#I think they’d at least have one or two constellations on the inside of their cloak

[pineappleswithsugar]

My forgotten island headcanon: it’s a desert and very windy, so everyone wears the same sturdy, darkless cloak and hat that Siffrin does. They tend to be crafted by your parent(s), and there are classes on how to craft the thread. And if people just can’t do it, or if someone doesn’t have parents, there are charities that make the cloaks/hats for them.

To counteract how boring that looks, people embroider their cloaks, and have really fancy and elaborate clothes for mellow days/nights and festivals.

Cloak embroidering is done by a mix of you, your loved ones, and tailors. All of your loved ones do at least one thing on your cloak. Like, your kids will often do their very first project on you. Some parents only let them do it when they’ve reached a particular skill level tho (typically not very high, still). Your partner(s) will do embroidery on your cloak once you’ve committed to them (divorce isn’t always grounds to have the embroidery removed, as many still consider that person to be a significant part of their life). Parents usually do embroidery for their kids’ favorite constellations when they’re little, and come up with a design that they think symbolizes their kid once they’ve become an adult (sometimes with the help of a tailor if the design is too lofty, and the kid is okay with it). Instead of friendship bracelets, you instead get friendship embroidery. They tend to be smaller designs until you both decide your friendship is deep enough: in which case you’ll both expand on each other’s design.

Doing your own embroidery is a sign of independence. It’s knowing what you want, and having the means to execute it yourself. Siffrin was about the age when he would’ve embroidered his first design on his cloak. When a parent or someone close to you dies, you embroider a design on your cloak, to honor the life they lived (a typical mourning period would last for however long it takes you to finish the embroidery for each person you lost. Your neighbors would take care of you in the meantime, including bringing you new thread). Its taboo to ask a tailor for help, and none of them would do it anyway—quality doesn’t matter so much as it being YOU who does it, since YOU’RE the one with those memories of them.

Tailors basically take the role of tattoo artists (though, those do exist as well). If you have a particularly grandiose idea, or otherwise have a project in mind that you don’t have the skill for, you’d visit a tailor. They can also help with crafting the embroidery to do something like heal you a little during battle (looking at you, starry hat). They tend to be expensive though, something you save up for. Like a farewell gift for someone heading to a new country for their studies? (*looks even harder at the starry hat*)

Anyway, since the weather conditions are rough, I imagine people keep their most precious embroidery either under the brim of their cat, on the inside of their cloak’s collar, or even inside their cloak proper. Any embroidery done on the outside of the cloak would be made small and tight, or would be from a tailor and made with thread crafted to be sturdy (done by a tailor because that kinda thread would be hard to work with). Well, unless you’re okay with the design fraying within a year. The former is how friendship embroidery is usually done. Upon expansion, people either make a small expansion to their current design at the bottom of the cloak, or they move their design to the inside of the cloak and make it bigger (or both!). It’s possible to make a big design on the outside, but that usually takes a while since you need to make the design thick so it’s doesn’t fray quickly, so not everyone likes to do that. As for the inside of the cloak proper, I imagine it’s typically reserved for depictions of one’s favorite constellations, so they can be as a big as one wants without having to worry about making the design sturdy (cloaks are double lined so you can’t see the back of the embroidery lol).

But we’re done with embroidery headcanons! Now to fancy clothing headcanons. Since their work clothes are so practical, I imagine their festival/chill clothes seek to be as flashy as possible. Bright colors, if those were a thing prior to the island disappearing; midriffs showing; skirts a-flowin; boots with the highest heels you can walk with in the desert! (Or sandals.) Jewelry tends to be limited to festivals, but it’s very shiny and jingley! All jewelry would probably end up being heirlooms, but anything from Ka Bue would be especially precious, cuz it’s probably super expensive (especially since Ka Bue isn’t close to island from what I know).

I keep thinking of Indian clothes tbh, but after looking it up Cuban clothing fits pretty well too. Maybe a mix of the two?

Anyways, here’s a doodle of what everyone’s friendship embroidery might look like, tho it’d probably be smaller in real life (hey, Sif, whatcha lookin at there in your collar?) (it’s everyone’s more detailed family embroidery!)

[heart4gyu]

ten months love || heeseung x reader

note: i just thought of this out of nowhere idk but it turned out so cute ! it’s just sweet and lots of fluff ^_^ also not proofread per usual but yeah ENJOYY <33 wc: 1,889 words

you didn’t meet in a really significant way. no meet cute or anything like that, just a shared class and mutual friends.

the first time you talked to each other one on one was at small house party. just a bunch of close friends, light drinking and hanging out.

some of you had decided to go out and sit by the pool, no swimming though since it was too cold. you all talked for a while, about anything and everything and had some laughs.

in high school you never really had a friend group like this, you were close and you knew you’d be friends with them for a long time.

one by one everyone started to head inside; “i’m cold”, “i’m gonna go grab another drink”, “ugh i left my phone inside” they’d say as they retreated inside the house.

then it was just you and heeseung. he was the one you were least close with. but something about him made you want to get to know him.

you were intrigued by him. the way he was loud and energetic around the friend group but reserved and quiet on his own or around people he didn’t know.

to your surprise he spoke first, “do you like legos?”

it was random and completely out of no where. you’d just been sitting there in silence so you wondered how he had gotten to that thought. you just wanted to know what he was thinking, understand what was going on in his head.

“uh yeah, i think they’re cool,” you replied, after a second .

the pool chair squeaked as he laid back, copying the position you were in. “i bought a new set, it’s a bouquet of flowers,” he said, looking up at the stars with you.

you don’t know why but it brought a smile to your face. “that’s nice… i’ve never built a lego set,” you said.

“oh really?!” he said, genuine surprise in his voice as he turned to look at you.

“yeah,” you said, chuckling a bit at his reaction. “i mean they’re nice to look at and all but i just never thought to build one myself.”

“well, why don’t we build mine together? you can come over after our class tomorrow,” he said, and the amount of eye contact he kept made you look away.

“i’d love to,” you said, looking up at the night sky then back at him to share an appreciative smile.

he smiled back before looking back up at the stars. and you two sat out there pointing out constellations and talking about aliens until it got late and too cold to be out there.

that weekend, he came over to your dorm and you two assembled the pretty bouquet together. you didn’t know how intimate building lego sets could be until this day but it completely destroyed any sort of awkwardness that was between you.

after the flower bouquet hangout, you two were practically inseparable. everytime you hung out, you brought up something that sparked your next hang out idea.

the first time you went to his apartment, you saw his toy story figurines and he suggested that over the weekend you two could have a toy story movie marathon. you talked about things you enjoyed in your childhood, then you mentioned the mario movie and you both went to watch that together too.

he said that he was really good at all the mario games. he said he was good at any type of games and you suggested you both go to an arcade to see who’s better. and when the day ended in a tie, he challenged you to a basketball match instead. of course he beat you, but when you suggested a volleyball rematch next weekend, there was just no way he’d beat you then.

and just like that, every weekend or every other day piled up and two months had passed. even if you didn’t hang out, you two would text everyday.

you texted about everything. your days, your favorite things, your families, your worries and fears.

you could and did talk to him about everything. and those two months turned to five months. and he introduced you to his brother when he invited you to watch him play basketball.

not only that but your girl friends started to tease you about how close you two had been getting. you’d just roll your eyes and brush them off, “it’s not like that,” you’d say.

you thought they couldn’t be more wrong. you really cared about him and now he was one of your best friends. and the way your heart fluttered when his hands would brush yours as you both reached in to grab popcorn or steal the basketball from each other or attach a stubborn lego piece or to press the arcade machine buttons had nothing to do with any growing feelings towards him.

no it couldn’t. he was your friend. and you’d never had a friend like this so you wouldn’t dare say anything to him to ruin it.

and as seven months passed your day hangouts turned into sleepovers. even on your first sleepover, you were already comfortable enough with each other to sleep on the same bed.

it wasn’t weird or awkward. it was actually perfect. you laid a good distance away from each other and talked all night. neither one of you stopped to watch whatever was playing on the tv.

you both slept over at each others houses all the time now. you had clothes at his apartment and he had a toothbrush at yours.

by the eighth there wouldn’t even be a plan, he’d just come over and you’d lay around on the couch, binging a new show.

or you would go over and get your assignments done at his place to help you focus more.

in the ninth month, you two were just basically attached at the hip, an accessory to the other, a package deal.

you would grocery shop together, study together, be each others plus ones at parties.

but it did get frustrating the more people started to ask if you were together together. you hated explaining to everyone that he was just your friend.

… though what you hated even more was when someone asked if you and heeseung were dating, then when you’d explain that you were just friends, they’d ask you to introduce them to him.

they’d ask you for his number or be friends with you to get to him. you didn’t know the feeling you felt in your heart in these moments.

he was your friend, your best friend. so it shouldn’t be jealousy… but you just wanted him all to yourself.

“i think he’s talking to someone.” no, you knew. you knew for a fact that the only person he spent his time with was you.

you lied and you felt guilty. you felt bad keeping him to yourself, knowing that you’d never ruin your friendship by letting yourself feel anything more for him.

you keep him to yourself because deep down you know that you are in lov-

no.

no you couldn’t be in love with him.

you love him. just like any other best friends love each other.

before you knew it, you’d been friends with him for ten months. and you found yourselves right back in the same place you were when you had first talked to each other.

except this time, it was summer and you both sat at the edge of the pool, legs dipped into the water.

it was just the two of you outside, as you watched the sun setting in the distance. you don’t know when everyone snuck back inside but of course you didn’t mind.

there was quite literally no space in between the two of you, just how you always were. and you sat silently watching the ripples in the pool as you both kicked your feet around.

“you know, this is the exact place we were when we first really talked to each other,” he said, filling the silence.

a smile made its way to your lips at the memory, “yeah… ten months ago,” you said, turning to look at him.

his eyes finding yours, and you watched as his eyes dropped down to your lips just for a second. and you had to make yourself look away before the blush reached your cheeks.

he laughed awkwardly as he turned to look in the same direction as you. the sun was almost completely gone now. and for some reason the moment was tense as you avoided looking over at him again.

“back then, i couldn’t even think of anything to say to you. now, we basically live together,” he said. you could see him turn his head to you but you just looked down at the water.

the pool lights turned on then. “i know… i wanted to get to know you too, you’ve always seemed interesting to me,” you admitted, and he laughed to himself.

“can i tell you something? it’s a secret,” he said, angling himself so that he’s facing you more. you looked up him, a genuine look in your eyes.

“you know you can tell me anything,” you said, a sweet smile on your lips. he looked down at them again before he looked away.

“the first time jay introduced you to us, the only thing i could think was that you were the prettiest girl i’d ever seen. and that first time we talked, i only brought up legos because i wanted to build that bouquet with you. i wanted to hang out with you because i was crushing on you since i first laid my eyes on you,” he said, looking at you, hesitantly.

you couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth even though your heart was screaming at you to tell him how you’ve felt too. “… so all this time,” you started, still at a loss for words.

“yes… all this time. and the more time i spend with you, i think the more i fall for you,” he said, almost whispering. his cheeks and ears had turned a light shade of red, and he was fidgeting with his fingers.

you stayed silent as you thought to yourself what this all meant. “… uh- it’s- it’s okay if you don’t feel the same, i just thought you should know-,” he began to ramble before you cut him off.

your lips pressed to his, as you caressed his cheek with a hand. it was quick, just enough to show him how you felt. and when you pulled away, he was still shocked but a smile made its way to his lips.

he sighed in relief, leaning his forehead onto yours and holding the hand that was still on his hot cheek. he leaned in and kissed you again, more slow and gentle this time.

“if you’d have me, i’d really really like to be your boyfriend,” he said, leaning back and taking hold of both your hands in the space between you.

“heeseung, i’d love for you to be my boyfriend,” you replied, a soft blush rising to your cheeks. both of you smiling like lovesick fools, as he wrapped an around your shoulder to bring you into his side.

[hopepetal]

zera hopepetal may i request a simple hurt/comfort (either or neither or both) drabble of either scarlo pearlo or the ranchies 🙏

Hello liau absolutely. have a low effort ranchies

-

There was something to be said about the peaceful moments in a game of death. 

Never truly peaceful– it was the nature of these games to always have the players on their toes, after all– but far enough away from the constant violence and tensions of the server to at least give the illusion of peace. Tango found that he quite liked these illusions. They were precious, fleeting, and offered what little comfort they could give. It was easy to let himself drift, to let the feeling of peace wrap around him like a blanket.

Without those brief moments where the chaos ebbed and the violence ceased, it was more likely that they’d all die from stress before anything else.

Jimmy was less willing to let himself relax, Tango had noticed. His rancher walked as though he was on eggshells, his small wings quivering. He often spooked at the slightest thing– earlier today Tango had dropped something and scared Jimmy so badly that the avian hid for an hour. And man, was he good at hiding!

It was long after the sun set that Tango found Jimmy sitting outside, and sat down beside him, crossing his legs and flicking his tail into his lap. “Hey, rancher.” 

“...hey, rancher,” Jimmy mumbled despondently, not looking up from where he was picking at the grass. 

Tango frowned. “You good, dude? Something bugging you?” 

Jimmy shrugged. “‘M fine.”

“Mm… you don’t sound fine, bud.” The tip of Tango’s tail flicked back and forth in his lap. “You know you can tell me if something’s wrong? Like, I’m not gonna start judging you or anything. I get it.”

Jimmy let out a long sigh. “I just…” He sat up, finally looking over at Tango. “I’m worried, man. It’s so early into the game and already…” He tapped the yellow hearts that had been magically inked into his arm. “I know! I know it was an accident, I don’t– I’m not blaming you, but…” He gazed back down at the grass, wings drooping. “I’m already so bad at these games. I don’t want to fail again.” 

Tango let out a soft noise, leaning forward slightly. “I getcha, man. Every time we’ve played these death games, I’ve died to such stupid things! I don’t even know what I was thinking…” He shook his head. “I’m really sorry you got paired with me,” he said, at the exact same time Jimmy did.

Jimmy’s eyes widened. “Hey– wait, no! Tango, dude, you’re like– you’re one of the best teammates I’ve had!”

Tango laughed. “Seriously? Dude, what– I got us killed one day into the game! Not even! How am I…?”

The two laughed for a moment before going quiet, taking a moment to just think. The stars shone down on them, familiar constellations a comfort in this strange world. It was a warm night, with a cool breeze weaving its way through the trees. 

“I think we’ll do well,” Tango decided, “we’ve had a bit of a rough start, but I think we can make this work. Just you wait! We’ll turn it around on all of them and win this thing!”

Jimmy giggled, smiling at Tango. “You think so?”  Tango nodded enthusiastically. “You bet! Now c’mon, get inside and let’s get some rest. I’m tired.”

[midmorninggrey]

welcome to dadwc!! how about some Cal x Fenris + ❛ wouldn’t it be awful if we fell in love again? ❜

happy writing!

-inquisimer

Thank you for this great prompt! I ran with pure messy vibes on this one - I'm just gonna yeet it out here.

For @dadrunkwriting

--

Fenris had expected some form of trouble when Cal had shown up at his door, armed with a bottle of whiskey and a crooked smile, but he hadn’t anticipated having to stop the man from climbing out his third-story window.

“What do you aim to find on my roof, exactly?”

“Fresh air?” Cal kept one leg swung over the sill and looked back at Fenris brightly, as if he’d just told a great joke.

“Keep the window open then. I think you should stay inside.”

“Why?” Cal asked. He wore the purple answer plainly on his brow.

The vague challenge made Fenris’ jaw clench. His eyes went to Cal’s cane, leaning against an old chair where Cal had tossed it before throwing open the window. He knew Cal was getting worse. Hawke told him things; whether she intended to calm or aggravate his fears, Fenris could not say. Two days ago he had seen proof that she did not exaggerate.

“You are prone to accidents,” he said eventually. It was true enough; Cal had never been a graceful man, even in better health.

“I like to think of them as surprises. You know...” Cal tipped his head back and blew out a sigh, drumming his fingers against the soft wood frame. “They add variety.”

Fenris tried to hold firm, as he should have at the door. “I’m in no mood for your surprises.”

“Sorry.” Cal dropped his eyes to the floor between them. “I’m sorry. I had a bad day – I mean, people have had worse days, but today was a real walloper.”

The unsteadiness in Cal’s voice wasn’t from drink.

“I just want to go somewhere I can see the stars, you know?”

“Cal -”

“I’m really sorry, Fenris, this is unfair. I’ll go.” He started to pull himself back inside, but Fenris surprised himself with the first forward step he’d taken all night.

“I will hold the bottle.”

So they went and carefully found their familiar seats on Fenris’ roof, an arm’s length apart. Their search for stars was in vain. The smog from Lowtown had drifted to the skies above the manor, and the autumn moon was the only light strong enough to shine through the haze. The looming glow was swollen and menacing, as if it had swallowed up all its children, the constellations.

Fenris soon opened the whiskey against the chill. Cal, with his southern blood, seemed unbothered and sat with his hands folded loosely over his knees. Three fingers on his left hand and four on his right, Fenris counted. At least magic hadn’t claimed any more.

The first swallow from the bottle held no warmth but still burned his throat. Cal turned his head towards Fenris’ stifled cough.

“Didn’t bring you the good stuff, sorry.”

Fenris’ stomach lurched; the bruise blooming across Cal’s temple had gone black in the moonlight. His head had hit the stone with a crack. They’d been on their way up to Hawke’s, and Fenris had been a flight behind him on the Hightown steps, haggling with Varric over borrowed coin that now seemed unimportant. There must have been a misstep or a moment of hesitation because his eyes were drawn to Cal in time to see him drop backwards. There had been nothing to break his fall.

Three long stride were all that had separated them, but in the time it had taken for Fenris reach him, Cal had already begun to laugh. The noise was a shrill defense; it rang out like the bell in a watchtower. Heeding the warning, Fenris had retreated and allowed the others to hear Cal’s apologies and help him to his feet.

He knew Cal’s other laugh, the one Fenris liked to think was hard-fought and true. The laugh that always started as if Cal was choking on it, as if the joy was too big for his chest, until it was finally pressed out in one long, squeaky wheeze. The sound was ridiculous and foolish and safe. Fenris hoped that Cal still laughed like that with other people. In the year since his mistake, Fenris had not heard it, and just as he had kept away from Cal’s pain, he did not presume to approach his happiness.

Sitting on the cold roof, Fenris suddenly felt he was between both.

“Can we pretend that everything is alright?” Cal asked, quiet. “I mean, I know you’ll be alright. I’ve always known that.”

There was never a bitter edge in Cal's words, no matter how Fenris searched for one. He slowly worked the cork back into the bottle.

“There is no need for us to pretend.”

[cultofdixon]

The Stars Above

Daryl Dixon • They/Them Pronouns • “Remember when we were just. Trying to survive the dead?” “Mhm” “Never did I think we’d ever have a moment of peace…until now” • Smol Angst/SFW

No more Commonwealth.

No more Saviors.

No more cannibals.

No more Governor.

No more threat…besides what they live with.

Y/N found themselves at one of the picnic tables in Alexandria looking up at the stars in the sky. Listening to an old Queen’s cassette that Judith gifted them once she learned Y/N had a walkman, and what a walkman was.

For the first time since…maybe the old world, they weren’t anxious. Weren’t worried. Just simply living in the moment listening to their music and keeping their attention to the non-polluted sky remembering when it was rare to see so many stars at night.

Y/N flinched to the hand that suddenly found purchase on their shoulder. Only to realize it was Daryl and he only touched them suddenly because of their headphones.

“It’s cold out”

“I know…but at least it’s not raining”

“Mm” Daryl shot them a smile before joining them at the table looking up to the sky with them. “Yknow the constellations?”

