#I watched inside again and was left in shambles

[corvinidum]

Apathy’s a Tragedy and Boredom is a Crime

[lady-buggerinton]

My Top Five Polin Scenes in Part One (and why!)

My darling gossipers, so far this show is making literally all of my hopeless romantic dreams for this couple come true and who knows what kind of angst and drama were in for in part two, so before things gets too real I just wanted to go into (too much) depth on my favorite scenes and a few swoon-worthy details from part one! *whips reigns on carriage* shall we?

5. Drawing Room Lesson/Journal

Pen's brain: TOUCH ALERT! HIS HAND IS ON MY BACK.

This scene is so best friend coded with the way they are bantering and flirting the whole time. There's an adorable contrast between Penelope's fear of being discovered and Colin being like it's chill!(when in fact it is not Chill because they get interrupted after 5 minutes of gazing into each others eyes)

He just clearly wanted to be completely alone and behind closed doors platonically with his very beautiful friend (who looks like an angel in this scene) to pretend they are courting. Nothing suspicious about that!

I love how he's so into the lesson to the point that he has set out the lemonade as a prop and brought her to Bridgerton house in the first place specifically because she said it was where she was most comfortable (previously, but he's doing his best, and probably hoping she will become comfortable again, ouch)

Colin being the "dashing suitor" for her to flirt with (loser) and when she's resistant to fake flirting with him he hits her with the, "you don't have to be embarrassed, you know me!" trying to put her at ease. And he succeeds! Penelope is so comfortable during this scene when she's opening up about how it's hard for her to get her personality across, it's so sweet and honest.

And this is when the ROMANCING really starts, I love how it's Penelope who takes the lead here. mostly by accident, but the poor man is still left in shambles.

I do kind of wish for this scene they had gone with a more back and forth flirting moment, and seen them both get a little taste of how overtly flirting with each other would feel rather than her little poetic moment, but it was sweet to see her expose a corner of her feelings for him and watching him get a tad flustered at the compliment.

Ok, while it was rather uncool of her to read his journal, I love this part so much. Because I am no better, I would 100 percent do this given the chance. Her examining the space where he spends time, her running her hand over his pirate coat, (who wouldn't) the quiet yearning of that action. As a snoop myself, this was wish fulfillment.

Penelope being hit with a confusing mix of jealousy and intrigue by the contents of the journal entry, the way she stops reading for just a second and then gives in and devours his writing, not being able to hold back from getting inside his head. Don't think about how she probably missed his letters.

Colin's anger here is warranted, and I liked how he didn't come across as aggro-angry Colin from the books but is still justifiably upset that his privacy has been violated. He is likely aware that there are certain DETAILS he wouldn't want her to be reading, like how he's a lonely lonely sad little man trying to be rakish and roguish because his beautiful platonic friend isn't writing him back and encouraging him like she usually does.

Can I just mention that bandaging a wound is an excellent trope and it's such a good romancing vehicle: the care, the tenderness, the touching! the GRUMPINESS! But my favorite thing about the wound bandaging is his reaction to her complimenting his work, of which he hasn't shown ANYONE. He's just so shocked that she likes it, and clearly starved for her encouragement/anyone to be interested in his travels.

I think its also worth noting that this is THE moment that Colin thinks back to when he's considering activating his chaos tendencies by rolling up to the red ball to interrupt her proposal, so I'm gonna interpret that as him recalling his first realization/admittance to himself that he has feelings for her beyond friendship.

It wouldn't surprise me since it is after this moment that we see the hints of jealousy start to manifest at the full moon ball (looking for her, asking her if she likes a suitor, he's not subtle with it). Can't blame him, he was just touched with intimacy and care, and told his creative outlet is well-written, he is being ROMANCED to the max and he can't handle it.

We also have our first "please" as Pen asks to help, and as we will see, these two can't say no to each other once the magic word is spoken! I hope this theme makes a comeback in part two (please please please)

4. Market Scene

ok, besides a semi-silly looking wig on Colin (reshoots) this scene is first of all, so beautiful.

SHE IS SO FINE IN THIS SCENE I CAN'T EVEN THINK. She looks like a preraphaelite painting and I'm gnawing at the bars of my enclosure.

I literally kept saying "wow" out loud. It actually makes the scene very silly to me because she keeps talking about how she'll never snag a husband and I'm over here on one knee begging for a chance.

If Penelope has been Colin's cheerleader and #1 supporter for their whole friendship, this is where that flips. This scene is all about Pen feeling dejected about her prospects and Colin trying to lift her spirits -basically by saying she doesn't need to work on anything because he already likes her so much without her doing anything but I digress!

There is nothing hotter than your crush talking about a shared memory! Literally nothing! You can see her absolutely light up here when he talks about their first meeting like "I can't believe he remembered" and "Shit, I'm trying to not be in love" and it makes me ache for her.

I am very sad we didn't get a meet cute flashback (hello romcom!!) but this was the next best thing. He's also definitely still in Rake Mode with the way he is being charming and flirty, but there is a core of genuine feeling here as he is trying to get her find her confidence and be more like the non-self conscious children they once were. I believe a lot of the rift between them was directly because she had such strong feelings for him and couldn't just connect with him as friends due to the pedestal she put him on, this scene shows that without that as a barrier, they are able to connect much more naturally.

"Living for the estimation of others is a trap, once you break free the world opens up," he says, and he's starting to realize this idea but hasn't quite put it into practice. I think seeing Penelope struggling to be something she's not, just like he is, shows him how it's not working for either of them. This I think kickstarts his self-reflection and eventual rejection of external pressures later on, leaving him open to pursue other passions.

Ok but what I LOVE most in this scene is his subtle digging for information about her that she isn't forthcoming with. He asks her why she wants a husband and where she feels most comfortable, peppering her with questions and also giving her zero personal space. He's very curious about her and what is going on inside, but she's not exactly open with him at this point, giving short and simple answers.

She's genuinely not used to someone asking her this many questions about herself, receiving this kind of devoted attention, and she clearly doesn't know quite how to respond. In fact, the dynamic has always been reversed, where she was encouraging and inquiring about him, so this switch is just excellent. there have been little moments throughout the series where he asks about her and she always seems to deflect to talking more about him, so it's nice to see this shift.

Also fun detail, the grecian statues behind them are a little nod to the eros and psyche vibes of the scene as cupid is trying to find a match for his psyche, but is slowly beginning to fall for her, his curiosity the first step towards total downfall.

When he asks about Eloise is where Pen just completely shuts down and says she has to leave, and the "before we are noticed" with the little smile? I have fallen in love. She's clearly using that as an excuse to dodge the question, and it is almost an inside joke, sadly. As if she's saying "No one would believe you are courting me anyway haha". And yet he's clearly bummed she's leaving, he was having such a good time, and she leaves him hanging, wanting to know more. I also absolutely love the Rae side eye, lethal!

3. Candy Tent

Post-kiss insanity is on full display here. The way she beckons him with a sexy head tilt and he came running, the way his hands give away his nervousness and his eyes keep locking on her helplessly. Just FULL ON crush mode. The soft "How are you?" he missed her!

Also outfits are incredible here, the pearls in the hair, the painted vest, Colin inventing the color brown, it's a rococo dream. The plushy pink of the tent, the ambiance, everything is just in a word: sumptuous? never used that but it feels right here.

Pen's giddiness here is just adorable, she's experiencing blatant interest for the first time and I couldn't be happier for her. But someone else is very peeved, indeed. He's trying to play the part of supportive friend while also just kind of feeling a lot of "confounding feelings"

The way he is trying to be so casual and attempting to keep up his swagger, but his true feelings are showing through BAD kind of harkens back to how Pen would interact with Colin in s1 and 2, with barely contained affection and hope. The script has been FLIPPED and it feels so good!!

I literally squeal every time he asks her if she's formed an attachment to Debling, this is the shit I signed up for!! Her saying Debling is not "unpleasant to gaze upon" and watching Colin just completely glitch out with jealousy. He's like AND WHAT ABOUT ME! Must be frustrating to be the most eligible bachelor of the season, and yet your very beautiful crush friend is complementing another man on his looks. When your crush expresses interest in someone it can be truly insanity inducing, so I feel for him here.

Pen is oblivious completely, she doesn't think any of what she is saying is negatively affecting him, in fact she thinks this news will make him happy! His lessons worked, she didn't care about being perceived and it is having the desired affect! and yet, he's miserable. Mission accomplished unsuccessfully if you will.

He does ALMOST a good job of hiding his feelings, but if Pen were not completely convinced he couldn't have feelings for her, I think she would've picked up on the vibes here. He's way less enthusiastic about the lessons, and is giving fairly curt responses, when before he was yapping on about being yourself and such.

Then of course the blatant staring at her mouth, being the yearning sort of man he is and likely recalling their kiss in detail, reminder it's been at least a week since. She's romancing him without even trying. It also makes sense for "food motivated" Colin to have Penelope + cake equals critical override of his facial expressions and his literally standing there slack-jawed with lust.

His soft "good luck", when she leaves and the fact that he doesn't mean it AT ALL.

I've seen it talked about, but it makes a lot of sense that Penelope wasn't as affected by the kiss as he was. I'm sure she enjoyed it, but for her the kiss was an end (more on that later) and for him it was the moment he admitted his feelings (which were already growing slowly). so it makes sense the yearning is very colin-sided in this scene.

Apart from the yearning, it's also just sweet to see them in cahoots and discussing this development with Debling like its a little group project, and its the perfect scene to show Down Bad Colin, and I love it. She also clearly wants him to share with her in her success, still wanting to be close to him in any way she can, which if I think about too much I'll cry.

Bonus points for him eating the cake later on, such an intimate detail, he just wants to be close to her in any way he can. CRIMINAL! ARREST HIM!

2. First kiss/Dream Sequence

Ok I'm combining these scenes because they happen back to back and sort of like a mirror of each other, sue me. This first kiss scene is, as Whistledown says, RECKLESS. It's nonsensical, it's desperate, and it's beautiful.

This scene has only improved upon rewatches, it really has everything. Best kiss scene on Bridgerton and possibly in anything ever? no doubt no doubt?

The silly back and forth on the "You're not going to die" and the way she doesn't back down when he seems to get embarrassed, but instead says what? The Magic Word! "Please" she says, which of course is both of their activation word. His expressions here definitely mirror the book, where as soon as she asks him to kiss her, he's a bit taken aback by how much he realizes he wants to already.

This is such a low moment for Penelope, and it's one parts embarrassing and two parts brave of her to ask him to kiss her. In her position, she doesn't even have her pride left, so why not ask the boy you love to kiss you? nothing will come of it anyway, and he probably won't even do it, so why not ask? And what are friends for!

then the moment comes, and the music swells, as does the tension as he closes the distance between them, her shocked face and shallow breaths as she realizes its actually going to happen, the way he lifts her face to his with his hand under her chin. It's just pure romance. and this thing between them, this space that has never been crossed, is being crossed, and it feels insane. reckless. intimate!!

What I love is the shot that focuses on his face after they deepen the kiss, he's intent and confused by how good this feels, how little like kindness this is for him as soon as their lips touch. Like we will see later, he just kind of mind-blanks and forgets what is happening.

Whatever he thought they were has just crumbled with this kiss, and he leans his forehead against hers, no awkwardness when there is such tenderness. which is why he's so shook when she whispers "thank you", and rushes off. he's like "wait why is she thanking me? where am I? weren't we doing something here?" The hopeful strings as it focuses on his dumbstruck face, the earth literally shifting under his feet in that moment. UNREAL.

THE DREAM: I won't say a lot about the dream sequence but I just had to throw it in here because it shows how aligned they are romantically. They are both HUGE romantics, and he has orchestrated this sort of do-over kiss where he's really going for it and proving to her that he wants this too, he wants her. And she's enjoying herself, clearly, which we know is something Colin wants more than anything. It's a great way to show his inner feelings with the lack of an inner monologue that a book brings. And this is clearly a sort of parody of Bridgerton itself, or at least the books. It's over the top, a little silly, and exactly what we all want to see.

This dream also isn't just ripping off clothes, it's emotional, a key element is him expressing how he's been thinking about her, consumed by her. This kiss also isn't as innocent and patient as the first kiss, and it's full of Reciprocation, she can't stop thinking about him either. AND NEITHER CAN I!!!

Both of these kiss scenes also set up our contrasting feelings, where Pen views their first kiss as an end of a dream, a bittersweet act to finally let go off him, the dream of him. And then his dream shows the opposite, how she's ignited something in him that begins his dream of her, awake and asleep. Dream-swap! Also the hand on the wall behind her to catch her from hitting the wall. no comment.

1. Carriage Scene

Yeah like what can I say! It's incredible! I honestly have no idea how they can top this scene, but honestly if this is the best love scene they share in the season I am 10000% content. All of my little qualms with how they did the season melt away when I watch this scene because this was what was crucial to nail and they NAILED IT. TO THE WALL BABY. YAY.

And how did he gain access to the carriage (and Penelope)?? by saying please!! we love the magic word!! I do like the confession a lot, especially the "what if I did have feelings for you?" and the way he gets to his KNEES, a truly inspired moment.

How he completely dies inside when she says they are friends, and still accepts it with grace. There were SO many obstacles to him expressing his feelings to her this night, and he just red rovered each one, and we are all very grateful.

Something about this scene is just built different, I like a lot of the love scenes in the show, but this one has some kind of secret ingredient that we didn't know we'd been missing. Maybe its the location, the context, the way they are just grasping at each other desperately (which if you think about how Penelope thought this was a one time thing in the books and she wanted to make the most of it, actually don't think about that)

He's also just so sweet about it, he's not angry, or insistent, he's just honest and intent. and she's just bewildered and INTO IT.

The lightning is gorgeous, the way it looks like Penelope is catching on fire and glowing. the catharsis, the giving into passion. The way she smiles like her dreams are coming true (because they are) before he just completely attacks her. What else can I say but EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

so many of the kisses are so tender and gentle, and they just build and build and build in intensity as they get lost in each other.

on a more horny note, so many moments here actually make me physically roll my eyes back in my head with how insane they make me. The desperate boob grab, the consensual nod, the way his hand slips under her dress, they were truly so insane for this. something tells me they knew I've waited literal years for this, so they knew they had to make it good.

Someone said Nicola should get an Emmy nom for moans, and she should, somehow they don't come across as cartoonish at all, and it doesn't take me out of the scene like some "noise making" does in these types of scenes. and for the record I'm not jealous at all, of either of them. in fact, no sooner did my head hit the pillow that I was met with complete and total darkness....not even a dream....

Like everything I could say has already been said, but it was so much better than I thought it was going to be, blew my expectations out of the water and DELIVERED. and DEVOURED. and RUINED ME. AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL.

Anyway that's all, I'm very afraid for part two so I needed some escapism, why am I already nostalgic for the good ol' times when Polin was happy for 6 minutes. thanks for reading! <3

[v7lgar]

@jegulus-microfic | may 26 - fine | tw: NSFW, spit swallowing, dirty talk, D/s undertones | words: 827 | @ecstarry @star4daisy

Regulus didn't know James had it in him. He had a gut feeling, yes, but the outcome was beyond his dreams.

James was on top of him, sucking his neck hard and fucking him deep. Every time he thrust, the sounds of their flesh made Regulus feel weak in the knees. It made him dizzy, he felt so heavy and needy. It was fine, it was James and he always knew how to take care of him.

His hands were at James’ back, nails digging in and his eyes were closed. All he could feel was him, James, filling his pussy and feeding him nicely.

“Fuck, James—” He moaned loudly, it was hard to open his eyes but he needed to look at him, so he did.

James bit the tender skin of his neck and slowly pulled away, mouth hanging open and his lips were red. Regulus touched his bottom lip and at that moment James shoved his cock deep into his cunt again and Regulus cried out.

“Shit— you are so good at this,” he told him as he tried to catch his breath, “I don't like that you are good at this.”

James licked his cheek slowly, it made him feel worse. And then he got closer to his ear, nibbling his earlobe.

“You like it when I fuck you this good though,” he spoke gradually and kissed the under of his ear, “I can feel your wetness, your pussy is hungry for my cock. It stretches nicely around me, swallowing every inch of my cock. Are you sure you don't like it?”

Regulus had to close his eyes shut, the lewd words did numbers on him and as if that wasn't enough, James’ raspy, low voice was driving him crazy. And he was right, every word coming out of his mouth was absolute truth.

“I fucking hate you,” Regulus said, he could feel the tears gathering in his eyes, “I can't stand you.”

James only smirked, he was so handsome without his glasses too. Regulus was made of love at that exact moment, every limb of his was loving James Potter, wanting him without an end.

“I guess your cunt is not on the same page with you,” He said, he pulled out until then tip of his cock was the only thing staying inside of Regulus, and while he was being watched by him, he spat onto his pussy and shoved his cock into forcefully in one push.

Regulus’ breath left his lungs abruptly, he couldn't move, he couldn't think.

But James continued, “Look at him, pretty little thing, wrapping itself around my cock so good. So tight, yet he can take it all,” His eyes met with Regulus, “Soaking wet for me, begging for me to fuck you harder. You need to be fucked the way you deserve it, baby. Let me take care of you.”

Regulus didn't know when he started crying, he was feeling so full and everything was so perfect that pleasure clouded his every sense.

James didn't wait for an answer, Regulus quietly crying was all he needed. He wrapped his hand around Regulus’ throat and fucked him faster while choking him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck— James, Jamie— Potter—”

James fucked him even harder, he was in shambles.

“Fuck me, fuck, fuck me— faster, yes, yes—”

Regulus didn't stop talking and neither did James. The more Regulus moaned and rambled, the dirtier James’ words became. He felt James’s fingers on his clit and everything in him screamed. He started rubbing it faster than the rhythm he was fucking him to.

“Fuck, your little cunt is feels so fucking good— Can’t get enough of this.”

He spat on his pussy again and spread the wetness by using his fingers. At the same time, Regulus was hanging on to his life as he scratched James’ back and he could feel the blood getting under his fingernails.

James moved his hand from his throat to his chin and opened Regulus’ mouth. He spit inside of his mouth and Regulus moaned as he swallowed. He could feel his wet folds getting more slicker with every thrust of James’ hips.

“James,” he groaned as James put his thumb into his mouth and he started sucking it while imagining it was James’ cock. He couldn't stop moaning, everything felt amazing. He was so close, painfully close and James’ fingers on his clit were making everything blurry.

He felt like an angel who was about to fall from heaven into the pits of hell.

“I’m close— I'm so close, James— oh fuck, yes, yes, yes—”

James rubbed it faster, every time he bottomed out his pussy became even more wet. He was there, and it was too much. Every feeling was heightened achingly and all he needed was him.

He bit James’ finger and pulled him into a kiss by the nape of his neck. It broke something in him and—

He started to fall.

[theostrophywife]

kiss with a fist | chapter eight.

masterlist 💋 chapters 💋 playlist

pairing: theodore nott x reader.

song inspiration: people i don't like - upsahl

author's note: moving it along. can't believe that there's only five more chapters left. this series has been my baby so i'm like in shambles as the end comes closer, but also excited.

The night of the dinner was finally upon you and the amalgamation of dread, trepidation, and wrath clouded over you like a malevolent fog. You weren’t looking forward to it, but you knew that Theo was right. If sitting through one lousy dinner secured a spot with the M.E.S.P, then you would begrudgingly grin and bear it. 

Luckily, you wouldn’t have to face it alone. As Luna promised, Harry was waiting for you outside of Professor Slughorn’s office. Harry was dressed in a button down and a dark blazer paired with freshly pressed trousers. Despite his smart attire, his signature messy, black hair and slightly skewed glasses softened his appearance. 

Harry smiled, raising his hand in a slight wave. “Hi, Y/N. You look lovely.” 

You smoothed the front of your dress, which Pansy had helped you pick out. The fabric was sleek and silky and as dark as night. The front was simple, but the back dipped low and revealed more skin than you were used to. It was completely out of your comfort zone, but Pansy had insisted that you were meant to wear the dress.

“Thanks, Harry. So do you.” You stood up straighter, balancing on your impossibly tall heels—another Parkinson addition, before rolling your shoulders back. “Shall we?” 

The inside of Professor Slughorn’s office had been transformed into an entirely different space. Velvet curtains hung from the ceiling and covered the marble columns like tapestry. A round mahogany table sat in the middle of the room and sat upon it were fresh fruits, expensive cheese, and cold cuts. The plates were set in a circular formation and each one contained a placard with a different student’s name. 

You took your place, quietly settling in between Harry and a Hufflepuff girl—Melissa? No, Melinda. You remembered that her family owned a large chain of apothecaries. 

As you glanced around the table, you realized that while there were at least two or three members from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, there was only one Slytherin in the midst. You weren’t that familiar with Cassius Warrington, but you knew that he was currently being pursued by the Chudley Cannons, which was plenty of incentive for Slughorn to invite him into the mix. 

You were well aware that the presence of each student was contingent on the benefits they could help provide Slughorn and vice versa. After all, that was the purpose of the slug club, but facing it head on still made your stomach roil. You barely touched the filet mignon and scalloped potatoes for fear of retching it all back up. The conversations happening around you made it impossible to eat.

It was just endless prattling and bragging on and on about connections and achievements, much to Slughorn’s delight. The superficiality of it all made you nauseous. When McLaggen name dropped his influential uncle for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, you nearly pulled your hair out. You watched with a grimace as he lapped up his soup with tiny licks, sort of like a lizard toying with a fly. 

Out of instinct, you turned to your right to snicker with Theo only to remember that he wasn’t there, which put you in a foul mood all over again. 

“He does love to prattle on, doesn’t he?” Harry muttered in a low voice. 

You nodded. “I imagine he only speaks to hear the sound of his own voice.” 

“I take it that you’re enjoying this as much as I am.” 

“If by enjoying you mean considering pulling my eyelashes out one by one, then you would be correct, Potter.” 

“Forget the eyelashes. I might pluck my own eyes out all together if I hear McLaggen say my uncle Tiberius one more time.” 

You snorted. “If you’re as miserable as I am, then what are you doing here?” 

He shrugged. “People expect me to be here. To go on as normal. It’s important to have some semblance of that after last year, I suppose.” 

You nodded sympathetically. Everyone looked up to Harry. He was a hero, a practical living legend, the boy who lived not once but twice. You imagined carrying all of that pressure on his shoulders couldn’t have been easy. 

“What about you? You’re obviously not enjoying yourself, so why subject yourself to all of this?” 

“I want to become a potioneer after I graduate. Slughorn is an influential member of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, which means he’s my key to getting accepted so while this dinner is physically and mentally draining all of my energy, I don’t have much of a choice. Being the first muggleborn member of the society would be monumental. Not just for me, but for other witches in the future."

“I understand,” Harry said with a nod. “You know, Mione’s probably going to be the first muggleborn witch to become Minister of Magic.” 

You smiled. While you two weren’t close by any means, you have always admired Hermione. Her academic achievements were the cause of your envy for many years, but after all that she had gone through, you stopped feeling that stab of jealousy. 

