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courtlyharlequin · 3 years ago

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Um, m-may I have this dance with you, Vil? ✨

Butterflies

A/N: Hi anon! Thank you for your request~ I went on a field day with this because it was so open-ended. I based it off of the way you wrote your question and the sparkle . It reminded me of a romcom anime~ I hope you like it ( *´▽｀* ) ♡

Your phone skidded across the table. Its vibrations transferred to your entire desk, earning a frantic yelp from you as you scrambled to turn it off. It was time. You had no time to lose. You couldn’t put this off any longer. The spring formal was the day after tomorrow. It had to be today. You had to ask Vil today. If he accepts the invitation, then you would have one day to process the fact that he even said yes to you out of all people. If he rejects it, then you have one day to sulk before putting on a brave face and attending the dance as if nothing ever happened. You paid for the ticket already. You weren’t letting your madol go to waste. Initially, you bought two tickets. One for you and one for Vil. It was part of your plan to ask him out. Unfortunately for you, it came to light that the blond had his own ticket as he was part of the planning committee. You ended up giving your other ticket to Ruggie who wasn’t planning on going in the first place due to the admission prices.

This was one of many instances where you ended up putting off the grand question out of nerves. It came back to bite you in the butt as the dance’s date was nearing. And here you were: two days before the dance and you still hadn’t asked Vil out yet.

Today had to be the day. You weren’t going to run away. You had no choice. You had been crushing on him for forever and this was truly your last chance of shooting your shot with him. The school year is near its end. Vil would be a fourth year the following year which meant he wouldn’t be on campus, let alone attend school dances as he would be out and about interning and completing his thesis.

You checked the clock before grabbing your shoes off the rack, gingerly slipping them on. You wiggled your toes as you laced them up, lightly tapping your soles against the wooden floor for good measure. It was three thirty on a Wednesday afternoon. Dorm leader meetings ended at two. Vil shouldn’t be too busy now. An hour and a half had passed since the meeting. He surely would have time to kick back and relax. You bit your lip and pushed the door open, welcoming a warm breeze. The door clicked behind you. You inhaled.

“Better late than never,” you reassured yourself as you made your way to the Pomefiore dormitory.

Each step you took sent your thoughts into overdrive. What would he say to you? You were acquainted with one another as you shared a few classes, but you weren’t close to the extent that you were certain that he would say yes. Would he even say yes? If he rejects you, you’d have to see yourself out of his own dorm. Coming to his dorm room to ask him out seemed oddly intimate. It was a bad idea now that you thought about it. Depending on where you found him, there was a chance that the other Pomefiore students would witness you humiliate yourself in front of the Vil Schoenheit.

Your hand ghosted the door knob of the dormitory’s main entrance. It fell to your side. Perhaps this was merely a fickle desire.

Color drained from your face and a cold chill washed over your body as the door swung open. You swallowed a scream, shoving it down your throat.

“Bonjour!” the perpetrator beamed.

“B-Bonjour,” you managed, stepping back.

Rook’s smile widened as he stepped forward, revealing the vice prefect all decked out in Pomefiore’s bright indigo robes. The gold embroidery shimmered beneath the chandelier’s lighting. elegant

“My, to what pleasure do we owe you, (y/n)?”

“We?”

“Oui.”

You blinked.

“I’m looking for Vil,” you said.

“(y/n)? What are you doing here?” a familiar asked.

You peered over Rook’s shoulder. Your breath hitched as your eyes met with Vil’s own amethyst orbs. His heels clicked and clacked with the white marble tiles of the foyer. He was like a runway model. He sparkled, shimmered, and shined under the building’s ambient lighting.

He crossed his arms once he neared the doorway. His vice ducked under his elongated sleeves. A scowl was etched onto Vil’s face.

“Where are you going?”

“I forgot something. I won’t be long, Roi du Poison,” he said, waving his hands around theatrically.

Vil sighed, turning to you, “Pardon him. How can I help you?”

“I was wondering– well, actually I– Um, if it isn’t too much to ask... can we go inside? It’s a bit hot out.”

The blond directed his gaze into the sky, examining the sun and the cloudless sky.

“My apologies, come inside.”

The door shut behind you. You cursed yourself for stalling. Just ask him.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“No!”

“No?”

You coughed, “No. I’m good, thank you.”

“Are you sure? It is a bit hot out.”

He used your own words against you. Your mouth was left agap as he flashed a small smile at you before heading into the Pomefiore common room. You hurried after him.

“Wait, Vil!” you exclaimed, pulling on his sleeve.

He withdrew. Your hand fell to your side.

“Don’t pull. What is it?”

You bit your lip. It was now or never. If you played it off cool then who knows when you’ll get a chance like this again. This was the closest you’ll ever get to asking him. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath.

“Um, would you like to go to the– uh– dance with me?”

You cringed as your voice echoed throughout the dormitory. You were so nervous that you ended up being more... vocal than you had intended to be. This was far from the scenarios you daydreamed about. It wasn’t as romantic as you thought it would be. In truth, it was embarrassing.

“Ara? Is that what you’re so worked up about?” he chuckled.

Heat rushed to your cheeks.

“I understand if you don’t feel the same or if you already have a date. Knowing you, you probably have a–” you gasped as Vil placed his index on your forehead.

He stared down at you. His stilettos made him so tall, so unnerving.

“Eye contact is the key to confidence. Stand with your shoulders back, feet firmly planted on the ground. Don’t use filler words like ‘um’, ‘uh’, ‘ah’, or anything of the like,” he said as he pushed your upper back forward.

You nodded, holding your screams on the tip of your tongue, trying not to break eye contact with him and burst into tears. Was it that terrible that he had to correct your posture and give you tips on confidence? Vil put his hands on his hips, admiring your figure.

“Try that again,” he said.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ask me out again.”

Was he serious?

“Ah…”

“No filler words,” he chided.

Your nose crinkled. He crossed his arms. He was serious after all. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath once more, trying your best to pay no mind to your sweet palms or shallow breathing. Your nerves were on fire.

“Vil, will you go to the dance with me?”

He put his hand on his chin and hummed, feigning perplexity and concentration. He smiled.

“Yes.”

You sighed in relief. Your shoulders loosened. He said yes. Vil said yes. You were going to the formal together. You were ecstatic, but that feeling was quickly replaced with a burning curiosity.

“Why didn’t you just say yes before?”

“I want to be asked out by someone who is confident, someone who knows what they want. I don’t want someone unsure or insincere. I have no time for puppy love. My time is valuable,” he scoffed.

“Then you should have rejected me.”

“Do you not want to be my date?”

“Yes. Well, I mean– no, of course I do. It’s just that I don’t know what to say and–”

He put a finger to your lips: “Then, it's a date. I do not doubt your feelings for me. You were simply nervous. You were always quite skittish around me. I had always assumed I intimidated you though lately, I’ve come to realize it was more so admiration than intimidation or infatuation.”

Vil tucked your chin between his thumb and index finger, tilting your head up, and gave you another one of his heart-throbbing smirks. You couldn’t break eye contact with him. Your heart fluttered and your stomach swelled.

“Was it obvious?”

“Maybe a little,” he laughed.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland imagines #twst imagines #twisted wonderland oneshot #twst oneshot #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #vil schoenheit x reader #event fic #night to remember event

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buglife · 3 years ago

Text

In Which it is SIBLING DAY

More for Days of our (Bug) Lives!

Have you all a Hornet chapter, as she spends a day with her best siblings, Ghost and Hollow :3

---

Hornet awoke to the smell of sweets and the sound of kitchen supplies banging together.

For a moment, she was confused. She could feel that she was on something soft, something she deemed unnecessary in an effort to stay awake – so she would not succumb to the blinding light. She did not need blankets or silks for the rare times she found a crevice to rest and patch her wounds in. It was strange.

She blinked her many eyes as they adjusted to the dim lighting of the den. She was momentarily shocked to find herself here until memories caught up to her. Yes...her mother was awake and alive. She was home. The Radiance is dead. Things were stable now and no longer did she have to worry about one of the reanimated infected husks stumbling upon her in her sleep.

She wasn’t quite sure that she would ever quite get used to the feeling of safety again. The life of a princess wasn’t one any other bug would consider ‘safe’...but compared to when she guarded the kingdom? After all, most of her life was lived during the infection. She spent a better portion of her life fighting for survival...and now here she was. Safe. She had to admit that It was vastly less stressful in general.

She yawned, stretching out her limbs before climbing down from her silken hammock. She used a spare hand to rub her eyes in an effort to make them feel less tired and dry, taking the time to let her brain catch up to the rest of her body. She squinted at her calendar where she wrote down her many appointments, frowning at how full it was. Except for today, which only had two words scribbled upon the silk. ‘Sibling Day’, it read, written in stark red ink and underlined thrice to make it stand out from her many duties.

Sibling day! Of course! Her mood quickly improved from grumpy to slightly less so, it was one of the few days she could have now where she was not expected to worry about duties or talk to yet another overinflated self important bug. She imagined her sibling, Ghost, felt the same way. No duties, it would be like how it was before when it was just them in a little house in Dirthmouth, freshly freed from the infection and learning how to heal together. She missed the closeness...but sadly they all had responsibilities to clean up the mess their shared father left behind.

She grabbed her plain cloak for today, forgoing all symbols of her station, and strapping her needle to her side. Today she was just Hornet, sister to two strange but loving creatures of void, whom she still felt a protective streak too.

If she was correct, the smell and noise in the kitchen was her mother making her famous honey cookies. She maneuvered around the bridges of silk, politely waving to passing weavers as she climbed her way up to her mother’s chambers. She often found Hallownest structure to be oddly cold and ridged. She felt more at home in the sprawling tunnels of white as she leapt from string to string, before she finally arrived at some of the few structures made of stone in the village. It was her mother’s den, which had a kitchen, and the last thing they needed was a fire in the weave-ways. She arrived just in time to spot her mother, oven mitts on her many hands, pulling trays of cookies from the oven.

“Hello, my little sling,” Herrah greeted her as she placed the trays down on stone slabs to cool faster. Like Hornet, Herrah didn’t need a lot of finery to reflect her station. Instead, she seemed to exude an aura of power which made most bugs listen when she talked. “It seems that you are just in time.”

“It seems that I have, mother.” Hornet drew close to inspect the cookies. “They smell amazing.”

“I’m sure Hollow and Ghost will love them like they always do.” Herrah sounded pleased with herself. She tested the cookies and plucked up the ones that have cooled to stack into a box. “Don’t let Hollow eat too much and get sick again.”

“I won’t.”, She promised. “Will you be okay today by yourself?”

“Yes dear, I’ll have Midwife with me. You just enjoy your day with your siblings. And do tell them to visit more often! I especially love Ghost’s little husband, he sure has a lot of grit when he needs to.” Herrah laughed and a few lingering weavers laughed with her.

“Well mother, your cookies are worth the price of combat to acquire.” Hornet could tell her mother wasn’t being malicious, she was just being chaotic just like Monomon and Lurien. Why her sire decided to have all three of them in one place she would never quite understand. It’s also why she thanked the gods that their visits were rare these days and meetups they DO schedule, she can be sure it’s in a fire, explosion, and acid proof location.

“I should hope so, I did get this recipe right from Vespa after all.” Herrah smiled fondly as she finished boxing the cookies. A few silken strands was all it took to tie up the box securely before she handed it off to her daughter. “There you go, run along and have fun, okay?”

“I will Mother, thank you.” Hornet gave her mother a quick embrace before rushing out of the den. With her precious cargo tucked under one of her arms, she made her way to the tram station. Just for today, she’ll put up with having to be stuck in a small space with other bugs. Hopefully the cookies will still be warm by the time she arrived at the palace.

-----

“Do you have everything you need?” Ghost looked over the newly replaced kitchen counter, eyeing the piles of ingredients and spices that took up much of the space. They had gotten a list from their sibling, and the local farms were more than happy to provide. They honestly didn’t know what Hollow was going to do with all that zucchini. They received three baskets of the vegetable when they only asked for a single bag! They ended up having to borrow a cart to bring all the produce back to the palace.

Hollow nodded, eye curled in amusement. “Yes, I do. You though, are not to touch anything in this kitchen. I wish to keep these unburnt, thank you.” They relished in every opportunity to tease their sibling just to see how flustered they got.

“You are going to hold that fire over my head forever, aren’t you? It was only the second time it happened!” Ghost threw up their hands dramatically. Burn down a kitchen twice and suddenly you aren’t allowed to cook in it anymore. They already got the polite, but firm lecture from the palace staff to just let their husband cook. If their Majesty did wish to learn to properly cook, they urged them to avoid using live fires for now.

“Cry me a river, Ghost.” Hollow stuck out their tongue at said sibling.

“I can’t BELIEVE my beloved twin is committing treason against me!?! How dare?!?” Ghost pretended to swoon, earning them a boop to the snoot with a wooden spoon. “Oooooo you dare strike your King? Horrible!” They grabbed a spatula, fully intending to strike back.

“Dear, what are you doing?” Quirrel peeked in from behind the door way, watching the two vessels bicker and gently assault each other with kitchen appliances.

“Just getting ready for Hornet.” Ghost forgot all about the booping to slide up to their favorite pillbug, giving him a smooch. “Hollow is just being a brat.”

Hollow flipped them off with a shining, pale ore finger, a gesture which Ghost returned.

“Well, you both have fun. I will be taking over your duties today, so don’t expect me back until later.” Quirrel snorted “Have fun with Hornet, and tell her I said hi and to please not attack me in the middle of court again. I appreciate and understand that she wants to keep me ‘in practice’ in case of another assassination attempt, but it does end up causing a mess.”

Ghost remembered with a shudder. They ended up having to replace all the floors in the audience room and remodel most of the walls the last time Hornet ‘tested’ their husband. It was a very expensive ‘practice’ session.

“I’ll let her know.” Ghost nuzzled their husband again, hoping that Hornet wasn’t already down in the audience room waiting for him. “Have a good day!”

“I’ll try!” He waved and left the suite, down to do the infuriating task of listening to bugs whine all day. They’ll have to save a few cookies for him, he’d appreciate those for sure.

They turned to look back at Hollow, who was arranging things around to their liking. They hummed, pulling out pans, examining them, and placing them here and there in preparation of being filled. They had also taken time to wash all the produce, moving them around until they were nice and straight. They had always had an attention to detail, something their father sadly forced on them when they were but a hatchling. Still, it helped them In matters such as cooking.

Everyone loved Hollow’s cooking. As soon as Hollow could stand on their own again, they were learning to cook. Even with one arm, they could make the tastiest things using the dried or canned goods hidden deep in the abandoned houses. Hornet and Quirrel were quite good too, and under their tutelage it was easy to see that Hollow surpassed them both. Once Sheo and Smith made their new arm, Hollow was unstoppable in the culinary department.

If life were different, Ghost could see Hollow being a chef, but they knew their sibling loved the nail and animals more. Still, it was quite a treat when Hollow decided to cook.

“Do you need help, Hollow?” Ghost felt a little useless at the moment, just standing around and watching. They weren’t willing to catch something on fire and getting yelled at this early in the day.

Hollow shook their head. “No, go ahead and wait for Hornet so she doesn’t try to stab Tiso again.”

“Will do.” Ghost nodded and headed to the door, eager to see their sister and tease her. That is, if she was where she said she’d be and not about to jump their dear little pill bug. Ghost dissolved into void and made haste to the palace entrance...just in case.

While the two siblings had their conversation, Hornet had arrived at the Palace tram line. She got off as quickly as she could, not wanting to be boxed in with other bugs for longer than she had to. To give them credit, they did behave, but she wasn’t sure that it was due to early morning tiredness or the fact they simply got used to her. Thankful for that, she zipped away with her silk and needle to avoid the crowded station. A few flight capable bugs had the same idea, but gave her a wide berth to avoid her needle.

As she traveled she began to wonder a little. Who would be at the palace doors today? She did like Cloth, from one warrior to another. She was always eager to schedule a spar or ask how her own kingdom was doing. Tiso, she could barely stand. He annoyed her to no end, but somehow he gained enough respect from her to not just kill him. Plus it would make Ghost cry, and nobody was allowed to do that. Xena rarely was there to guard the door, so Hornet didn’t have much of a time to interact with her. She seemed to be a loner type, something she understood deeply. Ogrim of course, she dearly loved. He had taught her the basics of being a knight when she was just a little Sling. When the kingdom fell and he took up residence in the waterways, she made sure to visit. Flukes may be nasty looking, but they would do for food in a pinch, something Hornet was forced to partake in more than once.

She knew for sure that Hollow wouldn’t be there, it was their day off after-all.

Still, she expected everyone but Ghost to be there waiting for her.

She cut her thread and landed gracefully before them, standing up to assess them.

‘Hello, G-”

She gasped a squeak, as her sibling swept her up in a hug. The void around her purred and vibrated with barely contained excitement and happiness.

“Sister!” They boomed, perhaps a little louder than they meant too, as a few other bugs in the area turned to see what the commotion was. They saw her glare and quickly went to mind their own business again.

“My dear Spooder Sibling has returned, at last!” They nuzzled her forehead and she couldn’t find it in her heart to be annoyed about it.

She clutched the box of cookies in one set of arms, and unfolded the other two to return the hug. It was Sibling Day, she could afford to let her guard down for a little while. She can just enjoy the fact that she had family without some horrible plague or world ending catastrophic befalling them all. Especially since it was family she liked. She didn’t know what she’d do if the Pale King was still alive, most likely something not nice at all.

“Then let us not keep them waiting. I am sure they would like some help.” Ghost was slightly surprised by the willing touch, but recovered and begun to lead her up the winding stairs of the palace. She was getting used to casual touch again, and it felt pleasantly warm despite the cold of the void that made up their hands. She figured it was a family thing and left it at that.

Eventually, they released her. “Hollow is already upstairs. They are getting ready to start cooking.” They bounced a little on their feet, unable to contain their excitement. Hornet could barely contain her either and took one of their hands.

“I can watch, but I am not allowed to do much more than that.”

“Well, you did nearly burn down your suite...again.” She teased gently. “I can see why, as your Knight, that they would forbid you from putting yourself in danger.”

Ghost just humphed in response. “Quirrel kindly asks you to not attack him in the middle of court today. I wondered if you’d be down there waiting for him.”

“Well, it is Sibling Day. As if I would have the time to assess his combative ability.” She scoffed. “Your silly little Pillbug is safe for today.”

The statement seemed to put a little more pep in their step. As much as they joke around, Hornet really did like their husband. She just wanted to be sure that they would be ready in case of another scare. It wasn’t like she beat him up too badly. It was getting to the point where they would end in draws, something she was quite proud of. They barely arrived at the door to the Royal Suite when Hollow poked their head out of said door. They chirped and just like Ghost, ran over to pull her into a hug.

Hollow’s hugs were a little different from Ghost’s. Hollow was hyper aware of the places she did not want touched, and never hugged so tightly that she felt trapped. Gentle Hollow, with a heart bigger than most in the Kingdom, knew how to give the safest feeling hugs. Ghost was more excitable and eager, but Hollow was more careful and soft.

They gave her a nuzzle, and for a little moment, it was like when she was a sling, stealing hugs and nuzzles from Hollow when the Wyrm’s back was turned. She had called them ‘Holly’, because she couldn’t pronounce the harsh ‘ollo’ sound. Of course when caught, she always said that she ordered them to do so, but she knew the truth. It was Hollow who hugged and comforted her when she learned that her mother was going to sleep and never wake up again. Hollow wiped her tears after particularly harsh training sessions. Hollow was always there...even more than her mother or sire, though it wasn’t so much the fault of her mother.

She had despaired during the infection, her beloved Holly, suffering a fate worse than death. She had thought when Ghost returned, that finally their pain could be put to an end, but somehow clever little Ghost found a way to save them and everyone else.

She was more grateful than she could ever express.

Hollow pulled away from the hug and began to sign. “<It is good to see you, sister. Are you ready for a good day?”>

“Of course I am, because you are cooking.” She laughed as everyone piled into the room. “What’s the menu for today?”

<“Breakfast rolls, zucchini bread, TikTik and noodle soup, and roast Boolfy with garden vegetables and spices.”> They looked proud of themselves as they stepped into the kitchen and gestured around them. <“The roast I will make and put in now as it will take all day to cook and then I’ll make the bread and rolls.”>

“You are going to let me help you, right?”

Hollow nodded and handed her an apron. <”I am sure Ghost told you that they are not allowed to help?”>

“They did.” She she looked over the apron [No Bitchin’ in my Kitchen’] and tied it on.

Ghost just sat on a stool and looked like a kicked frog.

