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imaginespazzi · 3 months ago

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Part 6: To Trying Again

Masterlist - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11

I don't wanna mess this thing up (I don't wanna push too far)

(In which an "evil" writer might surprise you guys just a little bit with this part)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Fluff and Angst

Words: 5.6K

TW: Swearing (I think that's it?)

A/N: Happy Monday lovelies! This is sort of a filler-ish short chapter though I do think it's important to both plot and character development. I'd like to preface this by saying I've never been to Minsk or Park Pieramohi so I'm very much going off of pictures. Editing and I remain on very, very bad terms so pretty please let me know of typos so I can fix them. As always, let me know what you liked, what you disliked and what you'd like to see going forward. Have a lovely rest of your week my loves <3

July 2018

“You’re being too loud,” Azzi whisper-screams at the blonde girl in front of her as she closes the door to her room behind her with a little too much force.

Paige turns her head back every-so-slightly with a pronounced eye roll, “will you please relax.”

“I would if you’d just be a little more careful,” Azzi glares, taking cautious steps as if the sound of her sneakers across the carpeted floor could potentially wake up any of the coaches.

“Azzi,” Paige says exasperatedly, “the coaches are all the way on the other end of the hallway. Besides, they're probably all sleeping.”

And despite her stubbornness, Azzi can concede that Paige has a point there. It’s nearly midnight and the game against Spain earlier in the day might have had a final score that made it seem like the USA U17 women's basketball team had won handily, but the game itself had been draining to say the least. The post-victory dinner had featured a bunch of worn out teenagers gobbling their food without much conversation and a cohort of coaches who seemed like they needed an hour of drinking followed by good night’s sleep. But even the exhaustion of the day hadn’t been enough to prevent Paige Bueckers and her diabolical mind from coming up with the idea to sneak out into the city of Minsk.

“No,” Azzi had said immediately even before the words had been spoken, that shimmering glint in Paige’s eyes a dead giveaway as she sidled up to Azzi at the salad bar.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say,” Paige had pouted.

“You never say anything good.”

“That’s crazy. You’re so mean to me.”

“So mean,” Azzi had nodded in agreement, “so how about you go and bother someone else.”

“Azzi please. We haven’t had just Paige and Azzi time in ages. Don’t want someone else. Just want you.”

And after that well, there wasn’t really any chance of saying no. Azzi’s only fifteen and she doesn’t know that much about love, but sometimes when Paige looks at her with those earnest blue eyes and a smile that promises i’ll always be here, she thinks the way her heart starts to flutter erratically to a beat of and i wouldn’t want anyone else to stay, might just be the start of her finding out.

“See,” Paige grins triumphantly as the two girls find their way out of their hotel and onto the street, “told you we wouldn’t get caught. Shit’s just too damn easy.”

Azzi rolls her eyes at the attitude, “don’t tempt fate.”

“Fate’s got nothing in front of Paige Bueckers. I make my own fate,” Paige winks as she links her arms through Azzi.

It’s a mundane amount of contact, absolutely nothing special to it, but Azzi feels herself shiver in spite of the humidity that’s circling around them. She doesn’t quite know how it happened. One moment she was staring across the court, judging the skinny blonde practicing free throws and coming to the conclusion that she’d be no threat; the next moment said girl was next to her on the plane back from Argentina and Azzi, a self-admitted introvert, found herself rattling off about everything and nothing with this girl who seemed to have discovered the keys to all of Azzi’s locks. Hours of talking had bled into days and days had bled into months and despite the fact that facetime had taken the place of in-person conversations, the word friendship had seemed too cavalier a word to describe the relationship Paige and Azzi were building.

Paige had whittled away all of Azzi’s carefully constructed armor until she was buried deep underneath her skin and Azzi’s sure there’s no knife in the world sharp enough to carve the blonde out from where she lives underneath Azzi’s ribcage. Azzi doesn’t want anyone to try and dig her out. She thinks she might bleed out if they do.

“Az,” Paige whines, waving her free hand in the younger girl’s face, “are you even paying attention to me?”

“That depends,” Azzi hums, “are you saying anything interesting?”

“I’m always saying something interesting.”

“You’re always saying something. The interesting is subjective,” Azzi teases, laughing when Paige pouts.

“I sneak you out to give you an adventure and this is how you repay me? With insults?” Paige puts a dramatic hand to her heart.

“Walking boring streets is not an adventure. Virginia has streets too.”

“It’s not about the streets, it’s about where the streets lead to,” Paige says with grave seriousness.

Azzi raises an eyebrow, “are you entering your philosopher Paige era?”

“I’d make a good philosopher,” Paige waggles her own eyebrows as they two girls find themselves entering park Pieramohi.

“Virginia has parks too, you know Paige?” Azzi says skeptically.

Paige lets out a dramatic sigh, “will you just keep walking, woman. Sometimes I wonder if you even like me?”

It’s said like a joke but there’s a hint of insecurity beaded into it that buzzes in Azzi’s ears as she wraps a careful hand around Paige’s wrist, stopping the two of them where they are.

“Hey,” she whispers softly, nudging the older girl, “you don’t ever have to wonder with me. I’m always gonna like you Paige. Even if you’re a pain in my ass half the time.”

“Had to ruin it with the last part, didn't you?” Paige complains but her eyes twinkle at the reassurance, “Just so you know I’m gonna be a pain in your ass forever.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Azzi promises as they continue strolling through the park.

The silence is peaceful and the breeze that flows around them is like a comforting hug. And Azzi thinks that she’d be okay if there wasn’t a destination for them to get to, as long as the journey came with Paige by her side.

“We’re almost there,” Paige says slowly, a slightly nervous edge to her voice.

“You sure you’re not just getting us lost-” the teasing quip dies on Azzi’s tongue as she stares at the scenery in front of her. They’re standing on the edge of a bridge overlooking a lake and it looks like something out of a disney fairytale; the picturesque image of green trees silhouetted against a magically starry night is captured perfectly on the still surface of the water that’s flowing beneath. As Azzi peers across the railing, Paige right next to her, she feels her breath hitch at the reflection that peers up at her. Because the view in front of them is beautiful but Paige’s eyes are on Azzi and she’s staring at her as if the view is nothing in comparison.

“C’mon,” the blonde says softly, lacing her fingers through Azzi’s as she tugs her along, “I have a plan.”

“There’s more?” Azzi asks in awe as Paige guides her to the gazebo in the middle of the bridge.

“Just a little bit,” Paige says and oh- that shy smile is different. Azzi doesn’t think she’s seen that one yet and she makes a mental note to herself, to memorize it and store it along with all of Paige’s other smiles that make Azzi’s insides swoop like a rollercoaster.

She watches intently as Paige begins to peruse through the purple rucksack she’d been carrying. The first thing out of it is a picnic blanket and then a horde of different snacks, all of Azzi’s favorites. Two plastic champagne glasses are next and then a sheepish grin as Paige pulls out a bottle of soda.

“Couldn’t quite risk trying to get alcohol,” Paige scratches at her neck.

“Next time maybe,” Azzi shrugs as she helps Paige set up the arrangement and she feels herself fluttering at the thought of doing this again and again and again.

“How’d you even find this place?” she asks as Paige begins to pour out the soda.

“You ever heard of googling?”

Azzi rolls her eyes at Paige’s teasing smirk, “how’d you even have time to do this?”

Paige is quiet for a second as she passes Azzi her glass, “wanted to do something special for us,” she says quietly, keeping her eyes intently on what she’s doing as she pours out a drink for herself, “wasn’t hard to find time for you.”

“You could be a poet, Paige Bueckers,” Azzi whispers and she knows it’s unfair of her but she thinks it anyway. As long as all your poems are about me.

“The poets are lucky I chose a ball instead of a pen. They’d be out of a job otherwise,” Paige says, trying to ease back into the more familiar arrogance.

“Always so humble,” Azzi says, rolling her eyes as she holds up her glass, “alright what are toasting to?”

“I came up with this whole thing. You can come up with a toast,” Paige scrunches her nose and Azzi shakes her head at it.

She thinks for a second before smiling brightly at the girl in front of her, “let’s just keep it simple and toast to us.”

“How original,” Paige teases but she clinks her glass against Azzi’s anyways, “here’s to us.”

“Here’s to us,” Azzi repeats as they both take sips of soda.

They melt into a comfortable silence, relishing in this rare moment where there isn’t a screen separating them from each other. Facetimes is a wonderful creation but a blurry screen, Azzi decides, doesn’t nearly do justice to just how damn pretty Paige is. Her hair is golden as it basks in the glow of the moon and Azzi wonders if the stars are jealous of how brilliantly the blonde’s blue eyes twinkle.

It’s Paige who speaks first, her voice hesitant, “you uh- you never asked me how my date went a couple of weeks ago.”

Azzi feels her whole body go rigid. She’d almost forgotten about Paige’s wretched date. The blonde had told her about it a couple of days before the actual event and Azzi had played the dutiful role of a best friend, teasing Paige with a light-heartedness she didn’t feel and congratulating her with an excitement that came from anywhere but from the heart. She’d purposely avoided Paige’s calls the day of the date and then two days after, coming up with some sorry excuse she no longer remembers. On the third day, when the hollow ache of i miss her voice in her chest had become too hard to ignore, Azzi had finally picked up the phone and diverted the conversation straight to a different topic. She hadn’t thought of the date since.

“Guess it slipped my mind,” she says airily, fingers gripping the edge of the picnic blanket.

“I could tell you about it now,” Paige says slowly.

I’d rather you didn’t, Azzi thinks but that’s a thought that veers a little too out of the sphere of best-friend-isms and so she simply nods her head, “y-yeah tell me about it. How was it?”

“It was nice,” Paige begins and there’s something hidden in her tone that Azzi can't quite place but she’s a little too busy sulking at the idea of Paige with anybody else to try and decipher it, “dinner was good. Took her to a movie after. That was good too.”

“That’s cool P. I’m glad- I’m glad you had fun,” Azzi says nonchalantly, gripping the glass in her hands just a little too tight.

“I didn’t.”

“What?”

“I didn’t really have that much fun,” Paige clarifies and Azzi gawks at her in confusion as the older girl fidgets with the frayed edges of the picnic blankets, “just didn’t- didn’t feel right. Don’t think she had much fun either. She never texted me after.”

“What a bitch,” Azzi bites out, suddenly irrationally angry at a girl she’d never met because how could anyone possibly not have fun with Paige, “I’m sorry P. You deserve-”

“I didn’t care that she didn’t text back-”

“Still. It’s just the decent thing to do,” Azzi rants.

“Maybe,” Paige shrugs, “but I didn’t have time to care about that. I had other things on my mind. Like the fact that you weren’t talking to me.”

Azzi flinches at the accusation, rushing out her previous defense, “I was busy.”

“Bullshit,” Paige sneers.

“Paige-”

“But I get it,” the older girl says softly as she reaches for Azzi’s hand, tugging the brunette closer to her and Azzi feels something inside her erupt at how close their faces are, “I probably wouldn’t have talked to you for two days either if you went on a date with someone else.”

“Oh,” Azzi breathes out and there’s probably something more eloquent she should say but there’s this realization of maybe you feel it too that’s beginning to creep up her spine, rendering her speechless as Paige continues to stare at her like she’s mapping out all the tiniest details of Azzi’s face.

“The whole date, I kept thinking how you wouldn’t order what she ordered off the menu or that you would probably hit my hand if I tried to steal something off your plate but then give it to me anyway. And that the movie would never have been so quiet with you and we’d probably get yelled at for giggling too much and I-” Paige pauses, dragging in a deep breath, “I definitely would’ve kissed you at the end.”

A sigh of relief escapes Azzi’s lips, “you didn’t kiss her.”

“No,” Paige confirms as she drops her forehead against Azzi’s, “but I-,” the blonde gulps nervously and Azzi can’t help the way her hand reaches up to caress the blush forming on Paige’s cheeks.

“Ask me,” she whispers.

“I really want to kiss you,” Paige confesses, voice shaking slightly, “can I kiss you?”

Azzi doesn’t say anything, choosing to reply instead by pressing her lips softly against Paige’s. They move slowly at first, testing each other’s boundaries and savoring their first taste of each other. Azzi pulls the older girl onto her lap, hands firmly on Paige’s hips as the other girl clasps her own hands around Azzi’s neck. It’s a little messy and uncoordinated and Azzi thinks they might need to practice a little more to really get it right but still, it’s everything.

And Azzi just knows

She knows it then just the way she knew Tim was meant to be her dad. The way she knew Jon and José were meant to be her brothers. The way she knew she was meant to play basketball. Azzi knows that she’s meant to fall hopelessly in love with Paige Bueckers.

March 2033

There are three things Azzi should do.

