#I’ll probably have to make the ears and tail myself since I can’t find anything that isn’t an arm and a leg that I like

[anicehomicidaltree]

Not me making actual plans to make a Bitsy cosplay

Like a legit layout oh god

[mystic-sky]

Hello! Gojo Saturo’s birthday is in a few days and may I request a fan fic where the reader surprise him with a cake in sexy bunny outfit in mesh stockings? (I’m currently watching the anime Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai) and the idea came up when I saw the outfit hehe love you!

Hi!! I love that anime! Sorry for the late post love, but it’s still an hour before his birthday ends where I live 💕✨ I didn’t know if you wanted food play with the cake??? It mostly focuses around the outfit. Enjoy.

Warnings: Just Birthday NSFW

Word Count: 2.0K

Sometimes when you start dating someone, you find yourself doing things you never figured you’d be into. Your boyfriend was a man of many kinks, slowly introducing you to things and helping you flesh out your own sexual desires. Not only did you try new things for him because you loved him, but you trusted him so much each time afterwards because it was all so enjoyable.

Months before his birthday, he sparked an idea. You were in the kitchen, fixing dinner for the both of you.

“A bunny girl outfit?” You question, shifting your stance a bit. In the few years you had been dating, Satoru had never touched on role play or dress up before.

“Yes~” He sung. “Like that one anime, do you know it?”

You nodded, feeling a bit tense. Could you pull something like that off?

You set your cooking ladle down. “When my birthday comes I’m gonna make you do something even crazier.”

The look on Satoru’s face was one of intrigue, but there was a splash of fear in the corners of his pupils. You had always managed to be exceptionally good at pleasing him. He hoped what you had in mind wouldn’t be too crazy, although he was down for anything.

He spent the rest of that evening leaning on the kitchen counter and trying to get you to confess if you had been agreeing to wear the bunny outfit and what were you bargaining for. 

When his birthday came months later, you took your chances at the costume store. You knew he’d forgotten all about the idea since you never gave him a forward answer. You took advantage of this, and waited until the day of to go shopping. You bought multiple sizes to be sure you got the best fitting one, since you were rushing to make it home before Satoru. You stood in your apartment hallway, swaying in the mirror. 

The things I do for him, you think.

Looking at yourself from head to toe, you were almost upset that the smug bastard knew you’d look good in a bunny outifit. You looked over your shoulder at your backside.

“This things lifts your butt so well.” You felt so sexy, more confidence than you had imagined passed over your body.

You make haste towards the living room, eagerly placing the candles on top of the cake you had bought earlier on the coffee table. You could hear him turning the keys in the door behind you. He was greeted by your fluffy, white bunny tail and big juicy bottom.

“Woah, you actually did it.” You jumped a bit as he swung the door open. “I have to admit, seeing you on your knees as soon as I get home is always a treat.”

You bring yourself to your feet, lighter in hands. You flash him a warm smile.

“Welcome back,” you say. 

“Oh I feel welcomed,” he begins, walking towards you to take you in with his eyes. He sets his sunglasses on the side table beside the couch. 

“Ah-ah-ah-” you begin. “Go wash your hands!” 

He holds his hands up in defense. “Will do m’lady.” 

You turn backwards, opening the packaging on the new lighter you bought. You bent over, continuing to intently space out the candles for him. You quickly clicked towards the kitchen to grab the wine and some glasses. You set them both down beside the cake as you struggled to open the bottle. 

You felt his presence behind you as you swung yourself around.

“I figured we could have a bit of fun before dinner.” You say, pressing the wine bottle to your breasts. You patted the one-person sofa beside you. You watched him pull his lip between his teeth as he giddily sat down, spreading his legs. You poured him a glass, watching him sip as he eyeballed you.

“I feel like I’ve got my own little personal play boy bunny.”

“Just for tonight,” you said, placing the bottle on the table.

“Does that mean I can have anything I want?” 

“Don’t I spoil you enough?” You raise a brow, adjusting the cuffs around your wrists.

“I’m sort of a bottomless pit. I’m always up for more.” He says slyly, pulling you between his legs.

“Turn around for me,” he says, fingers just barely holding the tips of your own. You smile, spinning your body so he could see your butt. 

“Baby... I know it was sort of my idea, but just how am I going to fuck you in this thing. It’s so fucking tight.” 

You felt him playing and flicking the tail of your costume whilst his other hand cupped your ass cheek above the mesh stockings. 

“I’ve got buttons...” you say shyly, bending over for him to see the thick clothed part of your core.

“Ohh~ how convenient.” He sung, sliding and pressing a finger against your hot clothed sex. You shuddered a bit, before standing up straight and turning around. 

“This is truly a treat, sweetheart.” He brought his large hands up to caress the back of your thighs. “It’s taking a lot for me to not pounce on you right now.” 

You could tell he was enjoying the sight of you.

“Don’t fret, I’ll wear it a little while longer.” You assure him, falling to your knees. You loosely bring your fingers up to his white dress shirt, loosening his tie and a few buttons as well. 

“I hope you weren’t planning on wearing this to dinner.” You say, dragging your fingers down the exposed part of his chest.

“Just how messy are we about to get, honey?” He smirked.

You only stare at him, feeling his chest up some more. He smiles back before taking up the glass beside him on the end table, taking a sip while he sits back and looks at you. He watches you feel against the bulge in his suit pants. He takes a brief look at his watch before looking back at you.

“Dinner’s at 8.” 

He watched you unbuckle his pants and pull his length out in front of you. You brought the tip to your mouth before speaking.

“I’ve got time.” You swallow him whole, feeling him shift in the chair. He’s holding back a groan, having not expected you to take him in so deeply right off the bat.

“You just threw your gag reflex out the window, huh?” He managed to say. 

You released your mouth, bunny ears flopping back while you bobbed your head on the tip alone. You swirled your tongue around him, shutting him up immediately.

He set the glass down, and rested his fingers in your hair. 

“What a sweet girl, spoiling Daddy like this on his birthday.”

You take hold of his base, stroking in tune with your sucking while he shifted beneath you. You could feel yourself getting wet as his moans filled the space in the living room. You hummed against his length, tongue sending vibrations through his shaft and his body. You released him from your mouth, jerking him whilst you attached your lips to his balls. You sucked softly, swirling your hot tongue over the soft skin. 

He lost it from this unfortunately, shooting loads out onto your hand without warning. You quickly took the tip of his length back into your mouth, sucking the remnants of his orgasm from the source. 

“Fuck~” He shuddered. So much semen filled your mouth and you swallowed what you could as the rest of it slipped down your chin and onto your breasts.

You let go of his length with a popping noise. 

“How long were you holding that in?” You asked him, licking your fingers. He loved watching you do that.

“Long enough,” he said, cocking his head back. “Now come sit on it for me.”

Your body was ready. You could feel your nipples getting irritatingly hard as they pressed against the firm fabric of the suit. You unbuttoned the bottom piece of it as you climbed on top of him.

“And now...“ He gripped your ass cheeks. “...to unwrap you.”

You felt him claw your mesh stockings with both hands, ripping them so wide and way beyond wearing them ever again.

“Satoru!” You whined. You owned plenty of black stockings, but that didn’t mean he could just rip them as he pleased.

“Ah-ah-ah, it’s my birthday, remember?” He mimicked. You held your tongue.

“How could I forget...” you mutter, positioning yourself above his length. He squeezed your exposed cheeks so hard you probably bruised.

“You’re so cute when you talk under your breath like that.” He teased.

“Shut up,” you say, holding his length as you slide onto it. He bites back a moan as you coat his dick with so much slick his pants started getting stained. “And keep your hands to yourself.”

“Mhnnngh...” He bit his lip. “Fuck- sweetheart I can’t make any promises.” 

You only smile at him, fighting back your own moans as you rock against him. He releases his grip on you like you asked, placing his hands on both arm rests and watching you start to bounce on his length. You rest your arms on his shoulders, throwing your head back, bunny ears flopping erratically. He watched your breasts shake about, suit almost exposing your nipples to the air.

Watching you ride him like that made it hard for him to keep his hands to himself. He would often have to force himself into being sub when you got on top like that. He claimed it was part of making you feel like you were truly dominating him every once in a while. You were just the cutest, and you were wearing this costume just for him. He wanted you to have your moment. 

“Just like that baby,” he hummed. He felt your hand clutch his jaw, pressing a hot kiss to his wine stained lips. He moaned against you, finally wrapping his arms around you. 

“You know I can’t help myself, and it’s my birthday~” He says against your lips. 

You rolled your eyes, kissing him deeper. He hummed against you, sliding his body down in his seat.

“You know, speaking of my birthday, you haven’t said it since this morning.” He said smugly, pushing your body upwards. He starts thrusting into you from underneath, earning broken and sloppy moans from you.

“Won’t you tell me again, pretty please?”

He was mocking you. He knew you weren’t capable of saying it- at least not coherently and definitely not when he was pumping you so quickly and so deeply like that. You were nearing an orgasm, and your heels were slipping off your feet while he was at work against you. 

“Honey, I’m waiting. Say it.” He hummed. Somehow he said it so seriously you didn’t want to test him further.

“H-Hap...Hap-py B-Birthday.” You moaned brokenly as he pounded into you. 

“Such a sweet girl. That wasn’t hard at all, was it? Now let it all out.”

His thick length throbbed against your walls. While you climaxed around him, both your heels hit the carpet with a thud as you cried out his name.

The best but worst part about sex with Satoru is that you’d never get used to how he’d overstimulate you every time you came. Sure you always get to ride your orgasm out, but you’d be quivering, and barely put together the whole time until he came. Just like now, you had melted into him, gripping and wrinkling the collars of his dress shirt, voice cracking against his ears as he came inside you. He had filled you up, overflowing his semen and spilling onto his pants. He shuddered, chest rising and falling against your breasts.

You both stayed there like that for a bit, gathering yourselves. 

“I’ve got more for you after we get home from dinner.” He said as you sat up above him.

“You’ll be pushing your third orgasm. You sure you got juice left?” You say smugly.

“Oh, always.” He grinned.

And so much for the cake. 

[httpswwwtbhkcom]

Again?

[Oneshot/Imagine]

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugo x Reader

[@httpswwwtbhkcom’s masterlist]

Summary: Bakugo was once again, turned into a half wolf. Mina, knowing who was the right person to babysit him, asked you. Well.. She didn’t really ask, just pushed Bakugo into your dorm room and left. But hey, you didn’t mind.

Warnings: Swearing, grammar errors, flirting, pining, pet names, teasing, confessing, kissy kissy part, 

Genre: Fluff, Wolf Bakugo,

Keys:

Y/n- your name, f/f- favorite food,

A/n: This is part 2 of “Stop making it difficult for the both of us!”.

I was bored so I thought that I should make a part 2. I had nothing to do rn. I suggest on reading part 1 first before reading this.

Your Quirk is Permeation in this fanfic! BUT your clothes doesn’t fall off your body. (This isn’t really mentioned on this part tho, I just wanted to add this here.)

Oh and if there is a collar that acts like a necklace when you put it on a pet or something, it’s kinda like that?

Reader: Neutral

Click here to see the other part(s) - Part 1 - Part 2 (Here)

Made by: ??? (Please tell me who owns the art so I could credit them!)

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

It was the next Saturday after the ‘Wolf Bakugo’ incident had happened. You missed putting Bakugo on a leash like last time, but you knew that he wouldn’t let you do that again.

You were at the lobby with some of your classmates. The others chilling while the remaining were outside going somewhere. Either to go shopping or train.

You giggled as you reminisced that moment. Wishing that the event would happen once again, though you knew Bakugo wouldn’t like it.

“What are you laughing at?” Mina asked, looking at you with confusion. “Nothing.” You smiled. Mina lied on your lap and hummed. “I bet it’s about someone.” She grinned.

“Of course it was.” You answered, having a light blush on your face. “Your face is telling me it’s not only someone.” Mina said, her tone teasing. “It’s a special someone. A crush maybe?” Your eyes widened. “Whaa- Nooo- Psh. Why would I think of my crush?”

“You do have a crush!” She exclaimed, sitting up. You and Mina earned confused glances from your friends and you looked down in embarrassment. “Ah, sorry. Nothing to see here!” Mina waved, telling them to mind their business. Once their lingering glances were gone, Mina went back to you and gave you a wide smile.

“So you do have a crush!” She whispered to you. “Whaat? Of course not! I thought you said friend. Friend!” You lied. “You can’t fool me. I’m practically a love doctor. I can help you get together with your quote unquote ‘friend’.” She said, puffing out her chest.

“He’s just a friend Mina!”

She gasped. “It’s a boy?!” This time, no one bothered to look. Knowing that they wouldn’t get any answers. You covered your blushing face with your hands. ‘I said too much...’ You murmured. “Oh my gosh this is great! So, who is it? Midoriya? Todoroki?” She asked, excited. Then she gasped. “...Or is it Bakugo?” She gave you a teasing grin.

You took a peek between your fingers and saw Mina practically fangirling.

Before you could say anything, you heard the door slam open. You and the others jumped at the loud noise.

“Bakugo, calm down. Your affected with the quirk again, no big deal.” Kirishima assured the angry blond. “No big deal? NO BIG DEAL!? THAT FUCKER USED IT’S QUIRK ON ME AND THAT’S NO BIG DEAL?!” Bakugo shouted at his friend, clearly pissed.

You stared at them and noticed that Bakugo has wolf ears and a tail. Kirishima seemed to notice you and whispered something to Bakugo. Bakugo’s eyes snapped from Kirishima to you. His eyes widened then looked away.

Tsuyu was curious and asked “Why does Bakugo look like that? Kero.”

“It’s none of your business-”

“Someone used their quirk on Bakugo and he’s mad. It’s probably the same person who made Bakugo look like this last week.” Kirishima answered much to Bakugo’s dismay.

Bakugo noticed everyone staring at him, watching his movements. “What are you lookin’ at huh?” He gritted his teeth.

Kirishima patted his shoulder. Mina came smiling “Hey, how about we let Y/n babysit-” “Accompany.” Bakugo corrected. “-Right.. ‘Accompany’ Bakugo?” She suggested. “Good for me. I’m tired training today and I don’t want to deal with anything right now.” Kirishima yawned.

“Any complaints, Bakugo?”

Before Bakugo could speak, Mina had cut him off. “No? Great! Let’s go to Y/n- Huh?”

They looked at where you were only to see that no one was there. “Where’s Y/n?” He asked. “I swear Y/n was there.. I was with them earlier. They’re probably in their dorm right now.”

(When Mina went towards Kirishima and Bakugo, You immediately left. For... Some reason.)

“Right! I’ll go eat, I’m starving. You both wouldn’t mind right?”

“It’s fine, let’s go.” Mina, and Bakugo left Kirishima as they went to your floor and knocked on your door. “Hey! It’s me. Can you do me a favor, Y/n?” Mina called. You opened the door, to see both Mina and Bakugo right in front of you. “Let me guess. Babysit?”

“It’s not-”

“Yep. Please?”

You didn’t have time to answer because Mina shoved Bakugo to you and left. “Thanks Y/n! I owe you one!” She shouted before disappearing.

You both watched at the hallway then at each other. You and Bakugo noticed how close both your faces were. Your face became red and you looked away, flustered. “Sorry...” You murmured.

“It’s fine...” He grumbled. “Can I come in?”

You moved to the side as he entered your room. ‘It’s been a while ever since I came here..’ He said to himself, seeing that nothing had changed ever since he left. You sat on your bed as you stared at Bakugo checking out your room. “What?” He asked, slightly annoyed.

“Nothing. It’s nothing..” You mumbled an apology to him, embarrassed. Once he was done checking, he just stared at you. You patted the space beside you, offering him to sit. When he didn’t respond, you asked “Are you just going to stand there or what?”

He scoffed, grumbling something under his breath before sitting next to you.

Silence took over a second later, tension increasing. Until Bakugo spoke.

“Y’know I could just take care of myself right? I don’t need someone to ‘babysit’ me.”

“I know.” He looked at you questioningly. “I just want someone to hang out with. With you maybe?”

His crimson eyes slightly widened, taken aback. “With me?” You nodded. “Maybe we should go to the same food place we ate at last time.” He chuckled. “Is this your way on trying to take me out on a date?” His voice was teasing yet curious.

Your face flushed red. “E-eh? I- I was just trying to-”. He laughed at your expression at teased you a bit more. “Really hm?” His face coming closer to yours. “You sure, Love?” Your heart pace increased at the pet name. You averted your eyes to somewhere else.

You felt a hand cupping your chin and forcing you to look at Bakugo. “Don’t look away when I’m talkin’ to ya, Doll. Didn’t your parents teach you manners?” He said sternly yet teasingly. He came closer to your face that both of your lips were touching. He took a quick glance at your lips then froze.

He backed away. “Sorry, I got carried away.” Bakugo murmured. “Don’t sweat it.” You said, taking this as your chance to tease him back when you saw something that had caught your interest. “You were having fun aren’t you?” You stifled a giggle, as you pointed to Bakugo’s tail, that was wagging harshly.

Bakugo looked back and blushed. He was enjoying this but he wouldn’t tell that to your face. He hid his tail behind his back and tried to make it stop wagging but failed. ‘Shit.’ He mumbled. You couldn’t hold it back no more as you laughed at his attempts.

“That’s.... That’s so cute!” You said between giggles. Bakugo’s face became more red as he continued to grumble curses to himself. He is enjoying this. Bakugo wasn’t this close to you like before.

After a while, your laughter had finally died down. “Ah... That was funny.. Sorry.” You said as you wiped a tear. “Can we just go eat already? I’m starvin’.” Bakugo tried to change the subject, a bit too embarrassed. “Alright, Let’s go change. Now go to your dorm and go change. We’ll meet at the lobby, yea?” You told him as you pushed him out of your dorm.

“Ey! Don’ push me!” Bakugo shouted. You gave him a small grin then closed the door on him. You heard a loud ‘OI!’ from the other side, making you giggle once more. 

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

As you waited for Bakugo at the lobby, you were talking with Mina. “Hey Y/n, Where’s Bakugo? Isn’t he supposed to be with you?” She asked. “Well, Yeah. I’m just waiting for him to finish changing his clothes to go eat outside. Wanna join us?”

“Nah, Don’t wanna ruin the moment you both have.” She teased with a grin. You playfully punched her shoulder and you lightly blushed. You and Mina were interrupted when a shadow loomed over you two. “Oh hey Bakugo, Heard you and Y/n are going to eat somewhere huh?”

Bakugo let out a growl at Mina but she seemed unfazed. She laughed then waved her hand. “Don’t worry I won’t ruin it. I’m already busy. Have fun you two!” She said before she left you and Bakugo alone.

“You told her?”

“Yeah..” You answered sheepishly. Then you noticed. “Hey, why didn’t you change your clothes?” “I couldn’t change because of this shitty tail. The other clothes were uncomfortable to be in.” He answered. You nodded, then remembering something. “Oh yeah! I almost forgot.” Then you sprinted back to the dorms, telling him to wait for you while you take something from your dorm.

“Tch.” He crossed his arms. “Great.”

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

You came back after a few minutes, you had a bit of difficulty of finding it since you had forgotten where you hid it. “Bakugo! I’m here. Sorry!” You halted once you were in front of him and panted. “Took ya long enough. It’s already gettin’ late.”

He gently took your wrist and began to drag you. “Let’s go. I’m starvin’.”

As you both were walking under the night sky, you- out of the blue- asked him. “Hey, Can I do something after we eat food?” Bakugo stopped walking and turned to look at you in confusion.

“Hah?”

“Can I do something after we eat?”

“Like what?”

“Like uhm...” You looked down, trying to look innocent. “Just do me a favor alright?” You blushed, finding this moment embarrassing. Bakugo rose a brow, yet lightly blushed. He didn’t respond but instead continued to drag you to the familiar restaurant.

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

As you and Bakugo sat at a table that was available. You wanted to sit at the table you both sat last time but it was already occupied to your dismay. And ordered the food you both wanted to eat. Bakugo wanting to eat something not spicy this time and you wanting f/f.

As you both were waiting for the meals to arrive, you and Bakugo started to talk about Pro Heroes and such. You were surprised that Bakugo has some of the same interests as you.

In the middle of the conversation, the waiter went to the table and interrupted the talk you and Bakugo had, with an apologetic look.

“Excuse me, your meals are ready. ______ and F/f.” They said as they placed the food in front of you. Bakugo glared and snarled at the waiter, causing them to flinch in fear. You gave them a small ‘thank you’ and gave them an apologetic look for Bakugo’s behavior.

“Sorry about my friend here. He’s just in a bad mood..” You apologized. The waiter nodded then walked away in a slightly fast pace.

You began to softly scold Bakugo. But he wasn’t listening, his head repeating the word ‘friend’ with your voice. He didn’t know why but he felt his heart ache at the word friend. Was he just a friend to you?

He shook his head to shake the negative thoughts away. You were asking him if he’s alright, but received no response.

Bakugo told himself that he’ll do anything to change the relationship you both have. Maybe even changing friend to something else. Something more... Suiting. He couldn’t just give up by that. He has a chance to swoon you.

He was cut of his trance when he saw you trying to get his attention. “Huh?” He muttered. “Ah there you are! I thought I lost you for a second.” You said in relief.

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

After eating, you and Bakugo were at the park walking side by side. Neither of you thought of the idea of walking in the park late at night, but here you are.

You suddenly remembered the leash and collar you have hiding somewhere on your back, under your clothes. You swiftly and quietly tried to take it off you and hide it on your back, you facing Bakugo. Bakugo glanced at you and noticed something sticking out your back.

He tried to take a closer look without you knowing and noticed it was actually a leash. He gave a small smirk. Were you really going to leash him again? Not on his watch.

“Hey Bakugo..” You muttered. Bakugo perked up at his name. “Mm?”

You didn’t answer for a while. Only stepping closer to Bakugo. You look down like you were flustered in saying something. Deep down, you were both scared yet excited to use the almost same tactic to him. But you didn’t know that he knows what your planning.

“What is it?” He played along, slightly tilting his head.

“Uhm... Y-you see..” You stuttered, now starting to regret it. Bakugo smirked but kept in character. “Hm? What do you want to tell me? I don’t got all day.”

You looked up at him, your face really red. “I- I really like you, Bakugo.. I didn’t know that I would catch these feelings for you but.... I guess I did.” You averted your eyes to somewhere else. You were telling the truth. Wanting to say more to catch him off guard.

But you were shocked when Bakugo lowly chuckled and made you look at him. You couldn’t tell if he was flustered or not due to the darkness. But you could see his face a bit red.

“Really? Huh.” 

You stepped back when he stepped forward. You both did that until you felt something hit your back. He pinned you to the tree as he slowly inched towards you. You both not breaking eye contact.

You tensed as you felt his warm breath hit your neck. Goosebumps rising. You held the leash tighter as you still hid it behind your back.

“Bakugo..?” You said taken aback.

“Yes Y/n?” He said in a low, charming tone.

You gulped. Very flustered.

“Y/n?”

“Y-yes?” You answered after a while.

“You’re lucky.”

You rose a brow in confusion, your face turning back to it’s normal color. Then blushing again when you felt his lips brushing yours.

“I like you too.” He admitted before kissing you passionately. Your breath hitched in surprise, loosing grip of the leash and collar behind you. Bakugo pulled away, giving you short time to breath for air then kissing you again.

This time, you finally kissed back. Your hands letting go of the leash and collar and your arms wrapping around Bakugo’s neck. Bakugo quickly grabbed the leash and collar before it fell on the grass and wrapped his hands around your waist, pulling you closer.

Bakugo’s hands going from your waist to your neck.

Before anything else had escalated, you heard a click. You stopped as you began to get confused. Bakugo pulled away and smirked as he waved the leash in front of you. You gasped in betrayal and surprise as you now noticed that you were wearing the collar.

You were flustered as you blamed yourself for forgetting the plan. “Damnit.” You cursed. Bakugo’s smirk grew as he kept eye contact with you. His ego growing.

“You can’t trick me, Y/n.”

“You sure? I did last w-” You were cut off by Bakugo giving you a peck on the lips.

“Mm... Don’t remember that darlin’.” He smiled.

After a few seconds, Bakugo asked, his tone slightly confused and anxious. “Do you really like me? Did you mean what you said earlier?”

You nodded, scratching your neck. “Every word.”

“And you really confessed to me just to make me wear the collar again?”

You nodded sheepishly. Now that you think about it. It was a stupid idea. Bakugo chuckled and helped you take off the collar. You rose a brow as he does so. He looked at you and softly glared.

“What? Do me want to walk you to the dorms with a collar around your neck? I’m not that mean Y/n.” You giggled at his words. “Sorry ‘bout planning on making you wear that leash again. I thought you’d be a handful again.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Psh, since when was I a handful?”

“Well-”

“Don’t answer that.” You grinned. Bakugo smiled back at you. You both slowly walked towards the dormitory. “So...”

“Wanna go out sometime?”

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

E/n:  I didn’t know what to write on that park scene. I mean like, I already planned on the scene to happen but that was on simple style! Making it a bit better and slightly detailed was a challenge. Hope you guys like this!

I know, I know, I haven’t posted a fanfic in like what? Almost a month? (oof sorry) I was having problems with the internet but I think it’s alright now. and I hope that it wouldn’t happen again. 

[thefallennightmare]

Hard to Love [15/?]

Pairings: Chris Evans x Reader

Words: 1338

Warnings: this story will have mentions of abuse, mental and physical so please read at your own risk. Some swearing, angst, and a good amount of fluff. Maybe some smut if I’m feeling frisky.

Summary: After moving to a new town all on her own, Reader would do anything for a stable job and income. Even if that means housekeeping for one of Boston’s eligible bachelors. What she didn’t expect was finding herself falling in love with him and him finding out about the past that she was running from.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the last cute chapters cause it’s time to get angsty. Buckle in cause no one and I mean no one is ready. 

Tags: @kelbabyblue @patzammit @thesecretlifeofdaydreamss @jennmurawski13 @divadinag @cosmicbreathe @thevelvetseries @capstopavenger @chris-butt @denisemarieangelina​ @im-a-stranger-thing @jennamarieee623 @introvertedmouse @lharrietg @breezykpop @instantbasementtimetravel @rodgersteves @michaelscotf @40srogcrs​ @wonderingshawn​ @bellaireland1981​ @katelyneannxo​ @lady-x-red​ @sare-bare93-blog @thejemersoninferno​ @annmariek8​ @theoldseoul

“So that’s a no for dinner then?” 

A soft sigh fell past my lips and I clutched the phone closer to my ear. “I’m sorry, Chris. I have this study group tonight for my final. I can’t miss it again.” 

“I know, I know.” Chris’ sad sigh was very evident through the speaker of my phone. “I'll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course,” I smiled. 

With a quick hang up, I trekked my way across the green field towards the campus library where four other members of my study group were patiently waiting. I had been late, yet again, because working at Chris’ went way later than I anticipated. 

It probably was the shower sex but I wasn’t complaining. 

It had been a few months since we debuted our relationship and despite all of the rude things I read online, our relationship had blossomed amazingly. I took Chris’ advice to not let whatever I read bother me or get between us; I hadn’t. But I was still very apprehensive when we went out in public together. No one ever bothered us but the fear of running into one of his upset fans loomed around in my mind. 

Chris had offered to get another housekeeper but I immediately declined. We had come to a mutual agreement. I would continue to do things around his house for him and he would pay for my courses. I disagreed for the first hour but eventually he wouldn’t let it go. He was proud of me that I was making a better future for myself. 

To be honest, I think he was afraid that I would go back to stripping. For the sake of both of us, that was the very last resort. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” I apologized while sliding into the seat next to one of the girls in my class. 

Monica waved me off. “No problem. We should get started with chapter seven.”

As we all studied the material for our upcoming final, I couldn’t help but feel a burning gaze in the back of my head. I dared a few glances over my shoulder but kept finding nothing; no one. I had to tell myself multiple times that I was overthinking it. No one had been following me or watching me. 

I would have believed myself if it hadn’t been happening for the last few days. 

“Babe? You here?” I called out as I entered the house. 

Dodger immediately greeted me with his usual happy tail and bark. Giving him a scratch on his head and his favorite treat, I followed the music of a piano and felt my heart melt at the sight in front of me. 

Chris’ fingers moved effortlessly across the keys of the piano, an unfamiliar tune bouncing off the walls of his home. 

My hands slid over his shoulders and down his chest, pecking his cheek. 

“I love it when you play.” 