“The wizarding world would be lucky to have Granger leading it,” you agreed. “Which reminds me, why isn’t she here tonight?” 

“She declined the invitation. As did Ron.” 

“I can’t blame them. I half expected you to do so as well. The three of you have done enough to last a lifetime.” 

“Yes, but like I said. It’s important for me to participate in these things. To boost morale, or so I’ve been told.” 

It was fascinating to you that Harry could joke about such things. If you had battled the darkest wizard of all time and lived to tell the tale, you would probably tell everyone to kindly fuck off forever, but you suppose that was the reason why Harry was the chosen one and not you. 

“Do you ever feel like you’re still fighting?” you asked. “Voldemort and his followers are either dead or imprisoned, yes. But we’re still rooting out their ideologies to this day and now there’s this new suspicion surrounding an entire house despite the fact the Death Eaters had members from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff too.” 

Harry nodded solemnly. “Everyone thinks that the war ended at the Battle of Hogwarts, but in reality, our work is barely beginning. The hardest part is healing. I’ll admit that sometimes it’s hard for me to separate the fact that Tom was a Slytherin with my own biases about the whole house itself, but unlearning all of those misconceptions is a process. It takes a lot to change a person’s perception. We can’t all be as smart and logical as you Ravenclaws.” 

“If only, right?” you said with a smile. 

“Well, we could always try it your way and threaten to push people off of the bleachers.” His green eyes crinkled with amusement. 

You groaned. “I can’t believe you heard about that.” 

“I must say, Ron and I had a proper laugh when we heard about it. He still hasn’t forgotten his stay in the hospital wing thanks to Romilda’s tainted chocolate cauldrons.” You grimaced, which made Harry chuckle. “I am sorry about what she said to Pansy though. We aren’t friends by any means, but I’d like to think that we’re at least on civil terms. Luna talks about her fondly and if Parkinson’s got your approval, then it’s safe to assume that she’s treating our friend well.” 

“She is,” you agreed. “They are nauseatingly perfect for each other.” 

“I’m glad to hear it. We all deserve a little happiness.” 

“Speaking of which, how’s Ginny doing?” 

The boy who lived blushed furiously. “She’s well. How’s Theo doing?” 

You smirked. “Touche, Potter. Touche.”

As the night droned on, you found excuses to visit the refreshment table just to get away from all the insufferable preening. While you fixed yourself a cup of tea, you sensed a presence to your right. Cassius surveyed the variety of teas on the table, but made no move to select any.

“Sorry, am I in your way?” 

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “I just needed an excuse to get up.” 

You chuckled. “Join the club, Warrington.” He smiled a little as you dropped a sugar cube into your cup. “Congratulations on the recruitment by the way. Your teammates won’t shut up about it.” 

Cassius scratched the back of his head, looking a bit shy. “Thanks, Y/N. Everything is still in the negotiation stage, but after the last game, I think my chances are looking good. The boys said you were there for the match.” 

“Yeah, I was. This might not mean much since I haven’t watched a game since fourth year, but you guys were great out there. It was bloody brutal. I had a blast.” 

“I’m glad to hear that. We do our best to put on a show,” he said. Warrington toyed with his saucer. He looked around before clearing his throat and lowering his voice. “Listen, Y/N. I heard about what you did for Pansy.”

“You and the rest of the school, apparently.” 

“I just wanted to say thanks for sticking up for her. Pansy—she—helped me out a lot after my father was imprisoned and I probably wasn’t the only one. Everyone in Slytherin, especially those that were caught in the crossfire last year, owe a lot to her. She’s one of the good ones.”

You nodded, smiling. “I wouldn’t have let her date my best friend if I didn’t think that myself.” 

“Luna makes her really happy. I’m glad that they have each other. Pansy earned it.” 

“They both did.”

The conversation was cut short as Slughorn tapped his spoon against his goblet. The two of you reluctantly made your way back to the table.

“Thank you all for joining me tonight. It is a great privilege to be able to gather after all that passed last year. I urge you to look around at your fellow witches and wizards, remembering the fallen and celebrating the sacrifices that have all brought us back to this castle. As we commemorate this monumental moment, let us look not to the past but to the future.” 

You swirled the glass of sparkling non-alcoholic spritzer, only half listening to the generic drivel that you’ve heard a thousand times before. The more Slughorn talked, the more irritated you felt. There was all this talk of looking to the future, moving on, hoping for a better tomorrow, but what use was that if you couldn’t even fix the present?

Professor Slughorn raised his glass in the air. “A toast to the best of the best.” 

That one phrase was the straw that broke the camel’s back. You had no idea why, but those words finally made you crack.

“That’s not right though, is it professor?” The whole table fell silent as every head turned in your direction. “Sure we may be smart, accomplished, but not the best.” 

Slughorn reeled back in surprise. His expression faltered before he plastered on a false smile. “Don’t sell yourself short, Y/N. All of you worked hard to get here.” 

“None of us are even the top student in your class. That would be Theo.” You were vaguely aware that you were raising your voice, but once the words tumbled past your lips, you couldn’t reel them back in. “But he’s not here because surely we can’t invite your star pupil to a slug club dinner if his father is in Azkaban for being a death eater. That would be like inviting the Dark Lord to dinner, but wait. Didn’t you already do that, professor?”

A gasp came from your right. Melinda stared at you as though you’d grown an extra head. 

“That’s quite enough, Y/N.”

Your humorless laughter echoed in the cavernous office. “Oh, but I’m just getting started. What was it that you said in your welcoming speech at the beginning of the year? Unity and reconciliation? Surely ostracizing someone for his father’s deeds, which he had nothing to do with by the way, judged and ruled by the Ministry itself, directly contradicts that sentiment, does it not? Or are we all just supposed to ignore this blatant display of discrimination against a perfectly innocent student?”

“Perfectly innocent?” scoffed McLaggen. “Nott comes from a long line of dark wizards as do the rest of the Slytherins. They show you an ounce of kindness and suddenly you become their little muggleborn pet.” 

To your surprise, Cassius leapt to his feet. “Don’t call her that,” he nearly growled. “Y/N is just being a good friend. She stood up for Pansy when no one else would and now she’s doing it for Theo, too. You want to compare ledgers, McLaggen? Didn’t your father and uncle conspire to bring the Ministry under the Dark Lord’s control? They armed Voldemort and the Death Eaters then profited off of the war. They deserve to be in Azkaban just as much as my father does, but conveniently their records were wiped clean. Isn’t that why your family moved to France?” 

The room was utterly silent. McLaggen looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel, but Cassius wasn’t done. He wheeled around to face the other attendees. “I’m not stupid. I know I was only invited because I’m being scouted by the Cannons, but I hoped that attending would make you see me as someone more than just a Death Eater’s son. I guess I was wrong and now I’m done with this farce. You’ll never stop seeing us as the villains.”

Without waiting for a response, Cassius stormed out of the room. He held his head up proudly, nodding to you and Harry as he made his graceful exit. 

“Cassius is right,” Harry declared. “So is Y/N. We can’t crucify every Slytherin for the mistakes of a few. That would make us no better than Voldemort himself.  The way I see it, the only way to get to the future we all fought for is to work with our fellow classmates, the Slytherins included. I hope you can learn to look past your biases and false perceptions, just as I’m learning how to.” 

Not a single person moved as Harry finished his speech. “Right, well that’s that then.” He turned over to you. “Shall we get going, Y/N?” 

“Gladly.” 

You pushed your chair back and paid no mind to the burning gazes seared upon your back. Before following Harry out of the office, you leaned in close to McLaggen and lowered your voice so only he could hear. “If you ever speak poorly of my friends again, I’ll dose you with a potion that makes your precious man parts shrivel.” 

Cormac paled several shades as you patted him on the shoulder. “Enjoy your dessert, McLaggen. I heard chocolate ganache pairs well with prejudice.” 

The castle was quiet at this time of night. You and Harry walked side by side through the dungeons in silence. For someone who just blew up her academic career, you felt fairly calm. You knew that speaking up for your friends was the right thing to do. 

“Thank you for speaking up back there,” you said. “You didn’t have to do that. You don’t owe anyone anything after all you’ve done, but I appreciate it nonetheless.” 

“I do though. Hearing Cassius in there, I realized that the Ministry has failed both sides in a lot of ways. I think we’re all so eager to go back to the way things were before that we’re willing to overlook a lot of things. I’ve never even thought about families like the McLaggens who aided the Dark Lord, but got off with a light sentence. Or people like Cassius and Pansy and Theo who face a lot of unfair judgment from the rest of the wizarding world.” 

“That’s the point, Harry. You shouldn’t have to think about it. None of us should. We’re all just children forced to grow up by the war because of the failure of those before us. It’s unfair to be burdened with a load so heavy.”

Harry sighed, nodding. “But if we don’t carry our load, we risk repeating the same mistakes and I won’t have that. We have to do better than the past generations.” 

“We will,” you declared. “We have to.” 

The torch lights drew shadows across the stone floors as you contemplated. 

“You really care about them, don’t you?” It was more a statement rather than a question. You nodded, which made Harry smile. “I can tell that they care about you, too. Especially Theo.” 

“We spent years in competition with one another, the classic bitter rivals. It’s kind of ironic that we became friends during our last year here.” 

Harry looked at you strangely. “Right, friends…”

You crossed your arms and narrowed your eyes at the green eyed wizard. “What’s that tone for, Potter?” 

His mouth quirked. “Nothing, it’s just—well, Theo looks at you like I used to look at Ginny. With pining and yearning, as Mione liked to say. And the way you defended him earlier, Ginny would’ve done the same for me.” You were silent for a moment as you absorbed his words. “A word of advice, Y/N. I know it’s against those Ravenclaw instincts, but sometimes it’s good to get out of your head and tune into your heart instead.” 

“Since when did the boy who lived become an expert on all things romance?” you teased. 

“A handful of near death experiences really helps put things into perspective.” 

You grinned. “I’ll take your word for it, Potter.” The two of you came to a stop at the base of the Ravenclaw Tower. “Well, this is me. Thank you for tonight. I genuinely hope to never do it again.” 

Harry laughed. “You and me both, Y/N.” 

You raised up on your tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek in thanks, feeling uncharacteristically chipper despite the disastrous dinner. “Good night, Harry.” 

He smiled, blushing slightly. “Good night, Y/N.” 

As you climbed up the spiraling staircase, you saw a glimpse of snow falling softly over the castle grounds. When you stopped and stared at the glittering landscape, you recalled the other night in Hogsmeade when Theo leaned in to brush the snowflakes off of your lips. 

There’s something that I’ve been meaning to tell you. 

You were certain that you already knew what Theo was about to say, because you’ve been meaning to tell him the same thing too. When you reached the fifth floor, your grin had grown so wide that your cheeks ached from smiling. As you slipped past the bronze eagle knocker, you caught a glimpse of a discarded bouquet of wisterias peeking out from a nearby trash bin. 

With a pause, you plucked a petal off of your favorite flower and tucked it into your braid. You went to sleep that night thinking that Harry was right. 

Maybe it was time to let your heart do the talking. 

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[dudadragneel]

Hey guys it's me!

How are you?

I'm back with another original of mine!

I hope you'll enjoy!

And stay tuned! There's a really long fic coming up soon 👀

Spending the night in the bathroom because he got food poisoning

KEEPING HIM COMPANY

Goddamn these hectic schedules and how they affected the members' health.

They were on vacation, finally, and Chan, like always, would spend time with you and then would take you to Australia to stay with his family.

So far the perfect planning for a much-awaited vacation. But things went wrong on day one.

You decided to spend part of the day out and eat lunch at a newly-opened restaurant.

Good decision?

It would later be proved to not have been.

The food tasted delicious and it was quite the generous serving and you both knew the boys would love it if they were there.

You two talked about what you'd like to do while he was in vacation, like dates, romantic nights, trips etc.

Everything was going well, until it wasn't.

By the time you got back to your apartment, Chan was feeling under the weather, which was weird because he was feeling perfectly fine a few hours before.

He had cold sweats and his stomach was churning and gurgling loudly. It was burning and it felt heavy. Yes, he did eat a lot, but it was a different kind of heavy, he felt bloated. Not only felt, it was quite visible.

You were lying down on the bed, watching some series and you noticed Chan was restless, he kept moving and even hissing from time to time.

- Love? Are you okay?

- Yeah...it's just my stomach...it feels weird.

- Weird how?

- I don't know, maybe indigestion? It's kind of burning.

- Well, you ate a lot so it could be. I can make you some tea or do you want some medicine?

- I'm not sure medication is a good idea right now. I'll take the tea.

- Okay.

You left the bedroom to get him some tea to help with the burning sensation in his stomach and hopefully help it digest the food.

When you got back, Chan was curled up, looking like a baby kangaroo.

- Hey~ here's the tea. I didn't add any sugar so it might be a little bitter.

- Thanks... ugh- yeah, that's definitely bitter.

He added, making a disgusted face, earning a laugh from you and then smiling at you fondly.

The tea helped a little, at least in the beginning.

But what was going on inside his body was worse than just indigestion and he'd find that out pretty soon.

⏳

Despite being on vacation you still had one more thing to work on before you were 100% free, so you took you computer to bed and lay down next to Chan with him curling up one more time. Something was making him feel uncomfortable and you knew it wasn't just a simple case of indigestion.

As he was leaning on your shoulder, you started to rub his arm and then stroke his curly hair while he tried his best to focus on you working and ignore the increasing discomfort in his stomach.

He loved to see you so passionate abou your work, just like you did with him, with the countless times you stayed with him in his studio.

But no matter how much he tried, his stomach was in absolute shambles and burning. The awful sensation was growing stronger by the minute and he gave up on trying to deal with it on his own.

- Babe...

- Hmm? What is it?

- Can you rub my stomach? It's hurting really bad...

- Of course, honey. But don't you wanna go to the bathroom?

- No, at least not now.

- Okay, then. Come here.

You put you computer to the side and put another series on TV again while he lay down on your lap.

You started to rub his stomach up and down, and you could feel it rumbling under your touch, as well as how bloated it was.

Chan's expression would turn into one of pain and discomfort every now and then, but he was enjoying the feeling of your hand.

He had one of his hands buried under your thighs because that brought some sort of comfort for him.

But as you kept rubbing his stomach, it let out a loud gurgling noise and Chan unconsciously gripped your thighs and clenched his other hand.

Something was starting to move up inside of him and he could already feel the foul taste in his mouth.

- Honey, can you stop for a while? I'm gonna throw up-

He said covering his mouth to suppress a gag, quickly getting up from the bed and dashing to the bathroom with you following close behind.

He almost didn't make it to the toilet before vomit escaped through his fingers, the lunch he had coming back in disgusting undigested chunks.

- Oh god.

You stood next to him and started rubbing his back which was heaving under your hand, and for some reason felt a little hot.

He kept on retching until more vomit came out, a little thicker this time hurting his throat on the process.

- Oh baby. You're doing good.

You reassured patting his back and kissing the top of his head.

- It feels horrible....

- Do you think it was the food?

- Maybe...we had different dishes-

The sheer mention of food triggered his stomach again, sending more content up.

- There we go, just let it out.

After a few minutes he was left dry heaving and coughing.

- Do you feel any better?

- Not much. It still feels heavy.

- And the nausea?

- It's still here but less annoying.

- That's good enough. Why don't you take a shower? Maybe you'll feel a little better.

- Okay.

- I'll bring you some clothes.

- Thank you.

The shower although good, didn't really help with his situation. The cramps continued, the nausea kept coming and going, exactly like waves. He actually had to bend over the drain a few times but nothing really came up.

He thought that after throwing up he'd feel better but he kept on gagging, so he knew by now this could pretty much be a case of food poisoning.

And he'd soon find out he was right, unfortunately.

Finishing his bath, he was feeling more tired than before and hot, even if he'd just taken a cold shower.

You had gotten the bed ready while he was showering and was waiting for him to join you.

- Did the shower help?

- Not that much... I kept gagging all the time.

- Did you throw up again?

- No, but I'm still nauseous.

- Wanna try some medicine now?

- Yeah.

You gave him a gel capsule of an antiemetic and he gagged when it went down but thankfully it didn't come back up.

He cuddled on you, blanket covering his slightly shivering body and you proceeded to stroke his hair again, playing with it's curls and tracing patterns on his face, noticing it felt a bit hot to the touch.

- Honey, you're a little hot.

- Yeah, I noticed that when I walked out of the shower and I do feel a bit cold, actually.

- Lemme check it. 37.5°C. That's a low grade fever but I don't think it's anything to worry about now. But if it gets higher then you probably got food poisoning.

- I hope not.

- Want something to eat? Soup? Anything?

- I don't know if I can keep anything down but I'm also a bit hungry...

- I'll make something really quick. You don't need to eat everything just a bit okay?

- Okay.

You prepared him some light snacks, which he managed to eat a good amount and it did sit well with his stomach. And then he lay down on your chest again.

You went back to stroking his hair while he gently caressed your thigh and within a few minutes you were both fast asleep.

But the peace didn't last long.

⏳

About 1h30 into the night, Chan broke in cold sweats, his stomach was gurgling again and doing flips, he could feel the contents sloshing around. He tried to change his position but it didn't work.

The nausea he was feeling earlier had gotten really worse and his mouth started salivating. He was shivering which indicated the fever probably got higher.

Something started to creep up his chest and it felt like a burp but when he tried to let it out, he was betrayed by his body as it brought up a little amount of acid liquid. He knew he was gonna throw up sooner rather than later and he didn't want to bother you, so he quietly got out of the bed, suppressing a gag triggered by the sudden movement and locked himself in the bathroom.

⏳

He bent over the toilet but still tried his best to hold it because he knew that the sound would wake you up, and that's the last thing he wanted to do.

Leaving his mouth open, he started off only gagging unproductively and making as little noise as possible.

His body kept rocking back and forth and he was swallowing hard everytime, still trying to prevent himself from throwing up.

But his body really needed to get that out and it didn't matter what he wanted.

His stomach contracted making him gag one more time but he insisted on not vomiting and swallowed it back, but that proved to be a wrong move.

He ended up choking and that triggered a coughing fit which brought out his dinner, splattering in the toilet.

At the moment, he heard you calling out his name.

Shit!

He thought to himself, he knew you were tired and really didn't want to bother you in the middle of the night.

- Babe?

You called sitting up on the bed, taking a few seconds to properly wake up and then you heard a retch and the sound of liquid hitting liquid.

- babe? Are you okay?

You asked with a worried voice getting up from the bed and heading to the bathroom.

When you opened the door, Chan was throwing up one more time and you rushed to his side, sitting on the bathtub and started rubbing his back.

- Oh honey...why didn't you call me?

- I didn't want to wake you up.

- Please don't worry about me...

You said, voice sounding concerned with a tiny tone of annoyance.

He coughed up another thick bout that came out of his nose making him choke and gag productively again.

- Oh my dear. That's it, just let it out. You're doing good.

When the next wave came out he ended up swaying forward and you quickly reached out to hold his forehead and noticed it was burning, compared to before.

- Babe, you're running a fever. This is looking like food poisoning.

You said with a worried and sad expression on your face, knowing how the next few hours and days would go by.

- Lemme check it.

You placed the thermometer under his armpit and helped him hold it there.

The numbers were almost alarmingly high, 38.9°C.

- Babe, what else are you feeling?

Chan rested his head on his arm, not really trusting himself to get his face away from the toilet.

- Dizzy, cold, sweating and nauseous.

- From the looks of it, it's definitely food poisoning...

- That's just great...

He said with a sarcastic tone and burying his face in his arm.

- I'll get you some water okay?

He just nodded, gulping down the awful taste in his mouth.

You came back with a bottle of cold water and handed it to him, while sitting back on the edge of the bathtub.

He took a few sips and rested his head on his arm again. You kept rubbing his back and stroking his hair, trying to comfort him.

But his stomach protested against those small sips of water and within a few seconds, it came right back up not giving him time to even change his position.

- Oh honey...

You cooed still rubbing his back again and yawning a bit. But oh boy was that a mistake. He loathed the idea that he cut your sleep short and your yawn just added to that.

- Honey, you can go back to bed, I'll be fine.

- No, Babe, I'm okay, don't worry about me.

- But you're tired, please. I want you to rest.

- Chan, I won't be able to rest knowing that you're sick and puking your guts out.

He chuckled at the last sentence but he was still sad that you were denying good hours of sleep to stay with him.

And again, his stomach was just determined to make him suffer and contracted strongly sending up a thick stream of vomit that soiled the entire inner part of the toilet. Neither the sound nor the sight were exactly pleasant.

After he threw up one more time, you knew for sure it would be a long night and Chan wouldn't be out of the bathroom anytime soon. And you wouldn't leave his side, because although he always wanted to deal with things on his own, deep down inside he subconsciously wanted comfort and he always found that when he was with you.

So you considered all the options and decided to camp out in the bathroom.

- Honey, wait here just a moment.

You went back into the bedroom and got a few blankets and pillows and came back, then organized them on the floor so you could make the spot as comfy as possible.

- What are you doing?

He asked with a raspy voice and a tiny smile.

- Well...you've got food poisoning and I don't think you're leaving this bathroom anytime soon and I won't leave you in here alone so..... we'll "sleep" here.

You answered him with a smile and laughing a little bit, trying to lift the mood.

- I'm sorry for making you do this....but thanks.

Chan said leaning on you and closing his eyes, trying to enjoy the moment of peace his stomach allowed him.

- You're welcome, honey.

⏳

The night was indeed long like you predicted with Chan vomiting more times than you could count and only getting enough sleep. His fever kept oscillating and in-between rounds of vomiting you managed to help him take at least two baths.

When morning rose, both of you were completely exhausted and if any of the boys were to show up at your house, they'd probably be scared because you had a complexion just like Samara's.

But by that time, Chan was feeling a little better or at least well enough to stay in the bedroom with a bucket instead of the cold floor of the bathroom.

You made him breakfast, which he managed to keep down until lunch but then it started again, after all it was food poisoning, just one night of continuous vomiting wouldn't do the trick.

After about 4 days, Chan felt like all the life had been sucked out of him but you made sure he ate every single meal that you made him to regain what he'd lost.

And he made sure you were pampered like you deserved after going through so many sleepless nights with him.

[arcadia-of-pluto]

Twist of Fate; Chapter Ten

Parings; LADS OT4 x reader

Word Count; 3,395

Themes; isekai, eventual smut

Rating; 18+ for swearing and some mature content

Notes; Hey guys, I decided to update on Sunday instead of Saturday. I felt a bit drained yesterday, played some 'Fields of Mistria' and came up with some more ideas to use in the future for this fic. Also, I realized I said this was my favourite chapter- I lied. It's the next one, but I do love the ending of this one.

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Masterlist

Once you’re done eating, you stand up from the chair and tuck your phone back into your pocket then leave the room. You pause half-way out the door, noticing a set of folded up clothes on the statue to the left of the room then look down at the clothes you wore to the Nest. You have been wearing them for a few days now…You sigh, grabbing the clothes and you head back into the room you were just in. You change into the clothes which were just a simple pair of dark, ripped blue jeans and a black t-shirt. The t-shirt is almost too big for you so you just tuck it in and put on the black boots, that were also provided for you. You wondered for a moment if this was Sylus’ shirt, but you quickly brush away that thought and head outside to meet up with the man.