Push Paige away

Tell her this a bad idea

Run the fuck away

She does none of the above.

Instead Azzi kisses Paige back.

And it’s still everything. Like the sun and moon are colliding and creating something so insanely powerful; something that feels so eternal.

There’s nothing soft or slow about it as Paige presses every inch of herself into Azzi until she can feel Paige’s heartbeat as strongly as she can feel her own. It might be impossible but she swears their hearts are talking to each other, tapping out rhythms against each other’s chests that confess all the things their owners are too scared to say. And Azzi wants nothing more than to lose herself completely in the moment because Paige’s lips feel like a drug and Azzi thinks she might just be an addict in relapse.

Except to relapse, you need to have recovered. And Azzi doesn’t think she ever fully recovered from Paige.

It isn’t until she feels her back hit the edge of a desk and the sound of something crashing onto the floor infiltrates her ears, that Azzi finally comes to her senses. She tears her lips away from Paige as the older woman groans in protest, arms tightening their hold on Azzi’s waist so she can still have some semblance of control over the situation. And really Azzi knows she’s strong enough to escape Paige’s grip, could easily fight it if she wanted to. But well, she doesn’t want to. And Azzi’s tired of doing things she doesn’t want to do.

“Paige-”

“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘we can’t do this’, Azzi I swear to god I’m going to kill you,” Paige threatens, pressing her forehead against Azzi’s.

Azzi laughs softly and she can feel Paige’s whole body relax at the sound of it and like clockwork, she feels the tension beginning to release from her own muscles, “if you kill me then we definitely can’t do this.”

“I’ll revive you after or something,” Paige says with a half-smirk.

“Or something,” Azzi rolls her eyes, “but we can’t-”

“Azzi,” Paige groans.

“We can’t do this right now and definitely not here,” Azzi amends, alluding to the fact that they’re still in Steph’s office.

Paige raises an eyebrow, cocking her head slightly, “but we can do this later? Somewhere else?”

The question lingers between them as Azzi bites her lip. She knows what this is, knows that it’s Paige putting the ball in her court. A ‘no’ would likely be the end of things and that scares her more than she’s willing to admit but she’s not quite ready to commit to a ‘yes’ yet, even if that flame of desire inside of her, the one that can only be lit by Paige, is blazing hot through her veins.

“I don’t know,” Azzi says carefully, shivering at the way Paige’s thumb is rubbing circles against her waist, the flimsy material of her shirt doing nothing to prevent the goosebumps forming on her skin, “TBD.”

“That’s not a no,” Paige says carefully, hope blossoming freely on her face.

“That’s not a yes either,” Azzi warns half-heartedly.

“But it’s not a no,” Paige presses.

“No,” Azzi admits, playing with the neckline of Paige’s shirt, “it’s not a no.”

And Azzi’s so scared of the future, scared that if she lets herself burn, she’ll incinerate everyone around her but there’s something in the way Paige smiles at her words. Something that feels a lot like a promise of i’ll be the rain that washes out the fire before you can turn us to ashes.

“I can work with that,” Paige says softly, tilting Azzi’s chin up.

“So desperate to get back into my pants Bueckers,” Azzi teases and she expects a witty remark in return but instead she’s met with nothing but sincerity.

“So desperate to get back into your life,” Paige whispers, voice cracking on the last two words.

Tears prickle against Azzi’s waterline as she stares in awe at the girl in front of her. Sometimes she thinks Paige doesn’t even know that there’s a halo of goodness sitting above her head, doesn't even know just how beautiful her soul is. Paige is stunning on the outside; it’s something no one can deny. But it’s nothing compared to how gorgeous she is on the inside, nothing compared to how kind, how humble, how forgiving Paige is.

“Why?” Azzi asks, her tone rife with heaviness.

“Why what?”

“After everything, after all this time, why would you still want to be in my life?” the tears fall harder as Azzi struggles to breathe, “I- I broke your heart. I broke us. How could you possibly want that again. How could you possibly want me again?”

Paige's eyes soften as she cups Azzi’s cheeks, thumbs brushing away at the drops of water running down them, “because you’re Azzi. My Azzi. And I get it- I get that you’re not ready to be all in on this with me yet and if I’m being honest with myself, I’m not completely ready either. But we can work on it right? Take it slow and see where it goes and maybe we’ll- maybe we’ll be even better this time.”

“You think so?”

“I believe so.”

Azzi presses her lips delicately against Paige’s, reveling in the way it makes Paige’s breath hitch. She pulls away faster than she would like herself and Paige chases her lips, eyes still closed.

“What was that for,” the blonde asks, slightly dazed.

“For being my Paige.”

***

Azzi taps her foot impatiently against her wooden patio as she glances at her phone clock for the umpteenth time. Paige is almost twenty minutes late to pick her and Stephie up to go to dinner at her parent’s house. The invites had technically been separate but Paige had insisted that they needed to go together because Paige didn’t want to walk into the house alone. Azzi’s not sure why Paige is nervous to see her dad and brothers again, not when she’s pretty sure they’re bursting with excitement to see the blonde whose pictures still have a permanent place on the family photo wall, but if Paige wants Azzi by her side, well she’s not going to say no. Not anymore.

It’s been a week since they’d agreed to take things slow and Azzi’s still not quite sure what exactly that means, but she thinks she likes it. She likes being able to call Paige and not having to come up with a lame excuse for why. She likes that she and Paige can take Stephie out for ice cream after Curry Camp and they don’t have to pretend they’re only tolerating each other’s presence for the little girl’s sake. She likes that they can brush their pinkies while walking and instead of jolting away, they simply just link them together. There’s boundaries of course. No sleepovers at either of their houses. No doing anything more than kissing. No kissing in front of anyone else and definitely no kissing in front of Stephie. No doing anything in front of Stephie really. And there’s still so much mountain left to climb but as long as they’re pushing up it together, Azzi doesn’t think there’s any incline steep enough to stop her from continuing up this path.

“Miss Buecks,” Stephie squeals as Paige’s car rounds the corner into Azzi’s driveway.

Paige steps out of the car, arms wide open and ready to catch Stephie as the little girl goes tumbling down the front porch, aiming straight for the blonde. Azzi’s not an artist by any means but if she was, she thinks she could paint a thousand pictures of Stephie and her Miss Buecks. It terrifies Azzi a little bit, just how perfectly Stephie fits into Paige’s side but it calms her too because there’s a part of her that’s in love with how much they love each other.

“You’re late Bueckers,” Azzi chides as she follows her daughter’s path down the patio stairs.

Paige grins, shifting Stephie on her lap as she opens the side door to her car to pull out two bouquets of flowers

“Will these make up for it?” she asks slyly as she hands the larger one, an assortment of pink flowers, to Azzi and a slightly smaller bouquet of purple hydrangeas to Stephie.

“These are so pretty Miss Buecks,” Stephie gushes before pressing a kiss to Paige’s cheek left cheek and Paige beams at the compliment, “thank you Miss Buecks.”

“You took that long to get flowers?” Azzi asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Mama,” Stephie chides immediately, “you’re supposed to thank someone when they give you a gift.”

“Yeah Azzi,” Paige’s eyes glimmer with mirth, “thank me like Stephie thanked me. Don’t you think Mama owes me a kiss on the cheek Steph?”

Azzi narrows her eyes at the scheming pair in front of her as Stephie nods animatedly at Paige’s question, “yeah Mama you owe Miss Buecks a kiss on the cheek.”

Shaking her head, Azzi walks over to Paige taking deliberately steady steps. Slowly Azzi leans in, puckering her lips. Paige closes her eyes and Azzi winks at Stephie who’s eyes widen.

“I’m waiting,” Paige sing-songs, a self-satisfied smirk taking over her features.

And instead of the promised kiss, Azzi licks a sloppy strip down Paige’s cheek and the blonde shrieks as both Azzi and Stephie burst into laughter.

“EW AZZI GROSS,” Paige whines, hurriedly rubbing her shirt against her cheek, “is this what you’re teaching your daughter?”

“I’m teaching my daughter not to let anyone manipulate her,” Azzi says, giving Paige a careful look, “now why were you late?”

Paige grins sheepishly as she opens the door to the backseat of the door. A lavender car seat is placed on the left side of the car and Azzi feels her heart lurch with no one’s ever cared like this.

“It’s pu-ple,” Stephie claps excitedly, “is it for me?”

“Of course it is,” Paige confirms, booping Stephie’s nose before looking at Azzi, “it’s just- we uh- we always have to take your car cause it has the car seat and moving it between cars is such a hassle. So I just thought- you know- I just thought it’d be cool- useful- practical- if I had one too? And this way if you ever need me to take Stephie off you then I uh- then you don’t have to worry about me driving. I don’t- I don’t really knows much about car seats but I looked it up online before and the person at the store agreed that this is definitely the best one- like I swear it’s safe-”

She’s cut off by the feel of Azzi’s lips pressed to her cheeks.

“Thank you Paige.”

***

Just as Azzi expected, Paige merges herself back into the Fudd family with the same ease she’d first had when she’d carved out a place for herself almost a decade and a half ago. It’s a little emotional at first when Tim opens the door, a smile almost as big as him decorating his face as he pulls Paige into a hug even before she can say a word.

“Welcome home kid,” he whispers into her blonde hair and Azzi doesn’t have to see Paige’s face to know that her best friend is blinking away tears.

Guilt surges in Azzi’s stomach and she tries to swallow away the lump of i took this from her that’s blocking her throat. It had been so simple at 15 to give Paige a part of her world; Azzi hadn’t thought twice about it. And then with the snap of her fingers, she’d taken that world away. She knows her parents had never cut Paige out; hell they’d been at her wedding to some other woman -and Azzi had pushed them to go knowing Paige would need it- but it was a far cry from what they’d been. A far cry from when Paige’s schedule was a key factor while planning Fudd family summers.

“Hey,” Stephie pouts, tiny hands crossed over her small body “I thought you always gave me the first hug Pops.”

“We’ll make an exception today,” Tim says with a wink before letting Paige walk into Katie’s arms and spinning his granddaughter around, “but you’re always gonna be my favorite.”

“I better be,” Stephie threatens and the adults around her laugh.

And finally it’s Azzi's turn to be pulled into one of her dad’s patent bear hugs. She goes willingly, always at her most warmest in the arms of the man whose blood might not run through her veins, but whose love had always protected her from the cruelties of the world.

“You look really happy today sweetheart,” Tim says softly.

Azzi’s eyes flitter over her father’s shoulder to where Jon and José are embroiling Paige in a group hug with Stephie in the middle of it, screaming about finally having their “white sister” back, as Katie and José’s fiancé Tallulah roll their eyes at the group of them, and she can’t help but smile into her dad’s shirt, “I feel pretty happy today.”

***

“You cheated,” Jon yells.

“Miss Buecks does not cheat,” Stephie yells back loyally.

“Don’t get into this Stephie. You don’t know her like we do,” José glares at Paige who narrows her eyes at him, “she’s been stealing from the bank.”

“Miss Buecks does not steal,” Stephie defends again, wrapping her arms around Paige’s neck from behind as the blonde presses a quick kiss against Stephie’s temple.

“It’s okay Stephie,” Paige reassures, gently swinging the little girl into her lap, “some people are just sore losers.”

“Can’t be a sore loser because I didn’t lose-” José coughs and Jon corrects himself immediately, “because we didn’t lose.”

“Y’all let it go,” Tallulah groans, leaning her head back against the sofa, “it’s literally just monopoly. Please, I'm so tired.”

“Just monopoly? JUST MONOPOLY?” José guffaws dramatically, “I can’t believe I’m marrying someone who doesn’t understand that it isn’t just monopoly Tallulah. It’s about liars and cheats and honor-”

“Miss Buecks has plenty of honor,” Stephie says stubbornly, leaning her head back against Paige’s chest.

Jon rounds on Azzi, who’s been silently watching the situation, “did you help her cheat?”

“Excuse me?” Azzi asks, glaring at her brother from where she’s been comfortable reclining on the sofa. She’d opted to be the banker instead of playing, content just handing out money to the rest of them while watching the game unfold. But really she hadn’t been paying much attention to anyone else but her daughter and Paige. Stephie didn’t quite understand the rules yet and so she was always on someone’s team. It had been a given tonight, that of course she would be with Paige. And Azzi had watched, trying not to be too obvious, with a foolish grin on her face, as her two favorite people whispered to each other, Paige listening intently to all of Stephie’s ideas whether they were good or bad.

“Oh good point,” José turns to look at Azzi too, “you’re the banker, did you help Paige cheat?”

“Mama would never cheat,” Stephie argues defiantly as Azzi pushes herself up from the sofa to send a menacing look to both of her brothers.

