#Lin walks through doors that open tag

[heizlut]

omg this is the first time i do this bc i always think i become a burden when i request sth🫠 BUT I PLUCKED MY COURAGE BC I LOVE YOU AND I HAVE A BOMB ASS IDEA BUT MY WRITING CAPABILITIES CANNOT DO IT JUSTICE. Ok so🫢 childhoofriend!/meandom!genshu lin x childhoodfriend!/sub!reader x childhoodfriend!/teasedom!jiyan after the war (lets pretend genshu didnt disappear/get unalived) and they release their pent up emotions by doing the deed and of course reader is more than happy to welcome them. Reader has enough holes for the two as you said😚😚

POOKIEEEE ILYSM🥹🫶🏼 i hope you like this!!!!!

What are Best Friends For?

〰cw: none

〰tags: sub fem!reader, mean dom!geshu lin, teasing dom!jiyan, all childhood besties with each other, creampie, unprotected sex, oral m!receiving, double penetration, anal, a lil degradation, throat fucking, a dash of stinky angst in the beginning

〰nsfw under the cut

〰m!list here

You always worried for your two best friends considering they were always at each other's throats, always arguing about battle strategies, what was right and wrong, or accusing the other of spending more time with you. You still did your best to act as a mediator or to provide them with whatever type of support they needed, no questions asked.

And right now, they both needed you. More than ever.

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Standing in the middle of battleground, the retroact rain surrounds both of them and all of Geshu Lin's soldiers. If looks could kill, Jiyan would be dead on the spot with the way Geshu Lin glowers at him. Jiyan stands his ground, "This isn't right. There's something wrong with this rain. It would be wise to retreat unless you really want everyone to die here."

Geshu Lin's tongue runs across his teeth before speaking in a biting tone, "Last I checked, you were only a combat medic." He scoffs, speaking again with disdain, "If thousands of my men must die, then so be it. Now shut up and keep moving." Jiyan stands there as the general turns away, barking orders at his soldiers, rage and concern bubbling up inside of him.

They both promised you they would be safe, that they would return home to you unscathed. But with Geshu Lin's bullheaded pride, the chances of coming home to the girl they both loved in their own way seemed unlikely. Jiyan couldn't allow Geshu Lin to go through with this.

"General, listen to me", he calls out. Geshu Lin ignores him at first continuing on until Jiyan's next words make him stop dead in his tracks. "What about y/n...? We made her a promise. Do you truly intend to break it?", Jiyan's voice is sad, almost desperate. Desperate for his arrogant childhood friend to just listen to him for once.

Geshu Lin stands still for a few moments before partially turning back to face Jiyan with narrowed eyes. He can see the sincerity and concern in Jiyan's expression, making something twist inside of his chest. "Put aside your pride, Geshu... Stop this before there is no going back", he pleads with deep resolution.

Geshu Lin grits his teeth, fully turning to look at Jiyan. "I'm doing this because of y/n, not because you personally told me to retreat", he growls out. Relief washes over Jiyan's features, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

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You stand there pacing back and forth by the front window of your house, gnawing at your fingernails, worried as hell for the men you cared for so deeply. Only a few moments later do you hear their voices as they walk up the path towards your home, arguing with each other as usual.

You throw open your front door, running out to meet them with teary eyes and a smile that wobbles as you try not to cry tears of relief, "You're back! I was so worried I-" Jiyan pulls you into his arms, holding you tightly, nuzzling his nose into your hair and breathing in your sweet scent.

"No need to worry anymore, I'm here...", he coos softly earning him a harsh glare from Geshu Lin. Geshu Lin pulls you from Jiyan's grasp and into his own embrace. "I'm here too", he speaks through gritted teeth, keeping his golden eyes narrowed at Jiyan who gives him an incredulous look in return.

You breathe out a laugh as Geshu Lin practically squeezes the life out of you, "I'm happy you're both here." You pull back slightly, only able to because Geshu Lin allows you. You look between the two of them with a little smile, "Let's not fight. We're all here together, so let's enjoy this moment." Geshu Lin grumbles and Jiyan gives a hint of a smile.

"Tell me what I can do to make you both happy", you speak, eyes flitting between the two pairs of intense golden eyes as you offer a solution like you always do. Geshu Lin's lips twitch up in a slight smirk which Jiyan catches, releasing a breath as he addresses him, "Be nice, Geshu..." You raise a brow and Geshu Lin's smirk widens as something glimmers in his dangerous gaze, "No promises."

With that, Geshu Lin scoops you up, making you yelp in surprise as he carries you over his shoulder, practically kicking your door down as he enters your home with Jiyan following behind.

Once inside, Geshu Lin sets you down on the bed unceremoniously which makes you laugh out of both surprise and amusement. Jiyan stands by the edge of your bed, watching Geshu Lin's every move, golden eyes flickering between the two of you.

Geshu Lin begins to peel of his clothes piece by piece with a smirk plastered on his fierce but handsome face. His toned muscles ripple in the soft light of your room, pale cock twitching against his abdomen. Jiyan follows suit, stripping off his clothes and tossing them in a pile on the floor.

Your heart pounds in your chest as you take in the sight of your two best friends bared before you. Their bodies are different yet similar, equally captivating and littered with old scars. Jiyan is the first to move, kneeling between your legs as his hands travel up your thighs, "You're going to be a good girl for us, yeah?"

You breathe out a small 'yes', to his words, making the corners of his lips curl up as he stands back up, both men looking down at you with a mix of danger and pleasure in their eyes. "Then strip", Geshu Lin chimes in with a sharp command as he slowly strokes his cock.

Your breath hitches at his command. Sure this wasn't anything new between the three of you, but only ever separately. You never thought you would be pleasing them both at the same time, but you would do absolutely anything for them. You strip off your tank top and bra, nipples hardening as the cool air of your room brushes over them.

Next comes your shorts, fingers fumbling the with button and zipper as you tug them down your legs along with your panties, exposing yourself fully to your friends' hungry grazes. You watch as they exchange a glace, their silent communication passing through them as though they've finally agreed on something for once.

Their eyes linger on your body as if committing every inch of you to memory. They both approach with predatory grace, Geshu Lin stands close to your face and Jiyan stands in front of your spread legs. Geshu Lin takes your chin in his free hand, tilting your head up to look at him.

"Here's how this is gonna work, doll. You're gonna lay back and put your head over the side of the bed so I can fuck that pretty mouth of yours", his voice steady and commanding.

He nods his head towards Jiyan, "And Jiyan here is gonna play with that pussy." "But don't you even think about cumming until I give you permission to do so", he growls out.

All you can do is nod before you lay back, positioning yourself in the way Geshu Lin told you to. Your head hangs off the side of the bed, Geshu Lin's cock throbbing in front of you as Jiyan crouches between your legs once more, licking his lips at the sight of your twitching hole.

Jiyan's fingers trace over your folds, spreading them as he exposes your wetness. Two fingers tease your entrance, watching intently as your juices glisten in the soft light and make his digits slick.

A soft gasp has your lips parting, allowing Geshu Lin to angle his cock into your mouth. A low groan escapes his lips when he pushes past your soft lips and stretches your mouth open.

The sudden intrusion makes you clench around nothing as Geshu Lin's taste floods your senses. A garbled moan rises from your throat as you feel Jiyan's fingers press against your wet entrance, teasing you before pushing inside. The dual sensations make your body quiver with need and lust.

Each noise you make sends shockwaves of pleasure through Geshu Lin's cock, making him thrust a little deeper. He reaches down, squeezing your breasts in his hands as if using them to anchor himself to you. "Fuuuck... That's right, doll. Take my cock", he moans as he forces his length deeper down your throat, making you choke slightly.

Jiyan's fingers continue to pump into you, his own cock throbbing with need when he feels you clench around his soaked digits, desperate for something bigger to fill you up. His thumb finds your swollen clit, rubbing circles over the sensitive nub.

When Jiyan's finger curl up against your spongy, sweet spot, your back arches up, pushing your chest further into Geshu Lin's grasp. Geshu Lin releases one of your breasts only for his palm to crack down against it, making you let out a choked cry around his cock.

"You better hold off that orgasm, doll. I haven't finished yet", he growls. Jiyan chuckles as you writhe against the sheets, fingers continuously curling up inside of you. "Aww, having a tough time, love?", he coos teasingly, relishing in the way your body aches for more.

You try to speak, to beg them to allow you to cum, but all that comes out are muffled whimpers around Geshu Lin's throbbing cock. You squirm again, helpless against Jiyan's expert fingers, feeling as though your body is on fire. With a snarling growl, Geshu Lin pulls out of your mouth as you gasp for air, "Fuck it. Get on your hands and knees. I'd rather cum in your ass instead."

Jiyan's eyes snap up to his at his sudden change of mind, but pulls his fingers out of you, making you whine at the loss. Jiyan slides onto the bed, leaning back against your headboard as he beckons you towards him, cock twitching and leaking against his stomach, "Why don't you come up here and ride my cock, love?"

Geshu Lin gives him a sharp glare as he interferes with his plans. As you sit up, you look between the two men, one with a playful smirk on his lips as he pats his lap invitingly and the other has a dangerous look in his eyes that dares you to go against him. Geshu Lin scoffs when you crawl over to Jiyan, straddling his lap instead of following his orders.

Jiyan's smirk widens at your choice as he looks up at Geshu Lin, "Uh oh, seems she might have a favorite~" Geshu Lin snarls at his teasing words, but his eyes can't tear away from watching as you sink down on Jiyan's thick cock with a shuddering moan. Jiyan lets out his own breathy groan, eyes fluttering and head lolling back as he bottoms out inside of you.

Geshu Lin's own cock aches and leaks, still desperate to finish what he started. He climbs into the bed, positioning himself behind you. He grabs your hair, twisting it in his fist as he tugs your head back, "I'm not gonna let you two have all the fun."

He presses a searing kiss to your lips before releasing you as Jiyan's hands slide up your waist, pulling you to lean forward against him. With this new angle, Geshu Lin can see the girth of Jiyan's cock stretching out your cunt and your little asshole twitching in anticipation.

Finally, a little smirk plays on his lips as he lines up his tip with your smaller hole, spitting on it and watching as his saliva drips down towards Jiyan's cock. You suck in a breath when you feel it push and tease against the small ring of muscle.

Jiyan licks up your neck, nipping at your pulse point before pressing a soft kiss in the same spot. His breath ghosts against your slick skin as he teases you, "Relax... You can take it, can't you?"

You bite your bottom lip and nod, making the corners of his lips curl up as his eyes lock with Geshu Lin's in a silent confirmation before pressing another kiss to your neck, "Good girl." You let out a sharp cry as Geshu Lin pushing his cock into your ass the same time that Jiyan thrusts up into your wet cunt.

Geshu Lin hisses as your tight muscles throttle his length, "Fucking relax... Shit...." You feel so incredibly full having both of them inside of you at once, the sensation is utterly overwhelming. You try to hard to relax despite the insane stretch in both of your holes as your body struggles to accommodate them.

Jiyan reaches down, playing with you clit to help ease the pressure. "You're our good girl, aren't you, love..." You relax a little, your breasts squished against his broad chest as you whimper.

Jiyan's eyes flit back to Geshu Lin's with a nod. With zero warning, both men begin to thrust into you holes, making you gasp and moan so beautifully for them.

Both men let out husky groans, eyes rolling back as their cocks rub against each others through the thin layer of skin that separates them. The extra pressure and stimulation sends them reeling as they begin a steady, but brutal rhythm.

Jiyan's cock hits the deepest parts of you, pressing up against your cervix with each deep thrust, while Geshu Lin's cock pushes deep into your unexplored depths.

Tears spring in your eyes from both pleasure and pain. Jiyan continues to rub your clit furiously, bringing back that familiar heat that coils up inside of you as they ravish your holes.

Geshu Lin grips your jaw, tilting your head back as he kisses you with a heated and possessive passion. His tongue pushes and moves against yours as his grip tightens and his hips buck forward erratically.

Watching his friends kiss each other sloppily sparks a possessive and jealous flame within Jiyan. Wanting to bring your attention back to him, he grips your hips and thrusts up especially hard, smirking when you gasp against his friend's lips.

Geshu Lin rolls his eyes as he pulls away from your lips, but moves his hand down to your throat, squeezing lightly. "You're pathetic, you know that?", he scoffs.

You can't tell if that comment was meant for you or for Jiyan but the degradation of his words has you clenching down on both their cocks, making them moan.

Jiyan rubs your clit faster as he spurs on your impending orgasm, "Come on, baby. Cum for us." Your eyes flutter and Geshu Lin applies more pressure to your throat as he whispers harshly in your ear, "I wanna feel you squeeze my cock again. Bet you like being fucked in the ass, huh, doll?"

You whimper, wanting to protest but that would be a fucking lie. It doesn't take long for the coil inside of you to snap as your juices gush all over Jiyan's cock. Both holes milk their cocks for all they're worth as they both shudder and groan, releases load after load of sticky, hot cum inside of you.

Their cocks throb and twitch as they begin to soften inside of you. With another shared look between them, they pull out of you at the same time, making you mewl from overstimulation. Their golden eyes lock onto your holes as their cum drips and and dribbles down your thighs and onto the sheets below.

"Goddamn...", Geshu Lin rasps at the sight. Jiyan feels his spent cock twitch again, arousal pooling in his belly once more. You collapse against Jiyan as he wraps his arms around your waist, holding you close. Geshu Lin sits down beside him and puts his fingers under your chin, making you look to him.

"Give me a kiss", Geshu Lin's voice is softer now, but still holds that commanding edge. You lean towards him, pressing your lips to his gently. He sighs into the kiss, feeling all the tension release from his body. When you pull back, Jiyan redirects your gaze to him, pointing to his own lips with a slight teasing smile, "Me too, love."

You smile a little at both of their antics, but lean forward, kissing him just as softly. Jiyan smiles against your lips before you pull back. Looking between the two of them, your closest friends since childhood, you feel your heart ache with love in your chest.

Leaning forward, you embrace both of them, catching them off guard, "I love you both. I'm glad you're here with me." The sentiment makes them swell with emotions they would rather keep under wraps, but they both love you. They truly do. Always have.

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a/n: whew it got a lil emotional at the end there🥲

[n3ptoonz]

'Closer'

Pairing: Smoke/F!Reader

Fandom: Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)

Warnings/tags: SMUT! Explicit!! Msub to Mdom, fluff elements, we use Tomas around these parts (literally and figuratively), implied breeding knk, dirty talk near the end, Tomas is a lover boy with a filthy mind, riding

Word count: 1.8k+

When he met you, his whole world was flipped upside down in the best way possible. You were strong, physically and emotionally, and tolerated no bullshit. All with grace and beauty. You were almost the opposite of him in personality, which drew him in even further since the day he met you at Madam Bo's. You were one of the customers that stayed behind to help out when the test was going, having you think the Lin Kuei was really trying to take over the restaurant.

You were and still are a fierce fighter. You really almost beat him if he didn't go invisible to take you down. So now, he was absolutely infatuated with everything about you. The day he came back to you, letting you know about the break in Kuai Liang and Bi Han's relationship and Kuai's new clan; how quick you were in agreeing to follow him wherever he goes was just the icing on the cake.

Tomas opened the door for you, a bright smile shining on his face. He finally married the woman of his dreams after so long of you proving you were fit to marry into the clan, which he held dear to his heart.

You kissed his cheek as a thank you, walking further into your suite. You both made your way to the back door, taking in some of the view --that wasn't covered by the fence--of Outworld's biggest city: Edenia.

"Beautiful..." Tomas murmured, "The view too." he chuckled, nudging you playfully.

You playfully rolled her eyes, nudging him back from his cute little joke. You wrapped your hands around his arm, laying your head on his broad shoulder as you two stared at the blue sky that was soon to change colors, sighing in content.

"If this is a dream, don't wake me up." you mumbled, quietly but just loud enough for him to hear what you said. You looked up at him, tracing the muscle lines on his thick biceps. It was one of your favorite physical features about him, his beautifully sculpted arms from the years and years of training in the Lin Kuei.

Tomas felt warmth spreading through his chest as you cuddled against him, and from the sound of your voice filled with pure contentment.

Leaning in, Tomas captured your lips in a gentle, lingering kiss. His hands found their way to your waist, pulling you closer. The delicate taste of your lips alone was intoxicating, causing a surge of desire to wash over him. The moment felt surreal and yet undeniably real, like a long-awaited fulfillment of your love.

Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against yours, his breaths coming out in soft, ragged puffs. "My beautiful wife," he murmured your name, his voice filled with devotion. "I am so lucky to finally be able to say you are mine, and I am yours. This honeymoon will be unforgettable, just you wait." he whispered, nuzzling his nose with yours with the giddiness that a newlywed would be expected to have.

You gently ran your fingers through his short silver locks, smiling at his love professions. Your gaze shifting oh so slightly, but he could easily tell what it meant after being with you for so long.

"Why don't show me in the hot springs?" you whispered, slowly pulling away from him and letting your eyes linger on him. You got undressed, wrapped yourself in a towel off the shelf, and headed towards the back door with a sway in your hips, looking back at a blushing Tomas.

"Well?"

Tomas couldn't help but stammer over his words as he stared at you. You've only ever engaged in intimate moments with each other a few times in the 5 years you've been together pre-marriage, but never got to the sexual part. This good old fashioned lover boy was raised on the idea that partners are to be cherished, and there were far more ways to show your love for someone without it always resulting in sexual activity.

However, today, that was about to change.

You both settled into the hot springs after washing up, sighing in relaxation. He stole a glimpse of you looking up at the sky changing from blue to yellow as the sun was setting along the horizon. One small part of him was nervous. Not because he was sitting across from you and your naked figure that was obscured by the water, but because this was your first time together. He hadn't much time to think about this sort of thing due to his new role in the Shirai Ryu and actively protecting Earthrealm. So this moment was very important and special to him.

"The sun's about to set." you said, looking over at him who was nearly frozen in place--his gaze already meeting yours.

"Outworld's skies are always so beautiful at night." you continued, tilting your head to the side and trying to get a read on him.

"I can think of something prettier..." he murmured. The calm waves rippling over his biceps and collarbones made your mouth water. He always found a way to round a statement back to how beautiful he found you, and he meant it every time seldom shame.

"Yeah? What's that?" you asked, slowly standing up out of the water. As soon as it dropped back down, the remaining drops just continued to fall down every inch of your body. The closer you stepped towards him, the more he could see the sun rays bounce off the water reflection sticking to your skin.

Tomas's next words were caught in his throat. The mere sight of the water dripping from your breasts, to your hips, to your thighs--and how some of the drops fell in between them. You re-settled into his lap and let his hands instinctively grab your hips.

Was this all a dream? A simulation? How did he get such a good-looking individual that could fight her heart out against strangers that were twice her size? Ugh, he felt so lucky and so selfish at the same time. He had you all to himself, and all his dreams were to be fulfilled.

