#I would love to do Sally but oh my god her sleeves

[elviraaxen]

"shake shake shake!" ⭐⭐⭐

-- Finished Julie Animation, Hope you like!! --

[lonely-lost-soul]

Royal

Request 1: techno x reader fluff? maybe something to do with a castle and warm summer days... I don’t have a full idea but as a vibe know?

Requested by: @theoneandonlyyeti

Simple and Sweet *MUAH* Hope you like it!

Scarred hands clasped onto delicate soft ones, a wedding ring shimmered in the sunlight of a wondrous garden. It was full of vegetation and trees that seemed to stretch far into the heavens, far beyond the castle’s outer walls. Your tea was steaming from where it sat in a porcelain cup, the white cup was decorated with blue flowers spanning the sides. Earl Grey with a hint of honey, your favorite. The hand across from you gave your own a tight squeeze, it snapped you out of your stupor and a smile made its way onto your lips. Your husband was the king of the Antarctic Empire, he had loyal knights and followers worldwide, and he was known for his brute strength and honesty. However, he loved you, treated you like you were some sort of Goddess, spoiling you rotten every moment he was able to. Right now you residing in a neighboring kingdom for the summer, Technoblade has promised you warm summer days filled with flowers and sunshine, and that’s what you were gifted for your anniversary.

“Sorry, I was just thinking,” You spoke tenderly, the warm sun had stained your nose and cheeks a lovely red. Your dress was also a soft pink, the neckline was deep as it dipped past your collarbone. The dress was sleeveless and it seemed to be littered with gold speckles, that part was Technoblades doing. His ears twitched as he leaned back in his chair,

“Can I ask what about? Not having second thoughts are you?”

“About our vacation? Never.” You laughed resting your cheek on your fist, “I’ve forgotten how much I’ve missed the sunshine.” Technoblade let out a little grumble, his white sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

“It’s certainly...hot.” You smiled over at him and snickered, his hair was tied back in a long braid a few stray pieces of hair framed his sculpted face. “I’m certainly missing the cold, and my weaponry.” You gave him a fond eye-roll in response of course he was missing his weapons the man truly didn’t know how to relax.

“Well you know I appreciate you going out of your way for little old me,” You said voice dripping his sarcasm as he sent you a look,

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” He eyed you carefully as you stood up from the little table, your light pink dress trailing behind you as you walked into the garden. You turned around sending him a gentle smile his way, holding out your hand, Technoblade reached out and took your small hand within his own. “Seriously, you know it makes me happy to see you happy.” Technoblade brushed your hair behind your ear, and you kissed his wrist softly.

“I know my love,” You reached up to adjust the crown on top of his head, he smiled softly at you. “I’m just happy to spend the summer with you, with no fighting and no political nonsense. Just the sun on our face and flowers all around,” You giggled pulling him along the cobblestone pathway. He hummed fondly as you pulled him along, flower petals from the nearby trees spilling around the both of you. Technoblade pulled you flush and pressed a tender kiss to your lips,

“Ew gross!” A loud voice called from behind the both of you, Techno growled under his breath and you let out a small laugh. A small figure ran up to you and you scooped him up in your arms,

“Cringe. Don’t know why we had to bring him along,” Technoblade grumbled and you stomped on his foot,

“He’s your son.” You scolded covering Aether’s ears, “Of course we have to bring him along!” Technoblade clicked his tongue as you uncovered Aether’s ears, he huffed a little swatting your hands away from his head. He had pink hair just like his father, it was a curly mess that you desperately attempted to tame but to no avail. A soft speckle of freckles was across his nose and cheeks, and he had your striking (e/c) eyes. A flower crown was on his forehead, he also had two in his hands “How’s it going, my little Prince?”

“It’s so much fun here! I love hanging out with Uncle Tommy and Tubbo!” He gushed bouncing in your arms, “Tommy said he and Uncle Wilbur are going into the town soon to visit Miss Sally and Niki. Can I go with them, please?” He turned to look over at his father as he placed a hand on top of his head to ruffle his hair,

“Sure kid. Just don’t cause your uncles too much trouble alright? Unless it’s Tommy, you have explicit permission to fuck with him.”

“Techno.” You scolded harshly as Technoblade rolled his eyes, “That’s a bad word. Do I need to make a swear jar?”

“Mom no,” Aether whined falling against your shoulder, “Uncle Tommy curses all the time.”

“Uncle Tommy’s a little shit.”

“Seems like your mother needs a swear jar, heh kid?” He nudged Aether with his arm, Aether nodded a smile on his lips. You glared harshly at your husband who had a smirk on his lips.

“Agreed, come on mom. Fifty cents, pay up.”

“Trouble makers the both of you.” You teased kissing the top of Aether’s head, before putting him down on the ground. A smile spread across his lips as he wrapped his arms around Technoblade’s legs,

“Bye papa oh wait!” He held out his flower crowns one for each of you, you bent down and took them gracefully. You placed one on your head and one on your husband’s head as well, he scoffed lightly.

“Stay safe kid, remember what I taught you.”

“Go for the knees!”

“That’s my boy.” Technoblade gave him a stern thumbs up, he gave his father a similar gesture and ran back down the cobblestone pathway. You smiled fondly at the sight and Technoblade wrapped his arms around your waist. “God, I can’t believe kids making me soft, who am I?”

“My beautiful husband who loves his son that I carried for nine months.” You mused looking up at him to press a kiss to his chin. He hummed a smirk on his lips,

“Yeah, I am, and I do.”

“You ruined it, get off me.”

“Ah come on,” Technoblade groaned as you wiggled free from his grasp only to cross your arms in front of your chest, “My lovely queen, please.” You crossed your arms with a little huff of your own, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” You sighed with an eye roll “But you gotta lose that cocky attitude when number two comes along.”

“Yeah right, number two.” He chuckled interlocking your hand within his own, your eyebrow twitched as he pulled you along.

“What’s so funny about that?” You piped up as the both of you walked, your head held high. The flower crown on your head slipped a little as you adjusted it,

“I just don’t know if I can picture it, having two kids.”

“What about a little girl hm?” You tilted your head to the side as he followed alongside you like a puppy.

“A girl?”

You nodded watching two little birds fluttering along in a birdbath, you smiled softly, “Yeah a little girl. Maybe one with bubble gum pink hair and your cute little nose.” You poked his nose sweetly and he smiled softly, “maybe one with your fighting spirit. You could chase off any girls or guys she’s interested in.” He chuckled a little at that one, he would, he’d use his ax too.

“What if she had your hair and eyes though? A stunning little goddess just like her mother.” He mused brushing his fingers against your cheek, you giggled,

“You’ll have to swat the suitors away with a fly swatter.”

“Or an ax.”

“You can’t kill children Tech!”

“Eh says you.”

You shot him a look pressing a nervous touch to your stomach, Technoblade raised an eyebrow. He looked like he was connecting dots, “wait hold on a minute you’re not-” You flushed under his gaze and his jaw dropped, “HEH? You’re not serious! Are you serious? You’re- HEH? Baby!? DAD?! ME?!” He pointed to your stomach as to which you gave a nervous nod.

“It’s not for certain! But, I’ve been having the same symptoms I’ve had with Aether and-” He pressed a kiss to your lips hands hovering over your stomach.

“I’m two for two.”

“TECHNOBLADE! YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD!” You hissed out hitting him on the top of his head, he let out a roaring laugh taking you in his arms and spinning you around.

“You know I love you, you and Aether and baby number two. I always will until the end of time. King or not, all of you will always come first.”

“Love you too, more than anything.” You responded pressing your forehead to his own, “My king.”

“My Queen.”

“Your dad’s going to pass out. Wilbur’s going to go completely pale and Tommy’s going to scream his head off.”

“You know my family well. I can’t wait.” A bright smile appearing across his face, you laughed fondly pulling him close his flower crown almost falling off his head.

“You just like chaos.”

“You know I do.” He cupped your cheek with his hand and pressed a tender kiss to his lips.

