.

“I loved it.”

He hummed at your response, “Do you like being caught? Dirty girl.”

You moaned and moved your left leg so Harry could touch every inch of you, you lifted the skirt of your dress to expose your lace covered core to Harry.

“Want me to finger fuck you here, dirty girl? Right in your car, while you're driving? You’re fucking filthy.”

He started to run his fingers through your folds and you tried your hardest to focus on the road. You weren’t far from your home at this point, trying to stay safe while focusing on Harry’s delicious fingers learning the dips and curves of your core.

“Should I wait to fuck you properly when we get home? Been thinking about it all day.” He unbuckled his seatbelt to get closer to you to nose at your neck. He started to dip his fingers into you as he was kissing any exposed skin.

You finally made it home, abruptly parking your car in the driveway. You undid your seatbelt, promptly taking Harry’s hand that was between your legs to plunge his fingers deeper into you. Your head tipped back as Harry’s fingers hit your favorite spot. Harry quickly made the come hither motion, rubbing his fingertips where you needed him.

“God baby… you’re my dirty girl, huh? Fucking yourself with my fingers.” Your grip tightened around his wrist as he nipped at your jaw. Your thighs began to tighten around Harry’s hand which caused him to remove himself from you. You let out a whine at the empty feeling and the pure desire that was burning in you.

You turn to Harry with lust filled eyes to see him shamelessly suck on each finger that was buried in you individually. “Going to give me a proper taste later. Aren’t you, sweet girl?”

Harry had climbed out of the car, grabbing the keys from you to unlock the door. He began to unbutton his shirt in the mud room as he was kicking off his shoes, you watched with a panting breath, still in the front seat of your car. Harry tucked his hands in the pockets of his trousers, bare chested, and gave you a nod to follow him inside.

When you finally entered your house, Harry was in the kitchen with his head in the refrigerator. He pulled out the container of strawberries and slid them onto the island. He closed the door before turning to lean on the island, popping the container open with a flick of his finger. He grazed the tips of his fingers across each strawberry, deciding which one was the juiciest berry.

“Go get in your shower. I will be there in a moment.” He gripped the stem of the red fruit, tongue grazing it’s flesh before he sunk his teeth in. He made sure to look at you as he licked his lips free of the sweet juice.

You thought that two could play at this game, standing in place as you unzipped your dress and letting it fall freely around your ankles, exposing you in your strapless bra and panties with your wedges still on before climbing up the stairs. Harry stood up straight as you began to walk away.

You quickly undressed as you started your shower, getting under the warm stream while patiently waiting. The anticipation was killing you. It felt like you had been standing under the running water for hours with Harry nowhere to be found. You decided that you would actually start your shower routine.

You were facing the water, rinsing off your face free of makeup and face wash when you felt Harry’s grip on the back of your neck. He pressed his body close to yours so that you could feel his erection on your bum and so that his mouth had access to your ear.

“What am I to do with you, filthy girl? Spent months thinking of you with your legs spread open, just for me and then you have to go and fuck yourself with not only your fingers, but mine as well.”

He used his left hand to guide yours to the wall for support while his right hand trailed down your body, immediately finding purchase between your legs. His middle finger was quick with making circles around your sensitive nub while he laced his fingers with yours against the wall.

“Dreamt about touching you,” his fingers dipped lower, grazing your glistening entrance. “Tasting you,” he began to pepper kisses along your shoulder. “Fucking you.” He thrusted his hips behind you, his hard on grazing perfectly between your cheeks.

“I’ve wanted to for so long my sweet girl, just know that it’s because I want this, not because of the job. Fuck the job honestly. I just want you, all of you.”

He gave a gentle push to your upper spine to have you lean over slightly as he grips his member, swiftly sliding himself into you and quickly gaining a rhythm with his thrusts. He was quick but not deep, causing you to press your cheek to the cold time for support. His thrusts became deeper and rougher, causing your gentle whimpers to become moans that bounced against the tiles.

Harry gripped your thigh, pulling it to spread you open further while he guided you to rest your foot on the bench of the shower. His moans were muffled by your shoulder that would have his mark by the end of this. Harry’s hand continued to rub circles on your clit, making your legs tremble and for your to lean back upright into Harry.

“Feel good baby? Fuck, you’re such a good girl taking me. Feel so fucking good.”

You could feel his hips stutter against you, causing him to roll his hips slowly into you. You let out a moan and grip the wrist of his hand that is making work on your mound.

“Mmm you like that? Going to cum for me, sweet girl? Let me feel you.” His fingers started to move in rapid figure eights, causing your leg that was propped up to quickly fall and close Harry’s hand between your thighs. The new tightness of your core with your legs closed caused Harry to moan out and still within you, feeling your orgasm throb around him.

He began to kiss down your spine so he could be on his knees. He gently gripped your hip to turn you around so you could finally face him. He looked beautiful.

As he was kissing your lower belly, you took in his wet hair slicked back, his cheeks and chest flush from orgasm, his lips red and swollen. He used both hands to spread your thighs open so that he could see his cum drip from your core. He looked up at you in awe before quickly running his finger through your folds, catching both his and your arousal. He extended his hand up to you, telling you to ‘open’ before he popped his slick finger between your lips. He let you suck his finger to your desire as he dipped his tongue between your folds, moaning at the taste of your mixture.

Harry had stood up and held your jaw before leaning in for your first kiss. He was gentle, holding both sides of your jaw as his tongue grazed your lip to allow him to taste all of you. He pressed you gently against the cool wall as he continued to kiss you breathless before pulling away and grabbing the shampoo to wash your hair for you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been a few weeks and you had finally received the call telling you that you could pick up a gift that you had purchased for Harry. You had bought it prior to him giving you the good news that he had accepted the internship with Jack, but he doesn’t need to know that.

You called him and told him that you were on your way to pick him up with the plan to go for a celebratory dinner. You texted him when you were out front, climbing out of Harry’s gift to lean on the passenger door to await his arrival.

When he walked out, you beamed at how handsome he looked with chartreuse wide legged trousers with a black stripe along the side and a black button up. When he turned to look at you, he was frozen.

The white 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230SL.

You lifted your hands with a ‘surprise’ and a beaming smile. You acted as if you were one of those girls on the Price is Right, explaining all the details, ending with “And she could be all yours Mr. Styles, for the price of a kiss.”

Harry climbed down the front stairs of his apartment building, still in awe of the car but quickly grabbed your face and placed multiple quick kisses to your lips before wrapping his arms around you.

“Sweet girl, you didn’t…”

“You stop. I did and I wanted to, you deserve it. You’ve been working so hard and you got the internship with Jack. We’ll be working together before you know it.”

He looked down at you and gave you a gentle smile before giving you another longer, sweeter kiss. “Shall we go for a ride?” You held the keys up for Harry, who promptly took them before opening the passenger door for you.

Harry drove around the city, following your directions to a more secluded area by a park. The sun was setting as you told Harry to park the car. You looked at him adoringly, your fingers rubbing through his growing locks.

Harry turned to look at you with that all knowing glare, “Did you bring me all the way out here just to screw me, dirty girl?”

You were already climbing across the seat to straddle his lap, unzipping the front of your dress, exposing you had nothing on underneath. You pulled Harry’s head back by tugging at his hair to look up at you. “We need to break her in, don't we?”

Harry groaned before sitting up to give you a searing kiss, his hands trailing over your exposed skin as you were kissing the skin of his jaw and neck. “We could get caught, you know?”

You pulled away, looking down upon him with a devious smirk, you began to undo his belt and zip of his trousers. “Good.”

Harry let out a moan as you dipped his hand in his trousers, pumping him lightly before pulling him out.

“Fucking filthy girl.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry was being added to all the invitations to your work events as if he were a part of you. At this point, he was. Claudia being sure that everyone knew that Harry was an up and coming businessman who was in love with New York’s finest and most beautiful businesswoman.

And everyone adored Harry. How could they not? He was charming, handsome, smart, and an amazing lover. But people didn’t need to know the last part. Well, except maybe Claudia, she was your best friend.

Harry was just as adventurous as you when it came to your intimacy. Always suggesting new things to try, always feeding your hunger. Tonight was no different.

You both had played with the idea of fooling around at a public event but never made any formal agreement. Tonight, you were invited to a gala at the Guggenheim so Harry had used it as an opportunity to fulfill your fantasy.

Harry had stopped by Harris’ to pick up both of your garments and he also stopped at Eve’s Garden on his way to your home. Harry had walked into your penthouse with the garment bags and a little black plastic bag in hand.

You were in your en-suite finishing up your bath, putting lotion on while sitting on the edge of your tub, humming along to Etta James as Lady was curled up on your vanity, licking her paw. She chirped when she saw Harry in the doorway, slinking her way to him for some loving pets.

“Hello, my sweet girls.” You beam up at Harry, rubbing the last of your lotion into your hands before standing up to give Harry a saccharine kiss, also giving Lady a pet. She would never forgive you if you didn’t.

“Thank you for picking up my dress, handsome.”

“Of course, my love. I picked up a little something else.” Harry gave you a small smirk before turning to your room, you follow suit. Harry sat on your bed, patting his lap for you to sit on.

He pulled black bag out from behind him as you sat in his lap. He handed you the bag, undoing your robe to kiss the skin of your collar. You pulled out the vibrant cube box that was nondescript. You rotated it in your hands to try to figure out what it was.

“Open it.” Harry continued to kiss your skin, opening your robe more to expose your chest to him. You opened the box to see a vibrator, a We-Vibe specifically. The box began to vibrate without you touching anything, Harry pulling his lips off your skin to show you that he is controlling it with his phone.

You let out a laugh in disbelief, “Oh, baby.”

Harry smiled at you before getting a good grip of you to lay you on the bed. “I figured we could have a little fun tonight.”

You laid on your back and spread your legs for Harry, who settled on his knees between yours. Harry had pulled the vibrator out of the box, going to the bathroom to sanitize it like the gentleman he is. He made eye contact with you on his way back to you, sucking on the vibrator as he crawled back up the bed.

He shamelessly rolled it against his tongue as his free hand ran up your inner thigh. Harry pulled the vibrator out of his mouth, hollowing his cheeks to spit on the tip of the vibrator before running it through your folds. He gently pushed it into you, watching you as you take a quick inhale.

“You okay, sweet girl?” You gave him a small nod before grabbing his hand to help him adjust it to a more comfortable position within you. Harry rubbed the tops of your thighs before leaning forward to give you a gentle kiss. “Let's get ready, hm?”

You both got up to get ready, you waddling slightly as you walked to your closet, adjusting to exciting new object between your legs. You let out a squeal when you felt it begin to vibrate.

“Just testing it!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dinner was really rough on you, Harry having his phone permanently attached to his hand under the table. You were starting to get sweaty around your hairline and upper lip trying to keep your moans at bay.

You were reapplying your signature lipstick after finishing dinner and Harry took it as an opportune moment to give you a pulsing vibrate, causing you to give a light moan as your mouth was open and your hand holding your mirror fell to the table soundly. Claudia, Derek, Jack, and Sharon all look at you as Harry tries to hold back his smile, clearing his throat and rubbing his two fingers on the tip of his nose.

“Are you alright, chickee?”

You also cleared your throat and nodded as you felt the intensity between your legs increase and the pulsing become more frequent. You closed your eyes and let out a hum, gently rubbing your lips together before suggesting you go to the bathroom, giving Harry’s thigh a squeeze.

You made your way out of the dining area, Harry quick to follow, telling your friends that he was simply checking up on you. You heard the click of his boots on the marbled floor, the vibrations being between your legs making your knees buckle as you feel Harry’s grip on your bicep to pull you in his direction.

He pulled you into a more private area that was closest to where you were, which happened to be a coat closet. He smeared his lips against yours, smudging your scarlet lips. Harry’s hand was quick to run up your skirt to pull the toy from you, promptly placing it between his lips to suck off your juices before sticking it in his inner jacket pocket.

Harry fell to his knees before you, hiking up your skirt around your waist, gripping your hands to guide you to hold the skirt up for him.

“You’ve been such a good girl for me tonight baby.” He was kissing along your thighs, “Stayed nice and quiet for me, though I hate it. Need to hear you scream for me now, darling.” Harry lifted your leg so it rested on his shoulder while his hands pinned you against the wall.

You felt his fingers tighten around your hips as his nose rubbed against your mound, pecking kisses, occasionally giving your skin a soft lick. You moan softly and look down to see Harry already peering up at you through his long lashes. “Going to need you to be louder than that, sweet girl.”

Harry sat up on his hunches to pull himself out of the restraints of his designer trousers. He lifted his palm up to you, “Spit.”

You gladly spit in his palm before he started to stroke himself, letting an unashamed moan out of the back of his throat. “Been so fucking hard for you all night. Was palming myself under the table all through dinner.”

You spread your legs further as Harry scooted closer, returning to giving you gentle kisses to your mound and lips. You could feel his moans against your skin as he was pumping himself and spreading you open with his tongue.

Your head tipped back as Harry began to dip his tongue into you, gently sucking your lips and clit individually into his mouth. You continue to let out tiny mewls, and Harry needed more.

“Louder, dirty girl. I want them to hear you in the dining room.”

“I need you to fuck me if you want me to do that, baby.”

Harry quickly removed your thigh from his shoulder and climbed to his feet. He still had a grip on your thigh, slinging it over his hip so he could simply slide into you, which was easy to do with how slick you had become from Harry’s incessant teasing all night.

You both moaned out at the feeling, finally having you full of him, just what you needed. What you both needed. You let out a loud moan when Harry started thrusting his hips into you, begging for him to go harder as you dug your nails into his suit jacket. You quickly pushed it off of him so that you could get your nails into him properly.

“Fucking hell, my dirty girl really needs me, huh?”

You nodded at him, letting out another moan that caused Harry’s hips to thrust erratically. His hand gripped your ass to pull you closer, his other hand went to your jaw, his thumb running over your ruby lips, smearing the color.

“You look so good when I fuck you baby girl.” You licked his thumb, tasting the remnants of your lipstick. You grind your hips against Harry, egging him on.

“I need you harder.” You begin to lift your other leg to wrap around Harry’s waist, him gripping your thigh and pinning your harder to the wall with his hips. He took your direction and began to thrust into you harder, hips snapping at a feverish pace. The sound of your skin slapping and your strangled moans sent Harry into overdrive, using his pubic mound to grind perfectly into your clit causing you to gush slightly around Harry’s member.

“Fuck, dirty girl. Got you squirting on me.” The look on Harry’s face was a look of awe as well as pained trying to hold back from his own orgasm. Your thighs clamped around his waist as your second wave came over you, constricting Harry causing him to come undone. Harry’s hand flew up to the wall to support the two of you as you slowly came down.

Harry kissed your cheek and jaw mumbling how perfect you are and that he loves you over and over. You grip his jaw as you unhook your ankles to plant yourself to the floor. Kissing him and praising how good he treats you, how much you love him.

“We should probably get back, hm?”

“I think that since we are both a proper mess,” he tried to remove some of your smeared lipstick with no luck, smiling down at you, “we should probably just head home.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So what happened with you and Harry last night?” Claudia had asked you as you were both eating your salads from Derek’s go-to local bistro.

“Hm? Oh, I wasn’t feeling well so he just took me home.”

“Not feeling well as in, ‘tummy not well’, or ‘he fucked you so good in the coat closet that you couldn’t walk’ not well?”

You choked on your salad, taking quick sips from your water to clear your throat.

“He said he wanted everyone to hear you and boy did we!” Claudia began to laugh, taking another bit of food and giving you a cheeky smile as you blushed.

“I wanted to check up on you, as girls do, and the next thing I know, I have my ear pressed up to the coat closet getting turned on by Harry’s dirty talk to you.” She shrugged it off as nothing as you covered your face in embarrassment.

“You told me you both are adventurous but lord have mercy. Getting everyone hot and bothered by it.”

You finally loosened up, giggling slightly as you asked her, “Did you notice how I was off throughout the night?” She nodded as she licked the piece of green hanging out of her mouth to guide it where it belonged.

“Harry got us one of those remote vibrators…”

“Oh my god! He was fucking with you all night?! I would take him in the coat closet too! Fucking hell! That’s so hot though. Was it nice? I mean clearly, but would you do it again?”

As you were about to respond, Jack walked in with Harry beside him. He looked so handsome when dressed in a more casual suit for work. His hair was growing longer and he was too lazy to shave that morning at your place before work, so he had a slight scruff to him.

“To what do we own the pleasure of you fine gentleman?” Harry winked at your cheeky remark.

“Well sweetheart, wanted you to be the first to know. Harry has accepted a position at my company and would like to discuss a business proposition with you.”

You couldn’t help but to jump up to your feet to run over and give him a hug and kiss, doing the same to Jack.

You clear your throat to appear to be more professional, which no one in the room took seriously. “So what is this business proposition that you have for me?”

Harry cleared his throat and you didn’t realize that Derek and Sharon had also made their way into your office. Harry tucked his hands in his pockets, getting a nod of approval from Jack.

“I know that our start was quite unorthodox in nature, being as you had hired me as a date to an event. That being said, I have come to learn a lot more about you than I had when I was just a simple fangirl of yours.”

You giggle at his natural joking nature but know that there is true sentiment to his words.

“I have been utterly in love with you before we even met but being with you and getting to truly know you has cemented my thoughts and feelings for you. I know that we have been official for less than a year but I don’t think I could handle another moment of my life where I can’t say that we will be each other's forever.”

You could hear Claudia and Sharon squeak and gasp as Harry pulls his hands out of his pockets, his left one holding a small velvet box.

“Y/N, my love, my sweet girl. I promise to love you and take care of you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

You were beaming with your eyes brimmed with tears, sniffling with a giggle. “There is only one problem.” Everyone froze in their movements, anticipating what you will say next. “I get to keep taking care of you.”

Harry let out the breath he was holding, “Fair enough.” He reached for your left hand to place the perfect engagement ring on your finger. Standing up to give you the most perfect kiss from the most perfect man. And to think that you had ordered him online.

[angelicyoongie]

desolate (5)

— summary: you just wanted a cute little normal cat to keep you company. so, you're not really sure how you ended up with the grumpiest hybrid on earth that seems hellbent on making your life difficult.

— pairing: cat hybrid yoongi x human reader

— genre: angst, fluff, eventual smut

— word count: 2.8k

— tag list: @mrcleanheichou​​ @ladymidnightt​​ @cheese123344​ @xanny91​ @dinorahrodriguez​​ @best-space-boy​​ @dulcaet​ @moccahobi​​ @keijaycreates​ @staytrillswag​ @xsmilebitesx​ @serendipityoreuphoria​ @jiminot7​ @beyond-the-swag​ @nananaum1​ @faithsummers11​ @twomilkmen-gocomedy​ @theonewholovestoread​ @karissassirak​ @veryuniquenamegoeshere​ @yourlipssoirresistible​ @ayoo-bangtan​ @murderyoursoul​ @btsxdoll​ @see3milyblog​ @gukiyi​ @officialcarly9701 @mtgforall​ @narcissism-iskey​ @sp3ak-yours3lf​ @cesthoney​ @imluckybitches​ @hd-junglebook​ @sugarrimajins​ @multifandomgirl29​ @beach-bitch-bitch-beach​ @bangtansleftnut​ @theresa-nam-nam-me​

Part one Part two Part three Part four Part six Part seven Part eight Part nine Part ten (M) Part eleven Part twelve Part thirteen Part fourteen (M)

You feel like your brain has short-circuited as you stare at the hybrid in front of you. The first thought that hits you is how badly you’ll have to grovel at Jihyo and Sana’s feet for not believing the dog hybrid.

“How?” Your legs are shaking as you lean heavily against the front door, every muscle in your body still on high alert.

“What do you mean, how?” Yoongi tilts his head. The narrowed gaze that peaks out from between his long bangs makes it seem like he wonders if you’re a little dumb for not comprehending what’s in front of you immediately.

“But you’re a cat! Not a human,” You squeak.

“Yes, I’m a cat. But, I’m also human. I believe the correct term you’re looking for is a hybrid,” Yoongi quirks his eyebrows. It’s hard to make out his face properly in the low-lit hallway, but there’s no denying the pure smugness that seems to be radiating off him.

Your mind clings to the familiarity of the sassy attitude you’re used to getting from your cat, and you try to force down the building panic as you narrow your eyes right back at him.

“Well I can see that,” You reach up to gently flick against his fluffy cat ear, your annoyance temporarily winning over your anxiety. Yoongi drops his hands from your shoulders with a disgruntled sound. A threatening hiss slips past his lips at the audacity you have to touch his ear as he reaches up to cover it from any further assault.

“What I don’t understand is why my cat is a hybrid, when that’s not what I adopted,” Yoongi’s cool demeanour cracks for a second as you see a flash of unease pass through his expression. You aren’t sure if he’s embarrassed on being called out for lying to you, or if it’s something .. else.

“Does it matter?” Yoongi takes a step back as he crosses his arms, his posture tense and defensive.

“Does it matter?!” You echo, a bubble of hysteria forcing its way up your throat.

“Of course it matters, Yoongi! I adopted a cat for a reason. I can’t take care of a hybrid,” The reality of the situation sets in as the words leave your lips. You can’t take care of a hybrid. You can’t take care of Yoongi.

Yoongi tsk’s at your words. “You’ve been taking care of me just fine,” He shrugs, but even you can see that he looks too thin and pale. His way too prominent collarbones are peeking out of the dark sweater he’s wearing, and your sweatpants look too loose on him.

Wait–

“Are you wearing my clothes?” You surge forward on shaking legs to grip at the material of Yoongi’s sweater, your sweater, and the hybrid only rolls his eyes.

“Why? Would you prefer it if I was naked? Because I can make that happen,” Yoongi smirks; eyes looking down at you with such cockiness you can only gape at him in return.

You’ve never encountered someone so brazen before, and you don’t have the quick comebacks Yoongi seems to have an endless supply of. You feel a little out of your depth, in more ways than one.

Yoongi unfurls his arms to grip the hem of the sweater when you stay quiet, and it’s only when you start to see a sliver of pale skin that you jump into action.

“Don’t take off your clothes!” You forcefully tug the material back down, embarrassment staining your cheeks red as you avoid meeting his gaze.

“You’re giving me mixed messages here,” You see Yoongi roll his eyes out in your peripheral vision. You wonder if that’s his default reaction.

“I just asked if they were mine, I didn’t tell you to take them off!” You rub your temple tiredly, the exhaustion of the long day at work finally starting to catch up with you.

“Of course I’m wearing your clothes, it’s not like I have my own,” Yoongi sneers, lips pulled back in distaste as he watches you.

You ignore the bad feeling you get in your stomach at his words. You didn’t know he was human – how were you supposed to provide it for him? You can’t believe you’re essentially fighting your cat about clothes. This for sure wasn’t how you expected the day to end.

“Let’s just move to the living room,” You gesture weakly down the hallway. Yoongi studies you for another second before he spins around and leaves, giving you a few seconds alone to wrap your head around what has happened.

You shrug off your coat, taking a deep breath before you follow after him. There are a million thoughts and questions racing around in your head, but there’s really only one person that can give you the answers to them.

Yoongi is sat on the couch, back leaning against one of the sides, and one leg crossed under the other. His eyes are glued to your form until you take a seat on the other side of the couch, your posture painfully straight and tense.

“Relax. I’m not going to hurt you,” Yoongi huffs, reaching up with a pale hand to run it through his bangs. He needs a haircut, you think.

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” You mumble, but you can see his cat ears twitch, and you don’t doubt he heard you perfectly.

“Then why are you so tense?” Yoongi grumbles as he grabs one of the pillows on the couch, squeezing it to his chest. He really isn’t that much taller than you, but his attitude was so confident that you felt tiny out in the hallway. When you see him like this however – he seems smaller than he did before. He seems .. vulnerable.

“I told you Yoongi,” The fluffy tail laying down the side of the couch gives a lazy twitch as you say his name.

“I can’t take care of you. You’ve been staying in your cat form for way too long and it isn’t healthy. Look at how thin you are,” You give him a pained expression, guilt brewing in your stomach as he winces.

“The food you eat when you’re a cat obviously isn’t enough to actually feed you, and I don’t think I earn enough money to feed two mouths,” Actually, you know you don’t earn enough to provide for the both of you, but it feels terrible to say it. It feels like you’re letting him down.

Yoongi’s shoulders slump, ears flattening against his head as he looks out into the room.

“So you’re kicking me out?” His voice is emotionless, but you notice how his hands are curled into tight fists around the hem of your sweater.

Yes, yes, yes. You can’t take care of somebody else when you barely have the means to care for yourself.  It’s unrealistic. It’s plain stupid. But ..

“I don’t know,” You sigh. “You don’t need to leave right away, okay? You can continue to live here until I can figure something out.”