"I...You-"

You slowly sank down into his lap, drinking in his moans with a kiss. His body tensed underneath you as you took all of him. You briefly broke the kiss for a second to gasp at how much he filled you up.

"Tomas..." you breathed out, sitting still for a moment while you adjusted and gripping his shoulders.

He shuddered at the sound of his name escaping from your lips, letting his soft hands feel you up as much as he pleased.

"Take it, baby...it's all yours..." he whispered against your lips and smiled, pecking the corner of your mouth. "Take your time, we've got all night long."

This was your first time together and in general. All those times of sneaking off just for a few kisses and hugs were absolutely nothing in comparison to this.

Every movement of your hips felt like pure bliss for both ends. It's like your body was made for him and vice versa. The water making the flow smoother added a perfect touch too.

You could feel Tomas gripping your sides, panting like he just ran a mile.

"Shit-" he said, pulling you closer and letting himself loose. You softly gasped at the feeling of warm liquid pumping inside you, and it definitely wasn't the water from the hot springs.

His breaths were shaky and his body trembled beneath you. His face was bright pink from embarrassment since he didn't expect to cum so quickly.

You cupped his cheeks in yours hands and just looked at him with adoration.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, I'm actually flattered," you said, whispering the last part, "But we aren't done just yet."

-

The loud sounds of skin smacking together mixed with heavy breaths and moans filled the room like there was no tomorrow. You two managed to make your way back to the hotel room and get to work, but Tomas's attitude did a complete flip.

Underneath that lover boy, sweetheart exterior, tonight his main goal was to spread you wide and take you like you were his. because you are his, and he's yours, forever. Tomas was always the kind of man who made sure you were top priority. Nothing was changing tonight. In fact, it's being put into more practice tonight.

He had you on your side and holding your thigh in one hand while his free arm was wrapped comfortably around your neck. He couldn't help but feel obligated to give you the best time of your life after cumming so prematurely, and he knew that his bicep being so close to your face would send you into overdrive.

You were speechless. The words he uttered into your ear while he fucked into you had you stuttering and gasping. You grabbed and clawed at his arm, tears forming in the corners of your eyes from the overwhelming pleasure you received, pleading he doesn't stop.

As you neared your climax, he was getting closer too, as it was all going to his head in the hottest way possible. You had never seen such a side of him even though you knew he had it in him whenever you saw him fight. But this? Oh, this was different. This was sexually frustrated, passionate Tomas, who wanted to give you everything he had.

"I'm gonna cum inside you one more time, and you'll be having twins." he said, his voice getting raspier as he gripped your thigh a little tighter. You whined and clenched around him, still unable to form words and nearly drooling from the side of your mouth.

You came first, trembling under his touch and slightly bucking once his final thrust hit your sweet spot. You were simply a mess by the time he was finished with you, and you couldn't be happier.

He, in fact, came inside you one more time. That twins line surely did a number on you. You wondered just where the hell he had been hiding this side for as long as you knew him.

You both cleaned up and finally rested, tangled in each other's arms and lovingly looking into each other's eyes.

"Where'd you learn to talk like that?" you asked in half jest, playing with his hair.

"Honestly? I was surprised myself...But I was dedicated to taking care of you on this special night. And I hope I didn't freak you out with that whole twins thing..."

You raised your eyebrow, shaking your head to reassure him. "Please, I'd have your triplets."

"Deal." he responded rather quickly, earning a playful roll of the eyes and shared laugh between you two.

----

a/n: hii if you made it to the end, just know since bi han won in the poll i posted a few days ago he will be next so stay tuned! <3 also my asks are now open i finally figured it out

[certkidwhocantdomath]

The Lin Kuei's Grandmaster vs A Soul-Stealing Sorcerer

Additional tags: Shang Tsung is an Asshole, Blind Character, Blindfolds, Collars, Leashes, Slight BDSM, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bottom Johnny Cage, Top Shang Tsung, Top Bi-Han, Slight Humor, Tomas is a Sweetheart, Kung Lao is a Dumbass, Tomas & Bi-Han friendship

💙⑅*˖•. ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .•˖*⑅💙

Shang Tsung was in love with his fiance.

The sorcerer hadn't made it obvious but he had a sneaking suspicion about his feelings towards his fiance.

Bi-Han wasn't sure for how long but he heard Takahashi say something about the sorcerer looking at Johnny with desire, greed and hunger ever since he was blinded.

Just the mere thought filled Bi-Han with rage. He hasn't been this angry since his argument with Takahashi.

But now, he finally gets the opportunity to beat Shang Tsung black and blue during this very mission. Johnny had taken the last stand, according to Takahashi, and allowed himself to be captured to save his allies; getting stabbed through the stomach by General Shao and nearly dying in the process.

After hearing this, Bi-Han's eyes were full of uncontrollable rage and his aura was enlaced with murderous, baneful, bloody and destructive intent. Tomas and Kuai Liang had sent him concerned looks as even without the ability to sense auras, they could still feel the murderous aura he was letting out.

Bi-Han was brought to the present by a hand on his shoulder.

Ashrah.

Johnny and the demoness had gotten closer after their mission on Earthrealm and defeating Ashrah's sister.

"You should calm yourself, Bi-Han. Being so full of rage will not help us rescue Johnny." She politely advised.

Truthfully, she was not supposed to join them on this mission. She was supposed to watch Cassie(for she is the only other person Bi-Han trusts with Cassie, besides Kuai Liang and Tomas) as Kung Lao, Kenshi, Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, Tomas, Syzoth and Raiden are all going on this mission.

But Liu Kang himself had offered to watch Cassie in their absence. It was surprising but not unexpected. Bi-Han knew the god was fond of his daughter.

Liu Kang opened a portal in front of them leading to the outside of Shang Tsung's castle.

"Dad?" He heard his daughter call out from behind Liu Kang's leg, "please bring papa back safely." She quietly begged.

Bi-Han walked over to Cassie, kneeling to her height and removed his mask.

"I promise, Cassandra. I will bring him back to us." He promised his daughter with a kiss to her forehead, she smiled at this action.

Her smile was a copy of Johnny's.

Bi-Han could feel the eyes of everyone on him, not used to the usually so cold and stoic Grandmaster showing affection so publicly.

Bi-Han stood back up and put his mask back on, turning back and walking towards the portal with the other kombatants moving aside to make way for him, some slightly bowing their head.

Time to save his fiance.

─────────ೋღ💜ღೋ─────────

Johnny was in so much pain.

He hasn't been in this much pain since he was blinded by Mileena. Or since Alala trained him.

The heavy golden collar around his neck was a pain and he had nothing to do but play with the gold chain of the collar or sleep.

Ever since his capture, he was forced to wear a yellow crossed turtleneck crop top, a gold body chain attached to his neck and right shoulder, black high slit harem pants with another gold chain wrapped around his waist, a gold bracelet with rings on his right hand, a gold with three rings on his left hand and black leather shoes with straps that crossed over his feet. Hell, even his blindfold was replaced with an acidic green one.

The color scheme perfectly matched Shang Tsung's and Johnny had to admit; he looks good in this outfit. But he'll look even better if it had Bi-Han's color scheme.

Johnny was brought out of his musing by the door opening.

"Did you miss me, my dear?"

Shang Tsung.

Oh yeah, did he mention he has been forced to sleep in Shang Tsung's room?

"No. I was actually in peace when you were gone."

"Hm, shame. I quite missed you."

The sorcerer walked over to him and his hands clung to the star's waist.

Johnny felt the sorcerer's hot breath caress his collar bone and suddenly his mouth was suddenly sucking on it.

Johnny wanted to punch him or at at least push him off but he knew he couldn't.

The whip marks marring his back proved that.

So he just layed back and allows Shang Tsung to do whatever.

"Get the fuck away from my fiance." A very deep voice said.

✧༺💚༻✧

Shang Tsung stopped his advances and turned to look behind himself.

Bi-Han.

"Always trying to ruin my fun, Sub-Zero?"

"Fun? That is my fiance you are currently touching.."

The sorcerer pushed himself away from the star, despite his displeasure to do so.

Fiance?

They were to be married? In such short time?

That made Shang Tsung's blood boil.

There was silence for several seconds before they dashed at the other, slamming his forearm with his claws deployed against the Grandmaster's ice engulfed one.

"You insolent little-"

"Are you jealous I am to marry the greatest man in Earthrealm and you do not?"

The sorcerer sent a strong surge of fiery energy that pushed the Grandmaster far, but he stopped himself by creating a spear of ice which he pulled out of the floor and thrusted at him.

The sorcerer taunted him by swinging and slashing around the air before stopping and getting into a battle stance.

Bi-Han was the first to give a hit but it was swiftly dodged by him.

✩.･*:｡≻───── ⋆💜⋆ ─────.•*:｡✩

Johnny felt the surges of energy and listened to the sounds of punches and kicks being exchanged.

The star coats his hands in a thin layer of red energy and he places it on the chain of the collar. When he heard the collar crack, he coats his hands in much thicker layers of energy.

Eventually, the collar broke off entirely. He massaged his neck for a bit before turning back to the two who were still fighting.

"Johnny, help the others! I'll deal with him." Bi-Han told him and Johnny nodded before engulfing his entire body in red energy and attemped to use super speed to get out but was stopped by other collar wrapping around his neck.

"You cannot leave now. Not after all the effort I put into capturing you." Shang Tsung said.

The chain was frozen by a thick layer of ice and was kicked broken by Bi-Han. The Grandmaster punched the sorcerer square in the cheek, breaking his skin causing him to bleed.

"Get out, Johnny!" He firmly told the star.

Johnny got up again but Bi-Han was sent flying to the far right wall by a strong surge of energy and was stopped again by cuffs around his wrists and was dragged right back to Shang Tsung.

Johnny, on his knees, looked up at the looking figure that is Shang Tsung. "You are not going anywhere, my dear." He said with a lascivious smirk.

Shang Tsung was then aggressively tackled to the floor by Bi-Han and there they wrestled.

"Go Johnny!" Bi-Han yelled.

Johnny got up once more but instead of running off he tackled Shang Tsung, who was on top of Bi-Han.

He repeatedly punched Shang Tsung in the face. But was sent back by a green surge of energy.

Quan-Chi.

"It seems your sweetheart is angry." He mockingly told Shang Tsung.

"Keep your mouth shut." The sorcerer firmly told his colleague.

Bi-Han grabbed Johnny by the hand and pulled him up.

"Why didn't you leave?" Bi-Han firmly asked.

"There was no was in hell I was letting you fight him alone." Johnny replied just as firmly.

Johnny could feel Bi-Han looking him up and down, either judging the outfit or because of his response. But he heard him turn away and get back into a fighting stance, Johnny did the same and surrounded his body in red energy.

The two sorcerers at the opposite side of the room also got into fighting stances.

Johnny sent an energy blast towards Quan-Chi but the sorcerer created a portal and sent it outside.

Bi-Han created spikes of ice at the Shang Tsung but he quickly dodged and sent a surge of magic to Bi-Han but was absorbed and redirected by Johnny, causing it to hit Quan-Chi instead.

They continued to exchange blows for a bit before they were interrupted by someone yelling.

"Bi-Han!"

Kenshi Takahashi.

▬▬ι═══════>💀<═══════ι▬▬

"Bi-Han! You and Johnny have to get out! Tomas placed two bombs within the castle!" Kenshi yelled to the Grandmaster and Seido Warrior.

Tomas in question looked proud of himself, arms crossed with a smirk, for bringing a fucking demolition bomb and C4. Apparently, those bombs have been sitting in Tomas' pockets, waiting to be used, for over four-fucking-weeks.

No one bothered asking why, how and when Tomas got those bombs.

Syzoth looked like he wanted to ask because he opened his fanged mouth but was quickly stopped by Scorpion.

"Don't. You do not want to know." He told the Zatteran.

Syzoth was silent for a few beats. "Very well then.." He then said.

Kenshi rolled his eyes, "The bomb will explode in 15 seconds!" He yelled once more to the soon-to-be married couple.

"Wait- 15 seconds? I thought it was 20 seconds!" Kung Lao asked, or rather, yelled.

Kenshi face-palmed while Scorpion dropped to the grass in pure agony of Kung Lao's stupidity.

"Kung Lao, my dearest friend, my most loyal companion, my greatest ally.. 5 seconds have already passed." Raiden explained to his friend.

Kung Lao looked like he just found out the biggest secret in all of the timelines. "Ohh! Okay, sorry guys!" He rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward smile.

Suddenly the sound of glass shattering caught their attention.

In front of them, Johnny glowing red with Bi-Han in his arms; being held bridal style.

....::::**•°❄❇☸❇❄°•**::::....

Wha- two bombs?

How? Wh-why??

Did they not think about the people inside the building???

Speaking of such, Shang Tsung and Quan-Chi left the room when Takahashi yelled; probably to find and dismantle the bombs.

"Bi-Han," Johnny called, "I have an easy way to get down but you won't like it." His fiance admitted.

.

.

.

"No."

"Bi, c'mon! You seriously want to take the stairs?"

"I would much rather take the stairs-"

"And die?! I don't know about you but I would like to live until our wedding and have children with you."

Bi-Han blushed at the idea of having children with Johnny.

"Fi.. Fine..." Bi-Han quietly agreed.

Johnny glowed red and he picked the Grandmaster up like a sack of potatoes, slightly stepping back to create momentum and Johnny sprinted.

Bi-Han hid his face within Johnny's neck to shield his face from the glass shards.

Johnny hit the ground on his knees with a light thud.

Strangely enough, Kuai Liang was on his forearms and knees, Kung Lao was rubbing his neck with an embarrassed and awkward smile while Takahashi had face-palmed himself.

Johnny gently put Bi-Han down, allowing the Grandmaster to get on back his feet.

"Brother! Are you alright?" Tomas asked.

"Yes, Tomas, I am quite alright." Bi-Han replied.

Suddenly a loud explosion was heard.

Actually, scratch that.

Two loud explosions were heard; one to the left and the other to the right.

Everyone watched as the explosions destroyed Shang Tsung's castle.

Deserved.

-----HEADCANON W/ AUTHOR'S NOTE-----

• Johnny's powers are multi-colored with each color giving Johnny a certain power.

- red = battle

- orange = strength/super strength

- yellow = speed/super speed

- green = healing

- blue = empathy(Johnny can feel what a person is feeling but he can also manipulate emotions)

- indigo = mediumship(Johnny can basically talk to ghosts)

- violet = pain(Johnny can cause third, maybe even fourth, degree burns if he is violet)

- black = destruction(Johnny can destroy anything)

The reason for this is because I'm indecisive. I wanted to give Johnny his green powers but a different color and I couldn't decide which one. Also, I know black isn't in ROYGBIV but I googled "colors that mean destruction" and that's what popped up.

These are what inspired Johnny's outfit:

This one is yellow☝️

The outer part is black while the inner is acidic green☝️

Just remove the flippin' Nike logo☝️

Now for the accessories:

This one's gold☝️

this one's gold and is on his other hand☝️

I might make a fic explaining how Johnny was blinded, how he was stabbed by General Shao and revived by Shang Tsung and the argument between Kenshi and Bi-Han.

And another thing. This isn't canon to my headcanons; after Johnny was stabbed in the chest(yes, chest not stomach), he was supposed to face Shao's army alone, fight Reiko, die for two weeks, get saved by my demonic OC, revived and reunited with his friends.

And one more thing. Alala is an OC- she was the one who trained Johnny when he was in Seido. She is also a member of the Karlatun Clan. Alala's name is a Greek name meaning "war-cry".

[clonemedickix]

Okay I apologize ahead of time, but I thought this somewhat appropriate for my day. 😬

Rating: M

Word count: 2k ish?

Pairing: OC General Lara Lin

Warnings: Death, grief, miscarriage. Slight fusion with LOTR

Excerpt Summary - Lara reflects on the loss of her first daughter, and her reasons for keeping relationships at a distance.

@anxiouspineapple99 @blueink-bluesoul @523rdrebel @mandos-mind-trick @jediknightjana @moonlightwarriorqueen @wizardofrozz @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @dystopicjumpsuit @villanousace @mythical-illustrator

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NOTE: Full works are mature to explicit themed. MINORS DNI. Under 18 DNI

Excerpt beneath line:

Lara got out of her truck and grabbed her backpack, walking into her house tiredly. Nothing had jumped out and said BOO but you never knew these days. She went through her normal routine, turning on the few lights she regularly used on her path to her bedroom. She took off her hospital contaminated clothes and got a shower, then put on her comfortable sleep clothes - an extra long, rather baggy t-shirt over flannel lounge pants and a pair of thick comfy socks. She walked to the French doors and stood looking out, gazing over the darkened land, then up at the starlit sky. This far out of Houston, there were millions of stars stretched across the black expanse. As she watched the stars twinkle and shine, she suddenly felt that presence again; the sense that someone or something was near. She wasn’t afraid - more intrigued.

Clearly the presence was having to put some effort into materializing, so she would have to be patient. Lara decided to turn all the lights off in her room and stepped onto the deck. She would watch and listen there, among the stars and the sounds of nature. She sat down on one of the comfy deck chairs and leaned back, gazing at the millions of points of light above her. Those stars haven’t changed much since I was created, she thought softly. Witnesses to my entire story - all the happiness, all the battles, all the losses. She remembered suddenly, Elenna was born under such a sky, the stars shining down on her as she opened her eyes for the very first time.

Elenna had been much more than a daughter to Lara, they had been best friends - the closest female relationship Lara would ever have, really. She had clearly loved her above her sons, but they were men; the ways of women were minor things to them. Let their mother and sister ride the plains on their shining white steeds, let them sit out all night under the stars, listening to the sounds of nature. The two boys and their father more or less patronizingly watched as Lara taught Elenna every fighting skill she knew, training her, honing her abilities in secret until one day, Elenna bested both of her brothers in a sparring match and they realized the truth: Elenna had some of Lara’s powers, whereas the men had none. They were just men. Elenna was half goddess. Lara could never have felt more pride in that moment. Her daughter was her world.

Men came from far and wide to vie for the hand of the goddess’ daughter. She was a famous beauty, said to be the exact copy of Lara, save with true golden hair. Her name guaranteed an alliance with one of the most powerful kingdoms of Earth, and few eligible suitors would pass up the chance to win her as a bride. Lara had watched, amused, as the men tried to capture Elenna’s favor, hoping she would so much as glance their way. Frankly, she was interested in none of them. Elenna told her mother in confidence one night while they walked through the woods - she was not ready to marry. She had not found her match in any of the men. Maybe she never would.