“Mmm…Nah. I had a friend in the old world who studied astronomy and I would go with her on night hikes to a spot with her telescope. Check out the stars and listen to her go on and on about the constellations. But I didn’t listen. I just like looking at them”

“Same. At least yea know what’s north”

“Yeah a certain hunter taught me how to find my way back using the stars during our prison era” Y/N elbows Daryl playfully as they offered an earbud for said hunter who happily took it. “You ever think about it?”

“About what?”

“The start of it all…where you were…who you needed to find…how you were going to survive it all…” They brought their attention to their hands holding their walkman. “Remember when we were just…trying to survive the dead?”

“Mhm…” Daryl kept his attention close on them making sure they were okay by how they talked. But that worry passed when Y/N rest their head on his shoulder resulting in him resting his on top of their head.

“Never did I think we’d ever have a moment of peace…” Y/N sighs bringing themselves closer as Daryl instinctively brought his arm around their shoulders. “Until now…”

The two sat there enjoying the night sky, listening to music, and being comfortable in the other’s embrace. Daryl thought back to that night he first fell in love with them…and knew he wouldn’t change it for anything else..

________

“You should take it easy instead of heading back out there. Let me go in your stead”

“Nah ain’t gonna let yea do that”

“Or what? I’ll get mistaken by a walker by a certain blonde? Or not like what I find by myself?” Y/N got up in Daryl’s face when he wasn’t in the mood for their attitude. “I’ve got an idea of where to look and I just need yea to take it easy.”

“You ain’t my boss”

“You’re right. I ain’t” Y/N suddenly knocked Daryl off his feet by hooking their leg behind his and pushing him back. “But I sure as hell can take care of myself”

Daryl was too flabbergasted to have a comeback to their words. But he’d be lying if he wasn’t impressed by what they did. He slowly sat up expecting Y/N to had walked on but was given a bottle of painkillers that they keep from everybody else. Because of the migraines they’d get sometimes.

“Take it easy, and I won’t go out until you’re better”

“Fine”

And with that, Daryl had a bit of a spark light itself when watching Y/N walk away. Not knowing their spark for him happened way back in the quarry.

________

“Wanna head inside?”

“Nah. I’m liking this” Daryl kept them close for a little while longer letting them get comfortable.

Enjoying the night…

Enjoying the music…

Enjoying their company…

He couldn’t have asked for anything more.

“Hey Dar?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks for loving me”

Daryl smiles instantly when hearing that, but who couldn’t love them? He presses a kiss to the top of their head hearing them hum happily.

“Just sayin’, I got hella lucky with a partner like you”

“Really?” Y/N brought their attention onto him watching him smile.

“Really. Yea made life worth living again, and I’m just happy you stuck with me through it all”

“Gonna take a whole lot to keep me from yea, Daryl.” Y/N smiles bringing their lips against his enjoying the sweetness he had along with the smokey taste on his lips. Daryl brought his hand to rest on their cheek continuing the kiss and keeping them there for a while.

________

Y/N joined Rick on the trip to the Hilltop to check on Maggie and get their mind off certain things. They were last to come through the gates as Maggie instantly embraced them upon their arrival which triggered a confused thought. But when they parted, Maggie instantly drew their attention to where her eyes locked onto.

Daryl parts from Rick taking a deep breath still feeling it all after escaping the Sanctuary. He looks over to find Y/N frozen in their place before hesitantly approaching the man as he closed the distance. Neither of them touching the other but the second Y/N rest their hands on his shoulders. A force in them lunged them forward wrapping their arms protectively around Daryl as he did the same gripping onto their shirt and hiding his face in their neck to muffle his sobs.

The two haven’t said a word since they reunited, and Rick let Y/N stick with Daryl and Maggie. Knowing they would protect themselves and the two with their life.

But as the night rolled in and Y/N brought themselves to sit with Daryl at the steps to the trailer they’re temporarily staying in. Daryl wrapped his arm around their shoulders pulling them close and without another thought, Y/N started to sob pulling themselves closer as he gripped onto them.

“I’ll fucking kill that man for taking you from me”

Daryl fully brought them into his embrace and onto his lap keeping them close as they curled up into him.

________

The two were getting tired but didn’t want to go inside and found themselves laying in the grass looking up at the night sky.

Daryl held Y/N’s hand as neither said another word, or even had music on. Just listening to the wildlife and crickets through the night. He only let go of their hand when Y/N brought themselves close once again. This time because of the cold and needing his warmth that he was more than happy to share with cuddling his partner.

“I love you Daryl Dixon”

“I love you to the moon and back, Y/N Dixon”

[ender-niffler]

Do you think the husbands would get married?

YES, YES THEY WOULD!!

They’d probably prepose in the most casual way possible too, just the two of them- I ACTUALLY HAVE THIS ALL THOUGHT OUT HOLD ON *grabs my papers*

Mkay mkay so, they’re hanging out in the infirmary- Nick got himself hurt after a scuffle with some bandits and Ghettos just staying the night with Nick cause Nick (this is a headcanon) does not enjoy sleeping alone (that’s more head canon lore, but tldr Trauma)

They’d just quietly talking about something, but it eventually comes down to Ghetto saying something like

“You know what, if this all wasn’t happening I’d marry you”

OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT-

And Nick just stops, leans up and looks at Ghetto with a bewildered expression

“Did, did you just- prepose?”

And Ghetto processes what he said and he just is like “yeah Y’know what, f-ck it. Nick- will you marry me?”

And things just kinda go from there!!

They obviously can’t do some BIG and GLORIOUS wedding, but they still have a sweet small one- probably with their closest friends (Shark, Ak, Uni, Dr. Green- Etc etc)

Then the after party would just be a day spent with zero shifts, food- games, music.

Eventually Nick and Ghetto would sneak away to just spend some time quietly stargazing ontop of the CDC, just enjoying one another’s company (at least until Nick falls asleep and Ghetto takes him back inside so they don’t get sick.)

They also wouldn’t have wedding rings- I’d imagine they actually would have something else to symbolize their bound?

I had the cool idea of like- needle tattoos but they’re like, Constellations? Of what I’m not sure- maybe their favorite flowers, or something more personal between them!! :]

[jungkxook]

—stay. (m)

⟶ pairing: jungkook x reader

⟶ genre: popstar!jungkook x groupie!reader + smut / sprinkle of angst and fluff

⟶ words: 8,083

⟶ rating: 18+

⟶ summary: jungkook wasn’t always so madly in love with you but the fact that you’re sleeping with two of his band mates too makes things a tad bit complicated.

⟶ warnings: multiple smut scenes, slight dom themes, oral sex, finger sucking oops, boob fondling, hair pulling ft. jungkook’s undercut, doggy style, missionary, thigh riding, spitting, jealous kook!!, unprotected sex, kind of slight possessive themes? but also just general sweetness tbh 

⟶ disclaimer: my time jungkook still has me in my feels! also, this is a repost of an old fic on an old blog.

“Stay with me?”

Jungkook asks this hopefully, of course, but he already knows the answer. It’s just that, lying there with you on the hotel room bed, there’s no other place he’d rather be ━ and there’s no one else he’d rather experience the moment with than you. Legs tangled together on top of the duvet with your fingers tracing circles onto his bare chest, Jungkook swears he’s in love with you ━ only, you’re not his to have. 

“I have to go,” You pout, though your fingers continue drawing constellations on his skin, treading down his arm and over the tattoos that adorn him. You’re focusing now on the lily on his forearm, around and around, sending his head spiralling. “Promised my friends we could hang out today. Besides, don’t you have Mina or Nina━” You wave your hand in the air to dismiss the thought━ “coming over soon?”

“Who?” It takes him a moment to even remember who you’re talking about. Truthfully, he hasn’t seen that girl in well over six months but he’d never tell you that. In fact, he hasn’t been seeing anyone else other than you but he would definitely never tell you that. “Oh, yeah. Well, I think she’s coming over later tonight.”

“Well━” You trail off, and Jungkook knows it’s because you’re stalling. You want to stay, and he knows it well enough, but every question you ask him is just meant to further reassure you that it’s okay if you stay. That he wants you to. “Aren’t you busy with work today before the second show?”

Jungkook shrugs. “We still have lots of time before the day starts.”

You shake your head at him but he knows he ultimately wins out when you start to smile to yourself. You prop yourself up beside him and he has to admire momentarily how you’ve never been timid in front of him when you’re naked. His hand reaches out to brush his fingers against your cheek and you smile down at him. But then something seems to dawn on him that he can’t believe he foolishly hadn’t thought of first. 

“Unless… Unless you need to see one of them soon.”

“Who?”

“Taehyung or Namjoon.” It takes all he can muster to say their names without a trace of bitterness. He lifts himself up on his elbow. “Are you still seeing them?”

You shrug innocently. Sitting up a little straighter, you brush his hand away and fidget with your hair. “Would it matter if I was?”

Yes, he wants to scream but he refrains. “No. I just━” he stops. “Just curious. Is that what you meant by work then? You have to go see Tae or something right after me? ”

“No, you prick.” He’s relieved you giggle at him, fingers poking at his chest despite the fact that he was mentally cursing himself for being a dick the minute the words left his mouth. “Believe it or not, I do have a life outside of sex. Friends, too.”

“I know, I know,” he says sheepishly. “Sorry, I━ I know. You said you wanted to go shopping downtown before the show tonight, right? One of your friends ━ Dahyun ━ goes to school in the next city over and she’s taking the day off to see you. I do listen when you talk, y’know?”

He doesn’t miss the warm smile that spreads across your face. You finally return to him, kissing him slow and steadily. In the meantime, he flips you over onto your back and then parts from you much to your dismay. He’s nestled himself between your legs in an instant, kissing up your thigh and sending shivers down your spin. Your hand flies down to twine your fingers in his hair, now much longer than usual.

“I guess I could stay a little longer, if you’d want me to,” You say. 

“I do.”

He wastes no time in swiping his tongue at your folds, his mouth wrapping perfectly around you. You’re already mewling with delight. That’s all it ever is with the two of you. Sex and more sex. And while Jungkook isn’t complaining, he sure does wish he could just have more of you. Jungkook burrows a little deeper, his nose rubbing against your clit as he eats you out. 

“Morning sex does sound nice,” You manage to say, breath shaking.

“Yeah,” he rasps against you. “It does, doesn’t it?”

Your thighs are already threatening to squeeze shut around his head, fingers tightening in their hold. His own hands find purchase on your waist, stretching outward to hold on to you, and nothing can break you both apart. Not even the muffled sound of rapid knocking on the front door of the too grand hotel room. At least, not the first two times. On the third time when it’s followed by the sound of Jungkook’s manager irritably calling out through the flimsy wood panel, does Jungkook groan into your cunt and poke his head upward, craning his neck to look over his shoulder as his manager’s voice carries infuriatingly loudly to you both once again. 

“Get up already, will you? We’ve got several business meetings to conduct today and we haven’t got time for you to sleep off a hangover or whatever it is you’re doing━”

“Gimme ‘til noon!” Jungkook asserts gruffly. He settles himself back between your thighs, and you surely don’t miss the devious way he smirks just before burrowing his head into your heat. There’s an inaudible sound that he makes, that you and certainly his manager can distinguish as being, “I’m too busy right now.”

Busy is an understatement, pointedly made clear when his tongue delves into you, lapping at your leaking wetness as if he were terribly quenched and only you could save him. You don’t think Jungkook taking his morning to eat you out is a good enough excuse that will run over well with his manager later in the day, but it drives him away for now with only a grumbled chorus of words left in his wake. But the silence only lasts for so long. Just as Jungkook is getting comfortable once more, you speak up.

“I don’t think tardiness is a very good quality to have as a celebrity,” You ponder aloud through a heavily pleased sigh.

“Ah, or it’s exactly the thing I need,” he counters with a shit-eating grin. “Being late is a very celebrity thing, isn’t it?”

“When the fame gets to their head,” You snort. Your voice splinters off into a whimper as he tilts his chin up a little higher, lapping deeper into you.

“Then I guess I’m bad.” His voice murmurs against you, rattling you to the bone.

“You’re definitely far from bad. Everyone thinks you’re an angel.”

“Wonder if they’d think the same thing if they saw me now━” He pinches lightly at the inside of your thigh, “head between your legs, and you coming on my tongue.”

You roll your eyes, but your wittiness falls short when he tugs with his teeth at your folds. Your back arches off the bed at once, hips pressing harder against his face.

“Namjoon called last night,” You say. No, you don’t say it. You moan it and even though Jungkook knows it’s because of him and how he’s making you feel in that moment, he still hates hearing someone else’s name roll off the tip of your tongue that isn’t his. “If you must know. Said he wanted to see me in the morning━”

Jungkook grimaces. He grunts shortly, “Guess you’re gonna have to let him down.”

“I’m sure Joon will love that━”

“Don’t,” he hisses. He bites down a little harshly on the inside of your thigh but you don’t mind. When he glances up to look at you, his stare is dark and hooded. “Don’t say their names. Not now. Please.”

You almost miss the desperation in his voice, the way he almost whines his words. You don’t ask, even though you’re curious. You don’t ask, even when he eats you out that morning until he’s made sure you’re crying his name and nothing else. You don’t ask, even when fucks you slow and deep and measured and almost, dare you say, loving like he never has before, clinging onto you as if he can’t live without you. You don’t ask, even when he may get a little rough (just how you like it), as if he’s afraid you’ll leave him right then and there. You don’t even ask when he sucks not one but two hickeys on your neck, large enough for anyone to see. For Taehyung and Namjoon to see.

You never really do ask, even though you notice things have become different.

It’s not as if you haven’t always been close to one another. There are more times than not in which you both physically can’t keep your hands off of one another in public, though in the safest and simplest ways possible. It’s there, in the way you sit next to him with your legs crossed regally on the couch in the green room backstage before a set, playing with the rings on his fingers on the hand resting on your shoulder; there, in the way you sit draped across his lap, leaning into his chest, in the studio as they blur through recordings. When you give advice on composing or lyric writing, Jungkook listens. When you giggle into his ear and whisper lewd things when you probably shouldn’t in the middle of a party with important business men and other celebrities, Jungkook is captivated. 

It wasn’t always supposed to be like this. Jungkook wasn’t always so madly in love with you, but he always knew there was something about you he just could not get enough of. You had chosen him first, approaching him late one night at a bar, and he was instantly head-over-heels. Even if it was mutually agreed upon ━ and oftentimes never really outwardly mentioned ━ that you could sleep around with him, Namjoon, and Taehyung, then Jungkook would have to deal with it. He would do anything, if it meant getting to see you more. At first he didn’t even mind. What was one more groupie to the ever growing list he had already accumulated? He’s never gotten feelings for any of them, so surely he thought he would be okay with you; that maybe whatever he was feeling for you would go away. 

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

After he asks you the question the first time, he finds himself stuck in a greedy months-long habit of asking you wistfully every time he finds you in his bed. He asks it a thousand and one times, but only ever gets one response from you. You’ll say no, that you have to leave, and sometimes you will. But sometimes ━ sometimes when he knows he wins out because he knows you let your guard down long enough to become besotted by him, a tangible mess with his every touch ━ you’ll linger just a little longer and the notion alone is enough to instill a sense of hope in Jungkook even if he knows it’s wrong. 

And maybe you shouldn’t play along. Then again, he takes all your time and you devote what little you have left afterward to him anyway, pretending that you’re still seeing Taehyung and Namjoon when you’re certainly not.

Sometimes Jungkook catches you when he doesn’t mean to, or isn’t expecting to, and it’s all different moments that physically pain him. Sometimes those moments come from paying one of the guys a visit and stumbling upon you there, too. 

After having not seen you for the whole day, and just before the concert begins, Jungkook is called over to Namjoon’s room within the hotel to discuss some last minute changes to the show (which Jungkook’s positive he would have heard about if he hadn’t ignored his manager early in the morning). Only Namjoon doesn’t answer the door when Jungkook arrives. There’s a crescendo of giggling on the other side of the threshold and then it’s you, and you’re standing there wearing nothing but a baggy shirt of Namjoon’s that barely covers your bum (and shorts too, he thinks, but Jungkook’s much too focused now on you in Namjoon’s shirt). Namjoon’s standing a bit further back, leaning against the wall of the hallway without a shirt on and he’s grinning at something that’s just happened. 

“Took you long enough,” Namjoon calls out. “Come in, we’ll get started. I’ll just be right back━ Just hopped out of the shower━” And then he disappears into another room, most likely to find another shirt that isn’t taken by you.

“Jungkook!” You greet him so cheerfully, as if the sight of you half naked in another man’s home isn’t eating away at Jungkook. You pull him into a hug that’s so tight he can smell your familiar perfume and probably Namjoon’s lingering scent if he focuses hard enough. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Jungkook says. He doesn’t mean for his voice to sound so standoffish. He hopes you don’t notice. “You’re back early.”

“Yeah. The girls had to leave but that’s okay.” You’re smiling so bright and wide that it almost hurts. “Namjoon━”

“Wanted to see you?” Jungkook finishes for you, remembering your words earlier in the day. 

“Yeah━” You’re rambling on now but Jungkook isn’t listening. The pain is still lingering and it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. He knows it isn’t right but he can’t be bothered to care. In that moment, he realizes he’d rather be anywhere but there and he’s never felt that way before.

“Uh━ You know what?” He cringes slightly when he interrupts you. “Forgot I had to do something actually. Mina called earlier ━ said she wanted to talk or whatever.”

Your face immediately drops at the mention of the other girl and it pains him even more to know that you don’t see through his blatant lie. What’s worse is that Mina had called him the night before, but he had turned her down promptly before she could even say what she wanted. 

You glance over your shoulder fleetingly as if to look for Namjoon, teeth sinking into the soft flesh of your lower lip. “But I thought you needed to talk with Joon about the show?”

“Can’t, sorry. Tell Namjoon he can do whatever he wants. I don’t care. Seems like he’s got his hands full with you here anyway.”

He hates himself for it ━ he hates how petty he can be, how rude he can sound without truly meaning it ━ but before he can explain himself or apologize in a way that would probably make him look even more like an idiot, he turns his back to you. It’s the first time he’s really ever done something like that. Usually, he puts up with it ━ with you draped over Namjoon’s lap or Taehyung’s hand on your waist because usually he hadn’t always had feelings for you. 

Truth be told, Jungkook doesn’t know how Namjoon or Taehyung feel about “sharing” you. He doesn’t even know how you feel about it or if you’ve noticed Jungkook’s short temper lately. He tries to contain it but he can’t and he hates how he’s become when he’s not alone with you. Lately, he’s started to think that maybe this isn’t right anymore. Maybe he shouldn’t keep meeting up with you if he’s going to feel this way all the time, and it wasn’t fair to you for him to be sulking so much. He’s not supposed to be in love. He’s supposed to be having fun. 

After all, that’s what it was to you, wasn’t it?

But that night something happens.

Jungkook only notices you half an hour into the show later that night even despite the fact that you’re in the same place that you always are, standing on the side in the part of the pit closest to the stage where only family and close friends are allowed to stay. Of course you’re dancing along, just like you always do, and of course you’re watching him and the rest of the boys with starry eyes, just how he loves. You smiled wide at some point when his gaze locked with yours ━ him, drenched in sweat and nearing exhaustion, and you, face-flushed and looking as if you’re having the time of your life.

But that’s the thing about you ━ you’re not like the others. Sure, your eyes tend to drift to him more often than not and linger on him longer than necessary but you don’t just come for him. You live for the music, admire the rest of the boys that have treated him so dearly and make the group what it is. 

And the way he performs ━ you wonder if he purposely exerts himself more because he wants you to only focus on him. Every rough thrust of his hips, every time he grabs at his crotch, dark and hooded eyes meets yours and you know he’s trying to tease you. Trying to make you suffer.

Later, when the concert is finished and you’re at a private room in a club with the boys to celebrate the evening and Jungkook has had one too many shots, he finds you at the bar. He sidles up from behind you, one palm sliding onto the small of your back. You know it’s him even before you look, judging by the familiar stature of his chest pressing against your body, and his usual scent. His lips press to the crook of your neck and your lips unfurl into a smile. You reach up blindly to grab at the nape of his neck as he starts to sway against you to the beat of the music, hips digging into your ass.