Yoongi nods, eyes still not meeting yours. The force behind his grip has lessened however, and his hands don’t look so deadly white anymore.

“Let me get some dinner ready, and then we’ll talk. You have some explaining to do,” You feel Yoongi’s eyes track you until your slip around the corner. You didn’t expect him to answer, but you’re pretty sure you hear a soft okayjust as you disappear from his sight.

.

You both eat in silence. You thought it would be awkward, but it feels strangely familiar. Of course, you’re technically still eating dinner with the same creature, but cat Yoongi and human Yoongi are two very different forms.

“So ..” You being as Yoongi sets down his plate on the coffee table. “Explain. How did you end up at the shelter as a cat?”

Yoongi narrows his eyes at you, and for the first time you’re stricken with how pretty they look, how nicely his eyelashes frame his dark gaze.

“It’s not that hard,” He scoffs.

“I just made sure I acted like I couldn’t understand what they were saying, and didn’t react to any of the normal tests they do. It’s pretty easy to fly under the radar when you know what reactions they’re looking for,” Yoongi shrugs. You want to ask how he knows how to avoid it, but you bite your tongue.

“I just didn’t shift, and after a week they didn’t even think twice about me being a hybrid. Humans really aren’t that smart,” He gaze is pointedly locked at you as he wrinkles his nose in distain.

You let out a harsh breath through your nose, trying your best not to give in and start a fight. It’s pretty obvious that it’s what he’s after as he stares you down, chin slightly upturned.

“So Yeonjun doesn’t know?” You ask.

“Yeonjun doesn’t know. Nobody knows. And nobody can,” Yoongi bites, the raw panic flashing in his eyes making you feel uneasy. Why is he so adamant about hiding who he is?

“.. O-okay,” You stammer, as you realize he’s waiting for you to give him a verbal confirmation you won’t tell anyone else about him.

“But why all the secrecy Yoongi? Wouldn’t it have been better to go to the shelter as a hybrid and get properly adopted by someone who can actually care for you?” He shakes his head.

“I can’t.” You’re about to ask why when he shoots you a glare, your mouth snapping shut so fast it makes your jaw ache.

Yoongi’s tail is swishing back and forth, and the little snap the end of his tail does at every turn makes you realize how annoyed he really is. You’ve seen him do the same motion a few times when you pet him past what he wanted you to. From experience you know he’s not far away from hissing at you to make you stop doing whatever you’re doing, whether that’s petting or asking too many questions.

“Alright,” You finally relax against the couch, too tired to keep interrogating him. He’s not off the hook, but you can tell he isn’t willing to talk about it right now – whatever it is that he’s keeping from you.

“How long were you planning on keeping me in the dark?” You ask.

Yoongi’s jaw clenches.

“You weren’t supposed to find out either,” His voice is monotone as he stares down at his hands, fingers picking at the skin around his thumb.

“I wasn’t ..” You still against the couch, the breath you’ve sucked in refusing to expel out again. If he didn’t mean to reveal it, then it means he was planning on staying in his cat form .. forever?

Even you know how harmful it would be for him to stay shifted for at least two thirds of the day, and not to mention the fact that he would never actually get enough food. Your stomach lurches.

“Yoongi, you would’ve ended up killing yourself,” You whisper, voice breaking as you realize the slow torture he must’ve been putting himself through these last weeks, or maybe even months, considering all the time he spent at the shelter before you picked him up.

Yoongi rests his eyes on you again, the cold indifference boring straight through your soul.

“Maybe.”

You turn your head away, desperate to look away from the indifference he seems to have in regards to his own life. You stare at the wall in front of you until the burning in your eyes goes away. At this rate, it feels like Yoongi could’ve scoffed at you if you cried.

“Then why did you reveal yourself? If you weren’t planning on letting me find out,” You try to steer the topic back on something you hope is less heavy, something you hope you’ll be able to stomach better on low sleep and with a building headache.

“Lapse in judgment. I thought you weren’t coming back,” You wonder if Yoongi woke up with the need to kick your heart with every word today, because that’s surely what it feels like.

“Why would you think that?” You itch to reach out and comfort him, but you know him well enough to know that it will do more harm than good.

“It’s Sunday. You never leave home at the weekends, and suddenly you were gone when I woke up, and you didn’t come home until almost midnight. I figure you had just left,” Yoongi lips are in a thin line as he shrugs, the two actions such a contrast you aren’t really sure if he’s really that indifferent or not.

“I’m so sorry Yoongi, if I had known I would’ve told you,” You mutter. A lot of things would have been different if you had known. But you didn’t. And sadly, you can’t change anything about it.  

Yoongi doesn’t say anything else, and you’re not sure what else to do. Your chest hurts, and you feel like you haven’t slept in a week. You can’t remember the last time you had a day that was so emotionally draining as this. You throw a glance at the phone you’ve placed on the coffee table, your eyes feeling heavier by the second as you realize how late it has become.

“Let’s talk more about this later, okay? I have work again tomorrow,” You give him what you hope is a soft smile, but everything just feels so forced and terribly off that you’re not sure if it’s a smile or a twisted grimace.

“Sure,” Yoongi agrees.

Your sleep depraved brain picks up on the almost soundless footsteps trailing behind you to your room, but you don’t realize Yoongi has been following you until you turn around to close the door, and find yourself face to face with pink lips.

“Uh Yoongi? Why are you following me?” “To go to sleep?” He accentuates the words, an eyebrow raised as he cocks his head at you. His pupils look slightly bigger with the darkness spilling from your room, and you feel a shiver travel down your spine as he locks eyes with you. The ears and tail aside, it never stops catching you off guard just how much he actually acts like a cat. The mannerisms are almost a little eerily when he looks so human.

“Yeah, I’m going to sleep in my bed. You’re not. I was just getting some blankets for the couch,” You pray the low light hides the awkward flush on your face. Did he really think he was still sleeping with you tonight?

“Oh,” Yoongi’s face falls blank. You swear you see hurt flash through his eyes, but you hope it’s just a trick of the light.

“Right, that’s why I’m here. To get the blankets,” He scowls. Yoongi’s expression is sour as he looks down at you with challenging eyes, as if he’s waiting for you to call him out and expose him.

“Right,” You echo, quickly stumbling over to your closet to find some bedding for the cat hybrid. You feel a little bad that you’re making him sleep outside in the living room where it’s much colder, but it’s not like he can sleep with you. It was different when he was just a cat, but this Yoongi? You don’t know him. Frankly, you’re not sure if you should really trust him.

Yoongi snatches the blankets from your hands as soon as you reach him, turning on his heels to stalk back to the living room. You close the bedroom door with a sigh, leaning your forehead against the cool wood. You have a feeling you won’t get much sleep tonight.

.

You don’t waste any time getting into bed. Despite the exhaustion in your bones, you end up tossing and turning for way too long. You don’t know what to do about Yoongi. Should you give him back, should you let someone else care for him, can you care for him? Do you even want to?

You think you must’ve fallen asleep at one point, because when you groggily wake up to turn to the other side, you find a mass of black fur next to you. Your mind slowly registers that Yoongi is back in your bed, the cat curled up into a little ball on top of your comforter. You should probably throw him out, but he just looks so small and soft, tiny snores escaping his mouth at each exhale.

You tell yourself you’ll just deal with it in the morning instead, and that you’re too tired to get up now. That it has absolutely nothing to do with the rush of affection you feel in your body as he hugs his tail underneath his paw, or the twinge of sadness in your chest as you realize Yoongi has been alone for so long.

You burrow down deeper into your sheets, eyes lulling closed as you watch Yoongi sleep peacefully. You’re totally unaffected, you promise yourself.

Too bad you’ve never been a good liar.

- - - -

Hello! Hope you enjoyed the fifth chapter of desolate! Poor kitty yoongles :( P.s. In case you haven't seen it yet, I've posted the first chapter of Abundance, which is the ot7 version of this fic, and you can read it here!

My inbox is always open if you want to chat about the story or just fics or life in general! See you all soon!

[geesaotblog]

R E D

Levi Ackerman x Reader x Eren Jaeger (Implied) Levi Ackerman x Reader

Tags: Fingering, Back seat fraternization. CEO Levi Ackerman COO Eren Jaeger. Personal Assistant Reader. 18+. 

         “Oh, now that’s not fair.” Eren’s own dark voice practically rang through your ear while Levi’s hands trailed up your thighs, fingertips slipping past your dress. “Levi, do enough for the both of us.”

          “I do what I want,” Levi answered back haughtily, pupils blown out as he watched your lips part with heavy breaths.

           You couldn’t really blame Floch for his current actions. After all, this was a rather huge company party, and the opportunities that came with such an event were overflowing. First of all, the networking possibilities were endless. The big named corporate goons were flooding the large Victorian banquet hall that had been rented out and hosted by Ackerman Co., the second largest technological corporation in the states. Everyone who was anyone had attended, ready to mooch off of the billionaires that walked through those lavish ornate doors.

           Second of all, employees of Ackerman Co. were all invited, as per request from their generous CEO, Levi Ackerman. You hid a scoff behind the pristine wine glass that touched your painted red lips. Levi Ackerman. The man was anything but generous. He was short, rude, and irrationally anal about the most particular things. You should know—after all, you are his personal assistant.

           More like glorified cleaning monkey but you digress.

           Then there was Eren Jaeger, Levi’s own little pet project. Eren was a few years younger than Levi but was already being groomed to succeed the company. The two were around each other, practically feeding each other’s egos like the little power hungry mongrels they were.

           Well, Eren was feeding Levi’s ego. Levi’s only words of praise being thrown towards anyone were ‘Nice job, not fucking up the data transfer you complete walking pile of shit stains.’

           Isn’t he absolutely charming?

           The two were also unfairly gorgeous; Levi’s sharp chiseled face and built frame making up for the slight height imparity as well as Eren’s other worldly iridescent viridian eyes and long brunette locks that looked soft to the touch.

           God, what those eyes did to you.

           Being Levi’s personal assistant basically meant being Eren’s as well. Regardless of just how handsome those two were, it wouldn’t make up for the absolute hell they rained down on you with the way they overloaded you with work.

           Maybe you can blame Floch for trying to kiss up to Levi right now. It was pathetic, really. The bumbling idiot’s rambles were only irritating Levi and pissing Eren off which meant four glasses of wine for you to be able to deal with their moods.

           Then Eren’s eyes locked onto your frame from across the floor. You wanted to narrow your eyes in distaste, to scoff and turn away, to pretend you didn’t see him—but it was hard to when his towering frame looked so unfairly good in that black tux. That was another thing that wasn’t fair when it came to the way Levi and Eren treated you; the sharp gazes that promised unbearable pleasure every time they laid their eyes upon you were inappropriate. You should be more upset, angrier at the way they looked at you with such possessive fervent hunger within their eyes. But in the end, it only served to burn embers deep within the core of your stomach.

           You’ve spent countless nights alone in your bed getting off at the memory of those looks, off at the memory of Levi and Eren. It just wasn’t fair.

           If there was a better time to say eat the rich, it would be now.

           Before you could comprehend the slight gasps of the awestruck women beside you, Levi and Eren had walked across the floor standing right in front of you, ready to give you a migraine that would last a century.

           “, Well don’t you look pleasant, this evening.” Levi snarked, your last name pouring out of his mouth like sweet, warmed honey, dripping down the octave of his voice that continued to lower as he spoke to you. “Usually you look like you’re contemplating murdering us, brat.”

           Bristling immediately, you pursed your lips in a tight smile and tried to calm down. He always just got under your skin so quickly.

           “Mr. Ackerman, I’d rather not discuss such grim topics in the middle of a party.” You brought the glass up to your lips again, not once breaking eye contact with that gun-metal gaze and took a sip. “Let’s keep that within work hours.”

           Eren’s sudden airy laugh broke your staring contest with Levi, garnering attention from both you and the ebony haired man in front of you.

           “Now that’s the bite we remember,” Eren murmured, smile softening and eyes glazing over with something more primal. “I was almost worried the atmosphere was affecting your mood.”

           “You’re rather confident if you think that the atmosphere you two provide with your money has any effect on what my mood is.” You quipped back, feeling heat rise to your cheeks at the tone.

           “Oh, we’re positive that we can provide an entertaining atmosphere, definitely something that’ll keep you…coming back for more,” Levi said, tone husky and guttural feeding the warmth in your stomach a little more. You swallowed thickly, ignoring their desire filled expressions and reached down to tug at the bottom of your dress, hoping to cover a little more of your thighs and hide the any evidence of the arousal that came when you were in contact with the two.

           Eren’s hair, though pulled back into a slightly messy bun, still had a few strands peak out of the tie, framing his already symmetrical face and bringing out his prominent features. He ran a hand through those locks, pushing them back as he looked down at you like some sort of animal ready to strike down on its prey.

           Levi was no different, more reserved than Eren, but his eyes held a deep promise of toe-curling ecstasy.

           You hated those two.

           Finishing your glass of wine as quickly as you could, you placed the empty cup on a passing waiter’s tray, fumbling with a hasty response and trying your damned best to get the fuck out of there. “Well, this was a lovely conversation, but I really should head back home for the night. I wouldn’t want to be late to work because of—”

           “Because of us.” Levi cut off. You pursed your lips at the implication behind his words and slowly nodded, unable to deny them.

           “Yes, because of you two.” You cleared your throat and tightened your grip on your clutch. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—”

           “Let us drop you off.” Eren offered, smiling almost childishly, throwing you off completely from the tension that had been building up between you three. “It wouldn’t be right to just let you take a cab on your own. And it seems like you had a little too much to drink so driving is out of the question.”

           Alone. Inside of a car. With Eren and Levi. You were slightly tipsy, but you also weren’t stupid.

           “No, I couldn’t impose—”

           “You’re not imposing, brat.” Levi tutted out, digging through his jacket pocket for his keys before tossing them at Eren who caught them easily. “Come on. We’re driving you home.”

           Eren sent another smile your way before gently laying a hand on the small of your back, the large encompassing palm warming the bare skin there but not at all inching any lower as to respect your boundaries. Him and Levi led you out before you could utter another word of protest and your mind was reeling with so many possibilities of just where this drive could end up.

           No, you stated sternly in your mind, chastising yourself for your indecent thoughts. You are not sleeping with the boss and the boss’s protégé. Or one. Or the other. Or—why has god forsaken me.

           You wanted to throw a tantrum at the fact that two delectable pieces of meat were hanging right there, right in front of you, but morally you understood that wouldn’t be right at all.

           Accepting your fate, you decided to just be pressed against the side door in the back seat of the car for the entire ride, hoping to avoid any inappropriate interaction with the two. As you walked between them outside into the slightly chilly night air, you saw Floch standing by the drink table, looking absolutely furious as if he was trying to bore holes into your very innocent skull.

           Hiding a smirk, you straightened your back and walked towards the black lavish vehicle, feeling much better from seeing Floch’s annoying little gerbil face scrunch up in envy.

           Oh yeah, that was nice.

           Rather chivalrously, Eren opened the back door for you, sending you another cute smile—damn him—before shutting it and stepping to the driver’s seat. You let out a small breath of relief. Good, this way Levi and Eren can sit in the front and you would be content, unbothered and definitely not sexually frustrated in the back.

           But then the sound of the door on your other side closing was heard and you turned to see Levi right next to you instead of in the passenger’s side like he should have been.

           “Um, sir.” You inhaled shakily. “I’ll be alright in the back alone, you don’t need to sit beside me—”

           “Oh, I don’t ever remembering doing something I didn’t want to.” Levi hummed back sarcastically, raising an arched brow at you cockily. If you hadn’t found the look to be so attractive, you would have shoved his face in the car seat in front of you.

           Saying nothing back, you sat still, hand curled in your lap and knees tucked together as you watched Eren start the car and begin driving to your destination.

           It was almost too quiet, only Eren’s off tune humming filling the tense heavy air while you tried to ignore Levi’s body heat radiating off to your side. Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him—you continued to chant that mantra in your head, thinking of anything but the fact that Levi’s hands were laying so close to your bare thighs. The scent of heady, almost sweet black tea touched the tips of your taste buds, the aroma of Levi’s cologne so strong it was enveloping more than one of your senses and it was addicting.

           No, you scolded yourself immediately, biting hard on your bottom lip as you clutched the ends of your dress unforgivingly. Do not go there.

           Unfortunately, because you were chewing so harshly onto the abused appendage, the sudden pothole that Eren ran through caused you to jump and bite down on your lip harder than before making you gasp in pain. You let the plush, swollen skin fall out from between your teeth, touching it tenderly and wincing in pain.

           “You fucking idiot.” Levi hissed towards Eren, grabbing your waist seeing as you had also unintentionally leaned onto him at the same time. “Watch where you’re fucking driving!”

           “Hey, don’t get mad at me! Get mad at city funding!”

           You giggled at Eren’s indignant remark, not minding the soothing rubs of Levi’s surprisingly large hands that grazed your back. “I’m okay.” You sighed out. “Definitely city funding’s fault.”

           Eren shot you an apologetic smile through the rear view mirror before looking back at the road and driving much slower than before.

           “Here let me see,” Levi murmured your name softly, uncharacteristically gentler than you thought was possible, and pinched your chin between his thumb and index finger. He turned your face towards him, nose only inches away from your own but not at all seeming to mind it as he ran his calloused thumb across the bruised skin of your bottom lip.

           “You shouldn’t be biting on it.” Levi mumbled, voice low and filled with something you couldn’t describe. His eyes trailed back up to lock with your own and you held your breath, those silver irises always muddling your brain and turning your head into mush. “Look how red it is.”

           “I-It’s fine—” You gasped as Levi practically yanked you onto his lap, your knees resting on either side of his waist. “Mr. Ackerman!” You yelled affronted, blush painting your skin as his breath fanned the sides of your neck making you tremble in unprecedented delight.

           “Oh, now that’s not fair.” Eren’s own dark voice practically rang through your ear while Levi’s hands trailed up your thighs, fingertips slipping past your dress. “Levi, do enough for the both of us.”

           “I do what I want,” Levi answered back haughtily, pupils blown out as he watched your lips part with heavy breaths. You squirmed on his lap, trying to simultaneously get away from his ministrations as well as provide friction to your slick cunt.

           “Mr. Ackerman we can’t.” You whined out, rather embarrassingly loud as Levi began to lay wet open mouthed, strategic, kisses onto the supple skin of your exposed neck.

           “I don’t tend to take orders really well,” He sneered huskily, your last name added with the formal ‘Ms.’ prefix making your already racing heartbeat against your chest. He pushed the edges of your dress past your hips, exposing your black lace panties that were damp with arousal.

           The alcohol must be getting to you because this can’t be okay.

           His thumbs traced the edges of you’re the lace frills that your panties had adorned on them—they were cheap and cute from Burlington. You had no idea that anyone, let alone your boss would be seeing you in them. But here you are. You were really thanking your past self for thinking of you now.

           “Do you want me to make you feel good?” Levi asked, teasing the edges of your inner thighs but never reaching that one place, making your pussy throb in need. “Answer me,”

           “Yes,” You choked out desperately, moving your hips in slow deliberate circles, grinding your wet heat onto his slacks, dampening them with your slick. You were so shameless, but it didn’t seem like Levi minded. In fact, judging by the cruel smirk on his face, he was having the time of his life.

           “Beg.”

           You stopped immediately, eyes widened as you looked down at Levi to see if there were any signs of him joking anywhere. But he only stared back at you, stern and unmoving, hands slowly inching away from where you needed him most. You could feel your eyes dampen in embarrassment and desperation, a tiny mewl escaping your lips as you tried to grab his hands and bring them back. But his strength was unmatched, arms unmoving even with your insistent budging.

           “You heard him, baby,” Eren’s heavy voice sending shivers down your spine. “Beg.” The command wasn’t any less powerful even though you couldn’t see him, and you let out a whimper, grinding your hips in slow circles, hoping to entice Levi into taking action.

           “P-Please,” You gasped out, face heating up at the admission. All this time you had sworn you would never bow down to money or reputation, but this kind of power was something that Levi and Eren were born with—you were sure of it. “Please, touch me.”

           “Touch you where?” Levi’s hands moved back to cup your aching folds, making you gasp and thrust your hips into the touch. “Tell me.”

           “Fuck—Levi, please just—make me cum with your fingers, touch my cunt please.” You sobbed, pressing your lips together at the humiliation and arousal that came with submitting to such a man.

           “Good girl.” Levi husked out appraisingly, finally, finally, pulling the fabric of your panties aside and pushing his thumb to rub up against your folds towards your clit, rubbing the throbbing area with slow deliberate pressure. You moaned, the sounds coming out of you so wanton and erotic, you almost couldn’t believe that they came out of you. Your eyes fluttered shut at the pleasure of Levi’s skilled fingers, pressing in and out of you, rubbing your damp walls and eliciting more of your slick out of you, dampening your inner thighs with the obscene liquid.

           Each heavy thrust, each beckoning motion that he did inside of you, only served to abuse that one spot, making you see stars behind your eyelids.

           “Yeah,” You moaned out, leaning your forehead against his as he continued to play with your soaked pussy. “That’s so…ah…good—!” You cut yourself off, a sudden shriek spilling from your lips as Levi curled his fingers, pressing hard against your bundle of nerves while pressing his wet thumb against your abused clit. It was electrifying, the heat boiling from your legs, up to your stomach and straight to your head making you unable to think properly let alone comprehend the salacious praises that you cried out towards Levi.

           You wanted to rip away from that feeling. It was so terrifying the way that sharp coil tightened your insides and tore you apart with each push and pull of Levi’s skilled hands. It wasn’t fair. You had never reached the brink so quickly with someone before but within seconds you were putty in Levi’s hands.

           “Look at me,” Levi ordered, sharply using your name in his command and using his free hand to pull your face towards him. “Look at me when you cum.”

           You must have made such a sight. Debauched and ruined at the hands of your boss. But you couldn’t say you minded as one final purposeful shove of his fingers going knuckle deep inside of you sent you over the edge and into euphoria.

           Your thighs quacked in overstimulation as you tried to muffle a scream by crashing your lips against Levi’s who met your desperation with his own starved mouth. The messy kiss helped ease your orgasm and ride the pleasurable waves down to a dwindling content buzz.

           Pulling out his fingers with an almost sickening squelch, Levi eyed them with disgust mixed with a bit of arousal, before moving them towards your lips. He pried your lips open with his slick covered fingers, making you taste your own essence, shoving them inside your mouth unforgivingly. You shuddered at the strong taste but made no effort to disobey his unspoken orders, licking each appendage clean with your tongue.

           “If you think we’re done with you, you got another thing coming.” Levi growled darkly, groping and massaging your thigh while trailing his fingers out of your mouth down your chin, creating a thin line of saliva mixed with come down your jaw.

           “By the way,” Eren turned in his seat, facing both you and Levi with a sharp, toothy smirk. “We’re here. It’s my turn.”

           Judging by the look on Eren’s face, the night was far from over.

[theblackbutterfly02]

FluffyNightKiller pt 2

Something fluffy (heh) after I broke all of your hearts yesterday!

@zu-is-here I.. finally did it!! xD Took me long enough, heh

As always, story under the cut or on my AO3

As they entered Ccino's apartment they were immediately greeted by two over-eager cats jumping around them. Ccino lifted one of them up, lovingly cuddling it and whispering: “Hey love, I'm home.”

Once Ccino was done getting greeted by his cats they both got out of their shoes and jackets and Ccino showed Nightmare to the living room.

“You can sit down on the sofa if you want, I'll feed the cats real quick and.. uuhm, is there anything you're allergic against? Asking for dinner!”

“Hmm? No, I'm fine”, Nightmare answered, and watched as Ccino left for the kitchen. He chuckled slightly as he saw the cats following him, then heard Ccino talk to them while he prepared their food.

Meanwhile Nightmare took the time to look around the living room a little. It was really tidy, sure a few cat hairs flew around, one or two specks of littler close to the boxes, but.. no dust to be seen on the cabinet he just stopped in front of. Pictures of cats were lined on it and Nightmare took some time to look at them in detail. Something about them made him feel warm inside and he smiled slightly.

Walking around a little more he noted how small the apartment really was, a lot of furniture put closely together. Humming, he sat down on the sofa. It felt nice, the pillows in the back really soft. He closed his eyes and thought about how he should approach the situation with Ccino.

<i>Just talk to him</i>, Killer had said. Nightmare huffed. If only it was that easy. Killer was the outgoing one out of the two of them. Nightmare.. didn't really know how to deal with people outside of work.

Nightmare was ripped out of his thoughts as he heard something clatter to the floor in the kitchen and stood up, walking over to Ccino.

As Ccino saw him he sputtered: “Ah, Nightmare, I told you you could-”

“Yeah, I know”, Nightmare shrugged. “But it sounded like like you might need some help. So, what did you drop?”