“You’re lucky I do too.” You purred sharing another kiss with your husband, flowers fluttered around both of your bodies. As the King and Queen of the Artic relished this rare peaceful summer day, at his family home.

~~~ Tag List: @theoneandonlyyeti, @iamsuchasimp @victory-is-here

@pastelmoonwitche @gnat1usaquar1us

[fanficimagery]

When Enough is Enough pt. II

Imagine being let down one too many times by your best friend, only to end up making some new ones in the process.

Words: 8.5K Author’s Note: Okay so some of you asked to only be added to part 2 of this while others asked to be added everything Bucky.. and a few others weren’t exactly clear. So if you want to be tagged in any future Bucky related imagines please let me know so I can get your blog name written down on my list.

Tags:  @aya-fay @70s-chic @sipsteacasually @kaitlyn2907 @scarlettwitch99 @thingsforimagination  @mimilh @felicityofbakerstreet @eternalharry @eliwinchester99 @intothesoul​ @wintershadowkat  @b1sexualtonystark  @meredeph @miszswan

The Sunday before you are to return to work, you sleep in until nine in the morning. Your thoughts are immediately on Bucky's impending arrival and you couldn't help the butterflies that took flight in your stomach. He's a friend, just as all the others are, but you couldn't help but notice just how attractive this new friend of yours is. But not only does his attractiveness draw you in, his easy-going teasing and protectiveness does too. However, Bucky Barnes is still a man trying to find his footing in this world after all that's been done to him and finally getting his name cleared, and if he finds comfort with you then you're going to try your best and be the friend he needs.

So since you're not dressing to impress, you dress in your favorite lazy outfit after your shower- leggings, sports bra, a faded sleeveless band tee with the arm holes having been cut down to around your ribs, and a pair of socks. Damp hair gets gathered up into a messy bun and you walk around your apartment to pick up some things you had unknowingly left out.

You've skipped breakfast, so when there's a knock on your door and you open up to find Bucky standing there, you groan in relief. He raises both hands with paper bags hanging from each. "I come bearing sushi. Wanda let it slip how much you love it."

"Yesss." You step back, quickly taking in his own comfort outfit of sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt under an opened jacket. "Did you bring plenty of wasabi? And you can just kick off your shoes anywhere."

"Of course." He hands you the bags so he can kick off his shoes and strip out of his jacket before hanging it up. You don't know why, but seeing him in a short sleeve shirt makes you happy, knowing full well he was weird about his metal arm being out in the open. "And plenty of dipping sauce as well. Wanda was more than happy to give me advice."

"Wanda, huh?" You chuckle, leading the way to your kitchen. "You actually told her where'd you be?"

"Apparently I looked very pensive this morning. She asked and I figured she was a better confidant than Steve or Sam who would have made a big deal about us hanging out."

"True." Setting the bags down, you let him empty them while you head to the fridge. "Beer?"

"Yeah."

Grabbing him a beer and yourself a can of Cola, you return to the table and your eyes widen at the sight of all the sushi. "Damn, Barnes. That's a lot of sushi."

"Don't act like you won't eat half of it."

You laugh as you take a seat, handing him his beer and pulling a few trays to your side of the table. You take a container of wasabi and dipping sauce for yourself, and grab a pair of chopsticks to start digging in.

You moan in delight at your first taste, happily shimmying in your seat before taking another. Eventually, you ask, "So what are you going to do when I'm back at work and I can't keep you entertained by getting shitfaced?"

Bucky grins around his mouthful of food before chasing it down with a swig of his beer. "We actually got a mission comin' up so I'll be leavin' around mid-week."

"Well that sucks." You sigh. "Now who am I going to send random pictures to when I have downtime at work?"

He grins. "You can still send them to me. I just won't get back to you until after the mission's complete."

"Yeah, yeah."

The two of you continue to eat- Bucky dodging Steve's texts about where he is and when he's coming back, and you sending the middle finger emoji over and over to Wanda who keeps wondering how your date is going. Then once most of the sushi is gone and Bucky puts what little is left into the fridge, the two of you head to the living room. You immediately flop onto the couch as Bucky takes the plush recliner, only for you to hear him moving the chair into its reclined position seconds later.

"Oh. I definitely need to get one of these."

You laugh as he snuggles down and you pick up the remote to bring up your streaming services. "Anything you've been meaning to watch?"

"Not really. Just show me your favorites."

You start off with some humor by playing the Goonies. It's a movie that no matter how many times you've seen it, it always seems to make you laugh. And it seems Bucky is not immune either when they make Chunk to the truffle shuffle. Titanic plays afterwards, but only after making sure Bucky found it somewhat interesting after reading the movie summary to him. He is interested from beginning to end and doesn't even laugh at you when you shed a few tears for the old married couple who opt to stay in their bed as the room floods.

When a break is needed, you head off towards the bathroom as Bucky finishes off the leftover sushi. Both of you check your phones and read each other the missed text messages from Steve and his worrying behavior.

"Wanna tell Steve to fuck off via video message?" Bucky takes a moment to think on it before he grins and nods. "Excellent. Sit in the recliner. I'm gonna crawl up all in your business. That okay?"

"Yeah."

As Bucky gets comfortable in the recliner, you sit on the armrest before sliding down sideways onto his lap. You bring up the camera app on your phone and switch it to video, sliding your right arm behind Bucky's neck while holding your left arm out to capture the two of you on the screen. "Ready?"

"Sure, doll."

You chuckle quietly and then smirk mischievously as Bucky relaxes his expression into his best resting bitch face. After you hit record, you say, "Hey Rogers, stop being a little bitch and sending us text after text. I'm tryin' to fuck your best friend here." Bucky's expression cracks as he barks out a laugh and you turn to face him while grinning. You share a laugh with him before facing the camera once more. "Only joking, but seriously stop buggin' us. I promise to send him back in one piece."

As you prepare to send the text to Steve, Bucky says, "You're terrible."

"Whatever. Admit it, you adore me."

"Occasionally."

You huff another laugh as the video message finally sends. You and Bucky both watch as the delivered status turns to read, and then those three little dots appear as Steve starts typing his reply.

"Tell Bucky to wrap it before he taps it." You burst out laughing at Steve's text, Bucky's rumbling laughter only fueling yours even more. "God I hate your best friend sometimes." And before you climb off Bucky's lap, because honestly you were getting a little too comfortable, you send Steve a few middle finger emojis before deciding on a third movie to watch.

The third movie you choose is one that never fails to make you laugh- Bridesmaids. You had a moment of hesitancy because of the sex scenes, but you figured they were ridiculous enough that it wouldn't be awkward. Thankfully you're correct and you get the added bonus of hearing Bucky's laughter again during Megan's scenes, especially when they get food poisoning and are all fighting for the bathroom.

You and Bucky take yet another break after the film, just stretching and finding something to drink.

"So what's the verdict, Barnes? Are you enjoying the films?"

He grins. "Your taste is all over the place, huh? That last one we watched was raunchy."

"But hilarious! You need to watch the Hangover trilogy, but you definitely need to watch that with Steve and then watch him squirm at the pictures that roll with the credits."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Jurassic Park holds his attention and he can't help but comment how stupid one has to be to replicate dinosaur DNA and then open up a park with live dinosaurs. You laugh, but don't bother commenting. You'll tell him later there are more movies involved, with yet another idiotic man who felt he could get the park up and running once more.

It's getting dark, but it's still a little too early for dinner. One more movie and then you'll order or go out and pick something up.

"So this last one for the day is a movie that's directed more towards the female viewers, but you did ask for my favorite films and Practical Magic is my absolute favorite."

"Well put it on, doll."

As you press play on Practical Magic, you quickly grab a throw blanket and snuggle in. Instead of watching Bucky, you watch the film and mumble certain quotes to yourself. The magic scenes always bring a soft smile to your face just as Gary's confession to Sally of I wished for you too breaks your heart, and Sally and Gillian's heartfelt sister moment makes you cry.

Afterwards, Bucky hums in thought. "So that's your favorite?"

"Absolutely." You tell him. He's watching you curiously and you grin. "If I show you something, you promise not to laugh?"

"I'll try."

"Whatever. That's good enough for me." Standing up, you walk towards him and kneel, and tell him to pull your shirt sideways by the armhole next to your left arm. There on the back of your left shoulder and forever etched into your skin is a salt shaker, a rosemary plant, a lavender plant, and a heart. You then rattle off one of your favorite quotes to him. "Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can."

Bucky chuckles as you get up, retaking your spot on the sofa. "You really are a fan of the movie."

You nod. "As a little girl, I was fascinated by magic. I thought I'd grow out of it, but I only grew more fond of it. And then I found Practical Magic and it had a bit of everything I adored."

"So what's the one scene that just gets you every time?"

"Ugh. You're making me choose?!" You feign being distraught and he grins. As you think about it, you keep coming back to two scenes in particular. "So there's two," you tell him, "and I'm not choosing between them." Bucky nods, awaiting your answer. "Gillian's possession. When Sally calls together the other mothers who were mean to her in order to make a temporary coven to save her sister, and Gillian begs Sally to just let her ghost ex have her."

Bucky hums. "That was a bit sad, doll. I saw you shedding a few tears over that."

"Mhm. And the other scene is when Sally comes clean to Gary and admits that she did a spell as a child to call forth her perfect love thinking it wouldn't exist, only it did. When Gary tells Sally that he wished for her too, it just breaks my fuckin' heart."

"Let me guess, you were one of the girls who cast her own spell after seeing that scene." You stay quiet for a moment and the second you feel your face heat, Bucky laughs. "What did you wish for?"

You groan quietly. "If I tell you, you can't laugh!" He only smiles in response and you know he won't drop it until you tell him. "Fine. So even though I knew it would never work, I gathered the weirdest objects and wished for a significant other with dark hair and colored eyes. He had to be protective and funny and love me for me. Simple."

For some reason you can't seem to meet Bucky's gaze then and you feel awkward the longer the silence stretches on.

"So dinner?" He asks.

"Oh god, yes please. Pizza and wings?"

"Sounds good."

You have the nearby pizza place on speed dial, so after finding out Bucky's preferences you make the call and place the order. It's going to be about a thirty minute wait, so you fill the time sending Steve pic after pic of Bucky who's none the wiser as he scrolls through his own phone and adding the most asinine comments to each picture. Steve thinks it's absolutely hilarious.

Then when the pizza and wings arrive, you beat Bucky to the door and thrust several bills at the delivery boy. He's more than happy with his tip and you hurriedly wave him off before shutting the door. You laugh at Bucky's disgruntled expression and then place everything on the table while gathering a beer for both you and him.

"Don't let me have more than two," you tell him while handing him his own bottle of beer.

Bucky agrees and the two of you dig into your own personal pizzas and boxes of wings once you're situated around the table. As you're eating, Bucky asks about what other movies you hold near and dear. You fill him in on a few others and he hesitantly puts it out there that he'd be up for another movie marathon when you both have a day off. You agree that that's doable.

Halfway through dinner, as you and Bucky are chuckling over the thought of making Steve sit through Bridesmaids, there's a sound of glass breaking from your living room and a muffled curse. The two of you immediately cease making any type of noise and Bucky is up with a gun in hand.

"Where the hell did that come from?! You hiss.

The telltale sound of a window then sliding shut can be heard.

"Shut up and get behind me."

The authority in his voice makes you freeze and your heart flutter at the same time, and you have to mentally scold yourself before you quickly do as he says. You follow Bucky towards the living, ready to duck at the ready, only to sigh and roll your eyes when you see who it is.

Bucky stands tall and lowers his gun. "Parker." You can practically hear the annoyance in his voice.

"Mr. Barnes?" Peeking around his shoulder, you raise your eyebrow at your best friend who's been too busy for you and is now frowning at Bucky. When he catches sight of you, he asks, "What's going on?"

"Uh, well we were having dinner until we thought someone was breaking in."

"Alone?!"

Your brow furrows at Peter's incredulousness, only for him to realize you're not impressed with his tone. You raise an eyebrow at him and cross your arms over your chest. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, um, yeah." He shifts from foot to foot, gesturing to his face where there's a scrape on his cheekbone. "My ribs took a beating too. Can you patch me up?"

"Sure." You sigh. "Why not."

Before you can leave to go to the bathroom to get the supplies you need, Bucky says, "I'll just get out of your way then."

You stop and face him. "What? But we haven't even finished our food. It won't take me long."

"It's fine, doll." He grins when he realizes you're trying to get him to stay. "You gotta hit the hay early anyway. We'll talk soon."

You hold his gaze for a moment longer, sighing when he won't budge. "Well at least take your food with you. No use in it going to waste."

Bucky nods and heads back to the kitchen, collecting his food. You watch him and then follow him to the door, holding his food while he bends over to lace up his boots. Once he retakes his food and you open the door, he thanks you for the time away from the tower and disappears down the hall.

Shutting the door and then heading back into the living room, you tell Peter to get back into his regular clothes so you can get to his ribs while you go gather your medical supplies.

Meeting Peter back in the living room and setting everything down on the coffee table, he says, "So you and Bucky-"

"Don't." You pick up the peroxide bottle and soak a cotton ball in it. "Bucky and I are friends."

Peter manages to keep his mouth shut as you clean the scrape on his cheek and place a small bandage on it. Then when you've checked his ribs and tell him he just needs to ice them, he mumbles, "Friends who apparently lick each other." You snort and think nothing of his sullen tone, but when you look at his face you see he's actually being quite serious. There's no chuckle or boyish grin and for a moment you're absolutely floored at his attitude. "I don't think I'm comfortable with Bucky being alone with you in your apartment."

"Are you- are you kidding me?" You huff and take a step back from him. When Peter just continues to frown, you shake your head at him. "First of all, I'm an adult woman who can make her own decisions."

"I know, but-"

"I'm not finished!" You snap. Peter's eyes widen, but he smartly ceases talking. "I am allowed to have friends whether you like them or not. We have a pact, Petey, and since I'm still abiding by it I would hope that you would too."

"Yeah, but that's for significant others!"

"Significant others or friends, it doesn't matter. And you should be grateful I've kept my mouth shut when it comes to you and Leslie because let me tell you, I've been biting my tongue a lot these past few weeks. Bucky and the others have stepped up since you've abandoned me, so you have absolutely no room to tell me that you're uncomfortable with him or any of them being around me."

"Leslie isn't that bad and I have not abandoned you." You snort, but don't bother opening that can of worms even further. He finally gets annoyed with your quietness. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"You're here because you needed a bandage. Tell me, Peter, where are you going after here? Where are you going after making five minutes of small talk and calling it a night?" He opens his mouth and then snaps it shut, shrugs, and you shake your head at him once more in disappointment. "Exactly. Just go, Peter. I'm so over this conversation right now and I have work in the morning."

"Wait, but we promised we'd never leave a conversation where we were still annoyed with each other!"

"And we also promised we'd never judge who the other decided to spend time with, but here we are." He frowns at you. "Go to your girlfriend, Peter. We'll talk again in another few days or weeks or whenever. I don't care right now."

Peter stands there, gaping, before he pulls himself together and makes his way back towards the window he had crawled through. He glances at you one last time, but you merely keep staring until his mask encompasses his head once more and he lifts the window before taking his leave.

As the window shuts behind him, you sag in on yourself and your breathing stutters in your chest as your eyes fill with tears. You've never been this angry at Peter and the fact that he thinks it's okay to ignore you until he needs something and then has an opinion about who you hang out with was just too much for you to let slide.

You quickly gather everything from your coffee table and return it to its rightful place in your bathroom, and throw away the trash. Your appetite is long gone, so you put up what's left of your food and then head to your room to gather some clothes so you can shower and get into bed.

By the time you've crawled into bed, you're still a bit annoyed. So grabbing your phone, you pull up your text messages and click on Bucky's thread.

To Bucky: Well that was a shit show. I don't think I've ever made Petey leave my apartment while we were still angry with each other.

From Bucky: I'm sorry, doll. Anything I can do?

To Bucky: If he gives you attitude, get a non-serum individual to punch him. You, Steve, and probably Nat will send him flying into the wall.

From Bucky: If I remember..

To Bucky: Well I mean if you forget, I won't complain. I'll probably laugh when he comes crying to me.

From Bucky: You're a terrible human being.

To Bucky: Whatever. You adore me just the way I am. And now I should get some shut eye. I'll talk to you soon. Night, Sarge.

From Bucky: Night, sweetheart.

For the next couple of weeks, you keep yourself busy with work. Bucky and a few others do go on a mission as he said they would, so you keep your texts to a minimum of three each day- a good morning, a random story from that day, and a good night. They're gone for four days and in those four days you've not heard from Peter. The only reason you know he's not completely done with you is the fact he likes your posts that you put up on social media.

But since you're not currently speaking to your best friend and are too exhausted to hang out with anyone else, you're in a bit of a funk and completely caught off guard one evening when the patient a police officer brings in smacks you right across the face. You had been trying to insert an IV into his arm when he completely lost his shit, and then you were hit so hard that you were strewn across the gurney behind you. And in your vulnerable position, a fistful of your hair had been grabbed and yanked right before the police officer had intervened and pulled the patient off of you.

You had been given a bit of time to ice your cheek before you had to get back to work, but your face and scalp were hurting you the entire time.

On your way home, however, you're surprised to receive a call from Pepper. You're heading towards your apartment complex when she invites you to dinner there at the tower since Darcy is finally back in town, and you hate to do it, but you're not exactly up to be around such a rowdy bunch. So you apologize to Pepper and ask her to apologize to Darcy for you, and take a rain check. Immediately she knows something is wrong, but you only tell her you had a rough night at work and all you want is a hot shower and to crawl into bed. She hesitates but wishes you well, and the call ends moments later.

When you get home, you waste no time in locking the door behind you and heading straight for your bathroom. You strip down and take the hottest shower your body is capable of handling, and let yourself relax in the steam-filled room. Afterwards, as you're drying off, you gently dry your hair since your scalp is still sensitive and then get dressed in some of your comfort clothes.

Then heading out into the kitchen, you find some leftovers in your fridge and heat those up, tiredly sitting at your kitchen table and digging in. Just as you're done with your food and heading towards the living room, someone pounds on your apartment door. You sigh, hoping they go away, and have only plopped down onto the sofa when a familiar gruff voice speaks through the wood.

You quietly groan as Bucky tells you he knows you're there and you get up to open the door for him. He's on the verge of knocking again when you swing the door open. "Hey. Pepper said-" He trails off as he takes in your appearance, expression going slack before his jaw clenches in anger. "Who?"

You shake your head, gesturing him inside as you turn around and walk towards your sofa. You hear your door click shut before the footsteps follow you. "Work got a little hectic. No need to hunt down anyone, Barnes. I'm fine."

"Half your face is bruised, doll. You are not fine."

"It's all part of my job." You shrug and plop down onto the sofa once more. Pulling a blanket over your lap, you stare up at your friend. "There will always be a drunk and disorderly patient. I was just lucky he didn't do more damage."

Bucky frowns, but he doesn't push you on it. Instead, he walks over and sits next to you, angling his body towards yours when gentle fingers grasp your chin to angle your face more towards him. "What exactly happened?" He asks as his eyes dart over every inch of your face.

"Some petty criminal did some damage to his head in the back of a patrol car. Police officer brought him in and he seemed pretty docile up until I jabbed him with the IV. He got the drop on me. It happens." Gentle fingers brush along your cheekbone and you flinch. Tears sting your eyes as you sniffle. "I'm fine."

"Just because you keep sayin' that doesn't mean it's true."

Your bottom lip wobbles at his words and you lose the battle with keeping the tears at bay. The moment they fall, Bucky pulls you into a hug and you cry into his shoulder. "Dammit," you mumble. "See what you started!"

Bucky chuckles and he holds you a few moments longer, rubbing a hand up and your back to offer a semblance of comfort. When he lets you go, you fall back against the sofa cushions and wipe the tears away with your blanket. "So what are we watching?" He asks while settling in next to you and draping an arm behind your head.

"Shouldn't you go back to the tower and have dinner with the rest of them? I'm-"

"If you say you're fine one more time, I will drag you back to the tower and let Steve motherhen you."

You sigh. "Low blow, Buckaroo."

"And for that horrendous nickname, you've lost the privilege of choosing what we're going to watch."

You laugh and don't bother arguing with him about it as he leans across you to snag up the remote. When he settles back down and you snuggle into his side, you huff a small laugh when he settles on TLC which is showing 90 Day Fiancé.

"Why this show?" You ask.

"Because it blows my mind that some people are so oblivious and can't see that their chosen partner is only in it for the green card."

As you let his reasoning sink in, you can't help but giggle as you picture Bucky sitting in his own apartment and bad mouthing the TV because he didn't like the decisions the people were making in their love life. You watch along with him, cringing at the more obvious couples that are only headed for future divorce and smiling when one of the couples is actually in it for love.

You manage to almost watch a complete two hour episode when there's a knock on your door, but you're too comfortable to get up and answer it.

"You get it," you say as you nudge Bucky.

He nudges you back. "It's your apartment."

"Yeah, but I don't feel like getting up."

"You could have at least come up with a better excuse."

You grin, finally taking your eyes off the screen and glancing up at Bucky. "M'too tired. Brain's not working fast enough." He continues to give you a deadpan stare until you jut out your bottom lip. "Please?"

The second Bucky's lips twitch, you know you've won. He huffs and roughly pushes himself up off the sofa as if answering the door is a hardship, and you go back to watching TV. At least until you hear a familiar voice stammer, "Uh, h-hey Mr. Barnes. Is Y/N home?"

Your gaze snaps towards the door where Peter is standing out in the hallway, hands in his pockets as he sheepishly stares at Bucky. The man in question turns and raises an eyebrow at you as if saying what do I do and you give him a terse nod to let him know it's okay. Bucky steps aside and Peter readily walks in.

"I should be getting back to the tower," Bucky suddenly says. "You kids have fun."

This time it's your turn to give him a deadpan stare and he smirks right before slipping his boots back on. Then as soon as they're laced up, he's walking out the door and shutting it behind him. Peter, who hadn't stopped staring at the intimidating man, finally turns to look at you. And when he does, his eyes widen.

"What happened to your face?!"

You sigh. "I'm fine. Just had a little incident at work."

"And Mr. Barnes was what? Comforting you?"

"First of all, can you stop calling him Mr. Barnes? You two avenge together and what not. I'm pretty sure that means you're on a first name basis." Peter grins as he takes a seat on the recliner near you, shrugging. "And Bucky was here because when I turned down dinner at the tower, Pepper figured something was wrong. Bucky took it upon himself to check in."

"So are you two like a thing or something?" He wonders.

"We're just.. friends," you say. "For some unknown reason we clicked and we're comfortable in each other's company."

For a moment Peter doesn't say anything, nor will he meet your gaze, but then he's looking at you and sighing. "I'm sorry." You blink at him, surprised to hear the apology. "I shouldn't have freaked out that one night. Who you are friends with and who you decide to date is your business."

You finally smile, even though it's rather small. "Thank you. And don't get me wrong, I know you meant well, but you should have dropped it and just trusted my judgment."

"Yeah. I know," he mumbles.

"Soo.. are we good?" You ask.

"Yeah."

"Good. I was getting tired of you liking my posts and not commenting on them."

Peter snorts. A moment of silence passes and then he says, "So you'll be glad to know that Leslie and I aren't together anymore. I broke it off earlier tonight."

You wince. "Sorry."

"Nah. Don't be. She was totally using me for access to the tower." You're torn between being smug about being right and being sad for your friend who just ended his relationship. "I only realized it earlier when she got upset because Mr. Rogers posted a picture of you and Mr. Barnes together, and she had a few choice words to say about it."

"What? Steve posted a picture of us?" You quickly pull out your phone, checking social media for any notifications. There are none, but as you get on Instagram you check Steve's page and sure enough there's a new pic that shows Bucky staring fondly at you as you laugh at something on your phone. "That little shit didn't tag us!"

As your thumbs move furiously to give Steve a piece of your mind and to comment how adorable you and Bucky look, Peter can't help but say, "You're attracted to him."

Your texting falters and you quickly glance at your friend to gauge his reaction, but when he just looks amused, you shrug. "I mean have you seen him? How could I not be attracted to him?"

"Does he know?"

"I have a feeling he does. Asshole likes to fluster me every now and then."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure he likes you back." You snort and go back to finishing up the comment on Steve's post. "I'm serious. When we stopped talking, he threatened me. He was pissed that I made you cry and said I was lucky. He's actually really scary when you're on his bad side."

It takes a moment for his words to sink in and when they do you can feel your ears heating up, followed by your cheeks. Peter starts to laugh and you groan in embarrassment. "Why is this so weird? Dating should be easy!"

"Well he is an Avenger.."

"I don't care about that! He's just- he's really, really hot. It's intimidating."

"Wait, what?" Peter huffs. "So you're intimidated by his hotness and not because he's a super-soldier with a metal arm?"

"Well yeah."

Expression melting into one of confusion, your friend eventually shakes his head at you. "You're on your own with that. Good luck."

You hadn't realized how much everyone had known about your and Peter's brief falling out until the two of you were laughing together once again at the tower. It seemed like everyone had sagged in relief now that the two of you were poking fun at one another once more, and you had to apologize for apparently making it awkward for them.

And now that your best friend knew of your crush on a certain super-soldier, there was lots of teasing material. Of course you kept him in line when you could, but there was no stopping the force of Peter, Wanda, and Darcy combined.

It's a random Tuesday night when you've driven over to the Tower, Bucky having called you over for dinner with a few friends. You had the day off so you didn't mind heading on over, but as the elevator doors slide open after having ridden up to the communal floor, you yelp in surprise as the small gathered crows that shout, "Happy birthday!", at you.

Steve, Wanda, Sam, and Peter pop confetti poppers as you step out of the elevator, eyes wide as you glance between each of them. "My birthday is not until tomorrow!" You hiss.

"But you work tomorrow." Wanda frowns.

"Mhm." Your eyes then narrow, glancing behind them at the streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling. "And how'd you guys even know?"

Everyone glances at Peter and he takes a step back when your gaze slides to him. He chuckles sheepishly. "I might have hid your birthday cupcake here and Steve found it."

"Petey," you groan. "Why couldn't you just hide it at aunt May's like usual? You know I dislike birthday celebrations."

"You don't dislike them. You just dislike all the attention being on you."

"Whatever. Where's Barnes? He's the one who lured me here under false pretenses. I got a bone to pick with him too."

Everyone turns around and Bucky's head appears from around the corner. He smirks and you glare at him. "Not false pretenses. We are having dinner," he says. "It just so happens to be a birthday dinner. And it's running a little bit late, so until the food gets here you get to open presents."

"You guys all suck."

Peter and Wanda each take a hand and drag you further into the room, heading towards the kitchen. Bucky fully steps out from behind the wall and you aim a kick at his shin as you're walking by. He laughs as he easily dodges it and then you're standing by the kitchen island that's been cleared of everything other than birthday presents.

You huff a small laugh and shake your head fondly at them. "I love you guys, but you do know you didn't have to get me anything, right?"

"Shut up and open the presents," Bucky says.

"Open mine first," Sam says, reaching into the small pile and pulling out a white envelope. "Unlike the others, I was literally told within the last thirty minutes we were doing this so yeah. It's not the best present, but I think you'll enjoy it."

You smile at Sam as you open it, chuckling at the plain birthday card and his brief personal message written inside. But it's what else that's inside that makes you meet Sam's gaze once more, smiling fondly at him. "Thank you. I can't get enough of bubble tea and I'm sure I can do some damage with this gift card."

"You're welcome."

"Mine next." Peter reaches in for a medium-sized box and hands it over to you. "I know you're not a fan of presents, so I got you something I actually knew you'd enjoy."

Raising an eyebrow at him, you pull the lid off of the box. Then glancing down, you snort before pulling out a bottle of Patron Silver Tequila. "I knew we were best friends for a reason."

Steve groans. "Please drink responsibly."

"Please. Responsible is my middle name, Rogers." Everyone snorts and instead of trying to remain serious and feign offense, you end up laughing. "Sam and Buck are good babysitters. You have nothing to worry about."

"That's to be determined," he says. "Here. Open mine. I honestly had no idea what to get you, but Peter assured me you'd enjoy this."

Putting the bottle of tequila back in its box, you accept Steve's gift. Pulling off the ribbon, you can't help but laugh when you see what's inside. "Cards Against Humanity." Peter cheers. "We're playing this the next time I have off," you say, grinning at Steve.

"What is Cards Against Humanity?" He wonders. "I just picked it up and boxed it."

"It's possibly one of the most confusing card games or raunchy card games you'll ever play," Sam says. "I, for one, am looking forward to it."

"Thank you, Steve. I seriously can't wait to play it."

"You're welcome."

Wanda claps her hands. "Mine and Darcy's next. She ordered online and I had to pick it up earlier. But, um, I'm not sure you want to open it up in front of everyone."

"Oh god. Don't tell me it's a vibrator."

Sam laughs out loud as both Peter and Steve start blushing. Bucky looks rather amused and intrigued as Wanda slides two boxes over to you. She shakes her head, giggling. "Not quite."

For a brief moment you're relieved, but then her answer sinks in and you're hesitant all over again. You groan. "Is yours safer? I feel like it is. Which one is it?"

Wanda only smirks as she pushes her box towards you. You open it, marvel at its contents, and then put the lid back on much to the boys' displeasure. Trying to keep a straight face, you look at Wanda. "How many sets did you get?"

"There's four. All in colors that will look amazing against your skin tone."

"Thank you. I'll send you pictures when I wear them."

"Yes please! Natasha wants to know how they fit as well. She was the one who suggested them."

"I'll send them to the ladies group chat then."

"Well that's not fair," Sam complains. "First for not showing us what's inside the box and then you guys have a ladies only group chat. I wanna be in the ladies only group chat."

"But then that defeats the purpose of it being a ladies only group chat," you muse.

"Come on," Peter then whines. "What was the present?"

Your gaze slides to Peter, but instead of outright saying what it is, you say, "Think back to that one Halloween night where you wouldn't let me out of the dorm until I switched costumes."

It takes him only a minute to understand and when he does, he snorts. "That wasn't a costume! That was lingerie."

"Whoa, what?" Sam exclaims, grinning.

"Lingerie can be worn as a costume?" Steve wonders.

"I was actually a Victoria's Secret Angel, complete with the most amazing set of wings, and Petey forbade me from leaving the room. It was a sad, sad night."

"As much as I wanna get into that," Sam says, "I wanna know what Barnes got you more."

You chuckle and glance at Bucky, smile faltering when you see him tense. But then he seems to shake himself out of it and offers you a grin. "Open the bigger one first."

Wanda clears away the other presents as Bucky slides his two towards you. You feel giddy as you grab the bigger box, untying the black silk ribbons and lifting the lid. There's tissue paper you open up and you gasp, happily giggling. "You didn't?!"

"Well you did say it was your favorite movie, sweetheart."

"Yes!" You glance up, beaming at Bucky, and your heart swells at his own smile being directed at you. "I really, really love this. I can't wait to hang it up."

"What is it?" Peter wonders, trying to peer across the island.

"It's a quote from Practical Magic," you say and Peter huffs a laugh, knowing full well your love for that movie. You carefully pick it up and turn it around so everyone can see it as you read it off by heart. "Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can."

"Aw," Wanda coos. "That's adorable."

"I made Bucky watch this movie a while back," you say. "I need to show it to you one of these days."

"I'm looking forward to it," she says.

With nothing else to say, you place it back in its box and set it aside in favor for the second box. It's a little smaller, but you're excited for it nonetheless. Untying the ribbon and lifting the lid, you immediately laugh at the white petals scattered atop the tissue paper.

"Barnes, you smooth sonuvabitch," Sam mutters.

Steve and Peter laugh, but you're so focused on the notecard that's under some of the petals. Lifting it up, you read the note to yourself because immediately you know it's personal. My better half has to be funny, get along with my friends, won't judge me for my past, and has decent taste in movies.

Heart fluttering, you bite the corner of your lip when it feels like you're smiling way too much.

"Well what does Prince Charming have to say?" Sam asks.

"That's none of your business." You close the note and then tuck into your back pocket, chuckling when Sam and Wanda complain. When you meet Bucky's gaze, you immediately flush and mentally curse yourself when you see him smirk in return.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, you center yourself and then part the tissue paper. You look at the second portrait and gasp after you read it.

"What? What is it?" Peter wonders.

This second portrait is of a hand drawn bowl with a tipped over salt shaker, a small bundle of lavender, a small bundle of rosemary, and a heart beneath it. Above the bowl is a swirl of flower petals and inside the swirl of petals, in very pretty cursive writing, are the words I wished for you too.

Did he just- did he confess his own feelings by using a Practical Magic quote? Or was this just you overthinking his present? You glance to meet Bucky's gaze and at his gauging expression your eyes fill with tears.

"What did you do, Barnes?!" Sam scolds him. "You made the poor girl cry at her own birthday celebration!"

But Bucky isn't paying him any attention, instead he's solely focused on you. You set the present aside and walk around the kitchen island on shaky legs, and Bucky readily reaches for your waist as you grab his face and pull him down into a kiss.

You can't believe you're kissing Bucky, but then he squeezes your waist and returns the kiss, and you know you made the right choice.

Someone gasps, but then the following words let you know exactly who it is. "Darcy is going to be so angry she missed this." Wanda. That is Wanda.

"What the hell is going on?" Sam wonders. "What type of present can cause this type of reaction?"

You smile against Bucky's mouth, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth before falling flat on your feet after having been on the tips of your toes in order to reach his mouth.

"It's my favorite quote from my favorite movie," you say. You turn around to address your friends, but Bucky doesn't let you go far. He wraps one arm around your waist and tugs you back so you're resting against his chest and tucked beneath his chin. "It's a movie about witches," you explain. "These two little girls are being raised by their aunts and they see them performing love spells for a local woman. Basically, one of the young girls refuses to fall in love after witnessing a love spell gone wrong and she does her own spell to call forward a love that would be impossible to find- a man who's favorite shape would be a star and who had one green eye, one blue. Years down the road, the sisters accidentally murder a man."

Sam snorts. "How the hell does one accidentally murder someone?"

"Shush." Wanda admonishes him. "I want to hear the story behind the gift."

You and Bucky chuckle, and you continue to explain. "Anyway, they send in an US Marshall to investigate the disappearance and the one who had done the love spell at a young age starts to fall for this man. She ends up telling him about the murder, but he doesn't quite believe her. Then they're on the verge of hooking up when she gets a good look at his eyes- one green eye, one blue."

"Oh my god. That's so cute!" Wanda says.