“I’ve been dying to be next to you all night.” He whispers this into the shell of your ear and you wonder vaguely how you’ve maintained enough self-control to not drop to your knees and suck him off then and there. Even worse is the fact that he’s still adorned in the makeup from the concert. Your fingers scratch at one of the newly shaved sides of his head, the rest of his long locks only maintain some of its original style pushed back and off his forehead, though now messily mused as it splays out on either side of his head and threatens to hide the undercut once more.

“You’re drunk,” You point out. He doesn’t seem to register the fact that you only point it out because otherwise, if he wasn’t so smashed, you aren’t quite sure he’d even be touching you the way he is now after the way he’s been acting lately.

“So are you,” Jungkook hums. “Let’s get out of here?”

And you can’t possibly say no. 

He thinks it’s a shame, really, because you had looked quite pretty that night wearing a velvet red dress. Because after somehow calling a taxi and stumbling back to his dorm, he gets lost in you for a while and completely ravishes you, impatiently ripping your dress off you and pressing you against the wall, hips eagerly digging into yours until you hook your legs around his hips and he carries you off to bed to finish. 

When you’re spent from your first high, Jungkook moves from your sprawled out positions on the bed and gets up, pulling on a pair of discarded sweatpants from the floor. You watch him as he combs his hair back that’s fallen into his face again, muscles in his biceps rippling as he does so. He reaches for an acoustic guitar in one corner, then sinks onto the edge of the bed. He’s not usually this quiet after a night spent together, though you don’t quite seem to notice, thinking nothing of it as he starts plucking away at the guitar with a melody in mind if only because when he’s frustrated and stuck on a lyric, he usually goes to you in seek of help in terms of finding relief. You get to your knees, crawling over to him so that you can drape your arms around his shoulders from the back.

“That’s pretty,” You sigh dreamily, nodding to the guitar and the lazy strumming he had been doing. In the distance, you realize there’s been music playing faintly the whole time from the dock where his phone is plugged in. You recognize one of the boys’ songs playing, then realize it’s Jungkook’s solo, his own voice singing beautifully back to you. Above all else, you realize all at once that he isn’t really playing anything at all, or brainstorming a new song, but plucking along absentmindedly to the melody of his own song. 

He’s distracted but he tenses at your touch, then relaxes at once, melting instantly against you. “Just messing around,” he sighs.

“Nonsense,” You giggle. He glances over at you just in time to see you reach for his hand, and he watches as you play with the rings on his fingers. “There’s magic in these hands. In more ways than one.”

You press a chilling kiss against his palm, and then the tip of each of his fingers. Time seems to slow, and all he can suddenly focus on is you. 

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” His voice has a dull, stubborn whine to it that he can’t shake. “Have I ever told you that?”

“Once or twice,” You smirk. You busy yourself by focusing on lining the bottom of your palm with his, measuring your hand in his. He’s much bigger than you, his fingers nearly towering over yours and they’re always so snug and warm.

“Well, it’s true,” he says. “You’re the kinda girl songs are written about.”

“Unless I’m mistaken,” You say in a matter-of-fact tone, “you have written songs about me.”

He feigns a look of doubt, though a smile threatens to tug at his mouth, especially when you delicately lace your fingers with his one-by-one. “Ah, is that what you think, baby girl? Don’t let the fame get to your head.”

You laugh, dropping your head and leaning your temple against his knuckles in an attempt to hide your sheepish face. With his free hand, he sets his guitar back onto the floor and then unravels his other hand from yours. His palm is calloused and hot as it slides onto your cheek, and you nuzzle into it even despite him guiding your face back up to look at him. He can’t help himself; he leans in to kiss you, biting at your lower lip and earning a delicious moan. As his hands come to grip at your sides just over your ribs and the underside of your breasts do you crawl into his lap to straddle him. For a while, he lets himself get carried away, feeling your hands roam his chest, but then with such vivid intensity, he can only imagine Namjoon and Taehyung in the same position as him and it almost makes him want to vomit. Either that, or it’s the alcohol. Gathering his wits, he shakes his head, pulling apart from you.

“I think I should write━” He fumbles uselessly with his words. “Namjoon’s gonna kill me if I don’t finish these songs━”

You arch your chest against his, warm and soft and palpable, and your hips dig into his a little more roughly, rubbing against his straining erection. You can be heard whining sluggishly as you kiss the underside of his jaw, “But I want you inside me, Kook.”

His breath hitches in his throat, but he can’t think straight anymore. Is the scent he smelling even you anymore, or just a mix of Namjoon and Taehyung? And when you tell him he’s the only one who can ever make you feel the way he does, do you tell that to them too? 

His silence is answer enough, and is what ultimately forces you to look up at him. You’re met with an empty expression, then your own countenance is contorting. You sit back on his lap. 

“I don’t understand you anymore, Jungkook,” You say. There it is, he laments to himself. The familiar pang to his chest, the dreaded realization that maybe he’s fucked this whole thing up forever. “It’s like sometimes you can’t get enough of me, touching me here and there and just before shows when you’re supposed to be on in ten minutes, telling me that no one will care if you’re late. Then sometimes it’s like you won’t even look at me. Like you can’t get me off of you fast enough; like you can’t even touch me anymore.”

Jungkook avoids your stare, which he knows is exactly the sort of thing he shouldn’t do. But you already have your answer. You clamber off of his lap at once to slide back onto the bed and he wants nothing more than to pull you back but he knows he shouldn’t. Now, you seem flustered, or maybe just disheartened. Your arms come to cross over your bare chest, as if to hide yourself.

“You don’t want to touch me anymore,” You say dryly. 

It’s not a question so much as it is a statement. Either way, he shakes his head. Rubbing a tired hand over his face, he mumbles, “Maybe you should go.”

You clamp your mouth shut. “You’re not serious, Jungkook.”

He still doesn’t dare to meet your gaze, his jaw set hard in place. 

“You’re kicking me out? Now? Now?” 

“I’m not. I’m just━ Not in the mood tonight.”

“What a liar,” You gasp. “I had your stupid boner poking my ass the entire time we were at the club, and you sure as hell spent the better part of the night fucking me.”

He can’t quite tell if you’re mad. Your tone dances a fine line between incredulousness and amusement, though he assumes it all boils down to disappointment in the end anyway. You refuse to move, though, pushing yourself onto your knees beside him.

“Tell me the truth, Jungkook,” You plead carefully. “Something’s wrong. Has been for a while, and I want to know what it is.”

He takes a deep breath and finally meets your stare and, god, you look irresistible. Your lips are bruised red from him biting and sucking at them, and your exposed chest is too tempting, beckoning him to touch you. His mind is a whirlwind of emotions ━ plus, he’s just a little bit tipsy, and so he blames it on that for caving into you so easily.

He grimaces. “I’m jealous, all right?” 

You don’t respond at first, and he decides he wants to curl up into a hole and die. Then, you snort, which isn’t exactly the sort of reaction he was expecting to hear from you, and suddenly you don’t seem so angry at him anymore. “I knew that. Was wondering when you’d tell me, though.”

“You what?”

“Well, it’s not that hard to see. You’re always giving Namjoon and Taehyung death glares when I’m around.”

“I didn’t think I was that obvious.” He says this sheepishly, and at least you giggle at him. “I just━ I’m selfish. I want you to myself.”

“I’m not a thing to have,” You retort.

“I know,” he says, and then groans the words again. “Fuck, I know. I’m sorry. I know you’re not a thing to have, and you’re not mine to have but, god, I hate it that they know everything about what it feels like to be with you.”

Gently, he grabs at your waist, tugging you onto his lap, rough hands spreading your thighs to sit perfectly on him once more. Then, with his hands planted on your hips, does he guide you back and forth on him slowly. He reaches out to brush his fingers along your bare arms, then across your collarbones, and down to your breasts. He leans down as if to kiss the valley between them, but his mouth never really does meet your skin; instead, his lips graze faintly against you.

“That they know your body.” He brushes his nose against your chest as he lifts his head. His mouth ghosts across your breasts, almost catching your nipples in his mouth, his breath warm and tingly against the sensitive flesh, just to tease you. His hand follows his lips, grasping firmly at the underside of your breast, his thumb flicking over the perked bud. “Have touched it where I’ve touched it.”

Your own hands flail out to grasp at his shoulders, your breath hitching in your throat. “Why? Why do you hate it so much? That’s all I want to know.”

“Because they don’t even know how lucky they are,” he mutters. “Because you probably do all sorts of things for them and they just think you’re another groupie. Because they aren’t in love with you.”

“You’re in love with me?” Your face is hot now, your body trembling. His hands are still on your chest when he starts kissing your throat. 

“Yeah. I am.”

“What if I told you I’m in love with you too?”

“Well, you are fucking my band mates. I think that makes things a tad bit complicated.”

“You’re such an idiot.” You’re certain if he wasn’t making you feel like heaven in that moment, you would have snapped the words. Instead, you’re already shamelessly grinding your hips against his even without his guidance. “I called it off with them a while ago, actually. They were okay with it, too. Said they felt something was different. You’re the only one in my life, Jungkook.”

Jungkook stops suddenly. He pulls his head back to gawk at you and is greeted to your hooded eyes watching him. “You━ What? What about this morning when you said Namjoon wanted to see you?”

“I lied,” You admit timidly. 

“And when you were in his room━”

“We never did anything,” You promise. “I just wanted to see a reaction from you. Honestly, so did Taehyung and Namjoon. I mean, Namjoon purposely told me to come to his room to see if you’d be jealous. And I think I went along with it because I really just want to know that when you ask me to stay with you, in your bed, do you really mean it? I just…” You trail off, biting at your lower lip, asking him apprehensively, “What about you and that Mina girl?”

“I haven’t seen her or talked to her in months,” he says earnestly.

“Of course not.” You say this in a breathless laughing manner, as if it’s just now dawning on you. Then, you reach up to cradle his head in your hands, grasping at either side of his face. When you speak next, your voice is an ardent whisper. “I want to be with you, Kook. Like really, really be with you. I didn’t know how to tell you because we were so used to just having sex and nothing more and I figured if that’s all I could get with you, then I’d learn to live with it even if it’d kill me to hear you hooking up with other girls.”

Jungkook blinks. He takes a moment to comprehend what’s happening, but then he’s feeling that tension in his chest loosen and he’s just so relieved. 

“There’s only you,” he says. “Has been for a while.”

You smile, so big and soft and pretty, and he kisses you just to bask in the moment. Suddenly, he’s just overwhelmed with love for you and almost doesn’t know what to do with himself. 

“Maybe I should get you jealous more often,” You muse pensively. “It’s kinda hot.”

“It’s mean,” he pouts. Then, his demeanour changes and he’s smirking wolfishly. “Besides, they can’t fuck you like I can, can they?”

“N-No,” You croak feebly. “It’s always been you, Jungkook. Even with them. I’d never tell them but… you’re all I could think about even when I was with them. Imagining you touching me instead of them. Imagining it was you when they laid with me.”

This seems to grab his attention, having him groaning into your neck. “What’d I say? Gonna be the death of me.”

You shiver at the sound of his hoarse voice. You whisper aloud, “The feeling is mutual.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been so stupid lately,” he says. “Let me make it up to you. Do you want that, baby girl? But first you gotta show me you mean it. That you’re mine.”

As he tongues a pattern against your throat, you muster a nod. You wonder if it’s obvious how badly you want him in that moment, with the way your hips continue to grind against his. 

“I want you to fuck yourself on my thigh,” he murmurs against you. “Can you do that for me?”

The thought entices you and has you scrambling to nod your head again. His large hands come to grab at your ass, shifting you until you’re seated on one of his legs. Your eyes never stray from his as you start to grind against his thigh, the rough material of his sweatpants rubbing at your core. Slow and steady, he guides you back and forth, watching as your pretty mouth pops open into a silent gasp.

“That’s it, baby girl,” he coos. “God, you look so pretty. And you’re all mine. Touch yourself for me.”

“Where?” You ask breathlessly.

“All over. Anywhere you want me.”

You whimper at the thought, imagining the feeling of his rough hands on your body. You start at your chest, grasping at your own breasts, squeezing at your perked nipples. You pinch them until they’re hard under your fingertips, kneading the soft flesh of your breasts with your palm as you try to picture Jungkook doing the same. Then, you slide one hand down the front of your stomach, past your navel. He watches as you dip lower and lower before finally reaching between your legs, fingers rubbing small circles against your clit. The mingling feelings of you rutting your hips against his thigh and the way you touch yourself under his burning stare has you writhing on his lap within seconds. 

“Oh, Jungkook━” Your eyes clamp shut, brows knitting in concentration. “Wanna feel you so bad━”

“Uh uh,” he tuts at once. Grabbing at your chin, he yanks your head back up in his direction and taps his thumb against your jaw. “Keep your eyes on me. I want to see how I make you feel.”

“But it feels so good,” You whine. Still, you listen, prying your eyes open just slightly enough to meet his stare again. Now, you’ve started to grind a little harder on him, rubbing at your heat a little faster. “Please, Jungkook━”

“Cum for me first,” he coos, his tone gentle despite his obvious demands. “Then I’ll do whatever you want. You can do that for me, right?”

You muster a nod, eyes threatening to flutter shut again but you refrain. He moves one of his arms to wrap around your waist, his large hard encompassing almost all of your back as he pushes you closer to him and the action alone is enough to make you hum with delight. 

“Tell me what you want me to do to you,” he says. “The things they could never do for you.”

He doesn’t say Taehyung’s or Namjoon’s names for you to understand and, truthfully, you’re glad he doesn’t. Your mind is much too focused on Jungkook to care about anyone else.

“I want you━” You cry out suddenly, biting at your lip. “I want you to touch me, anywhere. I want you to use me, and make me yours. I want you in me. I just need your dick, Jungkook, please. You always make me feel so good. Please, please touch me━”

His jaw sets hard in place as he continues to watch you, fingers itching to please you however which way you want, but he waits. He knows you’re close to your high when you start whimpering and moaning his name, your hand falling from your chest as your other hand rubs harder at your clit the faster you ride his thigh. He flexes his muscle beneath your core, and the simple action is enough to have your head spinning. As you reach your high, his hand that is still wrapped around your chin slides upward and his two forefingers poke into your mouth. Instantly, you’re sucking against them, tongue laving at his digits desperately as you imagine his cock in your mouth, in your cunt, stretching you wide.

“God, you’re such a good girl,” he grunts. “Keep your eyes on me.”

As you unravel in his arms, body twitching into his chest, his arm tightens its hold around your back and envelopes you in his warmth so much to the point where it feels as if you begin to melt against him. You grab at his wrist, pushing his fingers deeper into your mouth until you almost gag, muffled moans meeting his ear as you climax. When you’re spent, your pace on his thigh slows to a steady occasional gyrating of your hips as you suck and lav at his fingertips.

“That’s it, baby girl,” Jungkook hums, his free hand stroking your back as you calm your nerves. When you’ve regained most of your wit, you pop Jungkook’s fingers from your mouth and he takes the liberty of guiding his palm down your chin to your throat to your breasts. “You’re doing so well for me. Bet you never listened as well to them as you do with me. Will you get on your hands and knees for me?”  

You scramble to obey, crawling off his lap and onto all fours on the bed. You crane your neck to watch as he gets to his knees behind you, shoving the material of his sweatpants down to his knees in haste. He’s already impossibly hard, grasped in his knuckles, precum leaking from the head of his dick. He wastes no time in pushing himself into you, and though he’s stretched you wide hours ago, the same feeling of him slipping in snug to your heat does wonders on your body still. 

“Mm, Jungkook!” You cry out as he buries himself balls deep into you, coaxed so easily by your slick arousal. He sputters at the sensation, palms pawing at your navel as he yanks you further down his cock. “F-Fuck━ You feel so good━”

“Show me,” he gasps, pulling his hips out once and rutting into you so vigorously you feel it shudder throughout your whole body. Then, he’s thrusting into you at a rhythmic fast pace that has you clenching so tight around him, his head spins some more. “Let me hear you. I wanna see how I make you feel. Let me see how you belong to me.”

He tugs at your elbows, yanking you up off the bed, and you clumsily follow suit, pressing your back flushed against his chest. 

“I’m all yours, Jungkook,” You whine. “I want you to wreck me so bad. Only you know how to wreck me so bad.”

“Yeah?” he taunts. “Only me? Gonna prove it?”

“Please, Jungkook━ Harder, please━ I’ll do anything you want!”

He quickens his pace and slams his hips up into yours harshly. It has you moaning with delight, nearly slipping from his grasp, but he holds you tighter in place. He reaches round to grab at your chin again, twisting your head in a careful yet prompt manner so that you’re looking over your shoulder at him with your flustered gawking expression.

“Open up.” He taps at your mouth and you do as you’re told. Almost instantly, he pulls your chin closer until your mouth is hovering over his, and spits. It’s a wordless command and gesture, as if to further prompt you to prove your point. You welcome it entirely, swallowing his own saliva completely. What doesn’t make it into your mouth, dribbles down your chin and onto your throat. Then you’re chasing his mouth, hearing him hum approvingly, “That’s it, baby.”

You almost miss his lips the first time from the way he’s being so feral now as his hips continue to slam against yours. You’re fortunate when he guides your chin, still pinched between his fingers, in a much too tender manner for the crude moment that has your heart swooning despite all the hysteria. A hot open-mouthed kiss which is still entirely sloppy as your tongues ravish mid-air, and his teeth nip and suck on your lower lip any chance he can get. 

“Gonna tell them how well I fuck you?” he asks breathlessly. You bite at his lip this time, tugging at it hard. “Let them know you’re all mine? Fuck━”

“Mhm!” You rasp. “Oh, Jungkook━”

By now, his pace is relentless. You threaten to ricochet from his grip with each rut of his hips, knees wobbling beneath you. He hand falls from your chin finally to grab at your breasts, replacing your earlier efforts, pinching at your nipples, squeeze at your soft flesh. He lavs wet kisses along your jawline, your neck, and shoulder. Your own head leans back onto his shoulder, a hand reaching out to grasp at his hair. Your fingers first scratch at the shaved sides, then thread through his hair, yanking at it tightly enough to have him grunting in delight.

“Jungkook, I’m gonna━” You whimper. “I’m gonna━”

But you don’t finish your thought. It doesn’t matter anyway. Jungkook already knows you’re close to your high with the way you start to clench around him. You pull even tighter at his hair, a pleasant burn evoking a hiss from his throat. His hips move even faster than before, desperate to try and carry you to your high. So riddled from your first orgasm not long ago and the one before that, you’re quick to crumble beneath him once more. Twisting and turning, you cry out his name in a repeated mantra, like music to his ears. When the scorching heat between your thighs and blinding your eyes subsides enough for you to be somewhat coherent again, you meekly find your voice.

“Tell me I’m yours,” You beg despairingly, voice barely a ragged panting whisper. The aftershock of your orgasm still shakes through your body that the way you’re clutching at his hair now is only so that you can still have some sort of hold on reality still. “Please, please. Tell me. I wanna be yours so bad. You already have me, just wanna hear it from you. Tell me you want me as much as I want you. Please, Jungkook━”

A nerve flutters in Jungkook’s heart. And his dick. He marvels momentarily at the idea of how he wants to continue to wreck you and simultaneously love you all over and grows impatient. Without warning, and with much difficulty, he pulls out of you. Before you can register what’s happening or miss the warmth of his cock in your heat, he pushes you onto the bed and flips you around so that you’re on your back. Then, hovering over you close enough so that he can hook one of your legs over his shoulder, he pushes himself back into you. 

“You’re all I want,” he says, smoothing his mouth over yours once more. He moans against your lips, then rests his forehead against yours as he squeezes his eyes shut. “God, I’m so fucking in love with you. You make it so hard to think sometimes. Everything about you drives me wild.”

