#I genuinely almost snapped. I am hard of hearing. I could not hear what the prof was saying sitting next to him

[kagrenacs]

Lab was so bad today I need to just sit in silence and stare at a wall.

[kirain]

Astarion frowned as he and Tav entered the modest boutique. It was small, but clean; organised. It had an almost rustic charm to it, featuring large windows adorned with delicate lace curtains, which were tied back just enough to let the sun shine through. That was appreciated, as Astarion had grown weary of the dark.

He said nothing as his cheery companion scanned the outfits on the walls, cupping her chin as she considered and rejected each one. Carefully curated as they were, she seemed to be looking for something specific. The soft beams accentuated racks of unique frocks, hand-knitted sweaters, and artisanal jewelry, but she passed them all by.

Why did she bring me to this rundown shack?

Astarion huffed. Has she noticed how old my clothes are? No, she's not that perceptive.

His eyes widened as her finger suddenly pointed at some lingerie behind the shopkeeper's counter. His heart sank.

Of course ... she wants to dress me in something risqué. Expose my body. Why am I not surprised? There's nothing more "sexy" than a vampire, after all. He bit the tip of his thumb, feigning indifference. So in the end, she's just like all the others. A horny, selfish little—!

"No, no! Not that!" she laughed. "The one beside it."

Astarion flinched, trying to hide his shock as the shopkeeper passed her a plain ashmeadow outfit. It wasn't particularly bright or stylish, but the pattern was subtle, casually elegant, and paired with lightweight trousers, likely designed to ease movement.

"What do you think?" she asked, unfolding the pieces for a better view. "Doesn't it look nice and comfy?"

Astarion hesitated. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinised every inch. Overall, the outfit was dull, at least compared to his usual garb, but pleasant in all the ways that mattered. It wouldn't grab attention, but it wasn't hideous. It wouldn't make a spectacle of his body, but it would complement his figure, his hair, his eyes. For one brief moment, he felt oddly respected, but he quickly recoiled in mistrust.

Is this a trick?

He quickly waved at the suggestion, bidding the shopkeeper to take the outfit away, but Tav clung to it, staying his hand.

"Wait, what's wrong with it? You don't like it?"

"I appreciate your confidence in me, darling, but I don't think even I could make that dreary ensemble look good. That's something you'd see a pig farmer wearing." He gave her a seductive grin. "Surely you'd like to see me in something more ... exotic."

Disgusting, but I need her protection. Just fuck me, already. Get it over with. Why the song and dance? Why the charade? Am I not being forward enough? Perhaps I should should try the 'lonely bachelor' angle. That tends to work on sensitive women like this.

Tav raised a brow, her confusion genuine, but Astarion didn't believe it. He couldn't.

"No, I just think this suits you," she said.

Astarion scoffed, thrown by her sincerity. There was no hint of sarcasm or trickery in her tone. No indication that she was fulfilling some mundane kink by picking such an outfit. But it didn't make sense. He hadn't been particularly kind to her, and he was only good for one thing: sex. Surely that's what she was after.

"Did you not hear what I said?" he snapped. "That's something a pig farmer—"

"What's wrong with being a pig farmer?" she argued. "They work hard, live free, and dress for comfort."

"And I'll have you know, that outfit is not for farming," the shopkeeper added, visibly offended. "I mean, I suppose you could. It's certainly durable, but it's more for ... sophisticated roving."

"There you go," Tav giggled, harmlessly. "Don't you want to be a 'sophisticated rover', Astarion?"

He pulled back defensively, pursing his lips to hide his fangs. They live free? Dress for comfort? As if I ever had such a choice. She has no idea! His fingers curled into a fist.

"Are you ... mocking me? Is that what this is?"

Am I just a toy to you?! A doll to be dressed up to your liking?!

The air around him felt charged, a palpable tension that made it difficult to breathe. A deep red flush spread across his neck, creeping up towards his pale face. The anger was sudden, but uncontrollable, and he didn't know why.

Calm down, you fool. This is nothing. You've been through worse. He screamed internally. So then, why does it hurt more than usual? Why is it worse when it's her?! I ... I don't want her to see me this way, but I know she does! Who wouldn't?!

"Mocking you?" Tav asked, breaking the silence.

She tilted her head, the simple act pulling Astarion from is raging stupor. Her eyes were innocent, unassuming. And of course they were—he hadn't yet told her the truth about Cazador. The details. The depravity.

Hold on. Is this ... real?

"What are you saying?" she peeped. "I brought you here because of how worn out your clothes are." She pointed at the seams of his waistcoat. "Thin with crooked replacement stitches. I always see you fiddling with them."

Astarion's throat tightened. So she did notice. He tried not to blush.

"I'm sorry if that came off the wrong way. I wasn't trying to insult your clothes, I just thought you might like something new."

"I ... see."

"If you don't like the black and white..." She smiled and gestured to the shopkeeper. "We can order something with colour. Do you take commissions? Can my friend here make alterations?"

Friend?

"He can. And we do indeed sew to order, but it might take a while. I'm down a seamstress this month."

Astarion paused, their voices fading. He looked down at the sleeved tunic and accompanying vest that Tav held close to her chest. It was thick, surprisingly well crafted, and more fashionable than he initially dared to admit. For a moment, he felt his unbeating heart flutter. New clothes. A whole outfit, just for him. He'd forgotten what that felt like. What shopping for anything other than a victim for Cazador felt like.

Against his better judgement, he reached out and rubbed the material between his fingers. Twill. Handcrafted. Warm. He felt a tingle as he realised Tav didn't choose that outfit at random. She'd put a lot of thought into it.

"I want this one."

"Sorry?" Tav said, glancing up at him.

"This outfit." He tugged at the sleeve, gently. "I want this one."

She smiled. "Are you sure? You didn't seem overly thrilled about it a second ago."

"Tch! Well, I changed my mind," he hissed. "What can I say?" His eyes softened. "It's grown on me. Just like your ... annoyingly infectious positivity."

"Alright, alright," she laughed, ignoring his jibe. "Can you ring this up, sir?"

Astarion's back stiffened as she reached for her coin purse. Money, right. That hadn't crossed his mind. As horrible as Cazador was, everything was provided. When allowed to sleep on a bed, it was there. When Cazador's guests wanted wine, it was there. Anything needed to rope in victims was given. He hadn't had to buy anything in nearly two hundred years.

"Wait, I—"

"It's no problem," Tav said, sensing his conflict. "I'm happy to do this."

"But..." He frowned, crossing his arms. "Well, don't expect anything back. If that's what you're after, you're going to be sorely disappointed."

"I don't expect anything back, Astarion." She handed the shopkeeper a roll of gold coins, then turned to him with another tender smile. "I'm just glad to help out a friend."

Astarion stood in silence, his brow twitching. A thought occurred to him—two words he hadn't felt the desire to say in two centuries. Two words he'd almost forgotten. He shifted from side to side, looking anywhere but at her, desperate for an escape from the vulnerability pressing down on him.

But I think she truly means it.

"I..."

His mouth opened, then closed again. He cleared his throat, trying to speak, but the silence lingered. He could tell she expected nothing, but for once he wanted to give a part of himself, by choice. Just a few words. The feeling inside him grew, a swell of gratitude he couldn't quite contain. Finally, he sighed and met her eyes with a smile.

"Thank you."

[wonfilms]

STRAY KIDS + HOW THEY ACT WHEN THEY’RE JEALOUS . (HYUNG LINE EDITION)

bangchan doesn't get jealous easily. well, at least that's what he thought. he trusts you with his life, he knows that you can handle issues yourself but he can't help the way his fists clench in his pockets when he sees the barista get a bit too flirty to you, he went went as far as asking for your number. that's when something genuinely snapped inside of chan, he almost feel himself scoff at the sugary sweet smiles the guy was aiming at you.

he gently nudges your side with his hand before lacing his fingers with yours and giving your palm a tight squeeze. you cough to cover a giggle as you see the way he was pouting, he pulls you close as the barista goes to make your drinks, "you alright baby?" you whisper before pressing your lips to his cheek. "mmmhm," he hums , "that guy was acting a bit weird no?"

"yeah he was seriously flirting?" you chuckle as you watch chan's expression turn sour, "channie are you really jealous of him?"

"no, 'm not it's just" he starts to argue before he lets out a sigh of defeat, "yeah i was a little bit"

you squeeze his hand tightly, "you're the only one for me chan, i promise"

.

lee know thinks he's being really suave about it , but he's really not.

"yeah?" his face lights up and you can feel your heartstrings tug a little at how sweet he looked, "always. " you reassured him, watching the way his lips immediately morphed into a soft grin.

you can tell that he wasn't enjoying the unwanted attention you were getting, from your co-worker kei, by how hard he's gripping the glass in his hands. his eyes don't stray away from slyly glaring at the man in front of you. he was so blatantly flirting with you, it made the blood boil in his veins.

though he has full trust in you, his hand comes over to rest upon your hip squeezing it tightly, just in case. he pulls you close and places a small kiss on your cheek, he watches kei out of the corner of his eyes, with a small smirk. "how about we head home babe? " he whispers loud enough for kei to hear. his breath brushes the skin of your neck, and you feel yourself shiver a little. he stands up, stretching loudly before grabbing your hand, "ah sorry kei, maybe we can catch up some other time, we're going to head back to our apartment, " he smiles sarcastically before turning to you, "you ready to go baby?"

you stifle a giggle as you watch kei's cocky expression turn into a sour one, "yeah min, let's go home" you say sweetly before you let lee know drag you out of the bar.

hyunjin won't hesitate to show you that he's jealous. even though he knows you're the only one for him and he's the only one for you, he can't help but glare at whoever's pathetically attempting to hit on you.

"you're so jealous right now..." you laugh a little at the scowl painted across lee know's face. "am not??!" he scoffs, but you can feel the grip he has on your hand tighten as he gives your palm a comforting squeeze.

"you know i only have eyes for you right?" you say softly standing still in your tracks for a moment. he halts to a stop as well as you pull him toward you. even though he's avoiding eye contact with you out of embarrassment, you catch the small smile that graces his lips at your words.

.

you're too pretty. it's almost impossible for only him to have eyes for you, however much he wishes it was true. he wants you all to himself, and apparently so does the guy across the room who keeps on looking you up and down.

he's quick to pull you close , "hey babe do you want my jacket? " he questions softly, "you look a little cold?"

he's tempted to kiss you right there and then but he doesn't want to make a scene, and plus... you don't seem to have picked up on it. you were so busy innocently giggling with han and seungmin. he didn't wanna ruin your night just because some creep was checking you out.

you turn to him with the sweetest smile and he could feel his heart melt in his chest, "oh sure hyunnie!" you take his jacket and slip your arms into it, cuddling it closer . he feels himself smiling at how cute you looked in HIS jacket, he turned to watch the expression of the man across the room turn bitter , with a smirk.

"you know you look so pretty tonight" he leans in and whispers into your ear, his breath skims your neck and you can already feel the heat rise to your cheeks. "you think so?" you laugh, attempting to hide your hot cheeks in your hands. he leans forward and presses a kiss to your temple , "i always think you're pretty baby".

.

the likelihood of someone hitting on you while he's with you is unlikely, and he almost prides himself on it. he says he's not the type to get jealous, and in all honestly it's true, he just doesn't.

changbin is intimidating, it's true.

he's got to admit the fact that there's someone watching with such hatred as he kisses you really pushes him to carry on. it's almost entertaining.

he trusts you more than himself and he knows you're more than capable of warding unwanted attention off, but there's a small part of him that crumbles every time he catches someone staring at you.

the reason isn't even you, it's himself because deep down under the brave stance he shows to everyone, he's just a little scared.

he sometimes thinks you're too good for someone like him, you're drop dead gorgeous in his eyes. everything about you drives him crazy and he knows other people think the same thing. it's almost stupid to think only he could admire you, however much he'd like that.

.. but he'd always be mature about his jealousy, even though a part of him wants to kiss you senseless to show the other person that you're taken.

a/n : i screamed and cried writing this one i liked writing the hyunjin + lee know drabbles a bit too much 🤒

[the-lazyyy-artist]

Pairing: Oliver Aiku x Fem!Reader Synopsis: Oliver didn't believe in commitment and love... until you came into his life. Themes: Fluff, pre-relationship lol, kinda kinda ooc (bc why not???), Oliver is adorable Author's Note: Yay!! First Filipino song fic!! I don't think Western songs hit as hard as Parokya Ni Edgar's Para Sayo. I just knew this could be an Aiku fic. The ending is kinda meh huhu srryyyy. Likes and reblogs are much appreciated!!

"

I just don't want to hurt you, I am a strong flatterer,

I'm not a saint

But for you, I will change

Even if it's difficult, I can handle it

Because for you, I'm ready to sober up

"

Oliver Aiku wasn't one to believe in love. He knows it exists, but in his world, boys and girls are just there for his enjoyment, if you catch his drift.

Funny to think that he knows it's a bad trait, but they all dig it, and every time he's on the field playing for Japan, or on the street just walking, he knows everyone will be on their knees for him.

You caught his eye after hearing your laugh in a quiet cafe where he was having his "date". You were having too much fun with your friend, talking in hushed voices and seemingly clueless that your giggles filled the cafe, mingling with the soft jazz music being played. He found himself paying attention to your face, smile, and eyes shining with so much excitement and awe about whatever topic. Sad to say his date noticed him being distracted that they left him there and he couldn't care less. All he wants is to catch your attention. So, with his charm and confidence, he slowly approached your table and introduced himself.

He first noticed that your eyes widened a little after recognizing him. Psh, he's only Japan U-20's greatest defender and the team captain, but the way you said his name and then faced your friend, talking about who this Oliver was and how great he is on the field and how her friend should have seen him play during their match against Blue Lock inflated his ego. He smirked down at you and said, "A fan, I believe?"

"Oh, no," you replied, waving your hands, "my dad is. He's a big fan of your team. He adores you! That's why I know a little about you." 

To be honest, you were the first girl that mentioned something good about their dad and it surprised him. The people he'd usually pick up would always talk shit about their parents, but with what you said, it sounded like you adored your dad. He took an empty chair from the table beside yours and sat down. "Really now? He'd seen most of our games?" he asked again, his eyes never leaving yours. "Yes, like, almost every game! And your match against Blue Lock was the first time we've seen you play in person. You were so amazing!" you replied, your smile widening and your voice reaching a higher octave because of excitement. You were thinking about taking a photo for your dad, brag a little that you've seen Oliver Aiku up close. Seeing how you were getting so hyped about him and his performance on the field had him hearing alarm bells that hadn't gone off in his previous "conquests" before. 

He stayed a little more, chatting to you and your friend, and when the time came for you to leave, you quickly pulled him closer and asked your friend to snap a picture. Oh, how Oliver adored your boldness, the way you smiled widely beside him, and his hand rested on your shoulder instead of placing it on your waist. After a couple more snaps, you said thank you and, "See you around, Oliver." The way your voice sounded, so soft and genuine, was on replay in Oliver's mind until he came home. It was just he got so lucky after he received a notification on his Instagram that you tagged him on your IG Story, making it easier for him to contact you.

At first, he was so sure that you would be just another girl he's gonna pile up on his ever-growing list, but the moment he clicked on your profile and started leaving messages to your DMs, it was clear to him that his player image was in trouble. Because in the next days, he found himself so giddy to message you at the end of the day or practice, to be on a video call with you and talking to your dad, too, discussing future games and teams he'd had a match against. Your dad loved him so much!