Your walking slows down as you notice he’s changed as well. Wearing a zipped up leather jacket with the matching leather pants as he leans back against a motorcycle. His fingerless gloved hands in his pockets as always. Though your mind is in shambles seeing him dressed like this, you do your best to act unaffected. You walk closer with a small sigh, and the moment he notices you, he tosses a helmet toward you. You catch it and raise a brow, “Are we going to experience the sights and sounds of the N109 Zone?” “Do you have nine lives? Curiosity killed the cat.” His voice is as cold as ever as he stands up straight and turns his back to you, about to get on his motorcycle. “Then…I shouldn’t go.” You try your best to stand firm, holding the helmet back out to him and Sylus cocks his head to the side, his back still toward you before he sighs and turns around. He walks up to you, roughly grabbing the helmet before plopping it onto your head. He fastens the helmet, tilting your head to look up at him. “You like to bargain, don’t you?” He asks before turning his back to you again, he sits down on his bike, putting his hands on the bars.

As he does this, you notice black and red smoke swirling around you before it firmly wraps around your body, tugging you onto the motorcycle. You let out a shout of surprise as you land behind him on the seat, one hand going to his side to steady yourself. “But you’re not yet qualified.” Is all Sylus says as he revs up his motorcycle and drives off. “Are there no speed limits in the N109 Zone??” You ask, your arms subconsciously wrapping firmly around Sylus’ waist as the sights around you blur with how fast he was driving.

The motorcycle suddenly halts to a stop as Sylus drifts into the parking lot. He gets up, pulling his helmet off with his back to you as his evol wraps back around you to take you off of his vehicle. “If you want to stay out of trouble, behave yourself inside.” He says as he turns to face you and you decide to be a bit bratty since, after all, he needs you, “And if I refuse?” Though, that wasn’t a smart idea. His evol wraps tightly around you and you let out a strangled noise as it pulls you closer to him. “It…hurts!” You wince out, breathing a bit heavier as you panic a bit. “You’ll hurt even more,” He whispers, his gaze unwavering as he looks down at you before he withdraws his evol and turns his back to you, walking toward the large sliding doors of the warehouse. You quickly follow behind him, silently as you wrestled with your thoughts.

“Who is it? If you want to order something, bring your own protocore. I won’t accept anything that isn’t high grade.” You hear a man say from inside of the building. You watch as Sylus immediately makes himself at home, pulling a rolling chair with him as he walks before sitting down in it. He crosses his legs as he starts to flip a knife in between his long fingers. “Mr. Sylus? You usually don’t do surprise visits.” The shopkeeper says as he looks over at the white haired man. “I got you a guinea pig,” The seated man says as he flips his knife around, “It’s time for your evol linkage alteration project to have a living test subject.” Test subject? “Wait…You want to alter me?” Your brows raise, voice filled with surprise and a bit of betrayal, even if you didn’t trust him. You had at least expected him not to hurt you or if he did, that it wouldn’t hurt too badly. You search around the room, already panicking and looking for a way out.

“In that case.. . let me take a look first.” The shopkeeper says, keeping his attention on Sylus. So your opinion didn’t really matter here, it seems. The shopkeeper, who seemed nice enough, waves for you to follow him as he walks around a large table and when you turn to Sylus, he’s tapping the knife against his palm. You look back at the shopkeeper who is standing next to a high tech looking chair and sigh as you walk toward it. You take a seat, resting your hand on the scanner on the armrest. Since you can’t feel at ease, you look over at Sylus who was still playing around with the knife. Well, at least he looked hot doing it. That helped a bit with your nervousness, oddly enough. Then, you look over at the shopkeeper who was typing around on a hologram screen. “Sir…you’re not actually going to alter me, right?” You ask with a nervous laugh, “I’m just a normal evolver.”

“Trying to bargain with me is pointless. No one can change Sylus’ mind.” He shrugs, staring at the hologram screen in front of him. Then, he glances over at you, “...You have the resonance evol?” You look away from him with a small sigh. “Did they do anything while I was gone?” You hear Sylus speak as he tosses the knife to the side. It’s clear he’s not speaking to you. “Nothing too dramatic. Just two explosions, one in the northern suburbs and one in the Bloomshore District,” The shopkeeper says as if this is just something normal to say. Bloomshore District? Why does that sound familiar? Memories of the explosion you saw when you first arrived in this world flash before your eyes. This is related to what happened two months ago…

“They just made a bunch of shoddy products. I overestimated them,” Sylus muses and the shopkeeper sighs, crossing his arms over his chest, “And after doing all of those shameless things and making a mess, then they want you to be their scapegoat.” Scapegoat? So Onychinus really wasn’t to blame for the explosion…? The shopkeeper goes back to the hologram screen and you take the chance to speak up. “What are you talking about? Someone else made those two explosions happen?” You were still feeling heartbroken over losing Caleb and grandma, the feelings of the original main character still running rampant in your body. You look over at Sylus with a distraught yet disappointed expression on your face. “Oh dear, you look disappointed.” Sylus muses, glancing over at you out of the corner of his eye. Not even bothering to turn his head to look at you. Your breath leaves your lips in a stuttered sigh as Sylus continues to psychoanalyze you, “Instead of searching for the truth, you’d rather swallow a lie that makes you feel better.” He finally turns his head to look at you and you turn your gaze back to your hand on the scanner.

“I’m afraid she’s not a suitable recipient. Her evol linkage is completely normal. Only the strength’s been suppressed.” The shopkeeper says as you lift your hand from the scanner, rubbing your wrist. Sylus raises a brow as he looks over at you, the shopkeeper now standing in front of him. “Did someone put in a suppressor?” “I…don’t think it’s physical.” The shopkeeper says as the leader of Onychinus rises to his feet and walks over to you. You quickly lift your hand up to say something, “It’s- It’s not my fault. I can resonate just fine with others.” You repeat what you said at Sylus’ home. Your hand closing in a fist as you weakly drop it into your lap, feeling a bit defeated that you can’t just resonate with him. “And that thing I asked you to alter…How’s that?” Sylus turns his head to look at the shopkeeper. “...It was difficult, but the maximum energy burst value has been increased tenfold.” The shopkeeper presses a button on his wrist and a wide set of double doors suddenly opens. Your gaze being drawn in that direction and your eyes widen at the sight of a big, bulky wanderer?

“Are you really going to use it?” The shopkeeper asks but Sylus answers by pointing at it with a finger, his evol energy shooting out toward it. The creature suddenly moves as if waking up. “She’s suppressed right? She just needs a little stimulation then.” The white haired man says and of course, your mind takes it in a dirty direction but you can’t ponder on that for too long because you realize he means he wants you to fight this thing.

“You’re insane-” You groan, standing up from your chair, your hands immediately going to your dual pistols. It seems Sylus wasn’t going to help you fight. Great. You lightly hit your head with your pistol and tighten your grip on them. You take a deep breath as the creature steps out of it’s ‘room’ and comes toward you. “Is it really necessary to fight in such an enclosed area??” You tilt your head back before shaking your head. As if your opinion matters at the moment, Sylus does what Sylus wants. You should’ve realized that by now. He’s actually kind of infuriating.

You do pretty well in your fight, all things considered. You’re not exactly sure what this is supposed to accomplish and as you’re distracted by those thoughts, you notice the creature’s large fist coming toward you and you tense up, ready to move out of the way but it suddenly stops. Its glowing fist goes dark and limply drops to the ground as it shambles back to its room.

“Alter her energy linkage now. Make it as strong as possible.” Sylus says as he walks toward you with one hand on his hip. He grabs hold of your wrist and you struggle, trying to pull away from him. “That’s not what we agreed to!” “Relax,” He says as he slams your hand against the wall behind you, “You can handle it.” Your hand squeezes shut into a fist as you struggle in his grasp, his other hand resting on your shoulder to keep you pinned flat against the wall. His long fingers pry your fist apart, lacing your fingers together as he leans close to your face. Your breath caught in your throat as you found your will to get away slipping from you.

“Ahem- uh, Mr. Sylus! I think there is…another reason why she can’t resonate.” You hear the shopkeeper, your ears slowly turning red as you were reminded that someone else was in the room with you. Though, you were happy that the shopkeeper was finally coming to your rescue. Sylus steps away from you a bit, turning his head to look at the other man with your hands still interlocked together. “You see… her evol is special. It utilizes the waves generated by the human brain’s magnetic field Maybe her brain’s magnetic field produces repulsive waves against you. That’s why she can’t resonate with you.” You? Feeling repulsed toward Sylus?

“Get to the point,” Sylus says, his brows furrowing together as an annoyed expression washes across his face, not looking at you nor the shopkeeper now. Almost seeming like he’s pouting. “To make a long story short…On a subconscious level, she’s either rejected you, scared of you, or…”The shopkeeper is a bit unwilling to continue, not wanting to upset Sylus, “disgusted by you.” He rubs the back of his neck and Sylus scoffs, staying silent for a moment. “Even if she undergoes alteration you won’t be able to resonate with her so long as she’s still…hostile toward you.”

Sylus sighs, turning toward you as if it's your fault this is happening. His brows were tightly knit together as the shopkeeper continued speaking, “And Mr. Sylus, if the alteration fails, she will be completely ruined. We need to address the cause first…” “Which means there’s something wrong with her.” The white haired man immediately pins the blame onto you, grabbing your wrist once more and you try to tug it away, bringing your other hand up to tug on his fingers, “You…Let go of me!” You were offended he had the nerve to say something was wrong with you when it was his fault in the first place. You struggle with pulling his hand off as the shopkeeper tries to mediate, “By the way, I have an evol stabilizer in the storage cabinet. I’ll make her use it.” This finally gets Sylus to let go of your arm with a sigh and you rub your wrist as he looks at you and then nods for you to go with the shopkeeper.

You quickly follow behind the other man, happy to be away from Sylus for the time being. The man leads you to the second floor and speaks, “Right now, you need to stay calm, Miss.” As he talks, he bends down to pull out a dusty electronic device from underneath a cabinet. “The N109 Zone is a chaotic place, and you have a part of an aether core. Accompanying him is the safest option.” “You know I’m carrying an aether core?” You ask, suddenly a bit suspicious. A burst of red light appears and scans your whole body. Several windows pop up on an old fashioned display screen, which shows the data is being analyzed. “I… recognized that protocurve. Monitoring aether cores used to be my job,” the shopkeeper admits and you look over the dusty electronic device, noticing an inconspicuous mark in the corner. You saw it in the files grandma had left behind for you. “The N109 Zone is a mess right now. An outsider like you who’s unfamiliar with the details can easily lose your life so sticking with Sylus might not be a bad idea. Better to be with him compared to some other people.”

“Sylus is…an unreasonable man. He may only want to alter me right now but what comes after that? What if I can never resonate with him? What would happen to me then.” You try to stay firm with your feelings but the shopkeeper, exasperated, shakes his head, “You’re just not used to the darkness yet. There are predators lurking in these depths that you haven’t seen.” What is up with everyone saying you haven’t seen darkness yet?? “Some people are even scarier than him?” You raise a brow, your thumb pointing behind you. “You say Sylus is heartless and unreasonable but sometimes, those with hearts are even crueler than those without.”

Hmm…Like Xavier said, the N109 Zone is very divided. Each faction only recognizes its own “allies”. Fighting alone is obviously not a good idea in a place like this but…if you really have to stay close to Sylus, you weren’t sure. On one hand, it might be safer but on the other, he’s unpredictable and unwavering. The shopkeeper’s concern seems to be genuine. After weighing your options, you nod and flash him a reassuring smile, “I understand what you mean. I’ll give it some thought.”

Beep

The lines on the screen rise and fall, showing two intertwined curves. “All right, there’s nothing wrong with your evol. The energy of the aether core inside you is also stable. Have you figured out what you’ll do next?” He asks and you blink a few times. The aether core’s other half is one of the items at the auction. Naturally, you don’t assume you could just get it by yourself. The only advantage you have is having part of an aether core in your heart. Since you can resonate with the energy…You should be able to sense its location. The real problem is figuring out how to escape the “predators lurking in these depths” after you get your hands on it.

The N109 Zone is currently a mess and there were going to be enemies no matter where you went. If you have to work with someone, the strongest person here would probably be the best option. You might have to end up making a deal with Sylus. Once realizing this, your next step becomes pretty clear. You get up and say goodbye to the shopkeeper before looking back at the familiar mark on his equipment, then back toward him. You notice his dark, weary expression. “Were you acquainted with my grandma?” You ask, softly. All he does is wave his hand, gesturing for you to leave as he presses his lips together in a thin line. “If all goes well for you. Whatever happens, then I can say I’ve repaid Miss Josephine’s kindness.”

Up until now, what everyone assumed was Onychinus was hunting down researchers who worked with aether cores before…but that shopkeeper, who seems to have a strong connection to grandma, is seeking Sylus’ protection. Maybe something else is going on…You head back down the stairs, lost in thought before noticing the workshop is empty.

“...Sylus?” You call out, noticing that the door curtains which were closed when you arrived were now rolled up. You sigh, running your fingers through your hair as you step outside, glancing around for Sylus’ motorcycle…which is nowhere to be seen. “What the fuck…did he just ditch me?” You mutter under your breath, fighting the urge to pull your hair. “Sylus?” You call out once more, just on the off chance he’s hiding nearby or something. The only response you get is a faint thud from the unlit alley near to the workshop. It’s probably trash that fell onto the ground or a cat.

Great. He disappears just when you were actually thinking about whether or not you should work with him.

There’s only piles of scrap in the empty, dimly lit streets and as you look around, your heart pounded in your chest. You were suddenly anxious and nervous now that you were actually left alone. Maybe...after confirming that he couldn’t resonate with you, he finally lost his patience and interest..At least you’d be able to move freely now but that didn’t make you too happy since as everyone said, this place is unfamiliar to you.

“Would you like to buy a flower, Miss?” You jump at the sudden voice and you turn to look around before looking down at a child. She had dirty brown, possibly blonde hair and she was entirely adorable. She appears to be about eight or nine years old. “No thank you, sweetheart.” You place your hands on your knees as you talk to you. “Would…you like a gun, bullets, or a protocore then? I have them all.” She says, as if this is a normal thing for an eight or nine year old to say.

You sigh, crouching down next to her and tap her basket before you pull out some money. “How much for a flower?” “Mmh…” She looks you up and down before smiling, “Five dollars?” You let out a small laugh, giving her ten as you take a forget-me-not flower from her, a flower meaning true love and memories. You tuck it behind your ear before you smile, “Hey, do you know where I can buy some intel, sweetie?” “That’s easy! Follow me.” She rushes you to stand up, hooking her index finger with your pinky.

Two sets of footsteps echo across the empty street. Meanwhile, you can hear the sound of flapping wings in the distance. You look up at the sky in curiosity but all you see is nothing except dark clouds that obscure the moonlight.

I hope you enjoy the slight changes that I did, like having the reader actually buy a flower instead of just going for information. I think, in that situation, I would've done the same thing. I would've bought a flower and then asked for some information, because if the poor kid is out selling flowers or guns on the street, she probably needs the money. Not to mention, I'd rather buy a flower from a kid rather than money.

I also feel the need to continously apologize over the fact that I'm god awful at writing combat focused scenes, but I feel like it gets better as the story goes on. I just decide to skip the combat most of the time and faintly describe it. Anyway, chapters eleven and twelve will be out next weekend since I'm slowing down how many I post at once!

Taglist; @orphicmeliora, @yoongi-tunes, @mitzkooni , @hiqhkey, @tanspostsblog

[kirain]

I made a seven-day poll asking what everyone wanted me to write for a BG3 short story, but I don't think I have to wait to know "Gale summoning Tara" will win by a landslide. That said, I promise to also write a short for whichever theme comes in second, if people are still interested. In the meantime, I give you Gale summoning Tara!

Partly inspired by @ah-jiing's gorgeous art.

The boy clung to his mother's skirt, hiding behind her, his cheeks stained with tears. Elminster looked at him, then at the state of the house. An unconscious mephit lay withered in the corner, surrounded by scorch marks. The carpet; what was left of it, had taken the brunt of the damage, but the entire living room was trashed beyond repair—and it was perfect. The boy had potential if he could summon such a creature on his own, and with no formal training besides.

"Impressive," Elminster chuckled, scratching his beard. "Most university students struggle to summon mephits. It's not easy to pull them out of Eberron, especially if they don't want to leave."

"Impressive?!" the father yelled, causing the boy to flinch. "This is the fourth time his 'magic' has caused irreparable damage! No more!" He turned to his son, his eyes burning. "I never should've let your mother buy you those fanciful books. Later today, when I get home from work, I'm gathering every single one and tossing them in the ocean!"

The boy gasped, horrified. "No!"

"Don't you 'no' me." He raised his hand, threateningly. "I'm done paying for your mistakes. Every time you ruin something in this house, it costs me a bloody fortune! I ought to—!"

"That's enough, Alexis," the mother said, sternly. "I did far worse when I was in my teens. He's barely eight summers old. He just needs a mentor."

"No, Morena. He needs to stop. He needs a hobby. He needs friends!"

"That's what I was trying to do!" the boy cried. Elminster shifted as the parents fell silent. "I was trying ... I was trying to summon a tressym!"

"Not this again." The father sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance, as well as exhaustion. "I already told you, no pets! This house is already in shambles. We don't need an animal to add to it."

"Alexis, you're being unfair. You expect him to stay inside all day, learning about your trade, and then wonder why he doesn't have any friends."

"He doesn't have any friends because the other children around here are scared of him. Have you forgotten what he did to that girl?!"

The boy whimpered, the memory invading his thoughts. Once again, the parents fell silent, the mother giving her husband a disapproving glare. After a moment, she knelt down with a warm smile and ran her thumb across her son's cheek.

"Gale, sweetheart, go to your room for a bit. Can you do that for me?"

The boy hesitated, holding his mother's hand against his face, grateful for the comfort. His eyes twitched, then welled with tears. Elminster watched patiently, taking note of their bond. He could sense the mother's affinity for magic, but the father displayed no such talent. Rather, an obvious aversion to it. The realisation made him scoff. It was always a mystery to him, why one with knowledge of the arcane would settle for the most mundane of partners, but he held his tongue. He was there for one reason, and that reason was breaking down in front of him.

"Gale," the mother repeated. "It's alright, sweetheart." She pulled him into a merciful hug. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean it."

"I'm sorry..." he muttered, melting in her embrace. "I'm sorry, mommy. Please don't take my books away."

"Shh, we're not going to take your books away.

The father lurched forward. "Morena, I just said—!"

"We're not going to take your books away," she snapped. "Now please, go to your room. I'll bring you some lunch come noon."

The boy pulled away, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. He sniffed quietly, his jaw tense as he tried to compose himself. As he stepped around his mother, he leaned away from his father, but looked up at Elminster with a brief gaze of shame and curiosity. He had no idea who the old man was or why he was there, but he was too upset to ask. Instead, he dashed to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"Morena, I know you mean well, but you coddle that boy."

"I don't want to hear it, Alexis. He's your son, but you've made absolutely no attempt to share his interests."

"Maybe that's because I don't want to get my eyebrows singed off. I'm not like you. I can't just shield myself from his outbursts."

"They're not 'outbursts'. You act as though he's some kind of delinquent. I've never seen him use magic in a moment of anger, not even when the neighbourhood children push him around. Most of the time his spells are harmless, and you're wrong to focus so heavily on his mistakes."

"You're wrong to brush them aside. Mistakes like these get people killed! The housekeeper damn near pissed herself when she walked in on that ... that thing! I don't think she's coming back!"

"She overreacted. If she hadn't started screaming, the mephit wouldn't have panicked."

"The mephit?! Morena, she had every right to 'overreact'. Most people don't come face to face with fiends everyday!"

"It's not a fiend, Alexis, it's an elemental. Loyal to the one who summoned it." With a grunt, she snapped her fingers, and the motionless creature disappeared in a puff of smoke. "There. I've sent it home. No harm done."

"No harm—?" He stared at the now empty space, then groaned, defeated. "Morena, this is getting out of hand. I can't keep doing this. I-I can't support this. I have to put my foot down. No more books, no more magic."

"It's not a choice, Alexis. I've never seen a child with such keen aptitude for magic. It's like it's in his blood. Either we teach him how to harness it or it'll boil over."

"Don't. Don't even try it. I'm no fool, Morena. He's not a sorcerer. This isn't wild magic. It's not spilling out of him like a sieve. He can stop any time we choose to make him."

Elminster cleared his throat, loudly.

"Oh, yes. Forgive us," Morena sighed. "I had hoped to welcome you under ... merrier circumstances."

"Fear not." He waved his hand, jauntily. "This isn't the first mess I've walked in on when it comes to gifted children, and I doubt it will be the last."

"Gifted?" The father squeaked. "Gifted?!"

"Indeed. You'd admonish your son when you should be praising him. As I said earlier, most university students fail to summon a mephit." He turned his attention to the mother. "Did I hear you rightly? He's only eight?"

"Yes, and only just. By a few weeks."

"Incredible."

"I know," she giggled. "I could hardly believe it when the housekeeper came running to me about a 'winged beast' setting fire to the parlor."

"Have you both lost your senses?!" the father interjected. "Morena, who is this man?"

She caught her breath, pushing her pride for her son aside. "This is Elminster Aumar. Remember? I told you he'd be visiting us today. He wrote to me a tenday ago, asking about Gale. It seems word of our little wizard has reached beyond Waterdeep."

"Do not call him that!" The man hissed. "He's not a wizard, he's a boy. A normal boy. I told you, this ends today. No more books, no more spells, no more fiends or bats or whatever you want to call them. No more magic! He'll be an artisan like me and he'll like it. You just have to stop filling his head with nonsense." He pointed to Elminster. "And you—" He went to speak, his tone harsh, but he paused and collected himself, if only to save face. "I'm sorry you travelled all this way from ... wherever you're from, but I'm afraid your services are no longer needed."

"How dare you," Morena whispered, her voice low but laced with fury. "When you married me, you knew this was a possibility. We talked about it. You were fine with it."

"That was before he started tormenting little girls with necromancy!" He let out a long, winded breath. "Morena, this isn't right. You said it yourself, magic like this is beyond a child's comprehension. He shouldn't even be able to—!"

"If I may inquire?" Elminster asked, careful not to incense the father further. "I'm here because I know, better than most, how difficult it can be to raise a Weave-touched child. I can see the strain it's putting on you, and as a neutral party, I can attest you both make valid points. So please, tell me about the necromancy, and let's try to keep a level head. This is about your son, after all. About his future. If you'll accept it, I'm willing to share my expertise."

The parents exchanged glances, then looked away from each other, embarrassed. The father, without a word, walked away and leaned against the wall, his eyes falling to the cinders on the floor. Elminster could tell he was at his wits' end, but he felt very little sympathy. His desire to stifle such beautiful talent, to hold magic in such low regard—it was an affront to Mystra herself.