He looked over his shoulder and placed a chaste kiss across my lips. He then spun around on the bench while placing his hands on my hips. 

“How was the study group?” Chris asked. 

“Good,” I nodded. “I know it’s kind of late but I wanted to stop by to say hi on my way back to my apartment.” 

Chris puckered his lip asking for a kiss, which I granted, and he looked up at me underneath the brim of his hat. 

“You can stay here if you want,” he offered. 

“I’ve been staying here every night the past week. I don’t want to impose anymore,” I said. 

He merely shrugged. “You’re not. This house is yours too. Dodger sits at the door waiting for you when you’re gone.” 

“Is that so?” I cooed towards the dog. 

I left Chris’ grasp and laid on the couch next to Dodger, scratching his belly. My attention was fully on Dodger that when Chris spoke those words, I had to double back at him, my eyes doubled in size. 

“I’m sorry. What did you say?” I asked. 

“Move in with me,” Chris said with no ounce of hesitation. 

My lips mimicked a fish, open then close then open again before closing again. Chris stared at me, waiting for an answer. I could tell in the way his shoulders slightly dropped, regret filling him. So I extended my hand towards him, pulling him down to the couch with me. He landed on his back while I laid with my chin on his stomach, looking up at him. His shirt rode up a bit, exposing his muscles on his stomach, and I placed a few kisses there. 

“I’d love to move in,” I beamed up at him. 

His smile beamed down at me then in a quick second, I was over his shoulder and he was walking up the stairs towards the bedroom. 

Our bedroom. 

“Bye Laura!” 

I gave a small wave towards one of my classmates, the cold night air breezing through my hair. Our night class had run a bit past end time and with the two texts I had received from Chris during class, I wanted to rush home to him. He mentioned that he had a surprise for me and that he planned out a romantic evening. 

That one specific thought ran through my mind but I quickly pushed it out. We weren’t ready for that, we both agreed, but even the mere thought of Chris getting down on one knee did cause my heart to flutter. 

My feet came to a screeching halt when my eyes took in the sight in front of me. All four tires on my car had been slashed; not a small one either. A very large slice ran all the way around each tire. 

“What the fuck,” I cursed while looking over my shoulder. 

I hadn’t seen anything or anyone out of the ordinary but it still didn’t ease the worried chill that ran through me. My hands shook as I took out my phone and dialed Chris’ number. 

“Hey beautiful,” His calming voice did nothing. 

“Uh, I need you to come pick me up from campus.” My breath came out ragged. 

I couldn’t see anyone else in the parking lot besides me but the feeling of being watched weighed heavy on my back. 

“Everything alright?” He questioned, concerned. 

“Something is wrong with my car. Can you please come pick me up?” 

Chris could hear my voice shake so he said a quick goodbye before the line went dead. I felt exposed out in the open so I decided to wait for Chris in my car. Thankfully he was there within ten minutes, his car sliding up to mine. I knew with the look on his face when he came around to my car and saw the tires, he was pissed. 

“What the hell happened?” 

I shrugged as I stood in front of him. “I have no clue. I came out of class and saw this.” 

He bent down to inspect the tires. “This isn’t an accident, Y/N. This is personal!” 

My body flinched away from him, something I still had no control over. Chris hadn’t ever raised his voice at me ever since I told him about my past with Chad because he knew it triggered me. 

Immediately his face softened while he stood, placing his hands gently on my shoulders. 

“I’m sorry I yelled,” Chris apologized. 

I nodded, letting him know that I was fine. “Can we please go home?” 

Reluctantly, he let it go, for now, and within minutes we were on our way back home. My lips were pressed in a hard line, forcing myself to keep quiet. The words were practically clawing at my lips, begging to be let out. I didn’t want any secrets between Chris and I but this was one that I would be keeping. 

I had a sinking feeling that I knew exactly who slashed my tires and who had been following me, however, I didn’t want to admit it, afraid that I was right.

[bandaigaeru]

comfort place - yang jeongin

→genre: friends to lovers →synopsis: comfort can manifest itself in many forms. some find it in the fantastical world of the arts. others find it in sports. but, for you, comfort is a person.  →word count: 6.5k →pairing: jeongin x gender neutral reader →warnings: drunk jeongin, mentions of puking

i. 

“Why are you doing that?” 

“Doing what?” 

“That,” your eyes go wide as you nod at his stature. He’s hunched over your trash can. Blue gloves shield his hands as he digs. 

“Oh. I think I lost my earring or something.” 

“And your first instinct was to search my trash can?” you quirk an eyebrow. Perhaps you should mention that this isn’t just any trash can, it’s your kitchen one. Full of discarded, burnt ramen and your roommate’s weird protein shakes that will clog your drain otherwise. 

He nods, as though this is the most normal first step to a lost earring. Yang Jeongin is many things, but being questionable is one of his strongest traits. 

You slip behind him to get to the fridge. Water bottles line the right half, more commonly known as your roommate’s side. You reach for one. 

“What are you doing on March twenty-fifth?” he asks, arms deep in your trashcan. He’s really going to endure this conversation without a single shred of his pride disappearing. 

You try not to look at him as you glance at the calendar. Two weeks away, the small square for that Saturday reads “NATIONALS” in large red letters. 

You hum to yourself. “Dog sitting.” 

“What?” he looks at you, eyes squinted in confusion, “Why?” 

“Danceracha’s going out of town for the dance contest. I told you this.” 

He exhales a deep, surrendering sigh as he straightens his back and plucks the gloves off. He shakes his hands in the cool air before starting for your sink. The calm stream of water trickles out. “Man. That sucks.” 

“Why?” you question. Your fingertips draw marks of condensation along the plastic. 

“I was gonna invite you to a party,” he mutters. A pout comes to his lips. For a moment, your heart drops. He looks the same as when you met him. All those years, long with memories but short in quantity, whizz past you. 

“Party?” you repeat. 

“Yeah,” he nudges the water stream off. 

Parties and Jeongin don’t mix well. History has proven this. 

“Whose party is it?” you start for the living room, knowing he’ll follow. 

“You don’t know him,” he says, his voice never once fading because, indeed, he’s on your tail. 

“Okay, but what’s his name?” 

“Chan. Actually,” he hesitates, “you might know him.” 

As you sink into the couch, chipped leather scratching your legs, you glance at him. His eyebrows are scrunched into his thinking stance. Then, his features light up once he finds the answer. “Do you remember sophomore year’s biology class?” 

You nod. 

“Remember when that senior came in to make fun of Mr. Lee?” 

Again, you nod. 

“His best friend is Chan. You probably saw them in our freshman yearbook for spirit week. They dressed up as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum for Twins Day.” 

Your mouth forms into an acknowledging part. “Got it.” In fact, the recurring image instantly pops into your head. You can thank all the hours spent staring at it with stifled laughter for that. 

“So what’s the party for?” 

He shrugs, “Some college achievement shit.” 

“And you got invited?” you laugh. Jeongin barely made it out of high school. He took one harrowed glance at the local campus and nearly cried. You don’t blame him, though. That place is stressful. Even as a freshman you can say this. 

He rolls his eyes. “I’m cool, you know? I don’t need to be in academics for them to know that.” 

“Sure,” you nod. 

“I’m serious!” His lips quirk up in a defensive manner that sends a spark through your chest. 

Among other things, Jeongin is confusing. Questionable and confusing. These are the words you say when someone asks you what he’s like. Because seriously, why does he always do things so infuriating yet endearing? 

He runs a hand through his hair as he unlocks his phone. His thumb works quickly to swipe through a message log before he tilts the phone so you can see. “See?” 

The conversation in question is short, a maximum of four texts. The details blur as he snatches his phone back as quickly as he showed it. Again, infuriating. 

“Are you planning on going alone, then?” 

This question makes him freeze. He stares at the wall wielding a mounted TV, whose black screen reflects the image of him by your side, shoulder to shoulder. A small smile tilts his lips. “I guess. People want me there. So I’ll find my niche.” 

See? Endearing. 

You have no doubts that he can find a place to fit in. He did it in high school and he’ll proceed to do it in the future. That’s just how he is. Plus, maybe he can allow someone else to feel safe too. Like he did for you. 

ii.

High school is a demon with a comforting smile. When you’re forced to transition, they tell you it’s all fun. Sunshine and rainbows, if you will. What they don’t tell you is that luck will always make it so you don’t get any of your friends in your classes. And this, with your contradicting lunch shifts, will slowly force you out of the friend group you had stuck with since elementary school. 

Perpetual tears are stocked behind your eyes. Waiting for the perfect moment to fall because let’s be honest, any minor inconvenience could push you over the edge. Stress does that to you. 

In third period of your second week, your math teacher announces that she’s decided on her seating chart. She makes you line up against the walls as she grabs her reference sheet, lined with the images of desks, names scribbled atop them. “Jeongin,” she says, pointing to a desk in the front row. 

A boy a few feet away from you steps out from the crowd to claim his desk. He’s wearing an oversized maroon hoodie whose back is marked “Yang” in white letters. 

Your teacher stops at the seat next to him. She glances at you and your heart drops. “Y/N,” she points to a desk. 

Sitting up front is worse than the incessant plagues of high school drama. All eyes permanently burn into the back of your head, even when not a single soul acknowledges you. 

As you try to settle into your seat, back a little stiff from trying to shrink yourself into a tiny marble, the boy beside you leans over. “Hey, you okay?” 

For the first time, your eyes lock. His remind you of the innocence of childhood, that blank yet full gaze. You nearly melt, but instead, your back loosens. 

“Yeah. I just don’t like sitting in the front,” you chuckle awkwardly. 

He smiles. Not one of the pity ones, but a real toothy smile. “Aww. Me neither, I always feel like everyone’s watching me.” 

Finally, a person who gets it. 

“But I just have to trick myself into not caring,” he says, glancing at the whiteboard. Shadows of poorly erased marker line the corners. 

Abruptly, after his serene gaze, he jumps back to you. “Do you like coffee by any chance?” 

Despite the initial shock of the question, you say, “Yeah, I do.” 

As it turns out, his family owns this huge coffee shop right next to the bookstore you used to frequent. His mom was rather happy to see a new face. On that day, she accepted you as family. 

And math didn’t turn out to be so hard that year. 

iii.

The apartment grows quiet after Jeongin inevitably has to leave. Your roommate’s dog comes trotting out from his room. His nose is upturned, scouting for a soul to give him attention. 

“Come here, Kkami,” you pat the empty spot on the couch beside you. He runs the rest of the way. Instead of resting on the couch cushion, he prefers your lap. This pickiness he obtained from his owner. 

Hyunjin’s anything but a bad roommate. He does the dishes, sweeps when he finds a large puff of Kkami’s fur traveling your hardwood like a tumbleweed, even brings home coffee when you have a huge study night ahead of you. However, when it comes to you and Jeongin, your mutual hangouts on weekends, he has a very specific need. And that’s to be around you two as little as possible. 

He claims it’s because he can’t stand third-wheeling. Jeongin refuses to understand this concept. “If we’re not dating, it’s not third-wheeling?” he’d said, numerous times. 

Hyunjin won’t budge on the subject. 

The tune set as Jeongin’s ringtone, chosen by him, plagues the air. You reach for your phone, placing a protective hand on Kkami’s side to prevent him from falling. 

“Hello?”

“Problem: What would you do if your brother told you he got a girlfriend?” 

You squint at your reflection in the TV between scene transitions. It looks odd without him beside you. “Which brother?” 

“Guess which one would make me more dumbfounded. Hint, it’s not the older one.” 

“Your younger brother got someone before you?” you snicker. Jeongin holds his pride in his individuality. Losing to a younger brother with something like this is hilarious. 

“This isn’t funny! Should I be a serious big brother and talk to him or should I just seethe in silence?” 

“Neither. Leave him alone.” 

He does something akin to a whine. “But-”

You stick up a finger, though he can’t see you as you interrupt, “C’mon, Jeongin. He’s a teenager. Let him be.” 

Sometimes, it feels like he’s the outsider and you’re the true, reasonable sibling. 

He sighs. You imagine him pushing his hair out of his eyes and staring up at his ceiling. All lost in the possibilities that lay before him, since you and him both know he won’t listen to you. 

“Can I hang up now?” you ask, glancing at the front door. 

“Are you gonna abandon me for your significant other too?” 

You scoff as the front door opens. “You’re ridiculous.” 

Hyunjin steps into the apartment. His hair is damp with sweat and lays jagged in front of his eyes. You raise a hand to wave. 

“It’s a real question, though. You know whoever it is will be jealous of me.” Now, you know, he’s just prodding for a reaction. You can practically hear the smirk in his voice. 

“Yes, Jeongin. I would one hundred percent drop you for some person who offers emotional stimulation,” you monotonously chide. 

Hyunjin gives you a curious look as he passes. You would think he’d be used to this by now. 

“Okay but,” Jeongin’s voice grows low as he settles onto his bed, “would you really? Tell me you won’t.” 

“I won’t,” you press your back deeper into the couch. It’s not like you’ve had many romantic opportunities since meeting him. Jeongin, though also needy, is more interesting than anyone else you’ve met. He’s a shiny emerald among a sea of charcoal. 

“Good,” he says, and you can tell he’s smiling. The image of his little dimple indenting makes you mirror the sentiment. 

“Now can I hang up?” 

“Fine,” he sighs.

Through a laugh, you manage, “Goodnight. Love you.” 

“Love you too.” And then the line goes dead. 

iv.

“Are you sure you don’t like him?” must be a trendy replacement for ‘good morning.’ 

“Who?” you ask, rubbing your eye as you start for the cereal cabinet. 

“Jeongin. Who else?” Hyunjin says. He sits at the kitchen table. A plate of freshly heated blueberry waffles sits before him. 

Without turning to him, you say, “I’m sure.” 

It’s a reflex, really. 

He exhales in the most exaggerated way possible to grab your attention. His eyes are cold with the hunger for an answer. A real one. 

“I don’t like him,” you say slowly, allowing each word time to sink into the air. 

The thought has surely crossed your mind. It’d be unrealistic to say you’ve never pondered the great possibility of being in love with your best friend. But ultimately, you don’t think you are. Sure, you’d take a bullet for Jeongin. Just not in the ‘wow I’m madly in love with you’ kind of way. You tell yourself it’s in the ‘you’re going to do so much good for the world’ kind of way. 

“Fine,” Hyunjin admits, picking up one of his waffles and taking a caveman bite. 

Most of breakfast is quiet as you sit opposite him, staring into your bowl. Your milky reflection takes you off guard a few times. 

“You know,” Hyunjin says after a while, his voice raw and a little croaky. He has to bring a hand to cover his mouth as he clears his throat. “You should get him to stay with you while I’m away.” 

As you look back up at him, he adds defensively, “I’m not trying to play Cupid.”

You shrug, “He probably has other plans.” 

Yet when you text him a few hours later, he jumps on it. “It’ll be like a sleepover! Don’t you miss when we did those?” 

You did, but you don’t admit it. 

v.

The week of nationals arrives too quickly for your mind to process. One minute, you’re studying for an upcoming exam and the next there’s a knock on your bedroom door. It doesn’t wait for a sound before opening. 

“Hey, I’m leaving.” 

Hyunjin’s dressed in black sweatpants and a black hoodie, which covers his messy hair. Perfect for his night of sleeping on the bus. A duffel bag packed and puffy hangs off his shoulder. 

“Good luck,” you smile up at him. 

“Thanks. Don’t try sneaking into the venue with your rat like you did last year,” he returns the smile. 

“Hey, it wasn’t my idea,” you rush to defend yourself. 

He scoffs. “Yeah, right. You still played into it.” 

“And we got to support you as your lovely friends.” 

“You were the only people cheering during the contemporary dance,” he mumbles, stepping back into the hall. 

“To be fair, we couldn’t realize because we were so involved!” you shout to match the increasing distance. 

“Right!” he calls, a laugh shaking his words. 

Studying is now a failed mission. Every time you glance at the words printed on the textbook’s glossed pages, they just blur together until your mind drifts to Jeongin. When is he coming over? He said he’d be here by seven. It’s roughly a quarter past. He has a key, so it’s not like you have to be free when he gets here.

When you succumb and close the textbook, you hear shuffling in the living room. Shortly followed by Kkami’s familiar barking, which he only pursues when someone’s here. 

The feeling of a generously excited puppy fills you as you follow the source. 

“Hi,” you smile. 

Jeongin has treated himself to a coffee. He must have just worked a shift. 

“Hi,” he hands you the paper cup. 

“Oh, is this for me?” you take it. It’s hot against your palms. 

“Yeah. It’s hot chocolate. Thought you might want it.” 

He drops his backpack, likely stuffed with potential party outfits, by the couch. He stands and scans your face as you take the first sip of the drink. The sweetness takes over and makes you shiver, but the warmth minimizes the shiver to nothing. Surely enough, this is his mother’s hot chocolate. 

“Thank you,” you say, looking into his eyes. The living room light has speckled his eyes with stars.

“Of course.” 

A moment passes of just looking at each other. Not a single word. You’re not even sure if you’re remembering to breathe. 

It breaks when he glances at the TV. “Movie time?” 

Settling on the couch doesn’t take long. He sits close enough to you, resting his head on your shoulder. He’s done this for as long as you remember, but why does it feel so close all of a sudden? 

He chooses the movie. A tradition you’ve established ever since you accidentally chose a movie so repulsively awful you had to take a break from watching movies at all. The teasing was barely bearable. 

Even now, when someone says something similar to that movie, you shiver. 

“Are we feeling sci-fi?” he asks. 

You almost shrug until you remember where his head is. “I don’t care,” you say instead. 

He chooses a romance movie, his safe pick. 

And he falls asleep not even ten minutes in. 

Hyunjin’s question returns to you in neon lights. Certainly, this tight feeling in your chest couldn’t be akin to liking someone. When you like someone, there’s always a telltale sign. There’s a bright moment of realization. That’s never come for you. Even now, all you can do is question. Question. Question. Question. 

vi.

Jeongin’s party outfit is the most conspicuous thing ever. A light blue tee from middle school that has all his classmate’s signatures on the back. Black jeans with holes at the knees. You can’t tell if he’s going to a child’s party or not. 

He catches your tilted gaze, matched with the furrowed eyebrows, and huffs. “Would you rather I get puke on a good shirt?” 

You blink. “I’d rather you not puke on yourself.” 

A noise close to laughter bursts past his lips. “Ha. Funny. I won’t reach that point. I’m thinking people puking on me.” 

You nod. Jeongin’s a lightweight, from what you know. But hey, if it helps him sleep at night. 

He departs after a long phone call with Chan. He offers a little wave as he opens the door. “I’ll give you live updates.” 

“You don’t have to.” 

“But I will.” 

And indeed, he follows through. Selfies bombard your phone every three minutes. One is taken with Chan, but it’s so shaky and dark that they look like blobs with highlighted cheeks. 

These only make you more confused. Maybe Hyunjin was right. But you don’t want him to be. Nothing makes you feel more foolish than catching feelings for a friend who is just that. Friend. That painful, heartbreaking word. 

You open Hyunjin’s message log, prepared to reach out and ask if he can help you break down what you’re feeling, but his contact transitions to consuming your entire screen—perfect timing, he’s calling. 

“Hello?” 

“Guess what?” His voice is drowned out by external shouts. 

“What?” 

“We took second place!”

“Congrats,” you smile to yourself, leaning against the couch arm. 

“It’s all thanks to Felix’s freestyle. That surprise category threw us off, but he really came through,” he rambles. He tells you about all his points and each error, which ultimately seem mundane but apparently make a difference in his detail loving mind. 

“Anyway, I just wanted to call. See how you’re doing, you know.”

“I’m doing good,” you nod as though to convince yourself. 

“How’s Jeongin?” 

“At a party,” you say as your phone buzzes again. Another selfie. This time, he’s in a lonesome bathroom and posing in the mirror. A peace sign that surrounds his eye. That stupid dimple makes your heart jump. 

Hyunjin giggles at something on his end and says something not aimed at you. He quickly returns to his serious tone with, “How are you really feeling? Don’t bullshit me.” 

You stifle a laugh. Resting your head on the back of the couch, you glare at the ceiling, “Confused.” 

“About Jeongin?” 

He slips into a quieter place. You sigh. Why are your hands shaking all of a sudden? “Yeah.” 

“Well,” he starts, “I pushed you into thinking about it for a reason.” 

“He doesn’t like me like that.” 

“How do you know?” 

“Because friends don’t like friends like that.” 

“But you like him like that, so doesn’t that ruin your statement?” 

You sit in the silence for a minute. “I guess so.” 

His breath is amplified and you can hear each inhale and exhale. “You’ll probably just brush this off, but I think you have a shot.” 

You nod. “Sure. A shot at going to the moon maybe. A shot at Jeongin liking me? No way.” 

“Look, pessimism isn’t gonna get you anywhere. If you’re too much of a pussy to talk to him, I will. But not because I want to, because it’s terrible seeing you sulk,” he mutters. 

A round of applause for your roommate. 

“Just give me some time. I still don’t know if I like him,” you glance at the dog, who’s cuddled up on a pile of blankets. Why can’t your life be that simple? 

“Not trying to force you or anything, but I think you know the answer to that.” 

He’s probably right. It’s not like you can retaliate anyway. There’s a distant knock before he says, “Sorry. I gotta go. I’ll be home tomorrow.” 

The following silence is truly suffocating. 

vii.

That party changes everything. 

Jeongin stumbles home, each step a potential path to faceplanting. It’s this exact stumble that forces him to trip over a box. 

The noise draws you from sleep. Through squinted eyes, you stare at him as he tries to regain his balance. His arms are splayed out, searching for a stable support beam. 

“Jeongin?” you whisper, though you know it’s him. Who else would be drunkenly returning home at, you glance at your phone, three in the morning?

“Y/N,” he gasps. Your voice prompts him to follow it. 

As you stand, he finds his way through the narrow path between couch and coffee table. He throws his arms around you. 

“I missed you,” he mumbles, words meshing together. 

“I missed you too?” It’s only been six hours. 

He holds you at arms length, palms resting on your shoulders. “I love you,” he slurs, eyes drunkenly taking a long blink. 

“I love you too?” 

“No, like, I really love you. ‘The moon is beautiful’ type of stuff,” he nods. 

You’re not sure what he means by this. But it doesn’t matter if you try to question him, because he continues. 

“I think about the future a lot,” he says, hands falling to his sides before he falls onto the couch. “Nothing’s ever consistent. But you’re always there.” 

“That’s-” you begin. 

He wasn’t finished. “I think our wedding would be nice.” 

Now, he goes silent as you stand there in shock. He thinks about that? How often? 

The moment your lips part to ask these things, a light snore escapes his lips. You grab a blanket from your room, the Totoro one he loves, and you gently cover him. You lean over his face. His cheeks are a little swollen, as are his lips. You push his hair away from his eyes before going to your room. You’re careful not to make a noise as you shut the door. 

He’s gone by the time you wake up. For the first twenty-four hours, you shrug it off as a painful hangover he’s just sleeping through. 

Most hangovers don’t last a week, though. 

One time, sitting beneath a sky littered with stars, Jeongin released a deep breath. “Do you think we’ll ever stop being friends?” 

Jeongin’s not insecure about many things, as his philosophy is that if one person finds something unattractive, there’s a hoard who will think otherwise. But this topic is an exception. 

“Unless you do something unthinkably terrible, no,” you mumble. And you truly meant it. 

So, Jeongin: You haven’t done anything unthinkable.Why have you disappeared? 

Life without Jeongin has been incredibly boring. It’s prompted an imminent heartache. Attending class is a lame option considering your bed is so much more comfortable. You never knew missing someone could form a black hole in your body, consuming each grain of energy. 

Hyunjin’s the only reason you’re eating. Since he knows you’re not up for any meal, he brings you snacks and another bottle of water—to add to the mountain of empty bottles on your desk. 

“Do I need to go break his ankles?” Hyunjin asks one day, nearly a month after his tournament. 

You shrug. You know he’s joking, but laughter doesn’t seem to bubble up. It’s lost in the dark cave that is this confusing state. 

“I texted him today. No response yet,” Hyunjin adds. 

You nod. You got the same treatment, but you stopped trying a while ago. 

“Have you gone to the coffee shop? To see his mom or something?” 

You shake your head. “No point in it. He doesn’t tell her much. Plus I don’t want to pin her against him or anything.” 

Hyunjin sighs. He doesn’t know what else to say, or offer, or do to help you. Not that you’re a lost cause, but he’s starting to lose the ounce of hope he had. To him, you’re too good for this. Telling and convincing you of that is a difficult task. 

When he leaves you alone, you cry again. At this point, your eyes hurt when you aren’t crying. But hey, at least you’re sleeping nice. The desperate need to escape can do that to you. 

viii.

You tell Hyunjin your conclusion at dinner—something he’s finally tricked you into eating. “I think I love him.” 

He nods. “Yeah. Didn’t we already establish that?” 

You push the noodles around. “I didn’t want to admit it.” 

“Why?” 

Averted gaze set to the ramen, though his remains scalding. “I don’t know.”

He reaches across the table to regain your focus. He knows the noodles aren’t that interesting. “That’s okay. Look, we can go beat his ass if you want. Or we can hunt him down and hold him hostage-”

He stops when he sees the small hint of a smile turning your lips up. One of his own appears, and in his mind, he’s breaking into a congratulatory dance. The crack in the sadness is exposed, and it’s slowly breaking further. All that’s next is revealing the ravine of happiness. 

After dinner, you sit on the couch and decide to watch a movie. Unlike Jeongin, he gives you movie pick. It reminds you of the bitter taste that’s overcome your mouth since he up and left. 

Halfway through the movie, some shitty one Jeongin and you watched a few months ago, Kkami barks at the couch. He looks between you and the crack behind it as if to say, “Hello? Get my bone!” 

You glance at Hyunjin, who also waits for you to get up and retrieve the dog’s lost bone. Normally you take turns with this task, but he seems to have forgotten it’s been his turn for the last five times. 

With a muted sigh, you pull yourself off the couch. Hyunjin doesn’t even bother to pause the movie. Jeongin wouldn’t do that.  

You lower yourself to look into the dark tunnel. With a blind hand you swipe against the floor. A small object connects with the palm of your hand. You drag it out. A small metal earring glares back at you. You drop it in the pocket of your hoodie—which was a gift from Jeongin as you drifted into adulthood. You return to the bone search with a sting in your eyes. 

ix.

Happiness is a fragile object. 

At the same hour that Jeongin had said the unthinkable, your phone buzzes loudly against your side. Ultimately, this brings you back to the post-sleep daze as you trudge to answer it. Looking at the contact is the last of your concerns. 

“Hello?” Your voice is raw. A long gulp of water would be kindly appreciated. 

“Hey, Y/N, right?” This is a voice you’ve never heard before. You pull back to look at the contact and, unsurprisingly, there isn’t one. All that stares back is a string of numbers, unique to this person. 

“Yeah?” 

“Hi, sorry for the late call. I’m Chan-” you nearly hang up out of defensive instinct, but you let him finish. “I kind of need a favor right now.” 

“What kind of favor?” 

In the background, there’s a loud retching noise. “Um, so Jeongin, right?” Chan nervously laughs. 

“We’re not really-” you start. 

He interrupts, “I know. But he’s been talking about you nonstop. He’s really a wimp, you know. Actually, I guess I’m not really asking for a favor. I’m doing you a favor.” 

You know where he’s going with this. “I’m sorry, Chan, but I don’t think that’s a-”

“Hush,” he says before his voice distances. 

“Y/N? It’s Y/N?” the familiar, slurred voice asks. 

He wasn’t going to give you an option. Deep down, you’re kind of grateful for that. 

When Chan returns to the phone, he says, “I can send you the address. We’re on the first floor, so it shouldn’t be too bad. I would offer to come pick you up, but I’m babysitting.” At these final words, he laughs. 

You consider waking up Hyunjin to take you—he’s the one with the car—but you think against it when you realize it’s only a five minute walk. 

Despite the daytime weather that is clear sky and sun that hugs your skin, the nighttime 

version is a little less welcoming. Indeed the air is breezeless, but it’s a bitter cold. Grabbing a hoodie would have been smart, but alas. 

Chan opens the door with a smile. “Hi, come on in.” 

He points to a closed door, “Jeongin’s in there. He should be decent. Just a little pukey.” 

You follow his directions, while he starts for the couch. At least he’s allowing privacy, you think. You knock lightly on the door. After a long trial of waiting with no response, you slowly push the door open. 

His cheek is resting on the cold porcelain of the bathtub. Through dazed and squinted eyes, he looks at you. “Hi?” 