Fuck, that was when he was in too deep because he imagined himself being with you for real.

And he knows he's gonna hurt you someday.

He knows that whatever he's done in the past, playing with everyone's feelings and treating them like his playthings, will haunt him and will eventually push you away. He knows that his image as a player will turn your smiles into scowls. He knows that one day, if you aren't aware of who he is, you'll find out and you'll start to ignore him. 

But alas, when you asked him about it during one of your video calls, it felt like his world started to crumble. "What about it, sweets?" he asked, hiding his despair behind a dry chuckle. You shrugged as you glanced at his pretty face on your little screen. "I read a lot about it and it's kinda like public knowledge now. So, I just wanna know if... Like..." You set your phone on your phone stand before you lean back on your pink gamer chair. Oliver held his breath as he waited for you to continue your thought. "I just wanna know if you've been seeing other people while we're talking, you know?" you said with a sigh, "I don't want to end up being so devastated if I get too serious with my feelings."

Oof. Oliver has encountered a lot of these questions from a lot of his conquests before, and usually, he'd sweet talk them, making up white lies that he's just seeing them or there's no one else for him but them. But at this moment, he couldn't even bring himself to lie to you, not when actually sounded so serious. So, he sighed and ran his hand on his hair. "Honestly," he said, "my reputation isn't something I'm always proud of."

"I admit that I'm a player, y/n. I'm not the most eligible person that should be with you and I'm not even sure if your dad knows." 

"He doesn't know. He's avoiding any drama or gossip when it comes to you and your team."

Oliver chuckled at your response and saw you smile on his phone. That smile that he knows he'd want to see every day. "Well, that's good," he responded, "but I doubt he never read anything about me other than my plays." 

"Oliver, I just wanna make sure that-"

"No, no. Y/n, I'm bad news. My past will catch up to you and us if we ever get together one day, you know? You're the type to love and be taken seriously... And I'm..."

He can't believe he's gonna say this.

The great Oliver Aiku stepping down from his throne and is willing to be humbled by the thought of you loving him despite everything.

"I'm ready to change... For you... I'm new to this, I've never decided to commit and change, but for you, I'm willing to."

And that was enough for you.

And he never broke his promise, because every day, he proved that he was yours and yours alone. He proudly showed you off after one of his post-game interviews, mentioning your name on live television when he was asked what or who inspired him (such a cliche question in his opinion, but he was willing to indulge if it meant telling everyone about you). He became a frequent visitor in your home, playing a little soccer with your dad or just hanging out with him while rewatching his matches. 

Every day, he's shown his devotion to you, basically worshipping the very ground you walk on. He was awfully whipped, and changing for you was the best decision he's ever made. And without a doubt, he'd do anything and everything just for you. 

[a-lilypad]

@jegulus-microfic | april 5: slap | 1.3k words

a little theater rivals to lovers au where reg and james are double casted to the same role and james rips the only costume they have the day of regulus' opening night (cw: slight violence)

big big smooch to @ecstarry for the idea ily <3

A loud ripping sound echoed through the auditorium, causing everyone to immediately stop what they were doing, despite being in the middle of a scene. Even in the shadowed wings, Regulus’ expression was very visible and did not bode well for the rest of the cast. 

Or more specifically, for James Potter. 

Regulus’ jaw had dropped slightly, leaving his mouth agape, and a look of complete disbelief in his eyes. Shaking his head slightly, he seemed to come back to himself, shock morphing into an intense red-hot rage. It ran through his veins, replacing his blood, burning through everything in its path and was radiating from him in waves. 

Creating pure destruction and leaving only anger clouding Regulus’ mind, shown by the hardening of his eyes and clenching of his fists. 

He felt his nails dig into the soft flesh of his palm, nearly piercing the skin but instead forming harsh pink dents. Though they’d be nearly impossible to see through the already purpling bruises there.

Maybe Sirius was right and he needed to find better coping mechanisms… he could unpack that at a different time.  

At that moment he had more important things to deal with, such as James Potter, his theatre rival of three years, ripping the only costume they had the morning of their performance opening. 

“I can not fucking believe you, Potter!”

He started towards the horror-struck boy, stomping across the stage, and swung his arm with as much force as he could garner. The sound of the slap masked horrified gaps from the cast members on stage, but couldn’t hide the way Potter’s head flew to the side. 

Huh. Maybe Regulus was stronger than he thought. 

As Potter stared at him with an emotion he couldn’t quite identify, (because, while he knew Potter wasn’t the sanest of people, there was no way he was crazy enough to be looking at the person who’d just slapped him hard enough to knock him back a few steps with awe) Regulus shook out his hand with a wince. That had fucking hurt. 

“REGULUS!” his Drama teacher, Mr Slughorn, shouted. He had an annoying nasally voice that went right through him, he genuinely hated the man but he usually loved acting enough to let it slide. This was not one of those moments. 

“Wha-why-you” he rambled, hands frantically waving around “Why on Earth would you slap Mr Potter?” 

“He just ripped my fucking costume! We don’t have another, what was I meant to do? I can’t go on stage naked,” Regulus complained. 

He knew it was a bad idea the minute Slughorn had suggested Potter run through a final dress rehearsal. He was B cast! It was A cast’s night which meant it was Regulus’ night. 

Potter was looking at him strangely, his brows were furrowed slightly, almost as if he too was confused. He was staring at him with both reverence and irritation. Then in a split second, the irritation took over and he came out of his stupor. 

“You could have maybe, I don’t know, not fucking hit me?” he snapped, “it’s not like I did it on purpose!” 

Regulus scoffed, “You definitely did!” and stepped even closer to Potter, pointing his finger at him and pushing it into his chest, “You’ve been praying for my downfall since the second you saw me beat you, just admit it, I am better.” 

“ENOUGH!” bellowed Slughorn, Regulus had completely forgotten he was there, in fact, he’d forgotten anyone else was in the room with them. That was weird. “Both of you are to go to the supply closet and find something else for Mr Black to wear tonight, we’ll have something somewhere.” 

Huffing and sending Potter a death glare, Regulus swiftly turned around and stormed off stage, hearing Potter’s footsteps behind him as confirmation he was being followed. 

Great. This was exactly what he needed. Alone time with James Fucking Potter. He hated him. He had since the first time Regulus auditioned for a school musical in year 8. 

He remembered being so scared, he was shaking and praying he wouldn’t vomit up his organs, then Potter flounced in, all big hair and a cocky smile. He barely even spared Regulus a look before announcing to the other people in the room that Regulus would never get the part and he’d be stuck playing a tree in the background. 

He was right of course, Regulus had been so nervous he’d fucked his audition completely and had ended up not even having a single line. 

Potter got the lead. 

He vowed that day to never let Potter beat him to a role again, and so far he hadn’t, managing to get the male lead in every performance since. 

Ranting under his breath, Regulus continued listening to Potter’s footsteps, praying that he’d trip over something and fall flat on his face. Sadly, that did not happen and they both arrived at the storage closet unharmed.

Well, except for Potter’s face, a bright red mark was blossoming across his cheek. In his room, Regulus had a shelf of little trophies and awards he’d earned, but this was the most valuable. He wanted to take a picture of it and display it like a tapestry. He’d wanted to knock the crooked smile of his face for years now.

“What the fuck are you smiling about, this is your fault” Potter snapped, reaching forward to push the door open, having to bang it a bit, it had been given to the drama department after the lock had broken leaving it so that you can only open it from the outside.

“My fault?!” Regulus seethed, anger rearing up again as he followed Potter into the closet, “I’m sorry, did I rip the costume? Because, now forgive me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that was you!”

“I’ve said already it was an accident, god you’re insane”

“I’m insane? Are you fucking joking? I’ll show you insane” Regulus snapped stepping into Potter’s space.

The door slammed behind them and a loud click told them it had locked. 

Well fuck.

Potter stared at him for a second before bursting into laughter. Curling over, wiping away tears, booming laughter, while Regulus wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and disappear. 

“What by locking us in a confined space together? Great plan Reggie” he choked out, still cackling.

Regulus ran a hand through his hair, messing up the precise curls. “Don’t call me that!” then turned to start pulling at the door, desperate to set them free, but no matter how hard he pulled at the handle it wouldn’t budge.

“Stop laughing at me” Regulus mumbled, hitting his head against the door and groaning, the situation was embarrassing enough without Potter taking the piss.

The laughing trailed off suddenly and Regulus cocked an eyebrow suspiciously, not expecting to actually be listened to. Potter was gawking at him, eyes sparkling, his jaw dropped slightly. 

Narrowing his eyes, Regulus met his gaze, “What?” he sneered.

Potter slowly moved towards him and tucked a stray piece of hair behind his ear, his face fell from anger to confusion and Regulus was holding his breath. He wasn’t sure why. It felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. Their eyes locked and the world around them disappeared.

Then they were kissing, lips meeting bruisingly, and Regulus didn’t know who had moved first. It was desperate and hungry, tongues exploring each other's mouths and breathy gasps being shared between them. Potter’s hands threaded through his hair and pulled, causing his lips to part around a guttural moan.

He grabbed Potter by the shoulders and shoved him slightly, leaving about an inch between their faces, “This means nothing, I still fucking hate you” he mumbled into Potter’s mouth then he grabbed his face and pulled him in again and proceeded to practically eat him alive.

[robberskisses]

The boy next door pt 1

* cw: matty healy x reader, smut to come.

fic: you move to a new town as a shy catholic girl, but when you meet your new neighbour you know everything is about to change. This part is more of an intro to the story.

note: this is my first fic ever so my apologies if it isn’t the best!! Feel free to comment tips and suggestions for second partttyy

Pulling into the street your eyes open as a beam of sunlight hits your face, almost like your body knew you are rolling into the street you’d from now on call home.

As soon as the car parks your family springs out preparing for the moving van to soon arrive. Fresh, spring air is all around, breathing it in for the first time you scan the house for as much beauty as you can, feeling a sense of delight when you spot the attic has a bedroom with a pretty little French style window. As you admire it knowing it would soon be yours a loud crash sound comes from the home next door; “Whatever, I could never come home again for all I care”, a tallish dark haired boy stormed out of the home, he wore black jeans and a top that you can’t quite make out the text due to his pace. He seemingly just exited a fight, and rushed straight into white van parked outside, whilst letting out a sigh he looked up my way and made a smile I couldn’t tell the intention of, it seemed genuine but also felt like it was telling me stop being nosy and turn around.

You swiftly spin around with a feeling of buzz, hearing your parents already spouting out comments about him, saying they had never seen such behaviour, but truthfully, neither had you. You’d never seen a boy your age act in such a way to his parents, let alone seen many boys your age at all.

You softly run up the dark wooden stairs to the pretty loft room and claimed it as your own as your father follows, carrying up some of the boxes. You feel a sense of peace for a moment as you plan where everything would go, your fondest pictures, If you wanted my bed near the window or up against the wall for privacy, until you started feeling the sadness of what once was. This room felt perfect, but nothing could beat the old memories made in your old one, the people left behind, you wanted to embrace this new life it just seemed so hard when you didn’t want to move on from the old one.

After the furniture was moved in and you begun decorating setting up my sweet little picture frames and layed out all of my bedding and teddies, time has flown by and it’s now sunset, going to admire the pretty skies you swing open the little window doors when you hear a car pull up outside. Your mind immediately wandered to the boy you had seen earlier, hoping he did come home and didn’t mean what he said. You quickly snap out of it, why should you care? You start mumbling out loud all of the reasons he’s probably the worst boy of them all and that you know what’s good for y- ,a loud creek interrupts you. It’s coming from outside, you sneakily peer around where your bed meets the window and took a peek as the cold nights air blew against my cheeks. Stomping in, it was him. Right across from your bedroom was where he had his, seeing him throw himself on his bed, he looks up. You quickly snap your whole body down, praying he doesn’t see you, feeling my cheeks begin to get warm. You hear him get up and walk to his window, slamming it shut and closing the curtain.

What a mess. You just made a total embarrassment of yourself straight away, he must think a creepy little stalkers moved in next door. Grabbing your favourite stuffy, mittens, you tuck myself in, and say my prayers.

“Dear god, please don’t let any other interaction I have go like this, help me make friends and please guide me to happiness like you did in my last life, Amen”

Ringing the same tune it always has, your alarm clock goes off at the same time it always does, 6 am. However you are already up bright and early making sure your makeup is done to perfection and your rollers are taken out as carefully as possible. Frolicking over to your wardrobe you pick out the freshly steamed shirt and little blue skirt, your new uniform, and put them on. Grabbing white frilly knee socks, you were almost ready. You pull your curled locks into a neat ponytail, everything seems perfect. Four sprays of perfume, slipping into your little black heels, and your pink backpack sitting at the end of the bed you are ready.

Creeping downstairs quietly you don’t want to wake the rest of your family, as you leave you pull your steel white bike out of the garage. See, the real reason you are up so early, isn’t because you want to be on time, or as prepared as possible; it’s because you want to avoid leaving at the same time as the boy next door. Another interaction and this time it could be confrontation. Him approaching you shouting in your face about the feeling of being stalked wouldn’t go well with your plans of a good first day. So you thought ahead and were already biking to school at 7:06 am.

Pulling into the bike rack you feel a sense of pride, everything went according to plan. But it quickly comes to your attention attached to the church in-between your all girls school was something you had never ever laid your eyes on. St. Mary’s catholic boys school. One tiny town and it already felt like everywhere you went, he could be. You feel your eyes jittering around the entire area, slowly making your way to the steps. There. You spy him smoking with a group of boys. You are actually more shocked at the sight of fags than you are him and begin to feel yourself stun. Black curls turn your way. That same iffy smile shoots your direction. A girl beside you is just as stunned as you. “Did matty just smile at you? Do you know him or something?”, “Matty?” You confusedly respond. “Matt, Matthew whatever, why did he just smile at you like that?” Another girl adds. “He’s my neighbour, but trust me I don’t know why either” you respond nervously, what did this Matty have that made these girls shoot questions at me like I had just broken the law. The girls look at each other in an excited shock, and welcome you in with them, they begin to introduce themselves and talk about how Matty is on their minds 24/7 and how all the girls love to attend his gigs after school, how they all admire the way he has no care for religion at all, yet will sit in mass without saying a word.

Matty. Huh, someone that seemed so mysterious and so scary, seemed like just another person now you knew all of this. You had read about boys who put on facades and have egos bigger than the sun. That’s what fit Matty, the boy who lives to entertain, but you’d seen the way he really is. Storming around, leaving home without a care. He must love all of the attention, and that very moment you decided you weren’t going to give him anymore.

The class had ended and you skip along the long corridor linking arms with the new girls you had met, “Just wait till you see how moody he is in mass y/n, he’s sooo cool” Lacey says. “ I bet he pulls those faces on purpose to try impress you girls” you reply profusely. They all giggle in unison. “I sure hope so” Meagan says laughing through her teeth. The moment you approach the doors into the church, you all unlink and you notice the girls try smarten themselves up, you do the same until you realise it’s most likely to impress stupid Matty and the stupid boys. You find your seats and feel your eyes meet the same tall figure once again. He slouches into his chair pulling a little lighter out of his pocket flicking it once or twice. The boys around him converse and you see one of them whisper something in his ear in which he nods in response. You pull your head around and get comfy in the chair, looking straight forward instead, you were so above any of that.