"He wasn't trying to 'torment' anyone," the mother chimed. "He was just trying to help."

"Tell me what happened."

"There's a girl who lives a few doors down from us. Loria. She had a songbird she kept in her room, but somehow it got out of its cage and flew into a window outside. As I'm sure you can imagine, the impact broke its neck. When Gale found her, she was weeping in the street, holding the poor thing in her hands. He only ... he only wanted to help. To make her feel better."

"Enough," Elminster said, sensing the woman's mouthing distress. "I understand."

"No you don't!" the father barked. "When he brought that thing back, its limbs twisted in every direction, squawking like it was in pain. He wounded that poor girl more than the bird's death ever could have."

"You're overlooking the fact that it was all well intentioned," Morena argued. "And magic like that is practically impossible for a child his age. It's a miracle he managed to reanimated it at all."

"That doesn't excuse it!"

"I didn't say it did! If we just teach him when and where it's acceptable to use magic, as well as how to perfect his skills—"

"Morena!"

"Magic is part of him!" she screeched, clenching her fists. "You need to accept that!"

"I'm afraid she's right," Elminster added. "Gale may not be a sorcerer, but the Weave has called to him. It has plans for him. Mystra has plans for him."

The father paled, his anger waning in an instant. "The goddess?"

"Yes. Taking his books, depriving him of proper study, it won't placate him. Magic flows through him like molten lava, and lava cannot be tamed. I know the toll this has taken on you, but your son is no mere boy. Not anymore."

"Is that so? Then what exactly is he?"

Elminster smiled. "A prodigy."

-----

Gale paced about his room, gripping his hair as his chest heaved. He couldn't figure out where he went wrong. He didn't mispronounce any of the words, and the mephit, though not what he intended to summon, was peaceful until the housekeeper tried to smack it with a broom.

In a fit of emotions, he dropped to the floor and buried his head in his knees, squeezing them tightly. He didn't want to be alone anymore, and he hated his father's cruelty, but maybe he was right. Images of Loria screaming over her bird flashed in his mind, the guilt overwhelming him. First her, then the housekeeper. He never wanted to hurt anyone, he only wanted a friend.

"Why didn't it work?" he sobbed, his nails digging into his trousers. "Is it me? Tressyms only come to the pure of heart, so maybe I'm just not..."

He wept, for a long time. When he lifted his head, his eyes were swollen and heavy, his mouth sore. With a sniffle, he wiped his nose, then looked to his dresser; to the small ornate jar sat on the far corner. Though he felt too numb to stand, he forced himself to his feet and retrieved it, and then he shook it back and forth, rattling the coins inside.

"That was mother's favourite carpet..." He popped the lid and poured the coins onto the dresser. "Not much, but better than nothing, I guess."

With a pained frown, he began separating each coin by value, counting what was there. It was the least he could do, he thought, to make up for his blunder. He truly loved magic, but he never wanted to hurt anyone with it; least of all the people who cared for him the most.

"One hundred and twenty," he said, mournfully. "That carpet ... cost seventeen times that." He gulped, staving off another rush of tears. "So much for our vacation to Neverwinter. Looks like I ruined that, too."

With one swift motion, he swept the coins back into the jar, then moved to take it to his mother, hoping it would make an apt apology. Before reaching the door; however, he gasped, his body freezing. His eyes widened, his back arching as he dropped the jar to the floor.

"Never ... winter?"

A sudden burst of clarity. Of inspiration. He ran to his bookshelf and grabbed a large, leather bestiary from the lineup. As big as his torso, he struggled to lift it, but dragged it to his bed with a determined limp, then dropped it on the mattress.

"That old man said mephits come from Eberron. So maybe ... maybe my spell was too expansive. I need to narrow it down."

For several minutes, he flipped through the pages, tracing the sentences with his finger. Finally, he came across the passage that answered his prayers, and he grinned.

Most tressyms hail from the warm, temperate lands of Faerûn, and are most commonly seen in northern Cormyr, particularly in the village of Eveningstar.

"This is it!"

With renewed vigor, he wrenched up the rug in the middle of his room, revealing a large casting circle painted on the floor; a seven-pointed star surrounded by glyphs. His excitement brimming, he grabbed a quill and wrote 'Neverwinter' in the northern triangle, then tossed it aside and positioned himself in the center. All the mayhem of that morning and the consequences it incurred seemed to fade as he took a deep, calming breath.

"I can do this. I can do this."

Slowly, he clapped his hands together, his mind fixated on what he wanted most. As the magic swirled inside him, ready to serve, his hair stood on end, but not out of fear. Exhilaration. He couldn't help but smile as he closed his eyes and chanted the words, "Ah-Thran Mystra-Ryl Kantrach-Ao."

Immediately, the scent of rosewater filled the air, tickling his nose and tongue. It was sweet and welcoming, a sensation he'd grown to crave on an almost daily basis. It made him feel safe. Seen. As streams of azure and violet whirled around him, he lifted his hands above his head and faced the ceiling.

"Ang'alor ko malo fynndo Virr e'etu fem'molij!"

A gust of wind erupted through the room, so powerful it sent several objects flying through the air, but Gale held strong, his arms shaking as a mass of bright colours exploded from his fingertips. His arms shook, the deluge of dancing lights twisting from a shapeless husk into something more familiar. Then, he heard a soft mew in the distance, causing him to gasp. He'd opened a rift, and before long a small feather blew though and brushed against his cheek.

"My word!" a feminine voice echoed. "This is most irregular. Who is—?"

An abrupt and blinding flash, then a weight that nearly brought Gale to his knees. He winced, blinking rapidly to regain his senses—and when he did, his eyes fell upon the face of a cat, which he unknowingly cradled in his arms, her paws pushing against his chest. In that moment, words failed him, his mouth hanging open in a daze.

"I say, who are you?" the creature asked, her ears twitching.

She wasn't angry or frightened, merely confused, but a quick glance around her esoteric surroundings answered in kind. The room was teeming with books, knickknacks, and artefacts that only one type of person would keep, and she knew that type of person well. Stretching her wings, she shuffled in the boy's arms, making herself more comfortable.

"I see. A young wizard, are you?" She peered up at him, her bright eyes studying his face. "Hmm. Very young, it seems. Well then, that explains why you summoned me. You need a firm hand, yes? I'll warn you now, child, I expect you to take your studies seriously. I'll not abide laziness." She pulled back a bit, licking her paw. "And I trust I'll receive a steady intake of fish and pigeons? They're my favourite, I'll have you know. Well, after beholder, but I don't expect you to fetch something so dangerous on my behalf. In fact, I forbid it."

"I..." Gale's brow furrowed, his eyes gleaming.

"My name is Tara, by the bye. Perhaps I should've opened with that. Though you've neglected to tell me your name." She tilted her head, gesturing for a response, but the boy said nothing. "I see I have my work cut out for me. Manners, young man. Manners. So, what should I call you? Mister—?"

"I—I..."

"Yes? Speak clearly, dear. My hearing may be sharp, but mumbles are indecipherable, even for a tressym."

He couldn't contain his smile as he pulled the beast into a tight but careful hug, which was met with the faintest sound of purring.

"I did it!"

[fictionismyreality3]

CAN YOU GIVE US MORE OF JASON STALKING?? I SWEAR TO U, IS REALLY HOTTTT AAAAH

I loved your writing btw

Omgomgomg hi babes!!!! You’re my first ask ever!!! You’ll forever have place in my heart 🥲 but really that is so sweet of you, and toTALLY STALKER JASON IS SO HOT HERE YOU GO

A Little bit of Sunshine

Jason Todd x Reader

Tags: stalker!jason todd, innocent!reader

Warnings: stalking, mention of drugs

Notes: I’m actually dying at picturing getting stalked by Jay 😩 like that should not be hot but it is??? If people like this I might make it into a mini series or something 👀

He was going to stop the first night.

At least, that's what he told himself.

Since Jason had come back from the Pit, being alive was something of a nuisance. Whatever weird ass magic they used to bring him back to life had made it harder to control himself in every way. He went on a year-long violent rampage, much to Bruce’s disdain, that left Gotham in shambles.

Only now was he actually putting a good face behind the name of the Red Hood. It’s not like he wanted to hurt people, but when everything was so vivid, it was hard to listen to Bruce’s non-lethal policy. But as much as he hated to admit it, he wanted Bruce to trust him again.

So, when Dick was called out of Bludhaven for some other crisis, Jason volunteered to help with patrol.

It was the third day of what was supposed to be a week-long shift in Bludhaven, and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Sure he had broken the legs of a few robbers when they tried to run from him, but it was all in good fun.

In fact, Jason was dying for some fun. Bludhaven was somehow even darker and dingier than the rest of Gotham, and it was getting tiring only having drug dealers to play with. The rain was coming down, casting a foggy overcast to the darkening sky, and most of the sane residents had retreated to their homes. Everyone who had ever been to Bludhaven knew that nighttime was when the dangerous criminals liked to do their work.

Which is why Jason was a little astonished that a seemingly random girl was stupid enough to walk home in the dark.

Living in Bludhaven wasn't ideal, but the rent was cheap and that's all that mattered. You had been working at a donation center for the homeless for the last few months, wanting to help out the city in any way you could. It wasn't that you were trying to be a hero or something, you just didn't like seeing other people suffering. It also helped that volunteer work looked killer on a resume. The staff loved you, and quickly entrusted you with the keys, giving you the last shift of the night.

You usually walked home with one of your co-workers, a woman in her 60s named Rose. It wasn't the typical company for someone your age, but her never-ending stories were nice to zone out to after a long day of work. Rose was sick today, which meant you had to walk home alone. Looking out the window, you saw that it was already dark. Definitely not ideal. But, you had made the trip hundreds of times and knew all the shortcuts to get you home quicker.

Jason watched as the girl walked down the dimly-lit streets. He was going to just leave it, and let you learn your lesson the hard way, but then he took a second glance at you.

He thought the Pit bringing him back to life was the closest thing he'd ever get to seeing heaven. But now?

Now he knew he was dead wrong.

A soft face with pretty lips and pretty hair and pretty everything. Jason felt his heart beat inside his chest with a vigour that betrayed the dead man he thought he was. All of the lonely, unclear and dangerous thoughts in his head suddenly vanished. His breaths were heavy and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the pretty little thing walking all alone. He felt like there was blood flowing in his veins again. He felt alive.

If you were walking alone at this time of night you were either innocent or stupid, and the innocence was practically rolling off you in waves. You were far too sweet for this place. His eyes scanned the logo of the bag you were carrying and his heart exploded and regrew in his chest all at once. The kind face you had made sense if you were generous enough to work at one of Bludhaven's seedy donation buildings. His mouth went dry at the idea of anything remotely distressing happening to you.

Fuck it.

He was just gonna make sure you got home safe. That's all it was.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Jason silently followed you as you walked home, watching from above like a twisted guardian angel. He was always on high alert, he was raised to be vigilant, but he found himself paying extra close attention to every single movement he saw out of the corner of his eye. Logic was telling him that if he was going through all this trouble to make sure a random girl was safe, he should just jump down from the roof and walk you home instead of watching like some-

Oh, that was cute.

Jason's gaze followed your hands as you pulled your keys from your bag. The fabric keychain they were attached to was dotted with tiny drawings of the sun. He hadn't even realized that you'd gotten home. Perching on a rooftop, he kept you in his vision while he quickly scanned the area where you lived. It wasn't the best, nothing in Bludhaven was, but at least it wasn't at the south tip of the city.

You had finally gotten home after a long day. Oddly, the walk didn't feel as scary as you expected. Sighing, you took out your keys and unlocked your front door, slipping inside your apartment. After making sure your door was locked, you kicked off your shoes and hung up your jacket, a yawn falling from your lips. You were definitely gonna call it an early night.

The soft clicking of your front door shutting brought Jason's attention back to the present. You obviously got home safe. He should get going. He should get going.

But he stayed rooted on the spot.

The rain fell around him, hitting the concrete rooftop he was frozen on. His helmet suddenly felt claustrophobic and he took it off gasping, the rain soaking his hair. The cold rush of despairing thoughts that he had grown used to flooded back into his brain. His heart grew still in his chest and he felt his smile disappear.

He had smiled?

He hadn't smiled since the pit. He hadn't smiled since he died. You retreated into your apartment and took all the sunshine with you. The sunshine that hadn't been able to reach his skin for years. With a sickening thought, Jason realized that he was about to make a very, very, very bad decision.

Who was he to deny himself happiness? Didn't he deserve to be happy after everything he had been through? He argued with himself as his gaze remained on your front door, trying to will himself to push away the wickedly possessive desire that he felt for you. Jason ran through all the possible outcomes that could come from.. whatever this was, but nothing held a match at the prospect of having you. He had to have you.

Fuck it.

Locking away the part of his mind which screamed at him to stop, he leapt from the rooftop, landing softly on the balls of his feet. Carefully, his head on a swivel for anyone walking by, he took out his phone. His finger hovered over the photo button, his mind telling him that if he did this, there was no going back. He snapped a photo of your apartment.

As he made his way back to the safehouse he was staying in, he could feel you being cemented in his mind. Every raindrop that hit his skin felt like it was washing away everything that he thought was important until only you remained. The image of your precious face became ingrained in his mind. By the time he got back to his safehouse, the only goal he had was to know as much about you as he possibly could.

He was already at his computer, his helmet tossed to the other side of the room. His clothes were still soaked from the rain, but he didn't care. This was more important. You were more important.

Using Bruce's tech, being careful not to leave a trace, he uploaded the photo he had taken of your apartment and began to run a search. Within less than 5 minutes he had everything he would need to keep you for himself. Your school records, social media posts, and more were at his fingertips. He took the liberty of adding himself to your bank account, hacking in so he could be aware of every transaction you made. Soon he would be the one making them for you.

Jason spent the night scrolling through your information. For once he was glad for Bruce's training, as his disciplined mind allowed him to commit everything about you to memory. His eyes burned from lack of sleep, and he was vaguely aware that it was well past 3AM, but he was enraptured reading your search history.

How to change a lightbulb?

Cute.

As soon as he could get a copy of your key made you would never need to change a lightbulb again. Every so often he would come across a photo of you dressed up for some event; a christmas party, a graduation, whatever. When he saw those photos, every doubt that was trying to creep back into his mind was pushed away by his increasingly twisted desire for you.

Jason knew he had gone off the deep end, but if this is what drowning felt like he would gladly let you kill him all over again. When he went to bed that night, he fell asleep knowing you now belonged to him.

And you didn't even know it yet.

[pedrointofolklore]

Long story short

pairing: joel miller x f!reader

summary: weeks had passed since your steamy kiss with joel, and you wanted more. sequel to this is me trying.

warnings: smut 18+ mdni, oral (f!receiving), unprotected p in v, creampie, joel miller has a big dick, emotional sex, brief mention of sex as currency (as part of reader’s backstory), allusions to depression and suicidal ideation, lots of fluff with a bit of angst, enemies to lovers (they’re in their lover era), extremely soft joel, joel is so disastrously in love, self-loathing due to a guilty conscience, lots of swearing, age gap (unspecified), no use of y/n, ellie era (ellie is only mentioned)

word count: 3.4k

a/n: hey y’all. so part one did way better than i ever expected. thank you to everyone who has supported it. if you haven’t read it i highly recommend you do before reading this. if you have read it: enjoy part two! the title is once again a taylor swift song.

It had been weeks since you kissed Joel.

Neither of you acknowledged it. After the shitstorm that was Kansas City, your focus was making it to Wyoming on foot. Addressing one kiss wasn’t high on the list of priorities.

But you still thought about it. A lot. And it seemed like Joel did too.

Joel Miller wasn’t nice as a rule, but he was good to you. He confided in you, asked for your input, and did what he could to make you feel like your presence was important. Whether or not it was actually important, you just appreciated that he was trying.

And you were trying too. You were doing your best to be present, focus on the positives, and take a breath before sprinting headfirst into danger. Just as Tess would have done.

You couldn’t have predicted that Ellie would end up inspiring you. There was something about her that reminded you of yourself (which was ultimately cause for concern), but she was different in the ways that mattered most. She was funny and resilient and excited about things, even in this vile world she was living in.

You wanted to be more like her.

There was an abandoned, isolated cabin somewhere between Kansas City and Kearney—you weren’t sure exactly where at this point. It was a corroded, rotting structure, with shattered windows and wooden panels threatening to collapse, but it was better than sleeping outside in the middle of nowhere.

There were two beds and a couch inside. Ellie passed out almost immediately after calling dibs on the bed upstairs. The poor girl was exhausted. Meanwhile, Joel laid down on the couch and shut his eyes, pretending to go to sleep. This was clearly an act; he wasn't going to sleep, he was going to keep watch.

You hadn’t slept in a bed since the QZ, and though this bed was old and musty and probably infested with microscopic bed bugs, it somehow felt like the most comfortable thing in the world. This was the first time in so long it didn’t feel like you were in a rush. You could just exist and let your mind wander.

Letting your mind wander was something you typically avoided, but instead of your thoughts leading you down a trail of despondency, they led you to Joel. You pictured him sitting upright on the couch, scanning the area through fractured windows, clutching a shotgun and trying to stay awake. You wondered what he was thinking about.

If you still want it later, you can have it.

That was what he’d said to you. It was such a new feeling; wanting Joel, wanting anything. You thought about the kiss again, and a warm, tingly sensation spread throughout your entire body like ink seeping into wet paper.

It was later, and you still wanted it.

Joel was awake.

This wasn’t new. Joel hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in 20 years, but it had gotten worse lately.

He’d failed everyone in Kansas City, but most of all Ellie. It left him in a constant state of unease, just waiting for something else to go wrong. Even sleeping stressed him out now.

Then, there was you.

As everything around him gradually fell into shambles, it felt like he needed you more everyday. You were good and clever and really the only person in the world who made Joel feel like he could do this, and that terrified him. You were trying so hard, but he still had this paralysing fear of losing you.

Joel hadn’t forgotten what happened, and he hadn’t forgotten what he said.

If you still want it later, you can have it.

He wasn’t even sure what ‘it’ was referring to. Was it that he’d fuck you if you asked? He would, but he didn't think that was really what he meant.

He also wasn’t sure if you wanted it. Maybe the kiss had been just a random moment of weakness for you. Maybe you woke up the next morning and realised that Joel was the last person in the world you could ever want. The thought gnawed at him; infected him like some faceless monstrosity with razor-sharp teeth.

But if by some chance you wanted it—wanted him—he would give you everything he had. He didn’t deserve your forgiveness, and certainly not your admiration, but you deserved to get whatever you wanted out of him. He would let you come to him, and he would do anything you asked if it meant keeping you here.

The sound of your door clicking open jerked Joel from his anxious ruminating. His eyes followed you as you sauntered over to the couch and plonked yourself down next to him, crossing your legs with an air of forced nonchalance.

“What are you doing up?” Joel asked.

“Couldn’t sleep,” you said. “You’re also up.”

“Just keepin’ watch.”

“We’re indoors in the middle of nowhere, Joel,” you replied. “I think you can sleep for a bit.”

Joel didn’t say anything. He couldn’t get into this with you. He didn’t want to ruin the newfound trust you had in him by letting you know what a mess he was.

“Unless there’s something else keeping you up,” you spoke in a nervous whisper, like you were testing the waters to see if Joel would actually entertain this conversation. 

Of course he would. There were things Joel didn’t want to talk about—anything that had ever happened to him, for example—but the only thing stronger than his propensity to never let anyone in was the urge he had to never deny you.

“Just been worried about you, I guess.” 

Your mouth formed a constrained smile. It didn’t quite reach your eyes. “We talked about this. I’m fine now, Joel.”

“One talk can’t solve everything.” Or one kiss, for that matter.

“I’m not asking you to solve anything,” you replied, your tone becoming heightened. “Worry about the important things, like Ellie and finding your brother and—"

“You are important.”

He felt a rush of anger, but not at you. Never at you. He was angry at himself. Of course you felt unimportant when he’d spent so long making you feel that way. It wasn’t fair that he got to wake up one day and decide to stop being an asshole while you still had to live with the consequences of his assholery.

You sat there not saying anything, and Joel was certain that you were about to walk away from this conversation. The irony wasn’t lost on him; for two people who hated heartfelt discussions, you couldn’t seem to stop finding yourselves in the middle of them.

“Joel…” Your voice came out breathy and desperate. It was completely unexpected. He couldn’t describe the feeling of hearing you say his name like that. All he knew was that he wanted to fall to his knees at your feet.

“What do you need?” Joel asked. He hoped that he already knew the answer.

“I need you.”

He let out a shaky exhale—relieved and nervous all at once. “You have me, sweetheart. You know that."

Being naked on a grotty mattress with a fully-clothed man above you should have been horrifically vulnerable, but you couldn’t muster up any uncertainty with Joel. All you felt was an excited kind of anticipation.

You never expected Joel to be so affectionate, but he held you like you were something worth caring for. He took his time, kissing you slow and undressing you bit by bit until you were bare for him. You felt the same heated intensity you had that night in the woods, but without the crushing sense of urgency.

Your breath hitched when Joel trailed kisses from your chest down past your navel. He stopped at the lowest part of your belly, looking up at you with lustful, imploring eyes. “Can I taste you, sweetheart?”

“Please…” You already sounded embarrassingly wrecked.

Your body jolted when Joel dragged a finger through your soaked slit, gathering up the obscene amount of wetness that was dripping out of you and spreading it over your aching clit.

Then, without a word, he pushed himself up and off the bed. You looked at him in dismay, about to berate him for teasing, but your voice caught in your throat when he crouched down at the end of the bed and grabbed you by the hips, pulling you forward until your ass was lined up with the edge of the mattress, and your legs were thrown over his shoulders.

The sound that escaped you when Joel sucked your clit into his mouth was borderline feral. You didn’t know you were capable of making a noise like that—something between a pathetic gasp and a wanton moan.

“Oh f—Joel! Feels so good. What the fuck.” You were breathless and shaking and grabbing a fistful of his hair.

“Ssh, sweetheart,” Joel hushed. You clenched around nothing when his warm breath hit your drenched core. “Need you to be quiet. Can you do that for me, baby?”

He didn’t even wait for you to try and compose yourself before devouring you again. He had a lot of audacity to think he could tell you to be quiet as he tongue-fucked you senseless. And then, like he was trying to get you to scream, he prodded a finger at your entrance and slipped it inside.

“That feel good?” Joel asked, curling his finger as he pumped it into you.

You whined and pulled his hair harder. He let out a low groan and continued flicking his tongue over your clit, and it dawned on you that he wasn’t just doing this to make you feel good—he was doing it because he liked it.

He added another finger, and this time you did scream, but not before clasping a hand over your mouth to muffle the sound. It was too much now. His mouth and fingers were unrelenting, as if worshipping your cunt was his only purpose on this earth.

“Joel—F-fuck—I think I’m gonna come.”

“You can come, baby. I got you.”

Those three words were all you needed. You came hard, sobbing and writhing and crushing Joel’s head between your thighs as you tried to clamp them shut. He could not have given less of a fuck—he continued his onslaught between your legs until you were twitching with overstimulation and pulling him off by his hair.