His pace isn’t as harsh as before, though he’s careless as he abandons all form in an attempt to ride out your high and reach his own. Each thrust he makes jolts you back and forth on the bed, the sensitivity between your thighs a mild burn that starts to crescendo as you gasp each time his cock slides back into you. You reach out tiredly to grab at his face with soft motions despite not bothering to move him from where he still rests with his forehead. One large palm of his comes to grasp at your side, pushing you further into the mattress as he hammers into you. 

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum━” He moans. “Gonna let me fill you up, baby? Gonna let me make your cunt mine?”

“Yes, please,” You rasp. “Wanna feel it so bad.”

It’s different this time despite knowing the sensation well enough from all those times before. Every event since then has been a build up to this, and when he finally releases into you, it’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. The last few sluggish ruts of his hips make the both of you whimper and whine, mewling with delight the longer he cums in your heat. 

Then, he slumps against your chest and the room falls silent once more safe for the sound of your mingled panting. He burrows his face into the crook of your neck and your fingers rake through his sweaty hair in a soothing manner until that too ceases after a few silent moments. 

“Not falling asleep on me now, are you?” he asks after the thrill of both your highs have subsided. He lifts his head to look at you and finds that you are, in fact, beginning to doze off. 

“No,” You lie. You pry one eye open to look at him as you bite back a sheepish snicker. He pulls out of you at long last, and the lack of warmth has you immediately protesting. You reach out  blindly for him before he can move too far. “Come back here. I want to cuddle you.” Then, letting your surroundings register once more, you realize suddenly that music has still been playing all this time. Most specifically, Jungkook’s solo which has been left on a loop. You meet his curious gaze in the dark and deadpan, “Did you seriously just fuck me to your song?”

“It’s not fucking when we were making love,” he wriggles his brows suggestively. You wonder how he’s always so quick to go from one extreme to the other. Whereas five minutes ago, you wanted nothing more than to have him demolish you with his dick, now he’s just his usual lovable idiotic self that you want to kiss all over. He’s not wrong though, you discern. The song isn’t a bad one either, and the thought of him having sex with you to his own music is undescriably hot anyway. 

“You can’t say you were making love to me when you just took me raw.” Amongst other things, you think to yourself, but you’re certain he’s well aware of that. His snickers warm your heart to no end and you can’t help yourself when you lean forward to kiss him. 

“I can and I will because I love you,” he says proudly. Then, as if tasting the words on his tongue and favouring the sound of it, hums more pensively again, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Jungkook.”

And this time he knows you mean it because, in the morning, when you both wake up feeling sore and marked all over by one another (so that Namjoon and Taehyung can know), you’re still curled up into Jungkook’s chest. You’re half asleep, your nose nuzzling against the crook of his neck and making him smile. You’re only roused awake by the feather-light strokes his fingers make as they rub small circles into your back.

“Stay with me?” Jungkook asks this hopefully, of course, but he already knows the answer. This time, he even knows it’ll be different. 

He sees your sleepy smile widen when he kisses your temple sweetly, and decides quickly that he likes this, right there and now, as it is, and especially when he hears you whisper finally, “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

⟶ All rights reserved to © jungkxook. I do not allow reposting, translating, or any sort of modifying and reuploading of my work.

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[nightwishesworld]

Jealousy

It was a quiet day at the Dimitrescu Castle. The girls were unusually calm going about their business in and out of the basement, keeping their messes down there for the most part. None of the staff was being chased down the corridors in fear of their life and even better; there were no crashing sounds of decorative pieces being broken. Only silence. You and Alcina settled in the library for the afternoon. It started off nice with the two of you lost in your own novels, but it wasn’t long until the vampire grew bored and wanted cuddles. You were more than happy to oblige. It was one of those days that you’d call perfect. Alcina lounged on the couch with her head resting on your lap. Her eyes are closed and all she can focus on is your rhythmic breathing and the feeling of your fingers gently massaging her scalp. A perfect lazy afternoon. You almost thought she had fallen asleep until suddenly her eyes were open, glowing their beautiful gold. Alcina raised her head and sat upright, eyes glued her eyed to the main doors.

"Someone coming, Darling?" You ask in a low voice, reaching blindly behind you for the weapon concealed under the cushions.

She nods. "Sounds like a woman running out of breath. Perhaps a maiden managed to escape the basement." She leaned toward you like she was ready to shield you from whoever was making their way down the corridor. You could hear the footsteps now, they were coming closer and closer to you. Alcina was right, it was definitely a woman, the footsteps were much too delicate to be a man. Said vampiress was practically on top of you now, her arm supporting her weight on the opposite side of you, just in case you needed to be protected.

Whoever it is was just outside the door. You both braced yourselves as the door now twisted. Just as Alcina was about to pounce on the intruder, you both recognized her as one of the maids. False alarm. It was only Mihaela, a very dear friend of yours from the below village. You grew up together and considered yourselves sisters. When her father passed away Alcina welcomed the girl into the castle with open arms. The girls had been introduced to Mihaela on more than one occasion and knew not to harm her. You'd like to think they consider her more or less a friend.

"What are you doing here, dear," Alcina immediately relaxes back onto the couch. "It's your day off, is it not?"

The girl nodded, physically unable to get any words out.

"Good Lord, Mihaela, did you run all the way up the mountain?"

She nodded again. Alcina stood to fetch her a tall glass of water. Mihaela eagerly accepted. "Y/n!" she rasped. "You'll never guess who's in the village right now asking about you."

You share a sideways glance with Alcina, waiting for the girl to continue. Who could possibly be asking about me?

"E/n, your ex!"

If you were drinking something you would have choked. That was a name you hadn't thought about in years. To say you were not expecting that would be the understatement of the century. You don't know what to say. What can you say? What could they possibly want with you after all these years? Money? A place to stay? Work?

Sweet spawn of Satan Aclina would kill them.

She's still staring at Mihaela with an expressionless look on her face.

"What?" You hope you simply heard her wrong.

Mihaela nods vigorously. "I know! I couldn't believe it either. There I was, helping my little brother open up shop for the day and I see them walk by. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but the next thing I know they're inside the shop hugging me! I could barely get a word out I was so floored."

"I thought they left to tour Romania looking for their 'dream job?'"

"Didn't work out. I guess no one would keep her employment for long. They said they were too good for the jobs anyway, can you believe that?"

"Honestly? Yes. You remember how outlandish they were, guess they haven't changed too much."

Mihaela giggled. "It sure felt that way."

"So wait, how did my name get brought up?"

"They asked if you were still around- seemed pretty keen on seeing you again."

Alcina rolled her eyes. "Marvelous."

You take her gloved hand in yours and give it a reassuring squeeze. She eases up a little bit as you rub circles on top of her hand. "You said no, right?"

"Of course I did!"

"Then why do you look so nervous, Mihaela?" Alcina asked.

The girl stood like a statue, only moving to twiddle her thumbs. Silence fills the room as the matriarch waits patiently for the girl to speak. Her eyebrow arches as if she says "I'm waiting..."

Finally, Mihaela speaks. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding in.</p>

"As I was leaving I heard them asking others of your whereabouts. It's only a matter of time before they find out the truth."</p>

"Well that's just fantastic then, isn't it? Now we can't even go down to our own village without risking an encounter."</p>

Mihaela gave a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry, Lady Dimitrescu. They're not staying in our village, just passing through. I believe they said the village just east of us, on the other side of the forest."

Alcina hummed. "Best to stay away then, don't you agree, Love?"

You couldn't nod your head quick enough. "Of course. What do they want with me though? I haven't even thought about them in years."

Mihaela shrugged. "I guess they just wanna talk? Reconnect with all our old friends? I didn't ask; just said you weren't around anymore."

"Couldn't you have just told them I died or something? That would have solved everything! They wouldn't be going around using about me AND if they ask to visit my grave you just bring them to the coolest tree in the forest and say I'm buried under it. My body intertwined with its roots. You could've had so much fun with the dramatics!"

"Do you think they'd be stupid enough to come looking her y/n up here?" Alcina asks in an almost hopeful tone.

Mihaela rolls her eyes. "Well, I only came to warn you. You know how...persistent they can be. Now that I'm here, may I stay and pick up some work?"

"Of course you may, my dear. If it's the trek back down you want to avoid I can always call a carriage for you."

"That's very generous of you, my Lady, but really, I don't mind. I like to keep busy."

Alcina nodded, accepting the answer. "Very well, dear. My study could use another dusting once you've regained yourself."

As the doors close behind Mihaela, the matriarch relaxes and lies back down with her head on your lap."Well, that was interesting."

You immediately start running your fingers through her hair. "No kidding, What the hell do they want from me? I thought we agreed we'd never have to look at each other ever again, now they wanna talk?"

"I wouldn't know. You've never told me about this person."

"I was sparing you, trust me." Alcina still looked up at you, her eyes flurrying with emotion. "There isn't much to tell, Al. We were together a few years and couldn't make it work so we started hurting each other, sometimes just out of spite. Really, Al, it's nothing I ever felt compelled to bring up; especially to you." You can't hold back a giggle. "You know how jealous you can be."

"I do not get jealous."

"Al, not two weeks ago you almost slaughtered the village butcher cause you didn't like the way he looked at me."

She rolled her eyes. "That swine was looking you up and down like you were nothing more than a piece of meat."

A comfortable silence fills the library. You're both lost in your own worlds together. Alcina stares up blankly at you as you continue to read."It was a serious relationship then? If it lasted a few years then it must have been."

You try to hide behind your novel and Alcina tosses it to the ground. You can't look her in the eyes without blushing and feeling really uncomfortable. "It was-umm...we were...briefly engaged."

"What?!" Alcina bolts up from her spot. "You were engaged?!"

You nod curtly. "Briefly engaged, yes."

Alcina just stares at you, completely flabbergasted. "When were you planning on telling me that?"

You pulled a confused face. "Um never? Why would I ever bring that up? Under what pretense is that an ok thing to bring up?"

"I..." She sighs, "I don't know."

"I'm sorry, Alcina. I didn't think it was a big deal."

"I suppose it's not. You're here now and that's all that matters."

You crawl on her lap and give her a sweet kiss. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Later That Night

You were out on the balcony gazing up at the array of constellations, waiting for Alcina to join you when there was a knock at the bedroom doors. Strange, no one is around at this hour. From your vantage point, it sounded like one of the servants talking to Alcina. He handed her something through the crack of the open door before having the door slammed in his face. Alcina joined you out on the balcony and handed you a rather beaten-up-looking envelope. "This was left for you by the main gates. Can't imagine who it's from?"

"Fuck, already?"

Alcina hummed as she sipped her wine. "A letter from your ex-fiancee."

"Wanna read it together?"

Alcina shakes her head but it looks forced. "It's none of my business."

"I don't care Alcina, really. This is clearly bothering you and I want to know what's going on between them and me."

"Well, if you're sure then." She hands you a letter opener and curls up next to you. The action briefly reminds you of a puppy looking for attention.

You waste no time opening the envelope and pull out a short, sloppily written letter.

I hope this letter finds you well. Please, before you crumple this up and throw it away please just hear me out. I want to apologize for how I treated you when we were together. Obviously, we were both dealing with a lot back then because we were young and stupid, but I'd like to think I've changed a lot since then. Don't get me wrong, I still have my moments, I'm only human, But I really have changed. If you still hate me and never want to talk to me again I understand. I wanted to say I'm sorry and see if we could make an effort to at least stay friends. I'm not the wreckless teenager you used to know and I've always thought about reaching out to you.

These past years of backpacking have taught me a lot and helped me grow up. I had to learn how to fix my own problems and not lean on someone else's support. I had to learn how to live off the land and support myself through the good and bad times. I realize now that I wasn't able to take care of you because I was unable to properly take care of myself. I see that now. You were never far from my mind; I thought about you every day I was gone.

The blacksmith told me you're working at Dimitrescu Castle as a handmaiden? Never thought you of all people would ever accept that kind of job, but hey, I guess I'm not the only one that changed. I hear it's pretty tough up there...then again you're the toughest person I've ever met. If anyone can handle it it's you. How are they treating you up there?  What's it like living in such a massive castle? You know me, I would probably lose my way and get lost haha.

I really hope you decide to write back, but no pressure. I understand everything we went through was...a lot to deal with and you want your space. Just in case you want to respond, I'll leave my address enclosed. A nice elderly couple is letting me stay with them in exchange for work. How sweet is that? It's mostly just labor chores around the house that need to be done so it's no big deal.

Best regards,

E/N

You share a look with Alcina who only scowls at the piece of paper. "I don't like the sound of this."

You shake your head, genuinely lost for words."I don't even know what to say, honestly."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

Alcina sighs and sits you on her lap, straddling her thick thighs. "I know you're going to say forget about them because of me," she silences you with a single finger to your lips. "But it's ok. I know you love me and only me. You're allowed to have friends outside the castle, my love, and I have no right to deny you. Even if this particular friend was your ex-fiancee; I trust you completely."

Your heart was melting in your chest. Even though it looks like it took all her strength to say those words you know she means it. 'Thank you, Alcina. I know you don't like this, but I would at least like to hear what they have to say. Our relationship wasn't a happy one at the end and, well, I don't know, I guess I just want some closure. But I promise every letter I get we will read together."

"Oh you don't have to do that, love, I trust you."

"I know and I appreciate that very much. But I want you to know exactly what's being said between the two of us, even if it's just to ease your mind about them."

Alcina smiles down at you and strokes your lips. "What have I done to deserve you?"

"Whatever it was, you definitely deserve me."

Three months and several letter exchanges later

“Why do we entertain this, again?”

You glanced up after opening the latest letter received. “Because, my love, all they’re looking for is a friend. It’s been a long time since they left the village and a lot has changed, the people included. Trust me, as soon as they make more friends down there they will get bored of me.”

Alcina only groaned in response as she laid herself down on the bed, rather dramatically, so her head was in your lap. “Doesn’t sound that way to me. Last week they said, and I quote, it means the world to me that we’re talking again. I can’t believe after all this time and everything we’ve been through you’re still willing to talk to me.” She sighed. “I’m still surprised myself.”

You lean down and kiss her lips chastely. She pulls you back onto her and bites your lower lip, causing you to gasp. She takes this opportunity to deepened the kiss, caressing your tongue with her own.

You only pull away when the need for oxygen is desperate. “You’re needy when you’re jealous.”

She scrunched her face in disgust. “I told you I am not jealous. There’s nothing to be jealous of. They are nothing.”

“It’s ok babe, I think it’s cute.” You kiss her sweetly. “Shows me how much you love me.”

A light blush powdered Alcina's cheeks. “Well, I do love you.”

“I love you too.”

She closes her eyes and focuses on the feeling of your fingers running through her hair. “So, what are they saying this time?”

“Nothing interesting. They’re still looking for work, I think they might still be holding out on us hiring them. Even though I made it very clear there’s no place for them here.”

“Absolutely not,” Alcina growled. “It’s bad enough I have to listen to you read these damned letters why would I want to hire them? Short-staffed or not that...person is not allowed in my home.”

“I know Darling, I made it very clear. You know that.”

“I know you did. You were sweet enough to let me read it.”

You chuckle as you continue reading. “I let you read all the letters, Alcina. You’re my partner and I love you. You have a right to know what’s going on.”

She moved to sit up and kissed the top of your head. “I appreciate that.”

She made her way over to the vanity and starts taking off her makeup. You paid her little attention as you continued glazing over the letter. This has become your weekly routine; open the letter, read it first by yourself, and then give it to Alcina to read over so she can make fun of the person for the rest of the night. You think it’s her way of letting all her jealous energy out. She knows you and this particular ex were extremely close. It was the deepest relationship you had been in previous to Alcina. But it was also the most toxic relationship you had ever been in.

Every week you got the letter you would assure her there was no reason to get jealous or upset as she does. Not that you minded the extra cuddles and kisses that came along with jealous-clingy Alcina. It was cute. The way she gets close and cuddly with you like an attention-starved kitten.

You were about halfway through the letter when you realized the handwriting changed ever so slightly. It appeared sloppier than the previous paragraphs, almost as if the writer’s hand was shaking as they wrote. Then as you continued down the page the reason became apparent.

“....what are the odds us giving our relationship a second chance? I’ve changed a lot over the years and now that I’m back...maybe things would be different? I never lost feelings for you. This has been on my mind for a while now, but I’ve been too scared to bring it up until today.”

Oh god....

You turn back to Alcina who thankfully hasn’t noticed your sudden nervous energy. You take a few deep breaths, trying to calm your nerves, before continuing.

“My feelings never really went away, only transferred from person to person cause I wanted them to be you. But they weren’t and never can be. You have always been so special to me- you should know that by now. It’s nice having you here again. You were a major part of my life growing up. I wish I could change not having you around these past years cause you were my everything.”

You raise a hand to cover your mouth and bit down on one of your fingers.

As you look up to check on her your heart sinks as you’re met with her eyes burning into you through the reflection of the mirror. She knows something’s wrong. Of course, she knows- she always knows! It’s like she can smell your nervousness from across the room. She doesn’t break eye contact even when removing her lipstick.

You try your hardest to pretend she isn’t staring and continue on reading.

“If there’s a way to make your feelings for me come back you better believe I’ll find it. But I know I can’t force you to feel something you don’t anymore. It’s just always been so easy to connect with you. That’s why I want to try and rekindle our flame. You’re such a loving, generous, kind-hearted person to be around. I always admired you for that. To this day I’ve never been able to connect with someone as deeply as I did you.”

“For fuck sake...” you thought. “It can’t get any worse than this right? It can’t possibly get any worse.”

You don’t have to look up to know that Alcina’s stare has intensified. Her eyes are practically burning holes in the back of your head. You know the game she’s playing too...she’s gonna wait until she knows you’re finished reading and come over to read it for herself and let the rages of hell consume her. After all, you’ve seen how out of control her temper can become, this year alone she’s gone through three replicas of her vanity. And that was only because Mother Miranda called.

“....I’m glad to hear you’re in good health. Your health has always been something I worry tirelessly about, even when we weren’t on good terms.”

You sigh in relief. “Ok, that’s not so bad. I guess I can forgive that one. My health has always been up and down, even Alcina worries like a dog over me some days.”

“When I leave again maybe you can come with me? We always did talk about living in the country. We can have our own land for whatever animals you want and a barn to match.”

You actually yelp out of surprise. “Holy shit that’s worse...that’s so much worse. Alcina is going to be livid when she sees this.”

Your attempt to steady your breathing fails miserably. The most you can hope for now is to not make eye contact- then she sees how much of a nervous wreck you are. “Don’t look up, don’t look up, don’t look up, don’t look- FUCK!”

In an instant, Alcina’s up and making her way to stand behind you, won’t glass in hand. She’s already glaring down at the piece of paper like it personally cussed her out. “What did that lowlife say this time?”

“Alcina, I don’t think you should-“ it’s too late. She’s already snatched it out of your hands.

You start inching away as you watch her facial expressions morph from displeased to disgust, to seething as her eyes scan the bottom of the page. Her breathing is heavy, her nostrils are flaring, and her eyes glowing a bright gold as she recites the final paragraph out loud.

“I’m always going to be here for you from now on. I made the mistake of missing all those years with you. I ain’t missing no more.

Goodnight, MY LOVE?!”

You bring a hand up to hook around her arm. “Calm down, Alci.”

She doesn’t respond. Everything is quiet for what felt like hours when in reality it was only about a minute. You watched her eyes scan over the page over and over again until they fall back on you.

You have never really been scared of the vampiress, she never gave you a reason to be. But those eyes hold no mercy. You want to run away and cower somewhere she’ll never find you, the abandoned passages maybe, but fear has you frozen in place.

Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes, it’s one of those psychopathic smiles someone sees right before they die. She notices your cautiousness and is quick to retract her claws and thread her fingers through your hair. “If you’ll excuse me, darling. There’s some business I must attend to in the basement.”