"It gets cuter. And sadder," you say. "So she explains to this man about her family, the murder, and how she can't be with him because he's only attracted to her because of a love spell she did when she was just a little girl. At first he's skeptical about this spell bringing him to her, but then he ends up believing her. And as he's walking away from her, he stops to tell her I wished for you too."

"So you made out with Barnes because of that?" Sam shakes his head, chuckling. "Wow."

"It's fuckin' adorable. Stop ruining the moment, Samuel!" Bucky laughs at your words and pulls you closer to him.

"So while I'm happy for Buck," Steve says, "I'm still really curious about what Darcy's gift is."

Peter nods. "Same."

Wanda giggles, but says nothing as she grabs the box and slides it over to you. You groan because you know it can be nothing good, but you still open it since everyone is watching and waiting. As soon as you part the tissue paper and read the box, alongside taking in the picture on the box, your face flames as you shove the lid back on. Wanda cackles.

"I hate her."

"She said to give the remote to-"

"Don't!" You cut Wanda off, blushing even further. "I know who she means to have control of that."

"They- they make underwear that does that?" Bucky muses and you die a little on the inside in embarrassment. You elbow him as he starts to laugh behind you.

Sam instantly knows what the gift is now and starts to laugh, but Steve and Peter apparently need some help.

"Lewis got you vibrating panties, didn't she?"

"Oh my god, Sam, if you don't shut up I'm gonna punch you in the throat."

Steve is torn between laughing and trying not to make you even more uncomfortable, but his amusement wins out. "Given Y/N's flustered state, I'm assuming Darcy wants Bucky to have the remote."

"I mean this seems like it could make for an interesting night."

Everyone laughs at Bucky's sudden interest in the box you're doing your damnedest to keep shut, but luckily Peter steps in. "As much I love watching Y/N squirm, can we get ready to eat? I'm starving."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go wait downstairs for it, kid."

Sam and Peter head for the elevator to take them down to the lobby, and you turn around in Bucky's hold. "Help me take this stuff to my car so I don't have to do it later?"

"Sure thing, doll." He grins. But instead of stepping away, he pushes you further into the kitchen island. You smile as he cages you in and then huff a laugh when he reaches for the box behind you. "So exactly how long do we have to be dating before we can test these out?"

You slowly lean upward so your lips brush his as you say, "I'd say very, very soon if you would put your ass into gear and help me move these presents like I asked."

Bucky laughs and presses a quick kiss to your lips. "Then let's get to it."

The telltale sound of a phone's camera goes off and you turn your face towards the sound. Wanda is beaming, her phone pointed towards you and Bucky. "Darcy wanted evidence I wasn't lying. She's going to be so happy."

Bucky turns his face to look at her then, his cheek brushing against yours where he's yet to back off from you. "Tell Lewis I said thanks for the present. I'll give her my review of them in a few weeks."

Wanda's eyes widen and you immediately blurt, "Don't you dare!" But she's already texting and you know the group chat full of ladies is going to be full of messages that you'll have to reply to later. Quietly groaning, you slap your hands against Bucky's waist and push him back. Looking up at him, you shake your head but the corner of your lips turn up in amusement. "You're terrible. I would threaten to withhold sex, but I've been looking forward to that for a while. I'd just be punishing us both."

"Just tell me when and where, sweetheart, and I'll be there."

"Oh no. You guys are going to be that couple," Steve complains.

And without missing a beat, you face him and say, "Fuck off, Rogers!" Bucky snorts.

"You're cranky when you haven't gotten laid."

You gasp as Bucky bursts out laughing right in your ear, but he quickly catches you as you try to lunge for his best friend. "You know what, I was going to be discreet when banging your best friend, but now I'm going to tell you all the filthy things Bucky likes to do just to annoy you. I will go into excruciating detail about the look and taste of his dick!"

Steve blanches as it's Wanda's turn to burst out laughing. "You've done it now, Steve."

And as Steve looks to Bucky for help, he merely shrugs. "You brought this on yourself, Stevie. Hope you enjoy the play by plays."

Relaxing in Bucky's hold and moving so you're hip to hip with him, you slide your arm behind his waist and hook your thumb into the belt loop of his jeans. "We're going to have so much fun."

[salsdemise]

Can I request a Sally face x reader fic? Possibly a confession and first kiss an da party or something like that, thank you!

Hey anon, sorry if this is bad, I'm assuming you meant sal, and if not just lmk and I'll re-write this for another character if you want.

Warnings: Underage drinking, underaged smoking, parties, y/n used in place of your name, really awkward with the confession part? idk how to write those

word count: 1479

other: gender neutral terms used, sal's speech is in blue bc sometimes its unclear whos talking bc i didn't know what to put between the words spoken lol playlist listened to while writing: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5SMv6Go27KIcbfL07wkQ4m

This party wasn’t where you wanted to be right now. Hell, you’d rather be at school, getting pushed around by the kids in the hall right now. Anywhere was better than this loud, flashy,party filled with the smell of cigs, weed, alcohol and sex wafting off of every teen you passed.

Why you had come to this party in the first place had slipped your mind, as now you were more focused on not getting backed into a corner with a potted plant by a group of your peers. Maybe it was because your friend Larry wouldn’t shut up about how fun it was going to be, maybe it was because you would have felt bad saying no, or maybe it was because you certainly weren’t going to pass up on an opportunity to potentially hang out with Sal Fisher, your long time crush and close friend.

Holding your now empty red cup, you navigated your way through the crowd of drunken and dancing teens, most who were nice and giggly as you passed, slurring apologies at you if they bumped you.

While you weren’t all sober yourself, you had enough remaining cognitive ability to form full thoughts, and the only one on your mind was finding one of two people; Sal or Larry. You had no doubt Larry was off smoking with gods know who, so that left one option, and if your brain wasn’t mistaking you, you had seen the electric-bluenette near the door to the backyard in the kitchen not too long ago. So that’s where you set your sights.

When you arrived at the kitchen, you were happy to know that you were indeed correct on where you had last seen Sal, just outside on the patio, sitting hunched over a cup, the bottom straps of his prosthetic undone and dangling. Murmuring a few ‘excuse me’s at the teens you passed on the way, you made your way out to the back, opening and exiting the door and catching the bluenette’s attention. Seating yourself next to him, you said nothing, not sure of what to say.

“Didn’t think you’d actually show. Lar said you were coming, but I thought he was bluffing again,” Sal spoke, sipping on his drink.

You laughed at this, “yea, no, he actually convinced me to come. Not sure how, but he did. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d see you here either. You always talk about how much you hate parties, especially ones that have inebriating drinks,” you set your cup down next to you, and a small breeze knocked it over as soon as your hand left it.

“I don’t, hate em. Managed to get someone to get me something non-alcoholic, though. What have you had to drink?” He motioned to your, now rolling, red cup to emphasize.

“Oh, nothing too strong. They had a punch bowl in there so I took some of that,” thinking back to it as you spoke, it was odd the hosts of this party put a punch bowl out at a party with no need for it. However, you and Sal both seemingly shrugged it off and continued talking.

Conversation between the two of you had always come so naturally, switching between topics and tones, talking about people, your home state, his home state, and the likes.

“Man, I cannot believe he did that! It was like, super awkward between us for a week,“ you laughed, finishing a story about how Larry had tried to ask you out when high. Luckily the guy wasn’t too upset and took no for an answer.

“Hey, y/n, about asking people out...have you ever done it?” Sal questioned, messing with his sweater sleeves now that his drink was gone and his cup had also flown off.

“Oh, uh, not like, here at Nockfell, but in the past I asked a guy in my grade to go to a valentine’s day dance with me. Why?” you responded, tilting your head at him.

“I want to ask this person out, but I’m not sure how.”

“Oh. Well, what do they like? How long have you known them? And how close are you two? You can’t just ask out a random person you barely know, it won’t go well.”

“Well, they like a lot so it’s...kinda hard to put into words. I’ve known them for years now, and I’d like to say we’re pretty close.”

Thinking, you went quiet. As much as it hurt you to know your crush liked someone else, you were going to help him as best you could.

“Well, I’d give them a note, personally. I’d probably piss myself if I tried to tell them upfront. But it depends on how you wanna do it.”

Sal quietly thinks for a few seconds before standing up and fixing his mask, “Thanks for your help dude. We should get going, I’ll go find Larry and we can get out of here.”

You nod, standing and following Sal back into the house, heading for the front door while Sal went off to find Larry. With your mutual friend acquired, you all left for home, depositing Larry at his place and heading to your own beds, tired now that the social buzz had worn off.

Over the next week, you and Sal talked less and less, notes popped up in your locker, and small things like patches, stickers, pins and snacks appeared with them. You were confused to say the least. You loved everything this admirer gave you, and the notes were adorable, even if they were typed and printed rather than hand written, but you wondered why Sal had stopped talking to you as often as he did.

As the weeks progressed, you had started to like the secret admirer that was leaving you small gifts and notes reminding you how much they liked you. But the most recent note, which you had gotten on a sunny and warm Wednesday, really caught your attention. This time, it was handwritten in blue pen ink, the handwriting surprisingly neat, completely eliminating who you thought it was.

The note read: “y/n, meet me in the courtyard during lunch/break time. -<3”, and not wanting to disappoint, you waited with an uneasy shake until lunch came around where you went straight to the courtyard. Seeing no one, you sat on the ground by a tree to wait until your secret admirer got there.

10 minutes later, the heavy doors opened and closed with a thud, catching your attention and causing you to look up where you saw Sal, mask in hands, and looking down.

“Sal? Are you the one that wanted to meet me here?” You were..puzzled to say the least. Sal had hardly talked to you in weeks, and you thought he liked someone else like Ash, but it seems you were mistaken.

“Uh, yea, I am. I know you’re..probably upset at me for not talking to you in the past few weeks, but I didn’t want to say something stupid too soon. I hope you’re not too mad..”

“Sal, I’m not mad. I thought you were busy trying to get your mystery person to like you..and I guess I was right, but I didn’t think it’d be me..”

“Who else would it have been? You and I are as close as Larry and I are, we like the same things and I’ve known you since you got here. Hell, I’ve been pining over you for years now, but last year when Lar told me he was gonna try and shoot his shot, I tried to get myself to like Ash so I wouldn’t feel like shit if you said yes.”

“Oh, Sal. I thought it was Ash, you talk so much about her sometimes, I thought you actually liked her.”

“Oh, no, I don’t. She helped me with this, actually. Which reminds me, if its not obvious already, I really fucking like you. Like, you make me feel happy and just thinking about you makes me feel like I’m on cloud nine.”

Smiling at his words you stood to go over to him, putting your hands on his shoulders so he would look up at you, “I like you too, Sal. Like, a lot. I have for a while, and when you asked how to ask someone out,I..it hurt a little bit.”

Saying nothing at your words, Sal moved forward and wrapped you in a hug, his mask landing in the grass behind you two. Before you could return the hug, Sal backed up and his hands grabbed your face pulling you in for a kiss. Giving you time to react this time, you kissed back, your hands placing themselves over his.

Now, sitting at a college party with your boyfriend, you think to yourself, ‘Maybe parties aren’t so bad after all.’

[phykios]

Ain’t No Sunshine, modern royalty, 1970s au [read on ao3] thank you as always to my darling @darkmagyk for taking a true story off the rails

May 3rd, 1979. The date seemed to jump off the page, the loud, bold text almost mocking her. 

Not that she was keeping track, but it was just about four years to the day.

She’d woken up this morning, feeling kind of off, wandering around her apartment in a daze as she hustled her children out the door for daycare, losing time on her bus commute to work. It wasn’t until lunch, as she took the time to go through her day planner, that she realized: four years ago was when she had last seen Percy Jackson.

Though why Annabeth was thinking about him right this second was anyone’s guess.

Oh, sure, she’d thought about him a lot all throughout her pregnancy--thought about him, cursed his name, dreamed of strangling him for leaving her alone with these two absolute terrors--but as the years had gone by, and she had lost all hope of ever making contact with him again, he’d sort of fallen by the wayside of her thoughts. Something must have been going on with the navy mail system, because absolutely none of the letters or postcards she’d sent had ever been received, and she couldn’t reach out to Sally, since Annabeth had lost her address as well. 

There was always the possibility that he… well, that he wasn’t around to receive letters anymore. But she tried not to think about it. 

She tried her best not to think about him at all, these days.

Today, however, her childhood best friend turned US navy midshipman had popped up on her internal radar, and had just decided to take up residence in her brain. Her normally mind-numbing job couldn’t even properly distract her, and she spent all afternoon daydreaming about his messy, perpetually windswept hair, and his toothy, contagious smile, and his gorgeous green eyes like she was some kind of pathetic, lovestruck teenager, obsessing over her rockstar crush. Taking calls, scheduling appointments, and dodging the creepy advances of the assistant CFO were slightly more palatable if she had something pleasant to think about. 

Old-fashioned romance was for suckers, anyway. Who needed it? 

At least it was Friday. Fridays were KFC days, and she really did not need to accidentally burn dinner today. Again.

She hated it, but her kids loved it. God knows they could barely stomach whatever she usually attempted.

She sent them to bed early-ish, and settled down in front of the TV with a glass of wine. She didn’t usually indulge, but she had had such a weird day, she felt she deserved it. 

Taking a long, long sip, she could no longer deny it: she really fucking missed Percy.

She missed him like she’d miss a missing limb, and it was all the more cruel because she’d lost him once, and miraculously found him again, on that fateful trip home from Athens. A military brat stuck at the American naval base in Spain to save money, waiting for a spare seat to open up on a plane so she could go home, by the sheer force of luck, she’d practically tripped and fallen into the lap of her childhood best friend. 

And then she did trip into his lap. And then into his bed. And stupid, stupid, Annabeth, she’d always been so bad with her birth control.

Her little boy, he had blond hair, but sometimes he would look at her, or laugh at something, or drool in his sleep just like his daddy, and Annabeth thought she might just fucking die from it.

She loved her children, of course, how could she not? But she wasn’t about to deny it--sometimes, alone in parenthood, juggling dishes and laundry and schoolwork and life, she felt like she was drowning.

Sharp, piercing, the doorbell rang, knocking her out of her reverie. A little tipsy, still in her rumpled work clothes, she set the glass aside, and made her way to the door. “Mr. D,” she said, opening it, prepared speech all ready to go, “I told you, I’d have the rent for you by--”

She stopped, blinking, speechless. It was not Mr. D.

“Hey,” said the man outside her door. The ghost from another world that she had, apparently, conjured with her thoughts.

“...Hey.”

He smiled, a little strained, the light of the streetlamps casting harsh shadows on his face. “It’s good to see you.” 

“How did you know where I lived?” It was, perhaps, not the most elegant thing to say, but she hadn’t exactly planned for what would happen when Percy Jackson, love of her life, father of her children, long-lost best friend wandered back into her life.

“Can I come in? Maybe for a Coke or something?” he asked, not answering her question. 

She almost wanted to say no. For every letter never returned, for every month gone by without a word, for every day spent raising their children without him, not knowing if he was alive or dead--she almost said no. 

But this was Percy. She could spare him a Coca Cola at least. “Sure,” she said, leaning away, “come on.”

“Great,” he said, and this time, his smile was all real. 

So focused had she been on him, she hadn’t even clocked the older man who stood behind him. “Sir,” said the other man, with the air of a beleaguered secretary--and Annabeth would know, “I really must advise--”

“I’ll just be a minute,” said Percy, not even bothering to look back at him, pushing past Annabeth’s half-extended arm.

“But, sir, your father--”

Percy let the door shut in his face.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. “Harsh.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well… I’ll make it up to him later.”

“Who is he?”

But Percy didn’t answer. “Nice place you got here.”

He was being nice, of course. It was a craphole apartment in a craphole side of town--but the rent was cheap and the bus was convenient, and she only felt the slightest bit of shame as she led him to the craphole couch, handing him a coke from her craphole fridge. Christ, his suit looked like it cost more than her TV.

“Is your… husband home?” he asked, delicate.

“My what?”

“Your husband. I saw, um…” Embarrassed, he flicked his eyes to the ring on her left hand. 

“Oh, this? It’s--it’s not--” Hastily, clumsily, she fumbles it off, pulling around the knuckle. “I’m not--I’m not.”

He blinked. “Oh.”

“Yeah, I just--it’s to ward off creepy guys, right? Like, they won’t take no for an answer unless they think they’ll have to deal with an angry husband, so I just…” 

In her more pathetic moments, she pretended that it had been given to her by the man before her. She had picked something small and simple, something that she thought he might have gone with, and pretended he had slipped it into her pocket the day she left the naval base. 

“That’s--cool. That’s great, I mean. I mean, that’s--”

“What do you want, Percy?”

Not at all bothered by the shortness of her tone, he sighed, closing his eyes. “I have a… personal question I need to ask you. And I’m sorry to bother you with this, I just--I have to ask.”

Ominous. “Okay?”

“Did we…” He sighed again, mouth twisting. “Did you, as a result of our repeated sexual encounters four years ago, happen to have any children by me?”

He just rattled it off, as if it was something he’d said over and over and over again, tired of receiving the same answer, but never expecting anything different.

“Excuse me?”

“I know, I know, it’s an extremely rude question, and I know I have no right to ask you, especially since it’s been so long, but I swear, there’s a reason I--”

“Did you never get any of the letters I sent you?”

At that, his head shot up. The look in his eyes could only be described as ‘terror.’ “What?”

“I must have sent you half a dozen,” she said, crossing to the kitchen, the wine making her a little bit short. She had, in fact, sent him eight letters, with pictures, and never received a single response, but since he seemed genuinely lost, she decided not to tell him. Plucking the most recent photo down from the fridge, she returned to the man in her living room, his knuckles white around the can. 

Standing before him, she handed him the photograph. He took it, fingers shaking. “We… you…” 

“Percy Jackson,” she said, like she was introducing him to someone at a party, “meet your children.”

Even after they had just been born, Annabeth had seen how obviously they were his. Only their daughter had the same messy black hair, both both had the same long, straight nose, the same intense, brooding brow as their father--and when her son smiled, or her daughter laughed, it was hard not to see the shades of Percy so strongly in them. It was hard to see them, too. 

Percy’s mouth was trembling. His eyes were wide, glassy, fixed on the photo. “My--” he swallowed. “What--what are their names?”

“Alexander,” she said, softly, “and Anne--”

“Annemarie,” he breathed. “Alexander and Annemarie.” He looked up at her, his eyes shining. “You remembered?”

Of course she remembered. Two lonely kids, she and Percy had spent so much of their childhood together, playing house, building their perfect family, even if only in their imagination. Alexander for his mother’s cousin, and Annemarie because he had wanted to name their  daughter Annabeth, and she wouldn’t let him. Twenty years later, alone and in pain, holding her newborn children and alternately cursing the man who made them and desperately wishing he were with her, Annabeth had known that they could only have one set of names, even if their father might never meet them. 

His face crumpled. He dropped his head into his hand, and groaned, like someone had pressed on an open wound. 

“Percy!” Annabeth sat down next to him, one hand on his shoulder, the other on his leg. Four years later and it still felt so natural to touch him like this. “Are you okay?”

Nodding, he grunted. “Yeah,” he croaked, voice hoarse, “I’m okay. I’m fine. I just--” And then he shuddered, a hand coming up to scrub at his eyes. 

He was crying, she realized suddenly. Annabeth used to be the one that cried. She could count on one hand how many times she’d seen him cry. He hadn’t even cried when she had finally left the naval base. 

Taking a shaking breath, he wiped his nose on the sleeve of his expensive suit. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, shattered. “I didn’t--I never--if I had known, I swear, I would have left the navy. I would have come home.”

The silent, unspoken “to you” echoed in the dead air of her apartment. “Why didn’t you?” she asked, quietly.

They held each other’s eyes, an eternity passing in a heartbeat. Neither wanted to break the sacred silence, to bring words into the crystalline moment that hung in the balance between them. 

“I never got your letters,” he said, tears in his eyes. “I… after you--left, I…” he sighed, aching. “I… got hurt. Bad.” 

Annabeth couldn’t breathe. 

“And,” he huffed a laugh, wet and messy, “and then I met my father. Can you believe it?”

Her eyes bugged out of her head. “You what?”

He nodded.

“He’s alive?” 

Sally rarely spoke of him, and Percy had always refused to. Annabeth had just assumed he had died, years and years and years ago. 

Percy laughed again, humorless. “He’s the king of Thera.”

Her jaw dropped. “He…”

“Yeah.”

“Are you shitting me?”

Shaking his head, he smiled, rueful. “I wish.”

Words from a half-remembered newscast floated through her mind. Alexander and Annemarie had been right terrors that night, and she had only been half-listening as the reporter informed the world that Triton, hereditary prince of Thera, had died, killed in military action. “He… found you?”

Percy nodded, miserable. “He told me--asked--told me to--to find anyone I might have…” And then he swallowed, tears in his eyes again, real, glistening tears. “And I am so, so sorry, I know--I know your job is here, and your whole life, and the children, but I--”

She took his hand in hers, squeezing gently so he didn’t fly away. “It’s okay,” she said. “Just say it.”

“I’m supposed to--I’m supposed to… if you would… come with me,” he trailed off, suddenly shy. 

For the second time tonight, she felt like she’d been hit with a sledgehammer. “...What?”

“He… my father… the king wants--needs heirs. He… he asked for a list of women, and I… gave him your name.” Stomach hot, Annabeth wished she had the courage to know about the other women on that list. Or to ask  why Percy, young and handsome as he’d been at both twelve and twenty, wasn’t out there making some new ones himself. Why was he chasing down old leads? Why was he chasing down Chase bastards? “You’d--you’d live in the castle,” he said, like he was trying to sell her on it, though she could tell his heart wasn’t really in it, “and we, well, we’d technically have to get married, but that doesn’t need to be a big deal. You’d get your own rooms. You can set them up however you want. And you’d have a personal staff, a stipend, and the kids would get private teachers, and--”

“Staff?”

He blinked, caught off guard. “Yes?”

Staff. Someone to do the laundry and clean the dishes. Someone to cook dinner and look after the house. Someone to help. Someone to do all the parental things that she just could not do, not by herself. Not without him. 

“I know I have no right to ask this of you,” he said, squeezing her hand. His hand was just as big as she remembered, and just as warm. “And I would never, ever force you to do anything that you wouldn’t want to--”

“Yes,” she said, interrupting him. 

He blinked, dumbly. “What?”

“Yes. I’ll come with you. We all will.”

“...Oh. Uh, great. That’s--that’s good. Are you sure?” He looked like a lost little dolphin, eyes huge and uncertain, and then, Annabeth did the one thing that she’d been desperately wanting to do for the last four years. 

She pulled his face to hers, and she kissed him. Shocked, he stiffened, almost pulling away--before relaxing into her, cupping her face in his big, warm hand. Eyes closed, they leaned their heads against each other, sharing air once more for the first time in years. She had lost him twice already: once as a child, when her father had decided to move her across the country, and once as a lovestruck college girl, when she had to leave the naval base, four years ago. She wasn’t about to lose him for a third time. 

And for the first time in forever, she no longer felt like she was drowning.

[trvelyans-archive]

senti(ment)ality

mari wiseman x gray black. 4k words.

Gray’s going to hate the present you bought him for Christmas.

You call this out to Nick as you place it under the Christmas tree. It looks small compared to the boxes you have for Sally and Nick, which only makes you feel more nervous about it, but even though he’s in the other room cooking dinner, you can still hear him sigh. “Mari, he’s not going to hate it,” he calls back.

“How do you know that?”

“Because he could never hate anything from you. Besides, I wouldn’t have told you to get it if I thought he would hate it.”

“… Okay,” you concede, turning around and heading for the kitchen, “that’s a good point.”

“Yeah, I make lots of them,” he replies. “You just never listen.”

“I wish I couldn’t listen.” You sit down on a stool beside the island and rest your chin on the heel of your hand. “Except for this time. Although he could still hate it, and then at least I’d feel vindicated. Embarrassed, but vindicated.”

Nick laughs and shakes his head. You try not to think about how much he looks like your dad as you settle in across the counter from him.

He’s been working on dinner since at least before noon, which you only know because that’s when you managed to drag yourself out of bed and he made you pancakes in between baking two separate batches of holiday cookies, and though most of it’s finished now, he’ll probably still have to stick around in the kitchen for a little while after Gray and Sally get here. You wish you could tell him to take a break or something, but he’s by far the most competent cook out of the four of you, so if he doesn’t keep working, there’d be no Christmas dinner at all.

Then again, if that were the case, that means Gray wouldn’t have a reason to come over tonight and you could still go out to get him another present…

Before you can say anything, though, there’s a loud knocking and an enthusiastic warbling of Christmas songs at the front door. “Uh, can you get that?” Nick asks, a little breathless. He’s thrown a towel over his shoulder and pushed his hair out of his eyes, but a stray curl still tickles his forehead as he stares down at the food on the counter, trying not to seem stressed out.

You lean across it and push the curl out of the way, and he looks up briefly, smiling at you.

Sally’s knocking on the front door again by the time you drag yourself over to it, and you pull it open to reveal her and a slightly harried-looking Gray on the other side, each of them with arms full of gifts. Nick didn’t tell either of them to bring anything besides that, but Gray still brought a bottle of wine.

“Merry Christmas!” Sally cheers, her cheeks and the tip of her nose bright pink.

“What, no cat this year?” You back away from the door and sit on the staircase so they can both clamber inside the warm entryway.

“No, I figured Nicholas would get mad if he spent all night attacking the ornaments again,” Sally replies, kicking the door shut with her boot.

“You’re right, I would!”

You’re glad Sally didn’t bring the cat, actually – he nearly escaped last year when Gray was leaving, and Gray felt so terrible about it that apologized to Sally profusely every time he saw her for the next three weeks. As much as you love the cat, he’d just be something else to worry about tonight. While Sally bends over and unceremoniously dumps everything, including her sleepover bag, onto the ground, Gray tucks his shoes under the shoe rack with his toes and then looks down at the pile of gifts in his arms with defeat. “Uh,” he says, clearing his throat, “would either of you mind lending me a hand?”

You open your mouth to say something, but Sally beats you to it. “Here,” she says, taking two wrapped presents from his arms and handing them to you before grabbing the wine, “I’ll take this, and Mari will go with you to put the presents under the tree. Right, Mari?”

She turns to you and gives you a very pointed look. You sigh and force a smile.

“Sure,” you say. “Just don’t crack the wine open before we get back.”

“Ha-ha,” Sally responds.

Sure enough, once you’re a few steps ahead, Gray follows you dutifully into the living room. You try not to think about how good he looks in his sweater, which is red with little flecks of brown and beige – the same sweater he wore last year, you think, which you remember because Nick spilled wine on it and Gray assured him not to worry because it would just blend in with the rest of it, but you won’t say anything about him wearing it again because of how good he looks in it. (Not that that’s a surprise, because Gray looks good in everything.) You, on the other hand, are wearing a dress that Sally bought you for Christmas, a black velvet long sleeve with little gold stars all over it. It looks kind of like something that a kindergartener would wear, but she begged you to keep it and wear it this year and you know very well she wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, so you didn’t really have any other choice. That’s usually how it goes with her. Accompanying Gray to the living room just proves that.

“The tree looks lovely,” he says after you both put his presents underneath it, straightening up and leaning in to look at an ornament hanging from a higher branch. “And you look adorable in this picture, Mari.”

Adorable? “Oh, uh… that was from one of the Christmas parties that our parents used to drag us to,” you say. You’re sitting on Santa’s left, your face red and puffy from crying, and Nick’s sitting on Santa’s right, smiling pleasantly because of course he is. “I didn’t like any of the food there and threw a fit about it. My dad drove us to McDonald’s on the way home, but I fell asleep in the car.”

Gray smiles softly, turning to look at you. “You say that like you thought it would make the picture less adorable.”

You shrug. “Maybe you’re just easy to please.”

Nick calls your names from the kitchen, and Gray looks at the picture one last time before heading out of the room – you, on the other hand, stay rooted in place, your eyes drifting to the black and gray box under the tree that sits there, taunting you.

God. You wish he was easy to please.

You’re quick to follow, intent on forgetting about the present as much as you can for as long as you can, and take a seat beside Sally at the counter, where she and Nick are in a spirited debate about whether or not eggnog is an acceptable drink to have with you at dinner.

“It’s not,” Nick says as he spoons cranberry sauce into a small dish. “It’s a dessert drink, Salome.”

“You know nothing about drinks, Nicholas,” she replies. You can’t help but notice that she’s staring at his hands. “Do you remember –“

“The food looks great, Nick,” Gray interrupts, a valiant effort to stop their argument. He leans on the counter and looks at the spread laid out in front of all of you. “Should I crack open the wine now or later?”

Nick hums to himself, hands on his hips. “I don’t know,” he says. “Mari, are you going to drink?”

He lets you drink as long as you’re in the house and he can keep an eye on you – usually when you and Sally are having a sleepover and watching movies in the living room while he’s working on something in the kitchen – but you’d rather not risk letting anything embarrassing slip in front of Gray tonight. “No, I’m good,” you answer.

“I’m good, too,” Sally chirps. “I’ll be having eggnog with my dinner, thank you very much.”

“I’m not pouring that for you,” Nick says.

“Well…” She stares at him until he meets her eyes. “It’s a good thing I know where the glasses are, then, isn’t it, Nicholas?”

He shakes his head and laughs as she flits off towards the cupboards.

“Is that a yes to the wine, then?” Gray asks. He already has the bottle in his hands and looks desperately like he wants to open it.

“Sure,” Nick replies. “Open it up!”

It takes fifteen minutes for the four of you to set the table in the dining room. Sally complains once or twice about how much food there is and then bashfully thanks him for doing all the work, which he looks pleased by before responding with something unconvincingly snarky. Of course, you’re distracted thinking about your present, and in the end it’s Gray who directs the rest of you to put the dishes on the table so that it fits them all perfectly.

He was right, earlier – dinner smells good. It tastes even better. Nick complains about half of the dishes and tells you all about things he wished he had added, but eventually stops after the three of you shower him with compliments, and once he’s had half a glass of wine in him, he’s all smiles.

“I tried to tell Gray that he had toilet paper on his shoe when we left the bathroom, but he was walking so fast that I didn’t have a chance,” Nick is saying, “so we go up to this man –“

Gray’s redder than you’ve ever seen him. Even the tips of his ears are red. “Nick, please, the girls don’t want to hear this –“

“No, no, it’s funny!” Nick starts laughing to himself and clears his throat until he stops. “So we go up to this man and Gray’s holds out his hand and introduces himself, and the entire time I’m standing behind him and trying desperately to pull the toilet paper out from underneath his shoe without anyone noticing.”

Sally buries her face in her hands. “This is too much,” she murmurs. “I never thought I could feel so much second-hand embarrassment in my life.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m feeling second-hand embarrassment as well as first-hand embarrassment retroactively,” Gray says, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“It’s almost done, I promise.” Nick takes another sip of wine before launching into the last leg of the story. “So Gray’s talking to this guy, telling him all about Unity and whatever, and I’ve nearly pulled the toilet paper out when the Dean comes over to talk to the two of us and then freezes when she realizes what I’m doing. I can see her go from friendly to confused in a matter of seconds as she looks down and then Gray, you know, being who he is, turns around to greet her, but because I’m standing so close behind him, he elbows me in the stomach so hard I stumble backwards, and then Gray notices that I’m standing behind him and also that he has toilet paper on his shoe, and –”

Nick doesn’t finish his sentence before everyone’s laughing again, Sally laughing so hard she’s practically crying and continues to nearly choke on her mashed potatoes, and it takes a minute for you all to come down from it and start poking at your food again.

“So, Gray.” Sally cocks her head at him from where she sits across the table. “Do you have any embarrassing stories about Nicholas that you’d like to share?”

Gray purses his lips and taps his chin. “I’m not sure,” he answers, his blue eyes flicking up to the ceiling as he thinks. “Hm… You know, actually, there’s the one from when we went to this new club downtown and –“

Nick’s eyes widen, and he reaches out to place a hand on Gray’s arm. “Gray, no.”

“What?” Gray cocks his head in mock confusion. “It’s a funny story, Nick.”

“Well, if we’re offering up embarrassing Nick stories, I have plenty,” you offer.

“You guys are terrible.” Nick drops his face into his hands. “This is the thanks I get for cooking you all dinner?”

Gray sighs. “Alright, that’s a fair point.” He claps Nick on the shoulder. “Thank you for dinner, Nick. I’ll save my story for another day.”

Sighing, Nick pulls his hands away from his face and glares at Gray. “You know what? Christmas is cancelled next year,” he grumbles. “You can all find someone else to mooch dinner off of.”

By the time you’re all full and pushing away from the dining table, only half the food that Nick spent so long cooking has been eaten. At least you can give Gray leftovers to make sure he eats relatively healthy for the next little while. He’ll probably be back in a week for New Year’s – Sally will, too, if her dads agree – but there’s no saying how many meals he’ll accidentally skip until then.

“Presents, everyone?” Nick asks with a smile when you’ve all finished cleaning.

Honestly, you’d take Nick telling everyone an embarrassing story about you over Gray opening his present. You’d take the Christmas tree falling on you and setting your dress on fire over seeing whatever look is going to be on Gray’s face.

Sally goes first, as she usually does. She just said it as a joke the first year, but now it’s tradition. Eventually, though, the order of who gets to open gifts next is a little lost in translation – which isn’t unusual, considering how chaotic the rest of the night has been – and it’s only after Sally and Nick have hurriedly disappeared into the kitchen talking about the new pan she bought him that you realize you and Gray are alone.

And that there are only two presents left under the tree – his gift for you, and your gift for him.

He smiles at you from where he sits on the couch, sliding off and joining you on the floor. He’s still at least four feet away from you, but it feels much closer, really close, and he looks really pretty with the Christmas lights shining softly on his face and twinkling in his eyes. “And then there were two,” he says.

You can’t resist smiling back at him. “Yeah,” you reply, like an idiot. “You know, Gray, I’m not sure if –“

“Do you want to go first?”

You look at the little black box under the tree and bite your lip. No, you absolutely do not want to go first. Then again, the faster to get the humiliation over with, the better. “Um… why don’t we open them at the same time?” you suggest.

“Oh.” Gray nods. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”

He grabs your present, a big golden gift bag that you didn’t notice earlier, and places it on the floor in front of him, pushing it over to you. You do the same with the black box – God, you can’t wait to never see it again – and then you pick the gifts up at the same time, looking at each other as you do.

“Uh… you ready?” you ask. Gray nods.

You tear open the top of the bag as quickly as you’d do a band-aid – fitting, since he just taped it shut – and fish around in the mass of tissue paper inside until you can start to feel something fluffy halfway down. As you reach deeper into it and frown, you notice that Gray’s looking at you. He’s still looking at you, and he looks a little… scared?

“Gray?”

“Yes, sorry.”

The house is silent save for the Christmas music still playing over the speakers and the crinkling of gift wrapping. You can’t even hear Nick and Sally in the kitchen, and they’re usually not very quiet whenever they argue about something. At least they’re missing this, you think – at least you and Gray don’t have an audience for what already feels like a relatively awkward affair. You chew on the inside of your lip as you finally get a good hold on the present and pull it out of the bag, and it’s a little yellow bear wearing a black bowtie.