As mass comes to an end, so does the school day, you say goodbye to the lovely girls you had just met and make your way to the little rusty bike rack it had all begun at. Struggling to unlock the chain around your tire, a familiar voice darts your way. “Need help with that?” You jump at the words and swiftly look at him. “What, I” you are at a loss for words, everything feels as it has changed so fast, and Matty speaking to you, asking if you needed help felt like the strangest thing you’d ever heard. “I was asking if you needed help, I’ve seen you tugging at that thing for the past five minutes” he says staring right down at you. “What are you watching me for?” You reply, immediately regretting and realising how ironic that was considering your thought process this entire day. “No, just noticed my new neighbour having troubles” he half smiles, “I’m matty by the way”. You pretend like you don’t know that, and that you didn’t hear half of his life story at lunch, “I’m y/n” you say staring back at him. He bends down and quickly unlocks the bike, getting back up with ease. “Thanks, I almost had it that’s why you got it so easy” you lie. “I’m sure you did” he replies followed by a void of silent awkwardness, as you stand gripping to your bike like it’s about to be stolen. “Hey uh biking from our street is a long ride, especially for a young girl like you, I could give you a ride, if you wanted” Matty asks in a kind tone that distracts you from the fact he called you a young girl, what does he mean young girl. “What are you 50? What makes me any younger than you” you dart back, “plus where am I going to put my bike if I get a ride huh”. “Sorry” he lets out with a giggle “your a tough one aren’t you” he smiles with more meaning than he ever has before, pointing at the van you saw yesterday and the fact it has a giant space at the back for your bike. “I guess a ride would be nice, thanks” you say feeling a little bad, he didn’t seem like the scary bad boy you made him out to be last night, or the egotistical maniac you decided he was during the day.

He helps you roll your bike into the van, then opening one of the doors for you to get in. As you comfy up in the passenger seat, you notice so many little CDs around the front of the van. George and Matty mix. Drive like I do stuff. Matty don’t touch mix. You smile lightly as he gets into the driver seat. “What’s all of this?” You ask him quite nervously, hoping it didn’t come off as rude. He starts grabbing the disks and pulling them into his bag, “those are nothing, just stupid stuff”. “Do you like, make music or something?” You pretend to figure out on your own. “Yeah.. I uh am in a band with some friends, we aren’t too good or anything” he laughs “but I think we are getting somewhere”, “that’s cool” you say meaning it, you’d never met someone your age who had so much going on. “We actually are doing a gig, this Friday, you should come” he looks over at you, “if you want to that is”. You want to say yes with all of your might but you know your parents would never let you. “And hey if your lucky I won’t make you bike I can pick you up again” he laughs to himself. “Sure, il think about it”, you respond seeing his smile slightly fade.

Pulling up at your house once again, he quickly gets out of the van, speeding up to open the door for you. “Thank you for the ride I really appreciate it matty” you say with guilt, getting your bike out carefully he looks your way, “anytime love”. Then once again your cheeks are burning and glowing pink, your heart is spiralling, making you feel things you’ve never felt before. Walking off with your bike you realise life has never moved faster, but the worst part of it all was even if part of you wanted something from this, it could never happen, not even if you wanted it really bad. Your parents, your morals, you wished maybe things could be different.

As the day comes to an end you slip into your white cotton pajamas, and take your wooden cross from your dresser to your bedside table, hoping it would mean something. You swing open your little window to admire the pinks and oranges of the sunset, and feel that sweet spring night air blow strands of your hair softly, someone else is approaching their window.

“Hello you” matty says to you smiling like that meaningful one he shot you earlier. “I feel bad for you, you can’t see the beauty of the sunset from your window, it must be all boring on that side of the sky” you say looking up at him. He looks up at you longingly, “I can see something beautiful, don’t you worry”. Your eyes meet his in a quiet, but not awkward moment, you feel your mouth smiling on its own. “So, have you thought about the gig yet, what would I be if I didn’t have the support of my own neighbour” he says in a sarcastic but somewhat nervous tone. “Matty” you look at him, “I really want to its just”, he looks over at you patiently, you breathe “My parents, they just, let’s just say they are most likely the total opposite of yours, truthfully your one of the first boys i’ve ever even talked to my age and it’s just”, Matty cuts you off wanting to talk eagerly, “I get it, I really do, but that’s no way to live is it” you glance sort of puzzled, “ I mean how much are you really getting out of life in there, alone, and respecting everything your parents tell you, that’s sooo 10 years ago” he jokes giggling. “I guess, I’m just a little scared that’s all”

“Alright” he says softly. You half smile, watching him suddenly exit the room. He walks back in carrying a set of silver metal ladders, under his right arm, grabbing something off of the table near him whilst he kicks the door shut. “What, what’s this im” you exclaim, “Get the other end for me?” Matty says in all seriousness. “No way your no way yo-“ you get cut off with the ladders coming your way. He bends his head like a losy puppy dog begging for help. You grab the end of the ladders, “hold on tight for me”, he laughs. Then just like that, the scary dark haired boy you feared only a day ago is crawling across metal stairs to your bedroom, after calling you pretty and spouting out one of the deepest things you’d ever heard. When he teachers your window he makes a quick stop, twinkling a little smile as you two become face to face. “Watch out” he drops into your room, “Shhhhh quiet!” You quickly exclaim, “My parents they” he places his finger over your lips shushing you. “Quiet, I got it” he says before making his way to the end of your bed. He beacons you over using the palm of your hand as you find yourself obeying him and sitting beside him. “This is a cigarette” he whispers, “probably the tamest out of any of the scary, rebelling your parents items” he whispers. You look at him with a scared expression, you had no idea how to smoke, let alone deal with the chance of being caught. “I can help you” he says softly. “Come closer” he says whilst also shimmying towards you. Moving closer you don’t take your eyes off of him, feeling your heart start to spiral again. “Open your mouth when I smoke, then breathe it in when I blow it out, okay?” He speaks wanting to really know if your fine. “Okay” you whisper back, waiting for him. He takes a puff, leaning in to shotgun the smoke to you. You inhale it, carefully, going back and forth from his big brown eyes, to the little beige cross on your bedside table., letting out a little cough.“Look at me, it’s okay”, he reaches over to the table laying the cross down. “The only moment is now” he says turning back to you. “How was that?” He asks. “That was okay” you reassure him and yourself, smiling at the fact you just did that. “Again?” He asks intently. You nod, and he takes another puff. Leaning in once more you breathe in Matty’s smoke, as he looks down. This time you think it’s gotten to you, you find your body leaning in and pressing your lips against his. Everything feels so safe for a moment. He places his warm hand on your cheek as the moment goes on, you slowly pull away, for the first time not regretting something as you feel heat in your cheeks again. He smiles at you, with slanted brows, as if he’s never been this shocked before. “Sorry”, you whisper, “I don’t know why I did that”, “You know there’s nothing to be sorry for” he looks at you honestly. He pulls you in, and you find yourself being tucked in, as he slowly pulls himself beside you. “Matty if they find out you slept here too, I’d be dead” you fear to him. “No one’s going to know, it’s not like gods watching” he quietly giggles to you. Like any sane person you feel a sense of doubt though, whilst Matty seems to be the most caring and kind soul you’ve ever met, you fear he is just using you and this will all end in tears. “You aren’t.. you aren’t just doing this so you can get more are you?” You whisper to him whilst lying face to face. “Hey, you kissed me little lady” he murmurs, “I do fancy you loads though, so don’t worry about me, I’d never try hurting you”

Pulling you a little closer you slowly drift into deep sleep, feeling the world go quiet for a little while.

[zaceouiswriting]

Fairy Prince - Hearts of Leviathans - Ch.26

Character: Sky x male reader, Riven x male reader, Brandon x male reader

Universe: Somewhere in Winx Club/Saga

Warnings: None

Something cold wakes me up in the middle of the night. With half open, I look around, only to see a silhouette standing before me, with a face I have seen so many times. It's him! I smile at him gently, believing I am in a dream from the past, far away from the reality where he was no longer. For just a second, I think I feel hands brushing some hair from my face, but I don't think much of it because dreams can be strange.

Just hearing his voice is oddly comforting, even if it sounds a little broken, but I don't care; all that matters is that I still dream about him. Even though I'm not entirely sure what happened to him, I know he's no longer with me. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. I almost start to cry, but at the same time, I wipe the moisture from under my eyes. Out of nowhere, he sits next to me. But when I see his face this close, my heart fills with pure terror. Although his body looks like him, his face is a grotesque mix of his and those my people have fought against since our world existed. His face is green, with almost black scales.

My heart is racing. I've never dreamed of them before. Why now? I've never seen one with my own eyes, so how can it be so detailed? Have I forgotten something? As my heart races, panic rises so quickly that I'm ready to jump up and scream, only for this... this thing to close my eyelids again. I fall into a sudden void. Neither asleep nor awake either. At least, until the void swallows me whole.

Not long later, or at least it feels that way, I wake up again, only to see a different hand in front of me through my dazed, annoyed eyes. 

"Whoa!" I squeak and jump away. My hand is clenched into a fist, ready to strike forward and hit the person before me. With my eyes closed, I do just that. I wait a moment, but since I don't feel anything at the end of my fist, I slowly open it again.

"Should I examine your fist? Sniff it?" I hear the snarky voice of someone I unfortunately know all too well. "Nice of you to want to hit someone who just wanted to wake you up for breakfast. I guessed you were a dickhead, but that much?"

Staring into the purple eyes of this person, I could only groan in displeasure. "Who asked you to do this? The last time I remember you waking me up, you slammed an ice pick in my side and left it there so I wouldn't bleed to death."

He looks genuinely shocked; I almost believe his innocent act, but something tells me I shouldn't trust anything he says, does, or shows me. People like him can lie like it's their second nature, while their first is being cruel.

For a long moment, he stares at me like I have a second head or something. When he doesn't say or do anything, I click my tongue and push past him, not as hard as the day before, but enough to seemingly snap out of it, making him follow me. He tries to get my attention by talking to me as if all the torture never happened. But all his words only make me angrier. Even though my anger is mostly clenched thanks to the teacher from the day before, I'd probably snap at him if he didn't stop.

Luckily for both of us, we reached our room before I could lose my patience. As soon as I open the door, I find myself standing in front of two almost completely naked guys. I have never been so aware of a situation as I am at that moment. Plus, Brandon is just as much of a scumbag as Riven, who still follows me, but his body is to die for: tight muscles and a lean frame, but enough to make my mouth water. Sky, on the other hand? Man, this guy is the product of every man and woman's dream: incredibly tall, broad chest with pecs bigger than my head, big upper arms, veiny forearms, and instead of Brandon's six-pack, he had eight of them; every single muscle on him was big and maximally defined. He doesn't have a single ounce of fat on him.

It feels like an eternity as I stand there staring at the two of them as if they were freshly cut meat ready to be eaten. Even though embarrassment is rising within me, I can't take my eyes off them because their every move looks and feels like they're trying to attract me. Never before have I felt this obvious. Most people to this day have no idea about my preferences. Although they would find out at the latest when I got married, as it is completely normal in our society, somehow I never felt comfortable telling people since I am always surrounded by men. Even most of the servants in our palace are men.

"Is everything okay?" Sky's concerned voice snaps me out of my dirty thoughts. My cheeks are warm, and my stomach feels like a thousand little bugs are trying to break out of it. On an empty stomach, I almost puke right there. I put a hand over my mouth and gag at my behavior, barely able to hold it back. As I just realized, I am actually a pervert, just not in the way people thought.

I try to turn around because both guys are still standing in front of me in their way-too-tight underwear, with Brandon's black briefs going well with his pale complexion, while Sky, with his slightly tanned skin, is wearing pearl white briefs. I'll probably have to burn my mind to forget this image.

Looking the other way, I tragically gaze at Riven, standing by the door, just as stunned as the other two. I can still hear Sky babbling for a bit, but when he suddenly stops, I look over my shoulder worriedly and see Brandon smacking Sky's head with his wild blonde hair flying everywhere. He whispered something in his ear, only for Sky's brown eyes to widen. They flash in my direction, capturing my eyes in a storm of emotions.

"I had no idea!" he suddenly screams as he rushes towards me, pulling me in those big arms that he could literally chok—no, I shouldn't stick my head in that gutter. I don't need a new obsession or love. My heart is still empty from the last one that left me. “I’m so sorry. If only I had known!” he continues to lament.

To calm him down, I gently pat his large back, which has even more of these beautiful, seductively tight muscles. I want to scratch his back with my fingernails while—What's wrong with me? Realizing my predicament, I quickly try to push him away, but he is undoubtedly much stronger than me. He's certainly a great sword wielder for a reason; with that level of strength, he could probably even use a Bulwark Shield.

I keep trying to get away from him, but he just won't let go; it almost sounds like he's crying, but nothing wet ever drops on me. I'm at my wits' end, yet I know I won't get rid of him anytime soon; I'll freak out, and no one wants that.

He pulls me to his chest once more. I look for a way out, and to my surprise, I think I'm literally facing a possibility. Somehow I manage to snake my arms under his arm until my palm rests on his flawless, muscular pecs, perfect for holding on to. No, don't think about pushing him down, and—no, get out of my head. I could only groan in annoyance. Where did these thoughts come from? I remind myself to keep my naughty thoughts under lock and key and use my hand to do the unthinkable.

A sudden yelp alerts the entire room, and Sky even jumps back, almost falling over his feet, but is barely caught in time by Brandon.

"Your nipples are extremely sensitive for a guy your size, but it's good to know how to get you off me," I tell him in a teasing tone that makes poor Sky blush like I've never seen before. Still smiling, I step closer to him. "What did he whisper in your ear that made you jump on me like that?" I nod in Brandon's direction as I ask him.

Sky, on the other hand, seems reluctant, but I only need to show him my fingers and make a twisting motion for the color to drain from his face. "He told me that you must have had bad experiences with men like us, and that's why you reacted like that!" He burst out like a fountain of unnecessary knowledge.

Honestly? It left me speechless. Why would anyone think that? But when I think about it again, I can see it.

My smile softens, and I carefully place my hand on Sky's chest. "Something like this has never happened to me before; you don't have to worry."

"Then why did you look like you had seen a ghost?“

I take a deep breath, unsure if I should tell the truth or continue to lie like I do to the public in my home world. When I look back at Sky, his eyes are already wide open. Confused, I look at Brandon, who seems even more stunned. The only one not stunned is Riven. When I hear him laugh, I quickly turn back to him. He is hunched over, holding his stomach, as if he just heard the funniest joke ever.

Now I am confused too. Each of us is irate in our own way. Not a word is spoken; only the laughter of the maniac at the door keeps us company in our collective confusion.

When I turn back to Brandon and Sky, they both have their arms crossed over their chests, hiding their nakedness as best they can, refusing to look me in the eye, which baffles me even more.

He always looks so stern and angry, but now he seems too happy. And it pisses me off, so much so that I can only roll my eyes while swallowing my need to punch him in the face.

“A way to go, dude!” he shouts, only to burst into bellowing laughter again.

I'm starting to get annoyed and merely stare at him with deep anger. "What's wrong?" I hiss through clenched teeth. My words finally stop him from laughing at me. Instead, he's searching my eyes for something I don't understand.