“Alci-“

“I’ll be back later tonight, porumbel mic. Don’t wait up.”

Hours passed before you abandoned the idea of sleeping and decided to stroll around the castle. It was usually only done with Alcina when one of you had trouble falling asleep, but since she was still nowhere to be found you figured it couldn't hurt to try by yourself. Bloodcurdling screams from the basement were particularly loud tonight. The girls must have found themselves new toys to play with. No matter which part of the castle you were in you could hear the muffled cries of the damned. You wrote it off as Daniela and Cassandra being particularly intense. Eventually, you ran into Bela while in the west wing. She flashed you a broad smile.

"A little late for you, isn't it y/n?"

"Couldn't sleep. Your sisters are having a lot of fun tonight, huh?"

The eldest vampire sibling shot you a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"All the screaming in the basement, that's them, right?"

She started laughing. "Oh no, y/n, that's all Mother's doing. She's pretty pissed about something; I haven't seen her this mad in decades! And from the looks of it, I bet you know why."

You rubbed the back of your neck and look around the corridor, really anywhere other than Bela's eyes. "Well..."

"Ooh! What is it? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, not really. It's just, someone I used to be in a relationship with has been sending me letters and Alci thought it would be alright if I responded. Just to make sure they knew I was happy and safe and all that kind of stuff. Then after I'm done reading what they sent me I give the letter to your mother to let her read. So she knows there's nothing going on between the two of us, ya know?"

Bela nods, stars shining bright in her eyes. "OOh what did the letter say?"

"They um, confessed they still had feelings for me. And they were thinking about running away with me to the countryside."

Bela looked like she was going to explode from all this excitement. You knew she was only pretending to not know about all the other letters. Bela was the gossip seeker of the family. Nothing made the girl happier than to have something to blackmail you with, or anyone really. There was no escaping her wrath, not even Alcina could.

"Mother must have been seething!"

"Yeah," you felt rather guilty about it. "I guess she's taking her anger out on the basement dwellers."

Bela giggled. "Better them than us, right?"

"No question about it."

It's after three in the morning when Alcina finally crawls into bed next to you. She's already stripped herself naked and there's a thin layer of sweat covering her body. She wraps herself around your back and you try to be as still as possible, giving the illusion you're fast asleep. You should have known better. This is Alcina Dimitrescu we're talking about here. The woman can probably smell your anxiety from the other side of the castle.

"I told you not to wait up."

You sigh and roll over on your back. "I slept a few hours, then woke up and couldn't fall back. Even walking around the castle didn't help."

The vampire shifted her body so she was almost laying on top of you; her arm is draped over your middle, a leg nudging between yours, and she's nestling her face in the crook of your neck.

"Do you feel any better?"

Even in the low light of the moon, you can see her looking at you. "A little bit."

An uncomfortable silence filled the bedroom. Neither of you knew what to say if there was anything to be said. You decide to break the silence.

"I'm sorry, Alcina. You were right from the beginning. I shouldn't have engaged with them," your eyes widen at your own words. "Sorry, not the word I should have used."

She chuckles into your neck before giving your pulse point a kiss. "It's not your fault, porumbel mic. My anger is not directed at you."

"Still, I should have known this would happen. I'm not responding, of course."

She starts kissing and licking down your neck. "Good. Alcina Dimitrescu does not share her porumbel mic with anyone."

Soft quiet moans began escaping your mouth, which encouraged Alcina even more. You shared a brief moment of unspoken words before joining your mouths to one another. You move to straddle her and press your body into her with everything you've got. For the rest of the night, you proceed to remind Alcina just how much you love her.

A week later in the village

It was a quaint little village, full of blossoming flowers in the spring and cheerful wildlife wandering around the outskirts. The people of the village fended for each other all year round. It was a very tight-knit place to live. Chatter fills the air along with the tantalizing aromas from various shops as the people go about their daily routines. You and Bela had accompanied Alcina while running some errands. Nothing important, really, just picking up various perfumes and lotions the matriarch was running low on. Bela made herself comfortable sitting by the fountain in the village square, growing rather impatient and bored.

You were about to suggest going in the shop with Alcina to help move things along quicker until you heard it. That single sound made your heart stop beating and drop to the pit of your stomach.

"Y/n!" They called from a distance. You groaned when you saw their silhouette approaching, and nearly pulled your own hair out when you saw how happy they were to see you. Bela, however, looked very pleased with the change of atmosphere. "OOH y/n is that them? The one from the letters that wants to run away with you?"

You nod.

As they get closer Bela pretends to gag. "Ew, you were seriously going to marry that?"

You elbow her in the side, hoping they didn't hear that. "I was young ok. Please just go get your mother and tell her to hurry up."

The girl flashed you an evil smile. "With pleasure."

She got away just in time. They greeted you not with a handshake, or a playful punch to the shoulder, but with a bone-crushing hug that lasted a little too long to be comfortable. "How's it going y/n? Gosh, I never thought I would be lucky enough to run into you here!" They pulled away and looked you over a few times. You had the inclination to cover yourself even though you were completely clothed. "You look incredible."

"Thanks, it's uh, nice to see you too."

"So what are you doing here little miss handmaiden? Running some errands for your Lady or is it your day off or something? Do handmaidens even do stuff like that? I don't know. Anyways, if you aren't doing anything right now, you wanna grab something to eat?"

Fuck no

Before you could think of an excuse Bela was at your side again, smiling even more wickedly than before. "Mother is making her final purchase and then we're returning home. We best meet her at the carriage." Her eyes fixate on the person standing opposite of her like a wolf to its prey. "You must be e/n. I've read so much about you!"

You elbow her in the stomach. "Bela!"

Meanwhile, e/n had never looked so embarrassed. "Oh, so you let them read all our-"

The gods were smiling upon you today. Being saved from awkward conversations left and right.

"Come along, my darlings. Time to go home," Alcina calls behind you. Your heart starts racing in your chest, whether it was from anxiety or anticipation you had no idea. As soon as Alcina locked eyes with your ex her entire face shifted. She went from calm and happy Mother Alcina to cold-hearted Lady Dimitrescu almost instantaneously. Your ex was in awe of the tall woman before them. They heard rumors about the Lady of course but always believed them to be just that; rumors and wives' tales.

Bela ran to her mother's side. "Mother, look, it's e/n from the letters."

You pinched the bridge of your nose and could swear you feel a migraine coming on.

Alcina looked them over and nodded. Her expression was neutral, but you knew her eyes held no mercy. "So it seems."

Your ex bowed in respect to Lady Dimitrescu ad greeted her politely. It wasn't bad actually, too bad they're already on Alcina's blacklist. "It's an honor to meet you, Lady Dimitrescu."

She smiles, "I know it is, dear."

You lost composure for a split second and let out a snort. "Apologies, my lady, are you ready to return to the carriage?"

Alcina only waved you off. "Oh come now, my love, there's no need to be so formal. They're a friend, after all, are they not?"

Yup, definitely feel a migraine coming on. Though you had to admit, the look on their face was absolutely priceless. They rubbed the back of their neck awkwardly. "I'll just um...I'll see ya around, y/n."

Alcina wore the proudest smile you had ever seen as they walked off.

"You're ridiculous sometimes, you know that?"

The vampires only laughed in response. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alcina opened the carriage door for you and Bela to enter first, ever the gentleman, and took a moment to survey the village around her. Only when her eyes met your ex's did she enter the carriage herself, pulling her girls close.

[bugfam]

week 1: diagnosis

(for @type1diabetesinfandom’s prompt fest!)

POSTING WITH A MINUTE TO SPARE! for my reach for the stars au. tak gets diagnosed with diabetes. i’ll post it on ao3 in a bit with proper description and tags!

this is part of a crossover au involving yagami takayuki, aka tak, who’s the diabetic one in this fic, and ex from puyo puyo! they’re both teens. it’s an au where tak joins ex’s crew on the ss tetra.

read under the cut! will be posted to ao3 soon :]

“So, where to next?” Ex asks, standing at the steering wheel of his Starship Tetra. “Anyplace look interesting to you right now?”

Tak stands at the navigator, looking at the nearby star systems on the map. “We’re close to the Libra system,” they say. “You know, there’s this thing people from Earth do where they… okay, so you know how these twelve constellations are closest to Earth?” They zoom out, allowing Ex to peek over at the ring of constellations on the map. “And how they’re kind of in a ring around it? As Earth orbits our star, we pass by each of those constellations, so theoretically, we can see them at different parts of the year from Earth. And at some point, Earthlings decided that whatever star system that was visible when they were born had some like, influence on who they are as a person. Like personality traits and stuff. And I, supposedly, was born during the period associated with Libra. So I wanna see if the personality traits thing tracks.”

Ex looks at them like they have two heads, which is fair. If someone told them that their personality was determined by being able to see Tokyo when they were born, they’d think it’s weird, too.

It’s been a year since Tak became Ex’s first (and so far, only) crewmate, leaving Earth behind to travel the stars alongside him. It’s incredibly rare for humans to leave Earth, considering how far away it is from all the other inhabited planets in the universe, but Tak is very lucky that Ex decided it would be fun to check the planet out. There’s still a lot they’re learning about each other’s homes and experiences, though. Some things that are still, decidedly, super weird.

Tak wouldn’t trade it for the world. They’re happy out here, seeing and exploring and experiencing things beyond their wildest dreams. Not only that, but they’re doing it alongside their favorite person in the entire universe.

Besides, the look on Ex’s face any time they describe stuff like that? Priceless.

“…Right,” Ex mumbles, obviously deciding that he doesn’t want to ask. “Well, we can definitely check it out! My mom’s from there, actually.”

“Cool,” they say, zooming back in to look at the planets inside the Libra System, checking the coordinates of the different planets. “Which planet should we check out?”

They’re still pretty young, exploring the stuff that seems cool. They do whatever they want. They don’t have any adults to tell them what to do; their lives are entirely in their own hands. A pretty awesome life, if you ask them.

Never any problems whatsoever, right?

—

Tak has never been this thirsty in their entire life. They wake up one morning feeling like any moisture in their body had been sucked out of them in their sleep, and every day after that is the same — if they’re not drinking water, they’re super damn thirsty.

“Geez, dude,” Ex says, brows tilted concernedly. “That’s, like, not normal, is it?“

Tak just shrugs. “I dunno what I’m supposed to do about it, though,” they say, pausing to chug the entire glass he just filled. “I don’t know what’s going on. It just started happening. Maybe it’ll stop happening, too.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Ex says. “I guess if you’re not worried about it that much, I’ll try not to worry about it, either. Should be fine, right?“

That’s what they thought, at least. They’d be getting a lot more than they bargained for.

—

A few days later, Tak finds it much too hard to get out of bed.

This, in and of itself, is not entirely unheard of for them. After all, when you’ve experienced the things they’ve experienced, there will be days where the grief will be too heavy to carry, regardless of how pleased you are with your current life. Sometimes, the guilt still gets to them. The horror. The loneliness. On days like those, all they can do is lay there and mourn, and wait for the grief to pass.

Today is not one of those days. It’s not grief that keeps them tethered to their mattress. It’s exhaustion. They simply feel too tired to get up.

Which is kind of stupid. They’ll give themself the depression days — who wouldn’t have days like that with what they’ve been through, you know? — but physical stuff has never been able to really keep them down. So despite it being several hours later than normal (and they’re a late-riser on normal days), as well as the fact that their whole body seems to hate them for it, they drag themself out of bed. They don’t intend to be forced down over something they don’t think is reasonable.

The first thing they do once they leave their quarters is head to the kitchen to down three glasses of water in quick succession. They’re winded just from the walk there, which is… weird. By the time they’ve drank all that water with barely any breath in between, they have to hold themself up on the counter until they can get their breath back.

Then they push themself up and leave the kitchen like nothing happened. They’re fine.

They end up meeting Ex in the hallway. “Oh, there you are,” he says. “I was looking for you! I thought you might have been… whoa. You okay?” He’s already got that look on this face. Geez.

“What do you mean? I just overslept. I’m okay.”

“I mean… you look really tired, man. Did you not sleep well or somethin’?”

“I think I slept fine,” they say, shrugging. “Maybe I slept too much? You know how sometimes when you oversleep you wake up kinda tired? It’s probably just that. Seriously, man, I’m fine.

Ex tilts his head a little. “You sure? ‘Cuz like, I was thinking we could land today. But I don’t want you to push yourself if you’re tired.”

“Dude, how many times do I have to say that I’m fine? I wanna land today. I’ve never been to a Libra planet, dude, I wanna see!”

“Okay, okay,” Ex says, laughing. “If you’re really sure. I’m still a little worried, though, so can we at least try ‘n keep an eye on it or something? It’s probably nothing, but I kinda have a bad feeling about it, so…”

Tak wrinkles their nose a little, incredulously. “You do? Why?”

“I dunno, just, with the weird dehydration thing you have going on even though all you’ve been doing is drinking water? I’m worried there might be somethin’ going on and we can’t recognize it or something.”

“You really think so? I dunno. Maybe. I’m still not all that worried about it, though. I guess I’ll tell you if it gets worse? But I think it’s probably gonna be fine.”

“Sounds good to me. If you’re all good, then, wanna help get ready for landing?”

—

It gets worse.

Not long after landing, Tak entirely loses his appetite. Usually when visiting new planets, they’re most excited about trying the food, but not this time. They don’t really question it, at first. They may like food a lot, but there are a lot of aspects surrounding it that can cause them to lose interest or otherwise not want to try something — texture, specific flavors, and the like. And it’s not the first time they just haven’t felt like trying something new. They may be a pretty adventurous person, but sometimes they’re just not up for adventurous eating. They expect they’ll get over it by the time it’s time to leave.

What’s weirder than that, though, is that they’re not really hungry enough for any of Ex’s cooking, either, even when Ex cooks them stuff they typically always like. That’s a bit more concerning, they think. They don’t even know why it’s happening. Nothing, not even their usual safe foods, seems appetizing. They just end up playing with their food by pushing it around on the plate instead of eating it. The most they can manage before feeling completely full is a couple of bites.

They’re still always thirsty, constantly drinking water as opposed to eating. And they’re tired, finding it harder and harder to wake up and get out of bed each day, and end up sleeping through several, only waking up long enough to drink water. And the days they do manage to get up, they still feel incredibly weak, finding that they run out of breath way faster than they usually do, and have to sit down more or else they feel like they might pass out.

It’s gotten to the point where they’ve hardly even left the ship, despite being landed, which sort of pisses them off. They’ve dealt with feeling a lot worse than this, that’s for sure. They don’t wanna be sitting or lying around when there’s exploring to do.

Ex is worried, though. Like, really worried. And Tak can’t even blame him, even if they still get annoyed by it, a little, sometimes. It’s been a whole year, after being alone for a significantly shorter period of time, but they’re still not entirely used to someone worrying about them like this again.

“Man… you do not look good,” Ex sighs. “I think we need to take you to a doctor or something. Seriously.”

They still can’t manage to resist the eye roll, even if they see where he’s coming from. “I don’t want to. I’m fine.”

“You’re… really not, though. I really don’t think you are.” Ex is frowning. “You can’t even eat, dude. You’ve lost a lot of weight, too.”

“You think so?”

“I mean, that’s typically what happens when you don’t eat. But like, yeah. Enough that I can tell with my eyes, man.”

They guess that’s fair.

Ex continues. “And the water thing never went away. And it’s not like you to be so tired you can’t get up. It’s freaking me out.”

Okay, yeah. They… do feel bad for worrying him that much. They’re still not convinced it’s that big of a deal, but they find themself relenting, anyway. “Okay, fine. I guess we can get it checked out. Won’t that cost money, though?”

“…No? Why would it?”

“What do you mean ‘why would it?’ All this stuff costs money on Earth.”

“Oh. Well, that’s stupid. Anyway, we’ll probably wanna go to a Virgo system planet for this. They’re the best with health stuff.”

Tak nods, standing to move to the Navigation controls, but is suddenly hit with a wave of intense lightheadedness. They stop, trying to keep their balance. “Whoa… what the hell…?”

Ex looks over again, concern painted on his face again. “What?“

“Nothing, it’s fine,” they lie, though they know it’s probably obvious that it’s not the truth. They just don’t want him freaking out even more. Their mouth is so dry, also, that it’s hard to speak — they decide to use that as an excuse to leave the cockpit. “I need more water, actually, so do you mind putting in the coordinates yourself? I’ll— I’ll be right back.”

“Okay…” Ex says. “Don’t push yourself, okay?”

They nod, and leave the cockpit as quickly as they can with everything swirling around them the way it is. They begin trying to walk towards the kitchen, but end up realizing halfway through that they’re probably not going to make it. They try to push themself just a little more, and then—

They wake up on the ground, Ex hovering over them, clearly panicked, holding a big glass of water. “Dude!” he exclaims. “What the fuck?!”

Tak’s really confused. “Um…” they mumble in response. “Maybe you’re right about the doctor thing.”

—

Turns out, Tak had been dying.

More specifically, their immune system has decided it hates them. Something about it deciding to attack their insulin cells or something. And apparently insulin’s the stuff you need in order to process food and stuff, otherwise the sugar in the food that’s supposed to be turned into energy and stuff builds up in their blood, causing… excessive thirst, fatigue and weakness, lack of appetite. Well, that makes sense.

They’ve got type one diabetes, they’re told.

Ex got them to a Virgo planet in record speed, and had them admitted in one of the planet’s hospitals. Currently, the doctors are explaining to them all the stuff that’s going to have to change now that they’ve got this diagnosis. Apparently they’ll have to have manufactured insulin put into their body to replace the insulin their body can’t make — but apparently there’s some Libra system tech that can do that for them. A bionic pancreas, it’s called. They’re taught how to use one as their body is being un-fucked.

There are a few things they’ll have to keep an eye out for, though. Severe low blood sugars are a possibility now, and they’re probably likely to get low blood sugars pretty often as their body gets used to the bionic pancreas. They’ll have to be careful about eating too many sweets or carbs at once. They’re advised not to drink anything with sugar in it unless they have a low blood sugar (“No juice,” they say to Ex, pouting, and he pats them on the shoulder.)

Other than that, though, their life should pretty much go back to normal once they get their insulin again. They’re relieved. And thank the stars for free space healthcare, too.

“I knew something was wrong,” Ex says. “Dude, you could have died. Maybe we should be more careful when we notice weird stuff happening.”

“Yeah,” Tak agrees, sighing as they lay back in their bed. “We’re a little dumb, aren’t we?”

“Well, maybe a little. We are just two kids alone in a starship, though, so like, you can’t expect much from us. We got you here in time, anyway, right?”

It’s not the last time something like this will happen — though it won’t be as much as a near-death experience in the future. Tak’s just glad they had someone to help them out.

They’re happy for the life they’ve got, and the friend they have. Seriously, where would they be without him?

[tryingmyves]

MHA | Characters and the summer date they’d take you on

A/N: the title is pretty self explanatory - this will be a lot like my Starbucks series. i hope you enjoy!

A/N 2: whoops, this one gotta a bit long and is loosely inspired by real life events

Series will include: Tenya Iida, Shoto Todoroki, Izuku Midoriya, Hanta Sero, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, Katsuki Bakugo, and Hitoshi Shinso (maybe more, who knows)

- you and Hitoshi have been together for a while now

- and while he does his best to take you on proper dates, you prefer the late night netflix marathons and FaceTime calls that have become something of a daily ritual

- if you’re both free, you’ll go to Hitoshi’s apartment, staying up until sleep finally takes over, snuggling with Community on in the background

- but when your schedules don’t match up, Hitoshi FaceTimes you around 11pm

- you’ll talk for a while, but eventually you doze off

- Hitoshi never ends the call though

- instead he listens to your soft snoring until he can find some rest of his own

- but tonight, insomnia has a tighter hold on him

- it’s only a little after 10, but he already knows that he won’t find any sleep tonight

- so he sends you a text, “you want to go on an adventure?”

