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dato-potato · 5 years ago

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The Lost Son

AU where Talia leaves Damian at an orphanage in Gotham when he’s five. Damian hasn’t been told about his Father and Bruce hasn’t been told about his son. Chaos ensues. Here are their stories. This was suggested to me by @maddoxxx44 and it’s truly magnificent. I have so much more for this fic, so this is just part one.

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

———————————

Talia knelt down in front of Damian. She checked their surroundings once more before looking at her child, “Damian, my son, you must be strong.”

Damian nodded, not understanding what was going on exactly, but knowing that his mother was only protecting him, “I will, Mother.”

Talia breathed out and nodded, one of the few remaining loyal assassins placed a hand on her shoulder. A reminder.

“I shall return. I cannot promise when, but until then, keep yourself hidden,” she told him as she gently brought her lips to his forehead. Damian gave her a curt nod and Talia couldn’t help but think about how much he truly was his Father’s son, even without knowing it. For a moment, she considered driving him the extra hour to the manor and dropping him off there, but the hand on her shoulder once again reminded her. She sighed and took one last look at her son as the car drove away from the orphanage.

Once the car was out of sight, Damian took a deep breath and turned to the door which looked a lot more ominous than it had a moment before. There was a flash of light to his left followed by the rolling of thunder. Damian couldn’t help but think it was fitting. He shivered against the cold, or at least that’s what he told himself the reason was, not that he was scared. He would have no one to rely on, not that he hadn’t been trained to deal with these situations, but he always had people he could go to after. In this, after was indefinite. He had no way of knowing when he’d see his mother again, if ever.

Damian shook his head as if shaking the very thoughts from his mind. He turned to the door once more, steeling himself as he brought his tiny fist to it and knocked. He waited for a few moments, soon rustling and murmured voices sounded from the other side of the door. It swung open to reveal an older woman in a nightgown, a confused, clearly annoyed look on her face as she studied the small boy.

The old woman’s face softened, “Dear, what’re you doing here?” she asked softly.

Damian shifted his feet, unsure of how to answer her, “Mother told me to wait here until she returned,” he decided to tell the truth, not the whole truth, but enough that she’d let him stay.

The woman stuck her head outside, looking for Damian’s mother no doubt, before she turned her attention back to the child, “Alright, well let’s get you inside first.”

She guided Damian inside and to what seemed to be a kitchen. She motioned for Damian to sit down at the table. When the boy didn’t make any move to sit, she pulled the chair out, “Sit,” she commanded him. Damian frowned at her words but did as he was told.

The woman joined Damian at the table, two steaming mugs in her hands, “Well, I suppose we should start with names,” she tapped the table with her nails, “I’m Janet Norwell.”

Damian nodded, “Damian.”

Janet cocked her head, “Damian...?” she prompted him.

“Al--” he stopped himself short and Janet raised an eyebrow, “Alistair.”

The woman sighed heavily, “Alright then, Damian Alistair, what’s your mom’s name?”

Damian took a sip of the steaming liquid, “Dunno,” he said vaguely. He made a face into the mug, the sweet liquid completely foreign to him.

“Too much chocolate?” Janet asked as she took a sip of her mug, “Usually the kids will beg me to add more.”

Damian shrugged and took another sip.

The next day, Damian was introduced to the other children. He was totally and completely out of his element as the younger ones crowded him, bombarding him with questions while the adults cooed over how adorable he was.

The first week was absolute hell for Damian. He had been trained by some of the most deadly assassins in the world, yet he was more terrified of the small children who would climb on him or ask him to read them stories or draw with them. No matter where Damian hid, somehow they would find him. It was unsettling, to say the least.

Shortly after Damian’s sixth birthday, Janet enrolled him in school, much to Damian’s protests. It didn’t take long for a phone call to be made to the orphanage, suggesting they enroll Damian in Gotham Academy. That night when he got back from school, Janet sat him down and they discussed how best to handle his situation. Damian was soon offered a full scholarship to the academy and graduated three years after.

——————————

“Damian!” Janet’s voice rang through the house. Damian sighed and heaved himself off his bed and down the stairs.

Aurora, one of the younger kids, poked her head through the banister as Damian descended the steps, “Is Dami in trouble?” she asked softly getting his attention.

He smiled up at her, through the time he’d been at the orphanage, he had certainly gained a small soft spot for the kids.

“I doubt it, little one,” he paused for a moment, looking at the small child, “And stop leaning through the railing, you’re gonna get stuck,” he chided as she nodded and ran back to the kids’ room.

Damian entered the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket, “Oh good,” Janet said, eyeing him sideways, “Can you go into town to grab milk? I forgot to get some earlier.”

Damian rolled his eyes, earning a tap on his head from Janet’s wooden spoon, “Why can’t Grace? She’s supposed to be here today isn't she?” Damian was pretty sure he had seen her on the daytime schedule.

Janet sighed, “Yes, she is, but she had to go home early. Said she wasn’t feeling well.”

Damian nodded and headed for the door. Janet threw a coin purse in his direction as Damian caught it without looking. Although he didn’t use his ‘talents’ as he did in the past, he still trained to keep himself sharp. He knew Janet knew he would often leave during the night to train either in the surrounding forest or during his ‘strolls’ in town, but she never said anything. Janet never asked any questions after the first night, and once when she asked about Damian’s father, but Damian didn’t have to lie when he said he didn’t know.

“Be back soon,” he told the lingering kids who all nearly took him down to the ground with the force of their hugs.

So perhaps he had developed a rather large soft spot for them. Damian had definitely struggled the first few months he was left with Janet and the other kids, he didn’t understand how they played and when he had tried to join, he would often end up hurting them. As he got used to holding his strength back when he was with them, he began to care for them as something of an older brother figure. They had become his family, more than his real one. Damian couldn’t help but wonder if his mother was ever actually coming back for him Part of him hoped she would never return.

Damian grabbed his bicycle from the back of the large house.

He had been at the orphanage for nearly five years, seen a lot of kids come and go, even had a few people who wanted to adopt him, but he quickly declined and asked them to consider one of the others. Thanks to Damian, the small orphanage had gained a great deal of fame due to his academic achievements and the kids that lived there were often quickly adopted, leaving Damian as the now oldest resident. It helped that they were also on the outskirts of Gotham, keeping them a good distance away from the city and crime.

Damian dismounted his bike and locked it to one of the streetlamps. He walked into the small convenience store, the chime above the door alerting Mrs. Williams to his arrival, “Hello, Damian, what is it tonight?” she asked him pleasantly as he grabbed the milk.

Damian stopped at the front counter and handed her the money, “Nothing for me, Janet needs some milk.”

Mrs. Williams nodded her head, “Good of you to come and get it for her, wish my grandkids were half as good,” the old lady sighed and shook her head as she handed his change to him, “Hurry back now child, you know how it gets after dark in this damn place.”

Damian nodded and shoved the milk into his backpack. As he exited the store, he huffed out a breath, the cold air making his breath visible and got his key out for his lock before stopping short.

“Really?” he breathed looking at the cut cable that had secured his bike to the lamp barely two minutes prior. Damian looked down the streets to find the culprit and quickly spotted him.

A man, much too large for Damian’s small bike, was attempting to escape while riding it. Damian shook his head before taking off in a sprint to catch him. This wasn’t the first time he had stopped a thief, the first time was shortly after he had been left with Janet, while he was on a walk one sleepless night. Since then, whenever he couldn’t sleep, he would walk the streets and if he happened upon some lowly scumbag preying on someone, he’d take the opportunity to train.

The man on Damian’s bike turned down an alleyway, Damian following close behind. When the man got off, Damian cleared his throat, “You mind giving me my bike back?”

The man chuckled, “Really? You’re asking me for your bike back?” the man grinned as he flicked out a blade and Damian sighed, he did give the idiot a chance.

“Fine.”

The man lunged, knife ready, but Damian easily dodged. The man swung his knife wildly and probably would’ve done some serious damage, had he not been up against Damian. He dodged lazily, tiring the man out before he sent his fist into the man’s temple. The man fell to his knees and finally flat on his stomach. Damian scoffed at him and sent a solid kick into his side. For good measure.

Damian grabbed his bike from where it was leaning against one of the buildings when he suddenly felt his senses screaming that someone was there. He whipped around, getting low and sticking his foot out to sweep the spectator’s feet. The person yelped and fell to the ground with a satisfying thud. Damian readied himself in a fighting stance.

“Wait! Wait a second!” the person shouted, a hand in the air. Damian finally looked carefully at the person as they stood up, dusting their uniform off. The boy couldn’t have been more than thirteen or fourteen, judging by his height, and was dressed in a red spandex suit, complete with a cape and an R that anyone in Gotham would recognize.

“Oh, you’re Robin,” Damian said letting his hands fall at his sides as he picked his bike back up. The other boy seemed to be frozen in place as Damian turned back to him, giving him a look of disapproval, “Perhaps next time, show up before they pull a knife.”

Damian started out of the alley when Robin placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Damian, being trained thoroughly since young, grabbed Robin’s hand and flipped him over his head.

Robin coughed as he lifted himself off the ground, again, as Damian sighed and offered his hand.

“Thanks,” Robin said with a light chuckle.

“Sorry about that,” Damian said, not looking the other boy in the eyes, “Habit.”

Robin nodded, “Oh, yeah, totally get it.”

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments, “So,” Robin started, “where’d you learn that stuff?”

Damian felt a little uncomfortable standing face to face with the masked boy, “My mother taught me.”

Robin nodded, “Oh, nice! I’ve uh, actually seen you around here a few times,” he said sheepishly.

Damian hummed in response. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say nor where the boy wonder was going with his words.

Robin cleared his throat, “Anyway, you’re not too bad,” he smiled at the smaller boy.

Damian scoffed, “And you could use some more work,” Damian mused, a smirk forming on his lips.

Robin laughed, “Yeah, well I guess I was a bit thrown off guard. I wasn’t expecting a small child to--”

“Kick your ass?” Damian finished for him, full-on grinning.

Robin was clearly taken aback by the child’s words, but soon he wore a similar grin, “Yeah, maybe we should go again?” he challenged.

Damian was quite curious to see how it would go, but the weight in his backpack reminded him, “Sorry, perhaps another night, I have to return.”

Robin nodded, “Sure, whenever you feel like you can take me on, I’ll be waiting.”

Damian chuckled as he mounted his bike, “Just make sure you have bandages,” he shouted behind him as he sped back to the orphanage.

“What in the world took you so long?” Janet questioned angrily from the doorway of the orphanage.

Damian rubbed his neck sheepishly, “Sorry, I got distracted?” he tried as innocently as he could.

Janet huffed and guided him inside.

Damian grinned widely when he saw Aurora waddling towards him. He scooped her up in his arms as her giggles echoed off the walls, “Guess who I met,” he whispered to her.

Her eyes went wide, “Baman?” she asked softly, mispronouncing the vigilante’s name. Damian shook his head and Aurora tilted her head to the side, “Who?”

Damian smiled gently as he strapped her into her highchair, “Robin.”

——————————

Tim stood in the alleyway a moment longer, still a bit dazed from his meeting with the weird kid. He was quickly taken out of his thoughts as the grunts from behind him told him that the bike thief was awake. Before Tim could turn around, there was a solid thud, and he almost dreaded turning around to face who it might be.

“Hey, B’s asking where you’re at,” Dick said as he tapped Tim’s shoulder, “I’ll make sure this guy gets to the GCPD, but you’d better get over to him quick.”

Tim sighed in relief and mumbled a thanks to Dick as he made his way back to the cave.

“You’ve been going off on your own an awful lot these days,” Bruce began when Tim entered.

“Yeah, well, I’ve found someone interesting.”

This caught Bruce’s attention. He turned in his chair and raised an eyebrow, “Interesting how?”

Tim chuckled as he removed his mask, “You’re gonna wanna see this.”

——————————

Parker tapped gently on Damian’s door, taking his focus off of the assignment Damian had been working on for one of his online classes. He had been offered full scholarships to multiple universities but because he didn’t want to leave the orphanage yet, he declined and only does special online classes.

“What is it, Parker?” Damian called from his desk.

There was a small gasp on the other side as the door slowly inched open, “How did you know?” he asked in a hushed voice.

Damian chuckled at the child and motioned for him to come closer, “I could tell from you footfalls,” he told him honestly.

Parker stared wide-eyed, “Teach me?”

Damian shook his head, “You have something else you want from me?”

“Not really,” Parker whispered. Damian plucked the book the boy held in his hands, it was his sketchbook. The other kids enjoyed arts and crafts but Parker was particularly interested in drawing and when he saw Damian’s drawings, he couldn’t help but become entranced.

“You want to draw in here with me until bed?”

Parker’s face lit up, “Can I?”

Damian nodded his head, “No fair! Me too!” Aurora complained from the doorway.

“Yes, Aurora, you too then, come on,” Damian motioned for her to come in too.

It didn’t take long for Aurora to get bored and start bringing in storybooks for Damian to read to her. In no time, both the children were fast asleep on Damian’s bed as he sighed, looking over them.

“You know, they see you as an older brother,” Janet told him as she picked Parker up.

Damian nodded and smiled, scooping up Aurora who latched on to his arm, “I know.”

“Parker’s teacher said he’s been getting along better with his classmates too.”

Damian smiled at the child in Janet’s arms. He saw a lot of himself in the small child, especially when he had first been brought to the orphanage. Parker was always angry and got violent with the other kids, he wasn’t even allowed to be left at school for full days because there weren’t enough people to look after him.

“That’s good.”

Janet nodded thoughtfully, “There’s a family coming from Central City next week to meet him.”

Damian took that in. He was happy Parker would have a chance at a better life, but it was always bittersweet whenever any of the kids left.

After Janet and Damian tucked the kids into their rooms, Damian stretched, “Going on a walk?” Janet asked.

Damian nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be back later, don’t wait up,” he smiled at her.

Janet smiled back and shook her head, “You know I will.”

Damian grabbed his bike and headed into the city. He found himself in the same alleyway he had seen Robin last and looked around, perhaps he’d be there?

When he didn’t see him, he looked up towards the roof of the buildings. After locking his bike up with the spare lock, he ascended the building, making his way to the rooftop. He forgot how much he enjoyed high places.

As he took in the night view, he felt someone behind him. Damian turned around quickly, seeing one of the other Bat-related vigilantes, “Oh, hey, you must be the kid Robin talked about,” the man said with a chuckle. From his black suit and blue V-shaped bird, he could tell who he was.

“Nightwing,” Damian greeted and gave him a curt nod. Nightwing cocked his head to the side, a little surprised, no doubt.

“You sure are a weird kid,” he laughed.

Damian was about to retort when Robin glided down from another building, “Ah, memory cloth,” Damian nodded to Robin’s cape as he landed and it turned back to a normal-looking fabric.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Robin asked.

Damian shrugged, “Seen it before.”

Nightwing seemed to want to ask him something else but Robin cut him off, “So, you wanna spar?”

Damian chuckled at the other boy and readied himself as Nightwing shook his head and mumbled something to himself.

——————————

Bruce sat in his chair in front of the Batcomputer as Alfred brought tea over to him. He was watching a video of what seemed to be a hotel exploding on repeat.

“Nothing on cable?” Alfred mused from behind him.

Bruce hummed in response before stopping the video and turning to Alfred, “Talia was apparently in that building.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow, “And?”

Bruce turned back to the screen, “And although they haven’t found a body, it appears that she may have been caught in the explosion.”

Bruce was surprised enough to hear of the death of Ra’s, but to think that Talia had also perished was a bit alarming, he wasn’t sure how to feel about it exactly.

——————————

Damian and Robin had been training together for a few weeks, and Damian could tell that the older boy was certainly well trained, he was not trained enough to defeat him, though he wasn’t sure if Robin was simply holding back.

They both dangled their feet off the building, taking in the cityscape.

Damian sighed, “My mother is dead,” he told Robin suddenly.

Robin went stiff, unsure of what he was meant to say or do. Damian had done the same when he had come across the information himself. Every once in a while, Damian would do a search through government databases, illegally, of course, to see if anything came up for his mother, and a couple weeks ago, he got a hit.

“I’m sorry,” Robin said awkwardly. Damian shrugged, “Wanna talk about it?”

Damian thought for a moment. Robin didn’t know Damian was truly an Al Ghul, and he intended to keep it that way. He didn’t know Robin’s true identity, though he wasn’t particularly interested in it either.

“No.”

Robin nodded, “Alright, well, I’ll just stay here then.”

Damian nodded, thankful to have some semblance of a friend. He wasn’t all that broken up about his mother, but she was still his mother, and she promised she’d come back for him.

A part of him was relieved. With his mother gone, he had a chance at a semi-normal, semi-peaceful life.

——————————

End of Part One?

#damian wayne #robin #tim drake #nightwing #dick grayson #bruce wayne #batman #Alfred Pennyworth #fanfic #batfam #batfamily #i wasn't sure how this was going to go #i kind of love it?#i also never realized i needed damian being an older brother #but here it is #i honestly love this so much #talia al ghul #my fic

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is0gild · 4 years ago

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Bonus Chapter 5

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 13,151

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

"Come on, Lea, unlock the door," I coaxed gently as I tugged on the car handle a couple times, even though I knew the action would be in vain. "Don't you think it's possible that you're being just a smidge childish?"

"What else is new?" Saïx deadpanned from where he leaned with one hip propped against the hood of his car and boredly scrolled through his phone, not even bothering to look up.