Ccino blushed and awkwardly held up a knife. “I was.. cutting vegetables”, he said.

“I see”, Nightmare chuckled and stepped closer, looking over Ccino's shoulder as the other continued preparing for dinner. He wasn't exactly skilled with a knife and Nightmare sighed before he walked to stand directly behind Ccino and put both his hands over the other's. Ccino jumped out of surprise, then almost stopped breathing as he realised what just happened. A blush crept up on his face.

“Here”, Nightmare rasped. “Try it a little more like this”, he moved their intertwined hands a few times. “Can't watch you almost cut yourself. And now, try it on your own.”

Ccino nodded and tried to copy what Nightmare had done with his hands. “Is this.. better?”, he asked.

Nightmare looked over his shoulder for a moment, then said: “Yes, definitely. You're doing good.” Ccino just blushed even deeper and tried his best to concentrate on the work at hand. “You got like.. another knife so I can help you?”, Nightmare asked. “If you're already cooking for me, I might as well..”

Ccino put down his knife again and rummaged around in his drawers. “You don't have to”, he said, “But if you really want to-”

“I want to”, Nightmare interrupted him, taking on of the tomatoes and cutting them into pieces.

Ccino watched him for a minute before he said: “Wow, you're really good at this..”

Nightmare had to laugh at that. “What did you expect? Were you really thinking I'd be a complete wimp in the kitchen? Someone has to make food and I'm not letting Killer use anything other than the microwave.”

“You're.. cooking for the both of you?”, Ccino asked a little surprised.

“Honestly, even though we have the money, going out for dinner every day would be way too much work, we want to spend some quality time at home as well.”

“You're an amazing actor <i>and</i> a good cook!”, Ccino exclaimed. “What else can you do? Speak five languages and ride a horse or something?”

“Not.. exactly”, Nightmare laughed. He shook his head. “I'm not here to talk about myself anyway. I.. wanted to get to know you, so tell me a little.. while we let this cook.” Nightmare put the last view ingredients in the pot and turned on the stovetop.

“There's not much to say”, Ccino admitted. “I have cats and I can cook coffee. And I really look up to you..”

“And, is there anything else you do in your free-time?”, Nightmare asked. “Like on the weekends when you don't have to cook coffee for all of us?”

“I.. like to read, sometimes. I.. actually have a library card and sometimes, if I find a good book I take it home and read with a cat in my lap.”

Nightmare's whole face lit up as he heard that. “So you like to read?”, he asked. “I should really invit you over to my place once, see if you want any of my books!”

“You enjoy reading too?”, Ccino asked, eyes wide.

Nightmare chuckled slightly and nodded. “I have a lot of books in my room, actually. So many that Killer started calling it the library instead. He keeps joking if reading the script isn't enough already.”

Ccino laughed at that. “I was just gonna ask the same, really.”

“Sometimes I just really want to read something that has nothing to do with the role I'm playing. Immerse in a completely different world, you know?”, Nightmare sighed exasperated.

“I see”, Ccino nodded. “So, what's your favorite type of story? Romance, action..?”

Nightmare blushed. “Y-you'll probably figure it if you visit me.”

“Ah!”, Ccino's whole face took colour again. Was that an invitation??

He looked behind himself confused as Nightmare jumped up all of a sudden, pulling the pot oof the stove to save it from spilling everywhere. “That was close”, he sighed. “We shouldn't have lost focus of it. Well, guess we can eat now.”

Ccino looked at him, still blushing before he turned to gather plates. “Right, right!”, he called and ran to the living room. “Let's eat over here! It's a lot more comfortable!”

Nightmare just hummed and brought the pot over, placing it on the table.

“Uuh, coffee or tea?”, Ccino asked, running back to the kitchen. “The food is still hot so I thought I could make something to drink for us.”

“Tea”, Nightmare said and walked back to the kitchen as well. “Can't have coffee in the evening.”

“Oh, yeah, that seems fair”, Ccino said, picking a tea bag instead and heating the water. Once it was done he handed Nightmare a cup and took one of his own, walking back to the living room. They sat down on the sofa and Ccino got both of them some of the food on their plates.

Nightmare barely picked his spoon up before a cat jumped into his lap.

“Aah, no, hey you can't, he's wearing black pants!”, Ccino called out, trying to get the cat away from Nightmare.

“It's okay”, Nightmare smiled. “They needed a wash anyway. Though, if Killer sees this.. well, he would be so envious of me right now”, he chuckled.

“Huh? Why?”, Ccino asked.

“He really loves cats”, Nightmare said. “He'd probably kill for them if I think about it. Bet he'd give anything to get to your home if I told him you own two of these fluffy guys.”

“Killer.. seems like a nice person”, Ccino blushed, slowly starting to eat his food.

“He.. can be an idiot at times”, Nightmare sighed, trying to somehow eat over the cat. “But.. he's a kind, loving and honest idiot.”

“The way you talk about him..”, <i>do I even have a chance?</i>

“You know..”, Nightmare smiled. “Recently, he started talking about you almost the same. Actually.. he asked me to see if we would get along.”

“So.. he's the only reason you aske-”

“No”, Nightmare interrupted Ccino. “I'm not only doing this for him. He told me you.. got a little crush on me and faintly.. I'm interested.”

Nightmare chuckled again as he watched Ccino's whole face light up in a blush that almost reached his neck. “Y-you.. wha- you what?”, he stammered. “N-no way..”

“Killer already fell for you and I know he's got a good taste”, Nightmare smiled. “You're really kind and I'm willing to give this a try.. If! And only if you will give Killer a try. Maybe show him your cats some day.”

“I never thought you were that close with Killer”, Ccino mumbled. “But you seem to have a really lovely relationship and put a lot of trust into each other.”

Nightmare smiled and picked up his cup, removing the teabag after he checked if it was done. "Even if it doesn't look like it, Killer means a lot to me", Nightmare hummed. "And.. I never considered having a relationship with more than one person, but now that he suggested it.. I can already see you joining us. We might need someone like you, soft and kind and all the things we aren't."

"Don't talk like that about yourself! I.. I'm sure you're both absolutely amazing people!"

"Thanks", Nightmare hummed. "You know.. I always thought you only wanted to be with me because I was a famous actor. But it seems you have seen other things that drew you to me."

"I... It wasn't your job that made me fall for you!", Ccino nodded. "Though.. I always considered you unapproachable because of it. Plus the fact that you already had someone."

"We're normal people just like you", Nightmare noted. "Our jobs don't define us." He leaned back after he finished his meal and looked at the clock on the wall. "Stars", he sighed. "Is it really that late already?"

“Hmm, it is”, Ccino nodded. “Do you have to leave?”

Nightmare pet the cat in his lap and closed his eyes. “I'll stay until I finished my tea”, he hummed. “I really enjoyed this evening with you.”

“I.. I did too!”, Ccino agreed, sipping his own tea.

More in the future (hopefully)

[holylulusworld]

Dancing in the moonlight

Summary: Dean has it all. The looks. The money. He’s the most popular guy on campus. You are all he’s not. Shy. Nerdy. A loner. One day a pair of green eyes land on you and your life changes…

Pairing: Student!Dean x Student!Reader, Student!Sam x Student!Reader (platonic/best friends), Student!Sam x Jess, Meg x Jimmy Novak, Cassie Robinson, Lisa Braeden, Tyson Brady

Warnings: angst, language, shy reader, bitchy college girls, bullying, the reader is nerdy and smart, protective Dean, comforting, fluff, mentions of violence, talk about sex/oral sex, virgin reader/Dean, Dean is a virgin and not afraid to admit

A/N: Sequel to: Water under the bridge

Around four months later…

“Gosh…Sweetheart. That’s… fuck me. I can’t hold it any longer. Am I even doing this right?” Snickering you correct Dean’s position, but he won’t stop cursing.

While Sam and Jess followed your orders for the next yoga position without any problem Dean looks like he’s going to die or something.

“You look awesome in those shorts…” While Dean falls onto the mat, cursing under his breath, Sam laughs about his brother’s clumsiness. 

“Shut up, bitch! That’s more complicated than it looks. I never did this before…” Grumbling Dean tries to get up, but his left thigh starts to cramp and he whines, calling for your help.

“Dean, relax.” Gently massaging Dean’s thigh, you give him a dirty look when he groans every time you get too close to his crotch. “Forget it. Do not relax that much!”

“Sweetheart…” Dean’s eyes meet yours and you sigh heavily. “You’re the perfect masseur.”

“I know, Baby now let me take care of you.” Jess nudges Sam’s side as you press your lips to Dean's forehead. “Does it still hurt?”

Dean hums silently, only wanting your attention, so he lies to feel your hands on his body and your lips pressing soft kisses to his face. 

“I think Dean should train more before he tries another yoga session with us.” Sam snickers and you give your friend a dirty look. 

Defending your boyfriend, you gently rub his thigh.  “He never did this before, Sam. Go easy on my Deanie Beanie…” Now Sam starts laughing and his brother calls him bitch once again. “Do not make fun of my pet name for Dean. He loves it…”

“I can imagine he loves it…” Giggling Jess looks at Dean who gives her a dirty grin. “You do?”

“My girl can call me anything she wants to. Now, how about we stop training and get to the relaxing on the couch part?” His best puppy dogs’ eyes focused on you Dean pleads for mercy. “Please…”

“I will order a pizza; Sam can get the cold beer out of the fridge and you can take care of your injured boyfriend.” Jess orders as you help Dean to get up. 

“Sweetheart, you are such a good girlfriend. You are one in a million.” Swooning Dean limps toward the bedroom you share for two months. 

Sam, Jess and you found a nice house four months ago and Dean suggested moving in together. You agreed that you will share a room two months ago.

You spend your nights with cuddling and making-out but so far, you didn’t take the last step. It’s not that you don’t want to have sex with Dean, but your doubts won’t let you relax enough so far.

“I can run you a warm shower and rub some ointment onto your thigh, Dean.” While Dean sits onto your shared bed he watches you prepare everything to make him feel better.

“Can I tell you something, Y/N?” Poking your head out of the bathroom you nod, smirking as Dean knits his brows together. “I…I was thinking about eating you out…”

“Dude!” Flustered you run toward the door to close it. “You can’t drop such a bomb!”

“I mean we fingered, and you gave me a handjob. I want to make you feel good, Sweetheart.” Dean eyes you up and down, lazily licking his lips as you bite your finger.

“Uh—wait…when?”

“This weekend Sam and Jess are away, and I thought I can go down on you and give it to you good.” Still unsure you step closer to sit onto the bed next to Dean.

“Dean what if I’d like to have sex with you?” Dean’s eyes widen and you can see his cheeks heat up, just like his ears.

You love that the tough guy your boyfriend is still can be embarrassed like a schoolgirl.

“Sex, like…sex…sex?” Dumbfounded Dean bites his lower lip, not knowing if he’s prepared to finally take the last step. “What if I am bad? God…what if I hurt you?”

Crawling onto Dean’s lap you press your lips to his temple. His hands cup your face and press your lips softly to his. 

“I know you would never hurt me. How about we do this ‘eating me’ out thing this weekend and talk about what you like, and I want to try before we take the next step.” Nodding Dean pecks your lips and you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Love you, Y/N.” 

“Gosh, maybe I love you too, Winchester.” Rolling you over to land on top of you Dean starts tickling your sides and you laugh, fighting his hands. “Okay…okay…I love you too…”

“Damn right, Sweetheart. Now let me have this shower to relax my thigh and we can watch the movie you wanted to see.”

“Dean, it was you wanting to see Titanic, not me! Do not lie.” Grinning cheekily Dean give you a disapproving look.

“Fine. If anyone asks it was my idea. You’re such a softie.”

“HEY! I still want to know why she didn’t change position. She let him freeze his ass off, selfish girl.” Humming you pat Dean’s cheek as he keeps on talking about the most annoying movie you ever saw.

“Baby, he wanted to save her.”

“Yeah…but why not saving the guy too? I wanted a happy ending and that was just crap! Marrying someone else and dying to meet him again…Idiots…”

“Aw…” Peppering kisses all over Dean’s face you enjoy he chuckles as you ruffle his hair. “You’re such a sap, Dean Winchester. Now up and have a shower, Mr. Softie and we can watch the movie…”

“You can bet your cute ass on that. Make a sad face if Sam wants to watch something else. He can’t say no if Jess or you do so…” Pecking your lips Dean snickers before he leaves the bed to run toward the showers.

“Did you fake you are injured?” One shrug later Dean enters the showers and you fall onto the bed, groaning. “Little cheater…”

“Love you too, Sweetheart.” 

While Dean lies on the couch to shelter his ‘injured’ thigh you lie on his chest, not interested in watching Titanic.

Sam made fun of you and Jess for wanting to watch the movie – Dean defended your choice. The little shit grins widely as he exclaims Jack could be alive if Rose would’ve been more like you.

“Aw…Sam. Dean is such a sap sometimes.” Jess swoons while you roll your eyes. “I bet Dean and Y/N would’ve saved each other.”

“Only if he doesn’t have to share his pie. You should see him hog the last slice. I have to fight dirty if I want to get a tiny piece…” Snickering you nudge Dean’s side while he’s engrossed in watching the last scenes of the movie.

“I always share.” Grumbling Dean looks at you, a dark look on his face. “I gave you my last chocolate bar last week.”

“It was a tiny piece and you had it in your mouth before I had the chance to eat it!” Bickering about pie, chocolate, and pizza you barely realize the movie is over. 

“That’s it, guys. You are officially the perfect couple.” Sam smirks as you throw a pillow at him. “You feed each other with food. It’s disturbing sometimes!”

“Love is not disturbing, Sammy.” Pursing his lips Dean gives his brother a wink. “Rather cute and adorable if it comes to my girl. She loves to hide sweets under her bed…”

“It was you stealing my sweets?” Grabbing Dean’s ear, you narrow your eyes. “I accused Jess! Dean Winchester!”

“I thought you would share with the man you love.” Shrugging Dean smiles as you pat his chest. 

“This means the last piece of pie is mine, Winchester.” Whining Dean looks at the fridge. “No discussion.”

“My girl gets the pie,” Dean grumbles but he gives in to make you happy.

“Maybe I’ll offer you a small bite.”

“As I said, disturbingly cute…”

Walking through the hallway with Dean’s arm wrapped around your waist still feels odd sometimes. He still is popular, but for over four months he refuses to talk to his old clique.

Dean cut ties with all of them after what happened that day. Brady felt Dean's fist collide with his face until he had a broken nose and could barely speak.

Cassie and Lisa, well your boyfriend didn’t hit them, he would never hurt a girl, so Jess and Meg did the job.

You still have the video someone made of the ‘ultimate catfight’ between your friends and your archenemies. Dean couldn’t stop laughing as Lisa started to cry as she broke three fingernails.

Jess and Meg were relentless. While Jess fisted the girl’s hair, Meg punched their noses, kicked their shins until the self-declared queens of Stanford were reduced to little girls crying for their mommy.

The guy pushing you toward the car got arrested and will have to face the consequences of his doings, just like the other guy grabbing you.

Most of the time, Lisa and Cassie leave you alone. There are moments you feel their boring looks or hear insults leave their lips but you learned to ignore those people trying to drag you down.

“You look beautiful today,” Dean whispers in your ear as he leads you toward your favorite tree on campus.

Sam, Jess, Meg, and Jimmy love to sit there with you and Dean. Sometimes Meg brings her guitar to play a few songs while Jimmy tries so hard to sing.

“Dean Winchester, you little charmer…” While Dean sits under the tree you place your bag and books next to your boyfriend's stuff. You have an hour off so you will spend it with your boyfriend and friends once again.

“Come here and sit with me, Sweetheart. I want to tell you something.” Leaning your back against Dean’s chest you smile as he moves his arms around your waist. “Love you.”

“That’s what you wanted to tell me, Winchester?” Smiling you let Dean press his warm body closer to his. 

“I want my parents to meet you officially. I know you were at our house a few times before and that they know about you but…” 

Clearing his throat Dean smirks as you turn around to search his face. “I want them to get to know my girlfriend, not Sammy’s best friend.

“Dude. Mary loves me like a mom and John even kicked your ass once as you used a bad word.” Brow's furrowed you look at Dean and he sighs heavily.

“Damn, girl. I want this whole ‘I introduce my girl to my family thing’.” Dean insists and you nod before you press your lips to his.

“AW…look at this Lis. The holy virgin learns how to kiss a boy. Do you think she knows how a dick looks like?” Cassie snickers standing too close to your favorite place for your comfort.

“Nah, Cass. I bet she can’t satisfy a hunk like Dean. Maybe he’ll get bored soon enough. Someone like Dean needs a woman, not a toddler by his side.” Cassie sneers and Dean wants to jump up, but you hold him back.

“Fuck off, bitches!” Meg warns already storming toward your archenemies. “Didn’t you get your ass beaten enough last time?”

“We can give you more, bitch!” Jess adds and you snicker at her pissed attitude. She even snapped her fingers.

“You better leave now. We want to have a nice time without someone bitching around.” Sam clenches his jaw as Brady dares to look you, a dirty grin on his lips.

“No one wants a boring girl who can’t satisfy you, Dean. Why do you waste your time with a virgin?” Now Dean jumps up to bump his chest against Brady’s.

He’s silent for a moment before he meets his former friend’s eyes. “It’s not a shame to be a virgin and wait for the right person to sleep with for the first time.”

“Sure…” Lisa snickers. “I bet you prefer not having sex at all…”

“Yes, I do.” Dean retorts and your gasp at his next words. “To be honest, I am a virgin too! I waited for the right girl and Y/N is the right for me. I am not ashamed to admit I did not waste this special moment at someone like you or Cassie.”

Everyone falls silent. Sam looks at his brother like he got slapped. Jimmy turns pale while the girls cheer for Dean for being man enough to admit he’s ‘innocent’.

“Dude! I am proud of you…” Sam chokes out while you hug Dean tightly. “I don’t know if I ever was prouder, Dean.”

“How can you be a virgin?” Cassie blurs out. “You are hot and all, not like your girlfriend…” 

Jess waited for her chance and here it is. Her hand collides with Cassie’s cheek with a loud thud and Meg snickers as tears well up to Cassie’s eyes.

“This has nothing to do with being hot or not. I wanted to wait for the right girl and now I found her. This is my body and my decision! No one tells me if it must happen with eighteen, sixteen or thirty. If I want to wait till I danced with my girl in the moonlight it's none of your business." Dean grunts.

“Exactly, you loser. If you wasted your virginity to a random douche it’s your fault.” Meg grins devilish. “We all know it was during a party and you don’t even know who the guy was. For me, it was my Jimmy.”

“Now fuck off and let us have fun. We don’t need spoilsports or assholes around.” Jimmy deadpans as Brady wants to say something. “Go ahead if you can live with the consequences.”

After watching Cassie, Lisa and Brady walk off, you cup Dean’s face to press your lips to his. “I am so proud of you, Baby. I love you.”

“Love you too, Sweetheart.”

“Gosh, your kids will be as cute as hell.” Meg claps her hands looking at Dean and you. “Now little love-birds let Aunt Meg tell you everything about flowers and bees…”

Tags will be added in the reblog.

[pilot-boi]

New Residents: Chapter 1

Okay fine, maybe running off on a space adventure with no money and jobs wasn’t the best idea in the world. They needed more help, the kind that could actually help out.

Now all Ren had to do to achieve that was corral his friend. A friend who had the best intentions in the galaxy, but the attention span of a golden retriever.

They could barely support themselves enough to keep fuel in the ship and food on the table. And it didn’t help anything that Jaune kept trying to bring home strays.

Man’s Best Friend

Traveling the galaxy unsupervised was all well and good. Unless you got distracted by everything that moved.

AO3 LINK

“We are just here to get food, and that is it,” Ren told Jaune. “No distractions this time. We don’t have enough money for that.”

“I didn’t get that distracted,” Jaune argued.

Ren gave him a stern look.

“I said I was sorry! They were very persistent.”

“Sorry doesn’t buy fuel, Jaune. Or food. We don’t have that much money left, and we need to get supplies.”

“I’ll be careful this time. I promise.”

“Good,” Ren grabbed their packs, leaving their ship. “Let’s go.”

The planet that they were on was mostly markets. Ships came and went, buying and selling goods constantly. There were some shops that stayed, but most were only around for a day or two at a time. It was a merchants dream. 

Buyers from all around the galaxy, a vibrant array of items to sell and buy, and a reputation that could improve a merchant’s sales immensely. Fortunately, despite the ever-changing layout of shops, it was always easy to find whatever was needed, and sometimes, what wasn’t.

Jaune and Ren made their way into the depths of the crowds. Merchants shouted their various wares from stalls lining the streets. A few kids pushed through the legs of the adults, chasing after a ball. Scents from food stalls wafted over the crowds.

Jaune’s stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten all day, and he swore he could smell dinosaur chicken nuggets standing out among the other scents. He looked up at Ren, who was scanning the stalls around them for one selling fuel.

“I’m hungry,” he whined, putting on his best sad face.

“We’re buying food.”

“No, I’m hungry right now.”

“We’ll have food we can make on the ship.”

“You sound like my mother,” Jaune grumbled, folding his arms and pouting.

“At least one of us does,” Ren countered. “We can’t afford to buy from the stalls here. They’re all going to be overpriced, and you know it.”

They passed by a stall selling juicy racks of meat with roasted vegetables. Jaune’s stomach rumbled loud enough to hear over the crowds.

“Please,” Jaune begged. “I’m gonna starve, Ren.”

“You’ll live,” he handed a list to Jaune. “Now go see if you can find a stall that sells this fuel. I’ll handle food, since I don’t trust you to not spend all our money on vendor food.”

Jaune huffed and snatched the list out of Ren’s hand. “Aren’t you going to give me any money to buy said fuel with?”

“No, because I don’t trust you.”

Jaune rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, stalking out into the crowd. It was impossible to walk without bumping into someone. The crowds were tightly packed, and it seemed that every tall species had decided that today was the day to shop. Jaune couldn’t see a damn thing.

He pushed past a pair of bickering Velms, not bothering to apologize, and emerged in front of a food stall selling fresh fruits. One of the people who had just bought some of the fruit took a bite, the juice dribbling down their chin.

“Shut up,” he muttered to his growling stomach. Jaune had to strongly resist the urge to just pick one fruit from the basket of an unsuspecting customer. He couldn’t get in trouble here, especially not when he was separated from Ren.

Ren wouldn’t know. It would be fine. Right?

No, it would be wrong to steal. Jaune didn’t want to steal.

Suddenly, the customer he had been eying pushed past him, jostling the basket hooked on their arm. A single pear-shaped fruit bounced out, and Jaune caught it deftly in his hand. The alien appeared to be completely unaware of their loss, and disappeared into the crowd. 

Jaune looked around, checking to see if anyone noticed him holding the sort-of-not-really-stolen-fruit. He then took a bite of the delicious fruit and kept walking, a grin plastered on his face.

Ha! Take that Ren. He’d gotten food without spending money or stealing.

He was just about to take the last bite of the fruit when he noticed something staring at him from one of the alleyways. Curious, Jaune took a few steps towards it, keeping his body low.  

The creature backed up into the alleyway, keeping their distance. They were afraid of him.

“It’s okay,” Jaune said softly. “Here.” He held the rest of his fruit out in front of him.

It slowly moved forwards, stepping cautiously out of the shadows. It looked like a dog, but made of a green, goopy substance. The goo was dirty, like they hadn’t been cleaned in a long time.

Jaune smiled at the creature, and it cautiously moved towards him, taking the fruit out of his hand and leaving behind some green slobber.

“Aren’t you just the cutest?” He moved to sit down. The goopy dog scuttled backwards and Jaune froze. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. See?” He held up his hands, slowly lowering himself down. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m nice. Nice Jaune.”

The creature hesitated, and then approached again. It licked one of Jaune’s hands with its gooey tongue, licking off the remaining juice from the fruit. It felt almost soft, and was hardly stickier than the fruit had been.

“See? Nice,” Jaune smiled at the dog. Slowly, he lifted his other hand and began to pick off bits of litter that had gotten stuck in the poor animal. He moved slowly, making sure that the dog knew he was trying to help. Sudden movements still seemed to scare her.

Suddenly, Jaune’s communicator began to blink and beep softly. The dog seemed intrigued by the flashing blue light. She moved closer, almost touching Jaune. He stayed as still as he could, letting the dog stare at the dancing lights. 

Slowly, Jaune moved his other hand to press the answer button. Ren’s voice came through suddenly, slightly muffled by the crowd apparently around him.

“Jaune, where are you? Have you found fuel yet?” Ren sounded worried, as usual.

“No, not yet,” Jaune replied standing up slowly. “I got sidetracked.” He could hear Ren’s frustration from across the communicator.

