#Finished it in like 20 seconds and just sat on my floor like... alright! and?

[elizabethsnuts]

My idea is winterwidow's daughter meeting Clint's children‼️‼️‼️or maybe staying with uncle Clint while mom and dad going on a mission‼️‼️‼️

Uncle Clint

WinterWidow x Daughter!reader

Summary: Your Mama and Daddy had to go on a mission but Uncle Clint is there to take care of you.

———

Natasha and Bucky were getting ready to leave for their mission, their gear on and their stuff packed. They were standing at the front door of the Barton homestead, their little 2-year-old daughter Y/N clinging onto Natasha's leg.

Your little lip wobbled as you looked up at Natasha, your big blue eyes filled with tears. “No Mama no! Don’t go!” You couldn’t understand why your parents had to leave you. Of course, you loved your uncle Clint and his family it’s just that you did miss your mama and daddy when they went away on missions.

Natasha looked down at you and frowned. “I know sweetheart but Mama and Daddy have to go. We’ll be back soon, I promise.”

———

About 10 minutes of screaming and crying later, you eventually let go of Natasha and said goodbye to her and Bucky. Clint picked you up and put you on his hip, hoping that Lila would cheer you up.

Clint looked down at you and rubbed your back. “Would you like to go play dollies with Lila? would that make you feel better?”

You nodded your head and Clint put you down onto your two feet. You hesitated for a second but made your climb up the stairs and towards Lila’s room.

You stood at the door of Lila’s room, your little hands grasping your jumper while you shifted from foot to foot in nervousness.

“Lila, I play dollies with you?” Your little voice asked from the doorway.

Lila looked up from her spot on her floor, dolls in hand. She nodded her head eagerly “Of course! You can be this dollie!” Lila held up a blonde-haired doll with green eyes and a red dress. Your face lit up with a smile

“Okay!” You grinned and sat down next to Lila, gently taking the doll from her hands

———

Dinner time was a breeze, you sat next to Cooper and Lila at the table. You had steak and vegetables, the steak was cut into little pieces so it was easier for your little teeth to chew. You ate it all with no problem except for the broccoli which took you a bit longer to eat.

When you finished your bath and bedtime arrived, Clint took you into the spare room where the crib he had put back together for when you came to visit and your overnight bag was. You opened up your bag and were expecting to find your stuffed giraffe and other bedtime comforters but only saw your baby blanket and pacifier. You looked up a Clint with an upset frown.

“Where’s Gigi?” You whimpered and tipped your bag over, hoping she was buried somewhere under your clothes but she wasn’t.

Tears started forming in your eyes as your beloved friend wasn’t in sight. “Uncle Clint! Can’t find Gigi!” You cried

Clint quickly picked you up and started to search the bag. “It’s alright Y/N, we’ll find her. She’ll be here somewhere.”

You and Clint spent about 20 minutes looking for Gigi until Laura came into the room with a clean and fluffy stuffed giraffe, she smiled at you.

“Sorry sweetheart, I just washed her for you. She got all dirty when you were playing outside today, but she’s all clean now and ready for bed!”

Your blue eyes lit up with relief and excitement, you cuddled Gigi tightly to your chest. “Thanks, Aunty Laura!”

Clint tucked you into the crib, your pacifier in your mouth along with your baby blanket and of course, Gigi. You fell asleep peacefully knowing that your Mama and Daddy would be back tomorrow to come pick you up.

[melkintoyou]

studio sessions.

pairing: mark lee x gf!reader genre: fluff, suggestive, established relationship word count: 1.5k notes: wanted to do a lil something for mark's birthday, enjoy <333333

808’s blared through the speakers, sending vibrations throughout the floor. Music could be felt in your chest and you couldn’t help but smile. Seeing your boyfriend in the booth, in his essence, made your heart swell with pride.

It was always fascinating to see the man that clings to you most nights, his face in your neck. The way he groans when you shift, unintentionally adding space between you two. The way he pulls you back and whines your name or “baby,” his favourite way to address you. The same man who can’t fall asleep without his hand inside your t-shirt, holding you close. Needing you to feel safe.

Seeing him work in his element, so assertive and sure of himself. A perfectionist, honing on his vision until it comes to fruition, left you in complete awe of him. Your eyes traveled from his hat that covered most of his face, to his little nose and lips pursed in concentration as he listened back to what was recorded.

“Ah lemme do that ONE more time” Mark announced into the mic, evidently getting restless from having to keep doing retakes. He once again closed his eyes and delivered the line.

“Woooo!”

“Ok, nice let’s keep that one” He listened back to the song, bobbing his head with a satisfied smile. Mark was so focused on recording that he didn’t even notice when you came into the studio. You said hello to his team and a couple of his friends, before making yourself comfortable on the sofa. Taking your slides off, you got comfortable and sat crossed legged as you watched Mark. Digging into your bag, you rustled around to grab a bag of candy which made Haechan’s ears instantly perk up. He ran towards you and got on his knees with his hands open as if mimicking Oliver Twist. “Please, my queen.” He said in a cutesy voice, making everyone laugh and you rolled your eyes. You gave him a fist fill of sweets as he thanked you.

Mark stepped out of the booth and his eyes widened when met with yours from across the room. His face instantly relaxed into a smile. “Bab-What’s going on here?” He walked towards you, giggling and pushed Haechan onto the floor. Making him fake cry for attention. “Yo cry somewhere else.. Lemme say hi to my girl.” He joked before turning to you. “Hi baby” Jumping into his arms, you melted into his touch and you both swayed side to side. Mark planted kisses across your face, before mumbling "I missed you" into your lips. “Alright y’all I’m taking five.” Mark took a seat and pulled you onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around you and rested his chin on your shoulder. His busy schedule allowed times like this to come about less often than you'd like, so you both cherished every second together. He whined about how tired he was but holding you like this was just the recharge he needed. As he planted another kiss to your jaw, Chenle commented on how soft Mark gets around you and his everyone teased him. This made his face flush with a tint of pink and he buried his face further into your neck. He mumbled “leave me alone, I’m a tough guy.” Chuckling at his actions, you dipped into your bag once again to pull out a handful of candies and presented it to Mark. “Here, I got you some sugar for energy.” You kissed his cheek.

Mark’s face lit up as he shoved them all into his mouth hungrily, he was such a guy. Giving you one last kiss, he grabbed your waist to prop you up so he could stand up.

“Ok, lemme go finish this verse.” He went back into the booth and continued recording for a while. It was nice. Hanging out with everyone like this. You thought to yourself. 20 minutes later, Mark came back out with his mouth open, asking for you to feed him. So you did as you were asked. A sweet and a kiss, for every break he took. This went on for a while until everyone decided to go get some food, leaving you and Mark alone. He stepped out of the booth once again, grabbing the packet from you and plopping himself next to you on the sofa. “Hey! That’s mine!” You protested with a smack on his arm. “Yeah?” He moved closer to you, so his face was inches away from yours and his lips curled into a cheeky grin. “Watch me.” He teased you as you tried to grab the packet back but he was too quick for you. Every time you felt as though you’re about to take a hold of it, he’d move his lanky arms out of your reach. Making you whine and sulk, which was what he wanted. Mark loved teasing and getting a reaction out of you.

“You’re so pretty when you whine like this baby.. Here, you can have one.” He said, popping a sweet in between his pursed lips.

Leaning in slowly, you placed your hand on his thigh for support. Your heart was beating in your ears. Even though you have shared countless kisses with Mark by now, it never failed to spin your world like it was the first time. Your lips hovered over his and you swiped your tongue over his bottom lip, making him grab your wrist. You both leaned in painfully close and you connected your lips by taking a bite out of the sweet. Breaking out in giggles, you pulled away and fell back onto the sofa, swallowing it.

“Come back here.” Mark grabbed your face and pressed his lips to yours as he pulled you back onto his lap. This time, the kiss felt more heated as his tongue hungrily entered your mouth. He snuck his hands under your shirt to feel your skin. His hands ran up and down your back, deepening the kiss. Chests rising dramatically up and down, his chin rested on your plush breast as he left soft, wet kisses down your jaw. The world began disappearing when you felt him twitch under you, making you moan. He brought his lips back up to yours to swallow your pretty sounds as his hands travelled down and into your sweats. He grabbed a handful of your ass inside your clothes as his fingers grazed your core. Mark winced at the contact. “Fuck baby, so wet for me.” He began circling your entrance, spreading your wet. As his finger began sliding inside you, you heard the boys making their way back and you grabbed Mark’s shoulder in sheer panic.

"Mark!" You yelped. He retrieved his hand back and fell into your chest with a groan. The door unlocked and everyone barged into the studio, changing the atmosphere completely. “Urm.. are we interrupting something?” Haechan asked, eyeing you both and you couldn’t help but blush. Struggling to form a coherent sentence.

“Uhh.. no.. we.. we were just..-

“We were just sharing sweets, weren’t we baby?” Mark said with a smirk before he brought his finger into his mouth to taste you.

“So sweet.” 

[dxwnstxr]

Rain drops against your window

Fandom: Bungou stray dogs

Characters: Dazai x y/n (reader)

Genre: steamy-ish

Warnings: make out sesh :p

A/N: requests are closed!!! I've been so busy with my tiktok I completely forgot about Tumblr I'm so sorry! My requests have just built up and there's atleast 20 T-T. I'll try my best to finish them all but I can't promise I'll do all of them. I wanted to write this today though because dazai's been my new obsession. ^^ this is written in the readers pov.

Cold. That's all that I felt as I walked home. Raindrops hitting my shoulders and dampening my hair, along with my clothes. I had forgotten an umbrella on the one day it's supposed to rain this week, just my luck. By now all my paperwork was probably soaked and I'd have to redo them all.

I sighed and hung my head low. My house wasn't close to my work but it wasn't very far either. The closest bus had already left for the next few hours and no taxi was available, leaving walking as my only option.

I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag. Taking one more step in another puddle, a hard board hit me in the face. I tumbled back and rubbed my nose, groaning in pain.

"Cmon..."

I mubled, annoyed at my terrible luck. Looking up to see what a ran into I was met with one of my co-workers. He leaned down to me, face full of concern.

"Are you okay?"

He asked me. I nodded and kept my curses to myself. Dazai, was a well known person at my work. He was known for slacking and goofing off but when we truly needed it, he would help us as best as possible. He put out his hand, asking me to grab it. I put my hand in his and he helped me up a little.

"How far away is your house?"

He ask. I raised a brow.

"Why do you want to know where a live?"

I replied. He just rolled his eyes.

"I'm guess still a little far right?"

I tsked and look to the side. He wasn't wrong, which just annoyed me further. I sighed and nodded.

"My house is around the corner. You can stay there for the night. It's non stop thunderstorms till tomorrow morning."

He stated. I hated the idea of staying with him but it was the only option I had. I could stay at a hotel but I don't have a bunch of money on me.

"Alright.."

Dazai chuckled and took my hand.

"Follow me"

I let him guide me to his house which was actually a condo. He just calls it a "house" to make him feel like he isn't broke.

When we got the he unlocked the door and opened it for me. He lived on the second floor, so he had a beautiful view outside with his balcony facing where the sunsets. Too bad it was too clouding to see it tonight.

Dazai put away his umbrella and walked to his room. I followed him and saw him looking in his closet.

"Here. Go change in the bathroom"

He handed me some baggy close. Dazai was more on the thiner side, but he was still rather muscular. I nodded and he pointed to down the hall.

Stripping myself of the soaked clothing, dazai's warm clothes seemed to fit well enough, to the point the pants didn't fall off. I walked out and tried to find where he went. Walking back into his room, he was sitting on his bed, scrolling on his phone. He looked up at me and his eyes widened.

"I'll throw your clothes in the wash"

He told me, taking them from my hands. He soon left the room as I could hear him getting the detergent and oxi clean. I sat by the balcony window and watched the rain come down. I leaned my head against the glass doors and listened to the way the rain hit the glass.

I closed my eyes and focused on the sound. I didn't hear Dazai come back in until I heard him sit opposite to me.

I opened my eyes and he smiled.

"Fan of the rain?" He tried to tease.

"Only when it's not soaking me to death." I reply.

He just chuckled. The ac turned on and the chill came back as goosebumps flooded my arms and legs. Dazai took note of this and moved closer to me. He sat next to me, his shoulder pressed against the glass doors, and opened his legs and arms a bit. Almost as if he was inviting me to cuddle him.

I glared at him and he smiled in return.

"You're cold aren't you?" He asked me, smarkily.

I continued to glare and he just sighed.

"Do you want to freeze?"

I huffed and scooted to him. Pressing my back to his chest.

"See isn't that better~?" He teased.

"Just shut up" I told him, annoying at his teasing and he pouted in return.

It didn't take long for me to relax. Letting my body relax into his as I let his warmth surround me. I let out a hot breath and watched the rain pour. I titled my head to the side and was able to hear his breathing and the way his heart beated.

I listened close and tried to match my breathing uo with his. Though, even though I tried, It didn't last long. I turned my body around so my chest was facing his and he leaned back a bit, his back now pressed against the side of his bed. I wrapped my arms around his torso and sighed in relief. The heat finally reaching me as it surrounded my body.

Dazai tensed at my moments but soon relaxed and continued watching the rain pour outside. I looked up at his to see what he was doing and he looked down at me.

We both didn't move. In fact, we both stay in that position. He looked at my eyes then my nose, my cheeks, forehead, lips, and so on. His eyes moving around my face, taking in all my features as I did the same to him. At the same time our eyes reconnected and it shocked us both. Our eyes widenening then relaxing. I sat up and wrapped my legs around his hips, so I was sitting in his lap.

He placed his hands on my waist and pulled me closer. I swallowed nothing and blushed a little. Dazai cupped my chin and pulled my face to his. It took me a second to realize that he was kissing me but when I did I reciprocated it. His hand that was resting on my chin moved to the back of my neck, tilting my head up.

Doing that opened my mouth slightly and he licked my lips. Parting them he welcomed himself in and pressed his tongue against mine. His other hand that was on my hip moved to entangle itself in my hair. He held me so close that it felt like he was scared that I would disappear.

He pulled back and slowly opened his eyes, along with me. He brought his thumb to my bottom lip and rubbed the wetness on it. Not wasting a second more, he leaned back in. This time the kiss was more lustful than the last. Like he was trying to be dominant with me. Though... I didn't complain.

He pulled away with a string of saliva connecting us. He started peppering kisses down my jaw line and to my neck.

"Dazai..." I breathed out.

He picked his head up from my neck and studied my face. Dazai then sighed and his head dropped to my shoulder. He rested it there for a while before speaking.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered.

"For?"

"Not asking.."

I practically looked at him in awe. I pulled his head off my shoulder to get a look at his face. A adorable little blush was dusted across his cheeks and I smiled at it. I kissed his nose and cupped his face.

"It's okay" I whispered to him.

I brushed away the hairs that were in his face and rubbed his cheek gently. He melted into my touch and looked at me with his chocolate brown eyes. He smiled softly and spoke with a red blush forming on his cheeks.

"May I kiss you?"

[keymeadoww]

Culture

Fandom: ITSV

Pairing: Pavitr Prabhakar x Slavic! Spider-person! GN! reader

Pronouns: they/them

Warnings: google-translated language (translations are at the end)

Word Count: 888

A/N: re-Posted from my old account. This was originally a request from someone on my old acc.

A grin erupted on their face as the wind blew past their ears. Swinging through the city of Mumbattan was always their favorite thing to do, especially after not being here in a week. Their appearance was sure to stir up some talk amongst the locals, but at this point, they didn’t really care. They had more important places to be.

With a final web shooting from their wrist, they landed on a light fixture, directly in front of their boyfriend’s window. With a slightly upbeat rhythm on the glass, the window opened, revealing the beautiful smile of Pavitr. 

“You’re here early.” He said with a grin, welcoming them into his bedroom.

They pouted jokingly, “Am I not allowed to be early to see my favorite person?” 

“Of course not, mera pyaar.” He laughed. “Only teasing.” He stared at them for a moment before turning back to his desk. “Hold on, just one minute. I have to finish this essay. I was supposed to be done by now.”

They hummed, walking closer and propping their head up with their fist, “What’s it about?”

He groaned, “We were tasked to choose a country from the Middle-East and write about its customs and culture. I chose Poland.”

Their eyes lit up, “And you didn’t ask me for help, what the hell, dude!” They exclaimed, playfully hitting his shoulder.

Pavitr frowned, “What do you mean?”

“My family is from Poland, dingus.” His mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as he took in this information. “I can help you, if you want!” They thought for a second before grinning widely, “We can turn it into a game, and we can both learn each other’s culture while doing so!” 

Pavitr thought about it before nodding excitedly, “Yeah! That sounds so much fun.”

Within minutes, paper and pens were scattered on the floor and Pavitr and his partner sat across from one another. The game that had been settled on was, quite lamely, just 20 questions (In all honesty, neither of them could think of another game to incorporate facts about their culture).

The pair were both excited. “Can I go first?” Pavitr asked, holding up a piece of paper where he wrote down a bunch of questions for his partner. They nodded, smiling widely. “Alright. What are the national dishes of the Slavic culture?”

They shook their head slightly, indicating the question was half-right. “Well, Polish foods can include pierogi, which are kind-of like dumplings where dough is wrapped around a savory or sweet filling before being boiled, and zurek, which is a rye soup containing smoked meats, typically sausages.” I grinned, “But, for Slavic culture as a whole, there’s sarma, which is a cabbage roll stuffed with meats like veal or ground pork.” Their eyes lit up again, “Also, there’s zhurek! Zhurek is a kind of soup, I guess? It’s made of oats and dark bread. It sits for three days before its boiled with meat and vegetables. My Mama makes it when it's cold outside!” 

Pavitr nodded, practically clinging to each word they said. “So Slavic isn’t just Poland?”