Lea's only response was to glower, razz his tongue and flip his brother the bird before huffily crossing his arms and slouching even further down into the driver's seat.

A testament to what a pillar of maturity he was being at the moment.

Sighing, I bent forward slightly so I could better see him through the window glass. "Need I remind you that you agreed to this?"

"I was tricked!" he harrumphed back, his voice muffled from the other side of the closed door.

My head tipped to one side. "Alright… how exactly were you tricked?"

His head turned to meet my gaze as he drooped his eyelids. "You had a cookie."

I blinked. "...and?"

"And I wanted the cookie."

"...so…?" I prompted again as my brow furrowed.

"So now the cookie's gone, I've changed my mind and wanna go home! Now get on board or get stranded cuz either way, I'm leaving." He jammed the key into the ignition, twisted hard and… nothing. Lea's eyes widened briefly before narrowing as he turned it again. And yet again.

"Did you forget my car requires the key and the code to start the engine, oh brainless one?" Saïx said flatly, eyes still trained on his phone screen.

That's right. Saïx's vehicle had a friggin' keypad built into the center console that required a seven-digit code. And it was a BMW no less. One did really have to wonder what his mystery job was that allowed him to afford such luxuries.

Lea growled, banging his palms against the steering wheel. "God fucking damnit, Saïx! This is exactly why ya shoulda told me the stupid password ages ago!"

He cocked an eyebrow at that. "So you could lock me out of my own automobile and drive away with it? As compelling an argument as that may be, I'm not exactly swayed."

"As compelling an argument as that may be, I'm not exactly swayed," Lea parroted back in a mockingly nasal tone before mashing his hand down hard on the car horn, blasting it and startling Saïx into jumping away from the vehicle and nearly dropping his phone. He shot Lea a dirty look, who simply replied by flashing him a half sneer, half smirk - a "smeerk," if you will.

"Well," I hastily interjected, trying to keep the peace as I once more peered inside Lea's impromptu little sanctuary on four wheels, "since I think we can all agree that it looks like you're stuck here for the time being, perhaps now you'll want to come out? Maybe even go inside the house with us?"

"Mm-mm. Nope. Not going anywhere near that dump," he hitched his chin with a derisive sniff. "My happy ass is gonna stay put right here, thank you very much."

My lips pursed to one side. "...okay… for how long?"

"Forever."

I fixed him with a dull stare. "Forever? Really?"

"Forever," he repeated, his voice firm. But then with a thoughtful frown, he amended, "...or until ya tell me you won't make me go inside. Whichever comes first."

I exchanged a brief look with Saïx. Then we both nodded as we came to an unspoken agreement together. My gaze settled on Lea once more, "Alright. I won't make you go inside."

He squinted at me, eyes suspicious as they darted over to his brother, then back. "You swear?"

"Cross my heart," I used a finger to draw an X over my chest.

Still, he looked unconvinced. A pause, then he rolled down the window a crack, just enough to poke his little finger out as he insisted, "Pinkie promise?"

My lips flapped as I blew out an incredulous little huff, but I hooked my pinkie with his. "I promise I won't make you go inside."

"Well, alright then!" his face immediately brightened and he unlocked the door. I took a step back as it swung open wide and he stepped out, reaching his hands skyward for a whole-body stretch with a satisfied sigh. "Whew! Feels good to be outta that car after all that time on the road, huh? My ass was starting to go numb from all that sitting and- shit motherfuck!"

The last part came out in a hiss when Saïx rushed him and Lea dodged just in the nick of time. "Betrayal! J'accuse!" Lea snapped as he dove for the still open car door, but stumbled just short of it thanks to Saïx catching his ankle in both hands. Not one to go out without a fight, Lea desperately latched one hand to the steering wheel and the other to the door frame, trying with all his might to pull himself back inside the vehicle while Saïx threw his entire body weight into dragging him out of it. Muscles straining, Lea snarled through grit teeth, "You promised!"

"She did. I made no such promise," Saïx replied matter-of-factly. He didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat.

"Don't think you'll get off on a goddamn technicality!" Lea grunted, gaining another inch into the car interior. He attempted a futile kick towards Saïx's face, "Leggo!"

Gnawing on my thumbnail, I now just watched as these two grown ass men basically played tug-of-war… with Lea's leg. And… shoot, it looked like Lea was winning. I had to do something, but what?

He suddenly shot me a tiny glare over his shoulder, "I expect this kinda bullshit from him, but not from y-"

I lunged towards him, grabbed his face with both hands, and pressed my lips firmly to his.

He lost his grip and came flying out of the car, crashing into Saïx who staggered but managed to stay upright. "That's cheating!" Lea huffed indignantly as he tried to scramble back inside the car again, but Saïx got him in a headlock first. He fought to pry himself free and when that proved unsuccessful, his hand suddenly produced the car keys once more, almost seemingly out of thin air. Threateningly tapping the tip of one key to the car's paint job, he spat, "Unhand me, villain, or the Beemer gets it!"

Saïx made a grab for the keys which gave Lea the opening he needed to elbow him in the gut and break free. But Saïx was quick to recover and snagged Lea again before he could get back inside the safety of the BMW. A struggle ensued, one that resulted in Saïx getting Lea in a grapple hold from behind by hooking his arms up under his armpits, back over his shoulders and interlocking his fingers together at the nape of Lea's neck.

Huffing and puffing and subdued for the moment, Lea grumbled a long string of curses under his breath as his brother hauled him around the car and across the front lawn towards the house - a rather nice suburban home, I might add, despite Lea's earlier comment about it being a dump. There was even a rather expensive looking car in the driveway, some sort of convertible that was sleek and black with a plate that read Insomnia RHS-113.

I took a quick glance inside Saïx's car to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything and noticed Saïx's had left behind the bag he'd brought with him. Grabbing it, I closed the driver's door and as I hurried to catch up, I could hear Saïx lecturing, "I did not ruin my sleep schedule and drive for half a day to get us all here just for you to chicken out at the last second and hole up in the car. You're going inside. Deal with it."

Lea turned his head to one side with a tiny scoff, but had no other retort. As we stepped onto the porch, his eyes landed on me. "You! Can't believe ya used your feminine wiles on me for evil. Of all the cheap, dirty, underhanded - dude," that last one had been directed at Saïx, who still had him grappled, "ya mind? You won already, jackass! I'm not going anywhere, jeez!"

Saïx hesitated for a few seconds, his face pinching before finally letting him go. "Thank you," Lea ground out in a tone that was the very antithesis of gratitude as he rolled his shoulders and popped his neck. Then he focused on me once more as Saïx retrieved his bag from me, "Now, where was I...? That's right! Of all the low, crooked, sneaky-"

"I'm sorry," I grimaced as I fidgeted with my braid. "...are you mad at me?"

"You kiddin'? Hell no, I'm proud of ya! Slowly but surely, I'm corrupting you to the ways of the dark side, El! 'Sides, who could get pissed at this adorable widdle face," he cooed, pinching my cheeks and smooching my forehead.

Then he tried to bolt.

It seemed he was hoping the element of surprise would be on his side.

"Gack!"

Unfortunately for him, it was not.

For that'd been the sound of him choking as Saïx snatched him by the scruff of the shirt , causing its collar to dig into his throat. He stumbled to an immediate stop and Saïx let go, folding his arms together and fixing him with an unamused look. Lea just rubbed at the fresh sore spot around his neck and laughed sheepishly. "Uh… wouldja believe I just forgot something in the car?"

Saïx drooped his eyelids. "No."

"Heh. Was worth a shot."

"It really wasn't," Saïx harrumphed as his hands smoothed his hair and swiped the wrinkles out of his clothes from their little kerfuffle. Then, without further ado or preamble, he pressed the doorbell.

A hush fell over us as we all waited. Lea glanced back over his shoulder, furtively side-eyeing the car. Saïx smacked the back of his head with a sharp thwack! "Ow! What the fuck was that for?" Lea snarled, socking him in the arm.

He didn't even flinch, just kept staring hard at the door as he muttered, "Don't even think about it."

"Wha- me? Think? Psh, I would never!"

"Finally… something we can both agree on."

Lea curled his lip with a soft tch, but otherwise fell quiet again… unnaturally quiet. At least for Lea anyway. He looked agitated now, with his eyes downcast and his lips set into a grim line, his posture very rigid and his whole body very still. I frowned and slipped my hand inside his, gently squeezing as I laced our fingers together. He looked over at me, eyes softening and smiling weakly as his grip tightened around mine and stayed that way.

That's when the front door opened.

Lea looked at the new face that greeted us now. "Hey…" he began, then paused, seeming to struggle with the next word. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply before exhaling, then finally forced out a soft, "...Mom."

You read that right.

Mom.

Lea had finally done it. At long last, he'd caved and agreed to see her. And trust me, he really had consented to this reunion, despite what his little tantrum a minute ago might look like to the contrary. Was it weird that I was here too for this? I thought maybe it was, at least a little bit. I mean, somehow I just felt like the first time I met his mother shouldn't also be the first time he was seeing her again in twenty years. Maybe that was just me though. In any case, Lea had kept saying how much he'd wanted me with him for moral support. Somewhat more surprisingly, Saïx had been pretty insistent about me joining them as well. Perhaps he thought my presence might keep Lea more docile and civil towards their mother.

If so, I got the feeling Saïx was about to be in for a rude awakening.

The woman who stood in the doorway before us now was pretty, her silver hair pulled back into a ponytail with long bangs that framed her face and the same vibrant green eyes as Lea and Saïx. She would've had to have been young when she had given birth to these two. Oh gosh, I might even go so far as to guess that she'd still been a teenager when she had Saïx.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Lea and she blinked a couple times. But then a slow half-grin tugged at her lips as she crossed her arms and lazily leaned one shoulder against the door frame. "Well, look who finally decided to give me the time of day."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, averting his gaze with a tiny scowl as he rubbed his shoulder with his free hand, "let's not make a huge fuss outta it."

"Course not, wouldn't dream of it. I-" she cut herself off, looking past him towards the afternoon horizon, bringing up a hand to shade her eyes with. "...wouldja look at that? Why, I do believe that's a pig flying."

"That's it, I'm leaving."

With a snort, she snagged him by the elbow before he could get very far. "Now now, no need for the ruffled feathers, I was just jerking your chain. Now stop camping out on my porch and c'mon, get in here!" It seemed it was not a request for with that, she yanked him inside, forcing me to stumble and follow since our hands were still linked.

"When you mentioned you might be bringing friends with you, Saïx, you never said anything about one of 'em being Axel," the woman good-naturedly accused him as he stepped in behind us, clicking the door shut before accepting a hug from her. From this angle, I could see her ponytail was composed of several smaller, segmented ponytails.

My boyfriend narrowed his eyes at her, "Not Axel. It's Lea now."

Releasing Saïx, she cocked her head at Lea and then hummed a laugh. "Right. Saïx told me something about that. Gotta be one of the cool kids and go by your middle name, huh, Lea?" her fingers bounced in air quotes around the name.

"It's not about being cool, it's- ugh, nevermind," Lea grumbled before shooting his brother a little death glare and muttering, "She didn't even know I was coming?"

"Didn't want to get her hopes up," he replied in his usual cool monotone.

Whatever comeback he might've had to that was swallowed in a grunt as he next suffered (quite visibly, in fact) a hug from her. He did not return the embrace. She didn't seem to mind or even notice. "C'mere, let me have look at you," his mother suddenly demanded as she pulled back and Lea's face scrunched up in displeasure as she grabbed it, tugging him down for closer inspection. After a few seconds of scrutiny, she smirked and declared, "Pretty Boy, mm! Both you and Saïx. You have me to thank for those good genes. And you're both so tall too! Dunno where that comes from, cuz you certainly didn't get it from me. You boys must be eating your Wheaties."

Now that she mentioned it, she was pretty short. About my height, in fact, maybe an inch or two taller. It was hard to be sure exactly in those heels she was wearing. But that did raise an interesting point now…

...how did such big men come from such a tiny woman?

The logistics of it had my mind boggling!

"And who's this cute lil thing?" she was now turning her gaze on me. Then to where my hand was still intertwined with Lea's and her eyes crinkled slyly. "Oh-ho, I see. This is the girlfriend."

I smiled shyly back before shooting Lea a quick, awkward glance. He stepped in to introduce me, "Mom, this is Elsa."

Still feeling rather out of place here, I sucked in a tiny, anxious breath before getting out, "It's so nice to meet you, Mrs-"

"God no, please, none of that 'Mrs' crap," she said dryly before grinning once more. "First name's fine, shortcake. Just call me Aranea. Alright, you're up."

...up? Up for what exac-

I squeaked as I too was suddenly assaulted with a hug. Just as abruptly, she was leaning back just enough to squint her eyes at me and tilt her head.

Ah. I see. My turn to be assessed and appraised like a piece of meat.

Well, I certainly hoped I passed inspection!

After a few tense seconds, one corner of her lips quirked up. "You two are gonna make absolutely gorgeous babies. So when are you gonna get on popping out my grandkids? Wait, don't tell me… there's already a bun in the oven."

"Mom!" Lea snapped, my face erupting into flames as he lunged to get between me and her.

There was most certainly not a bun in the oven! There wasn't so much as… as… as dough! The oven wasn't even, uh... preheating! No, trust me, my "oven" was one hundred and ten percent bunless, thank you very much!

Aranea snorted, "Calm down, was only having a lil fun. Just trying to make up for all those years of motherly teasing I missed out on."

A soft hmph from his throat. "Yeah? Well, who's fault was that?"

Her eyes widened slightly and a heavy silence descended over the cozy foyer we were all currently gathered in. Saïx directed a muted scowl at his brother. It went ignored, Lea idly inspecting his nails now and not looking the least bit sorry.

This visit? Off to a great start. Simply superb.

"Aranea?" a clipped, British accent suddenly came echoing from somewhere else in the house, thankfully shattering the long, uncomfortable lull. "Who was that at the-?" the owner of the voice emerged through one of the archways and the words died on his tongue as his eyes alighted on all of us. He had short, dirty blonde hair that was spiked up and intelligent, green eyes that were sharp behind his sleek, black-rimmed glasses. "Oh. I see you've begun the pleasantries without me. Saïx, my boy," he smiled, extending his hand, "a pleasure as always. Might I inquire as to who your comrades are?"

"The prodigal son returns home at last," Aranea wryly chimed in before Saïx could. "Iggy, it's about time you've met my second eldest knucklehead of a kid Axel and his-"

"Lea, Mom. Lea. Get it memorized!"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lea," the man cordially stretched a hand out to him now.

He didn't take it. "It's something, alright…" he arched an unimpressed eyebrow, "...Iggy, was it?"

He gave a curt if a bit sheepish chuckle at that. "Ignis, if you would. And who is this lovely companion of yours?"

A beat.

Then I gasped, "Oh!"

It's me.

I'm the lovely companion.

Self-consciously clearing my throat, I supplied, "E-Elsa." I did take his hand when offered, blurting out, "And I'll have you know I'm completely and totally bunless."

...thank you, mouth, for that entirely unnecessary addition to the conversation.

His brow furrowed as he took his hand back. "Well... allow me to see what I can do about that."

Uh…

...was he propositioning me?

"Perhaps I can whip up a few rolls to go with dinner," he suggested, tapping his knuckles to his chin.

Oh.

He meant bun buns. Not-

Ahem. Nevermind.

"So," Lea spoke up once more, folding his arms beneath his chest as he fixed the man with a hard stare. "You're the orthodontist."

"Optometrist, actually," Ignis corrected. "By the by, when was your last eye exam? If you'd like, I could squeeze you in for a quick checkup sometime, free of charge."

A small, contemptuous huff escaped his nostrils as his eyelids drooped. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Ignis gave a bemused frown at that, but was saved from having to respond as Aranea inserted herself back into the conversation with, "Iggy, is that…?" She trailed off and the second Ignis glanced away from us to look at her instead, Saïx discreetly elbowed Lea, forcing a tiny oof out of him. Aranea grinned as she took in what Ignis was wearing, "It is. You old softie, you put on the apron I got you."

"I cut quite the dashing figure in it if I do say so myself," he gave a pleased little sniff as he stood a bit straighter and absently fiddled with the neck strap of said apron which had the words Gordon Ramsay is my bitch proudly emblazoned across its breast. That, plus the fact that I was just now noticing that he was carrying a meat mallet in one hand, suggested he'd most likely just come from the kitchen.

"Mm, I'll say," she nodded as she continued to eye him up and down appreciatively. But then her gaze landed on the meat mallet - more specifically, on the little gooey red flecks clinging to it. "Hey, did you start tenderizing the steaks without me? Told you I'd help with that."

"I'm loath to make a lady bloody her own hands," he murmured with a tiny smile, wrapping his fingers around hers and bringing them up to his lips.

Lea made a low noise deep in his throat that was half scoff, half gag. That earned him a firm shoulder check from Saïx while he walked past Lea to step closer to his mother and Ignis. As Saïx engaged the two of them in some polite small talk, Lea's expression twisted sourly and he started muttering something under his breath too quiet for me to make out. Seeing as how the others were preoccupied with their own conversation at the moment, I took the opportunity to once more take his hand in mine and ask gently, "Something you want to get off your chest?"

"Hm?" he distractedly hummed, still with a slight glower as his gaze remained fastened to the other three for a few seconds more. But then he snapped out of it and huffed out a sigh, fingers agitatedly ruffling at his hair. "Aw, nothing. I just don't trust it."