“I’m not going to dignify that accusation with a justification,” Azzi says, standing so she’s towering over her two brothers who are still sitting on the floor, “now clean up the game. It’s almost Stephie’s bedtime.”

They might be well into their twenties and José might be taller than her now, but they’re still not quite immune to Azzi’s wrath. Tallulah and Paige snicker as the two men, sulking at each other, obey their older sister's command without another word.

“You’ve gotta teach me how you do that,” Tallulah says, hi-fiving Azzi who smirks in response.

“Miss Buecks,” Stephie whispers, “what does dig-ni-fy mean?”

“Mean she’s not gonna entertain your uncles being dumba-”

“Paige!”

“Being dumbapples,” Paige corrects and both Azzi and Stephie give her an odd look at her ridiculous attempt at saving the bad word from leaving her lips.

“Alright Stephie-bean,” Azzi says, pulling her daughter off of Paige’s lap, “it’s late enough. Off to brush your teeth you go.”

Stephie looks hesitantly between the staircase leading up to the guest bedroom -where she and Azzi normally stayed- and Paige.

“Can Miss Buecks stay with us tonight?” she asks softly, one hand bunching in Paige’s shirt as she stares up at her mother with large doe eyes, “please Mama.”

“Stephie I don’t think-” Paige begins, ready to stick to the boundaries they’d laid out for themselves and really Azzi should let her; should follow her lead really.

Except the words are tumbling out of her mouth before she can stop them, “yeah she can- she can stay.”

“YAYY,” Stephie squeals, jumping into Azzi’s arms as Paige stares up at her in surprise, “thank you, thank you, thank you Mama. I’m so happy,” she swings from Azzi to Tallulah, “aunty Tully did you hear? Miss Buecks is gonna stay with us and you can make her your famous pancakes in the morning.”

“I can, can I?” Tallulah asks with a raised eyebrow as she lets Stephie and her excited chatter lead her towards the bathroom. With Jon and José both having already started towards their own rooms and Azzi’s parents fast asleep, it leaves just Paige and Azzi in the living room.

“You’re okay with me staying?” Paige asks softly, finally lifting herself from the floor and onto her feet.

Azzi scratches the back of her neck, “if- if you want to. You don’t have to. I can- I’ll explain to Stephie-”

“I want to,” Paige says, taking a cautious step towards Azzi, “but the rules?”

“This doesn’t count,” Azzi justifies and Paige smirks, taking another step towards the brunette.

“It doesn’t?”

“We said no sleeping over at each other’s places. This is my parent’s house. So technically it doesn’t count,” Azzi shrugs, trying to keep her face from breaking into a grin as Paige moves one more step closer.

“And where exactly am I sleeping?” Paige asks with a knowing grin as she loops an arm around Azzi’s waist, briefly checking to make sure no one’s around.

Azzi tilts her head, letting the grin break through, “I think Stephie would like it if you slept with us.”

“Ah well if that’s what Stephie would like,” Paige says, nodding commiseratingly.

“For Stephie’s sake,” Azzi repeats as she wraps her arm around Paige’s neck, pressing her forehead against the older girl’s and letting herself just breathe in the peace that comes with being all consumed by Paige.

“Azzi,” Paige’s voice is laced with uncharacteristic vulnerability as she speaks again, “you won’t- you won’t run away again tomorrow morning will you?”

“No,” Azzi promises, gently brushing her lips against Paige’s, “I won’t run away again.”

#pazzi #paige bueckers #azzi fudd #wcbb

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myfeetrcolddd · 11 months ago

Text

Under the mistletoe

"And you're sure it'll only stop the two of them?" Draco asked, his eyes narrowed and skeptical of the curly haired Gryffindor.

"Yes, Malfoy, I'm sure." Hermione replied, annoyed at the Slytherin boys skeptics.

(✿◕‿◕✿)

Theodore Nott and Y/N L/N were completely oblivious and deep in denial. The amount of times the two gushed to their respective friends about something the other did was far too many.

It was obvious that they liked each other. Everyone knew, but them it seemed, and it was unbearable. Especially for their friends who couldn't take the constant talks about how much one liked the other but 'It would never happen because he's way out of my league.' or 'She deserves better than me.'

So Harry did the unspeakable, he went and talked to Draco. The two groups came up with a plan.

It was the holidays, Theo and Y/n were already practically a couple, doing things together that no normal friends would, all they weren't doing was kissing or shagging.

The two groups knew there was no way of really forcing them to confess, but if they could get the two to kiss then they'd have to confront the obvious attraction they felt for the other, and surely they wouldn't be able to deny the face that the other liked them.

It was nearly fool proof. The just had to find a way to execute it.

"Mistletoe!" Blaise shouted, grinning as he ran into the room of requirement, the official meeting place for operation Kiss, as Blaise suggested, though no one else wanted to call it that there was no other options.

"What're you on about." Ron said, frowning.

"Mistletoe!" Blaise repeated, still grinning like a madman as he held up the tiny bundle of mistletoe, showing it to everyone in the room.

"Yeah, we get it, mistletoe." Mattheo mocked, "What about it?"

"This," He waved the thing around in his friends face, "Is how we get them to kiss!"

"Mate..." Harry said slowly, "Hate to break it to you, but they've gone under mistletoe before, the completely ignore it. Like literally everyone else does."

"Yeah, I know that." Blaise says, annoyed by the lack of enthusiasm in the room, "But what if we found a way that forced them to not ignore it!" He waited for someone to interrupt him, to say it was a dumb idea, but when no one didn't he went on, "Hear me out, what if when they both walked under it it somehow kept them there! So that they wouldn't be able to leave that spot until they kissed!"

Everyone stared at him, confused but intrigued.

"And how would we do that?"

Blaise rolled his eyes, "Well I don't know." He sassed, "I came up with the idea, you all can figure out how to do it." He huffed as he dropped himself onto one of the many sofas in the room.

As if they were all thinking the same thing they all turned towards Hermione, who looked startled by the attention, "I don't know why you're all looking at me." She frowned.

"Well you're the smartest one here..." Enzo said and the girl pressed her lips into a thin line before she rolled her eyes.

"Well, there probably is a way it's possible, we'd have to modify a potion or maybe even a spell, especially since we don't want to trap others under the mistletoe, so we'd have to find a way to keep it person specific..." Hermione then rattled on about all the ways they could go about it and soon they had a plan.

It took a week for things to be ready.

(✿◕‿◕✿)

"Have your friends been acting weird lately?" Y/N asked Theo as they walked out of potions.

"More than usual actually." The boy replied and glanced down at the girl he was sure he wanted to marry.

"Same, and I swear I've seen Hermione talking with Draco so much this week."

"Maybe they're finally getting together." Theo smirked, "Salazar knows it's about time."

The girl laughed and shook her head, "Tell me about it. If they don't get together this year then I'm going to be out of ten galleons."

The pair went quiet for a moment and Y/N took the chance to look up at her best friend. He was beautiful, and quite possibly the love of her life. She had never planned on letting her feelings get this far.

It had only started as a small crush on a boy she was friendly with back in second year. But then they got closer, and the closer they got the harder she fell.

Now they're in their last year and she still hadn't confessed, she figured it was too late, and it was clear he didn't want anything other than friendship from her. He had had multiple girlfriends before, and none of them looked like her, they were quite the opposite actually.

Y/N was counting on losing feelings for him this year, it would be for the best.

As if he could feel her eyes on him Theo turned and looked at her, his green-blue eyes meeting hers. For a moment she felt her heart stop, she was lost in them and the swirling colors.

But then she shook her head and looked forward and started to rant about whatever came to mind. It was a good thing she always had at least one thing to rant about. Or she should say two, but it would be idiotic to rant to Theo about himself. It would also make her feelings for him obvious.

The two turned into a deserted hall and as they passed beneath an arch way they found that neither of them could take a step forward.

Their feet were stuck to the ground.

Y/N turned to Theo frantically, "What's going on?!"

"I dunno, I can't lift my feet off the ground."

"Neither can I..." She went silent and found that she could pivot. She looked around, and it wasn't until she looked up that she saw mistletoe hung from the high archway. But surely that had nothing to do with it, so she ignored it.

"Did the twins do this?" Theo started to ask but then remembered that the infamous pranksters had graduated. But that was all either of them could come up with, it was something the twins would do.

So maybe it was a Weasly.

The pair ended up staring at each other, the both of them ignoring the close proximity and the fact that their chests were touching.

After ten minutes Y/N had come up with an idea. It was a stupid one and she wasn't sure if it would even work. But Theo wouldn't stop staring at her and she was sure she looked like a tomato under the heat of his gaze.

"Theo." She said.

"Y/N."

The girl took a deep breath before blurting the words, "Kiss me."

"W-what?" Theo stuttered, his heart beating ten times faster now and a light blush coating his cheeks. His eyes flicked down to the lips he dreamt about kissing, the plump lips he fantasized about at night. He swallowed thickly and met her eyes once more. "I- Why?"

"I'm just-" She paused, "Testing out a theory." She wanted to kiss him, but she didn't at the same time. She didn't want to kiss him under these circumstances, if she was going to kiss him she wanted him to know it was because she liked him.

"Okay..." Theo said slowly and Y/N looked up at him with determination in her eyes.

She took a deep breath and brought her hands up to the boys face, instinctually his hands found her waist, "I really really like Theodore Nott!" She blurted quickly before smashing her lips onto his.

Theo stood still for a moment before he realized she was kissing him, and he wasn't kissing her back. So he did.

The kiss was sloppy, and rushed, and there was passion and hunger in it. Both of them seemed t have forgotten what was happening, losing themselves in the kiss of their lives.

It was only when she tugged on the hairs at the back of Theos head and he let out a groan did Y/N realize what she was doing.

Horrified she pushed him off, and when he stumbled back a step she saw that her theory was right and she bolted off. Running far far away from the boy and her feelings.

Meanwhile Theo stood there, dazed and confused and impossible flustered, and all he could think about was that he had just kissed her. And he knew he was going to marry her.

"She likes me too." He mumbled, smiling to himself as his fingers brushed across his lips.

No clue how to go on from this. Might make part two ;3

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avatar-anna · 1 year ago

Text

Rumors

so...i've had this concept rattling around in my brain, but i had no idea how to write it, so i used pictures instead. i definitely want to do more, but tumnlr only allows 10 pictures a post, so here's to hoping i remember to come back to this in the future!

yourinstagram

liked by taylorswift and 67,530 others

yourinstagram: had a very cool dude over today to make even cooler music

yoursistersinstagram: you let someone in the bat cave?!

y/nfan5: possible collab on the new album?

yourinstagram: more like i was helping someone with theirs ;))

harrystyles: Thank you for having me. X.

harryfan3: HARRY???

harryfan7: omgomgomgomgomg

y/nfan1: pls god let us have a harry and y/n collab on his next album i NEED it

harrystyles

liked by gemmastyles, yourinstagram and 2,233,781 others

harrystyles: HS3. Coming soon.

harryfan8: NEW ALBUM ALERT

harryfan11: HARRY YOU CANT JUST DROP SOMETHING LIKE THAT WITHOUT A RELEASE DATE

harryfan4: this has to be what he was working on with y/n right?

y/nfan3: i need them both on a song together

yourinstagram: had fun late night talking with you xx

y/nfan9: i'm sorry wHAT

harryfan5: is this flirting this sounds like flirting

harryfan13: honestly...here for it

y/nupdates

liked by harryfan7 and 4,320 others

y/nupdates: Y/n in a video for Vogue recently!