You threw an arm over your eyes, trying to catch your breath and recover from that earth-shattering orgasm. You heard the faint clink of a belt, followed by the soft sounds of fabric hitting the floor. You opened your eyes when the mattress dipped, revealing a very naked Joel Miller.

This took you by surprise more than anything else. You never thought that Joel would take his clothes off for you, and you wouldn’t have asked him to—he’d done it of his own volition. He wanted to bare himself to you like you had to him.

Plus, he was hot. You would have been attracted to him no matter what, but he was so undeniably sexy. His arms looked like they were carved from marble. He was broad and strong, but still had a wonderfully human softness about him. And his cock. Your mouth salivated at the sight. It was thick and long and beautiful. You wanted to drag your tongue along the vein that ran down his shaft and taste the leaking precum at the tip.

“You done starin’?” Joel asked, blushing at the way you were blatantly ogling him.

You giggled and climbed into his lap, your knees settling on either side of his hips. “Stop being so pretty if you don’t want me to stare.”

Joel let out a genuine, light-hearted laugh—something you’d only witnessed him do a handful of times. You wanted to bottle the sound and keep it forever. “I’m pretty, am I?”

“So pretty.” You leaned forward and kissed him, painfully aware of his hard cock pressed against your inner thigh.

You reached down and wrapped a hand around his length, teasing the slit with your thumb and spreading the dribbling fluid. You pumped him a few times, noticing the way his belly tightened as he sucked in a sharp breath.

“You’re so good, sweetheart," he spoke with a low, sultry tone, "but I really need to fuck you now.”

Joel had you pinned under him in a second, hiking your legs up around his hips while his cock bumped your entrance.

“Ready?” Joel asked.

You nodded eagerly and repeated what you told him earlier, “I need you.”

Joel lined the head of his cock up with your wet heat, stroking it through your folds and teasing your sensitive clit. He leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on your lips as he finally pushed into you.

The stretch stung even with how wet you were. You dug your nails into his back and tried not to wince, all while Joel planted comforting kisses around your face.

“It’ll feel good in a second, baby,” he whispered against your cheek. “Tell me to stop if it’s too much.”

“It’s okay, Joel,” you assured him. “Don’t stop.”

He paused when he was buried to the hilt, giving you a moment to adjust. You weren’t completely inexperienced, but the sheer size of Joel was a lot to take.

But it wasn't long before the sting started to morph into pleasure. You felt keyed up and desperate and so incredibly full. “You can move now.”

His hands settled on your thighs as he pulled his cock out and slowly pushed it back in. Your walls fluttered around him, spurring him on. He did it again, this time plunging it harder and faster.

You gasped at the feeling, gushing around his cock and wrapping your legs around his waist to bring him closer. He set a steady, delicious pace, pounding into you the way you hadn't even known you'd been craving.

“You’re so fuckin’ tight, sweetheart. Shit. So good. So fuckin' perfect.”

You moaned at his slurry of praise, angling your hips up so he reached even deeper. You ran a hand over his back and down to his plush ass, giving it a firm squeeze. Joel chuckled fondly and traced affectionate nibbles along your jaw.

It hit you all at once that you had never been this happy before. Having Joel in your arms, buried inside you, giving you everything he could was beyond euphoric. You didn't know if you would ever feel this good again.

And suddenly, he stopped. “What’s wrong, baby?”

Fuck. You were crying. “Nothing. Just don’t stop.”

“I need you to talk to me, sweetheart.” He made a move to pull out, but you panicked and tightened your legs around his waist to hold him there.

“It’s nothing bad. I just can’t believe this is happening,” you told him. Warm, pearly tears leaked from the corners of your eyes, but you smiled in spite of yourself. “It feels so good, and I’m just…really happy it's you.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Joel cooed, kissing your tear-stained temples. “You’re unbelievable, you know that? So fuckin’ sweet. Gonna keep you forever, baby. Don’t worry.”

His mouth caught yours in a kiss that was both fervent and impossibly romantic. He tongue slipped past your lips, licking into your mouth with a tender intensity that had you mewling.

Joel resumed thrusting into you. His pace was slower, but his cock was hitting deeper. The warmth in your belly was quickly turning into a burning fire—a fire you wanted to keep on raging.

You were so close, and you knew Joel would never come before you did, but you were determined to hold out; to hold onto this rapturous intimacy as long as you could.

“It’s okay,” Joel said, as if he was reading your mind. “You’re okay.”

You couldn't stop it. Your walls tightened like a vice. You arched and trembled and clawed at Joel, muttering broken curses as he fucked you through your orgasm.

His hips faltered, his thrusts lost their rhythm, and you knew he was about to come. He probably needed to pull out. You probably needed to tell him to. But he just kept plunging his cock into you, and you kept letting him. His eyes were dark and pleading—he was begging you to let this happen.

You wanted him to do it. “Please, Joel.”

He growled a deep, rumbling ‘fuuuuck,' cock twitching and painting your walls with thick ropes of come.

He let out a contented sigh once he recovered and collapsed on top of you, burying his head in the crook of your neck while your fingers sifted through his damp hair. 

This would be over soon. Before Joel could give in to his exhaustion and fall asleep on top of you, he would remember where he was: in a decaying cabin at the end of the world with two people who needed him. Soon enough, he would stand up, dress himself, and go back to keeping watch.

You wished you could have this with him all the time. You wished you could fall asleep with him, wake up with him, and spend your days together with some semblance of peace. You didn’t want much, but you wanted that.

“Was that your first time?”

The thought only occurred to Joel when everything was said and done and he was cleaning you up. It made sense—you were young when the outbreak happened, you’d been relatively alone until you met him and Tess, and he could tell by the way your body reacted to him that it wasn’t used to such an intrusion.

“No, but it felt like it,” you replied. “It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted to.”

Joel’s heart plummeted into his stomach. His mouth went dry, his jaw clicked the way it did when he was enraged, and he felt just about ready to kill someone.

“Not like that, Joel,” you said quickly. “I agreed to it. It was...I didn’t have anything else to trade.”

Joel was destroyed, but it wasn’t even a shocking revelation. He didn’t judge you for it—he’d turned to a lot worse in the name of survival—it just made him feel sick that you were ever in that position. You deserved to be cherished and taken care of, not used and discarded.

“Do you still do that?” He almost wanted to ask if you’d ever done it for his or Tess’s benefit, but he feared the answer would crush him.

“No. Not for years,” you replied. “It wasn’t that bad, honestly. It was only a couple of times.”

That’s still bad.

Joel held you close, stroking your hair and kissing your lovely face. Maybe it was because you had told him all of that while you were both still naked, but he felt like he needed to remind you that he adored your body, as well as the soul it carried.

He also felt like he needed to apologise. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

“What for?”

“Just…everything. I hate the way I treated you.”

“I already forgave you, Joel.”

Your words should have been a relief, but they felt like a hot knife piercing right into his chest. “Why?”

“You apologised, and you changed.”

“And that’s enough?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because I hurt you. I made you feel like you shouldn’t be here.” His throat ached as he swallowed down the emotion rising in him. He didn't want to sound as devastated as he felt, because he knew you would comfort him if he did, and this wasn’t about him.

“You didn’t make me feel like that, Joel,” you spoke with gentle reassurance. “I felt that way for a long time. Before I met you.”

“Okay, but I didn’t help.”

“No, you didn’t, but that’s over now. I don’t want to keep harping on it.”

“What do you want?” Joel asked. It was a heavy question, and one you hadn’t considered in so long—he knew that because he hadn’t either.

You snuggled into him, so cute and cosy it made him ache. “Just this. Can we have this?”

Truthfully, Joel was terrified, and he knew it wasn’t going to stop. He used to think that having you close like this would make it harder, but there was a strange sense of relief in having this with you. He didn’t have to worry from afar anymore. He could hold onto you, and look after you. He had you right there with him.

“Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

Joel laid with you until you fell asleep. He wanted to stay like that all night, sleeping with you curled up in his arms. He hoped that one day he would get to.

Right now, he needed to keep watch.

a/n: im so awkward about writing smut so if that came across while reading pls forgive me. im overall pretty happy with how this turned out. i might write some drabbles about this relationship down the road, but im leaving these two here for now. thanks for reading! p.s. in order to stay true to part one, im sick again posting this. (why do i keep getting sick??)

[captainmalewriter]

Mishap

It all happened so quickly. One moment, esteemed professor Dr. Brown was on the cusp of hitting a breakthrough in his academic paranormal research. The next moment, Dr. Brown was hiding in a cabinet while an angry spirit ran loose inside his lab.

Dr. Brown held his hand against his mouth in an effort to stifle his breathing. The spirit was going on a rampage in his lab. He could hear the sounds of glass breaking and heavy machinery getting knocked over. Dr. Brown forced himself to swallow a breath. He could feel his heartbeat growing louder with every second spent inside the metal cabinet.

This isn't supposed to be happening... Not to me! Geniuses don't make mistakes!

Dr. Brown thought to himself. Having a PhD at the young age of 26 put him a cut above the rest. But unfortunately, the accolades and fame got to his head. He became cocky, and it showed in his work. Brown had been attempting to summon a creature from beyond our world for quite some time now. While he had accomplished his goal, he did it with reckless abandon. Now he was suffering the consequences of his carelessness.

Dr. Brown pressed his ear against the cabinet door. A cold chill ran down his spine as he heard the spirit let out a loud ghastly moan. Dr. Brown shuddered within the confines of the cabinet. He swallowed his breath again. He continued listening, and his ears perked up when he heard the sound of the lab doors opening. Dr. Brown waited a minute, and once he was sure the coast was clear, he proceeded to step out of the cabinet. First he peeked his head out, then left the cabinet altogether. He gasped at the sight of his prized lab in shambles after the spirit rampaged. But he knew there were more pressing matters at hand. He needed to stop the wild spirit before the general public could find out.

Dr. Brown hurried to the double doors, but just as he was about to exit the lab, he could hear the spirit's blood curdling scream getting closer again. The spirit was fast. By the time the sound registered in Dr. Brown's mind, the spirit had already slammed through the double doors and into Dr. Brown.

The force of the impact sent him flying. Dr. Brown landed harshly onto his back. The pain from the landing was unbearable, but he knew he needed to persevere. But unfortunately for Dr. Brown, the spirit was already on top of him. Using its psychic energy, the spirit lifted Dr. Brown up from the ground and stripped him of his clothes. Dr. Brown tried to fight back, but the pressure the spirit was exerting on his body was too much. Dr. Brown could only whimper as he was floating naked midair.

He could see the spirit up close now. The sight of its distorted face terrified him. Luckily for Dr. Brown, he didn't need to look at it for long as the spirit began forcing its way into Dr. Brown. Using his mouth, nose, ears, dick slit, and asshole, Dr. Brown was being penetrated in every hole his body possessed. The spirit was quickly filling up his body, and all Dr. Brown could do was gag and moan in pleasure as the spirit invaded his body. It only took a few seconds for the spirit to finish the job. Dr. Brown's body lowered to the ground. His possessed body began to wiggle on the ground as the spirit made itself comfortable in its new fleshie vessel.

"Dr. Brown!!" a man rushed into the lab. He was taken aback by the sight of his naked superior on the ground, squirming and groaning in an erotic way. The man wanted to look away, but his fantasy of finally seeing Dr. Brown naked had come true. He couldn't help but watch. "Dr. Brown? Are you alright?"

Dr. Brown's eyes snapped open. An eerie smile spread across his face as the spirit took full control over his body.

"Never been better... In fact, why don't you come over here and make Daddy feel even better? I can't wait to feel what it's like to get fucked again..."

The ghost winked at the man, and the man proceeded to fuck Dr. Brown, not knowing what had just happened in the lab only moments prior.

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Whumptober snippet

we’re still several days off from Whumptober, but i thought i would post some snippets occasionally to tide y’all over. this is what y’all are in store for!

this is from day one!

—————

Perrine had a nightmare about freezing to death once.

It was the first winter with the Lark as a group, and she didn’t know if they, a bunch of very young children without adult supervision, could survive on their own.

In the nightmare, there was a blizzard raging outside, making it impossible to get more firewood. Of course, there was no need to get more, as they had stocked up generously the day before.

However, they went through the firewood surprisingly quickly, and soon, there were only a few logs left.

Panic began to set in.

Clémentine said they would brave the wind and snow outside and go get more firewood from the pile they kept in the small shed just off of the side of their cottage. While they were gone, Perrine, Cole, and Kingsley started to hack up any piece of wooden furniture they could- chairs, tables, shelves, even parts of their couch. They tossed it all into the fire, watching it burn, but they were still rapidly running out of fuel, and it was only getting colder. Worst of all, Clémentine had yet to return.

It had been thirty minutes.

Perrine told Cole and Kingsley that she would go find Clémentine, so she suited up in her thickest furs and stepped out into the white abyss waiting outside their door. With one hand on the house to keep it in sight, she began to slowly trudge around its perimeter. She was soon facing the direction of the shed, though she could not see it, even though it couldn’t have been more than fifteen feet away. It took all of her courage to pull her hand away from the house and fully embrace the whirlwind.

She found the shed with surprising ease. Or, more accurately, it found her, as she bumped right into it. Regardless, she had reached her destination with only minimal difficulty, and she peeked inside.

Clémentine was nowhere in sight.

She saw the collection of firewood, chopped by herself the day before, dusted in frost. And she saw the shuffled footsteps in the snow, a telltale sign of someone having been here. But she didn’t see Clémentine.

“Clém?” Perrine had called out, but her voice was quickly swallowed up by the storm. Even still, she tried again, “Clémentine?”

No response, aside from the howling of the wind.

Perrine was worried. Where was Clémentine? Were they okay? She was starting to panic, but she pulled on the reins of her composure and chomped down on the bit, choking back her rising anxiety. She needed to stay calm.

Maybe Clémentine had already gone back to the cabin. Maybe they just missed each other; it wouldn’t be surprising in how limited the visibility was.

Perrine collected as many logs as she could carry and started back toward the cottage. For a terrifying moment, she thought she had gone in the wrong direction, but then the wooden walls swam up through the pelting sheets of white. Home.

She shambled her away to the front door and heaved it open against the wind. Scrambling, she hurried inside.

It was dark. The air was cold and silent. Her own breath formed a cloud in front of her face, even though that shouldn’t have been possible. She was back inside, she was safe, they were safe.

And yet…she was cold.

The logs in her arms fell from her grasp, clattering to the floor. She began to look around, desperate. Her mind was foggy, and she didn’t know why. Anxiety, she thought. That was all.

It wasn’t difficult to locate her friends.

Cole and Kingsley were huddled together in front of the hearth, but it wasn’t their own desperate need for warmth that had them pressed so close, rather the frost that had accumulated over their bodies, freezing them together in their final moments and making it impossible for them to pull away, lest they tear the skin of the other with them. Their flesh was faded to a horrible blue color, rime clinging to their hair, and their faces… Oh, their faces…

Cole had their eyes screwed shut, tears still frozen on their cheeks as they had been sobbing until their last breath. Kingsley’s eyes, on the other hand, were impossibly wide, glued to the front door, like he was waiting for her to come back.

The fire was burned out into embers. Dead, just like Kingsley and Cole.

Perrine was in shock. How did this happen? Had she really been out in the storm for that long?

She tried to rouse them, but it was futile. They were long gone.

Strangely, she didn’t remember crying. She wasn’t sure why. But she did, vividly, remember the terror.

The cold was coming for her next.

Putting the corpses of her friends out of her mind, Perrine scrambled to start a new fire, but she couldn’t feel her hands. Her fingers fumbled clumsily, unable to grasp the match no matter how many times she tried.

Perrine slumped back, panting. She felt so tired…

She thought about Clémentine. They weren’t here, so they must have been outside somewhere still, most likely lost. She liked to think that they were rescued or found by someone, brought into a nice house and given some hot tea, but that was just wishful thinking. They were probably dead. Just like Kingsley and Cole. Just like she would be.

Perrine died, alone and afraid, and it was only after having to sit through and feel the slow torture of freezing that she finally woke up in a cold sweat.

Living life is a lot like playing dominos. Each new day is a new domino set up. And at any moment, any one of those dominos could fall, causing an unstoppable chain reaction until there were no more dominos to tip over. The end of the line. The end of a life.

For Perrine, her first domino fell exactly one year later.

[currentfications]

Reason | Part 1

Pairing: Bada Lee x Reader, Felix x Reader?

Warning: Swearing, angst, bi-struggles?¿ (definitely mentions of homophobia and internalised homophobia, I am going through some ~family issues~ at the moment and have decided to take it out on y/n, apologies in advance >_<), mention of alcohol, smoking, and unhealthy coping mechanisms

AN: This whole series is brought to you by that one post and this one song, fused together with some feverish deliriums. I sincerely apologise for the darker tone this series might have compared to my usual stuff, thank you for still reading it~

Previous | Next

“But why?” Y/n’s eyes welled with tears as she fought to keep them in, swallowing a hard lump in her throat as she feel herself getting sicker in the stomach.

Bada sighed despairingly, knowing that there’s no good answer to the dejected girl in front of her. “You know why,” the taller girl unintelligible, her voice barely above a whisper.

Y/n squinted her eyes shut, wiping away the tears that slid down her face - as if her closing her eyes will make this all go away, as if she can pretend this all never happened. But it’s happening, and the only thing left she can do is to pick up what’s left of her dignity and walk out those doors. She composed herself to the best she could. Mildly trembling but managing to keep her breathing somewhat steady, she looked up at the woman she adore with her whole heart with a forced smile. “I love you Bada, I always will,” y/n took a deep breath before planting a soft kiss on the taller girl’s cheeks. “I hope he will to.”

Bada watched as y/n left her apartment, unable to stop her from leaving behind, taking a half-hearted step towards the shutting door. The image of the girl’s watering eyes and quivering lips burned into her mind as the dancer landed her fist on the wall. “Fuck!” Bada screamed into the empty room, her voice cracking from the pent up, now overflowing, frustration.

If she hadn’t cared that much about her career, her image - or heck, what others are going to say about their relationship, would this have ended differently? The usually cool and unbothered choreographer is now in shambles on her living room floor, wishing she had the courage to be the girlfriend y/n deserves - or at the very least, not have the audacity to do the one thing that shattered y/n’s heart into a million pieces.

Y/n finally let her waterworks run free once she is shrouded by the darkness, hiding from the potential cameras around the corners. Finding a secluded corner, she broke down into tears, curling into a fetal position. It was hours before she ran out of tears, staring into the empty streets. She’s been heartbroken before, but this betrayal have left her feeling more hollow than ever. In a state of delirium, possibly from dehydration, y/n pulled out her phone and hovered above a contact.

Rationally, she knows she shouldn’t be calling him. She knows better than that, than this. It’s revenge than she wanted, and he’ll be collateral damage. But the rage boiling inside of her is almost blinding, jealousy overwhelming. A moment of insanity won over her usual levelheadedness and she dialled the number.

The boys have just gotten back to their shared dorm when Felix’s phone buzzed. Crossing his finger in hopes that the call is not from their manager, the brunette tentatively flipped the phone screen over. Albeit a little confused by y/n’s call this late into the night, he signed a breath of relief knowing he’s not getting into trouble with their stern manager again.

“Hello?”

Felix’s deep voice through the phone almost snapped y/n back into reality, almost. She know she should hang up, but she wanted her to feel the same pain. Taking a shaky breath and shutting her eyes, knowing she will regret this, “hey Felix.”

She can almost hear the first of many nails in the coffin as she uttered the two words, sealing what’s left of her heart. It’s unrequited love, she reminded herself, it’s inconsiderable love. She bit down on her lips, hard enough to taste blood, and continued the eulogy of her grievance. “How’d you feel about being a rebound for 72 hours?”

The boy band member’s brows knitted together with concern as he heard those words, delivered with bitterness he never thought he’d be at the receiving end of. Y/n has always been the most prudent friend he’s ever had, and even though she’s been known to be capable of making some ruthless decisions, this is very much so out of character for y/n.

“Bro, are you okay?” Felix excused himself from the group, closing the door behind him for some much needed privacy.

Y/n chuckled humourlessly, her dry lips cracking as she sneered at how pathetic she sounded. “Splendid. Hence why I’m calling for a rebound in the middle of the night.”

Recognising y/n’s signature coping mechanism (dripping sarcasm), the brunette rubbed his temple and checked in on the obviously-not-okay y/n. “Are you drunk?”

“No.”

“Are you high?”

“I wish.”

“Are you and Bada-”

“Not her. Not now.”

Felix’s eyes widen as he muttered an apology, realising the situation. There have been rumours floating around that y/n and Bada is an item; although never confirmed, he’d always took y/n’s silence over the past year as some form of confirmation. After all, she has never allowed baseless rumours to circulate - not even back in high school (someone spread a rumour about her being a ‘fake dyke to get attention’, in retaliation y/n finger-banged both the boy’s sisters during recess).

“Is that a no?” Y/n asked dryly, breaking the silence. She would’ve felt absolutely mortified by the awkward silence if she wasn’t so numb.

“W-wait are you sure?” Felix panicked, remembering the question on hand.

Y/n sighed for about the hundredth times tonight, “can you hand the phone to Chan?”

Felix tutted at the phone, “absolutely not.” It’s not like he’s not into her, in fact, he’s always fancied y/n since they shared a table during that one class. If not because of the fact that y/n has never even taken romantic interest in men, he would’ve asked her out during formal (y/n went with the reverend’s daughter that year, to Felix’s disappointment). “Happy to comply. In fact I’ll even throw in another 72 hours, no extra charge.”

“Thanks,” y/n muttered, grateful that at least one thing is going right for her tonight - only to immediately feel a wave of guilt and shame washing over her as she apprehended her actions. Her self reflection was cut short by some drivers racing down the quiet street, roaring as they past through.

“Dude are you still outside,” Felix glanced down at his watch, eyes widening, “at 3 in the morning?”

Has it been six hours since the fallout? Y/n has lost track. She can still hear Bada’s words echoing in the wind. ‘You know why’, she said - three simple words that cut deeper than it should have. She denounced y/n to the world, not because of anything she’s done, but simply because of the bigotry the general public has. She pushed away y/n time and time again, not because she didn’t loved her, but because she couldn’t face the repercussions of loving a woman. A grocery list of whys summarised into three little words.

For years, y/n have understood and gave her the privacy she needed to deal with all that; but when Bada pulled him to her lips in front of all their friends and family, officially announcing their relationship - y/n couldn’t understand why. Why Howl, and not her.

[guardian-angel12]

Flames {Rexsoka}

Prompt: They’ll hear us/you

@rexsoka-monthly

Mandalore was in flames. 

The city burned at the same time, so did Rex's heart. 

All his Mandalorian roots seemed to scream as he watched the destruction, an orange hue cast over his shielded face and making eerie shadows dance across his visor and armor, like the ghosts of the past katarn armor-wearers giving their final breath. 

He knew somewhere deep inside that this place would fall to ruin, something about the thick smoke that rose into the dark blue night and disappeared into the stars. 