It takes you a second to understand what it is, and then it hits you.

You had a similar bear when you were younger. You told Gray about it one night when Nick was late coming home after making an emergency run to the grocery store for new spices and Gray asked you some stupid question about school. Usually you don’t answer those questions, with him or with anyone – you avoid them like you avoid everything else, make a joke or change the topic – but you did this time. Maybe it was the soft music that was playing over the speakers or the way Gray just looked at you like there was nothing else in the room. Everyone he talks to probably feels like that, something you know very well, but you just couldn’t help it.

Some kid in your third-grade class – a Ment, just your luck – had seen you carrying the bear around every day since your birthday and heard you thinking about how much you loved it, so one day, probably just to spite you for getting a higher mark on a test or something, he stole it from your locker. He also never gave it back. He got in trouble, of course – your parents made sure of that – but he said he lost it on the way home, so there was nothing more that you could do after that.

Now, over ten years later, Gray got you what looks like the same stuffed animal with its name embroidered on the foot and, to be honest, you could probably cry over the mental image of Fortitude asking someone – probably a sweet little old lady – to embroider the word ‘Honey’ onto a bear wearing a little bowtie.

“Oh, Mari!” Gray looks up at you, smiling so much you can see his dimple and pulling his present – a silver watch – from the box. “This is amazing.”

God, you’re blushing so much from everything happening that you could probably heat the entire house for the rest of the winter. “Well, I thought I should get you a replacement since yours has been broken for months.” And it has been – you can’t count how many times he’s gone to check his watch and then had to pull his phone out of his pocket and then, because sometimes he forgets to charge it throughout the day, you have to pull your phone out of your pocket, and it turns into a big thing. “And this one’s a little more, uh, modern. According to the saleslady, anyway.”

The saleslady who thought you were getting this present for your husband and kept saying that even though it’s very obvious that you’re still a couple months away from turning twenty. You can blame her for being so nervous about it.

“That’s very thoughtful, thank you.” He turns the watch over in his hands and then stops, squinting and leaning closer to inspect the back of it. “And it gets better!”

The same saleslady as before who also frowned at you when you asked if you could get the words “Merry Christmas, Cookie Monster” engraved on the back of it. And yeah, sure, it was incredibly embarrassing to do that and made you lie face-down on your bed for an hour when you got home and yeah, sure, it made the whole thing a little more expensive than you’d hoped, but seeing his face and knowing that he likes it was worth the embarrassment and empty pockets.

“Thank you so much, Mari. I’ll treasure it.” He grins at you and then catches sight of the bear in your hands. “And do you like your -?”

“Yeah,” you answer, fiddling with the velvet bowtie. “Yeah, he’s… uh, it’s perfect.”

“Good,” Gray says, his shoulders sagging as he sighs like he had been holding his breath. “I’m glad. I thought you might not like it or might find it strange…”

“No, no! It’s – I love it, Gray. It’s really… um… thoughtful of you, too.”

He looks back down at the watch in his hand, running his thumb along the strap as a crease forms between his eyebrows, and then, right as he looks back up and opens his mouth to say something, Sally comes careening into the room and stops in her tracks as soon as she spots what you’re holding. “Oh my God!” she says, hurrying over and kneeling down beside you. “Is that Honey? He’s been resurrected! Returned to us from beyond the grave!”

“Back and better than ever,” you say, smiling at Gray even though he can’t see you as he shows Nick the features of his new watch. “And look at his little foot.”

Sally practically squeals when she sees it, her eyes lighting up before she pauses, turns to the boys and forces a pout. “Gray, you’re making me look like a chump,” she says. “I’m supposed to get Mari the best Christmas gift because I’m her best friend.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Sally,” Gray replies without even trying to sound like he’s not lying. “Though, if it makes you feel any better, I like Mari’s present more than Nick’s.”

“Hey,” Nick protests, half-heartedly punching Gray on the arm. “At least wait until I’m out of the room to say stuff like that, would you?”

The rest of the night passes in a blur – you’re so relieved that Gray liked his present and so pleased with yours that you can barely focus when Sally opens up her new board game from Nick so all of you can play it together– and by the time Gray’s leaving and you all him at the front door to say good-bye, you’re still clutching the bear against your chest. Yeah, it feels kind of silly to spend all night with a stuffed animal, but… It’s a gift from Gray. What else are you supposed to do with it besides hang onto it for dear life and hope someone doesn’t take it away from you?

Once he leaves, you and Sally flop down on the couch with her head in your lap. “So,” she asks, “good night?”

“Yeah,” you answer as she takes the bear from you and turns it over in her hands. “Definitely a good night.”

“Such a nice gift. When did you tell him about this little guy?”

“Like… six months ago.”

“Um, okay, are we ignoring how cute it is that he remembered that?” Sally sits up and leans in conspiratorially. “Or do you think he bought it the day after you told him and has been hanging onto it all year or something?”

“No, no, probably not,” you say, reaching out and pulling the bear out of her hands. “Nick probably told him to get it.”

“No, I didn’t.” Nick appears at the bottom of the stairs in his PJs and runs a hand through his hair. “Salome’s right, actually – he got it a couple months ago. He’s basically asked me once a week since then if I was sure you wouldn’t find it weird or if it was stepping over a boundary or something. He had to find a seamstress and ask her to make the bow and sew it on herself.” Laughing, Nick continues, “I think he told me that he gave her a fifty-dollar tip or something.”

“Oh my God, I just realized that it matches your dress!” Sally snatches the bear from you again and holds it up. “I told you this dress was a good idea. We should take a picture of you and send it to him!”

“What? No!” You take it back from Sally – again – and put it on the end table so she can’t reach it. “Why are you guys being so weird about this?”

“Duh, because it’s cute!” Sally replies. When she looks over at Nick, though, he gives her a small shake of his head. “But, uh… if you don’t wanna keep talking about it, then I think we could make this night even better by starting our annual rewatch of all the classic Christmas movies. And maybe Nicholas will let us have some of that red wine…?”

“Gray took it home,” he says. “Besides, there’s plenty of eggnog left for you if you want it.”

“Ooh. Good point.” Sally swings her legs over the side of the couch and hops off. “Where are the snacks?”

“In the cupboard.” He watches her go. “You can take what you want, Salome, but please use a plate!”

When Sally’s left the room, Nick turns to you. “Gray likes his present, by the way.” There’s a twinkle in his eye and what looks like both a smirk and a smile at the same time on his lips. “And you know, Mari, he’s probably going to wear this one for years until it breaks too.”

… Oh.

You hadn’t thought about it like that. Gray, wearing the watch that you got him for Christmas years from now…

Fuck, your heart can’t take all this sentimentality. You’ll just get him a gift card next year instead.

[darkdevasofdestruction]

lmao retail workers always have aces up their sleeves! Anyways, I'm in a sally face mood today and it's been a while since last time I requested something! Can I request some fluffy romantic head-canons for Sally? 💙 ilovehimsomuch I need some cliché high school crush stuff, how would he get his clueless S/O's attention, how does he confess? Kill me with fluff! *swoons*

GJAUIWKUFYVHCHEJBFILAUSOV*PUIG FHAWUIFG F:IAWOFIGAWIUA

YOU LIKE

SALLY FAC E!?#!?!

OF:AH:AWIFHOAWUFHOAWU:FHAW

I SCREECHED OUT LOUD AND I TEARED UP

OAUGIAAWI’M  BREATHING HEAVIER THAN THE HEAVY BREATHING CAT MEME

YES YES YEFS YE SYE SYES YES I WILL WRITE ANYTHING FOR SALLY MY GOD, I CAN’T STOP MY EXCTITEMENT, BLESSSSSSS, IDK IF I CAN WRITE PROPERLY, I”M SORRY BUT OMFG I”m SO ENTHUSIASTIC ATM ;AWIHFAWOF:HAWO

---

HE IS SO SWEET AND BEAUTIFUL

And yes, now I can write properly, got a 15 minute walk with my puppy and now I’m calmer.All good x

---

Poor Poor Sal, if it wasn’t for Larry and his other friends that he met, his Highschool experience would have been a living nightmare...Not that most of his life wasn’t already pretty tragic as it was.

Thankfully, he wasn’t a dumb person, contrary to what his bullies thought, but he wasn’t a genius either, so there were a few times where he might have needed some academic help, and you were there to help, which is how you became friends.

He was absolutely shocked that you treated him so kindly, as if there wasn’t nothing wrong with him - Or rather said, as if he was just a normal kid with no mask, no weird long blue hair with 2 pigtails and a girly nickname or a pretty short stature.

Sal was even more surprised when you suggested going to a nice and more private cafe to study, claiming it would be a much better atmosphere for studying and relaxing, which would eliminate any shyness and nervousness either of you would have, and honestly, he was incredibly grateful for your intuition and kindness with everything.

Your voice was so warm and kind, you were so patient, helping him out with every little thing that for you might seem easy, but he was struggling with...

Your smile was dazzling, looking like literal sunshine, your hair was draping and framing your face like you were a renaissance painting made by da Vinci, and your vibe was so soothing that he felt as safe as if you, a guardian angel, was wrapping her pristine wings around him.

His heart was beating so fast, and at first he didn’t understand why - Or rather said, he didn’t want to admit that he actually fell for someone.

I mean...He’s Sally Face...Who’d ever like someone as weird and disfigured as him...?

That day, when you were done studying, he walked you home, and you smiled so sweetly at him when you waved him goodbye, that he felt his knees weaken.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sal.”

It wasn’t a goodbye, it was a see you later - You actually were okay with seeing him again.

Larry is the first person who hears about everything and you bet he’s super happy about the whole idea, and he’s going to play match-maker no matter what.

His bro’s happiness is the most important thing in his life, after all, and if you showed him so much kindness and were so passive about his looks and everything, then that can only mean you have the potential to be such a great match for the blue haired soft baby.

From then on, Larry is going to make sure you are one of the group and you hang out with them more often, and as often as possible, would get everyone away from there, leaving only the two of you alone.

Sal would try to use some gaming flirt lines or pick up lines, but you’d merely laugh at how funny, cute and imaginative they were, not picking up the hint.

He would give you little gifts, with some occasions even flowers, but you’d only play it as him being a sweetheart with his friends.

He would even write songs for you and will give them to you, but you only thought he was trying to write love songs to express himself.

Everything he tried to do, all the little, subtle...Not so subtle hints that he tried to give you, when he tried to test out the waters...They only made you think he was a nice friend.

He couldn’t realise how you could be so clueless to his affections towards you, and it was driving him crazy.

Not only him, but Larry as well, would groan and hit his head on the desk, annoyed at how blind you could be and how you were forcing Sal to outright confess his love for you, so after a long enough time, when the blue haired boy finally managed to muster the courage, Larry started helping him create a love confession.

He would hype up Sally a lot and help him rehears how to ask you out, what to wear, what to say, what to gift you and so on...

But honestly now, when do plans E V E R work the way they are supposed to?!

He’s a mess, he’s stuttering and blushing like crazy (not that you can see it), he somehow managed to grip so hard on the flowers out of anxiousness that he destroyed them and he basically had to run away so he wouldn’t make an even bigger idiot out of him and make you hate him.

You tried to access his walkie talkie a lot, but he kept it shut out of embarrassment, so Larry was the next best option, and he mentioned a place where Sal would go sometimes when he needs to feel better, so following the directions, you saw Sal playing his guitar while staring up at the cloud, his voice expressing the beautiful sorrow that he felt in his heart.

You listened attentively to the sad lyrics and you realised that he himself wrote the lyrics, and you approached him as soon as he was done with the song.

“That was beautiful, Sal. I never knew you had such an angelic voice. And your guitar skills are really something...Will you teach me one day?” you walked next to him, unintentionally scaring him out of his wits.

That only made him let out a small shriek, jolting in place and hitting his head on a tree branch, and in result, making his mask fly away.

He didn’t realise it at first, especially because you didn’t sketch any kind of reaction when you went to fetch him back the mask, and he only realised it when you kneeled next to him, offering to help him put it back.

Poor Sally freaked out big time, covering his face, saying how you shouldn’t look at someone like him, that you’re too perfect to stay around him, and you could feel his voice wavering, breaking, his eyes glistering with tears.

It took every ounce of power you had to put away his hands and kiss him as gently as possible, only to leave him speechless, powerless, unable to hold the tears from streaming his pale cheeks.

Once you reassure him that he is in no way ugly, and that he shouldn’t ever downgrade his worth the way he did, the only thing he can say is a short and genuine love confession, so soft and genuine that it made your heart skip a bit, seeing the love and innocence in his beautiful eyes.

From then on, you, Sal and Larry would be the terrific trio, but this is a request specifically about Sally, so here goes that.

He’s still going to feel insecure, since you could do SO much better, he says, but you wouldn’t hear any of that shit.

He would let you play with his hair, styling it in any way you want, and hell, if you want to, he could style your hair in any way you want, and yes, that means braiding too.

Sally would absolutely MELT if you’d want to match clothes or hairstyles with him, oh god, how cute would that be?!

He honestly looks at you like a Goddess or something since you’re always so sweet with him, even during the times when you’re sad about something, which is when he knows he must step in and make sure you’re okay, trying his best to at least make you smile, if you can’t feel a genuine laugh.

Sal loves to gift you plushies for some reason and when he sees you cuddling with it on a night when you have a sleep over...You killed this boy.

Overall, he’s...Like...The sweetest person in the world? Would care about you, your heart and your well-being literally above anything else?

Would be okay with hugs and cuddles and kisses of any kind at ANY time you want, no matter the place or occasion.

If you’re in public, he would blush a bit, but as long as it made you happy, it didn’t really matter.

And, I mean, it kinda made him be filled with a certain sense of pride and confidence whenever you’d so freely flaunt your relationship in public because -

YOU WEREN’T ASHAMED OF BEING WITH HIM!!!

And

HE WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE AN ANGEL AS HIS LOVER!!!

So basically

He got the Jackpot.

[my-random-ocs]

Rise Up Chapter 1: Percy Blows Up Another Building

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x OC (eventual)

Warnings: Mentions of Percy accidentally blowing up a school, betrayal, angst

<<< Previous || Masterlist || Next >>>

"You know this isn't as bad as you think," I told Annabeth, walking down the street.

"Of course it is!" Annabeth insisted. "It's awful!"

"You're being dramatic. Having feelings for Percy... it's great." Annabeth opened her mouth to protest, but I interrupted. "Look, he's a great guy. And it's obvious he's been in love with you since you nursed him back to health and announced he drooled in his sleep. What's so bad about having feelings for him?"

Annabeth looked down at the ground, kicking a pebble along with her feet. "I just- I feel vulnerable."

"Perfectly natural when you have a crush," I assured her.

She sent me a look. "Says the girl who's never had a crush."

"There was this one boy," I said, casting my eyes downward. I shake my head. "I was also ten and he was one of, like, two friends." The boy I was talking about was one I haven't talked about at camp often- even to Annabeth, though she was my best friend. Doing well in school was fairly uncommon when you're a demigod, what with a large percentage having learning disabilities, and skipping a grade was almost unheard of. I was an exception. I skipped the fourth grade, despite having ADHD and dyslexia. It also didn’t help that I’m on the autism spectrum, and that I had gotten kicked out of two elementary schools before Beacon Hills Elementary. I didn't have very many friends before I got to Camp Half-Blood, but there was this boy who was my best friend, and he always defended me.

“Zia!” Annabeth called, waving a hand in front of my face, breaking me from my thoughts. “Help, please!”

“What do you need help with?” I asked, smiling. “Gods, you’re dramatic! You’re not going to die for having feelings- what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is- I just- what if he doesn’t-” Annabeth stammered.

“The last words out of your mouth better not be ‘what if he doesn’t like me?’ because I will be forced to kick your butt,” I said. “Annabeth, the guy is crazy about you- or was last winter not enough proof of that?” Last winter, Annabeth had gotten kidnapped by a monster and taken to Mount Tamalpais. Percy had just about gone crazy with worry. Annabeth looked at her feet. I nudged her shoulder with mine. “Look, you guys are…” I wave my hand around, looking for the right words. “Meant to be.”

Annabeth snorted. “Oh, yeah, you’re definitely Aphrodite’s daughter.”

“Shut up,” I grinned.

More serious now, Annabeth said, “This is the first time I’ve told anyone. It just- it makes it real.”

I smile softly at her. “Look, whatever happens… you’re going to be okay. Just tell him how you feel. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Annabeth widened her eyes. “He could hear me?”

I laughed, linking my arm through hers and walking faster down the sidewalk toward Percy’s school.

My friend Percy Jackson was recently accepted into Goode High School, the school his mom’s boyfriend teaches English at. I attended Abigail Adams Academy, a K-12 private school near my apartment that I managed to get a scholarship to. I tried to talk him up to the principal there, but they heard Percy’s reputation of getting expelled, and didn’t want to deal with that. Right now, he is at orientation. Why a school held freshman orientation in June, who knows, but he was getting let out in a few minutes. After that, he and Annabeth were going to go to a movie, and that would be my cue to head to Percy’s apartment to visit his mom, Sally. I was meeting my sister and niece there.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed and I pulled it out of the back pocket of my jeans to see a text from my friend Kira. While I was still in the city, I had decided not to wear my camp gear, opting for plain jeans, a long-sleeve gray t-shirt, black converse high tops, and my favorite dark pink hijab. In early June, it was too warm for a jacket.

Hey the text read. Do you want to hang out tonight? Just rented Star Wars

I smiled. Love to. Text you later?

See you

I turn my phone off and put it back in my bag.

“Who was that?” Annabeth asked.

“My friend Kira,” I answered. “We go to school together.”

Just as Annabeth and I arrived at Goode High School, I spotted Percy sprinting down the hill. “Hey, you’re out early!” Annabeth said, clearly excited. She grabbed his shoulders, steadying him. “Watch where you’re going, Seaweed Brain.”

Percy’s appearance was my cue to leave and head to Sally’s apartment. I was about to say goodbye to both of them when a redheaded girl came out. “Percy! Wait up!” She called.

I glanced behind Percy and gasped at the sight of the smoking school in the distance, fire alarms ringing out. “What did you do?” I demanded, my eyes still on the scene.

“And who is this?” Annabeth frowned.

“Rachel Elizabeth Dare,” I realized, recognizing her from last winter.

“Yeah,” she said. “Sorry, I didn’t get your name last year.”

Percy was flustered. “Oh, Rachel- Annabeth and Zia. Guys- Rachel. Um, she’s a friend. I guess.”

“Hi,” Rachel greeted us quickly, then turned back to Percy. “You are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation.

Sirens wailed, getting louder as they made their way up the street.

“Percy,” Annabeth said coldly. “We should go.”

“I want to know more about half-bloods,” Rachel said as if she didn’t hear. I looked at Percy in surprise. He told a mortal about demigods? “And monsters. And then stuff about the gods.” She suddenly grabbed Percy’s arm, took out a marker, and wrote a phone number on his hand. “You’re going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going.”

Percy shook his head. “But-”

“I’ll make up some story,” Rachel insisted. “I’ll tell them it wasn’t your fault. Just go!”

Before anyone could respond, she ran back toward the school, leaving Annabeth, Percy, and I standing on the street.

Annabeth stared at Percy for a moment, then turned and took off down the street without a word.

I offered Percy an encouraging smile, then followed Annabeth.

“Hey!” Percy called, jogging after us. “There were these two empousai-”

My heart stopped. “Empousai?” I demanded. I immediately reached for my camp necklace, and to a locket charm that hung there. In the locket was a photo of me, Nisha, and our father before the attack.

Percy nodded reluctantly, knowing that my father was killed by an empousa. “They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and-”

“You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?” Annabeth demanded.

I flinched at her tone, suddenly wishing I was anywhere but here.

“She can see through the Mist,” Percy explained.

“She can?” I asked.

Percy nodded. “Yeah. She saw the monsters before I did.”

“So you told her the truth,” Annabeth said.

“She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so-”

“You’ve met her before?”

“We met last winter, when we were looking for you,” I explained. “Percy almost killed her, and she could see the monsters then, too.”

Annabeth’s expression softened only slightly at the mention of her kidnapping. “She’s kind of cute,” she observed.

I looked at Percy, who was slightly confused. Oh, gods, Percy answer faster, please.

“I never thought about it,” he said.

Answer better.

Annabeth just kept walking.

“I’ll deal with the school,” Percy promised. “Honest, it’ll be fine.”

Annabeth wouldn’t look at either of us. “I guess our afternoon is off. We should get you out of here, now that the police will be searching for you.”

I nodded in agreement, fingering my camp necklace nervously as I watched flames billow up from Goode High School. What had Percy said? Camp would burn.

“You’re right,” Percy said. “We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Now.”

____________

Annabeth was angry the entire cab ride to Long Island.

All Percy managed to get out of her was that she had had a monster-infested spring in San Francisco, and had come back to camp twice. She wouldn’t tell Percy why, but I knew- I had gone to camp for the same reason. We told Percy that neither of us had heard anything about Nico di Angelo, this demigod son of Hades we found last winter. After his sister died, he ran away from Camp Half-Blood, and, despite our best efforts, we have no idea where he is.

“Any word on Luke?” Percy asked.

Annabeth shook her head. The subject of Luke was a pretty touchy topic for Annabeth. He had practically raised her since she was seven, and she always admired him. About two years ago, he had betrayed the camp and joined Kronos, the king of the titans. Last winter, we fought him on Mount Tamalpais, and he somehow survived a fifty-foot drop off a cliff. Annabeth refused to admit it, but I knew that she still believed in him, and wanted him to come home. Me? The jerk betrayed his girlfriend, two young girls he helped raise, and an infant daughter, though he hadn’t known he had a daughter then, not to mention an entire camp who loved and admired him. Annabeth might not have lost faith in him, but I certainly have.

“Mount Tam is still overrun with monsters,” Annabeth said. “I didn’t dare go close, but I don’t think Luke is up there. I think I would know if he was.”

“What about Grover?” I asked, because I hadn’t really heard from him either.

“He’s at camp. We’ll see him today.”

“Did he have any luck with the search for Pan?” Grover had been searching for Pan since he heard the god’s voice last winter, but hasn’t heard anything since.

Annabeth fingered her bead necklace nervously. “You’ll see,” she said vaguely. Percy and I exchanged worried glances.

As we headed through Brooklyn, Percy called his mom with Annabeth’s phone, and I used my own to call my sister to tell her what was happening. Demigods normally try not to use cell phones, since using one is like broadcasting a light up sign saying “EAT ME”, but I knew my sister would be concerned. As understanding as she is about how suddenly I need to go to camp sometimes, she has the tendency to worry.

After that, the rest of the ride was silent. I decided to text Kira quickly, and tell her I wouldn’t make our Star Wars marathon tonight. I turned my phone off without waiting for a reply. Sometimes I wished I was normal. I loved camp, and my friends, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything, but sometimes, like today, I just wanted to hang out and watch a movie without the fear of monsters attacking or having to ditch them to go to camp because another friend accidentally blew up their school.

Eventually, Annabeth had the cab driver pull over on Farm Road 3.141, the base of Half-Blood Hill.

“Ain’t nothing here, miss,” the driver frowned. “You sure you want out?”

“Yes, please,” Annabeth said, and handed him a wad of cash. The driver decided not to argue.

We hiked up the hill, where the young dragon Peleus was sleeping, coiled around the pine tree. He lifted his head as we approached, and allowed me to scratch under his chin.

“Hi, Peleus,” I said. “Keeping everything safe, baby?”

Last time I saw Peleus, he was about six feet long, and now he was at least twice that, and as thick as the tree. Hanging on a branch was the Golden Fleece, protecting the camp’s magic borders from unwanted visitors, like monsters. Peleus was relaxed, so I knew nothing was wrong.

Camp Half-Blood itself looked peaceful, normal even- as normal as you can get at a camp with monster-infested woods, a climbing wall oozing lava, and real swords.

Still, something felt off. You could feel the tension in the air, as if the whole place was holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen.

“I need to talk to Clarisse,” Annabeth said as we walked through the valley.

“What for?” Percy asked in surprise. Normally, Annabeth and Clarisse never even got along, much less worked together. But this was important.

“We’ve been working on something. Zia, too,” she answered. “See you later.” She turned to me. “Z, stay with Percy.” I nodded.

“Workin on what?” Percy asked, looking between Annabeth and I.

“I’ll tell Chiron you guys are here,” Annabeth said instead of answering the question. “He’ll want to talk to you before the hearing.”

“What hearing?”

She didn’t answer, jogging toward the Big House without looking back. Percy looked at me.

“We’ll explain later,” I said vaguely.

“Does… does it have something to do with Luke?” He asked tentatively.

I nodded, fingering my camp necklace. “It has everything to do with Luke.”

____________

Eventually, we made our way to the sword arena to train. We walked into the amphitheater, and Percy threw an arm across my stomach, pushing me back. My eyes focused on what he spotted, and my heart stopped. Sitting in the middle of the room, chewing on a combat dummy, was a hellhound.

It hadn’t noticed Percy or I yet, but it would soon.

Percy took out his sword, and charged. “Yaaaaah!” He yelled, bringing the blade down toward the hellhound when someone came out of nowhere and blocked Percy’s strike with a clang.

The hellhound perked up. “WOOF!”

I drew my own sword, ready to jump in, but Percy seemed to be handling it fine.

“Whoa, there!” The man yelled. “Truce!”

“WOOF!” The hellhound barked again.

“That’s a hellhound!” Percy shouted.

“She’s harmless,” the man said. “That’s Mrs. O’Leary.”

“Mrs. O’Leary?” I asked.

At the sound of her name, Mrs. O’Leary barked again, and I realized she wasn’t angry, but excited. She nudged the soggy practice dummy toward the stranger, and he happily took it, saying, “Good girl.” He launched it across the room toward the bleachers. “Get the Greek! Get the Greek!”

Mrs. O’Leary bounded after the dummy and started chewing on its helmet.

The stranger smiled dryly. He looked to be in his fifties, with short gray hair and beard. He was in good shape for a man that age. He wore black pants and a bronze breastplate over a camp t-shirt. I noticed a weird-looking purple blotch on his neck, like a tattoo, but he covered it with his armor before I could ask what it was.

“Mrs. O’Leary is my pet,” he explained. “I couldn’t let you stick a sword in her rump, now, could I? That might have scared her.”

“Who are you, exactly?”

“Quintus,” he said, sticking out his hand. I didn’t shake it, and he pulled it back toward his side. I didn’t love physical contact with people that I am not comfortable around (for example, holding hands and hugging my friends is fine, but Quintus was a stranger). Plus, I was Muslim, and there were certain restrictions for physical contact between a man and a woman, though sometimes I ignored them when it came to my friends.

“Zia Banerjee,” I answered, giving a small wave.

“Percy Jackson,” Percy said, eyeing the hellhound. “Sorry about- How did you, um-”

“Get a hellhound for a pet?” Quintus asked. “Long story, involving many close calls with death and a few giant chew toys. I’m the new sword instructor, by the way. Helping out Chiron while Mr. D. is away.”

“Mr. D. is away?” I asked. Why would Mr. D. leave camp?

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Percy whispered, making me snort.

“Yes, well… busy times,” Quintus answered. “Even Dionysus must help out. He’s gone to visit some old friends. Make sure they’re on the right side. I probably shouldn’t say more than that.”

I slowly stepped toward Mrs. O’Leary while Quintus spoke. Despite the hellhounds I’ve encountered in my life, this one didn’t seem dangerous. Or, she was, but not to me, at least.

She stayed calm as I walked over, happily nudging my hand, clearly wanting pets. I giggled softly as I scratched the top of her head. She sighed. It almost looked like she was smiling.

“Good girl,” I smiled. “You’re such a good girl.”

“She’s very gentle,” Quintus said. “She won’t hurt you.”

“I can tell,” I laughed. “She’s so sweet.”

Suddenly, there was a loud thump. Six very large wooden crates were stacked off to the side, and something was rattling inside. Mrs. O’Leary heard and started toward them.

“Whoa, girl!” Quintus called quickly. “Those aren’t for you.” To distract her, he tossed a large bronze shield for the hellhound like it was a frisbee.

The crates shook. They said something, but I was having a hard time reading the words due to my dyslexia.

“What’s Triple G Ranch?” Percy asked.

“A little surprise,” Quintus said. “Training activity for tomorrow night. You’ll love it.”

Along the bottom, I managed to make out a few sentences- a warning label, in all caps: OPEN WITH CARE. TRIPLE G RANCH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE, MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.

“Sounds awesome,” I said.

Quintus threw the shield again, and Mrs. O’Leary bounded after it. “You young ones need more challenges. They didn’t have camps like this when I was a boy.”

“You- you’re a half-blood?” Percy asked in surprise. I was, too. I’ve never met an adult demigod before. I didn’t think my sister really counted.

Quintus just chuckled. “Some of us do survive into adulthood, you know. Not all of us are the subject of terrible prophecies.”

“You know about my prophecy?”

“I’ve heard a few things.”

I wanted to ask what few things, but then I heard a clip-clop, and I turned to see Chiron step into the arena. “Percy, Zia, there you are! I see you’ve met our new instructor.” Chiron sounded casual, but I could see the uneasiness in his eyes. “Quintus, do you mind if I borrow Zia and Percy?”

“Not at all, Master Chiron.”

“No need to call me ‘Master’,” Chiron said, though he sounded pleased. “Come, both of you. We have much to discuss.”

“Well, see you,” Percy said to Quintus.

“See you later,” I said. I turned to Mrs. O’Leary, smiling and using the same tone I used for my little niece. “And bye, baby girl.”

As we walked away, Percy said to me, “I love how you barely talked to the human at all, but talked to the hellhound like she was Amara.”

I shrugged. “She was adorable,” I countered simply.

He smiled, then turned to Chiron, his expression becoming more serious. “Quintus seems kind of-”

“Mysterious?” Chiron supplied. “Hard to read?”

Percy nodded. “Yeah.”

Chiron nodded. “A very qualified half-blood. Excellent swordsman. I just wish I understood…”

He trailed off, apparently thinking better of saying whatever he was about to say. “First things first, Percy. Annabeth told me you met some empousai.”

“Yeah,” Percy said. He told Chiron about the two empousai he fought at Goode, and how one of them, Kelli, had burst into flames.

“Mm,” Chiron said, considering everything Percy had told us. “The more powerful ones can do that. She did not die, Percy. She simply escaped. It is not good that the she-demons are stirring.”

“What were they doing there?” Percy asked. “Waiting for me?”

You know, High School Musical really gave you unrealistic expectations about high school. Troy and Gabriella weren’t exactly fighting monsters in between musical numbers.

“Possibly,” Chiron frowned.

“It’s amazing you survived,” I said, thinking again of my father. “They’re wonderful at deception. Any male hero would’ve been devoured.”

“I would’ve been,” Percy admitted. “Except for Rachel.”

Chiron nodded. “Ironic to be saved by a mortal, yet we owe her a debt. What the empousa said about an attack on camp- we must speak of this further. But for now, come, we should get to the woods. Grover will want you there.”

“Where?” I asked, gladly taking the change of subject.

“At his formal hearing,” Chiron said grimly. “The Council of Cloven Elders is meeting now to decide his fate.”

____________

Chiron said that we needed to hurry, so Percy and I rode on his back. I thought I knew the woods pretty well after living at camp for four years, but Chiron took us an unfamiliar way. We galloped through a tunnel of old willow trees, past a waterfall, and into a glade blanketed with wildflowers.

Three satyrs were seated on rose bush thrones in a circle, with Grover standing nervously in the middle, telling them a story. I figured that this must be the Council of Cloven Elders.

Standing off to the side was Clarisse and Annabeth, who had an arm around Juniper, a dryad, and Grover’s girlfriend. I had met her once when I came back to camp during the spring for the project me, Clarisse, and Annabeth were working on. I liked her a lot.

“It’s going terribly,” Juniper sniffled.

“No, no,” Annabeth reassured her. “He’ll be fine, Juniper.”

“Grover’s girlfriend,” I whispered in Percy’s ear, and he looked at me in surprise.

“Master Underwood!” One of the council members shouted, interrupting Grover. “Do you seriously expect us to believe this?”

“B-but Silenus,” Grover stammered. “It’s the truth!”

Silenus turned to his colleagues and muttered something. Chiron stepped up to them, and I remembered that he was an honorary member of the council.

“Master Underwood,” Silenus continued, “for six months- six months- we have been hearing these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak.”

“But I did!” Grover insisted.

“Impudence!” Exclaimed another elder.

“Now, Maron,” Chiron said in an attempt to calm the group. “Patience.”

“Patience, indeed!” Maron said. “I’ve had it up to my horns with this nonsense. As if the wild god would speak to… to him.”

I raised my eyebrows, ready to go over there and knock the horns off their entitled heads, when Juniper bravely stepped forward, looking like she wanted to beat them up herself. Annabeth and Clarisse held her back.

“Wrong fight, girlie,” Clarisse muttered. “Wait.”

“For six months,” Silenus continued, “we have indulged you, Master Underwood. We let you travel. We allowed you to keep your searcher’s license. We waited for you to bring proof of your preposterous claim. And what have you found in six months of travel?”

“I just need more time,” Grover pleaded.

“Nothing!” The third elder chimed. “You have found nothing.”

“But, Leneus-”

Silenus raised his hand, silencing him. Chiron leaned in and muttered something to the group. The council didn’t look happy, and argued amongst themselves, but Chiron said something else, and Silenus sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“Master Underwood,” Silenus said, “we will give you one more chance.”

Grover brightened, and I smiled. “Thank you!” He said.

“One more week.”

The smile dropped off my face. “What?” Grover exclaimed. “But sir! That’s impossible!”

“One more week, Master Underwood. And then, if you cannot prove your claims, it will be time for you to pursue another career. Something suited to your dramatic talents. Puppet theater, perhaps. Or tap dancing.”

I narrowed my eyes in anger.

“But, sir, I- I can’t lose my searcher’s license,” Grover stammered. “My whole life-”

“This meeting of the council is adjourned,” Silenus interrupted, ignoring Grover. “And now let us enjoy our noonday meal!”

He clapped his hands, and a bunch of nymphs stepped out of the trees with platters of vegetables, fruits, tin cans, and other stuff satyrs liked. While the council ate, Grover walked toward us, dejected.

“Hey, guys,” he said sadly. “That went well, huh?”

“Want me to fight those guys for you?” I asked. “Because they seem to suck, and I will totally fight those guys for you.”

“Those old goats!” Juniper exclaimed. “Oh, Grover, they don’t know how hard you’ve tried!”

“There is another option,” Clarisse said darkly.

“No. No,” Juniper immediately protested, shaking her head. “Grover, I won’t let you.”

His face was ashen. “I- I’ll have to think about it. But we don’t even know where to look.”

“We’ll figure it out,” I assured him, knowing what Clarisse meant. “We’ll find something.”

“What are you talking about?” Percy asked, confused.

Before anyone could explain, the conch horn sounded.

“I’ll fill you in later, Percy,” Annabeth said. “We’d better get back to our cabins. Inspection is starting.”

____________

I walked quickly toward the Aphrodite cabin, where I was senior counselor- well, half the time, anyway. Since I had been at camp longer than anyone in cabin ten, I was the official head counselor after my sister left. But since I lived away from camp during the school year, my older sister Silena Beauregard took over.

“Hi!” I called, grinning as soon as I saw her. She was straightening her bunk, and overseeing the rest of the cabin cleanup in preparation for cabin inspection in a few minutes.

“Hey!” Silena greeted happily, placing her inspection scroll and pen to the side to hug me. “I thought you weren’t getting here until tomorrow.”

“Little thing with Percy,” I said, pulling away. “It’s fine- I’m happy to be here.” I looked around the cabin. “The place looks great.”

It was true. My siblings were normally neat-freaks, and honestly, so was I, so our cabin always looked nice. I turned back to Silena. “You’re doing a good job.”

For a split second, she looked pained. But when I blinked, she was smiling brightly, so I must have imagined it. “Thanks. Hey, how’s Nisha? And Amara?”

“They’re doing great,” I said. “Amara’s growing like a weed.”

“Hey, Silena?” A timid voice called. I turned to see a young girl with braces and pigtails step hesitantly up to us. “Where are the trash bags kept?”

Silena reached out, grabbing the girl’s hand and pulling her closer to us. “Oh, Lacy, I want you to meet Zia Banerjee, our sister, and senior counselor in the summers. Zia, this is Lacy. She got here a few weeks ago. Mitchell found her on his way to camp.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I smiled, holding my hand out for Lacy to shake. She shook it, smiling shyly, then turned back to Silena.

“Trash bags are in the bathroom, under the sink,” Silena said. Lacy nodded and scampered off.