“Hey,” you say, stepping into his space for the first time in over a month. Despite the stain of puke on his shirt, you realize that he hasn’t changed much. What physical changes can someone go through in a month? Well. Everything. 

You appreciate your mind for allowing his appearance to never leave. Otherwise, you might have looked at him just now and been disgusted. Because it’s Jeongin, and because of this weird tugging feeling in your chest, you don’t. In its place, you look at him as though he holds the world’s most valuable object. 

He tries to sit up, nearly falls on his face, but manages. “Do you hate me?” 

“No. I don’t think so,” you squat next to him. The familiar weight of his head meets with your shoulder. 

“I shouldn’t say this,” he laughs. His mind is going a mile a minute, but his lips refuse to go at an accompanying speed. “I love you.” 

You stare at the top of his head. “I love you too.” 

“Really?” he lifts his head. He seems to search your eyes for the similar sparkle his hold. 

“Yeah,” you nod. You decide to save your cheesy comments until the morning. No point in wasting them if he won’t remember this when he wakes up. 

“Did you know that I,” he says, trying to lift himself to his feet. He leans a little too far on a foot, prompting you to rush and steady him. “thought you and Hyunjin were dating for the longest time.” He laughs again. 

You squint at him, “Is that why you disappeared?” 

A drunk smile finds his lips and his cheeks glow beneath the bathroom light. “Guilty.” 

“You’re stupid for thinking it’d ever be anyone but you,” you whisper, glancing anywhere but him. You could say this to the mirror too. Stupid for thinking it could be anyone but him. 

He’s ridiculous. Ridiculous enough to allow his smile to drop a little as he leans closer to your face. “I’m going to kiss you,” he whispers. 

You watch as he leans a little bit closer. Bit by bit. You even close your eyes at one point. At the last minute, when his breath begins to mingle with yours, he pulls away. “No. Let me brush my teeth first.” 

You watch in a stunned silence as he stumbles to the living room. “Do you have a spare toothbrush I could use?” he asks Chan. 

Chan responds quietly with, “Yeah, under the sink.” 

You beat Jeongin to it, offering him the packaged toothbrush. 

“Thanks, love,” he says. 

Questionable Jeongin who calls you pet names. You like it, though you’ll try your hardest not to admit it. That’d only feed into his questionable choices. 

Minty Jeongin has sobered up a little bit. Instead of kissing you immediately after rinsing his mouth, he stares. 

“What?” you prompt. 

“Nothing.” 

And then he leans in and kisses you. In all honesty, it’s exactly how you imagined kissing him. There’s no stereotypical sparks. It’s just Jeongin, whose lips happen to be on yours. That’s enough. Afterward, though, you acknowledge that Cloud 9 is beneath your feet. 

x.

Chan drives you and Jeongin back to your apartment after a difficult talk and one final puke. (The puker looks at you when he feels it coming and asks, “Can you hold my hair back?”)

As you’re helping Jeongin out of the car, Chan leans back in the driver seat and glares a strong eye at Jeonign, “Run away again and I will beat your ass.” 

Jeongin chuckles. “Right. Catch me first.” As he says this, he throws his arm over your shoulder for stability. Though, he’s sober enough to walk on his own now. The occasional stumble, sure, but he’s not in dire need of someone to guide him. 

You take it as his way of saying he plans on staying. 

However, when you make it into the apartment, you don’t bear right to the couch. 

Keeping him close will prevent him sneaking out and running away again. That’s a thing of the past, and you’ll make sure of it. 

He doesn’t even complain. 

“Don’t puke on me, please,” you whisper as you climb into bed. He follows shortly after. Arms naturally find your waist as he pulls you closer to him. 

He hums. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Dreamless sleep takes over you, but the entire time you’re aware of his arms and his proximity. In a way, it’s better than dreaming. 

It’s even better when you wake up before him. His lips are a pretty shade of pink and for a moment you forget about his eventful night. You press a light kiss to his cheek. 

His eyes don’t open, nor does he stir. He’s in that beautiful, drunken sleep. You try not to laugh at the thought of his hangover to come. God, he’s going to be so whiny. 

You try to slip out of his arms, but the death grip only becomes tighter. He whines a little, mutters something like, “Don’t go.” 

After a few more minutes of just staring at the sleeping boy, boredom takes over. Yeah, staring is nice and all, whatever, but it reaches a certain intolerable point. Ten minutes is that point. 

You nudge him, “Jeongin, let go. I need to go to the bathroom.” 

“No,” he mutters, burying his face deeper into the pillow. 

“Jeongin.” 

“What?” 

“Let go.” 

His eyes finally open. They hold a small sense of surprise, which prompts you to tease, “What? Do you need a breakdown of what happened? Were you seriously that out of it?” 

“No. Well, a little,” he stumbles over the words. 

“What do you remember?” 

“Puking,” he winces as he laughs. There’s that signature headache. 

“You don’t remember kissing me?” 

Wide eyes stare back at you. His lip shakes as he tries to force words out. “What?” 

You laugh quietly. “Yeah. You did that.” 

“I’m sorry,” he sits up. His vacant arms feel cold. 

“No it’s okay. You only kissed me because I told you I loved you,” you sit up to match him. 

His head turns to look at you. Tufts of hair stick up in an oddly symmetrical way. “Really? Since when?” 

You nod. “Yeah. Time frame is unknown, but I think the feeling might have always been there. So you wasted a month of your life hiding.” 

He tips his head, “Hey now, I had a valid reason.” 

Your eyes squint at him. “It could have been avoided if you answered my texts. Or Hyunjin’s. Or if you checked your voicemail. Or-”

“Okay, I get it,” he nods, leaning in to shut you up. He presses a quick kiss to your lips. “I’m sorry.” He doesn’t say how weird it feels to kiss his best friend—but he’s incredibly excited to get used to it. 

“It’s fine. I think. My grades kind of tanked,” you comment, glancing at your desk. The tower of water bottles still stands. Somewhere buried beneath them are your abandoned papers. 

“Because of me?” his voice is soft, as are his eyes as he fights back the sting of tears. Of all his intentions, this wasn’t one of them. 

This look pains you. “Kinda. I thought I had lost my comfort place.” 

In order to disguise his tears, he pulls you into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be good to you. We can make latte art together at the shop and stargaze at stupid hours. Whatever you want.” 

You laugh into his shoulder. “Is that a promise?” 

He sniffles. “Yes. I love you. That’s the second promise.” 

xi.

Hyunjin’s reaction is lackluster. A forced gasp as he waves his hands in surprise. “Wow. I totally didn’t give Chan your number or anything,” he says. 

“Are you serious?” 

“Yeah. He called me trying to drop him,” he points at Jeongin, “on me.”

“And you didn’t want to get out of bed?” Jeongin asks, bringing his mug of freshly brewed coffee to his lips. 

“No,” Hyunjin sticks a finger up in defense. “Kkami wouldn’t let me move.” 

What he means is: Yes, I didn’t want to get up but allow me to use my dog as a ploy. 

You and Jeongin share a glance to confirm this thought. You burst out laughing. 

“Do not tell me you’ve developed a couple's telepathy already,” Hyunjin whines, throwing his head back as he begins to pace the kitchen. 

Jeongin begs your stare again. He wiggles his eyebrows to pseudo-communicate. 

“I’m going to retail therapy,” Hyunjin sighs, dragging his keys off the counter before starting for the door. 

A loud fit of laughter fills the air as the door shakes in its frame. 

“He’s so overdramatic,” Jeongin manages, wiping a stray tear away from his eye. 

You allow this time to watch him intently. All of his details flood over you with definitive clarity. His skin has gotten its first film of tan now that spring is in full swing. A change of season which you had missed out on together. It’s okay, he’ll take you to see the cherry blossoms next year. 

“Oh, I found your earring, by the way,” you say when he catches you staring. 

“Really? Where was it?” On instinct, he brings his hand up to his right ear. The lobes are not blinged, but it’s still worth checking. 

“Behind the couch.” 

He gapes at you. “How’d it get back there?” 

“How would I know?” 

You allow a silence to lay upon you as his face twists to think. All at once, it lights up again, “Ah. It was probably when we had that wrestling match. I didn’t have the back on because my ear was itchy or something.” 

Interesting Jeongin. Questionable Jeongin. 

Yang Jeongin is many things. Home. Comfort. Love. Above all else, he’s a friend. Who you happen to kiss from time to time. 

[wrathandgreed]

Idea: Barbatos professing his love for you the first time. Take it however you want with angst or fluff 😘

Surprises

GN!MC x Barbatos (fluff)

Word count: 6.5k

Author Note: Somehow, this took on a life of its own, and now I’m in love with Barbatos.

You wonder, briefly, if this is how Cinderella felt.

Everyone assumes that Cinderella spent the ball floating on air, waltzing gracefully with the prince, impressing everyone with her beauty and charm.

Did anyone ever think that maybe, just maybe, Cinderella felt completely out of place? That huge ball gown, skirts wide enough to knock food off tables. The high heels, so much harder to walk in than bare feet. And everyone looking at her, always eyes watching her.

Maybe she found her true love, sure, but maybe she really just wanted to dash off to the kitchen, where things felt familiar and safe.

As you stand in Diavolo’s heavily decorated ballroom, a smile plastered on your face, pity for Cinderella runs through your head. Couture might look good, but it was constricting. You didn’t dare eat or drink - nothing washes out of this fabric. Also, trying to undo the whole outfit just to pee was NOT going to happen. The ballroom was sweltering hot and you were sweating under your clothes.

To be fair, it hadn’t been all bad, especially not in the beginning. Stepping into Diavolo’s castle was like stepping into a fairy tale. Millions of tiny lights floated all around, little wisps that barely illuminated anything but lent a bewitching aura to every room. The edges of the ballroom were lined with tables full of Barbatos’ cooking and baking. You smile as you passed a tray of cookies you had helped him make yesterday; maybe when the ball was over and you no longer had to worry about your party clothes, you’d steal one.

The music had been fun - instrumental and easy to dance to, and boy had you danced! Every one of the brothers had, at one time, claimed your hand and spun you around the dance floor. Lucifer had waltzed and twirled you expertly, covering the entire dance floor in one song. Satan, somehow, was better - perhaps because he cared more about dancing with you than showing off that he was dancing with you. Mammon fumbled more than anything else but, except for bumping into other demons a few times, his feet were pretty sure. And once he gave up on trying to replicate the fancy moves of Lucifer and Satan, the two of you just whirled around the dance floor with absolutely no concern for your safety or anyone else’s.

Asmo refused to let you go for almost half an hour while he showed off moves the two of you had practiced together. Belphie and Beel pulled you into a strange three-person dance with a lot of hand-holding and ducking under each other’s arms until all three of you were howling with laughter and had to excuse yourself into the hallway.

And in the hallway, you even managed to lure Levi into a little swaying slow dance in the corner. It felt a little like an 8th grade formal, but his eyes shone when you put your head on his shoulder, so everything was good.

The brothers had passed you from hand to hand, protecting you and dancing, laughing, talking, flirting. When you thought no one was looking, you snuck out your phone and took selfies with them, for the scrapbook you were making of your time here.

But like Cinderella’s coach, you felt like you turned into a pumpkin around midnight. It was now a few hours past and your patience and enjoyment were wearing thin. You thought longingly of the room Lord Diavolo had given you here for the night, but Diavolo himself had vanished and demonic etiquette dictates that you not leave without thanking him personally, and perhaps indulging the Demon Prince himself in a dance.

Your feet ache at the idea of another turn around the floor.

“MC, darling, don’t move! There’s someone I want to see, but I’ll be back in just a second,” Asmo whispers in your ear before slipping off into the crowd.

Surprised, you look around and realize none of the brothers are moving to replace him at your side. Lucifer had disappeared with Diavolo, muttering something about paperwork. Mammon and a few lesser demons are playing cards in a game room across the hall. Levi - well, there was no keeping Levi at a formal function full of people for any length of time. Beel was….. yes, Beel was over there by the food tables, and Belphie was probably napping on a couch in the hallway.

You realize you can’t see Barbatos anywhere, either. Through it all, you’d catch glimpses of him, refilling food and clearing away glasses. Once, he caught your eye and gave you his gentlest, friendliest smile. A few hours later, he happened to be in exactly the right place to catch you as you and Mammon tripped over another demon’s tail while trying to waltz.

You would have welcomed his presence, but for the moment you were alone.

Wonderfully, gratefully, blessedly alone.

You gather the extra material of your outfit and in your head you see Cinderella hiking her ball gown to her knees to book down the stairs. Trying to remain unseen, you carefully open the terrace doors and slip out onto the balcony.

The crisp air outside slaps you in the face and you almost whimper in relief. Without stopping to think, you lean your back against the now-closed terrace doors and yank off your shoes.

A noise off to your left startles you, has you whipping your head to the side and clutching your shoes to your chest. If you have to put your shoes back on, you’re going to cry.

But it’s Barbatos.

He’s humming lightly along with the music inside as he passes by more slim banquet tables, gathering empty wine glasses onto a silver tray for washing. His hair catches the moonlight and for a moment you’re bewitched by him, by his gentle demeanor and quick efficiency.

It had been that demeanor and efficiency which allowed you to become friendly in the first place.

Devil’s sake, why are these stupid meetings always so long?!

You hadn’t been in the Devildom long, but somehow you’d had to sit through like seven Council meetings already. And this one was going on forever, but  you weren’t allowed in the room because it was a SECRET meeting and you’re not a Council Member.

And you’re also not allowed to just walk home because you could get eaten by a lesser demon.

So instead, you’re sitting on the floor in the hallway outside the council room. Trying to get comfortable and read your book, but your feet keep going numb any time you settle into a reading position. In a minute you’re going to just say hell with dignity and lay flat-out on the floor, tent your book over your face, and take a nap. You’re getting more and more annoyed when - 

“That certainly does not look comfortable, MC.”

You glance up from your book, and there’s Diavolo’s butler. His name had something to do with islands. Barbatos? Bora Bora? Aruba sounded wrong. You’d spoken to him a few times, but barely knew him at all so, as far as you’re concerned, he’s part of the problem. Right now, every demon is part of the problem.

“It’s not comfortable,” you return tartly. “But I’m stuck here until this meeting is over, since I’m not even allowed to walk back to the damn House on my own.”

The butler’s face clouds over, but all he does is excuse himself and enter the council room. For a second, you worry that you offended him with your rudeness, but then you decide you don’t care. He’s a demon. If he deals with this lot regularly, rudeness shouldn’t be something that bothers him all that much.

You settle into another position - back against the wall, legs straight out in front of you. It’ll relieve the pins and needles in your feet, but you just know your ass will be numb in twenty minutes….and suddenly Barbatos/Bora Bora is back in front of you, bent over at the hips and with an extended hand to help you rise. When you just gape at him, he smiles that small self-contained smile of his. 

“I’ve spoken with Lucifer, and I have leave to walk you back to the House myself, so long as I remain with you until one of them returns.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have way more interesting things to do than babysit me.”

His smile widens, his eyes sparkle just a little at your polite refusal. He doesn’t wait for the little lamb to stand on their own and, instead, grasps your hand with both of his and pulls you to your feet. 

“I insist. I have all the time in the world, after all.” 

Your own smile twists, just a little. You had no idea what he meant by that at the time, and it’s still a little creepy to think about.

The butler did, indeed, walk you back to the House of Lamentation. And he did, indeed, refuse to leave you alone once there. Every suggestion and argument you raised - because, really, you’re an adult and you can stay alone in a damn house - was met with that smile, that patience, and that absolutely immutable stubborn will.

But, hey, after passing on the information that one of the brothers would grab dinner from Hell’s Kitchen and bring it home, Barbatos insisted that the two of you make dessert.

You knew what he was doing. You’re not stupid. You’d barely been in the Devildom two weeks, and you knew no one trusted you on your own yet. You were to remain, both under guard and guarded against, until trust could be established.

And it fascinated you to watch Barbatos work. It wasn’t exactly a punishment to sit in the warm kitchen and watch a master doing his thing. Initially, he had insisted you help, but…..

“You are truly hopeless, aren’t you? And I thought the rumors of Solomon’s cooking were alarming.”

“Yeah, well, cooking’s boring.” When Barbatos shoots you a look, you shrug, refusing to back down. “If you like doing it, cool, works for you. I don’t. It’s just…. it’s FOOD. You spend two hours making it, and everyone will eat it in under fifteen minutes. Less if Beel is around.”

“I find it soothing,” the butler returns, amusement evident in his voice.

“Awesome for you. That’s not a dig, really, it’s great that you enjoy it. I like to knit; everyone has something. But I can’t do any of this stuff in the first place, and DEFINITELY not in silence. It’s too distracting.”

“And what music do you listen to when working?”

“Oh, uh, not music. Audiobooks.” You FEEL yourself blushing. “I’m a Lit major. Well, I was. I’ve probably been thrown out of college for non-attendance at this point.”

Barbatos smiles as his hands move effortlessly through the ingredients. “I believe Lord Diavolo has ensured that your education will continue as you desire after this year is over.” He hesitates just a moment, then continues, “I believe Satan has mentioned audiobooks in the past, but he has to go to the human world to get them. They are what they sound like?”

You hitch yourself up on a high kitchen stool. “Yeah, exactly. A recording of someone reading a book out loud. Usually it’s more of a dramatic reading, sometimes like a play with a bunch of people taking different parts. Not a Devildom thing, huh?”

“No, but I shall bring the idea up to Lord Diavolo. Perhaps we could interest more demons in the Royal Library this way. Humans enjoy them?”

“Until we had stuff like radio and TV, most entertainment was someone reading to the family while everyone did their own thing. They’re not as big now, but yeah, some humans like them.”

Hands still clutching your book from earlier, you watch Barbatos in silence for a few minutes, then blurt out before you can stop yourself, “Maybe you might like it? I feel bad that you’re doing all the cooking and I’m just sitting here.”

A brief expression - it might have been surprise - flits across the otherwise placid face before Barbatos murmurs an assent. And, a little nervously, you open your book and start over, reading aloud from the first page.

Of course, you had less than an hour of quiet time with Barbatos before the brothers brought their chaos home. Enough time for the cake to be in the oven and for the butler to make you a cup of tea to soothe your voice. But it was nowhere near enough time to enjoy the book, and the company. 

A few days later, an incoming text from your DDD surprised you.

ButlerBarb: MC, it is Barbatos. Might I request a favor?

MC: You need a taste-tester? I’m sure anything you’re making works, but I’m absolutely willing to sacrifice my life for some more of that cake.

ButlerBarb: I am flattered! And you are always welcome to sample my food. 

MC: Awesome. So what’s this favor?

ButlerBarb: I have been mulling over the book we shared the other night. I don’t like to start things and not finish them. Might I borrow the book when you are done with it? 

MC: Of course! I’m almost done myself, so I can get it to you soon.

ButlerBarb: I must warn you, I have little spare time for reading. It might take me some time to return it.

MC: That’s not a problem! 

MC: Actually…..why don’t I come by and read some more to you while you cook or whatever?

MC: You could get more of the story at a time and I’d have someone to discuss the book with.

MC: I miss having smart conversations about books. Satan’s probably my only option and he seems to think I’m really sus right now. Literary criticism doesn’t seem to rank high on anyone else’s list around here.

ButlerBarb: And what makes you think it’s high on mine?

ButlerBarb: Forgive me, I forget how curt jokes can look over text. I am uncertain what “sus” means, but I would like to listen to and discuss the book with you. Perhaps tomorrow, after your classes? Lucifer and Lord Diavolo have a meeting and I doubt Lucifer would object to walking you over.

ButlerBarb: And perhaps you could taste-test some pastries for me. I would never want to serve anything substandard, after all.**

And that had been that. As time went on and you began to trust the denizens of the House of Lamentation, to laugh and joke and flirt with them, you also made sure you spent a few afternoons a week reading to Barbatos and debating story arcs, narrative choices, and character motivations. You also discussed these things with Satan now, but Satan was more like one of your professors - he had very definite opinions, and they were usually the old, staid opinions that every professor over the age of 50 had. Truthfully, it was fun trying to inject queer theory, feminist theory, and all sorts of modern interpretations into the discussion. Anything to shake him up a little. He absorbed them and found them interesting, but he was more comfortable with interpretations that had centuries of influence.

Barbatos was different.

Barbatos wanted to know what you thought. He was curious about the human interpretation of the events of the novel, the human understanding of character. You weren’t sure if he was interested on his own behalf or Diavolo’s, but his questions made you think about your own opinions and thoughts of the novel - of storytelling in general - in ways you hadn’t before.

He would then contrast your opinion/human opinion with a general demon opinion, and then his opinion. And when he offered his own opinions…..hoo, boy, you would have paid good money to see him argue down some of your more uptight professors. He was a little scary, sometimes, and he often made you remember, sharply, that demons definitely had their own morals and values.

Like when he defended Iago and his jealous meddling in Othello’s life. (“If Othello had any strength of mind at all, he never would have fallen for it. It was a good test for him - a man in charge of armies should not allow himself to be undone by a single jealous rival.”)

Like his absolute judgement on most of the characters in Sense and Sensibility. (“Frankly, Willoughby would wind up being tortured for a few millennia for his deceit and vanity, the greedy branch of the Dashwood family - well, there is a very interesting way of dealing with the greedy down here….”)

Like his amusement in Medea’s vengeance. (“A strong woman who refuses to allow herself to be cowed or tamed. Oh, damned for sure, but an admirable woman nonetheless.”)

You loved the discussion and debate. He stretched your mind in ways you had never considered.  But what you loved more was how relaxed Barbatos become.

Inch by inch, he loosened up. When the food was cooking or the bread was rising, he began to sit with you at the kitchen island. Initially, he would sit ramrod-straight, his hands often cutting vegetables or decorating pie crusts. After a few more weeks, he would sit and listen to you read with his head resting on one hand, absently plucking grapes from their stem with the other. Eventually he simply stood, leaning on the table next to you as you discussed the latest chapter over a cup of tea. Watching the slow, cautious relaxation in his posture was almost as interesting to you as his literary opinions.

Discussions of literature became discussions of life. Of choices, and the consequences of them. You learned far more about his powers as he detailed one choice in one life and the ramifications across multiple timelines.

His matter-of-fact discussions on time, the nature of reality, and the links between them tortured you and kept you up at night. For the first time, you truly abandoned fiction in favor of books of science. And still you knew you’d never really get it.

But that brought up new topics - what other consequences might there be for the actions taken in the books you’d read together?

You remember one fascinating night, after dinner at Diavolo’s, you sat with Barbatos in the kitchen as he cleaned up. Instead of reading to him, you were both throwing out ideas about other potential action-consequence links from Middlemarch, a book neither of you had really enjoyed. The suggestions got more and more ludicrous, helped along by a bottle of wine left over from dinner, until you saw something you never thought you would ever see.

Barbatos was laughing.

Not snickering, not giving his small amused smile, not even his occasional sarcastic smirk. But full-on, eyes-sparkling, belly-laughing. Almost, but not quite, hooting with it. It was the kind of laughter you can’t really stop, the kind that becomes contagious. You start chuckling with him, then laughing yourself, and now you’re both laughing simply because you’re already laughing.

He tried, very hard, to stop when Lucifer entered the kitchen with some request or another. He stood quietly, hand over his abdomen as usual, but you could see his body quivering as he held in his laughter. He tried to ask what Lucifer wanted, but every syllable threatened a chuckle so he remained silent. Lucifer looked at the scene, both you and Barbatos struggling to appear calm, eyes and faces shiny with laughter, and he started to lecture you on taking up Barbatos’ time.

Without thinking about it (also kind of drunk, so there’s that) you leaned over to Barbatos, put your hand on his shoulder, and sing-songed in a stage-whisper, “Uh-oh. Daddy’s mad.”

And Barbatos broke. Both of you were gone again, laughing so hard that the only reason you were standing is that you were holding each other up.

You assume that Lucifer went and tattled to Diavolo, covering it up by “apologizing” for how you monopolize Barbatos’ time, but all that came of it was an open invitation from the Demon Prince to come over to the castle whenever you wanted, as Barbatos could use some more laughter in his life.

And so you did.

The more time you spent there, the more you realized not just how important Barbatos was to the running of the castle (and, thus, the Devildom), but also how nice he could be. He always had your favorite treat or tea on hand. You started accompanying him on many of his chores. In fact, you saved the best discussions for when you were both out of the kitchen. Nothing made weeding the garden or polishing the silver go quicker than a bright and easy discussion. 

One of your favorite times with him was riding the train to the market. He insisted on turning the tables and reading to you. It was one of the only times where no one could expect him to have other chores to do, so he read instead. 

Maybe because of how generous Barbatos always was with his time, you started bringing little things with you. Some cut flowers from the House’s garden. A single box of rare tea that you know Barbatos said was out of stock (of course, it wouldn’t occur to him to ask Levi to track it down online). And once, browsing a used bookstore with Satan, you found an ancient recipe book that you couldn’t wait to bring to the castle.

Each of your little gifts had been received with surprise, then a smile that seemed really genuine. The flowers had been arranged in a pretty glass vase and placed by the kitchen window seat, the tea immediately prepared for you both, and the recipe book declared a wonderful find — apparently, it had a recipe for Newt-Spiced Devilbread that he had never seen before.

You had beamed with pride over his pleasure in the book, and been touched when a small package containing Devilbread (modified, according to the note, for human tastes) was found on your desk in the House a few days later.

Everything about him made you feel appreciated. Which is why you were so happy to see him there, otherwise alone on a balcony.

Of all the people at the ball, it was the upright, too-correct butler that you weren’t afraid to have see you in bare feet. He’d seen you covered in dirt, covered in flour, and, on one occasion when he’d dropped by the house unexpectedly, in ratty pajamas and toe-spacers with a face mask on. That one was Asmo’s fault.

You want him to see you now. You want him to turn around and see you, to have a moment, any kind of moment, while you were dressed in couture at a ball. You want to be the reason he genuinely smiles, the reason he laughs. 

I mean, look at him! Decked out in demon form like the rest. But instead of being scary or intimidating, his demon form was….comfortable. It suited him, far more than the human-look. While his clothes still looked butler-ish, something about the ruffles and falling folds looked like a modern Victorian-style suit. It fit his fussiness without being uptight.

That was it. His demon form was still “correct” in the way a butler was correct, but it wasn’t stuffy or uptight, the way the normal butler outfit was.

You’d been around demons so long that wings, tails, and horns looked absolutely normal instead of strange. The delicate crown of black-bone horns, instead of looking demonic, looked like a regal frame for his face.

Something about him being buttoned-up from head to toe made you want to jump on top of him.

Okay, so you had a crush. No way were you going to ruin one of the best and most equal friendships you’d ever had by making a move on a thousands-year-old demon for fuck’s sake.

Even if just watching the surety of his hands made you weak sometimes. But you could handle it. It was fine. You were fine.

While you were watching him oh-so-efficiently stack glasses (you would be drooling right now, if you weren’t dehydrated from avoiding drinks in this outfit), he finally glances up and notices you.

“Ah, MC,” he says, and you take heart in his obvious pleasure in seeing you. “Taking a break?”

“It’s a little hot in there. And a little crowded.”

“And you tire of them following and leading you around,” Barbatos finishes with complete understanding. “If that is the case, come over here a moment where there are no windows; everyone can see you through those glass doors. It is only a matter of time before one of them comes looking for you.”

You get a split-second image of being railed against the wall there, just inches away from the glass doors, but stifle it instantly. “Sure,” is all you say as you walk over as casually as you can. “Want some help with the wine glass collection?”

The look he shoots you is amused and his voice is (you think you hope) full of affection. “As you are dangerous around glass at the best of times, and we don’t want broken glass and wine while you are both barefoot and in that outfit, I believe I’ll carry on on my own.”

An awkward silence fills the air. At least, it feels awkward on your end. The two of you had been silent together any number of times, but for some reason you can’t stand the silence right now. Just for something to say, you gesture at a small tray with assorted cookies.

“How did the pomegranate-jam alfajors turn out?”

“Excellent, and I thank you again for helping me make them. Would you like one?”

“Barbatos, we both know I did nothing more than hand you the jam and read another Sherlock Holmes story. Besides, I can’t risk this,” and you gesture to your clothes.

A mischievous look - not the first you’ve seen on his face - comes into Barbatos’ eyes. “Well, we must protect your sartorial savoir-faire. But we also can’t have you perishing from hunger, can we?”