Lara had laughed; she understood the way of humans was to secure marriages and mate to reproduce. They needed to further their species, and they needed to form alliances with neighbors to protect their people. She understood these things at a basic level, but she did not understand how they could marry so blandly, without love, and usually in such a hurry. Lara’s own marriage was not about love; she respected her husband king, and she tried to please him. But the facts were plain to both of them - Lara was a goddess, with power that no human would ever hope to wield. She had not chosen her husband, nor had she been given a choice in the matter of her marriage to him. She had done her duty, as requested by her people of Valinor and her father Illuvatar, with the expectation that she would outlive them all and continue on her way eventually as the Guardian of the Balance. While this thought lived in the back of her mind always, when she looked into the eyes of her daughter, who so clearly had some of her abilities and the power to wield the Force, she could not see her future ending so quickly. She couldn’t see her death. Some whimsical, stubborn side of Lara refused to admit that her Elenna, her beautiful Elenna, could die.

Time is a cruel tide, that creeps on everything with its dark pall, slowly taking every beloved entity from the face of the Earth, from all of the universe. Elenna grew into a stunning woman, and finally found her match in a prince of a neighboring kingdom. She was as hot headed and proud as her mother, determined to walk her own way, and eager to face love for the first time as *she* chose. While betrothed to the prince, she fell pregnant with his child. Lara was happy for her; the coming of a young one was a joy to her. They were to be married after all, who cared if the babe was a little early? Humans didn’t see it quite that way however, and their nuptials were rushed ahead to hide the young adults’ misbehavior. Elenna was happy, however, and that was all Lara needed to know. She watched her daughter grow heavy with child, smiling when Elenna smiled at the feel of the child moving within her, at the little kicks and punches and the hope Elenna showed when dreaming of her baby.

Life had other plans. Lara was walking with Elenna one beautiful, golden day in their favorite wood. Elenna felt strong, and was nearing her time, the excitement of becoming a mother glowing in her face. She was a gracefully pregnant woman, and all who saw her were awed by the simple joy she radiated. Two kingdoms looked forward to the arrival of her babe. Elenna was truly happy with her husband and her life, and that always made Lara happy. But on that day, as they walked in the peaceful wood, Lara saw a shadow of discomfort cross her daughter’s face and paused.

“Elenna, are you well?” Lara’s brows knitted together in concern.

“Something doesn’t feel right, Mother.” Elenna’s face went from discomfort to suddenly pale with pain, a tearing pain that shot through her abdomen as if someone had gutted her with a sword. She grabbed her swollen belly and went to her knees, crying out in fear and agony. Lara ran to her side, grasping her elbow to steady her, but Elenna went down on all fours, her pain hauling her faceward as if she could not get deep enough to escape the nightmare.

This was not how her own deliveries had gone; Lara had felt pain but the midwives had all assured her it was normal. This looked more terrifying; Elenna looked almost as if her womb was being torn from within her by forces unseen. Lara looked back and saw there was a puddle of blood where Elenna had been standing, and when she touched her daughter’s belly, it was rigid, but excruciatingly painful for her. Elenna was nearly speechless with the racking pain; she finally spun to sit on her butt, her knees up and apart, hoping this meant the baby was coming, but knowing in her heart this meant something far different. Lara could see she was getting more and more pale, more weak by the minute, and saw blood pouring from between her legs, hemorrhaging in a irreparable way.

Lara could not stop what was happening. She felt her soul suddenly split in the knowledge that she would have to sit here, with her beloved daughter, and hold Elenna as her life slipped away, the child of promise within her dying with its brave mother. The events were happening so fast, Lara didn’t even have time for tears, she helped hold Elenna so she wasn’t flat on the ground, and took her daughter’s hand in her own.

“I’ve got you, Elenna. I’ve got you. Don’t fear, my daughter. You are brave, you are a warrior, just hold onto me. I’ve got you, I won’t let you go.” She pressed her forehead against Elenna’s temple, watching as her life drained from her; Lara could sense the child was already gone, see its beautiful face in her mind. She could offer nothing but platitudes and her presence at this point. “Elenna, I will be with you, beautiful girl. You are not alone. I will not leave you alone. Hold my hand, my love. Just hold my hand.” She took a breath and tears started to fall. How could this happen? How could Elenna be so happy, so near her time and this suddenly happen in their favorite place, with no warning? What cruel joke was this?

“Mama… I’m cold………. everything is blurry…….. I can’t see you.” She squeezed Lara’s hand suddenly, as if it was the only remaining lifeline she had. Her eyes stared blankly into the trees above her, too weak to turn her head now. The branches blew in a breeze, but she didn’t hear the rattle of the leaves; she heard only the slowing of her own heartbeat. Her brave soul fought within her, demanding she fight! Hold on just a little longer, don’t let Mama slip away. Mama was holding onto her hand, Elenna could still hear her mother beside her, feel Lara’s strong arms around her. “Mama, don’t let me go…” Elenna couldn’t fight the tide that was carrying her out to sea, the inevitable flows pulling at her, towing her away. Hold Mama’s hand! Her mind thought in a last rage. Never let go! She felt Lara’s arms tighten around her a last time and heard a broken sob as if from very far away, then nothing but the waves of the tide. No pain, no fear, just peace and the shushing of the waters around her. After what could have been years, she felt her body come to rest on a sandy shore and dug her fingers into the grains of the beach.

Opening her eyes, she saw she was no longer in the wood of her homeland. She was on the white sandy beach of a land lit with a soft, golden light, the endless waves of a vast unending ocean stretching before her. She was no longer pregnant, but wearing a beautiful, floor length green gown with long draping sleeves, a crown of flowers in her hair. At first, she felt she was all alone, but when she turned to see the land behind her, she saw a figure sitting on the grass of a small hill, a woman with her face buried in her arms, resting on her drawn up knees. Mama!

Elenna ran to her mother, reaching out to touch her, to ask what was happening? Lara looked up slowly, her eyes red from crying, the blue of her eyes now turquoise and arresting to see. Lara reached out both hands and stood to hold her daughter in her arms, but she didn’t speak. She had no words, only devastation at the loss she’d suffered.

“Mama, where am I?” Elenna asked softly, looking past Lara to the grassy hills stretching away, the graceful trees standing tall as far as the eye could see. There were buildings, halls in the distance with warm, welcoming fires burning in the windows. It was beautiful here, but her mother seemed sad.

“This is Valinor, my daughter. I have brought you home, to live here forever.” She looked out at the peaceful rolling hills and turned back to Elenna. “Your time on Earth is done. You will live here now, and I will see you when I return, escorting the souls of the dead.”

“Then I am dead?! Mama! My baby! Where’s my baby?” Elenna looked broken suddenly, realizing she was bereft. Tears came to her eyes and her hands sought her belly, coming up empty when searching for the reassuring feel of her babe within her. Lara reached out and pulled Elenna to her in a fierce hug.

“Shhhhhhh, my daughter. He is well; he is here. Come. I will lead you to him.” Lara took her daughter’s hand and led her over the land to a warm, snug little home. Smoke rose from the chimney and the over all impression of the little house was of peace and family. Lara knocked at the door gently and pushed it open, then held it for her daughter to pass. Elenna walked in, eyes wide at the sight. It was a beautiful little cabin, carved like the halls she was raised in but on a smaller scale. The warm fire blazed in the hearth, and a young boy stood and turned, pressing his fingernails into his palms out of nervousness, his blue eyes wide. Elenna had stopped, staring at him in wonder and love. The boy suddenly ran forward to hug his mother, tightly, and Elenna dropped to a squat to be on his level while they held each other.

“My son! My little boy. How are you so big already?” She held him away from her for a moment, looking into his eyes. She could see the face of her husband in him, and for a moment she missed his father, bitterly, wishing he could see the promise of his handsome son. It would have to wait, until the day he too could join them.

Lara stepped forward and said lowly, quietly, as if afraid to speak too loud. “Elenna. I must go. I cannot stay here, as my task is not yet done.” Lara reached out to her daughter, who stood and took her mother’s hand, her blue eyes searching those of her mother. Lara seemed so sad, so resigned. “I will see you again.” She pulled Elenna in a for a tight hug, tears rolling down both their cheeks. “Take care of your boy. Meet others in this land - there is much happiness here to share. Others will come to greet you, soon. I love you so much, my daughter. I’m so proud of you.”

Elenna stood and smiled, her hand trailing to the end of Lara’s fingertips as Lara turned to leave. Inside, Lara was awash with bitterness and grief. Her most beloved child, already stolen from her, a ruptured uterus taking her life in moments. Such a random, horrible and unexpected outcome to a life full of promise and happiness. It seemed Lara was meant to walk hand in hand with grief through eternity. If her daughter could be taken from her so swiftly, how would it be any better with the gradual loss of her husband, her sons, their children? Lara was the only one allowed to walk through the years of time. The others she would have to leave behind, like seeds sown in a garden; she would only see the results in years to come. Lara decided that day, when her children were gone, and their children as well, she would leave this land. There would be nothing left for her here.

[linnorabeifong]

😈 🎶🌞❌ for the fanfic writer emoji asks! :)

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

Always . I love ending chapters with cliffhangers and teasers. 

Some of my favs from Happy Birthday to me...I Guess

“Yasuko Tanaka” the tag read. Her heart skipped a beat at the familiar name. It couldn’t really be her mother’s, could it ? No, the last name was wrong. Unless…She didn’t know her mother’s maiden name. Could it really be ?

---

Asami awoke drenched in sweat to see Pema standing over her. “What’s wrong sweetheart ?” Pema asked, her gaze filled with concern. Asami lifted up her hands and looked at her right palm, the red blotch, the permanent reminder of that night. She had never remembered it so vividly before. A shiver went down her spine.

---

"Thank you" She said, looking up at the man as she walked through the double doors. Then she realized who it was "Mako ?" she said incredulously "What are you doing here ?"

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

Song I have on loop is "Mine, all mine' by Mitski. I listen to a lot of music. I made a playlist for the smoke lingers. I listen to a lot of Lana Del Ray. Any really moody song. I like movie soundtracks and musicals. I listen to the Evita 2011 recording ( reminds me of Kuvira ?) and the Hunchback of Notre Dame soundtrack (I listen to Esmerelda while imagining Lin as Esmerelda, Zolt as Phoebus and Tenzin as Quasi).

“Fire fire smoke and flame, Esmerelda where are you ?” I could see Zolt saying this in season one after hearing of her capture.

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

I can write during the day if I’m unbothered but writing late at night or very early in the morning affords me a certain peace and privacy. 

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

Umm. I try to keep an open mind but some make me deeply uncomfortable or just aren’t my style. I don’t want to yuck someone else’s yum. I can’t think of specific ones but I don’t like fics where a romance cures everything because it discounts the struggle of the characters. Love is great but it’s not a fix all. I don’t like when a character gets a significant other and then suddenly their trauma vanishes. Unrealistic. Next, It’s like the plot disappears the second someone gets laid. 

Tysm for the ask. Sorry for the late response I've been demotivated.

[succubusphan]

Two Man Team - Chapter 12

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they've always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Rating: E

Tags/warnings: Friends to lovers, Friends with benefits, mental health issues (mainly anxiety), Slow burn, Dan is a psych student. Canon divergence (the timeline is altered and some things never happened), Slutty Phil, Angst with a happy ending. The fic spans many years.

Author's Note: Written for the OSPBB 2023 @oldschoolpbb. Thank you @effingmeteors for being my life saviour and beta as usual and to my artist Lin @anironsidh.

Edits and the art will be added at some point, we are busy bees.

POSTING EVERY DAY UNTIL IT'S COMPLETED.

Total Word Count: 75k ish

Read on Ao3

CHAPTER 12: When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter.

October 2018

With everything going on, his relationship with Dan blossoming, their friendship and their public branding being sort of related again, Phil debated on whether to look into posts he was not tagged in for mentions of the ship, to see what people thought of them now and it took him weeks to finally decide to go through with it. 

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that most viewers on Tumblr talked about the glass closet concept, respectful of them not wanting to discuss their current relationship status but having caught onto the clues that there was something there, just enough context clues to let the queer viewers into the secret and let the homophobic people pretend that they didn’t see anything. 

There was a moment, a sinking feeling in his stomach, when he came across another post saying that Dan and Phil had gone back to queer baiting to sell merch and get more views and condemning it, but not many people seemed to agree. It was dated a few months prior, before their coming out videos, but it still hurt Phil’s feelings. Only a blind person could accuse him of queer baiting. 

He shook his head and hopped into the shower, he needed to relax. He washed his body thoroughly, briefly considering getting off but he was too stressed about what he’d seen to give it a shot. Phil almost slipped and cracked his skull in the shower when he heard the door to this flat open. He wrapped a towel around his hips and carefully walked out of the bathroom, stopping by the kitchen to grab a cast iron pan.

“Hey!” 

Phil jumped and dropped the pan to the floor, narrowly avoiding his foot but cracking a tile in the process. “Dan!”.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Dan said. “I used the spare key because you were not answering,” he mumbled as his eyes travelled down Phil’s naked torso hungrily. 

“Oh,” Phil said, trying to ignore Dan’s scolding stare. “What happened?”

“I just - wanted to tell you about a thing I was offered…” trailed off, still not looking into Phil’s eyes.

“Well, what is it?” Phil tried, but Dan ran his fingers on Phil’s chest softly, fiddling with the sparse patch of hair.

“You are so wet,” Dan said, clearly not paying attention.

“I was in the shower,” Phil said awkwardly. 

Dan finally looked up and pulled him closer by the hips. Then, he pressed their noses together, looking into Phil’s eyes. “God, I love you so much,” he whispered.

Phil’s eyes widened and before he could say anything, Dan was kissing him as he ran the tips of his fingers down Phil’s back adoringly, barely grazing the skin, the touch leaving goosebumps in its wake. Dan’s hands came to rest in the small of his back as he kissed Phil’s neck, he smirked when Phil gasped and held onto his shoulders. 

He paused and looked into Phil’s eyes for a moment before asking: “May I?” he said, running his fingers on the edge of the towel.

Phil considered it for a moment, trying to not jump into things because he was horny, but they had been working towards it for a few months now, slowly, really talking things through, paying attention to their feelings and where they were at mentally and emotionally, and - yes, Phil really wanted to. He was ready. “Yes,” he whispered and leaned in for another kiss, burying his fingers in the curls on the back of Dan’s head, playing with them softly. He let out a happy sigh when their hips met. He had missed this, he had missed having Dan like this.

Grabbing Phil’s butt through the towel, Dan took a few steps forward, trying to guide Phil to his bedroom, but snorted at how they stumbled awkwardly and opted for just pulling Phil along by the hand. Phil laughed along; it wouldn’t be them if it wasn’t at least a little bit ungraceful. 

Once they had arrived at their destination, Phil sat on the bed and watched Dan unceremoniously remove his shirt and unbuckle his belt, marvelling at all the changes in his body and how good he looked. “Come here,” he said, extending a hand towards Dan and helping him with his zipper and looking up at him, caressing his tummy. “Gorgeous,” he said under his breath.

Dan leaned down for a quick kiss and gently pushed at his chest.

“But-” Phil protested as he discarded the towel, trying to tempt Dan.

“Later,” Dan said. He removed his jeans and lay on top of Phil, resting his weight on his elbows and leaning down to kiss him.

Phil let Dan do as he wished and let his hands wander down Dan’s gorgeous back, grabbing his ass. The sudden movement startled Dan, causing his hips to twitch and finally press their cocks together. 

Phil smiled into the kiss when Dan began to grind on him. Their breaths came out in pants as Phil met Dan thrust for thrust, perhaps a bit too eagerly and Dan let out a high-pitched whine. He tried to angle away from the friction but Phil wrapped one leg around him, not ready to let go of the amazing sensation quickly building in his stomach. 

Beginning to tremble, Dan gave up on the kiss, unable to keep his focus, and pressed his forehead to Phil’s shoulder, letting out small puffs of air that tickled his neck.

“Phil!” Dan moaned as his thrust became more erratic, his entire body shaking. “Ah, fuck,” he said before coming all over Phil who was still thrusting up against him, still desperately chasing his own orgasm, letting out breathy moans.

“You’re so cute when you whine like that,” Dan mumbled into his ear and bit down on Phil’s neck finally pushing him over the edge.

They lay there panting for a little while before Dan got up and went to get a towel soaked in warm water, sitting at the edge of the bed to clean Phil up, which made him smile.

“Thank you,” Phil said, placing his hand on Dan’s arm.

“You’re welcome,” Dan said, dropping a kiss to his forehead and climbing into bed with him.

Phil wrapped one arm around Dan and pulled him close, sighing happily. He pressed a few kisses on Dan’s cheeks, lips, forehead and nose.

Dan snorted a laugh, blushing and trying to hide his face in the pillow.

“What?” Phil asked with what he knew was a goofy smile.

“Nothing!” Dan said. “I missed this. Us”

“Me too,” Phil admitted. “What did you want to tell me earlier?”

“Nothing, it was all a ploy to barge in and find you naked.”

“Oh, shut up,” Phil laughed. “Be serious now!”

Dan paused, his expression dropping for a moment. “I was offered a book deal. It would be a self-help book,” he said. “And I wanted to know what you thought about that.”

“What else am I going to think? I think it’s amazing! You’ve always wanted to help people through books. Who came to you? Publishing?”

“Young Minds, actually. I had mentioned to them before that it is something that interested me, they handled everything but left the door open for negotiations,” Dan said.

“I love that! Congratulations, you deserve it!” Phil gave Dan a quick kiss. “I’m so proud of you!”

Dan smiled. “Thank you,” he said and Phil could tell that he was holding off, trying to say something else.

“What?”

“Ready for another one?” Dan smirked.

“That was not what you were going to say!” Phil laughed.

“It was!” Dan kissed him, trying to distract him from the conversation, and it worked, of course, Phil had never been able to resist Dan and Dan knew that very well. 

Dan’s lips wandered down, dropping kisses on his neck and chest, teasing Phil with random bites on his tummy, his inner thighs and even his hips until he was fully hard. Only then did Dan settle between his legs. 

Phil buried his fingers in Dan’s curls, pulling softly as he watched Dan wrap one hand around the base of his cock and ghost his breath over it, licking his lips as if he couldn’t wait to figuratively eat him. It was too much for Phil; he let his head drop back to the pillow. 

“Look at me,” Dan demanded and Phil complied, locking eyes with Dan just for a moment, watching him press his tongue flat against the shaft and give him a long lick from root to tip, taking him in and sucking lightly. Phil’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as Dan hollowed his cheeks and began bobbing his head before pulling away and swirling his tongue around the head. 

Phil felt his fringe sticking to his sweaty forehead, the heat already rising within him when Dan pressed the tip of his tongue to his slit and sucked harder before really getting into a nice rhythm, taking him a bit deeper each time and moaning so loudly, the vibrations sending tiny shocks of pleasure to Phil’s cock as he got into his throat.

High-pitched whines were falling from Phil’s lips ever so often, his legs starting to shake as he got closer and closer to the edge. He wasn’t usually this fast, fuck, but Dan had learned a trick or two in the time they’d been apart. That thought pulled him away from the edge. Who the fuck did Dan learn this from? He frowned.