“Okay, she’s adorable,” I told my sister.

“I know, right?” She agreed. “Really shy, though. She’s practically imprinted on me, and Mitchell.” Mitchell was one of our half-brothers, and a year younger than me.

I laughed. “Well, we’ll get her out of her shell soon enough,” I said, and Silena laughed.

“I should go,” she said, picking up her scroll and pen. “Inspection is starting. I’ll see you in a little while, for dinner.”

I nodded, and Silena stepped toward the door. “Hey, Silena,” I called, turning to face her before she walked out.

“Yeah?” She asked.

“What do you know about Quintus?”

Her expression darkened. “I don’t know much,” she answered. “But I know his presence probably means something bad is going to happen.”

____________

After inspection was over- cabin ten did very well- I decided to head down to the strawberry fields with my guitar and song notebook. I was a few measures into the song I had been working on when a voice called out from behind me, “Writing a song about me?”

I jumped, stopping my music and turning to see Ethan Nakamura standing behind the bench. I grinned, leaping up and placing my guitar back in its case. “Hi!” I exclaimed happily.

Ethan was one of my best friends at camp besides Percy and Annabeth. He had gotten to camp a few weeks after I had, and I was tasked with showing him around. He was also from California, from San Francisco, and we hit it off immediately. He was a year older than me, and practically my big brother. He was claimed by Nemesis soon after getting to camp, but since Nemesis didn’t have a cabin, he stayed in the Hermes cabin.

We hugged quickly, then did a complicated handshake we came up with a few years ago. No one else knows it.

“How are you?” Ethan asked, both of us sitting down on the bench.

“I’m good, I just got here a few hours ago,” I answered. “I actually just went to Grover’s hearing.”

“How did it go?” At the look on my face, Ethan guessed, “Not good?”

“Not good,” I confirmed. “They gave him one more week before they take his searcher’s license away.”

“One more week?” Ethan asked. “To find a god that’s been missing for thousands of years?” I nodded, and Ethan whistled quietly. “Wow. What’s Grover going to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Annabeth has been trying to convince him to try something we’ve been working on with Clarisse all spring, but no luck. But if he only has a week, then this might be his only option.”

“What is it?”

I sighed. “I can’t say just yet. Chiron knows, and he asked me, Annabeth, and Clarisse not to share it with anyone.”

“Not even your best friend?” Ethan asked. His offense was probably a joke, but I couldn’t tell.

“No,” I said, nervously fingering my locket charm. “Sorry.”

“Hey, no, I’m just joking,” Ethan assured me quickly. “You don’t have to tell me if you can’t.”

I relaxed, moving my hand back down to my lap.

“Hey, so how’s Nisha and Amara?” Ethan asked, changing the subject.

“They’re good,” I smiled. “You wouldn’t believe how big Amara’s gotten.”

He must have noticed something in my expression, because he asked, “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.” He gave me a look and I sighed. “I just- I’m worried about them. I mean, I know that Nisha is more than capable of protecting herself, and Amara, but- Luke is still out there. And he knows that Amara exists, and I’m just worried he’s going to use her to his advantage or something.”

Once, Luke had said he still had friends at camp, and I had realized he probably had spies here, people who had left camp to join his army. I didn’t think there were any spies at camp now. From them, he found out about Amara, his daughter with my sister. She hadn’t told him about her, worried he would try to use the toddler somehow in the war, but he found out anyway.

“They’ll be fine,” Ethan assured me. “Like you said, Nisha can protect herself, and her daughter. And if something does happen, they can come to camp, and we’ll protect them here. Luke is not going to hurt either of them.”

He shakes his head angrily.

“What?” I asked.

Ethan sighed. “It’s just- I hate that the gods won’t protect them. Amara’s a baby, and do you see Aphrodite or Hermes- her grandparents- coming to help? No. They’re gods; they should be doing something.”

“They can’t,” I said, confused at Ethan’s anger. I knew that sometimes he got annoyed with the gods, especially lately, with the war brewing, but I never knew him to be angry. “They can’t interfere. Besides, it’ll be fine. Like you said, Nisha can protect Amara just fine.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said. “Yeah, I know.” He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. “Anyway, did you meet Quintus yet? What do you think is in those crates for tomorrow night?”

I let him change the subject to camp training sessions, happily talking about Mrs. O’Leary, and what would be served for dinner tonight, and anything else besides Luke and the gods and the war.

But, still, in the back of my mind, I wondered at his tone.

____________

That night, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean I slept well. I entered the dream world pretty quickly.

See, most demigod dreams weren’t like dreams mortals typically had. We could see events happening in the present, in a different place. We could see events that are about to happen.

Or, sometimes, we could travel back into the past.

I was wandering the woods, not wanting to run into any monsters, but just to look for a quiet place to play my music. I was working on a song that I didn’t want anyone to hear just yet. I walked over rocks as stepping stones, balanced on fallen trees, and splashed through ponds. I was lost in thought. I hadn’t realized how far into the woods I had gone until I heard voices.

“… The heck with laurel wreaths,” a voice was saying. It was rough, and familiar- Luke. I slowed down, something telling me to stay quiet and out of sight.

“I’m not going to end up like those dusty trophies in the Big House attic,” Luke continued.

“You make it sound like you’re leaving,” another voice said. Percy.

I quietly set down my guitar case, and peered around a tree to see Luke wearing a twisted smile. “Oh, I’m leaving all right, Percy. I brought you down here to say goodbye.”

He snapped his fingers. A small fire burned a hole in the ground at Percy’s feet, and out crawled a small creature. A scorpion. My eyes widened.

Percy immediately went for his pen, but Luke stopped him. “I wouldn’t,” he said. “Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You’ll be dead in sixty seconds.”

Percy stared, incredulous. “Luke, what-” He paused. “You.”

What?

Luke stood calmly, brushing off his jeans. The scorpion ignored him. It kept its eyes on Percy as it crawled onto his shoe.

“I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy,” Luke said. “Didn’t you feel it- the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn’t you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics, being pawns of the gods. They should’ve been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they’ve hung on, thanks to us half-bloods.”

What was Luke doing?

“Luke…” Percy managed. “You’re talking about our parents.”

Luke laughed. “Is that supposed to make me love them?” He asked. “Their precious ‘Western Civilization’ is a disease, Percy. It’s killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start over with something more honest.”

“You’re as crazy as Ares.”

“Ares was a fool,” Luke spat. “He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, Percy, I could explain. But I’m afraid you won’t live that long.”

The scorpion crawled onto Percy’s leg.

“Kronos,” Percy said. “That’s who you serve.”

The air seemed to get colder when Percy said that name.

“You should be careful with names,” Luke said.

“Kronos got you to steal the master bolt and the helm,” Percy continued. “He spoke to you in your dreams.”

“He spoke to you, too, Percy. You should’ve listened.”

“He’s brainwashing you, Luke,” Percy insisted.

Luke shook his head. “You’re wrong. He showed me that my talents are being wasted. You know what my quest was two years ago, Percy? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I’d done, that was the best he could think up.”

“That’s not an easy quest. Hercules did it.”

“Exactly. What’s the glory in repeating what others have done? All the gods know how to do is replay their past. My heart wasn’t in it. The dragon in the garden gave me this-” he pointed angrily at his scar “-and when I came back, all I got was pity. Even from Nisha. I wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone right then, but I bided my time. I began to dream of Kronos. He convinced me to steal something worthwhile, something no hero had ever had the courage to take. When we went on that winter-solstice field trip, while Nisha and the others were asleep, I snuck into the throne room and took Zeus’ master bolt right from his chair. Hades’ helm of darkness, too. You wouldn’t believe how easy it was. The Olympians are so arrogant; they never dreamed someone would dare steal from them. Their security is horrible. I was halfway across New Jersey before I heard the storms rumbling, and I knew they’d discovered my theft.”

The scorpion was sitting on Percy’s knee now. I could barely breathe. All of this- it was too much.

“So why didn’t you bring the items to Kronos?” Percy asked, bringing me back.

“I… I got overconfident,” Luke admitted. “Zeus sent out his sons and daughters to find the stolen bolt- Artemis, Apollo, my father, Hermes. But it was Ares who caught me. I could have beaten him, but I wasn’t careful enough. He disarmed me, took the items of power, threatened to return them to Olympus and burn me alive. Then Kronos’ voice came to me and told me what to say. I put the idea in Ares’ head about a great war between the gods. I said all he had to do was hide the items away for a while and watch the others fight. Ares got a wicked gleam in his eyes. I knew he was hooked. He let me go, and I returned to Olympus before anyone had noticed my absence.” He drew his sword- but it wasn’t his sword. This one was different, one side celestial bronze, the other steel. Why did he get a new sword? “Afterward, the Lord of the Titans… h-he punished me with nightmares. I swore not to fail again. Back at Camp Half-Blood, in my dreams, I was told that a second hero would arrive, one who could be tricked into taking the bolt and the helm the rest of the way- from Ares down to Tartarus.”

“You summoned the hellhound, that night in the forest,” Percy realized.

“We had to make Chiron think the camp wasn’t safe for you, so he would start you on your quest,” Luke confirmed. “We had to confirm his fears that Hades was after you. And it worked.”

“The flying shoes were cursed,” Percy said. “They were supposed to drag me and the backpack into Tartarus.”

“And they would have, if you’d been wearing them. But you gave them to the satyr, which wasn’t part of the plan. Grover messes up everything he touches. He even confused the curse.”

My mind was reeling, trying to process everything Luke was saying. What had happened to my big brother?

Luke looked down at the scorpion, which was now on Percy’s thigh. “You should have died in Tartarus, Percy. But don’t worry. I’ll leave you with my little friend to set things right.”

“Thalia gave her life to save you!” Percy said. “And this is how you repay her?”

“Don’t speak of Thalia!” Luke shouted. “The gods let her die! That’s one of the many things they will pay for. I remember seeing Nisha after that empousa killed her father. She was devastated, but she had to be strong. Zia… she was wrecked, and Nisha was forced to step up and raise her. The girls were destroyed, and Aphrodite, their mother, wasn't there for either one. She should have been.”

That was the breaking point. I drew my sword, stepping out from behind the trees. “What are you doing?” I demanded, drawing both Luke and Percy’s attention. My eyes were on Luke as I tried to keep my voice from shaking. “What- you made us go through- I- I trusted you!” I couldn’t stop stammering, my mind going a mile a minute. “I loved you- Nisha loved you. You were my hero!” I shook my head. “Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand, Zia,” Luke said. “You have enough trouble understanding the little details, let alone the big picture, of anything you encounter. I don’t expect you to understand my reasons.”

My eyes stung. Never- not once- has Luke ever spoken to me like that. He had been dating Nisha for two years before we met, and he immediately took me under his wing. With my autism, I always had to try hard to come across as socially competent. My jokes tended to land wrong, I had a difficult time registering social cues, and I info-dumped a lot. But Luke never cared about any of that. He helped Nisha raise me since the moment I got to camp. I couldn’t believe he would use that to insult me now.

“What has your mother ever done for you, Zia?” Luke continued. “Kronos will rise. You two have only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest- the ones who serve him.”

“You won’t get away with this,” I vowed, forcing my voice to be stronger.

Luke tilted his head, smirking. “Oh, Zia. I already have. Good-bye, both of you. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won’t be part of it. I would ask you to tell Nisha good-bye for me, but neither of you will be able to make it back to camp.”

He slashed his sword in an arc and disappeared in a ripple of darkness.

The scorpion lunged at Percy. I jerked forward instinctively, and swatted it away from him with my hand. Percy uncapped his sword and swung at the scorpion as it jumped at me, cutting it in half in midair.

I thought that everything was fine until I looked down at my hand. The back of it, where I had hit the scorpion, had a huge red welt, oozing and smoking yellow. The thing had gotten me.

My ears pounded. My vision went foggy. I stumbled, almost collapsed. I barely registered arms around me, holding me up, someone calling my name.

My vision was getting dark.

‘Sixty seconds’ Luke had said.

I had to get to camp. Percy was holding me, shouting for help, dragging me toward camp.

I felt something wrap their hands around my arms, removing me from Percy’s, tugging me toward camp.

I made it to the clearing, where I recognized my sister’s face, her screaming, a centaur blowing a conch horn.

Then everything went black.

____________

I bolted upright in bed, breathing hard. I was sweaty. I felt something wet on my face, and I reached up and realized I was crying. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. Four in the morning.

Everyone in the Aphrodite cabin was sleeping. The girl on the top bunk above me, Emily, was snoring lightly. The new girl, Lacy, turned over in her sleep.

I looked down at my hand. I couldn’t see it in the dark, but there was a scar there, from that scorpion. Even the ambrosia and nectar the Apollo cabin gave me couldn’t heal the scar, a vivid reminder of that horrible day.

I remembered how much I missed Luke in the days after his betrayal. I hadn’t wanted to admit it, but I did. Before that day, I had a big brother. I was sure of my place in the world, I was happy.

Now, everything was so uncertain, and I didn’t have a clue what to do about it.

[allforhader]

As The World Caves In

Barry Berkman x (F) Reader

Warnings: Langauge, Violence, TW: Abuse

“Alright that’s the end of acting class. See you next time” Gene ends the class as Barry instantly gets out of his seat grabbing his backpack and waiting for Y/N to simply walk by him. But at least she’s sweet enough to-

“Great work today Barry!” Y/N smiles happily at Barry before exiting the building.

Barry follows respectfully behind her as Nick and Jermaine walk beside him expecting to get drinks. When Barry suddenly stops outside they both bumped into each other watching Barry watch Y/N embrace a man who he thinks is her boyfriend. It’s most definitely the case when he sees the two kiss.

“Damn. We getting drinks or what?”

“Definitely” Barry replies to Jermaine as he pats his back. “Who’s uh. Designated driver?”

“It’s LA Barry. There’s Uber.” Nick laughs walking ahead of the two.

A few rounds later...

Barry was standing outside of the bar with Nick half-passed out on the curb propped up against Jermaine. They waited for their Uber, but the waiting seemed longer than usual.

“Hey, Barry sit down. It’s gonna be a while” Jermaine states as Barry sat down on the curb beside him. “You kept lookin at your phone when girls were tryin to get your attention”

“Hmmmmm he wants one girl” Nick laughs a bit. “Y/N~”

“Go back to sleep”

“Alrighty” Nick laughs a bit more before relaxing on Jermaine’s shoulder.

“What’s so interesting about her anyway?”

“So many things” Barry sighs holding his head down.

Jermaine looks at his friend confused on why he didn’t elaborate but they were all under the influence. Some more than others *cough* Nick *cough* but that’s the biggest reason why he didn’t elaborate that Y/N is the most beautiful talented girl he ever laid eyes on.

“I know the girl is taken. But you can still do a scene together that can make her realize” As the most sober compared to them all, Jermaine’s idea is only going to go downhill of some sorts. “Pick a scene with a kiss and do it with her. Any dedicated actor would do any scene. Despite their relationships off stage”

That could’ve been phrased better, but way to put that idea in Barry’s fucking head.

After finally getting to their apartment of sorts, Barry instantly laid on his bed and pulled up the messages to Y/N.

Barry: You are a god

Y/N: What?

Barry: A god at finding great scenes to do for class

Y/N: Oh! Thank you 🥰

Barry: I know I’m not very good

Barry: But I’d like to do a scene with you

Y/N: Barry! I’ve been waiting for you to ask!!! Plus you are really good! Better than me 😊 What scene would you like to do??

Shit. Think of a scene. FAST BARRY. FUCK

Barry: Um. Romeo and Juliet, Act 1 Scene 5?

Fucking Shakespeare?!?

Y/N: Give me a sec to look up the scene!

Barry: Ok

After a minute passed. Literally. A minute.

Y/N: I’d love to! Hell if we do a good job, maybe Mr. Cousineau would pick it for the next showcase he’s planning!

Y/N: Want to practice tomorrow? After class? I can print you a copy of the scene

Barry: Sounds good

Y/N: Yay! 😊

Y/N: See you tomorrow!

Barry: See you!

Y/N didn’t come to class the next day, which made Barry think he said something he shouldn’t have. But his texts were surprisingly not drunkly influenced for the most part.

“Okay class. Y/N called me saying she won’t be able to be here for the next few classes since something came up. Barry, pick another scene partner or a monologue before we share to pick for the showcase. NOW. Sally you have a monologue you’d like to run by us” Gene states as Sally got on stage to do her monologue but instead of paying attention Barry took his phone out thinking of messaging Y/N to ask what happened. But a part of him thought space was key.

After class, Sally grabbed Barry’s arm to catch his attention.

“Barry, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure?”

“So I need a ride to Y/N’s place. I have her address and everything.”

“Yeah. Yeah I can drive you” Is he going to know what happened along the way? She wouldn’t be going over there if she didn’t know.

The drive was far. Surprisingly further than all of their other friends. Note, Barry has at least driven everyone in their class somewhere at least twice. Usually because it’s expensive to get your car fixed let alone pay rent in LA. So it’s a coin toss and usually the car doesn’t win. Plus his source of income is...not acknowledge and he’s fine giving people rides. But Y/N lived really far in LA that he found himself heading somewhat close to Anaheim territory. Her neighborhood looked still typical LA agriculture and similar to few neighbors closer to the acting class. But when they were driving Sally did tell Barry that this is where Y/N’s boyfriend lives. So who the fuck knows where Y/N actually lives. To his knowledge.

“So Barry, I told her that you were driving me and that I didn’t tell you anything. But we’re here to pick her up then go back to my place. Are you okay with that drive?”

“Anything for the both of you. But I can’t help but be curious” Barry frowns watching Sally give a hesitant halt in what she was going to say but-

“I’m not comfortable sharing something that isn’t mine. She trusted me by telling me. I’m not going to play a game of telephone Barry”

“Okay...just do I go with you?”

“No I’ll go get her myself, just hang tight okay?”

“Okay” What the fuck did this guy do...

Barry waited in the car seeing Y/N step out with Sally, she looks fine for the most part. The closer she got he couldn’t really pin point anything. Just...the girl known to wear colorful clothing and mainly dresses, came out in sweatpants and a hoodie. Style doesn’t describe a person but it made Barry think about what caused a sudden change that isn’t just “to be comfortable”. Y/N sat in the back and Sally day with her.

“Your place right Sally?”

“Right” Sally says calmly setting Y/N bag by her feet.

After the long drive to Sally’s, Barry stayed in the car watching the two go inside. But before he left, Y/N ran over to the car knocking on Barry’s window. He quickly opens it as Y/N slips in a script she had packed before they came and got her.

“I-It’s a monologue for the showcase. S-Sorry I couldn’t do t-the scene with you. Hope this repays for that”

“You didn’t have to repay anything Y/N” Barry frowns watching Y/N pushes her hair out of her face making the man catch a glimpse of the shiner on her right eye that extends to her cheek as well.

“I wanted to Barry” Y/N states before going back inside.

Barry frowns and once she entered Sally’s place. A switch flipped in his head and he drove back to her boyfriend’s house waiting out there until he came home. Barry watches the light turn on inside the house and as he was about to reach for the gun in his glove box. He hesitated.

You don’t want to be defined that way anymore.

The hitman life will only continue if you do this.

You have the make the change.

Take the leap of faith.

Don’t let the past still define you Barry.

Find. A. Different. Way.

“Shit...” Barry frowns smacking the wheel holding his head down thinking. “He doesn’t deserve her...”

The next day came and Barry watches Sally walk into class alone. Where’s Y/N? Thought she stayed with her. He gets up from his seat sitting behind Sally.

“Hey...where’s Y/N?”

“She went back”

“What?”

“....She’s stupid. But aren’t we all? She went back during the middle of the night. I didn’t hear her leave” Sally frowns as Barry felt the fire start to burn again.

Find a different way

“FUCK” Barry exclaims catching everyone’s attention as he sinks into his seat. “Sorry”

“No! Use that energy. Come up here and show us what you got for the showcase” Gene states as Barry immediately regretted it.

Barry got up from his seat after taking out the monologue reading it’s from The Notebook. He laughs a bit to himself before looking out and seeing Y/N walk in in a turtle neck with a hoodie over it and makeup covering the bruises.

“That’s right. We do that sometimes, remember? We don’t cut each other any slack. If I’m being a jerk or an arrogant sonofabitch, you tell me. If you’re a pain in the a—, which you are ninety-nine percent of the time, I’ve got no problem telling you, or hurting your feelings, which have about a two second rebound rate before you’re off doing the next pain in the a— thing.” Barry frowns looking at Y/N as the rest of the class grew intrigued.

“So, it’s not going to be perfect. We’ll have to work at it every day. But I want you. Not for today, or next week, but forever.” He states stepping down from the stage glancing at the script making his way in Y/N’s direction. “Every day, you and me. Think about your life twenty years or fifty years from now. Where do you want to be? If it’s with that guy, go. I lost you once. I suppose I can do it again. Just don’t take the easy way out. Answer one question for me. Forget about me and your fiancé and your parents for a minute. Forget about what you should do. What about you? What do you want?” Barry ended up in front of Y/N watching her hesitantly reach for him before retracting.

“Jesus CHRIST Barry!” Gene smiles proud of the man as he walks over to the two. “If you can be the closing to the showcase with that same amount of energy. Recruiters will definitely want to represent you!” he smiles watching Y/N retract herself a bit before getting an idea. “If it works best with Y/N on the stage. She can be there. Prove you’d be good with a partner even if it is a monologue.”

“If...that’s okay with you” Barry frowns looking Y/N as she nods agreeing to do so.

“Great! Now let’s go to the next person, better have that off script Barry!”

Barry frowns looking at Y/N as she just stares at him. She watches him reach to reassure but the automatic stepping back indicated she didn’t want to be touched. By any one for that matter.

When the class was over Barry stepped out carrying a weight on his chest wishing he can break a barrier and risk it all. But he didn’t want more people to get hurt and he didn’t want to disappear. Barry made his way toward his car about to get in when he felt a small hand grab his sleeve. He turns around locking eyes with Y/N as he of course stopped for her.

“...can um...s-shit”

“You need me?”

“yeah...”

“Just. Text me, and I’ll do whatever you need me to do” Barry says calmly as he connected the dots to why she’s wearing a turtle neck and her voice was low.

First stop was a pharmacy. Barry walked with her as Y/N grabbed what she needed. Ice pack, bandages, anti bacterial spray, and foundation. He felt very protective of her in the public scene thinking her “boyfriend” can pop up at any minute or really anybody would look at her a certain way and he’d want to kick their ass.

“can..I stay with you...B-Barry?” Y/N asks after she paid. She looks down at her feet for a moment thinking he’d say no when he obviously said it’s okay for her to stay with him.

“Um. I have roommates”

“That’s ok...I j-just...don’t need t...the lecture from S-Sally” Y/N frowns watching Barry hesitantly step closer to her afraid anything he’ll do she’ll feel uncomfortable. She looks up at him seeing the worry in his expression.

“Can you let me....take care of you?” Barry knows she won’t directly tell her what the asshole did. Barry expecting a no wasn’t coming from her. She nods watching Barry take her things to carry for her. “Just need to make...one more stop before we go to my place”

“Ok...”

Y/N found herself staying extremely close to Barry in the grocery store as he grabs what he needs to get. She watches around them having the same feeling Barry has except hers is fear driven.

“Broth?” Y/N asks picking up the carton from the cart.

“I’m not gonna give you straight broth if that’s what you’re thinking” Barry laughs a bit catching a smile from Y/N. “Even though I like straight broth” he states putting in a few seasoning in the cart. “Are you allergic to anything so I know not to get it?”

“No, you’re good” Y/N smiles making Barry feel a bit better but he still worried.

A few hours went by and Y/N found herself sitting on Barry’s bed staring down at her phone seeing texts from him and she immediately felt awful. Y/N started to cry thinking about what she’s gotten herself into because she was blind to it all until it got to this degree. The blame was definitely being put onto herself when no one sees it as her fault. Barry especially didn’t and all he wants to do is see her happy again. That smile of hers brightens his day...he misses it. Barry steps in carrying a bowl of soup he made, being in LA for some time you pick up at least ten minutes to watch cooking videos, and he immediately set the bowl and spoon on his desk before moving everything to the side of the bed and sitting in front of her. He didn’t want to pull her into his arms to comfort her but his presents was enough until Y/N grabbed his face resting her forehead against his. She continued to cry but it slowly burned into sniffling. He leans into it feeling her rub her thumbs against his cheeks taking a minute to take it all in.

He cares about you. He’s there for you right now and he always has been. Take a minute to appreciate what he’s doing. He doesn’t seem to be going anywhere....

He’s dedicated to caring about you.

No more words were said that night between Barry and Y/N. Except when Barry wanted to see what he did because he knew Y/N couldn’t see most of the “damage” so he offered to help. He also carries quite the first aid kit with him since he used to get hurt a lot and Fuches was a terrible doc so he had to learn. Y/N took off her hoodie before hesitantly slipping off her turtle neck. Her arms instantly covered herself but once Barry got a look where everything is, he got up going into his dresser and grabbing one of his t-shirts having her wear it so she doesn’t have to sit in just a bra. He moved himself closure looking at most angles of the bruising as he goes into his first aid knowing she bought ice packs but those were ones that’ll take time in the freezer when he has ones you punch and it’ll take a little moment to get there but it’d be cold enough. He popped two of them, one for her neck and the other for her cheek. Y/N had a few bruises on her arms that weren’t as bad as the ones needing the ice packs, he mainly focused on disinfecting the scratches and putting bandaids on the few that need them. Barry watched her start to shake making his worry get worse as he took her hand carefully into his sitting it out with her.

After putting everything away and Y/N eating what he made for her...she took his bed as Barry laid on the floor. The two were awake the entire night and thinking about their own deals...

I love her

He cares about me

I don’t want to step over the line

Why couldn’t he be like Barry?

I risk my life every day...I don’t want her to get hurt by it if she becomes apart of it.

Barry Berkman...you truly do make me feel lucky to be alive.

When the day of the showcase came, Barry took his roommates advice to wear the part with a white button down tucked into his black slacks with a belt and shoes were just his pair of converse. He didn’t wear a tie but the first few buttons were unbutton and his sleeves were rolled up. Y/N was apart of his monologue, clearly with no lines, and she wore one of Barry’s long sleeves for the soul fact that she’s playing a love interest and on the other hand wants to be comfortable. His part was last and he waited behind stage with Y/N until their time to get on stage came. Barry watched Y/N check her phone every now and then watching her eyes trail from one thing to another as her tense expression said everything.

“Barry! Y/N! You’re up next. Be on deck” Sasha states to the two before going back to helping Nick out of his costume.

Barry looks at Y/N seeing her look up at him smiling a bit to reassure them both.

“You’ll do perfectly Barry”

“Y/N....”

“Hm-“

“ON DECK”

The two flinch to the yell before going to the deck staring at Natalie and Antonio get close to wrapping up. Barry quickly turns to Y/N and before he could say anything Y/N grabbed his collar pulling him down to her level kissing him suddenly. The startling factor being the tears that rolled down her cheeks during it. Barry frowns parting gently resting his hands on her face.

“YOU TWO ARE ON!” Sally pushes the two in when the lights were down.

Y/N stood on her mark staring at Barry’s back where he started before turning to the crowd wiping away the tears that shed but a figure in the crowd stung in her heart. She held her head down for a moment before bringing it up when the lights turned on and Barry turned to her.

“That’s right. We do that sometimes, remember? We don’t cut each other any slack. If I’m being a jerk or an arrogant sonofabitch, you tell me. If you’re a pain in the a—, which you are ninety-nine percent of the time, I’ve got no problem telling you, or hurting your feelings, which have about a two second rebound rate before you’re off doing the next pain in the a— thing.” Barry states stepping forward and as he got closer to her his body retracted when she started crying. “So, it’s not going to be perfect. We’ll have to work at it every day.....But I want you.” He says resting his hand on her cheek watching her ease into it.

“I-....” Y/N choked looking up at Barry seeing he’s meaning what he’s saying. For them. Not the scene.

“Not for today, or next week, but forever. Every day, you and me. Think about your life twenty years or fifty years from now. Where do you want to be? If it’s with that guy, go. I lost you once. I suppose I can do it again. Just don’t take the easy way out. Answer one question for me. Forget about me and your fiancé and your parents for a minute. Forget about what you should do.” Barry states feeling her grab his shirt shaking right in front of him as the crying got heavier. “What about you? What do you want?” he whispers but the mic picked it up for everyone and before the lights went down, he presses his forehead against hers.

When the lights went off Barry pulls a bit away feeling Y/N grip onto his shirt for dear life. He looked out into the crowd watching the asshole stand up and he couldn’t take it.

Think of a different way. Fuck a different way.

When the students merged with the crowd, Barry immediately pushes her abusive boyfriend out into the open. Forcing him outside and before any of them said another word.

“Barry please—“ Y/N quickly caught up with the two staring at Barry look at him and the asshole. “Josh. Leave. Please just leave.”

“The fuck? I came to support you. But you went up with this guy? Are you cheating on me with this fucking asshat?” Josh got up in Barry’s face which wasn’t a good choice.

“I DIDNT ASK YOU TO COME” Y/N yells watching Josh push Barry only to make him retaliate the same way. “Barry please don’t do anything”

“Yeah. Listen to the fucking slu-“ before he could finish, Barry had head butted him in the face watching him stumble.

Y/N knew she could get in the crossfire but didn’t care as she tries to step in when Barry stepped in front of her when Josh grew infuriated immediately punching Barry in the face. But before he could retaliate, Nick and Antonio pulled him back as Sally and Sasha pulled Y/N into their embrace keeping her away from them.

“You gotta leave dude” Jermaine states to Josh as he gives Y/N an annoyed looked before looking back at Barry.

“Are you really fucking worth it? Or just an asshole like the rest of us” Josh states pushing Jermaine away from him before storming off tending to his broken nose.

Barry frowns relaxing so Nick and Antonio can let go of him. He adjusts himself before going back inside where Y/N quickly followed him. She grabs his arm forcing him to look at her when they were alone in a hallway.

“Why? Why did you...you didn’t have to”

“He shouldn’t have come..”

“I know but Barry—“

“That asshole doesn’t deserve you. He never did. You deserve so much better. I—FUCK” Barry frowns looking away to take a minute.

“Barry...”

“What?” He frowns looking at her watching embrace his arm being directly close. She looks up at him with a questionable look.

“You care about me....”

“There’s..so much more Y/N” Barry took his arm back to move his hands to her face locking eyes with the gorgeous woman in front of him. “I love you...I love you and it hurt me seeing what he did to you. All....all I want to do is protect you. Protect that smile of yours...only if you let me...and you did that night, but it started a hatred seeing him come tonight. He shouldn’t have come”

“I know...It was...a surprise to the both of us...” Y/N started to tear up again feeling Barry gently wipe them away with his thumbs. “You love me...? Even if...I’m broken goods?”

“You’re not broken goods Y/N...and if it takes a life time for me to show how worthy you are to me and everybody. Then I’m willing to take that time....because you mean the world to me”

“Oh Barry...” Y/N moves his hands off of her face bringing her arms around his neck hugging the tall man as Barry instantly wrapped his arms around her waist lifting her from the ground slightly. Holding her like his life depends on it digging his face into her shoulder. “You mean the world to me too....”

“I love you...I love you Y/N”

“I love you too Barry....”

[fleckcmscott]

The Find

Summary: Arthur and Y/N tidy up their wardrobe. What he comes across surprises him.

Warnings: Smut, Swearing

Words: 3,664

A/N: This request comes from Karen - it’s the first one I ever got! Thanks to @sweet-nothings04​ for beta-ing and helping me improve this piece by sharing her thoughts!

If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment, feel free to message me, or send me an ask. Requests for Arthur and WWH are open!

If you’ve sent me a request and I haven’t responded, it’s because I am working on it and will answer once it’s posted!

Instead of allowing a lazy Sunday, Y/N decided they needed to do a project together. She had too many clothes, she claimed. And Arthur could use some new ones. Though he disagreed with her assertion, never having owned much, he went along with it. Such suggestions were part of having a girlfriend, he'd learned. Sorting through the bedroom closet would be a couply activity, anyway.

It turned out to be nice, better than when he'd kept house alone. Her smile was infectious as they rearranged everything, and it grew each time they inadvertently bumped into each other. He succeeded in talking her out of donating a sheer blouse, insisting it looked good on her. She replaced the dry cleaner bags on his Carnival costume with zippered nylon ones. Then she retrieved a wooden box from the top shelf, sat on the edge of the bed, and patted the spot next to her.

Floral patterns were carved in its top and sides, and the center held a purple and yellow pansy, pressed under smooth glass. It was quite old, the corners worn, the front closure tarnished. The hinges released a quiet squeak as she lifted the lid. "These are my most important keepsakes," she said. Her degree was in there, the Christmas ornament her sister had made, and her divorce papers. The rose he'd brought when he'd come for dinner was now dried and delicate. And she'd held onto the cork from their first bottle of wine. The letter he'd written her after Murray was sealed in a clasp envelope to protect it.

Arthur's chest swelled. The small container resting on her lap was something she'd had long before they'd met, perhaps since she was a kid. It was astonishing he took up so much space in it. Maybe she'd like to keep one of the payment slips for the ring he was planning to give her. (They were currently tucked safely in his journal.) He wrapped an arm around her back and squeezed her to his side.

The bleating of the phone interrupted them, right when he was planting a kiss to her shoulder. "Wait for me," Y/N said. "I'll tell them to call back later." He watched as she left the room, admiring the slight swivel of her hips. After a minute, "Mabel, what's going on?" drifted in from the kitchen. Ah, her sister. That would take a while. Sighing, he stood and continued alone, hopping on the step stool and humming as he went.

The shelf was dusty. The old law books were likely from when she went to college. He flipped through a photo album and set it aside to go through with her later. In the back corner, there was a red, paper gift bag, its top neatly folded closed. When he retrieved it, the weight surprised him, and he studied it with a curious expression. She probably wouldn't be perturbed if he opened it - she'd shown him her mementos, after all. Gingerly, he took a peek.

A carton was in there, a foot long. Pictures of women in athletic gear were on the side. They were holding a white object to their elbow, their calf, their lower back. He read the sentences on the packaging carefully. "Helps relax muscles." "Relieves tension." "Soothing vibrations."

Oh. Oh. Arthur crumpled the top of the bag quickly as he giggled, his cheeks on fire.

On her radio show, Dr. Sally had said the massaging wand was revolutionary. That it helped educate women about their own bodies, learn what they liked. Y/N hadn't mentioned owning one. It would have troubled him a few months ago. His insecurities would have told him it meant he wasn't very good. That he wasn't enough for her and never would be. But because of his ongoing treatment and comfort with her, those concerns were minor today. And he was intrigued.

The women he'd pasted into his journal were often touching themselves, ecstasy clear on their faces. Even though he still found those pictures arousing, he wasn't stupid and knew they were staged. Experience had stripped away the illusion. But the thought of Y/N pleasuring herself made him shiver and lean against the closet's door frame. His mind filled with images of her sprawled on the bed, on the sofa, on the floor. The scenarios he'd pictured since they'd met were numerous. His mouth at the apex of her thighs while she tried to type papers for work. Her going down on him in the dressing room at Pogo's. Or his favorite, the one he'd gone back to most, joining with her completely as she fell apart, because of him and only him. If he asked, would she be willing to-

Upon hearing Y/N hang up, Arthur haphazardly tossed the bag back in its spot. He busied himself with the sweaters and shirts in the "keep" pile, folding and hanging them as needed. She started telling him about the call as soon as she came in. Caught between his natural bashfulness and the urge to blurt out what he found, listening was difficult.

She must have sensed something was off, because she stepped next to him and said, "You look warm."

He ducked away as she tried to feel his forehead. "I'm okay." That was only half true. It was going to take awhile for him to figure out how to express what he wanted. But he shot her a grin. "It's just a little hot in here, that's all."