"Don't you remember?" He asks me, his voice almost as confused as I feel. I shrug my shoulders and don't know what to answer him. So he clears his throat. "You just told us you would jump on one or both of them"—Riven pointed at Brandon and Sky—"If you looked at them for any long."

“I would never!” I scream back and try to free myself from his grip, but his hand on my shoulder holds me tight.

His lips almost touch my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. "I don't think you want to know what you said word by word," he begins to whisper, his hot breath scratching the hairs on my neck. I roll my eyes, closing them to hide my shame. "Let's just say it was steamy. And very detailed, making me wonder if you only like boys?"

Finally realizing that I've probably spoken my naughty thoughts about her out loud, I try to hide my face behind my hands. But Riven, being a menace in his very existence, grabs my hands and pulls them away from my face. When I push him, he only giggles as if I were a small, annoying insect that can't hurt him. It turns into a full-blown fight where we shove and hit each other, and I end up throwing us both onto one of the beds.

I press my hand to his face as he taunts me with words I believed I had only thought. Embarrassment and deep aggression take hold of me because of his strange change of behavior. I feel something monstrous whispering in my ears, telling me to draw the dagger Riven apparently has hidden behind his back and plunge it into his rotten heart.

At that exact moment, something clicks in my head. Sitting up on Riven's body, I look around. For some reason, I feel like something important is missing. With both hands on his chest, I feel his heart beating; somehow it's getting faster than before.

I know I've heard that voice before, but where? I've never forgotten a face, but voices? No, I'm not good at remembering those, yet I feel deep in my gut that this one feels important to me. Somewhere in the darkness of my mind, I am sure I could find the face to go with the voice, but how? Have I forgotten more than that?

"Is everything okay?" Sky's deep but gentle voice snaps me out of my worries. I blink a few times, but I can only look at him. Unsure whether to answer him or not, I shake my head from side to side. A moment later, he starts scolding Riven for playing too roughly with me. But I don't stand up from him, holding his pecs, which are much smaller than Sky's. A pain is growing in my head, and the world starts spinning as the pain quickly overwhelms me.

For a few moments, I see people without faces threatening me with weapons. I feel like I'm losing my mind, but I hope I will be okay as long as I can feel Riven's body beneath mine.

Even after all of this, I still feel like my mind is drifting off into nothingness, to the point where I almost believe what I see. I'm sure something similar happened, but why can't they have faces? It's just a feeling, but it's so heavy that I'm almost too sure of it.

"Hey!" I hear someone shout. "Hey! Don't fall asleep!" The voice sounds so muffled I can't even believe they're real. Call one of the teachers!" The voices slowly fade as my thoughts race at a speed I can't comprehend.

"It's not time yet," another voice tells me, echoing in my shattered mind. "Don't stress. You'll remember in due time. Like you always do."

"Please don't go! Don't leave me again." He appeared right before my eyes, as beautiful as ever. He was more of a man than I could ever be—so powerful. We were just children and later teenagers, but he had always been a beast.

When I saw him standing over me, with his sharp features and small nose, breathing down on me, I thought back to the time in the fields when we ran away from my instructors. I fell over my own feet and landed right on top of him, pulling him to the ground with me. I remember his laughter bouncing around until I could feel his low voice deep in my bones. He was dirty from the fall, and when I made fun of him for it, he grinned mischievously at me and then rolled us around until we were both muddy. Our laughter caught the attention of my coaches, but they only scolded us briefly before leaving. We were twelve, but even then I knew I would marry him. He was an ugly duckling then, but when puberty hit, he could hold his own against 'Gardon the handsome,' the most beautiful man our world has ever seen.

"Don't worry, we'll see each other again; just be patient, you idiot. I promised you once that I would be by your side forever and ever, didn't I?"

Even though I know he's dead, I just can't bring myself to not believe his words. "I love you. I always will!"

He smiles at me, closes his eyes, and shakes his head. "And I love you to the depths of despair and to the heights of happiness until both of our souls vanish."

Tears roll down my cheeks, and I can only helplessly watch him leave, his ghost disappearing, until I can no longer see him. Although I tried to reach him, he still disappeared, which obviously left me devastated.

[Masterlist]

[anecdotal-acorn]

I AM A CHANGED WOMAN. OH MY G-D. I can't think coherently. But here are my thoughts on Sweeney Todd (3/30/24 matinee)

Act I

- I almost jumped out of my skin when they said “swing your razor high, Sweeney,” in Ballad of Sweeney Todd, like if that was possible I would have done it lol; the ensemble was so scary, there was a bright white light change, and the music got super loud, it was awesome

- Seeing Joe Locke in that opening number, something about him made me realize “oh he's gonna be great,” like his really intense pained vibes, his Toby really wears his heart on his sleeve

- WHEN AARON JUMPED OUT WITH THE SPOTLIGHT ON HIM!!!!!!!!!!!! I think my soul left my body (& it's still in the theater)

- Aaron’s weird cockney accent that he clearly has so much pride in, like King you could've just done a normal voice but no, he chose to do his own strange thing and it was giving Prince James One Royal Holiday (his Hallmark movie, iykyk) tbh

- When Mrs. Lovett threw flour across the stage at Sweeney to get his attention in Worst Pies

- The shadow/silhouette projections going through the story in Poor Thing, they were so tantalizing they actually managed to distract me from Aaron lol

- AARON’S MY FRIENDS WAS LIKE HEARING AN ANGEL SING FR

- It really didn't seem like he snapped when he said “my right arm is complete,” it seemed like he was a depressed man who finally found passion and drive again, not someone who was going crazy

- Maria was IMMACULATE as Johanna, the most gorgeous voice and acting…her halting, jerky movements really showed how damaged Johanna is, yet she still had this grace about her underneath, true beauty that couldn't be stamped out of her, even with all she endures

- Joe Locke was so light on his feet in Miracle Elixir (also he seemed to be having a great time, which goes for everyone during the whole show honestly)

- The lights changed color with each line of the song, like there was orange, white, then blue

- Aaron leaned over when he was standing by his little razor table and Sutton’s Mrs. Lovett ate that shit up, she crouched down to check out his butt for a solid twenty seconds

- When the Judge came into the shop Aaron had this huge grin on his face, he was so excited to kill him and he just spent too long relishing the moment

- Epiphany was a full-body experience I swear

- When Mrs. Lovett stared at his package in A Little Priest

- And then Aaron laughed when he pointed down at her cupped hands and said “what's that,” you could tell it was a genuine laugh from Aaron and not a Sweeney thing

- Aaron’s buttery voice when he sang “the history of the world, my pet”

- And he did a little growl too (don't look at me. DON'T)

Act II

- his voice was SO well-suited for Johanna Act II

- SUTTON FOSTER’S FEET IN BY THE SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping SO HARD that she would do that, and she did and it did not disappoint; Miss Foster how does it feel to be living out my dreams, thank you queen for letting me see that and live vicariously through you <33333333333

- she struck a pose like she was taking photos for Playboy when she said “me in stripes”

- “Not While I’m Around” was emotional af, Joe Locke did not have to go that hard but he fucking did

- For some reason I was the only one who clapped when Johanna shot Fogg? Is that not an applause-worthy moment??

- He was so giddy when he finally killed the Judge

- Aaron actually scared me when he was gonna kill Johanna, and esp when he chased down the stairs after her like a hulking monster

- the scariest thing was that even as things unraveled, he didn't seem to be “losing it”; he seemed to be getting even more intent on his revenge, stronger, more deft and precise, more confident, more powerful in his evilness

- he was scary af when they were looking for Toby too, so menacing

- his growl when he said “you lied to me”

- how he crawled towards Mrs. Lovett like an animal and scrabbled at the floor to grab her

- How loud the fire roared when he put Mrs. Lovett inside

- his body language (hunched shoulders, limp limbs/posture) seemed maybe almost remorseful once he threw her in the fire? Like as if he was thinking I'm glad I did that, I had to, but I'm exhausted and can't exactly process that she’s actually gone because of me

- The way Johanna held Anthony close when she saw the bodies

- Aaron’s acting when Toby killed Sweeney—he didn't fight him off, he just looked so sad and tired, like he wanted to be dead (what a wonderful interpretation of the lyric “she was his reason and his life”)

- UGH when Sweeney and Lovett hold hands and step into the pit, finally weightless, they’ve got each other, Sutton and Aaron are right, it IS a love story, oh my g-d my heart

I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop thinking about this. It was SO GOOD!!!!! Anyway thanks for reading my rambles if you got this far hahaha, hope you have a lovely day

[ourtearsofrain]

Slow It Down (D.R.W/S.F.K)- Chapter 9

Pairings: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Genre: angst, fluff

Word Count:  2.2k

Warnings: ouid consumption

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July 25th, 12:56 PM

Closing his bedroom door firmly behind him, Danny drops his bags instantly, not caring if he made too much noise as he drags his feet on the floor on his way to the bed. He falls onto it facedown, letting his body and mind relax now that he was finally completely alone. As much fun Danny was having camping with the Kiszka brothers, the end of their trip could not have come fast enough. Even crammed into the back of Josh’s car with Sam, their knees pressed firmly against each other the entire drive home, had been almost too much for him to handle.

The entire trip had changed Danny’s perspective on Sam, more specifically on how Sam might feel about him. Waking up cuddling Sam that first morning may have been a pure accident, but when Danny woke up every morning after that with him fast asleep in his arms, he didn’t know what to think. Even worse, Sam’s flirty comments only increased as their week went on, going from quiet, joking comments when they were alone to almost explicit suggestions even in front of the twins.

Danny truly didn’t know what to do, his heart begging him to make some kind of move on Sam, but his mind telling him there was only one way this would end. The summer days would run out, Danny would go back to New York for school, and Sam wouldn’t follow. He would stay in Frankenmuth, alone, without Danny or his brothers. Danny only prayed that this time, he would answer his calls. Now that he finally had Sam back, he wasn’t ready to let go. He couldn’t bear to lose him again, not like last time.

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July 31st, 1:24 AM

Blinking sleep from his eyes, Danny fumbles for his phone in the darkness, the screen blinding him temporarily as he tries to figure out who decided to call him at one in the morning. Unsurprisingly, he sees Jake’s contact photo light up his screen again, having missed multiple calls from him. Guess I figured out what woke me up. What the fuck does he want and why can’t this wait a few more hours.

“Hello?” His voice is gravelly from sleep, still only half awake as his mind moves in slow motion.

“Danny! What are you doing tomorrow, well, today?” Jake’s words are fast and eager, filled with excitement despite how late it was.

“Uh? Nothing planned? Why?”

“Mom and Dad are going to a concert tomorrow night, tonight, whatever it is, without us; Chicago and Rick Springfield. The venue isn’t too far from us but they’re going up early and spending the next day there with some friends or something, so Sam, Josh, and I are taking over the living room for a movie marathon. Be over here by no later than two.”

Danny rubs his forehead, nearing annoyance at the reasoning for Jake waking him up as he tries to keep in mind that he probably hadn’t meant to disturb him. “Alright, yeah fine, whatever. I appreciate the invite but why couldn’t this have waited? I was asleep.”

“This early?” The genuine confusion in his voice helps him keep this in mind, not wanting to accidentally snap at him.

“Jake. It is almost 1:30 in the morning. I don’t know if you knew this but, normal people are usually asleep at this hour.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. I got excited.”

“You’re fine. What are we watching anyways?”

“Pirates of the Caribbean.” Danny can hear the smile in his voice even through the phone.

“How hard did you have to fight them for that?”

“So hard. We drew lots in the end and I won so they couldn’t say no.” Jake pauses momentarily, allowing a beat of silence to pass between them, speaking again as Danny begins to nod off. “Anyways, I’ll let you go back to sleep now. Bring snacks. Or weed.”

“Will do, bye.” Jake hangs up before Danny can, his phone screen going black allowing the room to be filled with darkness once more.

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2:10 PM

“Shut the fuck up, I know I’m late.” Danny says the second he opens the unlocked front door to the Kiszka house, knowing the other three men were just waiting to give him shit about being late. His body goes into autopilot as he enters the familiar living room and sits down on “his” seat on one of the couches, right next to Sam.

“I said no later than two, Wagner. You got a reason for being ten minutes late?” Jake cocks his eyebrow, his tone serious despite everyone knowing his question was a lighthearted joke.

“Yeah, Jake was about ready to start without you.” Josh chimes in from his place on a chair way too large for him, folded against the material in a way that would surely be uncomfortable for anyone else.

“Yes, I do actually.” Danny begins rummaging through his bag, pulling each item out and tossing it at each man as he spoke. “I had to get snacks. Peach ring gummies for Josh, pretzel sticks for Jake, white cheddar popcorn for me, and last but not least, baby carrots for Sam.” Sam’s eyes go wide as he hands him the bag of carrots as Jake and Josh snort, having forgotten that was their younger brother’s favorite snack food.

“Danny, I could kiss you.” Sam’s expression is dead serious as he says the words, sending a violent blush to Danny’s cheeks that he hides by turning his attention back to his bag, praying that he could blame his complexion on something else if asked. “Thank you.”

“Yeah uh, no problem. Anyways,” Danny clears his throat, hoping to change the subject without it being obvious to the others. “I also brought weed like Jake asked.” He holds up a small stash jar, continuing to explain as he settles into the couch now that everything he had brought had been unpacked. “I think I have like a quarter of an ounce left in here, brought my pipe too but I assume you all have your own, and joints too.”

“Danny, I could kiss you.” Jake repeats the words, and coming from him it only brings a grin to Danny’s face as he shakes his head.

“I’m good, but thanks. Let’s get this show on the road, why don’t we? How long is this going to take us by the way?”

“12 hours and 18 minutes. Not counting snack or bathroom breaks.” Silence falls between them at Jake’s words, each man getting more comfortable in their seats as they prepare for the next few hours.

“Lovely. What are we waiting for then?”

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9:52 PM

“Ok I can’t take it, I need a fucking break.” Josh stands abruptly as the credits of At World’s End begin to play, Jake already starting to queue up On Stranger Tides as he ignores Josh’s exit.

Sam stands as well, stretching his limbs as far as he can as he yawns. “Me too, I think it’s zaza time.”

“Please never call it that again.” Danny responds flatly as he too joins them on his feet, rummaging through his bag for his weed and pipe before beginning to follow Sam from the room until he stops himself, turning back to Jake still hunched over his DVD case searching through the discs. “You joining?”

He glances up with a smile, blindly flipping through the pages. “Yeah, be out in a sec.”

“Cool cool.” Danny leaves the room without another word, already knowing where Sam and Josh had escaped to. He sits down next to Sam on the small step of their back porch, both men watching Josh stretch in what Sam thought was the weirdest ways.

“What the fuck is he doing?”

“Yoga. He does it all the time at the most random times in our apartment.” Sam laughs at his comment, the mental image of Josh stopping mid-sentence to go into downward dog popping into his head. “I swear, he’ll get up mid-show for a snack and then I look over and he’s on the floor.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Sam pulls a lighter from his pocket as his fingers find a joint, bringing it to his lips and lighting it. He takes a large hit, letting it out with a long exhale as his eyes close. “God, I needed this. I would have lit it up an hour ago, but Jake and Josh said no smoking in the living room and I didn’t want to get up.” Danny watches his fingers brush against his lips as he takes another hit for longer than he would care to admit, hoping the darkness of the night would conceal his blush as Sam turns to look at him, holding the joint out between his pointer finger and thumb. “Want some?”