I tipped my head to the right. "Don't trust what?"

"Him," he hissed through his teeth, gesturing with his chin towards Ignis. "The whole fucking posh, namby-pamby Brit orthodontist act. Nice try, pal. Not buying it."

I shook my head with a snort, "He's an optometrist, Lea."

"Exactly! The jerk can't even get his story straight," he harrumphed. "Betcha he doesn't even know the first thing about corrective lenses."

"The man wears glasses," I deadpanned.

"All part o' the cover. Mark my word, that slimy sneak can't be trusted." As if sensing Lea's gaze on him once more, Ignis glanced up with a courteous smile and nod in our direction. "Yeah, keep smirking, you smug bespectacled bastard. I'm onto you," Lea mumbled low enough that only I could hear him, but pointed two fingers at his eyes before redirecting those digits at Ignis, who just blinked before returning his focus to Saïx and whatever it was he was talking about.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, groaning, "You're ridiculous."

Lea looked at me now, banishing the dark look and grinning softly. "Heh… maybe…" Giving my hand a quick squeeze, he then pulled me towards him and brought my arms up to hug his neck before slipping his own arms around my waist. Nuzzling his nose lightly to mine, he conspiratorially whispered, "Let's bail."

My head rocked back at that. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. This is a bust, El, so let's blow this popsicle stand. Slip out the door while their backs are still turned. Lookit what I still got," he removed one hand from my hip, shoving it down into his pocket before producing the car keys with a little jangle.

Only mildly surprised that his brother hadn't managed to recover those in their scuffle out front, I rolled my eyes, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What, ya mean Saïx? Eh, ditch him. Loser can hitchhike his dumb ass home."

I gave him a dull stare. "Still forgetting something else."

His lips pursed to one side as one eye squinted. Then it clicked. "Shit, you're right. Still don't have Saïx's code to start the car engine. Damn, guess that leaves us high and dry. Unless of course, you happen to know the code," he chuckled with a shake of his head.

Biting down on my lower lip, I averted my gaze.

"Wait… do you?" his eyes narrowed suspiciously at me. I wrinkled my nose and still kept my mouth shut. "You do! Crap, why didn't ya say so earlier?"

I gave a noncommittal shrug, still avoiding eye contact. "You never asked."

"Oh, for the love of… why would he trust you with the code and not me, his own brother of all people?"

Now I met his gaze once more, raising one eyebrow. "...maybe because he knows I'd never use it to steal his car while we're hundreds of miles away from home?"

He gave me a flat look. "...okay, just because it's true, doesn't make that any less of a low blow."

"Moonglow pear, you say?" Ignis's voice suddenly picked up, drawing our attention back over to him. It seemed Saïx had just gifted him with that small bag he'd been carrying, which one could reasonably assume was filled with the aforementioned fruit. Ignis had pulled one out and was turning it over in his hand for a closer look. "Yes, I've heard of these and have been meaning to try them." He studied it for a few seconds more, then his eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers, "That's it! I've come up with a new recipe!" With that, he bustled back out through the hallway he'd come in through.

Smiling fondly after him, Aranea then glanced towards the rest of us once more and gestured towards a different corridor. "Why don't we continue this somewhere more comfortable like the living room, hm?" She turned to lead the way and Saïx did not hesitate to follow. I cocked my head at Lea in silent question and his face scrunched up in distaste, but then with a grumbling sigh, he released my waist, took my hand and we trailed after them as well.

The living room was big and filled with a homey, tidy clutter. The far wall had a giant sliding glass door that led out onto a wooden deck that overlooked a reasonably well-kept backyard. A massive entertainment unit took up another wall, housing a big screen TV amongst the ordered chaos that filled the rest of its shelves. Across from it were a few armchairs and one long, very comfy looking couch. Said couch was currently occupied.

The two boys looked to be teenagers - highschoolers, by my guess. Neither of them glanced up as we entered the room, just continued to concentrate on their phones as their thumbs tapped and swiped at their screens. The blonde one with freckles was sitting upside down with his knees hooked over the sofa's backrest and seemed extra focused, licking one corner of his lips while his brow furrowed. The other guy with the black tousled hair, black shirt, black jacket, black everything had taken up the rest of the couch by sprawling across it, propping his feet up on the armrest. He was a lot more apathetic as he stared at his own phone screen, even though his thumbs continued to be a blur of activity. Maybe he was just in "the zone."

"Look alive and make room on the sofa, boys. We got company," Aranea told them, coming to a stop next to the coffee table and planting one fist on her hip as she eyed them both.

They neither budged nor took their eyes off their smartphones. The blonde one did however chime in with, "Bah, it's just Saïx. Saïx's not company."

Her eyes narrowed with a flat, "Wanna run that by me again, Prom?"

"Lemme finish! He's not company cuz he's family. Yes!" he whooped the last part with a tiny fist pump as something good had apparently just happened in his phone game. Already, his thumbs were back on the move across his screen as he tacked on, "And family means never having to give up primo sofa real estate."

"Aw, what a sweet, half-hearted attempt at sentiment," Aranea cooed with a bat of her lashes before scoffing. "Nice try, bucko, now scoot."

With a grunt, he flipped over to sit on the couch properly and shifted closer to his armrest to make room, all while still staying fixated on his game - rather the impressive feat, I might add. The other boy however remained exactly where he was. "That goes for you too, Noct," she patted a hand to his shoes.

"In a minute," he mumbled, eyes narrowing slightly on his smartphone now as his thumbs started tapping more furiously.

"Not in a minute, now," she insisted sternly. Still he didn't move so much as an inch, not even bothering to reply this time. Aranea rolled her eyes, "Look, I know you fancy yourself a prince round here and like to lounge about like that couch is your throne and this house is your castle with everything the light touches in it your kingdom. But if you're the prince, that makes me the queen, so what I say goes. That means move your princely ass!" With that, she unceremoniously shoved his feet off the armrest.

"Hey!" he scrambled not to fall off the couch altogether, catching himself and sitting up next to Prom. Gritting his teeth as he looked at his phone again, he then puffed out a sigh of relief, "Whew, still got the Devil of the Cygillan on the line." And just like that, he was sucked back into it.

"Ah, the mortal struggle between man and virtual fish," Prom sniggered, gaze still trained on his own phone.

Aranea scrunched up her nose, "You two playing that silly game again? What's it called… King's Kite?"

"King's Knight," Prom corrected, tongue once again poking out of the corner of his mouth as his thumb mashed at the screen now. "And we were, but then Noct decided to be lame and play his dumb fishing game instead."

"Ugh, lazing about like a couple of couch potatoes all day, doing nothing but staring at your phones for hours on end…" she grumbled, folding her arms together and shaking her head. "This is why neither of you boys have gotten laid yet."

I'll say this for Aranea... she seemed to have a rather, hrm… unique approach to parenting.

Prom frowned, "'Scuse you, I've just been scoping out my prospects, thank you very much."

"More like stalking," Noct snorted, squeezing one eye shut as he rapidly drew circles on his screen with a fingertip.

"Hey now, what Cindy and I have is beautiful and I won't have you cheapening it by making it sound crude and perverted," he shot back with a small hmph.

Aranea quirked an eyebrow. "...and Cindy would be?"

"My Goddess of the Gears," Prom sighed dreamily. Eyes still glued to his game, mind you.

Eyelids drooping, Noct clarified, "She works over at the Hammerhead Fuel and Garage."

Giving the ceiling a thoughtful squint for a few seconds, Aranea then blinked a couple times. "Wait, you talking about the blonde knockout? Oh, Prom, she's gotta be at least a whole second grader older than you and way more woman than you could ever handle."

"Pretty sure she has a thing for Uncle Gladio too," Noct smirked.

Making an indignant noise in his throat, Prom scowled and freed up one of his hands to wave in front of Noct's phone, blocking line of sight to the screen as he spat out, "You shut your whore mouth!"

"Shit, Prom, language!" Aranea snapped. As Noct used an elbow to knock Prom's hand away so he could salvage his game, Aranea puffed out an annoyed breath and turned to face us once more. "Sorry about them. These would be the rugrats… your lil brothers, Ax- Lea," she hastily corrected herself before jerking her thumb over her shoulder towards one, then the other. "Noctis. Prompto."

Right… I remember Lea mentioning something about his mother and her two-point-five kids. Did that mean that there was still another o-

TWHUMP!

The sound of a large throw pillow suddenly smacking Noctis in the face.

Courtesy of a little girl with brown eyes and short, dark hair who'd suddenly popped up out of hiding from behind the sofa armrest. She proceeded to shriek with laughter as she dashed off and made her getaway down a hallway, her cackling echoing off into the distance before a door slammed shut somewhere in the house.

Huh. Guess that'd make her the point-five.

Wide-eyed and clenching his teeth, Noctis snatched up his phone from where he'd dropped it on the carpet after the vicious assault and frantically swiped the screen a few times. Then he glowered, slamming a fist down onto a couch cushion. "My line snapped and he got away. Dammit, Iris, I'm gonna kill you!" he snarled, jumping to his feet and ready to charge after her.

"Hold it!" Aranea ordered and he froze before he could even take a single step. "You leave your sister alone and sit your butt back down, mister."

"But she-"

"Ah-ah!" she waggled a stern finger at him, then pointed down in a silent but firm command.

Growling, he threw himself into his seat once more, slumping down low and crossing his arms. "You all baby her too much, especially Uncle Gladio! She's such a brat!"

"Takes one to know one, eh Noct?" Prompto chuckled. Noctis shoved his shoulder hard and he shoved back before they both settled down and became engrossed in their phones again.

"Well?" Aranea prompted them, planting both fists on her hips now, which I took to indicate she really meant business. "It's not every day you meet your other long lost half-brother. Aren't you two gonna put away the phones long enough to at least say hello to Lea and his lil girlfriend, Elsa?" No response. Her right eye twitched. "Seriously, boys, turn off the phones and stick 'em down your pockets before I stick 'em up somewhere else."

Noctis was the first to comply, tucking his phone away with a tiny eye roll before tossing a hand up in a lazy wave towards us. "Hey. Nice to meet you."

Prompto on the other hand kept his phone out, merely taking a split second to shoot us a quick glance before focusing on the mobile device again with a, "He-" The word however got swallowed in a splutter as he did a double take at me, then hopped up to his feet so fast the phone went flying out of his hands. He fumbled to catch it and hastily pocketed it before stepping closer to me with a big grin and sheepish laugh, "He-he-hello there!" He cleared his throat and smoothed his hair, then continued more confidently, "What's shakin', Miss Breathtakin'? Name's Prompto, perhaps you've heard of me? I'm kinda legendary with the ladies around here." Insert wink and finger guns.

I just stared at him blankly.

What…

...was even happening right now?

A wry snerk from Noctis. "Yeah, legendary for being a totally tongue-tied bonehead around them."

"Shush, man, be cool," Prompto hissed back over his shoulder at his brother. "Just cuz you're already tied down, doesn't mean you hafta always ruin it for the rest of us!"

"Tied d-" Noctis began to echo before cutting himself off with a huff and a tiny glare. "Luna and I are just friends!"

"Who ever said anything about Luna? You're the one who brought her up," he singsonged back with a bounce of his eyebrows.

Snorting, Aranea moved to take a seat in the chair next to the far end of the sofa as she added, "You two lil lovebirds have been practically engaged since you were in diapers."

Prompto declared triumphantly, "Exactly! So zip it, Noct! Now where was I…? Ah, yes." He turned back to me, reaching for my hand to plant a kiss to the back of it with a debonair, "Enchanté."

A groan escaped Aranea as she facepalmed. "Prom, stop hitting on your brother's girlfriend."

"I don't see no ring, which means all's fair in love and-" the words abruptly died on his tongue as he looked past me and his eyes grew round, his face paled, and he gulped. Curious as to what had caused such a reaction, I glanced back myself to discover Lea looming behind me with the darkest look I'd ever seen to grace his face aimed directly at Prompto. "Uh, heh… L-Lea, w-was it? N-Nice to m-make your acquaintance," he squeaked out before darting back to his spot on the couch and using Noctis for protective cover.

Hiding a grin behind her hand, Aranea gestured towards the freshly freed up seating, "You all gonna keep standing in the hallway? Go on, take a seat already."

Lea continued to give Prompto the evil eye as he and I settled into the now empty half of the sofa with me next to Noctis. Saïx took the armchair to Lea's right and with that, a hush descended over the room.

...a very drawn out, very awkward hush.

Now don't get me wrong, I am no stranger when it comes to uncomfortable family gatherings. My parents and I were on very, very tentative speaking terms again and I'd recently been to a handful of uneasy dinners with them where silence had reigned supreme around the dining table. Of course, even before I'd ran out on my own wedding, back when I was still their perfect daughter that always did as she was told, even then the Fryse household wouldn't exactly have been considered warm, friendly and inviting. It was just the way my family had always been - cold and distant.

But this home felt different. Here, the quiet felt unnatural and wrong. This seemed like a place that was normally filled with chatter and laughter, making its absence now very unsettling. Especially with Lea in the room, who practically considered silence his arch nemesis and always felt the need to fill the void with his ramblings. In fact, until this very moment, I'd thought him physically incapable of keeping his mouth shut whenever there was a gap in conversation in desperate need of small talk. And yet there he sat now, slouched in the couch cushions, elbow on armrest and head propped up against his knuckles, lips clenched firmly shut and his pinched expression making it abundantly clear he would rather be anywhere but here right now.

I glanced past him and made eye contact with Saïx. He merely frowned, flicked his gaze meaningfully towards Lea before looking back at me again.

Saïx wasn't going to be the one to speak up first. Afterall, he'd already long ago patched things up with his mother and was on speaking terms with her again. Now it was Lea's turn. However, Lea needed to at least make some small effort on his part.

But I'm not sure exactly what Saïx expected me to do about that.

I hesitated, gnawing on my bottom lip for a few heartbeats. Then I lowered my gaze to where Lea's hand rested atop the cushion between the two of us. Slowly, I covered it with my own and he turned his head to look at me.

Alright, so… I've always heard about couples who are really close developing sort of this, I don't know… relationship telepathy after they've been together long enough, to the point where a single glance between the two of them can communicate an entire conversation. Time to see if that theory held any water.

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and fixed him with a determined, steady stare.

Talk to your mother. You hear me? Do it. Do it now.

He watched me blankly for a few seconds. Then one side of his mouth lifted and he gave me a tiny nod.

I blinked.

...did it work?

Had he actually received my otherworldly message?

His hand shifted to instead be the one on top of mine, giving it a gentle squeeze as the other reached over to graze my cheek with his thumb and tuck my bangs behind my ear while he bent to press a kiss to my forehead.

Gah, no, you sweet but oblivious dope!

What, did he think the situation was stressing me out and I'd been seeking comfort?

...which, to be fair, was not an unreasonable assessment.

Puffing out a tiny, irked breath through my nose, I firmly locked gazes with him once more and jerked my head towards Aranea a couple times.

Talk.

To.

Her.

Dork.

More blank staring from Lea. But then it finally seemed to click, at least if the way his face twisted into a petulant grimace could be taken as any sort of clue. I responded by narrowing my eyes at him. He relented with a low sigh and at long last shattered the quiet with a, "So… Mom…" he paused, frowning as he rubbed at the nape of his neck and struggled to come up with something to say. "...how do you… keep yourself busy these days?"

A growling huff erupted from Saïx as he directed a dull look towards Lea. "You should know. I've told you before."

"And I wasn't listening," Lea shot back through his teeth, brutally blunt and not seeming to care. He toned it back a bit however as his eyes settled on his mother once more. "So what… ya do the whole suburban housewife, minivan driving, pep rallies and bakesales running, soccer mom thing now?"

Prompto burst out laughing at that. "This is our mom we're talking about here, right? Please, you know how she is."

Lea glared daggers at him and he blanched, ducking down to hide behind Noctis once again. Looking away, Lea mumbled under his breath, "Oh yeah… know her super well."

"I'm a process server," Aranea piped up and all eyes turned to her. "Ya know… those people who'll find you on the street, hand you legal papers and go, 'You've been served!' I'm pretty damn good at it too. I take care of all the tough cases, you know the type… those squirrelly, shifty-eyed motherfuckers who bolt at the first whiff of trouble, thinking they can outrun me." She smirked now, "Hehe… love it when they try to run."

"Mom's earned a bit of a reputation," Noctis added with a tiny grin. "People call her the Commodore."

Aranea chuckled at that with a smug, "Stop, you'll make me blush."

"Huh," was all Lea said at first, pursing his lips to one side. Don't think he quite knew what to do with this information. "...sounds… fulfilling."

And with that, a crushing silence stifled the room once more.

Okay, so… that'd worked well.

Sort of…

I mean, it'd worked okay.

At the very least, it'd worked.

They'd talked!

...for a grand total of two seconds… but still, that was something, right?

Oh who was I kidding, this was a total trainwreck.

So then… now what?

Luckily, I was saved from having to figure that out by Ignis stepping into the living room just then, dusting his hands together as he announced, "That ought to do it for the moment! Now to let those steaks au poivre cook for a bit. Saïx!" The man in question glanced up at the mention of his name and Ignis went on, "If memory serves, I seem to recall you taking a rather keen interest in observing the night sky. Well, I'm a bit of dabbler myself and have recently acquired a new gadget to fiddle with. A telescope - the Ultros StarSeeker Reflector. It's in my study, would you like to come have a look at it for yourself?"