Maul may have been captured, but he knew that wasn't the end. 

He breathed a small Mandalorian blessing out over the edge of the balcony he stood on and turned around, blinking back the angry tears that rose into his eyes, but not with much effort when he felt his entire being soften. 

She was waiting there. He felt that tingle inside his chest the moment he turned around. 

"I'm sorry, Rex." Ahsoka said softly, her face not in view yet for the shadows, but he made out her frame, lithe and disciplined and beautiful... her colors contrasting with the horrors of fire and smoke and battle. 

"You completed the mission. That's all that matters." he replied, voice filtered of his sadness through his helmet, but she sensed it. 

"We should get back to the others, we're leaving soon." she said, eyes flickering around his face and going down until they stayed on the ground. 

He only nodded, following behind his commander with a slow and steady stride. 

Whatever citizen she claimed to be now, whatever nomad, she would always be his commander, always be the one who earned his respect more and more every day and every time he saw her.

The Tribunal was filled with people, soldiers, officers, and droids alike, ready to leave the planet as Maul was escorted by a few Mandalorians inside a special Jedi holding chamber. 

Rex felt... odd about it, although he knew Ahsoka had handled the Sith apprentice herself, and that she was more than capable, something about still having the monster near her bothered him. 

I should've been there. 

It was all he kept thinking, again and again he felt like he should have been there. 

Ahsoka was led off by a few higher-ups in need of her assistance, and Rex was left alone, pondering. 

Jesse met to speak with him but he knew he wasn't being himself, something about all of this was bothering him, but he knew the main reason was not the fact that his heritage planet was in shambles. No. It was something else, and he felt like perhaps he knew what it was but still the confusion swirling in his head was overwhelming. 

Before he even registered what he was doing or where he even was he met her in the briefing room, an empty hologram table before her as she stood there staring at it, looking lost in a past time and memory. 

Ahsoka felt him before he'd even been close enough for the doors to open for him, sensing his soft hum in the Force that told her he was alive, but sometimes it told her things she didn't want to know, let her feel his pain and his confusion and his sadness. 

She wanted to take it away. She wanted him to have a normal life, a life without war and heartache and loss. Wanted him to have a choice. Whatever he truly wanted in this life, in this vast galaxy that had become so grim. 

"A—are you okay?" Rex asked quietly, watching her from behind. 

"I will be." she turned around, and found that his eyes were distant, lost. "And you?"

His chest tightened, and it was getting hard to breathe, but he just needed to get it out and try to fix himself, try to let himself focus again and just do his duty without feeling like only half his mind was there. "I can't answer that."

"What do you mean?"

The way instant concern flooded her big, starry blue eyes made him feel both worse and better. But she took a step forward, almost like she was worried he had been hurt and decided not to tell her. 

"I just... Some things happened today, and with that and everything else, I don't feel right."

"What things? Mandalore?" Truthfully, she just wanted to run to him, throw her arms around his neck and tell him it was going to be alright, that it would get better from here. 

Tell him what she had been battling with besides the Sith and the Death Watch, and that thing was him. Him, invading her heart and her letting him. 

At war with something she welcomed.

"That's... part of it. But you—when you fought Maul, I should've been there, and if something had happened—something had gone wrong, I—''

Ahsoka shook her head slowly. "Rex—"

"No, please... I, I need to say it. When you left, everything changed, all this," he gestured around the room like he was gesturing to the entire galaxy, his grip on his helmet under his arm getting tighter and then he squeezed his free hand into a tight fist. "it changed, it hasn't felt the same since. And then you came back, General Skywalker told me you were and—and I didn't know how to take it, but I wanted you to, but as soon as I saw you something else changed, and now I... I can't help but think about what you'll do when all this is over, when you leave."

Ahsoka wore a sad expression, but inside she was burning up, she knew he was strong, knew he tried to put his duties first and ignore his personal feelings and emotions but she also knew he was starving, knew he was pining and so was she, but seeing him like this...so unsure of himself and almost like he was guilty, it broke her heart even as she searched for the right words and the right actions. 

A thousand things came to mind that she wanted to say or do, but let him stand there in silence, searching for what he needed to say, what else he needed to get out. 

"I just..." Rex seemed like he was choking. "I won't lose you again. I can't."

That broke her stillness, and she walked straight to him, searching his face and finding all the pain. "Rex..." she said his name like it was the most precious thing, something she cherished with all her heart, and his eyes lifted to meet hers even as they looked down to her shorter form, staring deep into her beautiful face and trying to remember each and every detail. Every line, every pore. He didn't want to go without it. Without her. 

Ahsoka lifted her hands up and gently placed them on the sides of his chest plate, brushing her fingers down and stroking the tiny pock marks of battle and tracing the lines war had left. "You know I never wanted to leave you."

He swallowed hard. "I know." 

"I am sorry. Leaving... it was one of the hardest things ive ever done, mostly for one reason..."

His eyes were questioning, but he asked anyways, voice so quiet it sounded raw. "What?"

Ahsoka breathed in through her nose deeply, eyes flickering down then up again. "This one." 

Then she snatched the sides of his face and slammed her mouth up against his, making him drop his helmet in surprise, stumbling only a little backwards and his hand lifted up, freezing near her head.

He kissed back eagerly, a million sparks seeming like they reignited in his dying fire of a soldiers heart. He put his hand on her cheek, his other on her back like he was trying to keep her there, like she was his and the only thing that mattered. 

She finally pulled back, but stayed so close he could feel her warm breath stirring against his mouth. "I thought of you every day." she murmured. 

He ran his thumb across the white streak on her jaw, not having anything left to say but finally feeling that yearning being met, that wildfire finally being fueled not with sadness and longing but with passion and love that he knew was most likely forbidden to both him and her.

He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but the instincts inside of him took over as he cupped her face again, kissing her with every bit of the loneliness he'd felt since he last saw her. With every word he had wanted to say to her since they had last spoke. Her small frame was pushed back from his careless affection, until she was clasping her hand against the rim of the table and finally took his shoulders and turned him around, pushing him down onto it where his armor clanked hard against the surface, but she just kept pursuing with her lips even as he let out a breathy laugh.

"They'll hear you, cyar'ika." he whispered into her mouth. 

"So what?" she purred back, gripping his shoulders with a wicked little grin that made his entire body heat with that fire, knowing completely and entirely that she was that one thing he wanted most in the galaxy.

[redheadspark]

(Im not sure if my thing was sent so if it was just ignore this)

Hawwu can I request 6. “You and I together… would that be weird?” “No. No, I don’t think so.” and 5. Having so many inside jokes that just the two of them know, that other people often don’t understand their humor. With Druig thank uuu

A/N - HAWUU! Thanks for requesting this for druig, my friend!

Room

Summary - After the Emergence, you connected with your best friend again.

Warnings - Just some fluff!

“Here, This was all I could find in the Domo,”

“You got this from Makkari’s stash, didn’t you?”

“If you don’t tell, I won’t tell,”

Druig snorted as he dug into the small bag of chips you were holding between you.  As he took a chip and mushed away, you were leaning back on the beach and looking at what was left on the Domo.  It was in shambles, some of it still in the beach surf, and the rest was in flames.  Sure, it looked a bit depressing since it was your ship and your first home, but then again you were too exhausted to feel anything else than relieved.  The past few hours were a whirlwind, and now that you were sitting down and feeling the fatigue come over you.  

There was a change of tides in the air as you felt the wind whip your hair up and around your battered face, the change only from saving the world from the near Emergence that would have destroyed the entire human species, but also amongst your Eternal Family. The same family you haven’t seen in almost 500 years and you never thought you would see again.  

Without Ajak and Gilgamesh, and the betrayal of Ikaris still fresh like a new wound, you were wondering what was going to be the future for all of you.  The others had lives, Kingo with his movies, Phastos with his husband and son, you felt lost in the shuffle yourself.  

“How long do you think it’ll take Phastos to fix the ship?” Druig asked as he popped another chip in his mouth and hummed, you grinning.

“Not a long time if Makkari will help.  She knows more about the ship than any one of us at this point,” You explained, Druig humming in agreement as you took a chip from the bag, “Given the recent turmoil we just went through, I’m in no rush,”

“Me neither, we have plenty of catch up on anyways,” Druig reminded you as you looked over at him, seeing the sea ship his brown locks to hide his bright blue eyes.  You smiled, though it was not big since he was sporting a scab on his cheek and looked a bit too stiff.  As if the wind could blow him over if he’d let it. 

He was right, you two had lots to catch up on.  Being his closest friend on the ship, apart from Makkari, you were always at his side. He was the calm to your temper, the sarcasm to your gentleness, and the aloof to your meekness.  Being opposites brought you two together so quickly and made the bon so strong and thick that it was almost impossible to break.  You loved those earlier years with him, not just in protecting the Humans and watching their evolution, but simply having a friend in your corner.  

When he left you behind 500 years ago, it felt like a shattering of your bond.  Of course, you knew why he had to go and you didn’t stop him, Druig was headstrong in what he wanted and what he knew was right.  But then again, you were also wishing to be selfish and keep him in your life.  He knew you more than you knew yourself, brought you out of darkness and doubt, made you feel joy when you thought yours was gone.  

Those 500 years without your best friend, they were tolerable at best.

“I’ve thought about you, know you,” Druig explained, you looked away from the Domo to him now as he was looking at you fondly with his shoulder touching yours, “Those years I was in the Amazon.  It was nice, and I wouldn’t take it back, but I did think about you a lot.”

“Good things, I hope,” You teased, seeing him crack a small grin as he nodded slowly.

“Amazing things,’ He admitted, making your stomach do a small flip as he hummed and spoke again, “I remember all the jokes we did on the others, especially with Phastos.  All the stories we would tell together over the campfire, and the dreams we had for the humans.”

“I remember your dream you told me,” You explained, “You’ve always wanted to be in a small little house by the sea, away from cities and massive populations of people.  Nice and quiet,”

“You teased that I would hate it, that and get a suntan,” Druig joked as you chuckled.

“I mean, you burn easily under the sun,” You replied, poking his side as he shoved your shoulder playfully.  You both laughed on the surf, battered and bruised with your armor stained and almost shredded to ribbons It felt surreal to be laughing at this point, but almost seemed natural for the pair of you.  Something you both needed from being away from each other for centuries.  Once the laughing died down and you were both quiet again, a lingering thought was on your mind.

“Where do we go from here?” You had to ask, Druig shifting in his spot on the sand as he cracked his knuckles.

“Don’t know.  I know I can’t go back to the Amazon now, the villagers can do fine without me at this point,” He explained, “I guess I can figure it out as I go,”

“I’m in the same boat too,” You admitted in a shrug, Druig watching you as you were towing the sand with your boot.

“We can figure it out together,” he explained, you raising a brow at him.

“Would that be weird?” You asked carefully.

“Not at all.  I don’t think so if it’s with you,” Druig hummed, his voice sounding soft and sure when he gestured his chin to you.  You smiled, leaning your head over to then rest of his shoulder as you both watched the surf float in and out on the beach.  Being this close to Druig seemed safe, seemed warm like the first sun rays or the smallest touch of leaves along the treetops.  You’ve missed this, the unidentified feelings that you once tried to tuck away since your friendship with him was more important.  

But you felt Druig lace your hands together on the sand, seeing the scrapes and blood on his skin as he spoke.

“You and I together…would that be weird?” He asked, almost in a manner that seemed timid.  You thought about it for a small second or two, and all you could think about it joy.  The joy of having another person in your life that would bring you more happiness.  The joy of knowing someone else thought of you with adoration and love in their heart.  

The joy of it comes from your best friend.

“No,” You replied calmly, “No, I don’t think so,”

As Druig kissed the side of your head, you smiled brightly for the first time in what seemed like a long time.  Your heart, which seemed protected and hardened over time, was now making room for one more person to inhabit.

It took you two long enough

The End

[spidercookie18]

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒖𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑪𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒅𝒆

The Lost Boys 1987 AU set in modern time. None of the boys died, and all the Emersons/Star/Laddie/Frog brothers are vampires. This is explained later…

Tags: Halfing vampire, swearing, talks of abuse/abuser/manipulation , mentions of loss of family, also scenting, use of y/n, afab, use of she/her. Warnings: This chapter discusses abuse/abusers Summary: Y/N, left to her own devices, goes through the boys belongings in the cave, David takes this as an invitation to do the same to her house. Word Count: 8.6k Previous chapter here: Next chapter here:

“No one should suffer what I suffered. I still dread those scenes when man killed man. I lost my parents, most of my family, by running away.” — Milkha Singh

Chapter Three

You woke up some time later, your hand immediately moving to your neck to make sure your vial was still there; it was. You sighed in relief, then looked to see the color of the blood inside. It was black, like obsidian, “that’s not good…”

Your eyes opened to an unfamiliar view; your body ached horribly as you tried to sit up. You saw a dim bit of light shine through near what you could only assume was a cave; it was probably midafternoon with how hard you slept. You looked down at your body and tried to remember what happened before you passed out. “Oh yeah… David,” your mind wandered to the night before. “That explains the bruises, and…” you looked down at the jackets wrapped around your naked form, “the lack of clothes.” You brought the collar of the jacket to your nose and inhaled. You smiled; it smelled like David…

Come to think of it, you smelled like David.

“Ugh,” you crinkled your nose at the smell, it was oppressive. You felt around for your bag, hoping David didn’t leave all your stuff up on the hill.

No luck. No phone, no gun, no clothes… you looked around the chamber and didn’t manage to see anyone. There was a wheelchair by the bed with a Chinese take-out container and a small metal bucket, “that better not be for me,” you hissed. Your mouth felt dry, and your stomach ached, you wondered just how much come David had made you swallow last night after you passed out.

You groaned as you moved to get out of the bed that was covered in miscellaneous blankets, “at least the sheets smell clean.” They had probably been washed recently, but you didn’t take the boys for avid housekeepers; someone else must have been making them wash their fabrics. You stepped your bare feet on the cool ground below you.

Above you, Marko was the first to hear you shambling around; he was a much lighter sleeper after the… incident, and he elbowed David who groggily woke up. Marko pointed down at the bed and the two of them watched as you poked your head out from the curtains to look around.

“You get back in that bed,” David said sternly. You looked around. His voice, no longer dark and distorted, echoed off the walls, but you couldn’t see him.

“David?”

“You are not to leave this cave; do you understand me?”

“David, I need to go home.” You called to him, stressing the urgency of your situation.

“Well, I obviously can’t take you right now, can’t I?”

You grumbled, annoyed at him, and continued to look around, “I’m hungry.”

The other boys began to wake up at the commotion, “you have rice, eat your rice.”

“I have to pee.”

“Well, that’s what the bucket is for isn’t it?”

The boys snickered.

You furrowed your brows in frustration, “where’s all my stuff? Can I have some clothes?”

“You’ll get it back later.”

You sniffed the jacket again, “David, I need a shower.”

The boys were laughing now.

“No. You don’t,” David replied. He’d worked so hard to scent you all night, he wasn’t going to let you undo all that so easily.

“David, I need water.”

“Just eat your rice! I’ll get you water later.”

“Fucking vampire asshole,” you grumbled under your breath.

“I can hear you.” David retorted.

“Yeah, I know! That’s why I fucking said it!”

The boys had all busted out laughing at David’s frustration with his new mate, and how unafraid you were to yell at him. “Bahahaha!” “Oooooh, she told you!” “Get er’, David!”

“Everybody shut the hell up and go back to sleep! And you stay in this damn cave!”

He growled, huffed, then went back to sleep.

Angrily, you turned back to pick up the rice, “what, no fork?”

You eyed the bucket meanly, no way in hell I’m going to be using a ‘bucket’, you thought.

You angrily shoved the bucket off the chair, and it clanked and rattled as it rolled away. You picked up the paper container and ate the rice with your fingers and walked around the cave.

There was little light, but you had just enough vampire blood in your vial to see the cave for what it was. For being an actual hole in the ground it wasn’t horribly filthy. Sure, it was dirty, and cluttered, it’s a cave; but there weren’t decomposing bodies and spoiled food all over the place. It was about as trashed as you’d expect four eternally immature a-holes to keep it though. Littered with beer cans, cigarette butts, miscellaneous trash, and dirty clothes. The cave smelled damp, like stale sea water, and when you walked near the dirty clothes it smelled a bit sour. You crinkled your nose and continued to look around.

Up in the ceiling you noticed some hair and you went to investigate.

“You can’t be serious…” how pretentious do you have to be to sleep like that?

“David,” you called to him, “psst!” He shut his eyes tighter, the fucker was ignoring you. “Ugh!” you groaned in frustration. They were obviously not going to wake up; if the bucket didn’t wake them, and you calling to them didn’t make them budge, then nothing would.

So, you walked around, turning the to-go container into your mouth and looked at all the boys’ things. There were electrical wires and roots coming out from the ceiling and walls.

Odd, you thought to yourself. You noticed stairs and pieces of concrete and structures that looked like they belonged to some building. Something must’ve fallen into the cave at some point you figured. You continued to walk around the space and noticed a very dark corner off behind where the boys were sleeping. You walked slowly up to it and there was an eerie whistling sound; the wind you hoped. The darkness of it that seeped into the main chamber of the cave made your hair stand on end, probably best to avoid that part for now…

You stepped away from it and looked back around the space. They had music and movie posters covered over the sharpest parts of the rocks and records hanging from the ceiling. It actually looked like the movie posters they keep outside of theatres. You wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where they got all their ‘art’ from.

There were, what looked like windchimes, or ‘art sculptures’ made of human bones and sticks. “Classy,” you chuckled. As you looked around you noticed there were several distinct areas of the cave that looked to be the boys ‘rooms’.

There was one that was all old pieces of fabric and thread, and lots of wine bottles. The fabric looked to be cut up jeans and probably stolen clothes, like silk, and lace, and fur. There was also a makeshift pigeon coop built into the side of the cave wall. Someone really loves these birds. You thought as you walked around the space, the pigeons cocked their heads at you and softly cooed. There was an old book, or maybe a bible sitting by a mess of pillows on the floor. The book title had been rubbed off over the years, but the edges of the paper look to be gold foil, so a bible was your best guess. The leather-bound book sat atop an old, rusted metal box. Moving the book, you opened the box and saw miscellaneous keepsakes. An old dirty coin with a man and a curly mustache on it, a red chili made of glass, a picture, and some notes and a dried white lily. One of the notes look like it said, “Siate buoni, siate gentili, siate giusti." The picture was of Marko, and about a dozen other curly haired blonds. They were all crowded in the picture, and he stood next to, what you thought to be his mother. You could barely tell it was him as he looked to be a young boy, but that devious grin… it was definitely Marko. You gently closed the lid of the box and put the book back on top.

The next space you walked into was filled with blankets and pillows and had children’s toys scattered about. Are they nannies?  You picked up a small toy fireman and noticed the face all chewed off. “Yueh!” You threw it down in disgust. Little did you know, it wasn’t the ‘nanny’ or his kid that chewed on the toys, but Marko and Paul; the gremlins of the group. You threw yourself in the mess of fluff and stuff on the ground and admired the things this boy had hanging up. You sat back in the pillows and picked at the rice. He had shells, and feathers, and small bones, and sea glass hung up like a baby’s mobile. You watched the small objects circle lazily overhead; it was a very comforting feeling. As you wiggled around to get comfortable you felt something poke at you from the pillow beneath you. You sat up and moved the pillow from your back, there was a small wooden box. When you slid the lid off you had to keep yourself from crying. It was two silver rings, a picture, and baby socks. The picture was of Dwayne and a young woman, she was round as the Sun, and they both looked so happy. You could imagine how sad that tale ended but did your best not to think of it. You slid the lid back on the box and tucked it underneath the pillows. The comforting feeling quickly faded, and you left that alcove the second you got your bearings.

You took a few deep breaths to calm yourself and continued walking around the cave. You stumbled a bit in the dark and came upon the next room. This space, you noticed was full of very human nick-nacks. Surfboards, skateboards, hockey sticks, old glow sticks, CD’s, guitars, a heavily patched up bean bag chair, and a Rubik’s cube. You picked up the toy and turned it in your hand, it looked like someone had peeled the stickers off and stuck them back on to solve it. It made you chuckle. This ‘room’ looked smaller than the others, until you realized that half of it was up in the rafters. There was a second part of this space that was high above the ground, you put the rice on the floor and flew up there you saw some of the things this boy kept. There was an old tattered green and yellow winter scarf, some rocks that weren’t the same color as the cave rock, shoelace strings, broken and half broken sunglasses, rubber bands, acorns, and this one too had a box of keepsakes. You knew it wasn’t your place to go through their things, especially after what the last one held, but you couldn’t help yourself. You opened the lid of the shoebox and saw a picture, ticket stubs of concerts and movies, guitar picks, and scraps of newspaper. The paper scraps were of various things from a town in Wisconsin, nothing that made sense to you. The picture was of Paul and a young blond girl. He was in a hockey uniform, nose bleeding with a chipped tooth in his smile, and he held his arm around her shoulder. She looked like him, crazy, wild hair and big soulful blue eyes. It was probably his kid sister, you wondered what happened to her. You looked at the ticket stubs for movies from eighty some odd years ago, and concert tickets from the last few decades. It looks like the boys, or at least Paul, went to plenty of concerts.

With how little magic there was left in the vial you could feel yourself falling. You quickly put the box back in its place and you fell hard on the ground with an, “oomf.” You rubbed the plush of your ass where you landed and dusted off the jackets.

You continued to rub your bruised skin and picked the rice container off the ground. You looked over at the next space, it had an odd feeling as you stepped into it. It was full of boxes and old paper. There were dozens of boxes full of old VHS tapes, more boxes full of CD’s, cassettes, camcorder tapes, and newspapers. There was a small nest of blankets on an army cot between the boxes, a laptop and what looked like a picture album.

You smacked the bottom of the rice container to get the last bits of food into your mouth and picked up the album. You opened to the first page, which was a picture of David and the boys. It was in color, and there were a few faces in the picture that you didn’t recognize. Dwayne was holding a small boy on his shoulders, next to him, Paul and Marko were making faces at each other. There was an older man with glasses and a woman with short hair who were on either side of a teenage boy. Next to her, there was a couple of young gruff looking boys, and a young man and a young woman, both brunettes. Off on the far side there was David, he was in the picture, but he didn’t really look to be part of the group. You flipped the page, there was a picture of just David and the boys. They were all bouncing around and flipping off the camera. In the next picture it was the same line up, but all the boys looked serious; you guessed whoever was taking the picture had scared them into being good. You smiled down at the photos.

There was a picture of David and the brunet man from the first photo, and on the next page you saw David and the brunette girl; he was smiling, and she looked solemn. “Huh...” you kept flipping, and saw various pictures of places, that were marked with the location and date; they were from all over the country, and went all the way back to the 1840’s. In between the landscapes there was pictures of one or all the boys wearing different period clothes. There were even a few more pictures of David and young men and young ladies, but the pictures all looked the same. He was smiling, and they were not. You got sad, you set the picture album down and a photo slipped out; it was Marko in the front, and the boys all holding pigeons and laughing. “Okay, that’s pretty cute,” you slipped the photo back inside and set the book down.