Danny moves his stash jar and pipe to the concrete beside him, glad to ignore it at the offer. “Yeah, thanks.” Just as his fingers are about to brush the tip, Sam pulls his hand back slightly, a mischievous smile playing across his lips.

“Greedy, greedy. Let me hold it for you.” Why the fuck does he want to hold it? Is he afraid I won’t give it back? I thought we had the “sharing is caring” rule with weed, I’d be more than willing to let him have some of mine in return. Despite the thoughts running through his mind, Danny leans towards the joint in his outstretched hand, making direct eye contact with Sam as he takes a long hit.

Sam maintains eye contact as his lips brush his fingertips, staring back unblinking in slight amusement. Danny coughs slightly as he exhales, grateful as Sam hands him a bottle of water silently, taking a large drink of it before attempting to speak again. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Before either can say another word, Josh joins them, plopping down on the concrete with a huff. “I feel so much better now.”

“Maybe if you didn’t fold yourself into that chair like a pretzel, your body wouldn’t be so angry at you.” Sam laughs before taking another hit.

Josh rolls his eyes before making grabby hands at Sam. “Shut the fuck up and pass it. Can’t believe you started without me.”

“Stop being such a hypocrite, Josh.” Jake cuts into the conversation as he shuts the back door behind him, pulling a chair over to sit next to Josh as he takes the joint from him before he can even raise it to his lips. “Whenever we smoke, I’m lucky to get a hit or two before you finish it."

“Balderdash! This is a defamation of my character, and I won’t stand for it! ...now give it back please.”

“No.” Jake casts a smile down to him before handing it to Danny, gratefully accepting it as Sam’s thigh presses into his, his heartbeat speeding as he tries not to cough from the hit. I’m gonna need so much more weed to get through this night. As Danny watches it burn lower and lower with each pass, he pulls his pipe back out, packing the bowl as the other men share the ends of the dying joint until it goes out. When he finishes, he takes a long hit, beginning to feel the effects of the first few hits he took.

When he sees the flower still lit, he holds the pipe out to Sam and keeps the bowl in his hand as the other man reaches for it, repeating Sam’s motions from earlier as he pulls it back towards himself with a smile. “Greedy, greedy.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Even as Sam rolls his eyes, Danny can see the smile creep onto his face as he brings his lips to the mouthpiece, once again maintaining eye contact as he inhales. After a few seconds, Danny removes his thumb from the carburetor, waiting a few more seconds to allow Sam to finish before pulling the glass piece away from him.

Suddenly remembering they weren’t alone, Danny turns his attention to the twins, holding the pipe and a lighter out to them. “Want some?”

Josh reaches for it before Jake can, snatching it from his hands with a grin before making quick work of lighting it. After they pass Danny’s pipe around a few times in silence, all four men feeling the weight of the weed in their heads and bodies, Jake finally speaks again. “Alright, these last two movies won’t watch themselves. We should resume before we’re all too high and tired to finish.”

“Agreed, let’s get this over with.” Josh stands as Jake replaces his chair, both moving around Sam and Danny still sitting as they make their way inside.

Despite the effects of the weed, Danny’s nerves skyrocket as Sam leans his head on his shoulder, saying nothing as Danny feels him relax against him. He lets Sam stay this way for a few moments, wanting to stay there forever with him but knowing how it would look to the twins if they didn’t join them soon. “We should uh, go inside. Sooner we start these, sooner we can sleep.”

“Ugh, fine.” Sam gets to his feet reluctantly, offering a hand down to Danny as he grabs his stash jar, lighter, and pipe in one hand. “Let’s go, Danny boy.”

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taglist: @gretnavannfleet @aioba1503-sdm @jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka @milojames16 @sanguinebats @theres-a-tvjoe @jakekiszkapunchmeintheface @currentlyfangirling10

[yanderes-galore]

Since we're on the topic of Fluffy AU, could we have a concept for Fluffy AU with Shattered Monty? Technically any one of the shattered glamrocks would be horrifying in fluffy au format, but I feel like Shattered Monty would be a particularly gruesome sight considering his whole lower body got snapped off.

Mangle is still horrifying but this... oof- For those who are new, Hi, welcome to the AU I made that traumatizes people.

This is gonna be an odd reference but... this felt like if Monty was a Leaper from Dead Space-

Yandere! Shattered! Monty (Fluffy AU) Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Jealous behavior, Murder, Graphic descriptions of gore, Blood, Unneeded visuals, Trauma, Zombies, Biting, Vomit, Stalking, Possessive behavior mention.

First you'd have to meet Monty before the whole... incident.

I am pretty vague on what exactly is the background of the Fluffy AU, so it's up to you why you meet an anthro gator rockstar.

It's implied someone tried to play God, however.

In the Fluffy AU, Monty acts the same as his normal form.

It's just he's more organic.

His skin is just like that of a gator's, leathery to the touch.

Instead of the clothes he wears being plastic parts, they're actual clothes.

He also has sharp claws and teeth with a long tail.

He's a genuine creature in this AU like all the other animal characters.

Monty is still possessive and prone to nipping, unfortunately.

He can also talk as usual.

He likes to growl and is actually really good at stealth.

He also finally can swim like an actual animal.

There's a number of ways Monty could become "shattered".

Maybe you're too scared of his possessive behavior towards you?

Monty comes off way too strong with his attraction towards you, possibly?

He does have a tendency to be easily jealous, attention seeking, and may hurt you.

He gets a bit out of hand with the sharp claws and teeth he has.

He could be so into his obsession he doesn't realize he's scaring you, or he likes it.

So you plan to kill the gator, splitting him right in half.

Then there's if a freak accident happened.

Either way, somehow, Monty is declared dead.

There's no fixing him in half no matter how hard you try-

Monty is then properly disposed of.

Oof... if you saw that?

You're holding back vomit at all the gushing blood.

Those once obsessive eyes of his dull almost instantly.

Not before you saw the betrayal in them, sadly.

You try to recover from what you saw.

But even as the blood and guts are cleared up off the floor, you still replay the image in your head.

So much for eating... you feel so sick.

Not as much as you do when night hits, however.

Days pass and you are still trying to recover from Monty's death.

It's then you hear something shifting around.

It's clawing into the floor, a wet sound following the noises.

Growls echo near you....

You just about become sick again when you see what is making the sounds.

Monty... what's left of him, at least.

He looks rotten, bits missing and still very much covered in blood.

Oh the smell...

"Am I... just garbage to you?"

You stare blankly at the undead creature in front of you.

Vomit stains your clothes as you keep your distance.

"(Y/N)..."

He crawls closer, you see bone showing.

You back away more....

"DON'T RUN... AWAY FROM... ME!"

The beast roars at you, throat gurgling in a sickening sound.

The worst part is Monty's fast even with half his body... he also likes vents.

Monty would be much more animalistic in this form.

Consumed with feelings of betrayal, he's feral and will attack anyone not you.

With you? ... he just wants you back to him.

With his rotten body he wants to hold you.

Even if it's just holding your legs, he wants to still be yours.

If he corners you, he pounces you to the ground.

Then you're left with him laying on top of you, momentarily at peace.

Except you're screaming due to the feeling of guts on you.

Monty would attempt to continue his previous behavior.

Except it's broken, like him.

He can't figure out affection anymore... or be possessive of you.

Although he still tries.

He still bites and has claws.

If he sees anyone with you, he's bursting out the vent he was stalking you from and digging in his teeth.

He still seems to get jealous.

He wants affection from you... yet you aren't willing to give it.

For obvious reasons....

Now Monty is even more of a monster than before, all because of one foul incident.

Sadly... Monty has risen again to give you more nightmares than he did before.

Despite him claiming to love you... he's still very much a rotten corpse.

Looks like you'll have to find a new way to kill him...

Hopefully he stays dead this time.

"Don't leave me... (Y/N)!"

[dualityvn]

MAYBE SOME MORE HURT?

MC and Keith or Tenebris are arguing, and Keith or Tenebris in the heat of the moment says something the genuinely hurts MC, and results in said boy being locked out of MC’s room while they cry over the harsh words said.

No resolution needed if you don’t feel like it, I want everyone to suffer.

Hurt (GN!MC x Keith)

× × ×

"Why are you always like this? I get being a little jealous, but you get so cold and hostile towards anyone who so much as touches me or compliments me!" you complain, raising your voice at the last two words.

Keith is leaning against the wall, arms crossed, glaring at the floor. He's been listening to you almost wordlessly.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I just- What am I supposed to say?! I don't like it when they're near you. It makes me anxious," he says, still refusing to look you in the eye.

"What are you even anxious for? They're my friends! I'm not going to stop having friends because you can't handle me being around anyone who isn't you," you fire back.

"That's not what I said! Don't put words in my mouth! I just can't help it, alright? I didn't say you can't have friends, but I'm still not going to be happy when they get too touchy with you!"

"How is that normal? Everyone is telling me they feel weird whenever you're around! You're embarrassing me!"

Keith's glare finally shifts from the floor to you. "I'm embarassing you? Have you seen how many things I do for you? I'm dating you, not your friends! Why do I have to please them?"

"You don't have to please them, I'm just telling you to stop being such a jerk around them!"

That was the last drop. It brings Keith to a boiling point. He's been seething all day, holding back from snapping at others or telling them to stay away from you. And yet he is now being lectured despite it all.

"Now I'm a jerk? All you care about is your friends! You act like you and them are all that matter! Maybe I don't even want to be around them! Do you ever ask me that? Do you ever wonder how much I go through to make you happy?! No! You just care about yourself!" It's his turn to raise his voice and it's something you aren't used to. He's normally very docile and kind.

"That's not true! But you're just so hard to understand!" you try to argue back.

"Of course I'm the one who's hard to understand, not like your precious little friends. I bet you just can't wait to run back to them. How do I know you haven't already cheated on me with one of them?"

"How... how can you say that?!"

The accusation is too much. You begin to tear up and quickly dash towards your room. Keith calls your name, asks you to wait. He sounds regretful. But it's too late now. You lock the door behind you and begin to sob. He calls your name again through the door. There's no traces of anger left in his voice.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I- I didn't mean it!"

He can hear you sobbing and the sound is tearing him apart. He digs into his hair and pulls at it in frustration as his back hits the wall by your door and he slides down it.

His mind races with punishing thoughts aimed at himself. Stupid jerk, ungrateful piece of trash, worthless idiot. How could he say that to you? How dare he make you cry? You're the light of his life and this is how he repays you. What if you'll leave him after this? He'd deserve it, wouldn't he? Maybe that's all he is, an embarassment and a failure of a partner. Maybe he's just been trying hard like a pathetic bug and managed to accomplish nothing.

Somewhere at the back of his mind, Tenebris tries to ask for context, offers some comfort. But it's too faint for Keith to pay him any attention compared to the self hatred that's flooding his mind.

What can he do now? Can he even comfort you in any way? Should he crawl on his knees and beg for forgiveness? He doesn't know. He doesn't want you to cry.

He wishes he could simply crawl into a hole and die.

× × ×

You guys have no idea how hard it was to find some sort of insult Keith would say without being ooc, lmao.

[redbleedingrose]

im sorry i havent been interacting much lately- im having a rough time atm and havnt felt like myself but im working on it!

ANYWAY this has been on my mind and it is genuinely getting me thru the day so i j have to share:) imagine ur having a bad day. like the worst of the worst, everything that could have gone wrong has. and to top it off you woke up feeling awful about yourself- total bad brain day. you get home irritated and exhausted and on the verge of tears and go straight to ur room, completely bypassing eris (this can be pre twins or post twins) and hes just sitting there confused as to why you j kept walking. at least until u accidentally let a bit of emotion down the bond and IMMEDIATELY eris is coming to you. he sees u crying and it shatters his heart bc why is the love of his life crying. so u explain ur day and how bad ur feeling ab urself and he just sits and listens and reassures u and makes you feel like the most loved person in the universe (bc by him you are).

v much realizing how heavy hurt/comfort it is so u can definitely ignore it but im fr wishing for an eris to help me thru it rn <3

Hi my dear,

I am sorry you are going through it rn, I totally understand and get it. You are not alone and don’t worry, Girl dad!Eris will always save the day because you are his heart, soul, and world. 

Okay, so you just wake up not knowing that today was going to be a rough day. Honestly you had a lot of hope that the day was going to go really well!

Eris woke up early this morning because he has been busy adjusting the laws that Beron had set into place. He is working hard to undo them to make Autumn Court a better place for his people, for his little girls, and for you. 

When he finishes getting ready, he crosses the room towards your form that is still laying in bed, fast asleep. He wakes you to give you your first good morning, a habit that formed when your bond had initially snapped into place centuries ago 

He kisses your forehead, stroking your hair back as he gently murmurs, “I have to go to my office, I love you so so much my pretty, and I will see you at breakfast.” 

And you smile back, bleary eyed, leaning up to peck him on the lips, telling him you would be up soon, sending a stroke of love down your mating bond in reassurance. 

You watch tiredly as he tip-toes to his favorite babes who were still sleeping peacefully in their bassinets, and gives them each individual kisses.

You are too tired to hear what he whispers down at the two, but you are 100% positive it is something along the lines of, “Be good for your mama my beautiful babes. Papa will be back soon, and he loves you more than anything.” 

And then he walks out the door, winking at you as he shuts it softly behind him. 

By the time you fully wake, it’s been almost an hour since Eris started his day. Marwa and Twila are still asleep, and so you get up with a sense of motivation to get yourself ready. 

Since the babes were born, it had become increasingly difficult to find time in the morning to get yourself ready before breakfast. Usually, you would need to get yourself dressed and appearing somewhat presentable after you fed the girls their breakfast. 

At first, this worried you. You didn’t want to appear like you were lazy or “letting yourself go” when you arrive to breakfast, frazzled from wrangling the girls out of bed and to the kitchem still in your pajama’s with some dried drool at the corner of your lips from the night before

But the way Eris would look up from where he was seated at the dining table when you would wake in with your babes hand in hand... 

The way his eyes would spark with the fire that ran within his veins... the way his face would illuminate with utter joy and peace... the way he always stood in greeting, hugging his babes and putting them in their seats... the way he would pull your chair back for you like the gentlemale he was, tucking you in your seat right next to him before pressing a kiss onto the back of your hand

And if he was feeling incredibly risky, whenever the girls would be focused on eating their breakfast, he would press kisses all the way up your bare arm, right up to your shoulder, whispering something along the lines of how stunning you look this morning 

And you would always flush at his compliments, preening under his gaze, any worries that you previously carried slipping away like a leaf within the wind drifting to the ground off a tree

But this morning... you had the time to get ready. Your perfect babes had decided to sleep in. So after taking a quick peak to ensure that both were still dreaming happily, you race towards the en-suite bathroom to rush to take a bath 

You soak in the tub for 15 minutes, scrubbing every inch of your skin and allowing for the sunflower oil to hydrate any dryness you were experiencing. You even have time to wash your hair with your favorite rose scented shampoo and conditioner.

You smile, knowing that you have your morning all planned out perfectly. The moment you get out of the bath, you will apply some light rogue to your lips and cheeks to brighten you up today. And if you have the time, you will make sure that your hair is somewhat tame from the bird-nest it was from last night’s late night activities with your husband...