"The mark VI?" Saïx asked, already rising from his chair.

"The mark VII," he corrected with a smile. "150 millimeter. It's supposed to be the latest. Makes the moon seem so close, you'll think yourself to be standing on it. Boys," he now addressed Noctis and Prompto, "why don't you join us?"

"Already seen it. Pass," Noctis muttered, distracted by his phone once more.

Ignis cleared his throat, smile widening. "I must insist."

Prompto groaned, "Dad, can't we do it later? It's not even dark out."

"Alas, science waits for no man, nor do I. Elsa," his gaze landed on me now, "might I interest you in accompanying us as well?"

It was then that it dawned on me that Ignis was probably trying to give his wife some time alone with her (until as of twenty minutes ago) estranged son. Even as I opened my mouth to reply however, I felt Lea's grip tightening slightly around my hand. I hesitated.

I don't think he wanted me to leave.

Maybe I should have anyway. Maybe just a smidge of tough love was in order. Maybe it would have been for his own good.

However…

"I think I'm good, thank you," I politely declined.

With a small bow of his head, Ignis said, "Very well. Come along, boys!"

Heaving a heavy sigh, Noctis stood up and moved towards him. Prompto sprung up with a chipper, "Just a sec! I wanna snap a picture of this!" He darted past the two of us still seated on the couch, snagging Noctis by the elbow and Saïx by his sleeve and yanking them back over towards Lea. Then he fished out his phone before slinging one arm around Noctis and Saïx, forcing them to huddle in close and hunch down as he crouched to throw his other arm around Lea's shoulders. Awkwardly maneuvering his phone and pointing its camera at the four of them all squished together, he laughed, "Group shot of the four bros from different Joes but all from the same ho! Say cheese!"

As the flash went off, Aranea leaned forward in her armchair, her tone dangerously sweet as she asked, "All from the same what, Prom?"

"Aw, Ma, c'mon, you know I don't mean it! It was just for the sake of the rhyme!" he brushed off as he released Saïx and Noctis, freeing up that hand to tap at his screen and double check that the photo came out well. "Lea, dude, you so did not say cheese. I mean, look at th-" he glanced towards Lea (who he still had his arm around, mind you) and choked mid-word at the withering look he was giving him. Hastily snatching his arm back and jumping away, he turned to the others. "L-Let's go look at stars n' shit! Hell yeah constellations!" Then he all but blurred out of there with Ignis, Saïx and Noctis following behind him at a more relaxed pace.

"Seriously do not like that kid," Lea grumbled low as he scowled after him before looking back at me. More specifically, at my tiny grin I was rubbing my curled fingers over. He cocked an eyebrow, "...what?"

"Oh nothing," I whispered back with a shake of my head, trying to school my expression and failing. "It's just… well, he reminds me a little of you, is all."

He stiffened, looking outright offended. "You gotta be joking. That punk? We're nothing alike."

Said one upbeat, flirty goofball about the other.

My grin twitched wider as I merely shrugged, "If you say so."

Our brief exchange had me almost forgetting it wasn't just the two of us in here. Now as I glanced over towards Aranea, I gave her a timid smile. She smiled back, shifted in her seat and crossed her legs, but said nothing. Lea continued to avoid meeting her eyes, frowning off into space as his knee restlessly jiggled up and down while he held my hand in his lap, his fingers idly fidgeting with mine.

The quiet stretched.

I had to wonder if maybe I should have left with the others. If I weren't here this very second, would they be talking now? Could it have really made a difference? Honestly, I don't think it would have. Lea had already tried to start a conversation once. Sure, it'd been a rather feeble, halfhearted attempt at that, but still the effort had been made. And now he was done. He had no interest in doing it again and seemed perfectly content to go on stewing in silence. As for Aranea, I may have known her for less than an hour now, but even in such a short amount of time I could tell she was not someone who was particularly shy about speaking her mind. If she had something she wanted to say to Lea, I very much doubted my presence would have stopped her in the slightest.

I think the two of them were just… stuck.

In some sort of limbo with zero clue of how to proceed or handle this situation.

...should I try relationship telepathy again?

No, judging by the stubborn set to his jaw, it seemed highly unlikely at this point that any amount of mental nudging or prodding would push Lea into being the first one to speak up.

...but maybe a different target would be slightly more receptive to some subtle psychic persuasion?

I slowly turned my gaze on Aranea once more. With a tiny inhale and exhale, I hitched my chin and squinted.

Here goes nothing.

Speak to your son. Say something. Anything. Just talk.

A brief pause, then I winced.

Uh… please?

Musn't forget manners when trying to pierce the cosmic veil to telepathically coerce your boyfriend's mother!

That is, er… if it's not too much trouble, ma'am?

Gah, what if she thought being called ma'am was insulting?!

N-not ma'am! You're not a ma'am! I meant Aranea- no, too overly familiar… um… Mom? Dear god, no! Commodore? Yes, Commodore!

I almost saluted her for good measure, but thankfully caught myself before I did. That would have been silly!

...as if me attempting to psychically communicate with the woman weren't already silly enough.

Lea was right. I really was a friggin' kook.

Ah well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Please, just… talk to him, okay? Talk to-

"So, Elsa…"

No, not me! Him! Him! For the love of… what, were our metaphysical wires getting crossed? Ignore me, talk to-

Ugh, forget it, I give up.

Consider my brief and not at all glorious career as a mystical telepath officially over.

She grinned at me as she continued, "...are you still a college student?"

"Oh!" I sat up a little straighter. "No… er, I mean, yes. I mean… rather, I've graduated. But… it wasn't for me. My major, that is. So I went back, and… and now it's a much better fit." A beat. Then I gasped, "Acting! That's my new… that's what I'm doing now! What I, ah… what I went back to college for," I breathed out an awkward little laugh.

Wondering why was I suddenly so nervous?

Oh I don't know… could it be that it was just now really sinking in that this was officially my "Meet The Parents" visit? I was in no way prepared for this! I mean come on, she was supposed to be focusing on Lea, not me! Crud, I just hoped I was making a halfway decent impression so far.

"You wanna be an actor, huh? Get into showbiz?" she nodded encouragingly.

Oh, we were still talking about me? We weren't done?

Fudge.

"Maybe… I think so…" No wait, that wasn't quite right. Lifting my chin and steeling my gaze, I said more firmly, "Yes. It's… something I'm actually quite passionate about. Both singing and acting. It's a childhood dream I hope that perhaps I might one day turn into a reality."

Her eyes crinkled and she nodded again. "Been in any productions?"

"Two. Well… rather, one and a half I suppose… I'm in rehearsals for my second show. It's only community theater mind you, I'm still learning," I tacked on shyly.

It occurred to me that maybe this was her way of reaching out to Lea. I mean, a common tactic for connecting with someone was talking about something they liked. And seeing as how I was his girlfriend, it stood to reason that Lea liked me. So maybe, in a way… talking to me was her trying to score points with Lea?

Gaining a bit of confidence, I went on, "We're putting on Rocky Horror Picture Show, what with Halloween coming up and all. I got the part of Columbia, which is a supporting role but still very exciting!"

"Oooo, Rocky Horror you say? The one with all the tight leather, fishnet stockings, and lacey corsets?" Her eyes shifted slyly over to Lea as she shot him a wink, "Betcha you're a big fan of your girlfriend starring in that."

Lea's face twisted in disgust, "Ugh, Mom, don't be gross about it."

For the record, he was a big fan of it.

A really, really big fan.

She chuckled at his obvious discomfort before her eyes suddenly lit up as a thought seemed to strike her. "Speakin' of Halloween… be right back," she smirked, quickly standing up and disappearing down one of the hallways.

"Quick, now's our chance, let's make a break for it!" Lea leapt up to his feet, but I used the hold I still had on his hand to yank him back down into the cushions next to me. He drooped his eyelids at me. I drooped mine right back. With a huff, he slumped further down into the sofa and straight up sulked.

It wasn't long before Aranea returned, now with a pair of stacked cardboard boxes weighing down her arms. She deposited them onto the coffee table with a heavy thud, blowing off some dust before turning them so we could see there was something written in sharpie on their sides. Aranea shifted the top one branded SAÏX off and settled it down next to the other box that had AXEL scrawled across it. Lea's glower darkened as he spotted that particular label.

Flipping the lid off that one, Aranea began rooting around inside. "Hm, lessee here… blankie?" she muttered, mostly to herself it seemed as she then shook her head and shifted more things around in the box. "No… binkie? No…"

"What are you doing?" Lea asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her.

"What's it look like I'm doing? Going through a few odds and ends I kept from when you were a tyke," she grinned at him before pulling something out and holding it up. "D'aww look… baby's first arson!" In her hands was the charred and blackened remains of some sort of stuffed animal. She cocked her head slightly as she scrutinized the thing, "Think it used to be a rabbit… or maybe a piglet?"

"Tiger!" Lea snapped as he snatched the thing out of her grip. "He was a tiger and his name was-" he suddenly stopped, glaring at the mutilated little plushie for a second. Then he chucked it back into the box, grumbling, "Doesn't matter."

I however reached in to pick it back up for a closer look at it myself, brow furrowing as I turned the roasted to a crisp little feline over in my hands. "...what did you do to this thing?"

"Happened when he was four. Just happily tromped the doll over to the burning fireplace and tossed it in before I even realized what the lil snot was up to," Aranea chuckled wistfully before returning to digging around in the box. Next she was lifting out what looked to be a clay mold of a child's handprints as she snerked, "Can you imagine him ever being this small? Crazy." Then she was frowning at it, lightly scratching a finger at one blackened corner of the plaque as she arched an eyebrow. "Huh. Looks like you scorched this a bit too."

Shrugging, she set it aside before taking another look into the box, her face brightening. "Ah, and here we have Lea's masterpiece collection." She stuck her hands back inside it, this time retrieving a handful of crude drawings on slightly crumpled papers. To me, she said, "Ya know, he was quite the lil arteest! Coulda been the next Picasso if he'd just…" she trailed off, distracted now as something caught her eye on the top drawing. She squinted, "...is that a tree that's on fire?" Flipping to the next sheet, she blinked. Then the next. Then the next. "Yeesh, kiddo, you really had a thing for fire when you were a tot. Maybe I shoulda been more worried." Then she brushed it off with a bat of her hand, "Bah, you turned out fine!"

Rummaging around in the box a bit more, she gave a victorious, "Ah-ha!" before pulling out a thick stack of photos. She took a second to shuffle through a few of them before showing us one, "First day of kindergarten." I took it from her, seeing as Lea showed zero interest in accepting it himself. I couldn't help a small smile as I looked at it. He really had been an adorable child, almost ridiculously so. "Second birthday." I glanced up at her words to see her holding out another photo, which I gladly took as well.

She thumbed through a couple more photos before, "Oh, here we go." Plucking one from the bunch, her fingers gave it a satisfied flick before turning it towards us with a half-grin. "The whole reason I remembered to dig up this box just now: Halloween photos! Didn't he just make the cutest lil ninja assassin?"

He really did.

"Mom," Lea abruptly spoke up, his tone low and even and… something else that made the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stand on edge. "...why do you have all this stuff?"

"Hm?" she hummed absently, already back to flipping through the photos.

There was a pause, then he quietly rephrased, "When did you have time to grab it?"

"Oh, I just-" she cut herself off, posture suddenly snapping straight as she grimaced slightly. Her eyes darted to Lea then quickly looked away. Putting the photos down on the coffee table, she cleared her throat and began again, "I took it all with me when…" Another pause, another frown. "...when I…"

"When you abandoned Saïx and me," he finished for her, the edge to his voice unmistakable now. "So… instead of taking me with you when you flew the coop… you took a box."

Uh oh.

"Lea, that's not…" she began, then stopped, lips pressing into a grim line and face pinching as she stared down at her lap for a second. Then she lifted her gaze once more, opened her mouth to speak but clicked it shut again with a tiny growl in her throat, clearly frustrated with herself for being unable to think of the right thing to say.

Her son on the other hand seemed to be having absolutely zero trouble finding his own words, still with a deadly calm to them. "So... what? After dumping Saïx and me like yesterday's garbage, you took the boxes just so you could put on a show that you ever gave a shit about us?"

She gave him a sharp look, her eyes flashing dangerously. "That isn't fair, I-"

"Fair?!" he was on his feet in the blink of an eye, his hands balling into fists at his sides. Nostrils flaring, his voice began to rise now, "No, what wasn't fair was you deciding you didn't want your goddamn kids anymore and leaving them behind to go off and start your new stupid, perfect life and your new stupid, perfect family filled with perfect little snot-nosed brats given to you by your fucking perfect orthodontist!"

Optometrist. Not orthodontist.

Should I correct him?

I decided against it.

(Rather wisely too, if I do say so myself.)

Standing up as well now, Aranea tried to argue, "It wasn't like that! I-"

"Then please! By all means, tell me what it was like!" he snarled back. Two fingers jabbed at his temple, "I'd simply freaking love to know how you rationalized this all away in that screwed up head of yours so you could sleep at night in your comfy, cushy tempur-fucking-pedic king-sized bed while Saïx and I got chewed up and spat out by the hellhole that is the foster system! Tell me, how the fuck is what you did to us okay?!"

"It wasn't okay! Shit, of course it wasn't and I'd never try to tell you that it was!" she yelled, her breathing heavy now as she lifted her chin slightly. "But… you have to understand, it was… I was still young and-"

Lea barked a cold laugh at that. "Young? Seriously? That's your go-to defense? You wanna talk young, Saïx was eight. For fuck's sake, I was six." He shook his head, sneering, "But no, you're right. You were young, so let's just forget it and continue sitting around getting all bogus nostalgic over a buncha meaningless crap in a box while pretending everything's fine and dandy and like you didn't royally fuck over our whole goddamn lives twenty years ago."

Shoulders tensing, Aranea shot back, "Damn it, if you'd just let me talk-"

"You had your chance to talk!" he shouted over her. "You've been talking nonstop since I walked through the front door and it's all been nothing but bullshit and rubbing my nose in your happy, cozy, picture-fucking-perfect lifestyle!"

"That's not- I never meant to-" she blew out an exasperated huff, pinching the bridge of her nose as she took a second to compose herself. Then, more softly if a bit strained, "Look, obviously I'm no good at this. But I'm trying here."

"Yeah? Well not hard enough," he ground out through his teeth. He took several deep breaths, hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly. When he at last spoke again, his voice was now hushed and thick with unshed tears, "Were you ever even sorry for what you did? Did you ever even have any regrets at all?"

Her eyes widened as her head rocked back. "Of course I had regrets-"

"No, you had a box! Just a dumb box!" he smacked said box off the coffee table, sending it crashing to the floor and spilling its contents across the rug. With that, he stormed over to the sliding glass door, throwing it open and stomping out onto the backyard deck.

As he slammed it shut again behind him, the sharp noise jolted a breath out of me that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. It was only then that I noticed how loud the pounding of my heart was in my ears, how tense my muscles were or how tightly my fingers were clutching at the skirt of my dress. Forcing myself to relax a bit, I released my grip and anxiously brushed out the wrinkles in the fabric as my gaze drifted towards Lea once more.

I could see him out there now, hands angrily ruffling at his hair as he paced back and forth. Honestly, his blow up probably shouldn't have come as any sort of shock. This was something that he'd been carrying with him for years now, an anger that had been building inside for two decades and in desperate need of release. It probably really hadn't even been a question of if he would explode, but when.

A loud scoff drew my attention over to Aranea who was also watching Lea, a little scowl twisting her features. Squaring her shoulders, she started marching over towards the sliding glass door grumbling, "Oh-ho, if you think this is over, you got another thing coming, you lil-"

"Wait," a new voice calmly commanded, freezing her in her tracks. I glanced towards where it'd come from to discover Saïx in the threshold to the hallway, frowning and arms crossed with one shoulder leaned against the inside of the arch. I wondered how long he'd been standing there unnoticed, how much of the fight he'd witnessed. Probably most of it. Pushing himself away from the wall and walking towards her, he reasoned, "You'll probably only set him off again. Allow me. Perhaps I can get him to cool down a bit first before coming back inside to continue your discussion more rationally."

Aranea's face scrunched up at the idea of having to back down for the moment but then she sighed heavily and stepped aside, letting Saïx pass. Soon he was outside with his brother, the door gliding quietly shut in his wake. Aranea stood there for a few seconds more, eyes narrowing as she watched them through the glass before turning away with a tiny hmph. "That knucklehead has more Reno in him than he'll ever know," she muttered sourly under her breath. Then she looked at me. "...excuse me, I… I need a minute." She stalked towards one of the other doors, pausing long enough to add over her shoulder, "Sorry… that you had to see that…"

"No, that's, uh… don't mention it," I said awkwardly, my voice small.

With a curt nod, she made her exit.

Peering outside once more, it unfortunately appeared like Saïx wasn't making any headway in pacifying Lea. Though the closed door muffled it, Lea was quite visibly yelling again as he gestured furiously back at the house. Saïx looked remarkably unruffled as he withstood the tirade and every now and again, I would see his lips move whenever he got a chance to squeeze in a few words, face expressionless as he did so. But if he'd intended for whatever he was saying to be soothing, it seemed to only be having the opposite effect as Lea kept bursting out into more impassioned rants. Though it was hard to tell, there was a slight twitch to Saïx's eye now that hinted at him getting more irked with each new outburst.