“O Boże, no. There’s Slovenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovakia, Finland, and others!” They chuckled. “Each is considered Slavic, but they also have their own subculture within them.” They leaned forward, supporting their weight by their palms hitting the ground. “Now, my turn!” They paused, thinking of a good question. “Okay, I’m just going to steal your question.”

He pouted, “What, no! Make up your own.”

“Ugh, fine…” A moment later, they thought of it. “What kind of traditional outfits are there?”

His pout left, leaving behind a faint smile. “Oh, well, there’s a lot. There’s Sherwanis, or kurta pajamas, or even Achkan; as well as Sari, Angarkha, and Phiran.” They nodded along, planning to look up what they look like later in the evening. “Okay, do you have any traditional instruments?”

“Well, there’s the lira korbowa, which is more commonly known as the Hurdy-Gurdy nowadays.” They said, thinking about the topics their babcia taught them. While other places may not celebrate their heritage and culture very much, it was very important in their family. “My favorite is the kozioł biały! It’s like a bagpipe.” 

The night went on, questions were asked on both sides. Eventually, it passed the original 20 questions they had settled on. They were both interested in learning about the other’s culture. It was interesting and the eagerness they both had was endearing. Eventually, the sun was dropping below the horizon, and it was about time for Y/N to return to their own dimension.

“It was fun doing this, priya.” Pavitr said as the goodbyes started. “Your culture is so amazing, I didn’t expect this out of today.”

They nodded in agreement, “I think so too! I never expected your culture to be so beautiful.” They smiled dreamily. “I hope we can do this again. It was so… refreshing.” They leaned over and hugged their boyfriend for a moment. “I’ll see you soon, kochanie.”

“I’ll miss you-” He said, in a sing-song voice. They laughed, shoving him away playfully.

“It’ll be like a few days, stop that! If you wanted to come sooner, you could always just come visit me first.” They grinned before slipping their mask on and preparing to jump out the window. “Do widzenia!”

Translations, as provided by both the requester and by Google Translate!

Mera pyaar = my love

kozioł biały = white goat (instrument)

Priya = dear (aff.)

Kochanie = honey (aff.)

Do widzenia = goodbye/bye/any form of bye

[tastybluesprite]

The Kaiser Effect (Blue Lock)

New Blue Lock fic!!!! I’m trying to post more of these. I have some others that I started but still haven’t finished yet lol. I might try working on them and posting them. So yeah here’s some ler!Kaiser and lee!Isagi because I love them. My favorite frienimies lol. Hope you like it! I put more romantic undertones but can be seen as platonic or romantic.

Warnings: Some cursing, also this is a tickle fic so if that’s not your thing then feel free to just keep scrolling.

Summery: When Isagi accidentally walks in on Kaiser working out… well chaos lol…

Isagi flopped back on his new bed. He couldn’t believe how far he made it. Especially after the U-20 match. That alone felt unreal. First it was meeting Noel Noa, his hero! He didn’t ever dream he’d get to meet him so soon. He felt pretty happy with his choice of joining Germany, Munchen Bastards.

After the game between them and Manshine City, Nagi and Reos team, he was feeling more confident than he ever had. He even managed to earn the title “Man of the Match.”

The only thing standing in his way at the moment, was that jackass of a player. Michael Kaiser. He already knew he wanted to take the guy down despite the fact that they’re on the same team.

Just thinking about him made Isagi riled up. Finally breaking out of his thoughts, he sat up. “I’m gonna go train a bit.” He told Kurona, who was seated on his own bed next to him.

“Alright.” Kurona replied with a slight nod as he scrolled through his phone.

When Isagi made it to the training room, he could’ve fainted from shock of such coincidence.

There he was. Michael Kaiser. The blonde with blue tips looked towards him as he was in the middle of lifting some weights.

“Hello there Yoichi.” Kaiser greeted him when he looked up from his weights, bearing an as-if friendly grin.

“Hey…” Isagi said awkwardly, going for the yoga mats. He had taken a leaf out of Rin Itoshis book to try and do more yoga stretching. Isagi figured he needed to have more routine if he was going to surpass all the great players. He took off his sports jacket, revealing his black tank top, somewhat broad shoulders, and muscular biceps. All the training he’d been doing for Blue Lock really bulked him up a lot.

“Yoga huh?” Kaiser asked, tilting his head.

Yoichi Isagi shrugged. “I’m trying to stretch more. I want to gain more flexibility to better improve out on the field.”

“How is flexibility going to make you a better player?” Kaiser asked him, raising an eyebrow. He actually got up and took a seat on the floor next to the younger boy.

Isagi frowned. Did he really need to explain himself to a guy like this? Then he shrugged. “It’s just a routine I’m trying to implement more in my training. I Uh… picked up up from a friend.”

Kaiser grinned. “Well obviously it’s doing something then huh? You sure are a lot more built than you seem.” Kaiser smirked as he poked at his biceps.

Isagi ignored the tingling sensation from the touch as he leaned himself away.

“Do you have abs too…?” Nothing, absolutely nothing, could’ve prepared Isagi for when Kaiser then began grabbing at his abdomen, causing an electrical shock-like sensation to the nerves there. Isagi accidentally let out a loud squeak as he flinched.

They both froze for a second, Kaiser looking Isagi with an expression of surprise.

“Whoops, my bad Isagi. Did I tickle you?”

His smirk only deepened.

And before Isagi could tell the guy to fuck off, Kaiser grabbed his sides.

“W-wahahahahahahahait!!!” Isagi let out a shriek before desolving into giggles, uselessly trying to protect his body with his arms.

“Wow that Igaguri fellow was right. You really are ticklish. Here I was thinking I’d have to wait a while until I could do this. But this is better than l had hoped.”

Isagi was distantly thinking how much he wanted to murder Igaguri, when the blonde stuck his fingers up his underarms, which was worse than it usually was due to the fact that he was wearing a tank top.

“S-stohOHoHohohohoahap!!!” Isagi protested, trying to squirm away. God this was so humiliating. He was being rendered to a helpless puddle of giggles in front of one of the regulars of the pro German team.

Unfortunately things became far from over, when Kaiser went for his belly once more.

Isagi shrieked, falling onto his back as he uselessly pushed at the hand that was digging into his belly mercilessly.

“G-GYAHH NOhoHoho PLEhEhEAHaSE!!!!” Isagi squealed. He fucking squealed. Someone either save him or murder him. Then again there would be no difference for him between the two.

“Aw does the great and powerful egoist striker have a sensitive belly~” Kaiser teased with a grin. He honestly couldn’t help find this endearing, watching the younger squirm and kick on the floor, bubbly laughter spilling out of him.

“Hey Isagi, your friend told me another thing. He said that you particularly love to be tickled right here…” Kaiser then brought his hands to either side of his lower ribs, digging into the spot roughly.

Isagi seemed to almost be electrocuted, as he jolted, a screech ripping from his throat.

Just great. The guy just had to get his worst spot. Fantastic.

“Man you are way too ticklish for your own good.” Kaiser chuckled.

“SHUHUHUT THEHE FUHUHUCK UHUHUP AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

Kaiser honestly couldn’t help be entranced. The boys cheeks were flushed red, tears beading his eyes, his mouth in a face splitting smile. If he had a word to describe it, that word could only be “adorable.”

Soon Isagis laughter was growing hysterically silent, and he became so weak that he merely lay limp. Kaiser, breaking out of his trance, noticed this of course, and understood he needed a break.

Isagi panted, breathless on the floor. “W…what… t-the… hell… d-dammit…” Isagi was too tired out now to say any form of retort.

Kaiser then suddenly bursted into laughter of his own.

Isagi flinched at the sudden noise, sitting up as he watched his new teammate crumble to pieces with laughter.

“OHohoho myhy gohohod…” Kaiser managed, trying to control himself.

He soon managed to regain his composure. “Hah… wohow… I hahave to say I haven’t laughed so hard in a whihile. Felt amazihing.” Kaiser said, some giggles still escaping.

Isagi frowned. “What are you laughing about?”

Kaiser grinned. “Because I think you’re adorable Yoichi Isagi. I look forward to battling together in the next game.” He said as he got up, making his way towards the door.

Little did he know that the young boy, upon realizing what he had just said, became so red in the face, that he thought he might explode. His brain felt damn near broken.

He supposed that was just the Kaiser effect.

[themultifandomgal]

Tommy Shelby- Didn’t Have To Learn To Love Pt2

Trigger Warning! Illness, sick, preeclampsia

Pt1

I've just finished up feeding mine and Tommys baby, Charlie. I haven't felt well all day, not since giving birth yesterday morning. We're sat downstairs, Tommy reading the paper. He looks up at me as I place Charlie in is bassinet

"You alright?" he asks frowning

"I don't know. I haven't felt well since having the baby. Headache, feel sick, hot but cold at the same time. Pains. Dunno Tommy just don't feel right"

"I'll get Polly" Tommy gets up and shouts for Polly to come out of the kitchen

"What's wrong? is the baby ok?"

"Yeah but YNs not. Is this normal?"

"No. I think you should call the midwife to come and check over YN" Tommy rushes out of the room while Polly comes over to me placing a hand on my forehead "your burning up"

"But I'm so cold Poll"

"Tommy I think we need an ambulance!" she shouts from the living room. A few seconds later Tommy comes back in

"Midwife will be here in a bit, ambulance will arrive in 20 minutes. Is she ok Polly?"

"She's getting worse Tommy"

"Gonna be sick" I breathe out

"Grab a bucket or bowl, quickly Thomas" Polly shouts. But before Tommy has time to get anything I throw up on the floor

"Sorry. I couldn't..."

"Shhh it's ok. We can get that sorted later aye" Tommy strokes my sweaty hair from my my face

"Midwife here" I hear someone call from the front door

"We're in here" Polly shouts back, Charlie starts crying so I lean over trying to get to him

"I've got him love, you just listen to the midwife ok?" Polly says picking up Charlie

"Ok so headache, vomiting, any other symptoms?"

"A pain. In my ribs"

"I think we need an ambulance"

"Aunt Poll already rang one"

"Perfect. Ok let's get her up and start making our way to the front door" Tommy takes my one side while the midwife takes the other

"What's wrong with her?" Tommy asks

"I think it could be a condition called toxemia also known as preeclampsia. It can affect woman during pregnancy and on the rare occasion it can happen after mother has given birth"

"Will she be alright?"

"Yes as long as we get her to the hospital"

"I can't loose her"

"And you won't" Alice says before I pass out.

A week later and I'm feeling so much better I've also been let out of hospital

"Shhh shhh come on Charlie, mamma wants to go to sleep" I bounce the baby in my arms

"Here let me try, you go lie down" Tommy takes Charlie from my arms and starts rocking him. I lie down on the bed, on my side, watching Tommy interacting with Charlie. He sits on the bed bouncing our boy in his arms, who no has started to settle down

"I never thanked you"

"What for?" Tommy asks looking at me confused

"Well for a start, getting me through those first months after the war. Then when I said I was pregnant you could have easily left me to deal with this on my own. You've given me a safe place to live, food, water, protection. And then when I was ill you helped me. You did all of that and you don't love me, why?"

"Whoever said I don't love you?"

"Well it's just you've been cold ever since you found out I was pregnant so I just thought..."

"God YN I didn't want you to think that. Fuck" Tommy runs his hand through his hair "I was scared YN. Scared of getting my hopes up and being happy, because whenever I'm happy and in love that person dies. I didn't want you to die. Or this little one. Hell YN I fell in love with you as soon as you told me you were pregnant. I'm so sorry I made you feel like I didn't care" tears fall down my face. I sit up and move so I'm sat behind him

"Tommy Shelby apologising, never thought I'd see the day" I chuckle

"Don't joke about that" he shakes his head

"I'm here, I'm ok. We're ok" I stroke Charlie's cheek "so when are we introducing this little on to your brothers?"

"Not yet. I want to keep you both to myself a little longer" Tommy places Charlie in his bassinet and gets into bed with me. I rest my head on his bare chest

"I love you too Tommy" I tell him before falling asleep.

[acesbelovedwife]

And they were roommates

5,4k characters

Portgas D Ace x fem reader fluff

Masterlist

You were making dinner, your roommate Ace was in a shower after work so you wanted to help him out by at least making him food. You couldn't find one seasoning anywhere so you figured out it would be on top of a shelf, you weren't tall enough to reach it but you also didn't want to bother Ace, he's tired. You decided to take the ladder, you climbed up and started searching for the seasoning, when you finally found it you started getting off the ladder but you missed a step and the next thing you knew you were lying on the floor screaming in pain. Ace hearing a loud thud and screams ran out of the bathroom panicked only to find you laying on the ground gripping your arm in pain. "Y/n what happened?!" He yelled running up to you in worry.

The next thing you knew you were walking out of the hospital wearing a cast on your arm "You could've just ask me to get it for you, I was so worried something worse happened. Don't scare me like that y/n" he spoke still upset about the situation "I'm sorry... I just wanted you to relax after work, you must be exhausted having to take me to the hospital after a long day of work, I'm sorry Ace" you mumbled looking away trying not to cry from all the pain and guilt. "Hey, hey it's alright. Please don't cry, I'm ok, yes I'm tired but I'm happy nothing worse happened to you it's alright now, let's just go home and order some food ok?" Ace said worried, he hated seeing you cry, it broke his heart. You nodded as you took your healthy hand to hold his arm,he didn't expect you to do that but he smiled knowing it just means you feel safe around him.

As you two arrived to your apartment Ace helped you take off your coat and shoes seeing you struggle "I'm sorry" you whispered "like I told you, it's ok y/n, no need to feel bad" he smiled putting your shoes away. "You want pizza?" Ace asked "Sure, you can order me anything, I'm starving" "gotcha" Ace replied calling the pizza place. You decided to just watch the tv until the pizza comes to kill the time. "Pizza should come in 20 minutes!" Ace yelled from another room "okay!" you yelled back, thankful you live so close to the pizzeria. When the pizza came Ace joined you in the living room to watch a movie. When you both finished eating you thought for a second, just how are you gonna shower, you're not supposed to get the cast wet and it just happened that your dominant hand is in it. "You ok y/n?" Ace asked, worried since your face got pale "um, Ace?" You asked "what's up?" He replied curiously tilting his head to the side "w-would it be ok if you could perhaps... help me shower?" You stuttered from embarrassment, that was surely the last thing he expected you to ask him. He sat there quiet for a second not knowing what to say, but then he went back to reality understanding you can't do it alone with the cast on "A-are you sure y/n?" He asked cursing himself for stuttering "If it's ok with you, I trust you Ace I know you wouldn't do anything to me without my consent" you smiled at him, he nodded happy you trust him that much. As you both went to the bathroom the reality hit you. He's gonna be naked too. You're gonna see your roommate, Ace, naked. It's not like you didn't see him without his pants considering the fact that you two live with each other, but this time it was different, you're gonna shower together. Like lovers do.

"Don't worry, I'll look away, you can take off your clothes off I won't look" he said turning away, you took off your shirt and pants with not much struggle. But when you couldn't unclip your bra with your hand you panicked "u-um Ace?" "Yeah?" He finished taking off his clothes off already but was still facing you away not wanting to break his promise "c-could you help me unclip my bra? I can't do it with only one hand..." You wanted to burry yourself, this couldn't get more embarrassing than it already was "o-oh yeah, sure" he turned around seeing you with nothing but bra, if you weren't facing him with your back he could swear he would pass out, your features already made him horny enough. As he was unclipping your bra he brushed his fingers against your back making you shiver. "Thank you" you stood up walking up to the showerhead turning the water on as Ace took away both his and your clothes out of the bathroom. When you found the right temperature of the water you tried to get your hair wet but almost got your cast wet so you just decided to wait for Ace. He got back and tried to look everywhere else but at your chest failing miserably, he was blushing trying to help you as much as he could "Ace, calm down. Your hands are shaking, even if you touch me somewhere by accident it's ok" you reassured him "o-ok" he proceeded to wash your back accidentally touching your boob from the side feeling himself getting hard "shit.." he whispered "what's wrong?" you asked "n-nothing, just got some soap in my eye while I was rubbing it" he lied "I see, could you help me with the hair too?" "Sure". You hummed softly as he massaged your scalp "close your eyes" Ace said, you closed your eyes as he washed the shampoo off your hair. "Can I turn around?" You asked "sure?" Ace answered confused, why would you? You turned around putting your hand on his cheek gently brushing your thumb on his beautiful freckles as he closed his eyes "please don't hate me for that" you whispered, before he could ask what did you mean by that you pressed your lips against his, shocked from your action Ace ghasped allowing you to push your tongue inside his mouth as he kissed back taking control of the kiss making you moan. When you felt like you were out of breath you pulled away gasping for air pressing your forehead against his. "You have no idea what you're doing to me y/n" Ace sighed giving you a gentle kiss on your lips making you smile. He helped you dry yourself and put on a shirt "Can I sleep with you tonight?" you asked Ace "you don't need to ask that y'know, you can join me whenever you want y/n" he said smiling.

"you gonna take care of that?" You pointed at his boxers catching him off guard "y-you knew?!" He shouted blushing hard "it's hard not to, especially when you were naked in the shower" you answered calmly hugging him "I can help you y'know" you smirked looking up at him "n-no, we just showered and your arm is broken. I'll just wait for it to go away" he looked away blushing from your boldness "you're no fun" you pouted as you dragged him to his bed. You threw yourself on it opening your arms showing him to join you. He laid his head on your chest purring in joy as you played with his hair slowly falling asleep.

Sorry for any mistakes, english is my second language. I hope you enjoyed reading ♡

[fish-fish27]

This is requested in my Ao3 account so I hope you all like it too ^^

-Fishda

Thief

Ruv x Reader?

One-sided

Fluff??

____________________________

Shit!

Your whole room is a mess, the bed sheets looked like it has been flipped upside down, each and every cabinets are left open and some of them are even left on the floor, spilling its contents onto your already messy floor, the only thing missing is for you to literally rip off the wallpaper decorating your room’s walls.