Dan pulled back and gave him an unimpressed look. “What?” he panted. “You’re distracted, I can tell.”

“Nothing!” Phil rushed to say, trying not to completely ruin things.

“Don’t lie!” Dan huffed, squeezing his cock slightly, making Phil groan in discomfort.

“You’ve gotten good at this,” Phil said and it was only half a compliment, and Dan knew it, raising one eyebrow to call Phil out on his bullshit. “Since we’ve done it,” he finally finished the sentence.

Dan huffed, crawling up to speak to him properly, and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I did. And now I’m going to use everything I know on you. Only you,” he said. “You have nothing to be jealous of.”

Phil gasped when Dan wrapped one hand around his cock, his lips already attached to Phil’s neck as he pumped torturously slowly, twisting his hand on the upstroke and thumbing the head.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about,” Dan said, biting his neck softly.

“I don’t want to think about anyone touching you,” Phil said.

“Then don’t. That was after I left. It was nobody important,” Dan mumbled, his hand still moving. “And I thought of you with each and every one of them.”

“You are mine,” Phil snarled, pulling Dan’s hair a bit too harshly to give himself space to bite his neck. He pushed Dan onto the mattress, crawling on top of him and pinning his arms down.

“Yes!” Dan moaned, his body responding to Phil’s change in demeanour.

Phil paused, a bit bewildered about Dan’s reaction. “What?”

“Fuck me,” Dan mumbled. 

Phil’s eyes widened, his resolution faltering. “What?”

Dan looked into his eyes and spoke up. “Please, fuck me.”

“Are you sure?”

Dan nodded, but when Phil didn’t move, he continued. “Phil, for fuck’s sake, I've been fingering myself in the shower thinking about you for years,” he said. “It's been years!”

Phil bit his lip as a memory crossed his mind. The first time they were together, Dan had asked Phil to ride him, it was only fair that he got to watch this time. “Alright,” he smirked. “Ride me.”

Dan didn’t need to be told twice. He nodded and straddled Phil, reaching for the bedside drawer, finding the lube and a condom in no time. Phil watched with rapt attention as Dan rubbed the lube between his fingers, his hand disappearing behind his back as he leaned down to kiss him and started stretching himself. 

Even though Phil had no way of seeing exactly what Dan was doing, he could feel every sigh into the kiss, the tremble of his legs, and the incredibly happy smile that graced his lips. He took this opportunity to get reacquainted with Dan’s body, gently gracing the tips of his fingers on his nipples, shoulders, and down his back, feeling the goosebumps the sensation brought Dan until he reached Dan’s lower back. Curiosity got the best of him as he traced Dan’s fingers down to his hole. “Do you need help?” he mumbled against Dan’s lips hoping he would say yes.

Dan broke the kiss and he shook his head. “Just kiss me, I can do it,” he said, shutting his eyes with a focused frown.

Phil smirked and pulled Dan down for a deep kiss, letting out a happy sigh as his hands travelled south once again, settling on Dan’s ass and helping him move, causing him to grind gently on Phil as he fingered himself.

Turning his head towards Dan’s side, Phil managed to kiss his neck and suck lightly before the other pulled away.

“Don’t do that or this will be over before it starts,” Dan hissed, sitting up. He gave Phil a stern look and passed the condom and lube to him.

“Sorry,” Phil said with a smirk, not feeling sorry for a second. He tore the packet, uncapped the lube and did his usual method, making sure that the condom was rolled correctly and well lubed inside and out.

Dan pulled his fingers out and wiped his hands on his discarded T-shirt before settling them on Phil’s chest. 

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Phil asked, not wanting Dan to hurt himself.

“Yeah,” Dan said, reaching back to grab Phil’s cock. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and looked into Phil’s eyes as he sank down slowly, his brows burrowed into a frown. 

There was a little resistance but Phil let Dan handle it on his own time.

“Fuck!” Dan moaned.

Phil was in heaven, his hands on Dan’s hips, helping him settle down slowly, feeling him pulse around him. “So beautiful,” Phil whispered.

“You,” Dan replied. He rolled his hips and it was Phil’s time to moan. Despite the stretching, Dan was so tight. “Always wanted to do this with you.”

“Yeah?” Phil asked breathlessly.

“Mhmm. I knew you would feel amazing,” Dan said. He started rocking, slowly at first but gradually getting into it. Throwing his head back, he rolled his hips again and again, pulling out and sinking back harder down with each roll.

Dan had such a beautiful neck, Phil wanted to bite it again, but he settled for watching the gorgeous expanse of skin just out of his reach, Adam’s apple bobbing as Dan swallowed and the muscles flexing as he moaned. Phil dug his nails into Dan’s hips and helped him sink down harder as they picked up the pace.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” Dan whined, louder and louder and Phil was starting to get distracted thinking of the neighbours. 

Then he did it. He spanked Dan’s ass, throwing him off his rhythm but watching his cock twitch at the pain. That kinky bastard. “Be quiet,” Phil snickered.

“Make me,” Dan pouted, slowing down to a stop.

“Really?” Phil asked.

The blush creeping up Dan’s chest and neck confirmed it, even before he nodded.

Phil tapped Dan’s side. “Up. I’ll take care of you,” he said and Dan looked way too happy about it. “On your knees and elbows.”

Dan bit his lip and gave him a sly smile before obliging. Just as he was settling comfortably on his elbows, Phil grabbed his ass, spreading him open and slowly pushed inside as deep as he could. Dan let out a low moan and arched his back, trying to push back against him. Phil paused, holding him still, giving Dan a moment to adjust to the feeling again before pulling one of his hands behind his back and then the other, leaving him trembling on his knees until he settled forward on his shoulders.

“I can’t really move like this,” Dan said.

“That’s the idea,” Phil replied and grasped both of Dan’s wrists with one hand, placing a pillow in front of his face. “If you want to scream, do it into the pillow. I trust you to turn your head to the side if you can’t breathe.” 

“What if I want to choke?” Dan snorted and tried to move his hips but Phil spanked him with his free hand. “Ngh!”

“Do you want me to fuck you hard or gently?” Phil asked.

“Hard,” Dan groaned.

“Good. Then keep your hands behind your back like this,” Phil commanded. “Got it?”

“Yeah!” Dan moaned.

Satisfied with that reply, Phil let go of Dan’s hands and placed his own on Dan’s gorgeous hips again. He pulled out just a bit before thrusting back in, experimenting with different angles until he found what he was looking for. Smirking, Phil thrust harder and harder, barely able to hear Dan screaming his moans into the pillow above the sound of his blood rushing to his ears and the slap of flesh against flesh.

Dan put his hands down and pushed himself back against his thrusts. “Harder,” he begged as he began to tremble. “Please! please! I’ll be quiet,” he babbled.

Phil obliged, pulling out and slamming back into Dan as hard as he could, effectively pushing Dan into the mattress shoulders first again. “Touch yourself,” he said and continued to slam into him at a punishing pace.

Dan shut his eyes and turned his head to the side. He bit his lip hard, stifling his moans as his hand flew over his cock until he came with a silent scream.

Phil slammed into Dan one more time as deep as he could and came into the condom, shivering as he felt Dan’s overstimulated body twitch. He pulled out and discarded the condom but when he saw Dan’s beautiful body covered in a thin layer of sweat, his hair stuck to his face, and the bruises already forming on his hips, Phil couldn’t help himself and pushed one finger inside of him, pressing it gently against his prostate. He leaned over Dan’s body and whispered: “Can I eat you out, Baby?”

“Fuck,” Dan laughed looking at him over his shoulder. “Right now?”

Phil raised one eyebrow at him.

“Yeah,” Dan whispered. “Ok.”

Phil grabbed Dan’s ass and pried his cheeks open, exposing his hole and pressed the tip of his tongue against it, giving him teasing licks for a few minutes until he sneaked his hand around and confirmed his suspicions, Dan was getting hard again. 

“Bastard,” Dan said. “I’m too sensitive.” He pressed his face into the pillow.

“Do you want me to stop?” Phil teased.

Dan looked over his shoulder. “Shut up and eat me out,” he groaned.

“Bossy.” Phil laughed and shoved his tongue inside of Dan without further preamble. He alternated between thrusting his tongue inside and soft licks and kisses until Dan was ready to murder him. Only then did Phil properly fucked him with his tongue until his jaw was sore and even past that point, when Dan’s balls drew up and his hole clenched hard around Phil as he came for what felt like forever.

Dan lay down at his side, trembling with the aftershocks of his orgasm and turned his head to look at Phil, his brows burrowing into a frown. Phil could see Dan’s expression slowly begin to change into one of worry, or even panic, as time went on.

“What’s wrong?” Phil asked, bracing himself as his anxiety began to rise with every second Dan stayed silent. “Please, don’t leave. Let’s talk about it.”

“I’m not leaving,” Dan mumbled, his eyes wide. 

“Do you regret it?” Phil asked, his voice small, already cursing himself for pushing Dan’s boundaries.

“No!” Dan said and rolled onto his side to face Phil, lacing their fingers together. “No, I swear. I just -”

“What?” Phil squeaked.

“I meant to say it on a romantic date, not like that,” Dan pouted.

Phil’s brain was beginning to come back online and then it hit him, what Dan had said earlier. He actually meant what Phil had hoped he did. “You love me?”

“You’ve always known that. What I meant to say was… I am in love with you,” Dan said and held his gaze, waiting for an answer.

Phil smiled widely, letting out a sigh of relief. “Me too. I mean, I love you so much.” He rolled onto his side to face Dan and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, dropping a few more around his face for good measure.

Dan giggled as Phil kissed him all over but still asked: “But are you in love with me? That’s different.”

Phil rolled his eyes at him. “Yeah, I am in love with you, dork.”

“Then you are my boyfriend now,” Dan said with a cheeky smile.

“Is that even a question?” Phil asked, amused.

Dan shook his head, a smile still on his lips. “No, Lester. You are mine now. No turning back.”

“Good.” Phil nodded. “Stay.”

“There’s nowhere else I would rather be,” Dan said, pressing a kiss to the back of Phil’s hand.

“Aww, that’s cheesy,” Phil teased.

“It’s supposed to be cheesy,” Dan laughed.

Phil tickled him until Dan was cry-laughing and begging him to stop. “God, I love you, I love you so much, you can’t imagine,” he said and pressed their lips together into a soft kiss, sighing happily. It was just a relief to be able to say it out loud; Phil hadn’t realised how much he’d needed to say it, to let Dan know. “I love you,” he said again and he felt butterflies in his stomach at the fond smile Dan gave him, his eyes full of love and almost adoration.

“I love you too,” Dan whispered.

In fact, Dan’s voice whispering sweet nothings into his ear was what lulled Phil to sleep peacefully. 

When Phil opened his eyes again, he felt inundated with a sense of happiness like he had never felt before, not in the early morning at least and not just for waking up, for being alive. 

His vision focused and he smiled as he saw Dan snoring softly at his side, the sunlight coming through the window making his skin glow, enhancing the little freckles on his shoulders and the warm brown in his hair. He grabbed his phone and snapped a picture of Dan before cuddling up to him and resting his face on his shoulder.

Dan stirred, his brows furrowed until he saw Phil and flashed him a smile. “Hi, love,” Dan said in his low and raspy morning voice.

Phil almost squealed at the pet name, but he controlled himself. “Hi,” he whispered. “Breakfast?”

“Mmm, yeah,” Dan said. “Later.” His head disappeared under the sheets as he made his way down Phil’s body laying kisses on his wake.

Phil’s shocked laugh soon turned into a string of moans and, for some reason, they didn’t make it to breakfast until much much later.

Dan was good on his promise. He stayed that day, and the next, and the one after that, until he had to return to work, and even then he came back in his spare time. Just like back in the day, there was barely a time when Dan wasn’t at Phil’s flat. He had, once again, “dumped all his shit” at Phil’s and made it his second home, and in December, when Dan’s lease was due, the decision was obvious: he officially moved in with Phil. 

[anchirayce]

To Behold the Golden Sun Ch. 3

This takes place after the events of BG3. Basically, a smol adventure about Tav and Astarion arriving at Tav's childhood city to search for a way to have Astarion walk in the sun again! Drama ensues!

Rating: T - Sexual themes, strong language

Warnings/Tags: Tiefling racism, alcohol use (responsible, suggestion of misuse), suggestion of non-con, suggestion of child abuse, typical canon violence, slight angst, hurt/comfort, slow burn(I mean it, it's slow), Astarion might be ooc, but hopefully not!

Tav couldn't always run away from his past. He knew this from the moment he started to help Astarion find a way to walk in the sun again. He wanted to stay away, but spurred by another failure, a memory of eld came to him. A whisper of something said, something promising. Hopefully, this little spark of hope was what he and Astarion were looking for.

Chapter One: Here

“Darling. Would you like to leave the room tonight?” Astarion offered. We’ve been holed up for a few days, simply waiting. And it was becoming slightly claustrophobic, we were mostly planning what to do. Despite knowing everything would probably fall apart and we would naturally have to improvise.

“What would we do?” I asked, honestly curious.

“How about we go to the tavern? It must be lively, and we could grab a few drinks to celebrate our marriage.” I was already standing to grab my cloak.

Astarion was right behind me, luckily the church was quiet. There were a few shouts of lively chatter down in the mess hall. Which we ignored.

“Is this church a school?” My love asked as we left.

“Kind of, it trains clerics and paladins. And specialises in healing magic.” I studied the streets as we went through the city to a different tavern. It was loud enough to be heard and smelled down the road.

“Oh, exciting!” Astarion cooed. “You know the most perfect locations, my heart.”

“I just hope they don’t remember me here. I got banned when I was a kid.” I cringed.

“Do tell!” He gasped excitedly.

“I started a bar fight.”

“That’s it?”

“It was a very bad bar fight.”

“Details, darling.” I opened the door and grimaced at the volume. I waved down a waitress and with an exasperated sigh she came up to me.

“Can I help you?”

“Are you at capacity?”

“No, you can come in.” We entered behind her, the smell of ale, warm food, and excitement danced around the hall. The band’s influence was probably helping too. We found a corner to snuggle into.

“Well since you’re craving some gossip.” He waved down our drinks and food before I began. “It was wild. I used to run with a group of children, kind of like Mol’s little gang. But more chaotic, imagine some normal kids trying to be cool and tough since they were bored half to the hells. Well one night, we snuck in and managed to grab a bottle of the best wine. We of course were caught since someone couldn’t keep their excitement in check, and started hollering and drinking.”

Our order was brought to us. “And when the tavern owner found us, we scattered like a group of startled kittens. In hindsight this was hilarious. I personally fled into the tavern hall, where I ran into this massive guardsman.” I chuckled, “his drink spilled on someone. And I bet you can imagine what happened afterwards.”

“Were you caught?” I took a long drink of my ale, appreciating that Astarion was enraptured by my tale.

“Oh yeah, Father Garret was furious. And for a month, I had to clean the outhouse, spitshine armour, and mend scrolls. But did manage to keep the wine and got absolutely wasted on it one night with Kavek, Lin, and Rowen.”

“Such harsh punishment.” Astarion gasped.

“Definitely the worst I have faced.” I smirked, and stared at the crowd fondly.

“Would you like to dance with me?” My love leaned against his elbow and finished off his wine.

“I want to save it for the ballroom. Go on, I’ll watch.” He rose to his feet.

“What if I give you a performance?”

I huffed with disbelief. “You’re going to play with the band?” It was a shock when we found out that Astarion could play. I didn’t dare pry on it, but there were some mornings where I heard him in the distance. My beautiful rogue could be a bard when he wanted to and I loved it. Sadly he doesn't play that often anymore now. But one day I would hear it again.

“Only if you say please.” He leaned towards me.

“Please?” I smiled.

“Hm, adequate.” He placed a small peck on my forehead and turned to go through the crowd. I leaned back, watched and listened. Once the last song ended I came to my feet and pushed to the front of the crowd.

Of course Astarion had already captured the tavern. His natural beauty swayed them to listen. And with an elegant flourish he summoned his violin. One strum and the room was silenced. He began slowly, weaving around the stage like a feather.

I still remember the day when we found a normal violin for him. I was going to sell it, but the way he looked at it made me stow it away. And that night, when he left to hunt, I placed it on the pillow next to his book. The next morning we woke to a melody unlike any other.

I could see a nervous glint behind his eyes, but when he locked them with mine it flit away. I leaned into myself, grinning as he twirled around the stage. I closed my eyes, a sense of familiarity and comfort of days spent with our people, pulled tension away from my body. When I opened my eyes Astarion stood in the middle of the stage, the melody echoed in the silence. On a tap of four the band thrummed one note and began to pick up the pace again.

I laughed as Astarion hopped off the stage. He bowed to me in greeting, not stopping as he still weaved the melody. I basked in the jealousy from the crowd and began to step in time with his dance. I followed his lead adoring how carefree his smile was.

Astarion was completely focused on me. Not taking his eyes away for a second as the crowd moved to create space for those who wanted to dance. It had been a long time since I've felt so happy…There was so much stress trying to find something for Astarion, it wore on both of us. Myself because I had to travel during the day and night. And at Astarion for being unable to walk in the sun. Everything relied on it, and mostly everyday he was cooped under the heavy canvas, waiting while I hunted, cooked, gathered supplies.

And top of it all; trying to find leads that didn't nearly kill us with some forgotten dusty tomb or was a dead end. A year and a half was starting to wear on us. And I prayed to every God that this would be it.

There was a beat of rest and he tore away from me, my thoughts going with him. He ran back up to the stage. The crowd cheered loudly as he and the band finished with awe ringing loudly in our ears. Astarion took a low bow and willed away his instrument. He gathered the coins placed at his feet, and I smiled softly as he gave a few to each musician.

He hopped off the stage and drew near. Taking my hand he whispered, “let’s take our leave, I wish to spoil you.” We sauntered out, taking a few more tips as we left the new tune that was being played.

We left to an alleyway. Astarion pinned me against the wall, lifting me up against his lap and hips. I pulled my legs around him as he supported me with his thigh to hold my waist and touch my chest. His kiss was passionate but held no force of lust. I leaned against him, hugging my arms around his shoulders to enjoy his attention.

I pulled away moving my neck so he could grace his lips upon me. He wouldn't feed from me here. I told him I didn't want his feeding to be sexual, but this was what I did want. Him to lick the tendon of my neck, to suckle on my flesh to claim me with a bruise. I hummed with content. Moving to kiss him again. He pushed close to my hips, setting himself as his cold kisses shivered pleasure through my spine.

“Who knew, playing one song made you so excited.” I teased, I tried to move to take over but he pinned me. Growling a simple ‘no’, he pulled away my collar to nip the bone.

"Gods, Astarion!" I gasped softly, threading my hands through his hair.

He pulled away, a grin on his lips. "Should've saved last night for today."

I took his chin in my hands. "I could be convinced for another night." He smiled and kissed me again.

“Hey!” Both of us were startled, a tall woman stood in the light of the alley way.