He picks up a cookie and closes in on you. He’s not tall, not really, but he always seems tall when he stands so close to you. He holds the cookie at your mouth and cups the other hand under it, to catch crumbs.

“I can feed myself,” you mutter sullenly, ignoring the tingling of your body as his proximity. You don’t know why you’re resisting, he’s popped tidbits of all sorts of food into your mouth as you’ve cooked together in these past months. But this isn’t his well-lit kitchen, and it doesn’t feel like an innocent moment.

Barbatos merely lifts his brows a little, his smile widening imperceptibly. With a sigh, you take a bite of the cookie. “Happy?”

He brushes his thumb over your lips, dislodging a few loose crumbs. You know you’ve stopped breathing. “There.”

His face is so close to yours; you can feel his breath against your skin and see the swirling melding colors in his eyes. He still has his fingers on your face and you’re so close, so close….

You wait a moment. Every book you’ve ever read says that after a gesture like that, there’s a surprise kiss. It’s such a fairytale moment. But Barbatos just pops the other half of the cookie in his own mouth and turns away, returning to his work.

Confused, let down, you drift to the balcony railing to look out over the grounds. The last thing you want is for him to be able to read your face in the dim light. In fact, right now, you’re just wishing you were alone again. Now you’re in constricting clothing, barefoot, hungry, thirsty, somehow both warm AND cold, exhausted, and, thanks to that misleading cookie moment, bordering on depressed.

You glance at Barbatos quickly, but he’s just working as always. He’s always hard to read, and the flickering lights here make it even harder, but something about his face looks wrong. He’s not smiling. If anything, he looks - you want to say frustrated. Or angry. At what? At you?

“Barbatos?” You ask quietly. “Are you ok?”

He looks up sharply and you see another first. His hand fumbles on the glass he’s holding and it tumbles to the ground, shattering. You turn to help him gather the pieces and - 

“Stop,” he snaps out, and for the first time since you’ve known him he actually sounds mad at you. A moment later the wine glass is back on the table, whole and unbroken.

A few breaths, and his face softens. “I apologize. I had to be sharp or you might have kept moving and hurt yourself. Or have you forgotten your feet?”

You glance down at your bare feet, your shoes forgotten on the ground a few feet away. You were just about to walk over broken glass to get to him. Symbolic, much? 

“Barbatos….are you mad at me?”

“No, MC.” Why did his voice have to be so kind? It’s almost worse. “I’m angry with myself. A mistake I made earlier. You would think, with my knowledge of time, that finding a good moment….. But never mind.”

“Is it something I can help you with?”

He stays still a moment, as if thinking about it. “Perhaps. But it still requires the right moment, and I must find it myself first.”

“One of those demon things? A thousand years from now, maybe?” You’re trying to joke and you know it’s going to fall flat, but the uncomfortableness of this moment is getting to you.

“Oh, not that long. Soon, I’m sure.” His normal voice and face are back, and you envy his equanimity. 

You nod at his pronouncement. You’re never going to argue with him about time, that’s just a losing battle. There’s also no way to get something out of him if he doesn’t want to talk about it. If he needs your help, you hope you’re friends enough that he’ll ask. Instead, you just turn back to the garden view. 

The silence stretches out, and you wonder why Barbatos is still out here. The glasses are on the tray. The cookies and cakes have been refreshed. And now that you feel awkward, uncomfortable, and rejected, the desire to be alone is even stronger.

“MC, now it is my turn,” you hear from behind you. “Are you ok?”

You just nod. Time to evade. “Tired. It’s a late night for me. It’s beautiful here though,” you continue bravely, trying to get back on the right foot. “I love the gardens around here. I kind of wish I could see them in sunlight, though.”

A short laugh from Barbatos. “As that is unlikely to happen, I’ll have to show you around the grounds the next time there is a full moon and a cloudless night. There are many areas that are fully lit. Be prepared for a walk, though, the grounds are extensive.”

“Do you ever get used to it?” you ask suddenly. You’d only half been listening, instead you were thinking about the depth of the grounds, the amount of space here.

“Get used to what?”

“This,” you say, sweeping your arm to encompass everything around you. “This place, the castle, the grounds, this…..this luxury and beauty and, and grandeur.”

A moment passes and you feel him step up to the balcony railing on your left. The crispness of the air seems to fade as the demon comes to stand close to you. You want to step away, but you’re afraid he would misinterpret the movement, and maybe even be hurt. Quietly, as if revealing something, he says, “I have, I think, gotten used to it. Mostly. What’s the human expression? Not seeing the forest for the trees? It is difficult to see beauty and grandeur when you’re the one responsible for keeping it polished and clean. The number of details, the sheer magnitude of things to do…..it keeps your eyes focused only on what’s in front of you.”

But now his eyes rove over the grounds, taking in the garden and its sparkling lights, the endless expanse of sky and stars. His smile was, as always, slight, but there was satisfaction in his eyes. “Sometimes, though, when someone reminds me….it is a wonderful thing to allow myself to be swept away by it all again. It is beautiful. Thank you for reminding me of that.”

There was a moment of silence  - and it felt like comfortable silence again - as the two of you survey the garden, so dark that the glittering fairy lights become almost indistinguishable from the night sky itself.

“But then,” Barbatos says, so softly his voice was almost a whisper, “you constantly remind me to look at things in new ways. And when you do, I always find something beautiful or interesting. Often both.”

His gloved hand reaches out and covers yours, where you had it on the balcony railing. You straighten and turn your eyes to him - the two of you had touched before, but never so deliberately. His hands over yours as he attempted to help you roll out pastry dough, holding each other up while laughing, and even an ill-advised flour war that would have been manageable had Diavolo not stepped into the kitchen and insisted on joining. For a moment, the pressure on your hand subsides, and you imagine you’ll simply have to power through the new awkwardness with a joke, but instead you find your hand suddenly clasped even more tightly in his.

“I can see everything, if I choose. The past, the present, the future. Any past, present, or future. So how is it that you always surprise me?”

“I’m sorry,” you say automatically.

He turns you suddenly and for one of the first times you truly read surprise on his face. “Don’t apologize!” It comes out stern and sharp and his voice immediately softens. “It has been….centuries, I think, since I was surprised at all. And I have never met someone by whom I was so constantly surprised. I….appreciate it.”

There’s something in his eyes, and you try desperately not to read too much into it. You’ve been disappointed once tonight already. Your own heart will break if you’re wrong. So you smile and joke instead. “Really? Lord Diavolo surprises me almost every day. They all do.”

Another smile. “The Young Master is impulsive, that is true. But I have served him for millennia. I have known all of them for thousands of years. And while I cannot predict everything they will do, even the strangest choices are no longer surprising.”

“So maybe I’m only surprising because you don’t know me well yet. Because I’m new here, or because I’m human.”

“I have known a lot of humans.” His gaze holds yours steadily and that word - bewitching - comes back to you again. “MC, you came here against your will and the first thing you did is begin to heal those brothers in there. Heal their wounds and heal their bonds. Who could have predicted that? How is that not surprising?”

“But that’s just - I mean - I just wanted to help?”

“It is help they needed. I hear from the Young Master that Mammon is passing most of his classes, albeit barely. Satan doesn’t rage as he did. Leviathan attended a party, and stayed for almost two hours!” A chuckle escapes him. “You have improved their lives immeasurably.”

“Yeah, well -“

“You have also improved my life. Immeasurably.”

The first instinct is denial, to brush it off. Laugh it off. But his dark eyes are still holding yours and you realize, belatedly, that at some point he captured both of your hands in his. This isn’t a moment to brush off. So if he’s being serious and honest, so will you. You drop your eyes, though, because serious and honest also makes you awkward and hesitant.

“And you’ve improved mine. More than I can say.”

He takes a breath, and a small step forward. “I think….the most surprising thing about you is how I feel. I have lived longer than I can truly count, and I had thought I had seen and experienced and felt everything. But I had never loved - until you. I had never even known that I hadn’t loved. And I hadn’t ever feared how empty my life would feel without it. It was truly a surprise to realize how little I knew myself.”  One of his hands leaves its hold on yours and you feel the soft leather of his gloves as his fingers wrap gently around your chin. A tiny bit of pressure, and he lifts your head so you can look eye to eye again. “Do you think, MC, you could come to love me in return?”

His face is calm, his eyes steady on yours. So calm and steady, just like his voice, that you could almost think you were just discussing the weather. If it were anyone else, you would suspect a prank. But - and it’s a strange thing to notice - his tail is swishing, just a little. If you’ve learned anything about living with demons, it’s that their wings and tails express what their faces don’t. And that little back-and-forth swish, at least in Satan or Levi, would be agitation, uncertainty. 

You feel a ghost of a smile cross your face. “Don’t you already know my answer, Mr. Time Travel?”

“I didn’t look. That would be cheating. Besides….I’d rather you surprise me.”

And so you lean forward and up, Cinderella in borrowed finery, barefoot at the ball, and kiss your prince softly on the lips. 

“I fell in love with you a long time ago,” you murmur as you pull back just a little. “And it didn’t surprise me at all.” You look into his eyes, dark and sparkling like the garden. “Is this the moment you needed to find?”

He only smiles and leans down to kiss you again, and you feel his hands on the small of your back, pulling you closer. You’re pretty sure you feel the end of his tail wrap around one of your ankles, but you’re more interested in pressing against his chest, kissing him while the music from the ball fades from your hearing and the dirty wine glasses sit forgotten on their tray.

Suddenly, a sound makes you jump. Fireworks, the traditional end to a Devildom ball, erupt over the garden and  lake. The demons inside the ballroom come out to watch them, jostling against you and Barbatos. You find yourself carefully, subtly guarded from them by his body. And instead of slipping off into the crowd as he normally would, Barbatos turns you to watch the fireworks, wrapping his arms around you from behind.

You realize, awestruck, after a moment of the display, that the fireworks, all of them, were variations on your favorite colors combined with Barbatos’ signature teal. Tilting your head slightly, you see him smile that little smile as he meets your eyes.

“Surprise,” he murmurs into your ear, and presses a soft kiss against your hair before resting his head against yours to watch the show.

[hockeyisit]

Something Important

Summary: Auston and Amelia get high together.

A.N. Hii I wrote this because I was in the mood and I was high. Sooo sorry if its terrible. Also hope everyone saw the game last night it sounded amazing. I wasn’t able to watch it because I’m not from Canada but I was listening along and wished that I could have seen it live lol! Anyways always avaible to talk and always open for request. Also I plan to write about Auston and his hat trick as soon as I get a minute. I am also still working on part 4 of we lost and that sadly might be a minute before its out. 

Master List

Word Count: 2,406

Unedited

“Hey babe,” Auston said, slipping his arm around me and pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him before leaning back to give him a quick peck with a bright smile.

“Hi, sorry about your game,” I said growing slightly. They had played against the Dallas Stars and lost 3-1. Despite the loss the guys had still decided to go out to the bars and invited the  WAGs. I met them there by taking an Uber.

“It’s okay. You look beautiful,” he said his eyes hungrily eying my body. I had decided to wear my favorite lacy black lingerie underneath a denim skirt with a black top. I pulled him into a more hidden spot and guided his hand to the top of my shirt above my bra. I then moved my top slightly so he would be able to see the lingerie.

“So I grabbed something from your apartment before I came here. I hope you don’t mind,” I smiled innocently at him as I pulled the gummy worm edibles I had shoved into my purse out. He laughed as he took a few from my hand and ate them.

“Oh please tell me this is going to lead to high sex,” Auston mumbled against my shoulder once he had leaned in. I giggled as I pushed him away.

“You're terrible,” I joked. He laughed before pulling me in so that our lips were almost pressed together.

“You love it,” he said gently. I blushed dark red before connecting our lips in a filthy kiss.

“Get a room Tony,” Hollsy called as he walked by causing us to pull apart. Mitchy laughed as he pulled Steph along to the bar. She sent me a help look and I pulled Auston along as we followed them to the bar.

“Did you take any edibles?” Auston asked as he crowded me against the bar. I turned my face to him and shook my head no.

“I smoked with Macy. I didn’t want to use your edibles when I can smoke,” I told him knowing he didn't have that many left. He tightened his grip on me as a man crowded into our space.

“Can I get a pink vodka lemonade for her and a bud light for me,” Auston said once he had flagged the bartender down. Once we had our drinks we made our way over to the table the team had selected.

“How are you feeling?” Auston asked in my ear once we sat down at the table. I grinned at him as I climbed into the booth. I had been really excited to come out and spend time with Auston tonight but honestly I couldn't wait for us to head home.

“I’m good,” I grinned at him. “Let me know when that edible hits,” I continued glancing over to Steph.

“Hey what’s up?” she asked as she slid herself into the booth Mitch following closely behind her. I smiled at her feeling more high than anything as I leaned against Auston. The joint I had smoked with Macy was really starting to catch up with me.

“Oh nothing, I hadn't realized it's been so long since I’ve seen you,” I said smiling sadly at her. Truthfully it had been almost two weeks since I had been out with any of the WAGs. I had been so busy with work and classes that I hadn't had any time to go out and have fun. Even seeing Auston had been difficult as off late. I knew that I wanted to stay and catch up with Steph and some of the other girls but really I just wanted some alone time with Auston.

“Amelia it’s been forever since I’ve seen you,” Willy said approaching the table and holding his arms open. I grinned widely as I stood up from the booth to hug him back.

“Oh my god Willy!” I exclaimed as I threw my arms around him.

“I missed you,” I said against his shoulder with a loud laugh. He pulled away laughing and then turned to give Auston a bro hug. I stared off at the dance floor casually sipping my vodka drink as Willy and Auston stood chatting for a bit.

“Can we dance?” I asked tucking myself into Austons side and interrupting the conversation he was having with Willy. He stared at me for a moment before nodding his head.

“I’mma dance with her. I'll talk to you later,” Auston told Willy nodding down at me and then led the way to the dance floor for the two of us. Once we made it to the dance floor Auston moved up close behind me so that I was grinding into him and the two of us danced like that for an hour as we sipped on our drinks.

“I’m starting to feel it,” Auston mumbled against my ear as our bodies moved to the beat. I grinned as I grinded back into him before turning around.

“Babe, I’m still so high from the joint I smoked with Macy,” I said smiling as I pressed a quick kiss to his neck.

“Do you want to head back?” he asked, moving his hands from my waist higher up. I nodded my head with a smile on my face as I turned around to face Auston. He took his hands off me and reached out to grab my hand leading me over to the table.

“Hey, we're heading out,” Auston announced as we got back to the table. We got a few nods in return, so I quickly said goodbye to some of the girls and then we made our way out of the bar.

“Babe,” Auston said, pulling on my arm and coming to a stop.

“What?” I asked, reaching up to run my hand through my messy hair.

“Can you get me a hotdog at that stand?” Auston asked, pointing to a hotdog stand at the end of the block. I let out a giggle as I nodded my head. The two of us made our way to the end of the block and I ordered the hotdog for Auston making sure to get no ketchup and then paid.

“Alright we're going to walk is that okay with you?” I asked Auston noticing just how crossed he was. He nodded his head and the two of us started our way to his apartment. His hand slipped into my back pocket pulling me closer.

“Babe you didn’t put ketchup on it,” he whined as he took his bite.

“You know I don't like ketchup,” I reminded him, taking it out of his hands. He stopped walking and sent a glance my way.

“I didn’t say I wanted to share this,” he said as he pulled it out of my reach.

“Auston,” I whined, turning to face him. He laughed as he took another bite of the hotdog. Ass.

“Auston what?” he asked after he finished chewing.

“Quit being an ass,” I laughed as I lightly hit his arm. He laughed harder as he finally handed me the hotdog.

“Alright let's go it's cold out here,” Auston said, reminding me that it was cold and I wasn't wearing a very warm outfit. I shivered as I tried to walk closer to Auston for body heat. He glanced at me and noticed my shivers and took off his suit coat.

“Here,” he said handing it over and taking the hotdog from me so I could put the coat on.

“You know what Auston,” I said coming to another stop in the middle of the sidewalk. He kept walking for a second before noticing and then turned around to face me.

“Amelia. What are you doing? Remember it's cold out?” he asked, confused as he tried to grab my hand to keep us moving.

“Auston stop, this is important,” I said, not budging from my spot. He turned back to face me again and gave me an encouraging nod.

“What?” he asked, entertaining me.

“I don’t know if I want to tell you anymore,” I said pretending to move forward, only for his hand to stop me.

“No no no. You said it’s important now we have to hear it,” he grinned down at me.

“Well now you're being a jerk so I don’t want to tell you,” I stared up at him. He didn't say anything and just stared at me waiting.

“I’m sorry I really do want to hear what you have to say,” Auston said trying to apologize. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pecked his lips.

“I just love you. And you're a really good boyfriend when you're not being a jerk,” I told him as I pulled back with a wide grin spread across my lips.

“Oh. Thanks babe,” Auston responded surprised. He pecked me on the forehead before pulling me the rest of the way to his apartment building and into the elevator.

“Let’s just go straight to my room and put on a movie,” Auston mumbled as he unlocked his front door. Felix greeted us excitedly, his tail wagging.

“I should probably take him out,” Auston groaned as he reached down for Felix’s leash. I nodded as I took my shoes off and offered him his jacket back. He took it shrugging it on.

“You can go change into something comfier in my room,” he said nodding in the direction of the bedrooms before making his way out.

Once I got to Auston’s room I immediately went to his closet and looked around at all the different things hanging. I glanced between his Maple Leafs jersey and a long sleeve button up trying to figure out which one he would find sexier. Deciding on the jersey I threw it on before making my way over to the bed and sitting on top of the comforter.

“Babe do you want popcorn?” Auston called from the kitchen once he had gotten back.

“Only if you do,” I called back. I heard him shuffling around in the kitchen for a few more moments before he started to make his way down the hall.

“Can we watch the Avengers,” Auston asked as he pushed the door open and walked in with a bag of chips and a plate of strawberries. I nodded as I reached over for the remote and turned on Age of Ultron.

“I brought you strawberries. I remember that one time you told me about how they are better when high. I even cut them up for you,” Auston said shoving the plate my way. I laughed as I took the plate from him.

“Thanks. How was it taking Felix out?” I asked moving the food to the side table and then crawled on top of Auston so that I was straddling him.

“Good. You look so sexy in my jersey babe,” he moaned sliding his hands up my waist feeling the lacy lingerie under the jersey.

“Can’t believe you wore this to the bar tonight,” he muttered, hiking the jersey up so that he could take in more of the lingerie.

“I couldn't stop thinking about you all night,” he leaned up and placed a kiss on my lips before pulling away and flipping us over so that he was on top. He pulled the jersey up higher so that he was able to take in my whole body. He leaned down and started placing light kisses on my belly and moved up towards my breast.

“What do you want from me tonight?” Auston asked, pulling the jersey off and then leaning back down so that he could start sucking a hickey into my breast. I moaned loudly as I pushed into him.

“Tonights all about you babe,” I said, pulling his face up with both of my hands so that he was looking into my eyes. He stared at me hungirly before pulling me into a deep kiss and letting his hands rome my body. I moved my hand that was playing with the end of his hair down his body so that my hand was resting just above his waistband. Just as I was about to tug his pants off there was a loud knocking on the door. I threw my head back with a loud groan.

“Did you invite someone over?” I asked. He shook his head no leaning back.

“Maybe if we ignore it they will go away,” he suggested leaning back in to kiss me again only for the knocking to continue. This time Felix started barking back. Auston groaned as he climbed off the bed and made his way out of the room. I laid down into the bed relaxing as I waited for Auston to come back. I waited for another five minutes before deciding to throw something on to go check on him. Once I was dressed in his sweats and a sweatshirt. I followed the conversation coming from the kitchen.

“Freddie,” I smiled as I approached the two standing at the counter. I walked over to Auston and he quickly wrapped his arm around my shoulder pulling me into his side.  

“Sorry it's so late,” Freddie apologized to me. I gave him a polite smile and shook my head.

“Don’t worry. Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Freddie here just needs some friends to hang out with tonight,” Auston squeezed my shoulder giving me a soft smile.

“Well Auston and I were watching Age of Ultron. I could put it on the tv out here,” I suggested. Freddie gave me a grateful smile while Auston nodded along.

“Freddie we’re just going to turn the tv off in the room and grab the snacks,” Auston said and then the two of us made our way towards the bedroom.

“I’m sorry that I invited him to stay, he’s been feeling really homesick and the media has been so brutal on him lately,” Auston started saying the second the door was shut. I leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips cutting him off. I loved how much Auston cared about the people he loved.

“Don’t worry about it Aus. Freddie is always welcome here,” I smiled at him pressing another quick kiss to his lips.

“Now go turn the movie on I just want to take my lingerie off,” I said, nudging him out of the room. He laughed pressing another quick kiss to my cheek and leaving the room.

[theladyofdeath]

Just Friends {Elorcan}

31 Days of Halloween: Day 2.

All installments co-written with @snelbz​

Based on a prompt sent in by @sjm-things​: “I got invited to a costume party. Do you want to come with me?"

Happy Spooky Season, readers!

Elide hated Halloween. It wasn’t for one reason or another, but for a series of reasons that had built up over time. When she was young, she was scared of everything. She was the kid at the Halloween party that was hiding under a blanket every time they showed a scary movie. In Middle School, she stopped getting invited to Halloween parties, and in High School, she was made fun of because she couldn’t handle the haunted houses. Now, in college, she stared at the invitation that had been sent to her mailbox.

A costume party.

She sighed, knowing full well that Halloween was only a day away, and she probably only got a pity invite last minute. 

The trek across campus from the mailboxes was horrible. Everyone seemed to be excited, especially since the weekend had arrived and Halloween was near. 

Oh, how Elide just wanted to stay hidden at home, watching light-hearted movies, like Disney’s Halloween Town, drinking a mug of steaming hot cocoa. Her roommates would never let her, though, which made her think that she should probably go to the costume party, if only to shut them up.

If only to shut everyone up.

But, she didn’t even have a costume. 

As soon as she got to her room, she tossed her backpack on the floor by her desk and pulled her phone out. Dialing the familiar number, she flopped down on her bed, listening to the phone ring in her ear.

A familiar, deep voice answered. “Nice timing, I just got out of class.”

“What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Thought I might go trick-or-treating with the neighborhood kids, why?” She could hear the humor in his voice.

Elide cleared her throat. “I got invited to a costume party. Do you want to come with me?”

There was silence on the other end.

“Lor,” she snapped.

His soft chuckle came through the line. “A costume party?”

“Yeah,” Elide sighed, suddenly lacking confidence. “I know it’s ridiculous, but I figured I should go.”

“You don’t do Halloween.”

“Yeah, but I’m doing it now.”

She knew Lorcan was grinning when he said, “Fine. I guess I’ll throw together a costume, but just for you.”

She knew she could always count on her best friend. “It’ll be fun.”

“I don’t know about that,” he muttered. “At least there will be booze… there will be booze, right?”

“All I know is that there will be costumes,” Elide laughed. “We’ll figure the rest out when we get there.”

Lorcan paused. “There better be booze.”

“Why do you always need booze?” Elide asked, pointedly.

Lorcan sighed. “If I’m going to show up at a party dressed as a zombie, I’m going to need alcohol.”

“A zombie? That’s what you came up with?” Elide asked.

Lorcan snorted. “What’s wrong with a zombie? It’s the first thing that came to mind.”

“There’s a Halloween store in the mall, meet me there in an hour,” Elide said, sighing and staring up at the ceiling.

He chuckled and said, “Fine. I’ll see you there.”

True to his word, when Elide walked into the store, she found Lorcan holding two separate bags and hurried over to him. “What did you find?”

Lorcan sighed, holding up a bag from the department store. “My mom’s birthday is Friday. I got her a watch.” He held up the other bag. “And myself a black hoodie.”

She blinked, and looked at the black hoodie he had on. “Another black hoodie? Lor, that’s all you own.”

He scoffed. “This one has a gray stripe across the chest.”

She suppressed her laughter as she nodded. “Fine. Alright, how about in this store, found anything you like?” 

Lorcan shrugged. “I just got here. Nothing stands out so far. I still think a zombie would be fine.” 

“A zombie what though?” Elide pressed, looping her arm through Lorcan’s and practically dragging him through the store. “You can’t just be a zombie. You have to be a zombie doctor, or a zombie farmer, or a zombie chef obsessed with brains.”

Lorcan snorted. “A zombie farmer?” 

Elide shrugged. “Just trying to get creative.” 

“I think I’ll pass.” He let her drag him, though. Partly because she was adamant, but mostly because she had quite the hold on him. As she was admiring a wall of wigs, he asked, “Why are we doing this?”

Elide looked over at him. “What do you mean?” 

“You hate Halloween,” he followed. “I hate Halloween.”

“You hate all holidays,” Elide grumbled. 

“Not true,” Lorcan protested, picking up a long, purple wig and handing it to Elide. “Christmas is okay.”

Elide grinned, taking the wig. “One, I would definitely pull this off. Two, I don’t know. I should at least go to one party I’m invited to while in college, right? May as well be one where no one can tell who I am.”

“And why am I going to this party?” He asked, crossing his arms and looking at the wall of fake weapons opposite the wigs. He picked up an extremely convincing hatchet. “I don’t do parties.”

“Because you want to spend time with your best friend, obviously,” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“And this has nothing to do with the fact that you’ll start crying if you see someone in a scary mask?”

She could tell he was smiling and she hated him for it. 

“We’ll be graduating before we know it,”  Elide went on. “When will we ever go to a Halloween party again?” 

“Never,” Lorcan said, following her down the aisle. “Because we hate parties.”

“No, you hate parties. I hate fake blood,” Elide corrected. 

“Then what’s your excuse for all the other parties we don’t go to?” Lorcan chuckled, picking up a coconut bra. “Here. There’s a hula skirt to match..” 

Elide rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Pig.” 

“Well, you have to pick something and I can only stand this store for another two minutes, tops,” Lorcan said, shaking his head. 

“Halloween makes you crabby,” Elide mumbled.

Nonetheless, she made her way over to the racks and racks of costumes and started flipping through them. One by one, she named them off.

“Vampires… Hot dog suit… Sexy cop…”

“Well, I’m set, what about you?” Lorcan joked, looking over her shoulder as she pulled it out and looked at the hilariously short skirt the officer was supposed to be wearing.

“Shut up,” she said, laughing, but continuing to flip through them.

“Stop, what was that?” He said, reaching out and grabbing one. His eyes lit up and he smirked. “This is it.”

Elide snorted. “I never saw you as the cowboy type.”

“This isn’t a cowboy, this is an outlaw,” he corrected.

Elide slowly lifted a brow. “And the difference is….?”

Lorcan just shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re my best friend.” 

He kept the costume, and Elide, starting to feel defeated, continued her search. 

“Stop,” Lorcan said, again, only to find that he wasn’t standing beside her anymore, but at the rack behind her. “I found your costume, El.”

Elide turned around and immediately rolled her eyes. “That’s a demon.”

He was holding a little red dress that came with a tail and a headband with little red horns on it. 

“A sexy demon,” Lorcan corrected. 

“They’re all sexy,” Elide snorted. “It’s going to show my panties.”

“You’re short,” Lorcan argued. “It’ll at least reach mid-thigh.” She rolled her eyes and he added, “It’s this one or I won’t go with you.”

Elide’s mouth fell open. “That’s not fair.”

“That’s my price,” he said, holding it out to her.

She narrowed her eyes at him, snatched it and headed for the register.

“I’ll be over at eight,” he hollered after her, and once again, she could practically hear his smile.

She threw a vulgar gesture over her shoulder.

The next night, at seven-forty-five, she was turning around in her mirror. Oh, this was not good. The little red dress certainly did not reach mid-thigh, however all of the essentials were covered.

Barely.

She had to admit, she looked pretty damn sexy. If it was anyone but Lorcan she was going with, she’d have a shoe in for a hell of a night. 

But, no. It was only her best friend. 

Said best friend knocked on the door five minutes later, looking absolutely ridiculous in his not-cowboy outfit.

With one look at her, the second she opened the door, Lorcan was staring, which earned him a chastised comment, one after the other.

“I’m not staring.”

“Yes, you are, knock it off.”

They walked to the party together in a comfortable silence, Lorcan looking over at her from time to time to chuckle.

“What?” She snapped, after the third time.

“Nothing,” he said, a small smile on his face as she looked up at him. “You just look cute.”

She scoffed.

Cute.

Cute was the last thing she wanted him to say when she was dressed like this. She’d even dug out the ridiculous three-inch black heels Aelin had convinced her to get for their trip to Vegas last year. She thought she was looking decidedly un-cute tonight.