Finally, Lea just hotly tossed his hands up and turned his back on Saïx, kicking at the wooden railing of the deck. It seemed Saïx had had enough himself for he too turned away, pushing the glass door aside so he could come back in. As he pulled it closed with more force than necessary, he seethed, "I give up. Possibly you'll have better luck convincing that idiot to get his head out of his ass." Without waiting for my reply, he crossed the room in a muted huff and was gone.

I bit my bottom lip, hesitating for a heartbeat. Then I rose, hands smoothing up and down my dress as I slowly stepped towards the door leading out to the backyard. My hand reached out for the handle, stopping just short for a second as I inhaled and exhaled slowly. Then I grabbed hold, slid it open and stepped outside.

Lea was facing away from me, surveying the backyard as he bent forward slightly with hands braced atop the railing. A light breeze picked up, tugging at his crimson spikes and making them dance. By contrast, his whole body was very still, almost eerily so. His muscles were taut and there was a stiffness to his shoulders that was impossible to miss. His fingers squeezed around the railing to the point of practically turning his knuckles white.

No question about it. He was still very much pissed.

It was almost strange, in a way… I was so used to him always being such a boundless source of energy and joy. I'd only ever seen him get angry one other time and that was when Grandfather had tried to bribe him during that disastrous weekend with my family. Even then, it hadn't lasted long and paled in comparison by far to his temper now. It was odd seeing him like this. Unsettling even. But I understood. I knew Lea's mom had always been a sore spot for him, so I was actually almost kind of amazed things had remained civil for as long as they had.

In a way, it was maybe even a good thing he'd went off like he did. You know… cathartic. Better he have a chance to rant and get all those things he'd probably been wanting to say to her for years off his chest, rather than keeping it all bottled up inside to fester.

But now it was time to pick up the pieces, pull him back together and maybe possibly even get him talking with his mother again, hopefully in a more constructive way.

...but how to do that exactly?

I just stood there in a moment of silent uncertainty, staring at his back as I tugged and twisted at my braid. But the longer I watched Lea, the more my heart squeezed at the sight of him. At how dejected and unhappy he appeared, his raw emotions practically etched into every line of his body. Eventually, my feet made the decision for me and I took an almost instinctual step towards him. Then another, and another one after that.

When I was close enough, my hand seemingly of its own accord reached out to softly touch his back. As soon as my fingertips made contact, his whole body went visibly rigid, even more so than it already had been. I brought my other hand up to join the first and slid them slowly around his middle as I took one final step forward to hug him from behind, resting my cheek against his warm back and closing my eyes as I listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

It took a few seconds, but then I felt the tension in his muscles start to ease as he gradually relaxed into the embrace and my hold around him reassuringly tightened. I had to let go however when he abruptly turned towards me, his arms encircling my waist to hug me fiercely to him. My arms shifted up to wrap around his shoulders instead as he buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply and exhaling a couple times. I could feel him trembling, but with each steadying breath he took it subsided little by little.

I wasn't quite sure what to say or do beyond holding him and tracing light soothing circles along his back, hoping he found it as comforting as I always had whenever he'd done it for me so many times in the past. I patiently waited and just assumed he'd eventually open up when he was ready.

When he eventually did speak, it was so low and muffled against my throat that I almost didn't hear it. "...sorry, El… if I scared you..."

I shook my head slightly, my fingers shifting up to stroke his hair as I murmured, "Scared? No. A bit startled? Maybe… Concerned? Definitely." I tucked in my bottom lip for a hushed moment, then asked, "...are you okay?"

At first Lea said nothing, his only reply coming in the form of squeezing me more tightly to him. We stayed that way a few seconds more before his hold loosened but didn't let go - just enough for him to straighten up and press his forehead to mine. His gaze was downcast and my chest ached at how miserable he looked. His lips parted once more but instead of answering my question, he grumbled, "What she did was wrong."

"It was," I said calmly with a single small nod.

"She doesn't deserve my forgiveness," he tacked on, still quiet but more firmly now.

I noticed tears brimming at the corner of his eyes. Moving my hands to cup his face, I gently wiped them away with my thumbs as I agreed, "She doesn't."

"Serve her right if I never spoke to her again," he gave a tiny scowl.

Again, I nodded. "It would."

Now his green gaze locked on mine, squinting for a second before he puffed out a heavy, bitter sigh. "...but you think I should talk to her, don't you?"

My eyes lowered briefly and I pursed my lips to one side as I tried to choose my next words carefully. Then I looked back up at him, "I think… that you've had your turn to speak your mind, so maybe... it might be the right thing to do to give her a turn as well."

Lea merely made a noise of derision deep in his throat, glancing away.

I used the hold I still had on his face to gently make him look at me again. "I'm not saying you have to let her off the hook. Nor that you have to see her side of things. Nor even that you have to listen to her really. But I believe letting her speak and say whatever it is she was trying to tell you… maybe it could do some good. For both of you. And then... " I paused with a thoughtful frown. "...well, I'm actually not really sure what then, but... maybe the way forward will be clearer once you've both had a chance to talk. You'll never know until you try. And it's at least worth a try, isn't it?"

His expression softened somewhat, but not completely. "...how very logical, insightful and sensible of you, Doctor Phil."

I made a little snort at that. "Why, thank you."

"It wasn't a compliment." The words had no bite to them and were more so just tiredly teasing. He then fell silent for a moment, seemingly mulling over my advice while still holding me against him, his thumb absently rubbing up and down where it rested against the small of my back. Then his face pinched slightly and he harrumphed. "...she never even said she was sorry for what she did."

"Maybe she would have if you hadn't kept talking over her," I lightly pointed out with a wrinkle of my nose.

He hummed a weak, almost inaudible laugh at that. "There ya go with that logic again." He then heaved another sigh, "...I dunno… I guess maybe I can go back inside and…" he slowly closed his eyes and grimaced, as if even the very idea of his next words turned his stomach. "...give this a shot. Chances are good though it'll just end up being the sequel to the earlier shitshow," he rolled his eyes.

I tugged his head down and got on tiptoe, murmuring against his brow as I pressed my lips to it, "I'd expect nothing less."

As I lowered myself back down onto my heels, Lea brought a hand up to graze his knuckle tenderly along my cheek, giving me that soft look of his that still to this day caused my heart to flip-flop and made it hard to breathe. Then his fingers trailed past along my jawline to cup the back of my neck as he bent down to kiss me, slow and thorough, sending a heat through me that made me melt from the inside out. When he at last pulled away, his voice was husky against my lips as he said, "Thanks, El... for coming with me today. Having you here during… It makes everything a bit easier."

Face hot and feeling a bit breathless, I cleared my throat and smiled shyly. "Happy to, uh… to help… in whatever small way I can."

He grinned, his fingers toying with the tip of my braid as he gazed down at me for a second longer before he planted a quick peck to my lips. Then he was releasing me, taking hold of my hand instead and tangling our fingers together. Blowing out a breath that flapped his lips, he muttered, "Right. Back into the fray for round two now, ding-ding."

"Maybe try not going back into this expecting a fight?" I suggested as I felt a sudden buzz from my phone in my pocket. I went on as I fished it out to check my notifications, "Never know, it could possibly even-" The words however got strangled in my throat as my eyes widened, I nearly dropped my phone and I gasped out, "Baby!"

"Yes, Cuddlebug?" he cooed back.

I blinked at him. "Wha-? No, not you. I meant Rayne."

Lea looked positively scandalized. "You have other Babies besides me?" He clutched a hand to his chest, "The betrayal."

"No, I- That's not- She's not-" I stammered out before giving up with a groan of frustration and then shoved my phone up against his nose, reiterating more desperately, "Baby!"

His brow furrowed as he took it from me, eyes quickly scanning the open text message before both eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Holy shit, Raindrop's gone into labor?! I thought she wasn't s'posed to pop that kid out for another few weeks!"

"Well she's popping it out now!" My spine snapped straight as a thought struck me. "Like… now now! While she's there! And we're here! But we shouldn't be here! We should be there, not here! Definitely not here! We-"

"Shh, it'll be fine, I gotcha," he gently shushed me, one of his hands gripping my shoulder and the other coming up to rest his warm palm against the side of my face. "I'll put the fam drama on pause and we can hit the road ASAP."

"...really?" I asked slowly, uncertainly. "...that would be okay?"

He gave a soft snerk and shrugged. "It's waited twenty years already, I think it'll be fine waiting a lil bit longer. 'Sides, it's not every day our friends are having a baby, we should be there."

I turned my head slightly, giving him some side-eye. "And I'm sure this in no way is you hopping on the first excuse you could get to procrastinate sorting things out with your mother like a mature adult."

"Nah, that's just a bonus!" he chuckled.

I fought a tiny grin. But then it swiftly faded, a crease forming between my eyebrows now as something else occurred to me. "But we're so far away… it took us most of the day to get here!"

"The way I drive, we'll be back in half that," he wickedly smirked, digging the car keys out of his pocket, tossing them up into the air and catching them with a wink. "Just leave it to me! Now c'mon, babydoll, let's say our hasta la vistas then make like a piñata and beat it!"

With that, he took my hand in his again, opened the sliding glass door and we hurried inside.

Author's Note: We've had plenty of Elsa's fam drama by now, figured it was high time for some of Lea's fam drama too xD Plus we all know our fave Fire Boi can have a bit of a temper even if he doesn't let it loose often, so it was fun to finally have a excuse to REALLY show that side of him in this fic! Luckily our ICE Queen was around to COOL our FIRE boi's HOT temper... hehehehehe xD Anyhoo, I knew for a while that I wanted to do a chapter with Lea's mom and her new family, but I was mega stumped on which characters would play the parts. For the longest time, I wasn't sure if I was gonna include any of the FFXV cast in my story (except for the brief reference to Meteor Publishing and Vyv allllllll the way back in chapter 2 as to where Rayne works and who her boss is respectively) but then when this idea came up, it really was too perfect! Aranea is just the right amount of sass and kickass that could totes be a perfect fit for Lea's and Saïx's mom! She even TALKS a lot like Lea with similar speech mannerisms and everything, or so you'll notice if you rewatch her video game cutscenes (as I have multiple times while writing this chapter now lol!). The main struggle was that she has a tendency to be quite flirty in the video game, but seeing as how 4 of the 5 men in this chapter were her SONS, couldn't really have her doing that except for with Iggy xD Hopefully I still managed to capture her personality well enough! And of course, including 3 of the 4 Chocobros was a pleasure to write! Plus, I got to squeeze in SO MANY FFXV references this chapter, it felt ridiculous after a while, but I couldn't help myself xD And bonus: in case it wasn't clear in that one quick sentence that was tossed out, turns out Reno was Lea's biological dad! Which sucks a lil cuz that means Reno is deceased in this AU and I hate to do that to another one of my fave redheads... but ah well! Who knows, maybe he only faked his death all those years ago and he's still out there alive and kicking and wreaking havoc xD

Teeny fun facts: I wrote that Lea's new step dad was an orthodontist waaaaaaay back in ch15 before I even knew Iggy was gonna be his step dad, so when I was rereading that for this chapter, I was all "shiiiit, I can't make Iggy an orthodontist, ew!" xD Optometrist didn't seem THAT much better, but hey, at least the dude wears glasses - that's all ya need to become a licensed optometrist, right? xP At least the whole orthodontist-optometrist thing made for a pretty decent running gag this chapter haha! Also, the telescope was based off a real telescope model I found after some googling, just the original brand was named after some sort of constellation, I forget what (...Orion? maybe?). So I changed THAT to one of the constellations from KH3: Ultros! ...because it was the best sounding one for a telescope - sorry, no Cactuar brand telescopes in this story xP

No clues or hint word/phrase this time for what the next one-shot is gonna be about - given the kinda sorta cliffhanger I left his chapter off on, you can probably guess what blessed event is gonna happen next time xD Don't worry, I'll try to throw in a couple of surprises for you still that you hopefully won't see coming!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

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blackleatherjacketz · 5 years ago

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My Brother’s Keeper: Chapter 8

Negan x Reader

Summary: Your brother runs away from the Sanctuary and you pay the price. This Chapter: You finish searching the Kingdom with Negan and have some time to kill.

Warnings: Lemons, Negan’s Mouth, Lucille, Indirect Threats, Daddy Kink, Car Sex, The Kingdom

Word Count: 1434

Read the rest of the story HERE!

The two men led you and Negan through the rest of the Kingdom, Richard’s tall and muscular frame leading you through the infirmary, school, marketplace and every homestead on the grounds as Jerry tagged close behind. He opened every closet, every cabinet door and looked under every bed to satisfy Negan’s nagging need to leave no rock unturned.

You were beginning to wonder where your brother could have gone if he wasn’t here or at the Hilltop. Could he have looked after your mother and her failing health out there in the wilderness? You knew that’s why your family had chosen to stop at the Sanctuary in the first place; your mother just couldn’t cut it out there among the elements. If Richard didn’t help Negan find them, would he just accept that and move on, or was there already an expiration date on this man’s life, too?

You kept yourself silent for the rest of the search though, no matter how badly you wanted to scream their names or revisit old memories to help draw them from their supposed hiding places. Negan’s scintillating presence subdued you still, the fear of him denying you even longer made you no different than that tiger at the end of the King’s leash. You followed close behind as he kept his bat on his shoulder, the blunt instrument acting like a sundial until that burning star finally hit the amethyst horizon. ————————— “Now we wait,” Negan grumbled as the two of you approached his car.

“Wait for what? That’s it? You’re just going to give up?” Your fear seemed to dwindle now that it was just the two of you.

“Give up?” he chuckled. “No way, baby, we’re not giving up. We’re giving them a little time to feel safe; let them feel like we let them go, and then when they leave, POW!” He hit an imaginary target with Lucille. “We’ll be right there to snatch them up!” He smiled at you as his grip on the bat relaxed.

“Snatch them up and… take them back to the Sanctuary, right?” You placed your hand on the car for balance as the idea of Alex getting his face burnt off flooded your visual cortex.

Negan smirked and leaned in close to you, his cologne the only pleasant smell now that you were far enough away from the Kingdom. “Well, that all depends on him.” He lifted a hand and gently brushed a piece of hair behind your ear. “Let’s not ask questions we don’t want to know the answers to, huh?” His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline, his teeth pulling at his bottom lip.

“The point is you were a good girl for me today.” He let go of your ear and traced his fingers down the outline of your figure, gently lifting the bottom hem of your dress. “I half thought you’d go off the rails if you saw someone who even looked like your nerdy ass brother, but you stayed right by my side the whole time!”

You wanted to nod, to verbalize an affirmation of his suspicions, but all you could do was stare. He was the only person who made you speechless, who literally took your breath away in almost every situation. The danger for your brother was near and very real, but not present just yet. What was that old saying… out of sight, out of mind? You’d rather live in this limbo of a reality, a reality where nothing from the past or future mattered; nothing but his hand on your thigh and his eyes on your lips. All your brain had room to process right now was the fire he always sparked inside it.

He crept his fingers up a path on your thigh to the black lace panties he laid out for you this morning; feather-like touches peeling back the cloth from your warm and eager skin. “You look so fucking good in that dress, I almost forgot why we came here in the first place.” His voice rattled in your ears, signaling a chain reaction in your body as he slid his fingers between your lips. He smirked and teased your length as he backed you up against the car, forcing you to gasp.

“Yeah?” You barely whispered, the warmth of the car nearly singing the skin on your shoulders.

“Yeah, baby,” he reassured you, pressing his thumb against your clit. “You look so fucking good I could just eat you up.” He pushed his fingers in deeper, dropping Lucille behind him as he stepped in closer. “But I won’t.”

He grabbed you by the base of your neck, forcing you to stare into his jealous burgundy gaze. “Because for a second back there I thought you had eyes for Bob Marley,” he paused, amusedly studying your face as he accused you. “I mean, he certainly showed an interest in you,” he growled. His knuckles pulled your hair so tight that the pain from your scalp overpowered the pleasure his fingers drew from your center. “It drove me fucking crazy seeing another man look at you like that.”

You couldn’t tell if this was a real emotion or just another tactic, but his fistful of your hair felt awfully real. You’d always assumed you’d be the one to get jealous with all the wives he had stowed away back home, not the other way around. That was part of the reason you’d avoided him for as long as you did, minding your business in the infirmary while he fucked whoever he wanted. You knew that it was you he wanted now, but at the end of the day you were just a means to an end.

“Maybe he just wasn’t used to seeing a woman in a dress,” you managed to counter, his grip on your scalp more stimulating than you’d care to admit. “Plus, this outfit wasn’t really part of the deal.”

“No,” he paused, his silent moment heavy with possibility, “But you know what was?” His lips spread slowly across perfect teeth, pressing a circle into your bud as your jaw dropped in ecstasy.

“What?” You mumbled, your body an excited bundle of nerves.

“Since you were such a good girl today… despite the King looking at you,” he tightened his fist in your hair, violently bringing you in for a hungry kiss. “You get to come.”

Your previous gasp turned into a moan as he kissed you, playing your swollen wet heat like keys on a classic piano. Different octaves and notes poured out of you as he moved his fingers deep inside, stimulating you like he never had before. It was if he was saving this style of pleasure for last, keeping it locked away in a cupboard to be used only in case of emergencies, and, oh! What an emergency this was!