Where is it!?

Adrenaline rushing through your veins as you breath heavily as you grabbed another big cabinet containing your newly folded undergarments, opening it and shoved your hand in it till you reach the bottom, only to not find what you're searching for, instead you found the missing $20 that you’ve been looking for since the last two weeks but it’s not what you’re looking for right now so it’s not that important.

Another minute went by — honestly you don’t even know how many minutes if not HOURS you spent on looking for it — you dropped down to your knees before screaming.

“WHERE’S MY PHONE!?!?”

You felt tears forming at the corner of your eyes, you worked so hard to earn enough money to spend so that you can finally buy a decent phone and in less than a week, you already lost it. You swear that it was sitting comfortably in your pocket while you were attending Sarvente’s mass earlier and now its gone like a bubble that popped.

The doors slammed open, catching your attention as the tears now roll down your cheeks while you sob to your now lost phone. There stood Sarvente panting heavily — she seemed like she ran from the other side of the world to here out of pure panic and worry once she heard you scream —

“What’s wrong!? Did something happen??”

She said while looking around your room, trying to find some clue on what happened here before landing her eyes on you. She immediately ran up to you and held both your shoulder, looking like a worried mother.

“Are you alright!? Did someone break in-“

“I can’t find my phone, Saaaarv”

You cut her off while sobbing and hugging her tightly, a few seconds went by, you let go of her as you kept ranting about your missing phone. Sarvente only sat there with a confused expression on her face.

The moment you finished ranting— Sarv can’t help but laugh at you, oh may the Lord All Mighty forgive her for laughing at you but this whole situation is just so hilarious in her opinion and of course you were hurt and offended with her laughter while you’re here suffering.

“Hey! Don’t laugh at me like that!! This is not funny!”

“Oh pft- haha- Oh forgive me, don’t worry I’ll help you find your phone but if we really can’t find it anywhere… I guess I could buy you another one… I know you needed it-“

Sarvente suggested before helping you get up, grabbing her handkerchief and giving it to you so that you can wipe your tears away, patting your back gently as you did so.

“But is there a compensation??? Surely there is! I’ll save some money so that I can repay you!”

“No need for money! But I guess you do need to work hard to get something you want… maybe you’ll be the one in charge of cleaning the church for 1 week?”

“Make it 2!!”

You said to her, holding both her hands close to yourself, your eyes filled with determination— Sarvente found it amusing and only smiled softly at your offer.

“Alright then, 2 weeks cleaning of the church”

______________________________

In the garden— there sat a man holding a phone while analyzing it, seemingly analyzing it to memorize its appearance, despite the hot weather, he wore a thick coat with fur and ushanka decorating his head— his mind wandered off into an imaginary fantasy while he analyzes the phone.

“Oh Ruv! You found my phone”

You said to him, your face turning red as you stare at him before looking down at your phone, it doesn’t seem to be harmed nor broken, you grabbed it out of his hand and then turned it on, putting in your password.

“I saw it in the garden, you should really be aware of your things whenever your watering the plants, last time, it was your wallet that disappeared, luckily I found it too”

Ruv said while rubbing the back of his head, looking away from you in a bashful manner— he lied, he stole it from you while you’re distracted— In his head, he’s scolding his heart to stop pounding so hard against his chest. You then jumped on him while embracing him which made Ruv immediately wrap his arms around you so you won’t fall.

“Oh my Ruv! Thank you so much! You’re my hero!”

You told him before kissing his cheek making him blush and hide his face with his ushanka, his heart skipping a beat. You stared straight into his eyes with such passion and love and he stared back with the same amount of love— both your face slowly inching closer to each other until your lips were so close to touching.

“Hero…”

Ruv mumbled under his breath while his mind is still in his fantasy land— if he can, he would be smiling like a love sick idiot right now— his face as red as a tomato while his grip on the phone loosen. To his dismay, the door suddenly opened, snapping him out of his imagination and returning him back to the real world.

He immediately returned the grip on the phone before quickly hiding it in his coat’s pocket, looking at the culprit who cut off his oh so beautiful day dream, his brows furrowed in anger before he saw you, his gaze softened before coughing and fixing his composure, trying to look calm and collected when in fact, he is panicking inside, thinking of the words to say to you.

Come on, you Идиот! This is your opportunity to talk to them properly

“Oh Ruv! Didn’t see you there”

Fuck it.

Ruv let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding before standing up and facing you. You felt shivers run through your spine as his cold gaze met yours. Ruv felt his legs shake a bit making him not be able to walk towards you in fear that he might fall down and embarrass himself infront of you.

He only stand there, directly looking at your eyes, his ushanka making a shadow cast over his face— You tried to keep your smile on your face as you feel your heart pound against your chest but not by love, instead it’s by fear.

“Uhm… y-you like uh… need something???”

You asked him, stuttering a bit in your sentence— Ruv then took out your phone out of his pocket and showed it to you.

Now say it… say it… SAY SOMETHING- WHY WON’T YOU SAY IT

Ruv screamed at himself in his mind, he seemed to forget the lines he was practicing to say to you when he return your phone either out of pure nervousness or the fact that he’s lost in your eyes that even outshined the sun itself. His heart running full laps making him feel so giddy every second that passes by.

“Oh uhm… thanks- where did you find it?"

You said, walking closer to him, wondering why is he so quiet— I mean he is quiet most of the time but not this quiet— You tried grab the phone out of his hand but his grip on it seemed to be too strong.

“Hmmm…”

Ruv seemed to be in a trance, you snapped your fingers in front of his face which made him finally snap out of whatever he’s thinking, he looked at you and you swear you see a slight blush on his cheeks but you chose to ignore or brush it off.

“Ruv?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you let go of my phone?”

“Ah- right”

He then let go of your phone— he was about to say something before you heard Sarv call you from your room, asking for help— oh right, you were supposed to be helping her clean your room so you grabbed the broom in the shed before quickly running out of the garden.

Ruv only watched you, feeling like an idiot and the most dumbest person alive, he had the opportunity yet he decided to let it go! Dumbass!— he only sighed and sat back down on the bench, staring at the clouds, no worries… there’s still more.

A few minutes went by and then Ruv felt something coming up his throat, making him choke and cough it out, covering his mouth as he tried to get it out. As he did so, he only found a petal which baffled him… he can recognize which flower this petal belonged to… it’s a (Your Favorite Flower) ’s petal.

“What the fuck…?”

.

.

.

.

.

[sebastiansgaycousin]

Sebastian Sallow and the Mystery of the Black Cat (O.G x Animagus!Reader x Sebastian Sallow)

Sebastian meets a cat who behaves like an asshole. He's a little bit dumb, very jealous and very, very much in love with his friends.

-

Reader can be read as cis or as a transman. Reader can also be read as any race. Also posted to my Ao3

Words: 3,026

The first time Sebastian saw the black cat, it had been in the potions classroom.

It was laying on top of the counter, next to the stove Sebastian was using. Amber eyes cracked ever so slightly open when Sebastian approached the potion station with an outstretched hand.

The black fur felt soft underneath his fingertips. Its coat was shiny and well kept. It had white socks on every foot except its back left paw. The one on the front right was up high compared to the others too. Soft, pink toe beans greeted Sebastian when the cat turned on its back. Sebastian rubbed underneath its chin, the cat purring appreciatively.

"Well, aren't you adorable? Are you professor Sharp's cat?" He said to the cat. The cat just purred in response, eyes closing. Sebastian chuckled and checked in with his potion. It was a batch of wiggenweld potions he made for the new fifth year, at his new friend's request. The batch was finished, glowing a neon green in the cauldron. Perfect. He started filling up the glass flasks with the liquid. Quickly, he realised he didn't have enough flasks.

The cat, who had been staring at the student for a while now, meowed. Sebastian booped its nose. "I'm going to pick up some more flasks. Can you keep an eye on my cauldron, little friend?" He asked. Something sparkled inside the honey coloured eyes. It meowed again and started licking its paw. Sebastian took it as a yes.

That was his mistake. The second he had his back turned to the cat, he heard the sound of glass breaking.

Sebastian quickly turned around to see if the cat was okay. The cat was very much alright. In fact, it was calmly sitting on the counter, looking down at the broken potion on the ground. It noticed Sebastian was looking. Its paw moved towards the next potion, softly pushing the flask to the edge of the counter. "Don't you dare do it," Sebastian whispered, loud enough for the cat to hear.

The mischievous eyes were locked with Sebastian's as the cat pushed the other potion off the desk too. A high pitched squeal left Sebastian's mouth as he rushed to the potion station. The cat jumped off and ran out of the classroom. "No, don't you dare run off you little bastard!" Sebastian exclaimed as he kneeled next to the puddle on the floor.

"Mister Sallow!" The door to Sharp's office swung open with quite a lot of force. It slammed against the stone next to it with a loud bang. The ex-auror took a second to assess the situation in front of him. Sebastian still sat on his knees next to the puddle, though fear was visible on his face. "Mister Sallow. Would you mind explaining to me what this is all about?" Sharp shot a piercing glare Sebastian's way.

"Sir, your cat - it threw my potion on the floor." Sebastian tried to explain.

Sharpe frowned at this. "Don't be ridiculous, Mister Sallow. I don't have a cat." He stated firmly. "Now, are you going to clean that up?"

The second time was while Sebastian was in the library. For once he was not sneaking in the restricted section. He was sitting at a table with his nose buried in his astronomy book. He felt how something warm jumped onto his lap. The Slytherin looked down to see the cat (who he had named Bastard since the potion incident) settle on his lap. It looked at Sebastian with a cocky look in its eyes.

The intensity of Bastard's stare was like a challenge. Sebastian couldn't figure out what it wanted or what it was going to do. Regrettably, he took too long as the black cat climbed onto the table and laid down on top of his homework.

Sebastian groaned.

"Please leave. I need to finish 20 inches on the discovery of Jupiter," he asked, trying to stay polite even though he had no reason to be. It was an animal, after all.

"Meow." The cat stated, factually. It got up and knocked his book off the table when it jumped off. It shot Sebastian a glare and Sebastian felt guilty for sending the cat away. Then, Bastard disappeared around the corner.

Sebastian wondered whose cat it was so he could tell them how rude Bastard was. With the amount of cats that had free reign to go wherever they pleased inside of the school, Sebastian doubted he’d ever find them. He groaned and bent over to pick up his book and saw that the paper had folded and one of the pages was torn at the top.

“Hey, Sebastian! I didn’t know you were studying here as well!” His new friend walked up to him and put his books down on the opposite side of the table. Then, he sat down with a heart warming smile on his face. Sebastian waved a little and put the book down on the table again.

“Hello there. I was trying to work on my paper for astronomy, but someone’s cat decided against that. Did you see it leave?” Sebastian asked. His friend frowned at the question.

“Cat? Sebastian, what are you talking about? I didn’t see anything,” He looked very worried at Sebastian. The latter was too stunned to speak. His friend took Sebastian’s hand. “Maybe you’re overworked. You should take a break! Let’s go to the Three Broomsticks to unwind a little.”

* 

The third time, it was in the Slytherin common room.

Bastard was laying next to Ominis on the couch, purring away. Ominis was reading a book and petting the cat at the same time, sitting close to the fire. Sebastian narrowed his eyes when he walked in and saw the scene in front of him.

“Ominis. What is that cat doing next to you?” He asked, sitting down on the other couch.

Ominis didn’t move to answer, fingers still going over the page. “He’s a cat, Sebastian. He doesn’t do much, besides sleeping the day away.” He said. The cat cracked open an eye to look at Sebastian, almost as if it heard and understood the conversation between the friends.

“Wait. Bastard is a male cat?” Sebastian blurted out the question using the nickname he’d given the cat. Ominous sighed and closed his book. He leaned over to place the object down on the table. The cat took this as a sign to climb onto his lap and make himself comfortable.

“You named him Bastard?”

“Yeah, the little shit has only ever thrown my items onto the floor. Including potions in the classroom, which wasn’t fun to explain to Sharp.”

Ominis chuckled at his friend. Sebastian wished he was the cat, he wanted to sleep on Ominis' lap, too. He ignored that thought and opted to simply glare daggers into the soft asshole currently purring at the way Ominis scratched behind his ears. Again, the cat appeared to look at him with a ton of cockiness in his amber eyes.

The battle for Ominis' attention was on.

*

The weeks after, Bastard started appearing more and more around Sebastian. The cat made Sebastian's life a hell in a way the wizard didn't think a cat was able to. Constantly breaking stuff, laying on top of items Sebastian needed to use and mostly just sticking to Ominis' side.

Sebastian couldn't believe it either, but he was jealous of a cat.

Then there was his friend. The prodigy had been there to listen to his complaints about the animal. They were very kind and considerate of Sebastian, who'd only been complaining lately. Even now, in the dorm.

"I don't understand it, really. What does that thing have that I don't?" He was laying on his back, head hanging over the edge as he burned a hole into Ominis' bed with his eyes. They'd been hanging out for a while now, on their rainy Saturday afternoon.

His handsome friend - who was practising some charms on his own bed - shrugged. "Whiskers? A tail? We could be here for a while if I need to list every single thing the cat has that you don't." He commented as he made an apple float in the air.

Sebastian groaned in frustration.

"Sebastian, calm down. You're jealous of a cat. Just confess your undying love to Ominis already, then you can be scratched behind your ears and be told you're a good boy too." The fifth year looked away from the floating apple, turning his head to look at Sebastian. Sebastian, meanwhile, flushed a deep scarlet.

"I don't know what you're talking about. And it sounds like you're thinking of a dog, not a cat."

"My point still stands. I really don't mind hearing you out, but it's painful to watch how much you're in love with Ominis," his friend paused to pluck the apple out of the air. Sebastian watched as he took a bite out of the apple and he felt something familiar stir in his stomach. The same feeling he got when he looked at Ominis. He filed the thought away in the furthest dusty cabinet in his brain. "Watching you deny your feelings is way more painful than the cruciatus curse. And I would know, since you cast it on me."

Sebastian groaned. "I told you I was sorry."

"I know, it was a joke. I like watching you squirm. Makes you look prettier." He replied. He got up and tossed the remains of his apple in the bin. "Anyway. I'm heading out, you're being boring. See you later!"

Sebastian watched his friend leave. A soft blush was present on his face. Did he just call Sebastian pretty? Purely out of instinct, Sebastian got up to chase them and ask about it. When he left the dorm room however, he was greeted by an empty hallway.

*

Truthfully. He'd only put his wand onto the floor next to him to tie his shoelaces again when something soft and dark rushed past him. Sebastian had looked up to see the cocky fucker peak just around the corner, his wand in Bastard's little mouth.

"Give it back." He commanded the cat. Bastard looked up at Sebastian, eyes yet again filled with mischief. The Slytherin was certain the cat understood him, especially since he was always challenging the human. Sebastian got back up and walked over.

Of course, Bastard had other plans and ran away. Sebastian cursed and ran after the cat. They ran through the corridors of Hogwarts, Sebastian focused on the white tip of Bastard's tail. If he was able to pay any attention, he'd have noticed the hallways were all abandoned.

Sebastian crashed into someone after coming around a corner. He was barely able to save himself and the person, who happened to be none other than his best friend. Holding Ominis tightly, he checked where Bastard went. He was sitting on a bench, looking at the two students with an amused look in his eyes. "Sorry Ominis," Sebastian said, eyes not leaving the amber eyes. "I was chasing Bastard, he took my wand."

Ominis appeared to be amused. "Oh, really now? A cat took your wand?" Sebastian wanted to punch and/or kiss the smugness off of Ominis’ beautiful face. Ominis had no reason to be smug either, it was not like he made the cat…

“Did you make the cat bother me?” The accusation came out a bit harsher than he had meant to. He was just so sick of the animal bothering him so much. And he wanted answers, too.

His best friend started laughing out loud. He didn’t say anything, just turned around and tried to find the cat with his wand. He eventually did and kneeled down in front of Bastard. Ominis took the wand from the jaws of the monster. “Thank you,” he said. He leaned down to kiss the top of Bastard’s hair. The cat purred and rubbed his head against Ominis’ cheek.

Sebastian’s wand was placed into his hand. Sebastian quietly thanked his friend, glad he didn’t have to get close to Bastard himself. “You owe me,” Ominis turned back to Sebastian with a grin on his face.

“Yeah yeah. Just tell me when I can do something for you,” Sebastian replied, rolling his eyes with a smile. He thought Ominis was joking. Ominis stepped closer to Sebastian.

“I know something,” Ominis stated, something indescribable on his face. Sebastian had never seen this expression on his friend’s face. It was a mix of determination and something else. It made Sebastian feel equal parts scared and attracted to his friend. Ominis took a step closer towards Sebastian, now standing in Sebastian’s personal space.

Was this still a joke? What was Ominis doing? Blood rushed to his face, turning him a nice scarlet red. He could smell Ominis now, it did things to Sebastian. Did it suddenly get hotter? “W-What do you propose?” He stuttered. He stuttered . Anne would probably laugh her ass off if Sebastian ever told her this.

Sebastian’s brain short-circuited when he felt Ominis’ lips on his own. Out of reflex more than anything, he took a step back; the kiss had been way too intense for Sebastian’s unprepared mind. He took the time to stare at his best friend, mouth wide open. Ominis now looked a bit insecure, toying with the sleeves of his robes a bit.

“Are you… Mocking me?” Sebastian asked, softly. Ominis’ eyes widened at the question, clearly confused.

“Sebastian. I’d never mock you with something like this. I’ve wanted this, I’ve wanted you for the longest time now,” Ominis confessed, making Sebastian feel dizzy with just his words. “I was too stupid to see you wanted me, too. Until he pointed it out to me.”

Sebastian folded his arms across his chest. “Explain. Now.” He gave his friend a stern look. “This doesn’t mean no, by the way. I just want to know who he is.”