- and starts loading the bed off his beat-up truck with all the pillows and blankets he owns

- twenty minutes later he’s waiting in your driveway as you come out the front door in his oversized hoodie and a pair of pajama shorts

- climbing into the passenger side of the truck, you lean across the center console to give him a kiss

- you note the pile of bedding in the back of the truck, “is that part of the adventure?”

- he just gives you a sly wink before backing out of the drive, “it’s a surprise.”

- Hitoshi drives for about an hour, outside of city limits, and eventually down a side road, before finally parking the truck

- “Babe, did you bring me out here to like…” you make a slicing motion across your neck and cross your eyes

- he lets out a deep laugh as he turns off the engine

- “I considered it, but thought we could watch the stars instead,” he opens his door, getting out to arrange the pillows and blankets in the back of the truck

- you follow after him, quickly crawling onto to tailgate and into the cocoon of blankets

- Hitoshi pulls out his phone to turn on a lofi playlist, a synthesized symphony to fill the comfortable pauses in your conversations

- as you settle into the nook of Hitoshi’s arm he begins to speak, “It’s been hard for me to sleep lately, so I thought since I’m going to be awake anyway, I could be awake with you.”

- he smiles down at you, placing a kiss on your forehead

- “Plus I read there’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight.”

- Hitoshi thinks your eyes shine brighter than the stars above at the mention of a meteor shower

- the lazy smile on your lips stretches into a wide grin

- you sit up, taking in the shining cosmos above you, unsullied by the pollution of city lights

- turning back to face Hitoshi, you beam, “Best adventure ever,” before leaning forward to press your lips to his

- you can feel him smiling into the kiss, and can’t stop your lips from mirroring his

- you settle back into your comfortable position beside Hitoshi and turn your eyes back to the sky in time to see a single shooting star

- your arm shoots up, pointing out the trail of light streaking through the blackness above

- “Babe, make a wish!”

- Hitoshi chuckles softly at your excitement as he looks down at you in his arms

- he doesn’t offer you any other response, but rather thinks to himself he doesn’t need to wish for anything

- not when he’s with you

- the pair of you lay in the bed of Hitoshi’s truck for hours

- his phone plays soft music as the two of you point out constellations and meteors to one another, occasionally getting lost in a makeout session

- slowly, the number of shooting stars become fewer and the time between sightings grows longer

- it’s nearly 4AM and you’ve been struggling to keep your eyes open for a while when Hitoshi suggests heading back to town

- you squeeze him tighter from your position beside him before nodding and freeing yourself from the nest you had created

- after helping Hitoshi secure all the bedding, you both get back into the cab and head back to the city

- you fall asleep before Hitoshi makes it back to the highway

- but he just smiles, still holding your hand as you slumber

- when he gets closer to town he rouses you gently, releasing your hand to pat you lightly on your thigh

- “Hey kitten, we’re back to town.”

- you come to with a deep breath, lifting your head and rubbing your eyes

- as you adjust to being awake your stomach growls loud enough for Hitoshi to hear, “can we get breakfast?”

- this earns another laugh from your boyfriend, “good morning to you too.”

- he flips on his blinker, changing his course to a nearby 24 hour diner

- the pair of you arrive to find it’s mostly empty, save a handful of patrons

- Hitoshi only orders a black coffee, but you get a large stack of pancakes and a side of scrambled eggs with orange juice

- and when you inevitably can’t finish all your food, Hitoshi eats your leftovers

- you offer to pay for breakfast since he didn’t really get anything, but he beats you to the check

- “I kept you up all night, the least I can do is feed you.”

- you don’t mind having been kept up, but you decide not to question free breakfast

- as you leave the diner, you realize that the sun will be rising in about 20 minutes

- “Hitoshi! Can we watch the sunrise before you take me home?”

- “Looks like your nap did you some good,” he laughs, “come on.”

- ten minutes later, Hitoshi’s truck is parked in the beach parking lot with the tailgate down and you two sitting atop it

- the sun rises not long after, bathing the water in soft pinks and muted violets which are in turn, refracted back into the sky

- something between a yawn and a laugh leaves your mouth as you muse, “it matches your hair.”

- “I think the lack of sleep is making you delirious,” Hitoshi chuckles, squeezing your side

- “I think you’re right,” you say as you lean further into him, resting your heavy head on his shoulder, “I don’t know how you manage like this.”

- “I take lots of naps,” he shrugs, forcing your head off his shoulders

- you pout at being removed from your comfortable position so unceremoniously until he stands and offers you his hand

- “I think I could go for one about now actually… Care to join me?”

- you happily agree and end up back at Hitoshi’s apartment

- after lugging all of his bedding back inside, you and Hitoshi finally collapse into his bed

- sleep takes you both quickly, and you spend a large portion of the new day recovering from last night’s adventures wrapped in one another’s arms

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I’ve been thinking about one piece of dialogue Violet has when you’re walking back to Ericson, right before the bridge: “I've always wanted a basketball hoop.”

One of the issues I’ve always had with Violet’s writing throughout the whole season is that it never feels like she has anything to call her own. So much of her story revolves around Minerva and Clementine, which would be fine if I also felt like I got to know her more than I do. 

Like... aside from survival, what gets Violet out of bed every morning?  What does she like? We always hear about things she doesn’t like, but what does Violet do that is hers? I mean within the text of the story, not headcanons. Aside from her romantic relationships, there really isn’t something so tied to her character, if that makes sense. Something that’s in a more positive light.... though I guess her relationships aren’t always that positive.

I get that when the twins died, Violet shut down a little bit and turned everyone away, but do they ever make a point to be like “Violet used to enjoy doing this, but when the twins died, she stopped and hasn’t picked it up since.” because for the life of me, I can’t think of anything. 

Everyone memeified the chicken nugget thing but that doesn’t add much to her character. She makes Clementine a pin, but admits that artsy stuff isn’t her thing. I get that’s supposed to make you feel special because she likes you enough to do something she doesn’t like for you, but again, art isn’t her thing. If you say that she likes stars and that’s her thing, that’s not exactly true since it was Clementine who knows about constellations and Violet admits that she knows nothing about that stuff, so they’ll just make it up. I guess you could make the argument that she took an interest in it because of Clementine, and that’s fair, but that’s the thing.... why does Violet’s romance scene take place up on the bell tower in the first place? 

Like.... okay, Louis has his romance scene in the music room, right? That makes perfect sense with his character. It’s where we first meet him, and music is so interwoven with his character that it holds together his backstory of why he broke up his parents marriage, his coping mechanism, how the others view him, and how losing his tongue is even more tragic since he won’t ever be able to sing again. So having him and Clementine tune the piano, carving their initials into the piano, him naming a song he wrote after her, it’s all romantic and it makes so much sense. They didn’t do it just because they thought it would be romantic. 

The thing I struggle with the Violet scene is that I feel like if I asked the devs why they chose the bell tower and how it ties into her character, they would say “well, it’s romantic under the stars.” like.... they’re only doing it for the sake of romance without thinking about anything else? because when doing that scene we get the terrible mini-game [sorry, but I reeeeally don’t like the mini-game hahaha]  and it feels like we’re wasting a little too much time because I’m not learning anything about Violet through it, but we’re also not talking about anything important. The most I learn is that if I remain silent, then Violet will say that Minerva reminds her of the fish constellation: “Bright, pretty, good with other people. Always moving, tons of energy.”

Which, by they way, Clementine’s face when she says that? Oof. 

By the end of the mini-game, Violet finally says something about how she didn’t mean to talk so much, and how how she’s watched people leave before and all that.... stuff that I already know about her, and it’s not that it isn’t important for her to admit that she wants us here and she can’t imagine what it would be like if we weren’t now, because it is.... I guess I just want everything to tie together better?

Okay, when we first see Violet, she’s laying up on a high wall and you could link that to the bell tower [high places], but she never mentions it or how she goes up there when she needs the quiet until that very moment. And the more I think about it, I’m like..... why didn’t they give her something? 

Violet’s supposed to be this character who needs to warm up to you, who has shut everyone out for a year, she’s not a people person and has a hard time relating to others, she snarky and can come off as aggressive, she knows how to fight, she was in a romantic relationship with Minerva, she’s close with Tenn, she’s got a strained relationship with Brody and hates Marlon and...... like okay, this is going to sound harsh and I don’t like it either, but sometimes if feels like the writers neglected parts of her character for the sake of focusing on her relationships with Minerva and Clementine, that when you take them away, there isn’t a lot left... as if Violet’s only important or special if she’s in some sort of relationship with Clementine and I don’t like that. 

Characters, like people, should be more than just their sexuality and relationships. If Violet and Louis are supposed to be important characters in the game, they need to stand on their own outside of Clementine. 

You guys know me, you know every time I play I romance and save Louis, but in doing that, I learn pretty much nothing about Violet and that’s dumb. At least when you romance and save Violet, you know about Louis and his tie to music. The most I tie Vi to is Minnie and aggression because she and I spend two episodes butting heads about most things until she’s captured, and then she yells and attacks me in the cells and what was the plan here writers??

I get that they don’t wanna info dump about these characters and they want to leave things for when you play the different routes but that doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t give Violet anything to call her own because even when I played her route, it still didn’t feel like I got to know her and everything was done because you thought just having a queer option smothered in romance that doesn’t have to make sense was enough.

Are my ramblings making sense yet? I dunno!

This leads me to this piece of dialogue you get when Clementine says silent when Violet asks her what her favorite part of her house was: “I've always wanted a basketball hoop.”

Now stick with me a little longer and hear me out........ why wasn’t basketball Violet’s thing? I know this is a bit of a throwaway line that a lot of players probably didn’t even get, but think of the possibilities of extra layers to Violet’s character?

Instead of hanging out on top of a wall when we first see her, Violet’s off dribbling a basketball and shooting hoops when she spots you and Tenn goes to her, and she stops to stare you down as she holds the ball against her hip, or she continues to dribble but now she’s watching Clementine. A little intimidating, but enough to peak your curiosity about the girl shooting hoops. 

When Louis says he used to love baseball and Violet says baseball sucks, it’s because this is an inside joke they have about baseball vs basketball.

“Basketball/baseball sucks.”

“YOU suck.”

“Not as much as baseball/basketball.”

Instead of going up to the bell tower, Clementine and Violet shoot hoops together while talking about how Violet’s feeling about the situation, let her get some of those thoughts about Minerva out so they’re not weighing down on her, and then segway into her talking about how she’s glad Clem is here and let the romance/friendship play out. Hell, you could either do this in a gym or outside if you still want them under the stars. 

As far as this tying into her backstory, maybe her grandparents had a basketball hoop at their place, and after church her grandma would grab fast food and they’d go home where she and her grandpa would play while grandma watched. 

Then when you don’t save her, Violet becoming blind has a whole other layer to it because now she can’t fucking see to shoot hoops, something she genuinely enjoyed and can’t anymore. 

This would also compliment Louis and his tie to music. Violet’s more active, aggressive, sporty whereas Louis is musical, artsy and calmer. 

I dunno, what do you guys think?

[silhouetteofacedar]

Fox Mulder, Closet Romantic Ch. 4: Man Pouts on Couch

Previous Chapter - AO3 - MSR, rated E

Mulder is not feeling lucky.

In hindsight, he should have suspected something was off today; Scully kept looking at her watch.

It’s Friday, March 13th, and he thought it’d be cute to invite Scully out for a drink again, make a little joke about it becoming a Friday the 13th tradition. This could work, he thinks. His plan is simple; ask her out every once in a while, for some reason or another, with the intention of eventually coming clean and setting up a proper date.

At five o’clock he stands up and stretches with performative nonchalance. “Buy you a drink, Scully?” he asks, cocking his head towards the calendar pinned to the office wall, surrounded by newspaper clippings and grainy photos.

She pauses with her arm halfway into the sleeve of her coat. “I…” She falters and presses her lips together, looking suddenly guilty.

“What is it?” he asks quietly, a pit growing in his stomach.

“I’d love to, Mulder, but I actually have a date tonight.”

The earth stops spinning and Mulder is thrown off balance, hurtling through the atmosphere.

“Oh,” he says softly. “That doctor guy?”

Scully nods, not meeting his gaze. “His name is Mark,” she says. “We’re getting sushi.” She looks up at him then, big blue eyes soft. “A rain check?” she asks hopefully.

She owns him; one look like that and he’d sell his soul to buy her a cup of shitty coffee. “Sure. Another time, then,” Mulder says, gathering up every scrap of composure he has left, patching together a smile for her. “Have fun.”

He goes home and throws himself face down onto the couch.

She has a date. A real date, with a presumably mentally stable human man with a high-value job. And a daughter. A ready-made family, just add water and stir. This Mark guy probably calls her Dana, asks her how her mother’s doing, feeds her bits of sashimi with no threat of aliens or shadow governments in sight. Maybe he’ll kiss her at the end of the night, softly with closed lips like a gentleman.

What stings the most is the fact that this Doctor Mark had the balls to tell Scully outright that he’s interested in her romantically, something Mulder has yet to do.

Mulder knows he should eat, but his stomach is churning and the idea of food sickens him. He’s being dramatic and irrational; it’s just one date. But the implications are weighty, the potential enormous.

He feels bad for being upset. This is good for her; she needs to get out of the basement, connect with other rational people, find some normalcy and balance in her life.

You need those things too, he hears her say in his head.

He brushes it aside. It’s different for him; he created this life for himself. He’s a collapsed star, a black hole of conspiracy and paranoia that sucks in everything that gets too close. The last thing he wants is for her to get lost in his darkness, swallowed by the void like some interstellar debris.

She’d told him that night in Rock Creek Park that she does’t blame him for what’s happened to her, but that doesn’t assuage his guilt. He carries the weight of what she calls her choices, a load she has no intention of sharing with him, awaiting no acknowledgement or thanks.

He’s doing it to himself.

Mulder whiles away the hours on the couch, gazing up at the constellations of pencil marks on his ceiling, tossing his basketball above his head. He drops it on his face twice.

He knows it’s probably only going to make him feel worse, but he’s a glutton for punishment; so at eleven-thirty that night he picks up the phone and calls Scully.

He waits for her to answer, his heart sinking lower with each ring. She’s not picking up. Is she still out? he thinks anxiously. The guy has a kid, so it’s unlikely that they’d stay out too late unless he’s arranged it with his babysitter…

“Hello?” Scully’s slightly husky voice cuts through his thoughts.

“Scully,” he says, tentative relief creeping into his body.

“Mulder, what is it?” she asks. “It’s late. For normal people, anyway. Are you alright?”

“‘M’ fine,” he assures he. “Just couldn’t sleep.”

He hears her hum in understanding. Late night phone calls between them aren’t uncommon, after all. “Have you tried counting sheep?” she asks, not unkindly. “Or slowing your breathing down, focusing on the cadence of inhales and exhales like I showed you?”

He’s wide awake, sitting upright on his couch, still in the slacks and wrinkled button-down he wore to the office that day. “Yes,” he lies. “It’s not helping. There’s too much going on in my head right now.”

“You work too much,” she says gently. “And yet not enough, when deadlines are involved. We’ve got an impressive paperwork backlog-”

“Can we not talk about work right now?” He reaches down and unties his shoes. “Otherwise I’ll never get to sleep.”

“Right.” There’s rustling on her end. She’s in bed, he realizes.

“Did I wake you, Scully?” he asks, trying to hide his surprise.

“It’s fine, Mulder, I was only dozing,” she replies.

“Oh, how was the date?” he asks, as though it only just occurred to him, instead of being the only thing he’s thought about all night.

“It was nice,” she responds, and he drops his head onto the back of the couch in defeat. Shit. Shit shit shit shit-

“We talked about medicine, about cancer, loss. His daughter’s name is Amanda,” she continues. “Her mother - his wife - died when Mandy was only two, so he’s mostly raised her alone.”

“That’s rough,” Mulder says softly. Please don’t make me feel bad for this guy, Scully, I can’t bear it, he thinks.

“Mhm,” she agrees. “And his work at the hospital is pretty grueling, so his mother helps out a lot. I… I told him about Emily.”

“How’d that go?” Mulder asks, concerned. “It’s not the most… plausible-sounding story.”

“I was vague,” she replies. “All I really said was that I had recently reconnected with a child I’d been separated from, right before she died. He didn’t ask for details; he could probably tell it was a fresh wound.”

They’re silent for a moment.

“Do you think you’ll see him again?” Mulder asks quietly. Somehow he already knows what she’s going to say, and he braces himself for the sting of her words as they pierce his heart.

“I… I think I will,” Scully says, sounding distant. “I mean, it’s worth a shot, right?”

She deserves this. She deserves a chance at something ordinary, safe, comfortable.

“Maggie Scully didn’t raise a quitter,” he says with a watery smile she’ll never see.

She chuckles. “No, I suppose she didn’t,” Scully muses. He hears her yawn. “I’m tired out, Mulder. Think you can sleep now?”

“I’ll try,” he says. He’s surprised to feel his eyes beginning to burn with unshed tears. “Thanks for talking to me,” he adds.

“Anytime. Sleep well,” she says warmly, and the line goes dead.

He supposes he brought this on himself by keeping his feelings hidden. He waited too long, playing it safe. He wanted to gauge her feelings before he made any overt moves, and someone else beat him to it.

It’s just one date. But there’s going to be more. By the sound of it, she wants there to be more.

There’s no way he’s going to sleep well tonight.

He’s in a sour mood when he’s summoned to the Gunmen’s… den? lair? headquarters? the next afternoon, by way of one of their patented cryptic phone calls.

Byers unfastens the dozen locks on the door and lets him inside. “Mulder,” he says, ushering him in. “Good to see you.”

Mulder flops down in a rickety desk chair, exhaustion permeating his muscles. “I’m not up for being social today, boys,” he warns. “You said you had information for me?”

“We took the liberty of looking into Agent Scully’s new… uh, friend,” Byers says.

“For safety reason,” Langly adds, seeing Mulder’s lips purse.

“She’s precious cargo,” Frohike says, wiggling his eyebrows.

“How did you find him?” Mulder asks. “I didn’t even know his first name until yesterday.”

“Don’t insult us with your surprise,” Frohike mutters. “We’re experts.”

“We knew he’s a part of the parish Scully attends-“ Byers begins.

“And we knew he’s an ER doc, has a 6 year old daughter, and a dead wife,” Langly cuts in. “That’s plenty to go on.”

“I don’t need to know more than that,” Mulder says, suddenly feeling guilty. “It’s not my business.”

“Maybe not, but we have the info,” Frohike says. “Look, all you need to know is that he seems legit. Name’s Einolander, if you were curious.”

“I wasn’t,” Mulder lies, taking a sunflower seed out of his pocket and biting it pensively.

“Of course not,” Byers says, sounding completely unconvinced.

“You alright, Mulder?” Langly asks. “You look rough.”

“Of course he does,” Frohike hisses in the least subtle whisper of all time. “Scully’s dating someone that’s not him. Cut the guy some slack.”

“You guys don’t know shit,” Mulder grumbles, then backtracks, running his hands over his face. “I’m sorry. I, uh... didn’t sleep well.”

“It’s okay, man,” Langly says.

Frohike nods sagely. ”We know how you feel about her. This can’t be easy for you.”

Mulder wilts in his chair. “How did you know?” he asks pathetically, realizing the jig is up. Has he really been so obvious this whole time? Fucking hell.

“Look, knowing things is our business,” Byers explains. “And we know you. We’ve been around the block with you a few times, and nobody’s meant this much to you. Not even Diana.”

“Plus, Agent Scully is a smokeshow, and you have eyes,” Frohike adds. Byers gives him a jab with his elbow. “Hey, I stand by that,” he declares, rubbing his arm.

“Well thanks anyway, fellas,” Mulder says, standing. “I should get going. The walls in my apartment won’t stare at themselves.”

“Do you want the file we put together on the guy?” Byers asks. “We can make copies.”