You blocked out everything else that had happened and let him play you like the instrument you were; wild grunts and groans echoing against the empty walls of the ghost town that surrounded you. Surrendering yourself completely to this tyrant of a man, you let him enter you as the strings of your spine vibrated with each chord his hips plucked into you. Waves of rhythmic pleasure bounded over you as your thighs clasped onto him for dear life, the chorus of breathy moans now a strange duet in the middle of nowhere. You had a feeling that this was it, the last time you’d bond with him on an equal and biblical level with your arms around his neck and your thighs a sweaty mess.

You let him lean on top of you, the silence all but deafening after the impromptu concert you might have given a few nearby roaming walkers. His hair was a mess, his cheeks flush with passion and his grin wider than ever as he finally pulled out of you. He winked at you and zipped himself up, fiddling with the walkie talkie on his hip before pressing a button.

“D’you get all that, Dwighty Boy?” He spoke into the radio as he collected his white hot liquid from between your legs.

“Yeah, Boss, loud and clear. Over.” Dwight replied sheepishly before static covered him up again.

Negan smiled and slid his semen-soaked fingers into your mouth, watching you suck hungrily as he pulled them out past your lips. “Good. And her family?” He found your panties around your ankles and slid them off your feet, smelling them deeply before placing them in his pocket.

“We got ‘em, Boss. They heard everything, just like you wanted.”

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

Tags: @annablack1102 @genevievedarcygranger @negansdirtygirl22 @letsby @negans-network @rasa1945 @chamberofsloths @mblaqgi @flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash @namelesslosers @collette04 @bishsposts @haleyea @bodhi-black @ptite-shit @jamiekingofmen @ibelongtonegan @chloejanedecker1 @divadinag

#negan #negan smut #negan x reader #the walking dead #negan fan fiction #negan fanfic #Jeffrey Dean Morgan #negan's thirst squad #the walking dead fan fiction #twd #twd fanfic

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etherealblasphemy · 6 years ago

Text

Africa

oooh wow look at me actually finishing my shit

now to deal with all the freaking formatting bullshit no you know what screw it i’m not formatting this 13-page beast

I highly recommend you listen to Jonathan Young and Caleb Hyles’ cover of the song Africa by Toto. (Logan would sing the second verse and all of Jonathan’s parts after the instrumental.) The prequel to this story is called Falling Slowly- you don’t have to read it to understand what’s happening in this story, but it provides some background on some of the featured relationships, both platonic and romantic. (Tumblr has killed links as of 11/17/18 so I can’t link it, unfortunately! Apologies!)

Enjoy, my lovelies!

…

“I hear the drums

echoing tonight”

…

He leaned on the doorway, his lips curved up as he watched the band practice their set list one final time, eyes trained on the man at the keyboard, whose fingers danced across the keys as if he had been born playing them. As the final chord ebbed away, he found himself moved to applaud the band, the sound of clapping drawing their attention.

“Come to take Virgil away from us so soon?” the guitarist called, waving to him.

“Unfortunately, I have to. I don’t think we want Remy handling customers when he’s had three espressos,” he joked, smiling brightly. Virgil, lounging in the front row, let out a loud groan, pushing himself up from the polished oak chair.

“Five minutes, Patton?” he asked, his eyes pleading. Patton sighed, shaking his head, cocking an eyebrow.

“Five minutes, and then we have to go before Remy goes full Espresso Mode on us,” he relented. Virgil thanked him and clambered onto the stage, not wasting a moment of his precious time. Patton drew closer to the stage, watching Virgil and his boyfriend Roman with a sad smile.

He was happy for Virgil, he was… but he couldn’t fight off the jealousy in his stomach growing like poison ivy. He sorely wished for somebody to look at him like he was the only person who ever mattered, for somebody to visit him on rainy days and pepper his face with quick kisses, for somebody to hold his hand and never let go. He sorely wished for somebody to love him.

He sat down in the chair Virgil had previously occupied, caught up in his thoughts as someone hopped off-stage and stood in front of him. “It’s nice to see you back again,” they said, sitting down next to him.

“Oh, Logan, I didn’t see you there, sorry!” The punk waved off the apology, shrugging in his usual nonchalant manner. He crossed his legs as Patton snuck a peek at his washed-out jeans, admiring the strong legs beneath them. “You guys sound really good,” he told him.

“...thank you…” Logan mumbled, concentrated on the floor underneath them. “You seem to be coming around more often. May I ask why?” Patton flushed, ducking his head as he shrugged.

“I just really like hearing you guys play,” he mumbled, swallowing the rest of the truth- how he also really liked watching Logan’s fingers dance across the keyboard, liked watching his dark blue eyes light up when he was passionate about something, liked watching his lips move to sing back-up, his voice a deep baritone against a bold tenor- down his throat. Logan seemed satisfied with the response, and they fell into a comfortable silence.

“Patton, may I ask you-” Logan began, before being cut off by Virgil’s call.

“Alright, Patton, I’m done. We gonna go to work or are you going to keep talking with your boy-toy?” the emo teased. Patton spluttered indignantly as Logan fell into a coughing fit, hiding his colored cheeks.

“Virgil!” Patton warned. Virgil cackled, smirking as he grabbed Patton’s arm, pulling him out of the folding seat. “I’m sorry, Logan, what were you going to say?” The punk looked up, clearing his throat.

“No worries, Patton, it was- it was nothing,” he replied, refusing to meet Patton’s eyes. He ran a frantic hand through his scruffy hair, saying a quick farewell to the frequent visitors.

As the duo left the band to continue their practice, Patton swatted Virgil’s arm playfully. “Virgil, why would you say that?!” he whispered.

“Patton, you’re my best friend, and I love you, but sometimes you’re just too dense to be bearable…” At Patton’s confusion, Virgil continued. “Logan is obviously into you. You do realize that, don’t you?” Patton paled, stilling as they reached the front doors. He glanced behind him, his eyes settling on the vivacious punk who had returned to his place on stage, eyes reserved for the keys he was playing. His heart leapt into his throat as the punk glanced up and met with Patton’s eyes as he gave a quick, polite smile and a wave goodbye. Patton waved back slowly, his appetence gone unseen as Logan turned back to his music, a bittersweet smile falling from his cheeks.

“I don’t know, Virgil, he doesn’t seem like the type to… do romance,” Patton said. “And that beside, I don’t think he would be into me. I’m just not… outspoken enough for him.” Virgil scoffed, rolling his eyes as the two stepped out into the rain, Patton opening up his umbrella.

“Considering you’re the one that helped me snag Roman, I’m surprised you’re such a hopeless romantic,” the emo retorted. “And who cares what his type is, he’s obviously your type! Don’t think I didn’t see you making googly eyes at Logan!” Patton froze for half a moment before he opened the door to his car, sliding into the front seat with ease.

“Shut up!” he groaned, burying his burning face into his hands. Virgil smirked, having gotten the proof he had been looking for. “Let’s just go to the bakery before Remy beats both of us over the head with a rolling pin.”

Patton sighed as he leaned against the counter, catching his breath. As much as he loved talking with the kids who came into the bakery with their parents, gawking at all the treats, sometimes their incessant whining and laughing and crying and talking gave him a massive headache. And he had happened to forget to bring Advil today.

As the flow of customers ebbed away, Patton let his gaze wander over the patrons sitting down on the quaint little stools he had found at a flea market. Some were typing away madly on their computers, college finals approaching quickly, while others were chatting with friends, laughing loudly at shared secrets and inside jokes. His gaze fell on a couple sitting by the window, the depiction of serenity.

One of them was staring at the other, a wistful smile on their face. Patton felt his heart wrench as his tore his gaze away. “You good, gurl?” he heard from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Remy, owner and manager of the bakery.

“Yeah, just a little out of it today. Forgot to bring Advil with me,” he mumbled, wringing his hands.

“...Ah. Lemme know if you need a break, gurl. I can handle the register,” Remy offered, though Patton quickly waved it away. “And promise me you’ll take your meds tomorrow, ‘kay, gurl?” Patton blanched, on the verge of explaining as Remy turned on his heel and walked into the kitchen.

Patton ran a hand through his hair as his gaze fell back onto the couple. The one with blue hair laughed loudly at something the one wearing a black leather jacket had said. If he closed his eyes, he could picture Logan sitting in front of him, chuckling at some joke Patton had made. Patton, of course, would tell Logan how beautiful his laugh was, like an angel’s hymn in his ears. Logan would smile shyly and take Patton’s hand, running his thumb across Patton’s knuckles, whispering sweet nothings.

But, of course, he reminded himself as he returned back to reality with a start, that would never happen. It was nothing more than a vivid fantasy where Logan was no more than a puppet. No. It was wrong of him to treat Logan like that, like a pet who would do everything his heart hoped for. And besides, Logan wasn’t into him. Nobody in their right mind would fall for him, an emotional mess who couldn’t even break a mug without breaking down.

He heard the doorbell ring as another patron walked in, and switched to autopilot, throwing on a brilliant smile as he slid towards the cash register, ready to take their order. “Hello! Welcome to the Night Shift! How may I help you?”

“Good morning, Patton!” the person responded. Recognizing the voice, he tuned out of his thoughts be to met with one of the regulars, Emile. Patton’s smile turned genuine. “Could I get my usual?”

“Of course, coming right up!” he replied as he went in search of a Stitch cookie. Virgil, having noticed the arrival of the psychiatrist, began preparing a small black tea with a hint of camomile. Patton delivered the goods to a smiling Emile. “Meeting with another client?” Emile nodded, leaning over the counter conspiratorially.

“Yeah, one of my newest ones, a kid named Kai. Thought he might appreciate a more… casual encounter of the third kind.” The two shared a laugh at the joke, their brotherhood built on dad jokes and cartoon references.

Emile sat down in a corner booth, leaving Patton alone again. He jumped suddenly, feeling his phone buzz in his pocket. Sneaking a glance at the text he’d received, he felt his breath hitch and butterflies flood his stomach.

[chatlog: dark strange sun]

dark strange sun: heads up

dark strange sun: logan just walked in

happy pappy patton: Wait, are you serious??

dark strange sun: dude. yes.

He looked furtively around the bakery, heart leaping as his eyes fell on a familiar blue-grey color scheme. Logan looked uncomfortable and out of his element as he scanned the sweet-smelling, pastry-selling shop, almost as though looking for someone. Patton took the moment to admire how the sun lit up Logan’s chestnut hair as though he wore a halo, how he bit his bottom lip in concentration as his sparkling blue eyes darted around the room, until they met his, and a relieved smile flashed across the punk’s face before he composed himself- wait a second.

“Salutations, Patton,” he called. Oh. So Logan had probably seen him staring. Great.

“Hi, Logan! I didn’t expect to see you here,” he answered, giving the keyboardist a cheerful wave. “Can I get you anything?” Logan paused, his face coloring pink for a moment, as though he were… embarrassed?

“Ah, no, I… came to speak with you.” Patton froze, stunned as he processed Logan’s words. “Do you have a spare minute?” He struggled to form a response, catching Remy moving around in the corner of his eye.

“Hey, Remy!” The sleepy baker looked up from his tray of macarons. “Could I maybe take that break now?” Remy glanced at Logan, giving him a typical once-over, and decided Logan was no threat to his precious paternal childling, nodding. “Thanks, Remy!” Patton ran over to give a quick hug to Remy, who squealed in surprise, and took off his apron, hanging it on a nearby hook.

He darted around the counter, coming face-to-face with Logan. At this proximity, he could hear Logan’s soft breaths, reminding he was very much alive and this moment was very much real. Logan grasped his arm gently, leading Patton to a nearby table. He seemed loath to let go, though Patton told himself it was just a trick of the mind.

Logan was rubbing the back of his neck. He seemed… nervous about something, though Patton had half-believed it was near impossible for the confident, stoic punk to feel nervous about anything. “I… uh, I actually did wish to ask you something this morning, before we were interrupted.”

Patton was sitting on the edge of his seat, unconsciously wringing his hands underneath the table. He waited for Logan to continue, waiting anxiously for his words.

“I wanted to ask you… if… you would come to our show this weekend.” Logan’s shoulders deflated as he finished, relieved with having finally spoken up.

Patton tilted his head, confused. “I was already planning to with Virgil. Didn’t Roman tell you?” Logan blinked, taken aback.

“No,” he said, gritting his teeth. “He didn’t.” He seemed mildly miffed at the discovery of this new information. He shook his head, pushing onward. “I meant…” Logan took a shaky breath. Patton leaned forward, grabbing the punk’s hands and squeezing them reassuringly. Logan gulped. “I meant… would you like to come… as my guest?” Patton felt himself inhale sharply.

He could hear the little voice in his head whispering to him, reminding him this could be nothing but a friendly gesture. Logan wasn’t asking him out on a date. He didn’t love Patton. He couldn’t. Patton wasn’t worthy enough, the voice told him. Logan would never love someone like him.

Logan was still expecting an answer.

“Sure!” he blurted, praying his nervousness wasn’t tangible. Logan’s eyes lit up with pure happiness, a relieved smile breaking across his face. See? the voice asked. It was just a friend wanting to hang out with another friend. He’s showing goodwill because he pities you. Patton’s smile wavered for half a second, not gone unnoticed by Logan, before he forced his smile wider. “I’d love to see you guys perform. It’d be so much fun!”

A silence fell between them, prolonged and uncomfortable. “Well, thank you for inviting me Logan,” Patton told him as he stood up. “I should get back to my shift, but you’re welcome to stay as long as you like!”

Logan opened his mouth as if to say something, but thought the better of it and let Patton walk away, the punk’s smile falling as though things had not gone according to plan.

Patton pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling his headache coming back as his phone buzzed once more.

[chat log: dark strange sun]

dark strange sun: okay what happened

happy pappy patton: Nothing

happy pappy patton: He just wanted me to come to their performance

dark strange sun: ...and?

happy pappy patton: ...as his guest.

dark strange sun: holy shit.

dark strange sun: holy SHIT

happy pappy patton: Language!

dark strange sun: PATTON, THIS PROVES LOGAN’S INTO YOU!

happy pappy patton: You can’t be serious, Virge

happy pappy patton: Logan doesn’t like me.

happy pappy patton: I’m sure he meant to ask me platonically!

dark strange sun: do you realize how dense you sound

dark strange sun: do you realize??

dark strange sun: how dense you sound??

happy pappy patton: Virgil.

happy pappy patton: Don’t.

happy pappy patton: You know he’s better off without me.

dark strange sun: ..

dark strange sun: patton.

dark strange sun: you told me you took your meds

dark strange sun: you didn’t take them, didn’t you?

dark strange sun: patton, we’ve talked about this.

dark strange sun: how long?

Patton blinked away the forming tears in his eyes as he turned off his phone. If Virgil really wanted to talk, he would find Patton during their shift. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and went back to work, plastering a brilliant smile on his face as he approached the little kids trying to see over the counter, forcing himself to bear with just a few more hours of joy he couldn’t feel.

Just a few more hours.

…

“I seek to cure what’s deep inside

frightened of this thing

that I’ve become”

…

The rain was beating down on the roof of the small little garage-like club they were performing at. Logan twiddled his thumbs mindlessly, the sound of raindrops a gentle lullaby to him. He jumped as the door slammed open suddenly, not surprised to find Roman on the other side.

“Nikola Tesla! Roman, don’t scare me like that!” he groaned, shaking his head.

“Ten minutes to showtime, hun,” Roman gushed, chewing nervously on his lip. “I’ve been looking out from behind the curtain for the past forever and I still don’t see Virgil!” Roman let out a shaky breath, brushing his hair back.

“Perhaps he’s just running late,” he said curtly, knowing this meant Patton wasn’t out there either. He sighed, slouching in his chair, defeated. “You don’t think Patton misunderstood me, do you?” he asked quietly, refusing to meet his best friend’s eyes. Roman fell silent, unsure how to respond.

“We have no idea of knowing, Lo. If he does think this is just some grand, platonic, certainly not romantic gesture… well, to quote a wise man I know, ‘my advice to you is to see what he does… if he shows signs of romantic interest, you can take things from there.’” Logan involuntarily cracked a smile. “If you can manage to get my love life sorted out, I’m sure you’ll do just fine, hun.”

Logan sighed, slumping further in his chair. “Thanks, Roman.” His head fell back, his eyes trained on the ceiling, studying the cracks that wove throughout the white-washed roof of the room. “I never thought I’d be needed romantic advice, but…” His smile widened as he thought of Patton and his vibrant smile, always willing to listen and actually care about the words flowing from his mouth, rather than hear them and use them to finish the homework. “...it seems I can be proven incorrect.” His gaze fell back onto his best friend, who was staring at him, both eyebrows raised, his hand covering what Logan knew had to be a smirk. “Not one word, Prince.”

Roman snorted, shaking his head, as he playfully flipped the punk off, leaving to go peek out from behind the curtains once more. As the hopeless romantic left, Logan let himself straighten. Patton would come. He had to trust him. Patton would come.

Clearing his head, he stood from his chair, going over to the countertop and picking up the thin necklace that glittered gold in the lights surrounding the dressing room’s mirror. It had been a birthday gift from Patton. Though they had only known each other for the short time their respective best friends had been dating, Patton had quickly warmed up to him, despite his initial cold and offstandish demeanor. He didn’t know when his heart had begun fluttering every time Patton smiled at him like he was his whole world, when he began catching himself staring at Patton every spare moment he had, when he fell in love with a man too pure and wholly good for this world.