His best friend smiled a little. “It’s our friend. He… Put things in perspective for me. How I feel about you, for example. He said it was obvious you were interested in me as well. I started noticing he was right, so I decided to take the leap with both of you.” Ominis’ explanation made sense. Sebastian decided he disliked that their friend read Ominis better than he himself did. Ominis had always been hard to read, Sebastian only started being able to read him better last year. And their friend knew him for less than a year and figured him out pretty quickly.

Sebastian blinked. “Wait. Both of you?” he asked.

He saw how Bastard jumped off the stone bench behind Ominis. Then, suddenly, their friend was standing behind Ominis, stretching out his limbs. Sebastian let out a high pitched squeal and jumped. Their friend chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around Ominis.

“He means you and me. Because, well, I like you both,” His soothing voice answered Sebastian’s question instead of Ominis. “Sorry, Seb. I haven’t been entirely honest to you. I’m an Animagus.”

Sebastian pointed at the boy. “You’re the one who keeps messing with me! I knew you understood the things we were saying!” He loudly exclaimed. He tried to ignore the feeling in his stomach at the sight of his friends standing in front of him like this. “How long have you known, Ominis?”

The memory of seeing Ominis and Bastard (in cat form) relaxing on the couch in the common room came to mind. It kind of pissed Sebastian off, if he was being honest. Ominis, ever perceptive of his friend’s behaviour, spoke up. “I’ve known for a few days. When he confessed his feelings for both of us to me. We were devising a plan to confess to you, though I didn’t know he was going to do it out of nowhere like this.”

Bastard let go of Ominis and moved to stand next to him. He reached for Sebastian’s hand and squeezed it tight. “I just couldn’t wait any longer. I want you two to be mine,” he stated, pretty eyes darting between his two friends. Sebastian’s blush returned to his face. He let himself be pulled closer by Bastard, his two friends now in his personal space. He watched as Bastard moved behind Ominis again and whispered something in Ominis’ ear, then kissed his cheek. Ominis’ cheeks turned a dusty pink as he blushed. It made Sebastian’s stomach flip.

A hand cupped Sebastian’s jaw. It slid up and behind his head, fingers weaving through his brown hair. It was Bastard (he really wasn’t going to let go of this nickname), who looked at him with the mischievous eyes Sebastian had come to know from his cat form. Honestly, how he didn’t put two and two together and figured it out quickly was beyond him. He didn’t have time to think as he saw Ominis lean in again.

This time, Sebastian was prepared for the kiss. Ominis’ lips were soft and gentle for no reason, but they were. They went beyond Sebastian's wildest dreams and suddenly it felt all too real. He closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Ominis as they kissed. He felt another set of lips below his ear; they were a bit rougher, more chapped but pleasant nonetheless.

Eventually, Ominis pulled back for air. His lips were red and swollen and he looked soft. His guard was fully down now. It warmed Sebastian’s heart. Then, Bastard kissed him, but only briefly. He smirked and appeared to be satisfied with himself.

Sebastian sighed. “Fine. If Bastard stops throwing my stuff off surfaces, I’ll be yours.”

The Animagus laughed. “Aw, you’re really going to keep using that nickname for me? And we only just got together, sweetcheeks.”

Sebastian cringed at that nickname. “Shut up, before I change my mind.”

Again, Bastard laughed and Ominis chuckled too. Sebastian rolled his eyes and rested his head on Ominis' shoulder, blowing air into Bastard's neck. It was the happiest he had felt in a few years and silently, he really didn't mind his new lover's prankis if it ended up like this.

[pbandjesse]

Today was such a nice birthday. Like here at the end I am feeling a little emotional. But that is more because I'm very tired then anything else. Today was great.

I slept alright. The coughing is getting to me hardcore at night and it's making it really tough to function. Like I can't sleep all the way because every time I turn over I start choking again. But I keep trying to be alright.

I felt good when I woke up though. I woke up before my alarm and took my time getting up. No rush. Jess hadn't told me she left yet and she wasn't due here until 1030. So I just watched tiktoks and got texts from my family and it was good. I was happy. James came and made a big fuss about my birthday. I got lots of hugs and kisses today.

Once I was dressed, James made me an omelette. And we sat together in the living room. Waiting for Jess to be here.

And soon she was! I looked at her location and it said 50ft away!! What!!

So I went outside to meet her. And she was like omg happy birthday! Happy birthday house! Happy birthday at your house!! And we were all smiles.

I was very excited to give her the tour of our little house. We started with the most finished room:the bathroom. And went all over. She said it was a little smaller then she expected from the photos but real estate photos are always deceptive. Which is why I had done all those floor plan drawings. I have been very honest about how it's basically the same size as the apartment only stacked. Plus a basement. But it's going to work for us really well.

She said it was really cute though and she's excited to see it with furniture. And I was too. So pretty quickly we were all piling in the cars to go to IKEA.

I had a grand plan. I had done a lot of measuring and a lot of research and made sure I had backups in color ways if something was sold out. And for the most part my plan worked perfectly.

We got to IKEA and started with the return section just to double check. Nothing blew me away price wise so we headed to the showroom.

I teased Jess a ton and was smoochie with James. And was just feeling so happy. We looked at the pieces I wanted and I was happy with the quality and the sizes. Jess saw a few things she wanted too. And it was just a lot of fun. I also just love Ikea so today was such a perfect way to spend my birthday.

When we got to the marketplace we grabbed a cart. I stuck pretty well to my list. Only adding a dog shaped bathmat that I became obsessed with. He's literally perfect.

Jess would get a few things. A planter. A lamp. A little basket. She had a lot of self control in not buying every jar she picked up. I hugged all the stuffed animals and was having the best time.

When we got to the warehouse we grabbed a second cart. But in the end we would need three. While I had measured the house. I did not consider how many boxes all of our purchases would come in. We got 8 pieces of furniture and it came in about 20 boxes.

It was good I had made a list to know where locations were because we were going down to a lot of ends of aisles. But we worked tighter to load the very heavy things up. I had the regular carts and Jess and James each had a flat cart and they were full full. Struggling to load them was a surprise because of how many boxes there were.

Paying wasn't as hard as I worried it would be. I handled the small things and bagging those up. And then when we got outside I saved two loading zones spaced next to each other while they went to get the cars.

This is where I had not planned for an issue. We couldnt fit all the boxes in the car. James was trying their hardest but it just was not happening. It was close! With Jess having a slightly longer interior, that helped a lot. But even with James really good spacial awareness, we could not get the last three boxes in. It took most of a half hour in a very blustery area, but we had to throw in the towel.

Thankfully Ikea has a place to hold the items so James would make a second trip. But for now we would go have our Ikea veggie dogs and weird Ikea sodas and my ears would be so cold that they were burning so James very gently cupped them so they wouldn't hurt so bad and I loved them so much in that moment. Jess said we were being disgusting. Yes. True.

I had ridden with Jess to IKEA but with the seat having to be moved up, it was safer for me to ride back with James. We had boxes in the middle of us but we drove carefully and even when a goose tried to kill itself in front of us and James had to swerve I was able to hold the boxes and nothing got broken or hurt. And pretty quickly we were home.

I would help bring some stuff inside. But mostly I was in charge of directing traffic. We would say hi to our neighbors when we were outside. I even got to meet the landlady for the house two doors down. Who was so excited to hear it was my birthday and then was shocked that I was 33. She thought I was a Hopkins student! It was nice that a stranger was excited for me.

It took a bit to get everything inside. And we even had a disaster when the bag of small stuff got dropped and one corner of each of the wall shelves were damaged. I'll just face those towards the wall. But James felt very bad about it. Not the end of the world.

James would stop to have a snack or the Ikea cookies they got themselves. And then headed back out to go to IKEA again.

And me and Jess would spend the next hour building one of the shelves for the mezzanine. I was hoping to get both done but getting one done before James got home was still impressive. James would put the doors on when they got back. But in the mean time we worked very well together building and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Jess says we have never built Ikea furniture together before but I think we did great. Very proud of us.

I was very happy when James got back. They brought the last three pieces in and jumped right into finishing the doors for the shelves. I would go to the studio to start opening the boxes for the day bed. It was important that we finished that today because Jess would be sleeping in it. I had opened the rolled mattresses as soon as we got home so they had the best chance of swelling back to normal thickness. And I think that worked really well.

Putting together this daybed was a very long process with a lot of steps. I'm really proud of us for how we divided the tasks. And even when things went slightly wrong, when I put something in the wrong place, or we used the wrong hardware, we were able to figure it out together. And we didn't fight at all. Only in jest. And I was so happy being with them. We were doing great.

At one point we decided we should make a reservation for dinner at the James Joyce Irish Pub for 7. That would give us a good stopping point. I had Jess set an alarm for 620 so we would have a good topping point to get cleaned up. But I was really hoping we would finish before we left.

There were some bumps in the road. We were making great progress and then at 6 realized like 20 screws were missing. And then after a few minutes of searching we had to look through all the steps to discover that we used them in place of some pins by accident and had to spend a little time taking that apart and redoing it. But through teamwork we were able to get it done. Then it was discovered that I had put the tracks for the drawers on wrong. So we had to move all of those. And so James had to stop their task because we only have one drill. But we would still finish on time. At 635. Amazing. Great job us.

It was so satisfying to see the trundle part of the bed come together and then it all was settled and the mattresses were in place and I was just so thrilled.

And then it was time to go to dinner.

James drove us to harbor east. Where parking is very tough. After circling the block a few times, James would drop us off and go find somewhere a few blocks away. We went to get our reservation so we weren't to late.

And I just had such a lovely dinner. The only issue was around 530 I had started wheezing and coughing hardcore again. And was still wheezing. The outside air helped but I was still struggling. Jess suggested after dinner we go to target and get me an over the counter inhaler. I said I would consider it. For now the focus was dinner.

We got Caeser salads. James got a cocktail. Jess got a bowl of lemons to share with me. James got a Ruben dip sandwich, I got a black truffle grilled cheese and a spicy chili oil tomato soup, Jess got shrimp and fries. And it was all fabulous. I told Jess stories about hobby tunneling. We are our food. We talked about how lovely everything was. It was a little loud but the music was really good. This was a beautiful birthday and a beautiful birthday dinner.

Honestly though it was to much food. I only had half of my sandwich because it was the size of two sandwiches. And we would have salad and fries to take home too.

After we got boxes we headed out. It was shockingly cold and my jacket doesn't help much in the wind. But we made it to the car in a few minutes and warmed up.

My breathing got bad again. So I agreed to the inhaler. We would go to target and get candy and the inhaler and milk and James got body wash too. And we had fun walking around. And while I was struggling breathing I was still really happy and having a really good time.

I was excited to go home though. I was getting really tired. I am so glad we finished making the bed for Jess.

We spent the next half hour getting Jess bedding and moving all the cardboard boxes we had opened to the basement. Well get that off to recycling soon but for now we need more path. Because our couch is supposed to be delivered tomorrow!! Amazing. Am thrilled. But we had to make space. So we worked on that and Jess got ready for bed. Made the daybed all cozy. It was good.

Soon though I started getting a little birthday sad. We decided we were all to full for cake tonight. So tomorrow me and James will celebrate with that. And James has a few little gifts for me. Jess had given me a balloon dog pendant made of pearls and balloon dogs earrings made of glass. James got me the Mathews pizza sweatshirt I wanted so much. And they got me a very cute birthday bear mug but it got broken in transit. They tried to glue it back together which was sweet but they said they will still order a new one.

But then they got me something I had such a visceral reaction to. Not in a good way. They got me doc martens. The American Western ones. The ones I loved so much. But I was like. Shocked. I do not like getting shoes as gifts. It's always been a thing. Buy someone shoes and they'll walk out of your life bad luck. I have always felt a little. Off about getting shoes. And I immediately opened the box and said you should return these. I took them out of the box. They are beautiful. But I was just. So upset. I didn't feel like I could accept them. And I'm trying to not be so irrational about it. James didn't do anything wrong. Why am I letting myself be taken so out of sorts? I will sit with this feelings. I will keep the boots. I will love the boots. Because they are absolutely beautiful. But man. I didn't expect to get that off kilter.

I would sit with my upset for a bit. Jess would go to bed. Eventually James would come sit with me and we talked. And I hate that I made them feel bad. Like they actually did something wrong. Because they didn't, they were so lovely, they got me everything I wanted and more. I love them so so deeply and I can't let myself feel like some superstition would take them away from me. I can't let myself be that crazy.

James went to sit in their office so I could write this. I am going to go find them. I took the inhaler and it helped a lot but it made my hands shake a lot too. Maybe that was part of what made me so emotional. I want to try on the boots.

I had such a beautiful birthday. With my favorite people. Eating my favorite foods. Just feeling so blissfully happy. And it's not even like it's over. Tomorrow me and Jess will keep building while James is at work. And we will wait for the couch. And when James come home we will have cake. I am really excited to be 33.

I love you all so much. I hope you had a beautiful February 17th. Goodnight!!!!

[grumpygreenwitch]

Fanfiction 6-7-8-9-10

AS A WARNING, there is the implication of violence and abuse in this part.

Please don't forget that reblogs give me life. Though if you wanna throw a coupla bucks in the teacup I'm not gonna say no.

This is probably the longest chunk of chapters you're gonna get. I didn't want to leave a cliffhanger for a whole week. This is also where you can see where my problem is with the Guild Hunter universe.

Buy me a Ko-fi?

1-2-3 + 4-5 + 6-7-8-9-10 + 11-12 + 13-14 + 15-16 + 17-18-19 + 20-21 + 22-23 + 24-25 + 26-27

6

Alyss found New Hampshire nearly impeccably run, barring a few stray peccadilloes he suspected came from Gracie's staff, not the vampire overseer herself, but he ran into an immediate problem when he started looking into the Vermont books. He went looking for Gevaun and found the man in a large, sunny gym, overseeing the combat training of most of the house staff. Kliman's Second still made the time to move over to a corner to attend to the accountant at once.

Alyss closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and scrunched his wings close to his back as rigidly as possible. Jean was on the far corner of the gym, working on a machine that allowed him to look out of the ceiling-to-floor windows; he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that fit him like a second skin and his arms were doing things that made the angel's neurons squeal like teenagers. It took a tremendous amount of effort to focus on Gevaun. "The Vermont books I have are copies. And I suspect they're fakes."

Gevaun's eyes went wide. "All of them?"

"They look good, all of them. And I probably wouldn't be able to confirm until I got the hard copies. But you hired me to dig, so I went digging. I think I found the originals. They're in an entirely different part of your cloud directories, locked up tight."

The Second scowled. "Show me. Jean, take over, would you?"

"Alright," the other vampire looked briefly startled to be called on, but he obeyed readily enough as Alyss led Gevaun out of the gym and to his office.

Gevaun talked to Kliman, who talked to someone called Evie, who acquired the services of someone else. Within an hour Alyss had access to the original books and someone called Alistaire was in deep trouble, which kept getting deeper the more Alyss dug. He begged leave to skip dinner as he worked, printing out copies of the information he'd already saved in a separate drive. When the knock came to the door he didn't even look up. "Come in."

"Holy crap." Jean's voice was low and surprised. "Isn't accounting supposed to be organized?"

Alyss looked up, startled. He was sitting on the floor once again, surrounded by a sea of printouts, a red pen in his mouth, a blue one tucked behind one ear, and a yellow one stuck to the collar of his shirt. He spat out the pen to speak. "Oh, this, I mean, it is. I am! Organized. It's just a very particular sort of organized." He stared at the office. "It makes sense to me," he finished weakly.

"That's what matters," the vampire replied evenly, and the angel felt a little better. "But I brought dinner and I don't think you got anywhere to put it down in here. It's quick food," he assured Alyss when the accountant looked at all his work. "And Chere’ll be mad if I have to take it back. The last person you want angry at you is the one cooking your food."

"I know, I know." Alyss stretched. His spine and his wings both felt kinked and cramped. "I guess I can break for a bit." He followed the vampire into his room, and Jean set the tray he was carrying on top of a small, decorative desk. Before Alyss could protest, Jean sat on the bed, which left the accountant to take a seat before the tray.

"Can I ask what you're doing, or is it hush-hush?"

"Some of it is, but yes, you can ask. I'm running five-year audits on everyone who works for Kliman. This just got a little more, erm, complicated because I keep finding things wrong."

"Alistaire stealing from Kliman?"

"I don't know what he's doing, exactly, but it's not nice," Alyss declared primly, making Jean smile faintly. The angel found two sandwiches and a tremendous wedge of egg custard pie on the tray and started making short work of them. "And there's so much of it that he couldn't just hide it, he had to make a whole other set of books to try and pretend it doesn't exist."

Jean tried to focus on what Alyss was telling him but it was hard. Was it ever hard. The angel, so guarded and shy, burst into life like a sunflower when he started speaking of his work, his gestures and his voice full of animation. The delicate features, usually so pale and still, glowed with life, and the dark brown eyes filled with light. He did this thing, the vampire realized, where one of his wings twitched when he made a particularly energetic point, where someone else might have gestured sharply with one hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you."

"You're not. Just not sure I'm following all of it. You make it sound like you can't hide anything when it comes to business."

"Oh, you can hide so many things, so many. You just have to work at it, and it's twice as hard, but -" Alyss drew himself up sharply, and went so profoundly red that Jean could see the color creeping over his face by gradients. "Which I would never ever do, of course, not ever." He stuffed a giant bite of pie in his mouth.

Jean couldn't help a low, rusty little chuckle, and Alyss stared. Gaunt and exhausted as the vampire looked, when he smiled, which was so rare, and when he laughed, which he'd only heard twice, his eyes came to life like spring coming to the world, green and vibrant. "Don't need to worry about me, Alyss. Not gonna sell out your trade secrets. I'm just... It's weird. Never heard of an angel wanting to be an accountant."