You noticed the camcorder and picked it up, hoping it had battery. You turned it on, and it surprisingly had a little charge. Opening the camcorder, you noticed there was already a tape inside, you shut it and rewound the tape. After it was rewound, you pressed play. The pixilated footage came into frame and the date flashed August 21, 1987. Google what movie came out that day, you’ll get a kick out of it. It was the young boy and the brunet boy; they were cleaning in a house you didn’t recognize. They didn’t want to look at the camera, and rolled their eyes when the cameraman spoke, it was David. Surprise, surprise, you thought.

‘This is Sam, and Michael, cleaning their granddad’s crap, cause-‘

‘David, shut up,’

‘That’s Mike, he’s pissed cause we were supposed to go to the movies tonight, but he got grounded.’ You can see David point at the tall brunet, with his gloves on. Michael looked up from dusting to make a face and flip off the camera. ‘Hey, you better stop that, or I’m gonna tell your mom; you’ll get double grounded.’

‘David, are you gonna help us or not?’ Sam, the boy, asked. He was sweeping what looked like a kitchen. 

‘Not,’ David scoffed, ‘I’m not helping no snitch.’ He walked closer to Michael, putting the camera in his face. ‘Mike, tell us why you got grounded.’

‘Knock it off David,’ Michael turned away from the camera, and David quickly followed him.

‘Come on Michael, tell uuuuusss,’ he said, sing-songy. The brunet was blushing fiercely, and he kept trying to keep his face out of frame.

‘David I’m serious,’

‘I’m serious too, Mike. So, say it.’  Michael stared at the vampire behind the camera, he was still blushing and stuttered at what he wanted to say.

‘It’s cause I caught you guys making out!’ Sam yelled, angry and annoyed.

‘Sam!’ The older brother shouted.

‘Oh, we were doing a lot more than making out, eh? Mike?’

‘DAVID!’  Michael yelled at the blond, who was laughing, clearly amused with himself.

‘Oh, I’m gonna barf!’ Sam yelled; his face was one of disgust. He made a spectacle of being grossed out, not because his brother was making out with David, but because he caught his brother making out.

‘You’re a boy kisser ain’tcha Mike?’ David was back in Michaels personal space.

‘Guys please, not here,’ Sam fake cried.

David held the camera low and pointed it up to capture the kiss between him and Michael. When they finished, the boys were giddy, and Michael dusted the camera lens as a joke. They smiled at each other-

‘EW! MOM!’

Off in the distance you heard someone shout at David. The next thing you knew, the video cut to capture David cleaning the kitchen, side by side with the Emerson brothers. David leaned back to give Michael a kiss on the cheek and the screen flashed black with a red depleted battery symbol.

You smiled at the thought of David being happy, but you wished you could have seen more of the video. Maybe you’ll ask the boys for the charger later.

You looked back around the space and opened a box that was written in a language that looked familiar. There were letters, and paintings, and documents; none of which you could read, but it looked like the paintings were of places they’d been. The letters looked like they were written in various languages, German, French, Italian, and maybe Russian? But you weren’t sure.

The dated paper looked like they went back to the mid 1800’s. You kept thumbing through the pages and there was a picture of a blond boy, standing between an older man and woman, “is that… David?” He looked so much younger than he did now. Still clad in leather, like a cowboy attire, but he looked different…he looked human. You felt melancholy looking at all of the things David and the boys had held onto throughout the centuries.

You walked back to the bed and looked all around the cave as you moved. You heard a soft vibrating, and you looked up, “oh, fuck me.” One of them- probably that asshole David- stuffed your bag up in a ceiling light. “Why is there even a light in here?”

Do they even get electricity?

No, stupid question, it’s a freaking cave.

You sighed at your things way up and out of your reach, “at least he didn’t leave all my stuff out there.”

David really didn’t want you leaving before he woke up; so, defeated, you crawled back into the bed. You looked back over at the sliver of light on the ground, it had begun to turn an orangey color and you’d hoped that the Sun would be setting soon.

You laid back in the bed and tasted your dry mouth. Well, maybe I’ll die before they wake up, you laughed at the morbidity of your situation. You were frustrated at how dehydrated you were getting, especially after a rough night like the one from yesterday. You turned on your side and tried not to think of the aching you felt in your flesh and bones.

Your body was still exhausted from the night before, and with little food, and no water, you were passed out again within an hour of waking up.

David was the last one to wake that night; he was always the first up, and usually way before the other boys. But tonight, he was the last one to stir. Marko and Dwayne loomed over your half naked form, they notice that the rice was all gone, and the bottoms of your feet were black. Paul woke a little after Marko and Dwayne had, being the ‘youngest’ he tended to sleep in.

“You just know she touched all of our stuff,” Dwayne said.

Paul yawned and walked over to where the other two were, “ew, she still smells like David,” he pinched his nose at you.

Dwayne shook the edge of the bed with his shoe, and you moaned weakly. “Oh good, she’s not dead.”

“So, she just smells like that now?” Paul sneered.

“Paul, go get her some water,” Marko instructed.

“Dude, why do I have to get it?”

“Because you know where to get it, stupid. Now hurry up.” Marko barked at him. Paul groaned and took off. Being the second in command, Marko was the boss when David was unavailable. While he didn’t care for you, he knew you were important to David, so he wouldn’t let you be hurt while he was in charge. Paul returned a short while later with a few water bottles and some candy, he handed Marko the bottles and threw himself against the ratty couch to eat his snacks. Dwayne went to sit by him and hit his shoulder, demanding sweets.

“No Dwayne!” The boys argued and Marko sat you up.

He gently nudged you trying to get you to wake up. He kept pushing the bottle against your hand, but you wouldn’t grab it. “Come on,” he was annoyed that he had to baby you, he hated dealing with humans, they were always so weak and couldn’t do anything they could. He tilted your head back and poured the water into your mouth, you gently swallowed. He did that a few more times and finally you woke up.

You groaned and took the bottle that was being pushed to your hand.

“Marko?” you groggily looked at the curly haired blond that sat by you.

“Good, you can take care of yourself now, right?” He said walking away, not waiting for an answer.

You sipped the water and looked over at the boys that were on the couch wrestling over a bag of gummy worms.

“Paul! Fucking share!”

“Get your own!”

What a bunch of scary vampires, you chuckled. Marko walked over to the alcove where the pigeons were, and you could hear the birds coo happily. So, I guess those really are his birds, you thought. You looked around the cave and still didn’t manage to see David. You zipped up the leather coat that was under the wool one and walked through the curtains to the den. Paul and Dwayne looked over at you, “uhm…” Paul didn’t know what to say to you as you walked over to them.

“David’s not up yet,” Dwayne said pulling the bag from Paul, who’d moved his hands to his nose.

“Oh…” you looked around the cave, they’d lit some candles, and some trash cans, so it made it easier to see and move around. “Can I go home yet?”

The boys looked at each other, then over to where Marko had gone. “David said no,” Marko called, as he walked back to where the other boys were sitting on the couch.

“Hey, stay over there,” Paul said to you. He was pointing to the bed, still covering his nose with one hand.

You sniffed the jacket, “oh, yeah. I guess it’s worse for you guys, huh?” They nodded unanimously, “so is there a place around here that I can wash off then?”

“Please don’t make us say no,” Paul begged.

You sat back on the bed with a huff, and the boys talked anxiously amongst themselves. “Can I have my stuff back yet?”

“Knock it off,” Marko shouted, “you know we can’t do that.”

“Okay, well then wake up David, so I can leave.” They didn’t even turn to look at you. “Hello?” No response. “Look, I really need to go!”

“I said knock it off!” Marko screamed at you.

Fine, I know how I can get them to listen to me…

You sat back on the bed, and covered your hands in your face, and sobbed meekly. Paul looked over at you, “dude…you made her cry.”

“She’s faking,” Marko retorted, and you sniffled louder.

Paul and Dwayne restlessly moved around in their seats, “dude, she’s really crying.”

“No, she isn’t,” Marko said, unyielding.

You sobbed louder, “dude, you’re gonna get us all in trouble!” Paul said shoving Marko by the shoulder.

“She’s fucking faking it Paul, look!” Marko stomped over to where you were in the bed and pulled your hands away. To his horror, you were actually crying. You looked up at him with huge tears running down your cheeks.

“Oh, you’re so fucked,” Dwayne laughed from his place on the couch.

You started bawling loudly.

“No! stop! shut up, shut up!” Marko tried shushing you.

You pulled away from him, “DAVI-”, you started to yell, and Marko put his hands over your mouth. You scream cried into his hands and he looked up worryingly.

“Just stop crying, ok? Why are you crying? Please stop crying!” Marko didn’t know what to do, but he knew if he didn’t get you to stop your screeching, David would kick his ass.

Dwayne and Paul looked at each other, “dude, bail?”

“Bail.”

And the two of them ran out of the cave. “Oh, thanks a lot guys!” Marko yelled, still covering your mouth. He looked back at the mess you had become, you kept sobbing violently into his hand, trying to break away. “If I take my hand off, will you please stop screaming?” You nodded, still crying. Marko slowly took his hand off your mouth, and you sniffled quietly. “Okay… now, why are you still crying?”

“B-b-because you haaate meeeeeeeee,” you sobbed.

“I don’t hate you, okay? Please just stop already,” Marko would’ve said anything to get you to stop before David woke up.

“Yes, you dooooooooo, you’re always so m-m-m-mean to meeee,” you whined.

“I’m mean to everyone okay!”

“You won’t even let me have cloooooothes!”

“Because David said you can’t have your stuff back!” He was screaming his whisper.

“I ju-ju-just want to gooo h-h-hooome,” you hid your face in your hands. The cuffs of David’s jackets swallowed your arms.

“Okay, okay! I’ll go get David so he can take you home.” Marko couldn’t get you to stop crying, so he would let David deal with you. You were his mate anyways, so he’d take whatever the consequences of waking him up were to get rid of your shrieking. He flew up into the roost and shook David awake.

“This better be an emergency,” David growled, not opening his eyes.

“You deal with her!”

David’s eyes shot open, and he noticed your whimpers and sobs below. “What the shit Marko!” David flew down to the bed, he threw open the curtains and rushed to your side.

“Daaaaviiid,” you held your arms open for him as you sobbed. You looked absolutely pathetic at this moment.

“Shh, shh I’m here sweet thing,” he said, holding you against his chest. David pulled you atop his lap and turned to look at Marko, “you have ONE job while I’m asleep. Look after the pack. Can’t you do that?!” David shouted at Marko.

“David…I-”

“Just, go!” David’s voice was booming in his chest, you actually felt bad for Marko.

“Fuck this shit!” you heard Marko huff as he left.

David pulled you off his chest so he could look at you as he wiped the tears from your face. “Sweet thing, what happened?”

“David…I’m sorry,” he looked so worried, your mind went to the picture album; your heart ached at the thought of him being alone all these years, but you felt horrible for how you got Marko in trouble.

“Y/N, what happened.”

“Don’t be mad at Marko… he tried to take care of me,” David looked at you, his ears twitching at your words. “I just… I needed to go home, and they wouldn’t let me.”

“Y/N what did you do?”

“…I needed them to get you.” You held up the necklace, “it’s my vial, I just… I couldn’t tell them, and Marko wouldn’t get you.”

David’s eyebrows lowered, “so you started crying…”

“I’m sorry, but I really do need to go home!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, “Don’t fucking scare me like that,” he sighed, “ever again. And you will apologize to the others. Especially Marko.” He held you by the shoulders and looked into your eyes, disapprovingly.

“Yes David,” you said meekly.

“What’s wrong with your vial?”

“I think last night really drained me, and since I’m connected to it…” you shrugged.

“And you still won’t take my blood?”

You looked up at him with doe eyes.

“Fine… I’ll take ya home.” David stood up from the bed. He rubbed the back of his neck, “where did Dwayne put…” he looked around.

“David?” You called to him as you peeked through the curtains.

“Well, you need your stuff don’t ya?” David said, looking around, “where the hell…”

“Oh, I thought you did that?”

“Huh?”

You pointed to the round ceiling light hanging high above you both. David chuckled, he flew up and grabbed the bag and brought it back down for you. “Thank you,” you pulled your wrinkled dress from the bag, turned, and pulled the jackets off yourself. David was putting on his boots when he looked up to notice you changing, he sucked air in through his teeth, and you rolled your eyes at him, “shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything, sweetness.”

“Mmhm.” You pulled the dress over your body. You smoothed the fabric over your form and put your hair up with a clip from your bag. David watched as you moved the clip from your mouth to your hair. From the corner of your eye, you watched him adjust, “oh, you’re just insatiable aren’t you,” you laughed.

He walked over to you and placed his hands on your hips, “can I have you again later?” He placed a soft kiss on your lips.

“We’ll see,” you kissed back. He groaned as you pulled away from him, and carefully led you up the entrance.

You looked around at the ocean as the waves crashed upon the rocks by the cave entrance. You noticed something off to the side, it was the lighthouse you’d passed last night, and you quickly oriented yourself. The horn in the tower sounded and you jumped, startled at the sound. David chuckled as you clutched your heart, “fuck, that scared me.”

He patted your head and scooped you up in his arms. David flew you up the stairs and placed you gently down next to the bikes. “I can walk, David,” you giggled.

“You really trust those stairs?”

You looked back at the warped and mangled old wood that led down the cliff, “fair enough,” you shrugged.

You followed David behind some rocks where his bike was and got on the bike behind him. He pulled your hand from his waist and kissed your fingers, he smiled against your skin and put your arm back down around him. “You’re really layin’ on the charm ain’tcha?” You rolled your eyes at his cutesy behavior.

“I told ya, I want ya.” He put his boot out on the ground and revved the bike, he made a quick turn and you both sped off down to town. The town bustled with bodies, and you looked to the sidewalks where people walked in tandem. It was still early in the night, you saw the orangey, reddish glow of the sun over the waves. David swerved through traffic, this time it was less frightening, especially now that you expected it. You trusted he wouldn’t let harm come to you, that his words weren’t just talk. He turned onto your street and slowed to a stop in the driveway next to your truck. 

You let David get off first, then followed up the steps of the porch behind him.

You were starting to like him; he was firm, but fair, and he treated you with a kindness you had long since forgotten. You thought of him and the other boys, you enjoyed watching them all together; they were idiots, but they loved each other. The thought of them all together made you smile; you pulled your keys from your bag and unlocked the door; David held the screen door for you as you walked through the threshold. You turned to look at him and his puppy dog eyes as his boot scratched at the floor in front of the door.

You laughed heartily, “you can come in David,” he lit up and bounced through the entrance. You wiped a tear from your eye and turned on the light. David looked around at all your things, the whole house smelled like you, he took a deep breath and reveled in the smell.

You rolled your eyes at his behavior, “don’t break all my shit,” you walked off to the bedroom.

He picked up a throw pillow from the couch and pressed it to his face, inhaling you for a moment, then he sauntered off to find you. He found you kneeling on the floor with your closet doors open. You pulled a wooden box from the back of the closet and opened the lid. David subconsciously growled as the air from inside the box hit his nose, “I know, I’m sorry.”

You picked up a few herbs from inside and then held a nearly empty test tube up. The liquid inside was a falu red, it was beginning to grey with age, or maybe it was already grey, David thought. He eyed the blood inside, there was an old scotch tape label on the side of the glass that read, M. Ressequie.

You turned to David now, your voice grave as you spoke, “you might want to leave for this,” and waited for him to move.

“I can handle it,” he stood, looming over you.

You sighed, “okay…I’ll try to be fast,” and popped the lid off. David felt like he was going to be sick. He swayed and stumbled into the wall, his cheeks turned a greenish sick, and he felt his mouth go dry.

The stench was powerful, it was more than anything he’d ever come across. He’d smelt Max’s blood before, and that was so strong, in and of itself… but this. This was malicious, he felt a pang in his bones, down to his core he knew something was wrong with that blood.

You grabbed another vial from the case and moved quickly to fill the small glass before you. You filled half of the empty vial with the blood and threw in a concoction of herbs from another vial. You put the glass on the ground and capped the test tube, the air started to clear of the smell, and David grasped his chest. You pricked your finger with a needle and squeezed a few drops into the vial. You prayed over it, in a language David did not recognize, and the mixture in the vial turned black, then glowed a bright red, there was the sound of something sizzling and bubbling. Then, with a loud CRACK the blood stopped glowing. You capped the vial and took off the necklace around your neck and tied the new one on. You quickly put everything back in the box and shoved it deep into the corner of the closet.

You shut the doors, your hands pressing against the wood, as if you took your hands away something would push them open and bring the sickening smell back. Your chest heaved, you hated doing the ritual, and you felt terrible that David had to witness that.

David.  

You turned to look at him. He had slumped down against the wall, still holding his hand over his heart.

“Are you okay?” You crawled over to him.

“No…” he looked off past your gaze, to the other side of the room, “why… why was it like that?”

“I told you to leave.”

“What the fuck…” he whispered out; he’d finally regained enough of himself to look back at you. He had a panicked look on his face as he threw his arms around you. He held you tightly against his body, and you felt the wind be knocked clean from your lungs.

“D-David,” you choked out, trying to wiggle free from him.

“My sweet thing,” he placed his hand to the back of your head as he held you, “I’m so sorry,” David whispered against your ear.

You felt your heart break.

You’d tried so hard, for so long, to try and not think of all the things that you lived through with that monster. But watching this vampire crumble at the mere scent of his blood was nauseating. You didn’t know if you felt comforted or anguished that someone else knew the horrors that you’d lived. The scent of his blood alone let David know how monstrous the vampire you ran away from was. You tried not to cry as he held you, but you felt your mask slip, and you sobbed; pathetically, quietly, begrudgingly against his shoulder.

He held you silently as you wept, squeezing you tighter, as if he were worried, that you’d slip away from him. After a moment he pulled back from you and pressed his forehead against yours. “Never… never again,” he whispered, and you felt a wave of relief wash over you as your pained tears turned to ones of joy.

David decided in that moment, he would do everything he could to keep that monster from you. You were a part of their pack, even if you weren’t bound to him by blood, he would keep you safe; he would keep everyone safe. He slowly let you pull away from him, and he wiped the tears that ran down your face. You sighed, and took in the sight of David before you, he still looked at you in awe, and sadness. And you smiled kindly at him, holding his hand in yours, he smiled back.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

You and David turned to look at the front door. “Who the fuck?” Your moment was ended abruptly, and David wanted to tear through whoever was dragging you away from him.

You walked over to go see who it was, and David slowly stood, still eyeing the closet doors with agitation.

You opened the front door to see your neighbor, Nick, standing on your front porch with something behind his back.

“Nick?” You peeked through the front door and the screen door, “is everything alright,” you asked.

“Heey, Y/N, yeah, I got your mail again,” he tapped the newspaper against the door.

“Oh, it’s just the paper, you don’t have to drop that off every time,” you smiled politely.

“No no, I wanted to bring it to you personally, I tried to come by earlier, but… you weren’t home? Your truck is here so I thought…” he tapped the screen door with the paper again, and you opened it to grab the paper.

“Yeah, it’s just been one of those long, crazy days.”

“Oh, I hear that,” he stuck his head out, trying to peer into the house behind you, “say, who’s bike is that?”

“Oh, sorry about that, I know the noise is a lot for the hour,” you chuckled, closing the door a little, you didn’t really want to tell him David was inside. Nick was already so weird around you, as things were. You didn’t want him knowing he wasn’t the man walking around inside your house.

“That’s my bike,” David walked up behind you, placing one hand on the doorframe, and the other on the door, practically engulfing your body in his. He was in no mood to deal with some guy sniffing around his new mate, especially not after what just happened. He sized up Nick, giving him an unfriendly smile.

Nick stood on your porch, bathed in the light that came from behind you, he didn’t like the look of David, and he was even more upset at how he spoke to him. “Oh, Y/N, I didn’t know you had...company,” he stared back at David.

“I don’t, David is just my friend,”

“Wrong,” David said, placing his chin in the crook of your shoulder, “is there anything else I can help you with…” David smiled sickly at him. The word accentuated as David’s tongue pressed off his teeth, his lips up in a sneer. David narrowed his eyes, “Nick?” He said, using the man’s name as an insult.

Nick looked at how David hung off you and looked back to your face. You pulled your body in from the doorframe. Nick stopped smiling.

You tried to ease the tension, it was damn near palpable, “thanks again for the paper, Nick.”

“Anytime Y/N,” he looked back at David.

“Byeee, Nick.” David said singsongingly, he chuckled as he pulled you inside and slammed the door in Nick’s face.

You turned to look at David, “you don’t have to be such an asshole about it.”

He snatched the newspaper from you, “please, it’s not like you want him around,” the paper rustled as he moved it around in his hands. He meandered off towards the bedroom as you yelled at him.

“Yeah, but that’s not the point David.”

He flapped the paper open and held it in front of his face. “Oh, sharks are going to the playoffs this year,” David said casually as he flipped through the pages.

“David, you can’t force people out of my life.”

“But you don’t want him in your life.” He sat back down on your bed.

“He’s just a neighbor, people need neighbors.”

“You think he’s happy being just neighbors with you?” he flipped a page. “I could hear him getting hard from the bedroom.”

“Do you think I can’t handle myself?”

“Hm, looks like we’re getting rain on Thursday,” he said, ignoring you.

“David!” You pulled the paper from his hands.

“Well see, now who’s being rude?”

You frowned at him, “David…” you pouted.

“Sweet thing, I don’t want males sniffing around you.” He cupped your face in his hands, “don’t you have girl neighbors?”

You pulled away from him, “that’s not cute.”

“You don’t think I’m cute?” He walked to you.

“David! I don’t want to be caged!” You pushed him away.

“Sweetness…” he turned you to face him. His finger under your chin, trying to get you to look at him. You turned your head to avoid his gaze. “My job is to keep you safe. I’m not trying to ‘lock you away’,” David bent down to look in your eyes, crooning his neck. “I just want to keep you safe; I won’t lock you away, you know that right?” He placed a soft kiss against your nose, and you huffed, giving in.

“Knock it off,” you brushed off your nose.

“What? I can’t kiss you now?” He was trying to be playful to get out of being yelled at. He nuzzled against your cheek.

“You’re still in trouble,” you said to him, wrapping your hands around his neck.

“Mmhm,” he said against your skin. He kissed down your neck and let his hands trail down to your ass.

You yelped, “David!”

He chuckled, “I like when you say my name.” His lips scraped against your skin. You whimpered for him; David was pleased with your reaction. From the corner of his eye, he saw something move, he stopped kissing your neck and looked over through the window. He saw Nick, in his house, peeking through his blinds, “mother fucker!” David threw the window open and shouted at the man,” you like to watch huh?!” David was fuming, “WATCH HOW I KICK YOUR FUCKING TEETH IN!” Nick scurried from his place at the window and yelled when the lightbulb in his house exploded. You stood, confused at what David was doing.

He slammed the window, locked it, shut the blinds and then the curtains. He turned around, he was pissed, “David? What happened?”

“Do you know that fucking asshole watches through the window!”