Mulder shakes his head. “Keep it. Draw a mustache on his photo or something.” He picks up his coat and slings it over his shoulder. “You kids have fun.”

“If you need anything, just flag us down,” Frohike says, patting Mulder’s back before unlatching the door.

Mulder steps out the door, then turns back. “How old is this guy?”

“Forty-one,” Byers says, flipping through the file. “Five-foot-ten, dark blond hair, brown eyes. Blood type-”

Mulder holds up a hand. “I don’t want to know. Bye, guys.”

He gets a petty, juvenile satisfaction from the fact that he’s two inches taller and four years younger than Dr. Einolander. It’s short-lived, but at this point he’ll take what he can get.

Because he can’t get Scully.

[apprentice-maliya]

the things you don’t say, i’ll make them mine

pairing: asra/mali’ya cw: none, just some pre-plague, light angst and fluff because i am self-indulgent and i missed them. also stargazing (kinda). enjoy ! word count: 2.2k song(s): lover and the archer by taylor swift

With a snap of Asra’s fingers, the candles in the shop lit up all at once. The sudden light was almost blinding in their eyes, still used to the dark shades of the storm hovering above the city that merged into the soft, pink and orange hues of sundown. Behind him, Mali’ya sealed the door with a spell so that the rain wouldn’t get in, leaving at least the shop alone and dry.

The golden mark was still glowing on the wooden surface when she turned to her friend, pleased to see that he had already put the bags in a corner where they wouldn’t bother them. In the meantime, Faust had slowly emerged from the worn-out scarf he was wearing, and was now taking a careful peek at her surroundings.

Asra laughed, shaking his head to let the raindrops fall away from his white curls. “That was close.”

“Please don’t do that,” Mali’ya said, though she was soon betrayed by her own amusement when a small smile appeared on her lips. She gladly accepted Asra’s hands holding hers, shivering when the heat coming from his warming spell dried out any trace of damp in her clothes and her hair as well. Once he was done, Mali’ya sighed in relief.

“We should clean up,” she suggested, taking off her shoes since, in the hurry of getting inside and taking refuge from the storm, she’d forgotten to. “I’m sure we left some mud when we walked in.”

Asra waved a hand as to dismiss the option. “Or we could get away with it with little to no effort,” he suggested before the stains disappeared from the blue-coloured tiles with another snap of fingers, as if they’d never been there in the first place.

He rubbed his hands one against the other, giving her a satisfied look. “Easy peasy, right?” Asra grinned. “Now, let’s set up camp for the night.”

Mali’ya stared at the floor—she still wasn’t that accustomed to using magic to solve even the smallest inconvenience, and it showed—but upon hearing that, she glanced at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Rummaging in their bags as he was probably searching for their blankets, Asra shrugged. “Seems like a waste of a lovely night to me, don’t you think?”

She could tell he was smiling while saying that, still Mali’ya hesitated. It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate the idea; on the contrary, she was eager to see what Asra had in store for her with that change of plans. After all, aside from the couple of nights she’d slept in the wild, on the run to Vesuvia with her aunt and her girlfriend, Mali’ya had no idea what camping really implied: Asra had told her about gathering your own food, sharing stories around the fireplace and stargazing as though it was nothing out of the ordinary for him, and, in hindsight, Mali’ya now realised that wasn’t but his everyday life. The life of someone who had nothing else in the world but himself.

In comparison, the years she’d spent in Venterre were a walk in the park.

Would you like to come live with me?

Her lips parted without her thinking. Once, almost a year back from that moment―a lifetime, really―her aunt had asked her that same, exact question. For the first time someone had brought up the possibility for her to dream, provided the instruments for her to make her own choices, and there she was, months later, living her happiest days in a place she’d learnt to call home.

All of that because at some point, someone cared.

It was truly that simple.

I could ask him now.

“Besides,” Asra added, silently commanding one end of a jute string to tie itself around the knob of the backroom door, before he pointed his digits towards the entrance handle for the other end to do the same, “I wanted to show you some cool tricks.”

Mali’ya watched as he tossed a sheet over the tensed thread, thinking that they definitely needed something heavy to secure the cloth on the floor if they wanted something close to a tent-shaped, homemade fort, or even one of her bedsheets so it would be easier to make it wider and more comfortable for the two of them.

All things considered, there was enough space in her room for another bed.

Finally, she spoke. “We should ask aunt—”

A voice coming down from the stairs interrupted her mid-sentence, before the thin silhouette of her tutor, neatly wrapped up in her frilly pink housecoat, appeared on the landing. “Ask me what?” She inquired, throwing them an inquisitive though sleepy glance.

“Sorry for waking you.” Mali’ya immediately apologised, bending down the string to approach her. “We were on the way to the clearing you showed us last time when the storm hit, and then we...”

In that moment, as to prove the truth in her words, a thunder echoed above them, followed by the even more violent sloshing of rainpour against the rooftop. Heralia looked up with a sigh, not at all impressed with the tantrums of summer, then noticed the blanket hanging sideways on the jute thread. “And I get that you don’t intend to give up on your stargazing, is that right?”

“That was my idea,” Asra stepped in, kneeling down to place one of the doorstops on the hem of the blanket. “You suggested that we studied the constellations in detail since the sky is clearer and it’s meteor shower season. Shall we perhaps postpone our lesson?” he challenged her, staring at his mentor with an innocent smile and a cunning glint in the eyes.

Heralia scoffed. “Do as you please, I don’t care.” A yawn ran past her lips, so she turned around with a shrug to climb up the stairs and go back to the comfort of her bed. “Just make sure you fall asleep at a reasonable hour and put everything back in place before opening, tomorrow.”

“We will, I promise.” Mali’ya nodded, surprised at how easily her aunt had given in this time. “Thank you, and goodnight.” Heralia hummed something in return that she didn’t quite catch, but since her mentor didn’t repeat herself Mali’ya supposed it was nothing important.

Clasping her hands together, she looked down at Faust, who was slithering around freely on the floor now that her aunt was gone. “Wait,” she told Asra, “Let’s use my bedsheets for the tent.”

- - -

Half an hour later, sitting comfortably amongst soft pillows and a couple of warm blankets, Mali’ya traced carefully each word printed on the astronomy book that lied open on her lap.

“What is…” she started, squinting in the dim glow of the small ball of light floating just above Asra’s hand. “What is an ‘Equinox’?”

“That’s when day and night have more or less the same duration,” he explained, stretching his limbs by her side like a cat that just woke up after a long nap. He couldn’t help a yawn. “Equinoxes mark the start of spring and autumn, so they happen twice a year.”

At that, something in Mali’ya’s chest fluttered with triumph. “Oh! I think I got it.”

With half-lidded eyes, Asra followed the movements of the quill in her personal journal as she wrote down the definition. “You want me to spell it out for you?”

“Yes, please.” Her voice was nothing but a bashful whisper.

A hand ran up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she nodded again, jade eyes steady on every letter in fear of messing them up. He couldn't really see it, but a hint of blush painted her cheeks with something akin to shame; there was still so much she had to learn after all, and since Asra was way ahead of her in terms of magic knowledge, she always felt like she was only slowing him down.

“How do you say that in Venterrean?”

She didn’t even lift her eyes from the page. “Rivnodennya.”

Her handwriting was still unsure, he noticed from where he was lying, almost childlike and adorned with ink stains and spelling mistakes; but despite that, a pleased little smile had come to grace her lips, together with a quiet satisfaction that danced in her eyes every time she made some progress. Shyly, a pair of small dimples also appeared on her freckled cheeks, matching his own.

Pretty.

“And Solstice?”

Mali’ya still wasn’t looking at him, and a moment passed before she was done writing. Finally, she closed her handwritten dictionary with a soft thud. “Sorry, I don’t know what that means.”

Asra smiled, shaking his head with a light huff, before eventually giving up on lying on the blanket so he could sit up and borrow the astronomy book from her.

“I told you, you don’t have to apologise for every word you don’t know.” He flipped a couple of pages like he meant to find a specific chapter or image; peeking at him, Mali’ya couldn’t help but notice how the words slid under his eyes without him even noticing them. Just how much did he know on the matter? And who taught him all that, given that he was only a year and a half older than her?

Asra was such a mystery, she thought. He possessed extraordinary talent and a unique predisposition for magic, was resourceful and clever, but nobody seemed to have acknowledged that yet. In her modest opinion, his shine would only have gone to waste, had him kept busying himself with their lessons.

In the end, Mali’ya saw him settle for a star chart.

If only I wasn’t such a slow learner. Mother always said I―

To her surprise, Asra set the book aside and reached for one of their bags. “Solstice marks the first day of winter and summer, by the way.”

She was still lost in thought when she answered, “That’s sontsestoyannya.”

“Oh,” was all he managed to say as he handed her a smaller bag, the one filled with the berries they’d picked on their way to the woods just the other day. “Sounds complicated. Vesuvian is pretty different from Venterrean, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Mali’ya agreed, taking out a single blueberry from the sack. It was soft and full between her digits and the rind was just the perfect nuance of indigo any ripe fruit should be. It would’ve taken a single, light squeeze to smash it.

“So is Zadithi.”

It was a statement so soft, a whisper so nostalgic, she almost didn’t catch it.

Asra had his eyes fixed before him, though he didn’t seem to be actually seeing whichever thing he was looking at. Faust, who’d been napping among the creases in the blankets, had probably sensed his discomfort since immediately, though ever so gently, she slithered up around his arm as to console him.

Arms around his knees to make himself smaller, a stare that spoke to none―he looked much older than his fifteen years of age, but also somewhat younger, the way when a self-made teen grows up too fast; an inner child whose heart, she was sure, ached for something he would hardly get back.

In the silence of the night, Mali’ya began to understand. Why she’d been drawn to him since that morning at the market. Why she always felt so at ease around him, even though she’d only known him for a few months. She had never been able to notice that before, because both of them were just dancing around the other; trying to see if they could really let their guards down.

They really weren’t that different, then.

Wait.

All of sudden, a realisation―raw hope―pushed anything else aside.

Silence?

“Asra,” she called, her tone urgent and bright all the same. Hurriedly, but as not to startle him, her hand ghosted on his forearm. “The rain. It stopped.”

Not minding the sheets rustling under her knees after her eagerness, Mali’ya crawled out of their makeshift tent but stopped half-way, turning to Asra with an outstretched hand.

“Come,” she smiled, in a way she hoped it said I see you. You don’t have to be alone. “Let’s go see the stars!”

The cold, humid air that followed storms was pleasing on her skin as she unlocked the seal, letting the breeze in while Asra handed her one end of the blanket. Still on the doorstep, Mali’ya watched as her breath formed uneven clouds of steam.

“The sky’s clearing up,” Asra whispered beside her.

The holiness of it all, of the dead of a midsummer’s night, was enough to keep their voices low.  Everything was painted in delicate shades of black and blue, and as they huddled close to one another, Mali’ya and Asra waited for the stars to show up.

Little by little, on the dark, empty canvas around the moon, a faint white dot appeared. Alone at first, it was soon followed by another, and another again, while the wind gently pushed the clouds aside to offer the city, and the few bystanders still wandering around―or standing on a threshold with their hands so close they almost touched―a sky so wide and mighty.

ao3 link

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

august

Summary: August slips away and their summer fling is going to have to end.

Notes: it’s my birthday!! To celebrate here is the august story of my folklore series

AO3

For most people, all roads lead to Rome but for one Kurt Hummel, all roads lead to the mall.

First stop: coffee.

Once Kurt had secured his iced mocha, he began his window shopping. It was just so nice to walk around the air-conditioned mall.

There were plenty of middle and high schoolers wandering around with their friends. Enjoying the freedom of summertime. Kurt was pretty happy to be able to spend his summer days at the mall; almost like a relaxing vacation if it weren’t for the fear of running into old bullies and homophobes.

His dad just wanted Kurt to work a few days a week at the garage when the staff was short but with Finn there full-time, Kurt was barely needed. So, he spent his days off running errands and wandering around the Lima Mall.

There was no way for him to get lost at the mall. One, he had become very familiar with the mall having spent many weekends with his girls from glee club here. And two, it wasn’t a very large place.

Eventually, Kurt decided to splurge by getting a cinnamon pretzel and found a bench to rest. It wasn’t long until a curly-haired boy took a seat at the other end.

Kurt wasn’t sure if he was supposed to say hello or not. They were likely the same age. Close in age and cute. While he was debating whether or not to engage with this boy, he made the first move.

“I’m Blaine.”

He’s now facing Kurt.

“Kurt.”

They smile at each other. Kurt can feel his face getting warm.

“You here alone?” Blaine asks.

“Yeah, you?”

Blaine nods. “Wanna walk together?”

Kurt holds up his half-eaten pretzel.

“Oh,” Blaine says, “that’s okay. I can just…”

Blaine moves to stand up and leave.

“No!”

It comes out louder than intended but it stops Blaine.

“I can walk and eat.”

****

They took road trips together and talked about everything except school. It was so refreshing to have something in common with another human besides McKinley High.

Blaine never said he was from Lima; Kurt suspected he wasn’t since he hadn’t seen him at school. Though, it was possible Blaine went to some private school outside of Lima. At one point, Kurt thought he might have to transfer if the bullying got too intense.

Honestly, it was just nice to have someone who understood him like Blaine did. They had so much in common from singing and acting to taste in Broadway musicals to the same favorite hate-watching shows. The only thing they seemed to disagree on was coffee.

Blaine had a strong opinion about drinking black drip coffee with a dash of cinnamon. Whereas, Kurt always got a nonfat mocha. However, they did agree hot chocolate was the superior wintertime drink to eggnog.

Blaine was willing to compromise in ways Rachel Berry never would.

So, it was no surprise to Kurt when he realized his feelings for Blaine.

Once again, Kurt Hummel was falling for a boy who wouldn’t like him back. This time it would hurt more because Blaine could like him, since he was also gay, but didn’t. Because who could love a boy like Kurt.

****

One day they were sharing a pretzel in Blaine’s car parked behind the mall as they typically did.

“Here,” he says, handing over the last piece.

Mid-chew, Blaine almost caused Kurt to choke.

“Can I kiss you?”

Kurt swallowed.

He must’ve been blushing because his face felt hot. Blaine clearly read the look on Kurt’s face as his answer and leaned forward over the center console.

The first thing Kurt noticed was that Blaine’s lips were dusted with cinnamon sugar. He swept his tongue over Blaine’s bottom lip gathering the flakes before painting Blaine’s tongue with cinnamon.

It was an intense first kiss to say the least. Kurt had always pictured a short peck as his very first but this was better. This kiss was just a few steps away from making out.

As the weeks of summer trickled by, Blaine and Kurt spent their days texting and meeting up to make out behind the mall. They’d climb into the backseat of one of their cars and for the next hour touch any skin available. If summer was good for one thing it was exposed skin.

Blaine often wore tank tops so Kurt became very familiar with the muscle tone of his arms.

Oftentimes, Blaine was the one reaching out first. Kurt found himself waiting by the phone for a text; careful to not have permanent plans in case Blaine called. He’d canceled anything to spend time with Blaine. As far as Kurt knew they only had this summer and now it was August. How many more days would he get with Blaine?

****

One late night in August, they went stargazing. Blaine had spread blankets and pillows on the hillside and managed to secure a cheap bottle of wine courtesy of his older brother. As it turns out, Blaine didn’t know much about constellations; luckily, Kurt did.

He spent loads of nights with his mom in the backyard. She told him so many myths of the sky.

Kurt shared some with Blaine, who had interlaced their fingers. Eventually their bodies were fully pressed together. Blaine was hovering over Kurt, placing kisses along his neck.

Kurt bent his head back to give Blaine more room to cover with his lips.

Then, shirts were riding up and removed. Blaine was playing with Kurt’s zipper.

“Can I?” He asked.

Kurt nodded.

“Are you sure?”

Another nod.

“I’ve never done this before,” Blaine whispers.

“Me neither.”

For two boys who have never had sex and weren’t necessarily prepared to that night, it was always going to be a little sloppy. Misplaced hands, teeth clinking against each other, and nervously checking if something was okay.

When it was over, Kurt pulled a blanket to cover them. Blaine was resting his head in between Kurt’s head and shoulder breathing him in.

“I could fall asleep so easily,” Blaine tells him.

Kurt agreed with him but he was seriously contemplating a different kind of falling.

****

Summer had to come to an end. Before Kurt realized it, he was laying out an outfit for the first day of school. He and Blaine never did have a conversation about what was going to happen to them after summer vacation. In fact, Kurt hadn’t heard from Blaine in a few days.

He texted but went to bed without a reply.

Meanwhile, Blaine was wide awake in his own bed. He stared at the unopened text from Kurt on his phone. He could text back but he didn’t know what to say.

Sorry, I’m moving schools tomorrow.

Sorry, I lied to you all summer.

Sorry, I’m not the person you think I am.

Every single message his brain could conjure up began with an apology.

In the end, Blaine ran out of time to text him back. From a restless sleep to breakfast to rushing to get to his new school on time, he was almost able to believe Kurt hadn’t texted him at all.

As Blaine introduced himself for the first time, his eyes caught sight of people passing the door; stranglers being tardy to their first class of the day. Every person in his peripheral vision made his insides jump. They all looked like Kurt.

Except, Kurt wasn’t here. Kurt could never be here. Whatever he and Blaine had over the summer was just that—a summer thing

Blaine never thought of himself as the type for flings but Kurt was different. He’d take any time he could have with him. If three months was all he had then that was okay. He knew this last summer would stick with him for a long time.

When he closed his eyes, he was staring at Kurt’s blue ones. He could feel Kurt’s fingers dancing along his naked back with the stars watching them.

Luckily, the classes seemed to be taking it easy on the students. Going over the class schedules, future projects, and what percentage of their grade was exams and quizzes. Of course, Blaine played plenty of those ice breakers and get-to-know-you exercises.

He loved those.

By the time lunch rolled around, Blaine even had someone to sit with in the cafeteria. A nice girl named Tina sat near him in history and offered him a spot at her normal table. Blaine had mentioned wanting to join the glee club and she bounced up to him after class.

“New Directions always needs members. Sit with us at lunch and we can give you pointers for your audition.”

He met Mike, Tina’s boyfriend, Quinn, head cheerleader, and Mercedes, second lead female soloist of glee. Rachel Berry soon joined the table and sized Blaine up. She had lots of questions about his range, experience, and if he was a spy. Her boyfriend, Finn, seemed suspicious of Blaine as well. Blaine was familiar with Finn’s concerns.

The pointed glares and scowl were markers of a jealous boyfriend. Finn wasn’t worried about Blaine becoming first male lead, he didn’t want Blaine to pursue a relationship with Rachel.

This was not the first time Blaine was being mistaken for your token straight guy.

The table just kept growing. People pushing tables together and pulling empty seats. A Mohawk boy called Puck was asking Blaine about sports he liked (mainly college football) when two more cheerleaders joined them.

Brittany, the blonde, was intrigued by a new student. She had some record to keep up and asked if he wanted to sneak off somewhere to help her with it. He declined. The other, Santana, was too busy waving to someone in the distance to really notice Blaine at all.

��Porcelain, finally,” Santana says, patting the seat beside her. “Meet New Kid.”

“It’s Blaine actually,” Rachel corrected.

The boy, Porcelain, sat down and looked over at Blaine. Their eyes met and instantly widened.

“I’m Kurt,” he says.

“Hi, Kurt.” Blaine watched the boy of his dreams swallow hard. “Blaine, it’s nice to meet you.”

Lunch continued and no one seemed the wiser. Why would the New Directions assume the New Kid in town had already met their beloved Kurt Hummel? No one's first instinct would be that these two boys shyly watching each other would be “they spent the summer hooking up behind the mall.” Well, technically making out at the mall and hooking up in the park, just that one night.

Blaine tried to participate in conversation so as to not raise suspicion that he was staring at Kurt’s lips, which he was completely guilty of.