"A lot of people ask me how Harry Styles ended up recording at my house when we'd virtually never crossed paths before. It was actually Taylor (Swift) who kind of set the whole thing up. They spoke at the Grammys last year and she apparently gave him my number so we could work together...He called and asked if I was available to help with his album at all. At the time I was on the road, then working on stuff for the band, and it just kind of went back and forth for a few months while we tried to line up our schedules. Then I was done touring, but I was kind of in a weird state in life where I didn't want to leave the house or hang out with anyone. And I remember making up excuses because I wasn't really up to making myself presentable to a whole team of people I'd never met before and having our first meeting be this huge thing. I'd basically built it all up in my head about how our ideas would clash and we wouldn't get along and I just kept telling him maybe some other time. Long story short, Harry showed up at my place a week later by himself with just a guitar, a notebook, and my favorite takeout order. We spent the whole day together working on a bunch of different stuff from themes to genres of music to sampling and mixing. And writing. Lots and lots of writing. And now he's a dear friend. He's so sweet and so talented. I wish him all the best with the new album."

y/nfan8: ok i'm glad it worked out and everything but imagine a virtual stranger showing up to your HOUSE?? like she said no and he basically forced her to write his album for her

y/nfan4: that's so real of her tbh to not want to leave her house

y/nfan2: y/n is notoriously introverted it makes sense

harryfan13: girl...

y/nfan7: i don't think it was that serious. and if she really didn't want him there she could've said no

harryfan13: and y/n literally called him a friend?? stop trying to start shit that doesn't exist

y/nfan7: of COURSE mother brought them together

harryfan17: i can't believe that's what harry and taylor were talking about in the video!

harryfan2: chill harry doesn't need to be in a relationship with every woman he's associated with

harryfan4: wait but wasn't y/n at that grammys too?

harryfan9: it was still covid it's possible their paths didn't cross

y/nfan19: wait what if he was too shy to go up to her??😭

harryfan4: i love that they're writing besties now but i think they'd be so cute together 🥹

hsupdates

liked by harryfan4 and 10,343 others

hsupdates: Harry about Y/n L/n for Rolling Stone:

"I've always admired (Y/n's) work. She and her band are incredibly talented, and are just so passionate about creating music. I wanted that same energy for my third album, the freedom to make whatever I want without any reservations, and I knew Y/n was the perfect addition to the team. It took some convincing, but once we kind of got started, we couldn't stop. As we've gotten to know each other these past few months, I not only respect her as a musician, but for the person she is as well. Her soul is one of a kind, and I feel like my album would be so different without her on it. So now not only do I have an album that I'm proud of and love, but I got an extraordinary friend out of it too."

harryfan9: so this is what people mean when they say platonic soulmates

y/nfan12: all we've gotten is crumbs and i'm already in love with their friendship. and the album of course

y/nfan2: i'm so interested to hear this album now. if y/n is on it it has to be good

harryfan3: "her soul is one of a kind?" if that's harry as a friend i don't think i can handle boyfriendrry😭

y/nfan7: i'm holding out hope for them honestly🤞🏼🤞🏼

liked by harrystyles and 23,724 others

yourinstagram

yourinstagram: you've fallen from the sky down to me, i see it in your face, i'm relief, i'm your summer girl

y/nfan17: shut up are those song lyrics??

yourbandinstagram: the tears behind your dark sunglasses, the fears inside your heart as deep as gashes🎶🎶

y/nfan17: HOLY SHIT those ARE lyrics!

y/nfan6: haven't even heard the song and i know the girls have done it again

harryfan4: could it...could it be about harry?

y/nfan8: you're grasping at straws

harryfan12: are they? they've been spotted together all over LA

harrystyles: ☀️☀️

y/nfan8: as friends. friends can hang out can't they?

harryfan3: new music from harry AND y/n? we're about to be fed y'all

harryfan10: THEY REALLY ARE BESTIES

y/nfan2: i bet they collaborated on this song together

Interviewer (I): What's one memory or experience you can share from making this album? Any trips to Japan or Jamaica?

Harry (H): We stayed in Los Angeles mostly for this one. But erm...in terms of a specific memory...I would say that while I was working with Y/n, one of the tracks was actually inspired by her cat.

I: Really?

H: Yeah. Whenever it did something to annoy Y/n, which was quite often, she'd call her a little freak. The song's obviously not about the cat, but the phrase was in my head and yeah. Things just kind of...snowballed from there.

I: The sound that Y/n's band has is more rock centric, a similar sound to your first album. Is that what we can expect for your third studio album?

I: You've become quite close to Y/n L/n it seems like.

H: Not necessarily. Y/n and I collaborated, but she also let me take the reins in terms of sound. She had opinions of course and we would bounce ideas off of each other...but she really just followed my lead and supported the vision I had. She is playing a majority of the instruments on the album, though.

H: It's hard not to.

I: How so?

I: It sounds like you could go on for quite some time about her.

H: She's just cool, you know? I was kind of intimidated when we met for the first time. She's quiet, but you never forget that she's in the room, you just want to go over and talk to her. Of course once you meet her she's incredibly kind and not at all intimidating, but still like chill and stuff. The first time we met we sat for an hour just talking about music we enjoyed and live shows we wanted to attend and things we learned while in lockdown. She's just effortlessly cool. An old soul, I guess. And somehow she translates that into her music. Her sisters, too. They're all just first-rate musicians.

H: Sorry. I kind of gushed for a minute there.

H: And the band. They're just so talented, you know?

harrystyles

liked by jeffazoff and 4,211,323 others

harrystyles: From start to finish, making this album has been such an incredible journey. It was so fun to try new things sonically while also making something that I'm one hundred percent proud of. I've never felt more myself while making music than I did while creating this album for all of you, and I have so many people to thank for that. Hopefully you know who you are. I love, love, love you.

harryfan16: 😭😭😭😭😭

harris_reed: little angel👼

harryfan3: WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU

yourinstagram: congratulations h. you deserve it.💐💐💐

harrystyles: I couldn't have done it without you💐

yourinstagram

liked by yourbandinstagram and 53,089 others

yourinstagram: for one night and one night only...but in all seriousness shout out to my friend and his incredible album. happy to have been a part of the magic :)))

harryfan13: HAPPY HARRY DAY!!!

harryfan4: is she in ny??

y/nfan7: yes! she was spotted with harry before the show today

harryfan9: they're literally so cute i love their friendship

harrystyles: You made the magic happen. Thank you for everything. X.

harryfan3: they're so...

y/nfan2: i genuinely think they like fucking with us bc i legitimately can't tell if they're dating or not

y/nfan7: at this point i don't even care i love whatever they're doing they both just seem so happy to be besties/lovers/collaborators and i love that for them

harryfan5: ^^

y/nupdates

liked by harryfan10 and 3,742 others

y/nupdates: Y/n performing Keep Driving onstage with Harry in NYC tonight at ONO!

y/nupdates: When he introduced her, he said: "Tonight is special in a lot of ways. I'm sharing my album with you for the first time, my family's here, my friends are here, and...a very good friend of mine is here to play a song with me tonight. This album wouldn't have been possible without her, so please give her as much love as you've given me. Y/n L/n, everybody!"

harryfan4: stop they're so close it hurts😭

y/nfan7: i was there they were staring at each other and smiling the whole time!

harryfan12: that's the one where he says choke her with a sea view!?

y/nfan7: YES AND I SWEAR HIS SMILE GOT BIGGER WHEN HE SANG THAT PART AND LOOKED AT HER LIKE HE FULLY HAD TO TURN AROUND TO LOOK AT HER BC SHE WAS PLAYING THE DRUMS

harryfan3: i'm choosing to believe they're in love idc what anyone else says

hs/ynupdates

hs/ynupdates: Harry, Y/n, and her sisters in New York after ONO tonight! Apparently Harry and Y/n were standing and walking very close to each other. Like arms wrapped around each other close.

harryfan2: that could literally mean anything tho. they're good friends why wouldn't they walk next to each other?

y/nfan14: i feel like they don't know if they're dating or not at this point😅

y/nfan8: her sisters are so unserious i love it

y/nfan5: i love that they all showed up for harry��

yourbandinstagram

liked by taylorswift, harrystyles and 710,225 others

yourbandinstagram: Thanks for having us, London!

y/nfan1: i can't believe i got to see harry and y/n perform in ONE NIGHT

harryfan3: sending my love and my tears to everyone who got to experience this historic night

harrystyles: Thank you for taking the time to share the stage with me. X.

yourbandfan2: how do y'all always look so good 😭

I: So you opened for Harry Styles a few weeks ago and performed a song with him in New York.

Y/n: My sisters and I did, yeah.

I: How did that come about? Did your team call his team? Or was it more casual than that?

Y/n: Oh, definitely more casual. I think we were just hanging out together one morning and he kind of just suggested it. No bells and whistles or anything like that.

I: So can we expect (Your band) to join Harry on his upcoming tour, then?

Y/n: I don't think so. We're working on putting out a record of our own at the moment, but we do want to get back out on the road soon, but I will definitely be attending more of his shows in the future.

I: And what can we expect from this upcoming record? Did Harry help you the way you helped him out?

Y/n: I've sent him a couple things to listen to, and I value his opinion a lot, both as a friend and as an artist. He also showed me a couple records recently which kind of influenced how I approached some of the songs sonically. He's got a huge vinyl collection at his house. I'm honestly kind of jealous.

I: There's been some rumors running around that you and Harry are in a romantic relationship. Would you like to put any of those rumors to rest?

Y/n: I could see where people might think that. Harry's very affectionate by nature, and over the last couple of months we've become very close. He's not just someone I admire in the music industry, but as a person in general. I feel incredibly lucky to call him a friend. And a close one, at that.

I: So just a friend then?

Y/n: Yeah. Yeah, just a friend.

#harry styles #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x you #harry styles fluff #harry styles writing #harry styles one shot #harry styles fic

922 notes · View notes

jackhues · 1 year ago

Text

karma - auston matthews

notes: this is based off of @matthewshisch's idea (karma is the guy on the leafs)! so s/o to her <3 also, reader is a singer :)) AND gif not mine !

likes are good, reblogs are better!

being a celebrity meant that no matter what, one thing would always be a fixed thing in your life. and that was the rumours.

one week you were dating a new guy. the next, you were engaged to some kid from your hometown. the next week, you were back with your ex.

no matter what, the dating rumours always flew around you. maybe the fact that you never made it public with anyone fuelled those even more. whatever the case, it was funny reading them.

especially when you thought about what you had planned for tonight.

a knock sounded on your door, followed by a familiar voice, "did someone order some flowers?"

you couldn't help the smile growing on your face as you made eye contact with auston in the mirror.

you were in your dressing room at the stadium, getting ready for the opening night of your multi-month tour. you'd worked hard to get to where you were now -- one of the most successful female artists in the world.

and right there by your side, supporting you for the past year, was none other than auston matthews, your boyfriend. you'd met at a leafs game years ago, but he'd only reached out to you just over a year before. ever since then, the two of you kept your relationship under wraps for the most part, doing your best to just enjoy your time together without the media's comments.

you'd talked about going public before, but for the most part, decided to let life take it's course. of course... tonight would be a pretty big surprise.

"hi, you made it," you got up from your chair, sinking into his arms for a hug.

"i wouldn't miss this for the world," he responded, placing a kiss to the top of your head. "it's my girl's big day. first tour in almost three years. nothing's gonna stop me from being here."

you grinned stupidly to yourself, finding auston's words so comforting and sweet. even after a whole year, he managed to make you feel giddy.

"i'm really happy you're here," you whispered, pulling away. "oh! i've got a surprise for you, but i can't give it to you right now. i'll give it after, okay?"

"a surprise for me?" auston repeated. "it's your day."

"hush, i wanted to do it," you said.

another knock sounded on your door, and your assistant, jenny, poked her head in. "y/n, we've got to start in ten. let's go. auston, mark's got your seat saved. head over quick, or someone'll spot you."

"that's not a big deal," auston waved it off. "if someone spots me, they spot me. it's not the end of the world."

"well, fact remains, we need y/n right now," she said. "c'mon, you can have her back when she's done her show."

"i'll see you soon," you kissed auston, before following jenny out to your position.

you adjusted your earpiece, waiting for the lights to dim. as soon as they did, the platform you were standing on moved higher, allowing you to enter directly on stage.

the lights turned back on, and the crowd went wild.

"let the show begin," you whispered to yourself.

---

"'cause karma is the thunder," you sang, "rattling your ground. karma's on your scent like a bounty hunter. karma's gonna track you down."

the crowd waved their flashlights in the air, following you as you continued dancing to the beat of the song, singing along. getting closer and closer to the surprise you planned for auston.

"step by step from town to town," you continued. "sweet like justice, karma is a queen. karma takes all my friends to the summit..."

you paused for half a second, allowing production to ready themselves and for the crowd to pay attention to the small change.

"karma is the guy on the leafs, coming straight home to me!"

you stomped on the mark, blue sparklers going off on either side of the stage -- matching with the colour of your dress and the leafs' colours.

the crowd screamed as you continued your performance, losing their minds at the confirmation that you and auston were dating.

"cause karma is my boyfriend," you locked eyes with auston in the crowd, noticing him smiling widely to himself as people nearby recorded the interaction. winking at him, you continued your song, "karma is a god."

the crowd continued chanting throughout the song, no one truly getting over the lyric change you'd done.

you had a feeling there were gonna be rumours about this for a while.

---

tags : @woodruff-edwards , @austinbutlerscaresme , @svechnikovvv , @hockeyboysarehot , @emptyflowerpots , @mysticaldonkey , @lam-ila , @babydollmarauders , @starjoyyy , @kjohnson-91 , @gavinbrindley, @hischierdevils , @jackhughesily , @panarin10 , @equallyshaw , @power2myheart , @lynnismypseudonym , @beccaiscold , @akengii , @nowandkei , @cinnamonpancakes , @mitchymainer , @lifeofpriya , @marshmallow-babe, @hughesx3 , @emsully2002 , @starsandhughes , @huggy-hischier73 , @doglady5678 , @thatoneblog , @exonct07 @hughesmedicine , @qwanelledingele , @mindless-rock , @ireadthensuetheauthors , @huggy-hischier94, @slaythehousedownboots , @diary-of-jj

join my main taglist!