<“It’s okay, sibling. You can be the official taste tester.”> Hollow did their best to soothe Ghost’s bruised ego. All the power in the world, a god of gods, but couldn’t keep a kitchen from burning down to save their life. They seemed to be pleased with the suggestion and was content to lean over and watch.

Hornet and Hollow made quick work of dicing veggies and meats, occasionally slapping Ghost on the hand when they tried to steal little pieces. She nearly drooled when Hollow unwrapped the big chunk of boofly to douse in spices. She had gotten used to just snatching animals from the ground and eating them raw, fires were a luxury that would draw too much attention to her hiding spots. It still astonished her how plentiful food was now, she had started becoming concerned as prey started to vanish, them too being caught in the infection. But wildlife has recovered, and it brought her comfort that in case of another emergency, there would be food at least.

Hollow got the roast ready, sticking in the bottom part of the oven to slowly roast through the day while she busied herself with getting the wraps ready. She had to admit that she was a little hungry, the sight of fresh meat stirred up the want to scarf it down in case another meal was days away.

Then she saw the size of the wraps Hollow started making and realized she wasn’t going to stay hungry for long.

Hollow plated everything with all the mastery of a five star chef, only to see their creations vanish in a gnash of teeth and void the second it was set down. They weren’t offended but wished their siblings would slow down a little.

After inhaling breakfast, Ghost led them all to their private hot spring. Hornet was curious, she had never been in there, but she knew they had one. It was the only thing of luxury they requested and nobody was going to say no to that. Even then, it just looked like a regular hot spring, rocks and all, just enclosed in a room attached to the royal suite.

“Rather simple, isn’t it?” She remarked, looking over the walls where soul infused water fell down in a gentle waterfall, steaming as it filled up the pool. It looked big enough for someone to sit under it and she approved. She knew then where she was going to be.

“Less is more.” Ghost replied, bending over to check the water.

“Why is there a bench there?” She pointed, noticing the metal glinting in the low light.

“Don’t all hot springs have benches?”

She stared at them, and then looked to Hollow, who shrugged.

<“Siblings, you both need to get out more.”>

They probably spend the better part of three hours just lounging in the springs. Hornet appreciated the heat that worked its way through the joints of her chitin and eased her aches. She relaxed and let the little waterfall flow down her back and shoulders. She would definitely need to bring this up to mother. They would both probably deal with bugs a lot better if they had something like this waiting for them at the end of the day.

None of them spoke at all, they didn’t need to. It was cozy and quiet, the sounds of running water was enough to soothe her mind. She was used to quiet. More times than not, the sound of bugs everywhere, as happy as it made it, also aggravated her. It was so quiet and still then, the noise was still so new. She needed quiet moments and her siblings understood that.

The only sound came from Hollow as they rose out of the water halfway through their little spa moment.

<”I need to put the soup on”> was all they signed, and they left for but a moment, returning shortly. They had a bunch of freshly cut lavender flowers under their arms, which they threw into the spring. It just made it so much better.

Hornet must have dozed off, because she jerked to awareness she felt flicks of water being thrown on her face. Her first instinct was to grab her nail, only for her hand to meet water when she grasped to it.

“Sister,” Ghost was leaning close, eyes turned upwards in a smile. “If we stay any longer, we’re going to end up as bug soup.”

“You mean a bug and god soup.” She snorted. She raised her arms out and stretched, feeling rejuvenated.

“That and if we don’t get out, the soup Hollow made will get cold and then they’ll be sad.”

Hornet quickly stood and threw on their cloak. “Well, we can’t make them cry, that’s illegal.”

She wouldn’t admit it, but she was hungry again, and soup sounded very nice after a long dip in the springs.

How nice it was to have food when she wanted it.

-----

After soup (that was delicious of course), the siblings prepared for another part of their Sibling Day ritual.

Hornet held three paper lanterns under her arms as they took a hidden path away from the palace grounds. The Ancient basin might have been derelict and dead before, but life had returned to rim the path in glowing flowers and fungi. It once was a tunnel the Pale King would take to head to his lab down in the abyss, but Ghost had repurposed it for another reason.

They had told her that sometimes they felt the need to go down to ‘stretch’, spending time in their true form among the darkness. Too long squished in mortal sized form tended to make them feel jittery and cramped. She imagined it must feel like a molt that can’t progress and sympathized.

But it was also where the three could go to pay their respects and reflect.

The long dead siblings in the birthplace have since rejoined the void and thus, became a part of Ghost. But the individual potential they all had was now gone. Every single one of the hundreds of masks that still litter the bottom of the abyss was a thinking, feeling being, now gone forever.

Hornet was glad that at the end, they no longer had to suffer, and moved on by becoming one with her living sibling turned god. She however, wished that she could have known them. How would life be if she didn’t have two siblings, but hundreds? Before she was ignorant, and fought a few, and even separated a few shades from their shells. She forever felt regret over that even if Ghost told her that they all forgave her.

They eventually reached the dock that stretched out over the abyss and sat, legs dangling over the edge. They each took a lantern and lit the candles inside. Hornet put as much love as she could into the lantern, even if she felt a little foolish doing so, and let the lantern drift over the edge. There was nobody left to mourn in the abyss but...the ritual made her feel a little better.

Together they watched the lanterns drift slowly down, each light growing dimmer and dimmer before being consumed by the darkness. Time passed as they leaned on each other, until their legs grew numb and they headed back to the palace.

Sibling day was as much about the dead as much the living, and Hornet didn’t think she would ever forget that.

-----

Roast was served and eaten and the three found themselves lying around on the many pillows contained in the suite and looking up at the ceiling.

“Do you remember the forts we used to make in Dirthmouth?” Hornet mused. “We had more pillows and blankets than the rest of the citizens in that town combined."

<”Yes, they were the best. Very Cozy.”> Hollow’s head was next to her on the right, so she could see them sign. <”Dad was good at making them.”>

“Dad was the best at making them!” Ghost replied, to Hornet’s left. “Remember how he’d catch lumaflies to let them loose in the fort?”

“It was because they are Hollow’s favorite.” Hornet sighed, resting her hands on her belly where the roast currently resided (but not for long).

“It kinda makes me wish were were little again, before we had to do...all of this.”

There was a note of sadness in Ghost when they said that, and Hornet couldn’t help but feel the same. They managed to scrape together a few good years to be kids before responsibilities became too much to ignore. Hollow especially, since they were never even allowed to be a child. Ghost tried to remain as they were until molted a few times and could no longer get away from things by being small and cute. She would always cherish those years in Dirtmouth where she was allowed to be the child she was.

<”I know, but it’s not like we can’t do the things we like anymore. I have lumaflies, and you have the blankets and pillows.”> Hollow was quick to point out, gesturing at the room around them.

“And I can make sure you both aren’t going to build something that will collapse on your fool heads.” Hornet caught on fast, sitting up to pick up a pillow and drop it on Ghost’s face.

When Ghost didn’t respond right away, she piled more pillows on them before until they tried to escape. She laughed and sat on top of the pillow pile to trap them. “Go get your lumaflies, Holly. I think was can make something resembling the grandness of Mato’s pillow forts.”

Hollow rolled over to do just that while Hornet busied herself throwing things on top of Ghost as they tried to burrow out of the pillow pile. They were laughing too, so she didn’t feel too terrible tormenting them so. It was only when they gasped out a ‘I Yield!’ that she allowed them to escape.

The next half hour was spent with the three working together to build a passable cozy fort. Hornet was happy to see that her silk could make the structure much more sound and used it liberally. Hollow raided Ghost’s nest and took the mattress off of it to make the base, and after some trial and error, they made something quite comfortable. Hornet was especially pleased, spider eyes do not do well in bright lights, and the comforting dim haze in the fort was quite nice. Hollow released the lumaflies and the small bugs brought a lovely soft glow of colors to break up the monotony of the darkness. Ghost grabbed snacks and drinks and all three retreated inside.

As an after thought, Hornet grabbed a spare sheet of silk and wrote ‘No Wyrms Allowed’ and stuck it to the side of the fort. Somehow, it made her feel a little more secure.

The three lounged together talking about the past, some about the present, and a little bit about the future. She didn’t know how long they stayed up talking, but eventually she found herself to be the only one awake in a cuddle pile.

She was happy. Lying there in the dark of the fort, eating tiktik chips and gossiping, it brought back the time in her life when she was allowed to do nothing but be herself. It was short, but she was grateful all the same. She mused a little on a concept of a ‘family day’, but wasn’t so sure what would happen if Monomon, Mato, and her mother were in the same space for a prolonged period of time. Perhaps something chaotic, but she could perhaps plan for that.

Before she could keep up her thoughts, Hollow and Ghost snuggled up with their purring and Hornet could not stay awake with such an onslaught.

Hornet drifted off, feeling truly safe for once.

-----

Quirrel staggered up the stairs, half tempted to dig out the bottle of whiskey he kept in the dresser and downing the entire thing in one go. Today...was something else. A bunch of kids were caught letting wild stink beetles loose in a high class noble block and were now starting to multiply at an astonishing rate. A gang of mothers showed up with a petition to ban books with ‘suggestible themes’. Quirrel saw ‘The Famished Famished Firefly’ as first on the list and had to escort them all out of the courtroom after a stern talking to. He had to convince the Capital Board to just raise taxes on luxury goods to pay for a new tram station instead of cutting funding for education. To top it all off, the sandwich he was going to eat for lunch got snatched away by a vengefly. Truly, the worst.

What a day...er….next day. It was very late and no doubt his spouse would be wondering where he was. He hoped they had a good day with their siblings and was looking forward to a snuggle.

However, opening the door to his room showed that the day with their siblings had turned into a sleepover.

He stood for a moment, looking at the scene, unsure as what to do. He didn’t want to bother anyone, and surely Sibling Day was just that. A Day for siblings. He wasn’t about to be the selfish one and barge in on something so important, especially since Ghost rarely got to see Hornet and Hollow in one place. He figured he could go sleep in his office. The couch there was quite comfortable, after all.

He was about to close the door again when he heard a quiet voice in the darkness, sharp and feminine.

“Quirrel.”

“Oh!” He jumped. “Sorry Hornet, I didn’t mean to wake you up, I’m so-”

“Shut up and get in here.”

He paused for a moment, the gears turning in his head at the request. He was...being invited?

“Shut the damn door and get in the cuddle pile before I make you.” She hissed.

He gulped and shut the door behind him and approached the pillow fort. When she stared hissing, it meant she means business and he did not want to test her at this time of night. He could see Hornet softly illuminated by the drifting lumaflies as she held open the blanket door. She gestured for him to climb inside, a finger held to her mouth as an indication to be quiet.

“Are you sure?” He whispered, bending down to crawl in.

“You married my sibling,” She whispered back, sounding a little exasperated. “What makes you think I don’t consider you a sibling too?”

“Because you beat the shit out of me.” He climbed inside with a grunt. Ghost must have sensed that he was there, because he was quickly grabbed with a squeak and held tightly to his spouse’s chest, like a plush toy.

“I beat up Ghost and Hollow. Your point is…?” She watched and offered no assistance whatsoever, her fangs curled up in a grin when Ghost squeezed him harder.

“Do you only beat up the people you like?” He made himself comfortable, quite happy on the inside to finally get a cuddle after such a day.

“You should know me by now Quirrel, that the people I choose to train and spar with are those I consider worthy of my time and respect. And who do I train just as hard as Ghost and Hollow?”

“Oh.” he whispered.

“Yes, ‘oh’. Now you know, dear brother.” She sounded amused through her fatigue. “We tried to invite you, but you were quite adamant about assuming duties for today. And how did that go?”

“I hated every second of it.” Quirrel sighed. He was surrounded by warmth and softness, and wasn’t too sure how long he’d be able to stay awake now that he was comfy.

“There you go, sleep well. Extra training sessions start tomorrow.”

Quirrel snapped out of his mental fuzz. “Wait, what ?!?”

He was only met with snores.

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secret-ssociety · 4 years ago

Text

Behind the scenes

Pairing(s): Aaron Tveit x Reader, Les Mis (2012) cast x Reader

Warnings: This is just fluff. Like one curse

Summary: It is never intended for Enjolras and Eponine to fall in love in the original story, but a lot of things can happen when the cameras are turned off

A/N: I know everyone is waiting for more of the Let Me Down series but I have wanted to do this for a long time bc I am utterly in love with this man and I've always said I don't want to just write Peter Parker's stuff. Might make this several parts, who knows, I like things with parts.

masterlist

requests are open!!

For the first time in the whole day, silence fell upon the set of Les Mis, being only vaguely interrupted by the quiet chatter of everyone else who, unlike you, still had energy to talk. It's not like it was your fault, though, you had no idea of how much running around implied to play Eponine.

Huddled in a quiet corner of what had been built to be the Café Musain, you pushed your knees against your chest and hid your face between them, hoping to catch some rest before Tom decided he wanted to do a scene again. Was it maybe two in the morning? Three? You didn't even know anymore, you weren't allowed to carry a watch around your wrist and your phone was charging in your trailer, but the last time you had checked it was midnight and that had been a few hours ago.

Doing a movie, you had come to learn in your first few days of filming, was quite different from putting up a show. Interacting with your surroundings, going over scenes and even directing your eyes to a certain place while saying your lines was a world away from your common place on stage. You'd had to repress a loud squeak on your first day on set when you saw just how real everything looked, and when you started to try on your garments... you might as well have been a street urchin on Paris, 1832.

A small finger touched your shoulder timidly, waking you up from your fragile sleep and making you lift your head from its place. Your eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the light and you even had to squint a little to recognize Daniel standing next to you, looking just as tired, but with a small flame of caffeine dancing in the back of his eyes. Who the fuck gave the kid coffee? You wondered.

"How long do you think they'll keep us here?" he asked sitting next to you. From all your cast mates, Daniel was probably the first one you had grown fond of, but then again, so had everyone.

"Maybe not much longer, unless they want us to be here at noon tomorrow," you answered raising an eyebrow. Being the youngest person on the whole set, you could tell he was trying to hold his own like the adults, drinking coffee and doing his best to stay awake.

The problem with that, you knew, was that caffeine reacted differently on kids and adults: when an adult drinks coffee, it gives them energy for a long period of time, the caffeine is distributed in order to serve the body for good while. When a child drinks coffee, on the other hand, the caffeine gives them a rush of adrenaline that gets them jumping up and down and running circles around the adults, very much like Daniel was doing a while ago, thus burning all the energy they had acquired as fast as they had engorged it.

"You want to rest for a minute?" you asked him, stretching your legs so that he could rest his head on them. He shook his head tiredly, but didn't put up a fight when you grabbed his shoulder and started to lay him down.

Softly, you caressed his hair, while carefully trying to undo the tangles the dirt had made onto his hair to give him that street gamine I-live-in-the-elephant-of-the-Bastille look. In a matter of seconds, he was fully asleep, snoring quietly against the fabric of your skirt.

You heard some of the boys approaching, laughing loudly with cups of steaming coffee on their hands, and were quick to lift your finger up to your lips, to let them know of the resting boy that would be quickly awaken by their laughs. They apologized in whispers, handed you the cup they had brought for you and sat around you.

"Helena is trying to convince them to let us go to the hotel," Alistair commented, although he didn't look tired at all, more like he was amused by everyone else's exhaustion.

You sighed in relief against the cup, which was held close to your lips, making the steam hit your face in a warmth that made you aware of how cold your nose was. Only one gulp of the bitter liquid was enough to warm the blood flowing through your veins and take you back to life, you could open your eyes properly and the first the landed on was one of the most distinctive of your cast mates: Aaron Tveit.

Was there something special about him that made you think of his full name instead of just the first? Yeah, everything. He was the embodiment of the Enjolras Victor Hugo had wrote, the one that had been nicknamed Apollo by his friends. Maybe it was the way he held himself, somehow taller than everyone else, with that revolutionary fire in his eyes and walking around the set like he was actually going to get the people to build a barricade.

Wherever he happened to exist, you couldn't help but feel the presence of an olden god amongst mortals, the time go slower and light to travel in a bliss. There was just something so ethereal about him...

"He's talent, isn't he?" Alistair commented, having followed the direction of your eyes. "Among other things," Eddie joked, perhaps having caught on on the repressed smitten nature of your gaze. Stubbornly, you rolled your eyes.

As if saved by the bell, your director announced that everyone was allowed to go and get some rest, under the condition that you had to be back the next day before lunch. You were so tired, you almost forgot you were on your costume, being remembered by Eddie when you walked straight to the exit.

Up until that day, you had followed you stylist's skincare routine religiously every day after finishing filming, but once you found yourself in your sweatpants and Alistair's sweater, you simply poured water in your face and wiped all the makeup away with a paper towel.

Outside of your trailer, you found at least half of the Amis waiting for you to go grab some pizza while forming a wall to shield a newly caffeinated Daniel from your accusatory eyes. "I just left my cup unattended for a second!" George said quickly. You didn't know if you should laugh or yell at them, but you decided you were too tired to do either, so you simply took his hands and walk with the boys to the minivans the studio had hired for your transportation.

Eating pizza after having barely washed the makeup off of your face and only having a few hours to sleep after? You knew you were going to break out, but that was a tomorrow's problem.

Perhaps it was the magic that gravitated around Aaron that made you look back to see him, walking several feet behind the lot of you and clearly immersed on his thoughts. What you did next wasn't exactly a conscious decision, but it felt as natural as if it were.

"Hey, Tveit," you smiled, stopping before him. He looked surprised for a second, since he hadn't heard you approach him, but then smiled softly at you.

"Hello, Y/L/N," he said back, looking at you with those piercing eyes of him.

"We're going to grab a bite, wanna come?" You asked with a bright smile, one so cute that made it hard for him to say no.

"I don't know, it's late..." he said with half a smile.

"Did you know that pizza wasn't invented until the late half of the 18th century," you said, persistently, making him raise an eyebrow at the random fact, "that means all of our characters died without having ever eaten pizza. Shouldn't we, in order to honor them, do the things they never got to do?"

Aaron tried as hard as he could to fight back a smile at your argument. He had heard from the other guys about your occurrences and funny yet charming way with words, but he still hadn't had a chance to delight himself with it all too much. Maybe you were both too busy, maybe he wasn't as good as he liked to think to break the ice and Alistair had beat him to it.

He was practically convinced already, but still you added, "come on, Enjolras is still going to be here tomorrow morning... er, today a little less morning." You corrected checking the time on your wrist watch.

He was tired and not really hungry, but sill he nodded and followed you to the exit, where the rest of your friends cheered upon his joining.

Thankfully, the place Fra Fee knew was not too far away from the hotel, because none of you would have managed to walk too much after the day you'd had. Pulling a couple of tables together with the help of a waitress who pretended not to be a little starstruck, all of you sat down and ordered. You personally tried to ignore the way Eddie gave you his sit so that you would end up sat next to Aaron.

After ordering three large pizzas and some lemonade, and having grudgingly remembered that you couldn't order a beer or anything of the sort, you resumed your chattery. You soon found that, while you weren't the only theatre actress on the room, you were the only one who had never been on a film before. Still, that didn't mean your previous work had gone unnoticed.

"I was really excited to meet Y/N," Eddie commented on Daniel's side, "because I went to see her in The Phantom of The Opera, in London and I was" he made the gesture of his head blowing up, making you laugh.

"Yes, I knew I had seen you somewhere! You're Christine Daaé!" George exclaimed, interrupting the bite he was about to give to his pizza.

"Didn't you say on the first table reading that your dream role is Esmeralda, from the Hunchback?" Aaron perked up, making you blush a little.

"Esmeralda, Christine and Eponine," Alistair numbered, only giving you time to nod, "are you planning on becoming the Holy Trinity of French Theater?"

"I'll be able to say the Holy Trinity of French Theater died in my arms!"

You almost spilled your lemonade at the exclamation, unable to contain your laughs, very much like everyone else on the table. You didn't mean for your face to be as red as it was in that moment, but you couldn't help it when everyone seemed to be so interested in your past work. Despite attention being your line of work, you didn't know how to handle it that good.

It was when Daniel's adrenaline burnt off, as you had predicted, and he was found too tiresd to even keep his head up that you came back to the hotel, with the quiet company of Aaron, who had also offered to take the young boy back to his room. You were both in silence, though it was not an awkward one, it just wasn't necessary to talk to enjoy the other's company.

"We're getting a cow," he said suddenly, when you were approaching the entrance of the hotel.

"What?" You asked with a confused smile.

"We're getting a cow, on the set, tomorrow," he clarified grinning, "she will be there for the scenes of the barricade."

"Why would a cow be on a barricade?" You questioned with a laugh, opening the door for Aaron, since he was carrying Daniel, and receiving a little thank you in return. "Not that I'm complaining."