Your perfumed scent and fresh, soft skin is likely going to drive your mate insane during breakfast.

And, so, when the babes run off for their morning riding lessons with their Uncle Luc after breakfast... well... whose to say what Eris will do to you?  

Hopefully drag you into his office to have his way with you while the girls are away for a couple of hours before returning to work

But as you get ready... as you stare at yourself in the mirror... you can’t help but feel off. Something about the way you look today feels off.

Entirely off. 

The way your rogue is settling on your cheeks is not flattering, and no matter how many times you wipe it off and reapply, it is making you look like you painted yourself this morning to look like a clown. Even the way the rogue stains your lips is wrong. 

Fresh face without any makeup will have to do. Eris has never complained before, and he never will. He loves your bare face. He often prefers it because it let’s him paint your face with his cum. 

So you sigh in dissapointment, but let it go ultimately. At least you can still fix your hair the way you want. Maybe you will curl it to frame your face? Maybe you will straighten to highlight your cheeks? The possibilites are endless, right! 

Wrong. 

Your hair is not working with you today. No matter how you try styling it, it falls right back into place, resting in a messy way. You even tried applying a small portion of the gel your mate uses in the morning to help with it, but your hair ends up feeling a bit crusty and greasy, even though that never happens to Eris. 

You’re now feeling a little demotivated... you take a quick peak into your room, noticing that both your babes are awake now. Thank the mother they are just babbling at each other, distracted by telling each other about their dreams. 

Soon they will realize that their papa is gone, and that mama is in the bathroom, and they will run to receive your morning lovings of hugs and kisses before you help them get ready for the day. 

That leaves you with a couple minutes to at least dress a little nicer this morning. So you run into the closet, picking out a flowy sage green dress that Eris had bought for you a couple of days ago despite your closet being full of other clothes. 

“I wanna spoil you my beloved. Besides, I already bought Marwa and Twila dresses that match yours. So maybe you can have them wear their dresses when you wear yours. Just so I can see my most beautiful girls and perfect mate matching.” 

Gods, the way he treated you had your heart fully leaping into his hands, without any hesitancy or doubt, for him to hold close to his own heart

But even the dress is not fitting right on you. The way it hugs your hips shows off the dips that had developed after having your girls. And you didn’t necessarily hate them per say... but it wasn’t something you wanted highlighted to your mate and the entire autumn court for that matter

And then you start to think maybe it’s not the rogue or the hair or the dress... maybe it’s me. I mean your body has changed a lot since having your girls. Your breasts had enlarged with milk for the babes, and your hips had widened for the birth. 

And you hadn’t bounced back like you thought you would. 

And obviously, Eris never gave you any pressure or stress about it. In fact, the male worshiped your body. Pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, and post pregnancy. He was obsessed with you in the best way possible. 

But for some reason... today was just not working with you. And you felt dejected that you had wasted your time this morning trying to get ready for your husband, only for it to not work out, when you probably could’ve snuck into his office to have a quick few... private... moments. 

Alas, you didn’t have time to think on it too much because the girl’s came running into the room, clinging at your legs begging for their morning kisses and hugs. 

Your heart sung at their love, and you felt a small tug at your bond as the wave of emotion seeped down to where-ever Eris was this morning. 

So you lean down, pick up your girls, pressing kisses all over their faces as they giggle at you, and move to get them ready, pushing away any discontent to the back of your mind. 

You had no time to let this bother you anyway. After breakfast, and hopefully some alone time with Eris,  you needed to head out to different towns across Autumn Court to gather intel on any concerns the people had, to reassure the people that you and Eris were working hard as high lord and high lady to ensure their prosperity, to ensure that you would be different from Beron. 

The girls are incredibly difficult this morning. They want to see their papa, and they want their papa to get them ready this morning. So you press your lips together, promising them that papa will join them for breakfast if they get ready quickly. 

A couple of temper tantrums later, the three of you arrive at the breakfast nook only to discover Lucien in the place of Eris. He sends over a sympathetic smile at the downcast look that crosses your face, letting you and the babes know that their papa had to head out to the border to deal with something that had come up. 

You tug at your bond in worry, and your mate replies almost instantly with reassurance and apology which you wholeheartedly accept. Things like this happen. Things like this will happen as high lord and high lady. Things will come up and interrupt your morning and that is okay. 

But damn, does it mother above fucking suck.  

The only reason the babes don’t have a meltdown over the lack of thier papa’s presence is Lucien’s promise for some candies later if they eat quickly and get to the stables for their horse riding lessons. He squeezes your shoulder in warmth as he is pulled away by his favorite nieces, who immediately give you a hug and kiss in goodbye, once they finish eating. 

You head out to town as soon as you finish your own breakfast. 

The sooner you get this done, the sooner you can see Eris and spend some time with your babes, together as a family. That is the only thing you look forward to for the rest of the day. 

But your time in town only further worsens your mood. Compliant after compliant after compliant. All of them being valid and equally concerning. All of the citizens of the Autumn Court had suffered for centuries under Beron’s rule, and once the fear of Eris disappeared with his kindness, feelings of anger arose within the general population against the Vanserra family as a whole

At some point, you had closed off the bond to Eris because you feared he would pick up on your general distress that was progressing into outright sorrow, discomfort, and grief. 

There wasn’t much you could do besides take the brunt of the anger as high lady, reassure the people that you and Eris were working for them, for the people and not the members of court, to undo the heinous laws Beron had inacted, but advise them it would take time. 

Town after town after town. 

So many families, so many elderly, so many women, so many children had suffered. So many perished with the high taxes and tithes they would were forced to pay, not leaving them with enough money to even buy food. 

And the children... they looked at you with such hope... and once you earned their trust with a couple of candies and friendly conversation, they would sit near you trying to gain the favor of their high lady. They would tell you of losing their fathers to the war, losing their mothers to famine because they would sacrifice their food for their babes... 

It nearly broke you. 

And by the end of the day... by the end of the day you just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep the day away. Intense sadness squeezed at your heart, leaving a lump in your throat, and nausea that had your head spinning. 

You didn’t want the girls to see you like this. You only wanted them to see you happy, to see you content. You and Eris had agreed that the babes would grow up with no concern for either of their parents, that you would put on a front so they felt safe, so they felt normal. 

Nor did you want your mate to see you like this. You didn’t want him to worry about you. 

Part of your sadness stemmed from your overall day being couldron damned. Another part from your lack of time around your mate and babes. Another part from your doubt of yourself in terms of your ability as high lady and even in terms of your beauty. 

It just... the day was not working out the way you wanted it to. And the day refused to work out the way you expected it to. Every surprise was a sad one. There was nothing happy about what happened today. 

So when you got home, nearing sunset, you walked straight past where your mate and the babes were seated in the sitting room. The girls were in their own world, taking turns trying to read the book that was settled on the floor in front of them as the hounds cuddled into their laps and surrounded them in a protective circle. Eris had been leaning on the couch, a content look spanning his face with a soft smile crinkling his freckle covered cheek, watching his perfect babes politely hand off different pages to each other, watching them point at the little pictures in the book and pointing it out to the hounds that were around them who oddly looked like they understood every word the babes spoke to them. 

Your mate had been the first to notice your presence along with the hound he had gifted you for protection when you had accepted the mating bond. The hound trailed after you as Eris stared after your distancing form in confusion, you hadn’t even spared him or the babes so much as a glance as you stormed towards your bedroom. 

A sense of dread fills the male as he feels a pulse of sadness through the bond. He hadn’t felt anything from you since this morning, but he had chalked it up to you being busy. He hadn’t thought you were upset in any form. He felt his heart drop, maybe you were angry he had failed to join you and the girls for breakfast. 

“Watch over the babes,” he commanded the hounds who had sat up, ears pointing backward and down in alert at their masters orders, surrounding the girls in a circle. When the babes asked where their papa was going, “I’m gonna check on your mama, my Marwa, my Twila.  Don’t worry. we will be back with dinner okay?” 

They nodded in reply, confused because their mama usually always greeted them with kisses and hugs whenever she came back from work, but they didn’t ask their papa any other questions as he hurried after you.  

Eris finds you curled under the covers in bed, and you don’t even peak out to watch him approach you as he settles down on the bed on your side. His feet settle onto the floor on the side of the bed as he angles his body to face yours. He can smell the saltiness of your tears in the air which has his heart racing, trying to think of any reason you could be upset. 

Gods forbid, had you been hurt while out in town? Were you upset with him? Were the girls too rough to deal with alone this morning? 

He would never forgive himself if anything had happened to you. 

Nor would he forgive the person who was stupid enough to upset you like this. 

And Mother have mercy on him if he found out that he was the reason you were upset. He would rather light himself on fire alive than be the cause of your pain. 

“Beloved?” he whispers when he hears your sniffles coming from underneath the covers. He presses a firm hand into what looks to be the outline of your shoulder, before peeling the blanket away from you. 

Bile rises in his throat as he clocks in the tears streaming down your cheeks, your hand pressed into your mouth to muffle your sobs, and eyes squeezed shut to hide the pain that was no doubt reflected in your beautiful iris’. 

His heart shatters into a million pieces, not understanding what has happened that has upset you so. 

But he quickly jumps into action. 

Immediately shifting to lay on top of you, to allow his body weight to act as a grounding source, to allow his warmth to stabilize the adrenaline that is racing through your veins, to press kisses anywhere he has access to. 

His hands run up and down your sides, squeezing at your waist and hips before pulling you up into him, molding your body against his as his arm wraps tightly around your waist, his other arm reaching up to finger the ends of your hair. 

“What happened my beloved? Has something hurt you?” 

You don’t even reply, you just bury your head into the junction of his shoulder and neck, inhaling his cinnamon and apple scent, tinged with the afternoon rain and leaves, allowing for the sound of his heartbeat to calm your own. 

You finally open your side of the bond, allowing all your feelings to flood towards him. He takes a sharp inhale, overwhelmed by the rush of negative emotions, but doesn’t say anything. He wants you to share these feelings with him. He wants to lift the burden of these feelings in any way he can. And if that means letting it go onto him, then so be it. 

You shake against his body for a while, tears soaking into his shoulder as he strokes your hair, at some point pulling you into his lap and rocking you back and forth. 

And when you are ready,  you finally begin to tell your husband about your day. About how the day started off so perfectly with him waking you up, and how you felt so motivated to feel pretty for him. How nothing worked out and it left you feeling insecure. How the girls were upset that their papa wasn’t there in the morning, instead they were stuck with mama (even though you know that is not how they meant it to sound, they are only babes for mothers sake). How the towns people had so many concerns. How the children of the court had suffered. How upset you were that these things would take time to fix. How upset you were that you couldn’t relieve the peoples pain with one law, with one all included fix. How much you missed him throughout the day. How much you had wanted some alone time with him... some private time... how disappointed you were when he wasn’t there at breakfast, and how you just were not feeling good. Not feeling good about the day. Not feeling good about the state of the court. Not feeling good about yourself. 

And he listened. Stroking your back with one hand, and your hair with the other. Pressing kisses into your temple and forehead, onto your cheeks and corners of your eyes every time a new tear tried to slip out. 

He didn’t interrupt you once, allowing for you to get all your feelings out there. Only sending strokes of love, appreciation, pride, longing, and want down the bond that tied your two hearts together. 

And when you finally finished, tears all dried out, breathless from your rant, his hand came up to your chin, gripping it to force eye contact with you. The bond had tightened into one of pure devotion streaking down to reach your end, encasing you with your mates love. His amber iris’ stared into yours, flicking back and forth, reflecting only honesty and truth as he began thickly, “My beloved, you are the most stunning female I have ever seen, ever had the pleasure knowing, probably the most stunning female to have ever existed. You are the definition of ethereal, elegance, dazzling, enchanting, and alluring. Your beauty exceeds that of the stars, moon, and sun. There are not enough words to describe your beauty, really there are no words that can accurately describe it either. You are just going to have to take my word for it, and I promise you that I will prove to you ever day how bewitched I am by you. I am so sorry your day didn’t go as you wanted it to. I was actually hoping to join you sometime later today, but I got pulled away by the border issues and I just didn’t have enough time. I am sorry you had to deal with all that on your own. Things for the people are very emotionally charged right now, but I am so fucking proud of you. I am proud to have you as my high lady. I, and the people of this court, are incredibly blessed to have you as high lady, my beloved. You handled things beautifully, and in ways that I couldn’t have done better myself. You are allowed to have off days my love, but I am here for you. And I am going to remind you every time you have one of those days, actually, I am going to remind you every day, that you are my entire heart. My whole soul. And my world, along with the babes. My universe revolves around you. And you are the most loved person I know. The babes absolutely adore you, and while they were complaining in the morning for you, you should’ve seen how they cried when they realized you would be gone for the entire day. It took hours to console them beloved, hours. I was nearly about to rip my hair out before I brought in the hounds to distract them. You are their world. You are the perfect mama to them, and I assure you that you are their favorite being to exist, and I cannot help but feel the exact same. I love you so much, and it is going to be okay. I promise you.”

Your lip trembled at his devotion towards you. Everyday, your mate managed to surprise you with the amount of love and affection he held towards you. Everyday, over and over again, he proved that he was the only being that you could ever possibly want or need to be happy, to be content, to live. “Thank you, Er,” you whispered, leaning forward and capturing his lips against yours. They moved slowly and passionately against each other, pulling away and coming back. Gasping against each others lips for air before shifting to press against each other with no space left in between. His tongue slipped between your lips, ushering into your mouth to stroke at your tongue causing a shot of lust to course through your body. He leaned back, pulling your bottom lip between his teeth, eliciting a soft moan that had him surging forward again.

“EWWWWWWWWWW” 

Both Marwa and Twila’s little voices squealed at their parents display of affection, you shoved Eris away at the sound of your babes, immediately glancing over his shoulder to see the two of them scrunching their tiny faces in disgust. The both of them must’ve snuck in at some point during Eris’ speech, and- 

“Mama, Papa was sucking your face off!” Twila screamed, leaping across the room towards you. Marwa following behind her just as quickly. Both landed on their papa, causing Eris to fall back with an “omph” 

Their tiny fingers shoved into Eris’ sides trying to tickle the male to get him away from their precious mama with their best effort. Luckily for their papa, he was not very ticklish. 

Unluckily for them, the babes were. 

He locked eyes with you, amber iris’ lined with mischief that caused you to giggle and nod. You both snatched one of the girls away, sending soft brushes across their torso and behind their knees where they tickled the most, sloppily kissing every inch of their faces you both could reach.  Their little screams of laughter that followed, soothing the last seed of ache in your heart. 

[bloody-bee-tea]

BeeTober 2023 Day 18 - Tackle

Suguru isn’t entirely sure how it happens. One moment they are in their usual groove during a fight and the next moment Suguru sees one of the curses aim for Satoru from his blind spot.

There’s not enough time to think, not enough time to remember that Satoru is basically invincible these days and before Suguru knows it, he’s moving. He knows he’s going to be fast enough the moment he pushes away from the ground and even though that means he’s going to take a–probably devastating–hit, there is nothing but relief that Satoru is going to be safe. 

Suguru collides with Satoru just in time to tackle him out of the way and the last thing he hears before everything erupts into pain is a panicked “Suguru!”. After that, there’s nothing but darkness.