“By what, Jaune?”

“I found a dog? I think. It looks like a dog, anyways. Like if a dog were made of green goop. She’s really friendly.”

“We’re not getting a dog, Jaune,” Ren said sternly. “We can hardly afford to feed ourselves.”

Jaune sighed. He looked down at the dog, searching for a collar. There was none. “Can I at least try to find the owners? I can’t just leave her here.”

Ren sighed, “Fine. Where are you?”

---

They had been going around to stalls for what felt like ages. The twin suns were beginning to set, and floating lanterns began to light up. They had everything they needed to leave, but Jaune was dead set on finding the owner, or owners, of the dog, which he had named Petey, much to Ren’s chagrin.

Jaune refused to be embarrassed when Ren brought up that he’d named an actual living creature after his favourite cereal. And also shut up Ren, Petey could be a girl’s name, shut up.

“Why are you so determined to find this thing’s owner?” Ren asked as they walked away from a fish-selling stand. “It’s not really your business.”

Jaune looked over at him. “It’s… it’s just a thing my dad taught me.”

Ren faltered. Jaune didn’t talk much about his dad anymore. His dad had died when they were in high school… it had taken a lot out of him.

“One time my dad took me to one of the few lakes on Ventos Beta,” Jaune began, “His home planet was almost entirely water, so he always liked it near the lake. We were walking along the shore, and there was this Balces dying on the dry land. That wasn’t unusual.” 

“They constantly swam too close to shore and got left in the tide pools once the water receded. But my dad…” Jaune shook his head, smiling fondly. “He just picked it up and threw it back out into the lake. Everytime we saw one, he picked it up and threw it back.”

“Wasn’t that kind of pointless?” Ren asked. “Those things are stupid. They’d just keep coming back. It doesn’t matter.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Jaune said. “And I asked my dad that. He just tossed another one back and said, ‘it mattered to that one.’ I guess it kind of stuck with me. There could be hundreds of stray pets on this planet, and I’ll never help all of them, but I can help this one.”

Ren hadn’t ever really gotten to know Jaune’s dad. He knew that he was a quiet, kind man who always came to school when Jaune got in trouble. He never yelled at Jaune for getting into fights. Never got angry or lost his temper. He just tried to help him be better.

He had been a good dad.

Finally, a shopkeeper waved them over. He had two sets of arms, one set waving, the other set clasped tightly around the handles on a basket of fruit. He smiled as the trio approached, waving at them causing the two green and yellow lines that ran down his arms to flash in the light.

“I believe you’re looking for that Dulcosi’s owner?” the shopkeeper asked, gently setting the basket of fruit down behind him.

“Yeah, do you know where we could find them?” Jaune asked, excited at finally finding a lead.

“Sure don’t,” the alien replied. “They left here ages ago. The poor thing-” He gestured to Petey. “-has been here ever since. No one wants the responsibility of taking care of her full time, but some of us food vendors will toss her something to eat when we can.”

Jaune knelt down next to the dog and rubbed gently behind her ears, still looking up at the shopkeeper. “She was abandoned? That’s awful.”

He felt sick. Who would abandon their puppy like that? He’d only known Petey for a little while but she was already the sweetest girl he had ever known.

“Sure was,” the shop owner said, shaking his head. He pulled a fruit out of the basket he’d set down and gave it to Petey. “They’re good pets. Loyal. Just need a family.”

Jaune looked up at Ren, putting on his best pleading face. This wasn’t just about his empty stomach anymore. This was for Petey.

Ren heaved a sigh, rubbing his forehead. Jaune wasn’t going to leave without this dog.

“There’s a pet supply shop just a couple streets down,” the shopkeeper said, winking knowingly. “Tell him Luxverd sent you, and he should give you a discount.”

Ren’s face was buried in his hands. He seemed to think that if he didn’t see Jaune then he would disappear. When he uncovered his face, however, Jaune was still there, holding Petey in his arms now.

The combination of Jaune’s pleading face, along with the dog happily panting at him with her tongue sticking out and wagging her tail was too much.

“Fine,” Ren groaned. “Where’s this shop?” He pulled out his map and let Luxverd point out where the shop would be. Not too far away. Ren shouldered his pack, forging out into the crowd. “Come on, Jaune.”

Jaune and the dog followed along behind, shit-eating grin plastered across his face, and Petey’s tag wagging furiously.

---

The shop was brightly lit, toys and pictures of various pets plastered on posters in the windows. The shopkeeper was waving goodbye to a happy looking alien who was carrying a kitten-esque creature in their arms. 

The shop owner looked to be the same species as Luxverd, except instead of green and yellow lines, he had two dark blue lines running down his cheeks. He turned his smile to Jaune and Ren as they approached.

“How can I help you?” he asked, extending one of his arms to Ren. “My name is Caelrune.”

“Ren,” he shook his hand. “We are… um…”

Jaune ignored the shopkeeper, darting to the toy shelf with Petey.

“I recognize that Dulcosi,” Caelrune said. “I suppose Luxverd sent you?”

Ren nodded, looking behind the shopkeeper to watch Jaune. He had set the dog down, and was showing her different toys. Every time Petey showed any interest in one, he added it to the growing pile in his arms.

“I should-” Ren started. Caelrune held up one of his arms, stopping him.

“Make sure your friend doesn’t buy my entire stock, yes.”

Ren nodded gratefully and walked past Caelrune and into the shop. Jaune was looking at bags of food now, the toys all in one basket. The dog was sniffing the different bags.

“Which one is it, girl?” He asked. “What do you want to eat?”

Petey leaned in to sniff a bright pink bag. Once she determined that she liked it, she butted her head against it, turning to pant at Jaune. He beamed and picked up the bag in his arms, almost toppling over from the weight.

“We’re not buying all of these toys,” Ren said, taking the bag of food from Jaune, who looked relieved. “We can’t afford all of them. We can barely afford to take care of ourselves!”

“We can manage,” Jaune said. “We always do.”

“At least put a few back,” Ren said, half-pleading. “She doesn’t need thirty different toys.”

Jaune frowned. He picked a few toys out of the basket, but didn’t like that decision so he put them back and picked a few different ones. He couldn’t decide which ones to put back. Petey deserved them all. Finally, Ren grabbed a random few and put them back on the shelf.

“This should be good,” he said, holding his arm out to stop Jaune from grabbing the toys again.

“Excellent,” Caelrune smiled at them and began calculating the cost.

---

Ren stared sadly at the small handful of currency they had left, while Jaune bounced happily alongside, playing tug-of-war with Petey. He sighed. He couldn’t stay mad at Jaune. Not when he was so happy with having a dog. 

Still… they needed money. Ren knew it wasn’t going to be easy when he had decided to join Jaune on this adventure. Nothing had ever been easy with Jaune.

They were going to have to find somewhere to earn some spare currency or this adventure was going to be cut short.

[chickensarentcheap]

Best Part of Me -Chapter 93

Warnings: mention of depression, anxiety, PTSD

Tagging: @innerpaperexpertcloud​, @tragiclyhip​, @alievans007​, @c-a-v-a-l-r-y​

“It’s your lucky day handsome.”

Julie waits until he deposits his phone on the bedside table before greeting him. It’s been her ‘pet name’ for him since day one;  a hazy recollection of her calling him that during a brief moment of  consciousness that first night in the ICU. A blanket straight from the warmer in the hall being placed over him and a damp face cloth being pressed against his face; clearing away any and all remnants of dried blood. A palm resting on his cheek and his head being ever so gently turned sideways; his eyelids heavy and vision blurry, barely able to make out the soft, kind face regarding him. He remembers trying to speak; tongue feeling thick and  throat painfully dry and only managing to get out on intelligible word: water.  She had smiled at that, and the hand on his face moved to the back of his neck as the other was placed under his chin; catching any spills as she helped him drink ice water through a straw.  He’d been unable to sort all the pieces and put them together; brain muddled and foggy as he tried to figure out just what happened, where he was, and how he’d gotten there. But he remembers -even through the flood of powerful painkillers and sedation being pumped into him- the panic that he'd felt. Asking where his wife was and being terrified that he’d be told she was dead; that his entire family was gone.  The nurse’s voice soothing as she comforted him; assuring him that Esme was fine and had just stepped out of the room and would be back in ‘two shakes of a lamb’s tail’.  Then that warm, soothing sensation had returned; that cloth against his forehead and one of the older woman’s hands gripping his.   Exhaustion returning hard and fast; aided by the amount of meds being continuously run through his battered and broken body.

“You mean I don’t have to have a tube in my dick  anymore?”

A grin plays on her mouth. “Okay, so maybe not THAT lucky.”

“When DOES that day come?”

“When you get your legs back under you.”

“You mean when I can actually feel them again?”

Julie nods.

“And when is that gonna be?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“Wouldn’t you if you’ve spent a week hooked up to all this shit?” He nods down at the central line inserted in his chest; clear tubing leading to a morphine pump and an IV pole. “Seven days of pissing into a bag and having strangers poking and prodding at you all the time”

“We’re hardly strangers anymore, blue eyes. We’re on a first name basis, aren’t we?”

“I don’t know; you never call me by mine. You’re always calling me these cute little names.”

Well maybe I find you cute. Even in all your grumpy glory. I’m old enough to be your mother, you know.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Bless your beautiful little heart. But as  much as I appreciate you feeding my ego, all the sweet talking in the world won’t save you from being poked and prodded at.”

He sighs.  “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t really like people touching me.”

“You have a lot of kids for a guy that doesn’t like to be touched,” Julie teases.

“She’s the exception. It’s nothing personal against you. I just don’t like people getting that close. And I especially don’t like hospitals.”

“You’ve spent a lot of time avoiding them, huh? I can tell by some of the scars you’ve got going on there.  You’re used to just patching yourself and getting back into the fight.”

“Pretty much. Too bad I couldn’t do that this time. Wish it was that simple; digging a bullet out or sewing myself up. This is a little beyond that.”

“Just a little. How’ve you been feeling today?”

“Alright, I guess.”

“You guess? What’s going on? Pain?”

“A little. My back’s been bugging me but it’s pretty tame compared to what I’m used to.”

“Any headaches?” she asks, as she tends to checking his blood pressure and temperature. “Blurred vision? How about unusual grogginess or memory issues?”

“You ask me this every day,” Tyler grumbles.

“And every day, I tell you the same thing. That  there’s always a chance of that pesky skull fracture causing issues. So…?”

“Nothing. No headaches, no dizziness, now eye problems. And I already told you about my brain; I have memory issues to begin with. Permanent ones.”

“From the last time you were here.”

He nods. “My short term memory is fucked. It’s a brain injury. Or so I was told. From when I coded. Twice. Not enough oxygen going to my head screwed things up.”

“Must get frustrating.”

“It’s not as bad as it used to be. I’m not as forgetful as I was a few years ago, that’s for sure. But yeah, it pisses me off; when I can’t remember things.  If I can’t remember what I did ten minutes or I have to ask my wife the same questions over and over again because I don’t remember what she said the first five times.”

“What happens when you get pissed off?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you deal with it?”

“A lot better than I used to, that’s for sure. Back when I used to drink a lot and I’d flip my shit and punch a hole or in a wall or freak out on everyone in the house. Now I just go and work out or go surfing or for a hike and that’s it.  I feel better by the time I get back.”

“It makes you angry? When you have to ask the same things over and over again?”

“Not angry, really. It just annoys me. I guess it makes me a bit worried too.”

“Worried? About your brain or….?”

“Worried that I’m annoying her. That I’m just some messed up basket case adding more shit to her plate. That I’m just another kid she has to take care of. A burden.”

“I highly doubt she thinks those things.”

“I know she doesn’t. She’s never made me feel that way. It’s just that I worry about it. That one day she’s going to look at me and I’m going to see pity in her eyes. And I don’t ever want to see that. That would kill me. If she started looking at me that way.”

“I don’t see that ever happening. I’ve seen the way she looks at you, and it’s definitely not pity in those pretty brown eyes.”

“I just hate what this is all doing to her. Especially right now. Being pregnant; trying to grow a human being, keep it alive. And I hate that it’s taken her away from the other kids. That I’VE taken her away from them.”

“I doubt she sees it that way.”

“I hate that she has to take  care of me. Has to feed me and wash my hair and my face and all that shit. And before you say it, no, I don’t want someone else doing it. I just wish she didn’t have to do it at all. I’m supposed to take care of her; it’s what I promised to do when we got married. For the rest of my life.”

“Didn’t those vows go both ways? I seem to remember it going both ways when I got married.”

“I’m the guy. I’m supposed to take care of her.”

Julie smirks. “She warned me about that. Your toxic masculinity bullshit.”

“Are you supposed to swear in front of your patients?”

“Are you going to tell on me?”

He grins. “No.”

“You really need to stop that, you know,” she gently scolds. “Thinking that way. Thinking it’s your duty to protect and provide and that she’s some weak little creature that you have to coddle. Because if this last week has shown anything, it’s that she is definitely weak. Little, yes. But not weak.”

“Believe me, I don’t see her that way.  At all. She’s the strongest, toughest person I’ve ever met. I know what she’s capable of. I saw it...I experienced it...first hand seven years ago.  It’s not that I feel like I have to protect her. I WANT to protect her. Especially with the life we have. The things I do. The toes I step on and the bridges I burn.  I NEED to protect her. And those kids.”

“Have you ever thought of getting out of that kind of life? So you won’t have to worry about things like that? Wouldn’t it be nice if you never had to worry about any of that ever again?”

“I don’t have that option. Of getting into another line of work.”

“Everyone has that option.”

“All I know is being a soldier and being a merc. That’s it. That’s my life in a nutshell. Those two things are all I know. And it’s not like I can go back to the military. I’m too fucking torn up and too damn old. And I’ve got a family to take care. One that’s going to get even bigger very soon.”

“Something tells me this is less about you needing money to put a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, and more about YOU.  Your personality.  You’re the type that’s not mean to sit still for too long. You get bored easily. And then you start feeling like you’re stuck and you start to resent things. People. Even though you don’t mean to.”

“Since when did you become a shrink?”

“I read people. I always have.  There’s an edge to you. One that says you’re a man that needs that danger. That adrenaline rush. That you’re not happy unless you’re getting those things.”

Tyler smirks. “How about you just stick to taking my temperature and my blood pressure and shit. If I wanted my head read, I’d go to a professional.”

“Is that something you want? Someone to talk to you.”

“I’m talking to you.”

“Someone other than me. Someone who has experience with people like you.”

“Crazy people you mean.”

“No. That’s not what I mean. You’re not crazy.  You have mental health issues, yes. But you’re not crazy.  Do you feel like you are? Or that you’re heading that way?”

“I think YOU’RE starting to ask too many questions. Are you like this with all your patients or…?”

“You’re the only who is conscious and can carry on a conversation.”

“Maybe we should pretend I’m unconscious again.”

“You don’t like talking about these kinds of things, do you. About what’s going on in your brain.”

“There’s nothing going on up there. That’s the problem.”

“I think there’s more going on up there than you want to admit. You’ve been through a hell of an ordeal. You’re going through it. You’re going to be going through it for quite a while. So how about you make it easier on yourself and not add more to YOUR plate.”

“I’ll be fine. Mentally.”

She stares at him pointedly.

“I will,” Tyler insists.

“I think it would do you some good. To talk to someone. Someone that has experience with people with PTSD. Someone that…”

“I think this conversation is done.”

“You know you’re only causing yourself more harm than good, right? That the longer you keep all that inside, the worse it’s going to be. You’re going to crash and you’re going to crash hard. And you’ll take it out on the people around you. The people that you love. That love YOU.  Is that what you want? You want to get to that point? Where it’s your wife and your kids bearing the brunt of it.”

“Do you WANT me to ask for another nurse?”

“She’s worried about you.”

“Well she needs to stop.  I’ll be fine. Once I’m out of Dhaka and I’m back home and I’m closer to my kids, I’ll be fine.  That’s all it is. Homesickness. I just want the fuck out of here.  I want to see my children.”

Julie perches herself on the edge of the bed and places a hand on his shoulder. “What if I told you that the only way you’re getting out of here is putting in so many  hours. with a psychiatrist?”

“What if I told you AND the psychiatrist to fuck off?”

“The neurologist put it in your file. That the only way you’ll be released and sent home is if you log so many hours with one of your therapists.”

His eyes narrow and his jaw clenches. “You’re kidding me, right? This is your way of tricking me into talking to someone.”

“There’s no tricks. I am telling you the truth. I wanted you to hear it from me.”

“Why? Because you think we’re friends? You’re just someone that comes in and changes my piss bag and would wipe my ass if it had to be done. That’s it. We’re not friends. This is your job, right? Why do you give a shit about me? Who gives a fuck if I talk to a shrink? Just do what you’re supposed to do so I can get the hell out of here and go home.”

“You have a good life. You have someone that loves you and worries about you and wants you around for the long haul.  You have five...soon to be six...beautiful children that adore you and need you. Don’t you want to be healthy? For them?”

“Of course I do. So help fix my fucking body so I can go home!”

“Calm down. You need to take a breath and calm down and…”

“Don’t fucking tell me calm down!” he snarls, and tears the blood pressure cuff off his arm and tosses it aside. “Don’t ever talk to me like that. No one talks to me like that.”

“If you don’t settle down, we’ll give you something to settle you down. Is that what you want? You want us to sedate you?”

“I want another nurse.”

“You can’t have another nurse. You’re not in charge of your care. You’re not the one making the decisions. Your wife is.”

“Then get her over here.”

“She’s taking a break,” Julie attempts to reason. “She NEEDS a break. You said it yourself; she’s trying to grow a human being and she doesn’t need anything else on her plate.”

“Don’t use my words against me. Don’t do that. That’s my wife. And I want her here. If she’s the one making all the decisions, then I want her here. I want to talk to her.”

“Then call her on the phone and talk to her that way. She doesn’t need to be getting a baby up and…”

“Get my wife here! I want her here! Now!”

“Okay…” Julie holds her hands up in surrender and slides off the bed. “...I’m going to go and call her, alright? I’m going to go to the nurses station and give her a ring and hopefully by the time I get back, you’ll have   managed to calm yourself down.”

“I don’t want you coming back in there. Ever. Just get my wife. That’s who I want here. Not you, not any of your fucking people. Just her.”

“We’re here to help you, Tyler. That’s all we want. Just to help you. If you’d just let us…”

“Fuck your help!” He rages, wrapping his fingers around the tubing that leads into the port in his chest and yanking it clear out of his body. Oblivious to both the blood and the pain that accompanies the violent action; the burning sensation that begins at the original point of entry and travels down the entire left side of his body.  “I don’t need your fucking help! Get my wife! Now!”

Julie simply nods in agreement, then slips from the room and closes the door behind her.

*****

She meets Andy at the front entrance of the hospital; handing him both Addie and the key card for his room before heading inside.  She’d already been asleep when Julie had called; still clad in the hotel bathrobe and a protective hand resting on Addie as she dozed as well.   She hadn’t been given specifics; simply told there’d been an incident and that it couldn’t be resolved entirely until she got there.  Panic had immediately set in. Worst fears grabbing a hold of her as she quickly threw on a pair of sweats and t-shirt; not even bothering with a bra or underwear and shoving her bare feet into her sneakers and tossing her hair up into a sloppy ponytail. All she could think about was what could have possibly gone wrong; the start of swelling on the brain due to the skull fracture, infection in one of the surgical sites,  an unforeseen complication with his back or legs.  The trip in the elevator seems to take forever. Nervously swaying side to side with still sleeping Addie clutched tightly to her; anxiety and fear clutching at her chest and causing nervous, unsettled fluttering in her stomach, eyes never leaving the illuminated numbers above the door as she mentally counted  down each floor.

It had been Andy that had given her some sort of comfort. Assuring her that nothing was wrong; at least not physically.   But there had been an ‘issue’;  a nurse mentioning the need for a psychiatric assessment and suggestion of an emotional breakdown and mental problems far beyond the realm of what staff in ICU were used to dealing with.  She’s genuinely surprised it took this long for things to boil over. The warning signs had been there. The panic attacks that occurred even after the disorientation and confusion passed, the shockingly abrupt changes in his moods; from happy and joking around and carrying on a pleasant conversation to severely depressed and emotional beyond all hope of comfort. In the blink of an eye become angry and volatile; saying hurtful, cutting things and appearing mere inches away from flying into fits of rage.

She’s  seen him that severe only twice before; all attempts at getting him help failing and being ignored and winding up with him putting a gun in his mouth with all intent of killing himself. She’d thought this time would be different; help would be easier to get if he was already in a hospital receiving care.  But the specialists had pushed the initial worries aside, saying the up and down moods were simply due to suffering trauma and being immersed in a situation he had no control over. That the panic attacks were just a ‘side effect’ of either the confusion caused by meds or the PTSD being triggered by being in a hospital. No one had taken it seriously; brushing it off as a ‘non concern’ and telling her that she was overreacting; nothing more than a worried, scared spouse in way over her head.

Julie had been her last resort.  The one chance of getting him even the smallest bit of help before things got to the point of no return. And now even THAT’S failed.  

She’s angry. Not at him. NEVER at him. What’s happening to his already vulnerable and battered mind way beyond his control; the bouts of severe -almost manic- depression, the PTSD induced panic attacks, the hurtful things that come out of his mouth when he’s in a tailspin.  The anger is reserved for everyone throughout the years -throughout his entire life, for that matter- that has contributed to where he is now. Physically AND mentally. His father for  a childhood filled with   abuse and inhumane torment, the horrors of war he’d experienced during multiple deployments in the Middle East, the injuries suffered on the job that have lead to years of chronic, near crippling (on some days) pain,  the multitude of medical professionals that -instead of listening to her fears and worries- simply threw more and more meds at him instead of attempting to find real solutions.  Even the stint in the psych ward had only scratched the surface; a small bit of help that had only come because he’d been so close -perhaps just minutes- from taking his own life.

“What the hell happened?” She can no longer hide the irritation or the disappointment.  Past being tactful and polite.  The last seven days have been pure and utter hell, and she’s tired of it being one step forward and ten steps back.  And she doesn’t even feel the least bit apologetic when she sees the way Julie blinks at the harshness in her voice.  

“I didn’t want to call you.  It was the last thing I wanted to do. I knew you needed a break and I know you’re exhausted. You’re worn out and you’re stressed and you needed to get some rest. But he wouldn’t calm down and the only person he wants to talk to is you. If there’d been anyone else to call…”

“He’s my husband. I don’t care if you have to call me at three in the morning. He’s all that matters right now. And I don’t understand what could have happened in such a short period of time.  I just got off the phone with him; he told me you were in the room. What the hell could have gone so wrong? When I was on the phone with him, he was fine. Considering. He sounded like Tyler; he was joking around and he was teasing me and he was fine. What the fuck?”

“I may have pushed him too far.”

“Too far doing what? What could you have been doing  that you went too far with? He was fine. Until you got in the room. What did you do to him?”

“We were talking. I was trying to get a pulse on how he was feeling. Mentally, speaking. And it was going well; we were having a calm and rational conversation.”

“Tyler doesn’t just freak out. He needs a reason. Or his brain needs a reason, I should say. He’s not going to go just go from calm and rational to off the reservation. That’s not him. Not even on his worst mental health days. What did you say to him?”

“I may have overstepped.”

“Overstepped how?  What did you say to him? And don’t lie to me. Because he will remember and he will tell me. And I’d rather you be the one to do it. Be honest with me. What did you do to him?”

“I mentioned that the neurologist wasn’t going to send him home if he didn’t log so many hours with a psychiatrist or a therapist.”

“Why would you tell him that? It’s not true. They haven’t said anything like that and I sure as hell would not agree to that.  I said I wanted someone to see  him; I didn’t say they had a right to force him to be here. I just wanted them to talk to him, that’s it. I didn’t want them holding them hostage until he played by their rules. That’s bullshit and you know it. That’s not what we agreed to.  I didn’t say to lie to him. Why would you do that?”

“I was hoping I could convince him. To willingly talk to someone. To take some of the pressure off of you. I know you’re exhausted; mentally and physically. I know…”

“Your job is to take care of HIM. Tyler is all that matters to me right now. I trusted you. And you turned around and you lied to him? You tried to scare him into submitting to therapy? That is beyond fucked up. That you’d lie to him like that.”

“It gets worse.”

“How much worse?”

“I’m not proud of the route I took. Believe me, I’m not.”

Esme’s eyes narrow, arms crossing over her chest. “What did you do?”

“I used you and the kids.  I told him that he was going to crash and crash hard. And that when he did, he’d hurt the people closest to him. That love him. That you and the little ones would be the ones to bear the brunt and pay the price. And why would he want to do that? Hurt all of you like that.”