He laughed in return and followed you to the elevator, making sure neither the young boy nor the jacket he had put over him fell from his embrace. The cow thing had just been to start conversation and be able to ask what he really wanted to know, although he was a little pumped up about the cow.

"Do you want to do what Alistair said?" He asked curiously, "About being the Holy Trinity of French Theater, it is."

"I had never thought about it that way, but it sounds quite nice," you answer thoughtfully. "Though, I believe I would have to play Eponine on a stage, rather than a set to really earn that title."

"You're not liking movie making so far?" He asked somewhat amused, specially when you whipped your head to look at him with wide eyes.

"No! That's not what I mean," you talked so fast you nearly stumbled through your words, but the kindness on his eyes made you sigh and calm down. "This has been amazing so far and I would never underestimate the huge effort it takes to make one of these. I mean, I've only been doing this for a couple days and I'm already beyond exhaustion. And yet it has been wonderful, the set and the preparation and just seeing all the work it implies is... unbelievable."

You knocked three time on the door, to see Daniel's mother not two seconds later. Aaron had been worried that maybe she would be concerned and even a little mad at how late her son was coming back, but you had been texting her throughout the extra hours of shooting and to let her know you were going to take him to eat something before coming back to the hotel.

She kindly thanked you both, took Daniel (who was still sound sleep) on her arms and gave Aaron his jacket back, to then close the door. Without saying much, he walked you to your own room, prompting you to continue.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah! So filming a movie is... I'm running out of adjectives, but it's really great," he chuckled slightly, "but I don't think it can top the feeling of being on the theater," you sighed dreamily.

"On stage, there is no take two, the things you're doing can only be done once. There's..." your tongue ran through your lips, an action Aaron found almost mesmerizing, as you tried to find the words to describe the thing you loved the most in the world. "There's this feeling, when the show is about to start, the lights dim, the overture starts and you get goosebumps and you heart starts thumping at the moment you come on stage, there's something about that moment being unrepeatable and having the eyes of the crowd on you, the adrenaline is just... is like the identity line that divides the actor from their character disappears and in that moment you're not quite them, but you're not you, you're just..." you let out a breath at the inability to find the word and, for a moment, you worried you might have bored him with your rambling, but he had that bliss over his face, the one only a theatre actor knows and has, that told you he knew exactly what you're talking about.

The next morning, back on set and with your costumes again covering your backs, Aaron found himself so hypnotized by the sight of you rehearsing with Amanda his tea got cold and was utterly scared when Eddie's palm fell onto his back, dragging him out of his day dream.

"Is this the part when the Phantom is stalking Christine?" George asked jokingly, making Aaron roll his eyes.

For someone who made so much fun of him for becoming Enjolras, he had certainly developed Grantaire's mocking nature.

"She's really talented," the blonde man answered nonchalantly, drinking from his tea and making a face when he found out the drink was cold.

"I see," Eddie said handing him his tea, "are you seeing our dear Y/N under a new light?"

Was he? It would be a lie to say he didn't come back to his room with you occupying every single one of his thoughts, his heart fluttering who had managed to put his passion for theatre in words. Had his hands always became a little shaky around you? Yes. But today it was even worse.

Today, your voice giving life to Eponine's thoughts and emotions could make his cheeks blush or bring tears to his eyes in a matter of a second. Today, you walked around with a strange light over you, one that didn't allow him to look away while, at the same time, reprehended him for staring. Today, you were more than an artist, an actress. You were something more than human.

"Nonsense," he replied stubbornly, "I have always known how talented she is."

Before he could get a sarcastic comment or a snide yet friendly remark, the three men's chatter was interrupted by the two previously mentioned ladies rehearsing The Robbery, one of the scenes you planned on filming that day.

"It's the police! Disappear! Run for it!" Your strong soprano voice cut all chattery in one swift motion. "It's Javert!"

He probably held his breath for as long as you held the note. Once you opened your eyes, you seemed a little embarrassed at all the eyes on you, but Aaron didn't understand just what did you have to be embarrassed about.

Eddie shook his shoulder, "breathe, mate!"

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witchesoz · 3 years ago

Text

After Oz: Legends of Oz

I hesitated before doing this one, because this movie is mostly based on the book "Dorothy of Oz" by Roger S. Baum, and I haven't read said book. It is something that tends to get on my nerve, when people actually don't care about the original material an adaptation was based on, and consider the adaptation as its own entirely original piece of work, when in fact, a lot of it was taken from somebody's else work. I mean, the perfect exemple is Shining. Some people praise Kubrick for being a pure genius for inventing this story from A to Z, and consider Stephen's King television series a "poor attempt at a remake of the movie", when... you know, King originally wrote the Shining and Kubrick merely adapted it. In fact, people tend to forget most of Kubrick's movies were adaptation. Dr. Strangelove? Loosely based on "Red Alert". Lolita? Everyone knows it is Nabokov. A Clockwork Orange? Anthony Burgess. 2001: Space Odyssey? Inspired by shorts stories of Clarke, the co-author. Eyes Wide Shut? A 1920s German book, Traumnovelle. And so forth and so forth...

Hum. Sorry for the rant. I just needed to explain why I always want to take in consideration the original material when tackling an adaptation. But since I haven't read and can't get this book, I will mostly rely myself on the Wikipedia plot and other reviews I read. If you wonder, yes, Roger S. Baum is Baum's great-grandson (or great-great-grandson?), and he wrote "Dorothy of Oz" as a direct sequel to the first book, "The Wizard of Oz", ignoring all of the others, and... apparently he is not a really good writer. But anyway... I still decided to do a little something about this movie, because... well just because I wanted Oh yeah, another thing... an elephant in the room I have to adress right now. I only discovered it this year, by doing research about the movie (because before I only saw it at the time of its released and then forgot about it). You can know it, or completely ignore it - yes, I know that this whole movie was the result of a huge scam that robbed hundreds of people out of their money, and that the case has been even brought to trial. But... well the movie is still here, people still saw it, it is still around, will be for still quite a long time, and it is now part of the Oz inheritance, that you want it or not. Anyway, a lot of Oz movies had a dark and troubled production. It seems almost like a pre-requisite: if you do an Oz movie, you'll never end happy. Maybe it is a curse? Who knows.

So... let's get into the subject. Is "Dorothy's Return" a bad movie? (I'll use this name, because "Legends of Oz" was the name of the intended franchise of three, maybe ten movies). I wouldn't say so. A lot of people said it was crap, or worthless, but I wouldn't call it bad. People also said that it is a bland movie, and I would say yes - but only partially. I think a good lot of the extreme bad reactions were caused because of 1- people who just disliked the idea of more Oz adaptations, 2- people too old for this movie, because you have to remember that this is a movie aiming at children and 3- people who are hard-die fans of the MGM movie and not so much of the original Oz books. It may also play in account that Dorothy's Return was roughly released the same year, and played as a "rival" to "Oz the Great and Powerful".

Now, note that it isn't a memorable movie (except for a few bits). It isn't an excellent movie. It isn't a cult classic (even though it may become it with the whole scam background, who knows?). It isn't something I would watch again and again with pleasure. It isn't something exceptionnal or groundbreaking, it is even quite generic. But, it has some good parts, and it manages to be entertaining, and honestly as a child I could have sit in front of it and watch it with no problem. Because, yes, it is a children movie. The action is rushed, the characters lack depth, some moments are too sugary-sweet or even cringy (for exemple the song "We'll work together". Seriously, I just looked away and sped up a bit because that was too sickening-sweet for me.) As a result, as a child movie they missed things that could have been really good (the old tree agreeing to be use for a boat, which is played straight up as him being killed, the characters even say so, but then it turns out he is still alive as a boat? You could have had a great, deep, fascinating almost philosophical moment, but you just waste it for a happy ending). Anyway, what was I saying? Yes, a children movie. As a result, some people called the movie "too simple". On the other side, people called the story "too confusing".

To an Oz fan like me, it isn't actually confusing. It isn't at all - but indeed, for someone with a limited knowledge of Oz, it will be confusing. Because, while they base themselves on an Oz book that re-uses many elements from the books (the Queen of the Field Mices, the Sawhorse, the China Country...) it also decided to include a lot of elements from the MGM movie (the Wicked Witch of the West is the one from the MGM, Glinda is also quasi-identical from her MGM counterpart, the Winged Monkeys work with the evil people...). As a result, yeah, it may be confusing. But the inclusion of the MGM elements actually managed to correct some flaws of the original story. For exemple, in Roger S Baum's book, the Jester was merely a normal jester possessed by the ghost of the Wicked Witch of the West, through her magic wand. Wait, magic wand? There wasn't any magic wand mentionned in the original book! But in the movie, to use the broomstick of the Wicked Witch makes much more sense.

I'll take a short time here to comment on the character of the Jester, who is, I think, the highest point of this movie. He is a good villain. A cliché but interesting backstory cashing on the idea of Oz vilains as siblings, a clear shout-out to the Joker which isn't so bad, interesting plans. He is also the provider of many nightmarish elements (the fate of Dorothy's companions, which I think was a very good idea, or the people turning into puppets and being used for a creepy dance) that made this Oz movie feel... well Ozian. Because a good Oz work is a work that will traumatize your kids! I guess a bit part of why the Jester works so well is that he basically repeats and remakes all his sister, the Wicked Witch, did in the MGM movie, and let's be honest, she was a great villain. (And this again makes sense when you remember the Jester is originally supposed to be possessed by the Witch's ghost). But at the same time he has his distinctive signature and style, with his Jester persona, his circus-related punishment and his personal plots to conquer Oz. [People noticed obviously the sweet irony of things in this movie. You have a double-character that, on the Earth world is a cheater and criminal trying to steal people of their houses and using several fake identities, while in Oz it is a villain that turns people into puppets he can manipulate and relies mostly on cheating and misleading Dorothy to her doom. Which is eerily similar to what the creators of the movie/franchise did with their financers and investors.]

Talking about the Earth side... The whole "earthly" parts are all bland and not memorable. Just like Dorothy, who isn't really... anything to be honest. The songs sung aren't memorable either. All of that is a fail. A lot of people also considered the Earthly animation uncanny, or even disturbing, but I personally wasn't bugged by it at all. I saw much more uncanny animation.

When it comes to the Oz part, I actually think they managed to create a perfect "Ozian story". As in, the general schema of the girl entering in Oz through an uncommon mean (here a people-eating rainbow, that I have to say was quite a scary scene to look at), then passing through many small kingdoms, meeting new friends, forming a team, discovering the villain and fighting him off - this plot was repeated by Baum times and times and times again, and probably comes from the original novel Dorothy of Oz. But it still works, as simple as it can be. Plus, the use of the China Country and the Candy County (I think its their name?) was quite a good choice. The China Country was one of Baum's earliest invention, while the Candy County (originating from the Roger S Baum book) is eerily similar to the Bunbury village, an invention of Baum, inhabited by living baked goods that also get angry at the protagonists for trying to eating them. Yes, all in all, the characters feel really Ozian. As for the other member of the team, "Wiser the Owl". Well... he had the potential to feel an interesting and Baum-ian character. But it falls flat because he just becomes one living fat joke. I mean, fat jokes can be funny. But when the character is mostly the joke itself well... yeah, not really working. He had a much interesting role in the prequel comic book.

Because yes, there is a comic book associated with this movie! As I said before, originally the project was to create a franchise of several movies, with toys, goodies, applications and video games. (Or at least that was the project the scam used). The comic is however found under the original title for the movie "Dorothy of Oz". I don't have much to say about it, outside that is was quite pleasing (even though it sometimes doesn't make sense when put in direct relationship to the movie), and that it introduced one interesting idea: that the magic of the broomstick/Witch relied mostly on manipulating the weather and nature. The Jester causes a flood to destroy the Munchkin town, he causes an earthquake to break the China Country, he uses heatwaves to melt the Candy County... And another interesting point, the role of Wiser. Indeed, in the movie he is presented as a "motor-mouth" that keeps talking about everything, knows a lot of stuff and has the tendency to finish other people's sentences. But it gets quickly overshadowed by the fat jokes (cause a big part of his character is that he used to be able to fly but now, because of his love for candy, he is too fat to fly). However, in the comic book he has rather the role of the one voice of reason and intelligence that offers down-to-earth, simple solutions to problems where the other Ozians search for more extravagant and magical possibilities. Exemple (SPOILERS: when trying to create a rainbow, the team searches everywhere, thinks of asking witches, wizards and candy makers. Wiser has to remind them that anybody can create a rainbow with just a good crystal and some light. SPOILER ENDING.)

(I actually read the comic book before looking at the movie, which may explain why I consider it better than the movie.) To return to my opinion on the movie... Not the greatest Oz movie, but certainly not the worst. Average, but on the good side. Entertaining and interesting, even though bland and generic. They got the feeling of an Oz story but they just didn't found a way to freshen up or make the story shine on its own. A good villain for a heroine easy to forget. Simple. Ideal for children, or to kill time, or just to inspire one for more Oz work.

#oz #review #after oz #opinion #animated movie #legends of oz #dorothy's return #legends of oz dorothy's return

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whumpfigure · 4 years ago

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Whumptober Day 1: Waking Up Restrained

Let's yeet out one of the two pieces I wrote for whumptober *nervous laughter*

CW: pet whump, box boy universe, creepy whumper, facility stuff, electroshock treatment

'Cold'

It's the first thing that comes to Agustin's mind as he gains consciousness. He turns around and pulls his hand up to cuddle Sofi - his little sister - to keep her warm. But he's quick to realize that he can't. His hands are restrained behind his back.

'What the hell...?' He thinks, as the memories of last night flood his mind. Writing his goodbye letter, going to the WRU main building, answering the questions they asked him, being led to that waiting room, and drinking the tea they offered him, and then-... he doesn't remember what happened then.

Slightly terrified, he forces his eyes open, and the bright fluorescent light makes him wince and shut his eyes for a few more seconds to get used to it. And slowly, gradually, he manages to keep his eyes open without watering, and takes a look at his surroundings. Everything around him is white. Not the warm yellow-ish white you normally see on walls. But a pure and cold type of white. The kind that makes you shiver even if the room isn't cold on itself. Which is definately not the case here. Because Agustin felt the cold before seeing the white.

The room he's in is not big. And it's nearly completely empty, save for Agustin's body on the floor. There is a rectangular frame on one side of the room that Agustin can bet is the door. And for a second he considers opening it and finding someone to explain the meaning of all this. They didn't tell him he'd be freaking restrained and put in an empty room the first second! Not that it would've mattered of course. Agustin had made his decision even before talking to actual WRU people and asking about their training process. He had made the decision to trade himself for the safety of his sisters, when he still thought WRU was as evil as pet lib people pictured. Which is not true, as far as Agustin himself saw on his tour inside Facility 056. The trainee rooms weren't anything luxurious, but they were certainly better than the places he had lived in after his parents died. And none of them included empty white rooms and restrained hands and, as Agustin just realized, a door with no handle.

Just as he was in these thoughts, a beeping sound came from just outside of his room, followed by a soft shhh-click sound as the door with no handle opened. Agustin pushed himself to a sitting position as the door opened, revealing a man in a formal uniform similar to those he had seen before in the WRU building. He was fairly light skinned, and had brown hair that screamed expensive haircare products. And he was looking directly at Agustin's sitting form, with a smug unreadable look on his face. As if he was waiting for Agustin to say something. What thing, Agustin has no idea.

Realizing that it was probably his only chance at having his questions answered, he quickly asked, "Qué es esto? Dónde estoy?" What is the meaning of this? Where am I? And he sounded more irritated than he intended to be.

"Tsk, is that how you greet your handler, trainee?" The man - the handler - asked, in a perfect and unaccented English, and Agustin's eyes went wide. Why was the man talking English?

"Come on trainee, I'm waiting for an apology." The handler demanded, and took out the black leather stick that hung on his belt. "You don't want me to use this on you."

"W-what is it? Where.. where am I?" Agustin said in his own slightly accented English, and cringed at the way his voice was shaking. There was something about the man's presence, and the device in his hand, that was deeply unsettling to him. And he felt a shiver run down his spine as the man chuckled at him.

"Well you're in Facility 001, of course." He said matter of factly, and Agustin knew what that meant. He wasn't in Chile anymore. There was only one Facility 001, and it was located in the United States.

"B-but how?!" Agustin asked, and suddenly the weight of its meaning crashed down on him. He wasn't in Chile anymore. He wasn't near his sisters anymore. In fact, if the rumors about Facility 001's location were correct, he was far far away from them. And it terrified him.

"Uh uh uh, shut it now. Have you not learnt not to interrupt a gentleman's words? I was still answering your other question." The handler said as he took a step closer.

"I'm sorry.." He whispered, and tried to back away as the handler suddenly seemed too close.

"Hmm, now you apologize. I like it." He said as he came yet closer, and leaned over Agustin's small body. "But you know, you're a bit too late." He whispered the last words in Agustin's ear, before straightening back up and swinging the black stick out of nowhere.

As soon as the pointed tip of the stick made contact with his body, Agustin felt a pain he's never experienced before. Suddenly all his nerves were aflame, and all his muscles were tense as a tree, as electricity coursed through them. He heard a scream, but it took him a moment to realize it was his own, as he writhed in pain on the floor. When had he fallen on the floor again? He didn't know. In that moment, all he knew was pain, and pain alone.

But just as suddenly as the pain had started, it disappeared. Leaving Agustin a gasping mess on the floor. He attempted to get back to sitting, but his hands gave under him, and he hit back on the floor.

He felt a hand on his head, before its grip tightened on his hair, and pulled him up by it. He looked at the handler with blurry eyes, as the man said, "I guess that answered your other question."

The man let go of his hair, and it took everything in Agustin to keep himself sitting.

"You'd better get used to it. You're gonna have to go through this, quite a lot." The man said as he started going towards the door.

"And oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm senior handler Marcus Craine. And we'll be spending a lot of time together." He explained, just before he went out of the room using a card. Leaving Agustin there thinking all sorts of 'what have I done?!!'

Tagging: @slaintetowhump @ashintheairlikesnow @liliability @ohmywhump @whumptywhumpdump @raigash @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @simplygrimly @whump-it @oceanthesarcasamfox @inky-whump @whumppsychology @inaridriscoll @rivertamandspike @spookyboywhump @faewhump @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @whumpzone @sola-whumping @whumpsy-daisies @crystalrainwing @whumptober2020

#I'm sorry if that Spanish part is incorrect. please tell me if it is. I'll correct it right away.#also yeay! Agusto changed to Agustin and now everyone's happy #whumptober2020 #no.1 #whump #whumpee #whumplr #box boy multiverse #bbu whump #electrocution #pet whump #creepy whumper #parni does whumptober #but not really?#hhhhh #agustin #austin #marcus craine #waking up restrained

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even-after-a-millennia · 4 years ago

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my home from long ago

I finally wrote a fic with Lykon in it! Well, sort of. (Trigger warning for nonconsensual drug use)

Summary: When The Old Guard tries to apprehend a group who stole hallucinogens, Andy and Quynh are exposed and see part of their family who has been long lost to them.

The fic is below or over on my ao3 here.

“I want it put down for the record what a bad idea I think it is that you guys take this job,” Copley Two said the moment that the video call started. His real name was Callum, but as he had taken over for Copley after his retirement, he bore the nickname with grace.

“Noted,” Andy said drily. “What are the details?”

Callum sighed, but began reading his notes. “According to a friend of mine over at MI6, there is a scientist that is working on an interactive, virtual reality experience that allows the user to interact with people they have lost, in order to be able to start the healing process and move on. It pairs VR with a cocktail of aerosol hallucinogens to allow the user to be truly immersed.” He looked up at the screen for a moment. “Anyone else wondering how the hell they even got cleared to do this?”

“We can focus on that later. C’mon, CT, where do we come in?” Nile asked.

“Right. Well, last Thursday, the lab was broken into and most of the hallucinogens were stolen. The scientist is worried that the people who stole it are planning to use it as a torture device, manipulating the hallucinogenic effects to induce mental torture. We need you to retrieve the hallucinogens and destroy any replications that have been created. If you can capture rather than kill those responsible, it would be appreciated.”

He paused and set down his notebook. “Given your backgrounds, I feel the need to caution you before you agree to take this job. Should you get into a situation where the hallucinogens are released and you are caught up in the simulation, you all have more than enough trauma between you to devastate your minds. Please think carefully before making your decision.”

Andy reached out and took Quynh’s hand. They exchanged a look, then nodded.

“We can do it.”

Nicky and Joe nodded.

They turned to Booker and Nile, the only two that hadn’t spoken up.

“I would be lying if I didn’t say I really don’t want to be exposed to that gas,” Nile said. She was still reeling from the death of her mother, only three years prior.