“Logan!” His head snapped towards the door, where Roman was leaning around the corner, staring at him pointedly. “Come on, we’re about to go on!” Logan cursed under his breath as he tossed the necklace over the head, its small heart pendant resting on his chest, starkly cool against the warmth of his skin. He followed Roman through the catacomb-esque labyrinth of hallways. With each turn, the two could hear the cheers and shouts of the crowd waiting for them grow in noise.

They picked up their drummer Elliot on their way to the stage; they showed off their new black skirt that had gotten tailored especially for the show to the two, who allowed themselves a moment of appreciation before returning on their journey. Logan felt the apprehension rise in his heart. He could picture it clearly within his mind: Patton would be standing in the middle of the crowd, and of course Virgil would be with him, but it was the cheerful baker who his eyes would be on. He would perform a special song for Patton, and he would understand just how deeply Logan cared for him, and perhaps maybe then he’d have the courage to ask Patton out on a rendezvous. But… those sort of things only happened in a perfect world; and while he was intelligent enough to understand astrophysics without a second thought, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that whatever world he was living in, it was not a perfect one, and thusly things would never go as planned. The thought made Logan’s stomach churned, though he brushed it off as nerves.

After what seemed like an eternity, the trio reached the wings. The crowd was nothing but a raucous mob, all cheering for their favorite of the band. Logan loved this moment. His anxiety was through the roof, no doubt, but he knew that just on the other side of the curtain was a throng of people who needed to hear his words, hear his voice, hear his logic, and let them know everything was going to be alright. He knew that the second he walked out on stage, he would be nothing but a songbird taking flight over valleys of emerald grass and mountains of rustic blues.

“What is up, everybody?!” he heard from the stage. A roar emanated from the crowd. “How y’all doing tonight? I hope everybody is feeling good! We got quite the performers for y’all tonight, so be ready to be amazed! To be entranced! To fall in love with! Kalopsiaaaaaa!” A deafening cry came from the crowd as the band members ran onto stage as they had rehearsed for ages. The cry increased as they waved, greeting their loving fans. The emcee grinned. “Let’s introduce our lovely little players for tonight, shall we?” As the crowd shouted their acquiescence, the emcee meandered over to Elliot, who had taken their spot in the back, resting on their beloved drum set.

“In the back, playing drums with wicked talent is the one, the only, Elliot Shapiro!” A couple eager fangirls screamed, waving frantically at the shy drummer. Elliot finger-gunned the audience, flashing their trademark smirk. “And playing keyboard like he invented the damn thing is Logan Sapienti!” As the crowd shouted and rallied the keyboardist, Logan let his eyes drift across the darkened blob of the audience, scanning the foreign faces for a far more familiar visage he was hoping to see. But he couldn’t see Patton. He bit back the welling worry, instead giving the audience a curt nod.

“And finally, my lovelies, we’ve got the singer and guitarist, the ladies’ man who I hear is more of a gents’ man, Roman Prince!” Logan held back the urge to roll his eyes at the emcee’s dramatic reveal of Roman’s name. Honestly, it wasn’t like they hadn’t played in the venue before. “Alright, ladies, laddies, and non-binary maddies, before I hand the mic over to Princey, have a safe and fun night, eat your vegetables, and take your meds! And for our resident drivers named Chad, remember to wear a seat belt!” A select few hooted at the emcee, knowingly used to this sort of fuckery. The emcee gave an enthusiastic bow, handing the mic to Roman before sashaying off stage.

“Hello, everybody!” Roman said. The crowd responded as usual, cheering. “We’ve got a great set list for you tonight, with a couple of surprises we’ve thrown in there just to make sure you don’t get too hungover before the fun’s even begun!” Roman glanced at Logan, who gave the singer a subtle smile, nodding once. “Our first song tonight is a little song we wrote when we first got together, called Mellifluous. Now, without further ado, let’s kick it!”

Without another moment to waste, Elliot started up the drum line, Logan soon joining in on the keyboard. This was now his favorite song to play, mostly because the title reminded him so much of Patton’ laugh. Patton. Suddenly reminded of his true motives for this show, he looked up at the crowd. Now that the lights shining in his face had dimmed, he could make out the facial features of each person much better. There was a fair amount of people, some 50 or 60 all gathered in the small space allotted for the concert, but it was beginning to look like Patton was not among the patrons present. His heart dropped as one of his fingers hit the wrong note. Logan immediately noticed and cringed, correcting his mistake quickly. He caught Roman sending him a worried glance from the corner of his eye.

“And the sound of your voice is mellifluous. Boy, you know you’re promiscuous. And maybe I’ll never get to have you, but I’ll somehow get through.” Logan blinked back the tears that were threatening to form. When he, Roman, and Elliot had originally written the song, it had been Roman who was hopelessly in love with someone he never got; now, though, it was himself, so deeply in love with Patton he didn’t even know where to begin.

And then he spotted those familiar baby blue eyes that sparkled in sunlight. Logan nearly choked on his breath, unable to keep a small smile from his face as his brain recognized the eyes, and the person they belonged to: Patton. Almost as though he heard Logan’s thoughts, Patton’s eyes flickered from Roman jamming out the chorus to him, stopping his heart with the bright, wavering smile Patton gave him, waving.

The song ended all too soon. The roar of the audience was deafening, but knowing Patton’s voice was somewhere in the babbel made it slightly more bearable. After the din subsided, Roman took hold of the mic once more, introducing the next song on their playlist. It went by like a blur, and all too soon they were at the last two songs they would play that night. The first he cared little for, it was some typical love song that meant the world to Roman and Virgil. He played as though it meant the world to him, too, but inside he was longing for the finale- Africa. The one by Toto. While he knew many of his age considered the song to be a meme and paid little critical attention to it, he enjoyed its melody and rhythm. There was also the added plus of it being Patton’s favorite song, thanks to an overhead conservation between the baker and Virgil, but, well… it’s not like Logan liked the song only for that reason…

He watched Roman with envy as he sang so beautifully, so truthfully of his love for Virgil. His eyes unwillingly flickered towards Patton, whose sky eyes glanced away as he blushed, indicative of being caught staring. He offered a bright smile to the baker as soon as he looked back.

All too soon the song ended, Roman sending a quick wink to his lover hidden within the throng. His nerves began to creep into the forefront of his mind like ivy crawling up the ancient brick wall of a tenant building. If their last song was for Roman and Virgil, this song was for him. And, hopefully, for Patton.

“Alright, guys!” Roman quipped, his smile brighter and wider with the end of Falling Slowly. “We have one final song for you guys on this rainy night! It’s a song you all know and love, a song you’ve heard since forever, a song we grew up knowing. Can anyone guess what it is?” The audience all called out songs from their childhood, some well-known and others far more obscure. As the calls died down, Roman spoke again. “To be honest with you guys, all I heard was someone screaming ‘All Star’, and while I, too, enjoy that song, that’s not what we have in store for you all tonight.” From the back came a loud groan, sparking laughter from others. “Instead, we have one of Logan’s favorite songs, Africa by Toto! Enjoy, my lovelies, and have a wonderful rest of the night!”

This was it. He was going to put his heart and soul into this song, and goddamnit he was going to make Patton see how deeply he’d fallen if it was the last thing he ever did. He gave himself a moment to collect his thoughts before he began to play, fingers tapping each key as though the melody was ingrained in his memory. He heard Roman begin to sing, crooning in his typical style. Of course, they had decided to go with a more pop-rock cover of the song, with a heavy bass guitar accompanying his keyboard. It suited his edge.

He almost forgot to sing when the chorus came up. It took him out of his headspace, back into the real world, to focus on the keyboard and the words spilling from his mouth. The second verse came up, and Roman dropped out, leaving him alone with his raw voice full of all the emotions he’d been bottling up those past weeks.

“I seek to cure what’s deep inside. Frightened of this thing that I’ve become,” he sang, nearly cringing at the hard edge in his voice that revealed all the feelings inside of him. Do it for Patton, he told himself. Do everything for him.

He was finally allowed to let his mind wander a few paces during the instrumental- they had practiced this sequence specifically so many times he could do it with his eyes closed. Which, in fact, he was. He was picturing Patton in front of him, swaying on the dancefloor, dancing for him and him alone. His innocent blue eyes were watching Logan, teasing him of what he might never have if he didn’t do this.

Logan remembered he was still alive, still in this moment, still playing a song. His eyes ripped open, blinded by the stage lights that were watching him so judgmentally. His heart jumped into his throat, recalling the part that came next.

“It gonna take a lot to drag me away from you; there’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.” He and Roman sang together a capella, their voices the sole noise in the venue. Both of them, he knew, were singing for someone they couldn’t bare to let go.

He was desperate for Patton to hear the truth in his words, to hear the hidden meaning behind in his voice. Perhaps this limerence was but ephemeral, but he would be lying if he said he would not regret knowing what sort of special memories he would make along the journey to oblivion. He only hoped Patton would understand.

He began pressing each chord in rhythm with the beat. His voice rang out, a deep bass against Roman’s tenor. “I bless the rains down in Africa.”

Please, Patton. Be my rain. Drench me in love, and all things foreign to me.

His eyes locked with Patton, whose eyes beheld something unfamiliar, something wild and… scared. Patton’s face scrunched up as though he was about to cry and then his eyes left his own, leaving him alone and searching once more.

He could only watch and keep playing as Patton turned away, unseen by anyone but him, and pushed through the crowd, running outside into the rain. The song wouldn’t end quick enough. But he still had the applause to get through. He had to be polite, of course.

The second the curtains dropped, Logan raced for the back door, grabbing an umbrella from the coat check on his way out. He didn’t even tell Roman where he was going, he just bolted after Patton, praying he was still outside.

The raindrops splattered across his face, feeling more like bullets that little drops of water from the heavens. His breath was in his throat, his heart beating to a time too fast to be counted. Patton, Patton, he had to find Patton. His head snapped up, eyes searching frantically for this chance before it slipped out of his hands like sand in an hourglass.

And then he saw him.

Patton was hugging his sides awkwardly, swaying in the pounding rain as he waited for someone. The glow of the venue’s sign lit up his body, an aura of bright blue surrounding him like some sort of fluorescent angel. The luminescence also lit up the tears rolling down his face as he bit his lip, choking back soft cries.

“Patton? Are you alright?”

Patton’s head whipped towards him, his face contorting into something unknown to him. The baker put on a brave face, his smile wide but wavering. “Oh, hi, Logan… I’m fine, you don’t need to worry about me!” Logan cocked an eyebrow. Something was off. Patton’s smile was too tight, his eyes were too tired, his breathing was too shallow- oh.

“Patton, are you having a panic attack?” he asked frankly. Patton’s eyes widened, embarrassment flashing across his face before he schooled himself into a calmer expression.

“N-no. I’m okay, Logan. Please, don’t worry about me,” he replied a little too quickly. Logan watched Patton for a second, studying him, before he threw all logic to the wind and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the baker in a tight hug. Patton squeaked at the action, freezing in his arms.

“It’s alright, Patton. It’s just you and me out here. If you need to let anything go, I’m here to listen,” he whispered. He felt Patton’s shoulders begin to shake as he went limp in Logan’s arms. “Patton…?” he asked gently as he heard a quiet sob come from the baker.

“...I’m sorry…” he cried.

“Wh- hey, hey, Patton, look at me, look at me,” he ordered, taking Patton’s face into his hands. Patton’s eyes were red, full of tears, his usual smile now absent. “I don’t what you’re apologizing for, but I promise, it’s alright. There’s no need to apologize.”

“I feel so guilty…” Patton whispered, burying his head into his chest as Logan rubbed Patton’s back tenderly.

“...for what?” He didn’t want to ask it- he was scared of what the answer might be- but he knew Patton needed to tell someone, for his sake and for Logan’s.

“...every time I look at you, I feel guilty for feeling so many things all muddled together inside my heart. You deserve someone… someone who can smile all the time and mean it. Not someone who has to take stupid pills to keep himself sane. Not me.” Logan felt the air rush of out him at Patton’s revelation, unsure what to say that would soothe the sobbing baker.

“Patton, I… I’m rather unsure of your meaning…” he said carefully. Patton pulled away from the embrace, his big eyes staring into his soul. Galaxies above, he wanted to kiss Patton so badly right now, kiss away all this man’s pain.

“I shouldn’t be feeling this way every time you speak Logan. I shouldn’t feel my heart skip a beat every time you look at me. I shouldn’t spend my nights wondering what you’re up to, wondering if you think about me the way I think about you. But I do, Logan, I do feel all of these crazy things and I don’t know what to do with it. And I feel guilty because… well, I shouldn’t be feeling this way,” Patton blurted. In a whisper, so hushed he could hardly hear it over the sound of rain’s heartbeat, he added, “I shouldn’t be in love with you.”

He felt his heart stop, his hands freezing in their motions. Holy shit. Had he heard Patton correctly?

His shock was misinterpreted, apparently, as Patton’s face fell, tears brimming in his eyes. Perhaps it was just the rain. “Oh… you… you don’t…” Patton untangled himself from his arms as he screamed at his mind to start working once more. He turned away from Logan, ready to run, when at last the performer’s brain rebooted. He grabbed Patton’s arms, breath catching in his throat.

“Patton! Please, don’t leave,” he pleaded, blinking away the raindrops that blurred his vision.

“Why?” Patton demanded, words full of hurt and heartache. “You only invited me as a friend. It’s not like you love me. Why do I have to stay if it only means my heart is going to ache a little while longer?”

He fell silent, the only sound between them the patter of rain on unfeeling concrete. “...I thought you understood what I meant by asking you to the performance…” he mumbled. Patton’s eyes finally flickered back to meet his, full of hope. “I meant to ask you out… as a date.”

Patton stepped back, utterly stunned at his confession. “You… as a… are you serious?” Logan swallowed nervously despite knowing full well there was little to be nervous about.

“Yes. In the months since we have met, I have become quite enamored with you, Patton. I enjoy your company and your smile and your laugh and dozens upon dozens of tiny little details about you that I could write entire journal entries about. Everything about you fascinates me, Patton- more than fascinates me. I’m enthralled by your existence, and I’ve become obsessed as a result. I can’t stop thinking about how your eyes crinkle in the corners when you smile, how you smell like comfort food and freshly baked cookies, how your kindness extends to each and every being. To put it quite frankly, Patton, I’m no longer infatuated with you; rather, it seems I’ve fallen quite deeply in love with you. And, if you would be willing, I would like to date you, to see if perhaps you love me, too.”

Patton’s mouth was agape in surprise. “Are you… are you asking me out?”

“...Yes? Forgive me, I’ve never really been one for romance, so I’m… inexperienced on my part,” he replied sheepishly. For each moment Patton was silent, the dread in Logan’s stomach grew exponentially.

“I think I would really like to be your boyfriend, Logan,” Patton at last whispered. All of a sudden, he felt his world shift, and Patton had never looked more beautiful, standing under a blinking neon sign, rain drenching him, his eyes and smile full of bittersweet hope. Maybe they would crash and burn and remember nothing but the taste of rain gone sour with time. But maybe they wouldn’t, and they would let themselves run free, creating memories they could look back upon and smile at. They at least had to try.

His heart was soaring, his smile unstoppable. Patton suddenly sneezed as Logan realized they were still in the pummeling rain, and he’d yet to open his umbrella. Swiftly, he shook off the beads of water collecting on the umbrella and opened it, protecting them both from the rain. He glanced back at Patton, who was biting his lips, staring up at him. His heart pounded. “Patton, may I… may I kiss you?”

Patton gasped softly, steadily nodding.

He moved slowly, hesitant in his movements, ready to pull back at moment’s notice. Logan’s eyes closed just before Patton’s as their lips met. It was a short, shy kiss, but the moment they broke it, Logan knew he wanted to kiss Patton again and again for the rest of his life. It seemed Patton wanted it, too, for he grabbed Logan by the collar of his sleeveless jean jacket and pulled him closer, their lips crashing together with far more force than their first kiss.

He, of course, had no idea what he was doing with his hands or his mouth or his head or his legs or his anything. It was Patton who guided him through it, clasping his head between two tender hands, moving against his lips to fit perfectly against them. His mind was spinning, unable to decide whether he should focus on the soft sigh Patton let out or the electricity running through his veins like lightning or the sweet taste of Patton’s lips that reminded him of cotton candy.

They broke for air as all lovebirds must, pressing their foreheads against one another and allowing themselves to smile in the privacy of each other. Logan found himself beginning to giggle at the silliness of it all. He fell silent, however, when he phone buzzed urgently twice.

He pulled it out and paled. “Oh, shit, I forgot to tell Roman where I went.” Patton blanched, having forgotten to tell the same to Virgil. “Virgil is likely with Roman, I’ll let him know you’re with me,” he mumbled, pressing a calming kiss to Patton’s forehead.

[chat log: gay or european]

gay or european: Where are you???

gay or european: Are you with Patton?

gay or european: Virgil’s getting kinda worried

according to the encyclopedia: Apologies for not replying.

according to the encyclopedia: I had

according to the encyclopedia: activities

according to the encyclopedia: to attend to.

gay or european: Wait a fucking second

gay or european: Are you with Patton right now?

according to the encyclopedia: Yes, I’m right outside, why?

gay or european: Oh, hun.

gay or european: Oh, HUN.

gay or european: Did you??

according to the encyclopedia: Did I what?

gay or european: Did you flipping kiss him, nerd?!

according to the encyclopedia: ..

according to the encyclopedia: I’m pleading the fifth.

gay or european: HA!