“That is one of his worst fears. Losing his mind and hurting me or the kids. I told you that. That he’s scared of that. And you used that? You used US? To try and coerce him into talking to a shrink? You thought hurting him even more was the best to handle things?”

“Esme, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would turn this bad.  I didn’t know he snap THAT bad.”

“I could have told you what a bad idea it was; to bring me and the kids into things.  Why would you go behind my back and do this? Lie to him and try to force him into therapy? Use the threat of not being able to go home?  You know how desperate he is to go home and see his kids. And you use that against him?”

“I didn’t think it would affect him this bad. I didn’t…”

“That’s exactly it. You didn’t think. I told you that he’d talk to someone if I was with him. You just had to arrange that. You didn’t have to lie to him and scare him into something. All you had to do was find someone that could help him. This? What you did? That is not helping! It made it worse. It made HIM worse!”

“And I’m sorry. I really am. I am so sorry.”

“How bad did he get?”

“Ripped out the central line; we had to put a couple stitches in to close things up.  Took five people to hold him down to get a regular IV in. We were going to restrain him, but…”

“That would have made things so much worse.  Do you WANT  him to have a psychotic break? Because that would have done it.”

Julie frowns. “Of course that’s not what I want.”

“How is he now?”

“Calm. We gave him a light sedative through the IV line.  We were waiting until you got here. To discuss what our next step should be.”

“There is no next step. At least not tonight,” Esme steps past the older woman, shoulder aggressively bumping into her.  “I don’t want anyone going in his room. Not you, not another nurse. No one.”

“You think it’s safe for you to go in?” Julie follows as she strides quickly and purposefully through the ICU’s sliding doors and down the main hell. “He was violent with staff.”

“Tyler isn’t going to hurt me. He’s never hurt me. Not even at his worst. I’m not scared of him. I never have been.”

“There’s always a first time. And in your condition…”

“My husband would never EVER do anything to me. I have seen him in the darkest, most terrifying place possible. When I had to take a gun out of his hand so he wouldn’t kill himself. Not even then did he hurt me.  He doesn’t have it in him. Not even when he’s like this.”

“If it comes down to it and he does act up again and threatens to hurt you…”

“He’s not going to. I’ve spent years with that man. And I’ve gone through hell and back with him many times. And I have never once felt threatened by him.”

“...we’ll have to take more severe measures. To control him.”

Esme pauses in front of the closed door to Tyler’s room. “Control him? He’s not a fucking animal. So don’t you dare talk about him like he is. He’s a goddamn human being!”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t…”

“He’s scared and he’s in pain and he’s had decades of bullshit dumped onto him. His father, fighting in wars and having to see things and do things that only exist in your worst nightmares, the job and all the crap that comes with it.  Just because he isn’t like everyone else in here...doesn’t have what you think is a normal, respectable life...doesn’t mean you can talk about him like that. No one...and I mean no one...disrespects my husband like that.”

“I meant control as in a medical standpoint. As in…”

“I don’t give a shit how you meant it.  You have no idea what he’s been through. The things that have been done to him. And I’m not just talking now. I’m talking about his entire life. None of you in here could ever understand it and you sure as hell could never survive it yourself.”

“I’m sorry, I…”

“I don’t want anyone coming into his room unless I need help or I say it’s okay. Do I make myself clear?”

“Esme, I…”

“Do I make myself clear?” she forcibly repeats, and then waits for a simple nod in confirmation before slipping into the room. Struggling not to slam the door angrily behind her.

***

The room is illuminated solely by the moonlight streaming through the window, and at first she wonders if she’s too late and he’s already fallen asleep; succumbing to whatever drug they had forced into him.  His head turned away from her; his profile soft and peaceful, even with the rows of scars and the numerous bruises and superficial wounds that mar his face. Breathing slow and steady; hands clasped together and resting on his stomach.  Regardless, she errs on the side of caution; not wishing to startle him by ‘sneaking up’.

“Hey sleeping beauty, ” her voice is calm and quiet as she approaches the bed. “You awake or…?”

The sigh is long and shaky, but there’s a small, soft smile on his face when he turns his head towards her. "I’m awake.”

“How are you feeling?”  She puts down the railing on the bed in order to get closer to him, then pushes her hand through his hair and presses a kiss to his temple. “I heard you caused a little bit of drama earlier.”

“Just a bit.”

His voice is unusually soft and quiet; mentally and physically exhausted   tinted with sleep and  the effects of the sedation he’d been given. But it’s his face that hurts the most; not the bruises or the swelling or the soon to be removed stitches. She’s seen him in worse condition; in a medically induced coma with a breathing tube down his throat and wound vac attempting to heal the bullet hole on the side of his neck.  It’s how lost he looks; so scared and vulnerable.  As if he’s already admitted defeat.

“Are you okay now? Are you feeling better?”

“Now that you’re here I am.”

“Sweet talker,” she chides, laying a hand on his cheek and  placing a tender kiss on his lips.

“I was wondering if you’d even show up.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“They told me they weren’t even going to call you. That you told them not to.”

“You believed them?”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore. My heart knows one thing, but my brain is telling me something else.”

“I would never, EVER, tell them that.  Not when it comes to you. I don’t know why they would say that, but it’s not true. All I care about is how you’re doing. Of course I’d want to know if something happened.  Are you okay now?”

“I wanna go home.”

“I know you do. And I want that too, believe me. That’s all I do want. You well enough to get the hell out of here.”

“Is it true? That they won’t let me go home if I don’t see a shrink? Do so many hours with me? Is it true you were okay with that?”

“No Tyler, that’s not true. None of that is true. I’d never do that to you. I wanted them to get you help. Sooner, not later.  But I didn’t agree to any of that. That was never brought up to me, and I’d never be okay with it. I don’t know why they would say that to you, but it’s not true. You believe me, right?”

He nods.  “I believe you. You have to find a way. To get me home.  I need to go home.”

“I can’t just do that. I can’t just tell them that’s what I want. It’s not that easy, baby. I wish it was.”

“You’re in charge, right? Of what happens to me? What they can do?”

Esme nods.

“You need to find a way.  Please. You have to.”

“Okay,” she agrees, and presses a series of soft pecks across his forehead and over his eyes, down his nose and then onto his lips. “I’ll find a way. I promise. First thing in the morning, okay? There’s nothing I can do tonight.”

“You’ll stay? With me?”

“Of course I will. Where else would I go?”

“Where’s Addie?”

“Andy took her back to the hotel. He’ll bring her in the morning so you can spend some time with her. Sound good?”

He nods. “Sounds good.”

“For now, why don’t we get you out of this?” She tugs at the blood stained hospital gown. “That’s the least they could have done; got you into something clean. I brought some t-shirts yesterday; I figured once you got a regular IV, you’d rather wear real clothes.”

“I already got the stupid thing in me,” he nods down at his left hand; layers of tape holding the IV in place.

“Did you forget?” She lightly  tousels his hair and moves away from the bed; journeying over to the small closet on the far side of the room. “ I know how to disconnect it. The home care nurse showed me; after our first trip to Dhaka.”

“Are you supposed to be disconnecting it?”

“Are you going to tell on me?” she asks, and then selects a well worn and faded t-shirt from a backpack she’d stored in the closet the day before.

He manages a grin. “I’m no snitch.”

“I even brought your favourite one,” she says, and holds the item in question by the shoulders, turning it to face him.  Maroon in color, with Emery surfboards name and logo emblazoned in black across the front.

His smile, although still sleepy, is much broader now. “That’s the one you and Millie got me. For my first Father’s Day.”

“This thing has seen better days. It’s got holes and it’s frayed all around the neck and the sleeves. Not  to mention five babies have all drooled and puked up on it. It’s practically even see through.”

“You were still pregnant with the twins. Big time pregnant.”

“That’s what I get for having babies with a giant.”

“You were so beautiful. You always are. With every baby.”

“You are so smooth,” she teases, and leans down to press to a kiss to his lips. “Even when you’re doped up.”

“It’s true. You are. Most beautiful pregnant woman ever. Most beautiful woman PERIOD.”

She grins. “You’re laying it on pretty thick, Mister Rake. What have you done?”

“Threatened to kill a few people.”

“Well you didn’t follow through on it and that’s all that matters.  Maybe now they’ll realize that sometimes your bite IS worse than your bark. It’s what they get, if you ask me; for not listening to a damn word I said. Hold this…” she playfully  tosses the tee on top of his head, then tends to disconnecting  the IV and med lines and sealing them off with the discarded caps sitting on the nightstand.

He peels the shirt from his face. “She just kept pushing and pushing. She wouldn’t let it go. The whole thing about the shrink and why didn’t I want to do it? Why would I just keep being this way and then eventually snap and take it out on you and the kids?”

“She thought was handling it the right way.  I guess she thought scaring you into agreeing was the right way to go. And I’m sorry. That she said those things.  I never told her to   say any of that.”

“I know you didn’t. That’s not you. Saying shit like that. That’s not who you are. You love me too much.”

“Oh you’re finally admitting that are you? Only took you seven years. Your arm going to be okay? Getting a shirt on?”

He nods. “I can’t feel a damn thing right now. That must be some good shit they’re giving me.”

“Some of the best there is.”  She tends to the ties at the back of his neck, then removes the blood stained garment towards the hamper at the end of the bed. “Looks pretty good,” she says, as gentle fingertips gingerly examine the stitches -thirty five in total- that grace his left shoulder blade. “How’d you do that again?”

“Caught it on some metal. After someone tried to shoot me in the head.”

“I’ll take you being stitched up over THAT any day of the week.”  She tugs the t-shirt over his head, then lends minimal assistance as he cautiously moves his arms into the holes on the sleeves; patiently waiting he completes the task himself before pulling the garment down over his chest and torso. “Better?”

“Better. You know, I kind of like you taking care of me.”

Esme grins. “Those MUST be some strong drugs. You admitting that.”  She combs her fingers through his hair, placing a kiss to the bridge of his nose before resting her forehead against his. “Tired?”

“A little.”

“You should get some sleep. I know what you’re like after an episode. How exhausted you get.”

“You’ll stay?”

“I already said I would. You don’t have to worry; I’m not going anywhere.”

“Ever?”

“Ever,” she promises.

“I’m sorry,” his voice quivers with emotion.

“For what?”

“Everything.”

She pulls back to look at him. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for.”

“It’s been a hell of a shitty seven years.”

“No. It hasn’t. It’s been a pretty amazing seven years. Your brain only wants you to remember the bad stuff. You’re not the horrible person it’s making you out to be, Tyler. You’ve never been that person. And I wish I knew what to do to get it to stop telling you those things. But you’re not the monster it says you are. And we’ve had more great times than really bad times. You’ve made me smile a lot more than you’ve made me cry.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“I am. And you helped make five beautiful, incredible little human beings. You’re an amazing daddy. And an even better husband. Your brain can’t  take that all away. One day it won’t be telling you those things.  I promise.”

“I don’t want to be this way.”

“I know you don’t. And once we’re home, we’ll get you help. Real help. But you have to work with me okay? You need to cooperate even just a little bit, alright?”

“Alright.”

“If I’m there, you’ll talk to someone?”

“If you’re there, I’ll do it.”

“I just want you to be okay. Not just your body, your brain too. All of you. And we’ll get you there. Even if it’s baby steps at first.”

“Why do you stay? With me? Why do you put up with all of this?”

“I love you. More than I ever thought I could love someone. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t that a good enough reason? I love you. Simple as that.”

“Even when I want to die?”

“Do you? Want to die?”

“Sometimes,” he admits.

“Is that what your brain is telling you? That you want to die?”

He nods.

She struggles to keep the emotion out of her voice.  Throat impossibly tight. Heart breaking. “It’s telling you that right now?”

Another nod.

“You need to fight that, okay? You need to ignore that voice that’s telling you that.”

“You’d be better off. You and the kids. Without me.”

“No. We wouldn’t. Life suck without you in it,” she holds his face in her hands, placing her lips against his forehead. “You are so loved, Tyler. You are so loved and we would miss you so much. I don’t want to do this without you. Raise these kids. Especially with a new baby on the way. And I know you want to see that baby.  How much you want to see all your babies grow. So you need to ignore that voice. The one that’s telling you all of this.”

“It’s hard,” he admits. “It’s so fucking hard.”

“I know,” she pecks his lips. “But we’ll get you through this. I promise. You don’t have to do this alone. But right now, you need to rest, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll even rest with you. You promise you’re not a snitch?”

“I promise.”

Kissing him once again, she toes off her running shoes, then turns off the light behind the bed before putting the railing down.  “This is the one time I’m glad you’re a human furnace,” she says, as she slides in next to him, careful to mind the IV tubing.  “There’s not enough blankets in this room . Just keep your damn cold feet to yourself.”

“Well I can’t really move the right, so…”

She moves onto her side, snuggling as tightly as she can into him, head on his chest and a hand on his stomach. “Good? You comfy?”

His hand finds the middle of her back. “Very.”

“If you snore, this might be night I smother you with your pillow,” she teases.

“I’ll try my best not to,” he promises.  “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she says, and tips her face up towards him for a goodnight kiss.

She relaxes under the weight of his chin upon her head, and finds herself comforted by the steady beat of his heart; feeling the way his body rises and falls with each breath and how his fingertips soothingly   glide up and down her back. And she waits until she knows he’s asleep;   those breaths becoming shallow and evening out,  his hand stilling before falling limp at his side.  It’s a small bit of normalcy; welcome and needed. And she nestles her face further into chest and closes her eyes.

[black-bulls-squad]

General Zora Ideale Headcanons

My absolute favorite sad bad boy deserves more love (and more screen time in the anime). I’ve got enough of these to write a book tbh but here I will give you these.  ~ Admin Scotty. 

* Most definitely has a small base somewhere in Clover Kingdom. It is a tree house that hes been working on since shortly after his dad died. It started out REALLY rough, no walls or anything, just a floor and a tarp overhead to keep the sun/rain off. Continuously built on it from scraped parts and stolen money from nobles /royals until it eventually had electricity, water, bare necessities. Kept a pallet and rations in there along with a picture of his dad. The place is completely covered and surrounded by traps, so you’re not getting to it either way. 

* He had a little bit of tough time adjusting to living with all the other Black Bulls. After being alone for so long, so much company was a bit overwhelming. It didn’t help that Zora’s social skills weren’t the best from being a loner for so long. Luckily, the Black Bulls have quite a few friendly who made him feel welcome (whether he wanted to be or not.) 

* Zora’s closest friends: Magna, Asta, Charmy, Vanessa and Gordon

* Was a little sad to leave his bachelor pad behind when he joins the Black Bulls and finally moves in. Once when Magna convinced him to go out for a drink they swung by there. Magna thought it was “super manly” that Zora had built it all by himself. Magna definitely wanted to turn it into a “man cave” for just them to hang out at. He was very disappointed when Zora declined.  

* That being said, I think Magna is one of the first members (besides Asta) that Zora really gets to know when he moves in. Magna gave the most hot-headed reactions when he got pranked by Zora and it made him do it even more. Eventually Zora gets bored with it and the two actually get to know one another. They’re good friends now. Zora and Magna are usually in each others rooms or sat together outside. They like to talk shit about royals and train together (when Luck isn’t around). Surprisingly they have similar taste in music, food and alcohol so they enjoy going out drinking together. (These two are grungy edge-lord bffs and I’ll go to my grave screaming about it.) 

* Zora will often “join” Asta while he’s training. And by join he means napping under a tree while Asta practices sword fighting and gets fucking jacked. Zora will occasionally critique his methods or form thinking he’s going to get under Asta’s skin but he never does. Sweet Baby Asta takes the criticism as room for improvement and genuinely enjoys Zora’s company. Secretly, Zora enjoys Asta’s positive and hard-working attitude. His naivety and child-like joy pull on Zora’s heartstrings and make him want to watch his back, even if he’d never admit it. 

* Zora can cook and enjoys joining Charmy in the kitchen or taking over and treating her instead. Charmy appreciates any and all food, but food made by someone else just taste better, you know? They swap recipes and try new ones together. They are the only two who know where anything is in the kitchen. Needless to say, Zora always gets the best pieces and the biggest portions bc Charmy always feeds the homies. If asked to cook when Charmy is out on a mission, Zora suddenly becomes incompetent. How convenient. 

* Zora and Vanessa are the most mature and comfortable with their sexuality at the base. After a few bottles and one fateful game of Never Have I Ever all the Black Bulls learned that both had been around the block SEVERAL times and had tried their fair share of things in the bedroom. They both share a drink sometimes and gossip a little bit about who they think is cute. ( I see both of them as being Bisexual AF and if you don’t like that we can meet in the parking lot.)  Zora has a lot of hang-ups emotionally and has never pursued a serious relationship before. Vanessa helps him work through some of these and maybe pushes him if he finds someone he’s genuinely interested in. 

* Zora chose to prank Gordon shortly after moving in. He left him a “present” in front of his room that actually ended up being full of rainbow stink bugs. Gordon fell for the bait but when Zora popped out to laugh at Gordon, he was shocked when Gordon thanked him for the gift and just went back in his room. Turns out Gordon keeps a few bugs and spiders as pets in his room. He now breeds  stinkbugs for Zora. Zora was surprised to see Gordon’s room filled with terrariums and by the amount of information Gordon knew about them. Whenever Zora has free time, he sometimes tries to find cool and interesting bugs to bring back to Gordon.

* Moving in with the Black Bulls made Zora realize how lonely he had actually been since his dad passed. He was surprised by how friendly everyone was and how accepting they were of his and everyone else’s quirks. He would never tell any of them but he values their friendship a lot. They all secretly know tho because Zora never forgets to get anyone a present for their birthday and always conveniently “shows up” when one of them is struggling with a task/chore and need help. 

[mrneighbourlove]

Trip going Termina

Skull Kid was bored. Hyrule was boring. Everyone rebuilding Hyrule was boring. He was bored.

Looking around the rubble of a town, he was acquiring trinkets and valuables he could keep for his collection. "Hmmm? What's this?" Pulling a hand out of the rubble, he frowned. This was once a woman. Even with decay setting in, he could tell by the shape. On her finger was a nice ring though. Taking it, he studied its green texture. Reminded him of Rinku. Or Zizi. His green friends. He didn't know where Rinku was at the moment, but he knew where Zizi was. Taking the ring, he skipped and hopped, and teleported back to Hyrule. Was time to leave Hyrule for a bit.

Zizi had been given one of the largest tasks to handle for the kingdom. Her job was now to create a growing plantation of crops for the people. She and many other Zemlja were helping farmers start fresh with a new plot of land. Yet, the plantation would not only feed the people but later help provide money by sending exports to other countries. For once, Zizi was happy to have a job that did not deal with fighting. The war with Vul'kar was a horrid experience and one she would care not to recall.

Skull Kid hopped onto her shoulders from above, messing up her hair. "Piggy Back time!"

"Hey!!!" Zizi lost her balance and over the two of them toppled. "... where were you earlier when I needed help sorting the seeds?"

"I found a ring on a body. They didn't need it. You want to ditch work?"

"Now, now, Skull Kid, looting the dead is very much frowned upon." Zizi chided him. "You should put it back." Then she sat on the earth, concentrating. "I'll make you a deal. Help me finish work and then we'll hang out."

"Deal! But we have to go where I want to."

"And where is that?"

"Surprise. Now, let's get to work!"

~

Once the work was complete, Zizi managed to clean her hands in the stream before Skull Kid splashed her. "... do I need an overnight bag for this? You know I can't stay away long. Zarazu will need me."

“Zarazu has others. She has the flaming party pooper and her ‘lovey wovey Covvy pie’.” Skull Kid gagged at that pet name he heard. “I’d pack a bag and grab rupees. That’s the currency for where we are going.”

"Rupees?" Zizi never had much money to spend. Though, she did have a little cash stored away for a day like this. Perhaps it was time to use it for a much-deserved day off. "... all right. Let me inform my sister and we'll be off."

“Do you have to? You’re not a baby she has to look after.” Skull Kid shifted towards her, his limbs rattling like maracas.

"I don't want to just disappear." Zizi reminded him. "Remember how I spent a couple of days with you in the woods exploring when I first came to Hyrule? Zarazu sent out a search party."

“Zarazu’s a worry wuss. But fine. Tell her we’ll be gone for a few days at most.”

"Zarazu has a right to worry. Look at what all we've been through." Zizi tipped Skull Kid's hat down in a playful manner. "I'll meet you at your tree. Let me pack my things and tell my sister."

Skull Kid suppose he couldn’t move things along faster even if he wanted to. Leaning on his tree, he took out the ring he found and examined it some more. Finally, with all the strength he could muster, he threw it far. It landed in front of a village girl and he gave no more mind to it.

Once everything was done, Zizi met Skull Kid at his tree. She had packed a couple of pairs of clothes, what little money she had, and some snacks for the road. Maybe soon, her plantation would be bringing in money for the kingdom and she would have a steady paycheck. "So, where are we going?"

Skull Kid pointed to the small oak log that had an open crawl space. “Go down there after me!” Skull Kid was quick to led by example, disappearing into the log.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Zizi approached the log and had to wiggle through it. "Skully, I'm a little bigger than you, do you think you could find a bigger log next time?"

“Don’t grow up, how’s that?” On the other side, Zizi found herself right in the heart of the Lost Woods suddenly.

"... wait, what?" Zizi looked back through the log and then around her. Skull Kid was using his magic again for teleportation maybe. Either that, or the log had magical properties that could suddenly spit one out in another dimension. "How did... you know what? I don't want to know. I'm good with not knowing." She stood and took in the beautiful view of the greenery with a sigh. "This is so lovely. Look at all the trees and the plants... oh, and the flowers are gorgeous! They glow!" What the Zemlja did not realize was she had plucked a fairy from a bush, thinking it was a flower. "What species is this?"

The fairy glew incredibly bright, enough to hide its shape as it bit Zizi hard on the finger with the force of a wasp’s stinger.

Surprised, Zizi yelped as the fairy bit her and instantly dropped the creature, yanking her hand away. The fairy bit hard enough to draw blood and the Zemlja hissed at the stinging. Putting her finger in her mouth to staunch the bleeding, she then looked at an amused Skull Kid. "What was that?! I didn't do anything!"

Skull Kid watched as the fairy flew away into the deep foliage of a tree. “That was a Forest fairy you pluck by wings Zizi~ There are different kinds of fairies all around the world. Too bad you didn’t pluck a healing fairy. Hehehe.”

"You could have warned me." Zizi shook her hand to try to make the stinging disappear. "And I didn't mean to hurt it if I did."

“I wanted you to learn yourself. Stay close. The Lost Woods are a magnificent but dangerous place to explore. Many marvellous sights and magical gateways to around the world, but treacherous monsters and curses as well.”

At the relay of potentially dangerous magic and ill-tempered creatures, Zizi almost wanted to shake Skull Kid, yet, she feared his head might pop off. "And pray tell, what made you choose this path if it's not the safest route?"

“It’s the most fun Zizi.” Skull Kid walked around various fallen logs, laughing as he kept ahead of Zizi. “If you get lost in the woods, you’ll become a Stalfos.”

"I most certainly will not!" Zizi huffed at his taunting. "I will simply let the earth swallow me and escort me back to my sisters. If you call this fun, I would hate to see what you call relaxing."

“Well, do you know where to go?”

"The earth is connected, Skully." Zizi walked across a long, making sure to balance, holding her arms out. "That's why I walk barefoot all the time. I can feel it talking to me. I can use the roots in that tree to tell you a family of rabbits burrow underneath it. The leaves in the canopy tell me little birds are chirping in a nest. It talks, you know."

“Yeah?” Skull Kid knocked on an old oak. “You know which way is north?”

"Easy." Zizi then stopped and pointed, oddly enough, in the correct direction. "That way."

“Tricky woods. Tricky trees.”

"Not really." Zizi admitted to Skully. "They're talking to me. It's like... one giant voice almost. Telling me I'm..." She paused for a moment to repeat the words. "The voice says that I am lucky that I'm special or else, it would gladly turn me in all directions." She shrugged. "Whatever that means."

“Hmmm interesting.” Immediately, his attention was drawn to a giant pit inside a tree. “Jump down.”

Zizi glanced at the deep pit and arched an eyebrow at Skully. "Another pathway? ... fine." Zizi carefully manipulated a vine to ease herself into the bottom of the pit. "Come on, then."

“Not like that. Like this!” Skull Kid jumped feet first into the pit, grabbing Zizi with him. As they fell into the deep darkness, he let out a gleeful cheer.

Zizi, having no idea what was going on, shrieked at first, but then as the tunnel proved to be like a slide, found herself laughing.

They slid and slided, and as Skull Kid turned them certain directions. Finally, a blinding light hit them and they tumbled right out a waterfall! “WOOOOO!!!”