~*~*~

Suguru wakes up to an ache in his side that almost borders on outright pain. He takes a moment to breathe in and out, trying to get used to it, before he opens his eyes. He is, of course, met with the clinical ceiling of the medical room and really, with his side hurting like that it shouldn’t be a surprise.

It still is, somehow, until Suguru remembers just what happened.

“Satoru,” he breathes out, because he doesn’t know what happened after he got hit, after he lost consciousness and the thought that Satoru still might have gotten hurt is enough to force Suguru into a sitting position.

“I really wouldn’t do that yet,” comes Shoko’s voice from behind him and when Suguru whips his head around in surprise everything goes dark for a moment.

He’s clearly not at his best at the moment.

“Shoko,” he whispers, once the spots that dance in front of his eyes are gone. “Where’s Satoru?”

“You’re such an idiot,” she says, and there’s more emotion in her voice than Suguru is really used to. “You should really care more for yourself instead of him,” she chides him and Suguru grimaces.

“What’s the damage then?” he sighs out, because clearly it must be bad if he’s still here and subjected to her care.

“The damage is that you’re a stupid idiot,” Satoru’s voice rings out and Shoko rolls her eyes before she vanishes to god knows where, leaving Suguru to suffer under Satoru’s furious glare alone.

“You’re okay,” he still can’t help but to whisper under his breath but he flinches when Satoru’s glare goes even more murderous, if that’s even possible.

“And you probably think that’s because of you, dipshit, but news flash, I’m the strongest. Of course I’m okay. I’m always okay.”

He seems genuinely furious and Suguru busies himself with laying back down, if only so he can escape that gaze for a moment. Or at least pretend to.

“I’m glad,” Suguru gasps out once he managed to return to a reclined position, though even that brought cold sweat to his forehead. 

He really must have been hit hard if he still feels this badly.

“Well, I’m not,” Satoru bites out and if Suguru still had the energy for it, he’d probably flinch. 

“I don’t understand–” Suguru starts because he’s at a loss as to what could make Satoru this angry.

“What’s there not to understand?” Satoru interrupts him. “I’m the strongest. I do not get hurt. I am untouchable. I am invincible. I certainly do not need help from the likes of you.”

His words sting worse than whatever left-over pain he has from his injury and Suguru can’t quite manage to meet Satoru’s eyes anymore. Of course he’d be angry. Suguru basically implied that he is weak by budging in and taking that hit for him and Satoru always prides himself on being the strongest. Of course he wouldn’t take kindly to what Suguru did, no matter if it came from a place of worry.

“I’m sorry,” Suguru somehow manages to get out and Satoru huffs in a way that makes Suguru’s stomach turn.

He has seen Satoru this angry a few times but never before had that anger been directed at him. It’s not a nice feeling at all, Suguru finds.

“You better be,” Satoru snaps out, his voice shaking with how angry he is and Suguru wonders if things would be better if he fell unconscious again.

Since that is not something he can do on command, though, he chooses the next best thing.

“I’m tired,” he mutters, but is stopped by a sharp pain in his side when he tries to turn his back to Satoru.

“Yeah, I bet you are,” Satoru mutters under his breath and Suguru flinches with the reminder that he’s no match at all for Satoru.

He doesn’t even remember the last time Satoru truly needed to sleep and of course this is just one more thing that makes Suguru look weak in his eyes. Before Suguru can even try to come up with anything else to say, Satoru disappears between one blink and the next, clearly too impatient to get away from Suguru to simply walk out on him. 

Suguru didn’t know it could hurt this much to have someone teleport out on him.

Sleep does seem like the better option in face of that, and to his own surprise it doesn’t take him long to fall asleep at all.

~*~*~

When he wakes up the next time it’s to Shoko standing next to his bed instead of Satoru.

“Morning,” he grumbles out, still more asleep than awake and Shoko gives him a look. 

“Evening, actually,” she informs him and then watches as he struggles to sit up, not even lifting a finger to help him.

“When can I leave?” he pants out once he finally manages to sit properly and the look increases.

“You nearly died twice over, I don’t think leaving should be on your agenda for now. You can count yourself lucky that I managed to stitch your arm back on.”

“I–nearly lost my arm?” he asks and looks down at his torso. He doesn’t see much, of course, with the shirt he’s wearing, but it would explain the pain, actually.

“Nearly is generous,” Shoko shoots back and then rattles off a downright staggering list of injuries he sustained when he took that hit for Satoru.

Suguru can indeed count himself lucky that he’s still alive.

“How did I get back here?” Suguru asks, still trying to wrap his head around just how close he came to dying.

“Gojo. He teleported right into the room, clutching you to his chest.”

“He can’t do long distance teleportation,” Suguru mutters, because it’s one of the few things Satoru still struggles with.

“He can when it comes to you,” Shoko instantly replies and Suguru flinches with her words.

It’s just another reminder that he’s not nearly as strong as Satoru, but Suguru guesses Satoru will at least be grateful to him for making him learn that. 

“So, when can I leave then?” he asks again, because staying here is not something he wants to do.

Shoko regards him for a long minute before she sighs.

“There’s a tray in the room next door I need. Get that to me without having to sit down and you’re free to leave,” she tells him and just by her tone Suguru knows that he’s not going to make it.

Still, he has to try.

By the time he’s on his feet, he’s drenched in sweat, his entire side is screaming at him and his knees feel like jelly. Shoko clearly has no sympathy for him.

“I’m gonna make it,” Suguru grits out and Shoko huffs out a disbelieving laugh.

“Sure. Don’t break something when you faceplant into the ground,” she tells him with a wave as she leaves the room.

Suguru is almost thankful that now there won’t be witnesses when he does exactly that. Still, he clenches his teeth and shuffles forward. He’s not going to stay in this room for a day longer, not if he can help it.

He refuses to acknowledge the fact that his stubborn–and possibly stupid–desire is entirely born out of the urge to prove to himself and Satoru that he’s not as weak as Satoru clearly deems him to be because that is only going to make him spiral.

Suguru thought they were friends. Equals, even, as much as anyone can be that with Satoru. And maybe even–Suguru cuts himself off there, because that is absolutely something he does not need to think about right now. Satoru’s derision for him was more than clear earlier. Suguru pushes that thought away too and instead focuses on shuffling through the room, always keeping a hand on the wall; it’s not as if Shoko told him to not do that, and he’ll take any advantage he can get, no matter how small it might be.

Somehow he makes it to the door besides his like this, knees wobbling, sweat rolling down his face, hand shaking where it’s steadying him against the wall. It’s barely a victory but Suguru will take it. He does not think about the way back.

He pushes the door open, leaning on the handle to keep his balance but when he sees what’s inside, he freezes up completely.

Satoru is draped over a bed, a TV stashed in the corner, his clothes flung around the room as if he’s been living here for months. 

This doesn’t add up.

“Have you been hurt?” is the first thing out of his mouth and it would almost be comical how fast Satoru shoots up from the bed if Suguru wasn’t so worried. “Satoru, have you been hurt?” he asks again, more insistent this time when Satoru fails to answer him and he knows he shouldn’t, knows that Satoru is just going to take it as another offence against himself but Suguru can’t help himself.

He needs to know if Satoru got hurt.

“No,” Satoru finally gets out and Suguru almost stumbles where he stands. “Are you allowed to be up? Shouldn’t you be laying down or something?” 

Right, because he’s too weak to even stand on his own, Suguru bitterly thinks.

“I just–Shoko said–what are you even doing here?” he finally asks because he can’t understand what Satoru is doing here if he hasn’t been hurt. “Did you burn your room down?”

It’s the only other thing that makes sense to Suguru but Satoru only glares at him.

“I did not.”

“Then what–”

“You should sit down,” Satoru interrupts him and carries a chair over to where Suguru is still standing in the middle of the doorway. “Sit.”

“I can’t,” Suguru faintly says, even though there is nothing else he wants to do more. “Shoko says I can only leave if I make my way back without having to sit and I really want to leave.”

“You’re an idiot,” Satoru mutters and puts a hand to Suguru’s shoulder.

Suguru is ashamed to admit that even that faint weight is enough to make his knees buckle.

“Fuck,” he whispers when he heavily sits down on the chair, because there is no way in hell Shoko is going to let him leave now. Suguru is so not looking forward to spending another night here.

Speaking of–

“How long has it been? Shoko didn’t say.”

“A week,” Satoru says, his voice barely audible in the room and Suguru almost chokes on nothing.

“A week,” he wheezes out because even with how serious his injuries were he didn’t expect that. 

“A week,” Satoru repeats and Suguru can’t quite place the emotion in his voice. Before he can puzzle over it more, though, Shoko’s steps ring out behind him and Suguru groans.

“You’re staying then,” she says when she sees them, a pointed look at the chair Suguru is sitting on. “And you,” she continues as she glares at Satoru, “get the hell out of my hair. He’s alive, what more do you want? I’m sick of having you live here.”

She doesn’t wait for either of them to answer before she walks away and Suguru can do nothing but stare after her before he slowly turns back to Satoru.

“Live here? Why would you live here?”

“I don’t,” Satoru lies and Suguru pointedly looks around the room; the very lived-in room and he can’t quite hide his confusion when Satoru goes red in the face. “This is not about me,” he then hisses. “This is about you and your stupidity.”

“I already said I’m sorry,” Suguru snaps out. “What more do you want from me?”

“I want you to stop being this stupid! I’m invincible! No one and nothing can touch me, so what the hell were you even thinking!”

“I wasn’t!” Suguru shouts back and his eyes widen in shocked surprise when Satoru falls silent at his admission but it seems he can’t stop himself now. “I wasn’t thinking, Satoru. I saw that you were about to be hit, that you were about to be hurt and I didn’t think. I just knew I had to protect you.”

“I–”

“—don’t need your protection, yeah, I know,” Suguru bitterly mutters because Satoru has made that more than clear. “Sorry for caring about you, I guess,” he quietly tacks on and isn’t proud of the way it makes Satoru flinch.

“I’m invincible,” Satoru mutters—yet again—and Suguru is so fed up with hearing this that he rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I get it! Would you stop saying that already.”

“I’m invincible,” Satoru still says one more time and there’s something desperate in his voice. “But you’re not!”

“What?” Suguru says, a frown now on his face. “Thanks for reminding me just how inferior I am.”

“No, no, it’s just—” Satoru reaches out for him, though he doesn’t quite touch him. Suguru can still see the faint tremor in his fingers. “There was so much—” he trails his fingers along a line and Suguru guesses he’s going to find a scar in the exact spot under his shirt. “I thought you died,” Satoru weakly finishes and then plasters his usual cheerful and entirely fake smile on his face again. “But I guess you didn’t, so good for you!”

Suguru is almost getting whiplash from how fast his mood changed and he’s glad that he’s already sitting down.

“What is going on, Satoru?” he weakly whispers, too tired to try and puzzle this all out for himself, though he’s slowly getting an inkling as to what this could be about. “Explain it to me.”

The smile drops from Satoru’s face as if it’s never been there and Suguru startles when he crouches down in front of him, his gangly limbs all tucked up.

“I thought you died,” Satoru evenly says, not meeting Suguru’s eyes. “Your arm was just dangling about and there was so much blood. I thought you died.” His voice breaks over the last word and Suguru sees how he clenches his hand into a fist. “Everyone always keeps telling me how I’m the strongest, how Limitless makes it almost impossible to hurt me and it was the only thing I could think about. If I’m so strong how come you felt the need to protect me? If I’m so strong how come I almost lost you?”

He pillows his head on his arms, burying his face so he can’t see Suguru anymore but Suguru still smiles softly at him.

It makes sense, now. Satoru is just feeling what Suguru felt when he moved to protect him.

“I didn’t think of you as the strongest when I pushed you out of the way. I just thought of you as Satoru and how I had to make sure you don’t get hurt,” he softly says and watches how Satoru’s entire frame shudders. “I just wanted to keep you safe,” he adds, reaching out to push his hands into Satoru’s silky soft hair. “That’s all.”

He lazily scratches Satoru’s scalp until the shudders stop and Satoru turns his head to finally look at him again.

“Don’t do that again,” he whispers and Suguru laughs.

“I can’t promise that,” he honestly says, because if something like this happens again, he has no doubt that his body is going to move once more before he can form a proper thought. “You stayed here to keep an eye on me?” Suguru then asks and again, a faint blush dusts Satoru’s cheeks.

“Couldn’t bear to be all across campus,” he mutters, clearly embarrassed but Suguru thinks it’s sweet. Kind of over the top, really, but sweet nonetheless.

“Mind to share your room with me tonight?” Suguru wants to know. “Yours is much less clinical than mine. Easier to keep an eye on me that way, too,” he adds with a grin, though his exhaustion is quickly catching up to him.

Satoru must notice, because he’s quick to get up, carefully helping Suguru across the room to the bed.

“You need to rest more,” Satoru chides him as he tucks him in and if Suguru had more strength he would laugh at how incredibly overprotective this is.

“You need rest, too, strongest or not. Come here,” Suguru says and tugs at Satoru’s hand in an attempt to get him into bed with him.

“I guess I can sleep,” Satoru agrees surprisingly easily and slides into bed with Suguru.

Suguru doesn’t have the energy to tease him over the way he curls around him but there is one question on his mind, even as sleep tugs on him.

“How come I can touch you?” he slurs out, reaching out to wrap his fingers around Satoru’s wrist and he’s not sure with the haziness of sleep but he thinks he feels Satoru’s lips against his forehead.

“You’re always the exception,” he hears Satoru mutter and then everything goes dark once more.

But this time, he falls into it with a smile.

[lolathestoryteller]

Hey again! Thanks for doing that AU where Harry wakes from the coma. If up for a follow up/continuation , here’s a angsty prompt(with Harry still recalling bad memories from it):

It was just a bad dream?, part 2:

*two weeks later*

“Harry honey, it’s 3 am. Shouldn’t you get some sleep?”

“A and wake up again somewhere under the stairs or somewhere else?? Or maybe never wake up. I don’t want to lose what I have regained.. again. It’s too painful”

Hi again! Uh, alright — you know what I have actually had my fun writing that first prompt last time so…of course I had to do this :)

I altered the sentences slightly once again, just they’d fit in nicely.

I hope you’ll like it! Here goes part II; two weeks later…

Am I only dreaming?

„Let me out! Please!“ he pleads, pressing all his weight desperately against the small door in the foolish hope it‘d open if only he tried hard enough. „I’ll be good, I promise!“

His eyes sting, but after crying for what felt like hours, his tears seemed to have finally dried up — if only because there’s not enough water left in his body.

He has been stuck in here for at least an entire day now.

„Silent boy!“ comes his uncle‘s harsh voice, before Harry flinches back when a fist collides loudly with the door. „Next time, you might have a think before doing your freakish tricks at school.“

Harry can just barely see his uncle‘s pouchy face through the tiny gaps in the door — they’ve been installed, rather reluctantly, to let at least some fresh air sicker into the stuffy cupboard.

„I didn’t do anything.“ he replies genuinely. „I don’t know how I ended up on the roof. I swear!“

Vernon simply glowers back at him. „A lying little freak, you are. You’ll stay in there until you admit it. You hear me?“

Harry shakes his head, his throat dry from thirst and his tummy aching with hunger as he watches his uncle walk away. „No, please! Uncle Vernon! Let me out! Please, let me—“

„—out!“ Harry gasps, his eyes snapping open at once, to be met with a blurry darkness.