"I'm the only one I know of," Alyss agreed. "My parents are very disappointed." When Jean's brows shot up he shrugged a little. "I guess they wanted me to follow in their footsteps."

"What do they do?"

"As far as I've ever been able to tell? Nothing. Be adored. They go from lover to lover, have them pay for everything and then flit away to the next person when they get bored. I'm sure it's a very fun life for them, it's just not the life I wanted."

"They had you, though. There must be something there."

"I was an accident. They weren't nearly as interested in the baby as they are in the, er, baby-making," Alyss declared primly, sipping at his tea and flushing faintly. "They're complicated people."

'Complicated', Jean had long ago learned, was what one called the people you desperately wanted to care for you, even if they never would. "I think their disappointment is their loss," he said simply.

Alyss nearly choked on his drink. "Ahm. Well, what about you? Where are you from? Wait, is that alright to ask? You don't have to answer."

"It's fine."Jean figured the questions would come, eventually, and he'd rather they come from someone like Alyss, someone who seemed truly, honestly nice. "Mississippi, a long time ago. If you mean the angel, you wouldn't have heard of him. It was in Africa, very small little place." He rolled to his feet before Alyss could think of any more questions to ask. "I'll take the tray if you're done -"

"Oh, you don't have to, I can -!" Alyss scrambled to his feet and grabbed hastily for the tray. He moved so abruptly, so unexpectedly, that the end result was to have the vampire nearly crash into his back, between his wings, so close that the warmth of him rolled like a summer breeze over the feathery down peeking out of the angel's shirt.

Both men froze. The wings twitched once and then went rigidly still. Jean was close enough to see a deep blush against the pale skin of the angel's neck; he could also see the quick beat of his pulse there. He could smell the old book and ancient library scent of him. There was not even an inch between his fingers and those amber-colored feathers, and for a moment he wanted nothing more than to sink his hands into them and find out if they were as fine, as silky, as soft as they looked. The vampire suddenly realized, in a blaze of enlightenment, that Alyss would likely not stop him.

Alyss closed his eyes. He hadn't had anyone this intimately close to him in well over a decade, and even then it had been more awkward than enticing. But the spicy scent of Jean, mingled with the faint smell of the woods and a passing hint of soap and aftershave, felt cataclysmically erotic in ways he couldn't even begin to understand. His hands were shaking and he took them from the tray before the clatter could give him away, but he didn't dare move in any direction. He could barely breathe as it was.

"Alyss." His name spoken by that low, calm voice felt newly minted to the world and loaded with decadent, unspoken suggestions.

"Um," was all the angel could croak out and he could have kicked himself for it, eyes closing and head lolling down minutely in embarrassment. He heard that low, rusty chuckle, brief and ephemeral, as if Jean were only just learning how to make the sound, and his head whipped around, only to find himself dangerously close to the face of the much taller vampire. His breath caught.

Jean blew out a slow breath, saw it touch the angel’s lips, saw Alyss lick them automatically, and knew he’d been right.

Alyss saw the vampire step back. And then he felt a touch, as delicate as a kiss, along the leading edge of one of his wings.

"I'll take the tray. You've got work."

"Okay," the angel managed to strangle out, knees gone wobbly at such a tiny, tiny gesture. He stepped aside somehow, watched the vampire pick up the tray and head out without another word, and crashed down to sit on the bed not knowing what to even think of the new shape of the world.

How was he supposed to get back to work after that?!

7

After a week, Alyss realized Alistaire's crimes were infinitely worse than falsifying his accounts. Things had escalated so that he was giving Kliman a nightly report, usually with Gevaun and Lilah in attendance, if the latter wasn't traveling.

"Call in Rook," Kliman told Lilah after one particularly convoluted and vicious bit of business. "This only gets worse the more I hear of it." As the liaison nodded and left the room, the older angel turned to her accountant. "Alyss, you have new directions."

"Yes, ma'am?" The young angel drew himself up straight.

"Do what you can so Alistaire's successor can get past all of this," she waved her hands over the documentation the accountant had brought her, "and anything else you discover, and get things back on the proper course."

"Yes, ma'am."

She waved him away and Alyss picked up his papers and fled the room. He was just past the door when he heard Gevaun's voice rumble.

"He's going to run."

"He will try," Kliman said icily. "Rook will make sure he does not get far."

Alyss rushed down the hallway and up half a flight of stairs, and that was as far as he got. He leaned against the wall, shaking, holding onto his paperwork as if it were a life raft. He didn't know anything, not the warmth of the house around him, not the rainy view outside the round window off to one side of him, only the hammering of his heart.

"Alyss?"

The angel nearly jumped out of his skin at that familiar voice. When he spoke, his words were shaky with relief. "Oh, Jean."

The vampire moved closer, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, well, um. I think I just killed someone." Alyss tried to shrug, it came out a shiver. Tried to smile and it came out terribly wobbly.

Jean's brows shot up, and he moved closer still. He'd have expected any number of reactions from an angel who admitted to such a thing; Alyss' was not on that list. Instead of saying anything he touched, very lightly, the back of one of those white-knuckled hands. "Alyss -"

"I've been working on the Vermont data, I mean, you know I have, everyone knows I have, of course you'd know, and I keep finding things wrong, and more and more wrong, and of course I report everything to Gevaun and Lilah and Kliman, so they have to do something about it, but I got so used to everyone being happy here, everyone's happy here, and I didn't think -"

"Alyss," Jean said a third time, and put a calloused thumb over the angel's lips.

Alyss cut himself off with a squeak.

Jean had to very sternly talk himself into pulling his hand away. "Did you put a gun to Alistaire's head? Did you force him to do whatever it is he did?" When the angel shook his head meekly, Jean shrugged. "He's a grown man, Alyss. He's nearly two hundred years old, and he's worked for Kliman all of his free life. He knows the rules. He's the one who chose to break them. And when he could've come clean he chose to go in even deeper." Very carefully, very pointedly he added, "his crimes aren't for you to carry."

When the angel drew in a stuttering, uncertain breath, his brown gaze skittering away, Jean had to accept a realization he'd been shying away from. "You're not used to places like this, are you. Kliman's house. Where everyone's... happy." God, more and more the vampire was being forced to accept that the accountant might actually be a decent creature.

Alyss shook his head. "I've seen such things, Jean," he whispered. "They aren't fair and they aren't right and no one does anything about them because they're vampires." He huffed. "’Oh, they're just vampires’," he mocked a snooty tone, then scowled. "We made them that. We made you that. And then everyone just, just -"

"Hey." Jean caught the accountant by the shoulders and shook him lightly. "Can you change Alistaire?"

"No. I mean... No, I don't even know him."

"How far back do your records go?"

"Oh, I'm anywhere between five and twenty years in for some of them and I'm still -"

"I know it’s different for angels, Alyss, but for normal people twenty years is an eternity. People can change so much in twenty years, if they want to. He just got worse. Was he going to stop if you didn't catch him?"

Jean watched that sweet brown gaze dart this way and that, running from reality, trying to find an answer other than the truth. In the end the angel sagged down, beaten. "No."

"God." The vampire looked at nothing in particular for a long moment before giving Alyss his attention again. "You're nicer than anyone deserves, you do know that?"

"I'd like to think I'm the normal level of nice," the angel replied in a mutinous murmur.

Jean had to grin at that. "I'll help you to your room." When he saw the amber wings twitch, the vampire reconsidered. "Have you been to the sunroom yet?"

"I don't think so."

"Come on. We'll drop off your stuff and I'll give you the tour I guess no one gave you when you got here."

8

The weather shifted to crisp, chilly and sunny autumn days; the change, as much as the shift in the direction of his work, helped Alyss shake off his glum.

Much of it, he had to admit, had to do with his conversation with Jean. The vampire hadn't been cruel but he'd been blunt, and honest, and calm. Alyss might not like it but he knew Jean was right, and to a certain degree so were Gevaun and Kliman. He couldn't, wouldn't ever approve of the casual, gleeful cruelty he'd witnessed against other vampires, but Alistaire was not the sort of vampire that would respond to kindness. To him it was simply a weakness to be exploited.

It made Alyss mad, though. Alistaire's attitude was precisely why no one cared when other vampires suffered at the hands of their angels. One horrible rotten apple, ruining life for everyone else in the barrel.

The Connecticut angel arrived early next morning. He was very much what everyone expected of an angel, tall and powerfully built, young, with sharply defined features and piercing eyes, short brown hair and red and brown wings serrated with white. He suffered a hug from Kliman which he stiffly tried to return, shared a strong, friendly handshake with Gevaun and ignored the fact that the entirety of the house staff was peeking out of every window. When they were introduced he examined Alyss for all of three seconds and immediately dismissed him. The accountant gratefully scurried back to his office, where he stayed until dinner time rolled around and he was told Kliman's enforcer would not be joining them, having already gone on his way. He still spent dinner listening to the staff swoon and gush over the Connecticut angel, fleeing as quickly as the excellent chicken pot pie allowed it. Listening to other people list the many ways in which he himself was not a noteworthy angel wasn't his idea of a good time.

If it weren't utterly unthinkable, he would have put something terrible in the Connecticut books just to be horrible and petty and mean. But it would have been... well, horrible and petty and mean. And dishonest, which was something Alyss tried never to be unless he were specifically hired for it. And even then he was always very dubious about taking on that kind of job, because it unfailingly got complicated and sticky and unpleasant.

Besides, as he paced restlessly through his office and room, staring at his tablet, he was already wondering if he hadn't ended up embroiled in precisely that kind of situation.

Maine wasn't adding up.

Maine was run directly from Kliman's home, directly by the angel. Chere ruled over the kitchen, yes, but part of the reason Kliman had a liaison was so she could oversee her house and her state personally. Every decision that might have caused the books to be wrong would have to go through her. Could it be a test? To see if Alyss really was as good as he claimed? Could it be a trap? The discrepancies weren't terribly big but they were there, needling him.

Alyss snatched a cloak and threw himself out of the balcony, circling once and gliding down to the short, lighted path that followed the perimeter of the pond. He had to get away, had to clear his head. He needed the silence of the woods; he regretted his choice almost immediately, when the cold of the season, compounded by the proximity of the water, slammed into him and left him shivering. He wrapped his wings around himself as best he could and clung to the cloak, muttering very unkind things about his inability to ignore the cold.

In the dark and the silence, the distant sound of an unfamiliar engine came to him on the breeze and for a moment he fancied he heard Jean's voice. It shot a pang through him and he realized he missed the vampire; he hadn't caught a single glimpse of him through the entire day. Shivering, he hurried in the direction of the sounds. He found himself going through the dark woods, on a road he didn't recognize and could barely be called one, and pulled his wings even closer to himself, wary. The road brought him to another side of the marshlands that dominated a good third of Kliman's estate and to an entirely unexpected sight.

Across perhaps fifty or sixty feet of still water he could see the wooden walkway that ran along the other side of the marsh. There was a boat there, the shallow-keeled type, engine humming very quietly in the still, cold air. Three people were already on it, two of them huddled down as close to one another as they could, the third minding the engine and holding a violet-tinted, very small light. There were six more people on the walkway, and even as he looked Alyss recognized one as Gevaun. Kliman's Second was wearing dark, comfortable clothing, and even as Alyss looked he saw the vampire pick up one of the other figures and set them down gently on the boat, holding on until the new passenger had found their footing. By his side, someone else in a dark, heavy lined jacket handed over a small bag.

Alyss knew that jacket. That was Jean. What was going on? The whole thing had the feel of something clandestine and dangerous, but Gevaun and Jean were... well, maybe not friends but they were good people. Gevaun was the sort of person that came to mind when the angel thought of the word 'stalwart'. And Jean, well, Jean was Jean.

Skirting the edges of the marsh and hoping that he wouldn't run himself into any more horrible spiky briers, Alyss inched closer to the strange little gathering. He paused at the very edge of the woods without setting foot on the walkway, knowing that if he did he'd be far too visible, even if the vampires didn't scent or hear him. He was honestly surprised they hadn't heard him already; to the accountant his passage through the woods had sounded only a little quieter than an avalanche.

He was close enough to hear Jean speak in that low, calm, steady tone he knew so well to one of the other people, a smaller figure than most of them there, though the angel was still too far away to make out the words. The vampire then picked them up, careful and slow.

There was still a muffled cry of pain ringing clear over the marsh.

Alyss gasped out loud and surged a step forward before he knew what he'd done, driven by an instinct older than the world. He froze almost immediately, but the heads of both the vampires had whipped around as if they were starving predators who'd scented blood. The angel groped blindly behind him for support that most obviously wasn't there, backing away from the scene. He turned to run.

A painfully strong grip caught his shoulder, spun him around and slammed him wings-first into the nearest tree. He cried out in surprise more than pain, reaching out to try and grab onto his attacker... and froze.

A knife, a long hunter's blade keenly sharp on a weathered wooden handle, was pressed against the skin of his throat, just under his chin. Alyss froze, disbelieving and terrified, a tiny chirping sound of panic escaping him.

Gevaun's eyes went very wide when he realized who he'd caught. His expression, which had sharpened to nearly wolf-like lines, crashed into chagrin, and he very succinctly summed up both the situation and everyone's feelings about it. "Well, crap."

9

"Walk, Alyss," Gevaun commanded, turning the accountant around to face the walkway, his tone brooking no argument.

"I'd rather just go -"

"Matt has a rifle, Jean has a shotgun, I have a lot of knives and you're just getting to your third century. Walk."

Huddled miserably in his cloak, his wings dragging behind him and his whole body shaking in incomprehending fear, Alyss dutifully walked up to the little scene he'd spied on the walkway, his feet occasionally catching on the uneven planks.

"Alyss." Jean's tone and expression were both stricken. Behind him, three figures huddled closer at the sight of the angel. Alyss could all but smell the fear in the air, thicker even than the unmistakable scent of the vampires. He could also smell blood, and it made his feathers shift restlessly. "What," Jean demanded, "are you doing here?" He was having trouble accepting that he might have misjudged the angel so badly, or believing that Alyss could indeed be a spy. He didn't make that kind of mistake, he never had.

"My head was full," Alyss muttered, and there, before the vampire, the person that he'd come to trust above all others in Kliman's house, it was as if a dam had broken. "It was all numbers and chaos rattling around and I couldn't get it to stop because it's all a mess that I can't, I can't fix because it's these books, for here, for Maine and those shouldn't be wrong but they are and -"

"Alyss." Jean lifted a hand to quiet the angel, to soothe him as he had before, and Alyss jerked away, fear in the rich brown of his eyes. The vampire froze. It was a gesture he was far too familiar with, that flinch. His life had been full of it for the past few centuries. But he'd never been the one to provoke it on someone he knew, someone he cared for. He stepped back, his features graven in stone. "Gevaun -"

"I have no bloody clue what to do," the other vampire admitted in Berber.

"He's not a spy," Jean matched the language.

"Jean, I know you like the sunflower but he was there. Hiding in the woods, looking at us. That's normally called spying."

"He's not a spy!"

"Even if he's not, now what? We cut him loose and hope he doesn't tell anyone? His mouth runs, you'll have noticed!"

Jean had no response to that, the very concept seeming so utterly outlandish to him, so he switched tacks. "What do you want to do, kill him? Somehow? He's not old, but he's old enough to make it hard. And how do we explain that when the Refuge comes asking after him?"

"There's no one who'd come asking for him," Gevaun replied ruthlessly.

Jean saw the flinch a second before Alyss joined the conversation in the same language. "I speak Berber, you know." He sounded tired and defeated.

Everyone went quiet once again. Behind Jean, one of the huddled figures started shivering so hard their teeth were clacking. Alyss automatically threw his wings back and undid the clasps on his cloak.

"What are you doing?" Gevaun demanded.

"They're cold," Alyss murmured, slipping the cloak off and stepping forward.

"What," Gevaun tried to step forward between the angel and the three figures, but found his way momentarily barred by one of those amber wings, "are you doing, get -"

"They're cold!" Alyss nearly shouted at the vampire before moving forward.

The shivering figure was a young man, absolutely beautiful, with very pale skin and refined features, eyes gone wide with terror at the sight of the angel. He was so cold in the bleak New England night his lips were turning purple, but he didn't move. His fear went to confusion, and then embarrassed gratitude, when Alyss threw the cloak over his shoulders, to cover the flimsy embroidered tunic and blousy black pants that were all he wore. "Gracias."

"De nada," Alyss replied automatically, stepping back and whirling to face the two vampires. "You're both wearing jackets. You're both old! He's a baby, and you didn't think to give him one? To bring a blanket or something for him? For the rest of them?"

The silence lingered before Jean admitted, "We don't speak Spanish, neither of us. We didn't know who was coming, only that -"

"Jean!"

"- only that they were coming," the vampire finished stubbornly, and he and Gevaun glared wordlessly at one another.

"Oh, for the love of prime numbers!" Alyss cried out, turning once again, his voice gentle and his question pointed. One of the other three, a woman, spoke to him in a different language, and he switched seamlessly to match her.

"Oi," the vampire at the boat's rudder suddenly called out. "I'm sure this is a problem for you lot, but I need to get them out of here quick." He threw in an extra incentive. "Van's heated."

Jean turned around. "Alyss," he called out, and gestured to the third woman, who was wrapped up in a fine woolen blanket stitched with ribbons and exquisite embroidered edges. "Tell her I will help her into the boat, but it's gonna hurt."

"Why is it -" The question withered in Alyss' mouth as the truth, finally, bloomed to life in his mind.

Runaways. They were all runaways.

He turned to the woman, who was staring sightlessly at the marsh, and began gently asking questions, rolling through every language he knew. She twitched at one point, and finally turned to not quite face him when he translated for Jean.

"It's only pain," she murmured emotionlessly, her Finnish without accent. "I will try not to cry out this time."

"She understands," Alyss told Jean, his mouth dry with the new, growing horror of it. He turned to the other woman waiting on the dock. "You're all... This is... You could die, you know, you could die if they catch you," he told her in Polish.