They walked the rest of the way in silence and when they walked in the front door, conversation nearly stopped.

Whether it was from the sight of Elide and Lorcan together or the fact that they both showed up at a party for once, or maybe it was Elide’s legs, Lorcan thought, but they were both pulled into separate directions by their friends.

Elide frowned as Manon’s hand wrapped around her wrist, and Lorcan shot her an apologetic look as Rowan hauled him by the back of the collar to the table where the drinks sat.

“What the fuck?” He asked.

“You and Elide?” Rowan asked, shoving a beer into his friend’s hand.

“What do you mean you and Elide?” Lorcan asked, although he definitely caught the underlying meaning.

“You show up together, her looking like that?” Rowan asked, and judging by the cloudiness in his eyes, it was clear he had been drinking already.

A lot.

“We came as friends,” Lorcan corrected.

Rowan snorted. “She got you to come to a party, man. ‘Friends’ my ass.”

His eyes glanced across the room as he took a drink of his beer and they found hers, Manon and Aelin looking at her with very different expressions, one of approval and one of displeasure. She was sipping from a straw and Lorcan could tell from her face that whatever was in it was strong.

He smirked as he admitted to himself that maybe Rowan wasn’t completely wrong.

He hadn’t been completely truthful with Elide earlier when she’d caught him chuckling to himself. He was laughing at how ironic her costume was. She didn’t look cute.

She looked hot as hell.

And she knew it, too.

“Lor.”

Lorcan’s eyes snapped to Rowan’s, who was watching him with an amused expression.

“Hmm?”

“I was telling you to go for it,” Rowan said, taking a gulp from his bottle. “You love her, she loves you, and you’re both being ridiculous.”

Lorcan scoffed. “Fuck off.”

“No,” Rowan protested, with a drunken grin. “Because I’m right.”

He was right.

Lorcan knew it.

Elide knew it.

Everyone knew it, but it wasn’t that easy. They’d been best friends since grade school. Shit just didn’t change over night.

“Just let me know when it’s an acceptable time to go home,” Lorcan said, sipping from the bottle in his hand.

“When she asks you to take her home,” Rowan said, clapping him on the shoulder. He tossed his empty bottle in the trash and made his way over to Aelin. After pulling her away from the conversation she was having with Lysandra and Nehemia, he whispered something in her ear.

From the way her eyes widened and zeroed in on him, on top of how drunk Rowan seemed to be, Lorcan was sure it had be something along the lines of, Lorcan wants to fuck Elide, but his balls aren’t big enough to do it sober.

What difference did it make if he was right or not?

Lorcan grimaced, focusing on the drink in his hand. Beer was good, beer was always there, beer didn’t pressure him to make a move on his best friend.

Maybe it did.

Either way, Lorcan downed the beverage and grabbed another. After a while, he wandered around, trying to find Elide - not to prove Rowan right, but just to make sure she was doing okay.

When he found her, he froze, and Aelin shot him a daring smile from their circle. “Care to play, Salvaterre?”

Lorcan sighed. “You know I’m not one for games.”

“Come on,” Elide crooned, and Lorcan noted the slight slur to her words. “You won’t dance, at least play.”

Unable to stop himself from eyeing her costume, Lorcan said, “Fine, but only for a minute.” Elide grinned as Lorcan joined the circle around the little table they were hovered around. “What are we playing?”

“Kings cup,” Aelin grinned, holding up a deck of cards.

“Trying to get us all plastered?” Lorcan muttered.

“Some of us, yes,” she said, cocking her head to the side and smiling, a little too innocently.

And so it began.

Lorcan didn’t know if she’d pre-shuffled and the cards to fuck him directly, but before he knew it, his empty stack of cups was four deep and Elide’s thigh pressing against his and how warm her skin felt was all he could think about.

“Dicks,” Aelin crooned, pointing to where Elide held the six of diamonds in her hand. “Drink up, boys.”

“Is it just me or is that the seventh six we’ve pulled out of this deck of cards?” Dorian asked, cracking open a new bottle of bourbon and refilling his and Chaol’s glasses.

Chaol chimed in with something incomprehensible. 

Lorcan’s head was falling on Elide’s shoulder after his gulp of whiskey. At this point, all his taste buds had died and it was like drinking water. 

“Doing okay, Lor?” Elide asked, giggling, patting his thigh.

“I’m sleeeeeepy,” he sang. “Night-night, El.” 

“Better get him home while he can still stand,” Rowan grinned. “Don’t wanna have to carry him home.”

“Same could be said for you,” Aelin winked, although Lorcan was far more drunk. 

He had been targeted, and his friends had won. 

“Alright, alright,” Elide laughed and stood, hauling Lorcan up with her. Yes, he was able to stand up, but he was definitely holding onto her for stabilization. “Come on, Lor.”

“You smell nice,” he mumbled, pressing his nose to the top of her hair. 

“Have fun!” Aelin sang from behind them as Elide dragged Lorcan out the door. 

Elide grunted the moment they were outside. “Lor, you gotta try a little bit, you’re heavy.”

Lorcan blinked, as if he was just now noticing where he was. “Elide?”

She laughed as she helped him walk across campus. “Yeah?”

“You look s-sexy as hell,” Lorcan slurred. “I mean, th-that dress? Fuck.” 

Elide didn’t even pretend not to notice the flood of butterflies that filled her stomach. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said, sighing dramatically. “N-not just t-tonight, either. Always. Sexy. Fuck.” 

Elide looked up at him, at his drooped eyelids and dark, clouded eyes. “Always?”

“Always,” he confirmed, then lowered his voice. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, though. So, sh-shhhhhhh.” 

“My lips are sealed,” Elide promised, unable to stop her bright smile. “Let’s get you to bed, okay?”

“But I-I have to tell you something,” he went on, nearly stumbling over his own feet. Elide kept him steady.

“Tell me,” Elide said. 

“I like you,” he said, his mouth close to her face. Elide was hit with an overwhelming scent of whiskey. “I like you, a-a lot. I l-l-love you.”

The words she had wanted to hear from her for so long, but not at all the way she wanted it to be shared. 

“You’re drunk, Lor.”

“I know,” he said, sighing, once again. “I-I mean it, th-though. I l-love you, El.”

Elide looked up at him, then, and saw the desperation in his eyes. She chuckled, and shook her head, slowly. “How about we talk about this tomorrow, okay?” If you remember this conversation when you wake up.

He groaned, loudly, but said, “F-Fine. You’ll stay, though, right? With me? Tonight? I-I promise t-to keep my hands to my-myself.”

Elide wanted to ask him not to, but she nodded. If Lorcan ever touched her, she didn’t want him drunk while he was doing it. 

When she looked up at him, again, just in front of his apartment, she smiled and brushed the long, messy hair out of his face. “Of course, I will.” 

He was sound asleep, still in his costume, and she was tucking him in less than five minutes after they walked through the door. 

[tallstars-rewrite]

Chapter 19

 chapter list / previous / next

Tallpaw was crouched low in the long grass of the pastures. He wasn’t searching for any prey, instead he was just sitting alone in the empty fields, looking in the direction of the twoleg barn. It had only been a couple days since his disastrous attempt at tunneling, and his father had been making a point of avoiding him, giving him nothing more than a distant glare. By now, everyone in camp had heard about the incident. He didn’t know what Heatherstar had to say about it yet, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. No one brought it up but he always felt like they were watching him with pity, or worse, scorn. Tallpaw hadn’t been able to focus at all, and had slipped away from team hunting training with Shrewpaw after he’d missed his third catch. Shrewpaw had gotten fed up with him and growled in frustration “Just forget it, I’ll just catch something myself and say we caught it together!”

 He felt terrible. He had no idea how to make the cats he cared about happy. Dawnstripe wanted him to focus on moor training, Sandstone wanted him to become a prodigy tunneler, he had no idea what his mother wanted at all.

He wasn’t sure he felt worthy to train as anything anymore, he wanted to curl up under a gorse bush and stay there, not have to ask any cat for anything ever again and have no cat ask anything of him. It was a cowardly wish. And it wasn't like him to desire hiding in the undergrowth. Maybe that was why he had found himself walking towards the northern treeline, and why he now crouched at the outskirts of the farm, the woodland strip behind him blocking the breeze. He hadn’t consciously intended to come this way, but this is where he was. Just somewhere far away where he couldn’t disappoint anyone, where the wind wouldn’t catch his scent and invite anyone to come after him.

Tallpaw shouldn’t be in the pastures, he kept telling himself that, but some part of him was so desperate for some respite from the anxious buzzing in every part of his body, he was willing to try anything. His tail flicked restlessly. I don’t even know where Jake is, this was a mouse-brained idea. But before he could get up and leave, a bright orange shock of fur bounced out of the grass, making Tallpaw jump.

“Tallpaw!” Jake cried, “You’re back already! I didn’t think you’d come out this far again. I saw your tail in the grass and knew it had to be you. I was practicing my stalking, did you hear me coming?”

Jake looked so happy to see him. Tallpaw managed to get out a purr, “I didn’t. You’re a fast learner.”

It certainly wasn’t a lie, but mostly because Tallpaw had been too busy arguing with himself to pay any attention to a kittypet sneaking up on him.

Jake studied him, his eyes narrowed in slight concern “You doin’ ok? You seem a little down.”

“I’m fine,” Tallpaw lied. It didn’t sound convincing even to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was confess what a mouse-hearted stunt he’d pulled before when he went into the tunnels, especially not when Jake had tried so hard to encourage him before.

“I won’t make you spit it out. I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle.” Jake said politely.

Tallpaw hummed quietly but he avoided Jake’s gaze “I really just wanted to make sure you were doing ok. How are you?”

Jake seemed happy enough to oblige Tallpaw’s push for a change of subject. He told him how he caught a tiny mouse after a kestrel dropped it, and was practicing swatting at birds, and how his twolegs had been extra nice to him that day. Tallpaw still had some doubts about that last part, but he wasn’t going to interject about it today. Although Jake didn’t mention the obvious tension Tallpaw held in his body again, there was more understanding in his deep green eyes then Tallpaw would have expected. He had thought of Jake as a bit of a flighty cat who didn’t pick up on emotional cues very often, but he got the feeling the kittypet was perhaps a lot more perceptive than Tallpaw had been giving him credit for. Maybe his friendly nature wasn’t a result of naivety, maybe he was just… like that by choice. He was just nice. Why was that surprising? He smiled softly to himself as Jake talked.

“You know,” Jake said, “I’ve been getting a feeling lately that somethings going to change for me soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t explain it. I just feel it in my gut. I finally met some of those nicer cats you mentioned, Reena and Bess. I thought about what it would be like to travel the way they do, it sounds so fascinating. ”

“Are you...considering it? Leaving with the visitors?” Tallpaw wasn’t sure he could picture it. Though he had to admit Jake and Reena had a similar friendly disposition.

Jake shrugged. “Oh I don’t know about that, they seem nice but I barely know them. I’ve never been a stray before. I think I would miss my housefolk too much, you know? It upsets them when I disappear. They’ve been acting strange lately, moving stuff out of their den for days. I have a feeling they're getting ready to leave, and I think I may go with them.”

 “I-I don’t think that’s a good idea. Don’t you like it here? You can’t just let them take you! You don’t even know where they’re going to go!” Tallpaw said more quickly than he intended.

Jake flicked his tail casually. “Yeah I know, but I’m not that worried. The rest of my family went their separate ways like this, and honestly I never imagined I’d stay here my whole life. Just staying put in the same place? I always wanted to see somewhere new. I guess I’m just going to see where life takes me”

Jake seemed so chipper at the idea, but Tallpaw was surprised at how sad he suddenly felt at the idea of the kittypet leaving. He shouldn’t be here, he knew that, but...it was nice to have something to himself. He didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts. Tallpaw didn’t think about how stressed out he was in camp when he went to see Jake. He didn’t want to lose this, as selfish as it was. Well, he thought. My father wasn’t really wrong, was he? I’d rather do anything to run away from hardships. Of course this is where I’d end up.

“Well...good luck.” Tallpaw said quietly, “I should get going. Maybe it’s for the best. I’m breaking the rules coming here so often.” He turned very abruptly to leave, painfully aware it was probably rude.

“Oh! well...I’ll see you Tallpaw!” Jake called with some uncertainty.

Tallpaw wasn’t sure that he would, and felt a hollow pang in his chest at the thought. But he shouldn’t have run off and left Shrewpaw to do the assignment alone. But when he got back to the moor, instead of Shrewpaw, he was surprised to see Reena and Sparrow padding along the treeline. Tallpaw’s first instinct was to worry, but he remembered Sparrow apparently already knew he visited Jake sometimes. Reena waved her tail when she caught sight of him. She smiled in a friendly way, but the rest of her betrayed her worry. Sparrow wasn’t even looking at him. He kept staring down at his paws.

“Hello Tallpaw,” Reena said. “Have you seen Hen or Mole? They suddenly aren’t in camp and no one is sure where they’ve gone.”

“Hen? Not recently...I think I saw her just outside camp when I left early this morning.”

“Well she’s not here, so we should look somewhere else,” Sparrow hissed, already padding away.

Reena dipped her head to Tallpaw apologetically. “Well...if you see her or Mole...please tell them to return to your camp. Hen hasn’t been doing well, we’re worried about her.” With that, she turned and hurried after her companion.

***

Shrewpaw was waiting for him with a small rabbit and a disgruntled glare as Tallpaw tried not to look guilty. He was hoping he’d find the other apprentice soon enough to still be able to help. 

Shrewpaw just gave an irritated flick of his tail. "Whatever. This gets us back to camp faster. I’m tired. You can owe me for it later.”

On the way back, Tallpaw scented the air carefully and kept his ears pricked for any sign of Hen. Such a frail old cat surely could not have gotten far alone, but he still didn’t see any sign of her or Mole. Hopefully they hadn’t gotten lost. 

A very tired looking Briarpaw was the first cat to catch them.

“Hey Briarpaw,” Tallpaw called. “You haven’t seen Hen around have you? Reena said that she’s wandered off.”

Briarpaw looked grim. “I’m afraid we have.”

Tallpaw expected the worst judging by the look on his friends face, and his suspicions were quickly confirmed.

 “She wanted to go on a walk with Mole. Apparently she needed to stop and rest while out on the moor, and she just...didn’t wake up again. Some of the warriors found Mole laying with her and had to carry her back. Hawkheart tells me she was already passed before they got her to camp. We’re not sure what the visitors will want done.”

Sure enough, when they walked into camp, there lay the still white shape of Hen, with Mole pressed close to her side. Tallpaw was a bit stunned. He had never actually seen a dead cat before. She had been alive just before he left, and had even spoken to him not long before that. And now here she lay, her fur messy and tangled with bits of thistle that Mole was attempting to lick out of her fur. Tallpaw felt a twinge of guilt then.

“She had to have gone at almost the same time as me…” He murmured to himself. “I was so distracted when I left to catch up with Shrewpaw. Perhaps if I’d paid more attention...They shouldn’t have been allowed to go walking around.” 

Briarpaw pressed his nose to his shoulder softly. “A walk on the moor isn’t what killed her, her sickness was one beyond our powers to cure. She died with her mate at least. Cloudrunner and Brackenwing have gone out to find the rest of their friends.”

Tallpaw nodded solemnly, but he still felt bad. The visitors were so lively and kind--most of them anyway. He really had hoped they would be able to help. 

Bess and Algernon returned shortly, approaching Mole with their heads bowed as they both in turn pressed their noses to their old companions' bodies. The clan stood back in quiet hesitation. There wasn’t a ceremony to perform for cats who weren’t clanmates, but no one wanted to step forward to offer condolences yet either, so they were silent. Do Sparrow and Reena know yet? Tallpaw thought. Sparrow had seemed so sure Hen would get better soon. However prickly and unapproachable the little loner could be, Tallpaw wouldn’t have wished this on him, or any cat. He didn’t envy whoever had to break the news to him. Who knew how he would react? 

Unfortunately, they didn’t have to wait long to find out. Mole hadn’t moved from Hen’s side until he heard the two young cats’ return. Sparrow stood rigid at the top of the shallow slope leading into camp and Mole began to limp over to him, standing in front of him as if he wanted to block his view. Tallpaw was too far away to read Sparrow’s expression or make out Mole’s hushed words until eventually he heard Sparrow raise his voice, tight as he fought to keep it steady.

“Then why did we even come here!?” he snarled, “we only went so far out of the way because they were supposed to help us, and most of them didn’t even want to!”

Sparrow’s sharp gaze snapped towards Hawkheart and Briarpaw, who sat some distance away from the body of Hen. Hawkheart didn’t give much away but he narrowed his eyes at Sparrow’s accusing glare

“She didn’t get better at all! If anything she got worse, did they even try? They just wanted us to leave, the quicker she was gone, the quicker we were gone. Is that it?”

Tallpaw was afraid Hawkheart would turn on the little cat at the accusation, but he didn’t even ruffle his fur. “My orders were to treat her to the best of my ability, so that is what I did. My feelings played no part in it. There was a sickness forming from the mass inside her. It was already taking her life when she arrived here. All the herbs and remedies StarClan has gifted us could not remove what was already set fast.”

“Then why was it so fast?” Sparrow looked back at Mole. “She was alright not more than two moons ago, and she could still walk when we got here, why didn’t we have more time at least if their healers were good for anything?”

“Sparrow, please,” Bess’s voice was firm, but raspy in barely concealed grief. “This isn’t what Hen would want at her place of passing. It was her time.”

“I don’t want her to be here. She shouldn’t be here.” Sparrow's eyes darted around to the staring strangers surrounding him. He looked like he wanted to spit more insults but couldn't find the words for them as he dug his trembling claws into the soil. Mole stepped closer, but Sparrow backed away and was gone back through the entrance in a heartbeat.

 Reena insisted on going after him to make sure he was ok, although Tallpaw couldn’t help suspecting he'd want to be alone, away from prying eyes idly observing his pain. It was hard to blame him for that.

Heatherstar eventually approached the small group and offered to keep vigil for her in the camp. 

“Thank you for your kindness, Heatherstar,” Bess said quietly, “but we will find our own place. Wherever we bury her for her final sleep must be carefully chosen, and it can’t be here.” 

They took several moments to rest before they attempted to carry her. Tallpaw spent a long while watching them silently grieve in their own way. Hen looked a bit like she was sleeping on her side, if it were not for the stiffness in her limbs, all the more noticeable when the visitors lifted her body between Algernon and Bess and slowly made their way out of camp. That unnerving scent he had smelled on her earlier came to him again. Unmistakably he knew it was the scent of death. Where would a cat go if they did not know their way to StarClan? Where was Hen now? Was she anywhere? 

Tallpaw couldn't help the curiosity to look over the ridge around camp to see where the visitors were taking their friend. They were out of sight, but he did see Reena not too far off, looking around with her tail and ears drooping. Tallpaw felt an urge to approach her, but he wasn’t sure it was a good idea. She caught his gaze and offered a small friendly blink that he took as a sign it was alright to come closer.

Tallpaw dipped his head. “I’m... really sorry about Hen. I’m sorry we couldn’t help.” It didn’t really feel like much, but it was the best he could think to offer.

“I believe that you all did what you could. I’m just glad she was with Mole at the end…" she said.

“Did you find Sparrow?”

Reena let out a small sigh “No. I suspect I won’t. He is good at not being found when he doesn’t wish to be. I’m terribly sorry for his outburst, he’s really a good cat deep down, but...this will hurt for some time. He'll find us himself when he’s ready. We won’t lay her body to rest until he does. Now that we have no reason to hurry, we will probably travel back south to the housefolk town for the cold seasons, give ourselves time to recover. We have friends there that will make finding shelter and safety easier.”

“Will you continue on your travels as you did before?” Tallpaw asked meekly. He didn’t have time to wonder if that was inappropriate to ask after he’d said it. He wasn’t sure the right way to navigate around this topic.

To his relief, Reena gave him a small smile. “We will, eventually. There was only one thing Hen ever asked of us, and that was for us to continue telling her stories after she was gone. It all started because of her, and she wanted nothing more than for it to outlive her. You know, I really am grateful we got to perform that story to you all. It was one of her favorites. So...Thank you for giving us a chance to tell it with her one last time.”

Tallpaw walked along with her for a short ways. He hadn’t planned on it, but it felt like the right thing to do as Reena spoke.

“I think we all knew Hen’s time with us was running short, even if we didn’t want to admit it. We hoped we’d be able to get her to the sea first.” Reena trailed off with a little sigh. “She was so excited to take Sparrow there. This would have been his first time. She was so much happier when we found him as a kit. Those two were closer than anything...We’re confident she will still travel with us, and we’ll guide her spirit home to the sea come next newleaf. She always believed we all end up where we are meant to be sooner or later, in this world or the next.” She paused, looking ahead to the far woods. “I should join my family now. I hope your clanmates will forgive us being a bit distant for a little while after all your hospitality...Thank you for walking with me.”

Reena touched his nose briefly and padded away. Tallpaw could only wish the strange cats well. Even when he couldn’t see them anymore, the image of Hen’s body unnerved him and lodged in his mind like a burr. 

He had a memory that was perhaps not quite real before this moment, of a still body no bigger than a mouse lying close at his side, stiff and covered in that distinct scent of death. Death shouldn’t unsettle him as much as it did, but it made him feel terribly lonely. He wished he took comfort in the ghosts that Reena’s family believed in. To him, StarClan still felt so quiet and far away, if anything more of a stern distant force staring over his shoulder to judge whether or not he was behaving as a worthy descendant of his clan. Ultimately, this sadness wasn’t meant for him. He wasn’t a visitor, and he could not afford to dwell on grief like them. Not for cats, or kits, he never really knew.

The life of a warrior meant living alongside death closely, an unforgiving force that could strike the life from a cat that he’d known and walked with just days before. He knew it was something he should accept, and feel no fear towards. But Tallpaw still hoped in vain that he would not have to meet it again.

chapter list / previous / next

[alyss01]

|[It's a family business]|

[comfy cartel x reader]

Part 4/ finale

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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4]

Genre: mafia AU/ action

Word count: 4K

Requested: no

To request: it's possible to request for the comfy cartel, for one character in the comfy cartel setting or just the whole, the requests are open!

Synopsis: Corpse joins the cartel, and soon you accompany him, together with Rae, Lily, Sykunno and Toast to a new opening casino to deal with some unpaid debt.

Warnings: violence, murder, crimes, blood, fighting, gunfire, shooting

A/n: I can't believe this is the end of this small series. It's been fairly small but I'm so proud of myself for finishing this and keeping it small. Honestly this chapter could have been divided in two but I just wanted to finish it for everyone. This started as a one shot idea and progressed into so much more so I didn't want to leave everyone hanging. Thank you everyone that has supported this! Enjoy!

Masterlist

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"the place is getting flooded with security." Micheal's eyes scanned the screens that displayed the security cameras that hung around the building. He was the only one that could watch them as empty hallways were displayed for the actual security of the building to hide your whereabouts.

Toast walked in front and led the way, the gun still positioned in his hand as he carefully kept his eyes on the hallway in front of him.

Sykunno walked behind him, providing a second pair of eyes in case Toast missed something, anything.

Similarly to the entire night, Corpse stood by your side, his sleeves pulled up to above his elbows as the gun hadn't left his gloved hand.

Lily and Rae guarded your back, carefully keeping their eyes on the empty hallway behind you to make sure no one showed up unexpectedly in your back.

Gun shots occasionally echoed through the building, the amount of bodies you passed increased as the time passed.

Toast's reflexes were fast, clipping in a new load of bullets in his hand gun as he tossed the empty one aside. He didn't allow anyone in your way a bare second to even pull their own trigger.

If they came with more than one, Sykunno was right beside him. The two worked together perfectly, seemingly reading each other's mind as they shot in perfect sync.

More than once you could see Lily and Rae turn around behind you as they shot their own gun before turning back around to follow your little group.

The amount of people that came at once increased, each side hallway checked roughly before moving on.

"There's a large group heading your way from your direct front. You'll have to pass them to access the stairs, the elevators aren't working."

"How many?" Rae's words were stern as she fired her gun to the area behind your group. You could see Corpse's hand clench around the gun as he watched the situation around him.

He didn't like this, getting caught in a trap with limited freedom of movement and unknowing from which side he'd be attacked from next. He was new to working as a team, only having started to do it since he joined the cartel a small month back. Getting caught in these type of situations made him anxious.

"I'm unsure, probably 15, each heavily armed." You could hear Toast groan in front of you as you spoke, "they're late, we've already done our job, why are they only coming now?"

Micheal sighed as the continuous typing continued, "if i had to guess, they wanted to confirm identities first and then engage, you must've been faster than they expected."

It was one of the few times when you had seen Micheal as serious as he was now, the speed of the typing increased as he spoke up once more, "they'll reach you in a few minutes."

Toasts brow was furrowed as thoughts shot through his head to figure out how to deal with this situation accordingly. They had nothing to shield them in the empty hallway, getting inside a room could lead to potentially trapping yourself in. They were definitely with too many to take down without casualties.

"Are there any routes to avoid them completely?" Toast asked sternly as he guided your group into a side hallway before leaning to the side back into the original hallway before gunshots echoed through the space.

"There is one, but they'll go there straight if they won't find you here and they'll catch you right in front of the stairs."

"If we run?" Lily asked for the first time since you had gotten into this situation as Rae gave her a look from the side.

Micheal scoffed, "are you Usain Bolt?"

Toast squinted his eyes as a plan formed in his mind. It was risky, but not impossible. It was a guess, a liability, but it wouldn't be impossible. It was a gamble.

A fifty fifty.

"Y/n how fast can you run?" You furrowed your eyebrows at Toast's serious question, "not as fast as Usain Bolt if that's your question."

He nodded his head, nodding towards Corpse and Sykunno as he spoke, "you two go with her to the stairs with the other route, Rae, Lily and I will be right on your heels after taking care of these guys."

Your eyes narrowed as you watched Toast, your voice silent as the words left your mouth, "you're sure?"

He gave you a small disarming smile, one which you looked right through. You had known him for a long time. Through ups and downs in and outside of the cartel. You could see the nerves he hid behind the small smile like no other.

You returned it, a small smile tugging on the corners of your lips as you nodded. You couldn't stand still any longer, time was precious.

Nodding at him you spoke, "then I'll see you outside." He gave you a small nod in return as he held out his gun, ready for whatever would come at him in the next minutes, "I'll see you there."

Despite feeling like time had stilled, you needed to go. Rae gave you an encouraging smirk, and Lily gave you a small but reassuring smile as you pulled your heels off, holding them in one hand as you gathered your dress out of your way with the other as you ran off with Corpse and Sykunno.

Micheal guided you through the building, within a few more minutes you could hear the noises of gunshots echoing through the building before they reached your ear piece.

You could feel anxiety bubble in your chest but ignored it as you moved through the building with the two males by your side.

Toast's reflexes were what saved him in the heat of the moment, yanking one of the security men to the ground before shooting him in his head and pulling his rifle from his fading grip.

Rae smirked as she shot the approaching men, hiding behind the corner of the wall as she got fired at before leaning forwards once more and firing her a few times and pulling back once more.

One of them approached under the cover of his colleagues fire, attempting to round their corner with his gun to deal unthinkable damage.

Instead he was met with a knife slitting his throat as Rae passed the gun to Lily who swiftly started to aid Toast's antics as she fired the device with expertise.

When she joined the cartel, it was never meant for her to fight like this. The dirty jobs would get taken care off by Toast and the others. It was before most of the cartel had joined, the early and green days of the organization.

"Don't worry. You'll be the comfy front, we'll manage whatever dirty business there is, you won't have to concern yourself with that." Toasts words had reassured her back then.

A small smile played on her lips as the gun shook in her hold. As the cartel had grown, similarly to you, she couldn't be kept away from the flames.

Beside her, Toast looked at his two companions as they worked together, frequent teamwork resulting in the perfect work they displayed. Together they were quick and efficient. He was glad to have them by his side now.

You hurried down the stairs, one hand grabbing Corpse's as he guided you up the steps hurriedly. Sykunno stood in front of you, checking the top of the stairs to make sure the coast was clear.

"Soon we'll return to the ground level." Corpse spoke, obviously hinting to your appearance, walking bare feet, part of your dress in your hand to keep it out of the way of your feet.

The three of you wouldn't mingle with the common visitors of the casino, instead taking the hallways around the main lobby to reach an emergency exit.

That didn't mean it wasn't an area where you wouldn't meet regular customers as they explored the ground levels of the building.