“Who?”

“Nick,” he hissed out the name.

You scoffed, “you can eat him later,” you turned to walk into the bathroom. “I’m going to shower before we leave,”

“No,” he grabbed your arm, “you’re gonna wash my scent off.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda the point,” you tried to pull your arm from him, and he pouted. “Daaaavid, I stink! I need to shower.”

He let you go, and crossed his arms in a huff, “fine, I’m just gonna have to put it back on you again later…”

You turned on the bathroom light and started to strip, “that’s fine by me.”

He perked up, he was watching your every move through the shower glass; how your hair fell down and clung against your wet skin. How your hands rubbed over the plush of your breasts, the curve of your ass when you bent down to wash your legs. He growled, he could feel his pants tightening and his mind wandered to how he was going to scent you again that night. He pushed his hands down his jeans to adjust and looked around the room.

David wanted to touch you, but he knew he very well couldn’t with the shower turned on; so, he rummaged through your things while he waited.

He opened your drawers and sorted through your jewelry, and socks, and... your panties. He of course, picked his favorite one and threw that on the bed, planning on making you wear it the second you got out of the shower. He looked through your kitchen cabinets, and your laundry room, your fridge and freezer, he touched all the nick-nacks on your shelves and books on your bookshelf.

David noticed you had little miniatures of different famous buildings, the Lurve, Big Ben, Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, the Colosseum, a Japanese shrine, the Statue of Liberty, even a few rocks that were labeled with different countries. He picked up a red one that read ‘Grand Canyon, 2004’. He looked at all the things you had and practically picked up and set down each and every one of them. He looked for a photo album, or letters, or paintings, like he kept. He wanted to learn your idiosyncrasies and the things you kept hidden.

No luck on the photos, or the letters…where would she keep them. A lightbulb went off in that sick little mind of his, and he made his way back into your bedroom and stood in front of your closet.

He grunted in annoyance. He didn’t want to go in there, not after the reaction he had to Montgomery’s blood, but if there was one place you’d kept something important, it was there. He slowly opened the closet doors, careful not to make a sound, and looked at all the things that were inside. He looked at all your clothes, and shoes, your hats, dresses, scarves, bottoms, and tops.

She’s got a lot of nice things, David thought to himself.

He quietly pushed aside the hangers and reached for a small box that was on the top shelf of the closet. He opened it, “bones?” He quickly put the box back where it was, simply because it wasn’t what he was looking for. I wonder what she does with them. David thought of how Paul, and one time Marko, thought it was funny to make art with bones.

There was a box of bullets next to the bone box, and he chuckled thinking about the big gun in your little hands. His eyes scoured the closet for something of interest, then stared down at the wooden box you had shoved to the back of the closet. He hated that he was afraid to touch it, he peered into the bathroom to make sure you were still busy. You were humming away, sudsing up your hair, enjoying the warm feeling of the water; blissfully unaware of how your vampire mate had just ransacked your home.

David knelt down on the floor and pulled the box towards himself. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for what was inside. To his surprise, it was much bigger on the inside than he had thought, “stupid magic.” He pushed around the vials and herbs to the side and saw some papers clipped to the lid, it was a picture of you and some people. The picture was an old dingey brown, and the date written on the back said 1972. The people in the photo all looked like you, David felt a pang in his heart, was this her family?  

He set the photo back down and continued to sift around in the box, he pulled out another picture, it was you in a letterman with a few people laughing around. They all had letterman jackets, and he recognized your truck in the background, he smiled at how happy you looked. Rummaging through the rest of the pictures he noticed one had a cigarette burn though one of the faces. It was you, and a man, you had a black eye that was poorly covered up by makeup, and the man held you around the waist. David figured that it was a photo of you and Montgomery, he wished you hadn’t burned a hole in the photo so he could know what he looked like. But still, he hated the way you looked, so pained in the image. He looked at the test tube, it was nearly empty.

What was she planning on doing after the blood ran out?

…Would she just have died?

David felt angry looking at all the things.

He wanted to throw the vial away, he wanted to fill it with his blood, so you would not be bound to that monster anymore. But he knew better, he didn’t even dare touch the glass with his hands. He was used to blood magic, hell, that’s what feeding was for them. But something like this was beyond what he was used to. He heard the shower squeak off and scurried to shove all the things back in the box. He quickly shut the lid and shoved it back into the corner where he had found it.

“David,” you called to him.

“Yes darlin?” he was worried you’d caught him.

“David, I’m hungry,” you shouted.

He sighed in relief; he shut the closet doors and quickly made his way to your bed. He threw himself against it with a huff, “ahh, yeah? What do you want?” He looked over at you as you walked through the doorway, you had the towel wrapped around your body and the water beaded as it dripped down your hair. His head lifted off the bed, and he smiled at you.

“David?” You batted your eyes at him.

“Yes sweetness?” David smiled. Maybe he wouldn’t have to wait to get you back to the cave to taste you, he thought with that sweet look on your face.

“What’s that?” You pointed at something on the bed above David’s head. The sweet look on your face turning into a sour one. He whipped his head around to look at what you were pointing at and chuckled nervously. It was the lacey panties he had picked out for you.

“Oops.”

[thatsthewrongwallcraig]

Training Wheels

Summary: It’s all or nothing on this Sunday night…

Pairing: virgin!Gabriel x nurse!fem!Reader

Word Count: - 3.6k

Content Warnings: Psych Ward Smut 18+!, Unprotected P In V, Cock-Warming, Gabe Eventually Losing His V-Card, Hints Of Body Worship, Nipple Sucking, Reader Is Having A Lil’ Breakdown, Angsty On Reader’s Part, Crying, Hurt/Comfort But The Other Way Around This Time, So Much Unintentional Manipulation, Gabe’s Delusions Gaining A Lot Of Momentum, Oh The Co-Dependency, Awkward Idiots In Love

A/N: *inaudible screeching* The grand final 🖤

Find The Other Parts Here!

Tagging the horny horde:

@crypticsewerslut @quicksilversg1rl @cc-luvr @icarus-star @milaeth @roryculkinsgf @spookyorchid @arch1viste @whoareyoi @angelsanarchy @blueberrypancakesworld @rocketqueen-world @lifelessvessel @doddernix @svgarcaine @amayalul @basementgrl222 @kristennero-wallacewellsver @iiheartsai @fan-goddess @shady-the-simp

I love everything you do

When you call me fucking dumb for the stupid shit I do

Wanna ride my bike with you

Fully undressed, no training wheels left for you

And I'll pull them off for you

- Training Wheels By Melanie Martinez

Sunday evening, the clock gradually ticked towards 10:30 P.M.

Tick tack. Tick tack. Tick tack. The clock hand moved a tiny bit further with every second that passed by with the dull, metallic sound echoing in your ears whilst your teeth nibbled around the aluminum edge of your halfway-empty Red Bull can. Everything was as usual yet nothing felt like it did before this weekend. Something had changed, shifted deep within you and it felt as if all that was oozing out onto the cold, loveless and gray linoleum floors of Ward 4 now. Borderline paranoid, you felt caught by everybody who had looked at you today. The clerk, the lovely, elderly lady in front of you in line at the supermarket and especially your colleagues from the day shift you took over from…it was in their eyes, a tell-tale flicker of judgment and disgust towards you. The only reaction you deserved for your actions and that you were well aware of. However, you couldn’t stop, couldn’t save either of you especially not sweet Gabriel from the thrashing hunger festering in your insides.

It corrupted your senses from the inside out, taking over in moments when you should’ve applied better judgment to stop this thing from getting out of control. Instead, you had watched it derailing further and further with every longingly stolen kiss, every brush over your fingers against his skin and every needy, little moan of his you had soaked up oh so willingly, allowing it to fill your very own emptiness and to patch up all the putrescent holes in your heart little by little.

The metallic clanking of your bottom teeth against the silver and blue aluminum can nearly entranced you as it mixed in with the clacking of the clock behind you. Gnawing away onto your bottom lip, the insides of your cheeks or your cuticles soon hadn’t been enough stimulation anymore, not enough dull repetition for your racing mind to zone out to it and now that little, chewed-up can was your lifeline. Maybe you should just quit your job already, hand in your two-weeks-notice and fuck right off. Gabriel would be in shambles, yes, and so would you, but you’d get over it in time…no? Wouldn’t you? Eventually, Gabe would be back on track too, maybe he’d forget you and everything that happened here over the years, maybe it all would fade into blissful oblivion in a med-induced haze that would keep him calm and sedated enough to be happy again.

No, stop, what the fuck? What were you thinking? There was no way you could just weasel your own ass out of this before it all blew up in your face. This situation here was your fuck-up and yours all alone, poor Gabe had nothing to do with you being too damn dense and full of yourself to do your job, your catastrophic shortcomings. With your back slightly swinging back and forth in your chair, you bit down harder on the can, teeth digging dents into the metal whilst a deep sight rolled over your tongue.

“Such a pretentious little fuck…” You groaned to yourself and very much at yourself somewhere between laughing and crying out about the sheer absurdity of it all.

Right underneath the thin cotton fabric of your mint-green scrubs, you felt the material of carefully picked lingerie smooth against your skin.

Black lace sewn in between satin straps and little bows to form an intricate design, the good shit that you only dug from your closet for the worthy occasions. Thinking about it, the last time you had worn that black lace set in particular was months ago on one of the few nights you’d allowed yourself to get carried away at the bar. A few gin tonic’s down the line, a shallow conversation with the dude right there with you at the counter and the very next thing you knew was a very sloppy and below-average fuck in a creaky toilet stall.

From toilet stalls to psych ward dorms… wow, really fucking your way upwards, huh? Your bottom lip quivered against the cold metal as you noticed yourself blinking for the first time in minutes, eyes burning in dehydration as you straightened your back and kept your eyes shut for a moment, allowing a layer of moisture to soothe the burning sensation. With your senses turned inward, it seemed like glaring right at the scene of the crime. You felt the war raging inside of your chest, the need to get your shit together fighting the urge to just swipe Gabriel off his shaky feet and have him your way, professional scrubs rubbing against seductive lace at any given moment tonight.

“Fuck this shit.” Letting your shoulders slump down, you reluctantly opened your eyes back to the cold, white light of Ward 4.

It was now or never. By tomorrow you had a few days off to recover before you’d start your next cycle of night shifts next Friday and, perhaps, by then all the tension would be gone, swallowed up by the unwelcoming smell of disinfectant and bleach cleaners emitting from sterile walls. The possibility of Gabe cracking under the nosey questioning of his therapists wasn’t too far off as well and you felt your stomach coiling up at the thought of it going south like this. You had to make a decision sooner than later, that much you knew, and you tried to get yourself to move by emptying out the can of sugary-sweet energy drink. The bubbly liquid gushed down your throat leaving an aftertaste that indicated dental damage and heart failure but that didn’t faze you just in the slightest, already way too uptight with the thought of what you were about to do.

“It’ll be fine…”, You muttered to yourself, fingers rubbing over your slightly sore eyes, “He wants it…fuck, craves it and you want it, too. Consensual, right? Nobody has to know…”

Haphazardly pep-talking yourself through it was a weak attempt but better than just freezing into your chair, allowing hesitation and anxiety to gradually knock the air from your lungs with every passing minute.

“Everything will be fine…”, You breathed out aloud but continued the rest of the sentence in your thoughts, “Everything will be fine as soon as you feel his lips on yours, washing all that scum out of your brain…it’ll all just go away…Gabe will make it go away…”

Repeating that to yourself over and over again in your mind, you pulled yourself out of the bureau chair, your legs nearly faltering upon the first hasty steps down the hallway.

“Gabe?”, You softly made yourself known by a few knocks against his door, “Can I come in?”

“Sure!” Gabriel quipped right back from the other side, the jolly smile on his lips already audible to you.

“Hey…” You reciprocated his smile with a rather cranky one of yours after you stepped into his room, the light on his nightstand somberly illuminating the walls in a warm shine.

“Are you…okay?”, He asked softly, putting the book down from his hands whilst scooting closer to the edge of his mattress, “Your face, it’s a bit pale, if I may say so.”

“I’m…I-...uh..”; You desperately tried to get something coherent out of your mouth but your voice was breaking and trailing off with every shaky attempt, “I- I..fuck. My head, so full of thoughts.”

The last mumbled words trickled from your lips and with them, everything felt like falling out of control simultaneously, a sniffled sob breaking free from your lungs whilst white-hot tears started rolling down your cheeks.

“Oh, no….no,no,no… what’s going on?” Gabriel stammered in an overwhelmed hectic, practically jumping from the bed and rushing towards your trembling form to cradle you in a warm and impossibly close embrace.

“It’s not your fault…none of this is, fuck…”, It just cascaded out of your mouth without any aim to your words, “I fucked up, Gabe. We shouldn’t..none of this should’ve happened…”

Your breathless cries got muffled by the soft fabric of his shirt that covered his torso, long sleeves pulled up to his knuckles for maximum comfort.

“Why would you say something like that?”, Gabe inquired, the former ease and happiness drawn from his tone, “You said…you said that you love me. W- what’s wrong about that now?”

“Nothing, Gabriel…nothing is wrong about that, I promise you, I promise. It’s just…I fucked things up for both of us, angel face, I really did.” Trying to catch your breath, you pushed your head into his embrace, helplessly nuzzling your face into the curve of his shoulder, lips brushing over his skin right atop the collar while you breathed him in.

“No…no, no, no…you didn’t mess up anything. Didn’t mess me up, only made me better…is me loving you not making anything better?” You knew that he only intended to help but right now his words cut even deeper into you.

“Gabe…Gabriel…please, it has nothing to do with that. It’s the fact that we’re trapped in here until someone finds out and then we’re fucked. Fucked, Gabe, fucked!” Your fingers clawed at his sides while you whimpered into the crook of his neck.

“Nobody will find out, I promise. I-...I’ll get better and then I’m going to get out of here and…and then we can go wherever we want, yeah?” Gabriel was fighting with his own tears at this point, his voice brittle and trembling.

Unironically and in a rather cruel way this posed very much as the only option in which things could perhaps, somehow work out…if Gabriel, in fact, got better, better in taking his meds, better in not lashing out like a little boy, and much much much better at lying to his therapists.

“You gonna get better, yeah?” Gabe nodded into the embrace, carefully guiding you away from the door behind you to gingerly sit you down on the bed next to him, the mattress still warm from his body resting there prior to all this.

“Hey, look at me.”, He requested in a soft tone and you did, eyes meeting his shyly, “I’m going to get better, pinky promise. Then, I’ll get out of here…we’ll work it out but don’t underestimate me.”

A mischievous glint flickered through his eyes as a smile tugged at his lips for them to slightly curl upwards.

“I’d never…” You sniffled, wiping the last vagrant tears from your face, breathing heavily.

“Good. Then I need you to trust me to handle some things. Do you trust me?” His gaze was soft yet stern with anticipation toward your answer.

“Yeah, I-...I trust you.” You nodded, validating your words.

“Okay, good. Then we’ll work it out somehow.” Gabe inhaled deeply before mentally washing all the anxiety out of his body by exhaling again, a learned therapy skill… and a good one at that.

Just like two nights ago, Gabriel raised his hand up to his lips, mimicking the movements of a key turning in a lock before tossing it to the side.

“Nobody will hear a single thing about this, I promise. Nobody but you.” Gabe smiled before leaning in, planting a tender kiss to your lips as his hands searched for yours.

With the welcoming feeling of his plush lips against yours, you practically melted into his caress, your fingers being guided by Gaberiel’s to the seam of his sweater, invited to slip them right underneath the cozy fabric and that you did. Your fingers searched hungrily for the warmth of his body, the sensation of his incredibly soft skin under your fingertips getting soaked up by you immediately.

“It’s going to be okay…I just know it. Come here, been waiting and thinking about you all day long.” Gabe hummed against your mouth, eliciting a soft smile to form around yours.

“It’s gotten kinda hard to think about anything else lately…” You confessed, the palms of your hands cupping his sides whilst slowly wandering upwards.

“I could say that I’m sorry about that but that would be me lying to you.”, He laughed out softly, the tip of his nose stroking upwards over the bridge of yours until his lips gingerly pressed down on your forehead, peppering a playful wash of smooches to it, “And I don’t do that, no no.”

Just the way you had told yourself, being around him, finally close to him like that again, flushed all the bad feelings and thoughts out of your system, your chest filling with a comfortable warmth instead and you took every single shred of comfort you possibly could from him.

“I missed you, Gabe. Everything out there suddenly feels weird…meaningless if I’m not in here with you, you know?” You didn’t expect him to understand and in some way, you felt sorry for him to mention the world outside the facility.

“Even in here, it’s pretty dull without you now. Don’t get me started on how boring the day shift staff is…and the food? Ugh…” His comment made the both of you chuckle for a moment.

“Maybe I can sneak in a proper chocolate milkshake for you next week, Gabe.” At that he pulled his head away from you, searching for your gaze with glacier-blue eyes sparkling in nothing but pure joy.

“You’d do that for me?” You nodded vigorously.

“Of course, I would. Can’t let you hang in here without a little treat, no?”, You smiled back, the anxiety-fueled thoughts from not so long ago rapidly crumbling into oblivion, leaving your entire body feeling elevated with a slowly forming desire for more of him, “Speaking of it, I might be bringing a little treat with me for you already…”

Gabriel's eyes grew even wider in almost boyish excitement.

“Uh, show me, pretty please?” He quipped, his smile turning into a slightly agape grin that showed off his pearly whites.

“How about you feel it first?”, You couldn’t help yourself but to bite down on your bottom lip a little, “How about you sneak that pretty hand of your right underneath my shirt and let your fingers wander up a bit, hm?”

“Oh…okay…” A tell-tale surge of red crept up into Gabe’s cheeks as he reached out to slip his hand to where you guided it, the tender tips of his fingers caressing over your stomach up to the curve of your breasts, reaching the lacey-soft fabric causing him to suck the air in harshly.

“That…uh, that feels pretty.” He stammered a little clumsily.

“It feels pretty?” You snickered, watching the color in his face change into an even deeper tint of red.

“Yeah, uhm, or not?” His fingers explored the piece of cloth further, grazing over the plenty of satin strings cupping the rounds of your cleavage and stroking over the plenty of small bowtie details.

“Well, if it already feels pretty to you, I bet it’ll look pretty as well.” You noticed it getting harder to hold yourself back from not simply jumping him, but you kept it together, drawing your hands from his back to pull the top of your scrubs off your torso.

“It sure does look pretty, too!” Gabriel stammered coyly, looking right at your breasts, mesmerized by the sight in front of him.

With a sly grin tugging at your lips, you tossed the top to the ground before leaning in and whispering: “The panties are just as nice, I can assure you!”

“You…you put all that on f-for me?” You nodded your head after the question had left his lips.

“Sure did…I- I uhm…”, You started stumbling over your own words a little as well, “I wanted to make it a little special for you, you know.”

“To make what special?” Gabriel blurted right out and with that, you felt the heat climbing into your cheeks too.

Oh, good lord, you swallowed awkwardly whilst looking at him, the words in your throat clumping into an embarrassed, dry lump.

“I…”, You haphazardly cleared your throat, “I…I’d like to be with you tonight, Gabe. I mean, i-if that’s what you want as well, of course.”

For an excruciatingly long moment, Gabriel simply stared at you rather dumbfounded, lips halfway agape and eyebrows softly knit together.

“Do you-?” You cut him off right there and then.

“Yes!” It shot out of your mouth, your free hand grabbing for the collar of his sweater to pull him towards you.

In an uncoordinated mess out of busily fumbling limbs, Gabe tilted into your front, heavy breaths filling the room whilst the two of you shimmied out of the remaining clothes until he halted, resting between your legs, his skin glowing in a warm hue with the soft light emitting from the lamp on his nightstand. You watched his former confidence crumble away, eyes trained on your lingerie and cheeks colored in a deep red as Gabriel discovered the little special that your slip held.

“Oh, that’s…inviting…” He murmured, his face leaning in to shamelessly latch right onto one of your lace-covered nipples.

Exhaling a pleasure-filled moan, you allowed your head to loll into the flat, hospital-like pillow, a warm rush washing through your entire body as you felt his mouth closing down around your perked-up nub, the warm and wet tip of his tongue lapping at it.

“Thought you might like that.” You pushed out from between slightly trembling lips, your eyes helplessly fluttering shut whilst you felt him pushing his lap closer to your exposed cunt in that slightly slutty, crotch-free string of yours.

This time, unlike last night, you endorsed the thought of wrapping your legs around his waist to pull him into you, however, before you guided Gabriel to push into you, you let your hands roam along his neck to his head, fingers grazing through glossy hazel-brown hair and carefully asking: “You okay with this?”

“Uh-huh…”, Gabe whined back, the tip of his pulsing cock prodding right between your thoroughly soaked folds and against your entrance, “Wanna feel you so bad, please!”

His pleading tone vibrated against your breast, pushing your senses right over the edge to pull him into you.

“Oh…oh, fuck, oh fuck, damn…shit…”, The words fell from lips in an aimless avalanche, “God, fuck, you’re so warm, shit…f-feels so fucking good…”

You bit down on your bottom lip feeling him thrusting into you, stretching you out just right with his hard-on, a ripple of brain-deafening bliss jolting through you.

“There, there…” Your hands shot down to his hips to hold him in place for a moment, calming him down as you felt him twitching inside you already.

“Fuck, sorry, feels so so so good…” Gabriel mewled with his temple pressed against your collarbone.

“It’s okay, angel face, don’t you worry. Feels good for me too.” You assured him, still holding him in place, cock-warming him for a little while, allowing him to get used to the feeling of being nestled into you down to his shaft.

“Hmhmm…wanna make you happy and satisfied, too.” Gabe whimpered, trying to move in your grasp but to no avail.

“Oh, don’t you worry about any of that, angel face. Just enjoy yourself, hm?” You lovingly cooed into his hairline, reluctantly loosening your grip for him to roll his hips into you at his own pace again.

“Mhmmm…. ‘m trying to, god, fuck….you feel so fucking good!” His warm breath breezed over your lace-covered tits.

“Such a good boy for me.” You huffed out, calves still tightly wrapped around his hips.

“Your good boy!” Gabriel groaned right back, thrusting into you again.

“Hmhm, you’re my good boy, Gabriel.” You encouraged him to let himself go wild with your body for his own pleasure and that he did.

“L-love you so much, shit…mmmhmmm…” You didn’t miss his cock pulsing and twitching against your walls, thick, pent-up ropes of his cum filling your insides as Gabriel’s body turned rigid above yours during one, final stroke, “Oh, fuck, so warm and tight...”

Breathing in deeply, he very much collapsed onto you, hiding his flushed face in the crook of your neck.

“I love you too, Gabe.” You planted a deep kiss on his slightly sweaty forehead, the salty taste of it slowly seeping into your mouth.

“We’re gonna get out of here somehow, no?” Gabriel murmured into your skin, nuzzling his lips right onto your pulse point.

For a moment as the painful reality of things hit you again, you swallowed hard, moving your body to cradle his.

“Yeah, we gonna make it out of here somehow…”