~~~~~

Y/N's seamed stockings finally sent him over the edge three days later. He'd noticed them when she put on her heels at the door, and ogled her as she strode down the hallway after their longer-than-usual kiss goodbye. It was possible she simply wished to be pretty (which she always was, no matter what she had on), to be professional, to make herself feel good. Still. She knew those nylons turned him on, and he chose to believe she wore them for him.

He made a quick call to her at lunch and said he was looking forward to tonight. There was strain lurking beneath her kind tone when she asked, "Why? What's tonight?" Nothing, he clarified, rubbing the back of his neck. He just missed her. She sighed, told him her day had gone sideways, that she needed to go. But she couldn't wait to see him later and loved him.

Both to relieve his own nerves and to cheer her, he resolved to make everything perfect for her to come home to. That's why, rather than cooking together, he was stirring minestrone and adding pasta. Why he'd already set the table and put the bunch of pink carnations (her favorite) from the grocery store in the middle. Why the wine was open and ready to serve. The kitchen radio had been switched to the sixties and seventies music she preferred. He swayed along to it, even as he hoped one or two slower songs would play so they could dance.

He'd been trying to find the right way to broach the subject all afternoon. Stuttering through his request wasn't his preference. It'd be fun to be playful - if he could gather his courage. God, it would be absurd if he couldn't. Shouldn’t courage come naturally if he hoped to spend the rest of his life with this woman? "Y/N, I was wondering if you could-" Cocking his head, he tried anew. "I love you, Y/N, and I wanted to know if-" Rolling his eyes, he retrieved bowls from the cupboard. "It's your fault I can't think straight." He took a breath, stretched his arms, and tried to focus. Nothing felt right. He'd have to improvise.

The unlocking of the door and the thudding of her bag to the floor alerted him to her presence. He laughed lightly as he tested the soup, enjoying the thrill of anticipation. She approached in his peripheral vision. "Arthur, you didn't have to do all this," she murmured.

The gladness in her words made it worth the effort. He poured a glass of wine for them both. "You were having a busy day."

She took a sip and braced herself on the counter. "I had to run back and forth from the office to the courthouse. We were missing copies of motions for tomorrow's hearing. My typewriter's ribbon ran out and we didn't have any replacements." A puff escaped her before she turned to him. "But every thing’s lovely now. Come here.” She pulled him in for a kiss.

Arthur tried to pay attention while they ate; he disliked missing a moment of her. But she was already driving him to distraction. The way her lips pursed as she blew on the food before taking a bite. Her caresses to the petals of the flowers. How she kept touching his sleeve. When she untied the bow at the collar of her burgundy blouse, opened the neck to reveal the start of her clavicle, his stomach flipped. "I wanted to- to ask you a question," he said softly.

"I knew something was going on." She dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "You haven't said much besides 'yeah' and 'mhm.'"

Damn. He'd tried to be normal. "Sorry." A sheepish smile crossed his face and he smoothed back his hair. "I'm a little nervous."

"You don't have to be." There was excitement in her voice, barely contained, and she scooted her chair closer. "I'm sure I'll say yes."

He quirked a brow at her. "Um, okay." A sharp exhale as he sat straighter. "I've been thinking about this a lot." His gaze darted to hers, seeing it sparkling and filled with affection, before falling to his lap. He fiddled with his spoon as he forced himself to speak. "I found something. When we were cleaning."

A pause. "What did you find?"

The wine was sharp on his tongue when he sipped it. "The massaging wand?"

The blush on her cheeks traveled to the rest of her face and she hid behind her palm. "Oh my god," she laughed.

Having the advantage wasn't usual for him in these situations. It was refreshing. Luckily, she didn't seem upset, so he continued. "Dr. Sally recommended it on her show. You're beautiful. We both might like it. I mean, I know I would, but... Would you show me?" Her quiet nagged at him, so he changed his approach. "You turn on the light every time we make love," he teased. "Don't you remember when you came home and surprised me?"

She peeked at him, the corner of her lip lifted. "It's never even occurred to me. I can't believe it occurred to you." After a few moments, she cleared her throat. "I won't lie - it's...an arousing idea. And all this," she gestured at the table as she spoke, "has made me pretty hot and bothered." Her hand went to his inner thigh, fiddling with the seam. "Though I have to admit, I was expecting you to ask something else."

His eyelids fluttered at her caress. "What?"

Grasping the tie at the front of his pants, she finished her drink. "Never mind. I'm sure you'll ask me later."

~~~~

This was happening. It wasn't his imagination. Y/N was taking a fantasy of his, one that belonged in dirty magazines, and turning it into a demonstration of her love for him. Was it weird to be moved by something this lewd? He should be ashamed to have asked her. But he wasn't. And when he felt her smile as they lay in bed, his throat tightened. Their breaths were harsh as the pearlescent buttons of her blouse opened halfway under his ministrations. A soft moan left her when he cupped her breast, tweaked its taut tip through her bra, and she yanked at his shirt until he pulled it off.

She ground against his clothed hard-on and hastily unzipped her black skirt to slip it down. He swallowed thickly, following her movements, huffing at the sight of her dark red garter belt and matching panties. It wasn't often she donned those, preferring more practical undergarments. Had she, by some means, known what he was thinking when she'd gotten dressed that morning? The notion was silly but warmed him anyway. Relieved, he groaned and reclaimed her lips.

The dance of her fingers across the lean muscles of his chest caused him to suck in air, which he held while she skimmed past his ribs to his stomach. "I haven't done this in front of anyone before," she said, a little uncertain.

Arthur chuckled, letting her take his hand and guide it between her thighs. "I hadn't, either." He pushed the cotton to the side and fondled her slit, reveling in how she bucked into his touch. It was almost enough to get him to forget the show, to forget about his plan, to sheathe himself inside her without a moment's pause.

But she grabbed the vibrator off the stand and switched it on. Its buzzing was louder than he'd presumed, like a hornet's nest. Amusement must have shown on his face, because Y/N smirked and turned the wand to a lower setting. "Remind me to plug the clock back in when we're done," she said, shedding her underwear and kicking it off her foot. He settled next to her hips, boosting himself on his elbow to see her. Shyly at first, then growing bolder, she swiped and pulled at her outer lips. They drew back as they swelled and she giggled, running the pads of her fingers over herself. "You're the only one who could persuade me to do this."

He grazed her inner thigh, the straps holding her stockings in place, and pressed a kiss to her leg, observing as she lay the massager's rounded end to her core. Even as her pelvis arched slightly to meet it, she kept it in one spot - he'd thought she would have moved it around. The heat flaring in his groin was, thankfully, lowering his inhibitions, and he found he could ask, without anxiety, "Did you do it a lot?"

"I did this more after we met." He laughed happily, realizing he'd been the cause of her increased desire. A whimper fell from her as she moved towards the vibrator again, her frame trembling. Her brows pinched with every increasing undulation of her hips. "It's been awhile. I'd forgotten-," she gasped, "-how intense this feels."

When she began writhing, he watched the sway of her breasts, straining against her bra. Her stomach was quivering with every shallow breath, and he felt his own ardor heighten with hers. He leaned forward to get a better look at her folds. But, upon finding the toy covered her completely, he furrowed his brow. And it registered that he didn't need a prop involved; he just needed her.

Gently, he caught it, waiting until she met his gaze to turn it off and put it on the bed. "You're enough," he said quietly. "If that's okay." She nodded lightly. One of her legs spread to the side, the other bent at the knee. He shuddered as she held herself open, fingers drifting over her sensitive nub. "Are you - Are you thinking about me?" Say yes. Please.

Her explorations went lower, tracing the edges of her entrance, open and waiting for him, then dipping below to gather slick on her fingertips. "Yes," she hissed, tapping her bud repeatedly. She jerked towards her hand as she bit her lip. It was enchanting, watching her play herself like a well-tuned instrument. She seemed to know exactly how to touch her own body. What pressure to apply. How fast to go...

Her breast spilled out when she pulled down the cup of her bra, her head falling back into the pillow. Her thumb teased her areola and she keened. "You're all the way inside me." Another tug to her pebbled nipple, and the hand at her vulva hastened. "Your cock feels so good, Arthur. You fill me so well."

"Y/N, god." He hadn't expected pornography to spill from her mouth. Groaning, he pushed his briefs away and gripped his erection, running his thumb along the tip as he glanced from her face to her center.

The glistening of her arousal was spreading, a spot forming on the blanket beneath her. Her cries were becoming frequent, her body tensing. Her eyes opened and went to his length. "Get in me."

That took him aback. "What?"

"Get in me. Please." He scrambled out of his underwear and knelt between her legs, positioning himself so her thighs rested on his, and he held the soft skin of her upper leg. After a couple of quick pumps, he sank into her entirely, grunting at the sight of her reddened, desperate sex welcoming him. She stroked herself, first pulling at the clitoral hood, then circling it, more frenzied with every rut.

This was far superior to any photograph, any adult film he may have caught a glimpse of. Because it was personal. She was devoted to him, and he to her. And she was repeating his name, the syllables strung together and becoming unintelligible. Soon she wailed sharply and stiffened, her pulses gripping his cock. "Fuck me harder," she whined.

His movements stilled. While he wanted to give in, he feared harming her - he was stronger than his skinniness suggested. But she begged for him again, and he couldn't resist pressing her wrists into the bed on either side of the pillow. Their kisses turned hard while she brought her trembling legs about him and he plunged into her. A wanton cry escaped with each inch she moved up the mattress, with every pound of his hips. The sear of her surrounding him was intoxicating, and he took her nipple in his mouth, laving and sucking at it. Her body grew rigid and bent into him and she moaned, her muscles clamping around him a second time.

Their intimacy had traversed the scale from slow to fast, loving to urgent. But Arthur had only been unrelenting with her once. Her enjoyment hadn't been a consideration; she’d been a means to an end that night. And the guilt he'd felt afterward had prompted him to promise himself to not be rough without her explicit permission. Seeing her trust in him in action, feeling it in the embrace of her body, pushed him forward to give into what they both craved.

He threw his head back and fucked her, up on his knees, slipping his grasp from her wrist to entwine her fingers. He held her neck and the side of her face as he mashed their lips together, losing himself in her as he increased the punishing pace of his thrusts. His motions stammered, seeking his climax, going deeper and deeper still.

With one final shove he came, emptying into her with each throb as they clung to each other. His brain was foggy with pleasure, breath ragged and panting. Vaguely, he was aware of her tight hold on his ass, as if she coveted every drop of him. As he came down from his high, the last tendrils of pleasure fading, he squeezed her hand. The kiss he gave her was tender, soft. A stark contrast from how they'd joined moments ago.

Y/N was giving him that dazed grin, the one she usually had after lovemaking. But he felt the need to check. "Did I hurt you?" Averting his eyes, he brushed his knuckles over her collarbone.

She pecked his nose and raked her nails through his hair, her look full of adoration. "You could never hurt me." A giggle bubbled up. "I do need a minute to recover, though." He stayed inside her while he softened, nestling in the crook of her neck. "I'm proud of you," she said.

His eyelids shut and a toothy grin appeared as his heart clenched. "Why?"

"You weren't afraid to ask me. Well, even if you were, you did it, anyway." Her arms wrapped about his torso and she palmed his back. "And you trusted yourself to let go."

He dragged his thumb along the faint stretch marks at her areola. While what she said was accurate, he usually liked it softer. During the periods in which his anger or despondency nearly consumed him, when he thought he might erupt, he was afraid he would lose the ability to be gentle. So far, her love and support had helped bring that tenderness back, even if it took a couple of days. He ached for that to continue. "You know, when I- when I see things that aren't there... I always say the right thing. I'm funny. I know how to do good." He took her hand and placed a kiss to the back of it. "But with you it's real."

Guiding him out and off her, she turned on her side. "Because that's who you are, Mr. Fleck. Don’t forget that. I won’t." She nuzzled his nose. "How else could you have broken through my shield enough to have this ridiculous pillow talk?" He chuckled as she tugged on a curl. "I lost that part of myself for a long time," she sighed. "I'd hate to lose it again."

"I won't let that happen." He pulled her closer, caressing the edge of her garter belt. "Especially if you keep wearing these," he said lowly.

Leaning forward, she pressed her breasts flush to him. "Let's be ridiculous until we're old and gray."

"Mhm." Tears prickled but he blinked them away, managing a wide smile. It was one of her hints that she wanted to be with him forever. He prayed she would accept his proposal next week. "Only if you promise to laugh at my jokes."

Y/N traced his jawline and kissed his dark brows, her gaze shining as she gave her response. "Arthur, I'll laugh with you for the rest of my life."

~~~~~

Tag list (Let me know if you want to be added!): @harmonioussolve​ @howdylilflower​ @sweet-nothings04​ @stephieraptorr​ @rommies​ @fallenstarsabyss​ @gruffle1​ @octopus-plasma​ @tsukiakarinobara​, @arthur-flecks-lovely-smile​ @another-day-in-chuckletown​

[neerasrealm]

Fresh Start

A story about Sally Williams finding a new home with an- odd pair of men. Fun fact but I’ve rewritten this story twice because I couldn’t decide on how to write this- I wanted it to be as good as possible and I think I’m happy with this version.

Word count: 1651

Laughing Jack hummed softly to himself as he quietly played his accordion. He had no song in mind, it was just aimless chords without meaning. It was dark now, the sun had gone down, and there was nobody in the park save for some teens or late night joggers. 

Looking down at his accordion, he realised someone was watching him. He looked to the side to meet the bright, green eyes watching him. The eyes belonged to a girl, who could only be about ten years old, wearing a pink dress. She had messy brown hair that fell in curls just past her shoulders. He smiled at her.

"Well 'ello there." He greeted. "Can I 'elp ya, kiddo?"

"...I like your music." She said softly. He smiled and tilted his head. 

"I recognize ya," he said. "Weren' you wiv th' other kids earlier, when I was givin' ou' balloons?"

She nodded and held up the balloon dog Jack had made for her earlier. She smiled, just a little bit. He chuckled.

"Wha're ye doin' down 'ere so la'e, Sally? Shouldn' ye be a' 'ome wiv yer ma an' da?" He asked. Sally's smile dropped and she looked at the ground. Jack frowned. "...'ave ya...go' a ma an' da?"

Sally sniffled. Jack watched tears fall from her eyes. He scooted up the bench and patted the space next to him. "Ey, i's alrigh', come ta Jackie." He said softly. Sally climbed onto the bench next to him, holding her balloon animal and an old stuffed bear. She hugged both of them tight as she cried quietly. Jack wrapped an arm around the girl and pet her head. "Shh, i's alrigh', Jackie's 'ere."

Sally snuggled close against him, her crying getting louder. The clown hugged her tight, rubbing circles into her back. The poor girl- she felt deathly cold, and so small- though that could've just been that Jack was very tall. 

Sally buried her face in Jack's shirt. He smelled of lavender and the rain. The smell was a small comfort. As she cried Jack could only watch in horror as a bloody gash formed in her head. Blood trickled down her face and through her beautiful brown hair. He reached into his puffy sleeve and pulled out a rag. He wiped blood from her face the best he could. 

Sally probably wasn't human like he'd initially thought. 

"Do ya 'ave anywhere ta go, kiddo?" He asked softly.

"I-I can go h-home but- my mo- my mom and d-dad moved aw-away." She managed to say in between sobs. Jack nodded slowly. "The n-ne-new people c-call me sc-scary." Her sobbing got more intense as she spoke. Jack hugged her tighter.

"Well tha's no' very nice…" He murmured. He stared down at her. He couldn't just leave this girl alone. Human or not, it wasn't right to leave a child alone in a park all night and day. It went against the very reason he existed. "E-Ey kiddo, 'ow abou' ye stay wiv me fer t'night?" He asked. Sally sniffled and looked up at him. "Wouldja like tha'?" 

"Okay." She replied oh so softly. Her voice was barely above a whisper. Jack scooped her up into his arms and held her close. He adjusted the strap on his accordion so it hung off his back rather than front, and stood up. 

"Ya like piggy-back rides?" He asked with a small grin. Sally seemed to brighten up a bit. She nodded, and Jack lifted her up onto his shoulders. "Now ya can see th' whole park." He chirped. Sally sniffled and grinned down at the clown. 

                                                       ××××××

"Jack? Where are we going?" Sally asked. Jack had walked halfway across town and was now casually sauntering through a building site near the edge of the forest. 

"Hm? Oh! I live in th' woods, wiv a frien'." Jack smiled up at her.

"A friend?"

"Yeh! 'Is name's Slender. 'E's a bi' grumpy, bu' you'll like 'im." Jack replied. "Don' tell 'im I said this, bu' 'e 'as a sof' spo' fer kids."

Sally looked down at the clown curiously. "Will he like me?" She asked.

"Will 'e like ya?" He asked incredulously. "Of course 'e will! Slen loves kiddos, almos' as much as I do." Jack grinned up at her. "Th' two of us are gonna be fussin' over ya nigh' an’ day."

He made his way deep into the forest, with Sally clinging close to him. Jack patted her head reassuringly. Poor thing- he could tell why she'd be scared, being taken into the woods by someone she didn't know well after...well he didn't exactly know what had happened to her, but he knew it couldn't be good. Luckily, they soon came upon a clearing. Sitting in the middle of it was a large house. It was practically a castle to Sally.

"Tha's our gaf." Jack said, pointing.

"It's so big…" Sally murmured. Jack smiled.

"Sure is! Plen'y o' room fer ya t' run aroun'." He chirped. He walked to the door and opened it. Stepping inside, Sally stared around the giant living room. There was a couch, a couple armchairs, a very primitive tv, even by 70s standards and...well, not much else. The house seemed to be empty. 

"Slen, I'm 'ome." Jack called out as he walked towards a door next to the couch.. He grabbed Sally from his shoulders and held her against his chest instead as he opened the door. The girl looked around quickly, green eyes shining curiously. 

"Oh, Ja-" standing in the kitchen was a tall man in a suit. His skin was completely white, and his proportions were so unnatural- his arms and legs were far too long for anyone to realistically have. The thing that freaked Sally out the most, however, was his face, or rather- his lack of one. Sally clung tighter to Jack, staring in horror as this monster in front of her stared right back. In a movement too smooth and quick for any person, he crossed the room. "Jack, who is that?"

"This is Sally! Ain't she a righ' cu'e basin o' gravy?" Jack chirped back, adjusting his hold on Sally. 

"Jack, you can't just take random children! Especially here! Now she'll know about everyone living in these woods and tell all the other children and-" Slender's angry and panicked rant was cut off by Jack extending an arm and placing his index finger where Slender's lips would be.

"Cool i', china pla'e. I didn' 'alf inch 'er because she's cu'e, if ye're finkin' tha'." Jack replied. His accent seemed to thicken while talking to Slender. "She 'asn't go' anywhere ta go. 'Er ma an' da are gone."

Slender was quiet for a few moments before sighing. He rubbed his featureless face in irritation. "Alright, alright…" He looked from Jack to Sally. He tilted his head at her. "Well- hello Sally, I suppose you're staying with us for now." He said, softer this time. Sally still flinched away from him. 

"Ah, don' be scared o' 'im, Slen wouldn' 'ur' a 'air on yer 'ead." Jack said, rubbing Sally's back soothingly. He grinned at his friend. "Ain' tha' righ', Slen?"

Slender seemed to become distressed for a moment and he stepped away from Jack and Sally. "Oh I'm- I'm sorry I should've assumed you'd be scared...I always forget about that-" he glanced away nervously for a moment. He held out a hand to Sally. "I'm Slender. It's a pleasure to meet you, little one. I- apologize for the bad first impression, Jack can be...impulsive, at times."

Jack muttered something to himself and rolled his eyes. Sally looked at him and smiled, then at Slender's hand. She hesitated, then reached out to shake it. Her entire hand was barely bigger than Slender's palm. After she pulled away from the handshake she heard Jack chuckle, and she looked up at the clown.

"Ye okay, Slen?"

"Small…"

Jack barked a laugh and reached out, patting Slender's shoulder. "Ye big softie." He murmured affectionately. Slender shot him a look and adjusted his tie, trying to regain his composure. Sally giggled at the two of them.

"How old are you, dear?"

"Ten." Sally replied. Slender made an- odd- noise that made Jack snicker. 

"God she's only a toddler-"

"Ten year ol's aren' toddlers, Slen." Laughing Jack said. Slender ignored him. 

"Can we get you anything, Sally? A drink? Are you hungry?" He asked. Sally smiled shyly at all the attention. Sure her parents had treated her like a princess but this? This was the kind of fawning only a queen got. 

"Toast would be nice." She said. "And- warm milk…?"

Slender, despite his lack of face, seemed to radiate happiness. "Of course!" He chirped maybe a bit too eagerly. He turned and quickly moved to the fridge, pulling out some bread and a carton of milk. 

Sally watched him curiously as Jack moved to the dining table and took a seat. Sally was dropped into his lap. She looked up at him while he rubbed her cheek with the back of a finger. Sally hugged her bear and balloon animal as she looked around.

"Does anyone else live here?" She asked. Jack shook his head.

"Nah." He replied. "We've always wan'ed more though...lo'sa kiddos runnin' aroun' th' gaf, like a big ol' fam'ly." The clown smiled down at Sally. 

"What's a gaf?" Sally asked. Jack wheezed in amusement. 

"A 'gaf' is a house," Slender said. "I only understand him because I've known him too long." He added, nodding his head at the clown. Jack grinned at Slender.

"Ah, ye luv me." He said. Slender squinted at him.

"Well that's news to me."

Jack wheezed again, cackling loudly in amusement. Sally giggled in his lap. She liked these two, as strange as they were. Maybe- just maybe- this could be a fresh start. She'd like that.

[richieisabastardman]

I Need You Tonight - Barry Berkman x Reader

Summary: Your involvement with the Chechen mafia has led to you committing a range of criminal offences. The worst being your work as a hit man. However, with the weight of such sins upon your shoulders, you look for understanding and companionship in the only person you know will understand. Barry. (Angst/Fluff/Smut)

Warnings: Swearing, Killing, Blood, Clothed Grinding, Thigh Riding, Hands on necks but not choking (and in a hot way), Barry’s a low key dom, Sexual Situations

Word count: 3718

Notes: This is so long but I refuse to have sexy stuff without a story behind it. I’d love to know whether you guys prefer longer stories or shorter ones? I like writing long ones but then I hate having to edit them after lmao. Anyway, hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Heres a link to my other Barry Berkman fic

“I swear to God Hank, this is the last hit. This is it, alright? I’m done after this one”.

Barry’s eyes were furrowed and serious as he spoke to the Chechen man. You stared at him from where you sat upon a grey velvet lounge in the new and improved stash house. Your eyes roamed his body, his broad shoulders contained by a thin black sweater. His sleeves were rolled upwards which allowed you to peak at his thick forearms. His legs were unfortunately hidden by jeans that were just a little too loose for your liking. He wore a black cap upon his head, which shaded his face under the artificial light of the warehouse. You wished you could see more of his face, as his expression was difficult to read. Yes, his expression was serious. So was his voice. However, the thought that Barry wouldn’t be coming here anymore didn’t sit well with you. Something strange must have been going on for him to act like this.

You watched Barry finalize his deal with Hank before beginning to walk over to the couch in which you were lounging. His face had softened a great deal on his walk over and he appeared almost meek as he met your gaze and smiled.

“Hey” he said, standing in front you. Admiring him from such an angle made him appear inches taller than he already was.

“Hey” you returned the greeting, continuing to smile. “Come sit with me”.

Barry shuffled his feet for a moment, almost contemplating your command, before obeying. He sat on the couch next to you, but he left enough space between the both of you to eliminate any intimacy. Naturally you moved closer to him. Your hand made its way around the back of the couch, almost trapping Barry within your presence. You saw him gulp and he stared at you for a moment with wide eyes before his gaze moved to his lap.

“I heard what you said to Hank. About this being your last job. Are you really not coming back?” you asked.

His gaze moved to you again for a moment before shifting back to his lap as he nodded his head. “Yeah. I’m – I’m trying to be a better guy”.

You let out a huff and pouted your lips, feigning sadness. Barry saw this and laughed slightly, appearing to relax a little. “But I think you’re a good guy already. A great guy, in fact!” you said.

Barry’s gaze met yours for the final time. He stared at you, his eyes wider than before and his mouth hanging slightly open. His reaction to your words tugged at your heart. When Barry spoke to Hank, he was the military man you had heard about before you got the chance to meet him. His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes dark, his arms folded to halt any kind of connection to those near him. However, the first time you met him; his aura had softened. He had become almost childlike and innocent. He was always polite and almost shy around you. You began to see the difference between the man born Barry Berkman and the man he called Barry Block.

“Do you really think that?” he asked, his voice the softest you’d ever heard it.

“Of course” you replied earnestly and he smiled.

He stared at you in silence for a moment before speaking again. “Why didn’t they just get you to do this job”.

“I don’t do that anymore. I’m getting more into the drug side of this business” you grinned.

“Nice. Lots of money in that I guess” He said, nodding his head in thought. “Do you think you’ll ever do anything else?” he asked.

You pondered his question for a moment. This had been the first time you had even considered the prospect of leaving Hank and his crew. Whilst the job was dangerous, and obviously illegal, Hank had given you the opportunity to make money and have a roof over your head. He was also a great boss, very laissez-faire. He had taken a chance by hiring you, and you hadn’t thought of anything else since.

“Maybe” you answered. “But these guys have given me everything I have right now. I feel like leaving them would be … disloyal”.

Barry nodded his head for a moment before clapping his hands together and standing up off of the couch. “I have to go. Got to get to my acting class” He said in response to your raised eyebrow.

“Oh yeah that’s right! I’ve heard about that” you smiled, and he once again returned the smile. “Well, go break a leg” you said.

“Thanks Y/N” he said, and turned around to make his way out of the warehouse.

~

He shouldn’t have made you do it. He shouldn’t have. Hank had promised you that you wouldn’t have to do anymore kills for him. He had promised you that you would be able to just work in their drug trade. However, during the evening of the day in which you had spoken to Barry about his own hitman retirement, Hank had called you. You had been just about to de-robe for the day, a glass of wine in hand when you had heard your mobile ringing. Groaning and muttering profanities, you saw Hank’s name on your cell as you picked it up. It wasn’t rare for Hank to call you at all times of the day, so the panic did not hit you until you heard his voice on the other end. It was sickly sweet even for him.

“You’re gonna hate me for asking you to do this”

And he was right. You did hate him for asking you to do that for him, because he knew you couldn’t say no.

You had held it together up until you shut the door after hauling your body inside your apartment.

You held it together as you drove to the location of your target, a lovely suburban neighbourhood. You held it together when you walked into the house, passing pictures of said target and his wife and children. You held it together as you shot the man from behind as he watched TV, oblivious to your presence. You even held it together as you disposed of his body. However, the minute you let your door slam behind you, a red that was now browning staining your hands – you could no longer hold it together. You broke down, your breath coming in and out of you in rapid waves as you slid down the door, sobbing silently. You went to wipe your face with your hands before you caught sight of their colour and began sobbing again.

You dragged yourself to your bathroom, quickly turning on the shower and undressing before pushing yourself under the stream of water. You watched the coloured water turn clear as you cleaned the night off your body. The shower however could not clean the night off your mind. When you had spoken to Barry about why you couldn’t do his hit for Hank, you were only telling specific truths. Yes, you had moved into the drug trade. However, you had not done so just for the hell of it. You had always thought of yourself as strong. Hence, when you began to do hits for Hank, the weight of such a job on your soul was only minimal. But as the body count increased, the voice of your conscience grew louder. Your last hit, before this one, had almost gotten you killed. You had frozen up, panic setting into you. Your target had taken advantage of this fact. Hank had promised to find you another job.

“You’ve done so much for us. Just relax! I’ll find you something else to do, I promise”

And he kept his promise. He did, until he didn’t. And he didn’t tonight.

You weren’t sure how you were going to make it through the night alone. You wouldn’t get any sleep, you knew you wouldn’t. But you had no one to call and nowhere to go except to your bed and the nightmares there that awaited you. You stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around your body. You could barely feel its softness and warmth due to the numbness which had encased your skin and brain. You walked to your bedroom, feet heavy and steps slow. You pulled on a black skirt and a white t-shirt. You also placed socks upon your feet and shoes on top of them. Walking to your front door, you grabbed your car keys, your hair still wet from the shower and soaking through the fabric of your shirt. You walked down to the parking lot of your apartment block and entered your car. As you sat there, trying to focus your vision, you hear the engine of your car begin to roar. You had started the car. You didn’t even realise. Reversing out of your spot and onto the LA streets, you understood where the being that had current control of your body was taking you.