As you reached the ground floor you brushed the hair our of your face, smoothed out your dress for a second and set your heels on the floor as you stepped in them. As long as you seemed like a normal visitor for the grand opening, people would believe it.

Both Sykunno and Corpse hid their guns from sight as you stepped out of the door leading to the mass of staircases.

Corpse offered his arm to you as his eyes scanned the hallway, Sykunno peacefully walking on your other side, his nerves on edge as the familiar adrenaline rushed through his veins. His senses heightened as his heart raced with the thrill of the job.

The hallways were grand on this level, luxuriously decorated to suit the expensive atmosphere of the casino. Unlike the business setting of the other floors except the ground and second floor, it was grand and allowed for freedom of movement.

Big bright windows decorated one side of the wall. Beautiful and elegant to the naked eye but your trained eyes could easily spot the thick bullet proof glass the windows were made off.

The hallway was quiet, maybe even suspiciously so as you heard the distant but loud music from the lobby.

The lighting here matched the lighting of the lobby, a stark difference against the bright spaces of the other floors, it was dimly lit as the night crawled on.

You could hear a relieved sigh over your ear piece as you continued to walk, Toast confidently announcing he was on your tail as he would soon follow your little group.

The situation didn't permit for you to wait for them as you continued on. But you couldn't ignore the relieved sigh that left your throat, or how Sykunno's face seemed to clear up at the words.

Corpse's expression was hard to read with the mask, but his body language told you he too was glad with the success.

Maybe it was because in that small moment of relief you had slipped off guard to your surroundings.

Corpse stiffened beside you as Sykunno protectively stepped in front of you. A small group wearing expensive suits and long flowy dresses stepped out of one of the doors, their eyes locking with yours immediately told you it was not a coincidence that you met them.

Your feeling had been correct when you realized it was too silent. Now you couldn't help it as the group came closer, and even in the dim lighting you could see the guns in their hands.

They weren't pointed at you yet, as if they needed something else instead of a simple and clean kill.

Something seemed to click in your mind, as if the puzzle pieces finally aligned to show you the true picture. You realized what the man's words had truly meant in the vault, you had walked straight into their trap, giving them a chance to capture you and hit right on one of the few weak spots the cartel had.

The first bullet was yours, flying through the hall as it connected with one's skull. Sykunno and Corpse were immediate to follow your lead, they were fast as the bullets flew from your weapons.

They started to fire back, only as expected, the difference between you and them was that you didn't try to avoid fatal shots.

You scoffed as you realized that you truly had walked straight into this carefully laid out trap, where your target had only been the bait. The group was relatively small, consisting of five people who were quickly taken down by your fast bullets.

They were quickly wiped out, yet you could only call yourself lucky to not have been injured.

You took a second to catch your breath as you returned the heated gun to it's holster, pulling your hand through your hair as you turned to Sykunno, the frown on his face evident that he reached the same conclusion you had.

"Sykunno, you'll check if the emergency exit is even opened in the first place. Toast will catch up soon enough and we need to be certain of our escape route before continuing." You knew he didn't want to follow your order, but he knew it was necessary so ensure your escape out of this building.

Toast's voice could be heard through your earpiece as he spoke, "we'll be able to catch up in about 10 minutes if we continue moving as we are right now. Sykunno you'll check the exit as instructed and Corpse you are not to leave her side under any circumstances. Keep moving."

Sykunno responded that he had understood, trying his best to give you a small reassuring smile that didn't manage to reach his eyes in the current situation. He turned around and ran through the corridor, Micheal in your ear guiding him through the building as you continued with just Corpse by your side.

It wasn't hard to see that the male beside you was on edge as he walked, his eyes scanning the area like a hawks as you moved forward.

It didn't seem like you were the only three that got held up by a group of seemingly regular guests. Toast's group soon encountered their own struggle only futher solidyfing that this had been a thought out plan all along. 

It took a few a small ten minutes for Sykunno to have reached the exit, confirming it was open. He considered returning to your and Corpse's side, but instead Toast ordered him to go to Micheal's van and drive it as close to the emergency exit as possible. You didn't have the luxury to walk another fifteen minutes to reach the vehicle right now. 

Toast, Rae and Lily had successfully taken down the group they encountered, announcing they were hot on your heels once more as they closed in their distance. 

It felt as if you could breathe freely at the good news. A weight lifted off your shoulders as this nightmarish nighted seemed to come to an end as you closed in on the exit. 

So close to the exit that you could practically feel the breeze from outside, it felt as if your fingertips could graze the door despite the distance still between you and the door. Beside you Corpse too became relaxed, knowing that this would be it for this task, knowing he was so close to coming out if this unscathed. 

You had to admit, the growing relief accomapanied with the naiveness that the end of this task brought probably made the final attack, a stray last attempt that had hid in the dark, all the more surprising. 

Corpse noticed it as soon as you were pulled backwards from his side. A heavy weight on your throat as you felt someone tighten the muscles on his arm that had wrapped around it from behind when you fell backwards. 

Instinctively, Corpse's gun was pointed right at the person's head, who held their own gun to your temple as their arm clenched around your throat. You had fallen backwards in their hold, legs bent in attempt to keep yourself up and relieve the ever growing stress on your throat. 

Corpse could see the redness in your face grow, a result of the lack of oxygen that reached your lungs. Micheal watched with wide eyes over the camera's you paid his voice in your ear no mind as he explained the situation at Toast who only grew more anxious as the precious seconds passed, breaking out in a sprint. 

Your hands clawed at the arms, who seemingly paid it no mind. The adrenaline in your veins demanded oxygen as not even the scream stuck in your throat reached the air. In the haze of the situation you could see another figure slowly approach Corpse from his back. His mind raced to find a solution to get you out of this person's hold, resulting that he didn't notice his own attacker approaching from behind, a mere knife seemingly the only weapon they carried. 

A plan bubbled up in your mind. 

Closing your eyes and releasing the grip on the man's arm, you allowed your body to give in as it went limp, your speedy hand ripping the knife beside the holster stripped on your thigh loose. 

In that same movement you stepped back, the sharp heel of your hellish heels you had worn that night driving into the top of the person's foot as they loosened their hold on you for a small second. It was enough for you to pull yourself out of the hold, ducking to the ground out of the way of the gun as you twisted your upper body and cleanly sliced through the clothing of the person to reach their skin and cut into their stomach. 

As you turned back to Corpse, you could see his widened eyes, his gun pointed to the man on the ground who raised his gun at you from his position on the ground and cleanly shooting a bullet straight through his heart. Despite that he was still blissfully unaware of the figure sneaking up on him, who now jumped closer to take advantage of the current action. 

Your arm instinctively pulled back, twisting the knife in your hold as you threw the weapon at Corpse, barely missing him as it hit his attacker in the arm in which he held the knife. Now you were forever grateful of the lessons self defense Rae had given you over the years. 

Corpse turned around in surprise, dodging the falling knife that his attacker once held as he fired his gun once more. Ending another life that night. 

You sat on the ground, eyes teary as coughs wrecked your body when the sweet oxygen filled your lungs. Corpse stepped closer to you, both of you splattered with blood, although thankfully it wasn't your own. Toast's worried voice filled your ears as Corpse told him you were alright. 

Your coughing wrecked through your body as your hands found themselves at your throat. You struggled to find your breath for short while, Corpse by your side as he watched the surroundings, allowing you precious time to regain your breath.

He offered his hand, pulling you up as you walked those last few meters to the exit. 

At the end of the narrow alleyway the exit lead to, stood a familair white van, Sykunno walking towards the two of you as he opened the side on the vehicle. 

Holding Corpse's arm, you climbed into the van. He followed you quickly, and as he did you could hear the door of the exit get slammed open as Toast ran out of the building first.

Barely a minute later followed Rae and Lily. Crossing through the alley and climbing into the vehicle as Sykunno sat behind the wheel. Micheal sat in the passenger seat as he typed on his laptop.

"So who's informing Yvonne of this?" Toast asked as you looked at the exhausted smile on his face. Sykunno started driving and guiding you away from the casino.

Leaning into your seat, you groaned, "Lily? Can you do it?" It was almost like a whine as you brushed your hair out of your face.

She looked at you, a small relieved smile on her face as she held her phone, "I'll do it, as long as I don't have to explain to the Don how you came to look like that." A small chuckle escaping her throat with the words.

You realized what she meant as your eyes widened, looking at the obvious crimson that stained your dress and arms. A sigh left your throat as you started to think of excuses to explain your appearance.

With your mind lost in thought, and Lily conversing with Yvonne, you failed to notice how Corpse beside you had taken off his suit jacket and handed it to you.

"It'll hide the stains." He spoke as you looked at him, curiously raising your eyebrow, "it'll get stained with blood."

A small chuckle left his throat, and you couldn't help but smile at the sound, "it wouldn't be the first time."

You nodded and silently thanked him as you wrapped the piece of clothing around your shoulders. It was horribly oversized on your form but you didn't mind it, if anything it provided extra warmth.

Corpse smiled silently at the sight, the gesture hidden by his mask as you leant backwards in your seat once more, huddled in the warmth of Corpse's jacket.

•••

It had been a few days since completing the task at the casino, and although you managed to keep the events of the night partially hidden for Scarra, he had undoubtedly figured out parts of what happened.

Despite that Corpse's jacket had indeed been enough to cover up the state of your appearance from Scarra who had gone to greet you as you returned.

Now you knew you'd be stuck at the cartel for at least a while longer as Scarra refused that you'd go out into the field once more after last time.

You figured you could at least do so much to keep your brother's mind at ease. Besides that you had more than enough to do to keep the exact events of the casino hidden from the government.

Naturally bodies had been found, yet nothing could be traced back to the cartel, everything hidden perfectly as you pulled the strings from behind the scenes.

The building and it's interior had been successfully transferred to the cartel as the official loanshark of the man.

In the end, everything had worked out.

"So, how have you been getting used to the cartel?" You asked, leaning back into the chair as you took a sip of your drink, watching Corpse on the other side of the grand table.

He shrugged his shoulders, "it's been different," his signature mask back on his face instead of the black facemask he had worn at the casino.

You raised your eyebrows in question as you looked at him, "different? Cause you're not used to working with others?"

Somewhere you remember reading that in his file barely an hour before he first entered the cartel.

Nodding his head, he looked at you, silent but with furrowed brows as he watched you. As if something bothered him.

"What's bothering you?" The words had left your mouth before you even realized it. He leaned on the side of his chair as his eyes narrowed at you,

"That night, why didn't you wait for me to have figured out the situation? He could've shot you as soon as you moved." Something clicked in your head as he spoke. He was bothered by that accident barely before you had reached the exit.

A small smile formed on your face, "I could see his companion sneak up behind you. If i hadn't done anything then he would've reached you before you could've done anything."

There still was a furrow in his eyebrows and a crease in his forehead as the words left your mouth. The smile on your face turned more genuine and gentle as you leant forward on the table.

"The cartel is like my family. Now that you've joined, you're part of that family too," a genuine smile that reached his eyes could be seen as you continued.

"This cartel," you gestured to everything around you,

"it's a family business."

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Comfy cartel tag list; @another-fantasy-world, @and-claudia, @lo-manburg, @stickystrawberrysyrup, @in-fucking-deed, @jadesbabylon, @victoria-a567

If i missed anyone, if you want to be added or removed from this taglist, please message me!

[katie-writes24]

Another Life, Another Adventure

Pairing: Lee Scoresby x reader

Warnings: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2!!!! Language, angst, violence, too many flashbacks, suggestive material, fluff (shockingly) hurt/sad shit, and buckle your seatbelts because this shit is a rollercoaster that just goes DOWN!

Ahaha, we are coping this way, 3.2k words baby. I’ve never written a story so fast! But yeah, lemme know if you want to be tagged! PLEASE give feedback, it’s greatly appreciated and I need assurance that my writing isn’t shit because I’m desperate. So....anyway, good luck? Because yall already know where this is heading, but I’m not going to put it in the warnings because ya know, SPOILERS?

There was no point in arguing, not with the magisterium on their tail, not with Lee’s injured foot, and not with Lyra in need of safety. Jopari even tried countering, insisting that there had to be another way. Y/N couldn’t say that she disagreed. After all the blinding chaos they’ve escaped, there had to be another way around this. 

“I’ve made my choice,” Lee huffed, giving a stern look at Jopari. “You’re it. Now find the bearer.”

Y/N and the shaman shared a look. They both knew of the promise he made with Lee, and they both knew how important it was for Lyra to be protected. 

“You’re a good man.”

“Just remember your promise. I love that little girl like a daughter.” Lee fumbled with his shotgun, loading the bullets and talking fast. 

“I remember. You have my word. I’ll make sure she’s protected by the knife.” 

“That’s all I need to know…” He stuck his hand out and firmly shook Jopari’s hand, both nodding, both knowing of the rough journey ahead. As the shaman stood up, he hesitated and it caused Lee to look up at him before looking at her with a raised brow. 

Y/N took a deep inhale before nodding for him to go along. 

“Y/N-”

“You’re out of your mind if you think-”

“Y/N, go!” He gripped her arm and it only made her push back. 

“No, no! You listen to me!” Soft hands held his face in a firm grip. Y/N was close and made sure to hold eye contact. “You forget what I said at the start of this? We’re a package, which means I go where you go. I didn’t leave my home in Texas just to get all the way here and leave you, Lee!”

The day he approached her with the proposition of going back to find Iroek was still fresh in her mind. Y/N had seen the aeronaut be ambitious before, but the determination in his eyes was unstoppable that day. Since then they were up in that balloon for weeks, months with each other. 

“You want me to come along?”

“I could use the company.”

“And what will people say when they see you with a leash on a so-called ‘townswhore,’ hmm?”

“Darling, since when have I ever cared what others think? I ain’t a Prince Charming myself.”

Though neither of them could predict that that small journey would lead to something much bigger and more complicated than expected, they still didn’t leave each other’s side. Not when Iroek refused to talk, not when Lord Faa made snarky comments on how helpful someone with Y/N’s type of occupation could actually be, and not when they were separated from Lyra. 

Lee squeezed her wrist and bowed his head. Y/N took that as he had given up arguing, and she turned to look at Jopari staring in discomfort. Hester and Owen hunched over each other, having their own way to keep each other safe. They all probably made quite the scene. 

“Don’t worry about us. Just...go protect Lyra, please?” Y/N waved him away with a nod, and soon Jopari was out of sight, leaving them with a soft goodbye.

How they caught up so quickly, they’ll never figure out, but bullets kept flying back and forth. Only minutes later Lee turned back to Y/N, holding up his pistol and sighing, “I’m out.”

“Let’s move, then, c’mon.” She held out her hand and pulled him up, watching Lee set down his hat and leave behind yet another meaningful piece to him. 

Guards were still yelling, voices getting only closer. They trudged through the forest, Hester and Owen leading the way. However it was only a matter of time before Lee couldn’t bear to walk on his damaged bone any longer. Y/N felt her entire body shaking, loading up her gun with her last round of ammo before listening to what Lee was saying. 

“Remember the games we used to play when we were little?” He glanced at Hester as he shifted.

“The Alamo.”

Feeling her stare on him, Lee turned to Y/N, chuckling, “The Alamo. Taking turns being Danes in French.”

“They’re still coming,” Owen stepped down from his perched stance on the rock, burrowing into Y/N’s side. 

“How many bullets do we have left?” He was breathing harder, and it did nothing to help Y/N’s nerves. It was like a clock ticking in her head. It was a gut feeling, this was all so much different then when they would get into a natural bar fight, or even when she had to watch Lee get abused from the magisterium and Coulter. When she looked at Owen, she knew he felt it, too.

“About thirty,” Hester drew her ears back in fear, while Lee only nodded determinedly. His eyes met Y/N’s and she cleared her throat.

“I got one round left,” She whispered. Lee reached down and squeezed her hand before sighing.

“Well, let’s make every single last one count then,” With that he cocked his gun and turned to shoot, Y/N doing the same.

On each side of the stump they took their stance, like a routine, both shooting at their respective sides. Hester helped by calling out where to aim, and Owen did his best to do the same. 

“I’m running out!” Y/N hated to admit it, but when she ran out that only meant for one shooter, and who knows how good that could go.

“Me too,” Lee kept firing.

“Don’t think about that!” Owen chirped.

“What should we think about?” She almost missed one, her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“Think about anything. Think about bacon. Just keep shooting!” Hester spoke before returning to yell where to shoot at next. 

“And who are you?”

“Y/N L/N, we’re sort of a package. I go where he goes.”

“And what, exactly, do you bring to the table Miss L/N?”

“I might not be able to fly, but I’m a pretty good shot.”

Y/N was overwhelmed, between the gunfire and the yelling and her heart beating fast and the dangerous thoughts in her head, she wasn’t going fast enough. Even with her limited count, she was going slower than Lee. One guard was on the top, and just as she was about to shoot, he fired to her left. 

“Y/N, go high!” Owen called, yet it was a little late.

The sharp clip shot right next to her, and with Lee doubling over only meant one thing. 

“Lee!” Y/N yelled all while shooting at the man behind the boulder. She crouched behind the stump and felt her eyes grow. 

“It’s nothing big! A bullet clipped your scalp, but no great damage!” Hester urged, voice shaky. He held onto the top of his head as blood ran down the side. There was no sugar coating how bad this was getting. Y/N only had one bullet left, using it to shoot the guy who was only coming closer. 

“Did you count how many fell?” He was taking his time, why was he taking his time? Tears welled up in Y/N’s eyes as she listened to shots fire all around her, watching Owen tremble at each round. 

“This is my fault isn’t it?” Hester whined. 

“How’d ya figure?” 

“I’ve always stopped you both before.” 

“You always pushed us,” Lee locked the gun and looked at his daemon with concern. It made Owen flap his wings in a protective manner, even though he stopped being able to fly straight a while ago. 

“Only when there’s an adventure on the way-”

“Hester,” Lee huffed softly. “There were always adventures.”

Y/N bit down on her lip as she agreed; there always was an adventure. 

“You know, if you were going to start trouble, you could’ve at least finished it!”

“Well who said I haven’t yet? You know I love a good chase, doll.”

It was like a film before her eyes; from the moment the two first met there was always a thrill, whether it be them on the run or her own feelings for the aeronaut. Her mother once told her that Y/N would find a good husband in a local bookkeeper, that way she would live a simple life, stay far from any danger. It was almost laughable how much danger she had been put through since meeting Lee. 

“I totally understand now,” Y/N shook her head in admiration. “Living this life up in the stars...it’s beautiful.”

“You’d think it would grow old, but it’s a different picture every night.”

She looked back at Lee, smirking. “I’d love to see it.”

“So stay.”

From her first steps into the balloon, Y/N found it comforting. The small home Lee had made for himself up in the sky had quickly grown on her, just like the man himself. 

“You’ll find a change of mind sooner or later.”

“What little faith you have of me. And how dare you try to insinuate how I should feel-”

“I’m not insinuating anything, I’m just...I’ve got jobs, I’ve got places to go and I can’t settle just yet.”

“Then I’ll follow you.”

“Now why would you want to do that?”

“If you want me to leave so badly, then say so. But I finally found a life that excites me and I don’t plan on giving that up.”

And even after the years of knowing one another, and the months of traveling together, those feelings were never labeled. Although two beds turned to one, and outsiders' judgment was unique, neither Lee or Y/N dared fixed it. Lyra even asked about the travelers status, and while being one rambunctious and curious girl, she luckily got distracted easily as Y/N pushed the subject away.

The two have been through hell and back, each seeing the other at their weakest while never being one to judge. They both had too many faults, there was no judgement to be made to the other. Maybe that’s what made them so similar. Maybe that’s why they were so drawn to each other.

Her dangerous acts she was thinking of were as equally dangerous as losing focus, as she felt a sudden pain strike her right below her collarbone. Owen cried out and they both fell to the ground. It took her a moment to recover from the shock, but she eventually reached down to feel the damage, a knowing liquid already flooding out slowly.

“Lee…”

The aeronaut swallowed at her broken voice, watching the blood escape from her wound. The distraction only caused him to lose aim, and he lost his balance as a bullet hit his shoulder. He fell onto his back, letting out pants and huffs. 

“C’mon, tough guy, too old for a fight?”

“Let me catch my breath, will ya?”

“You can tap out. I won’t hold it against you.”

“Maybe, I was just thinking of other activities,” He towered over her as his eyes grew dark. Y/N swallowed before chuckling.

“Like what?”

Lee pushed a strand of hair behind her ear before leaning down and taking the lobe into his mouth. She rested her hands on his chest as her head fell onto his shoulder. As his lips dragged up the shell of her ear, his hands took her own and slowly brought them down to his belt. Just as Y/N was about to unbuckle the fabric, her arm was twisted behind her. Her chest fell down onto the railing before her and she winced. 

“Word of advice: never get distracted when it comes to your life.”

Call it the wrong time and place, but as Y/N stared into his brown eyes, she found herself reminiscing. She was always bad at holding eye contact, it made her feel so small. Yet, every time she looked into these orbs she felt safe, she felt warm. She wished she looked into his eyes more....

But the look he was giving her now...it was endearing.

It was almost like he was doing the same as her, taking it all in one last time.

“Lee,” Hester gasped out. “The clout pine. Maybe you could call her to this world.”

Of course, Serafina said that she would help, that she would be here. As Lee struggled with removing it from his pocket, Y/N let out a whimper as the pain moved to her shoulder. The aeronaut glanced at the noise and frowned.

“Serafina Pekkala, I beg you,” A bullet rang from behind them as Lee raised his hand to the sky. “Come help us.”

Owen moved into her chest and Y/N wrapped him up into her arms as she found his soft feathers comforting. 

“Think that’s enough?”

“Let’s hope it is…” Y/N coughed. She tried moving into a seated position, but only managed to scoot up a couple inches. Lee stared at her carefully, wanting to reach out and help her, do anything he could to stop the bleeding, to make her comfortable, make her feel safe. But he wasn’t doing so good himself, having three bullets already break his flesh. He scooted back and took hold of his gun. Just as he was raising it up, another fire went off, Lee falling back again, this time with a bullet into his chest.

Y/N had seen lots of things in her life; she was fortunate enough to travel the world, she’d seen great sights she could’ve never dreamed of seeing before. She watched her mother slowly become sicker and sicker, saw her friends be dragged away from her, watched someone she cared for greatly fall right out of her arms to the ground below. 

Despite all the crazy, disastrous things she’d seen before, nothing could compare to this. Nothing could compare to her seeing her lover in agony, so helpless. He lost all the light in his eyes, his brow was furrowed, and for once in his life his guard was down.

“Lee, it’s okay.” But he kept resisting, he kept denying that there was no more fight left in him.

“I have to do it for Lyra-”

“Jopari made his promise, Lee,” Y/N reached out her hand, lowering his gun. “We did what we could.”

He shook his head, releasing a shaky breath and taking her hand in his. 

Whether he liked it or not, they reached the point of no return. 

“Y’know ever since I met you I’ve lived on the edge?” Y/N let out a wet chuckle. 

“Is it really necessary?”

“Can’t run around these parts without learning how to shoot, kid.”

“Well, that could only mean that there’s danger ahead.”

“What? You scared of a little danger? Where’s the fun in that?”

“It’s...it’s not bad, I actually grew to love it. All those times we shared together, all those times I had to save your ass, all the times you saved mine.”

“You’re gonna end up dead one day if you keep runnin’ around so recklessly, dumbass.”

“Ah, that’s why I keep you around, ain’t it?”

“What I said before,” She winced as she leaned closer to him. “About leaving my home in Texas. Turns out i never left my home...I found it.”

“I was worried about you.”

“I was just out for a walk, Lee, nothing to worry about. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself.”

“No, Y/N, not around here. Just...if I lose you, I’ll never forgive myself, alright? Like you said, we’re a package now.”

“You changed me for the better...look at all the shit we did, you let me touch the sky, Lee,” A tear ran down her cheek. She could see Hester moving closer to Owen out of the corner of her eye.

“How hard could being an aeronaut be, anyways?”

“Ha, it’s cute that you think it’s an easy job.”

“All I ever see ya do is fiddle with knobs.”

“Those knobs get us safely to land. Would you rather we just keep floating all day and night?”

“I wouldn’t mind it...it’s lovely up here.”

“How far we flew…” Lee cupped her face, his own eyes growing wet. There were so many emotions running through his mind that he couldn’t put into words, and that scared him. He could literally feel his last breaths coming and he wouldn’t be able to tell Y/N how he felt.

“Why don’t you care?”

“Why should I? Does it look like I have such a high reputation? Y/N, I would never leave you. And screw what anyone else thinks.”

“I’ve...never had anyone push it away like it doesn’t matter before?”

“People could think we were swingers for all I care. Not going to change what I think about you, darling.”

“Exactly, look at us,” Her hands stopped shaking, gripping his wrists with one hand. “Lee, I wouldn’t replace this for the world, good and bad.”

“S’not enough though, is it? Love? Doesn’t mean you won’t hurt her? Doesn’t mean she’s safe with you, it doesn’t work that way.”

“What could you possibly know about love, Mr. Scoresby? You don’t have children, no wife, just a narrow-minded whore, yearning for an escape.” Ms. Coulter crept towards him like a predator. All Y/N could do was helplessly watch from the corner of the room. 

“You’re wrong...because I love Lyra.”

Lee mustered all the strength he could to move forward to capture her lips. 

They both put everything they could into that one kiss, their final kiss. 

“I’ve never felt so safe before…”

“Well, I’m glad I make you feel safe, sweetheart.”

“Do you...does this change anything for us? What does this mean, exactly?”

“...It doesn’t have to change anything, really.” Lee wrapped his arms around her naked body and kissed her forehead. Y/N wasn’t ready for things to change then.

Lee pushed and pushed, hoping whatever God was out there that he was able to mold his feelings into Y/N. She deserved to know, she deserved to be loved. She was loved. He felt her pressing her lips harder, and warm air traveled into his mouth, making him pull back gasping.

“Don’t do that, don’t you go before I do!” He sobbed, reaching out for her one last time and instead feeling his demon nuzzle into his free hand. 

“I love you…” She whispered, giving him a small smile as she pulled Owen closer to her body. 

“We did good,” Owen interrupted before closing his eyes.

“We’re a-helping Lyra…” Hester whimpered, looking at Lee for a response, a confirmation, anything. Instead all she saw were tears coming out of his eyes, blood seeping from his head and taking a deep breath.

His mouth wouldn’t move, it felt like his lungs were shattering. His body was shrinking and everything inside him felt tighter. His final cue was here, yet nothing was escaping. His brain was vibrating, ironically. His entire being was going into panic mode and the last final seconds were starting to count down. His mind was screaming at him to say the words, say something to her, something meaningful. Something that would make her know that she wasn’t just traveling with a known theft, that he wanted her to come along for a reason. That he wanted to build a home with her, build a family with her. Wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her until she knew that everyone who crossed their path was wrong about them. They weren’t just a thieving aeronaut and a townswhore, but two people in love.

His eyes started to droop shut, and when he opened them again, Owen was gone, just flurries of white particles floating before him.

Lee stared into lifeless orbs in front of him, feeling Hester’s cold body drift away from his own. 

“Y/N?”

“Yes, Lyra?”

“You travel with Mr. Scoresby?”

“I do, yes.”

“What’s he like?”

“He’s...typical, really. At least for me. But he knows what he’s doing. He’s full of determination, though he might come off as a self-righteous smartass when you first meet him. But he’s a good man. So devoted, and surprisingly, he’s pretty funny. But don’t tell him I said that! Lee takes risks, and is so....he’s open. He may not let it show often, but he really does care for you. Just like he cares about what happens to these missing children, and what happens after this. In the mornings, he sings these songs, and I know he does it to annoy me. But it’s actually...it’s nice waking up like that. He keeps me on my toes when I’m down, or stressed. He’s strong, and I’ve never met anyone like him before. You know, he actually took me out of my shell? Because he could see right through me, and knew that I had this desire to get out of Texas and have...a story to tell, you know? One worth the time. I’ll never understand it, but Lee can read me better than anyone I know…”

“Do you love Mr.Scoresby?”

“Love..love is a strong word, Lyra.”

“He loves you. I can tell.”

Y/N looked to see the aeronaut talking to Hester, small smile on his face, eyes wide as he spoke. He matched her stare eventually, and waved a hand. She chuckled and waved back.

“No, no it’s not like that, Lyra. He doesn’t love me…”

Let me know if you want to be tagged!! :’)

[janetbrown711]

"My head hurts" - Dot

There were three things Yakko hated most in the world: King Salazar, moving ‘homes’, and winter. 