She scoffed. There were bruises like shadows all over her face, and scars all along her neck; as a vampire she was young enough that she wasn't healing quickly, and her healing was not clean. Either that, or someone had made an effort to make sure she got no benefit of either. "Better to die than to go back to that life," she replied, and her conviction was ironclad.

"Is that... why you're here? All of you?"

"No." Her gaze darted to where Jean was carrying the Finnish vampire onto the boat. "No. Some of us are here because they would have never let us die."

That thought, Alyss found out, was even more horrifying than the possibility of a cruel death.

He shook his head when the young man offered him the cloak back and stood there, watching while they all boarded, and then as Jean and Gevaun shoved the boat away with long poles until it was clear of the cattails bordering the walkway. Someone lifted an arm and waved before the boatman turned off his light and the darkness swallowed them all.

Alyss automatically waved back and heard Gevaun sigh, saw the Second rub at his face. Well, as far as the angel was concerned there was really only one thing he could say, and so he said it. "Your accountant is absolutely terrible and hasn't bothered to hide all of the money you're stealing for this at all."

Gevaun turned very slowly to stare at the angel, his expression full of disbelief. "You audited us?"

"Of course I did!" Jean saw Alyss' wings twitch with the angel's exasperation. "You hired me to audit you!"

"To audit them!"

"To audit New England! Which you're part of! What, were you expecting I'd do a terrible job?! Or, or, or not do my job at all?!" When Gevaun, caught off-guard by the very obvious counter, sputtered, Alyss barreled on. "And it's lucky it was me and not someone from New York because your books are the worst mess, no one's made so much as an effort to hide the fact money's going missing everywhere, I can't imagine what something like this costs, except obviously not enough to buy blankets or, I don't know, have something warm to drink when they -" Alyss trailed off, another piece of the puzzle clicking into place.

Hot cocoa and warm croissants, always ready in the kitchen.

Gevaun looked sheepish. "Chere was asleep when we got the call."

Alyss covered his face and made a wordless, high-pitched sound of impatience.

"We weren't expecting this many of them!"

"Then you make plans for when it happens, because it's going to happen! Things always go wrong. Always! That's one of the first things you learn running a business, that's why you make plans, and contingencies for the plans, and contingencies for the contingencies, and you don't very well leave them lying around on your documents for when the Guild comes calling, which honestly I'm astonished they haven't -"

"Kliman happens," Jean pitched in, voice quiet, arms crossed.

"What?" Alyss lost track of the conversation, turning to face the other vampire.

"If the Guild comes by, Kliman happens to them," Jean repeated. "She shuts down their skills. Part of her power."

"How's that going to help if someone in Manhattan decides to go over your books electronically? Or if they send in angels or, or, or the Consort? Couldn't you at least, I don't know, pretend like you aren't getting runaway vampires to safety? Did you go to the cheap bin for your accounting? Do you even have one?!"

"We do, b-"

"Well, then I want to talk to them," the angel demanded, drawing himself up, an effort to look commanding that was entirely ruined by the fact he was shivering in the cold. "I want to talk to your accountant," he declared primly, and it almost sounded like a threat. Almost. Except for the part where he tripped on the walkway once again when he tried to stalk off into the dark.

"Let him go," Jean's voice was very low when he spoke to stop Gevaun, who'd whipped around to follow after the angel.

"But -"

"But his mouth runs?" The vampire's brows went up. "He's an accountant, Gevaun. He's been an accountant to hundreds of angels and vampires, most of them the kind no one else wants to touch. And nobody's heard a peep of the crap he probably found and fixed on their books, have they?" He clicked his tongue, walking sedately away. "His mouth runs," he mocked. "We better go wake up the, uh, the cheap bin accountant."

10

Alyss went to his room and paced, and flailed, and argued with himself a great deal.

On the one hand, he couldn't disagree with what Gevaun and Jean had done. Yes, vampires were dangerous, predatory, horrible. Yes, many of them were no better than Alistaire. At the middle ground, they were no better than Andrew, content to coast through life doing the bare minimum. Or Gracie, clueless and happy to remain so. And the threat of losing control to their hunger for blood was always there, always.

But at some point the burden of Alistaires meant that everyone had stopped looking closely at the matter. The angels, the Guild, they had given up the entire vampiric population as a loss, blood-thirsty fiends without will or thought, bent merely on greed and destruction. The Guild had even made a concerted effort to render the VPA toothless, unable to protect those like the Finnish woman. They'd been so busy wanting free reign to hunt the monsters that they'd set up the victims to be trampled in their wake. Bloodlust was treated as a noose around their neck, a sword forever dangling over them. Alyss had long ago given up trying to understand the sheer stupidity of that way of thinking, because it didn’t affect him. It didn’t touch him.

That night, it most certainly had touched him.

On the other hand, every mortal who wished to become a vampire chose to do so. They chose to accept a hundred years of servitude. They were given the contract to read, to consider, to sign or reject as they saw fit.

But a contract did not excuse the abuse he'd seen on the Polish woman. Or the horror he hadn't seen on the Finnish woman.

He was, Alyss realized, losing the argument to a part of himself that was heavily implying that rules and laws were more like guidelines, really, arr. And he didn't know what to make of it. He was an accountant. He lived his life to bring numbers to order by following a very specific set of rules. Certainly he could twist them, bend them, but he had always done his best to abide by the rules and to do what was right. Never before in his life had the two principles been so diametrically opposed.

There was a delicate knock on the door he'd locked, and he dug the heels of his hands against his eyes. "Please, Chere, I really don't feel like eating!"

"It's not Chere," a cheerful woman's voice replied. "I'm the accountant."

Oh, this was a fight Alyss was more than ready for. He stalked to the door, unlocked it and flung it open. "Do you realize -"

His voice strangled to a delicate whine. There was a sword tip brushing his throat, just above his Adam's apple. It was a fine burnished length of steel, both edges sharpened, without guard; it was done in the old Etruscan style. The pommel was wrapped in leather, utilitarian rather than decorative.

Kliman, wearing a pair of very comfortable hiking pants and a soft pink knit sweater, smiled thinly at the younger angel. "Hello, Alyss. You wanted to talk to me?"

Alyss had automatically thrown his hands up. He looked at the older angel in stunned disbelief and swallowed against the lump of terror in his throat. It refused to budge.

"Back." The smile vanished, Kliman all business. "My house doesn't need to deal with this potential ruckus." She herded him back into the room, the sword never wavering, and closed and locked the door behind her. "Now, there's always the balcony," she admitted. "But if you run I'm going to chase you. And I'm the one who taught Rook everything he knows."

"I won't," Alyss breathed.

"Eh?"

"I won't run, ma'am, I promise."

"Mm. Unlike Gevaun, I'm willing to believe you." She dropped the sword and sheathed it on a half-sheath resting across her back. "Now, you had a speech all ready to go, didn't you."

Alyss opened his mouth. Closed it. "I forgot it," he admitted hoarsely.

She had to chuckle at that. "Well, how about I give you some facts and you can give me the salient points of it. Yes, I know what Gevaun is doing. I am, in fact, the one that started him doing it. I'm not ashamed of it. No, Jean was not supposed to be involved and I'm very cross at them for it. Yes, there was supposed to be a departure tonight. No, half those vampires weren't supposed to be there but one of the safehouses along the pipeline has been compromised. Yes, all of my staff knows; most of them come from the pipeline. No, I'm not actually an accountant but I had no one I trusted to do the book-keeping, considering..." She waved he hand at the balcony.

Alyss pressed his hands close, trying to decide which of his inner halves ought to speak to this new, terrifying version of his hostess. All things considered, he wasn't terribly surprised when Guidelines, Arr-Alyss won out. "You can't do that, ma'am. Respectfully. Everyone forgets to write down things, and in a big household like this money's bound to get lost, but you're financing an entire, uh... pipeline. And it shows. Does it ever, ever show."

One of Kliman's golden brows went up, though she wasn't about to admit to Alyss why it had done so. Instead, very mildly, she replied, "It's that bad, huh?"

"It's... It's... It's somewhat blatant," Alyss explained as diplomatically as possible, unaware that his struggles had left Kliman trying not to laugh. "I'm just saying, it's not hard to hide what you're doing. It's not easy but it's not... If you're trained it's not outside the realm of possibility."

"Hm. Well, that's delightful to know. When can you get started?"

Alyss choked. "Excuse me?"

"You were terribly angry at me before that door opened. You are still angry, you're just more scared than angry. But you know what I haven't heard from you, not once?" Kliman's voice softened. "Disapproval. It's not even a consideration for you." Some of her amusement shone through. "You're upset that I bungled the books, which is fair. But you don't disapprove of what we're doing here, do you."

Alyss felt the argument within him grow to a crescendo, and finally crown a winner. "No. It needs doing, and no one else seems to care."

"We care." Kliman moved closer to set a warm, gentle hand on Alyss' shoulder. "I care. Please, help me, help us, keep on doing this."

Alyss sighed shakily. "Well, I didn't really have anything lined up after this job. I guess I can stay a little longer."

"Wonderful." Kliman beamed at him, whirled around and headed out of the room. "Now come with me."

"Come where?"

"To make sure Jean hasn't killed someone."

"He... what? Excuse -" Alyss hastily trotted after the older angel. "Excuse, excuse me, he, why would he -"

"Child, you can't be so blind not to see he does more than endure your company. Have you seen him suffer any other angels?" Kliman wasn't slowing down. She led the way to her office and threw the doors open to the vast space, full of rosewood furnishings and ancient Etruscan and Hittite art that would have made a museum curator weep. The room was warm, airy and during the daytime it would likely be brightly lit, even without lamps. At the moment, only one half of it was lit. There, Gevaun and Lilah were struggling to keep a snarling Jean pinned down against a desk surrounded by debris. "There! Here he is, safe and sound, now you can stop being so dramatic," Kliman said tartly. "Let him go."

Gevaun and Lilah stepped back and Jean sprang up and away from them, fangs momentarily bared in an entirely feral reaction. Alyss had stopped at the double doors, a hand stretched out, his face frozen in a stricken expression as, again, too many bits and bobs of information came together in his mind.

The fact it took both Gevaun and Lilah to hold Jean down meant the one vampire he'd thought to be the youngest of the three was actually the oldest. And very, very old.

Jean's not staff. He's a guest and he's currently recovering.

A runaway. Memories flickered through Alyss' mind, the way the young Spanish-speaking vampire had frozen in terror at his proximity, the way the Finnish vampire had not even been able to look at him.

Have you seen him suffer any other angels?

No. He wouldn't even join Kliman's dinner table.

"Jean, are you -" Alyss tripped over the wrong words for the right question. "Are you hurt? Are you going to be alright?"

The entire room came to a stop. Jean's mouth had opened but whatever he'd meant to say, the younger angel's question had trumped it. He swallowed hard. "I'm fine," he gritted out and slowly, very slowly, he reached out for that outstretched hand. Alyss clung to the warm, calloused touch of it. "Are you hurt?" The vampire laced his fingers through Alyss', moving closer with a slow calm he was not feeling but refusing to do anything that might make the angel flinch again.

"Well, my pride, my dignity and my belief I'm halfway-clever are all quite dead," Alyss replied meekly, "but no, I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."

"Alyss has agreed to replace our cheap bin accountant," Kliman informed the room dryly, and the other angel went red to his ears. "Thank goodness, because I hate the job. Now, exciting as this all has been, I think everyone should get some rest tonight and tomorrow. Time enough on Friday to face the world once again." She stalked out of the room, and when no one followed her she snapped, "Gevaun, you're already on my shit list, you might want to do something about that." The vampire hurried after his mistress.

Lilah paused at the door. "Alyss?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you." She was gone without waiting for a reply.

Whatever well of righteous indignation had carried the accountant that far chose that moment to run dry. He threatened to go down with with a startled, puzzled little sound, and he'd have crashed face down on the rich knotted rug if the vampire's powerful arms had not caught him and steadied him against his body. "You're fine, you're fine, I got you."

"I can't feel my knees," Alyss declared dazedly, too dizzy to worry that he was clinging to Jean.

"That's fine." Jean shifted, and Alyss was suddenly up, cradled and carried in the vampire's arms. "Not a fighter, are you?"

"Numbers don't threaten people with knives and swords and things," Alyss protested. "And I think I've done quite well, all things considered."

"You did," the vampire assured him, carrying him away from the office and heading for the accountant's rooms. "The adrenaline wore off, that's all."

"Could I have some from the kitchen, please? This is very undignified. And you shouldn't have to carry anyone if you don't want to."

Once again, Jean couldn't help but feel a smile tugging at him. "Chere's fresh out, I think." The door to Alyss' room had been left open; Jean expertly shoved it closed with a foot once they were inside. "I don't mind carrying you," he admitted at last.

"Why? You're like them. You're -" Alyss looked up, and there was so much worry in the sweet brown of his eyes that the vampire felt it like a physical blow. "It had to be worse for you, so much worse, you're old. You're very old." He went limp against Jean's shoulder. "It's not fair. You're so nice. Only nice things should happen to you."

"And that would be the triple-f crash talking," Jean said, his voice gone rough with emotion at that sentiment, so vast and so simply, so easily offered to him.

"I don't swear," Alyss protested primly.

Jean blew out an amused breath as he set the angel on his bed. "Not that kind of 'f', Alyss. Fight, flight, freeze."

"Oh." Alyss suddenly clung to Jean's shirt. "Stay? Please? I just - Tell me they're gonna be alright. Tell me they'll be safe. I keep seeing them and, and -"

Jean touched a thumb to that runaway mouth, frowned, and fought with the entirely too gleeful part of himself that pointed out that those words totally counted as an invitation to the angel's bed, and from there it was a short hop, skip and jump to doing things the vampire had become unacquainted with over the past few decades. The touch of that wing, like silk and sunshine, lingered in his memory, made his fingers tingle.

He slipped onto the bed, kicking off his boots, but he kept a safe distance between them that threatened to kill him out of sheer inadequacy. "We're just a waystation, a safehouse. Boston sends them to us when they come from overseas, and we find them a life elsewhere. Kliman makes sure they have a way to start over. Evie and her people make up new doc -" Alyss pressed close against the vampire's side. "- uments."

"Everyone has a job. You must have done this so many times."

"No. Twice a year on a good year. Once is the norm. Getting a vampire away from this sort of situation isn't easy, sunflower." The nickname slipped out before he knew what he'd done and Jean could only be glad that the angel was too close to sleep to notice it. "Not if you want them to get away clean. Not if you want to make sure they really need to get away; that they're not rogues looking for an easy way out of their contract. I guarantee at least two angels are going to come sniffing by after tonight. Or they'll send the Guild after us again."

He felt Alyss shiver, mostly asleep. "No. I'll erase everything, they'll never find anything they can use, not a thing, not a number, not a single decimal."

"You do that." Jean was silent, waiting. He was rewarded after a few minutes with the steady breathing that announced Alyss had fallen asleep, exhausted by having to do things very much not in an accountant's repertoire.

And yet he'd been fierce and determined, staunch to a fault even in his terror, and it had been very much been terror - the vampire had smelled it on him like fire licking the walls of Alexandria. Jean knew then that he'd been right: Alyss was a truly good person.

He sighed, wanting very much to stay where he was, knowing he should leave. He shifted to try and slip away -

An arm slid over his chest, followed a moment later by one of those amber-colored wings. Jean froze. "Alyss."

"Mm."

"Alyss, I can't stay here."

"Why?"

A plaintive voice inside Jean was indignantly asking the same question. "They'll think I've slept with you."

"But you are sleeping with me," came the drowsy reply.

Jean realized there was absolutely no way he could explain the semantic differences between what each of them was saying to a bird that wasn't really awake anymore. He tipped his head back and chuckled soundlessly. "I suppose I am," he drawled, admitting defeat, and settling down under the angel's embrace.

[aspenforest732]

Mortem ad Wrens Chapter 20: We Must Search Deep Inside

Summary:

tw: medical anxiety Akira tries to navigate a night at the Yamazawa house

Notes:

‘text’ JSL Text thoughts

“What the hell, kid,” Aizawa carefully ushered them inside, steadying them and taking some of their weight. “I’m getting the first aid kit. Where are you injured?”

Biting back a cheeky response, Akira stiffly signed, ‘My left leg is covered in burns, mostly second with a few patches of third. I was hit a little over thirty minutes ago so my pant leg will probably have to be cut.’

“And why didn’t you ping me when it happened?” Aizawa scolded, carefully cutting their pants around where the dark fabric stuck to their skin. He carefully lowered them to the floor and propped their leg up with some throw pillows.

Akira hissed and signed without thinking, ‘Didn’t want the League to see you on your off night after a stranger walked into the apartment.’

Aizawa froze. Akira’s eyes widened and they rushed to explain as he started wrapping the burns. ‘My roommate’s an informant for us against the League. I’m supposed to check with him before heading over because being roommates with a U.A. student would be suspicious as hell, but I’d been helping Electric Rat and Raven and was too exhausted to think about that.’

Akira’s face contorted in pain as Aizawa gently separated their toes with some bandages, the skin sticking slightly. He started applying Recovery Girl’s cream to the sections of their leg that weren’t black, and Akira desperately clutched the blanket he’d draped over them while trying not to hyperventilate.

“You’re okay, Mori, almost done,” Aizawa murmured.

“Shou? I thought you were off- kami!” Akira flinched back, hissing as their leg rubbed against the pillow, as Yamada entered the room in Put Your Hands Up pajamas. He backed up a step, clearly restraining himself as the blonde looked over Akira. “Shou, how can I help?”

“Call Chiyo then leave,” Aizawa’s gaze softened as he looked between the two.

‘N-no, it’s alright,’ Akira stammered, ‘He can stay.’

“Mori, the last thing you need right now is an anxiety attack while you’re at risk for shock. Are you sure?” Aizawa stared at them, looking for something in their face.