There was one place you could go. There was one person you could go to.

 ~

Barry stood upon the low stage of the theatre in which Gene Cousineau’s acting classes were held. A script gripped tightly in his hand, he spoke his lines with a forceful monotonicity to the painfully neutral faces of the audience. Sally stood next to him, delivering her responses with much more power as Barry watched in awe. He could only dream of being as good as her one day. When he was halfway through his response to Sally’s character’s plea, Barry heard the doors of the stage room open. Everyone in the room turned their head towards the intruder, confused and irritated looks clouding their faces.

You stood beyond the open doors, breathing hard. Your hair had dried up more on the drive over to Barry’s acting class. You had kept the windows open in case your body decided to remove the shame from within you as well. You stood and stared at Barry, his eyes widening in panic. He jumped down from the stage, walking swiftly towards you.

“What is going on, Barry? Where are you going? Who is this?” Gene asked, clearly annoyed, his eyes following the tall man as he raced towards your figure standing in the theatre. That is how you truly appeared to him in that moment. A figure. Because as you stood within that room and stared at him as he was upon that stage, you had never looked so deflated. He had never seen you look so scared.

“She’s a friend of mine. I’ll handle it. Just carry on without me” he said, quickly reaching you and wrapping an arm around your shoulders to lead you out of the theatres.

Once you were out in the hall, Barry turned you so that you were facing him, his hands on your shoulders. They gripped you tightly but comfortingly as he hunched himself slightly to be eye level with you. “You can’t come here, okay Y/N. You can’t come here” he said softly. It wasn’t a command of anger nor disappointment, it was one of concern. You knew right now he was Barry Block, the auto parts salesman. But you needed Barry Berkman, the man who had seen the same shit as you and could help.

You didn’t respond to Barry’s command and you could see he was beginning to panic, his jaw tightening. When a tear welled up within your right eye and fell down your cheek, he paused his panicky state. He chose instead to rub his hands up and down your upper arms slowly, still hunching to reach your eyes with his own easier.

“What happened? Are you alright?” he asked and you shook your head violently, almost like a child.

“I need you” you choked out “Please, just tonight, I need you”.

Your plea was all Barry needed to feel wave of protectiveness wash over him. A product of evolution, perhaps. Big man protects scared little woman. He knew you weren’t a scared little woman, however, which is why your current state worried him more. Despite such thoughts, he nodded his head, obeying your command for the second time that day and began leading you out of the building.

“Did you drive here?” he asked, his arm around your shoulder.

You nodded your head and he hummed. “I’ll drive us to your place. I can come get my car later” he said and led you to your car.

~

Barry led you up the stairs of your apartment block to your door. You handed him the keys, your shaking hands causing them to let out a jingle which filled the silence between the two of you. He opened your front door and led you into your apartment. Sitting you down on your loveseat lounge, he disappeared into your kitchen, returning with a glass of water. You held the glass which he had nudged into your hands, sipping from it tentatively. Finally, he sat beside you, his hands on his knees, rubbing them anxiously.

“Did you want to talk about what happened?” he asked, trying to look into your teary eyes. You continued to stare forward, sipping from your glass.

“Hank got me to do a job tonight. I didn’t want to…” you trailed off, finally turning your head to meet Barry’s gaze. He gave you a tight-lipped smile, one that communicated his understanding and encouraged you to continue. “I freaked out and didn’t know who could help… until I remembered our talk today. I’m sorry I turned up at your acting class-“

“It’s fine” he replied, rubbing your back gently with his large hands “I was just surprised”.

Suddenly, you practically launched yourself into Barry’s chest, pressing your face against the soft fabric of his shirt and wrapping your hands tightly around his middle. Your glass had been flung across the room but did not shatter. Some water remained in it still. Barry’s hands remained open for a moment in shock before wrapping around you, holding you tightly against his chest. You began to sob again once you felt his tenderness and he placed his cheek on the top of your head, shushing you quietly and mumbling something into your hair.

“What?’ you asked and Barry gently pulled you back so that he could look you in the eyes, with hands upon your shoulders.

“I said, you’re a good person Y/N”

You stared at him with wide, teary eyes and an open mouth, mirroring Barry’s own expression earlier that same day. The way that he looked at you, his eyes almost sparkling, told you that he truly meant what he said. Whilst you didn’t believe him, you appreciated the sentiment.

You moved your hand to Barry’s cheek, the stubble there tickling your palm ever so slightly. He shut his eyes at the touch and you leaned forward, gently covering his lips with your own. His eyes shot open at the kiss, however with your own eyes shut, you didn’t catch his panic. He shut them again quickly, leaning forward into your kiss and opening his mouth to allow it to deepen. He moved one of his hands to your waist, gripping there tightly, protectively. You moaned at his touch and you felt his shuddery breath in response.  His other hand gripped the side of your neck gently, his fingers just under your jaw. When his thumb moved to the other side of your neck, his grip now encasing your neck, you moaned again, and this prompted Barry to lift you from the side of the couch onto his lap so you could straddle him.

You squealed at the action but were quickly silenced by Barry’s lips once again upon yours, kissing with a passion more intense than before. His hand still encased your neck and his other hand travelled down your back and below your skirt, gripping your ass from underneath. Your once innocent view of the older man was slowly fading from your memory as this Barry, Barry Berkman, had his tongue in your mouth and his large hands squeezing your behind. He was pushing you ever so slightly against him, grinding you into him. You moved away from the kiss to place your head against his shoulder, moaning quietly. His other hand moved to your back now, holding your body against him and rubbing it comfortingly. His jeans were too thick for him to be feeling as much of this as you were, you thought. He was doing everything for your benefit, for your pleasure.

You sat up for a moment, moving away from him and you saw a flash of panic across his face before he watched you move to mount his thigh, your thighs on either side of his thick one and your core against it. He leaned his head against the back of your lounge, his mouth agape and eyes filled with awe. Your skirt and shirt still on, everything was technically hidden from Barry’s view. However, your face was still on full display, and that was all Barry needed. You began to grind yourself against Barry’s thigh, your hands on his shoulder and his hands on your waist for support. The material of his jeans against you was harsh but provided just enough texture to cause goosebumps to form and travel up your arms.

“You’re so good” Barry said lowly, his voice sounded the huskiest it had ever had. “Such a good girl”.

You picked up your pace at his words of encouragement, moving yourself faster and faster against him.  Your eyes never left his as he stared up at you. He occasionally looked down to his thigh which you were upon, swallowing down his arousal at the sight of your own arousal soaking a wet spot through his jeans. It was all so pornographic yet so intimate as he rubbed your sides lovingly. You felt yourself getting closer to your limit, your eyes squeezing shut and breaking your gaze from Barry’s for the first time in minutes.

“I think I’m-“ you whimpered.

Barry tucked a strand of hair that had fallen in front of your face behind your ear, his hand gripping behind your head to pull you towards him and finally kiss you again. You came the minute your lips touched, and he pulled you against his body. You gripped his back, scratching through the shirt and gripping the muscles there. You moaned into his mouth, falling apart against him and he held you protectively. As you came down from your high, you moved to lay your head upon his shoulder, lips grazing his neck as he drew lazily upon your back.

You suddenly perked up from his shoulder and he looked at you, confused by your actions.

“Let me help you” you said, your hand travelling down his chest to the buttons of his jeans. As you moved into a better position to undo his buttons, you noticed a wet patch on the front of his jeans, other than the one you had left upon his thigh.

You looked up at him and noticed he was looking to the side, his fist covering his mouth slightly in what you assumed was embarrassment. “You already-“ you started.

“Yeah, just after you did” he answered, interrupting your question in order to stop you from even asking.

“I didn’t even touch-“ you started again.

“Yeah I know” Barry said, still refusing to meet your gaze.

“That’s so hot” you said smiling and he finally turned his head to look at you, a smile creeping onto his face in response to yours.

“I should go clean-up” he said, promoting you to lift yourself off of him and back onto the lounge beside him. He began to stand up on shakey legs, still physically and mentally recovering from what had just occurred.

As he made his way to your bathroom you called his name, causing him to turn and look at you once again. “Thank you” you said, the horrors of what you had done today were now back behind a flimsy closet door within your mind.

He smiled, nodding before turning around again.

~

“You shouldn’t have done that Hank… No I don’t care! You call me if you need a hit done, okay? Not her! You do that shit again and I swear to God, you’re a dead man”.

The mans voice woke you up from your slumber. You were laying in your bed, your hand reached out to the spot beside you that was slowly losing its warmth from the body that was once laying there. You smiled at the memories of the night before. Barry had been so caring, laying with you in bed all night and holding you. He always held you so tight. He held you like he wanted to hold you, like he always wanted to hold you. You sat up in your bed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you heard him enter your bedroom. He was fully dressed in what he was wearing the night before, however his pants were now clean. His stern expression softened as he caught sight of you, so sweet and peaceful and not yet burdened by the realities of the day.

“Did I wake you up” he asked, moving to sit on the end of your bed. You shuffled toward him on your hands and knees, hugging him from behind and wrapping your arms around his waist.

“No” you mumbled into his neck “Was that Hank?”.

“Uh yeah. You won’t be doing any more jobs like that. I took care of it” he replied.

“Thank you” you said, and left a kiss on his cheek.

He stood up then, his hands in his pockets and looking a bit more confident than he usually did when he was with you. “I have to go” he said. You pouted and he smiled. “But I’d love to take you to dinner tonight, if you’d let me”.

Your pout quickly turned to a grin and you nodded your head.

“Cool” he smiled and began making his way out of your bedroom, looking back at you three times on his way out.

 Tag list (I tagged everyone who liked the post, if you dont want to be tagged let me know): @tozierskaspb @thatnerdyaquarius @princess-chocolate-drop @w0nder-marie @whovianayesha @hystaerias @babyravenpuff050 @the-blackblood @godmuffin @ladyr0b0t @hecklleandjyde

[foodcourtdetective]

thinking too hard

summary: barry berkman has been trying to forget about his soulmate for both of their sakes, but Y/N is making it very hard and using their soulmate connection to draw all over him.

tags: angsty, soulmate au, love at first sight, very brief Barry x Sally, definitely a happy ending!

A/N: I’m just really into soulmate!au’s and Barry Berkman okay?!?! (and // means time passes)

word count 2.4k

AO3 x

He hated Los Angeles. Barry’s long sleeve shirt stuck to him in the desert heat, sweat pooling in his armpits and on his back. NoHank asked him about his outfit choice, offering him a short-sleeved shirt or a tank top.

“You want to take one of their shirts? They won’t mind, they’re confident in their bodies!” NoHank said, gesturing over to the Chechen recruits. Barry shook his head, clearing his throat in discomfort. After a moment, NoHank made a movement to push up Barry’s sleeves for him, but Barry was too quick and grabbed NoHank’s pinky, bending it all the way back.

“Shit shit, okay okay! Someone has body issues! We will talk about accepting your body some other time then.” Barry ignored him, staring coldly ahead as the young Chechen recruit finally hit a beer can with his bullet.

//

When he finally got back to his apartment, Barry made a beeline for the bathroom, nodding briefly at Jermaine and Nick on his way. After peeling off his shirt and grabbing the sink, Barry took a look at his body or rather what was on it. Today, his soulmate had kept it simple: a heart on his wrist, a note to pick up two lattes at 9, and a flower chain that started at his trigger finger and trailed all the way up his forearm. He sighed, holding back a soft smile as her traced up the stem of flowers with his other pointer fingers. As he ended the journey at his inner forearm, Barry stopped to see a less traditional note: written on his upper chest right over his heart, in simple cursive, it read please talk to me, Barry. A deep sigh filled the tiny bathroom and he gently caressed their handwriting.  The familiar movement triggered a whirl of memories.

Writing excitedly on his leg the moment he turned sixteen to introduce himself to his soulmate only to get no response. Giving up on love and joining the Marines shortly after. Noticing the shy hello scribbled on his hand seven years later when he was already too far gone. Writing to them any chance he got once he find out the silence was because they had not been old enough yet. Learning her name was Y/N and that she lived in California. Having to break off communication once Fuches put him to work. The sharp lines she had drawn as she had asked if he could feel the sharp indent of her pen, told him that ignoring them for their own good was ridiculous. The obscene images Y/N had drawn all over him the first couple of years, trying to get an angry message from him, any message.

His heart sank, but Barry knew as much as it hurt both of them, it was better for them to move on, to pretend to not have a soulmate. God knows Barry would rather hide her away, hide his shot at happiness, than have her be tortured or worse by any of his enemies or allies. He groaned, his knuckles turning whiter than the sink.

//

His acting class didn’t know what to make of him at first; his long, dark clothing sharply contrasted their tight shorts and tank tops, skin flaunting their connections. But despite himself, Barry grew close to Sally, a girl who had never seen any marks on her body. After hearing that Barry also had a blank canvas, she pounced on him with a marker she had seemingly pulled out of nowhere, drawing a star on his knuckles. However, despite her persistence, no matching star appeared on her own. Sally declared them star-crossed soulmates and asked him on a date.

After a late night of drinks, Barry found himself making out with Sally on her couch. She went to pull off his shirt and for the first time in his life, he mindlessly complied, distracted by the intimacy. Sally suddenly shot up from the couch, crying out as she pointed to the drawings adorning his chest. Y/N had seen the star Sally had drawn and, hopeful that it was a message to her, drew out an intricate night sky. Hidden among the stars, scrawled out in cursive, she wrote I’m here when you’re ready, Barry. -Y/N.

“How dare you! You lied just to get into my pants?!” Sally tripped over herself to pick up his discarded shirt, balling it up to chuck at him. Barry pulled it on, dazed all the way home until he saw the message glint in the mirror as he was getting undressed. Barry slammed his fist into the wall, shouting out in frustration. Ass his phone rang, the caller ID revealing it was Fuches, Barry scrambled to put his shirt back on, scribbling a message to Y/N on the fleshy part of his bicep. I’m a hitman. Don’t message me unless you want to die.

//

After the assignment, Barry found himself staring at his chest and reading her pleas to talk further. That’s not funny. Barry. Barry! Oh my god, you’re serious. That explains a few things. You gotta talk to me, your soulmate? I need to know why. Barry sighed, wandering over to his bedroom to get a pen from his desk. He sat on the bed, anxiously fiddling with the pen in between his fingers before writing on his trigger finger: you still want to talk to me? He waits, watching the loopy letters sweep down his arm like a signature under the floral art she continued to draw every day.

Yes, I have a death wish. He laughed at the absurdity of their conversation before responding.

Why are all artists suicidal?

See, I’d rather have this with you than live without it. Her words made him freeze in his tracks, his fingers gently stroking over the confession as they faded away, scrubbed off by the writer. She filled the now empty space with a series of numbers; Barry furrowed his brow, trying to decode the secret message. After a moment Y/N wrote again underneath them.

Running out of space! Text me! He hesitated, his heart in his throat as he debated if the convenience was worth sacrificing her safety. Finally, with shaking hands, he dialed the number and hit call. A soft hello followed the ringing, the voice so angelic that he knew he would do whatever she asked him to do.

“I said text, not call! You do know how to read, right?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s nice to hear your voice!”

“What? No, I mean I’m sorry for…” Barry trailed off, his mind swarmed by memories of pushing her away and feeling her anguish through the pointy pen tip.

“You wanted to protect me. I get it. Now we’re even from when I couldn’t write to you.”

“That wasn’t intentional.”

“It would have been! I was a pretty rebellious eleven year old.” He laughed, the silence after he finishes awkward until he breaks it.

“I’m in LA.”

“For work?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Barry doodles a flower on his thumb. It’s not as pretty as any of hers, but she draws a faint heart around it. He brushes the heart, his own beating so loudly it was in his ears.

“I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

“Because of who I am? What I do?” His throat was thick from holding back the dam of emotion, but his voice managed to crack in desperation.

“I’m scared you’re going to leave me again.” Barry paused at that, his own heart breaking a little at the thought of all of the pain he must have caused Y/N by abandoning her. He’s now drawing a bouquet on his forearm, a sloppier version of her own.

“You don’t have to be afraid of that. Once I see you for the first time, I’m probably never going to leave you alone ever again… Not in a creepy way…”

“I would love that.”

“I’m giving you an out right now. You can hang up, stay in the safety of your life as a… what do you do again?”

“Graphic design!”

“I knew you were an artist!”

“And I knew you were a comedian!”

“Weird way of pronouncing what I actually do…” She giggled at that, falling quiet after a hearty laugh.

“Look at your leg. I’ll see you there at 9. Don’t be late!” As she hung up, Barry pressed his phone to his lips in shock. Remembering her words, he pulled his pants down to read the directions she had jotted onto his thigh, the dots in the I’s drawn as hearts instead of dots; he almost died of pure joy right then and there.

//

In hindsight, it was good that Y/N had suggested a coffee shop to meet because Barry had not gotten a wink of sleep the entire night. He had stared at the ceiling, flat on his back and still fondly stroking her writing on his leg. As his pointer finger traced the hearts, he felt his own thud loudly in his chest. It was easier to protect her when she was just lines on his person, just another part of him that he hated, another vulnerability. But hearing Y/N’s voice, imagining what she might look like, had ignited a wanting within him, a need to be with her, his other half. She was no longer just a part of him; she was a separate entity that he wanted to get to know and love.

He had gotten to the shop as soon as it opened at 4, wanting to figure out where the best table inside would be and staking it out for them. The barista had made him order a drink at 5:30; panicked and feeling about a thousand years old, Barry ordered “something to bring me back to life.” At 6 he was shuttering, borderline convulsing from the quad espresso that he consumed quickly. His anxiety was through the room, but all he could do was dig his fingernails into his palm which was resting on his jeans over her handwriting. What if she wasn’t as okay with the age difference as she thought she was? What if it hits her that her soulmate is a hitman? What if the drawings stop appearing. What if—

Barry jolted awake in his seat, now realizing that he had crashed from the overdose of caffeine. The barista (Stacie, he later learned) made a joke about having to restart his heart. He checked his phone: 8:30am. Suddenly, a thought dawned on him and he ordered another drink. By the time Stacie brought it over and started walking back to the counter, the bell above the door tingled. Barry immediately stood up like Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, turning to look at the customer. She sensed his stare immediately, turning to look him over as a dreamy blush painted her cheeks.

“Barry?” She whispered, his name less of a question and more of a disbelief. He swallowed, his throat dry as he looked over Y/N, his soulmate. She was absolutely picturesque, an almost pure aura of light around her as the door slowly shut behind her. As she drew near, Barry was almost too aware of how he towered over, a menacing presence.

“I gotcha a latt-“ Barry didn’t even get to finish his stuttering as Y/N grabbed his collar and pulled him down into a kiss. His mouth was already half open and he stumbled forward from the force of her tug. It wasn’t the most coordinated kiss in the world, her mouth mostly on his bottom lip and her teeth lightly bumped his by accident; but it was theirs. Barry felt his body fill with a warmth, like his whole being was sighing with relief at being united with his soulmate as he kissed her back. He had thought that the doodles and the sound of her voice would do him in, but this… this would knock his entire life’s path off track. After a moment, Barry gently placed his hands on her cheeks and pulled away, just looking down at her in awe.

“How did you know my coffee order?” Y/N asked, her grin stretched out wider than Barry previously thought possible. He babbled for a few seconds, removing his hands to gesticulate as he just expressed a bunch of word fillers before finally managing to get something out.

“Y-you, you wrote it on your hand as a-a part of your to-to-to do list,” he explained, trying to stick his erratic hands in his pockets but Y/N swung her hand forward to snatch his hand. She squealed, making a joke about how sweaty his hand was and Barry thought he would die of a heart attack right then and there. She pulled him down again, this time so they could sit at the table together and she could take a sip of her latte. Barry simply stared at her, his brain slightly short circuiting with delight. Eventually, rational thought caught up with him and Barry tried to remove his hand from hers, but she had a firm grip and a look in her eye that told him she already knew what he was going to say.

“You’re not worried about…”

“I thought we already went over this, Barry. I’m in! I’m all in,” she declared sweetly, leaning over to capture his lips once again. He was consumed by it, by her, his head swirling with a dizziness of emotion and his lungs burning with a heartache of regrets. They could have had this so much sooner, if he had left the army, if he hadn’t made that deal with Fuches, if he hadn’t been an idiot about wanting to protect her. The deep and mind numbing kiss ended as Y/N broke it to breathe heavy. Barry looked at her through lidded eyes, revering her with every fiber of his being.

“You are good at that! It’s a good thing too because it looks like I’m gonna have to kiss you every five minutes to get you out of that type of thinking,” she giggled, moving to lean back in her chair but Barry slung an arm around her waist, pulling her back into him with a soft smile.

“Better make it every two minutes because I’m thinking again,” he joked, his heart glowing as the love of his life obliged his request and kissed him senseless.

[radiosteve]

Need Your Loving Tonight Ch. 23

Summary: The wedding and the end.

Note: Last one! I hope everyone enjoyed this series. It was so fun to do. I’m not sure if I’ll be writing much else after this. As always, the italicized part is the reader’s thoughts. The photo is one that I found on google. I do not own any rights to it. If you want to be added to the taglist send me a message or an ask and I’ll add you!  

Warnings: Language, pregnancy

Pairing: Roger Taylor x Reader, John Deacon x Reader

Words: 3k+

  July 31, 1975

 The summer air blew warmly, causing the rose bushes outside to sway side to side. The sun was beating down lightly on the bright green grass, but the heat was well maintained by the breeze that often flushed through the air. The pathway, lined with pink and red rose petals, trailed from the entrance of the beautiful venue and led out to a sharply trimmed patch of grass. When planning the wedding, the first thing you and John agreed on was an outdoor ceremony with an indoor reception and the two of you made sure that it happened.

 A familiar feeling tingled in your toes, sending shivers throughout your body as you sat back in a chair that was perched in front of a large vanity in the rather small dressing room. Your hair was tied up beautifully, framing your face in a way that was both elegant and appealing. The natural tones of your makeup worked perfectly against your lacey, fitted and draping white gown. With a deep inhale, you pushed yourself forward, leaning your elbows on the vanity before you. Your eyes roamed over your reflection, admiring your appearance. It’s just how I always pictured it.

 A gentle knock rapped against the door, startling you from your deep investment in your own reflection. You rose from the chair, pushing it in as you headed towards the door. Stopping just in front of the door, you peered through the peephole, trying to figure out who stood on the other side before letting them in. It was Sally, standing with her arms crossed over her chest as she looked towards the ground and tapped her heeled foot. You leaned back from the peephole, unlocking the door and pulling it open with the faint traces of a smile on your face. Sally stepped inside, immediately turning to lock the door once again and prevent other from getting it. She turned back around to face you and her eyes traced over your figure.

 “Wow,” she spoke simply, the words flying from her mouth and leaving her breathless. “You look incredible. I swear, I’ve never seen a prettier bride,” a smile stretched out across her lips, bringing one to yours as well. 

 “Thank you, Sal,” you returned to the chair that you’d been sitting in before, angling it to face her as she sunk onto a small cushioned bench across the room. “You look really pretty as well. The bridesmaid dresses we picked out are truly gorgeous,” Sally nodded, knowing that you were right.

“Are you nervous?” Sally looked concerned as she asked. It was an expression that you had grown fairly used to seeing. Sally always did her best to look out for you, which sometimes resulted in her voicing her criticisms sometimes a little too often, but you admired it nonetheless. It was Sally’s constant worrisome glares and prying into your social life that brought your true feelings to the light of day. Without her you’d never be standing where you were today, in a wedding dress and about to marry the love of your life.     

 “I thought I would be, knowing me and all, but I’m surprisingly not. I mean, there’s a part of me that’s a little scared of being up there in front of so many people and everything that’ll happen at the reception, but I’m definitely not nervous about me and John. We’re meant to be and there’s nothing that can stop us now,” you folded your hands in your lap and caught sight of Sally’s gaze trailing down to them. Her eyes landed on your perfectly manicured fingernails and the beautiful cuticles that surrounded them. Sally felt her heart warm in surprise. She hadn’t noticed before now that you stopped biting at your cuticles. And it was with that realization that any spiral of doubt, no matter how big or small, about you and John vanished from Sally’s thoughts. He was good for you and you were good for him, she could 100% see that now. 

 “I’m glad. The two of you really are the perfect couple,” Sally stood up, adjusting the strap of her dress as she did. “I have to run and do a few more things before the ceremony, but me and the other bridesmaids will all be back in here just a little before were ready to start. Ok?” you nodded, and Sally went over to the door, giving you a wide smile before unlocking it and pulling it open. It wasn’t until after she had already taken a step forward that Sally realized there was another person standing in the doorway. Sally’s eyes trailed up from the ground, landing on the deep blue irises of the one and only Roger Taylor.  

 “Hello Sally,” he spoke timidly as Sally backed up, allowing him to step into the small room. “I just came by to wish the bride good luck,” Roger smiled at you and you couldn’t help but smile back.

 “I’ll just leave the two of you alone,” Sally quietly drifted back into the doorway, shutting it quickly behind her as she left.

 “I kept hearing about how great you looked, but now that I see it, I can confirm that you really do look perfect. That dress is wonderful,” Roger sat down, perching on the same bench that Sally rested on a few minutes before. 

 “Thank you, Roger. That really means a lot,” you nodded as you spoke, and Roger hummed a response before opening his mouth to talk once more.

 “So, how are you feeling? Big day, lots of emotions. Think you’re going to cry?” Roger’s slew of questions caused a chuckle to fall from your lips. 

 “I’m alright really. Not sure if I’ll cry but I don’t feel too nervous. If anything, I just feel ready,” you stated plainly, using your hands to accentuate your point. 

 “Ready to be Mrs. John Deacon?” Roger’s lips pursed and you could feel his saddened emotions peaking from his words.

 “Look Rog, we really appreciate you being here. I mean, I really appreciate it. I know it’s still a little hard sometimes but we both know that this is what’s right. For both of us,” Roger nodded his head sadly. You caught a glimpse of a tear shining in his eye and quickly reached over to wipe it away with the pad of your finger. “You don’t have to be sad, Rog. Just think, you’re going to meet a girl one day and she’ll be perfect for you. The two of you will have what John and I have. There is someone out there for you. I just know it,” you leaned forward resting your hands onto your knees.

 “I know, I know. You’re right,” Roger sighed, brushing the remaining tears from his eyes. “Just feels like everything’s happening so fast. I mean, it feels like just yesterday when Brian and I walked in on you shagging Tim in the rehearsal room before my audition,” Roger chuckled slightly, leaning his head back as he did. 

 “Oh god, don’t remind me,” you laughed along with Roger feeling any and all wedding worries flee from your head. “That seems like it was forever ago. I can’t believe how young we all were,” Roger nodded again feeling that same easiness as you did. 

 “Yeah me too. But everything is different now, for better or for worse. I’m just glad that you still kept me around after all those years,” Roger’s eyes locked with yours and you could sense his sincerity within them. 

 “I am too. Who else would make fun of me if you weren’t around?” you giggled crossing your right leg over your left as Roger shifted in his seat. 

 “I guess Freddie would have to step up, but I can tell you right now that he’s not half as good at teasing people as I am,” Roger folded his arms over his chest proudly with a cool smirk plastered over his lips. 

 “Oh, I bet,” you laughed, pushing your chair so that the back rested against the front of the vanity. 

 “Well,” Roger began, slapping his hands against his thighs as he stood up. “I better get going so that Brian doesn’t freak out about not being able to find me,” you stood up too, moving closer to Roger. “Just wanted to see how you were doing and tell you how amazing you look,” a shy smile fell upon Roger’s face. 

 “Thank you, Rog,” you pulled him in for a tight hug and Roger made sure not to crush your perfectly styled hair. He leaned down, placing a gentle kiss to your forehead as your arms still held him close. Reluctantly, Roger pulled away, backing up to the small door in your dressing room.

 “I’ll see you out there, Y/n,” Roger flashed you a small smile before walking out of the room. Your heart stayed steady in your chest, beating a calmly as it would on any normal occasion. Yes, a part of you would always hold on to that attachment and love that you felt for Roger, but now you were ready to make things final. To move on once and for all and start anew.

 May 11, 1980

 “Honey can you come upstairs for a minute? I have something I want to show you,” John called down the staircase as you sat on the couch with a book in your hand. You let out a little huff, placing your bookmark into your book, marking the page so you can come back to it later. The pads of your feet hit the floor as you marched your way up the stairs. The house definitely looked smaller now than it had when you first bought it, but you still loved it. By the time you reached the top of the stairs you felt your breath become labored and heavy. John came up beside you, placing his hand around your back to help you walk into your bedroom. “Here, love. Why don’t you sit down?” John led you over to your shared bed, helping you sit comfortably. 

 “John, why did you call me all the way up here?” you asked, your breathing was still a little heavy as your hands went down to rest on your stomach. John rushed around the room, pulling a record from the record player and tossing it onto the bed next to you. “Hey, be careful with that,” you warned, but John ignored you, pulling a record out of an unmarked sleeve and placing it on the record player. After he set it all up, John turned around to face you. A bright smile covered his face, lining its way up to his eyes. “What is this all about,” you moved slightly, trying to get more comfortable as you leaned into a pillow.

 “I wrote a song and we recorded it yesterday. I just got the final product today and I wanted to play it for you,” the smile never left John’s face as he spoke.

 “You could have just said that instead of running around like a maniac, Johnny,” you laughed, trying to get up a little but falling right back down onto the bed.

 “No, no, no. Stay there, I’ll come sit with you. Just let me start the track,” John turned around once more, fiddling with the record player until you heard the sound of guitar ring throughout the room. John rushed over to you, taking your hands off of your stomach and encompassing them in his. The song played loudly, and you really listened to the lyrics, realizing that it was about you. After the song ended, John looked up at you, his eyes locked with yours. 

 “What is this song called?” you asked, rubbing your thumb over the back of John’ hand. His hand squeezed yours quickly before he answered, the smile never leaving his face.