“Myself as well,” Booker said. “I feel it could trigger old wounds.”

“However,” Nile said, straightening her shoulders, “there are other people out there who have also been who hell, who need to be saved from being exposed to that. So. I’m in.”

Booker sighed, then nodded.

Andy turned to Copley Two. “Where do we need to go?”

____________________________________

Once Callum found where the thieves were hiding, it was easy to come up with a plan. Nicky would be at the ready with his rifle, Joe as his spotter. Nile, Booker, Andy, and Quynh would infiltrate the building and destroy any samples they came across. If possible, they would go with nonlethal options for capture, unless that was no longer an option.

“Any signs of life from your end, Nicky?” Nile asked as they made their way through the warehouse. Her voice was muffled behind the gas mask Callum had forced them all to wear. He wasn’t sure if it would do anything against the hallucinogen, given that they knew very little about it, but it “helped calm his heart, which you all put through too much already,” according to him.

“There’s activity on the west side of the building, third floor,” came the response through their comms.

“Alright, Quynh with me to the third floor. Booker, Nile, scan the bottom floors for any sign of the hallucinogen or a lab. Nicky, Joe, watch our backs,” Andy ordered.

They split up.

Andy kept scanning their surroundings as they ascended, but there was no sign that people were in the building. They kept going, Quynh a step behind her, her favorite handgun at the ready. She was proficient with a gun as she was with a bow and arrow. Andy gave her a small smile during her next scan, one that Quynh quickly returned.

They walked down the walkway towards the room Nicky had seen movement. They each took a side of the closed door. Quynh nodded, and Andy took a step back, then kicked the door in. They rushed inside.

Only to see four people clearly out of their minds on the hallucinogens. It was thick in the air and blurred Andy’s vision through her protective goggles. Again, Copley Two’s idea.

“Arianna! You’re here!” one of the people said, looking at Andy.

She raised an eyebrow. Given she hadn’t ever been called Arianna, even throughout the course of her very long life, it was safe to assume that whoever the man was seeing wasn’t actually Andy.

“I’ve missed you,” he said, coming closer.

Andy went on alert, especially as another person turned to them.

“Adam, oh my god, it’s you!” the woman sobbed. She ran up to Quynh and threw her arms around her.

She looked at Andy, who shrugged.

“We’ve got four people, all high as fuck. Shouldn’t be too difficult to-”

“I’ve missed you so much,” the man said, and he leaned forward to rest his forehead against Andy’s. He pulled back, and for a moment, Andy saw his eyes clear. Then they narrowed and, before Andy could stop him, reached up and pulled on the gas mask. It didn’t move much, but the break in the seal let the gas in.

It sat heavily on Andy’s tongue.

“Motherfu-” Andy managed before she felt the tug on her subconscious. She elbowed the guy in the nose, knocking him unconscious. She turned, ready to push Quynh out of the door. It might be too late for Andy to not feel the effects, but Quynh hadn’t been exposed yet, she hadn’t-

Shit.

The woman in front of Quynh had gone in to kiss her, pulling her head in with grasping hands. Her head hit against the mask as she pulled Quynh in and the combination of gestures broke the seal on Quynh’s mask too.

Andy knocked the woman back and grabbed Quynh’s arm, trying to ignore the things she was starting to see out of the corner of her eyes.

“C’mon we’ve gotta go, Quynh, come on!”

But Quynh wasn’t looking at Andy. She was staring at something in front of her, someone who made her look full of joy and loss all at once.

Andy knew, before she even turned to look, who would be standing there. But she couldn’t resist.

“Lykon…” Quynh said, rushing forward and jumping into the arms of her old friend.

“Hello, my beautiful sister,” Lykon said, hugging her back. Quynh was sobbing into his shoulder as he looked up and gave Andromache the brilliant smile that she hadn’t seen in over a thousand years.

“Andromache. I’ve missed you.”

“Andy, Quynh, come in! Can you hear me?”

“Lykon,” Andy said, her voice choked. “I am so sorry. I didn’t have your back.”

“Andromache.” The look he gave her was gentle but chiding. “How could you have known? You, the oldest of us, had no idea our immortality was finite.”

“But why you?!” she burst out. It was the question that had haunted her since she had tried to hold Lykon’s stomach together as he bled out. “You said, I am the oldest, I should have been the one to die, not you, Lykon. Never you!”

Lykon whispered something into Quynh’s ear and she nodded, easing her hold on him. She wiped her tears and held an arm open to her wife as Lykon did the same.

“Come, Andromache. It has been far too long since I’ve held you,” Lykon said.

“I can’t,” Andy cried.

“Why?”

Andy let out a shuddering breath. “Because I don’t deserve it.”

“Andy! Quynh! Nile, you have to get up there, I think-”

“Deserve what, Andromache?”

Andy couldn’t look at him as she said. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Lykon. I don’t forgive myself.”

Quynh turned to Lykon. “Much has happened since we lost you. But we never forgot you.”

“I know. Of course I know.”

Quynh swallowed. “I would be lying if the loss of you didn’t feel like an unhealing wound.”

“I understand. But I don’t want you to mistake grief with guilt. They do not have to both exist. Not in this,” Lykon said. “It was my time. The only grief I felt in that was to be parted from you.”

“I lost it,” Andy said suddenly, not looking at Lykon. “My immortality. And suddenly, all I wanted was to live. I had my family, and we just added Nile, and then we got Quynh back. But I also felt relief. That finally, the universe was correcting the wrong. Letting me be with you. And then it came back. And now I am more lost from you than ever.”

Lykon kissed Quynh’s forehead then let her go. He walked up to Andy. “Do I look lost to you?”

Andy finally let herself fully look at him. He glowed with vitality and love and joy, all the things he exemplified in life, pouring out of him.

“You look perfect.”

Lykon held out his arms. “Please, Andromache?”

She let out a sob, then made her feet move forward.

Andromache the Scythian had had many homes throughout the years. So many places, all blurred together. It was only after she met Quynh that she let her home be found in people. In Quynh. In Lykon. She hadn’t known how dangerous that was, until Lykon’s death.

Stepping into Lykon’s arms, Andy felt like she had come back to a long lost home for the first time in a millennium.

But there was something missing.

“Quynh,” she called. “We need you.”

Her wife squeezed into the space between Andy’s right arm and Lykon’s left and they all pressed together, holding each other so tightly that it hurt.

And something that had been piercing Andy’s heart for so long that she hardly noticed it anymore unsheathed itself.

She felt relief.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Andy took a breath and her head cleared a bit. Another and she realized she was only holding Quynh in her arms. Another and she pulled her wife closer as she started to sob.

“Andy? Quynh? Do you copy?” Nile’s voice rang through the comms.

“Copy,” Andy said, her voice hoarse. “Quynh’s a bit overwhelmed. Nicky shot out the windows?”

“He did. You alright, boss?” Joe asked.

“Give it a few minutes to clear, then come in with the restraints. I think they wanted to use the hallucinogen for its intended purpose, not maliciously, but we still need to bring them in. They hotboxed the room and are still pretty out of it. I think we were only influenced a little,” Andy said, not answering the question.

“Will do.”

Andy turned back to her wife.

“We’re going to be alright, trái tim của em,” Andy whispered, running a hand gently up and down her back.

Quynh nodded into her shoulder, then finally raised her head and wiped her eyes. “It was just so nice to see him again,” she said tearfully.

Andy looked around the room and the people who were still in the midst of their hallucinations. She saw all the different emotions possible, from devastation to happiness. Then she buried her face into Quynh’s hair.

“I miss him, Quynh,” she admitted quietly.

“Of course you do, Andromache. But missing him doesn’t have to be contingent on staying guilty. He wouldn’t want that,” Quynh said.

“Yeah,” Andy said, remembering that relief she felt. “I’m starting to get that.”

She leaned back, kissing Quynh on the forehead just like Lykon had done. “Are you alright?”

She shrugged. “I will be. It was a beautiful dream, and now I must wake.”

For now, that would have to be enough. Later, Andy would take care of Quynh, help her through the emotional upheaval of seeing their long dead brother in arms. Later, Andy would tell Nile and the others stories of Lykon, his kindness, his light, his talent for storytelling. Later, she might even forgive herself.

But for now, Andy held Quynh until the air had cleared and their family came for them.

Translations: trái tim của em - my heart

#andromache the scythian #andy #quynh #lykon #nile freeman #sebastien le livre #aka booker #yusuf al kaysani #aka joe #nicolò di genova #aka nicky #copley two #the old guard #the old guard fanfic #fanfic #my fic

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mutenized · 4 years ago

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The Choice Bit of Calico (Prologue)

Ship: Thomas Shelby x Reader

Warning(s): mentions of blood, war, and violence (obviously), maybe a slow burn?, forbidden romance, inner conflict, heartache, rebellion. Intended smut

A/N: Choice Bit of Calico was slang in the 1920s for a desirable woman, this series is going to be my passion project other than Butterfly which is still in the works. Honestly debating if the Grace x Tommy relationship should be a thing but this basically starts BEFORE Grace comes into Tommy’s life.

Synopsis: You are the sibling of Billy Kimber. Living with him in London, you heard of nursing classes offered at a church in Birmingham near where you and your older brother were born. It was during World War I and you wanted to do something to help the soldiers from your country as well as the allied countries. Living in your childhood home until you were sent back to London to work at the Veteran’s Hospital, you never forgot about the firey brunette who wanted to do the same as you. Keeping in touch, you both wrote letters back and forth until one fateful day you find yourself back in Birmingham, bags in hand, to take care of an ailing family member. Who knew the moment you got off the train your whole life would change?

Word Count: 1144

NEXT CHAPTER

MASTERLIST

Flyers scattered the walls of the brick buildings of your street, the remnants of torn posters on the cobblestone streets. The war was tearing bonds of friends and even families apart, you saw this happen on your daily strolls and heard the arguments in the pubs when you went to drop off paperwork for your brother. It was sad, a country at war being torn apart on the inside while their brothers, husbands, sons, and fathers were fighting for them, yet they couldn’t help but argue about the politics of it. That’s why when you read the poster you felt a weight of relief come to you.

‘Women of England, do you want to help with the war efforts while our strong men fight over in Europe? Come to any of these five locations and take daily nursing classes to stand by our men in combat!’ Holding the parchment in hand, you scanned it for the closest location which wasn’t that close at all. A four-hour train ride daily would be a bother, not to mention it would be another four hours back. With a furrowed brow, you continued down the street back to your brother’s house before walking inside and calling out for him

“Billy! Do you still own mother and father’s old house in Birmingham?” You call out, shrugging off your coat and hanging it on the coat rack. Going deeper into the house, you find yourself opening the door to the study where you knew your brother was located. Looking over to him with a sigh, you cross the threshold and sit in one of the plush chairs that were placed across from his desk. As he looked over you, he perked his brow in curiosity before his hazel eyes landed on the flyer in your hand. With an exasperated sigh, Billy placed his book down after he marked the page and leaned back in his chair.

“Is that the poster for the nursing classes? You know I don’t like the idea of you getting tangled up in this war, (Y/N). First it will be you taking these classes, next it will be you being shipped off to God knows where in France or, or Belgium or wherever else they’re fighting! You’ll be in constant danger.” You knew Billy meant well but that was his way of declining your idea, as he always tended to do when it came to traveling long distances without him or one of the Birmingham Boys, anything to deal with the war or politics, and especially anything that had to do with his work. It was deeply infuriating as you were almost twenty years old and it was 1915 for Christ’s sake. You wanted to be independent like your friends down at the dance clubs and picture theatres, but your brother always had to put a stop to it. Him declining your wish to help those who were sacrificing their lives was the last straw.

“William Kimber, you can’t keep me stuck in this house and under your eye forever, you know this correct? I’m bloody nineteen years old for fucks sake! I can take care of myself and taking nursing classes at a church doesn’t sign you up immediately to be shipped off! I could be stationed at a regular hospital here or a veteran’s hospital like the one in London proper. Let me help the brave men out there, the ones who are actually doing a service to the nation!” You didn’t mean to raise your voice and you didn’t mean to poke at the fact your brother didn’t sign up for the war but it happened and if you would pull back all of the words you so viciously spat at him you would but the side of you that craved to be independent wouldn’t allow it. You needed to get out of the house that became the bane of your existence. Not only was it the want to help, it was also the want to be on your own and write your own future that fueled your aggressions, you craved freedom. The silence that followed your outburst made your skin crawl, your shoulders slumping in defeat as you noticed the angry, disappointed look Billy was giving you. Turning your back to him, you began to head out when you heard a sigh finally escape the man who took the role of your primary caretaker after your parents passed.

“The first train that leaves for Birmingham in the morning you will take. I will give you enough money to start off and after I will send you an allowance until the classes finish. Then you will tell me where they are sending you or if you opt out.” His words froze you in your tracks, a wave of excitement and joy quickly spreading through your veins as your body turned.

“You mean that?”

“Yes, but no shitting around out there. No getting involved with criminals, no whoring yourself out, and absolutely no drinking at that blasted bar called The Garrison. There is one near the family house that is much better in service and they will know who you are. Those are my rules, if you can follow them, I suppose I can trust you to lead your own legacy, (Y/N).”

With a grin, you quickly rushed across the threshold and engulfed your brother in a tight squeeze that made him release a laugh that you heard so rarely. “I won’t let you down, I swear! I’ll go pack my trunk and traveling case now! Oh, thank you!” The joy that flooded your body was the main source that kept you light on your feet as you rushed into your large room. Throwing open your empty trunk that lay with a knitted blanket on top of it at the end of your bed, you begin to pack the necessities. Emptying your closet of the clothes you adored and frequented, you packed some away in your traveling case while the rest went into the trunk with sheets, blankets, hair products, shoes, valuable accessories, and pillows and sheets. Anything you laid your eyes on, you packed. Books, writing equipment, journals, your music that you would always dance to at the dance clubs, as well as your little address book. You forced it all to fit as you finished up and switched into the pajamas you had laid out for the night. Packing your outfit from your day and proceeding with your nightly routine, you soon find yourself curled up under the covers with a smile as big as the moon on your face.

To think you were going to be starting your life out in a home you barely remembered, in a city that had forgotten about you, to learn how to care for others. That was exciting, thrilling, even.

#peaky blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinder headcanon #thomas shelby #thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby #tommy shelby x reader #ada thorne #billy kimber #female reader #fanfiction #fanfic #thomas shelby x reader smut #tommy shelby x reader smut

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goldenncherrybombb · 5 years ago

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Hey dude, I was wondering, whenever you have time, and whenever you feel like it, could you maybe write a fluffy platonic bestfriend!harry with a reader who's like 17-18 and an actress who's in a movie and he writes a song for the movie so that's how they know each other, and they're doing the press tour of the movie together and an interviewer is being rude and Harry defends her?

Oh my gosh, I love this idea SO MUCH! I’m literally a sucker for best friend Harry, it’s my favorite thing to write.

Also sorry for taking a bit to reply, I’m still trying to figure out how to use tumblr, lol. And I changed her age to ab freshly 20 :p

any who, hope you like it!

-m

“And cut!” The director yells, and the bell goes off. Everyone is on the go as soon as he gives the cue. Y/n’s makeup team coming over to fix her hair and makeup.

“Do you guys think I’m doing good?” She questions, a little nervous about how well she is performing. She is a new actress after all, this is her first big Hollywood movie! After many failed auditions, and small parts on Netflix series she finally got herself a big role.

“You are doing amazing girl. No need to be nervous.” Her hair stylist, Anna, reassures her. Her makeup artist, jay, nodding his head in agreement.

“They love you, y/n. You were cast for a reason, girly. Now show em what you got.”

“Thank you guys.” She smiles at them and her cheeks redden at her friends compliments. The bell goes off and they all get ready to film the next scene.

The rest of the day goes well and on her way out she bumps into someone, too busy looking down at her scripts just to make sure she remembers everything. Her scripts and keys fall out of her arms and land on the ground, next to whoever she bumped into journal.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, that was totally my fault.” She quickly falls to bend her knees and pick up her things. The stranger bends next to her.

“‘S ok, I wasn’t paying attention either.” His voice sounds familiar. So fucking familiar. But she can’t put a finger on it. She looks up when she gathers her things. Her eyes meeting the strangers for the first time. “Oh I know you. Your the lead character, y/n l/n.” She smiles at, finding it strange that he recognizes her. Harry Styles. Harry styles recognizes her. And she decides that’s the coolest thing ever. “‘M actually writin’ a song for your movie.” They both stand to their full height and he hands her her keys.

“I heard about that! That must be super cool. I’ve always been super interested in music. Just wish I didn’t sound like a dying cat.” They both laugh lightly at that, and he shakes his head at her.

“Doubt that.”

“I wish your doubts were correct. But unfortunately they aren’t.” He just chuckles before he suddenly remembers something.

“I forgot to introduce myself. ‘M Harry.” He holds his hand out, and she takes it in hers and shakes his hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Harry. I’ve actually heard some of your stuff before. ‘M quite a fan of Fine Line.” He shyly smiles and their hands go back to their side.

“I don’t mean this in a weird way, but would you want to go grab some coffee?” She smiles and nods her head.

“Would love too.” He nods and gives her a smile before they turn to walk out. As they walk to his car, she assumes, she remembers something her coworkers briefly mentioned. “Aren’t you gonna have a small part in the movie?” She questions, looking over at him.

“Yeah actually, ‘m quite excited.”

“It’s gonna be fun. I saw Dunkirk so I know you will kill whatever scene you have. Aren’t you in a few with me and Andrea?” She questions.

“Five scenes total.” He informs her. “Then I have a few more with Timothee and Jeniffer.”

“That’ll be fun. We party a lot in those scenes.” She shimmies her shoulders when she says party to add some effect, and it does what she intends to and makes him laugh.

They reach Harry’s car and he takes them to a small cafe. They chat over tea and coffee, y/n also having a double chocolate chip muffin because she couldn’t resist. They talk about growing up, all things music, y/n’s career, Harry career. They both tell stories of the craziest moments they have so far in their journey of success. Both have a good time.

They get to know each other and at the end of the night they exchange numbers. He takes her back to set and drops her off by her car. He tells her goodnight and she does the same, smiling when she sat down in her car.

She hope she just made a new friend. They had so many things in common. From the way they dress, the music they like, their favorite food, etc. She thinks it’s safe to say the connected well at the small cafe and she hopes this is the start of them becoming close friends.

And they do end up becoming close friends over the six months they work together. Harry ended up coming to set more often than not, bringing lunch to y/n or eating the food they serve. They go back to her trailer and eat their food, catching up with each other, and sometimes having a food fight. Harry updates her on the songs he is writing, or the Gucci ads he has been modeling for. She tells him about the scene they filmed, or some small roles she has been offered. They also catch up, asking eachother about how their families are doing, making plans for later that night or if one of them had an event they wanted the other to accompany them too.

They both know each other’s families well. They spend the night at each other houses often. Harry takes her to the studios on her days off, showing her the process of recording. She instantly connects with Jeff as well since they both have a similar since if humor that includes teasing Harry on the regular.

But now the filming was done, and so was the editing. They were two weeks away from the release! Y/n was excited but also extremely nervous. But now they were all doing a press tour. And lucky for y/n, Harry got to tag along because of his small role and because he wrote most of the sound track for the movie.

They were about to go on another interview, this one just her and Harry. Their costars doing their own interviews scattered around the building. She was happy her and harry were partnered to do all the interviews today, it meant more time to goof off with him when they aren’t supposed to.

“Well first off I just want to say thank you guys for sitting down with me today.” The interviewers starts, his name y/n found out, is Ben.

“Thank you for having us.” They both say simultaneously.

“So let’s talk about the movie. I know y/n, you are a main character. Can you tell me what it’s like? Being new to the scene and working around men like Harry or Timothee? It’s got to be hard to contain yourself around the pair.” Y/n doesn’t know whether to scoff or smile through it and act like that wasn’t extremely sexist. But when she sees Harry visibly tense and his face harden she knows to just let it slide. She doesn’t want to start something that her manager will want to kill her for. So she bites her tounge.

“I don’t find it intimidating at all. Both of them are very talented, but I don’t find it intimidating. Especially not when they are you friends.” She puts an emphasis on friend.

“Harry, this is your second roll in a movie, and you wrote majority of the soundtrack, how was that? Do you think you will do more movies after this?” Y/n wants to roll her eyes. Of course he gets a normal question but she gets one asking if she could keep her legs closed around her best friend and costar.