‘He shouldn’t have to avoid part of his own house,’ Akira signed stubbornly. They didn’t want to press their luck with the hero, even if he had been defying all expectations.

Aizawa sighed and gave Yamada a rundown to tell Recovery Girl before asking him to bring lukewarm water and make tea for them. “If you need him to leave the room, tell me. Like I said, I want this to be a safe space for you.”

Akira nodded shakily, carefully maneuvering themself forward so the pillow wasn’t directly on their burns. Aizawa was quick to help them, carefully supporting their back. ‘Sorry.’

“Nothing to be sorry for, kid.” A few agonizing minutes later, Aizawa finished applying the cream and sat back on his heels. Yamada set the tea and water on the coffee table within reach of the two before backing up and observing.

After a moment, he brightened a little and asked, “Can I get the guest bed ready or should I wait?”

‘The couch is fine, really, you don’t need to go through the trouble,’ Akira hurriedly signed, starting to sit up but Aizawa gently put a hand over their chest.

Both heroes gave them an exasperated look before Aizawa responded, “You’re not sleeping on the couch. We will need to keep you on observation, though, and it’ll be easier for you to stay awake there.” Akira didn’t protest, just tensely watching Aizawa finish wrapping their leg. “There, can I ask you a few questions about what led to this?” Akira nodded. “Why was your roommate meeting with the League at your apartment?”

Akira hesitated, ‘I don’t actually know. He just mentioned it was a possibility when he joined, so we talked about how to handle that situation.’

Aizawa frowned, “And was it his suggestion to give you potentially life-threatening injuries?”

‘No! It’s not exactly something we can practice, and I watched the flames start going out of control just before I had to dodge. I couldn’t go full-speed or use my quirk because they’d be suspicious. We were going for first to second-degree burns so I could self-treat, but that obviously didn’t work out.’

Aizawa went to say something before snapping his mouth shut and sighing. He stood up, knees popping. “Since you’re staying here, we leave at 7:30. If we don’t have what you need for your smoothie, we can stop by the cafeteria, and Lunch Rush will make it for you. We can stop by the store to get whatever else you need after school.”

Shakily sitting up, Akira shook their head. ‘I shouldn’t stay for more than a night. They should be gone by morning.’

Aizawa gently motioned for them to stay down. “You’re at high risk for infection and shock right now. What if they aren’t? What if they need a place to crash for a few days?”

Akira hesitated, trying to ignore their shaking arms. ‘I’ll check with Wildfire. If they plan on staying – which I doubt given the size of our apartment – we can talk.’

“Even if they don’t stay, if you come here in the future, it would be helpful for us to have the ingredients you need,” Aizawa pointed out as Yamada slipped back into the room with a few books in hand. “You and Hitoshi’s bathroom is just past your rooms on the left, Zashi and I are at the end of this hallway. Come get either of us if you need anything in the night, and you’re free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen. We’ll introduce you to the cats in the morning since they’re in Zashi and I’s room right now.”

As if to prove him wrong, a tuxedo cat started meowing as it beelined to Akira. They reached out a hand for it to sniff. Akira smiled as it attacked their hand and reached over to lightly bonk its nose with their other hand. It gnawed playfully, teeth gentle enough to barely make indents in their skin.

Aizawa sighed and pulled the cat off, “This is Bastard. He’s the oldest we took off the streets, and he doesn’t like people.” Checking their hand, Aizawa hid a small smile behind his capture scarf. “Looks like he was just playing, though, so he either likes you or is too tired to live up to his name. He did much worse to Zashi when I first brought him home.”

Recovery Girl arrived soon after and immediately chided Aizawa for not taking them to the hospital as she crouched and placed a kiss on Akira’s knee. They hissed at the contact, breath catching as the burns started to heal and the pieces of fabric stuck to their muscle separated. Already exhausted from their day, Akira nearly fell asleep on the floor but forced themself to stay awake.

Shouta Aizawa. Pronouns: he/him. Call Signs: Sleepy Cat, Eraser. Pro hero Eraser Head with Erasure quirk. Null Trump quirk that negates most quirk effects with very minor Shaker properties presenting as telekinetic effects on his hair and capture scarf. Strengths: hand-to-hand combat, versatility, stealth, volatile or out-of-control quirks. Weaknesses: always-on quirks and physical mutation quirks, emotional connections, kids.

“Kid, you with us? We need you to stay awake to monitor for shock, okay?”

Akira blinked hard a few times as Aizawa’s face came into focus. They nodded and tiredly signed, ‘I know. Running through analysis helps. Eight hours? Or less because of Nurse?’ Recovery Girl wasn’t in their line of sight anymore, so Akira shifted, only seeing Yamada in the kitchen sipping from a World’s Loudest Dad mug.

“Recovery Girl left a few minutes ago,” Aizawa looked down at them, brow knitting in concern. “You’re usually more aware of your surroundings, are you sure you were awake?”

Akira nodded, ‘I was just in my analysis hall.’ At his raised eyebrow, Akira sighed. ‘Do you not see things in your mind, either?’

“I can see things, yes, but I don’t have separate rooms like it sounds like you do.”

‘It’s just to help organize my thoughts. If I need to remember something specific, I can go to that area, and it’s usually easier to find it than before I came up with the system,’ Akira frowned at their world map room where everything was jumbled up, briefly wondering if it was time to try another organization method. ‘And get space if things get too much.’

“Toshi mentioned you like Latin, so we got a few books if you want to use those to stay awake,” Yamada quietly offered as Aizawa looked down at them appraisingly.

“The best way to get you on the couch is for me to pick you up. Is that alright, kid?” Aizawa eventually asked.

‘Can…’ Akira hesitated, not sure what their own reaction would be for a moment. ‘Can you avoid my upper back?’

Aizawa nodded as Yamada’s eyes flashed in sad understanding. “You’ll be less stable, but it’s not far.”

A few unsteady minutes later, Akira was sitting lengthwise on the couch, right leg dangling as their left was elevated. Glancing at the small stack, Akira smiled softly as they saw the Aeneid near the top, the unfinished manuscript bringing them back to when they and Asami would write their own versions of how they thought the story should end. Akira winced at the bitterness and resentment thinking of their twin brought, refocusing on the work as they were delighted to see it was in its original language. Before they could hyper-focus, Akira grabbed their contact case from their backpack and hesitantly removed their contacts, angling slightly away from Aizawa to avoid his stare.

Aizawa and Yamada occasionally pulled them out of the epic poem to check vitals, but Akira was content to just read. While they could no longer recite the story by heart, Akira let their mind fill with scenes from the story, pointedly ignoring times when a near-identical girl with honey eyes joined their cast. At some point, Bastard joined them, curling up by their head after Aizawa shooed him from their lap. Sometime after their third check-in, Akira put the poem down with a sigh, knowing they usually needed to eat something after this part. Now that they were eating more food more frequently, Akira at least didn’t feel as much of a burning pain in between meals. They went to reach for their backpack when Aizawa moved in front of them.

“I was about to say it’s time to make your smoothie.”

Akira blinked, noting the time on their watch with a start. ‘Sorry, usually I read a little faster. I need a cup of strawberries, a quarter cup of peanut butter, two bananas, two tablespoons of honey, two cups of oats, four scoops of the protein powder in my duffle bag, and three cups of whole or almond milk.’

“We don’t have strawberries, but we do have some frozen blueberries.”

Akira thought for a moment before nodding at the substitute. They fished the protein powder out of their duffel bag, carefully setting it away from the precious books before going to zip the bag back up. Bastard, true to his name, immediately jumped into the bag, curling up on the ratty blankets. With a huff, Akira tried to bend over to extract him but nearly fell off the couch, catching themself on the table halfway to the ground. Unphased, Bastard stared at them and twitched his tail.

Akira pushed themself back up as Aizawa hurried over, waving off his concern. ‘Your cat likes my blankets for some reason.’

“Sorry about him.” Aizawa grabbed the cat, holding him at arm’s length when Bastard started hissing and scratching. “I knew last night was an anomaly,” he muttered, setting Bastard on a cat tree. Looking back at their bag, Aizawa frowned. “Are those your only blankets? Alright, we’re getting you new ones after school.”

Eyes wide, Akira shook their head, ‘That’s really not necessary. I’m not on the streets anymore so it’s not like having newer blankets would matter, and it’s summer, so it’s not like I use them much right now.’

“Alright, fine. If that’s the boundary you’re setting, I won’t get new blankets. You will need new shoes, though, since your left was destroyed. Yamada should be back soon with slippers that will work for the time being.”

Akira nodded and noticed Shinso’s door opening. Shinso blearily looked between the couch and Aizawa a few times before he seemed to realize who Akira was. He rushed over, scanning their body and settling on their lightly wrapped leg. “What happened?”

‘Roommate.’ At Shinso’s strangled “what,” Akira sighed. ‘It’s complicated.’

Shinso pulled back, eyes filled with hurt. “You said you’d leave if things got worse.”

‘They haven’t,’ Akira signed, chewing their bottom lip. ‘Last night was just a shitty situation that could’ve been avoided, and I came here because I couldn’t get what I needed. That’s what we agreed to, right?’

Shinso’s mouth thinned to a hard line as he looked to Aizawa.

The hero sighed, “I told Mori our home would be open if they needed a place to stay without questions. They graciously answered a few of mine last night, and what they’ve said is correct, although I’m not familiar with whatever deal the two of you made.”

Shinso closed his eyes for a moment before looking intensely at Akira. “One day, right?”

Akira nodded, much to Aizawa’s confusion. As the family prepared to leave, Akira noticed a small shrine to a teenager with fluffy blue hair tucked into one corner of the living room. A few trinkets graced the space, including a plushie of a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. Before leaving, they met Patches the calico, Nico the all-black shorthair, Oboro the white cat with blue eyes, Puddles the long-haired grey cat, and Houdini the cat Aizawa rescued earlier in the term.

At school, the group headed to the teacher’s lounge first, Yamada commenting it was more comfortable than the classroom and the other teachers wouldn’t bother them. As they stepped into the lounge, Akira took in the handful of teachers grading, prepping their lessons, and quietly chatting while most nursed coffee cups. They were largely ignored apart from a few curious looks directed at Akira as Aizawa directed them to a loveseat and started the last check for shock. Midnight drifted over as he finished with a reminder to go to Recovery Girl if the pain got worse or at lunch, whichever came first.

“You okay, kitten?” Midnight asked, staying a meter back.

Akira nodded, ‘I’ll see Nurse later, just need to get my stamina back up.’

“Do you mind if I keep an eye on you during class?” Midnight asked gently. “If I notice you’re in pain, I can send you to Shuzenji and save you the discomfort of asking.”

Akira did consider it for a moment but knew their anxiety would just be worse if they had to worry about Midnight watching them. At their increasing discomfort, Midnight just nodded and backed off to where she had been going over papers.

Aizawa sighed, pulling their attention back. “She just wanted to help,” he said softly.

‘That wouldn’t have helped,’ Akira signed curtly. After a moment, they left for their classroom.

Notes:

I was going to have more extensive burns, but I was looking up treatment… each leg is 18% of body mass, and at 20% you need an IV, which you need a prescription for the fluids. It’s also quite dangerous to administer IV fluids without proper training. And apparently even small third-degree burns require medical professionals >< I just wanted a little solo hurt/comfort with dadzawa! I asked my Latin nerd friend if there were poetry books that weren’t epics or smut, and she said that’s almost all they wrote (at least that we have today). Figured Zawa and Zashi would be more likely to get Akira epics The smoothie Akira requests is an actual recipe I found for a 1000-calorie smoothie, just doubled. I was originally going to stick with 1000, but with the upgraded nutrition plan, this kid needs all the calories they can get.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[yearnin-cryptid]

Buy a letter from your fave character they said, it'll be fun and sweet they said.

[xxsabitoxx]

ೃ⁀➷ Bartender Megumi x Str!pper Reader

❁all characters are 20+ in this fic ❁

A/N: full fic will come later, for now here is a teaser for my next Megumi fic! I love me some spicy accounting & will probably make another fic in the future with a cam girl reader and blah blah spoiling my own work anyways… enjoy this small snippet!

Fishnets scraped at your skin as you tugged them up, your first night at a new club meant you’d go for a safe but classic choice. That choice being fishnets and a black one piece paired with bunny ears, a classic playboy bunny. “Playing it safe?” You jumped, turning to see a short haired woman looking at you with her arms crossed. “You’re the new girl, right?” She was wearing a skin tight dress that ended mid-thigh. “Yeah… my name is y/n.” You moved to grab the velvety material of your one piece. “I’m Mai, you’ll see my twin sister Maki at the bar.”

���Oh! That’s cool.” You stepped into the garment, pulling it up your body. “She’s a pain in the ass so don’t be surprised if she’s rude. It’s her “new hire” orientation process.” Mai seemed pretty disinterested in the conversation, making you wonder how much truth her words held when it came to her twin. “Noted… are we the only two girls tonight?” For a Friday night it was surprisingly dead in the dancer’s locker room. “Naw, everyone comes in a little closer to ten.” You glanced at the clock on the wall, it was only nine. “Oh I see, I’m early.” The small talk was beginning to kill you, slowly but surely.

“It’s alright. When you’re done getting ready you can come to the floor. I’ll show you around and introduce you to our bartenders, DJ, bouncers and all that. I’m the hostess by the way, I also deal with the money. So at the end of the night when you wanna turn those dollars into big bills, come see me.” You nodded, watching as she left, once again alone with your new job anxiety. You looked in the mirror after pulling the one piece up, turning to see how you looked from the back as well. Your hair and makeup had already been done, all that was left was the heels and the bunny ears.

“You’ll do great tonight…” you assured yourself as you sat down before the mirror, undoing the buckle of your platform heels. “Just do what you always do…” you had been dying to get into this club for months now. The waiting list and hiring process were nothing to joke about, and you managed to make the cut. If all went well and the rumors were true, you’d be leaving tonight with more than half your month’s rent. You got one shoe on, eyes darting over to your phone as it buzzed with a new message. You picked it up, glancing over the screen and smiling at what the message said.

Nobara 😘: good luck tonight babes! Lemme know if you get any hotties :)

You swiped the message, sending a quick “thank you” text to your roommate and finishing it off with a little kissing face. Nobara was your biggest fan, if it weren’t for her you’d never have gotten the courage to try this career path out. Along with that, you wouldn’t be able to live the life you had now without the money you got from doing things like pole dancing. It boosted your confidence as well. You got your second heel on and reached for your bunny ears. “Maybe one drink before starting wouldn't hurt…” as long as it didn’t go against house rules, you’d take a shot for courage.

“We got a new girl getting ready, she’ll be out soon.” Mai tapped the counter to catch the attention of her twin, Maki, and Megumi. Maki only acknowledged her with a grunt, Megumi didn’t even open his mouth. “Tough crowd.” Mai sighed, sliding onto a stool to wait for you. She’d be giving you the tour before they opened at 10:30, an hour would be more than enough time. Maybe she’d even be able to introduce you to a few of the dancers. “Megumi.” The male looked up, setting down the glass he was cleaning. “The usual please.” Mai waved a few dollars in his face, jumping as maki plucked them from her fingers.

“You see me counting out our money and you’re already screwing me up.” Mai only rolled her eyes, watching as Maki set the couple of dollars in a pile that had been designated for the man. “On the rocks?” He knew the answer, filling a small glass with ice to the brim just as the woman liked. “Always.” Mai’s perfectly manicured nails hit the counter in rhythm with the bass making the floor vibrate. All the while Megumi was filling the glass with an assortment of mixers and liquors. “So is the new girl good? They are particular with who they hire.” Maki was shoving her money into the apron tied around her waist, her outfit of the night was a low cut top and shorts.

Even as a bartender, a lot of your tips really relied on how you were dressed and the personality you gave off. Most of the regulars gravitated towards Maki due to her bossy nature, they loved a woman with a sharp tongue. Megumi got a fair amount of tips as well but never as much as Maki, hence why his bartending gig was a side job. “She’s good, her dancing is perfect, her stage presence is hard to ignore. She’ll quickly become a regular favorite, I’m sure of it.” Mai wasn’t one to give out compliments, that alone had Megumi’s interest peaking. “Is that so?” He slid the drink to her, taking his own wad of cash and putting it in his apron as well.

“Totally, you’ll understand when you see her.” She sipped it, calculating eyes scanning the empty room, she figured it would be easiest to start at the bar when it came to your introduction. Megumi nodded, turning to rearrange a few bottles while Maki and Mai chatted halfheartedly. “Is this where you wanted me to meet you?” At the sound of a new voice, Megumi’s head turned, hands stopping mid reach as he caught sight of you. “Sure is. Maki, Megumi, this is y/n.” Your fingers were tangled together, tugging at them out of nerves. If it weren’t for the cute man you now knew as Megumi staring at you, you probably would have been a little calmer.

“N-nice to meet you both!” You smiled, shaking your nerves off a bit as Maki smiled back. “Pretty face, nice body, Mai was right. You’ll fit right in, sweetheart. Can I get you a drink?” Megumi had fully turned, watching your eyes lock with Maki’s. They seemed to glimmer even under the led lights that were covering everything in blues and reds. “Absolutely… as long as that’s not against the rules.” Maki nodded, pulling out a glass. “Dancers are what bring this place money, they get whatever they want.” Megumi pushed aside his nerves and smiled at you. Noticing the way your lips formed a small “o” when you met his eyes. Honestly it was taking every ounce of willpower to not check you out, his eyes struggled to remain on just your face.

[unchained-hound-dog]

Can I please get a 9 year younger reader with Austin please like they are watching a scary movie and reader gets really scared and starts sobbing and he’s supper overprotective of her ?

here you go! Hope you enjoy it

--

You'd be lying if you said watching a horror film was your idea, you stayed 1000 miles away from anything that even resembles horror or gore, and your boyfriend Austin knew this.