He blinks rapidly to adjust his vision, quickly reaching out, on instinct, to grab his glasses — and that’s when he suddenly realizes where he is. In his bed…in his bedroom.

His own, real bedroom.

It was just a dream…again.

He sits up against the headboard, breathing slowly in order to try and calm himself, though his mind is still racing with the fading pictures of that dream.

Why do I keep on dreaming this stuff?

He startles slightly when, only a moment later, his bedroom door creaks open to reveal his Mother standing in its frame, still wearing the same clothes as earlier — that means she must’ve still been awake, probably grading papers.

„Harry…“ she sighs as she enters, navigating her steps through his messy room to sit down on the edge of his bed. „Honey, it’s 3 am…shouldn’t you be asleep?“

Harry’s stomach twists anxiously at the mere thought of going back to sleep right now. „And wake up again, locked up in a cupboard?“ he whispers hoarsely. „Or maybe to never wake up at all…I don’t want to lose what I have here…again.“ he shakes his head, not meeting her eyes. „It’s just…painful.“

I probably sound stupid.

His Mother doesn’t say anything for a moment, though she reaches a tentative hand out to touch his shin.

„Harry…I’m so sorry,“ she mutters at last, before he feels the mattress shift as she scoots up to sit against the headboard next to him. „I really wish I could make those dreams go away…“

Harry knows she does. Both his parents. They’ve been sitting with him almost every night the first week after he‘d awoken from the coma…assuring him that this world is reality, and the other one‘s not…

He knows that, of course — but sometimes, right after awaking from one of those dreams, where it all just feels so real…he‘d forget it actually isn’t, just for a moment.

„Yeah, I know, Mum.“ he replies quietly, letting her wrap an arm around his shoulders…feeling how the warmth of her hug gradually eases his residual trepidation.

They sit in silence for a while, until Harry‘s sleep deprived mind finally wins, his heavy eyelids fluttering closed. „Mum?“ he mumbles, fighting sleep with his last resources.

„Shh…it’s alright, Harry,“ she whispers gently. „Close your eyes, I’ll stay with you.“

She will, he knows. And somehow, with her or his Dad there, his dreams suddenly aren’t about cupboards or evil maniac wizards anymore…but instead, they’d be about a grand castle…about his friends all being there, together…about flying on broomsticks…

Then, his dreams become truly magical.

[eridanidreams]

wip roundup London Calling: for Odysseus Gambit And A Sweet Lie, A Poison Truth: for from Stars

London Calling is set just after the end of Mankind Divided. David's flown Sloane out from Prague due to the anti-aug backlash, intending to spend quality time with his daughter (which is causing some friction because he keeps thinking he knows everything from his surveillance of her, and he really doesn't, but Sarif, y'know?). And since Adam's also in London, David gets the bright idea to introduce the two of them. After all, he's been trying to get them together for months now and Sloane keeps blowing him off and he just doesn't understand why! (She keeps telling him, "you don't need to introduce me to your security chief". Just... like... that. Not her fault he hears "don't introduce me to him...")

This is very much a WIP, and will likely see significant revisions as I continue to work out exactly what happened behind the scenes at Apex, but the part I know that's going to stay is Sloane yanking Sarif up by the short hairs regarding his actions in Human Revolution...

David leaned back in his chair and looked at them with an air of pride. “And seeing the both of you here, hale and whole, I’m glad I did.”

The very last thing he was expecting was Adam’s sardonic, “’Whole’ is an interesting way to put it, but who am I to argue?” Sloane’s brow furrowed, and she glanced sharply between him and Adam.

“What are you talking about, Adam?” David was genuinely confused. “Look at you, son!”

“Yeah.” Adam sounded unimpressed. “Look at me. More metal than meat, your name plastered all over me.” He snorted. “Pretty sure I never asked for this.”

Sloane held up a finger. “Just a minute,” she said, and David watched Adam’s shoulders stiffen. “Adam, are you saying that you didn’t consent to your initial augmentation?”

“I was unconscious,” Adam said, quietly. “There was a clause in my employment contract making Sarif my legal medical proxy in the absence of my designated proxy.”

“That,” she said, very precisely, “is not a ‘no’.”

“I—” David fell silent as she levelled stormy eyes on him.

“Adam?” she asked, in a tone of exquisite courtesy that still failed to hide the anger simmering beneath.

Adam sighed. “My left arm, chest cavity, and parts of my head and face needed to be replaced.”

“I see,” she said, still staring at David. “Let me guess, you knew that Adam was a genetic fluke, that he wouldn’t need Neuropozyne, and that because of that, you could stuff him full of cutting-edge augmentations. A showpiece and a private army all in one package.”

David winced. It sounded so crass when she put it in those terms. “That’s not—”

Sloane placed both hands on the table and slowly rose to her full height, and somehow, she managed to fill the room with her voice without raising the volume. “Medical ethics, Sarif. Have you ever heard of them? How about bodily autonomy?” He opened his mouth to protest, and “—and don’t you even try to tell me that you had the legal right, because we all know that what is legal and what is right are not always the same.”

“HE ALMOST DIED!” Sarif was on his own feet. “Do you have any idea what that was like? I thought—our entire research team was dead, and half the security force besides! I had one chance to salvage something! Salvage him! I had to make a choice, and it wasn’t just Adam’s survival on the line, but Sarif Industries!” Sarif’s breath came hard and fast. How could she not understand? “We—he—needed to be able to survive if they came back.”

She took a deep breath, and then Adam placed a hand gently on her arm. “Sweetheart,” he said, roughly, “will you do me a favor and give us a moment?” Her eyes snapped to his, and he gave her a little nod. She glanced at David, briefly, then placed a kiss on Adam’s forehead—making her partisanship clear—and stalked out of the room.

“Adam—” David’s voice cracked.

“Before you ask,” Adam said, “I didn’t put her up to that. But I’m also not sorry she said it. It needed to be said.”

David stared at him in shock. “Et tu, Adam?”

Adam snorted bitterly. “Don’t try to pass yourself off as the one betrayed, Sarif. Everything about my time at Sarif Industries was a lie, from the moment I was hired.”

David shook his head. “That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think? Believe it or not, I hired you on your own merits. The rest of it,” he waved his hand dismissively, “was just a bonus.”

Adam slammed a hand down on the table hard enough to make the china jump. “No. Stop trying to weasel out of it. You did this when I called you on the hole in the firewall, and again with Radford, and by god, for once you are going to take some responsibility for your actions.”

“What do you want me to say, Adam? That I’m sorry?” David spread his hands wide. “If I hadn’t given you what I did, you—and a hell of a lot of other people—would be dead right now. Am I supposed to regret that?”

“Ah. The utilitarian argument. Greatest good for the greatest number; too bad for the poor bastard that gets sacrificed for the rest.” Adam’s snort this time was less bitter and more contemptuous. “For someone who hates the Illuminati so much, you’re quick to adopt their methods.”

[tapperhet-em]

5

Things do not go smoothly trying to get to Einar's family's estate...not smoothly at all...

“Put the cuffs back on and lay down again.”  Lorcan suddenly demanded from the front of the Jeep, catching Meeri off guard.  She didn’t hesitate though, she knew he had his reasons.  He watched till he saw her lay down, then gave another command, “Melba, guard Meeri.  Danger!” Melba was up out of the floor, head between the seats, on high alert.  He loved his dog!

At the gate out of town, this would be the test.  Lorcan rolled down his window, which immediately set Melba to growling.  He raised a hand to wrap around her collar, showing the guard at the gate he had control of her.  “Yo, let me through, I have shit to do.”

“Have you seen the Princess, full press to find her.”  The guard asked, not wanting to get too close to the snarling and now snapping dog trying to come across Lorcan. “Nah, man, I got some chick that was throwing shit at some of us.  I just need to drop her off then I’ll head back in and see if I can help find her.  Bitch can’t be that hard to find.” He huffed and shook his head.  Melba was losing her mind and he was honestly starting to have trouble containing her.  She really wanted to bite the soldier.  

“Cool, man.  Steady on.”  The gate opened as Lorcan rolled up his window.  He was thankful that the soldier hadn’t asked to see his captive, but with the chaos going on, they might have had a bunch going through the gate to drop off anarchists taking advantage of the situation. Then there was, of course, Melba wanting to eat him.

“Stay down for a bit.  I’ll let you know when you can get up.  We’re heading towards the depot, but I’m going to cut out and head through the backwoods to get to Einar’s.  They won’t realize I’m off track till I don’t show up that way.”  Lorcan was watching all of his mirrors now, and not for Meeri sitting up this time.  It had almost been too easy making it through that gate and he was a bit paranoid.  

“Lo?”  She waited until she got a “hmmm…” back and Melba had laid down in the floor again.  “Thank you.  Your life was on the line back there at the garrison and at the gate.  You didn’t have to..” Meeri’s voice broke, and she swallowed to keep from crying.

“That’s what real friends do, Meeri.  Don’t even tell me that you wouldn’t risk it for any one of us.  Like when someone accidentally shot your dad’s thoroughbred that you took the blame for…”  That hadn’t been Lorcan, but Elio.  It was a series of cluster fucks.  The King had demanded the life of whoever had done it.  Meeri had been there when it happened and knew that it wasn’t on purpose and had stepped forward to put on an acting performance worthy of an award to tell her father it had been her.  Told him the boys had gone hunting without her, and that she had wanted to, so she tried…and made a mistake.  It was all that the four knights could do not to step in when her father backhanded her to the floor.  If he’d started to do more, Lorcan wasn’t sure anyone could have stopped Einar and Tieran from interfering.  Guilt had eaten at Elio for weeks.  Meeri never said a thing.

“It was a fucking horse.  I should have seen then that my father’s priorities were fucked up.”  Meeri had once more shucked the cuffs and now rolled to her side so she could see Lorcan from where she was laying in the back seat.  “I knew he wouldn’t kill me, but any of you boys he would have.  His horse meant more to him than a knight’s life, any knight, no matter what you guys meant, and still do mean, to me.  I guess he paid my insolence back today.”  There was a weight in her voice.  It was a sadness that went to the core of her.  

“Well, when we find him, we’ll make sure to pay him back again, this time with interest, sweetheart.  No one does this shit to our friends.  Who am I kidding, at this point you’re my little sister.” Meeri could hear the frustration and anger in his voice, but also genuine affection in the last statement.  His hand reached back and she met it with her own, their fingers lacing for a few minutes of silence in the Jeep.  

Meeri felt guilt having ever doubted that “her boys” would be behind her.  She remembered when Einar had found her standing there in the rain and she’d actually been afraid and doubted him at first.  Those three had been more loyal to her than anyone else in her life.  Yet she had doubted Einar and when he’d been taking her to his Jeep, she’d almost lost faith in Lorcan. Now both of them had shown how much they loved her.  

****

At some point, Meeri had fallen asleep laying in the back seat of Lorcan’s jeep with Melba curled up half on top of her.  Lorcan had heard from the others, they were about three hours behind the couple.  Einar had wanted to talk to Meeri and had seemed unhappy she’d been asleep, but he’d video chatted and showed her asleep and being guarded by Melba, so it had calmed his friend’s fears.  Even if Lorcan had not cared for her as he did, the fact she meant so much to Einar was enough for him to ensure her safety above all else.  However, they really were like a small family that had bonded over the years, and no matter what happened to him, Lorcan would ensure that Meeri made it to Einar’s family’s estate safely.

As the Jeep drew closer to Einar’s family’s estate, Lorcan knew something was off.  At least once a year he and his friends visited the estate and the lights at the end of the drive were always lit after dark. Yet now they were not on this night, a night when supposedly they were expecting not only him but also the three that were a couple hours behind him.  The house too was dark as well, and the house was NEVER dark.  Not even slowing down, Lorcan drove by and headed to an overlook that he and the others had gotten drunk at more than once in the past.  From there he could get a better view of the entire property from a vantage point that would keep his presence hidden and Meeri safe.

The jostling of the Jeep as it went off-road woke Meeri up.  She immediately knew something was wrong from the way that Lorcan was focused on his driving and the absolute blackness around them.  Trying not to panic, she slid into a seated position once more behind Lorcan’s seat, gently resting her hands on his upper arms as he guided the Jeep through the inky blackness around them, the lights almost completely turned off on the exterior.  She wasn’t completely sure how he was even seeing.

“Lo, what’s going on?  Where are we?” Meeri had her chin resting on the side of the seatback so that she didn’t have to speak loud for him to hear her.  

“We’re heading up to that lookout where we always go to drink, and where you almost fell off that one time that Tieran wasn’t careful.” Lorcan didn’t know why he felt like he had to keep his voice low.  Maybe it was the dark or the situation, but he felt the need to keep his voice quiet.  “The lights by the gates weren’t lit when we got near the drive, and none of the lights in the house were either.  I don’t know what’s going on, but something doesn’t feel right, Meeri.  I’m not going to take you up there and chance having someone lying in wait.  Just because we trust Einar and his family doesn’t mean that any of their staff can be trusted.”   He didn’t like saying it, but ever since seeing that the gate lights weren’t lit, every scenario for what could be going on was going through his mind.  Even if Einar’s family adored Meeri, she still carried a death sentence on her head.  If they had been threatened, or if someone on their staff had heard she was coming and told others, it could be a trap.  Without knowing, he wasn’t willing to drive them onto the property.

“Okay.  Just let me know what I need to do.”  Her father had always hated when Meerie ran off to “play with her boys” instead of attending Court functions or attending some kind of lesson on how to be a better Royal.  Now the skills she had learned over all those years keeping up with them might come in handy.  

“Just hold tight, Princess, we’re not going to get close enough to any danger for you to have TO do anything.”  One hand left the steering wheel to come to rest over one of hers.  “However, there is a pistol and mag in the pocket on the back of this seat.  Shoot anything not me, Melba, or one of the guys if something goes down.  I’m hoping maybe they’re trying to look not at home so that other soldiers won’t show up, but until I can get a good view, I won’t know.  We got this, M.  We got this.  You and me.”   His fingers laced with hers.  Never in his life had he expected for Meeri to be the one to have his back if shit went south; but now that it had, he had no problem with her being the one for him to depend on.  With both her and Melba, it would take more than one or two coming after them to get even close.  Meeri was a good shot, and Melba loved to attack assholes who messed with her people.

“Never thought that playing games of capturing each other’s castle would become a literal event.” Meeri chuckled as she leaned more onto Lorcan’s seat so that she could try and see more out the front window.  “At least we know the woods better than those who live on the property.  How many years have we run through them playing games and hiding from the adults when we were kids?” She squeezed his hand, they would get through this, but she was worried about Einar, Elio, and Tieran coming behind them.  What if they walked into the trap?  “Should we let the others know what we think is going on, Lo?  Do you think that they’ll get hurt?” The fear was almost palpable in her voice.

“When we get where we can see more we will.  No way I’m letting them drive into whatever is going on down there without some kind of warning.  Don’t worry, M, they’re soldiers too.  They may not have me and Melba, but they have each other.”  His fingers tightened around hers.  Lorcan was worried and he knew she was too.  Unfortunately they just weren’t in a position to see anything yet.  As soon as they were, he was going to find out what was going on down there and clue their friends in.  Even if they had to divert somewhere else, they knew enough places they could meet up that they all would be safe.