Once the glee kids started talking about a disaster of a party Rachel once threw, Blaine is able to tune them out in favor of his summer memories.

Sitting in the dark movie theater and bumping hands with Kurt as they reached for popcorn at the same time. Reaching over, buttered fingers and all, to grab for Kurt’s hand. Being able to catch a glimpse of Kurt’s smile as the movie flashed in front of them.

Lost in his daydream, Blaine didn’t hear the bell ring until Kurt tapped his hand, which was stretched out almost in the middle of the table.

“Hey, time to get to class,” Kurt tells him, “walk with me?”

“Okay.” Blaine gathered his books and trash.

“Where to?” Kurt asks.

“Crafts actually.”

“Oh, that’s just down the hall here.” Kurt guides them through the crowds. “Thanks for not spilling everything to them today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our summer together.” Kurt’s blushing. “It was special.”

“To me too,” Blaine assures. “I wouldn’t have said anything to them. I don’t really know those guys yet. I’m new remember?”

Kurt nods. “Not new to me though.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Blaine chuckles.

They reach Blaine’s art classroom.

“I’ll see you in glee club,” Kurt says.

“Okay.”

Blaine only lets Kurt take a few steps before he’s touching his hand. “Wait.”

Kurt is staring at their joined hands and examining the hallway before meeting Blaine’s eyes. No one else is paying them any attention.

There are so many words Blaine wants to say to Kurt.

Be with me. Please. Be mine.

Don’t leave. Don’t slip away.

Stay, stay, stay.

Instead, he steps closer to Kurt and cups his face with his other hand. Kurt leans into the touch. Blaine gives the hallway one last look but it’s almost empty. The late bell will ring soon so he can’t waste any more time.

Blaine leans forward and pecks Kurt.

“Please,” he murmurs, against his lips.

Not even sure what he’s asking Kurt for exactly. Kurt seems to know what he means without needing more information or clearer words than a simple ‘please.’

Kurt drops Blaine’s hand and pulls their bodies close together and opens Blaine’s mouth with his tongue.

There’s a bell ringing, which Blaine thinks must be his own form of fireworks.

“If you two are quite done, there’s a class happening,” Blaine’s crafts teacher tells them.

They pull apart instantly, red in the face from being scolded, Kurt hurries off to his own class. Blaine does another round of introductions and can’t remember anyone’s name but Kurt Hummel.

[ithebookhoarder]

Could I get something for valentines day to do with the Shelby gang? I really don't mind what or who. I just feel like I need a little love for the day...

Valentines Day Head-Canons for the Shelby Family

A/N: Of course you can, anon! Hope you have a great day, whether you’re celebrating or not. It’s just a day, really, so I hope this cheers you up ;) Sending so much love x 

Masterlist:

Arthur: 

This man would be nervous as hell that he’d mess up valentines day with you. He’s not exactly known for being the romantic of the family, nor does he have the sophistication of his younger siblings. In fact, he’s sometimes surprised you’re even with him at all. 

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t try, though. Oh no, this man is going all out for the day and nothing is too much for you. He’ll have asked everyone, and I mean everyone, for advice about what to do to make the day special. 

He’s not a many of many words so he lets his actions do the talking for him, giving you a massive bouquet of flowers as he comes to collect you for the evening. 

“Arthur, they’re beautiful. You really shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble for me. I mean, you even got orchids - my favourites. How did you know?”

“I remember you told me before, eh? When we were at that place down in London. The one with the fancy window displays.”

“I can’t believe you remembered.”

But that’s Arthur. He’s utterly head over heels for you, which is probably why he turns bright red as you kiss him on the doorstep before hurrying back inside to put them in some water. 

He’d also make sure to open every door for you the entire night, refusing to let you even lift so much as a finger. 

In fact, he even pulls your chair out for you in the restaurant he’s taking you to, glaring at the waiter who was going to do it, in a clear sign to back away if he wants to escape with his life. 

“Arthur. I saw that. Behave.”

“I’m on my best behaviour, love. Promise.” 

“Oh really? What a shame, as I had kind of hoped you wouldn’t be, considering that I’m wearing your present underneath this dress.”

Arthur almost combusts there and then. 

Screw dinner - he wants to devour you and only you. Maybe that’s why he practically drags you out of the door at the end of the night, making you laugh as you hurry after him, the two of you fumbling with each other like horny teenagers.  

Needless to say, you spend the rest of the night wrapped in a tangle of limbs, lost in an haze of pleasure as you gift one another with your bodies. 

John:

Now, considering his kids and the fact they are more than a handful, he knows just how important time spent with just the two of you is. That would be his first and biggest gift, getting one of the family to agree to watch the hell spawn long enough for you two to spend some time alone together. 

It’s just you and him for 24 hours of uninterrupted bliss, with no crying children or screaming babies to think about. 

True, it would be weird at first to have the house so quiet, but that’s exactly what you need for you and John to just talk to one another about anything and everything you’ve missed over the past few weeks. After all, he’d probably have been so busy with work he feels like he’s hardly seen you recently. 

He’s also remarkably in-tune with you and knows exactly how to spoil you rotten. 

“You do so much for me and the kids, it’s the least I can do, right? You deserve the world, but I guess I’ll have to do, eh?”

Who knew John Shelby was such a softie?

He’d have the day mapped out down to the finest detail: Breakfast in bed? check. A hot bath with wine and candles? Check. That new dress you had your eye on when you last went into town? Check. Making love for hours on every surface of the house? Triple check. 

He knows how lucky he is to have you and would spend all day making sure you knew. 

“At this rate, we’ll be having another little one to be bribe Polly to watch next year.”

“John Shelby! I swear to god I am not having another baby-“

“So you want me to put my clothes back on and not fuck you again?”

You wisely say nothing and kiss him instead. 

“As I thought.”

Tommy: 

Considering how busy he normally is, the only gift you could ever want from him was that of time. Time away from the stresses of the company or his family and their never ending messes. 

It’s why you’re eager to subtly remind him about the date every chance you get in the weeks preceding it. 

Little do you know, he’s perfectly aware of the day. In fact, he has plans of his own cooked up for the both of you… you just didn’t need to know that yet. 

It makes the surprise all the more satisfying as he wakes you early the morning of, peppering you with kisses and encouraging you to get dressed. 

“I thought people usually tried to get people undressed on Valentines day?”

“Patience, love. It’s worth it, I promise.”

You laugh and trust him, unable to deny him anything when he looks genuinely happy for once. That in itself is a gift, as is the chance to spend the day riding with him around the estate you called home. 

Tommy is happiest on horse back, and you grin as you eye him clambering on his horse out front. 

You’re quick to follow, not surprised to see he’d had your horse readied too. He really had thought this out, down to the route you take. 

“This way, there are no phone calls or fucking distractions,” he explains, relieved at the utter delight in your eyes. “Not unless one of the staff want to grab a horse and come find us. Good luck to them.”

“They’d need it, especially if they’re stupid enough to risk me shooting them for disturbing us. They’d be idiots.”

Tommy laughs. 

Eventually, he’d stop you both, just on the edge of the woods, revealing the next surprise as he pulls out a blanket and basket (prepared with Frances’s help, of course). 

“A picnic, Tommy?” 

“I told you it was a surprise.” 

It’s the best surprise as you both sit there, drinking and laughing as the sky turns dark. 

That’s when he lights a fire for you both, letting you huddle close by the flames, eyes gazing at the stars above you. 

You listen to him telling you all about the constellations and the stories he learned as a child. The sound of his voice is heavenly and you could easily listen to him all night. 

So much so, you’re quick to wish the night would never end, letting you two stay like this, wrapped peacefully in each other’s arms forever. 

Finn:

This literal angel is sweet as hell. Like, you better be prepared for the hand made card he’ll have made you… with Polly’s help, of course. He isn’t a hundred percent sure his spelling would have been right otherwise, but for you he’s willing to make the effort to try and write it for you. After all, you’ve more than likely been trying to help him learn to read and write since you started seeing one another. 

“Aunt Pol… is heart spelt with two t’s or one?”

“One, Finn.” 

“And does angel have a j in it?”

“No, Finn.”

Everyone else thought it was adorable and proof that he truly does love you. They’ve never seen him work so hard on anything in his life. 

Your own card is much simpler, because you wanted to make sure he could read it without too much difficulty. You also may or may not have got a bit carried away with drawing hearts and other sketches to fill it instead of trying to use long and complicated words about how much you loved him. 

However, neither one of you seem to care. You’re too happy with the cards you receive to care about your own possible mistakes. 

You’re also too busy admiring how much of an effort each of you made with your outfits for your date. Sure, it was just drinks and dancing with some of the other teenagers in Small Heath (basically Isiah and his girl) but you’d both gone full out for the occasion. 

“Is that suit new?”

“Maybe… John helped me pick it out. Why? Does it look stupid?”

“No, Finn Shelby. You look incredibly handsome,” you beam, toying with his lapels before linking his hand with yours. “I’ll be the luckiest girl there tonight.”

“And I’ll be the luckiest man.”

Oh yeah, you two are reals saps, just as most young lovers are. You’re all nervous glances, laughs and touches as you two dance the night away. 

It would also be the night Finn kisses you for the first night, summoning the courage to do it as he drops you off back at your house, just a little after curfew. 

It’s worth the risk and as you kiss him back he swears he’s flying the rest of the way home. 

Micheal: 

Micheal has had his plans in place for weeks, making sure every little detail would be perfect for the two of you. He’s honestly looking forward to it, enough to welcome his mother’s advice as she throws suggestions and tips at him the week before. 

“Women like to feel special, Micheal. What about getting her a necklace? Or some chocolates? Fancy ones from France or something.” 

“Mum, thanks, but I’ve got it covered. Promise.”

“Are you sure?”

Micheal laughs and tries not to be offended at her obvious doubt. Then again, he’s not always had a track record of being the most romantic or thoughtful with women. Still, he really cares about you and he’s determined not to mess this up. 

It’s why he’s chosen the perfect place for you two to spend the evening together: your place. 

He’s determined to spend the time just the two of you, and what better way to impress you than cooking dinner for you? 

With the bottle of champagne he brought and your favourite records playing in the background, you’re quickly at ease, grinning as you watch him effortlessly chop, dice and season the dish he’s chosen. 

How is peeling a potato so sexy when he does it? 

It’s honestly impressive, but also because he’s putting so much effort into it which is a nice surprise. As is the way he dances around the kitchen with you whenever there’s a pause in the recipe or a particularly good song comes on. 

You’re surprised at his soft singing voice as he holds you, humming along. It’s rare he allows himself to be seen in such a way, relaxed with no one to judge him for being soft or a little off key.   In front of the other Shelbys he’s normally desperate to impress them, trying to be tough and nonchalant.

However, you know deep down he’s still the country boy you fell in love with when he first arrived in the city.  

By the time you’ve finished dinner, the candles have almost burned out and you know where the evening is headed as you both start to scurry off to your bedroom. 

Ada:

Ada is probably the most relaxed of all the Shelby bunch when it comes to special occasions. This is Ada we’re talking about. She’s also probably the most sane of the bunch, so she knows how to act like a normal person. 

She doesn’t need anything big or fancy as a gift or some elaborate plan to make her fall head over heels. 

A day in the park, with Karl holding both your hands as you walk to the duck pond, is enough to make her look at you with utter adoration in her eyes. She loves how well you both get on, becoming a little family of you own. 

It’s why it’s no surprise you all have dinner together, with Karl helping to serve you as your two favourite people spoil you rotten. You normally eat together most days, even if Karl doesn’t normally wear a suit or call you ‘madame’ every time he passes you something like a mini waiter. 

Ada smirks at the sight, informing you it’s all Karl’s idea - as is the card he thrusts upon you.

“I made the card myself!”

“You did? Wow, Karl. Look how amazing it is. I love the glitter on the heart.” 

“I knew you would. Mum didn’t think so but I won.”

The look Ada gives you makes you want to laugh until you cry as you clearly sense the frustration she must have suffered in the pursuit of Karl’s artistry. It also explains why you’ve been finding glitter everywhere all week. 

“Well, I love it. Thank you - both.”

You press kisses to both of their cheeks, grinning as Ada purred something about giving you her card later once Karl’s in bed. You’re eager to return the favour, impatient to give her your own card and gift. 

It’s a framed photo of you all, taken one day when you’d all been at the local fair. 

The sight of it is enough to make Ada watery eyed as she gives you yours, watching as you unwrap it and gasp in delight. 

The book is the next in a series you’d recently started and fallen in love with. However, you were pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to be released yet. 

“What can I say? Perks of having a librarian girlfriend with exclusive access to advanced copies we’re supposed to be holding on to until next month. I borrowed one and I’m sure they won’t notice.” 

“Ada Shelby. You stole a book for me?”

“Borrowed. Not stole.” 

You don’t care, too overwhelmed to do anything other than kiss her passionately. 

[allie1804-fan]

Kerensa

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Parting Is such sweet sorrow

There was just over a week before Keanu was due to head home. He was browsing in the Round House Gallery on the Harbour front for gifts to take home - he’d already bought an oil painting of Tresco from there for himself, arranging for it to be shipped home.

At the counter, a flyer advertising a production of “Romeo and Juliet” being staged at the Minack theatre caught his eye – The Minack is a famed open air theatre carved into the dramatic clifftop above Porth Curno. He took a flyer back to the cottage and showed it to Kerry suggesting they get tickets.

The night arrived and, at her suggestion based on previous experience, they took a couple of cushions to sit on and a rug for their knees to guard against the cold as night fell. The weather is mild in Cornwall but it was still only late May and temperatures would drop as it’s still cool at night.

Before the start, they bought some hot Cornish pasties and a bottle of red to share. The wine came with little re-usable cups with a cute image of the theatre printed on them that they could take home afterward as a keepsake. With pasties eaten, it was time for the rug which Kerry tucked around them both and they settled down, knees pressed together, to enjoy the show. During the show, Kerry could see Keanu silently mouthing some of the lines, especially Mercutio’s - he explained during the interval that it had been one of his earliest roles, aged at 21 for the Leah Posluns Theatre in Ontario.

The show ended to rapturous applause under the spotlights and with the moonlight sparkling on the sea below it was really a breath-taking spectacle.

They lingered a little in their seats while the crowd made its way up the steps to the exit. When it had cleared a little Keanu suggested they take in the beach before heading back to Sennen. They had a little time before their taxi came which they’d booked knowing they’d be having a drink and that the Cornish roads at night did not favour a driver with even just one drink inside them!

They stood on the sand, gazing up at the cliffs and stars - Kerry was tilting her head back so much she nearly lost her balance! You could see the main constellations really clearly and it was fun to name them. Keanu was enthralled by her wonderment - she looked so beautiful gazing up at the midnight blue sky and the clifftop theatre, her face lit up by the moon. She shivered a little with the cold breeze off the sea and he took the rug from her hands and threw it around her. As he tucked it around her, they smiled at each other. Her eyes had a twinkle, one he recognised from their time in Tresco when they’d got a bit giggly drinking in the New Inn and he remembered the same look when he’d said goodnight to her after they’d got drunk in the pub at Sennen with her sister. Her guard was down and the affection she felt was clear in her eyes. He stepped closer to her, still holding the edges of the rug in each hand. A voice in his head said this was rash but he couldn’t help it. Scrunching the rug up and using it to pull her to him, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. His arms slipped around her and the kiss deepened but just as their tongues touched and he felt virtual fireworks going off in his head, she pulled away, pushing on his chest and breaking their kiss.

Swallowing thickly and clearly holding back tears, she blurted out:

“No stop, we can’t, I can’t, I’m sorry, I just can’t - you’re going home soon and this, this will make it hurt even more”

She looked down at her feet, shoulders slumped, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I’m sorry, so sorry, I know shouldn’t have done that, it’s just, God, you’re so beautiful tonight and I feel so much for you and it all just came spilling out, you know, in the moment.”

She took his hand in hers, softly rubbing his knuckles with her thumb.

“Thank you” She sighed heavily “I feel so much for you too - just protecting my poor old heart I guess.”

He nodded, his expression as sad and wistful as hers. They were quiet on the climb back up to the car park from the beach. It was steep and a bit treacherous in the dark so she relented on one aspect of physical closeness and let him hold her hand up the path, dropping it when they got to the car park where the taxi was just pulling in. On the way back to Sennen she took the front seat and he the back. Keanu cursed himself for his impetuousness whilst also pondering that it had surely been a long time since a kiss had made him feel something so intensely. Once back in Sennen they said their goodnights with a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Keanu slept terribly, tossing and turning all night, dreaming of Kerry, of kissing her, of Kerry naked rising and falling above him, taking him inside her, her hair cascading over her shoulders. He woke with a start, grateful he hadn’t had a wet dream, then relieved his pent-up lust in his morning shower, pressing his head against the glass after he’d cum, finally letting tears of regret fall.

For the next two days, he didn’t see Kerry at all. Usually, they saw each other every day somehow or other but she was obviously avoiding him – he guessed she was taking Scout for super early walks knowing he wasn’t a naturally early riser.

On the third day and his last in Cornwall, he set an alarm for 6 AM and listened out for her leaving the house, then scrambled to get dressed and head out himself. He looked down the beach and could see she’d gone that way today so he’d be able to catch her up or meet her on the return leg of the walk. He had to apologise for the kiss.

In the end, he caught up on the outward leg as she’d stopped by the shore to let Scout run in and out of the waves and was just staring out to sea.

“Hey there!” he called.

“Hey” she said, her voice expressing her surprise.

“You’ve been avoiding me” he stated “So I set an alarm to make sure I could speak with you. Listen Kerry, about the other night. I’m so sorry, I know it was stupid and I’m sorry, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you – I was just so caught up in the moment, the beauty of it all. The play, the moonlight, the sea and the stars.”

“I know, and I know you’d never hurt me. You’re too kind for that” she smiled but it was with sad eyes.

“And I should be saying sorry too, for sneaking around avoiding you. I’ve been a coward. And I promised myself I would stop that behaviour, you know, after the divorce. I said I’d be true to myself and honest with people and I need to stick to it.”

Up to this point Kerry had been mainly looking down, almost talking to herself but now she drew in a shaky breath and looked him in the eye.

“I could fall, no let’s face it, I am falling in love with you and I know there’s no future for us and a fling or a one nighter would be wonderful in the moment but would just be too painful in the end so that’s why I’ve avoided you! And I’m sorry for that, there I’ve said it now”

She blew out another long breath and let her shoulders droop, relieved to have said her piece.

Keanu was taken aback. Half thrilled and half devastated. Why did this have to happen now and here, over 7000 miles from his home?

“I’m falling in love with you too” he said quietly, sadly “but you’re right my life’s back there in LA. I have to go, I have commitments ……….. meetings, another location shoot. I’m sorry.”

She moved closer, took his hand and kissed it.

“Just one of those things, huh?”

He nodded and pulled her into a bear hug, she pressed her face against his heart which he knew was beating a little faster than usual.

“Come on let’s go walk it off, up on the cliffs, let the fresh air clear our heads.” he suggested.

They headed off up the beach and onto the coast path towards Lands End. They walked mostly in silence, each thinking about what was around the corner for them, each heartsore that the other wasn’t part of their futures.

“You know, I’d like to stay in touch” Kerry offered as they paused for a while on the path when Scout went scurrying off after spotting a rabbit.

“I’d like that too” he paused “but maybe not too much, too soon, you know. I guess we both need some space to let this be a friendship we cherish and not something that makes us sad.

“deal” she said sticking her hand out to shake on it.

“deal” he smiled back but like hers, his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

The next day, Keanu left for home. She came into the cottage to tell him the taxi was out front.

They shared a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“We’ll keep in touch yeah?” he said.

“Yeah but remember not too much, no mooning!”

He laughed

“I’ll have you know I’m a veteran mooner” and he turned away from her pretending he was going to do the other kind of mooning, making her laugh. At least that broke the tension and he picked up his canvas hold all and his carry-on bag and with that, he was gone.

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