#naqia writes!#auston matthews #auston matthews blurb #auston matthews x oc #auston matthews fic #auston matthews imagine #auston matthews x reader #auston matthews x y/n #auston matthews imagines #auston matthews blurbs #toronto maple leafs x reader #toronto maple leafs imagine #nhl #nhl one shot #nhl imagine #nhl fic #hockey one shot #hockey fic #hockey

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semperama · 14 days ago

Note

[knock knock knock] trick or treat !!

Hi, happy Halloween!! So...I've had this idea in my head for a while of a fic where Buck kind of has a moment of temporary insanity and forgets he and Eddie aren't actually together and absent-mindedly kisses him one day, but every time I've tried to start it, I haven't liked how it's turned out? I still want to write it someday, but for now, have the beginning of my last attempt, which will likely get scrapped and rewritten several more times lol.

----

One week after Christopher comes home from Texas, Buck briefly loses his mind.

It’s been a long summer—trying to hold Eddie together, trying to hold himself together. It fucking sucked, but he managed to grit his teeth and handle it. He got reacquainted with all the lumps and bumps in Eddie’s couch, kept his fridge stocked, added a dozen new recipes to his repertoire just to get Eddie to eat something. He learned how to respond to texts from Christopher with a straight face, learned how ignore the impulse to punch Gerrard, learned not to flinch at Eddie’s half-hearted attempts to get him to fight or flee, barbs that might have hit harder if they weren’t flung a little too wide.

So yeah, it’s no surprise that he goes a little crazy. What’s surprising is how it happens.

The last few days have been…perfect. Perfect in a way Buck never thought they’d have again. He has hugged Christopher a hundred times and Eddie almost as much. He has posted up in the Diaz living room and played hours of video games and gorged himself on pizza and takeout, the three of them relearning how to move together and be together and paint over all the bad shit that happened with new memories. Buck and Eddie have made it through two whole shifts where Buck didn’t feel like he had to stay in arm’s reach of Eddie the whole time to make sure he didn’t do something stupid. They went to the zoo. They went to Santa Monica. They had a homecoming party for Chris at Maddie and Chim’s.

All of it is like a dream. Or maybe it’s like finally being awake, rousing from a nightmare that felt like it would never end. Either way, Buck feels like he’s drunk on it, his mind playing the same refrain of, we did it, we made it, we’re okay, on loop.

Which is probably why it happens. Why he wakes up on Eddie’s couch one morning and stumbles into the kitchen, following the smell of coffee. Why he moves easily into Eddie’s space like he does it all the time, comes right up behind him and wraps an arm around his waist, tucking his nose into his neck.

Why he kisses Eddie’s neck. His jaw.

Why his lips are grazing the stubble at the corner of Eddie’s mouth before he stops, time stops.

Buck doesn’t know how long it takes him to move. It feels like minutes, long enough for him to register the way Eddie’s body feels pressed against his, the smell of his toothpaste, the softness of the skin on his cheek. The horror comes over him slowly, melting away all the warm contentment he woke up with. And Eddie is—not moving, not even breathing, so unnaturally still against him.

That stillness is what finally gets Buck moving, jerking backward and stumbling until the corner of the fridge catches him between the shoulder blades, making him hiss in pain. “Fuck, Eddie, I—”

“Buck,” Eddie says, a croak. He’s holding a mug in his hand, has been this whole time, but he sets it down now, the ceramic rattling against the counter. He looks—first at Buck’s mouth, then up to his eyes. “What—”

“I don’t know what I—” Buck wants to turn into mist, fade backward out of the room. “I swear, Eddie, I don’t—”

Eventually one of them is going to have to get a whole sentence out, but right now Buck barely has enough connection with his brain to keep his lungs working.

#buddie #911 show #my writing #trick or treat

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epersonae · 16 days ago

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Part of me wants to have simply written this and not ever say any more about it

Part of me wants to just post the "started making it/had a breakdown/bon appetit" image and a link

Like, I've never written actual goddamn RPF before, 90k+ of whatever the fuck for the benefit of all the broken hearts and its associated works are aside; it's still strange and uncomfortable to me to write fiction (porn even!) about real people

And also - some variant of this idea has been rattling around in my head since at least March 2023 (which is when I made a note in the paper notebook I keep in my living room), and probably longer than that, tbh; to steal an image from @chaotic-neutral-knitter:

And then, one day last week, I had this weird dream about reading an interview with David Jenkins, or maybe hearing about an interview? Either way, I remember nothing of the details of the dream interview, only waking up from the dream with the distinct thought "djenks in the cuck chair" and the first draft of the first two paragraphs of what became this:

apparatus theory (E, 5689 words, Rhys/Taika)

It is David POV, set just before the filming of season 2, it is about "practicing kissing", it is about identity and artistic craft, physicality and alienation from physicality. I have a lot of weird complicated feelings about it, but as often happens with writing like that, I think it's good writing anyhow.

my love and thanks to @veeagainsttheday, @emi--rose, and @mxmollusca for their vital services as I was writing; this would not be the same without you

#I'm a little sad I never managed to get in a space waltz mention #but connoisseurs of these guys' works will catch some other references #ofmd #rpf #my writing #my fic #I have a complicated theory about why david is like this vs how carlitaverse javid would be in the same scenario #something about the role of the author and the ways in which writing happens idk

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foncethefool · 2 months ago

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Just a Whump idea I've had rattling around my head for a bit here.

Whumper is just your average Whumper, suave rich woman who captures some hot butch Whumpee, and expects it to go like all the other Whumpee's she's had before. Torture Whumpee, toy with her mind, break her, mold her into what Whumper wants and then when she gets bored of her broken toy, kills her off and find a new one.

Except Whumpee won't fucking break.

At every opportunity, Whumpee flaunts it too. After a session with a whip, or a cane, or just a regular beating. Whumpee is spitting blood and glaring sure, but she's also grinning like an idiot and telling Whumper to stop hitting like a little boy.

After forcing Whumpee's head underwater and nearly drowning her, Whumpee kicks at Whumper's shins the moment she's able to again.

And sure, Whumper has had stubborn toys before, but not like this one.

Y'see it was never exactly the torture alone that would break toys, but time, and patience. It wasn't a matter of hitting them harder, but making sure that the phycological torment took root and ruined a toy's mind.

But still, this one wouldn't break, Whumpee was just as stubborn a full year after Whumper kidnapped her. It had gotten bad enough that Whumper had gone out and picked up a new toy to break (Which she managed to break in only a few days, killing the poor thing off only two weeks after it's abduction)

Whumper however, could not break Whumpee.

Whumper was starting to worry that she had lost her touch, that she was going to have to kill Whumpee without ever getting to break her. But then the most surprising thing happened.

Whumpee got sick.

It wasn't anything serious, Whumpee had gone through worse in her year there, but once the fever started to ramp up, and Whumper had to confine her to bedrest (Not because Whumper cared, no ma'am, but it wouldn't do to break a broken toy)

Whumper would watch over Whumpee, keeping a fresh damp rag over her head, making sure to force water down her throat. Eventually though, life calls. After all, Whumper had a life to pretend to live. But as she was going, a delirious, feverish Whumpee, grabbed at Whumper's hand.

Whumper was ready to fight the bitch if this was a pathetic excuses for an escape attempt. But no, Whumpee was looking up at Whumper with these pathetic puppy dog eyes. Unfocused and hazy, Whumpee probably didn't even know who she was grabbing or where she was anymore.

But then she whines. It is the softest sound Whumper ever heard Whumpee make, and she couldn't stop the way her breath caught in her throat as Whumpee choked out "Please don't leave me alone"

Both of them would deny it ever happening, both of them would still say they were enemies, and hated each other. But Whumper stayed. She lay in bed with Whumpee, arms around the normally tough girl. Neither would admit it, but it was the start of something different.

#Whump #Soft whump #sapphic

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eikaprime · 1 month ago

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Pe4rlina

You've already seen C4llie and M4rie, but do you know who else we should ship Agent 4 with? Marina and Pearl, of Off The Hook. Yes, both of them. Yes, at the same time. This is the third of six planned chapters of a fic on AO3 (Chapter one found HERE), and I don't know what *you'll* think of it, but *I* think it's cute.

Pe4rlina

"You have nothing to worry about," Marie says. "Don't give me that look. I know what expression you're making, even over the phone. You really have nothing to worry about."

"But it's Pearl," Rain says. "As in, Houzuki. As in, Off The Hook. As in—"

"A loudmouthed hyperactive gremlin, as Marina would put it, who trusts my recommendation."

Rain's ears lower. "You recommended me? I've only had the shop for a couple months."

"The arrangements you did for Callie's birthday were gorgeous," Marie says. "Better quality than a lot of profreshional florists, and Pearl likes supporting small businesses. Now just drive up to the side entrance, say you're there to interview for the landscaping position, and don't let her intimidate you."

Easy for Marie to say. Rain didn't believe it at first, but Marie's at home in front of crowds and signs autographs in line at the grocery store. She may not be in the same league as Off The Hook, but she's in a neighboring one. "But—"

Marie hangs up on her. Rain wants to call back, to keep panicking, but there's no time. The turn for the Houzuki Mansion is just up ahead.

Like Marie told her, there's a side entrance with a small gate and a guard station. Rain rolls down the window. Her van, bought from a junkyard and fixed with spare parts, rattles to a stop; she has to figure out what's doing that later. "Weatherclear Florists and Landscaping, here to meet with Pearl Houzuki about—"

"You're expected," interrupts the shrimp. He opens the gate. "Follow the path on the right for a hundred feet, until you see the wall of hedges; you'll meet her at the table there."

Rain gulps, but drives on, barely going five miles an hour. The wall of hedges turns out to be the wall of a hedge maze, and there's a place to park right by the entrance. Rain's engine dies with a grinding whirr when she turns it off. She'll be able to get home, but she'd better spend some money on real parts soon.

Like the guard said, there's a table nearby, a nice patio table with an umbrella that pokes over the top of the hedges. Rain carefully does not confirm if it's edged in real gold. But there are some decorative hedges nearby, and after waiting a few minutes, she can't help but go over for a closer look.

Whoever pruned these had no idea what they were doing. Rain wrinkles her nose. That one looks like a seahorse, carved by someone who'd never seen a seahorse before. It's recognizable—barely. But...

Rain leaves her laptop on the table and retreats to her van for the hedge trimmers and gets to work. Whoever did this was lazy, too, and didn't properly support anything; she gets some wires. It takes a little, wrapping supporting wires around the fragile parts, snipping carefully at the overgrown bits, detailing the tail's curl, but she—

"Shell yeah, you just jumped right in!"

Rain jumps a foot and snips off the whole tail. OH COD.

"My bad." Rain almost stabs Pearl with the hedge trimmers when she bumps Rain's elbow. Pearl doesn't even notice. "Squit, I didn't think anyone could save these hedges. Marie said you were the best landscaper she'd seen, but I wasn't expecting miracles!"

"I cut off the tail," Rain says, her ears drooping. She tucks one of her long tentacles behind her ear. "I—I'm sorry, I wasn't told to work on it and it'll take weeks to fix—"

"You kidding? It looks fresh as shell, and you said you can fix it!" Pearl grabs Rain by both arms and moves her aside, and Rain gets a view of the top of Pearl's head, a view she never gets watching them below the stage during splatfests. It's cute. "Come on, let's go to the table and thrash out all the stupid business stuff. Rina's running behind."

Pearl releases her, and Rain takes a deep breath and sits at the table. She does pretty well, keeping her head. There's going to be a party—a massive shindig, Pearl says, for her grandparent's sixtieth clammiversary. "It's not for a couple months yet," Pearl says, "but they love this place. I guess when they were dating they'd come down to the hedge maze all the time and escape their parents by wandering around in it. Guess they got so lost they spent the night a couple times." She throws her head back and laughs, loud and long, and Rain can't help but grin at her. "Might be why my parents declared it off limits!"

Even from here, Rain can see it's overgrown. "So you want me to trim everything back into shape?" Depending on the size of the maze, that could take an easy month or two, and she'd have to come back for touch-ups just before the party. It's good she has so much time.

"Nah, I want as much of the party in there as possible! I'm talking buffet tables set up in any open spaces and lawn games for the kiddos in the dead ends." Pearl kicks her feet up on the table and leans back. "No one's been in there for about twenty years, not even Rina's touched it, so I want you to map it, then tell me if we need any new hedges or moved hedges or shit for that sorta stuff."