Zizi barely had time to react. She did not want to get her clothes wet in her backpack. It would take a long while to dry. That, and she had no idea what was in the water. Not that she thought it was dirty, but if there was anything that could take a bigger bite out of her than that fairy, the Zemlja had a right to be cautious. A few vines caught her before she hit the water, and Zizi watched Skully give a 'boo' in her general direction.

“Hehehe. Like the swamp?”

"I don't mind the swamp, I just don't want to get wet." Zizi pointed to her backpack and then her hair. "Not that I mind swimming, but we don't want to delay our trip by my clothes having to dry, do we? Or my hair for that matter, it takes forever." She looked around the swamp, taking in the trees and the water. There were several lilipads with frogs croaking and fishes swimming along the bottom, looking for food. "You still haven't told me where we are going."

“We’re here!” Skull Kid gestured to the swamp.

"...? This swamp is our final destination?" Zizi peered around. "Well, if you were taking me to a landmark, why did you tell me to bring rupees?"

Skull Kid looked to an abandoned tower, and started making his way to the top, all the while silently urging Zizi to join him.

Following Skully, Zizi could have sworn she heard... whisperings. Was it the swamp? Was she imagining things? She could usually hear the forest speaking to her through plants, but this was not numerous voices, it was one. Snapped out of her thoughts by Skully tugging on her hand, the Zemlja wondered what his object was this time.

In the far distance was the light of a town. “Look over there Zizi. That’s Clock Town. We’re in Termina!”

"Termina?" Zizi asked him. "Like where you and Link met all those years ago? I'm surprised it's still here!" She was eager to take in the sights. "I thought it only existed in stories."

“Oh. It’s very, very real. The city has risen, fallen, and come back more vibrant then ever!” Just as the excitement filled Zizi, Skull Kid turned her head to a green gas coming out of the mountains to her left. “But we aren’t here for that.”

"Then what are we here for?" Zizi had a slight pout. "Aren't you going to take me to see the city?" When he turned her attention to the gas, she then inquired, "... if you brought me all the way out here to show me how you make a stink bomb..."

“No! ...Though...” Skull Kid shook his head. “Come on! We got a swamp to traverse. Mind the bugs Zizi~”

Zizi could deal with bugs. Spiders, on the other hand, she had no love for, due to the incident with Ganondorf battling that giant one from the temple. When she saw a rather large arachnid, the Zemlja squealed and almost jumped on top of Skully. "I don't do spiders!"

“How about Dragonflies?” From above came a massive man-sized Dragonfly. With an electric tail, it stabbed the arachnid, eating it alive as it buried its legs and fangs into it.

"... let's just get away from the bugs and I think I'll feel a little better." Zizi said with a pale face at the size of the insect.

“Hmmm. You ever go Snapper riding before?”

"What's a Snapper?"

Snap-ap. Down near the shore line was a large looking snapping turtle, digging into some fish it had caught. “That is.”

"As long as I'm not on the menu, that looks fun!"

“Ok. Sneak up on it, jump on its shell, and hold on.”

"How about you go first and show me how it's done?"

“Awww. That’d spoil the surprise.” Skull Kid had an evil, mischievous hint in his voice he couldn’t hide. “Life’s about taking risks.”

"Oh? It is? All about risks and fun?" Zizi played dumb, thinking for a moment. "Nah, you first." And with that, she gave him a shove.

Skull Kid jumped with a backwards cartwheel onto the Snapper. It let out a yelp, pulled its head and limbs back into its shell, then started spinning like a top towards Zizi with a spiky shell. Skull Kid laughed as he had perfect balance going forward and able to keep the contents of his stomach inside. “Hehehehehe! Weeeee, this is fun!”

"Whoa!" Zizi climbed higher in the tree and watched the Snapper spin around like one of those rides at a traveling circus. It made her dizzy just to watch the spinning. It was then she noticed the Snapper was headed directly for a rock. "Skully! Look out!!!"

Skull Kid jumped off one Snapper and onto another to continue the thrill. The first poor turtle broke the rock and wouldn’t come out of its shell. “Come on! Try it!”

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this later." Zizi carefully jumped onto a Snapper and held on for dear life.

SNAP-AP! The Snapper spun around at alarming speeds, dragging her down the swamps river bed. It was rather furious it and its companions were being used for sport.

Feeling that the creature was growing agitated, Zizi apologized to the turtle before jumping onto a tree, climbing up into the branches.

It seemed that in the excitement, Zizi and Skull Kid had becoming heavily separated.

"This isn't good." Zizi looked around for her friend but he was nowhere to be seen. She decided the best thing to do was to head back in the direction of the abandoned tower. It was a key point he had shown her and would likely come back to the place. As she was walking, Zizi came across the oddest-looking creature she had ever seen. It was... a plant? An animal? "Um... excuse me!" She waved at the being called a Deku, trying her best to be polite. "I'm so sorry to bother you, but I'm a bit lost. Could you help me?"

“Ah!!!” The Young Deku panicked, running over to a flower and hiding under ground. He sounded like a kid.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Zizi fretted, feeling horribly guilty about frightening the poor thing. She had to figure out a way to appear non-threatening. Using her magic, she had a flower bloom from her palm. The Zemlja offered it to the Deku. "Here. You can have it if you like it."

The Deku peeked out from its flower peddle, very close to shooting a seed at Zizi until it saw the flower. Suddenly, he looked amazed. “You’re the one! You’re the one!”

"I'm the what?" Zizi looked puzzle, but dismissed the thought. "I apologize for scaring you. Are you all right?"

The Deku plopped out of the flower, his leafy mane jiggling about. “Oh! Can you come see the King with me?”

"The King?" Zizi recalled Skully telling her stories about the King of the Dekus trying to kill a certain monkey. She certainly hoped this Deku was not mistaking her for an unruly primate. Yet, she did not want to seem rude. This place was full of plants. She could fight if necessary. Maybe the King could point her in the direction of her mischievous friend or at least a place to find food. She was starting to get hungry. "Very well. You'll have to show me the way. This is my first time here."

“Follow me pretty lady!”

The Deku waddled through the jungle with Zizi until they reached a large wooden palace. It was a magnificent palace from top to bottom. Cleaning some windows were little Koroks flying on leaves. Approaching some Deku guards, they pointed spears at the two approaching. “Halt. Only the green may enter.”

“She’s green! Show them your special power!”

Skully's stories were elaborate but nothing could compare to the actual sight of the wooden palace. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. The water around it was as clear as the sky and the greenery was so healthy and vibrant. This was a paradise locked away from the world of humans. As the guards held up their spears, Zizi was a little surprised when the tiny Deku referred to her as 'green'. Maybe it meant earth magic? Bending down so the Deku guards could observe, Zizi once again, sprouted a lovely lily from her palm.

The Deku once again freaked out over this revelation. "It's her! It's her!"

"I told you it was her."

"Fool! Let her in to see the King at once!!!" The Deku guards retreated into their flower bed, giving room for Zizi to enter.

Zizi really had no clue what was going on at this point. She was wondering if these Deku were mistaking her for another guest that was supposed to arrive. Either way, as the small Deku led her into the throne room, she noted the fire. That was odd, in her opinion, to have fire around species of sentient plants. It seemed hazardous. Gently, she tapped the tiny Deku's shoulder. "Would you mind telling me why your friends reacted so back there?" Zizi whispered. "I'm a little confused."

The Deku took her hand, leading her to a massive Deku sitting on a throne made of a beautiful blooming flower. "Halt! Why is there a fleshy amidst our Green Covenant?"

"... hi." Zizi waved at the large Deku and politely introduced herself. "I am Zizi Slatki, a Lorleidian. I was a little lost in the woods out there and your friend here was kind enough to help me."

"Why were you past the guards, Lore-Lu-Di-An?"

The young deku once again urged Zizi to show off her magic.

"Because they saw me grow a flower and let me?" Zizi presented the king with a different bloom this time, growing a long strand of ivy vines from her hand. Once finished, she offered the plant to the king. "I can do more than just flowers, you know, but they seemed very excited for some reason."

Every Deku working around the room stopped what they were doing. A loud ring was heard as a pan was dropped to the floor.

Zizi noticed the deafening silence and glanced around the throne room. She then whispered to the smaller Deku, "Did I do something to offend?"

"You!!!!" The Deku King pointed his scepter at Zizi. "You are the one!!!"

Zizi jolted slightly at the scepter suddenly thrusted in her face. "I'm the what?!"

"You are the Sage of the Forest reborn! Guards! Seize her!" A dramatic pause was taken for effect. "-A fantastic feast!"

Zizi stood there, stunned beyond belief. A sage? Her?! She was only a teenager, how could she be a wise old sage?! Yet, the Zemlja was almost ready to summon her man-eating plant at the notion of her to be seized. But breathed easy when the king mentioned a feast.

The Deku scrambled about, quickly picking Zizi up in a chair and carrying her about the palace plaza.

"WHOA!" Zizi held tightly to the sides of the chair, having no clue what was happening. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?!"

Skull Kid had looked up and down for Zizi. As high as the old temple, to the tourist shop near the river trail. Finally exploring the castle, he looked down through a window to see Zizi getting flower crowns put on her head and carried about. When she was set down for a second, he whispered angrily to her through the bars. “Hey! What’s the big idea having all the fun to yourself?”

Zizi jumped when she heard Skull Kid's voice, but was relieved. "Oh, thank the spirits! You're here!" Zizi exclaimed. "I tried being nice to this one little Deku I scared by giving him a flower and then the whole castle went crazy and put me in this chair!!!"

“Oh yeah? Where’s my chair?” Skull Kid huffed.

"Do one of your magic tricks and maybe they'll get you a chair?" Zizi scowled at him. "I didn't ask for this, they just keep telling me I'm 'the one' and I don't know what that means!"

“Huh. Well, maybe I’ll just watch then.” The Deku grabbed Zizi, plopping psychedelic herbs into her mouth and marking her with tribal paint. “The one! The one! The one!”

Zizi immediately coughed and spat out the herbs. The last thing she wanted was a trip to the plane of her mind like she was in a sweat hut. The tribal paint, she did not mind, but she finally had lost her patience. "Everyone! Everyone please!" Zizi's shouting at least obtained their attention. "I'm... very grateful for all the attention, but will one of your please explain why I am this 'one' you keep speaking of? What exactly am I? I'm just a visitor from Lorleidi."

“You are a sage of the Forest. Like Saria, Monomoka, Mufflebufflesnufflepuffle, Gfreeda, and Elron before you! You posses magic of the sages, able to create life at will!” The King pointed his sceptre to a caldron of water they brought out. “We shall see if we cannot free you of your fleshy prison first.”

"...?!?!?! WHAT?!" Zizi was now rather... angry. The little Deku she had been nice to brought her here for this?! This would not stand! Stomping her foot, the ground moved, knocking over the caldron of water. "I am just fine the way I am! You aren't going to try to scald me with that, because if you do, you'll regret the day that you busted out of whatever seed you came from!" She pointed her finger at the King. "I am a human and if you don't like that, than too bad! If I am this... this Forest person, this sage, that you claim I am, then why the hell are you trying to hurt me?!"

“Because no Sage can be a fleshy in MY kingdom! This is a kingdom of the green! Any who don’t agree can have their heads lopped off! This will done to help you achieve enlightenment! I mean, you are the sage, aren’t you?”

Skull Kid snickered. This was turning out more fun then he assumed.

"... I am enlightened to the fact that maybe I should lop your head off if you try to hurt me or any of your innocent subjects." Zizi was not usually one that was quick to anger, but right now, she was furious. "Earth Sage or not, I'm not going to let you hurt me or anyone else."

“UGH! Earth?! That’s disgusting! On second look, you are rather a gross little thing.” He poked her in the ribs with his sceptre. “Your skin is too close to charcoal, you stink with a musk of a mammal, and you have a birds nest for hair! Speaking of hair, it’s the wrong colour for a sage. Won’t do. Won’t do at all.”

Skull Kid looked around for something to help Zizi out and cause a scene. Looking around, he saw a patch of fruits being grown. That could do the trick.

"Zemlja is the spirit of the earth and has graciously bestowed upon me these abilities to do good in his name." Zizi then caught the Deku King with her vines and roughly jostled him onto his throne, making it to where he could not move. From the ground emerged Ve'nusa with a mighty, shrill screech that would make any ears rings. "I don't care if you think I'm ugly, from where I'm standing, I'm not the one with something to lose. Now, you're going to apologize, you're going to let your people enjoy the feast, and I'm going to leave."

The Deku guards tilted their heads at the king.

“Well you fools?”

The Deku nodded to each other, then fired a torrent of saliva bombs at Zizi and Ve’Nusa. The saliva that bombed Zizi was thick and sticky, every ball pressing her into the ground with a suppressive cold webbing of snot. For Ve’nusa, it was acidic, burning the vines off the King and harming the poor creature with intense chemicals.

Ve'nusa shrieked loudly from the acidic contents, but that did not stop the sentient plant. The platforms were forfeit when the large vines thrashed back and forth, knocking out the supports. Zizi, on the other hand, was furious. She swallowed herself into the ground, the mud absorbing the sticky mixture. She then used her power to pull the Deku's into the ground.

The remaining kept spitting at Zizi and her plant. Even the king stared to dance. “Yes! Take her down my loyal soldiers! Show this sack flesh the power of- SPLAT!!!”

A very large pumpkin fell on the Kings head, smashing it apart in a gooey green mess. Skull Kid didn’t expect the pumpkin to just crush his skull like that. There was supposed to be a plop, not a splat. “Whoops.”

Zizi heard the commotion suddenly stop and unearthed herself. Skull Kid... had gotten them into a very fine mess if the King was dead. She did not want anyone to get hurt, but the Zemlja had to remind herself that the Deku started this skirmish. Yet, she would gladly be the one to finish it. Covered in mud from head to toe, the newly arisen Earth Sage glared at the Deku.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't turn you all into fertilizer." Zizi snapped at the crowd and then the to Deku who brought her here with a pointed finger. "I was trying to be nice to you and you all wanted me boiled to death! If I really am this sage you speak of, then you all should be ashamed of yourselves. Don't come crying to me if you ever find yourselves at the mercy of a wild fire!" She then looked at her companion. "Skully. We're leaving. Now."

“Oh come on Zizi! We just overthrew a monarchy. That’s pretty cool stuff.”

"I don't care if we conquered the world, I'm going." Zizi tromped out of the palace, furious.

“What? Zizi!” Skull Kid tore a piece of pumpkin and followed her as the Deku cowered before them. “What’s not to like?”

"That." Zizi gestured to the shaking Deku. "I don't like that. I don't want to be seen as a bad person. I'm going to leave before I do something I really regret."

“Come on! We beat a bad guy! Just like your sister did! Doesn’t that make you happy?”

"Was he really bad or just racist against 'fleshies'?" Zizi asked Skully, wiping some mud from her face. "And while I do aspire to be a good leader to others like my sister, I don't always agree with some of her ways."

“What’s the difference between some mad king and a monster like Vul’kar. Both baddies. Now you have a fun glory story to tell your sisters.” Skull Kid felt very confident and laid back about the situation.

"The difference is, if it's true what they're saying, then I don't want them to be afraid of the new Earth Sage." Zizi stopped at the edge of the wooden bridge and sighed heavily. "How do we get away from here?"

“We go when I want us to go. Come on, I set this whole thing up to make you a hero. Maybe at least a thank you before we go?”

"... you set this up?!" Zizi whirled around to face Skull Kid. "On purpose?!"

“Yeah. Did some sight seeing around the world to find some conflict you could solve. All my friends are big shot heroes, so I wanted to turn you into one.” Skull Kid innocently waved his hand at her. “Took me forever to find something that wouldn’t put you in any real danger. There was some big shot monsters, a Gerudo pirate crew, and even a huge rampaging Spider. So when I found a relatively mad king with a submissive society to liberate I knew that’d be perfect for you. Aren’t I great? How about we go to Clock City to get a celebratory drink?”

"I can't believe you!!!" Zizi nearly shouted. "I'm no hero! I don't want to be a hero!" She gestured back toward the palace. "The Deku are scared of me now! I never wanted that! I never wanted to fight some biased king who hates humans! I don't like to fight, Skully! I was terrified when I had to fight with my sisters against Vul'kar!"

“Well, didn’t that help with that fear?”

"NO!" Zizi yelled so loudly his ears rang. She had never been this mad at Skull Kid before. "You've never had to fight in a real battle before so don't assume that you know what might help me overcome any 'silly' fear you deem needs fixing!" Huffing under her breath, Zizi started to walk on the giant lily pads which lined up for her. "Go off on your own crusade."

“Never fought? Zizi. I have history to account for that.” He skipped along the lily pads with her. “Come on. You can’t be mad at me. Being mad is being like a frog who can’t hop. Why bother?”

"I am mad at you. You assumed something about me and made an ass of yourself." Zizi sank a lily pad on purpose, causing Skull Kid to narrowly miss the water. "Leave me alone."

“Zizi. I can’t leave you out here alone. You’ll get hurt.”

"A little too late for that, Skully. You hurt my feelings." Zizi was going to retrace her steps and go back home to Hyrule. "I don't want to talk to you right now. Go away."

Skull Kid pouted, jumping onto her lily pad so they’d both sink. “Well, now you’re stinky. Now what.”

Zizi said nothing and simply dunked Skull Kid in the water before having the giant lily pad rise underneath her feet to set her in a tree.

“Hey! That’s cheating!!!”

Zizi continued to maneuver through the branches, listening to the earth to tell her which way to go. All she had to do was find that log, go through it, take a bath in the river, and go home.

“Zizi! You’re a party pooper!” Skull Kid shouted as he ran through the swamp water. “I just wanted to give you fun adventure. I-!!!”

There was a plop in the water, and Skull Kid went missing.

Zizi was in no mood for games. A vine fished Skull Kid out of the swamp water and plopped him on the safety of a lily pad. She did not put him in the trees with her. Then she continued about her way.

When she got a good look at him, he was missing his head.

"... great." Zizi growled under her breath. What stupid game was he trying to play with her now. "Just great. You drag me into this sorry mess you created, and now, I got to play babysitter." The algae growing on the bottom of the swamp called to her. His head was rolling around in the current. With perfect timing, a vine snatched Skull Kid's head.

“Zizi!!! Look out!!!” From behind her, a giant masked titan just little taller than Ganondorf swung a machete the size of a small tree at her.

Zizi was barely able to react in time. She jumped out of the tree and into the water below.

The masked Jungle warrior was a step right behind her. With a sword and shield of equal size, the jungle warrior was screaming a war cry as it cut down a tree next to Zizi.

"What is that thing?!" Zizi used all the availible vines to wrap around the giant's legs to prevent it from coming closer. She caught the falling tree with some floating algae in the water. The vines on Skull Kid launched him into the trees and Zizi quickly put his head back between his shoulders. "Run!"

“Jungle... Warrior...” Skull Kid could barely run. With another slice, Odolwa cut Skull Kid in half by the waist. “God-“, was all Skull Kid could muster before he fell into the water again.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Zizi was nearly shrill. She was beginning to lose her temper. This time, she did not just try to trap the giant, she actually slapped it with a vine full of thorns. Over. And over. And over. "You stay down, you big bully! I may not like all that Skull Kid does, but he's my friend, and you're not," SMACK! "Going to," BAM, BAM! "Be mean to him!" WHACK!!!

It let out a cry to the jungle for a call of help. Awful arachnids ran out of the jungles under layers to snap at Zizi. Skull Kid’s head was bubbling the water.

"I SAID ENOUGH!!!" A powerful green blast emitted from Zizi, knocking away all the spiders, the giant off balance, and echoing throughout the swamp, causing birds to fly away and creatures to still in their steps. Thin, lime colored lines traced at the corners of her eyes and magic glowed in the palms of her hands.

A kind soft voice spoke to Zizi, comforting as a mother. “Zizi Slatki. You have potential for great kindness and using the Earth itself for hope and the protection of others... this is your trial. Save your friend young one.”

The Masked Warrior stood up, and opening its stomach up, a blast of flesh-eating moths flew out to swarm Zizi.

The young woman wasn’t going to humour this monster anymore. It was humanoid, made of flesh, and like the insects it controlled, would be squashed like one. With one fluid motion, Zizi's magical ability with the earth lopped the giant's head off and crushed the moths. The plates of earth made a gooey mess of the masked monster.

Odolwa body starting to burn apart, swinging wildly around Zizi. Skull Kid lifted a hand and shot a rock at Zizi’s chest to send her back. Had he not, she’d have been split down the middle.

Once again, Zizi was in the swamp water with a loud splash, knocking her out of her magic induced haze.

Skull Kid’s own magic slowly healed his torso back with his legs. He hated getting hurt. Was always a pain to put himself back together. “Zizi.... you ok?”

Coughing, Zizi crawled out of the swamp water with a dark scowl on her face. Flopping on her back on a giant lily pad, she was most displeased. And tired. That sudden blast of magic due to losing grip on her temper really drained her.

"I want... to go home." Zizi said in-between breaths. "This has been... a disaster."

“Yeah... me too. Sorry for dragging you out here.”

"I'm still mad at you." Zizi managed to shakily get to her feet, exhausted.

“I know. I got that effect on friends sometimes.... you want to get something to eat?”

"I just want a bath and some sleep. In my own bed." Zizi told Skully as she pulled a piece of algae from her hair.

Skull Kid looked around, kicking the water out of his foot. “Well, we can’t go back to Hyrule the way we came. I know another area that holds a location the lost woods. And...” He hoped she appreciate this. “I know a place for some food and a way to clean ourselves.”

"..." Zizi looked slightly skeptical. Skull Kid led her out here under false pretenses. She did not appreciate him tricking her. So, she gave him a fair warning. "If this is another trick... I'm ignoring you for a whole month."

“Well, I didn’t plan for a masked monster to cut me apart for you to play hero. So no more tricks.”

"Good." Zizi sighed heavily, "Lead the way so I can get this muck off of me."

It was a good trek out of the jungle swamp and into a forest trial. A few Wolfos were ready to attack some potentially easy prey until Skull Kid made himself feel like a void to be around, scaring the pack off. Opening up into a massive open area, he took Zizi and himself west down a bath until they reached a small water hole of clean water. Skull Kid jumped in, quickly cleaning himself off. “Where did that power of yours come from? Didn’t hear any stories about that from your family in the latest war.”

As Skull Kid sank into the water, Zizi almost was tempted to pray thanks to Zemlja for the warm water. She jumped in, clothes and all, and made sure to scrub her head. One by one, the clothes came off and she hung the fabric over a branch to dry. It was heaven, being in this spring. "It's hard to summon plants on a dead island." Zizi murmured as she sank to her bottom lip in the water. "I did what I could, moving earth and rocks to fight. Mostly, I was just terrified."

“Yeah, but what you did to that monster earlier was something else.”

"... do you think what the Deku said was true then?" Zizi knew Skull Kid had met sages before.

“Well, it is possible.” Skull Kid mused, a hand under his chin. “Known a number of them over the generations. Have you felt any sense of awakening?”

"What is a sense of awakening supposed to feel like?"

“Been told it’s a large burst of power. Or a holy connection made with the goddess. Only good willed people corresponding to a certain element with a plan in mind by the goddess are selected.”

Zizi thought back to the war against Vul'kar. She did not recall having a large burst of power then. It just naturally came to her, moving dirt and manipulating plants. The largest blast of power the Zemlja had in a while was just now, battling that awful giant. As far as a holy connection, Zizi could heard Zemlja himself. Maybe... that was it? "I'm not entirely sure, Skully. I don't suppose there's a way to make sure?"

“You try praying to any of Hyrule’s Goddess statues?”

"No, I don't pray to those goddesses." Zizi admitted to Skully. "I pray to Zemlja. He is the one who I hear whisper in my ear sometimes."

“Hmmm, well maybe the Goddess of Hyrule will pass on a message to Zemmy? Who knows how gods work?”

"I don't suppose there's a mark or a... I don't know, some kind of sign you're supposed to get?"

“Defiantly a sign. And a cool medallion!” Skull Kid jumped out of the water, tilting his head at Zizi. “Your body hasn’t changed in any way so no telling either.”

"I hope my body hasn't changed in any way, shape, or form, and quit staring." Zizi splashed some water at him. "I don't care about a cool medal or such."

“It’s not like I care about that sort of thing. It’s just a bunch of fat to me.”

"... you know calling a girl 'fat' is rude, right?"

“Just a bunch of balloons anyways. You done cleaning? I want some food before we leave.”

"I need to change and you're still looking."

Skull Kid shrugged and looked away.

As Zizi was ready to get out, the water shimmered, and she heard a voice from under the water.

“Zizi Slatki... do you accept the Earth as your source of power... if you do, go forward and claim your symbol.”

Just under the water in the sand, a circular object was glowing.