Yakko’s hatred of Salazar was clear: he was responsible for where they were now. It was his fault they were homeless orphans in a town that was going progressively downhill. He was raising taxes without a thought about what it was doing to the citizens. It drove Yakko insane, especially since this tax went down to the smallest child. Every time they earned just enough money for a new blanket or maybe a warm meal made by someone else for once, it was taken away by that stupid baron Thaddeus Von Plotz. 

It was because of King Salazar that the stores and shops kept shutting down, and reopening just to shut down again.  It made it especially hard for them to find a stable place to live. Just when they’d get settled into an abandoned jewelry shop, policemen would come and tell them to scram and that some other shop that was doomed to fail was replacing it. 

The worst part about changing ‘homes’ was how difficult it clearly was for Dot. Wakko was usually gone during the days, trying to find odd little jobs to do around the town, or hunt for rabbits for them to eat for dinner if they didn’t have money to buy food. Dot, however, was just five years old now. She didn’t have any memories of their parents, or even of the orphanage. Yakko spent his days with her, trying to teach her to read and write with what he had around, or playing her silly games, but with her hanging around “home” so often, she always got just too attached right before they’d have to move again. She always looked so heartbroken as she looked back and said goodbye to the building. 

Winter. 

Yakko hated winter a lot, it was in a close second to King Salazar. It snowed a lot in Acme Falls, and Yakko was thankful they had fur, or else all of them would’ve caught hypothermia by now.

Winter’s were especially hard when they had to move around. Sometimes there weren’t buildings and they’d have to spend the next few days in the alleys. That was when they were practically guaranteed to get sick. It was never too serious, and they were usually just cases of flu that lasted a few days before going away. Yakko had a tendency to be a ‘worry-wart’ in the words of Wakko, which he couldn’t deny. He just... couldn’t afford to lose them. 

“Yakko, when is Wakko coming back?” Dot asked, holding a very worn out rag doll Yakko had gotten her for her third birthday, before the taxing would’ve made it impossible. 

“He’ll be back soon,” Yakko said, as he looked through what food they had left to see if they could have lunch today. Dot frowned a little. 

“Y-yakko my head hurts,” Dot said. 

“Go lay down, I’m sure it’ll go away,” Yakko brushed it off. Dot tended to exaggerate things when she wanted attention. It was probably just from hunger- not that Yakko could blame her, but it was nothing lunch could hopefully fix. 

“Okay... I’ll go lie down,” Dot nodded and went to their bed, which was really just a pile of blankets on the floor, and curled up into a ball. Yakko frowned at that, but shrugged it off again. He really did need to relax more, he always got so wrapped up in his own head, and it never did anyone any good. 

“It’s just because she’s hungry,” He thought to himself. Yakko returned to the food and sighed. Hopefully Wakko could make more than a ha’penny this time because they were running low on bread. 

Still, something was off with Dot today so it was probably best to have at least a little something to settle her over for now. Hopefully, they’d be okay...

Yakko wasn’t surprised when it started to snow outside. He muttered to himself as he got the materials for a fire and set them aside to do later. Hopefully, it wouldn’t snow too much, or else they’d be able to make snowmen with how many holes were in the ceiling. 

“I’m back!” Wakko announced as he re-entered the small building. 

“Took you long enough, what do you have?” Yakko asked. 

“I was lucky and got myself three ha’pennies today,” Wakko beamed with pride. Yakko did his best to be happy as well, but, well- ha’pennies weren’t exactly as valuable as Wakko believed. Still, it could buy them a little more food, which meant Wakko didn’t have to hunt and could play with Dot like she wanted. 

“That’s good Wak. We can buy some more bread with that and have some for dinner,” Yakko said. Wakko nodded happily. 

“Look Dot! I got three- is she okay?” Wakko went to brag to his little sister, but quickly dropped his attitude. 

“Her head hurts, I’m sure it’s just because she’s hungry. She hardly ate yesterday,” Yakko stated. 

“Neither did we and we’re fine,” Wakko frowned. 

“We’re bigger than she is, it means more to her than us,” Yakko sighed and shrugged. That detail did bug him, but he had other things to focus on for the moment. He shivered as he felt the building shake as harsh winds began to mix in with the snow.

For instance, he had a fire to start.. somewhere. 

It was really hard to start fires in places that didn’t have an oven. If it hadn’t been snowing he would have tried outside. Still, he had collected rocks, sticks and had even gotten some firewood and it was cold enough to warrant using it. Even though he hated it most times, he was glad for once the floor was dirt and not wood. 

As he started pilling the wood, he felt his younger brother hovering around him curiously. Yakko chuckled at that. He had been doing that since he could walk; some things never change. 

“If you want to help start the fire, you can just say so Wak,” Yakko grinned. Wakko, not one to be embarrassed easily, beamed, and picked up the stones Yakko had gathered days before and started putting them in a circle around the fire. Yakko didn’t really know why people did that with fires, but it made them look nicer and it made a clear barrier Dot and Wakko knew not to cross.

“Eventually, they had gathered everything around. Yakko grabbed the box of matches they had, and did his best to hide his frown as he realized they only had four left. 

“Better make them count,” He thought, sighing aloud. He of course could’ve tried the old fashioned way, but those fires tended to end poorly, and usually gave the ever impulsive Wakko ideas. It was simply better to use matches. 

Finally, the fire had been lit and Yakko felt himself sigh a breath of relief mixed with tiredness. Who knew it was utterly exhausting to have to raise a five-year-old, and an eight-year-old when you were only eleven-almost-twelve. He grabbed their bag of food and handed Wakko a piece of bread and some grapes before standing up and going to Dot. 

“Hey Dot, we’re eating lunch now and-” Yakko paused when he noticed how damp her fur looked. He looked up and frowned when he saw that there wasn’t a hole above her that would’ve caused snow to fall on her. 

Then she coughed. 

It wasn’t a normal cough, it was loud, it was messy, and it was long. 

“D-dot? Are you okay?” Yakko asked, trying to hide his panic. Dot shivered and clutched the blanket around her tighter. 

Oh god- this was bad. This was really really bad. 

“Wakko, where did you put your ha’pennies?” Yakko asked, turning to him. 

“Right here- what’s wrong with Dot?” Wakko said, his ears lowered in worry. 

“We have to take her to the doctor- Now.” Yakko stated. 

“Now? Is she okay?” Wakko looked much more frightened. Yakko never took them to the doctor for anything unless he felt it was serious (like when Wakko had broken his arm hunting once). 

“Y-yak-” Dot had tried to speak, but her voice was hoarse. Yakko cringed as he picked her up. She suddenly felt a lot lighter than she had before. 

This was really really bad. 

“Don’t say anything Dot, it’s gonna be okay,” Yakko said, stroking her head softly.

However, the universe seemed to be out to prove him wrong as the door swung open and snow and fiercely bitter winds broke into the small place and immediately put the fire out. 

So much for making the most out of that match.

Yakko shook his head, he didn’t have time to focus on that, Dot was sick. Really sick. He needed to get her to a doctor asap. 

“Stay here Wak, it’ll be safer in here than out there,” Yakko said. Wakko shook his head profusely. 

“I wanna go with you. We need to stick together,” Wakko insisted. Yakko looked at him and couldn’t help but be reminded of that night five years ago...

Yakko shook his head to snap himself out of it. “Fine, but hold onto my tail. I can’t lose you in the storm,” Yakko said, and was relieved when Wakko didn’t protest. Finally, he sucked in a deep breath for strength and headed out into the storm for the doctors.

Yakko usually forbade his sibs from walking during a snow storm for very obvious reasons. One, they could get frostbite or hypothermia or just get really cold; Two, the roads were covered in ice and they could easily slip and hurt themselves; and Three, it was just generally a really bad idea. 

That didn’t stop Yakko though. He was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him. He didn’t hesitate to take off his own coat and wrap his little sister in it. If it weren’t for the direness of the situation, he would’ve laughed at how it engulfed her. 

He kept marching on. 

The walk was a lot longer than Yakko expected, but with the snow piling up and the weight of carrying his sister and feeling his brother’s pull on his tail, plus the lack of visibility were all making it a whole lot more difficult than it had to be. 

“Yakko! I think you walked past it!” Wakko shouted from behind to be heard over the wind. 

Walked past it? No, he wouldn’t have-

He looked above and noticed they were all the way at the bakery, three buildings over from the doctor’s office. 

“This is what you get for complaining Yakko. Keep this up and she’ll be de-”

No. He couldn’t think like that. He turned around and ran as quickly as he could to the doctors without slipping. He cursed when the stupid door was locked. Wakko tapped his shoulder and gestured for him to step aside. Yakko obeyed and Wakko began banging on the door as hard as he could. 

“Ve are closed can’t you read- Oh. The Warners. Vhat do ve have here?” The familiar doctor puzzled. Ignoring the rude implications, Yakko leaned Dot towards him and the doctor gasped and let them come in immediately. 

Thank goodness the doctor was doing well for himself still because his building was nice and toasty. Doctor Scratnsniff closed and locked the door once more after they got in. 

“Vhat is the matter vis Dot?” He asked, gesturing for Yakko to hand her over. Yakko hesitated but obliged. 

“I don’t know... I-i thought she was just tired because she was hungry but when I checked up on her later she was sweaty, a-and she had a cough. A really bad one,” Yakko said. 

“How far did you walk to come here? It vas very far, no?” He asked as he hurried off to his examination table. Yakko and Wakko followed. 

“Very far,” Wakko said. 

“And in a blizzard nonetheless. You two must really care,” Dr. Scratchnsniff said, checking her vitals. 

Yakko scoffed. Was he daft? He had known them since they had moved to Acme Falls and he was surprised they cared about her? 

“Zis is bad... zis is very bad...” The doctor muttered in hopes that the other two sibs wouldn’t hear, but Yakko heard it clear as day. 

“What’s the matter doc?” Yakko said, sticking his hands in his pant pockets nervously. 

“I’m afraid Dot is very ill-”

“Can you fix her?” Wakko interrupted. Scratchnsniff sighed. 

“I do not know. Zis illness... it comes and goes. To remove it would require surgery which is expensive and dangerous, especially around zis time of year,” He scratched the back of his bald head. 

“N-no... there... there has to be something you can do,” Yakko pleaded. 

“I’m sorry Yakko... there isn’t much I can do except recommend a diet and hope for the best. Like I said, it comes and goes,” He explained. 

“Please, we’ll do anything,” Yakko said. Scratchnsniff sighed. 

“I’ll give you a list,” He said. 

Good. At least the doctor wasn’t that daft and heartless. 

“You kiddies should stay here for the next while though, Dot needs her strength and a warm environment ja?” He said as he went to get a piece of paper. Yakko and Wakko shared a look. 

“We only have three ha’pennies...” Wakko said, looking at the ground. “Will that cover it..?” 

Yakko saw Scratchnsniff pause. 

“Guess he isn’t doing as well as I thought,” Yakko thought. 

“Zat will get you three days, ja? Zat should be enough time for her to regain her strength,” He said. Wakko smiled. 

“Thanks scratchy!” He said, hugging the doctor. 

“You’re very velcome Vakko,” He patted his head, clearly uncomfortable with the gesture but too polite to say otherwise. 

“Yeah, thanks doc,” Yakko said, keeping his distance and walking over to Dot.

“Yeah, thanks doc,” Yakko said, keeping his distance and walking over to Dot.

“Y-yakko...” Dot shivered.

“Shh, it’s gonna be okay Dot,” Yakko said, trying his best not to look overwhelmed with worry.

“Wh-where- wh-when-” Dot looked around wearily.

“It’s okay Dot. We’re at the doctor's. Just get some rest, okay? You’re gonna need your strength,” Yakko said, stroking her head.

“A-am I okay?” Dot asked, looking at him wearily.

“You’ll be okay Dot. Everything is gonna be okay," He said, not really believing it, but he willed himself to look like he believed it for her. It wasn't easy, as she went into another nasty coughing fit. After that, Dot shivered and reached out for his hand wearily. He gave it to her, and she placed it under her cheek and embraced it. Yakko thought he might cry.

"It's gonna be okay, Dot. You're gonna be okay."

"You have to," he silently added.

He couldn't afford to lose her too.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

[sweetyyhippyy]

Part of You. Spencer Reid x OC! Character. Chapter 4.

Chapter 4: 864 days

(Not my gif.)

Summary: Bridgett brings a date to a party at Rossi’s house. Spencer gets extremely jealous and angry. While working a case with Bridgett, he says some words he doesn’t mean. He goes to Bridgett’s apartment to apologize, and those 3 little words are finally said. 

Pairing: Season 5 Spencer Reid x OC! Plus size character, Bridgett Mendez

TW: Alcohol mentions, Spencer being mean, language, I think that’s all!

Word Count: 4k

A.N.: This is season 5 Spencer, like tail end of season 5. Please reblog! Italicized words are inner thoughts. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So Rossi needs a headcount for how many people are coming over tonight. He said he hasn’t heard back from only you, Bridge.”

JJ says, joining Bridgett and Garcia gossiping at Bridgett’s desk.

“Oh yeah sorry, I was kinda waiting to hear from… this guy I’m bringing along tonight.”

Both of the girls eyes get wide, staring at Bridgett.

“You’re bringing someone? Who is he?! I need to know everything, now.” Penelope squeals, leaning back in her chair.

Bridgett laughs, knowing that this was going to be the hot topic of the day.

“It’s this guy I’ve been dating for like 2 weeks. His name is Angel.”

“Okay, okay, Angel. Angel and Bridgett… Bridgett and Angel. Doesn’t necessarily roll off the tongue but keep going.” Penelope says.

“I met him at the coffee shop by my apartment. It was that one morning Hotch needed us to come in at like 6am so I grabbed some coffee and they were getting a delivery while I was waiting and the delivery guy noticed me, I noticed him after the third time he passed me by. So I smiled at him and he stopped to talk to me on my way out. We've gone on a few dates and he’s really nice.”

“Just nice? Are you not completely into him?” JJ questions.

“I don’t know, he’s nice, and he is cute. But I don’t know it’s weird, I know you’re both going to say I’m selling myself short but he’s out of my league. Our connection is good when we’re together but I can’t help but think that maybe he’s just putting a front on. It’s all probably just in my head… right?”

“If it’s only been a few dates this is all still new. The both of you are trying to figure each other out. I wouldn’t discredit him just yet, sweetheart.” Penelope interjects, rubbing her shoulder in comfort.

JJ’s phone rings from her pocket, her groaning and leaving out the door to the elevator.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to bring another guy tonight? I’m not judging, I just don’t think that there’s *someone you didn’t think about.”

Bridgett knew who she was talking about as soon as she said it, and she was right, Bridgett didn’t think about Spencer.

“You don’t know for sure if Spence likes me, Penelope.”

“Um, Earth to madam profiler! Bridgy, the boy is beyond in love with you. You don’t see what everyone else in this office sees when you talk to him, or when someone talks about you.”

Bridgett sighs, rubbing her temple with her fingers lightly.

“What am I supposed to do? I’m genuinely asking I’m not trying to be a bitch but, am I supposed to wait, god knows how long, for him to make the first move? I don’t make the first move. Ever. That’s not me and it makes me want to physically puke even thinking about it. What if he never does it? Then what?”

“I know, beautiful, and I didn’t mean to make you question dating other people, but I just want you to think about it.”

***

Bridgett felt off the rest of the day after her talk with Garcia. She almost wanted to just call Angel and tell him that there had been a change of plans and she wasn’t going to the party anymore. But he had told her on the phone a few nights ago he had gotten a special outfit for the night.

Bridgett sits on the couch, her hair flowing down her back, makeup fresh on her face, and a dark maroon dress clinging to her body, the dress ending mid thigh. While she was staring at her phone deciding on whether or not she was going to call Angel and cancel, it starts ringing, his name appearing on screen.

“Hello?”

“Hey you, I’m on my way to come get you. I’ll be there in about 5 minutes.”

Her stomach turns, but in a good way.

“Okay. I’ll be waiting. See you in a bit.”

She slips her heels on, leaving them for the last minute knowing they were going to kill her feet by the end of the night. She paced back and forth, double and triple checking she had everything in her clutch. there’s a knock at the door in a rhythmic pattern, one that Angel frequented when he came over to pick her up. Bridgett walks to answer the door, opening it with a smile. He smiles back, handing her a single red rose.

“For you.” He smiles, kissing her cheek. Bridgett’s cheeks get warm, a nervous laugh coming from her mouth.

“Thank you. You look very handsome.”

He looked so incredibly handsome in the dark brown button up tucked into black dress pants he was wearing, everything head to toe was on point and it made her swoon a little bit.

“Are you ready to go? I’m definitely going to need directions to your coworker’s house.”

***

“This is going to sound very shallow, but how much money do FBI agents make? This house is huge.” Angel whispers to Bridgett, walking up to Rossi’s house.

“He used to work for the FBI back in the day, he retired and wrote a couple of books and he started doing book tours and signing, lectures. So he always hosts parties because this is his house. He’s a great guy, you’ll like him.”

Bridgett was beyond nervous for everyone to meet this new guy. Especially since he was so new in her life. And since the conversation she had with Penelope, she was nervous if she was right how Spencer would react.

She rings the doorbell to the large house, waiting for someone to answer the door. Derek opens the door, a surprising look on his face.

“Hey Bridge. Come on in.” Derek studies Angel up and down.

“Derek, this is Angel. Angel this is Derek. He and I work together at the Buerau. He’s our resident badass and big brother.”

The front of the house fills with the rest of the team members; Emily, JJ, Penelope, Hotch, Rossi, but no Spencer. She introduces everyone to Angel , Rossi handing both of them a drink after the introductions are done.

***

The mood was light while everyone was inside sitting around a large table, everyone talking and laughing.

“I gotta use the restroom. I’ll be back, if I’m not back in 10 send a search party.” Angel jokes, making Bridgett laugh.

“Hey pretty boy made it!” Derek calls out, everyone’s attention turning to Spencer. He smiles and waves awkwardly, coming to join everyone else. He had a nice plum colored button up on with a skinny solid black tie, and of course his converse on. He looked really handsome. Bridgett waves at him from her seat, Spencer walking over and sitting on the opposite side of her.

“You’re late. What took you so long?” Bridgett teases.

“The subway. It randomly broke down right before I was supposed to get off for 15 minutes.”

“Well hey, don’t worry about taking the subway home, I’ll just take you. I’m sticking to one glass tonight, I’m not going to be drunk.”

Spencer smiles at her, nodding his head as he takes a drink from his glass, “Yeah that would be great thanks Bridge.”

Bridgett feels the chair on her other side slide back, Angel touching her bare shoulder as he sits back down. Spencer’s eyes fixate on the stranger, his eyes flickering back and forth between him and Bridgett.

“Who’s this?” Spencer questions.

“Oh I’m Angel, I’m Bridgett’s date.”

The room fell quiet, everyone watching the exchange. Spencer’s jaw clenched, taking a longer swig of his drink.

“Date huh? Nice.” He says under his breath.

Bridgett’s cheeks getting hot, getting through this dinner was going to be interesting.

Spencer was beyond fuming, but in the back of his mind he knew he had no true right to feel this angry.  But seeing that the girl he’s in love with be touched and goggled over made him seethe with rage.

If you weren’t such a goddamn wimp, maybe Bridgett and you could have gone together as a date, but no you have to be afraid of fucking everything.

Spencer knocks the glass of wine back, asking Rossi if he had anything stronger., to which he offered him his best scotch and Spencer took. He quickly shoots that one down, instantly regretting it once he feels the fire in his throat.

Bridgett watches him cough after hearing him swallow the shot, in the few years she’s know Spencer, he’s had maybe half a sip of champagne, and again… it was half a sip. “Woah, slowdown, I can’t carry you out of here.” Bridgett comments, laughing slightly.

Spencer pours another shot full, keeping his eyes on hers the whole time while he slowly sips, finishing yet another glass.

“Slow enough for you?”

***

Spencer didn’t speak one word while everyone was eating , anytime Bridgett spoke to him, Spencer wouldn’t look at her, he just nodded his head and take a heavy drink. He got more and more angry throughout the night, nobody else could tell if it was the alcohol or Angel.

Not too long after dinner was over some of the team started to leave. Angel wraps his arm around Bridgett’s waist, kissing her cheek.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Angel whispers in her ear. Bridgett giggles, smiling at him.

“Okay. I told my friend Spencer I would take him home, so I need to drop him off before I get home. Let me go find him.”

Bridgett walks to the backyard to try to find Spencer, not finding him with the rest of the team that was still here. She walks back inside, finding Derek and Penelope before they leave.

“Hey, have you seen Spence? I was supposed to give him a ride home.”

Derek sighs, throwing his jacket on. Penelope stares at Derek then back at Bridgett.

“He uhh… got a call from his mom’s care facility. He left like 10 minutes ago.”

“Oh my god is she okay?”

“He didn’t say. He was… upset.” Derek states, rubbing her shoulder in comfort. “I’ll see you Monday morning, mama.”

Bridgett walks to Rossi and Emily chatting with Angel, her coat in his hands.

“Hey, Spence took off because of a family emergency. So if you still want to head out, we can.”

Angel nods his head, helping Bridgett put her coat on and saying his goodbyes to the pair before walking hand and hand out with Bridgett back to her car.

***

Bridgett walks through the elevator, pulling the door open to the dugout. She spots Spencer at his desk, not expecting him to be at work this morning.

“Hey, you’re here. How’s your mom?”

Spencer barely turns his head to give Bridgett a dirty look, going back to scribbling something in his notebook.

“Fine.” He says plainly.

“Garcia said that you left Rossi’s party the other night because you got a call from your mom’s care facility that something happened. And you didn’t answer my phone calls all weekend. I was worried about you.”

Spencer gets up from his desk with a sigh, whizzing past her toward the conference room. Bridgett stands there, completely confused why he wasn’t speaking to her.

“Hey mama, we have a local case, Hotch said a briefing in 5.” Derek says, passing by her quickly.

Bridgett sets her bag at her desk, taking her notebook and pen with her to the conference room, sitting in her usual spot next to Spencer.

“Hey, are you okay?” She asks quietly.

Spencer visibly rolls his eyes, fidgeting with his pen between his fingers.

“Yup. Just fine.”

Bridgett opens her mouth to ask him another question but everyone grabs their seat as JJ begins briefing everyone on their case.

***

Hotch had Bridgett and Spencer partner up to examine the crime scene and Spencer was beyond annoyed. Bridgett could feel the anger and tension between both of them the car ride to the crime scene. She wanted to ask what his deal was but she didn’t want there to be more anger in the air when they got to their destination.

While they were examining the crime scene and talking with the town sheriff, Spencer undermined every single thing she asked, said, or thought and it was pissing her off.

After a few hours they were ready to head back to headquarters and Bridgett was furious.

“Hey, Spencer, could you have me a tissue please?” Bridgett asks, motioning to the glove compartment. Spencer sighs loudly, opening the drawer and slamming the door closed hard. That was it.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” Bridgett yells. “Why are you being such a fucking dick? What did I do to you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Bridgett bites her cheek, putting her turn signal on and pulling off to the side of the road.

“What are you doing?” Spencer asks, raising his voice.

“No, what are you doing?! I don’t know why you’re pissed off at me, but you making me look like I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about when we’re working is not okay. This attitude you’ve had with me all morning is starting to piss me off and I’m over it! What did I do?”

Spencer sits quietly, gathering his thoughts.

“I don’t want to talk to you about it.”

Bridgett was about 2 seconds away from screaming in anger, her hands grip the steering wheel, knuckles white.

“So instead of being a fucking adult you’re choosing to act like a child and not tell me why you’re angry with me? Real mature Spencer. You know, for a genius, you can be real dumb sometimes.” She fires off at him.

“Nice to know that’s what you think of me.” Spencer says quietly, grabbing his satchel, opening the car door and walking away from the car.

Bridgett sits dumbfounded. She gets out of the car, running after him. “Spencer! What are you doing?!”

He has his back turned to her, his cell phone pressed to his ear.

“Spencer, Spencer, Spencer, Spencer.” Bridgett repeats his name over and over again, getting under his skin.

Once he hangs the phone up he begins walking away again.

“Goddamn it! Where are you going?” She shouts, Spencer stopping in his tracks.

“Going back to work. I’m not riding with you back. I called a cab”

“Why are you being like this? What did I do Spencer?!” She was pissed, getting upset, and tired.

“You’re being a shitty friend!” Spencer yells, visibly taken back at what he even just yelled.

Bridgett stares at him, tears clouding her vision. “I’m not a shitty friend.” She says with a light voice. “You really think I’m a shitty friend? All the nights I spent on the phone with you because you were having bad nightmares, the time I went to your house at 3:30am because you called me inconsolable, was there for you because you got a call that your mom was having a bad day and you felt guilty for putting her in a mental hospital. All of that I was there for you and you still have the audacity to call me a shitty friend? Really?”

Spencer doesn’t make eye contact with her, his feet kicking the pavement under him. Bridgett walks back to the car, tears flowing down her cheeks at his words. She sits in the car, watching Spencer sit on the sidewalk, waiting for his cab, his head turning every so often to see the car still parked several feet away. Bridgett openly sobbed in the car, she was sensitive enough as it was, but having her best friend call her a shitty friend broke her. She waits in the car until she sees a yellow cab pull up next to Spencer and him get in it. Even though he just pissed her off, she didn’t want him to be by himself in the middle of nowhere. Once she sees him get in she drives off toward the office, still sniffling and the occasional tear rolling down her cheek.

Once she pulls into the parking spot back at the office, she slowly walks inside, trying to get her mind together before having to go back and face the rest of the team. She walks through the doors, throwing the case file on her desk and grabbing her bag to go home.

“Hey, where’s Spence?” Derek asks, popping up behind her.

“Fuck if I know.” Bridgett mumbles, turning to walk out for the day.

“Wait! Where are you going? What happened? Are you crying?” Derek rattles his questions off one after the other.

Bridgett continues walking out, ignoring Derek talking to her. She presses the elevator down button, waiting for it to come. She feels someone next to her, Derek. She sighs, folding her arms over her chest. The doors open, both of them walking in.

“What’s wrong?”

Bridgett clears her throat, choking back a sob.

“Spencer and I got into it… he got out of the car on the way back and called a cab to come get him because we were yelling at each other. He called me a shitty friend.”

“He’s going to kill me for saying this, but the reason he left on Saturday was because he was angry that you brought that kid with you to the party. He sort of has a thing for you.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that, you, Garcia, but he hasn’t made a move on me. I’m not going to wait for him to do it. I know that sounds mean but I can’t wait forever.”

Derek nods his head. “I know. I’ve been trying to tell him. And I told him the other night too. I’ve never seen him so mad. It definitely didn’t help that he was drinking everything in sight. But I can tell you that you’re not a shitty friend. Spencer just says what’s on his mind when he’s mad.”

“So that means he has it in his head that I’m shitty to him.”

Derek shakes his head, giving her a tight hug.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Let me talk to him. See if I can get him to calm down. Go home, I’ll tell Hotch you got sick on the job and take the rest of the day to make yourself feel better, alright?”

Bridgett nods, giving him a hug.

***

Bridgett grabs the plate of her favorite comfort meal, breakfast food drenched in hot sauce, and takes it over to the couch, flipping through the tv channels to find something to watch for the night. Her favorite movie was already loaded into her DVD player from the last time she watched it, and that was probably what she was going to settle for. As she takes a huge mouthful of eggs there’s a soft knock at the door. She groans, quickly chewing her food, opening the door quickly. Spencer is standing there, his head down, fidgeting with the leather strap across his chest.

“Hi.” He says quietly.

“Hello.” Bridgett responds, a hint  of attitude in her tone, still a little bitter at him for his earlier outburst.

Spencer bites his bottom lip, awkwardly fixing her doormat with his foot to straighten it out.

“I was wondering if I could talk… if we could talk.”

“What about?” She asks, crossing her arms over her chest, still not letting him inside.

“I wanted to tell you I’m sorry.” Finally looking into Bridgett’s eyes.

“Oh really? Okay well I’m listening.”

Spencer sighs, tapping his fingers on his bag.

“Derek told me that you went back to work crying… about what I said to you and I didn’t mea-“

Bridgett interrupts, just to get under his skin. “What did you say to me? I forgot.” She questions, her voice thick with sarcasm.

Well she isn’t going to make this easy.