“Excuse you! What in the Nine Hells do you think you're doing?" Astarion shouted, and set me down.

"Tavalin! By Selune, this makes it so much worse! You need to leave, right now!"

“Who…are you?” I stared at her, Astarion reached through my cloak, releasing the clasp on my blade.

"It's me, Betty!" My tail twitched, the memories flashing in my mind with each pained and irritated flick.

"Oh…"

"Tavalin, look, I'm-I'm sorry for what I've done. I never meant to harm you!"

"Of course you didn’t, you didn’t do anything." I bit back my rage. "Where are they?”

"Tav." I turned to find two people behind us.

“Wilt.” I greeted, “Ross.”

“Tavalin…” Ross huffed, “seriously, how did you manage to get someone so handsome?” She motioned towards Astarion.

“Oh darling, I’m flattered, but I'm taken.”

“At least I’m not spreading my legs for a devil.” Ross ran her eyes over us.

“What brought you back, Tavalin?”

“We’re travelling through. And you just interrupted my partner and I, so excuse us.”

“Gods, you really haven’t grown up. Pathetic…” She scoffed.

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve always found an excuse to run away.” I leaned against Astarion, his arm wrapped around my waist. “You can’t commit to anything.” I stared at her. “Sooner or later, he’ll leave you handsome.”

“Well, that is a major disappointment.” Astarion leaned to kiss my chin. “Looks like I'll have to savour every part while I can.”

She scoffed, “well, then you probably realised by now he can't fight! No matter how hard we tried to help his training--!”

“Don’t you dare.” I snarled, pulling away from Astarion. “You…hunted me. You pulled my tail from its socket, dropped a brick on heat. And repeatedly beat me raw." I smiled bitterly. "And now you stand here, trying to belittle my partner and I? Just to see me squirm? Honestly you’re more desperate than I thought.” I sighed, keeping her gaze, she lunged forward. Both of us moved out of the way, and drunkenly she stumbled.

“C-Coward, going easy on me because I’m a woman!” I turned and slammed my foot into Ross’ face.

“Grow up.” I spat. I looked at Wilt and he raised his hands, giving me a short nod.

“Damn that felt good.” I whispered. Betty gasped as we walked past.

“Thank you, for apologising.” The older woman was shaking as she nodded. “And thank you for the warning.” She gasped back a sob.

"So much for a romantic night." Astarion sighed as we walked away.

“Gods, I’m so sorry, I got so wrapped up--”

"It’s fine, my love. I’m just disappointed.” He waved me off and opened the door for me, and once in our room I stretched. "I must ask, have I ever hurt your tail, my love?" Astarion asked as he sat at the small table.

"A few times. But it's not horrible. It feels like a pinch I need to adjust for."

"Gods. Why didn't you tell me?" I could feel his eyes on me as I returned my cloak and dagger to my pack.

"It's something I've had to live with. And like I said, it doesn't bother me horribly, just when it's pulled or lifted past my knees does it hurt." I moved away from him and to a carafe.

"What about our first night together when we were laying in the grass?" I took a long drink before answering him.

"I think there was some pain, but it was so long ago.” I leaned to kiss his forehead and took the other seat. “Don’t worry about it.” I waved.

"How can I not? What about our other nights, hm?”

“Some were better and worse. This is why I like to let you lead. It doesn’t hurt when I’m laying on my back.”

“Can it not be fixed, my dear?" Astarion leaned forward, staring at me intently.

“Well, I've grown used to it. So it doesn't bother me. Come, feel.” He stood with me and waited until I found the bone. I pulled his arms around my waist, and showed him.

“Tav, that’s not normal.” He grimaced.

I hugged him. “Ooh, look who read up on their medicine.”

“Tav…” Astarion tutted as he gently pushed me away and moved behind me.

“Oh don't give me that, my love. It's not as horrible as you think." He gripped the base, taking another feel.

“Wait, I can feel the alignment. I think I can move it.” I backed away nervously. “Tav, please, my sweet. I don’t want to harm you, and it will help in battle.”

“Volo wanted to gouge my eye out." He tutted again, glaring at me.

"I for one. Am not Volo, and I've done some bone-popping when my victims became too rowdy. With me and themselves." I sighed and motioned my hands up.

“It’s been like this for years. There might be permanent damage.”

“If it kills you we have an extra scroll.”

“But those are hard to make! And expensive!” I sighed, he was steadfast, his arms crossed.

"Fine, I guess." I crawled onto the bed, the pain in my tail grew and he could see it.

"No wonder you slept on your back so often, pet." His touch was gentle and I nodded, arching my back to ease it. He measured with his fingers, squeezing gently as he found the bone.

"Bite on the pillow it will hurt." He said, I stuffed the fabric in my mouth and waited. He gave no warning, and with an audible snap he slotted it back. I screamed like the hells had burned my flesh away. Cursing loudly as I curled into myself shivering from the throbbing agony that ricocheted into my back and numbed my legs. Astarion kept his hand on the ache. Another was on my shoulder.

"Breath Tav." His voice eventually broke through the ringing in my ears. I slowly opened my mouth and took a few shaky inhales.

"Gods, that hurt." I reached and traced healing magic into the bone. The tingling vanished with the magic.

"Can you feel this, love?" He asked as he traced my spine and tail. I hummed.

"That feels nice."

"Good! Seems I got the alignment right." He spanked my bottom, I snarled playfully and tried to get him.

"How were you able to do that?" I gasped as I sat up.

"I've met some tieflings with a tail pulling kink." Astarion shrugged. "Some dislocations later, I've learned to reset the bones. I wish you said something, I could've helped."

"Aw yes, let me tell my new lover my bone is dislocated from a childhood injury." I moved my hands to my lower back. Reassuring myself that it was honestly set and healed.

“Your comfort would have been more preferable.” He muttered.

I gasped dramatically, “you care about me?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” He scoffed and stepped close to kiss me. My tail flicked and I pulled away, my mouth held agape.

"Holy shit." I laughed. I lifted it more and there was nothing. "Holy shit! It doesn't hurt! Thank you, my love!" I picked him up and twirled him. His sweet laugh filled me with joy, I stopped and squeezed him, his legs hooked around my waist as I supported him.

"I'm still mad at you.” He said as he rested his forehead against mine.

"Can I make it up?"

“Treat me to some wine, outside of this place, and I’ll consider it.” He kissed me and pulled me back to the bed. “Come, let’s get some rest this evening has been so lively.”

[autumnalwalker]

Favorite Line(s) Tag

Thank you for the tag, @blind-the-winds.

Passing the tag to @dogmomwrites, @cljordan-imperium, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @oh-no-another-idea, @affectionatemeconopsis, and an open tag for anyone else who wants to join.

I've already mentioned previously how Day 140 of The Archivist's Journal is generally one of my favorite things that I've written, and that a certain exchange written at 2am for Chapter 12 of Empty Names is one of my favorite bits of dialogue I've put together. But if we were to go by "favorite dialogues between two characters" (or what passes for dialogue in The Archivist's Journal) then there are suddenly a great many contenders in The Archivist's Journal and there's another scene in Empty Names that, while less fun, I like better for showing an side of Sullivan and Road that doesn't normally get shown.

These are going to get a bit long, so dropping it under the "Keep reading" line.

The Archivist's Journal, Day 185:

The beach itself was pleasant enough, once we finally got there.  If Maiko was frustrated with my pace, she did a good job of not showing it.  As suspected, the prospect of swimming exhausted me simply thinking about it, but I was still able to wade a short distance into the waves, letting them wash around my knees and allowing my feet to sink into the sand.

Close my eyes and turn my face to greet the sun.

Stretch my arms wide as if to embrace the sea.

Breathe deep of the salty air.

Listen to the surf before me and birds behind me.

Allow myself to smile.

As my arms grew tired I let them drop and slowly opened my eyes as I turned to look back at Maiko.  She was still at the treeline, half hidden behind a trunk as I’d first glimpsed her those months ago.  I waved to her.

The twofold pause of one who’s realized they’ve hesitated.

She gave a small wave back.

My smile faded.  I walked over to her.  Asked if something was wrong.

Silence save for the birds and the waves.  Four beats of the sea’s heart.

She said she usually tries to avoid spending time in exposed areas like this.  Too easy to be seen without realizing it.

I considered what to say to that.

Waves in.  Waves out.

Waves in.  Waves out.

She added that she’d begun to get lax about that, but seeing people at the spring the other week had her on edge once more.

Another beat.

I imagined taking her by the hand and running toward the water.

Waves in.

Her momentarily too surprised to resist, letting herself be dragged along despite being more than capable of stopping.

Waves out.

Protests about the possibility of being seen.

Waves in.

Reassurances that no one ever comes to this particular stretch of beach but me.

Waves out.

Easing into the sea.

Waves in.

Playful splashing about in the water.

Waves out.

The both of us allowing ourselves to relax and let our guard down.

Waves in.

Telling her that I’m sure no one in the Village would have a problem with her.

Waves out.

And if anyone did say anything, she had friends to stick up for her.

Waves in.

A good day with her coming out of her shell and me feeling that I had helped.

Waves out.

I nodded, said I understood, and thanked her for indulging my whim to come out here.  We walked back to the house in silence.  As we did, I wondered if I should have acted on that fantasy.  It was a nice idea, but who’s to say it was a good one?  Who am I to force a fairytale idea of “helping” someone on another?  Would it really have been helping, or was it just a self-aggrandizing fantasy about saving or fixing someone? And if it was a good thing to do, I’m not the sort of person who could pull it off.  Maybe Lin could, or even Cass.

And besides, I was tired.

Empty Names, Chapter 4 - Prince In Gold

Every so often he turns through a door and into a room and cuts through it to another hallway that geometry would have demanded intersect with the first had not the sorceress Bridgewood once said otherwise.  The portrait room.  The lesser library.  The skull room.  He’s halfway across the verdant drawing room (as opposed to the xanthous drawing room or the aquatic drawing room) when he notices his friend asleep on the moss-green couch.

Sullivan freezes, not wanting to wake them, but their eyes flutter open a moment later all the same.  Had he made more noise than he realized, or was it the glow of the fireplace coming to life with his entrance?

“Hey Su,” they mumble with a voice still groggy from sleep.

“Hey,” he whispers back.  “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Is fine.  Not that asleep anyway.”  An obvious lie.

“We have plenty of real beds around you’re welcome to use, you know.”

“Mhmmm.”  They slowly shake their head.  “Never could get used to ‘em.”

The corner of Sullivan’s mouth curls up into a faint smile at old memories.  “Right.  I’ll let you get back to sleep,” he says and then turns to leave.

“Su,” whispers the voice behind him.  He stops and turns back around.  “Since you’re here, can you tell me a story?  Please.”

“Sure thing.”  He takes a seat on the floor leaning against the couch, one leg outstretched while the other makes an arch to rest arm on knee.  He looks up at his friend and asks “One of the classics?”

They shake their head.  “Something I missed while I was away.”  Their voice still sounds half-asleep.

“I’m afraid there’s not much to tell there.  It’s been pretty quiet here lately.”

The light from the fireplace reflects off pleading eyes.

“Well, I suppose there was one thing,” Sullivan concedes.

“Oh?”

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.  He breathes out and stares into the fireplace.

[mrbexwrites]

Heads Up/7 Up

Tagged by @iced-ginger-tea! Hello there, and thank you :D

I really hit my stride today with Blood Harmony and managed to write about 3.5k words today, which feels nice after having fallen into a bit of a slump with this WIP.

Tagging (no pressure) @the-orangeauthor, @tate-lin, @arowanaprincess, @akiwitch, @thecatsgrave and anyone else who wants to join in. Please take this as an open invite to share the last 7-ish lines of your WIP with me :D Snippet, as always, below:

“Wow, you’re really going to be a martyr,” Con shook his head at me, and rolled his eyes. “Don’t be such an idiot, and get in the car.” Fuck off,I shot through our psychic link, and Con flinched slightly.

 No need to be rude, he retorted.

“Of course you can’t follow instructions,” Beaufort caught my elbow again having easily caught up with me with his long legs. “Mavis, get in the car, and don’t make a scene in front of the police station.”

“I can walk,” I continued to limp as Con stopped the car, and Arnauld opened the passenger door.

“No, my dear, you can’t,” Arnauld pulled my bag off my shoulder, and tossed it into the back of the car.

“I could scream,” my hand rested on my knife hilt.

 “And what good would that do you? You want to spend more time with Constable Barrett?” 

[there-will-be-a-way]

Also, I'm on the waiting list for a residential group. It's for certain that the costs will be covered. I'll live in a shared apartment with 2 other women. It could go quickly. Maybe I'll move out in two months already.

Yay. 🎉

[2jaeh]

sweet chaos | haechan

you could never understand why everyone threw themselves at that notorious group of boys in your university, but maybe one of them can show you.

genre: smut

content: fem!reader, college au, profanity, alcohol, just making out and fingering in a closet, a tiny bit of renmin action

word count: 2.6k

author lin

"Renjun my beloved, what have we gotten ourselves into?" You asked as you remained frozen at the doorway, your best friend equally distraught at your side. 

"Are all frat parties this… aggressive?" Renjun shouted over the deafening music and you shrugged.

You and Renjun had been to several parties in your three years of university, but said parties were nowhere near as rowdy and wild as the one currently being thrown by Na Jaemin and his friends. Jaemin had greeted you guys upon opening the door, but he slipped away to chat up some girl just as quickly and you were left to fend for yourselves.

The living room had been turned into a makeshift dance floor with Johnny from IT managing the music in the corner. There were drunk and/or high people sprawled all across the house, sitting on the floor or holding themselves up against the walls. The floors were littered food wrapped, bottles, beer cans and couples were borderline fucking each other in several not so discreet areas.

"Maybe we should just go…" Renjun's voice trailed as he started to back away from the chaos.

"Now you know we can't," You quickly grabbed onto Renjun's wrist to halt his movements, turning your head to face him, "we promised Jisung that we'll look after him for his first college party." 

"Yeah, well that was before I realized this party is actually in the pits of hell," Renjun whined dramatically, "let's just go!" 

"If you want to keep our platonic companionship alive you will stay here and protect our shared son." You narrowed a threatening index finger at him and he let out an exaggerated groan.

"Fine, fine, fine," Renjun rolled his eyes as you gave him a victorious grin, "but the moment someone gets too close to me, I am running out of this place with or without you, alright?" 

"Alright." You chuckled before Renjun looped his arm through yours and you both entered the house.

The interior of Jaemin's dorm was surprisingly not as terrifying as it had seemed from the outside. Sure, the place was still littered with stumbling party goers and trails of dirt left by said party goers, but the hallway to the bathroom and bedrooms was kept quite clean and a lot of people seemed to be just having a good time. You tugged on Renjun's arm when you saw Jisung standing in a corner with a few of his friends and you both walked over to him.

Jaemin and his friends, namely Jeno, Haechan and Mark, were notorious on campus for throwing crazy parties and getting every - and I mean every - girl they wanted. You were never quite sure how your sweet Jisung himself had made friends with them, but he did know them by association because of his own best friend Chenle. Mark had bumped into Chenle, breaking Chenle's phone in the process and Chenle had made him pay back his dues by forcing him to invite him to their parties to give the younger boy some street cred. Jisung tagged along this time.

"Jisung!" You beamed as Jisung turned around and pulled you into a soft hug. 

"______! Renjun!" Jisung spoke softly, grinning at Renjun as he gave him a high five, "I didn't think you guys would come."

"I wanted to leave, but ______ said we can't let you fend for yourself." Renjun threw his arms over you and Jisung as you rolled your eyes.

"Why did you want to leave?" Mark raised an eyebrow, prompting you to realize that Jaemin and his frat boy friends were also standing with you guys.

"Because they're boring!" Chenle exclaimed as Jisung groaned in protest, playfully shoving his cackling friend. 

"No, we're not boring," Renjun ran his fingers through his hair, "just no offense, but this place would make my mother weep." 

"No offense taken," Jaemin smirked and you felt Renjun shift under his stare, "but if you guys wanna prove you're not boring why don't you play a game with us?"

"Why would we need to prove anything to you lot?" You scoffed under your breath as Renjun snickered softly at your side.

"No need to be rude," you lifted your head up to see Haechan looking down at you with amusement on his face, "we just wanna have some fun."

You had never taken notice of Haechan for the sole reason that you weren't interested in boys like him. He and his friends were known players who just fucked girls with no strings attached before jumping over to the next one. They knew they were hot and if there is one thing you truly hate, it's cocky men who think they "have a way with women". But with that being said, why did you feel butterflies in your tummy when you made brief eye contact with Haechan. Why did you find his stupid smirk so damn attractive? You cleared your throat, somewhat getting ahold of yourself. 

"Alright, but we'll need some drinks first." You nodded before Renjun guided you and Jisung away towards the kitchen, Chenle trailing behind.

To say Mark, Jaemin, Haechan and Jeno were taken aback would be an understatement. The four of them were so accustomed to people, quite literally, falling at their feet. They would just smirk and say one word and said people would be giddy beyond repair. So to have you and Renjun just brush them off and not melt for them definitely made them frustrated and intrigued at the same time, especially Haechan towards you.

You rested your back against the wall, sipping your cider while Jisung told you some wild story about how the rat in his dorm was playing mind games with him as Chenle laughed hysterically and Renjun tried to reason with the youngest boy. Your attention shifted when you saw your least favorite frat boys walking towards you guys. You unintentionally made eye contact with Haechan and you felt lump form in your throat. He had the prettiest, brightest eyes that directly contrasted his long, messy hair and that sinful smirk on his face.

You shook your head slightly, as if to wake up from the trance you were in, and focused your attention back on Jisung. You looked at them in the corner of your eye as they moved closer, mentally cursing yourself when you saw Haechan looking at you with amusement once again. You were a strong person and you would never fall into the trap of those kind of men, but Lee fucking Haechan was ruining that for you.

"We're gonna go to my room," Jaemin shouted over the music, that permanent smirk never seemed to leave his face, "you guys can join if you want." 

Jeno sent a wink in your direction before the four of them walked off towards the room at the end of the hallway. You turned your head to face your friends and when Renjun shrugged, you all started to make your way towards the room as well. When you arrived, the four boys had already occupied the large space, Jeno and Jaemin seated on the carpeted floor sipping their beers, Mark sprawled out on the bed staring at the ceiling and Haechan lounging in the swivel chair at Jaemin's desk. 

As soon as you stood at the doorway, Haechan twirled the chair to the side and locked eyes with you for the third time that night. You almost had to stop yourself from looking too interested, enthralled by the way he sat with his legs spread and his eyes hooded. For once you were excited to hear Jaemin's voice as he noticed your arrival and you broke away from Haechan's smug stare. 

"So you guys decided to show up?" Jaemin grinned cheekily as he bustled the four of you into the room and closed the door behind Jisung, "what game should we play?" 