“I enjoyed it. It got hectic and stressful at times. But I really enjoyed it and I enjoy acting and obviously writing and singing so I was glad I could do both.” The interviewer nods and this is how the next few questions go. Y/n getting questions like “which costar would you rather date?” “Did you have a crush on anyone while filming?” Really inappropriate and unprofessional questions. But Harry got questions about the writing process, what his favorite scene to film was, and so on. But it was obvious both of them were fed up with the interviewer asking her the types of questions he was. So after the third question Harry chimed in before y/n could come up with an answer that would answer it but not really answer it.

“‘M sorry, but are you gonna actually ask her about the movie? Or how her acting career has been going? Or just anything other than if she found someone hot or who she would mess around with? It’s quite unprofessional and it’s clearly making her uncomfortable.” The interviewer stills, his cheeks flushing. Even the camera crew stills and in the background I can hear jay clapping and saying “yes Harry” faintly. A small smile forms on her face and she looks over at her best friend, noticing how his gaze is strong as he looks at the interviewer with a penetrating gaze. Harry sounded very professional and calm when he told the interviewer off, but his eyes give away exactly how he feels.

“Right, my apologies y/n. But I think that’s actually a wrap.” He looks over at the director and nods.

He doesn’t even shake their hands before he leaves. He just scurries away with bright red cheeks as everyone’s eyes follow him.

“Thank you for that, H.” She smiles up at him before her arms go around his neck and his go around her waist.

“No need t’thank me. No lady should be asked those questions. It’s no ones business who yeh fancy, or whatever the fuck else he was trying to dig out of yeh. ‘S not the ass hats bloody business.” She chuckles and shakes her head, patting his back lightly.

“It’s ok, Harry. You already told him off, no need to get upset over it again.” She pulls back when she’s done talking and Harry huffs.

“Guess yer right.” She smiles at him and pats his head before they walk off set. As they leave the building she loops her arm around his waist and he does the same around her. Her head rests on his shoulder and his lays on hers as they leisurely walk outside.

“Wanna go get some ice cream?” She questions, already knowing his answer but wanting to see his reaction. His head pops up and he looks at her with wide eyes.

“Course I want t’get ice cream! Only mad men turn down ice cream.” She laughs and shakes her head before he stops in his tracks.

“Race you to the car, loser pays.” She squints her eyes at him and holds her hand out.

“Deal.” He goes to shake her hand but she pulls away and starts running towards Harry’s car.

“That’s not fair!” He chuckles, running a little bit behind her.

And in the end, Harry ends up paying for the ice cream with a pout on his face.

#goldenncherrybombasks #harry styles one shot #fluff #harry styles x reader #harry styles #harry styles blurbs #harry styles drabble #harrystylesconcept #bestfriend!harry

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sapphiretsuki · 5 years ago

Text

Surprise! Gift Time!

This is something I wrote while sitting next to the intended receiver. I took incredible joy in answering her questions about what I was writing with a smug “None of your business” when it was in fact very much her business. I’m kinda proud of this beast. I got a little out of control with the word count but whatevers clever right? So, without further ado, @channiesmixtape , this is a gift for you. I’m SO proud of the leaps and bounds you make with your writing every day and with your undying belief that I’m some sort of incredible writer. It means so much to me. (Please don’t hate me if I didn’t do your baby justice, I TIRED!) It’s untitled as of this very second, because I’m just not witty enough at this hour, but I’ll add one later when the inspiration returns.

Pairing: Bang Chan x Y/N (neighbors, enemies to lovers)

Word count: 6511 (I swear I didn’t mean to!)

Smut, masturbation, oral (m/f), unprotected sex, talk of condoms, wine, comedy, sass. If I forgot anything particularly bothersome, lemme know and I’ll fix it. Cr. to google for the lovely pic also.

It had been such a bad day all you wanted to do was go home and curl up with some wine and pet your cat and not emerge from your comfort cocoon for days if you could help it. Your boss was a total thunder cunt. People apparently lacked any form of common sense. Basic decency was no where to be found from anyone at all today. You missed a package because the tracking info was incorrect, so now you were going to have to squeeze that into your Monday somehow. Great. Thank fuck it was Friday.

You unlocked the door to your apartment and chucked the keys in the general direction of the kitchen as you were slipping your black pumps off. Your cat, Whispurr, was doing his daily dance around your ankles now that you were home and could tend to his kingly nature. Oh you loved that little butthole. Even though he threw up on the floor and started your days spiral into the land of what in the actual fuck when you stepped in it. He was still basically all you had and asshole or not he was there for you in his weird catty way. "Hey buddy, I'll get you some food in just a sec. Lemme just slip out of these terrible hose and I'll be right back." You leaned down and gave him a little scratch under his chin for good measure before nodding and heading to your room.

Once in your room you wasted no time at all peeling the awful pantyhose from your legs. Somebody had decided that full on business attire was a must today for the outings to meet with clientele and so you were forced to leave the comfort of your pants and blazer for something 'more feminine' as your boss had put it. She had absolutely no idea and it killed you every time she opened her mouth. The amount of time you spent covering for her and cleaning up behind her with clients all day since she'd decided to leave the office and 'tag along' to 'express her thanks' was exhausting. In the midst of peeling off the hose you decided that a nice scalding shower would be the start of your fix-it list for the evening. You finished undressing and threw a robe on before tiptoeing back to the kitchen.

Cat and then clean. That was absolutely the correct order, because your cat would most certainly do something heinous in retaliation if you neglected to feed him in a timely manner. You're sure his level of sass would put actual royalty to shame. He showed up on your balcony one night a few years ago as a drowned puff that you were both unsure how he got there or if he was going to make it. A few vet visits and some paycheck to paycheck living for a bit and here he was. A permanent resident. The freeloading roommate as it were. You put his food in his bowl and added a little extra something just because. You had a feeling he was gonna need some buttering up to be your cuddle buddy while you downed wine and watched terrible Netflix.

You traipsed down the hallway and made your way into the bathroom, neglecting to grab anything to change into since you figured the robe was more than enough for a session on the couch with the remote and a glass. You cranked the shower to scalding and decided you were going to unwind in the tub after you scrubbed off. Bless the water heaters in your complex, you paid enough for the damn utilities, that knob also got turned to hot and you tossed in a bomb and some dry flower stuff your friend swore by. It smelled good and thats really all your tired body cared about in that moment. After stepping into the shower and relishing in the heat meant to melt the skin off lesser mortals, you lathered up your loofah and scrubbed like there was a fire in the building and you needed to get out. The same speed was applied to your hair, which left you free and clear to melt into the tub and not move until the water was cold if you chose.

Feeling moderately better than you did when you walked in the door, you decided music was an excellent companion for a good soak and set about cranking the volume on your phone and hitting the shuffle button before laying it on the counter. The tenor voice of the man singing that began pouring out of the phone speaker immediately had you feeling the pangs of need and you squeezed your legs together as you pursed your lips in thought. It had been quite some time since you'd had a casual lay. Partly because your last friend with benefits turned into some sort of possessive psycho and partly because your newish neighbor was insufferable and somehow always managed to ruin your recent date situations. You were convinced the universe had conspired against you and the root of it was your stupid and ridiculously hot neighbor, Christopher. He hated when you called him that and it served him right.

Resigning yourself to the fact that you were just going to have to be your own relief tonight, you sunk into the tub and let the silky water wash over your tired and needy body. One song melted into another and you couldn't resist the urge to reach down and take care of your sudden desire. You knew if you let it be you'd just be miserable later and the whole mission this evening was following the theme of fix it. Not one to be anything less than straightforward, you began to slip your fingers into your doubly slick folds and stroked a little before you felt entirely too impatient to drag the process out. You hooked your fingers into your warm channel and began to stroke and scissor your fingers while your thumb pressed firm circles on your clit. You hoped the music and sloshing sounds from the water were enough to cover the sounds of what it was you were doing since the walls weren't the greatest in the bathroom area in terms of thickness. Shared plumbing and all that. You were so close to completion, right on the precipice of sweet release when you heard a loud crash in your apartment the general direction of your living room.

You quickly wrap a towel around your body and then make your way as swiftly to the front of your apartment as wet feet would allow. You skipped flipping lights on in favor of the element of surprise. Heart just about thumping out of your chest, you round the corner and turn on a single light, but don't see anything apparently out of place. It dawns on you at that moment that you are still essentially dripping wet and flew to the scene of some nonexistent crime practically naked. What if someone had been standing there waiting? You heart rate spikes at the thought and you felt anxious again. So much for your relaxing bath. Deciding you'd investigate the cause of the sound more closely after you felt more secure, you turned to make your way back down the hallway to put some clothes on, there was no way you were just going to be lounging in only a robe after that ordeal. The idea crossed your mind that perhaps you should double check the lock on the door at the very least, and ever the indecisive individual, you turn again and head towards the door instead. As you near the door you hear something and stop dead in your tracks. It sounded like feet on the concrete and now your heart was ratcheting it's way into your throat.

Completely convinced now that someone had in fact been in your house, you began to hatch a wild plan. With a burst of courage that was probably completely unfounded, you grabbed a vase off the console table nearby and in a rush flung the door open with a shout. "Who the fuck are you and what were you doing in my home?!" You screeched as you made to throw the potentially deadly item at the perpetrator. Much to your dismay, you hadn't remembered your current state of mostly undress and as you went to throw the vase your towel decided it had had enough and fell. What happened next could only be something from a terrible comedy and as you attempted to snatch at the only barrier between you and semi public indecency you somehow got tangled up and not only failed to throw the vase you ended up on the floor sans towel and with your bare ass exposed to whoever was standing there, glass all around you.

"Woah sweetheart, woah!" You'd know that accent anywhere. Of all the people that could have been on the other side of your door, why him? Why the man that in equal measures infuriated you and was the star of many restless nights and wet dreams. Anger was at the forefront and as you scrambled to retrieve your cover you spat at him "Christopher you have less than five seconds to explain yourself, and for fucks sake quit gawking at me! What in the hell are you doing here? Were you in my apartment?"

"Slow down little lady, I was not in your apartment." He said while waving his hands in front of himself to signal that he wasn't a threat. Those same hands that you found your eyes fixated on on more than one occasion, including now. Shaking the thought away you asked "Then what the hell are you doing? And don't try to tell me you weren't outside my door, I heard you pacing." He had the decency to look a little sheepish at that, and while you secured the towel around yourself he said "Your lights were all off but I heard a loud crash and worried that something happened here." It made sense, but you were still angry. And embarrassed. Not only had he seen you completely naked, he looked completely unbothered while you were still contemplating his long fingers and stupid beautiful face and body and damn it you were staring again. Of course he showed up in a pair of grey sweats that left you sweating yourself. And was he shirtless? Could this day get any worse? You just wanted to get to that bottle of wine and curl up into a ball and hope that the earth opened up and swallowed you whole. Shaking off the stupor once again you remembered your second problem, namely the glass that was now all around you from your valiant attempt at thief catching. You were going to have to ask for his help up.

Gritting your teeth you prepared yourself for the inevitable smug look you knew he was going to sport when you opened your mouth to ask him for something. "Christopher, would you mind helping me up, I'm kind of, uh, stuck here." You knew it was coming, but nothing could ever prepare you for the damn dimple. Stupid attractive man. "Now sweetheart," he drawled, "Is that really any way to ask someone for help? And I believe I've told you many times to call me Chan." Fine if he was going to be stubborn, you could also be stubborn. You looked up to him standing in your doorway and in the most saccharine voice you could muster, you cocked your head to the side and said "Channie, I really need help up. Can you help me please?" He audibly gulped and you counted that as two wins because finally the bastard was showing something other than a ridiculous level of cocky charm, and now he should have no qualms with helping you.

He took too long to move and you figured he was plotting again, so being the headstrong brat that you were you started to move yourself. As you were about to plant your palm on the ground next to you he suddenly snatched your arm with warning, " That's dangerous, just let me help you foolish woman." It was your turn to flounder as the feeling of his palm wrapped around your slim arm felt like fire and suddenly there were no more smart comebacks because you felt breathless. In one swift motion he pulled you to your feet and and then swept you literally off your feet. He had you in a firemans hold and began to make his way into your apartment, carefully dodging the shards of glass. Was your heart going to catch a break tonight? What was with this turn of events. He must have noticed your shiver because he picked up the pace and set you down gently on the other side of the disaster zone. "Go put some clothes on you must be freezing, I'll sweep this up. Where do you keep your broom?"

You wanted to protest. You really wanted him far away because you were on fire and didn't think you could even begin to have a normal interaction in your current state without being a complete mess. Breathless is how you felt, and the only saving grace is that he thought you were cold, not terribly turned on. Hell, you were still trying to process the feel of being pressed against that body almost nude yourself. Instead fuckery appeared and logical words came out. Well you weren't stuttering at least. "It's in the kitchen in the closet. I really appreciate your help, I was going to have a glass of wine to take the edge off my bad day, would you like one also? As uh, thanks for your help?" You sounded meek and you wanted to kick yourself. All of the adrenaline was gone and you were left with a weird mixture of relief and panic for a completely different reason now. He must have misunderstood because all he said with his back to you, already on a mission to help you again, was "Y/N. Go put some clothes on." You must have sounded weak to him when you said okay because he turned and his features softened. "I'll still be here when you come out, it's okay now, you're safe."

You didn't feel safe though as you padded back to your room in search of clothes. You felt rattled and hot.Your own body was set to betray you. Did the air conditioner break or something? It was just your neighbor helping you out. Your gorgeous neighbor. With a voice that should have been relegated to hotlines. Neighbors were friendly, right? What were you expecting anyways, it's not like you guys were the nicest to each other regularly. That's right, he himself must revel in your pain since he constantly was the source of dates ending on your doorstep and never amounting to more. His timing was something else. You realized you'd been standing in the middle of your room for too long and moved to put clothes on. Digging through your drawers you grabbed a super lacy pair of panties along with some shorts and a large t-shirt. You weren't trying to impress anyone, but underwear should always be beautiful was your policy. there was nothing wrong with a little self indulgence.

Perhaps you could call it a new beginning of sorts with him tonight. The extension of an olive branch in the form of a friendly glass of wine should aid that. Yes, friendly. You needed to pull yourself together and get your head out of the gutter. It didn't matter how wet he made your panties since there was very obviously no way that was ever gonna go anywhere. Shaking all thoughts of risque situations away, you took a towel to your hair and gave it a quick rub down before grabbing your brush from the vanity and tackling your tangles. Feeling a little less hot and a little bit more brave you made your way back down the hallway toward the kitchen to assess the damage and test your newfound bravery with the man who starred in a lot of your fantasies. You weren't going there. Nope. Nuh-uh. Olive branches. That's what you would focus on.

You quietly approached the kitchen granting yourself one tiny moment to enjoy the view of Chan's back muscles as you saw him putting the broom back in the closet. He really should put a shirt on. "So, whats the damage?" You called out to get his attention. He spun on his heel and looked you up and down. You could swear you saw something in his eyes, but refusing to play into any delusions, you pressed onward, "everything okay in here? You didn't happen to see what the mysterious crash was all about did you?" He rubbed the back of his neck and dammit his abs, and that delicious v that trailed down into those wretched sweats he was wearing, and were you drooling? What the fuck. You quickly rubbed your mouth with the back of your hand and hoped he hadn't noticed. "Well a bit of bad news, sugar, your cat, quite charming little guy by the way, or maybe thats just his drunk showing?" He scratched his chin and made a face that reminded you of that stupid thinking emoji and you bit back a smile. "Well, your cat appears to have acquired a taste for the red, bit of a lush it seems. He either knocked your bottle down or it fell. Either way, he's been in the booze." Your eyes darted to where he was pointing and sure enough there was your little asshole sitting in the middle of the kitchen licking the purple off his white tipped paws. He had bits of purple around his mouth and was he swaying? "WHISPURR!" you shouted and the little jerk just gave you a look like he couldn't be bothered.

Totally frustrated now, you threw your arms in the air and let out a sound of pure exasperation. Chan must have found it funny because he let out a little chuckle before you shot him a glare that could freeze fire. "It is absolutely NOT funny. This day has been one bad thing on top of another and now my damn cat is even in on it. I was really looking forward to that damn glass of wine" You felt like you were genuinely on the verge of tears and Chan started to approach you. He put his hands on your shoulders and said, "Hey, hey. It'll be okay. I have an idea. While its probably not as nice as what your cat had a taste for, my little sister left a few bottles of wine over at my place the last time she was fighting with her boyfriend and took it upon herself to come crash there. How about I go grab one or two and we can watch something and you can forget all about your day?" You felt drained and could do nothing but nod. His body in proximity to yours was doing things to your sanity. Part of you thought this was a bad idea and you should just thank him and send him on his way, but there was another part of you that was excited at the prospect of spending some time with him without animosity involved. Hopefully the bastard put a shirt on before he came back.

You told him you'd just leave the door unlocked if he was going to be quick and set about making some popcorn. You were gonna coat it in butter and too bad if he didn't like it. If this night was going to be full of bad decisions the least you were going to allow yourself were the extra calories. You grabbed two glasses and the bowl of popcorn and set off for the living room to set up the streaming services while you awaited his return. After you got everything powered on you went to the linen closet to toss some fluffy blankets at the couches. As you made it back to the living room he had reappeared with a bottle in each hand. Much to your dismay he still lacked a shirt and now you began to wonder if you were going to be able to focus on whatever you decided to watch at all. Whatever, it's not like you were taking a test on the content. He had a bottle of red, and a bottle of white, so you took the white off his hands and headed to the kitchen. You threw the bottle in the fridge and grabbed the corkscrew before making your way back to the living room. You expertly popped the cork on the bottle and then turned to him and asked, "So any preference to what we watch? I realize I know very little about your likes." He seemed to get a kick out of that but answered anyway "Can we watch something action? I've kinda had a long day and don't want to fall asleep. Bonus points if it includes Chris Hemsworth, he's my mancrush." He threw a wink at you and that smile that made that cursed dimple pop and now you found yourself on autopilot and typing the franchise name into the search bar. Did he realize how dangerous his behavior was?

"Okay sit wherever, I threw tons of cushions and blankets and junk around, make yourself comfortable." He nodded and made to sit on the couch you were hoping he'd avoid. Like hell you were going to sit anywhere other than front and center though so your stubborn popped out again and as nonchalantly as you could, you plopped down next to him and covered your legs with one of the throw blankets you had laying around. Scooting your ass to the edge of the couch you leaned towards the coffee table and poured a glass for each of you. You turned to hand one to him and could have sworn he was staring at your ass. You disregarded the thought and raised your glass his direction to toast. "Thank you for all your help this evening." He raised his glass to meet yours and added on "It was really not a problem sugar." The way the word sugar rolled off his tongue. Sugah. You gulped and raised your cup. Clinking glasses you both took a swig and you snatched the remote up to hit play.

As the movie rolled you found yourself sneaking glances every so often, even though you swore that you were going to leave well enough alone. Maybe it was the wine finally letting the tension leave your body, but you didn't feel as on edge as you had and maybe thats where the bravery was coming from. Your best friend often told you you didn't think things through. You hadn't been paying attention to the movie and a loud blast made you jump and suddenly his attention was on you. Busted. "Baby girl, am I really so interesting? You've been looking at me an awful lot." And there was that smug look you were so accustomed to again. This man was so infuriating. It was your own fault though. As usual you couldn't leave well enough alone and found yourself in the spotlight. Self preservation attempted to kick in and you scoffed. "You're insane. Don't think so highly of yourself, I just wanted to make sure you weren't actually falling asleep since you said you were tired," you attempted feigning ignorance. "Well yeah, lets say I'm a little crazy. Sugar the fault is all your own though. I'm trying my very best to be a gentleman here and you're doing everything in your power to make that impossible."

Movie long forgotten you let your emotions get the better of you and out came the word vomit. "Look, I'm well aware that you hate me, but you don't get to come in here and be rude. I'm trying to patch whatever this THIS is between us," you say as you swing your hands between the two of you to convey the things words are failing to express. You continue, "Don't think that just because you're stupidly attractive with your stupid dimples and your stupid abs and your stupidly sexy voice that you can just oomf-" Suddenly his mouth was on yours swallowing the words you were endlessly spewing and you froze as he wrapped his muscular arms around you body and pulled you closer. You gasped as you realized his mouth was actually on yours and he used the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Throwing all caution to the wind and keeping true to your typical do first ask later nature, you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him back with all the passion you could muster. Long held frustrations coming out, you explored his mouth like it was an oasis in the desert and you were a weary traveller seeking respite.