Zizi just about scuttled out of the water from fright, not expecting a glowing light from her bathing source. At first, she thought perhaps it was a glowing fish, but then there was the voice. Was she hearing things? What was the shining below the surface? Against her cautious judgement, Zizi reached into the water and plucked... a... circular rock?

The rock was round like a clock, with unique markings on it. It felt right to Zizi holding it. One last time, the motherly voice spoke to Zizi. “You are the first Zizi Slatki... a threat more dangerous than Vul’kar will arise to threaten the world... there will others that will join you in time... Earth Sage of Hyrule....”

"...!!!" Zizi actually looked... pale in the face. Skully was right. There was a medal, that strange voice, the sudden burst of power, all of his predictions were coming true. Was she really this sage?! The Zemlja almost seemed panicked.

"Hey. Do you like beef? I think there should be a small town still on the map here. Good forest gateway next to it." Turning, he finally noticed her panic. "Hey. You ok?"

"Skully..." Zizi held up the medallion to show him. "Please, please tell me you were joking about the shiny medals that sages get."

"Zizi. That's just a rock."

"Then why did I hear that voice from the water? Why was this thing shining?" Zizi shook her head and started denying it. "Nope. Nope, I'm not this Earth Sage. I can't be a sage. No, no, no, you can have this back." She put the medal at the base of the tree. "I'm not strong enough, not powerful enough, no, no, no..."

Skull Kid hopped down, not caring she wasn't changed. Placing two hands on her shoulders, he held firm. "Zizi, if you're being serious, and I think you are, there is nothing to be afraid about."

"What do you mean, there's nothing to be afraid about?!" Zizi sounded so unsure. "Look at what my elder sister has been through! She's a queen! She has many people who adore her and love her, and she's so strong, but look at what all happened to her!" The Zemlja sounded paranoid. "Targets on her back from that biased council, Vul'kar wanted her dead, and who knows what might happen next. What if someone tries to kill her because they want a Hylian woman on the throne? Power just creates more grief! I don't want power like that if all that will happen is more bad things!"

"Zizi. Being a sage isn't about power. It's about helping people and giving to the community. Some are public with their identities. Most aren't. Besides, the power you get is about being responsible with it. There's always going to be dangers." Skull Kid pointed in the direction of Clock City. "Link defeated Ganondorf, only for a month later to fight to stop me from... destroying the world..."

"...? You?" Zizi had not heard this story before. All she knew was Skully was an old time friend of Link's. She just assumed he had helped the hero in the past or in this lifetime with a burden.

"Yeah. See above the city? Long, long, long ago, I was a troubled soul, who came across a terrible power. That power was known as Majora's Mask." Skull Kid waddled away from Zizi, looking directly at the city now, as if in an unpleasant trance. "I wanted to destroy the world Zizi. By cursing the moon and having it go on a set path to crush the town and detonate the Earth. I hurt a lot of people Zizi. Some of it from control by the mask. Many because I wanted to hurt people. I thought it was fun."

"... why did you want to hurt people, Skully?" Zizi asked him very quietly. "Did they hurt you?"

"Yes. No. I thought it was fun. I didn't know better. I just felt angry all the time... sometimes I still don't know better I guess. I thought you'd have fun today. But all I did was hurt you." Skull Kid looked down, starting to shiver. Coming to Termina, looking at the center of his worst actions, and feeling terrible about himself. "You must think I'm not a good friend..."

Zizi felt horrible for Skully. What did he go through in the past to make him hate the world? There were plenty of reasons not to like people, but to want to destroy the earth by crashing the moon into it? That was... a huge stretch. The only reason she could think of warranting such an extreme measure was if he lost everything due to the actions of the world, but... was it really justifiable? She was not sure. But, Zizi did not want to be judge of his past atrocities.

Wrapping her arms around Skully's shoulders, she pulled him into a tight hug. "It's okay to be angry. It's not okay to want to take it out on innocents." Zizi stated softly. "We all get mad sometimes. You didn't mean for the giant to cause such trouble. But, I didn't like how you want me to be a hero too. That hurt my feelings." She admitted to him. "I don't have to be someone great like Rinku to hang out with you, do I? Are you content with me just being me?" Taking a breath, she stated. "I don't want to be this Earth Sage, really, but... if I could help people, I don't think it'd be so bad. I still want you to be my friend, and I want to be there for you. But, I'm only human, Skully." Zizi thought of the future. "I might get married one day, and have kids of my own. I'm going to get old. Sometimes, I might not have the energy to keep up with you anymore. You'll still be my friend when that day comes, right? Friends forgive each other. So, if you promise to stay my friend, I'll forget about this silly incident and we'll go have a little fun. True fun."

"Hmmmm ok." Skull Kid nodded, hugging Zizi back. "What kind of fun?"

"I could teach you how to play checkers if you like." Zizi offered, resting her chin on top of Skully's head. "Or we could play tag, but you'd totally lose. I'm faster than you. Hide and seek would be nice, but this area is way too big. I could always create a huge slide for you to ride into the water if you want to go swimming in a clean section of water. There's a lot we could do."

"Ok…. You going to put your clothes on first?"

[purplesurveys]

1093

survey by pinkchocolate

Hi there! This list is based on some things I've done recently. Let's say, within the last few days. Have you done any of these things in the last few days?

Worn make-up? I never wear makeup. I’ve never felt the need to.

Worn perfume? Sure. I went out last Sunday to bring Cooper to the vet and to take myself out to a coffee shop for a few hours, so I wanted to make sure I smelled decent.

Taken selfies? I think I may have, but I’m sure I deleted them almost immediately.

Shared some photos on social media? Yes, I posted a couple photos of Cooper because he was being super smiley the other day. I also shared a photo of my laptop, which was playing Friends, beside my Friends mug the other night.

Woken up to the sound of your phone vibrating? Technically. But this usually happens when I’m trying to fall asleep in the evening, i.e. someone sending a late-night message, and not in the morning.

Heard the rain outside your window? Yes. It’s literally happening right now haha it just started raining.

Added sugar to a mug of tea/coffee? No. I use 3-in-1 coffee packets, which are already pre-mixed and all I have to do is add hot water. I’m terrible with measurements and starting from scratch and I doubt I’ll ever get the hang of manually combining coffee + sugar + milk + creamer + whatever else goes into coffee haha.

Refilled your drinks bottle? I don’t use a tumbler. I’m at home nearly every day of the week so I always have access to our glasses.

Felt emotionally involved while reading a book? This has happened before for sure, but not in the last few days.

Chuckled/laughed while reading a book? Uhhh I guess. My employer recently lent me this book on PR that they thought would help me gain a richer appreciation of the industry and I guess I did lightly chuckle at a few humorous anecdotes in it.

Spilled a drink? I don’t think so.

Eaten something that was sprinkled with sugar? Nope. I’ve eaten sweets here and there but nothing sprinkled with sugar.

Googled the definition of a word? At least a few times a day.

Read a Wikipedia article? Yes, I love Wikipedia. The last entry I read was a list on notable last words.

Laughed at a video you watched online? So many times. The main reason I watch videos is to be entertained and to laugh, to be honest; so it’s nice that a lot of creators make great, funny content.

Craved a savoury snack of some description? I’ve been craving gourmet donuts for weeks now. Nothing sweet; I’m looking for those with creative, out-of-the-box flavors.

Cursed after dropping an item on the floor? Probably.

Been amused by your pet's behaviour? I am always amused at their behavior. Kimi’s approaching 13 years but he still makes me laugh every single day.

Recognized an actor in a TV show, from another show you'd seen? I’ve only been watching Friends, soooo nothing to compare it to.

Seen an actor on TV that you thought attractive? Courteney Cox, always.

Typed something in a word processor? I had to look this up lol, but I guess I have if Google Docs counts as one? I use it a lot for work.

Been asked a question that you found awkward or difficult to answer? Sure. My grandma called up when I was stuck in a particularly tough period of my shift and she was asking how it’s been. I didn’t want to worry her or overshare, so I paused for a bit and just said “it’s going great!”

Smelled a pleasant food aroma? Yeah, my dad cooks up some great stuff al the time.

Dipped your food in ketchup, mayonnaise or another sauce? Tartar sauce.

Forgotten a hot beverage, then found it had gone cold? I don’t make hot beverages, so.

--

survey by kellyburnsred

What music video do you wish you were in? I don’t watch music videos a lot, mostly because they’re usually not at all related to the song it corresponds to and I never saw the point. Buttt idk, the one I had some of the most fun watching was One Direction’s Best Song Ever because it was hilarious. It’d be cool to fuck around with the characters there.

Who makes you laugh the most? I’d say it’s either Andi or Hans. JM and Kate are good runners-up.

You only can eat three things the rest of your life, what do choose? That would make me sick of those foods so fast...but if it were a legit life-and-death situation, I would go with surf and turf (so that I at least have a bit of variety), rice (because I can’t live without rice), and macarons (for something sweet).

What's one thing you wish you had in your life right now? Macarons. I recently liked a slew of local macaron shops on Facebook and even though I know it’s my fault, I hateeee that my feed is filled with macarons now haha.

If you had to give up your style, what other style would you choose? I’m not really sure. I can think of more styles I’m not willing to adopt, than those that can be my back-up.

What's your favorite ice cream topping? Hot fudge.

What is the bare minimum of sleep you could function on? I guess 3 or 4, but that’s the barest of the bare minimum. I would still be cranky if I was only able to sleep for that few hours.

When you drive, do you generally speed? Yeah, if I can. You’re always stuck in traffic in Manila so if you have the chance to press harder on the gas, you typically wouldn’t want to miss out on it.

Are you an animal lover? Yes, except for pests and insects I don’t like, like cockroaches.

What's the dumbest thing you've done because someone dared you? I once ate a piece of siomai that already fell to the ground; when I ate it I felt a lot of tiny pebbles and other debris so I promptly spat it out in a nearby bin.

What is the most disgusting trait that you have? Idk...typical disgusting habits make me wince myself. The worst thing I can think of is that I tend to keep my nails super long just out of neglect; and I usually only clip them once dirt starts getting trapped under the nails, or once it starts to become hard to type.

What was the last thing you talked to your friends about? Angela had made this really cute, DIY foldable collage for Hans for his birthday yesterday and I just checked in on her earlier to ask if he loved it.

What part of your day do you look forward to the most? The moment my shift ends.

What are your favorite song lyrics? This week, it’s probably “It isn’t the same, but it is enough.” It’s oddly calming no matter how sad the actual context is.

Who are your closest friends? Angela and Andi.

What profession do you admire the most? All are worthy of admiration. I don’t really have a ~favorite~

Do you believe in karma? Not strictly in the spiritual sense; but it can be comforting to think that the people who have hurt me will have their ass handed back to them someday.

What do you think is the funniest show on TV? Ooh, I don’t watch a lot of TV anymore...I have a sitcom in mind but it ended 17 years ago and it’s still pretty polarizing to this day, lol.

Are you an organ donor? No.

Did you have imaginary friends when you were younger? Just one, but I didn’t get the point of it and I got bored very quickly.

Have you ever smoked weed? No but a friend knows a supplier should I ever want to start getting into it.

Who do you look up to for your style? Idk, whatever girls my age are wearing these days.

What's the most expensive thing you've ever bought? With my own money, probably the hotel accommodation I purchased for my dad’s birthday this weekend. I’m super stingy with my money and I can’t imagine spending 4 or 5 figures on something just for myself.

What's your favorite amusement park ride? Not too big on rides.

Who was the craziest teacher you've ever had? Ironically, it was my Christianity/religion teacher from 5th grade. We bumped into each other a few weeks after I graduated high school and his first remark towards me was about my breasts. He did a lot of stupid shit too when I was in 5th grade but I don’t feel like getting into them because he was just one big headache of a man.

Where would you like to travel that you have not been? Thailand, if within Asia; Spain if outside.

If you could be any musician for a day, who would you be and why? No thanks.

Do you have any tattoos? No.

What are your favorite scary movies? Some favorites are Carrie, The Shining, and Scream.

[whisker-biscuit]

In the Name of Science: Chapter 3

Fandom: Sonic Movie (2020)

Rating: T for unethical experimentation, implied violence and gore, and implied torture

Summary: Tom and Maddie didn’t make it in time to rescue Sonic from Robotnik. Hopefully it’s not too late to save him now. Unfortunately, hope is hard to come by in the labs of the mad doctor himself.

Note: :(

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Ivo Robotnik, M.D. Log 3

Subject has been given time to rest. Recovery appears to be more rapid than previously speculated, as subject is active and aggressive with and without scientists present. Full anatomy examination to be conducted soon.

Behavioral training has begun in earnest.

End log

……..........................................................................

Sonic comes to on a metal surface with his face smushed against cold steel. He hopes it won’t become a pattern.

With a few careful breathes he takes stock of himself. Tired, sore but not as sore as before that horrible shock. The lab is dark and quiet – well, mostly. As much as one can be with humming, blinking machines everywhere – and the hedgehog realizes he must have been out for a few hours at least. With a start he also realizes his limbs are no longer bound together.

He pulls himself up to a sitting position immediately, staring at the four silver metal rings set tight around his wrists and ankles. There’s no indication that they can attach to each other, but just to be safe he tries to keep his limbs apart as he inspects the rest of himself.

Still in the cage? Check. Still hurting from the fight and everything since? Double check. Still planning to get out of here, especially now that the Eggman and his crazy assistant aren’t around? Triple check Sunday with a cherry on top.

The teen carefully gets to his feet, grateful for the returned movement, and notices two new additions to his little prison. They look like giant bottles hanging upside down the front mesh of the cage, with thin nozzles sticking through to the inside. Sonic warily edges near them, pausing after each step to see if it’s some awful trap the scientist has set for him. Nothing happens even as he gets close enough to touch them. With a little more hesitation he reaches out and taps the end of one nozzle. His glove comes back wet.

“Uh…?” He rubs his thumb against the damp spot, puzzled, then turns to the other bottle. A quick touch finds the tip of his finger stained in something green-brown and mushy.

Sonic sniffs it gingerly. It’s got a weird, almost oatmeal smell that he only recognizes cause the town hosted a big breakfast event one summer day and he gorged himself from the food line every time people’s backs were turned. The hedgehog realizes with disgust that it’s supposed to be food, that these bottles are meant to feed and water him like some kind of pet.

He smacks the mesh angrily but they don’t budge, so then he starts pushing and pulling at the nozzles, hoping to dislodge them or break them or do something at least. They rattle in mockery, making the teen even more upset.

Dropping to his back, Sonic lifts his feet up in a biker position and kicks the two spigots hard. Something responds with a loud creak, so he kicks again, and again, until finally the water bottle flies clean off its hinges and falls to the ground in a crash of metal and water. The hedgehog freezes, suddenly nervous instead of indignant. His ears swivel every direction in case Robotnik or a robot appears out of nowhere to hurt him. He’s barely breathing.

As the seconds turn into a minute or more without anything happening, Sonic lets out a slow puff of air and rubs his face.

“Great, Sonic, just great. Way to cause a mess you can’t explain away. Do you want the deranged lunatic to shock you again or do you just enjoy his company? – No, don’t answer that, it’s rhetorical. I know it’s rhetorical, I’m not an idiot! Clearly you are if you’re doing stupid stuff like this!”

He gestures to the mess on the floor, and it’s only then that he realizes he’s started pacing. The teen stops himself, pressing a palm to his forehead.

“Okay so obviously I need a little self-control here if I’m gonna find a way out. Wait, did that make a weakness in the cage?”

Sonic pats the mesh where the bottle used to sit. He makes a loud noise in frustration as it’s obvious the screen won’t budge.

“So that’s a bust. Busted plan, not busted cage or I’d be out of here by now. Okay, hmm…”

His eyes drift to the other bottle and his stomach gurgles. He can’t remember the last time he’s eaten. Probably with Tom. The thought of the human sends something sharp through his chest that he has to stuff down real fast. Now isn’t the time for that.

Instead, he experimentally lays back down and lifts his feet again. With only a moment of hesitation, he jams them against the other nozzle. Forget his hunger. Forget getting in trouble. If he can weaken the wall now and get out, none of it will matter anyway.

It takes a few more kicks than last time to knock this bottle loose – probably because he’s not running on outrage anymore – but soon it joins its duplicate in a loud clatter. Sonic grimaces at the sound but hops up to test the mesh again.

Still nothing.

Frustrated with a growing sense of panic, the teen gets back down and starts kicking directly at the metal wiring. It barely yields, only giving Sonic a horrible backlash of vibrations through his feet for the effort. A growl sticks in his throat as he tries again.

It’s a long time before he’s too exhausted to kick anymore.

……..........................................................................

Robotnik sits at his personal desk with five monitors up. Two of them are running comparative analyses on the quill and blood samples he’s obtained. The third has diagrams of all seventeen different hedgehog species and their anatomies. The fourth is a series of videos of animal trainers offering tips for more rowdy animals, as well as accounts of former human psychological techniques meant to restrain and subdue, usually in old asylums and prisons.

The last monitor is video feed of the alien hedgehog himself, and everything he’s been getting up to.

He had been in and out of consciousness for the first four hours after Robotnik had departed, as the heart rate monitor in his wrist restraints indicated. Most likely his body had been overwhelmed by the stress and had forced a recovery shut down. Then he’d woken up completely at nearly 3 pm.

And what a ruckus he’s created since then.

The scientist strokes his mustache, attention entirely on the video feed for the time being. After breaking off the nutrient feeders (an unnecessary cry for attention, if you ask the doctor) the little creature had pounded at the front of the cage for nearly twenty minutes. He’d dropped flat on his back for a while, panting like a dog, before getting to his feet and running in a circle within one side of the pen.

Whether he’d been planning to try and break through the metal with his body’s speed alone or some other ridiculous plan, it didn’t matter in the end. Because Robotnik had coded those restraints to record velocity, and once they reached a certain threshold their magnetic fields would respond.

This was demonstrated directly when the hedgehog’s ankles were pulled together and he crashed into the far wall. It was a remarkable impact, all things considered.

That was about two minutes ago. Now the man watches as the restraints are deactivated, leaving the alien still half-laying where he hit the ground but definitely aware of the change, if his flicking ears are anything to go by.

“Doctor, I have the items you requested.” Stone’s voice calls confidently from behind.

Robotnik takes one more moment to marvel this creature’s candid personality and behavior, from his position as a hidden observer. Then he leans back in the chair until he’s practically horizontal with his head upside down. He meets his assistant’s gaze.

“Fantastic. Let’s not waste any more time.”

He swivels around and rocks forward out of the chair, his momentum pushing him to his feet and up into Stone’s personal space. He holds his hand out expectantly and the other man obliges, dropping the objects into his open palm. A quick glance tells the scientist they’re exactly as specified.

Without another word the doctor heads down to the main laboratory. He notes with glee how the hedgehog scrambles to attention when he enters the room.

“You’re looking much healthier this afternoon,” he comments, already seeing improvement in the creature’s posture and stance. Then he pretends to notice the broken nutrient feeders for the first time. “Well. Much more active too apparently.”

Sonic tenses. There’s a slight dilation in his pupils that the man almost smiles at – a fear response already, good news. But then he crosses his arms and lifts his chin, still too defiant.

“Yeah? You gotta p-problem with that? It’s just how I roll.”

“On the contrary, I’m delighted by it.”

“What?” The alien’s arms almost drop in his bewilderment. Robotnik tilts his head and purrs.

“Well of course. I want to see what makes you tick, and your behavior is part of that. Not to mention that stunning energy you’ve displayed. I cannot wait to harness it to its fullest potential.”

He watches the way his subject’s mouth works, every twitch of confusion and revulsion and beautiful intelligence. Not on par with him of course, nothing in the universe will ever reach that level, but there’s something so thrilling about interacting with a lifeform from beyond Earth that has given him a literal run for his money.

It’s on this thought that he brings the objects in his hands out in the open. The hedgehog’s eyes lock on to them with the most wide, alarmed expression he’s shown thus far, which is honestly quite the accomplishment given the last half-day.

“I take it you know what these are.”

The alien swallows, and his hands are clenched tight. He doesn’t respond.

“Tell me what you think these are.” It’s an order, the first of many planned.

Sonic takes a deep breath and points at the item in the scientist’s left hand. His arm stays close to his body. “That’s a….that’s a collar.”

“So it is.”

He turns the thing over, letting his subject get a good look at it. The collar is black with the Robotnik logo splashed across in red. Most notable however, is the fairly large black box attached to the center of it, as well as the shiny set of silver dog tags dangling just under them. One finger taps the box.

“Do you know what this does?”

The hedgehog shakes his head. He’s looking rather pale now.

“It’s designed to administer a shock under certain circumstances, the parameters of which will be decided by me. No doubt you remember the one you received earlier today.”

His ears flatten. Robotnik smiles.

“Do you recognize the other object?”

The doctor wiggles his right hand, drawing Sonic’s attention there. He starts trembling just a bit as he stares.

“It’s – that’s a, that’s…” The alien trails off, either struggling to remember the word or not wanting to verbalize it.

“What’s the matter, cat got your tongue? Feeling stifled? Gagged, maybe?” He lifts the other item under two fingers, giving it a little shake as part of the joke. “Remember when I told you I expected nothing out of your mouth unless it’s a response to a direct question? We’re going to practice that.”

Robotnik outright revels in the sudden retreat his subject tries to make from the muzzle in the man’s hand, backing up against the far side of his pen like distance alone will have an effect.

“No…” He whispers. There’s something very vulnerable in his voice, something that goes beyond the idea of physical restraint. “No, no no no.”

“Save your heart-wrenching pleas for someone who has one.” The doctor says coldly, already pressing a few buttons to activate the hedgehog’s magnetic bonds.

Sonic’s wrists come together, as do his ankles, and he loses his balance immediately. He hits the ground on his left side but doesn’t stop struggling to shimmy away nor cease his begging.

“You know, perhaps I would’ve considered only using the collar for the time being, but then you had to be an absolute brat and destroy perfectly functional equipment. Act like an animal, I’ll treat you like an animal. Only fair don’t you think?”

Robotnik makes an irritated noise as his gloating is met with an increased volume of ‘no’ being repeated like a protective mantra. Not that he doesn’t love the groveling, but really. Gloating’s only fun when someone can appreciate it. He sighs and sends a few drones into the cage’s ceiling hatch.

The little hedgehog sees them coming and does the only thing he has left – he curls into a ball, every quill straightened up to create a deadly sphere. It doesn’t help much when the drones hover near enough for his restraints to yank his limbs out into the open, attaching themselves to the robots against all his best efforts.

He’s screaming now.

The robots drag him halfway out of the hatch, leaving his legs dangling in the cage. As Robotnik approaches he can see tears forming in Sonic’s eyes. It gives the scientist pause.

“You are…remarkably impacted by the concept of this. I wonder.” He transfers the muzzle and collar to one hand. The other hand shoots out to grab the teen’s snout, causing him to freeze in shock. “What about it frightens you so? Is it the further loss of body autonomy, or something else?”

His subject’s gaze scatters away from Robotnik’s face for a moment before coming back just as pitifully.

“Please,” he’s back to whispering. “Please, don’t. Please.”

The doctor leans in close, letting the hedgehog feel his breath on his fur and see the utter contempt in his own eyes. He holds him like that for a long moment, and Sonic visibly shudders at it all.

“You don’t get the privilege of begging anymore.”

Sonic’s pupils blow wide. He opens his mouth to scream.

“NO–”

Robotnik jams the muzzle against his face, pressing cold metal into his cheeks and cutting off the wail so fast it leaves eerie silence in its wake. His drones make short work of pulling the Kevlar straps through razer-sharp quills to fasten together where the organic scientist cannot reach. The collar comes next and is almost harder simply because of how much the alien is thrashing.

But it’s soon secured as well, leaving a shaking, near-sobbing teen with his arms stretched above his head and his head still held by his captor. Robotnik drums his fingers against the metal wrapped around Sonic’s face, causing a harsh flinch each time.

“I think this looks quite fetching. Perhaps I should consider keeping it on even outside of training.”

The hedgehog closes his eyes with a whine. The man strokes his mustache.

“Mm, but perhaps not. It all depends on your behavior from here on out.” He checks the time. “For now though, I’d say the rest of the day should be enough to teach you the meaning of the word ‘silence’. What do you think?”

Sonic shakes his head.

“Rest of the day it is! Oh, and let’s not forget to get your sustenance feeders back up, hmm? I’m sure it will be much more difficult to eat and drink like this, but I’m sure you’ll figure something out with that clever little mind of yours.”

A flick of his wrist and the drones drop Sonic back into his pen. The teen scrambles away from the front, into the far corner on the bed side.