Logan turned off his phone with a roll of his eyes, chuckling. “Well, I think Roman and Virgil have been adequately informed of our… activities…” he said with a faint blush. Patton smiled demurely, giggling. He was about to turn away and lead Patton back into the venue to meet up with the others when he heard him gasp. He turned back.

“Logan, are you wearing the heart necklace I gave you?” he asked quietly. He nodded shyly, unusually embarrassed. Patton’s face melted into a grin bright enough to outshine a supernova. “That’s so sweet!” he cooed. “It’s looks great on you,” he added gently, grasping Logan’s hand serenely.

Without thinking, he blurted, “Well, of course it look great. I have to dress fantastically. I spent so many years in the closet, after all.”

“Logan…”

“Yes? Is something wrong?”

“Did you just make a dad joke?”

“...none of this makes its way to Roman.”

“Only if you kiss me again.”

“...deal.”

…

“I bless the rains

down in Africa”

…

okay but honestly logan is such a mood in this

also I have NO FREAKING IDEA how to end stories, which is why you get crap like what I just wrote

oh fun fact kalopsia means “a condition, state or delusion in which things appear more beautiful than they really are.” the lyrics for mellifluous are my own, so please for the love of all things Thomas Sanders don’t fucking steal them without my permission first. idiot.

#logicality #Sanders Sides #Sanders Sides AU #human AU #fanfic #decided hell no to formatting because we learned the hard way last time tumblr gives no fucks about how long you spent formatting it in html #Patton Sanders #Logan Sanders #Roman Sanders #Virgil Sanders #Remy Sanders #sleep sanders #africa #the cover is so great I chills every time they do the acapella thing

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rememberstilinski · 8 years ago

Text

stormy nights || stiles stilinski (smut )

word count: 3550

prompt: my smut for lacrosse week!

warnings: smut, swearing

author’s note: this is my first solo smut and i hope you guys like it! let me know if i should keep writing smut. please leave feedback on this!

masterlist

coming soon

California was a dry state. They were in the middle of a drought so rain storms weren't frequent and they didn't occur often. However, when they occurred in Beacon Hills, they were dramatic and it always drove people to stay in their homes because of the heavy wind and extreme coldness from the two elements. Driving in the rain wasn't exactly fun or easy. Y/N couldn't remember the last time she drove in such a heavy downpour, but here she was; on a completely empty road at eight thirty on a Saturday night.

She was on her way to the Stilinski household. Her and Stiles had planned on hanging out that night in an attempt to get their minds off the stress of everything going on in their lives at the moment. They always forgot about all of their worries that way; when they were together. Her fingers beat against the steering wheel as the song she was currently obsessed with sounded through the vehicle and the lyrics fell from her mouth in a perfect harmony. The rain hit harshly on the windshield as the wipers tried to keep her view of the dark road clear.

Out of nowhere, a sputter sounded from the front of car. Her eyebrows furrowed and immediate worry uncoiled itself in her stomach. She pulled to the side of the road just as the car died down. “No, no, no, no.” Y/N muttered as the sound of the car stopped, engine finally faltering. She turned the keys a few times, hoping the car would start up again but it never did.

Y/N grabbed her phone from the purse in the passenger’s seat and decided to try and call Stiles. With just her luck, there was no cell reception. The harsh rain and wind must've blown down the cell towers. “Are you fucking kidding me?” She groaned, turning off her phone and shoving it back into her small, black purse. Well she had two options, she could either walk to Stiles’ house or sit in the car all night. Neither of her choices seemed the best, but the former was the easier one. His house was maybe a five minute walk and it couldn't be that bad, so that's what she went with.

Pulling the keys from the ignition and holding them in her small hands, she pulled the hood of her hoodie onto her head and put the strap of her purse on her shoulder. As soon as she opened the car door, a burst of wind hit her face and the sound of the rain grew louder. Y/N immediately began to second guess her decision, but went with walking anyways. A groan sounded from her mouth when she stepped out of the car and almost instantly became soaked. She closed the door and used the button on her keys to lock up the vehicle.

True to her belief, the walk was five minutes long, but it felt much longer. She shivered as she trudged up the steps of the Stilinski household. Her shoes squeaked as they hit the hard surface and her feet were nearly numb from sitting in their soaked environment. Y/N knocked on the wooden door, fingers just as cold as the rest of her body. The door opened quickly, the boy with a mole scattered face coming into view. The excited smile on his face fell as soon as he saw the state his best friend was in.

Stiles’ jaw immediately dropped as he saw how soaked she was. Y/N continued shivering as he looked at her. “Well are you going to let me in?” Y/N’s voice shook from the coldness that took over her body. He opened the door wider, allowing her to walk into the warm house.

“What the hell happened to you?” Stiles asked, closing the door.

Her arms were crossed over her chest, trying to preserve the little body heat she had. “M-My car died and I had to walk the rest of the way here.” Y/N answered with a slight stutter.

“Why didn't you just call? I would've picked you up.” He motioned her toward his bedroom so he could give her something warmer to wear.

Stiles grabbed a clean towel from the closet and set it on the dresser. “I was going to, but I had no cell service.” He opened the drawer on his dresser and grabbed his lacrosse jersey, handing it to her along with the towel. “You're a lifesaver. Thank you, Stiles.”

“You go change and get warmed up then we can watch Friends like we planned.” He smiled. Y/N nodded and walked into the bathroom connected to his room. She shut the door, but left a small crack. Stiles went down the hall and into the kitchen so he could grab the pizza he'd picked up earlier along with a couple drinks and some boxes of Y/N’s favorite candy. He held the items in his hands as he walked back into the room, but as he walked by the bathroom, he noticed the door was slightly opened and he could see Y/N getting undressed in front of the mirror.

She was completely naked. The drops of water fell from her hair and trailed down her back. Stiles gulped as he watched the droplets of water fall down her silky smooth skin. He knew it was wrong to watch her get dressed, but he couldn't help but feel himself grow aroused. It was as if his feet were planted on the floor and he had suddenly forgot how to move. When he saw her put on the jersey, he knew for a fact that he was rock hard. Something about that girl in his jersey had his mind thinking about all the sinful things he wished to do to her while she wore the piece of clothing.

Stiles shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut trying to get his mind away from the thoughts he was having about his best friend of all people. He walked to the edge of his bed, setting the food down and putting the drinks on the nightstand along with the candy. Stiles grabbed the laptop from his desk and sat on the bed and placed the laptop at the foot of the bed. He scooted back until his back hit the headboard. The thoughts of the girl in the bathroom less than ten feet away remained in the back of his mind. When she walked back into his bedroom, the thoughts grew by tenfold. The jersey fell mid thigh, her wet hair was pushed to the side of her neck now perfectly brushed out, but the droplets of water continued trailing down her skin in a nearly teasing way. However, her hard nipples were the most obvious thing. It was safe to say, that the flimsy material left little of what was underneath to the imagine.

“Thank you for letting me use this.” Y/N smiled softly, pinching the material between her thumb and index finger. As she spoke, Stiles’ eyes trailed up and down her body, causing him to once again swallow nervously.

“Uh, yeah. N-no problem. No problem at all. You're totally welcome.” Stiles stuttered, the nervousness shining through as he spoke. Y/N set her folded clothes on top of the dresser and walked over to the bed. She climbed over his body, placing herself in between his legs, her back against his chest as she leaned back. She pulled the blanket up and over their legs as their favorite show started playing on the screen.

As Y/N began to adjust herself and get comfortable, her ass grazed over his crotch and his eyes squeezed shut. It took everything he had inside of him to not moan out at the brief contact. The position they were in was compromising. Stiles prayed that she wouldn't feel the bulge in the thin material of his sweatpants.

After a few minutes, the two were into the show and didn't really say anything except for the occasional laugh. Her head laid in the crook of his neck, legs intertwined underneath the thin sheet, and his hands rested on her upper thighs, but neither of them thought much of it. Currently, Phoebe was on screen screaming about how she saw Chandler and Monica having sex across the street from Ross’ potential new apartment. Y/N chuckled as Phoebe began to cover her eyes and Rachel tried calming the quirky blonde woman down.

“Who's your favorite character in the show?” Stiles asked, his fingers beginning to draw small circles on her smooth skin.

Y/N pursed her lips in thought. “That's a hard one. I'd probably say Phoebe. But Chandler is a close second. He reminds me of you.”

Stiles quirked an eyebrow. “Why is that?” His fingers continued drawing the patterns as they spoke to each other.

“Probably because you're both very sarcastic and never fail to make me laugh.” Y/N closed her eyes at the relaxing touch of Stiles’ slender fingers. Stiles felt her body relax against him when he trailed his movements just a little bit further down the side of her thigh. He didn't know why, but his fingertips continued grazing the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. Maybe it was because he liked the reaction he was getting out of her. He could hear her breathing pick up just a sliver, but it was enough for him to continue touching her.

Y/N let out a pleasured sigh. She grabbed his wrist and pushed it closer to her core. Stiles took the invitation and let the rough pads of his fingertips graze over her folds. A shiver ran down his spine as he felt the arousal dripping down the inside of her thighs. He was shocked to touch her and instantly feel skin instead of some kind of material.

“No panties?” Stiles mumbled in her ear, his cock beginning to pulse with need.

“They were soaked.” Y/N smirked to herself as she knew just what she needed to do. She grabbed his left hand and began to trail it up her body until it was over her covered breast. She turned her head slightly, her lips slightly touching the skin near the shell of his ear. “And so was my bra.” Her hand squeezed his, his hand squeezing around her breast and that was all it took.

Without any warning, Stiles shoved his middle finger inside her. A moan came from the both of them. Stiles at how warm and soaked she was, Y/N at the pleasure of his finger pumping in and out of her. He added his ring finger and slid the both of his fingers in and out in a torturously slow pace. His thumb started rubbing clockwise on her bundle of nerves.

“Stiles.” Y/N’s eyes fluttered closed, her chest heaving up and down, erotic pants escaping her pretty lips. Her head rolled back, falling onto his shoulder, giving Stiles access to her throat. He placed his lips on her now warm skin so he could plant soft kisses there. Stiles moved his hand under the jersey, fingers trailing over the skin of her stomach, then her rib cage, right under her breast, and then in the valley of her breast.

Her legs clamped shut, holding his hand still as she could feel herself climbing higher. His thumb wrote undecipherable messages and shapes on her clit. He could feel her clenching around his fingers and he knew she was nearly there. “Come on, baby. Let it all go.” He whispered in her ear, teeth nibbling at the shell of her ear. Y/N’s legs shook as she came, constant moans coming from her lips.

When she came down from her high, Stiles pulled his fingers out of her gently and placed them in his mouth, moaning at the sweet taste on his fingers. “You taste so good, baby.” Y/N brought her hand up to behind his head and started running her fingers through his locks of hair. She pulled away from him, turning to look at Stiles.

“Gimme more, Stiles. I want more.” Y/N whispered seductively, looking at his pink lips. Her hands were on each of his thighs as she leaned forward and ran her tongue over the skin on his lips. Stiles had enough of her teasing and captured her lips with his. His hand went to the back of her head, fingers in her still wet hair. She moved closer, placing a leg on either side of him so that she was straddling him.

Her lips trailed away from his and she started kissing along the corner of his mouth to his jawline to his neck and finally stopping on his collar bone, right above the collar of his shirt. Y/N’s fingers curled around the hem of the black t-shirt and pulled it up and over his head. Stiles flipped her over so she was on her back and he crashed his mouth to hers, tongues instantly moving against each other.

Y/N moved her hand up to cup his cheek, but he grabbed her wrist and pushed it down to the bed, holding her down. Stiles grinded his bulge against her center, the friction a delicious feeling he could revel in forever. He pulled the jersey over her head and away from her body. There she was, completely naked in front of him. He could've sworn the sight before him was crafted by the gods themselves.

“God, you're so beautiful.” He whispered. His hand rested on her stomach, but he trailed it upwards until it was in between her breasts. His lips started playing kisses upon her stomach, the occasional purple patch left here and there. Y/N felt herself growing wetter and wetter with each passing second. Never in a million years would she have thought that Stiles could turn her on in such a way. Just his touch was enough to make her want to come and it ignited her with a feeling she didn't know was possible. Of course she'd been with guys before, but none of them knew how to build her up like Stiles clearly did.

Stiles was harder than before if that was even possible. Everything about her was intoxicating and he was starting to feel drunk on everything about her. The smoothness of her skin, the way she tasted, her lips, everything. He knew that after what ever happened that night that he wouldn't be completely satisfied. He knew that it was inevitable for him to want more than just this one time with her.

They both knew that they had feelings for each other, but they always pushed them away. Losing this friendship would devastate both of them and they didn't have the heart to do that to the other person. Stiles loved the girl in his bed and he always would. He always wanted this. He always wanted a relationship with her, but was it really worth the risk of ruining their strong bond?

Y/N sat up and pushed him to the side. She hooked her fingers in the waistband and pulled his sweatpants all the way off his legs, boxers coming down along with the material. Her eyes widened at the generous size he had to offer. Stiles chuckled at her expression and pulled her closer.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked, thumb rubbing over cheek.

That was one of the things she adored about Stiles. He was the sweetest person she'd ever met. He could be a total asshole to other people, but he was always nice to her. He cared about her in a way no one else did. Stiles Stilinski had her heart and she wanted him to know that. No, she needed him to know that.

“Of course I do. Stiles, I…”

He smiled, waiting for her response. “You what?”

Y/N sighed and placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him into her and placing her lips on his. Her tongue ran across his lips, asking for entrance which he allowed. He tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss. His eyelashes fluttered against her cheek as they closed. Thumb moving down her face and running across her jawline. She pushed his back down so his head fell back onto the pillow.

Still kissing Stiles, Y/N grabbed his cock lining it up with her entrance and sinking down on him. They groaned into each other's mouths. Her palms flattened on his chest, moaning at the feeling of Stiles inside of her. Stiles’ hands gripped her hips and she began rolling her hips forward. Her eyes stayed connected with his as she continued riding him after she pulled away from the kiss.

When Stiles hit an amazing spot, a loud moan bounced off the walls and she threw her head back, hair falling down her back. Her fingernails clawed at his chest, leaving scratches in their wake. “Oh, you feel so good, baby. So so good.” Stiles groaned, hips bucking up into hers. He sat up and pulled her closer, their bare chests pressed against each other.

His hands pressed against her back as his breathing grew louder. Y/N’s arms immediately wrapped around his shoulders, nails digging into the skin. Stiles growled as her fingernails scratched at his skin. He flipped her over onto her back, buried down to the hilt inside of her. Y/N all but screamed as he hit her g-spot repeatedly. He pulled her legs higher up on his hips, her back arching.

Her arms wrapped around torso, scratching continuously as the pleasure grew more and more intense. Stiles used his left hand to keep himself from putting all of his weight on her body. His right hand moved behind her back, fingers scrunching up the blue sheets. Stiles pulled her closer to his chest as he could feel her clench around him.

“You're so tight, Y/N. And you're soaking wet.” Stiles sighed, placing kisses onto her clavicle.

“It's all yours, Stiles.” She whimpered into his ear, teeth grazing his skin. “Faster.” The whimper fell from her lips. He obliged and picked up the pace. His thrusts so powerful his hip bone slamming into hers. She could practically feel the bruises on her skin.

He brought his hand down to her clit and began rubbing in quick circles. It didn't take long for her to fall over the delicious edge. She threw her head back against the blue pillow, toes curling and Stiles’ name continuously leaving her swollen, pink lips. “I'm almost there, baby girl.” Stiles grunted into her sweaty skin.

“Come on. Come for me, Stiles.” She looked him in the eyes. Her hand cupping his cheek and pulling him in for a passionate kiss. With that, Y/N felt his cock twitch inside of her and spurts of hot cum emptied inside of her.

He moaned out her name with one last thrust. His body collapsed right next to hers. She started running her fingers through his soft, brown hair. The both of them began to drift into a sleep when she realized she didn't tell him what she wanted to tell him earlier. “Stiles?” Y/N whispered, looking down at him. He was laying on her chest, eyes closed with a soft smile at the corners of his mouth. His hair was messy and a thin layer or sweat was on the top of his forehead.

Stiles hummed in response. “I didn't say what I wanted to say earlier.” Stiles opened his eyes and looked up at her.

“I know what you're going to say. And me too.” He smiled lazily at her. Y/N tilted her head in confusion.

“How do you know what I was going to say?”

“I don't know, but I do too. I feel the same way.” Stiles leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on her nose. Y/N giggled as his eyelashes tickled her skin. “What's so funny?” He pulled away to smile at her.

“Your eyelashes tickled my cheek.” Y/N bit her lip with a smile. Stiles quirked an eyebrow with a mischievous smirk on his face.

“You're ticklish?” Stiles asked, raising her fingers in a ready to tickle position.

“Don't do you dare, Mischief.” She warned. Stiles dove in and began to tickle her. Y/N began to giggle as his fingers tickled at her sides. She rolled over into his chest. “Please, stop. Stop!” Y/N squealed.

“You can say it now.” He told her, still tickling her.

“I love you!” She laughed and his fingers stilled. Her eyes admired every detail of his face. The moles and beauty marks, his eyes seemed to be the brightest she'd ever seen them. “Stiles, I love you.”

Stiles relaxed in his spot on the bed. “I love you, too. I love you.” He leaned in and pressed his lips onto hers. Nothing in their whole lives had ever felt as right as this one moment did. Hell, nothing felt as right as this whole night did. And he owed it all to the rain and his lacrosse jersey.

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