Austin would be lying if he said he didn't pick the movie of choice just so you could cuddle up to him a little closer tonight. What he did not account for was the fact he hadn't watched the trailer or read any reviews or even the description of the movie you were both curled up watching. It was an early finish on the set of Elvis, Austin suggesting a movie night as he had to get up at 4am the following morning to shoot. You'd agreed, allowing him to chose the movie whilst you ran to the catering room to grab some snacks and beverages. You returned to find Austin sprawled out on the small sofa in his trailer, movie on pause and him just scrolling through his phone.

'Got some snacks' you smiled, plopping down next to Austin and snuggling into his side, he quickly pressed play on the TV screen and the movie began.

-

It took around 20 minutes before you realised that the movie was a horror, the beginning had been a slow introduction, something you were almost falling asleep to until the screen dramatically changed to a man killing another man. You shreiked, sitting up in horror and covering your face with a pillow

'Austin!! You put a horror movie on?!' you turned your head to that the screen was still covered by the pillow but you could see Austin's face.

'Oh come on babe, I'll keep you safe, look the scene has switched now' He gently pulled the pillow away from you and you grunted, looking at the screen and realising that it had infact changed to a scene of a group of youngters on a boat party. You settled back down into Austin and continued watching the movie.

Your heart rate was high, knowing that any second the scene could change again and you could watch someone be killed or a jumpscare could get you. Austin seemed unfazed by the movie, or by how you'd turn your face into his side whenever a scene got tense.

The movie was about 40 minutes in when a loud bang shook the trailer and you shot up, heart racing more than before as tears came to yours eyes.

'W-What was that?' you were visibly shaking as Austin paused the movie and sat up with you, glancing around.

'Probably just one of the guys outside or a tree branch or something'

'No Austin, that was way too loud please go check no one is in here' He sighs, mumbling an 'alright' before getting up and beginnign to move past you to go to the other end of the trailer.

'No wait!' you quickly got up from your spot and lunged and Austin, wrapping both your arms around his forearm, he looked at you with an amused look on his face.

'J-Just don't wanna be in here on my own' you glanced behind you quickly and then followed Austin into the back room where the bed was located, he did a quick scan of the small room before confirming nothing was in there, he turned back around to you just as another loud bang could be heard, this time further away.

'Wait' Austin moves passed you gently, making sure to not let go of your hand as he walks to the trailer door and pushes it open, you both retreating slightly at the downpour of rain outside, and with that another roar of thunder and a strike of lightning, causing you to jump out of your skin and drop to the floor crying.

'Babe' Austin's brows quickly furrow as he slams the door shut and kneels beside your sobbing self.

'I'm so fucking scared' you cry

'I'm so sorry baby, I didn't know the movie would freak you out this much' Austin helps you up, and embraces you for a moment whilst you sob into his chest, with every roar of thunder you squeeze him tighter and he you, until your sobs quieten down.

'Shall we throw a comedy on or something?'

You pull back from his chest and nod your head 'Yeah but I'm choosing it' you grumble, grabbing the remote from the side and switching to a light hearted comedy.

[let-love-run-red]

Daisies

His crown is made of daisies, his heart was made for you

Female reader

Ao3 Link

The Princess's knight was one of high pedigree. His father was a royal guard, his father’s father, his grandfather’s father, his family was the royal guard. Royal Guard ran in the man's blood. Which is why you were confused when he gave you a second glance.

You were Princess Zelda's hand maid. Really it was just a title, the Princess rarely needed or wanted help with the things you should do, such as helping her dress, doing her hair, she preferred to do it herself. That was something you admired about the princess; she took her life in her own hands. You were surprised she had heeded her father’s wishes of having an appointed knight.

When you saw the man following closely behind her you were even more surprised. That was Link, the son of Arn, the captain of the Royal Guard. You stepped out of the way of the Princess, bowing your head in the typical sign of respect.

"(y/n), how are you today?" She paused to ask. You lifted your head with a smile.

"I'm well Princess, and you?" You said kindly. She smiled.

"I'm doing very well." You heard a low huff from Link, and Zelda turned to him before rolling her eyes.

"I'm sure you know Link, (y/n)." She spoke. Link nodded his head slightly and you returned the nod with a curtsey.

"I've heard his name spoken, it's a pleasure to meet you." You said. He met your gaze evenly before turning his head away and scanning the corridor you were currently in. He surely was paranoid.

"Well, I should be heading off, have a lovely day." The princess said, turning back down the hall. You watched them go, paying close attention to Link. You wondered how things would change with him around the Princess more often.

***

As the months went on you grew closer to Link. He didn't talk very much, preferring to focus on his task of protecting the princess, but when the Princess was studying the guardians and the ancient technology you could often find him sitting a few feet away in the grass. He was more inclined for company then.

More often than not it was you talking to him, with little response. You would talk about your day, memories of the Princess, of her mother, you had managed to pull his age from him at one point. You had an inkling he was older than 18, but he confirmed he was in fact 20. The same age as you were. He was surprisingly stoic for someone so young, but you supposed that came from having Arn as his father. The man was not an easy one to impress.

"She seems to enjoy this technology." You said, plucking daisies from the grass and twisting them into a crown. You had made one for yourself already, you weren't sure why you were making another. You watched as Link pulled a daisy from the grass, pulling the tie from his hair and shaking it out. He tucked the daisy behind his ear so it nestled in his hair. You reached out tentatively, brushing your fingers through his blonde locks. He scooted back so he was sitting closer to you, pulling another daisy from the grass and handing it to you. You picked up his hint, slightly surprised.

You began to braid daisies into his hair, twisting the braids around the stems of the flowers to create a crown of daisies in his hair. He sat patiently, allowing you to put as many daisies as your heart desired. You looked up to see the Princess examining one of the guardians with Robbie at her side.

"I don't understand why, but it makes her happy." You said as you stopped braiding Lin's hair. It was now full of daisies and small braids. You toyed with the daisy crown you had set in in your lap, looking to Link to see him looking at the crown. He nodded to the crown sitting in your lap before tilting his head towards you. You set the crown atop his head, adjusting it so it was nestled into his blonde hair.

He sat up straight again, adjusting his position to hold his head high, wearing the daisies with pride. He remained silent for the rest of your "conversation," and when the time came for him to accompany the princess into the castle again, he stood carefully to keep the daisy chain on his head. As he walked away he turned back to you, giving you a small smile before following the princess into the building.

It grew from that moment. As you passed each other in the stairwell he would catch your hand, bringing it to his face to inhale the perfume on the inside of your wrist, and press a soft kiss to your knuckles before releasing it and following behind Zelda once again. A quick moment that left with heat burning in your cheeks for the rest of the day.

Sometimes, after the princess was sound asleep in her room, while he was supposed to be keeping watch outside the door, he would come find you. Often you were in the servants’ chambers, washing clothes or dishes, sometimes you would simply be relaxing. You weren't sure how he found the entrances; they were meant to be secret, but you supposed having grown up in the castle he had found nearly every secret there was in the old building.

Often times he would stand behind you, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while you did you chores. His presence was comforting to you. He was someone to talk to when the other maids and cooks had gone to sleep. You started waiting up later and later for him, hoping he would make it a regular thing to come see you.

And he had. Every night he would come see you. He started coming sooner, staying later each night, walking you to your room to leave a kiss on the back of your hand before disappearing down the hall like a ghost.

"Link has seemed more distracted lately, I'm not sure what's gotten into him." Princess Zelda had said to you one day while you helped her re-organize her closet. She had been given gifts from the champions and wanted to keep them nicely organized. You hummed as you thought of Link, his lips on your skin, how warm his hands were when he held your own, how strong they were yet how soft his touch was.

"I wonder if it's Mipha." The princess mused aloud. You froze for a moment, running your hand over the opal circlet that was a gift from the Zoran champion. You wondered what she could mean.

"(y/n) I'm going to tell you something and you must promise to tell no one." The Princess said, laying across her bed with her chin in her hands as she looked at you. You poked your head out of her closet, giving her a solemn nod.

"I swear on my life Princess, I won't tell a soul." You said as you crossed your heart before disappearing back into the closet to move the Rito dress to a more desirable location.

"Mipha recently told me she made a set of armor for Link." Zelda said, sounding distressed. You tilted your head, wracking your brain. Why did that feel so significant?

"Oh, forgive me, I forget you probably don't know as much about Zora. They are quite secretive." Zelda said. You heard the bed shift before she appeared in the doorway of the closet.

"Zoran Princess's make a set of Zoran armor for their future husbands! To propose!" She exclaimed. At those words you nearly dropped the topaz bracelet Urbosa had gifted the Princess. Propose? To Link? You had met Mipha, you didn't think she was his type, but you knew you couldn't compete with the Zoran champion.

"I don't know what to do (y/n), I love Link I just don't know how to tell him." She said softly. At those words you did drop the bracelet. It landed on the floor with a clatter and you scrabbled to pick it up.

"I'm sorry Princess, I, it slipped." You said, standing and facing her. She took your hands gently in her own.

"It's alright, nothing was damaged." She said. You looked up at her and saw concern painting her features. She placed her hand against your cheek, still holding your hands in one of her own.

"Are you feeling alright? You look pale." She said. She guided you out of the closet, gently taking the bracelet and setting it on her bedside table before leading you to the door.

"You should go rest, you look sick. I can handle the rest of this." She said softly before dismissing you. You bowed your head before stepping out of the door. Link was standing against the door, head turned to look at you as you left the room. He was standing with his feet spaced apart, back straight, arms folded in front of him. He looked strong, you could see why Mipha and the Princess pined for him. You shook your head with tears in your eyes before walking towards the servants’ quarters. You could hear Link's boots on the stone floor. You could imagine him struggling to choose between following you and guarding the princess.

He stayed, in the end. He remained with the princess to fulfill his duty to protect her. But you could have predicted that yourself.

***

That night he came down to the servants’ quarters at the same time as always. You had tried to finish your chores early, so you could avoid him, but he caught you while you were washing up the dishes. You refused to speak to him, to even acknowledge he was standing behind you.

You angrily scrubbed at the plates and bowls, stacking them on the drying rack next to you to dry before they could be replaced. One of the plates slipped out of your hands, breaking into pieces. You reached down to pick up the pieces only to have the palm of your hand sliced open. You let out a hiss and pulled your hand from the water. Great, now you would have to rewash all the plates left in the basin. You examined the cut on your hand that was oozing blood, looking for a towel to press to it.

Link stepped forward, gently taking your hand in his own. You resisted the urge to pull away as he turned your hand palm up, taking the white kerchief from his pocket and wrapping it around your hand and tying a neat little knot on the back of your hand to cover your wound. He lifted your hand to his own, kissing your knuckles again before looking up into your eyes. You swore you could drown in his deep blue eyes. You could drown in him, his presence even.

"Mipha made you a set of armor." You whispered softly as you looked into his eyes. He seemed confused, before it clicked for him. He remained silent.

"And the princess, she has feelings for you as well." You said, pulling your hand away from his and turning back to where the plate had broken, carefully removing the pieces and setting them off to the side.

"You would be a fool to reject either one of them." You said as you continued your work. He was silent behind you, but you could tell he was there by the warmth that radiated from him. You could even tell he had stepped closer, could hear his breaths beside you.

"And I know I can't compete with royalty, so please, just tell me what to expect." You said. You doubted he would speak on the matter. You had sprung this on him so suddenly, he would of course need time to think.

"Should I be prepared for the princess’s wedding, or one of the Zoran princess's?" You asked him. He was silent. You let your shoulders sag. You knew he wouldn't respond, but, you had hoped.

Link reached towards you, gently resting his fingertips on your jaw to turn your head towards him. He moved his hand to rest on your cheek, meeting your gaze. He took your hand, the uninjured one, in his free hand and placed your palm against his chest. You felt his heart beating strong and slow under your fingertips.

"It beats for you." He said. His voice was smooth and comforting, you wished you could listen to him speak all day.

"Don't say that." You said, trying to pull your hand away. Although you didn't resist when Link placed his hand over yours to hold it against his chest.

"Don't say things you don't mean." You whispered. He stroked your cheek with his thumb.

"I'm not a liar, (y/n)." He said. He turned you so he was standing between you and the basin, placing both hands on your cheeks and looking into your eyes. He leaned in, closing the distance between the two of you. You could feel his heartbeat quicken as he leaned in, and you closed your eyes as your lips met. It was electrifying. His lips were soft and gentle, they moved in perfect sync with yours. You found yourself never wanting to pull away from him. He was warm and welcoming, strong, handsome, you could feel yourself being pulled in and you didn't mind.

Finally, when he pulled away you saw him holding a necklace with a diamond set in the center of a silver pendant. You cocked your head as you looked between his face and the necklace. What was it for?

"My mother," he paused, clearing his throat, "my mother told me to give this to the one who made me happy." He said, taking one end of the chain in each hand, offering to place it around your neck.

"She told me to give it to the one who made me laugh, who made me smile, who made me feel safe." He said. You turned around, and he expertly clasped the necklace behind your neck, letting the pendant rest against your chest.

"That's you." He said. You turned back around and placed your hand back against his chest. His heart was beating rapidly, you could almost hear it in the quiet room.

"What about the Princess? Or Mipha?" You asked in confusion as you touched the silver pendant.

"They're my friends," He said, "but you, I will love you until I die." He placed his hands on either side of your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb as he met your gaze evenly.

"And I will keep loving you until I'm forgotten." You rested your head against him, hearing his heart beating in his chest. You stood there with him for a moment, absorbing everything that had just been said.

When you finally pulled away, his face was concerned. He opened his mouth to speak, taking a deep breath.

"Tomorrow, the Princess is going to the Spring of Wisdom at Mount Lanayru." He said, running his hands up and down your arms, squeezing your biceps like he was making sure you were real.

"I'm aware, she told me last week." You said, confusion evident in your voice.

"Listen to me." He held your shoulders, looking earnestly into your eyes.

"When she leaves, sneak down to the stables, take a horse. A fast horse." He said. Now you were thoroughly confused, what was he talking about?

"Look at me (y/n), please. Run to Hateno village. There's a house over a bridge, it's mine, please stay there." He said. Was he asking you to run away with him?

"Link what are you talking about?" You asked. He pursed his lips, letting out a breath as his eyebrows furrowed.

"I have a bad feeling about tomorrow. Please, stay as far away from the castle as you can." He begged before pulling you into his chest for another hug. You felt him press his lips against your temple. You nodded against his chest, and finally felt him relax.

"I promise I'll come for you." He said. "When it's safe."

***

There was a picture on the sheikah slate. One that didn't make sense to him. He stood near the remains of the guardian he had just destroyed, avoiding the eye of the sky watchers as he looked to the clump of weeds and brambles near the building, where he had been sitting.

In the picture it was sunny. The sun shone on his back; he could feel the warmth emanating from the photo. He knew the location, remembered Zelda's routine of studying the guardians in the same area he was standing now. But, the girl. He didn't remember her.

In the photo he was sitting in the grass with his back to a girl of about his age. She had (h/c) hair and nimble hands. He had his eyes closed with a soft smile on his face while she braided daisies into his hair, with a crown of daisies sitting in her lap and a matching one on her head.

Something about the picture was familiar, calming, it made his heart beat faster and his palms sweat, but why? Why did it make his knees weak and make him wish he could go back, more than any of the other photos on the slate?

He took a step forward, digging through the bramble and finding a single white daisy growing hidden, tucked away from this evil in a safe thicket. He pulled it from the ground, inhaling the sweet scent of the flower. With that smell, everything came flooding back to him as it hit him like a guardian laser.

You.

He remembered you. He remembered the smell of your perfume, your soft skin against his own when he held your hands, coming to see you every night, stolen kisses in the stairwells and hidden corners. He remembered the night he gave you his mother’s necklace, telling you he would love you until he was forgotten. He remembered taking you to his bed that night and loving you until the sun peeked over the horizon.

He remembered the day he felt himself falling for you. The day in this picture, the day you braided daisies into his hair and placed a crown on his head, talking to him as if he wasn't the Princess's knight. As if he was nothing more than your friend, another Hylian who couldn't be plucked from a crowd of 100 instead of the Hylian champion.

He remembered your patience with him when he refused to speak. How you would watch his face closely for reactions rather than words as you spoke. He felt longing wash over him as his chest ached. It ached like he was dying again, it ached the way it did when he realized each of the champions was dead, but it hurt worse than that. He turned, leaping onto his horses back and turning it down the path away from the castle, riding straight to Hateno village.

***

You were working on chores around Link's small house when you looked down the hill and saw the white horse run wildly through the village. You shook your head. Sometimes the traveling merchants were in too much of a hurry to be cautious of the children around the village. You let out a sigh, dusting the photos on the night stand off while you toyed with the necklace sitting against your chest.

Purah had used you as a guinea pig for her anti-aging technology. It had worked on you, turning you back exactly 100 years. But on Purah, she had used more because she was older than you, but it had turned her into a six-year-old physically. You had laughed that day, for the first time in a while you laughed.

You opened the door with a basket full of clothes with the intention of washing them in the pond behind the stable. You closed the door behind you, turning to walk around the house. You froze in your tracks when you saw a man in a red tunic and brown pants standing in the field, stroking the nose of the black horse you had in the pasture with his back to you. You noticed the same white horse that had torn through town and huffed. Now the merchants had gone too far. You set the basket on the corner of the fence and wiped your hands on your pants before approaching him.

"Excuse me? You do realize you're on private property?" You called. He didn't turn to you, instead continuing to pet the horse. You huffed and stormed towards him. Your horse lifted his head, snorting with his ears pricked forward towards the man. What had gotten into him? You opened your mouth to speak again, only to be rendered speechless when the man turned to face you.

Standing in front of you, with his soft blue eyes and warm smile, was Link. Link, the same age as the day the calamity fell, with a single white daisy tucked behind his ear.