"I got an idea," Jeno took a swig of his drink before leaning back, holding his upper body up with his arms, "how about 7 minutes in heaven?" 

"Woo, Jeno!" Mark whistled as he playfully tapped the younger boy with his foot.

"You guys in?" Jaemin turned towards the four of you, his mischievous smile lingering on Renjun, before you all hummed in agreement.

You took a seat on the edge of the bed, Renjun close to your side as Chenle and Jisung opted for sitting on the floor. There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Mark spoke up. 

"Who wants to go first?" He asked, sat up with his knees pressed against his chest as he sipped on his glass of Gin, "I nominate Jaemin."

"I nominate Jaemin and Renjun to make out first." Haechan grinned smugly when Renjun's eyes widened at his statement.

"Jaemin and Renjun for me too." Jeno nodded.

"Me too," Chenle snickered as Renjun shot him a glare, "Renjun needs to loosen up anyways."

"Oh I'll loosen him up alright." Jaemin smiled while Renjun's face was flushed with embarrassment. 

"What do you me-" 

"Jisung, please my child you don't wanna know." You patted Jisung's head, but flinched ever so slightly when you heard Haechan chuckle under his breath at your words.

"That's three out of five," Mark's amused voice caught your attention, "you two better get a move on."

"Don't worry Renjun, I don't bite... maybe just a nibble or two." Jaemin giggled before walking over to your frozen best friend, holding out his hand. 

Renjun gave you a nervous look and you nodded in reassurance that everything would be okay. He sighed deeply before getting up from the bed and walking towards the fairly small walk-in closet, ignoring the hand Jaemin had offered him. Jaemin grinned sheepishly before making his way to the closet and closing the doors behind him. Those seven minutes felt like an eternity, but eventually Renjun appeared through the doors first and quickly took his seat back next to you, Jaemin trailing behind him with a proud smirk on his lips. 

"Did you kiss him?" You asked in a low voice.

"For like a minute… he's really not as great as he makes it out to be." Renjun admitted and you couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, who's next?" Haechan asked, crossing his legs. 

"How about you and ______?" Jeno smiled innocently and you couldn't hide the disbelief on your face. 

"Yeah I second that." Jaemin agreed, tapping his index finger on Renjun's nose as he walked past. 

"Me too." Mark nodded. 

"Lowkey feel like we don't even need to be here." Jisung whispered to Chenle whom shrugged in response. 

"Let's go then sweetheart." Haechan cooed as he got up from his seat, glancing over his shoulder at you before entering the closet. 

You cursed under your breath before lifting yourself off the bed and walking towards the closet. You closed the doors behind you and moved to the other end of the small closet, keeping your distance from Haechan. He watched you with delight in his eyes as he chuckled softly.

"Do you want to kiss me?" Haechan asked bluntly, licking his bottom lip.

"I don't really wanna get involved with anyone like you." You replied just as bluntly, folding your arms across your chest. 

"Anyone like me? And what's that exactly?" Haechan cocked his head to the side. 

"You guys just mess around with anything in a skirt and then toss them aside for the next one," you shrugged lazily, "y'all don't seem interested in anything more than bragging rights so…." 

"So if I said I'm genuinely interested in you then you wouldn't believe me?" Haechan raised an eyebrow as he took a few steps towards you, causing you to instinctively move backwards until you were backed up against the wall.

"I probably wouldn't, no." You kept an unimpressed expression on, despite feeling a bit flustered at how close he was to you, practically hovering over you as his breath fanned your face.

"That's too bad because I am quite intrigued by you." Haechan's voice was filled with teasing and you kept your eyes focused on the door, not able to make eye contact with him anymore. 

"Anyways, you still didn't answer my question," Haechan dipped his head down so you could feel his breath on your neck and his words danced into your ear, "do you want to kiss me?"

Yes. The answer was yes. He was undeniably attractive and the way he was almost pressed against you, his hands leaning against the wall on either side of your head, was driving you insane. You were intoxicated by the smell of his strong perfume, the way his sweet voice spoke with so much arrogance and the way his bright, starry eyes were filled with lust. You understood why all those other girls before you melted right into his trap, but you were much too stubborn to admit that. 

"Do you wanna kiss me?" You pondered innocently, making eye contact with him again and he groaned almost inaudibly under his breath, those simple words sending him over the edge.

Without wasting anymore time, Haechan pressed his lips to yours, his hands coming down to hold onto your waist. You unconsciously slid your hands up his torso, resting them on his shoulders. He licked on your bottom lip before biting, making you gasp softly. He smiled against your lips before resuming the make out session, his tongue dancing with yours.

His fingers played with the hem of your shirt before his warm hands dipped underneath, roaming up your abdomen. His hands cupped your clothed boobs and he began to massage them, eliciting a small moan from you that was fortunately muffled due to the heated kiss. As much as your stubborn self wanted nothing more than to throw him off and tell him you weren't interested, you couldn't deny how attracted you were to him and how good you were feeling in that moment.

His body pressed closer to yours, your thigh resting in between his legs and he groaned deeply at the friction on his clothed member. He began grinding against you, swallowing his moans, and you couldn't hide the satisfied smile on your face when you realized that you had the same effect on him that he did on you. You were both drunk on lust and cheap alcohol, stubborness was merely an afterthought. 

"Enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Haechan whispered against your lips. 

"I can see you are too." You replied with a smirk, but all too quickly you let out a sharp gasp when Haechan dipped his one hand down your jeans - the other still fondling your breast - and rubbed you through your underwear. 

Once again you were thankful for Haechan's lips silencing your moans as you were a mess in his hands. His skilled fingers slipped past your underwear and began teasing your womanhood as you squirmed against the wall, not knowing how to handle yourself. You could tell that he'd had countless of other girls in this exact same predicament and you mentally cursed yourself for falling just like everyone else. But you couldn't blame yourself or the girls before you. Haechan was like a drug you couldn't resist and he knew it.

A harsh knock on the closet doors was the only thing that snapped you both out of your euphoric state. Haechan hastily removed his hand from your pants and took a small step back, still close enough for you to smell him and feel his heavy breaths on you. You watched as he brought his fingers to his mouth and licked them clean, smirking as he looked at your shocked expression through the corners of his eyes.

"I know you two are clearly having fun, but your times up!" Mark called out from the other side of the doors and your face flushed with embarrassment as you heard the other boys howl with laughter. 

"We can finish this later." Haechan spoke softly, a surprisingly gentle tone that actually matched his sweet voice.

"Later?" You pondered as you neatened up your appearance. 

"Of course, I'm not planning on tossing you aside," Haechan winked before opening the closet doors to clapping and whistling from his rowdy friends, "I told you… I'm very intrigued by you." 

[weirdlittlecorner]

Lin Kuei, MD: Preface

Notes: sfw, heads up for future depiction of medical procedures/gore, future nsfw themes. The boys have been given first/last names to help with continuity

Plot: Married to Medicine, but make it Lin Kuei

Tags: @icy-spicy @onesillybeach @lilliannmac @singlecelledthot @grandmaster-blueberryice

__

Arctika Regional Hospital- or ARH for short. The highest-ranking hospital in all of China. What made your workplace so special? Well, it was only the best in multiple disciplines, and home to the top physicians in said categories. Firstly, there was you, Dr. F/n L/n, a fellowship-trained anesthesiologist. Then there were the surgeons. Two brothers, Bi-Han and Kuai Liang Wéi, the top cardiac and orthopedic surgeons in the country, respectively. Dr. Tomas Vrbada, a renowned OB/GYN. Dr. Moremi Cyrax, a top radiologist, and Dr. Jūn Sektor, a pulmonologist of the same stature.

There was never a dull moment with you six. Saving lives, having fun, and a little drama; what’s not to love? Well, for one, this. In addition to working the standard forty hours a week, you were required to take twenty-four hours of call a month. Which was today. Taking a sip of your extra-strong latte, you passed through the hospital’s automatic doors without high expectations. And the walk to the elevator was just as anticlimactic as squeezed in beside some visitors, pressing the desired button. Your fellow passengers glanced at your baby blue scrubs and smiled. You offered a small smile back before stepping out onto the second floor of the giant complex.

“Good morning, Katie,” You smiled at the gray-haired charge nurse, “Hey, Dr. L/n, how are you?” She answered back, pushing up her thick glasses, “I’m good, just getting settled for this twenty-four-hour shift,” You responded as you clipped your Vocera to your collar along with your badge. The older woman smiled fondly at you before handing you a thick stack of papers. Your schedule, no doubt. Opening the envelope, your e/c pools scanned over the printed documents. It looked like it was going to be a busy day. You were scheduled to be on the maternity ward until two, then the orthopedic OR until ten, and then the cardiothoracic OR for the rest of the night until the morning. A busy shift, but you liked it that way. It was fun being able to float to different units and see some of everything. Not to mention, you’d undoubtedly get to see all of your favorite colleagues. Maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad after all.

The face of your smartwatch read ‘0700’ in illuminated numbers. That was your cue to start the day. Draping your f/c stethoscope around your neck, you exchanged greetings with the on and off-going nurses before taking your files and marching back toward the elevator. You were pleasantly surprised to find it empty, giving you some much-needed silence to reflect on the day. The transparent ‘5’ button illuminated when you pushed it, signaling that you would be dropped off on the corresponding floor.

During the ride, you savored what would surely be your last moments of peace before the chaotic shift ahead of you. But despite a few pre-work jitters, you weren’t worried. There was no need to be. Everything would go smoothly and the patients would receive the best possible care. You would make sure of that. That wasn’t to say that you were arrogant; because you weren’t. But you were Dr. L/n, a renowned anesthesiologist, and thus completely competent in your practice. The hours would pass quickly, everything would be great, and you would be sitting on your couch, with a bowl of ice cream, watching Shark Tank in no time.

The loud ‘ding’ accompanied by the groaning of metal doors being opened punctured your fantasy. For a second you almost forgot where you were. But you snapped into doctor mode quickly as you stepped out onto the freshly waxed floor of the unit.

First stop: Labor and Delivery.

[maplecornia]

Chapter 4

𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱: 3.06K

𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢: romance | slice of life | fluff | angst | bts x female!reader | ot7

𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶: You watched them from the sidelines ever since you were a young teenage girl. Now you’re grown up, they’ve returned after 2 long years and everything has changed. What happens when you pull back the mask and find the darkness within? What happens when you see that they’re broken?

𝔞/𝔫: this one is literally just revolving around one of the BTS members. i don't really have much else to say other than HYUNJIN'S BACK and I'm crying.

𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: cliffhangers | angst | fluff | slight mentions of self hatred | depression | mental health illness | self harm | occurs in the year 2024 | set in a timeline where BTS went to the military together | slight language

tags: @kookaine | @fangirl125reader | @kookiebbyxx | @taradevonne

Kim Namjoon never imagined he would lose his assistant.

JaeJin was a great worker and a great friend. He loved music and expressed it through his very soul, his every move whenever he danced or helped Namjoon produce a song. Namjoon smiles as his hand hovers over the soundboard.

In the back of his mind, he remembers the days spent here ever since Jaejin was promoted to his assistant. He remembers the first time he met his dear friend, how nervous Jaejin looked, unspoken excitement reverberating off of him in waves.

As Namjoon pushes up the volume on the soundboard, he thinks back to the moments spent as Jae learned how to be his assistant, as Namjoon taught him as much as he could. How what started as respect turned into a mutual friendship, and later, a brotherhood.

Though Namjoon is sad to see JaeJin go, he is happy to see his dream accomplished. He will miss Jae's smile, his laugh, and his good heart, but he knows that just because Jaejin is taking a different path doesn't mean they will cease to be friends.

As soon as Joon finishes a part of his song, he sighs, pulling away from the board and whipping out his phone.

He doesn’t know why he started thinking about him all of a sudden, he was one of the first people to know that Jae was leaving. Besides, he would see him soon, it’s not like Jaejin leaving for a couple of months means that he won’t ever see him again.

Standing, RM walks out of the room, leaving Suga to continue by himself.

He's lucky that Yoongi has his headphones on. If he caught Namjoon slacking he wouldn't get off easy. Carefully, RM exits the room, shutting the door softly behind him as he leans against the wall next to the door to the studio. Turning his phone on, he checks the time, his heart thumping slightly.

8:30 am.

Perhaps the reason his mind is so full of nostalgic memories is that he’s been waiting since last night to meet his new manager.

Jaejin said that his replacement should show up around this time, but he hasn't given much information other than that. Namjoon pockets his phone and heads down the hallway towards the front lobby.

Staff members pass by him, some working for TxT, others for the new girl group they put together about 3 years ago, and even more for the new boy group that BigHit began putting together in 2020.

Namjoon finds their presence surreal.

The members of BTS's staff have been around ever since their debut, and even more, have joined the crew over the years. These staff members will no doubt do the same for their groups, maybe stick around till the very end.

If anyone asked Namjoon's opinion, he would say it was the staff that had to do the real work. And all from behind the scenes. They are the ones who help them put on a great show. They are the ones who tutor them, provide for them, allow them to create their vision, their masterpiece. They are the stitches behind the fabric.

To Namjoon, BTS is just the face. The whole idea of them, of their message, was created through everyone's effort. Including ARMY, including their staff, including BTS themselves.

Losing one of their members would be like trying to fill a hole that cannot be filled.

Perhaps that's why Namjoon is so worried about Jaejin's replacement.

No one can truly replace him.

Namjoon never wanted a new manager.

There was a reason he chose Jaejin out of all the others, a reason he turned a backup dancer into his manager. He needs someone with the same passion, the same grit, the same determination that he has. Jaejin had that, and more. He was able to keep up with Namjoon’s crazy schedule, his unhealthy habits, his tendency to overwork himself.

Normally it was Suga trying to keep up with him, trying to help him, trying to do the best for him, but when he met Jaejin, he found exactly what he needed in a manager.

Will his replacement be able to do the same?

Entering the lobby, he knocks on the counter, where a receptionist is taking a call. She looks up at his knock and he smiles at her, receiving the usual smile back and a slight blush on her cheeks.

After a moment of their little staring contest, Namjoon grows impatient. He indicates silently that he’s waiting to speak with her and her eyes widen in realization. She nods sheepishly at his signal, holding up one finger to signify to him that she'll talk to him in a second. He complies, settling in as she continues her call, faintly aware of Kim Namjoon behind her.

Namjoon is never sure how to feel about these types of things.

People recognizing him in the street, others noticing him even with a disguise, he doesn't know what to do with the attention.

Why didn't people pay attention to him before? When he didn't have all the makeup, the money, and the influence? Are they looking at him because they appreciate who he is as a person?

Or because he is Kim Namjoon?

RM of BTS.

Putting the thought out of his mind, he turns his back to the receptionist, unlocking his phone, and opening the chat with Jaejin. He doesn't see any sign of his replacement, but then again, how would Namjoon know what she looks like?

Hey

YOUNG APPRENTICE- oh hi, what’s up hyung?

When was your replacement supposed to be here again?

YOUNG APPRENTICE- ummmmm, 8:00 am or so, why?

RM pulls away from his phone, looking around for any sign of a girl who looks lost or out of place in the lobby. Every time Jaejin talked about this so-called friend, he referred to them as a “she” so the only thing Namjoon knows about this new manager is the fact that she’s female.

Sadly, as he desperately scours the lobby, there's no sign of anyone there that fits the description. The one girl who was waiting in the waiting area has just been called aside and led to a meeting room. Namjoon, a little worried, bites his lip before a buzz in his hands causes him to glance at his phone.

YOUNG APPRENTICE- Namjoon?

Yeah?

I’m sorry it’s just….she’s not here yet

YOUNG APPRENTICE- WHAT

Namjoon rolls his eyes playfully at Jae's reaction before walking out of the lobby. If she's not here, there's no need to hang around, and it doesn't seem as though the receptionist is paying much attention anyway.

As he leaves, the receptionist stares after him almost hopelessly, Namjoon oblivious to the longing gaze.

He glances at his phone once more maneuvering his way through the hallways of the building.

YOUNG APPRENTICE- are you sure?

YOUNG APPRENTICE- I'm gonna murder her

Well I can’t know for sure

Could I have a picture or maybe a name?

YOUNG APPRENTICE- I never gave you one?

Not to my knowledge

YOUNG APPRENTICE- oh I am so sorry hyung! Her name is Lin Yen and just give me a minute and I'll find you a picture

"Lin...Yen...." Namjoon murmurs, pondering it in his mind.

"Just who exactly are you?" he whispers, putting the phone down once more as he comes to a stop in a corner of the hallway.

Yen...he repeats in his mind, playing around with it, trying to see how it sounds on his tongue, how it feels circling in his thoughts, how it plays on his voice.

It's a beautiful name, one he hasn't heard often, and for some reason, he feels as though it's foreign. Another vibration from his phone jolts him out of his pondering thoughts, and he looks down at the screen, immediately bursting out laughing.

Jaejin has sent the picture of you, but it's not just any picture.

It's a picture of you eating salad.

But that's not what makes it so funny.

You and Jaejin are at a Korean BBQ in the picture, and you hold the signature salad bowl up to your face, your chopsticks hooked around an enormous bite. You're shoving the bite into your mouth, your cheeks puffed up like chipmunks, your eyes wide and nose pinched.

Your expression, your face, the fact that you're attempting to shove a huge bite into your mouth, everything about the picture is hilarious, and Namjoon can't stop looking at it.

He can't stop looking at you.

Now he is sure that you are a foreigner, with that complexion and your facial features. You aren't necessarily tall, but not super short either. Then again, Namjoon doesn't think that Park Jimin is short, so what does he know?

One thing is for sure, though…

You are beautiful.

And it’s not only the physical things that make you beautiful, though they are a contributing factor.

It’s the personality.

The charisma that exuberates off of you, managing to touch him most charmingly through a mere photo. The way you smile, how it lights up your eyes. The blush of your cheeks, and even the color of your hair. Everything about you has captured his attention, and he can't look away.

His smile doesn't want to fade, so he covers his face with his hand, leaning against the wall. No doubt he looks like an idiot, but he doesn't care.

You have that gift.

The natural gift of familiarity when you are less than strangers.

And it has surprised him. The cool, calm, professional, wise Namjoon wouldn't have thought that such a thing could reach his heart...and yet he can't stop smiling.

"Namjoon."

Startled, the smile fading just as quickly as it began, Namjoon jumps, his phone slipping out of his grip. Frantic, and a bit embarrassed, he fumbles to catch it before it falls, but to no avail.

He watches in hopeless despair as the phone hits the ground with a sickening thud, the screen immediately cracking at the impact of the harsh tiled floor.

Namjoon lets out a groan, while a slender, pale hand reaches out and picks it up. Wincing, he glances to his side.

Where Min Yoongi holds his phone in between his fingers as though it were a dirty piece of trash; looking unamused. Glaring at him with a stare as cold as ice, he drops it into RM’s hands before folding his arms across his chest. Namjoon rolls his eyes at his luck, sighing inwardly.