Holy squit. This is the sort of job that could have her set for life, balloon her reputation until she can hire employees and have a wait list for clients. And it means she gets to use graph paper. Time to start the price negotiations. "I can absolutely do that for you! The price would be—"

"Done," Pearl says. she hands Rain a blank check and Rain stares at it because maybe Pearl is stupid, to do this. "Write down what you want, plus expenses."

Rain swallows hard. She wants to take it so bad it hurts, but she wrote down her plan and she's gonna stick to it. "I'd prefer to work on a weekly basis, with similar payment, in case at some point either of us decide to end the relationship. Those weekly meetings would also ensure I can keep you up to date on progress or unexpected developments, and you can let me know anything you want fixed or altered."

"Every other Monday, and we'll start at two hundred for expenses," Pearl counters. That's fair, and Rain shakes on it.

~~~~~

The first thing Rain does is buys two new tape measures, a hundred tall gardening stakes, index cards, waterproof sleeves for the index cards, permanent markers, a mallet, a more secure lightweight ladder, and a special notebook just for this project (she loves new notebooks). Then she starts her measurements. It hurts her to ignore the overgrown branches but she can trim it all down once she knows the height she's going for. Then she walks around the edges of the hedge maze, driving in a stake every twenty feet, until she knows the size.

One poster sheet of graph paper should do it, prefolded so she can work easily. She'll have to come back with that tomorrow; it's getting late. Rain shoves her equipment in the back of her van, straps the ladder securely to the side, and turns it on.

The engine rumbles, coughs, and doesn't start.

Rain swears, smacks the horn once (it beeps a satisfying six notes of Nasty Majesty), and pops the hood. Five minutes later, she's got grease marks all over her hands and good gardening clothes—least it'll blend in with the dirt streaks—and she's tying the engine back together with garden twine.

"Oh!" says someone behind her, and Rain jumps and bangs her head on the hood. Swears she hasn't used since discovering octosnipers leave her in a stream, and she backs up to turn around properly and ah, carp, she's swearing in front of Marina. "Sorry," Rain says. "Sorry! Oh, geeze, am I late? I know Pearl's and mine agreement said I had to be out of here by eight o'clock and—"

She's interrupted by a giggle. Marina covers her mouth with one hand, her tentacles writhing. "No, no, you're okay! I heard the horn and wanted to see what was happening. Car trouble?"

"I've got it handled," Rain says, but Marina's crowding up next to her and one of her tentacles brushes Rain's arm and that does it. She blushes, her ears going straight up.

Marina doesn't seem to notice, thank cod. "You've done pretty good work, but that twine's a hazard," she says. "You need some wire at least, if not a completely new engine."

Rain swallows hard as Marina's tentacles wiggle. So, here's what she didn't tell Marie, when Marie was talking her through getting this job: Rain has the biggest celebrity crush on Off The Hook. Both of them. But she's here as a landscaper, as... is the correct term client or contractor or, whatever. Either way she has to be profreshional.

"It'll hold for a couple days," she says. "I'll be able to buy parts once I get my next check from this job."

Marina nods, reaching in with hands and tentacles to shift some of the car's innards. "I haven't gotten to work on a car before," she murmurs. "All of Pearl's are new, and I had my bike, and we were so busy..."

Rain takes a deep breath and moves closer to Marina, shoulders brushing as she leans close and refuses to ink out over who's touching her. "A lot of this is jury-rigged, and I've gotta make some major improvements to pass the next inspection," she says, touching the patches on the oil tank and the mess of wires. "But I did it all myself."

"It's beautiful," Marina whispers. "Would—would you mind if I worked on it? Like, it'd be a learning experience for me, so I'd buy all the parts and you could keep them, but I just wanna get head and shoulders into an engine."

Rain's ears twitch. Marina made the shifty stations. More, Marina's a domes defector, who made the flooders and helped with the Great Octobosses. She can handle a car. Still... "Can we work on it together?" Rain runs her fingers over the engine and reaches for the twine again. "I wanna know what working with new parts feels like." Shoulder to shoulder with Marina, oh cod, she cannot ink out over this.

"Come again tomorrow, if you're finished by five we can eat together and then work on it," Marina says. Rain's ears shoot so high they almost bounce off her head.

"That would be great," Rain says, and cod, she sounds like a fangirl. One more tie, and that should do it. She steps back, and Marina steps back, too. "I'll make sure to bring my supper."

"Nah, I can take care of it, you're doing me a favor." Marina closes the hood, and stands by as Rain gets the engine. It coughs and sputters, but starts. "See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Rain says as she drives off. "See you."

~~~~~

Putting garden stakes with laminated index cards at every intersection takes most of the day, and Rain sketches the last of it on graph paper. Mapping's all done, accurate to... she'd like to say completely, but realistically, she messed up somewhere, so she'll say things could be off by three feet. She's gonna need some outside assistance: there are five large clearings, one of them big enough for a couple buffet tables and a few places to sit and eat (gotta remember this is for Pearl's grandparents) and the smaller ones big enough for two or three tables each. Or a pinata or something.

But Rain's no caterer, so Pearl's gonna have to hire people for that. And to fix those absolutely gorgeous but broken fountains, and they need to discuss the sort of benches she wants to replace those old ones with, and...

Squit, it's already after five!

Rain rushes to the front of the maze. She makes the last turn and sees Pearl peering in. "Hey, Rina! Told you she lost track of the time."

Rain's whole face burns. Hopefully it's a sunburn, but she ducks her head anyway, ears twitching back. "Sorry," she says.

"Rina does the same thing," Pearl holds out a fist, and Rain bumps it. She can't resist doing the explodey part after, making Pearl chuckle. "You won't believe how often I've gotta drag her to bed, she gets stuck in recording or working on that bike of hers..."

"Pearlie!" Marina rushes over to cover Pearl's mouth with her hands; Pearl still manages to smirk. "Ignore her. Come sit at the table, I packed us a picnic!"

Rain looks at her dirt-streaked hands and shrugs. but when she sits at the table, Marina passes her a wipe, and Rain flashes her ink to pink so she can clean her hands. Marina unpacks the picnic basket: a good dozen or more sandwiches, a container full of still-steaming fries, a few big bags of chips, pasta salad, regular salad...

Marina notices Rain staring and blushes. "I may have gone a little overboard," she mumbles, her tentacles writhing, two creeping up to cover her face.

Pearl grabs one tentacle, wraps it around her hand, and squeezes it, palm to sucker. "Chill, it's sweet," Pearl says. "We'll eat leftovers at the studio tomorrow, and Rain can take some home."

Rain realizes she's staring, and grabs for the nearest sandwich. "Um, thank you for supper, but you can keep the leftovers. I won't need them." She bites into it and almost spits it out. Who the carp makes tuna salad with ketchup?

Pearl snorts. "Nope, I insist," she says. "Couple sandwiches, some pasta salad—I made that—and a bag of chips, minimum." She releases Marina's tentacle and sits next to Rain, knocking her paper plate (and sandwich) on the ground. "Woops! Guess you can't finish that one."

"I think I'd like some pasta salad, anyway," Rain says.

~~~~~

"Nice work," Pearl says, and Rain almost falls off the ladder. A hand on her ankle steadies her. "Yeesh, careful. I thought you heard me come up."

"I was getting into it," Rain says. She walks down the ladder backwards, pausing at the bottom to wipe her forehead. "Shaping isn't hard, but there's a lot of them to do."

"I'll say." Pearl looks at the neat rows of hedges stretching all on one side and down half the other, where it turns into a snarled mess of haphazard branches. "Wanna show me those fountains? I need pictures and an idea of the problem if I'm gonna get some repair people out here."

Rain smiles down at her. "One fountain, coming right up. I can leave direction signs for all of them, too, so they don't have to get lost dealing with it."

"Nah," Pearl has to trot to keep up, and Rain slows her pace. "I kinda like the thought of some repair dudes stuck out here overnight. Give them the chance to rethink those candid pics they always take of me and Rina."

Rain sucks in a breath. "Want to check my phone? I haven't taken any, but—"

"Nah, dude, you're good," Pearl pats Rain's arm as they enter the big clearing. "I trust you... damn that's a big fountain."

A jumping shark with spouts by its three fins; over it, held up by smaller 'splashes' of stone water, three fish try to escape, their open mouths more spouts. "This is the biggest," Rain says. "I figure the caterers would want to set up here."

"So what's wrong with it?"

Rain shrugs, getting on her knees by the fountain's brim. "To start with, it's filthy. Only water in it now's rainwater, not proper ink or something," she says. "You can't see the drain under all the leaves and muck, and..."

Rain loses her train of thought when Pearl touches one of her ears, and it flicks reflexively. "Neat," Pearl says. "I noticed yours moving a lot, more than mine or Rina's; it's cool to watch."

Rain's whole head grows hot. Cod. "I, uh, it, uh, I mean..." she knows learning to manage your ears is a normal part of growing up, just like being quiet in class, but Rain's never gotten the hang of it.

Pearl chuckles. "You're cute when you're all flustered," she says, touching Rain's other ear, and, okay, this is, it's, uh.

Rain pushes herself backwards, onto her feet and out of Pearl's range. "A-anyway there may be something, with, uh, pumps and solar or power or pistons or, uh, yeah," she babbles. Pearl called her cute PEARL CALLED HER CUTE no no no she's a profreshional business squid. Oh cod, what are her ears doing? She can't cover her burning cheeks and her twitching ears at the same time!

Pearl smiles at her, a smile Rain's never seen on stage, and Rain's hearts pound. "Sensitive," she says. "I'll remember that. Anyway, if you can clear a drain, I'll take pictures and get Rina to try to find the power source. Who knows, maybe she can fix it." She smiles again, and it's the same smile she gave Rain, but softer. "Cod, Rina's amazing."

~~~~~

"Pass me the wrench?"

"Don't you have to line up those—"

"They are lined up!"

"No, they're a little off," Marina says. "Here," she leans over Rain, her chest pressed to Rain's back, and Rain's brain stutters. Marina pushes the wrench into Rain's left hand, then wraps one of her hands around where two pipes connect, moving the whole thing the slightest bit sideways; she wraps the other around Rain's spare hand, holding her—and the new oil tank—in place. "Okay, now you can tighten that bolt."

Rain tries to breathe, but everything is oil and Marina, and she's getting light headed. She fumbles to get the wrench on the bolt, and it's pure muscle memory that gets the job done; all Rain can think about is the way Marina's pressed against her, her legs on either side of Rain's, her tentacles lazily curling around Rain's shoulders.

Then she steps back, and Rain can gasp in one deep breath. "I think that should do it!" Rain straightens and turns to see Marina stretching, her arms interlaced overhead, and she presses up enough that her shirt lifts and shows her stomach which should not be so enticing after watching all those splatfests but it is. "Ready to add the oil and see if it works?"

Rain swallows hard. Marina looks at her, one eyebrow raised and tentacle curled in a question. "Sorry," Rain lies, "I'm just nervous."

"We've been working really hard on this," Rina says. "I love seeing you so focused, you get the sweetest expression on your face. I promise, this is gonna work."

Rain's still stuck on the compliment as she nods. Marina lifts the oil can, pouring it in, then puts a hand on Rain's back, ushering her to the driver's door. Rain swallows hard and turns it on.

The engine starts with a purr, no coughs or stutters at all, and a smile covers Rain's face. She closes her eyes to listen better. It really works.

"You did it!" Marina cries, clapping her hands.

"We did it," Rain corrects her. She turns the car off and gets out. "All it needs now is a fresh coat of paint, and it's just like new."

"I can't wait to see it," Marina says.

Rain can't wait to do it, but with all the work she's got, that won't be for a while. "Would you," she swallows, because no, this is taking it too far. "Never mind."

"No, tell me," Marina says. She grabs Rain's hands in her own and looks down at her.

Rain looks up, into those beautiful eyes. "When it's finished, can I take you for a ride? It's, uh, I don't know where we'd go, and it's kinda stupid just to sit in a car to go around in a circle or something, but—”

Marina stops her with a finger to her lips. "I'd love to," she says.