“I… I called you a shitty friend. And I didn’t mean it, Bridge. I was angry and I should have never said it because it’s far from the truth. You’re the only true friend I’ve ever had, and I feel like such a dick for saying it to you. I probably can’t ever apologize enough to make up for it, but my apology is genuine.”

Bridgett continues to stare at him for a few seconds, she could tell he really was sorry for his harsh words, and even if she wanted to, she couldn’t be mad at him.

“Come in.” She moves from the middle of the doorway, letting Spencer in. He walks in, following her to the couch.

“I want you to be honest with me, because I already know the answer to the question.”

Spencer nods his head, playing with a loose string on her throw pillows.

“Do you have romantic feelings for me?”

Spencer’s eyes grow wide, almost in a cartoonish way. He drops eye contact with Bridgett, his heart beating a million miles per hour.

Tell her. Tell her now. She already knows. Tell. Her.

“Yeah.” He says, no sound coming out of his mouth, his vocal chords frozen. He clears his throat, “Yeah, I have feelings for you. I have for a while now.”

“How long is a while?” Bridgett questions, feeling a bit of relief that he finally admits it.

“476 days. Since the night at the hotel… in Idaho. Well actually 388 days before that, it’s kinda why what happened in Idaho… happened. So 864 days total.”

Bridgett nods her head, trying to hide the smirk on her face, remembering very fondly of what happened in Idaho.

“And why did you feel the need to hide the fact you had feelings for me that weren’t just sexual feelings? Why do you think that you couldn’t tell me you liked me in a romantic way?”

“I don’t know. I was scared that you were going to laugh in my face when I told you that I fell in lo-.” He stops himself before he says the word.

“Fell in love with me?” Bridgett asks, finishing his sentence.  

He nods his head, afraid to say the words.

“I wouldn’t laugh at you. And to be honest with you, I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t like you too. I haven’t been in love with you for 800 days, but I do love you.”

Spencer stays quiet, smiling to himself. “864 days.”

Bridgett rolls her eyes and elbows his arm playfully.

“Oh, so sorry 864 days. Since we’re talking about how many days we’ve been in love with each other, I've been in love with you for about…” Bridgett pauses as she does the math in her head, not anywhere close to how fast Spencer’s brain worked. “730 days.”

“Really?”

Bridgett nods her head, “Yeah, it’s kinda hard not to love you. You know what solidified my love for you? Do you remember when we were flying back from Seattle, and you were exhausted, we were sitting together, we had barely been in the air for 20 minutes and I felt your head rest on my shoulder. I looked over at you and you were passed out. I put my head on yours and I fell asleep too. When I woke up, Emily had a picture on her phone she had taken of us and I knew that I loved you.”

Spencer touched Bridgett’s cheek with his thumb softly, staring at her deep brown eyes. He takes Bridgett’s hand in his, holding them close to his chest.

“I love you Bridgett, and I really want to make you happy.”

She lets go of his hands and places both of them on each side of his face, giving him a smile.

“I forgive you.” She says softly, kissing his lips. “And I love you too.”

“So does this mean you’re my… girlfriend?”

Bridgett kisses his lips softly, smiling at him lovingly.

“Yes, yes it does mean I’m your girlfriend. You good with that?”

“Very. I’m very good with that.”

[hargrove-mayfields]

so sorry im late asking this (i was waiting for you to get more, super surprised you didn’t get more asks tbh) but could I hear more about your wips “I have a crush on Barbara Holland” “baby fic” and “HOH Steve” also if it’s not too much “girlyfriends” and “cali house” and “medical emergency” ik ik that’s a lot but I’d honestly want hear about ALL of you wips in that list if i could. thank u in advance

It’s alright anon! I’ll accept these asks until I run out of WIPs to talk about!

I have a crush on Barbara Holland- This one is a soulmates au, where Steve has his soulmates initials, B.H., on his wrist, and he is whole heartedly convinced that that person is Barb. He’s very much in love with her, and there’s lots of talk about how pretty and nice she is (hence the title lol) but eventually she reveals that he isn’t her soulmate. Before she had hid the initials on her own wrist under a watch or a chunky bracelet, but she feels guilty, and shows Steve that her mark had long ago faded, because her soulmate passed away when they were in elementary school. Steve decides, despite how much value he used to hold in the whole soulmate thing, he doesn’t care about who some stupid mark says he should be with, so him and Barb date until her death. He’s heart broken, but the sadness very quickly turns into so much anger after Billy Hargrove, another B.H. rolls into town with a little S.H. on his wrist. He feels like the universe or whoever is even in charge of this soulmate bullshit is spiting him for thinking he could fall in love with someone he wasn’t destined to be with, so he rejects Billy for a long, long time, even after he himself figured it out that Steve is his match. When he does start to feel that way about Billy, he struggles with so much guilt and has to go through a very long grieving process to be comfortable with his feelings, because he’s not even sure if they’re his genuine feelings or the work of this soulmate bond. Very long and very angsty.

baby fic- Nancy gets pregnant that first time at the party with Tommy and Carol, and her and Steve try really really hard to make things work out for their baby, but it just isn’t meant to be. They make an arrangement that the Harringtons are very not pleased with, where Nancy has the baby at the Byers house half the time (because let’s be honest I think the Wheelers house is not really a safe place to be raising a baby) and Steve has her the rest of the time. Because it was like, a much more mature breakup without the cheating and the drunken confessions, they’re still pretty close friends. When the upside down starts making an appearance again, they have to try to figure out how to navigate it with this little four month old baby, and that means getting some help involved. Billy shows up at the Byers and instead of a fight, Steve’s all exhausted like oh good, you’re finally here, and gives him the worlds fastest run down of this monster fighting shit with a crying baby on his hip, and like, Billy just can’t say no to him asking him to go into the tunnels while he watches the baby. There is eventual Harringrove after a while, but it’s a slow burn for sure. This is also probably the least serious and least angsty thing I have ever started to write.

HOH Stevie- They’re all in the government hospital getting their post Starcourt once overs, Billy and El of course being rushed into surgery, and Steve’s about to get discharged when he gets addressed by name and just, does not respond at all. The doctor is like hmm, and checks his ears, and they find out he has almost no hearing in his left ear, and only about forty percent in the right. All that head trauma from the Russians and then all of the explosions of the fireworks, it leaves him deaf.

Everyone tries to be supportive, but his dad refuses to let him get hearing aids because he doesn’t believe he actually needs them (Steve’s a diagnosed hypochondriac) so for the next several months while his parents are still home waiting for their next trip, he’s struggling. He basically gets iced out by the party because he just can’t hear anything they’re saying, and the kids get tired of repeating themselves, and Nancy got insulted the one time he told her her voice is too quiet, and Robin wants to do things right for him, but she forgets sometimes, and will ramble on about something without looking at him and everytime he’s like great, I didn’t catch a single word of that, lovely talk though. It’s very frustrating and isolating and nobody seems to want to make accommodations for him.

The very same day that his parents leave for their latest vacation, he goes back to hospital. At first he just has to get more testing done, since it had been upwards of six months since the last time they saw him, and on his way out he notices Max in the waiting room chairs. He hadn’t seen much of her at all since Starcourt, so he checks on her, and at first she tells him to go away, because her friends have said some not so nice things about how much time she spends at the hospital, and assumes Steve is there to tell her Billy isn’t worth it too. Because that’s not the case, he ends up going in the room to visit Billy with her.

They do the small talk, the awkward, sorry about the fact that you’ve been in the hospital for six months now and nobody wants to come see you thing, and at some point Billy realizes that Steve can’t hear a damned thing he’s saying. He tests his theory by saying Steve’s name when he’s not looking and just waiting for him to answer but, surprise he doesn’t because he didn’t hear it at all, and Billy’s just like, you’re deaf aren’t you?

The progression of the fic is basically Steve coming to visit Billy everytime he has an appointment for his hearing (and more, but Bill doesn’t know that) but the day of his last appointment to make sure his hearing aids are functioning as well as they ever will for how bad off his hearing is, Billy’s acting different.

When he’d first walked into his room Billy had been surprisingly bright eyed and bushy-tailed for what he went through, but now he’s just acting all mopey. Max makes him tell Steve what’s wrong, and he confesses that he feels like he’s going to get left behind now that Steve’s all better, because then he has no real reason to visit him anymore. But Steve has one very good reason, and the rest of the story is him making sure Billy knows it.

girlyfriends- This’n’s sort of a non-canon compliant character study about aromantic! Billy, focusing on how awful and uncomfortable he felt with his past girlfriends, messing up dates and never going as far as they wanted him to, which at the time he pinned on liking boys instead, but then after he gets with Steve, he feels like this is different and he likes it, but he’s still not too big on all the lovey dovey, romance stuff. He rationalizes it as like, maybe just being a side effect of him being an asshole or something, but he‘s actually super insecure about how he is in relationships. There is a fluffy resolution though where he embraces his identity, it’s really not all doom and gloom, boo hoo I hate myself stuff.

cali house- Years after Starcourt, the boys have moved to a decent house in California using their government hush hush money, and they’re there for only about a month when Billy’s mother shows up at their door.

She says she caught wind that her son was back in town and wanted to come see him, after all this time. Billy of course lets her back in his life immediately, his mom meant so much to his recovery process and now that she’s here, he can’t turn her away, but Steve’s a little suspicious of her intentions.

He thinks that if she wanted to see Billy, she would’ve done that years ago before he ever even left Cali in the first place, or that you know, she wouldn’t have fucking left him behind. He tries to bring it up with Billy gently, but he won’t hear it, and he feels beyond hurt by the suggestion because he thinks Steve is just jealous that he’s spending time with his mother, who he hasn’t seen for upwards of fifteen years at this point.

They fight and avoid each other for a few days until Billy’s momma admits when he brings it up, over lunch or something saying like, “Steve thought you were using me or something, isn’t that crazy?” and she’s just like “Well, actually...”and tells him that money was tight, and she needed a little extra money, so Billy and his disability checks and his rich (boy)friend seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some.

He goes back home to Steve and expects him to be mad, to rub it in that he was right, but he’s really not, he’s super supportive, and you know, Billy finally realizes he doesn’t need to have this bullshit family thing with his mother, because he already has one, Max and Steve and his friends and all the people that actually care about him.

medical emergency (tw attempted suicide)-

Billy, who’s living on his own in an apartment downtown after Starcourt, deliberately doesn’t get his prescriptions refilled because he’s so done. He’s weak and he’s hurting and he doesn’t feel like himself anymore, and he just feels like he wouldn’t care if his body gave up, if he suffocated in his sleep or had another heart attack. So he doesn’t take care of himself, and when he runs out of oxygen he just doesn’t go get anymore, but he’s halfway to choking on his own blood when he realizes he doesn’t want to die.

He calls Steve, because he’s not calling the cops and he can’t remember anyone’s numbers in his panic, but Steve’s is written on his calendar, scribbled there because they were supposed to make plans for something with the kids. Steve takes him to the hospital, having to fight him to put the CPAP on him to make sure his lungs didn’t collapse before they could get him to Hawkins General, and Billy’s just, so bone tired.

They do all their treatment stuff and get his body back under control, so Steve finally asks him what happened, if maybe he needed someone around to help him remember his meds and stuff, and Billy just, he breaks, like a dam overfilled he just pours out with all of this helplessness and sadness he’d been feeling, how he doesn’t want to live the way he does or at all anymore, and Steve’s heart just breaks for him.

He moves in with him, nobody’s willing to leave him alone after what happened, and Steve (along with Billy getting a new therapist because the old one was incompetent enough to not notice how bad off he was) helps him to realize he has something to live for.

[courtlyharlequin]

*slams hand on counter* Let me order Rose Latté for Leona! I need to taste this delicacy that you have created!

Serendipity

A/N: I feel aggressively loved huehue. This ended up longer than I expected. It also got a bit heated because I got thirsty halfway since I read Nessun Dorma’s first chapter while taking a break from writing this. I’m sorry about the mess that you’re about to read ⊂((・⊥・))⊃

Bells chimed as you walked through the door. The podigant scent of rose welcomed and halted you in your tracks. You closed your eyes to inhale the flowery fragrance.  

“Are you going to order or what?” a tired voice mumbled.

Tired as in too-early-in-the-morning-for-this tired. There was a slight undertone of irritation in that oh so husky voice. It was deep, soothing... and oddly attractive. Wait...

Your eyes snapped open, cheeks heating up as your eyes met with the barista’s. His emerald orbs were breathtaking. They were akin to an endless sea of green– such depth, such wonder. They peered into your soul. An intense gaze, it was. Your eyes wandered to his hair which was unkempt, pulled into a low ponytail with two braids framing his face. Your hands reached for the sides of your face, smacking them vehemently.  

For goodness sake (y/n)! You were here for coffee, not to ogle at the barista! Well, you were here for an aphrodisiac, but you haven’t consumed anything yet! Shame on you!

“Are you going to order or what?” the voice repeated, sounding more and more annoyed by the minute.

“I- Yes! Yes, I am,” you exclaimed, blushing profusely.

The barista extended his hands out, gesturing to the cash register, a silent command for you to come forward to the counter. His smile was strained.

“One Rosé Latte, please.”

“Hmmm,” he leaned over the register, matching his eye level with yours, “are you one of those herbivores that honestly believe that rumor about soulmates?”

“And if I am? It doesn’t concern you.”

“Touché,” he said as he clicked his tongue.

You hummed in response.

“Name for your order?” he prompted.

“(y/n).”

“Cute. One soulmate detector coming right up,” he murmured, handing you the receipt.

With a whip of his tail, his back was turned against you. It was amusing how he wouldn’t let it go, how  bitter he was about this drink– whatever the reason was. You watched him work attentively as if the concoction he was brewing was a magic potion, a solution, to all of your romantic problems.

Perhaps it was. Truthfully, you came to this cafe to confirm the rumors. Your peers flocked to this place as soons as the rumors circulated to your school. They praised the hearsay for they had found “the one” through this drink. You were not one to believe in superstitions. However, you could not help but feel a tad jealous of your classmates; you had been looking for someone to share your everything with, but to no avail it seems. You were not one who required a relationship to be validated, but you were one who never liked to be alone. Above all things, you were lonely. Your peers left you behind for their soulmates. Of course, the rumors were silly, but you were curious as to whether your peers experienced a coincidence or fate.

“Oi. Sit down, herbivore. Stop making heart eyes at me,” the barista flicks your forehead.

He turns back to his work.

“I’m not making heart eyes at you! I was just–”

“You’ve been standing there for three minutes. Your legs might get tired.”

You huffed and sat down on one of the barstools in front of the counter so you could watch him brew your latte, propping your head up with one arm. You were certainly not making heart eyes at him. Who was he to think that he was that handsome to have a random customer ogling at him first thing in the morning? He isn’t wrong though. He was attractive. His appearance wasn’t otherworldly. It was down to earth, humane, and masculine. Very, very attractive although his high horse killed his charm. You trailed down his arms, landing on the cup that would soon house your drink. He handled it with care, each movement was languid yet fluid. Despite his disheveled mein, this barista displayed such integrity and prowess. He made serving a simple cup of joe something worth chasing a degree for.

“I told you to stop making heart eyes at me,” he growled, spinning his heel around to face you.

“I wasn’t before.”

“So you’re admitting that you are now?”

“I’m not making heart eyes now either.”

“I can feel you staring at my back.”

“Just a feeling,” you shrugged.

He clicked his tongue.

“I can’t help it if the way you make coffee is mesmerizing.”

“Is it now?” he smirked, sliding you your drink.

He leaned forward from behind the worktable, waiting for your reaction. His tail swished back and forth in anticipation.

You took a moment to appreciate the intricate latte art of a rose. Daintily, you brought the cup to your lips and sipped your coffee. You widen your eyes at the explosion of subtle flavors. First and foremost was the taste of roses. It wasn’t overwhelming. In fact, it strangely complimented the coffee.

“Found your soulmate yet?”

“Yeah.”

His ears twitched, “Really now? Who? Hate to break it to you, darling, but nobody’s here.”

“There’s you.”

“You can’t be serious…” he groaned, rubbing his temples, “This can’t be love. We can’t possibly be soulmates.”

“Hmm… probably not, but there is such a thing as falling in love at first sight. As you said, I’ve been making heart eyes at you this whole time.”

“So you were making heart eyes at me.”

“No, I was admiring the way you brewed coffee. Everything else was a secondary matter. But that’s not the point.”

“That's attraction, not love.”

“Attraction can become love.”

He inched forward: “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you breathed.

The space between you two closed at that moment. And at that moment, electricity flooded your entire body, your senses, your grasp of your surroundings. You felt relief and fervor all at once. Mostly the latter. It was as if your mouth was made fit his perfectly like Cinderella’s glass slipper.

You broke the kiss, gripping the collar of his dress shirt, “I… I... can’t breath.”

“First time kissing a lion?”

“First time kissing at all,” you panted.

“And you wasted it on a random barista, you dumb herbivore.”

“You initiated!”

“Do you even know my name?” he tilted his head.

“...You’re right. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have gotten ahead of myself like that. Sorry for bothering you. Um, does it help to leave a tip to compensate for the trouble? I don’t have much on me right now but I–”

He flicked your forehead once more.

“Leona, Leona Kingscholar.”

“Pardon?”

“My name.”

“Ahhhhh–”

“You’re a hopeless herbivore.”

“Hopeless romantic, mind you. I’m your hopeless soulmate and you’re mine.”

“No, I’m just the barista you happened to fall for.”

“I’m only taking soulmate for an answer.”

“Fine. Soulmates. Soulmates by coincidence,” he said reluctantly, getting up to tend to other things in the café.

“I’ll take what I can get,” you laughed as you took another sip of the latte.

You exhaled.

“Hey, Leona?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you believe in soulmates? Maybe not like the rumors about Rosé Latte, but like finding ‘the one’ through serendipitous encounters?”

You fiddled your thumbs, waiting for his reply.

“...I do.”

You stared into your cup, “Then... Leona?”

He grunted in response, a signal to let you know to continue.

“Is there actually something in this latte that makes you fall in love?”

“Perhaps. I’m not quite sure myself.”

“What do you think it is then?”

He sighs, “My coworkers think that the rosy flavorings all have some type of lovey-dovey hex on them that triggers some epiphany whenever ‘the one’, as you’d call it, is around and for whatever reason, it works every time.”

“I see. But... Leona?”

“What is it this time?”

“Do you believe in those silly rumors about this café, then?”

“Yes and no. At first, I thought it was all correlation. A latte can’t possibly bring people together, you feel?  I didn’t think much of it, let alone believe it... until today.”

“That’s good to hear…soulmate,” you beam.

“Hey, don’t call me that,” he growled, returning to his place before you.

“Does ‘My Leona’ work better?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you’re mine,” you teased.

“I kind of like that.”

“Kind of?”

“Yep.”

“Well, whatever. I have to go now.”

“So soon?”

“I have class.”

“Alright, take care.”

“Oh wait! Give me your hand.”

“Why?”

“Just give it to me.”

He obliged. You placed a piece of paper in his hands.

“What’s this?”

“My number.”

“Did you write this before coming here?”

“Yes, but how did you know?”

“You seemed like that type of hopeless romantic.”

“Excuse me?”

“A good thing, darling.”

“If you say so...”

You chugged the rest of the latte, grabbed your bag and leaned towards him.

You pecked his cheek, “See you later, My Leona.”

His eyes widened at the term of endearment. Of course, he liked it. Loved it, even. It was something he had to adjust to, but he sure as hell loved it. You were going to be the death of him. You were such a herbivore. A hopeless one too like a doe frolicking in a meadow, unaware of the predators stealthily prowling around you. Not even a day yet and you already had him putty in your hands with that saccharine, hopeless romantic personality of yours. He would never say it out loud, but he was glad he finally “the one”.

Bells chimed as someone walked through the door. Still at the bar, you moved your gaze to catch a glimpse of who was at the door: a boy of a much shorter stature (compared to Leona) with hyena ears and another boy who was taller than the hyena yet shorter than Leona with lovely silver locks and glasses. You turned back to Leona. He was standing straight and at a distance from you. You didn’t think much of it, continuing your way out of the coffee shop.

You waved goodbye through the rose-tinted windows. In return, he cracked a small smile.

Bonus:

“Oya? What’s this? Has Leona found his soulmate? Congratulations!” the hyena cooed.

“Cut it out, Ruggie.”

“I’m rejoicing over the fact that the Leona Kingscholar has found his soulmate and nothing more,” he replies

“You’re just happy that you won the bet,” the boy with glasses sighed.

“For once, that Octopunk is right.”

“Kishishishi! Yeah, money is good. Money from Azul is even better~”

“I honestly didn’t think you would get one this soon even if you were the last one out of café staff to get one. But, regardless, I’m truly happy for you,” the octopus mused, handing over the money reluctantly.

“You’re totally faking it,” Leona scoffed, “Anyways, I’m heading home.”

“Your shift isn’t over yet though.”

“Don’t care. You can take care of it, Ruggie.”

“Aren’t you glad you had to do morning shift today though, ‘My. Le-o-na~’?? ” the hyena asked in a sing-songed manner.

“Yeah...”

[daydream-hobii]

Flowers & Weeds | Prequel to Roses & Thorns | Chapter 1

Genre: Prequel to Roses & Thorns; Poly!AU; Hybrid!AU; Fluff & Angst

Pairing: BTS x Female!Reader; Alpaca!Seokjin, Panther!Yoongi, Fox!Hoseok, Wolf!Namjoon, Bear!Jimin, Tiger!Taehyung, Bunny!Jungkook

Summary: Before Y/n rehabilitated hybrids, she was just an average rich daughter of a well-known hybrid breeder. She was also someone who didn’t want hybrids in her life, she didn’t like how they had to have an owner when really, they were more human than animals. When the government starts threatening her, she decides to get one to make them start. That’s what changes everything.

Warning: Mentions of Mental & Physical Abuse, Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Thoughts; High Suggestions of Smut; Future Mentions of Attempted Suicides; Read with Caution~ <3

Word Count: 1,389

Connected Series: Roses & Thorns

// Previous // Next //

Author’s Note: Welcome to Chapter 1! I’m so incredibly excited to share this story. It’s one of my favorite worlds I’ve created. Be sure to read the warning labels of every chapter!! It’ll be a rough series, and any warning in BOLD will be for that specific chapter. <3 I hope you like it!! ^_^

        You’ve been warned. A message I’m used to seeing, but this was the fourth letter I’ve received. As I sat on the couch to my giant house, drinking my drink and crossing my feet as they lay across the seat, I began to contemplate what the government would do.

        They wanted me to get a hybrid. Maybe even the maximum amount, as I am quite wealthy. I never liked the idea of hybrids, I just always viewed them as people with animal ears and tails, not animals who could just walk and talk like us. Now, since I was an adult living on my own with no hybrids, the government suspected that I was harboring them, which is completely illegal. 

        I sighed, setting the letter from the government down. If I didn’t get one, they’d start doing homely visits. Probably watch me at my house and make sure I wasn’t doing anything…. It all sounded like a hassle…. Maybe it was a good idea to get a hybrid…. The hybrid could live on its own in my house, like we’re roommates.

        I nodded my head as I came to a decision. I stood up, setting my drink down and going up the stairs to the second floor, then going up to the third floor. On the third floor was my bedroom. It was large and the only room upstairs, while the second floor had plenty more rooms. Sometimes it can be quite lonely, but it was always peaceful, quiet, as I lived outside of town. 

        I got dressed before going back down to the first floor. There was also a basement to the house, one that had some more rooms that could be bedrooms, but nothing was there but a few storage boxes. I grabbed my keys, walked out the house, and locked it. I went to my car, hopping in and driving down the long driveway before making it to a main road. 

        I drove as a woman on a mission. I went deep into town, where I found what I was looking for. The large sign saying Hybrid Shelter made me cringe, but this was our world. I slowly walked in, feeling slightly nervous. A nice looking woman looked up from behind the counter, smiling big.

        “Hello, how can I help you?” She asked.

        “I’d like to adopt a hybrid,” I said. Wasn’t that obvious? Maybe not.

        “Of course! Is there a specific kind you would like?” She asked, typing on her computer. Huh, I never thought about that….

        “Maybe a… big cat hybrid?” I asked, making her nod and continue to type.

        “Alright, if I could see your license, I’ll take your information to start the adoption papers. The big cats are two doors down that hall,” She replied, pointing.

        I began to walk down the hall to the second door, hesitating only a moment before opening it and walking in. It was loud, and only got louder when I walked in. A bunch of humans were in kennels like animals, all of them either yelling at me or trying to get my attention so I would pick them. It was extremely overwhelming, and I found myself becoming quite shy.

        I slowly walked around the kennels, listening to all these people hoot and holler. It broke my heart…. I felt I was never gonna find anyone in the mess…. That’s when I saw an empty kennel at the end. Every single one was filled to capacity, why was that one empty…?

        I walked down to it, peeking in. At the very back, there was a boy, maybe a little older than me. He had striped ears and a long striped tail, like a tiger. What caught my attention was that he was crying…. I placed my hand on the cage, which caught his attention. When he looked at me, his eyes shined with pain, but there was a spark. That was good enough for me.

        I left, going back to the front where the lady was. She smiled brightly, handing back my license. I took it, putting it away and looking back at her.

        “I see it’s your first hybrid! Always an exciting day,” She cooed, still smiling.

        “I’d like to adopt the tiger hybrid in the back corner,” I said. Her smile instantly disappeared.

        “He’s brand new… I’m sorry, he’s unadoptable,” She said.

        “Why? Just because he’s new to the shelter doesn’t mean he can’t be adopted,” I replied. She hesitated. “Listen, he’s the only one I’d like. I’ll pay extra.”

        We pulled up to my house, the tiger in my passenger seat. He had calmed down immensely, but his eyes were red and cheeks swollen. Tears no longer fell from his face, however, which was good. I got out, walking around and opening his door. He had packed his things, all of which could fit in a small plastic bag, and he held onto it tightly.

        He slowly got out, his height still surprising me. I shut the door, going wide eyed when he flinched and began to tremble. I apologized, turning on my heel and walking in the front door. Taehyung had stopped trembling, but his eyes were wide and mouth open as he looked around. I shut the door, hiding my smile at his amazement.

        I began to show him around the house. The living room, dining room, kitchen. The large backyard that had forests surrounding the house. I showed him the basement door, something that he wouldn’t really need to use, then I took him upstairs. I decided it may be good to have his room down the hall on the right, next to the stairs to the third floor where my bedroom is.

        He followed me to it. I opened the door, showing him the large room. There was a large, full size bed against the wall, a dresser on the other wall, and a closet across from that. There was an orange rug that covered most of the floor, while the walls were a cream color.

        “This is your room,” I said, looking at him and leaning on the door frame.

        Taehyung sniffed, furrowing his brow and walking in. He looked around, hesitating before sitting on the bed. He looked at me, eyes wide and innocent, but there was a deep sadness to them. It hurt my heart.

        “This is for me…?” He questioned. His voice was deep and gravelly, no doubt from crying. When I nodded, he continued. “I’ve never lived in a room before… just a kennel.”

        My heart twinged, my smile turning into a frown. He noticed this, and seemed nervous that he said something wrong. I sighed, shaking my head.

        “Well, Taehyung, you have one now…” I whispered, nodding at him. “The bathroom is across the hall and my room is up these stairs.” I pointed out the door.

        “Thank you, Mistress,” Taehyung whispered, looking down. I tensed up, wincing at the term.

        “No, please don’t call me Mistress,” I said, closing my eyes for just a second before reopening them.

        “Oh… Okay…” Taehyung whispered, looking down. I sighed, standing up straight.

        “Taehyung, I didn’t get you as a hybrid, I got you as a roommate. I don’t wish for you to call me Mistress or Master, because I’m not. I’m just Y/n. You’re just Taehyung. You can do whatever you want here, and go wherever you want. If you want to go out, all I ask is you talk to me and I will gladly take you out,” I said, biting my lip for a moment. “Just because of the laws…. I don’t want either of us in trouble….” Taehyung nodded, twiddling his thumbs nervously. 

        “Thank you…” He choked out, not looking into my eyes.

        “You’re welcome….” I said, nodding. “I got some pajamas, but they’re very big as I didn’t know who was coming home with me…. I can take you shopping tomorrow for clothing, and anything else you may need or want.” When he nodded and looked at me, I couldn’t help but smile softly. “Get some sleep, Taehyung. I’m sure you’re tired….”

        I slowly began to shut the door, but I left a crack just in case he needed me. I went up my stairs, changing and getting into bed, not knowing that my entire life was going to change….