Breathing heavily you broke away from the kiss in need of oxygen and searched his face for any sign of regret. Instead you were smacked with such a look of lust that the air in the room felt heavy again and before you could screw it up by opening your mouth you decided to put it to better use. You climbed on top of him straddling his lap and kissed him again. This time he froze, but undeterred you felt around for his arm without breaking the kiss and raised his hand to your chest. You felt relief when he squeezed your breast and he gasped. "You're not wearing a bra," he panted out. "Of course you're not wearing a bra. Are you literally trying to kill me Y/N? I already told you I was trying to be a gentleman, and look at what you're doing to me. Baby girl I'm not going to be able to stop if this goes any further." You were suddenly aware of just how rock hard he was as he shifted in discomfort and his cock grazed your clit though the layers of clothes between you. "So don't." you said, "Don't stop Chan. Show me just what I'm supposedly doing to you." He growled and flipped you off his lap and was on top of you in an instant caging you in between those gorgeous arms of his. He leaned in and his hot breath on your ear made your already ruined underwear feel like a dam about to burst. He whispered in your ear, "Baby girl, I'm gonna fuck you until you can't walk tomorrow, but you're far too dressed for that right now." He nipped at you ear before moving to take your shirt off.

You were in awe of his rippling abs as he pulled himself upright when your face reappeared from the inside of the gigantic shirt. Brushing his bangs out of his face he leaned down and began pressing open mouthed kisses from you hipbone up your stomach and to the valley between your breasts. He enclosed his lips around one of your nipples, sucking fiercely, and began to rub the other between his thumb and forefinger. You felt your nipples tighten to the point that it was almost painful and began to squirm with need. He reached down and stilled you with a hand on your hip, "Ah ah, we'll get there sugar, but I' gonna take my sweet time. I'm supposed to be showing you right? Where's the fun if it's over too fast?" He hooked his fingers in the waistband of your tiny shorts and in one swift motion slid them down your legs. Taking a moment to appreciate you in nothing but a pair of sinfully sexy panties you could swear he growled again as he roughly pulled the crotch of them aside and slid those illegal fingers of his through the incredibly wet folds hidden within. "Look at how wet you are. What exactly has you so drenched Y/N? Hmmm?" He made to wipe his fingers off on his sweats but you snatched his wrist and brought the digits to your mouth. Slowly swirling your tongue around them, the taste of yourself foreign, you watched his eyes widen and his incredible smile appeared again. He peeled the panties off you and took another moment to appreciate your fully nude body. You suddenly felt exposed since he still had clothes on and you were completely naked. "It's not fair if I'm the only one naked Chan," you pouted.

He let out a lighthearted laugh and stood up to take his pants off. He was smirking at you when he looked your direction, you must have been staring but the anticipation was killing you at this point and you didn't care. "You still have too much on." you stated matter-of-factly. His boxer briefs were barely containing the tent and you were pretty sure you could see a wet spot on the front of them. He gave a shrug and went to remove them and his cock sprang free of the confines. Okay now you were definitely salivating. Was it okay to call a cock pretty? His was beautiful and you found yourself wanting to devour it whole. You're sure he picked up on your increased desire but you were completely uninhibited and shameless now and the words were out before you could think twice. "Can I taste you?" He moved to stand in front of you and you sat up greedy and impatient. You wrapped your hand around the base of it and took a moment to appreciate the large vein running up the underside. It reminded you of the veins in his hands and arms and you licked your lips before wrapping your mouth around the head and sucking down the length of it. You could see his hands clench into fists as you began to bob your head up and down and hollow your cheeks as you swallowed around the girth of him. There was drool running down your chin and he was so big you couldn't take all of him so you gripped what you couldn't and stroked in time with the motion of your head. You could hear him panting and feel the twitching and pulsing as you picked up the pace. He pulled away and your lips left his cock with a pop. "As fantastic as your mouth feels wrapped around my cock, I have some other things in mind babe, I wanna cum buried inside that sweet pussy of yours"

You clamped your legs together tighter as the thought of his dick confined inside you had you feeling like you were a faucet. You were sure there was a large puddle on your couch you were going to have to deal with later but you couldn't be bothered to care just yet. Standing, you grabbed his hand and proceeded to move down the hallway towards your room. Once you cleared the doorway you spun on your heel and on tiptoe pressed your mouth and body to his. You were in need of friction and figured the best way to facilitate that would be to ruffle his feathers a little. "Christopher, I thought you were going to fuck me until I couldn't walk. I'm not a very patient woman." Before you could run your mouth anymore he marched you backwards towards your bed and when the back of your knees hit the mattress he lightly shoved you and you fell backward. The fluffy comforter cushioned your fall and he was there immediately sucking bruises into your neck, his hands wildly exploring your body. He began to stroke your folds and inserted one finger and then another easily due to the overwhelming amount of fluids you were producing. He hooked his fingers and brushed that spongy spot inside that made you tremble. As he continued his assault on your neck and pussy you could feel the burning tension begin to build up in your abdomen and knew you were finally, finally close to cumming. The walls of your pussy were clamping around the rhythmic thrusts of his fingers and he also knew you were close. He abruptly pulled his fingers out and the sense of emptiness and you moaning in frustration. "Please oh my god, I'm so close, please please." you whined.

He dropped to his knees and wrenched your legs wide apart and before you could question anything at all mis mouth was on your clit and your first instinct was to clamp your legs around his head. He kept your legs spread wide and continued fucking you with his mouth. He flattened his tongue and licked a few long stripes up your pussy "I'm going to let go of your legs, I need you to be a good girl and not thrash okay?" You were so desperate for release you would have agreed to anything. "I'm not hearing yes sugar, can you do that for me?" You mustered up your voice and choked out, "Y-yes Channie," and that was all it took. He wrapped his lips around your clit and began sucking on it again while simultaneously ramming his fingers back in your dripping channel. The tension was back and you were trembling from trying to keep your legs spread. Your orgasm washed over you in waves of white hot pleasure and you came all over his tongue and fingers. He worked you through it and when the overstimulation became too much you couldn't stay splayed out any longer and let your legs fall. He pulled back with a smirk and pressed a kiss to your temple before kissing you on the mouth. You really thought you could learn to love the taste of yourself if it came from a mind blowing orgasm like that every time.

"Do you have any condoms baby girl? I'd hate to have to go next door." he asked. Your head lolled to the side, still drunk off your post orgasm high and you said, "In the drawer beside the bed, theres a brand new box. I uh, haven't gotten to use any of them. I'm also clean and on the pill." He smirked at this and you were more alert than a moment ago as you wondered what that look was about. "I know," he said cockily. "I've seen how many dates left you wanting. Pathetic excuses and all that. I've also heard you take care of yourself in the bathroom Y/N. If you've wanted me for as long as you've been using me to get off, all you had to do was say so."

You were suddenly very aware of what had been going on and didn't know whether to feel angry or embarrassed or to just take what you were finally being gifted. You decided all three were appropriate. "You little shit! You sabotaged my dates on purpose! I knew your timing every. single. time. was just too coincidental! And so what if I used you to get off?! I can throw your words back at you, if you've wanted me for that damn long how come you never said anything?" He looked like he hadn't expected your outburst, but it was going to take more than a mind blowing orgasm to make you stupid enough to not address the elephant that was now sitting in the room. "You're you. That's what. You're so funny and attractive and sassy. So sassy. It's not like you've ever given me any reason to think you actually liked me. I finally figured you out a little better tonight though, your rough exterior is definitely hiding something incredibly sweet. You don't have to be embarrassed, or hide yourself from me. I'd already fallen your your stubborn ass a long time ago."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. How was this even possible? You were both idiots. Total fools. "You stupid man." You said and he looked like you'd kicked him. "No, no, you're not stupid. We're stupid," you sighed, "if we both weren't so stupid we could have been not dancing around each other a long time ago." He looked up again and had this stupidly endearing and hopeful look on his face. You decided to show him mercy and squash the awkward situation "If you don't get over here and keep your promise to fuck me until I can't stand, I might have to reconsider my stance on this." You smirked at him now and the look of challenge on your face had him covering you again in an instant. He kissed you deeply before lining his cock up with you entrance and dragging it through your pussy lips before he entered your slick heat. The feeling of being so full after so long left you breathless, but also oddly complete. He rocked into your core slowly at first and then picked up the pace as your moans became louder. The sounds of skin slapping against skin and moans echoed throughout the room and you could feel another orgasm building. "Feels so good Chan, mmmm right there," you breathed out as he shifted and this new angle had him brushing against your g-spot with every pass. He reached down to rub circles on your clit and you completely fell apart around his dick as you moaned his name. His strokes becoming sloppy with his own impending release his hips stuttered to a stop as your pussy milked him for every drop of cum he had and he painted your insides.

Breathing heavily you admired the strength he demonstrated in not collapsing on you and as you felt him soften and slip out you suggested you guys maybe get cleaned up a little. "Mmm I don't think I wanna" he said as he nuzzled into your neck affectionately. He was impossible, and adorable, and apparently maybe yours now. "Let's at least lay in the bed the right way then, yeah?" He appeared to think about that for a moment before he stood up and pulled you to your feet. He turned down the comforter and climbed into the bed and with his dimples on full display pat the spot next to him beckoning you to join him. You shook your head and laughed but climbed in beside him. He wrapped the blanket around you both before proceeding to wrap himself around you like a koala. You can take the man out of the land, but not the land out of the man you supposed. True to his word before the night was over you were thoroughly tended to. Several times. When morning came and you truly couldn't walk very well, he brought you breakfast in bed. It was definitely the perfect turn around for the travesty that yesterday was and you were looking forward to not hating your neighbor anymore.

#stray kids #skz #stray kids smut #bang chan smut #neighbors #e2l #gift fic #for the bestest bestie #love you beech #you inspire me every day #i hope you love it

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juneiswriting · 5 years ago

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Open Heart: Second Year, Chapter 8, Ethan Diamond Scene Rewrite

Author’s note: I love the new banters and dialogues I added, hope you will also enjoy them! And this chapter is really good! I also wrote a chapter commentary if you are interested in it (LINK)

Summary: This is a rewrite of Open Heart: Second Year, Chapter 8, Ethan diamond scene

Caution: In this version, I stick closer to Ethan’s back story from book 1, ie, his relationship with his parent is worse than PB made it to be in book 2.

In the cheers of friends and peers, Ethan smiled at Ariel, her home-run secured their win. He was happy for the win. Sure he would love to beat Tobias in every way possible, and straightly after he stole a patient? Even better. But there was still something he wasn’t ready to face, leaving him half-hearted the whole day. He decided to head home early since he already spent a precious day in a softball match. He shook his head to himself, when Ariel came earlier, he couldn’t say no to her. This girl really made it hard to focus on work, his mind drifted to the few journals he was planning to finish by the end of the day. He walked to the lockers to gather his stuff when he saw Ariel also there. Finally the mvp of the day was alone, it was only appropriate to congratulate her, right?

‘So? Was that worth dragging me down here?’ He raised an eyebrow, asking her.

‘I regret nothing! I came to mess up Mass Kenmore, and I definitely achieved that! Did you see how defeated Tobias looked. I’m calling it a win!.’ Her grin reached her eyes.

He loved to see her smile, she always brightened the day, but with what’s on his mind, he could barely give a wry smile. At once he found her searching his eyes. Her smile faltered a bit, her eyes soft with concern. She could always catch the tiniest details when it came to him, it was no different this time. He swallowed, hoping she wouldn't ask too much. He wasn’t sure where he was ready to think through what happened the last few days, let alone talking about it.

‘I got the feeling your head wasn’t really in it tonight.’ She gently asked.

‘It’s softball. My head was never going to be in it. And I didn’t even need that to win over Tobias.’ He smirked, hoping Ariel would take his answer.

Her brows creased, her hand lightly brushed against his. The small spark in the touch sent a shiver down his spine, his eyes widened slightly.

‘I know it’s more than that. Talk to me, Ethan.’

He sighed, of course Ariel wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. She was always the stubborn one, never gave up and would go as far as humanly possible for people she cared about. His eyes met hers, seeing the yearning in her eyes. His gaze softened, maybe he would need someone to talk to, and Ariel would be the one he could trust. Seeing she went the length to stalk that woman with him, he should let Ariel know.

‘Not here.’ He whispered, making sure only she could hear him. The last thing he needed was getting their interaction any more attention than needed to be.

‘Then where?’ She asked, with the same whispering volume. Ethan blinked, he hadn’t thought about it yet, he simply knew the softball field wasn’t the right place for his personal issues. The gears in his head turned quickly.

‘I suppose you could come home with me. I have a new recipe I’ve been looking for an excuse to try.’ He shrugged, trying to play it off as something usual.

‘You cook?’ Ariel’s mouth wide-open staring at him. It made him laugh.

‘I do. Often. I find it very meditative, actually. It always helps me get my thoughts in order.’

‘Sure, let’s go! I can’t wait to get out of this cheap uniform.’ She winked. He saw what her was going for and smiled in return.

They got into his car and started the engine. Intending to keep the main conversation for later, Ariel decided to break the silence with some small talk.

‘Thank you for joining the team last minute. I know you would rather stay in your office.’ She smiled at him.

‘I have no problem putting MassKenmore in its place.’ He smirked.

‘Really? After being an attending for years in Edenbrook, this is finally the year for you to do that?’ She teased him, and he rolled his eyes. He couldn’t refuse her, but he could keep the real reason he joined from her.

‘Do you play softball often?’ He asked. He spent most of his time at work, putting patients as priority, barely sparing enough time for gym sessions to stay healthy, so that he could keep at his A-game.

‘Not really. But I enjoy watching softball games. You know? I have something called live and I know how to relax, not like some doctor!’ Ethan shot her a look and a wry smile, she ignored him and continued, ‘I guess some observational learning helped. And practicing the night before the match helped.’ She smiled.

‘With… your friends?’ He asked. He would love to spend more time with her, but that’s probably not the best choice for both of them.

‘Yes, the other two of ‘the boys’, Dr greene and Aveiro.’ She laughed again at ‘the boys’, appreciating Bryce’s humor.

‘I saw you with Dr. Aurora Emery earlier, what were you talking about?’ He remembered Terrance, the Mass Kenmore doctor that made him step in their argument, he frowned. He also remembered the mention of Throne, he almost forgot about him. If that Terrance dared to touch Ariel, of course he was going to punch him in the face, it’s not like he never punched someone before.

‘I… It was nothing, just some minor things.’ She averted his gaze, and he wasn’t letting this go, he stayed silent, until Ariel spoke again.

‘Tobias Carrick said Aurora told him about Stephanie. I am just trying to make things clear with her. But somehow…’ She trailed off. He sighed, it wasn’t a surprise, given how Tobias tried hard to beat him. But he couldn’t help the fact he got the higher GPA and being that good in his job, Tobias could get jealous all he wanted.

‘Aurora told me she was proposing for their hospital to also solicit research funding and didn’t expect Carrick to directly steal a patient from us. I think she is above all the stealing thing. But I shouldn’t have told her about Stephenie at all.’ Ariel sighed, her shoulder slumped.

‘We’ll beat them next time. Don’t blame it on yourself, it’s not your fault. I’m sure we will win whatever comes up next. Even if we don't, some resident is going to come up with a surprising plan for it.’ He smirked.

‘Yeah, and some attending is going to be mad over it.’ She chuckled, looking much happier now.

Soon, they arrived at Ethan's house, they freshened up. He pulled the curtains to the glittering bay, not wasting the view that cost him a fortune.

‘So what’s this recipe you’ve been dying to try?’ She asked.

‘Georgian Stuffed Chicken.’

‘On a random weeknight?’ She looked surprised.

‘Correct. Come over here.’ He shrugged, who cared what day it was, as long as he got the food he wanted.

He went into the kitchen, taking out the chicken and pushed it to Ariel.

‘What am I supposed to do with this?’ Her jaw dropped. He sets a bowl of butter beside the chicken, ‘Can’t believe you are also a rookie in cooking. Get massaging.’ He smiled, teasing her.

She awkwardly scooped up some butter and rubbed it on the chicken.

‘C’mon, not only do I have to push you to be a better doctor, I also need to push you to be a better chef?’ It was now Ariel’s turn to roll her eyes. He continued, ‘You’ll have to do better than that. Rub it right in. Full coverage.’

‘Ethan, how long have you been a secret chef?’ She asked, still mending the chicken.

‘For as long as I remembered.’

‘As in… you had an Easy-Bake Oven?’

‘As in, my dad liked to cook, and he let me help him with all the easy parts as soon as I was old enough.’ Thinking about his dad dampened his mood, but Ariel was too busy with the chicken to notice.

‘That’s… painfully adorable. Did little Ethan have a special apron? Or a little chef’s hat?’ She asked with a soft smile, so soft that it melted Ethan’s glare, ‘No.’ he looked away from her, went on preparing the food, and continued, ‘My dad worked a lot. He took on extra shifts. The kind of thing single parents have to do to keep the lights on. One way I could help was making dinner sometimes when he was exhausted.’ His face solunm.

‘That’s pretty sweet. I guess you got good at it.’ Ariel smiled. Ethan eyed her with amusement in his eyes, she could always see the silver lining.

‘I make it my business to get good at everything.’ He smirked.

‘Really? How about let’s make pancakes next time? Of course you are also great at them?’ Ariel looked at him, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, Ethan shot her a glare. He was certain his dad told her that, the single thing he wasn’t good at, and Ariel knew about it. He cleared his throat, ‘Is the chicken ready?’

Ariel quickly finished up with the butter as he fiddled with the rice, ‘Something is missing.’ He commented, after smelling it.

‘Did you check the recipe?’ Ariel asked.

‘Recipes always tend to the safe side, flavor-wise. What would you add?’ He wasn’t sure about Ariel’s preference, and opted to let her make the choice. She quickly picked peppers.

‘I should have known you’d want to add more heat’ He smiled, chopping the peppers.

‘It’s not the only kind of heat I’d like to add…’ She seemed to be standing closer to Ethan now, speaking with a deep voice, while blinking innocently to him. He snapped his head to her, looking her in the eyes, an intense longing built in him, they held the gaze for a while, until he sucked in a deep breath and turned back to the cutting board.

‘You make it hard to stick to my intentions, Ariel.’ He tried hard to pull his mind back to cooking.

‘Good, I already made it my business. Also you are the one that started it.’ She smirked.

Soon they were almost done with the cooking procedures and got a moment of rest, leaning on the stool. ‘So… are we going to talk about whatever’s got you so…’ Ariel asked with a gentle and caring voice.

He sighed, slightly hesitant, ‘I suppose I did promise you an explanation… The thing is… I’ve been avoiding my father.’

‘But why? It sounded like you and him have a good relationship now.’ She frowned.

‘I can’t stop thinking about what you and I talked about in the car the day we followed that mother. I always thought that Dad and I are doing well reconnecting, for two people with not much in common and after a long while not on talking terms. But I’ve come to realize that I never tried to get closer to him. I couldn’t truly understand him, the same thing that stopped me from talking to him long ago.’ He said, his face unreadable.

‘Because he still loves your mom.’ He nodded soberly to Ariel.

‘That kind of unconditional love… I could never comprehend it.’ He sighed, staring at the floor.

‘He loves you unconditionally too.’

He shook his head slowly, ‘Everything in this world is conditional, Ariel. Everything.My dad, he never pushes anyone. He never challenges anyone. He never demands anything of anybody. What that woman did to us, it’s like it didn’t matter.’ He took a small pause, gritting his teeth, ‘And I needed it to matter. I need what I do to matter.’

‘I take it that’s not how your relationship with Dr. Banerji was.’ She asked.

‘The opposite. Naveen challenged me every single day. Still does. If I ever came up short of what I was capable of, he let me know.’ He remembered when he misdiagnosed a patient before he was an attending, that in itself was embarrassing enough, but getting chewed out by Naveen afterwards was even more embarrassing. He swore not to let that happen again, he would never let Naveen down again.

‘And you haven’t talked to your dad about any of this.’ Ariel’s brows furrowed.

‘I have no idea how I’d start that conversation.’

‘So you are avoiding him all together?’

He turned to add ingredients to the pot, sighing heavily, ‘Yes.’

‘You can’t avoid things when it gets hard, Ethan…’ Before Ariel could finish, there’s a knock at the door, Ethan freezed.

‘Just how long have you been ignoring him? Long enough for him to show up unannounced to make sure you are still alive?’

‘... I’ll have to answer that.’ His face fell and he turned to the door.

He opened the door, seeing his dad outside, with a big smile on his face. ‘Hi dad.’

‘Thank goodness you’re here. I was starting to worry about you.’ He patted Ethan’s shoulder,

‘I’m sorry dad, I’ve been…’ but his dad cut him off, ‘Busy, as usual. Don’t worry, I understand.’

They stepped into the apartment, and his dad saw Ariel, ‘Oh. But I see you have company… Hello again, Dr. Wright.’ He looked surprised.