He doesn't look too happy.

"Hey, Yoongi, I--"

"Yes, please explain, Kim Namjoon." Yoongi drawls, his voice monotone and sending shivers down Namjoon’s spine. Almost shamefully, Namjoon turns off his phone and slides it back into his pocket, avoiding that icy stare.

"You're supposed to be helping, yet you left for what? To laugh at memes? Now is not the time to be fooling around with Jackson for heaven's sakes!” Though Yoongi doesn’t raise his voice, the severity of his tone is enough to make it seem as though he has and Namjoon has to restrain himself from visibly flinching away from him. After a moment of silence, Suga sighs, rubbing his temple with frustration. “Why are you so distracted today?"

Joon has been asking himself the same question.

"For one thing, they weren't memes and I wasn’t talking to Jackson. It was a picture of Jaejin's replacement. I was trying to see if she's arrived yet." He explains, a bit indignantly, before walking away towards the studio once more, hoping to escape the conversation.

He should have remembered that nothing escapes Yoongi.

"And did she?" Suga follows Namjoon, managing to walk fast enough to catch up with him and yet still look nonchalant and unbothered. RM sighs at the question, speeding up his pace, as he notices the studio door in the distance.

Jumping at the opportunity, Namjoon makes a break for the door, Yoongi calling after him in surprise. He reaches it, leaving Suga behind in the dust. Opening the door he sinks into a chair as though it were a refuge from the uncomfortable situation he found himself in. As Yoongi comes to a stop in front of the door, Namjoon acts as though he were there the entire time.

"Do you need something?" he asks innocently, and Yoongi rolls his eyes, walking in and closing the door behind him before settling into a chair of his own.

"Yes. I need you to focus on this project. This is important, and is nowhere near done if it's going to be our next title track." He murmurs, immediately setting to work, his mouse echoing in the silence. Biting his bottom lip in guilt, RM turns back to his phone, frowning a bit at the sight of the cracked screen.

Yoongi is right, Namjoon knows this.

They dedicated this day to work on BTS’s new title song.

Namjoon especially wanted Yoongi to produce it because of his incredible skill and work ethic. He practically begged him to take time off from his other projects to work on this with him, Yoongi is sacrificing a lot of his time just to be here.

Namjoon knows how important time can be.

It doesn’t help matters considering how this song is so essential to their comeback album. Promotion is still far off, but it doesn't change the circumstances. ARMY waited for them for so long to come back to them, it’s only fair that they give them the most groundbreaking album they can.

But RM can't focus.

And it’s for such a stupid reason.

Just because Jaejin is gone doesn't mean the world will fall apart.

He knows this, it's just...

Namjoon smiles a bit bitterly, turning back to the booth as he resumes his work once more.

"She wasn't there." Suga turns to Namjoon at the sound of his voice. Namjoon notices but doesn't pay any mind, continuing to play with the soundboard, creating his type of spell, his sort of magic. "In response to your question."

Yoongi doesn't respond, waiting for Namjoon to finish. That's the way he is, sometimes RM can’t finish a thought in one sentence and it takes him a moment to piece things together, what with everything else running through that expansive mind of his. Suga knows when to wait, when to stay silent, and allow RM a chance to tell him everything he needs to.

He's no stranger to listening to people, especially when it comes to Namjoon.

Sometimes, Joon just needs to let something out without anyone saying anything, and Yoongi won't say anything unless he feels it's necessary. He’ll listen, and be there for anyone to lean on, able to offer them the emotional support they need to carry on.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm a little nervous to meet her." After a moment, Yoongi responds to him, his soft voice carrying across the room in a comforting murmur.

"What's the big deal? If she's professional, she'll be perfect. I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about." He reassures him. RM nods, trying to concentrate once more, and put the thought of your arrival to the back of his mind.

Maybe Yoongi is right, maybe there is nothing to be worried about.

However, Namjoon can't help but think that your arrival will change their lives.

And who knows if it'll be for the better?

𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢: how are you guys liking Jaejin now? lol

chapter 5 here

check the Infinite Stars masterlist for more chapters

check my BTS masterlist for other BTS content

check out my masterlist for other kpop fanfics

[lovebugcody]

i can’t draw but i can write, so here is what i have for the mcyt/dream smp fandom. (inspired by a lot of fanart i have seen) 

3k words baby. i was going to do a second half but i’m tired so i’ll write it tomorrow

anyway here is dadza collecting his boys

--

Philza had always known he wanted to be a dad, but with adventures and quests, he hardly had the time. So he made the difficult decision to wait until one day he had the time to properly care for and raise a child (or children) of his own. But circumstances and his own paternal instinct seemed to decide for him when was the perfect time for him to finally become a father. 

The day he found his eldest, he was passing through an abandoned village. They were common in the parts of the world where Philza was known for exploring, which created a sad but beautiful landscape. Philza had always had an appreciation for the forgotten towns, so he made sure if and when he saw them, he travelled through. While he felt a touch of guilt when rummaging through items that were forgotten in a haste and deemed disposable, that never stopped him from opening every house and chest to find goods. There were occasions where he forgot a small home, or didn’t see a chest or two, but that day was not one. Philza was being careful and made sure to open every door. 

A quiet shuffle and the tiniest whimper caught his attention, and he poked his head around the corner. Curled up, as small as he could, was a boy. Dressed in a dirtied, no-longer-yellow sweater, with a holey maroon beanie over long curls. He tried squeezing behind a chest next to him, and Philza could feel his heart break as the small boy started to cry.

“P-please, don’t h-hurt me.” His voice was tiny, broken, and one again Philza felt his chest tighten. This tiny thing couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5, and already looked terrified of the world. Philza quickly hid his sword in his pack, taking off his helmet to reveal his own hat and hair in need of cutting.

“It’s okay, little man. I promise I won’t. My name’s Philza.” He squatted down, and reached a hand out slowly. He quickly retracted it though when he remembered he had an apple in his bag. He swung his pack to be in front of him, unzipping it. “You hungry?” The small boy slowly looked up, wide and teary brown eyes watching as Philza moved to pull a bright red apple out. He nodded rapidly, curls falling out of the front of his beanie into his eyes. The boy crawled over to Philza, then sat cross-legged in front of him, patiently waiting for the apple. Philza let out a soft laugh, before handing him the apple. 

“Thank you, Philza.” The words were muffled by the apple already in his mouth. Philza laughed again before dropping his own butt onto the ground, to mirror the boy.

“What’s your name, little man?” Philza had his own apple in hand, moving to bite into it.

“Wilbur.” The young boy looked proud as he said his name, promptly taking another bite of the apple. 

“Well then, Wilbur,” the decision was made almost immediately, as soon as he saw the young boy really, “would you like to come adventure with me?” Wilbur visibly sat up straighter, excitement in his eyes. 

“Hell yeah!” Apple was spat out as Wilbur scrambled to his feet in excitement.

It only took three months for Wilbur to start calling Phil “dad”.

---

His second child was under far more surprising and saddening circumstances.

An seven-year-old Wilbur bounced along in front of Philza, swinging his iron sword pretending to be defeating zombies. As he swung his sword, he once again recounted how he battled three zombies in the cave earlier that day.

“I know, Will. They were no match for you!” Philza laughed as he spoke, watching with unmatched joy and pride for his son. 

“I’m the best monster fighter, dad!” Sword held above his hair, Wilbur spun to look at Philza. “I can even help you fight some zombie pig guys in the nether next time!”

“Pigmen, Will.” Wilbur rolled his eyes at the correction. “And we’ll see.” Punching their air and continuing to bounce forward, Wilbur didn’t notice the ruined step and tripped over it. Immediately, Philza rushed forward to catch his son. 

A quiet pig-like snort caught their attention, and Philza, hand still holding Wilbur’s arm where he caught him, whipped his head around, other hand reaching for his sword. He had expected to see a pigman - maybe even a zombie one - to have somehow made it into the overworld and gotten lost, but instead saw a cardboard box. Scrawled across the front of the box in a dying sharpie was the word “FREAK!”. He pushed Wilbur, who was gripping his sword tightly in both hands, behind him as he took a careful step forward. 

A tiny face popping up, giving both Philza and Wilbur a fright.

“Dad?” Wilbur’s voice was small, giving away his fear despite the confident aura he tried to portray. 

“Stay here, okay?” Philza didn’t give Wilbur a change to reply before he continued to move closer to the box. The small child within the box stood up slowly, his features becoming more clear. The snout and ears were piglin in nature, but other than those and the pink complexion, it was clear to Philza that this was simply a scared child. Much like when he approached Wilbur those years ago, Philza moved slowly, crouching in front of the box and child contained within, peeking inside to see if there was anything else within it.

In the box, being stood on by the child, was a manilla folder. It looked as though at one point it had been official, but had been muddied and chewed on periodically. The small child looked up at Philza with tears in his eyes and hands gripping the side of the cardboard box with white knuckles. Philza noticed that one of his ears was stood up, the other - a yellow cattle-tag with the letters “TB” in faded black written on it was pierced through it - was hanging, exaggerated by the fact that the small boy had his head tilted to that side. 

“Can you pass me that folder, bud?” The boy in the box blinked once before looking down at the folder. He squatted down and his stubby fingers picked up the dirtied paperwork. He stood slowly, then held it out proudly. “Thank you.” Philza smiled softly as he accepted the folder from the tiny boy. He sat in front of the box and carefully read over the words written on the cover. As he sat, Wilbur moved forward and sat next to him, watching the child carefully as he placed his sword next to him. 

The top of the folder read “Experiment #14 [unreadable] -lin and human genetic cross- [unreadable]”, with a large red “failed” stamped across the middle of the entire cover. Philza glanced at the boy sadly. An experiment, a discarded experiment, that was all he was deemed to be. He shook his head in disapproval as he opened the folder. He didn’t want to read the majority of the papers within the folder, but he wanted to at least know how old this boy was and what name he had been given.

Technoblade. It was an odd name, undoubtedly, but if that was the name he was given, who was Philza to argue. He looked at the apparent birthdate, and quickly counted back in his head to calculate his age. 

“Four?” The word was barely a breath, but Philza just could not believe that this tiny boy stranded in a box was only four years old. He had been experimented on, tested, and disposed, marked as a freak and a failure. He slammed the folder closed, turning to Wilbur. “What do you think?” Wilbur blinked, tilting his head. 

“What?” He hadn’t looked away from Technoblade since the boy had poked his head out of the box, but he finally turned to look up at his dad. 

“Think he could be your new brother? Come on adventures with us?” Just like when Philza had asked Wilbur if he himself wanted to travel with him, his whole body lit up with excitement. 

“Really? That would be awesome.” He was bouncing again. Philza breathed a laugh at Wilbur, before turning back to look at Technoblade.

“What do you think, Technoblade?” He tilted his head the other way, glancing between Wilbur and Philza. “Want to come with us?” The tiny boy thought for a second before nodding, holding his hands up to Philza, indicating he wanted to be picked up. Philza happily obliged, moving to his feet and reaching down to the excited boy, who now had a huge smile that showed off tiny tusks growing from his bottom row of teeth. He placed Techno on his hip, offered a hand to Wilbur to help him stand, and the now-trio walked away from the broken cobble stairs. 

As they walked away, Wilbur began to ramble about all the adventures he would have with his new brother, and telling him about all of the adventures past. 

It took Technoblade a month to finally start talking to Philza and Wilbur, and only four more for him to start calling him ‘dad’.

---

Dealing with two teenagers was not something that Philza had ever prepared for. Granted he had not even planned for children, but instead found the two boys that now called him dad. This meant that, of course, he never had to mentally fortify himself for any of what he was dealing with. 

Wilbur and Technoblade were constantly trying to fight mobs, and when there were no mobs, each other. Twelve and fifteen, and so much energy. Although Wilbur was slowly starting to lose that youthful energy that Techno still gripped on to. However, the day they found the third of Philza’s boys, he began to learn that some people are always fueled by a youthful energy.

Just as Philza always passed through villages old and new when he travelled alone, Techno and Wilbur had been taught to develop that same habit. Philza had sent them down the centre of the ruined village, going around the outskirts himself. He figured that while they had been travelling with him for a while, fighting mobs in the overworld and nether alike, it was better to be safe than sorry, and so decided on sending them off alone for the first time through an empty village would be best. 

Philza skirted the village, picking up crops that had grown on their own and checking small buildings the excited boys would have no doubt skipped over. He knew that the two of them together would be looking for a fight, but would also keep each other safe. They had grown very attached to each other in the eight years they had been with Philza, referring to each other as brothers. It always warmed Philza’s heart when they called him ‘dad’ or each other as brother - they had bumped into a young man with a creeper mask on his own adventure a couple of years prior and Wilbur had introduced Techno as his little brother, a memory which still makes Philza smile. 

He had made it to the centre of the village, trailing behind the boys, when he heard a scream. Less of a scream but more a shout of surprise, but Wilbur had an unfortunate voice crack in the middle of the cry and it sounded as if he had let out a short scream. Immediately, Philza sprinted towards the sound of his son’s voice, hoping that both were still together and alive. He skidded around a corner and paused.

The sight in front of him was rather amusing. A small boy with matted blonde hair and a formerly white and red shirt was blindly swinging a stone sword while shouting and swearing, while Techno had his iron sword held in front of him in both hands, and Wilbur had his by his own hanging limply by his side. Both of Philza’s sons were wearing very confused expressions. 

“You aren’t stealing my shit!! Go away!” The small boy pushed the oversized helmet resting on his head back as it had slipped in front of his eyes. “This is my house!” 

“Dude!” Technoblade attempted to calm the shouting child, but the boy was having none of it.

“Don’t ‘dude’ me. Go away!” Though amused, Philza decided it was probably time to step in between the children before someone actually started swinging a sword with the intent to seriously injure the other party. As he walked forward, Techno kept his eyes locked on the blond boy, but Wilbur turned to look at him.

“We didn’t do anything, dad. He just… jumped out at us screaming.” The boy on the steps finally turned to Philza, who was nodding in understanding at what Wilbur said. 

“I know.” He stepped in front of Techno, after pushing his hands down, forcing him to lower the sword. “Hey bud. What’s your name?” The stone sword had finally stopped being wildly swung, but was still pointed (though it was clear that the boy was struggling with the weight of it).

“My name’s Tommy.” He finally gave up on holding up the sword. “What’s it to you old man?” Philza scoffed. This kid was ballsy and loud and needed somewhere to channel his energy. He took another step forward and slowly reached forward. Tommy’s grip on his sword tightened again, but even though he wouldn’t show it, his arms were clearly sore and exhausted from the wild swinging, so the sword remained with it’s tip pressed into the step. Hand on either side of the large helmet engulfing Tommy’s head, Philza lifted it up and tucked it under one arm, ruffling the blond locks with the other hand.

“Well, Tommy, my name is Philza and do you want to fight mobs with us and go adventuring?” Philza didn’t know for sure if this young boy was alone or not, but he was hanging out alone in a village ruin defending a tiny shack, so it was a safe assumption. 

“Dad.” The ‘a’ sound was dragged out in an exaggerated groan from Techno. “Does he have t-” He was cut off but a ‘thwap’ sound that resulted from Wilbur smacking him upside the head. 

“Shut up.” Wilbur hissed, hoping that for once Techno would listen.

“What? The kid tried to slice me!” Philza whipped his head around and glared at the boys, and they both quickly straightened, pretending to do nothing wrong. He turned back to look at the boy who was sticking his tongue out at Techno.

“Tommy?” Just like with Techno and Wilbur, Tommy straightened his posture and pretended to look at his feet. “Are you coming?” The boy held out his sword for Philza to take, which he did, before turning and racing inside. Sounds of rummaging came from behind the door, before Tommy reammerged, a much-too-large backpack strapped on. 

“Let’s do this!” 

In a matter of days, Tommy was calling out ‘dad’ to get Philza’s attention. 

--- (original post that inspired this part) --- 

Campsites had gotten harder to find with three boys. Each had developed their own ideas of “safe”, and none of them wanted to listen to Philza. The only solution was to allow them to take turns. Tommy had decided that forests were best, while Techno and Wilbur at least agreed that underground was safest. Unfortunately for the eldest pair, it was Tommy’s night to decide. So the four of them had to march through a thickly wooded area in search of a clearing for the night. 

“Here!” It was barely a clearing, but it was enough space to pitch tents for the night. Tommy spun in a circle with his arms out wide after dropping his backpack, while Wilbur and Technoblade looked at each other. 

“Alright, you three set up camp, I’ll check the area.” Philza dropped his bag beside Tommy’s and retrieved his sword, bow and quiver already over his shoulder. He knew that the boys would be safe, and trusted them to keep each other safe, so he had already turned his back and was already on the move.

“Don’t forget to call out if you find anything!” Techno’s voice echoed slightly in the empty area, and Philza waved his empty hand above his head, indicating that he heard and would do so. 

Checking every possible hiding spot was important to do during the day, to make sure that there were no mobs during the day when they would burn that would later add to the number of mobs that night. Places like the hollowed out trunks of trees. 

Philza had ducked into each as he moved and only saw the occasional spider, with one exception.

He had reached what he had decided was the last tree he would check, and bent down to duck his head inside, only to be met with a curled up figure with a faded yellow and grey striped sweatshirt. They had their arms wrapped around their knees and there was what looked like dried blood in their matted hair.

“Hey buddy.” The figure looked up, and Philza saw more dried blood on his face and sweatshirt. “Are you okay?” The boy shook his head.

“My dad…” His voice broke at the end, and his eyes began to water.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to tell me.” Philza held out his hand, which the boy cautiously took. “What’s your name?” The young boy wiped his eyes with the end of his oversized sleeve.

“Tubbo.” He snuggled slightly and looked up at Philza with wide eyes. 

“Well, Tubbo,” Philza still hadn’t let go of Tubbo’s hand, noticing that Tubbo simply adjusted his hand in Philza’s to hold it better, “do you want to come eat with my and my sons? I think my youngest is the same age as you.” The small boy wiped his nose on his sleeve and nodded. “I’m Philza, by the way.”

---

[clonemedickix]

Rating: M

Word count: ballpark 1k

Pairing: Captain Rex x OC General Lara Lin

Warnings: clone fluff- Under 18 DNI, implied physical relations, implied drinking, possible drunkenness (they can’t remember), 1 curse word, sarcasm

Excerpt Summary - Fives invites Lara to 79s to cheer her up with the squad, Rex tags along. New orders to Umbara are received.

Link to story chapter on AO3 here

If you’d like to be tagged when I post more of the story, click here.

Lara lost track of time sitting there, and she was a little startled when the door hissed open. She looked up to see who had come in the Dragon Cave. It was Fives; he took in the scene of how she was sitting, sighed and walked over to her. With something of purpose to his actions, he sat carefully in Echo’s chair, looking her in the eyes as he did so. Lara met his gaze carefully.