“I don’t trust you not to try and take off the extra accessories prematurely either, so your restraints will remain active for a while yet. Not that it matters, because if I find out you tried to break anything else – the feeders, the muzzle, the collar, anything – then the shock I gave you earlier will feel like a tickle. Got that through your thick skull?”

Robotnik waits until he gets a slow, defeated nod before turning away. Something tells him the quill and blood sample analysis is complete, and he doesn’t want to miss a single detail.

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A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took so long. With everything going on right now I went to stay with family, and it has been a lot harder to get time to write around family than I thought ehehe. Hopefully the longer chapter makes up for it.

Also, sorry if Sonic seems OOC for this one, but I was thinking a lot about how his second greatest weapon after his speed is his motor mouth. This lad uses it to fill the void when no one else is there, and I'd imagine (at least for Movie Sonic) that losing that ability is just as terrifying as losing his speed.

On a technical note, I've decided to keep the focus on Sonic for this fic, and not Tom and Maddie. The original plan was to show them working to find him, but that wasn't working out so well in the end, so it's gonna be pain train all the way through.

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

[imaginationofacrazyfangirl]

A Not So Beautiful Fairytale

Pairing:  BTS x Reader, Yes all of them.

Genre: Fantasy/Angst/Smut/ Some humor

Summary: You find yourself slave to seven very handsome supernatural beings. They claim they want nothing more than companionship, but years of servitude taught you not to trust their kind. Either way you just need to hang on until you can find your little sister who was separated from you years ago. 

Word Count: 2874

Warnings: Violence, slavery, implied rape, future smut (involving who knows yet, but will update when I do.)

 Human auctions are not uncommon in the supernatural world. As much as they (being the supernatural) feared the knowledge of their existence getting exposed to humans, they couldn’t seem to help themselves from playing with the same creatures they fear so much. Perhaps it is just in their nature to want to maintain dominance over such inferior beings? Whatever the reason is, Namjoon hates slave auctions. He felt no thrill in using a human as servant or some sort of pet to humiliate. Nor did he enjoy in the more carnal pleasure some of his kind took with their human slaves.

   Besides Namjoon couldn’t stand the wailing noise of terror or the sharp scent of piss which accompanied the slave blocks. They were too much for his delicate senses; another reason he chose to avoid the black market as much as possible. Despite being the main source for supernatural to obtain their most basic non-human goods, the market tends to be littered with slave blocks everywhere. The things are practically shoved into every sharp corner or center stage possible in the small square making it virtually impossible to avoid.

    Hence why Seokjin normally did all the shopping for the household. As a siren, he lacked the capability to experience sensations beyond the level of a human. So his tolerance level for such sights is much higher than Namjoon’s. Moreover Jin is pretty much the mother figure of their strange little family of seven and knows better than anyone the things needed in their household. Whereas Namjoon normally buys more than necessary only to destroy half of it on accident due to his clumsiness. So it is only on the rarest occasions such as today when no one else can go that Namjoon is forced to make the trip to the black market.

     He only thanks the heavens that Seokjin didn’t send him alone instead forcing the youngest/newest of their family Jungkook to join him. The dark haired, wide eyed phoenix is still very much a hatchling in spite of being over a hundred years old. Something evident by how he looks around the market mouth hung open.

 “Hyung! This place is amazing!” he exclaims.

   Namjoon smiles shaking his head. He supposes Jungkook is right. The market is a sight to see, especially when compared to those in the human community. Unlike in the human world where everything is modernized, the supernatural community tends to keep their markets and cities no older than the Victorian period. And this particular market hasn’t updated since the renaissance period leaving in its old cobble roads, brick buildings, geometrical favoring and other old fashioned styling. Furthermore its riddled with creatures of all sorts ranging from pale winged faeries to glistening scaled nagas slinking around in their natural forms. A rare sight to see outside such venues. 

    “You’re gonna catch flies if you keep your mouth open like that.” Namjoon teases ruffling Jungkook’s already messy hair.

   The younger boy immediately shuts his mouth. A light blush forms on his cheeks causing Namjoon to smile wider. ‘To be young and unknowing again,’ Namjoon wistfully thinks to himself. He’s not by far the youngest of the group, but he is more knowledgeable of the world than even his elder brothers Jin and Hoseok. His second elder brother Yoongi is the only one more experienced and disillusioned than he is. 

   “Look Namjoon, honey cake!” Jungkook cries, pointing at a wooden stand with a royal blue awning. Under it a sun kissed skinned faerie baters with a red eyed fury over the fluffy golden cakes dripping with honey. Jungkook runs to the stand not even waiting for Namjoon’s response. His body literally glow red at excite over the cakes. Suddenly Namjoon wishes he had gone alone, because something tells him, he’ll be spending way above the budget Jin set for them. Especially since he can never deny getting his brothers anything they wanted.

    "We’ll take four. “ Namjoon orders.

Jungkook frowns.. "Only four? Hyung, I can eat eight and still have room for more. ”

    "We’re here to buy supplies, remember? Jin will kill us if we don’t come home with what was on the list.“ 

   An annoyed huff escapes the phoenix but he says no more deciding it best not to argue. Namjoon is right. Jin would murder them if they returned empty-handed or at least scold them into the next decade. "Fine, but I’m eating one right now. ”

   "Aish, such a kid.“ 

"Exactly. So you should feed me more. I need it to grow.” Jungkook replied, mouth full of cake. 

     Namjoon rolls his eyes. “You’ve been hanging Hoseok too much. He’s starting to rub off on you.”

        “Nothing wrong with that.”  Jungkook says stuffing the last of his treat into his mouth. “So where to next, hyung?”

     Glad for the reprieve Namjoon glances at the list Jin gave him. It’s short compared to what Jin normally wrote when he went shopping. No doubt an act of mercy for Namjoon to which he’s internally grateful for. “Red root and dried dove’s blood, Jin says the best place for it is a druid shop not too far from the market.”

    “Woah! I’ve never seen a druid before-let’s go.” 

Yup…Jungkook has a lot to learn still.

//

   Shopping goes along surprisingly well thanks to Jin’s thorough instructions. They even manage somehow not to blow their budget on silly knick knacks and treats; though Namjoon has his suspicions about just how much money Jin gave them. Either way Namjoon owes Jin the world’s biggest ‘thank you’ for not only were his instructions thorough, but they somehow directed him away from every slave in the vicinity. 

   "Aaahh, we’re all done. Let’s go home, huh Mr. JK?“ Namjoon smiles.

 Silence.

  "Jungkook?” Namjoon turns only to find the phoenix gone. Panic arises in him knowing how naive the boy still is and how tricky the market can be. For all Namjoon knows Jungkook already traded away his first born or something worse to a shady vendor. The thought hits Namjoon like a freight train. “Jungkook!?”

   Closing his eyes, Namjoon blocks every sense of his but smell. Thankfully phoenixes have a rather distinct scent of smoke, ashes and cinnamon making it easy to point Jungkook out of the maze of creatures. Even more thankfully Namjoon doesn’t smell any of the usual worrisome vendors around the boy. What he does smell though are the sour vinegar scent of piss, salt water, copper and humans…Jungkook found his way to a slave block. 

   Briefly Namjoon debates on letting the phoenix find his own way back. After all, Jungkook isn’t that young he can’t figure out how to find Namjoon. Plus as a phoenix, Jungkook technically is the strongest of creatures in their family-so it’s not like Namjoon needs protect him all the time… 

      It takes Namjoon less than a second to find him. The younger boy unsurprisingly stands at the very front of the block. His eyes wide open as he stares at the three humans on stage. Undoubtedly this is Jungkook’s first auction, and like most of their kind, he’s enthralled by it. 

  "Come on, Jungkook. Let’s go.“ Namjoon says, grabbing him by the shoulder. He purposefully turns to miss the frightened faces of the humans. As much as he hates glamour, it seems kinder to deceive humans of their horrible fate. 

    "Hyung, look.” Jungkook urges, eyes unwavering from their original spot.

   Namjoon shakes his head. “A slave auction I know. I’ve seen them before Kookie.”

 “And how much are you willing to pay for this male human? He has plenty of fat on him, making him the perfect entree dish for your next dinner party!” The auctioneer cheers. 

 A violent sob escapes the human followed by loud offers from the crowd. Namjoon can’t help but sneer at them. For a race that thought themselves superior than humans, they are truly awful creatures. 

  The gavel slams. “Sold to the pixies. Enjoy ladies and fella. Next of human 427, a little on the old side but still good for things like embroidery, cleaning or aged bone soup.”

    "Jungkook now.“ Namjoon orders. He puts a bit of his strength into it but the phoenix barely budges.

       "Joonie, you don’t understand. Look.” Jungkook pleads, pointing. Reluctantly Namjoon does as asked his eyes landing on the third human. He supposes he shouldn’t be too surprised to find that the human who ‘enchanted’ Jungkook is a young woman, the phoenix is young after all. “She’s beautiful…”

  The longing in Jungkook’s voice nearly strikes a chord within his own heart. From where he stands you don’t appear beautiful, your (h/c) hair is long and unruly from lack of care, skin a shade paler than it should be from lack of sunlight, dirt splotches decorate your naked body along with bruises and scars most likely given by your 'caretakers ’. No you are far from beautiful. However for some reason Namjoon can’t pull his eyes away. 

   "I want her, Namjoon-hyung.“ Jungkook states, his voice leaving no room for argument. 

   "Jungkook, we can’t buy her-”

     "Why not? I have more than enough money to. I’d take care of her like how my parents care for their humans. “

    "She’s not a pet, Kookie. She’s a living creature with feelings and emotions.” Namjoon swallows, trying to remember why buying humans is bad.

     "She won’t be my pet. I’ll let her do whatever she wants no questions asked. I just need her to be mine, hyung.“ The determination in Jungkook’s voice shakes Namjoon to his core. He’s only heard Jungkook that determined once in his life, and that was to join their family. 

    "Next up we got this foxy little minx here. ” the auctioneer says. 

     The guards push you further on stage, almost causing you to stumble due to your unwillingness to move. You shoot them a hateful look. Suddenly Namjoon realizes why he finds you so interesting, you have no fear or sorrow in your eyes. Everything about you screams fighter not victim. 

  “As you can see folks, she’s not the most pliant of our lot, but that’s nothing a little glamour won’t fix. Am I right?”  The auctioneer grins. As if to prove a point he walks over to you hand out glimmering with magic. He’s undoubtedly going to put you under, something which Namjoon is surprisingly grateful for. Perhaps if you have the druggy blank stare and dreamy smile all glamoured humans do, he’ll be able to turn and leave.

    The auctioneer reaches out to caress you. However instead of meeting your soft skin, his hand tastes the sharpness of your teeth. A scream erupts him as the guards rush to pull you off. All the while the crowd watches first in silent contemplation of these chain of events then in laugher and finally whispered caution of you. 

   "Evil thing. You’ve just lost any chance you had at escaping here alive.“ the auctioneer growled, slapping you hard. "I told you to behave, and you didn’t listen. Now you’ll pay. ”

  Horror invades Namjoon as the auctioneer raises the gavel above your head. “FORTY THOUSAND!" 

    The words escape Namjoon before he knows it. All eyes turn to him in disbelief. With a deep swallow Namjoon makes his resolve. "I’ll pay forty thousand for her.”

   The auctioneer cocks an eyebrow. “You’d pay for this insolent brat?”

    "I said forty thousand didn’t I?“ Namjoon retorts.

 The auctioneer eyes him for a second. A greedy smile spreads across his face. Immediately Namjoon knows this is going to take a turn for the worse. "This brat has caused me a lot of strife these last few months. So much so revenge is sounding rather nice compared to whatever price you’re low balling me.”

    Namjoon scoffs. Forty thousand is far from low balling if anything it is a hundred times more than you are worth. Moreover Namjoon knows what the auctioneer wants in exchange and no human is worth that price. Yet he can’t find it in himself to leave. “Forty thousand and two years worth of cultivation.”

   "Namjoon-hyung! That’s your life energy you’re exchanging. “ Jungkook hisses.

    Namjoon doesn’t waver. "Well?”

 "Like I said I don’t appreciate lowballers.“ The auctioneer frown, swinging the gavel downwards.

    "NO!" 

   "I’ll add a phoenix tear!” Jungkook’s voice rings out. 

   The gavel stops mid-air. Interest returns to the auctioneer in the form of a grin. “Really a phoenix tear? Forty thousand, two years of life force, and a phoenix tear?”

  Now it is Namjoon’s turn to protest. “No. Jungkook, nothing is worth that price.”

    Phoenixes tears valued more than anything any supernatural could give, and the method of extracting them…Namjoon doesn’t even want to picture it. “He’s already asking for too much. We should just leave -”

    "Stop hyung. I’ve already made my decision. “ Jungkook states firmly. "So auctioneer do we have a deal or are you just a greedy bastard?”

   The auctioneer hums stroking his chin, “Fine. Take her. She’s too much trouble for me. Good luck training her. ”

    Yanking the twine rope around your neck, the auctioneer throws you off the stage. Namjoon moves to catch you, but Jungkook is quicker grabbing you virtually in midair. He looks down at you with an expression, Namjoon has never seen on the phoenix before. “You are alright. You’re safe now. ” Jungkook promises.

   Words fail to express anything Namjoon is thinking, but he gets the feeling something has changed drastically. 

//

Tiny painful gasps escape you as the rope around your neck constricts. Even without the slaver or guards there to pull at it, you can feel its every tightening presence. Especially now that someone - something has bought you. “Hey, what’s wrong? Hyung, I think something is wrong with her!” The dark haired boy cried.

   He stares down at you eyes full of panic. It is odd to see a creature worried about someone outside of their race. In the two years of your captivity, you learned quickly just how little these things cared for humans. “She got yanked by the rope, Kookie. It probably bruised her throat if not knock the wind out of her at the very least. ” his blonde haired companion informs. 

  You eye him cautiously, unsure what to make of him or the boy. Overall he’s lankier with a skinnier but taller figure. Even his face is more defined with sharper angles in the nose and cheek area; which is funny because despite the baby fat still clinging to the brunette, you can tell he’s the more muscular of the two. “Asshole.” The brunette hisses, grabbing the rope.

    You flinch readying yourself for the pull only to feel a soft heat against your neck. The sense of something burning kisses your nose and a soft 'crackle’ chimes as the weight of the rope disappears. Slowly you open your eyes to find the rope in ashes. Brunette or Kookie as Blondie called him, smiles at you. “There. All better now. ”

   In disbelief, your hands search your neck only to find nothing. “W-why?”

 The question slips from you. This is definitely not normal slave owner behavior. Were they trying to lure you by feigning kindness? Or did they truly mean it? Maybe they were abolitionists who hated slavery-if such people existed in the supernatural community. 

     Kookie’s smile widens. “It was hurting you, right? So I took care of it like any good owner would.”

   Owner? Whatever hopes you may have are destroyed by that single utterance. Nothing changed, you are still trapped. “Aish, what did I say about her not being a pet, Jungkook?” The blonde chastises. 

  Kookie, Jungkook or whatever his name is, shoots him a sheepish look. His doughy cheeks redden with embarrassment. He looks genuinely ashamed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean you were a pet. I meant a-”

       "A slave?“ You finish for him. "Or am I to be food for you at some point?”

   Horror washes across Jungkook’s face. To his credit, he even turn a little pale at the question. “What? No! I would never eat you -or any humans. I love humans. It’s just…you’re just-”

     The blonde lays a comforting hand on Jungkook’s head silencing him. “Jungkook’s too pure hearted to cause anyone harm without reason.”

     "I’m human what more reason do you need?“ You reply unwavering. Scars and bruises litter your body from these 'pure hearted ’ creatures. Nothing, no promise or assurance can ever make you trust them. 

       Light brown eyes scan you as if searching for something you can’t see. Subconsciously you push yourself further into Jungkook’s body as if to hide your vulnerability. Blondie smiles at you. It is a soft yet sorrowful smile as he knows exactly what you’ve gone through. He reaches out, his large hand cradling your chin. "You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? I know my promise probably means nothing given my kind put you through this,  but you’ll be safe with us. I promise.”

   You open your mouth you protest, but no sound comes out. Prior experience warns against trusting these two, however something within silences it. Perhaps it is a fool’s wish, but you want to believe him… want to believe both of them.

    "Well if this isn’t a lovely sight?“ An all too familiar voice interrupts. The three of you look to see the auctioneer grinning down at you. "Now if you two are done playing with the merchandise, a deal is a deal.”

//

[team-science-mega-nerds]

Fictober Prompt: “You keep me warm”

Fandom: Supergirl

Pairing: Alex x Sam

This isn’t her first choice. In fact, this isn’t even her last choice. Sam hadn’t really considered the idea at all until she’d heard that the vet’s office was all filled up on slots for the weekend and Sam would have to pay $75 more a night, just to board her pup at someplace fancier. It’s not that she doesn’t love her little guy more than anything in the world, but she barely had enough money to get home and go to her aunt’s funeral, she certainly couldn’t afford this. 

And then it hits her. Literally, as it turns out.

Her neighbor is heading toward the apartment right across the hall from Sam’s and bumps right into Sam’s side with a homf. “Ohmygod!” Sam’s eyes widen when she sees that her neighbor, Alex, is carrying a large 3D printer. “Sorry,” Alex mumbles as she struggles to open her door while also balancing the printer. 

“Oh. Hi. Do you need…?” Sam reaches for Alex’s keychain and sees that there are about fifty keys on the ring. “Jesus.”

“Yeah, I work in a lab. Lots of hush-hush stuff. It’s the small gold one,” Alex points out. Sam finds the key and opens the door for Alex. While Alex waddles her way into her apartment - which is a surprising mix of eclectic trinkets, bold colors, and three different coffee makers - Sam gets an idea. 

“Hey, are you busy today slash tomorrow?” Alex puts the printer in the corner of the room and turns toward Sam with something that resembles suspicion in her eyes. “I...so my aunt’s dead.”

“Oh god.”

“Her funeral is tomorrow and I need to...but then there’s my dog and I kinda need someone to…” Sam runs her fingers through her hair. “Do you mind watching him for two days? I’ll pay you and he’s really good. Like really good. But needy. Like mother like doggo,” Sam pauses for a laugh, Alex continues to look slightly confused. “I can pack up everything and write what he needs, it’s just-.”

“Say no more. I love dogs.” Sam doesn’t exactly know that she can trust Alex but she knows that Alex organizes game nights at the apartment complex. And that she seems to have a stable - probably very weird too - job. But Sam doesn’t have much of a choice. Alex is so eager and happy when Sam brings her dog over that she thinks it just might work. 

“Um, I should give you my number. Just in case. I mean...nothing will go wrong, obviously, but...just in case.” They exchange numbers while Sam’s dog walks around Alex’s apartment smelling everything. Sam gives Alex a warm smile, kisses her pup on the head, and gathers her things to go to the airport. 

Which leaves Alex, now, in a bind. Alex does the only thing she can think to do which is turn on her phone, hit her speed dial, and wait. Elated brown eyes stare at her, so Alex seeks out treats to toss his way. “Good boy, who’s a good boy.” Alex knows that this is how it’s done because she’s gone to a dog park with Kara. Gentle head rubs, a little scratch of the ears, and dogs are all yours. “You are so cute, aren’t you, Chewy?” The tail-wagging seems like a good sign so Alex keeps scratching and feeding the dog treats until she hears a loud knock at her door. “It’s open, come in!” 

“Are you on crack?” This is a totally normal thing for Lucy to say but the way her eyes are popping out of their sockets like she’s some kind of creepy rag doll unnerves Alex a little bit. “You got a dog?” Lucy flings her bag on Alex’s couch and walks over to survey the situation. “You’re allergic to dogs, you absolute moron.” 

“I know that!” Alex continues petting Chewy. “Ignore her, she’s rude,” She tells him. 

Lucy dramatically sniffs the air. “What is it that I smell? Is it the dog or…” Lucy gets really close to Alex and gives her a big whiff. “Is that the stench of you going out of your way for a hot girl?”

“I’m not going out of my way. I’m being friendly. Neighborly.” 

“Okay, Mr. Rogers.” 

“I called you because I need to go to CVS and get some allergy meds. Can you stay here for me?”

“Sure,” Lucy says, already laying on the floor and playing with Chewy. “What’s this big guy’s name?” 

“Chewy,” Alex tells her. Then she remembers, “It’s short for Chewbarka.” Alex can still hear Lucy laughing even as she’s outside of her apartment and walking down the street toward the pharmacy. Okay, Alex will admit it, she thinks Sam is hot. In fact, Alex had mentioned it to Kara as soon as Sam moved across the hall. They occasionally interacted but never to the extent of anything substantial. Until today. She supposes that’s why she jumped at the chance. She didn’t have anything to do this weekend except play with her new 3D printer and she really did like dogs, even if they made her sneeze and itch like crazy. 

Alex’s heart warms at the sight of Chewy getting his belly rubbed when she return. Just as Alex joins in on the action, “I’d stay but I have to get to work.” 

“All good. I’ll be fine here.” 

“Sureee…” Lucy grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder. “Exactly how hot is this woman?” Alex pulls up Sam’s Instagram and shows it to Lucy. “...don’t fuck it up with the dog and you might actually have a chance, Danvers.” 

Alex prepares herself for the worst. She sets up Chewy’s bed, makes sure she gets the exact measurements of food correct, gives him filtered water, and takes him on a long walk. Alex wonders if this is what it’s like to be a parent. Constantly thinking about someone other than yourself and being too stressed to function. Alex is shocked that all Chewy seems to want to do is cuddle up next to her and watch Netflix.

At one point, Chewy is sprawled out on top of Alex, leaving her hardly any room to breathe, but it’s so damn cute that Alex has to take a selfie. And then...she sends it to Sam. “Why did I do that?” She mumbles to herself, waking up Chewy just enough that he gives her a big lick on her cheek. “What do you wanna watch? Maybe we can find a dog movie?” Alex scrolls around her Netflix. “Dogs always die in movies though…” Alex’s eyes find her printer and she smiles. “I can make you a bunch of dog accessories?” Alex suggests and Chewy gives her another kiss. 

That’ll have to do. 

The thing that Alex realized a very young age was that once she starts a task, she tends to go overboard. Her intention was making a little dog tag for Chewy but what she ends up making is a dog tag, armor so he can be a knight for Halloween, bunny ears in case he wants a second costume, a food dispenser, and sixteen different toys he could play with. “Oh shit, that’s...a lot.” Alex’s phone buzzes and she sees that it’s a text from Sam. 

[SAM]: this is maybe the best picture I’ve ever received, you two look so cute!

Alex doesn’t dwell on the fact that Sam called her cute. There’s a dog involved, anyone is cute with a dog. “Chewy, what do I say?” Chewy doesn’t offer up anything but a nuzzle, so Alex simply likes the message and tries to move on with her life. Which is going really well until her heat cuts off at 11 PM. 

Normally, she’d survive it. It’s California and Alex has blankets, but tonight she’s actually shivering and thinks she might have to go over to Kara’s until Chewy climbs onto her bed and cuddles up next to her. “Thanks, buddy. You keep me warm and I’ll keep you warm.” Alex gets a cozy night's sleep for the first time in five years and wakes to the sound of her phone ringing. She answers without even looking to see who it is. “Hello?” Groggy mumbling would probably best describe Alex’s voice right now. The fact that she’d, apparently, slept until 3 PM makes her feel embarrassed and confused. 

“Wow, you sound adorable.” It’s Sam. Alex sits up and Chewy raises his head to see what’s going on. “I’m outside your door.” Alex climbs to her feet, sprints across her apartment, and flings the door open. “Wow, you’re…” Sam looks at Alex’s attire: sweatpants, fuzzy socks, a hoodie, and a wool hat. “Did you just wake up?”

“Yeah, but...heat went out last night.” Chewy’s entire body wags as he rushes at Sam. “This guy was a really good heater.” 

“God, Alex, thank you so…” Sam takes in the sight of all the new dog toys and costumes. “...much.” 

“I might’ve gotten a little carried away.” Alex gathers the toys into a giant paper bag and holds them out toward Sam. “Also I love Chewbarka but my allergy meds are wearing off, so I should probably sneeze for a few hours.” Sam takes the bag with an awkward smile and then cocks her head to the side. 

“Wait...you’re allergic to dogs?”

“Um...yes?”

“Well, why did you take him? I wouldn’t have asked if I knew he was going to kill you.” 

“He didn’t kill me! The cold weather would’ve killed me. Chewy and I got along just fine, he’s a great Netflix buddy.” Alex scratches his head. 

“If you say so.” Sam smiles a little brighter now. “Maybe once I unpack and you take some allergy medication, I could come over and we could watch Netflix and...chill?” Sam says the word chill with a wink before taking Chewy and all his new toys back to his apartment. 

Alex closes her door and sneezes so hard that she nearly tumbles to the ground.

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: Love Language, ch. 6