‘Don’t mind me, Mr Ramsey, we’re making more food than two people should ever eat.’ She said, with a sweet smile.

‘If I know my son at all, he was planning to eat the leftovers for his next few lunches.’ He chuckled.

Ariel’s eyes widened, ‘Is that why I hardly ever see you in the cafeteria?’

His dad laughed, looking at Ethan, ‘What did you used to call it? The tenth circle of hell?’

‘Something like that. Stay for dinner, Dad. There’ll be plenty.’ He shrugged, gesturing his dad to take a seat on the couch.

‘As long as I’m not imposing.’ He giggled, looking between the two.

‘You are not.’ Ariel smiled.

Ethan prepared the final steps of the chicken, when his dad cleared his throat and asked, ‘So what exactly have you been busy with these past couple weeks?’

‘Work. Same as usual.’ He blurted out.

‘... I see.’ He nodded thoughtfully, ‘It’s just that, until recently, you always had time to answer my calls.’ He looked upset.

An uncomfortable silence fell as Ethan failed to answer, he looked around nervously, he met Ariel’s eyes, she gave him a meaningful look. He shook his head, he wasn’t ready for the talk and he had no idea what to say. Ariel frowned at him and mouthed, ‘talk to him.’

‘Am I missing something?’ His dad asked, confused. Ariel shot Ethan a pointed look, he sighed, taking in a deep breath and said, ‘Dad… I have to talk to you about something.’ He turned to Ariel, asking her to handle the chicken, who quickly agreed and disappeared into the kitchen.

‘’What’s that about, son?’ He laid his hand on Ethan’s shoulder gently, leaning closer. Ethan slowly repeated what he told Ariel earlier.

‘I always knew you were still angry with her, but I thought after we started talking again, you weren’t angry at me anymore.’

‘I just don’t understand how you can still love her after everything she did to us. And… I think it’s putting a distance between us again, it feels like every time I tried to reconnect with you, it pulled us away.’ Ethan sighed.

‘Love is complicated, Ethan. I thought you’d know that by now…’ He slowly said.

Ethan looked up, wanting to say something, but instead saw Ariel going towards the front door. ‘Ariel? Where are you going?’

‘Home. I think you two need some privacy.’ She smiled.

‘But the chicken…’ Ethan frowned, he felt bad having her help with cooking, but not having a taste of it. He was hoping she would like the recipe. He was hoping to spend a bit more time with her, now that he got a somewhat legit reason and a quite professional one.

‘Just bring me some tomorrow. I’ll be looking forward to it! So I don’t have to go to the cafeteria.’ Her smile was so sweet that it melted him. He looked back at his dad, then looked at Ariel, he nodded gratefully.

‘Wait here, Dad. Ariel, I’ll walk you out.’

Slowly they walked out of his apartment, ‘Thank you for giving me the push.’ He said.

‘I guess sometimes I can be the one pushing you to be the best person you can be.’ She smirked, teasing him, he smiled. He knew she was right, she always brought out the side of him that’s very different from who he thought he was, even though it was sometimes scary for him.

‘I guess I really needed that.’ He whispered, not sure whether he wanted her to hear this.

‘Can you go home alright?’ He asked, arriving at the entrance of the apartment building.

‘Sure, I’ll call a car.’ She pulled out her phone, before she started up the app, Ethan laid a hand on her shoulder, turning her towards him. He pulled her close, cupping her cheek with one hand tenderly. His voice was low and filled with longing. ‘Thank you. I couldn’t do that on my own.’

‘Ethan…’ She leaned closer. In a moment, his lips met hers, his arm slipping around her, pulling her closer to him. She kissed him back fiercely, desperately… The kiss set a fire in him, he had been wanting this for so long, yet he held back all the time, trying hard to convince himself otherwise. He was going out of breath from the intensity of the kiss, but he had no problem suffocating himself over this. Finally, Ariel pulled away, she looked into his eyes.

‘Ethan… what does this mean?’ She asked, her eyes vulnerable.

‘I don’t know.’ He struggled to maintain eye contact with her. He didn’t think that far. All he knew was he needed her, she was the one he could trust, the one he could rely on and the one who would support him. He kissed her again, softly, tenderly, savoring the touch of her soft lips, the passion and the spark. Finally he pulled away, ‘We’ll talk about it later.’ He nodded with determination. She nodded, staying in his arms for another long, luscious moment and finally went on her way calling a car. He slowly walked back to the entrance.

Soon her car arrived, he was standing just inside the entrance, making sure he saw her get into the car and leave. He made his way back to his apartment, taking a deep breath before he went in, he got this and he would see it to the end, now that Ariel already helped him with the beginning.

That night, he told his dad all he felt about him, the arguments they had before slowly faded into the background. The burden on Ethan’s lifted, finally he could breath in front of his Dad. While they were still reluctant in talking about the woman, at least they were making progress within themselves.

After the dinner and some tidying up, Ethan drove his dad back to where he was staying. Afterwards, he headed back to the kitchen, preparing his lunch for tomorrow, and another portion for Ariel.

When he thought of Ariel, he couldn’t stifle his smile. He looked around the kitchen, imagining what it could be, or would be, cooking with her, spending more time with her.

#open heart #open heart fan fic #open heart book #open heart 2 #open heart fandom #open heart scene rewrite #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey fic #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc

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clan-sayeed-fic · 5 years ago

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Let me earn your trust (Kamilah Sayeed & MC)

Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Book: Bloodbound (property of Pixelberry Studios) Pairing: Kamilah Sayeed & MC: Amy (I do not own those characters, they're the property of Pixelberry Studios as well) Warnings: angst

Rating: Mature Author's note: I'm not a native English speaker, I'm sorry for any mistakes (feel free to correct me).

~ 2100 words

---------------------

Chapter 13

The next morning was harsh.

Especially for Amy.

Her head was the translation of pain. Her skull, even her brain felt like it could explode from the sore at any time. When she opened her eyes, she realized how hard it was to concentrate her sight while everything around was blending with each other. After the previous night, she was mad at herself for not keeping the curtains closed. The bright light was drilling into her head through her eyes without mercy.

Her muscles were in pain too. She felt like she had run a marathon last night. Legs, back, arms, everything hurt so badly. Let alone the stomach, which was threatening to return its content if she made even one fast move.

Amy tried to lift herself on her elbows.

With no luck.

She fell back on the mattress, letting out a loud sigh.

***

Kamilah was in her office. She was working since it was already afternoon. She tried not to think about what happened at night. It was hard because of the feelings, which kept coming back to her.

Finally, she heard Amy walking out of her room to the bathroom. Kamilah predicted that the girl would feel the consequences of the party. She drunk equally the same amount of alcohol as Lily, and even the newly turned vampire wasn't sober. The human body couldn't handle it very much better.

Amy took a long, cold shower, trying to wake her body up and wash away the alcohol as if it was even possible. Most of all, she couldn't find the courage to face Kamilah yet.

Amy remembered the most general part of the night, surprisingly. Especially the part when Kamilah had arrived.

After some time, she walked out of the bathroom.

When she stepped into the living room, the view made her gasp in disbelieve. Seeing all the mess that they had done together with Lily, it made her feel even worse than before.

"I prepared a black coffee for you," Amy was torn out of her thoughts by Kamilah's voice.

The woman was standing in the kitchen. She wore a long, light beige cardigan. Under it, she had a tank, white top. The trousers she wore were in the color of dark coffee. Amy had never seen her in such a casual outfit before, looking this good.

"Have you seen enough?" Kamilah made her realize that she was standing there this whole time, wordless.

Amy blushed a little, embarrassed. She stayed before this impossibly beautiful woman in her oversized shirt covering her upper body and half of her thighs. Under it, she wore basic shorts.

"Kamilah, I'm..." she finally tried to say something, afraid that her voice would not cooperate, but the woman interrupted.

"Drink the coffee, clean up this mess," she gave orders with a sharp voice." When you do everything, we can talk in my office."

Kamilah made her way to the mentioned room.

Amy's jaw dropped.

Was she invited to her office?

How badly did I mess up this time, Amy thought before getting to work.

***

Amy cleaned up everything. It took her some time, mostly because of her head hurting so bad during gathering empty bottles, which made enormous noise for her ears.

Amy lifted her hand, ready to knock to the doors of Kamilah's office when they suddenly opened by themself.

"Come in," Kamilah said, not showing herself.

Amy gulped and walked inside. She couldn't stop her curiosity and look around to see all those incredible artifacts hanging on the walls.

The room was spacious, different from everything she saw in Kamilah's penthouse and company building so far. It wasn't as modern decorated as the rest of her place for sure. It was way much cozier and made in an old-fashioned style. In the center of the room was Kamilah's desk made from pure wood. By the walls, Amy saw a large wooden bookcase filled with books, folders, and notebooks.

"Sit down," Kamilah said, closing the doors behind Amy's back.

Amy wanted to sit on the chair near the desk. She was prepared for the tough talk.

"I meant on the couch," Kamilah showed the light beige furniture standing near to the bookcase.

"Oh," Amy mumbled and moved there.

Kamilah sat on the other side of the couch, staring into Amy's eyes like she was trying to read her mind.

Amy's body tensed up, and she started to shiver lightly. She sat differently, pulling up one leg, hopeful that it would help to stop the trembling.

Kamilah touched her knee gently, trying to calm Amy's body.

"I don't mean to harm you," her eyes showed sadness and distance.

Amy's brows furrowed. Why was she changing moods like that? Why was she trying to be kind to her? Kamilah removed the hand from her knee, acting insecure.

"Kamilah, I wanted to apologize," Amy tried to not fall apart under the woman's gaze, "I didn't mean this party to go so far. I want you to know, I have never been this drunk in my entire life, it's not like me." She would keep on explaining herself if she wasn't stopped by Kamilah's hand gesture.

"You cleaned it, right?" The woman asked.

"Yeah, I did, of course," Amy answered quickly.

"Then, it's behind," Kamilah said. "I want to clarify what happened after. Amy, I've never intended to take advantage of you."

So that's bothering her so much, Amy realized, shocked.

"Oh my god," Amy buried her face in hands, blushing. "I would never think about it like that," she lifted her gaze with difficulty, feeling ashamed by this talk. "I actually started it. Well, I was drunk... but not unconscious, right?"

"I still should have restrained my desires," Kamilah's eyes found Amy's after she stopped avoiding her gaze.

"Your's..." Amy repeated, swallowing between words nervously, "desires?"

Kamilah tilted her head to one side, making blood burn in Amy's veins.

"Why are you so surprised?" Kamilah asked with her deep voice.

"Uh," Amy's heartbeat increased, "I mean, it's you... and... me. That's so weird." She stood up, and suddenly she felt anger rising inside, "Why are you acting like it's your fault when it's clearly mine?"

Kamilah was sitting in the same place, quite surprised by Amy's change of tone.

"Because you cleaned up your mess," Kamilah started slowly, unknowing how to choose the right words. "And now I'm cleaning mine."

"Oh, so I'm your mess right now?!" Amy almost shouted, not feeling like herself. "Why I thought that you even cared?"

"I don't see the reason to raise your voice," Kamilah was losing patience. "I said that I cared. What I'm saying now is that I need to explain this situation."

Amy brushed her blonde hair with fingers, frustrated.

"You don't understand, do you?" Amy looked into her eyes, hurting, "I need you to be mad at me, about how I broke your rules after you agreed on inviting Lily." Her voice sounded desperate. "What I don't want is you to be angry at yourself for my own decision.''

Amy's attitude changed from confident to vulnerable in the split of a second.

Kamilah sat there for a moment, speechless. Amy's words triggered her mind. They reminded her about information which Adrian shared with her last night.

That it was Amy's decision too, not telling the whole truth.

"Well, I am angry," Kamilah said, reliving her disappointment. "Why would you lie to us?"

That was the most unfortunate moment to pull out this discussion. Kamilah wasn't great at talking at all. And she was even worse when it went to talking with delicate humans.

"What?" Amy was thrown off by this change of subject.

She knew exactly where this conversation was going. And what Amy knew too, was that she would not answer this question at such a moment.

"Who are you for real?" Kamilah stood up, her arms crossed.

"Amy..." the girl felt blood rushing away from her face.

"Stop it," the woman frowned. "I know that's the lie, and I don't think that we deserved these lies after everything." Kamilah was talking in the plural while what she really had in mind were her own hurt feelings.

"After everything?!" Amy yelled, defending herself. Her head spinning, the hangover was not done yet. "You mean, after imprisoning me in here?"

"How dare you," Kamilah's eyes became red from anger. "You could have lived here like it was your life. I gave you a place to sleep, food, work."

"Oh, and you even gave me your time to earn my trust, right?!" This time Amy won in the battle of words, making Kamilah uncertain. "Yeah, you heard me good, these are your own words."

That's when it hit Kamilah. She gulped nervously, losing her previous confidence. The color of her eyes went back to normal.

Kamilah reminded herself when she gave Amy a job of taking care of her schedule. It was at her company during one of those days when they worked together.

She gave her a notebook. The notebook, where she wrote something that she forgot about as soon as Amy moved in. Something that was no longer a task for her.

That she needed to earn her trust.

"Amy, I..." Kamilah didn't know what to say, what could she say anyway at this point?

"I'll make it easier for you," Amy turned around and stormed out of her office, heading to her own room.

Kamilah followed her, stopping outside of the room because the curtains were still opened.

Amy moved quickly, changing her shorts to the full-length jeans. She hid her stuff into the backpack. Since she didn't have much of her own things, it didn't take a lot of time to do so.

After that, she walked past Kamilah, making her way to the elevator.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kamilah couldn't stop her astonishment.

"What does it look like?" Amy answered with a growl.

Kamilah could have done something. She had her vampire speed and strength. It would be a piece of cake for her to grab the girl and imprison her in this penthouse. To manipulate her into staying here. To do to her things that she did to other mortals in her worst time of being the vampire.

But she did nothing.

Kamilah felt powerless for the first time in her long life. Both: as a mortal and the vampire.

The only thing she was able to do was standing there. And watching how Amy was slowly disappearing from her life.

Or, disappearing just as quickly as she appeared in it.

Amy walked into the elevator and turned around to face the woman this one last time. Words were escaping from her mouth filled with hurt.

"Oh, and by the way, your plan worked on me," her eyes watering before saying out loud the hardest part. "Thinking that I almost fell for you."

With these last words, Amy left Kamilah alone with her thoughts.

The woman stood in front of the elevator doors a long time after.

Not able to make a move.

Her mind was repeating the only question that she could think of at that moment.

What did she say?

***

Amy walked on the pavement, sobbing quietly.

How could she have been so stupid to let Kamilah into her life? For some time, Amy believed that Kamilah might open up to her one day. And the only thing the woman was really interested in was Amy being a Bloodkeeper.

Or actually, only the Bloodkeeper part.

Amy wrapped her arms around, trying to calm herself and stop crying. Damn, she hated crying so much.

That's when the coldness hit her. The wind picked up, lifting her hair. Amy heard a car driving in her direction. It started reducing speed as it got closer to her.

"Do you need a lift?" Amy heard a man's voice asking her.

"No, thank you, I'm good," she answered without looking at the person.

The car outran her and stopped a few meters ahead.

It was not an ordinary car, but a black limousine to be precise.

Amy kept walking, not wanting to show any hesitation. When she lined-up with the limo, the back doors opened, and she recognized the man sitting inside.

"Are you sure? It's freezing outside, and it's in my best interest to keep the citizens safe," he smiled charmingly.

Amy stopped for a moment, rethinking what she should do.

Perhaps the great timing was the most responsible for her decision.

The fact that she was so broken at the moment and needed to talk to someone immediately.

And the voice from the person sitting in the car sounded so tempting in her head.

Screw this, Amy inhaled deeply and got inside the car.

"Will you tell me who broke your heart, my friend?"

Adam put a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly.

Next chapter: 14

---------------------

tag list: @onyxgaytrash, @lightning-fury, @scarlet-letter-a0114, @caliseds

#kamilah sayeed #kamilah x mc #kamilah #bloodbound kamilah #bloodbound #bloodbound mc #bb kamilah #choices bloodbound #choices bb #choices stories you play #choices fanfiction #choices fic #vampires #bloodkeeper

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imaginethathaikyuu · 5 years ago

Note

Okay birthday request for Kuroo (that dorky cat). Where he's a fox demon and it's been like a long time since he celebrates it or haven't at all. Reader finds out about this and decides to throw him a small party.

PSA i know nothing about kitsune boys or whatever, i just wrote my own thing and did absolutely no research on them so..if i got some lore wrong or whatever, sorry about thatalso i tweaked the request a bit to fit my idea of kuroo a bit better hope that’s okay ;P (went with “fox boy” rather than “fox demon” cuz thats just what i was feelin tonight)

kitsune boy!kuroo gender neutral reader

The stories of a half fox, half man residing in the forest of the mountains in town had always interested you. That folklore seemed to call you into the woods, where most people wouldn’t dare set foot, in hopes of finding such a thing.

You didn’t think you’d actually have any luck.

You believed he was real, you really did. But in the back of your mind you heard the voices of those in the village telling you you’re dumb for trying to find such a dangerous creature - others told you he wasn’t real at all. That it was just a story.

But you knew better than them. You’d made the familiar trek into the forest every day for years - since you were a child. You had been looking since then for a boy you once met, who had ears and a tail, who you had only met once.

“I’m not stupid,” was the first thing he said when he suddenly emerged in front of you, seemingly out of nowhere. You were only about ten years old, and he looked to be the same age. He spoke clearly, he sounded wise even though he was just a child. “I wouldn’t show myself to someone who’s dangerous. I’ve watched you a lot.”

You didn’t get to say a word to him, as a noise that you could only describe as a high pitched bark perked his pointy ears - you watched them turn toward the sound - and he ran off. He was gone just as quickly as he had appeared, and it felt like you had dreamed the entire encounter.

And you did dream about him. For years to follow, that boy was in your dreams. He seemed to grow with you, his appearance altering in your dreams over the years; he grew taller, bigger, older. As if he was somehow visiting you in your sleep. But you knew that was impossible.

Or… was it? Wasn’t the entire idea of his existence impossible? But it wasn't. He wasn’t impossible - he was real. You knew he was.

That’s why you made that trip to the forest, every day for years. You ignored what others said, their warnings of fake stories or dangerous creatures couldn’t keep you from those woods. Their words weren’t louder than the voice in you head demanding you settle the curiosity in your heart and find him again. You were searching for that boy in your dreams. That boy you had met so long ago. Years past before you would meet him again.

But you did meet him again.

Just like all that time ago, you didn’t see where he came from. You didn’t hear or see him coming. But you turned your head, and there he was. And he looked just like he did in your dreams.

He was tall, you wondered how he was able to hide himself with such height. He had black hair and pointy ears pointing out of the fluff. But he had a human’s face and a human’s body. Apart from the tail. He wore clothes, though they looked like garments of an old man, decades old.

You didn’t know what to do, but you didn’t sense any danger from him. Although you hardly sensed his presence at all.

“There you are,” he said to you, as if he’d been waiting for your return. “I’ve been looking for you, you know.”

Were you being scolded… by a fox?

You wanted to ask him where the hell he’s been, what the hell he meant when he said he’s been looking for you, because you’re the one who was looking for him all this time. He’s the one who’s been hiding. But all you could choke out was, “W-Who are you?”

He scratched his head. “You don’t sound like I thought you would…”

“What?”

He laughed softly at the sound of your voice - you must’ve sounded different than anyone he’s met before. And that only made you wonder if he’s ever even met another person before, or if you were the first. You hoped you were the first.

“I’m Kuroo,” he said before turning around and walking away with his hands on his hips. “What’re you?”

“What?” you asked again, following him. His footsteps were silent, while the crunch of the forest floor under your feet seemed to echo through the trees.

“You have, like, a name or something, right?”

“Y/N.”

“Y/N,” he repeated, before twirling to look at you. He wore a sly grin, his eyes shined with mischief. “How fitting. Y/N.”

And you followed him through the woods that evening, asking him question after question - most of which he didn’t have an answer to.

By the time dusk had arrived, he was shooing you away. “Go. Get back to where you’re supposed to be. But come back soon, alright?”

“Tomorrow,” you said. And you kept your word.

You visited him every day since, learning more about who he was and how he lived. And you kept a journal of the things he told you, so you’d never forget them.

He was playful and kind. And he was a prankster, often jumping out from behind a tree to scare you. He got a good laugh out of doing that.

On this particular day, you had brought your journal with you with the intention of filling in some missing information. You had grown quite keen on the boy, you had to admit. You wanted to know everything there was to know about him - not just because he was a mythical creature, either. But because he had the kind of personality you were drawn to.