Rain floats through the rest of the day.

~~~~~

With the party a week away, Rain doesn't dare ask for time off. She gets up bright and early and goes in before she's supposed to, instead. She checks every corner of the maze, stopping frequently for last-minute trims of the hedges, and sets up tiny tables and old-fashioned torch holders for the day of; the bouquets will be set out that morning, and the party's supposed to last into the night. The materials for the flower arch arrived yesterday, and are being kept fresh until the night before; she'll have to stay up late to handle that...

There's so much going on in Rain's head that when she reaches the center, with the large shark fountain, it takes her several seconds to register that there are balloons, and streamers, and a table with a cake, and Marina and Pearl grinning at her behind the table. She drops her sheers. “Oh cod, did I screw up? Is the party today?!”

"Chill," Pearl says, hopping from her seat. She strolls over, casual and confident as their first meeting. "Ya didn't miss anything."

"A little jelly told us it wasyour birthday today," Marina says. "And you were planning to work through it. So happy birthday!"

Rain stands there, mouth opening and closing, lost for words. She hadn't told the NSS; with Eight's recent arrival, it seemed self-centered, to want to celebrate a birthday. And she doesn't know that many people in Inkopolis.

There's a lump in her throat, and Rain swallows it away, puts her hands over her twitching ears. "Thank you," she whispers.

Pearl grabs her hand and drags her to the table, where she's pushed into the third seat and sung over and has to make a wish; this close, she can count all twenty candles. When there are large slices of orange cake in front of each of them, Pearl says, "Rina and I wanna ask ya a couple things."

Rain sets her fork down (the cake is delicious) and turns her full attention on Pearl.

"First, and I want ya to know this offer stands n matter what ya say to the second part, I'd like to hire you as a landscaper for Houzuki house year-round," Pearl says. "We can cut it back after the party; the lawns already have maintenance people, but one week a month, if you'd deal with the hedges and shit..."

Good reliable pay for a job she can handle. Enough that she can build her business and not worry about bills. "Absolutely," Rain promises.

"Right, that's settled. Second question." She drums her fingers on the table, head tilted and smiling at Rain. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Rains jaw drops. Her ears start doing something. Did she hear that right?

Pearl bursts out laughing. "Your ears omicod I love that so much."

Rain's dream just turned into a nightmare. "Marina is right there," she says, pointing at the Octoling. "I ain't breakin you two up! What do you take me for? Shell, Pearl, what's wrong with you?"

"Actually," Marina says, "I'd like to take you on a date, too."

Any thoughts remaining in Rain's head melt into a puddle in the bottom of her brain.

"Me and Pearl have talked about it before," Marina says. "Having a romantic relationship between any number of people requires a lot of trust and conversation, but adding a third person doesn't seem like it'd be harder than two. Just gotta watch for jealousy issues." She narrows her eyes at Pearl. "And we can handle those when they come up."

"Hey, I want this too, I ain't gonna get jealous—"

"Pearl, do you know yourself?"

Rain sputters a laugh. That jogs her out of it She's had the biggest crush on them both for forever, but this... "Can I think about it for a couple days?" She cuts a bite of cake with her fork. "I really wasn't expecting... well, anything."

"Course."

"Of course!"

The two members of Off The Hook smile at each other, then turn back to Rain. "Nothing has to change," Marina says. "We can be friends, and celebrate birthdays, and work on your car together."

"But bringing in a little romance could be awesome!"" Pearl flings up her hand, icing flying off her fork and into the statue's ink pool. "Take a risk, and we may all get something awesome out of it."

~~~~~

Once the flower arches are installed at the maze's entrance and exit, and the vases full of flowers placed on tables at every dead end, and the banners hung between the poles, Rain gets to attend the rest of the party as a guest. Pearl introduces her as 'The miracle worker who got the maze back in shape... and my friend!' and that was all it took for the rest of the Houzuki clan to accept her.

But she doesn't know any of them, and there's only so long she can make awkward small talk. Rain accepts the congratulations and hug from Pearl's grandparents, who want to walk around the whole maze reminiscing (she suspects if they do the whole maze they may need those wheelchairs later) and heads for the furthest corner of the maze, the only one without any decorations because someone would have to be really, really lost to end up there. It'll be a nice spot for Rain to catch her breath.

But when she reaches it, she finds Off The Hook making out. Rain... really wants to join in. She really, really does.

Marina catches sight of her and taps Pearl on the shoulder. The two break apart and turn to face her, and Pearl's expression morphs to a softer, smiling one when she sees Rain. "Yeah?"

"If I say yes," Rain says, "to, well, to both of you, do I have to be famous? I don't really like that squit much..."

The two glance at each other. "I ain't gonna lie and say Rina's my one and only if I've got you, too," Pearl says.

"But we can discuss things like, say, not showing up with us in public, or not calling you by name on stage, and such," Rina says.

Pearl sighs. "Yeah, guess I can avoid devoting concerts to you and shit. By name, anyway."

Rain's not sure what her ears are doing, but she knows they're moving, sideways and up and oh shell what the shell why not. She takes a step forward, pulls Pearl in by the collar of her shirt, and kisses her. Pearl kisses back, and Rain closes her eyes and enjoys it, the plankton in her stomach and all. Pearl is... this may still be a dream.

They're both panting when they break apart, and Rain glances at Marina, who has her hands clasped in front of her face, bouncing on her toes and grinning. "Damn," Pearl says, still out of breath. "She kisses better than you."

"Really?" Marina asks.

Rain's ears twitch back. "Of course not!"

"Yeah," Pearl says, stepping away from Rain. She grins at Marina. “You should try it.”

Marina steps forward, reaching for Rain with hands and tentacles, then hesitates. “May I?”

Rain's face burns again, and she nods. Why is Marina so intimidating?

But, as Marina draws her close, hands cradling Rain's cheeks to tilt her head up and tentacles holding her shoulders, it feels like the most natural thing in the world to close her eyes and let Marina lead, to press into the kiss Marina has her in and just enjoy it.

Rain pulls away first this time. Marina grins at her. “Yeah, you're better than Pearl, too.”

Rain laughs. She doesn't know why. She can't help herself. She giggles so long and hard she has to sit, right there, on the ground, and Marina and Pearl sit with her, even though they don't know why it's funny. She doesn't either.

But if any day deserves joyful hysterics, it's this one.

#splatoon #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #agent 4 #splatoon fanfiction #agent 4 fic #marina splatoon #pearl houzuki #pearlina #splatoon ship

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fandomwritingbit · 2 years ago

Note

I don't know about you, but tests and all that scary stuff is coming around for me next week, and all year I've been having horrible little thoughts about William lately.

So get this, lets say you actually study for that type of stuff (i know i don't) and you just can't get the information to stick in your head!

✨Magically!✨ You or Will, idrc comes up with the bright idea on how to get it to stick in your head by sitting on his dick and reading or going over whatever you've gotta remember

i might've read this somewhere butttttt, i'm a needy little whore at 1 am lets goooo

Before I forget, I love your fics and I have never submitted one before so...! As usual, drink your water, eat some food, and remember to get rest! unlike some of us Lastly, don't forget to sexualize your favorite old man/woman/other

Hi, thanks for the request, this one was an absolute joy to recieve, I love all your little asides lol. Please feel free to send others!

Exams season is a killer and I really hope you get what you want out of it, just remember that tests and numbers and shit don't define you as a person Xx

That being said, whilst this may not be the most optimal way to study, its certainly the most enjoyable...

william afton x (gn)reader

A/N- Reader's between 18 and early 20s. William is a neighbour, for my plot convenience lmao.

You're sitting at the kitchen table to do some studying today, rather than barricaded in your room as usual. You'd read something online about a change of scenery being good for remembering stuff and because your parents were out it seemed a good opportunity.

With each passing minute, you dawned to the conclusion that that post was bollocks because it wasn't working.

You had your laptop open in front of you, surrounded by a frankly obnoxious amount of papers, trying to wrap your head around content for an exam tomorrow. But each time you wrote a line it was like your mind was rubbed blank, Men in Black style. It was so frustrating, and you knew you should have done it earlier but, good god, why was it so hard to remember anything?

So engrossed in feeling inadequate, you flip the laptop shut angrily, tilting your head back so it touched the chair in anguish. Defeated. It was as you did this that you clocked a figure in the kitchen doorway, making your body jerk up-right and turn round in one fluid moment.

Keep reading

"Mr Afton, how long hav- what are you doing here?" you blurt out, quick to try and compose yourself, you weren't physically or mentally ready for guests, especially ones you'd been casually hooking up with since you moved back home.

"Just dropping this off for your dad. I didn't want to interrupt cos you seem to be... trying not to cry?"

He laughed as he said the last part, moving over towards you and helping himself to a chair. Pushing all your papers to the side without asking. "What's wrong then, been missing me?"

Usually you'd laugh at that but you just shrug at him, half angry at his expression and half at your situation. "You know, I could fucking cry." You do manage a laugh, but its shaky, "Because I'm going to fucking fail this fucking exam because I can't drill any of this shit through my fucking thick fucking skull." You rattle off quickly, each use of 'fucking' harsher than the last.

...

You hadn't really meant to let any of that out. But frustration had taken hold a bit too strongly there.

Afton just stared at you for a few seconds, his lips pressed into a hard line and you could tell he was trying not to laugh at you. You were a bit unsure how you'd react if he did.

After a few moments of silence you place your forehead in your hands and mutter 'sorry'.

"You're alright. Though you shouldn't be studying whilst you're upset, no wonder nothings going in."

"...If you tell me to calm down, I'll lose it." you say, head still in hands, laughing a bit at how much this was bothering you, it was an exam, a booklet of paper, what kind of melt would be this upset. Literally everyone else, you suppose. You take a deep breath.

"Right. Uh when's the test?" he asks you, half looking at a sheet of notes, his interest quickly peaked.

You laugh shortly. "9am."

"Then you've got... What, 20 hours? You've got time to calm down and revise." He put his hand on your shoulder, "You, sweetheart, need to relax."

You swat his hand away, laughing at his cockiness you could tell where this was going, "That's why you came over then? Heard dad's car door shut and your shoes were half-on I'll bet?"

He flashed you a smarmy grin, "You're not far wrong." You shake your head, messing about with this prick was the last thing you should be doing, but the first thing you needed.

"You know, if this type of revision isn't working for you... I heard that associating information with a sense can help you remember things."

You could hardly believe him, seeing you upset and still vying for what he came for. A risky move, Really. You suppose it took cojones, could have made you want to grab a hold of his, or squash them under your shoe.

"Oh yeah?" you ask sarcastically, "What are you suggesting?"

You're not sure how long it took for fresh marks to appear on your neck and your pants to be around your ankles, but you quickly find yourself sitting on his lap and letting his cock slip inside you.

As familiar as the low grunt from behind your ear was becoming, the feeling of him stretching you open always surprised you.

You raise your hips up and press back down again, moaning slightly, he let you slowly ride him for a few moments before, just as your rhythm increased, he grabbed your hips.

"Easy," his voice was thick, brushing against your neck, "You're supposed to be fucking studying."

You groan your protest, a hair away from booing him. "What is it you study again?" His question makes you laugh and you lean back against him with your back arching, causing him to grunt. He gripped your hips harder now forcing you still.

"Fuck 's sake. History."

He hummed in your ear, thinking for a minute, whilst your body throbbed around him desperate for some kind of stimulation. "And what's this on?" He could tell you were aching for something so he pushed you forwards, dragging you back, the angle allowing him to press so fucking deep.

"Come on, sweetheart."

"Civil war. Spanish."

Your gruff answer mirrored his growing frustrations.

"And uh... I don't- who won that?" The fact he couldn't move inside your tight hole was making him white-knuckled with restraint.

"-Nationalists."

With your one word answer that was enough studying for the both of you. He started to move your hips along him, letting your eager pace take over.

You knew that you were going to be up all night doing this now, but you didn't really mind.

#fnaf smut #fnaf william afton #william afton x reader #william afton x you #william afton smut #fnaf 18+

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apoptoses · 1 year ago

Note

Armand/Daniel

Opening sentence/prompt: Daniel often let himself get dragged into trouble by Armand, but this was a whole new level of risky.

look i've had this screencap from crash on my mind for WEEKS (which i will place at the end of the fic) and i had to exorcise this hospital demon that's in me via this prompt. So tw for correct use of syringes/medical kink ♥

Daniel often let himself get dragged into trouble by Armand, but this was a whole new level of risky.

"You're gonna get me in deep shit. They'll kick me out of the hospital," Daniel hissed as Armand undid the ties on his gown. "I don't see why you can't just fix it with the blood anyways, this all seems like a waste of time."

Going to the roller disco had been a stupid fucking idea. It figured that Daniel would wind up twisting his ankle and falling in a way that shattered his bones into so many pieces he'd had to leave in an ambulance. And now here he laid in a hospital bed with just a curtain pulled around them for privacy, his leg in traction while doctors consulted over how best to put his bones back together.

Armand, of course, was fascinated by the whole thing. The great metal contraption that held his leg high above the bed had been subjected to his examination the moment the nurse had left the room.

And now, it seemed, Daniel himself would be examined.