 “It’s called Need Your Loving Tonight. I started writing it when you went back to the States, just a bit before we got married. I’ve been tweaking it ever since. It just felt like a good way to get my feelings out at the time,” John’s hands stayed clasped with yours.

 “I think it sounds great, John. I love it,” a smile broke out across your face, mirroring the same expression that covered John’s. 

 “Yeah?” he asked, and you nodded, pulling him in for a long sweet kiss. His hands came to rest around your waist, and you pulled him as close as you could. The two of you broke apart and John’s hands came to rest on your stomach as he leaned down and put his face level with it. “You hear that? You hear that Richie? Your Mummy loved the song I wrote for her,” you giggled as John spoke to your pregnant belly, feeling the vibrations flow through it. 

 “You’re ridiculous,” you pulled John’s hands from around you and kissed him once more as he grinned against your lips. It was then that you heard the sound of the front door open from downstairs along with the patter of footsteps across the hardwood floors. John helped pull you up from the bed leading you out the bedroom towards the staircase. You heard the muffled sound of voices and laughter coming from the kitchen as you finally descended the stairs. John wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him as he helped you through the hallway.

 “Who is that making all this noise in my house?” John called out from beside you with a cheeky grin on his face. Instead of receiving a proper reply, a small girl who closely resembled John popped out from around the corner.

 “Boo!” she shouted, sticking her hands up to frame her face. John stumbled backwards, still holding you tight as he pretended to be scared.

 “Amelia May Deacon! You nearly gave your father a heart attack!” you teased, leaning over as much as you could to ruffle her messy hair. “What do you have to say?” you asked, giggling a little as Amelia smiled up at you.

 “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to give you a heart attack,” she said bashfully, looking over to John. He had a huge smile etched over his lips as he bent over to be eye level with her.

 “Ok, I forgive you,” Amelia smiled back at John before leaning in to hug him. John wrapped his arms around Amelia, lifting her up from the ground and throwing her over his shoulder. Amelia laughed and yelled as John rushed into the kitchen with her still hanging over his back.

 “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. She just had ice cream,” a familiar voice called from the kitchen as you slowly tried to make your way in. 

 “Yeah, I’m all for babysitting but vomit is where I draw the line,” another voice spoke as you finally rounded the corner into the kitchen. You saw the last of the words fall from Roger’s lips as you approached the counter. Brian stood nearby, holding his son James in his arms and rocking him gently back and forth.

 “Alright, alright, Johnny put her down before she throws up,” you hobbled over to the counter, placing your elbow down on it as Roger’s hand came up to rub your back. John put Amelia down, his breath had grown heavy and Amelia was still engaged in a fit of giggles. “How are you feeling Rog? Dom is due any day now, right? You’re going to be a dad just like these two dorks,” you pointed your thumb in the direction of John and Brian who now stood next to each other. Brian’s mouth opened wide in fake shock while Deaky just kept on smiling.

 “She’s doing alright. I can tell she’s getting close though. But the real question is, how are you? You’re just as pregnant as Dom is,” Roger patted you on the back once more before removing his hand altogether.

 “I’m doing fine. It’s a little harder to get around these days, but overall I’m good,” you smiled up at him as Roger nodded at you, showing that he understood. It was then that Freddie burst through the front door, making as much noise as possible. 

 “Hello, loves. Sorry for being late. We’re still going over some of the new songs, right?” Freddie asked, his eyes darting around the circle crowded over the kitchen counter.

 “Of course, Fred,” Brian spoke in a hushed tone to keep James from waking up in his arms. He took James upstairs so that he could nap in peace before the four of them moved over to the living room and positioned themselves around the coffee table as they looked at some of the new lyrics and music sheets. Amelia dragged you over to the corner in the living room that was filled with her toys. She pulled out one doll for you and another for herself. You held it in your hand, with a small smile on your lips.

 Just then, you heard the boys get louder in their discussion of music and your head turned in their direction. Your gaze drifted onto them, causing you to stop for a minute and take a good look at them. They had changed so much, new wrinkles, different hair, clothing styles, all of it. Hell, even you had changed. Everything was so different now than it used to be. They were just boys when you met them, but now they were men. 

 Your eyes scanned over them, lingering on John as he sat perched on the edge of the sofa. As if he could feel your gaze aimed at him, John looked up and met your eyes. He gave you a soft, loving smile. He mouthed that he loved you and your heart flipped in your chest, the same way it always did when he said that. You smiled back at him, returning your attention to your daughter sitting in front of you. Things had changed, and you were glad that they did.

 Taglist: @Retromusicsalad @bohemiansweede​ @deaconsroger @queen-crue​ @ohtheseboysilove​ @queeniesteiins @kemeryyyy @onceuponadetectivedemigod​ @ixchel-9275​ @rogmeddows​ @ziggymay​ @deakysmisfire​ @rogertaylorsfalsettogivesmehives​ @briarrose26​ @greatdinosaursalad​ @queendeakyy​ @killer-qu33n-of-disaster​ @mi55chanandlerbong​ @rogertaylorseyelashes​

[irageneveart]

Female killers from DBD with a self harming fem S/O? I’m not doing too well lately and would like my fav characters to cheer me up ^^’ sorry if this is annoying, you can just ignore it if you want

awww hi dear, I’m sorry you are feeling like this. if you need a place to rant or just someone to talk to I’m here! 🧡 hopefully these will cheer you up a little! I wrote for every female killer in DBD and it got long, I hope you don’t mind and you’ll enjoy!

Female Killers x fem S/O

Warnings: self harm

The Huntress / Anna

Anna has never been jollier than the day you moved in with her. A sweet lovely girl like you was all she ever wanted.

One day, coming from a hunt with meat for dinner, she saw you cleaning the windows around the house. That day was warmer than usual in the Red Forest, so you had a short T-shirt. You didn’t realize when it got pulled up from moving around

oh how she loved seeing you taking care of the house, of her. but…what are those marks on your belly?

she put down the rabbits she hunt, coming right at you and swiping you off your feet, bridal style. needless to say she scared you shitless for a moment, but then you smiled

“Oh God, Anna, you scared me! Welcome back!” you nudged into her and she did the same, going to a chair and placing you in her lap. Her hand went down to your stomach, her real concern. Your smile faded

“Anna, wait, please- ” you tried to stop her but with no avail, words won’t come out, and Anna didn’t stop

“Who hurt малышка?” she asked concerned. You shook your head

“No one, Anna, my love, I-” you stopped. You could see her eyes on you, you couldn’t lie to her. You inhaled deeply, and answered despite shaking “Myself. I did…I did this myself.”

silence. There was silence for a while, her calloused hands were caressing your skin, seemingly in deep thoughts, while you didn’t know what to say. She finally spoke

“You not happy?”

“No no no, my dear Anna” you cupped her face, your eyes glossy. “I am, I’m so happy to be here, to be with you, I really am.” You nervously smiled. “Just, sometimes… sometimes I feel too much. I feel I don’t deserve all of this, all your love and care. I’m afraid. When I do it just makes me focus on one thing and…I don’t know.” you exhaled, tired. Anna touched your cheek, making you look at her.

“Love is for you. What you do and are, I love. And I want help. нет.” she furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, her eyes never leaving yours. “I want to help.”

your smile crossed from ear to ear, your sweet Russian girlfriend smiling back at its sight

“Thank you, Anna. Thank you so much. YA lyublyu… teb-tebya?” you tried, and when Anna chuckled, you felt your chest filling with butterflies.

“And I love you. More.” She rested her forehead against yours, and you knew right there things are going to be fine.

The Nurse / Sally Smithson

Sally wasn’t one to talk to other killers too much, or any person for that matter, but your presence was bringing her peace

she liked to hear you talking, to hear your stories or the places you have seen in your human life. One day, as you two were walking around The Chapel, you saw a flower in one corner. It was bright yellow, being in contrast with the dark colors of the walls surrounding the area

“Wait here!” you said excited and let go of your girlfriend’s hand. Unfortunately, not paying attention to your surroundings, you stumbled over a piece of iron left from the destroyed construction. It cut through your thin pants and skin, right on your calf

The Nurse was by your side in a blink, her cold delicate hands being around your calf before you could comprehend what has just happened

“S-Sally, wait, it’s not that…grave…” your voice trailed off when you laid your eyes on her. She was frozen with her hands on your calf, her fingers over your wound but also tracing more or less old thin cuts you kept hidden from the outside world. Her chest was wavering like crazy. You never saw her breathing so fast, you didn’t need to see her face or hear her voice to know how many emotions were dwelling in her chest. And then even that stopped

the next second her arms were around you, on her knees, holding you in a hug so tight you let out a short breath

she smelt of old, of iron, of medicinal alcohol and of cold. But your arms wrapped themselves around her frail body, receiving the hug you didn’t know you needed so much

the two of you stood there for who knows how long before you pulled away, you smiled at her and thanked her, and, with a finger, she pointed like a nagging nurse she is, not to move until she comes back

you inhaled deeply and exhaled, smiling, Sally coming back with bandages and water within a second. you loved her, you knew you’re loved back, and that’s all that matters

The Hag / Lisa Sherwood

You had a long day of Trials and you didn’t want anything more than to see Lisa

Usually you were paying more attention while walking through the thick swamp, but you were too tired to care right now. That was until you got stuck in a branch, your favorite jacket ripped. Great!

You took it off and tried to free it without damaging the cloth more, when you heard noise in the nearby bushes

You knew who it was, and you were so glad to see Lisa that you forgot about your exposed arms, tiny, crowded lines poking underneath your short sleeved shirt

Lisa came to you, making a questioning sound. You expressed how happy you were to see her, and that your jacket was stuck. She used her overgrown hand to cut the branch, setting your jacket free. Such a hero

Hours passed by as you two talked and you recharged your batteries just being free in nature and spending time with your favorite woman. Lisa wasn’t too talkative nor the most attractive person, but she knew how to listen, she took care of you, taught you how to stitch and what herbs are used for healing and which are poisonous. She listened to you talking about your knowledge about flowers that you got from Claudette, she hissed when you told her Meg left you behind one time, and cheered for you when she heard that you escaped from The Trapper through the hatch

Time was to leave and you hugged your short girlfriend, but, before you left through the thick fog, she stopped you by pulling on your sleeve. You turned around, confused, she has never done that before

Lisa rose to her height and booped her head against your arm. You came to understand that she doesn’t have lips, that being the gesture she used for kissing, and right now she was kissing the exact spot you spent your nights staring at

Your eyes filled with tears, and she looked at you and touched your face with her good hand, shaking her head. No words needed, you nodded and tried to smile

She waved her big grin and made you chuckle, and you thanked her. Before you left, you turned around once again, surprised to see Lisa sending you a kiss through the air, something she did for the first time. You left The Swamp smiling your heart out

The Pig / Amanda Young

You had a bad episode when everything was too much, your fellow survivors too loud and too pushy. You just needed to let it all out, but you didn’t want to get into your old habits

You decided to pay a visit to your…friend, girlfriend. You never know with Amanda, the way she talks it’s cold and totally different than the way she looks at you, touches you, kisses you…

You really needed to get out of here

The Game was quiet and you assumed Amanda was in a trial, so you decided to wander around, to let your mind free. It was so unusual to see the rooms you knew so well from hiding, from running. But you never had the time to admire the details on the walls, every scratch that might know too much, to observe every trap laying around. You knew Amanda did nothing else than working on these things in her free time. Sometimes you were a bit jealous, as if she loved this blood thirsty technology more than you

Time passed and you got bored, tired, still angry and sad, still restless, and Amanda was nowhere to be found

You came by a room with red light and a lot of tools laying around. You stared for a while at the table under the bloody light, gritting your teeth. You didn’t want to pick the screwdriver. You didn’t want to sit down on the cold floor, your back rested on the table. You only wanted to see your pain, to attach a reason to everything that was making your chest so tight

“What the fuck are you doing”

You snapped back to reality, your sleeve rolled up and a screwdriver in your hand. Your breathing increased as you saw no one else but Amanda in front of you, her fists clenched. You opened your mouth to speak, but she grabbed the screwdriver from your hand and left

You felt your nose hurting, tears threatening your eyes. You thought you have failed her and you’re nothing but a burden

When you heard her footsteps, you quickly tried to explain yourself, but you were instead met with cold water

You spat the water and looked surprised at Amanda, who threw the bucket away and then her morbid mask. You never saw her without her mask, unless it was dark and the two of you had no clothes on

“Scream” she said, her eyes holding so much emotion. You were beyond lost

“What do-”

“Scream!” she interrupted coming in front of you and kneeling over your legs. You opened your mouth and let out a confused ‘aaa’

“Louder!” she pushed and you screamed, louder she asked again and you began to scream how loud you could, again and again, letting out all you were holding in your chest. You only stopped when your voice got hoarse, your breathing heavy and your eyes big. But most importantly, your chest light

“Don’t ever think of doing that shit again.” she said, taking hold of your wrists. “Just scream and leave everything that makes you angry.” She stopped for a second, not the best when it came to encouragements, but she wanted the best for you nonetheless. You were at a loss of words, not knowing if you wanted to cry or to hold her. Then you heard her saying

“You’re the best thing that happened to me since forever, I won’t fucking lose you, you hear me?!”

Her cheeks flushed up and her eyebrows furrowed, in such a funny expression that made you start chuckling. Oh, how you loved her and how thankful you were to have her

The Spirit / Rin Yamaoka

Yamaoka Estate was a breath of fresh air when not disturbed by generators and people being chased and running around. In her free time, Rin enjoyed renovating the old house with you, finding new memories, sharing laughter and sweet touches

You found pictures but most of them were too worn out to make out faces, but that didn’t stop you from joking “You seem taller now”

One day, as you were painting over a wall, you came across a mirror. You forgot how you looked like since you came into the Entity realm, and you found it a blessing. You were never like the other girls, your body wasn’t anything like your old friends’. Here, it didn’t matter, but here you are in front of a mirror looking at every unwanted curve. You slowly raised your sleeve, remembering every word inscribed on your skin, every night you didn’t sleep, because it felt too hard to

You held the brush so hard you knew it will soon break, while trying your best to hold back tears. You looked up in the mirror hating on your expression, on the tears filling your eyes, on everything. But out of nowhere Rin was behind you, holding your wrist

You seemed out of words, too ashamed to hide, too sad to even cry. You watched in the mirror as Rin changed her expression from concerned to questioning to sad. Her cool aura was covering you and her cold hand against your hot skin felt nice, calming your beating heart a bit

“It’s nothing…I’m…” you avoided looking at yourself in the mirror, but Rin, who was still behind you, raised your chin. She took the brush from your other hand and drew a heart on top of your head on the mirror. It made you smile. She continued, drawing all over your body as you looked at yourself in the dirty glass. She drew flower tattoos over your arms and scars, gave you a crown and jewelry, covered you in hearts, and wrote her name over your heart

The more you watched her drawing, the more you smiled, more and more until your cheeks were hurting

“God, thank you, Rin.” you turned your head to press a soft kiss on her cool cheek. She made a humming sound, pouting her lips before stealing a kiss on your lips and disappearing

You started laughing and called out loud for your ghostly girlfriend, and then you went in search for her, with a heart full of flowers

The Legion / Susie

Susie really wanted to present you to the Legion, you were her girlfriend and they were her family. For her it was normal. She wasn’t even wearing her mask, all for this special moment

“Are you sure? It..feels a bit weird, what if they won’t like me?” you asked nervously, being dragged after her.

“Nooo, don’t think that. They will love you! And even if they don’t, who cares, I love you” she looked over the shoulder to wave you a cheeky grin. You sighed and shook your head with a smile, she’s so stubborn

As you two walked around the Ormont, there was a bit of ice and Susie got all excited. “Do you know how to skate? Come, come, come!”

You didn’t even get to answer that you don’t know how, she pulled you on the ice never letting go of your hand. Your legs were like jelly beans while you were sliding around with her help, but Susie was laughing so much it just made you happy. You got some courage and tried to make a step, your worst decision since telling Ace you can beat him at card games

You fell, dragging Susie down with you, both of you sliding for a bit more before stopping, still laughing

“Oh god, I’m sorry, Su, I think it isn’t for- what?” you stopped when you saw Susie looking at you with a concern you have never seen on her face before. You followed her gaze to find your clothes all messed up, revealing your shoulder, old patterns of messy lines going from the shoulder towards the collarbone. You quickly covered it, your breathing rate increasing

“Susie, it’s fine, it’s nothing, I’m- I’m alright”

Oh god, Susie was crying, thick tears falling down her cheeks. You felt terrible and so guilty

“Susie, please-” you couldn’t continue as she threw herself over you, her arms tightly wrapped around your neck.

“Talk to me! When you feel like that, let’s talk, let’s find a tree to punch or let’s - let’s do something, I’ve never thought I’d find someone like you, and I’m sure my friends like you too! I’m so sad you can’t see yourself through my eyes. You’re beautiful and smart and cool and crazy and you like my clothes and my hair and I love the way you smile and how you talk and you give me courage to be myself and–”

She kept on rambling on everything she loves about you while you were slowly melting in her embrace, hiding your face in the crook of her neck. After a little while she calmed down and let go of you. Her eyes were red and puffy

You sighed tenderly. There were emotions you couldn’t express in words, instead, you pulled her into a kiss. Susie happily returned it. After the two of you broke away, she showed you her wide smile

“You can even join the Legion!”

Wait what

“I’ll find you a mask and the rest will accept you in, too!”

Susie no

The Legion / Julie

You were in the house in Osmond, the Legion scattered in different Trials. They all found you cool when Julie decided to invite you for a party when they found some old marshmallows

So you were just waiting around for them to come back. You found them much more entertaining than the survivors, especially Julie. You still couldn’t believe the killer that sometimes has to hunt you down is calling you her girlfriend so proudly

You found an old plate, so you thought why not heat some food for when your people will come back. They have a fridge and a microwave around that are, surprisingly, still working

But when you turned around, in front of the door was The Legion covered in blood with the chest raising in a deadly rhythm

“Holy shit!” you screamed and dropped the plate, breaking it into pieces. You heard the person chuckling and you knew it was Julie.

“Goddammit, Julie, you scared me.” you said and knelt to get the broken plate pieces, but you cut yourself.

“Sorry, babe, not my fault you’re wandering around. Lemme see that” she took your hands and, before you could say anything, she rolled up your sleeve to make sure the blood won’t touch it. Your entire face turned red and you felt your eyes wet when Julie was blatantly staring at the scars on your wrist. You dropped your eyes to the floor

“Hey, look at me.” she said and raised her mask. You looked at her through furrowed eyebrows, hiding your wrist away. Being surprised was an understatement when she showed you her wrists which were heavily scarred with old wounds

She didn’t say anything for a few moments, then, when you raised your eyes to lock them on hers, she turned a bit bashful, looking away

“We might have different reasons, but it doesn’t matter, alright? It matters that we’re stronger than that, and if I could stop doing it, so can you. You’re mine and no one can harm you, not even yourself. Got it? You’re not alone.”

You were surprised to see her so open, but you smiled and nodded, and then she looked straight at you. There were words she wanted to say, and you knew them, but her pale cheeks lit up and she just kissed your forehead, pulling back her mask over her face.

“Now go away before you cut your pretty fingers in this again. Or should I kiss the boo boo to go away?” she teased while throwing the broken pieces out the door.

“Fuck you, Julie” you laughed to which she responded “Love you too”, and you knew she really meant it

The Plague / Idiris

Visiting the priestess between the Trials was your favorite activity lately. She was a beautiful tall woman, so smart and caring. You still missed all the details of why she’s the way she is, or why she kills, and not understanding her ancient tongue didn’t help you too much

The thing you noticed first was that she never touched you with her infested hand, only with her good one, her claw like jewelry softly resting on your shoulder or sometimes brushing away your hair. And you loved it

You climbed down the stairs, happily thinking what English words you will teach her today. It was something about her so incredibly fascinating that you couldn’t put your finger on, but she also was a very sweet company and you were happy to help

You knocked twice and the stone door opened, revealing the inside of an exquisite room with old satin and gold that still shone

Idiris was there, standing in front of a tiny table. “Welcame” she greeted you and you smiled seeing her using the words you taught her.

“Welcome. It’s nice to see you” you made a short bow which made her smile. She signed for you to come to her, and there was a sweet smile on her half rotten face. She was hiding something. You walked to her and waited, so curious to see what she was hiding but respectful enough to wait. She turned to you, talking in her own tongue, such an old language that didn’t sound like anything you heard in your old world. When she finished, she smiled as she presented you a beautiful dress that looked like it was made of gold. It was like nothing you have seen before, it looked like the liquid gold was made into a dress just for you. Your mouth was open and you looked at her with so much enthusiasm that it simply made her proud

There was only one problem, the dress was sleeveless. It was obvious she wanted you to wear it and you couldn’t possibly refuse. You smiled, took the dress and went in the other room. The dress felt divine against your skin and you felt like a goddess yourself, but your marked wrists and arms made sure to remind you of your human nature. You kept your jacket on and went to Idiris

“Tada~” you shyly got out of the room. When she saw you, she smiled, but then she furrowed her half pretty face. She shook her head and came to you with the intention of taking off your jacket, and you were too ashamed to refuse. You smiled nervously while being undressed, keeping your arms behind your back afterwards, but she still wasn’t happy. She held out a hand, to take yours. You stared at her frightened, you never showed your scars to anyone before, but you were too afraid to refuse Idiris. Her cold ice eyes were piercing through you as you kept making her wait

You finally gave her your hand. She was quick to observe the crowded scars all over your wrists, some going up to your arm. Your cheeks blushed and you felt terribly uncomfortable as she inspected them, softly touching them with the back of her fingers. You noticed the way her gaze softened, and what she did next shocked you: the high priestess guided your hand to her mouth, pressing a soft kiss to your scarred wrist

You watched her leave for a moment, as you were left in a state of shock, not able to move. What has just happened

When she came back, she was holding some candles that smelt of vanilla and something that looked like tea. She put a cloth into the liquid and then asked for your hands once again. You didn’t say anything while she was taking care of your arms, humming something close to a prayer. In fact, everything was so unreal, you didn’t even believe it was actually happening

“Good.” you heard her strong voice say. She was pointing her finger at your forehead. Then, she slowly moved the finger to your wrists. “Bad.” not only that she learned the words so fast, she even understood the meaning only from your weird signing

You never smiled more than you did now, and she returned it just as warmly.

[solsystemtillnervsystem]

Sally’s Mindful Heart

She carries her heart in her mind, hidden among boxes of dusty book jackets. Once upon a time, she had it in a display case. Here I am, and here is my heart. If you’re sweet on me, maybe I’ll let you take it. And when you give it back, it’ll be dog-eared and wrinkled--that much I know, I know, I have to know, I must. She doesn’t put it on display anymore. Heartless. A hopeless hope, a whispered dream, the cold of a body beside her, reaching out to touch her hand.

Okay?

Nightmare. A barely breathed response.

About her?

About me.

Her heart is in her mind when she steps out of the house, eyes on the ground and hands in the pockets of her brother’s pea coat. Her heart is in her mind when she steps onto the bus, a strange look in her eyes and a slanted smile on her lips. Her heart is in her mind when she steps into the coffee shop, her hair a nest of wind and thought, her eyes a hurricane as they dart from person to person, wall to wall.

Here, Sal!

She looks up, a swelling of relief in her breast, her hummingbird pulse slowing to a lazy bee sting.

Sara, hi.

Sara’s arms are around her, tight tight tight, but Sally says nothing at all. There is comfort in tightness. She wants to lose herself in the breathless vice.

They sit. Sara has already ordered Sal a coffee, black, no sugar, none of that ridiculous flamboyancy that Sara likes.

Sally sips at it, lets the burn on her tongue wake her heart and mind.

How’s John? An automatic question.

He’s John. You know how it is. Men, right?

Loud laughter, nervous laughter, unsure of what to say laughter. It has been five years, and Sara doesn’t know the half of it.

How’s…what was his name again? Sara asks.

James.

How’s James?

Well, I…we…you know.

Sally bows her head. She hides her frown in the coffee, bitterness assaulting her.

What happened? Sara asks. There it is: the unsaid this time. What happened this time? What have you done now? Are you deliberately chasing unhappiness and misery down those broken ghost rail tracks down off South Street?

He was too nice, answers Sally.

Sal, Sara sighs. A man can’t be too nice.

Unspoken, she adds, You’ll never find anyone if you keep running.

He didn’t get it, Sally says.

Nobody does.

Here sits Sally, there she is, alone in a crowded room, her heart kept safe in her mind. She needs to be understood. That, to her, is love. She wants someone to understand her, in and out, in every way possible.

I know you, Hal said all those years ago. I’m here, I know you, I get it.

A crash. Sirens.

Please, please, please.

Begging, she always begged, but it was different now, a desperate kind, she wasn’t a pet to be rewarded, but a person to be punished.

Please. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me here.

Different thoughts now, thoughts of Hal as he was, not what he became. Dancing under the bridge, cheap whiskey and drunken laughter, she could taste it on his tongue, a drip of the hard stuff, bitter kisses. Clumsy kisses, careful kisses, her heart on her tongue, his teeth on it, biting biting biting. Drunken head under the bridge, the first time she realised she loved him, the first time he heard him gasp her name like that, here, like this, Sally, like that, Sally, you are the stars to me.

A different memory, a bad taste in her mouth. Thrown glasses, a plate, her eyes blinded by tears.

Don’t fucking touch me! Don’t fucking--don’t!

For fuck’s sake! Stop throwing shit at me, you fucking crazy bitch!

Get out get out get out! Don’t look at me! Don’t fucking look at me!

Back to that memory. A crash, sirens.

Please, please, please.

Don’t leave me here.

Sally opens her eyes and she is not in the coffee shop anymore. She is on the bus on the way home, her heart in her mind.

Her phone buzzes in her hand.

  James Spencer: You haven’t been replying all day, are you okay?

  No. No, she isn’t.

She turns off her phone.

She closes the box holding her heart and puts a sticker on it.

FRAGILE.

Isn’t she over-sensitive? Oh, how she could laugh at herself now if she tried, but she won’t try. She can’t try. Her laughter died out a long time ago, and now she’s too serious for love.

Her heart is in her mind when she sits down in the uncomfortable chair, staring down at the floor, listening to Erika talk in that monotone of hers, God she wishes she’d shut up, God she wishes she could just throw herself into the ocean and fucking die, hasn’t she suffered enough? Is there a point in living if she doesn’t even act like a real person?

We’ve spoken about this before, Sally, Erika drones on. It’s unhealthy to expect someone to save you. You need to make the effort.

Sally says nothing. How can she? How can she explain that she can’t make that effort anymore? How can she tell her that she feels like a ghost, a lingering presence, a heavy weight on the shoulders of endless strings of men and women, on friends and family, even her dog?

Tell me more about these blackouts you’ve been having.

They’re not blackouts, Sally murmurs. One second I’m here, the next I’m there. Nothing black and out about it.

And when you…come back to yourself, what are you doing? Are you trying to hurt yourself?

There it is, the silent, added Again.

The first time Mama saw her arms.

Do you know how ugly that is? That’s not natural. That’s weird. People will think you’re weird. I can’t believe you’ve done this to me.

No, says Sally.

Is that the truth?

Yes.

It is a truth. It’s one truth. There are many truths, but they don’t make any sense. She’s thinking about Hal again, about how he tasted.

Put on that record, baby, he used to say.

Put on that record, baby, she says out loud, but it doesn’t sound the same. Her mouth is not Hal’s, her tongue is not Hal’s.

Sally?

I need to be back on the bus, Sally says.

With her heart in her mind, she’s on the bus again, sitting next to a pretty boy with ocean eyes and an awkward smile. He’s looking at her strangely, and she supposes it must be because there are crow feathers in her hat. She wants to be an old lady already, that would be easier. No such thing as loveless lives if your life is already gone.

Are you okay? Pretty Boy asks her. He is soft-spoken, but there’s something there, too--ah, ah, ah, there it is, there it is, she knows. He’s not naturally soft-spoken, her ears are failing her, is he shouting?

I need to be back on the bus, she gasps.

He’s staring at her because she’s sobbing.

Excuse me, she whispers to him. Her throat is hoarse. She feels all too much and all too little, is she real? She can’t feel her hands, is she here? Is she there? Where is her heart? She can’t find it. It’s gone. It’s not in her mind, but on her sleeve, hanging there, an ugly beating beautiful thing. Excuse me, I need to phone my husband, may I use your telephone? Please? Excuse me? My name is--my name--it’s--I think it’s Emily.

The boy is afraid of her, she is afraid, too. He is recoiling, he doesn’t know what to do, his lips are parted, his eyes cold and confused but full of water, water, water, she wonders then, are those Pisces eyes?

I need to phone my husband, she says. Please, my heart is here.

She’s not on the bus anymore. The bus is on her.

Please, please, please, she says to the pretty boy.

He looks like Hal.

He looks nothing like Hal.

What is his name? Asks Hal-Not-Hal. Your husband?

Behind him is a figure dressed all in white. A skull face, an unsmiling smile and sunken cheeks.

Come, then, the figure says in Erika’s monotone voice.

She reaches out, but it’s no use; she cannot reach.

 With her heart in her mouth, she wakes up at home. She has lost it all. Heartful. A hopeless hope, a whispered dream, the cold of a body beside her, reaching out to touch her hand.

Okay?

Nightmare. A barely breathed response.

About her?

About me.

  Her nightmares are all about her.

  In the corner of the room, the creature munches on her feelings, glowing eyes forcing her to the floor.

  Don’t forget, you’re mine, says the beast. I’ll never leave you.

She takes her pills.

She washes her face.

She drinks some black coffee.

The creature never leaves and never will.

Don’t forget, you’re mine, he says.

Yes, Hal, she sighs.

  About her?

About me.