He was really interested in your handwriting, and you had promised you’d teach him a few things about reading and writing if he’d answer your questions. Surprisingly, he complied with you - that wasn’t something the troublesome fox did often.

“When’s your birthday?” you asked him first, pen in hand.

“Birthday?”

“Yeah,” you said. “The day you were born.”

He was laying on the ground on his back, his arms resting behind his head as his tail swayed back and forth to his side. You were resting your back against a tree.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I’ve never had a birthday.”

“Everyone has a birthday, Kuroo.”

“Not me,” he said, matter of fact. “I never have, and I never will.”

You rolled your eyes before looking down at your journal and writing one word: Stubborn.

“You have to have a birthday,” you said under your breath. “They’re actually a lot of fun.”

He sat up to face you. “How?”

“Well, everyone tells you Happy Birthday, even people you don’t talk to every day. And sometimes you have a party. Some people get you gifts. You get to do whatever you want on your birthday.”

Kuroo scoffed. “I get to do whatever I want every day.”

You laughed, “Right. I forgot about that.”

“You have to tell me when it’s your birthday so I can get you a gift,” he said, giving you a sweet smile. “I should celebrate your day, too.”

You smiled right back at him, “But we need to figure out what your day is, Kuroo.”

“I don’t need a day,” he said, getting up to go check out whatever it was across the woods that caught his eye. “Every day is my day.”

“Kuroo,” you groaned, getting up to follow him.

“And I don’t need any gifts!” he continued. “The only thing I want is…”

You walked a bit faster, trying to catch up to him so you could hear him better. “What?” you asked, waiting quite impatiently for him to continue.

“The only thing I want is for you to keep coming back,” he said. “I’m always afraid you’re not going to. Or that one day you’ll have one of those loud killing things instead of your book.”

A gun. That’s what he was referring to. He’d seen hunters carrying them before, when he’d gone too close to town. And he watched them using guns, too. He told you about the experience in detail - it was the only one of his stories you wanted to forget. But you told him what they were called, and he either had a poor memory (he didn’t) or he was too stubborn to correct himself (he was.)

“I don’t even have one of those things,” you said, smiling sadly at him. He nodded. “I still want you to have your own special day, though.”

“Today can be the special day,” he said, shaking his head. “But it always feels special when you’re around.”

That made you smile more than you’re sure Kuroo intended for it to, and you closed your book and put your pen in your pocket. You agreed with him. Every day did feel special when you were around him.

For the rest of that evening, you decided to focus on the moment of being there instead of taking notes on Kuroo. You’d have plenty of days to get to know him, after all.

#Kuroo Tetsurou #kuroo x reader #Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu one shot #fluff #scenario

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robinskey · 5 years ago

Text

Lover (Steve Harrington x Reader)

A/N: GUYS as you’ve probably noticed, I’m incredibly excited about the release of @taylorswift‘s new album. IMO, Lover is one of Taylor’s best songs to-date, and I thought it would fit perfectly with a fluffy, domestic Steve one-shot.

Warnings: Mild language, heavy fluff. Story under the cut.

We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January

This is our place, we make the rules

And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear

Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?

It wasn’t until you and Steve moved into your first home together that you realized how deeply in love he was with holiday decorations.

You had started the process of moving your belongings into the new place at the end of September. By mid-October, Steve had begun pestering you about shopping for Christmas decorations. You reminded him that you hadn’t even unpacked the last box yet, and Halloween hadn’t even occurred yet. Steve was persistent that you needed to get the lights up as soon as possible to “maximize the Christmas spirit.”

After a lot of convincing, Steve had finally agreed to wait until November. By then, you figured, he’d forget about it. I mean, this was the guy who couldn’t remember his social security number and occasionally wrote it on his stomach (“because I’m not dumb enough to keep it on, like, my hand, Y/N, where everyone can see it.” When when you suggested he just carry his social security card with him, he told you he didn��t trust himself not to lose it.) Surely, that guy would forget all about it, right?

Wrong. On November 1st, you were nursing a Halloween-candy hangover when Steve dragged you to Goodwill. You returned home with enough decorations to light up a mansion and spent the rest of the afternoon stringing them all around your tiny one-bedroom house. After dinner, you and Steve headed outside. As the sky faded to black, Steve wrapped an arm around your shoulders, and he watched in wonder as your small townhouse transformed into a winter wonderland.

“Look at that, Y/N! We did that,” he said. The various colors of the lights reflected in his eyes as he gazed down at you.

“I didn’t know King Steve Harrington could get so excited over Christmas lights.” Your smooth teasing was foiled by a strong gust of wind that left goosebumps on your arms and caused you to shudder.

“I’m full of surprises,” Steve said as the two of you started back towards the front door. “For example, you probably didn’t know, but I can make the best cup of hot chocolate in the state of Indiana.”

“Oh, really?”

“Oh, yeah. Grandma Harrington taught me her secret recipe.”

Even though you’d known Steve for years, you learned new things about him every day. You wondered if you’d ever run out of things to learn about the boy you’d known all your life.

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

And ah, take me out, and take me home

You're my, my, my, my lover

We could let our friends crash in the living room

This is our place, we make the call

And I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you

I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all

Dustin Henderson started referring to your place as “our house” before you guys even moved in. He dropped by several times a week with updates on the newest happenings at Hawkins Middle or questions about how to handle a Suzie situation. At least once a month, Dustin crashed on your couch after a weekend movie night.

On one occasion, you and Steve returned home from a date night to discover half a dozen adolescents gathered around the television in your living room. A curly-haired kid carried around a bag of chips in one hand and waved cheerfully with the other. He flashed his infamous toothy grin, which you met with a half-scowl, half-squint of confusion.

“Dustin? How did you get in here?”

Dustin spoke through a mouthful of Doritos. “My mom dropped us off. And then I used my key.”

Your glare switched targets. This time, you directed it at Steve. He clamped his hand down on his face; you weren’t sure if it was to avoid your gaze or express his frustration.

“Dude, I gave you that key for emergencies only.”

“This was an emergency!” Dustin threw up his hands, sending an army of cheesy corn chips into the atmosphere. After falling back to earth, bright orange triangles wedged themselves into your new white rug. “The season premiere of our favorite show is tonight, and we didn’t have anywhere to watch it.”

You crossed your arms over your chest. Your eyes scanned over the gang sprawled across your couch, armchairs, and carpet. Judging by the boxes of candy and cans of soda littered across the floor, Dustin must have raided your pantry. Apparently, the kitchen wasn’t the only place he infiltrated, since almost your entire linen closet was spread out over the living room. Lucas and Max shared the recliner beside which Dustin was currently standing. Will sat on a pillow with his back against the coffee table, his attention still focused on the television screen. You turned your attention to Mike, who was curled up next to El under a crocheted blanket you’d received from your grandmother.

“Doesn’t your family have a TV, Mike?”

"Yeah, we do, but my mom kicked us out so she could watch a soap opera or some shit. She and Nancy love that crap.”

Nancy.

That name ignited the flame of jealousy in your chest. You knew it was totally irrational; she and Steve hadn’t dated since high school. They’d both moved on-something Nancy did almost instantaneously. Steve had told you the whole saga of their mostly-one-sided relationship, and you were fairly certain Nancy never really loved him.

Still, Nancy was Steve’s first serious girlfriend. She was the first girl-the only girl, other than you-to whom he’d said “I love you” and meant it. Nancy was, and would always be, Steve’s first love. There wasn’t anything you could do to change that.

“Y/N? Hey, babe, you good?”

Steve’s voice jolted you back to reality. You shook your head slightly to clear it, then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

You pretended not to notice the way his mouth twitched downward slightly in concern.

“Great. So we can stay?” Dustin interrupted. The hopeful gleam in his eyes was too much to resist.

“I guess,” you sighed, earning a chorus of triumphant “yeah!”s from the kids. “Your show’s probably about over by now, anyway, isn’t it?”

Dustin furrowed his thick brows, as though that was the most blatantly incorrect assumption you could have made. Lucas let you know that “it doesn’t even start for three more hours.”

“Won’t that be, like, midnight? Your parents aren’t going to freak out if you come home at two in the morning?” Steve asked.

“Actually...” Dustin drew out the word until he finally ran out of air. Then, he spoke the next few words in one breath. “We were hoping you’d let us spend the night here?”

You and Steve exchanged glances. Between your schoolwork and Steve’s work schedule, the two of you hadn’t been able to spend as much quality time together. You’d finally both managed to secure a responsibility-free night and a cheesy rom-com to watch while cuddling on the couch. (Steve pretended to hate those movies, but he almost always teared up at least once during the show.)

None of that mattered now, though, because your boyfriend could never say no to his favorite child-or so you thought.

Steve scratched the back of his neck. He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye before saying, “Actually, Dustin, tonight’s not the best night for a sleepover. Y/N and I kind of had plans.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows suggestively. “Plans, huh? What kind of plans?” he said, earning a smack on the arm from his girlfriend.

Color rose to your cheeks; Steve picked up a pillow someone had haphazardly tossed on the floor and launched it at Lucas’s head. Instead of hitting its intended target, though, the cushion collided with Max’s face. Ever the hothead, the ginger quickly contorted her neutral expression into a deep frown. She chucked the pillow back toward Steve with tremendous force, along with a few other throw pillows. Only one actually hit Steve. The rest rained down on you.

And, as a mature, homeowning adult battling literal children, you knew there was only one correct response: to hurl each and every one of those pillows right back.

It didn’t take long before the scene devolved into utter chaos. Fluffy rectangles flew across the living room, smacking into bodies or simply into walls. The kids outnumbered you and Steve three-to-one, so you were doomed from the start. However valiant of an effort you two gave, the party still overcame you, burying you and Steve under an avalanche of pillows.

“Clearly, we won this fight,” Dustin said as he loomed over you. Steve had tried to act as your human shield, so he laid beside you on the floor. “I think that means we earned the right to stay.”

“Dustin-“

“No, Steve, it’s okay,” you said, turning towards him. “I know it’s not what we originally planned, but maybe a sleepover with the kids would be fun.”

Steve looked at you with admiration glittering in his chocolate eyes. “Yeah?” he asked softly.

“Yeah.” You shifted a few pillows to get closer to Steve and plant a gentle kiss on his mouth. He smiled as your lips brushed his, and for a moment, you forgot about the gang of gangly tweens in your living room.

Then, a symphony of “ew”s and “aw”s and “can you not”s and “I think it’s sweet”s erupted throughout the room.

Steve shot into an upright position, pointing his finger in the general direction of the sitting area. “Hey, this is my house, and my girlfriend, and if I want to kiss her, I will. And if you dweebs want to stay here to watch your stupid show, you’ll keep your mouths shut.”

“As long as you keep yours shut,” Dustin quipped. “I think I can speak for everyone when I say we’d rather not see you and Y/N sticking your tongues down each other’s throats.”

You tossed the last pillow throw of the night at Dustin but agreed. You and Steve kept the PDA to a minimum that night. They were just kids, after all, and you didn’t want to corrupt them. However, when Nancy came to pick up Mike the next morning and Steve waved to her from the porch, you didn’t hesitate to flounce out the front door in your robe and draw Steve into a passionate kiss.

You just had to make sure Nancy knew what was yours.

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

And ah, take me out, and take me home

You're my, my, my, my lover

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?

With every guitar string scar on my hand

I take this magnetic force-of-a-man to be my lover

My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue

All's well that ends well to end up with you

Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover

And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me

And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover

Your favorite part of the day was coming home to your best friend.

Steve more or less memorized your schedule. You arrived home around the same time every evening, so Steve knew when to start listening for the sound of gravel crunching under the wheels of your car. He would then meet you on the porch with a “hello” kiss and a “how was your day, honey?” You always feigned indignance as he took your bags, murmuring something about how weak he must think you are to not be able to carry them two more steps. But, secretly, you spent your entire commute home anticipating the interaction.

This was especially true on the stressful days, the ones you felt would never end. Even though Steve was completely clueless in most situations, he could typically tell when you were in a foul mood. Those were the times he pulled you a little closer to his heart, hugged you a little tighter, loved you a little extra-just in case you needed it.

Today, you really, really did. It had been one of those days where everything seems to go wrong. You couldn’t wait to crawl into bed with Steve and snuggle all your sorrows away.

As you pulled into the driveway, your heart beat faster in anticipation. You watched the front door swing open. It took you a second to realize that the figure standing on the porch wasn’t your boyfriend. Rather, it was a short, stocky kid with a halo of golden curls. If it hadn’t been for the unmistakable hair, you might not have recognized him; you’d never seen him sans ballcap but plus a paisley-print bowtie around his neck and certainly never with dish rag was draped over his arm.

“Hey, Dustin,” you said. When he responded by simply smiling back at you, you asked, “What...what’cha doing here, kid?”

“Hello, Ms. Y/L/N. I’ll be your server for the evening,” he responded without missing a beat.

“My server?”

Dustin bent his head slightly in what he must have considered a sophisticated spin on a nod. “Indeed. Now, if you’ll follow me, ma’am...”

You kicked off your shoes and set down your purse before wandering after your guide down the dimly-lit hall. Something crinkled under your footsteps. You quickly noticed small ovals scattered across the wood floor. As you stepped on one, it felt like silk against your bare feet.

Petals?

You were too busy staring at the flowers scattered across the hall to realize you’d reached your destination. Dustin stopped, and you ran right into his back. You stumbled before regaining your balance and taking a look around the room.

The “server” had escorted you to your own kitchen-a place you were quite familiar with, since Steve couldn’t cook a decent meal to save his life. (To be fair, though, you weren’t much more skilled with the stove, so approximately 90% of your diet was comprised of takeout and peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.) However, you’d never seen the kitchen quite like this.

It was the cleanest it had been since move-in day. Not a dish sat on the counter or even in the sink. The crumbs typically scattered across the floor had been replaced by rose petals. Sparkling white Christmas lights stretched across the room, and Elvis Presley crooned over the record player in the corner of the room. You didn’t even know Steve owned a record player. (As you later discovered, he didn’t. He’d borrowed it from Jonathan Byers.)

In the center of the room, your cheap card table was draped with a lace tablecloth. Wedged between two covered silver platters that looked like they belonged in a castle, a flickering candle cast shadows on the face of the boy sitting beside it. As soon as his eyes fell on you, he scrambled to his feet and over to you.

“Hi,” Steve said, winding his arms around your waist. He sounded breathless, even though he’d literally just walked a few feet.

“Hey.” Your eyes flicked from his slicked-back hair and freshly-shaven face to his crisp button-up and newly-polished shoes. “What’s-um-what’s all this?” you asked, vaguely gesturing around the room.

“Oh, you know.” Steve pressed a quick kiss to your lips before taking your hand and leading you to the table. “I just thought I’d do something special for you tonight.”

"That’s...really sweet.”

Steve scooted your chair in before placing himself back into the seat across from you. Dustin disappeared into your pantry, then returned with a bottle of sparkling grape juice. As you watched the teenager carefully pour a splash into each of your glasses, you asked whether Steve had bribed or tricked him into spending his Friday night playing restaurant.

“This is my full-time job, ma’am. This is how I earn my living,” Dustin answered dutifully before breaking character. “Besides, four of my stupid friends are on a double-date, and Will’s sick, so I had nothing better to do.”

“Way to sell us on the idea that you want to be here, dipshit,” Steve remarked.

“Hey, show our waiter a little respect!” you teased, gently kicking Steve under the table.

“Thank you, Y/N. But, actually, I prefer the term server,” Dustin corrected. He proceeded to produce a notepad from his pocket and read you the specials-or, rather, special, considering there was only one: spaghetti with meatballs. “On our regular menu, we also offer a wonderful noodle dish with a marinara sauce for the same low price as the special-zero dollars.”

You quirked an eyebrow. “So...just spaghetti again?”

Dustin clapped a hand over his heart in mock offense. “Excuse you, madam. It’s spaghetti without meatballs, which is a completely different experience.” Dustin glanced around as though someone might overhear before quietly adding, “Personally, I would recommend the spaghetti with meatballs, unless you want grubby hands digging around in your dish to pull out the meatballs, which may or may not already be incorporated into the pasta.”

You rolled your eyes but laughed nonetheless. “I guess I’ll have the spaghetti with meatballs, then.”

“Excellent choice. And for you, sir?”

“I’ll have the same,” said Steve.

“Well, you’ve both made this very easy for me. Pardon my reach,” Dustin said, leaning over to pluck the covers off the platters. A heaping hill of noodles, red sauce, and meatballs lay underneath.

Dustin took the lids and disappeared into the living room. You weren’t sure if Dustin was just trying to stay out of the way or if he was going to attempt to wash them in the bathroom sink. It definitely wouldn’t have been the weirdest thing he’d done in your house; once, you and Steve caught him trying to explain morse code to a squirrel in your backyard. That kid was truly an odd duck.

And speaking of weird behavior, you were still seriously questioning what was happening. Steve was a sweetheart, and he did everything in his power to make you happy. This definitely wasn’t the first time he’d surprised you with a thoughtful gesture, but it was probably the most all-out he’d ever gone. The last time he even attempted to cook for you was during senior year of high school, when you first started dating. As an after-school snack, Steve had popped some pizza rolls in the microwave and promptly forgotten about them...until, of course, the kitchen appliance burst into flames.

As strange as it was, you didn’t want to ruin the moment by verbally expressing your curiosities. You simply swirled slightly-soggy spaghetti around your spoon and savored the small talk. Eventually, Dustin reappeared to clear your plates and ask if you wanted dessert.

“What are my options?”

Dustin’s excellent waiter facade faded for a second. He glanced at Steve with wide eyes. His gaze begged for guidance-which Steve failed to provide. He simply squinted at Dustin as if to say, Figure it out for yourself.

The entire ordeal lasted about fifteen seconds. It was too long for Dustin to turn back to you with a tight-lipped smile plastered on his face as though nothing had just happened between them.

“The final course is-the dessert, uh-it’s a surprise.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could have sworn you saw Steve offer a nod of approval.

“Okay...” You drew out the word as your mind jumped to every conclusion possible. “Is it a good surprise? Or is it, like, a somewhat-edible science experiment that might actually poison me?”

“Oh, no, no. It’s a good surprise. You’ll like it. I promise,” Dustin said. “I-uh-I’ll go get it,” he said, then disappeared once more.

“Steve, why did Dustin just head toward the bathroom? I swear, if he made Jell-O in the toilet or something, I’m going to lose it.”

Steve just shrugged. He avoided your gaze, and a few beads of sweat had broken out across his forehead. That pretty much solidified your suspicions that Steve and Dustin were pulling some weird sort of prank on you.

Dustin returned a few minutes later with yet another silver platter. (Seriously, where was he getting these things?) This time, though, there weren’t any noodles on the plate he unveiled. Instead, a small velvet box sat on the metal.

The next few seconds happened in a blur. You recalled Steve rising from his chair and reaching for the box. Then, suddenly, he was on one knee in front of you. The box opened like an oyster. Instead of a pearl, though, its treasure was a glimmering diamond ring.

Tears began clouding your vision before Steve’s lips even parted. As soon as he spotted the water in your eyes, Steve started to get choked up, too. He tried to power through, but his voice became more strained with each syllable.

“Y/N. These past few years with you have been the best of my life, and I never thought...shit." Steve blinked rapidly, attempting to clear away the tears. “I never want to spend my time with-with anyone else-damn it,” he murmured as a drop of water finally escaped his tear duct and rolled down his face. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I had this whole speech prepared, but now I’m a mess-”

You stopped his ranting by placing a gentle palm on his cheek and a kiss on his forehead. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I love you for the whole-ass mess you are.”

Steve leaned into your touch for a moment and whispered, “I love you, too, Y/N.” Then, he straightened up, cleared his throat, and softly asked, “Will you marry me?”

“Of course.”

Steve barely had the patience to slide the ring on your finger with his shaking hands before he picking you up and swinging you around. He kissed all over your face, and your happy tears mixed with his in a joyous saltwater solution.

The kiss fest didn’t end until Steve, caught up in all the excitement, accidentally pressed his lips to your nostrils. The two of you burst into a fit of giggles amplified by the ecstasy of the emotions you were feeling. Your hysteria lasted for several minutes and ended with you and Steve laying on the floor, lungs devoid of oxygen and limbs tangled together.

“Are you guys really that happy, or are you, like, on something?”

You both glanced toward Dustin, whose presence had completely slipped your mind. Luckily, Steve had a response ready. It was cheesy and cliche, but nothing could have fit the situation more perfectly:

“No, dude. We’re just high on life.”

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

And ah, take me out, and take me home (Forever and ever)

You're my, my, my, my

Oh, you're my, my, my, my

Darling, you're my, my, my, my lover

***

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