"Because, lover, the drinks I give you are enough to heal a small wound," Armand murmured as he parted the soft cotton gown, just far enough to expose Daniel from chest to toe on the one side. "Healing this would require an amount of blood your mortal body could never process all at once. It will take a number of nights to give you that much."

Daniel rolled his eyes. “And I guess until those nights are up you’ll be playing nurse to me?”

Armand’s fangs glinted in the sickly overhead lighting of the hospital ward. He leaned across and flicked on the panel beside the bed to illuminate Daniel’s x-rays.

“Yes. Exactly.”

Strange, seeing his own bones on the x-ray film, lit up bright white and surrounded by the grey artifacts of his musculature. If Daniel looked closely enough he could see each little crack and splinter, destruction wreaked by a combination of too many beers and a desire to impress his Armand. Well, he could consider that achieved, if not in the way he’d intended. Armand was certainly impressed by the cart of supplies a nurse had left behind with them.

He slid the drawers open and shut. The supplies on the top of the cart -cotton swabs, gauze, a box Daniel had a feeling was full of suturing supplies he desperately hoped Armand wouldn’t find- rattled as he hunted through the cart. There was no way of knowing what he was looking for. No way to know if he’d found it, either. Armand never made a sound when he discovered the thing he was wanting, not like a mortal would.

“Are you in a great deal of pain, Daniel?” Armand murmured.

“Well considering my ankle looks like it’s full of corn flakes instead of bones, I’d say yeah. It hurts a bit,” Daniel said. “What are you even looking for in there?”

Armand said nothing. He turned and disappeared through the curtain, fabric rustling with his departure.

Daniel lifted his head to see where he was headed, and then let it fall back against the pillow. “Great. Just wonderful.”

The clock above the bed ticked interminably. There was the soft beep of machines in other bays, the low drone of nurses gossiping as they walked past. Daniel shivered at the cold- hospitals were always freezing, god he hated being here- and considered tying his gown back shut. He toyed with the cotton strings, watching the floor for any signs of Armand’s return.

Surely he’d be back soon. He wouldn’t leave Daniel here, all on his own. Or would he? Maybe this wasn’t interesting for him after all. Maybe he’d take off like he used to, leave Daniel to mend and come back when he could be entertaining again. It would be an asshole move. Seemingly unlike him, from what Daniel had seen of his affections in the past year but- well, anything was possible with Armand.

The curtain slid back. The panic that had started to constrict Daniel’s chest eased at the sight of Armand, and then crept back in at the way he was concealing something in his hand, the stethoscope around his neck. The rubber on it was pale purple, just like the veins beneath his eyes.

“I acquired some pain medication for you, though it’s a form I’m not sure you’ll be familiar with,” Armand announced. “Would you prefer it before or after I examine you?”

Before or after? Before or after what? Daniel’s mind raced. He tried to imagine what kind of exam this was going to be, if Armand would make it hurt in a way he liked or just flat out try to make him feel good. Or something more sinister, perhaps. Something involving humiliation; Armand’s most favorite way of getting his blood pumping in his chest.

Daniel shifted on the bed. Pain radiated into his knee, up through his thigh and into his gut. His stomach turned like he might be sick from it.

“Before. Definitely before, just do it now,” Daniel gasped.

Armand laid his supplies out on top of the cart. A tiny glass vial, a syringe with the cap still on, an alcohol pad. He snapped on a pair of latex gloves as though he did this sort of thing every day. And though pain was still making his head spin, the sight of pale blue latex stretched over dead skin still made Daniel’s heart race. By the time Armand opened the alcohol swab and was running it over the crook of his elbow Daniel could hear his own blood pounding in his ears.

“How do you know how to do this?” he asked, unable to help himself.

“I attended anatomical lessons in Paris. I’ll be giving the injection intravenously,” Armand said as he drew up the solution into the syringe. Daniel’s eyes tracked the way it filled the thing, liquid rising and rising behind little black lines until Armand had exactly the dose he wanted. “This way it will take effect more quickly. Keep your arm still for me, Daniel.”

As though Daniel had a choice. Armand’s hand around his bicep was tighter than any tourniquet, cutting off his blood flow until his veins showed thick and blue in the crook of his arm. Normally Daniel hated this part. He’d never liked being pricked and prodded, not since he was a child getting his first vaccines. But having Armand do it- Armand with his serious, flat expression, focused so completely on his task- well, it was different. Fascinating a way that made it impossible not to look down and see exactly what he was staring at.

The needle pierced his flesh. Sharp, slim in a way Armand’s fangs weren’t. Being bitten ached, it made Daniel’s world explode behind his eyes with the bright pain of it. Armand sticking him with the syringe was a narrow sort of pain. The type of thing that made his fingers curl into his palm, fist clenched at the hurt.

“It has to be injected slowly,” Armand murmured as he pushed down the plunger. “Otherwise your chest cavity will become rigid and constrict.”

Daniel’s mouth was dry. His heart felt liable to crack his sternum with how hard it was beating, his blood rushing through his veins faster than it ever had, and-

“Oh, christ,” Daniel gasped as the morphine hit.

It was like being dropped into a warm bath, sinking below the water level so that every part of him was submerged. Any pain he had was gone, any self consciousness at being exposed, too. As Armand pulled the needle from his skin Daniel’s pupils blew wide, the drug tingling its way through his face. He went to raise his hand and touch his shining, auburn hair but his limbs felt full of lead. He could hardly move, much less say anything coherent.

“Do you feel better, Daniel? You certainly look as if you do,” Armand said, a hint of amusement creeping into his expression. His eyes had that tightness to them that told Daniel he was holding back a grin. “You look as if you enjoyed that very much, in fact.”

The latex wrapped hand around his cock came as a surprise. One second Armand was popping the ear pieces of the stethoscope into his ears and placing the frigid steel end of it onto his chest, and the next Daniel was biting back a wet gasp. Leg up in the metal contraption and drugged as he was, he had no hope of squirming away from the cold stethoscope or arching into Armand’s hand. He was entirely at his mercy.

And there was something nice about that. In the way his subconscious kept telling him to worry about nurses walking in on them but the rest of his body wouldn’t react to the fear. Daniel liked risk, he liked it when Armand made him feel on the edge of collapse but this- he liked this too.

“Yes. Your heart rhythm is so even, Daniel. Not like the other times I’ve had my hand on you in public,” Armand said. His palm was so strangely cool on Daniel’s sternum, heavy like the great glass paper weight he used to steal off his father’s desk. “You enjoy having choice taken from you in all ways, don’t you?”

Daniel nodded. His eyes fluttered as Armand’s thumb swiped over the tip of his cock, collected the wetness there and glided back down to the root of him. The friction mingled with the buzz of the morphine in his veins. It was like being fucked up on the blood, but more somehow. Armand’s blood had never made him feel pinned to a bed like this.

But then again, Daniel had never been trapped in a steel contraption, relegated to a hospital bed. Armand had never really tied him down before and that, suddenly, seemed like such a shame.

Armand cocked his head. “Perhaps when you are better. Daniel, do you know how bones heal?”

Daniel let out a shuddering breath. He glanced at the curtain, checking for anyone who might catch him with his toes curling against the sheets and his cock leaking into Armand’s hand. No feet, no visitors. The nurses had stopped talking in the hall and that seemed odd, though he wasn’t able to articulate his thoughts on that; not while Armand was stroking him this way, his hand tight and steady as it moved over the entire length of him. He shook his head.

“No,” he managed to say as Armand moved the stethoscope on his chest and tightened his grip on his dick. “What are you listening for? Can’t you hear my heart well enough on your own?”

“I’m listening to more than your heart. I can hear your lungs, the way your breathing has been affected by the cigarettes you smoke. You have a rasp when you breathe in,” Armand said placidly. “I can hear your stomach as well, digesting your dinner. But as I was saying, your bones-”

Daniel inhaled sharply when Armand placed the stethoscope on the sensitive skin of his stomach. It had warmed, but only slightly. It was still a jarring feeling to have it press down on such a tender organ, a shock that sent heat right to his dick. He shifted on the bed, tried to arch up into his hand. The traction apparatus squeaked its protest.

Jesus, how was no one hearing this? Surely they were gonna get caught, Daniel thought, and how was he going to explain this? Sorry, my dead boyfriend thought he’d give me a check up while I’m here, maybe you should hire him as a nurse. He’s certainly good with blood.

Daniel let out a delirious laugh. He let his eyes fall closed as Armand rubbed his thumb on his cock in a way that sent sparks shooting beneath his skin.

“First your body sends blood to the area, to coagulate and form a protective clot,” Armand murmured, moving the stethoscope back up to his sternum. “In time that clot becomes a callus that the bone is able to grow over, thread by thread.”

Armand’s hand was tight around him, firm in a way that was so entirely inhuman. It was like being jerked off by a statue wrapped in velvet and then covered by latex, soft and hard at the same time. Like a machine whose movements were precise and unchanging. The rhythm he stroked Daniel’s cock with was maddeningly slow, steady in a way that made him wish he could thrust his hips up and chase his orgasm. He could feel it coiling in him. Heat and pleasure wound tight at the base of his spine, joined the drugs in his system and left him dizzy with it.

Daniel clutched at the sheets. He heard footsteps pass their bay and even though no one pulled back the curtain he still turned bright red.

Armand rubbed back and forth over the wetness at the tip. He coated his palm with it, ignored Daniel’s desperate and poorly muffled whine, and stroked him again. “And once those tiny threads of bone have covered the callus entirely they become one with it. It disappears into the bone as though it was never there.”

“Please,” Daniel whispered.

Armand ignored him. His eyes were fixed not on Daniel, but on his x-rays on the wall, like he was memorizing what the insides of his leg looked like. Daniel shivered at the thought. Goosebumps raced across his skin and left his hair standing on end.

“Sometimes I wonder which I am with you, Daniel. The callus that’s being transformed or the bone, covering you and consuming you from the outside in,” Armand said, voice low enough only Daniel could hear. “What do you think?”

Daniel didn’t think anything. He couldn’t, not with Armand’s hand picking up speed or the morphine making his tongue feel like a dead weight in his mouth. There was a pair of feet beneath the curtain, just outside their bay. He wanted to cry out, to tell them not to come in. He wanted to moan his pleasure into his hand and muffle the sound but he couldn’t lift his fingers.

Armand jerked him fast. He leaned in and caught Daniel’s mouth with his just as orgasm hit, pleasure crashing over him in waves.

It was impossible for Armand to swallow his groan entirely but he stifled it just enough it sounded like a groan of pain, and not one of the pulsing in his groin that was causing him to kick his foot down into the bed. The metal on the traction device rattled as Daniel shook with it. He spilled hard over the latex glove, down the backs of Armand’s fingers. Trembled with the force of it, with the rush of blood and endorphins mixing with the morphine and making him see stars.

He barely even registered Armand’s fang nicking his tongue. The taste of blood in his mouth was all that gave it away, that and Armand sucking on his tongue in a way that wrenched another desperate sound from his lungs.

The pair of feet retreated from their bay. From down the hall Daniel could hear idle chatter again, mixed with the footsteps walking away.

“Do you feel better now, Daniel?” Armand asked.

Daniel nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think I can even feel my leg anymore,” he said with a laugh.

Armand’s clean up process was clinical. Methodical. Daniel watched through heavily lidded eyes as he pulled the glove off, turning it inside out and trapping his mess inside it. Tossed it into the trash with the morphine vial, and put the syringe into the sharps contained. The stethoscope disappeared into the pile of their jackets, to be taken home with them.

When Armand did up the ties on his gown his fingers were warmed with Daniel’s blood. “See? I’ll take care of you, Daniel. I’ve already arranged for the pain medication we’ll be taking home with us. I’ll administer it to you every evening until my blood heals you.”

“More shots?” Daniel slurred.

Armand shook his head. He brushed Daniel’s hair back from his forehead. It was comforting when he did that. Daniel couldn’t help but turn toward his gentle hand.

“No. Did you know that when drugs are administered rectally they absorb as quickly as if they were injected into the veins? I’ll have to put you over my lap to give it to you, Daniel. You’ll be a good patient and allow me, won’t you?” Armand asked.

The hospital lighting cast shadows beneath his eyes, lit up his fangs in a way that made them look unreal; like cut glass, just waiting to rip into Daniel’s flesh. Daniel shivered at the thought, face gone red at the idea of Armand giving him his medication in that sort of way.

“I’ll be an excellent nurse to you, Daniel,” Armand said, corners of his mouth curled into a smile. “You only have to allow me to be.”

(the reference from crash, which has been burned into my brain and left me desperate to put daniel in traction like this for a hot minute now)

(ps if you want me to write a follow up with daniel getting taken care of at home, let me know ♥)

#armand/daniel #vc fic #apoptoses fic #vampire chronicles #the devil's minion

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