“You can’t spend the rest of your life pining for him, Lara. I can’t either.”

Lara didn’t speak for a while, having moved her gaze to the boxes of paperwork on her desk. “I try not to pine, Fives. More like oak. I try to oak my way through life.” She gave him a little smile. “I know I haven’t been here for you like I should have, since we lost him.”

“Okay, now that’s just silly, Lara. You’ve never NOT been there for me.” He stopped and slid over to kneel on his knee in front of her. “I can see this plague on Earth has been hard on you. I have been sent as an ambassador, per se, to invite you to 79s with the guys tonight. Think we could call you away from your busy work, staring into space and ‘oaking’ for a little fun?”

Lara smiled in spite of herself and rolled her eyes. “Guess I could be coerced into it. You four need supervision.” Fives smiled back happily and stood, offering her his hand.

“I should probably at least tell Rex we are kidnapping you for a while, shouldn’t I?” He gave her a little grimace, as soon as they walked out the door.

“Kidnapping her to where?” He heard Rex’s voice suddenly ask. They’d basically walked right into him as they exited the Dragon Cave. Lara whooped a little in surprise, and put her arms up defensively to not end up falling into Rex’s. Public appearances and all.

“We are taking the General by force to 79s. You in?” Fives’ rakish, good natured smile lit up his eyes and Lara laughed. Rex gave her a little one sided smirk, and decided he had time to go with them. He had the same thought about how they all needed supervision in public. Their little trio headed to the base exit where the sky taxis hung out, finding Kix, Jesse, Hardcase and the quiet Tup waiting for them at the gate.

“Wait now, we only invited the General. I don’t remember asking for the Captain.” Jesse laughed, waving at Rex dramatically.

“Yeah, why does it seem like you can’t get one without the other?” Hardcase added, his hand on his chin and a finger tapping his temple. He laughed and patted Rex on the back, hard. “Just kidding, Captain.”

Lara had smiled back at them with a slight ‘cat who ate the cream’ expression, shaken her head and turned to see the taxi pull in to pick them up. They all stuffed themselves into the vehicle and took off for 79s, ready to dance, laugh and drink their evening away. From the outside looking in, they were a happy group, and smooth as teflon; nothing bad would stick to any of them. But the shine on their charmed lives was slowly eroding, to show the less appealing surface beneath.

Lara woke the next morning with Rex sprawled across her body, on her bunk, in the Dragon Cave. She raised her head a little and wondered how much they’d had to drink, if he’d crashed here with her. That was completely unheard of; he never stayed with her in the bunk house because of the risk of being seen. She tried to recall the events of the night, thinking back to 79s - she realized that their exit from the bar was fuzzy; she didn’t entirely remember what they’d done. Good lord. Well, she hoped no one had seen him stumble in here with her, or that at the very least Jesse and Hardcase kept their mouths shut. She laid her head back on the pillow and enjoyed the quiet moment, letting Rex sleep a bit longer.

Lara was more tired than usual. The virus outbreak on Earth had been difficult, for the entire population. She’d given countless hours to the effort to save people, to advance their medical abilities and keep the sick going, hoping to save what lives they could. The end result had been a lot of stress, heartache and extra hours; she hadn’t really allowed herself to tally up all that she’d spent. And then there were the extra hours she dedicated to keeping Echo company in his imprisonment. She guessed she was due for a rest, like the rest of them. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, watching as Rex’s blonde head rose and fell on her chest.

Rex’s eyes opened suddenly, immediately realizing he was not in his bunk in the 501st’s barracks. Lara felt him freeze, all of his muscles going taught as he processed the moment. He picked up his head and turned it, seeing a pair of vivid blue eyes staring back at him in amusement. “This isn’t my bunk,” he said flatly. He felt Lara snicker, rather than heard her, his chin resting on her sternum.

“That, it is not. However did we come to this pass, Captain?” Lara asked him with a suppressed giggle.

“I don’t even remember. Must have been a real banger of a night though.” He paused and then mumbled “Hope Jesse keeps his mouth shut.”

“That was my thought too, though they’re all like the four horsemen of the gossipocalypse.” She was rewarded with a small laugh. “You better get moving and find some plausible place to be, Captain, before Kenobi and his shadow show up.”

“Sir, yes Sir” he said with a grin. He rose up off of her and the bunk smoothly, while she watched in appreciation of his movements. He reached down and tossed her the shirt she’d discarded on the floor at some point the previous night, and quipped “You’d better be dressed when they show up, else they’ll both have to go before the Council and confess to unholy thoughts.”

“Aye, aye Captain.” She gave him a mocking salute as she sat up, then stooped to open the drawer beneath her bunk, removing a fresh pair of clothes. She stood to move to the bathroom for a shower but stopped to quickly kiss Rex; she bit his lower lip a little and heard him let out a little yelp of surprise. Winking, she turned and shut both the doors to the bathroom, so no one could see into either from the office.

Rex took his time dressing; he was working out some plausible story for having not made it to his bunk last night in case someone asked. Though honestly, he thought a little frustratedly, having to make up excuses to sleep with my own wife. He finished getting all his armor back in place and moved to open the door to the bathroom so he could leave; Lara had already finished and was sitting at her desk, trying her best to look studious. Rex saw the clock over the Dragon Cave’s door read 0700. Well, not too early, not too late. They might just manage to gloss over this morning after all. He leaned down to give her one last kiss as he headed for the mess hall for some breakfast.

The door shot open while he was bent down to her. Lara didn’t even care who was coming through the door; the annoyance at being interrupted finally got to her and she threw her pen down on the desk in a temper as Rex snapped back upright, turning to see Skywalker and Kenobi lazily wandering through the door. Rex heard Lara hiss “For Fuck’s SAKE!”, behind him. Anakin heard her expletive but also looked at Rex with a raised eyebrow; he’d managed to get in front of Kenobi and blocked his view of the two of them kissing.

“Alright then General, I will let your lieutenant know you need to see him as soon as morning mess is over,” Rex said with a somewhat theatrical manner. He made for the door as if nothing had happened, returning General Skywalker’s look with a raised eyebrow of his own.

“Hold on there, Captain. Our business will concern you as well.” Obi Wan announced quickly. “Handle two birds with one stone, as General Lin would say.” Kenobi looked to Lara and continued.

“It’s actually KILL two birds with one stone, and I’d love to at this particular moment,” she grumbled.

Kenobi went on as if he hadn’t heard her, though he cocked one eyebrow at her. “We are being sent to Umbara, to attempt to gain access to their advanced weapons and technology. The Council is tired of them supplying the Separatists with new toys that make our job more difficult, so the decision was made to try and secure that planet for ourselves. They’ve requested the help of Dragon Company and yourself - it will be a hard fight to get them under control.” He looked over at Rex and went on, “The 501st and 212th will undertake this mission together, but I would like the Dragon Company with me this time, if that is agreeable.” He turned to Lara after that small condition, half expecting her to balk.

“Any special reason?” She wondered why he was making a personal request for this.

“My battalion will be assaulting the capitol and we figured we would need the extra firepower. Anakin will take the 501st in to capture the military base and airfield there. We hope that those combined locations falling will bring the system to heel quickly.”

“Fair enough, General.” She looked to Rex and said “Please when you do find my lieutenant, tell him we have new orders and to eat fast.”

Rex nodded and left, thankful for the validation in their little ruse, now working to get his mind back on track for real work. He wondered how his errant squad members were feeling this morning, if he and Lara had been in such a state when dawn broke. As a side thought, he half hoped they were still sleeping so he could wake them with an air horn right beside their ears; his and Lara’s little slip up absolutely had to be their fault.

[succubusphan]

Two Man Team - Chapter 10

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they've always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Rating: E

Tags/warnings: Friends to lovers, Friends with benefits, mental health issues (mainly anxiety), Slow burn, Dan is a psych student. Canon divergence (the timeline is altered and some things never happened), Slutty Phil, Angst with a happy ending. The fic spans many years.

Author's Note: Written for the OSPBB 2023 @oldschoolpbb. Thank you @effingmeteors for being my life saviour and beta as usual and to my artist Lin @anironsidh.

Edits and the art will be added at some point, we are busy bees.

POSTING EVERY DAY UNTIL IT'S COMPLETED.

Total Word Count: 75k ish

Read on Ao3

CHAPTER 10: Wild Horses

The following morning, Noah and Mark made him breakfast and hugged him before leaving for work. Phil smiled at the thought that Mark and Noah sometimes acted like his stand-in parents; he was glad that they never made him feel like a third wheel and that Noah was so wonderful, just accepting their friendship and joining instead of trying to break them apart.

Taking a deep breath, Phil thought about the day ahead. He was not going to check his phone for any sign of Dan because he knew that it would probably take a few days for him to reach out. If he put it into his head that today was the day Dan would text, he would only get anxious. Instead, he went for a morning walk after breakfast, bought lunch and came back home to work on his next video. He considered it for a moment. If Dan really wanted to go on with the project he’d mentioned, it would bring his own sexuality into question, so why not take the opportunity to make a coming out video of his own?

To be fair, Phil wasn’t really in the closet, everyone knew. Or most people knew anyway, he just didn’t announce it. Maybe it was time for a change. 

He grabbed a notebook and started the script titled “Coming Out To You.” It was a bit sassy but it was the truth; Phil wasn’t coming out in general, this was just for his viewers, for them to know a bit more about him, to feel loved and accepted, and to open the door to that conversation. This would come with the added bonus of finally being able to make gay jokes on his channel and it would also probably cost him some sponsors, but if he couldn’t afford to come out with so many subscribers and after 10 years on the platform, what was the point?

He made this script his lifeline, a mental escape from his reality and the imminent wrecking ball to his mental stability that Dan’s text could potentially be. He paused briefly to consider what he would do if Dan backed out of his own project or on wanting to name Phil. He decided that he had made himself to focus on the video so much that he was going to work on it anyway.

It took 3 more days for Dan to contact him. By Sunday, Phil was starting to worry, despite his attempt to avoid thinking about Dan. Maybe the problem was that the script was ready and he had even chosen an outfit to film in. Luckily, just as he was finishing his lunch, Dan texted through Messenger.

“Hey, can we talk?”

“Alright,” Phil replied.

“Really? Just like that?”

“That’s what we agreed on when we last spoke and my friends think that I should talk to you.”

“Mark?” Dan asked and Phil could hear the jealous tone even in written form.

Phil rolled his eyes. “Partially. His boyfriend said that we should talk. Mark didn’t comment on it but said that he would break your legs if you hurt me.”

“I see,” Dan replied. “Where would you like to meet?”

“You can come to my flat.”

“Does Mark still live with you? I need my legs.”

“Planning on hurting me?”

“Technically I already have so I am looking out for myself.”

“I like how you used technically right there.”

“I feel like if we continue this conversation in writing it will not end well for me, so please give me your address and let me know when I can come over.”

Phil sent his address and paused for a moment. “You can come over today, any time that works for you.”

“Thank you. I will take a shower and take a taxi.” 

Phil reacted to the message with crazy eyes.

“Don’t react me,” Dan said, making him laugh.

An hour and a half later, the doorbell rang and Phil checked himself in the mirror before opening the door. “Hi,” he said, sounding almost shy.

Dan smiled at him, probably relieved to see that Phil was not immediately angry at him. “Hi,” he said and handed him a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks. 

Phil looked at his cup and thought back to the endless hours they had shared at Starbucks back in Manchester. “Thank you.”

“I just figured this would make it so you don’t have to keep making us drinks that we forget to drink,” Dan said and stepped inside, looking around already. “This is nice.”

Phil resisted the urge to remind Dan that this was supposed to be their shared flat. He had never sent Dan the link to the ad because he was already distant towards him. “Yeah.”

“I’m glad that YouTube has been good to you.”

He smiled and didn’t comment.

“What?” Dan asked.

“Nothing.”

Dan raised one eyebrow at him. “Really, Lester?”

Phil sighed. “I moved into this apartment in 2013 to take the job at the BBC and paid one year of rent upfront in cash with my savings.”

“Oh, this is the one… I didn’t know. You don’t really show your flat a lot in videos.”

Phil’s lips formed a tiny O as he caught onto that tidbit of information. “So you still watch my videos.”

Dan blushed. “I’ve always been your fan,” he said, and for once, he wasn’t being sarcastic or trying to sound edgy. “Are we going to sit somewhere or are we just going to stand here by the door?”

Phil rolled his eyes. “Come on. Let’s sit on the sofa and drink these before they go cold.” He took a few sips as they walked for good measure. Phil let Dan sit and joined him on the sofa, taking a spot near him, but leaning back against the armrest to avoid any awkward touching. Besides, from this spot, he could really look at Dan without it being so obvious. His eyes followed the outline of Dan’s nose, his dry lips, his rosy patch and all the way down to his black sequin jacket that was catching the afternoon sun and projecting rainbows around the room. 

“So…” Dan said.

Phil stayed silent and just gave him a look, indicating that he should start.

Dan swallowed and gave a small nod. “I gave your analysis of everything a lot of thought and I couldn’t untangle it alone, so I called my therapist and booked an emergency session, which turned into almost 3 and then I continued on my own,” he said. “I believe you were right. I thought that I had everything fairly processed so this caught me off guard. I was so mad at myself for not seeing it sooner.”

“I’m glad that you agree.”

“This whole situation, meeting you in a random street in London… it brought so many memories and, honestly, so many issues back.” He took a sip of his drink and continued, his eyes looking around the room, avoiding Phil’s eyes. “I thought that I had it together and I liked the life I was living, but then I saw you and - I’m not over you.” He finally looked into Phil’s eyes with an openness that made Phil shiver. “It was so easy to see when I was not focusing on helping other people, when you were no longer just part of my past, so I had a mental breakdown.”

Phil tried not to smile but failed miserably. Even if it amounted to nothing, and even though he might not have wanted to admit it to himself the first time he heard it, he was happy to know that Dan still had feelings for him. It almost sounded too good to be true.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Dan asked, frowning.

“I am saying many things - inside my head.” He sipped on his coffee and set it back on the coffee table.

“Care to share with the class?”

“Fine,” Phil huffed. “I thought that I was over you because I’ve tried my best to not even think about you, but Noah said that it’s obvious that I have not moved on and other things I am not going to repeat. And I realised that he’s right.” He paused, doubting on whether he should really say it but seeing Dan in front of him, nearly holding his breath, made him take that leap of faith. “I had managed to convince myself that everything was fine, but no. Happy?”

“Very,” Dan said with a gorgeous smile. “Do you think we can try again? I would like to see where this goes and if it doesn’t work out, I would still like to stay friends.” He reached out once again, just like he had a few days ago, waiting for Phil’s reaction.

Phil looked at him, hesitating briefly and nodded, taking Dan’s hand and lacing their fingers together before setting their joined hands on his leg. Then, a thought crossed his mind. “What about Sebastian?” he asked. “Isn’t he your boyfriend?” 

“Not anymore. I thought I was happy with him, but there was never a chance that I would choose him over you and he knew that even before me,” Dan said, chewing on his lip for a moment. “He actually broke up with me before I could even think about it.”

“Oh,” Phil said, trying to not sound happy about it.

“He was right to break up with me,” Dan said, downing the rest of his coffee and setting the cup down. “It’s ok. When I came home from the play and he had moved out I felt relief. That’s a horrible thing to say, Phil. But it’s the truth.”

“How long had you been together?”

“Almost a year.”

“Never made it that long with anyone,” Phil blurted out before he could stop himself.

“Really?” Dan frowned.

“They weren’t you,” Phil said, watching Dan’s gleeful smile appear at the comment. “I stopped going out, I stopped hooking up with random guys. At this point, I could almost qualify as a virgin again.”

Dan smirked and his eyes darkened. “I doubt that.”

Phil knew that look well. “Behave,” he said, squeezing Dan’s hand. “We can’t just pick up where we left off. Things don’t work that way. Last time we rushed into it and it got complicated.”

“That’s true but -” Dan pouted.

“No buts. Let’s just hang out and see how we feel about it. See where it goes, if it goes anywhere.”

“Alright,” Dan said, but the air around them was still charged. “Let’s play some games.”

Phil smiled and let out a sigh of relief, he was hanging onto the will to resist Dan’s lustful eyes from a thread. He wanted it too, but not just for a day. He wasn’t going to repeat that mistake. There was still a chance that Dan would freak out again. He reluctantly let go of Dan’s hand. “Mario Kart?”

“Always,” Dan smiled.

Phil turned the console on and reached for his coffee, downing the last third of it.

“You still haven’t finished it?”

“No, you know I forget I’m drinking something and I finish it when I remember it.” He grabbed a cup containing half of his morning coffee and finished it as well just to prove a point. “This was my breakfast.”

“Come on, man!” Dan said. “Get it together!”

Phil winked at him with both eyes, sending Dan into a fit of laughter. Fuck, Phil had missed that sound. The hyena laugh.

To the surprise of no one, Dan won most of the races until Phil decided to slide closer to him and lay partially against him. Slowly but surely, Dan started to shift his attention from the game towards Phil, giving him little touches, playing with his hair and eventually, just pulling him to sit on his lap. That was the moment they dropped the controllers and just put on a random Studio Ghibli movie. 

Dan was fully enjoying messing with Phil’s hair, giving him odd hairdos. He ran his fingers through it, pushing it into a quiff. “I like your hair pushed back.”

“Did you just quote Regina George to me?”

Dan barked out a laugh. “I think I did.”

“I know you did,” Phil said, poking Dan’s tummy. It was so soft. Phil wanted to lift his T-shirt and look at it.

“You look so gorgeous, Phil,” Dan mumbled. “I hope you don’t mind me saying it. You were always hot but right now you’re just stunning. I can’t cope with that.”

“Me?” Phil said and paused. If he told Dan what he was thinking about his body, things were going to get out of hand, so he reformulated. “Your curly hair suits you so well and your back looks so good too. You look so strong now.”

“Thanks, I think I finally hit puberty,” Dan laughed. “Do you really like my hair like this?”

Phil nodded. “It’s perfect. So pretty,” he said looking at Dan over his shoulder.

Dan wrapped his arms around Phil’s frame and dropped a small kiss to the tip of his nose.

Phil pressed his back to Dan’s chest and dropped his head back just so, their breaths mixing together as they got lost in each other’s eyes, the moment held them captive. Phil swallowed and cleared his throat, giving him a wide smile before looking away. It was not time yet. “How is your video idea coming along?” he asked instead.

“I paused it until we could discuss it again.”

“I like it a lot. I started a script of my own.”

“Oh?”

Phil finally got up from Dan’s lap and went in search of his notebook. He found it laying on his bed, uncapped pen at its side and everything. No, there was not a blue dot on his sheets, thank you for asking. “Here,” he said, handing it over to Dan.

Dan’s eyes widened when he read the title but he kept going, laughing here and there until he reached the end and looked up at Phil. “I love it. It’s much more detailed than your usual draft. Or - more detailed than what you used to write long ago.”

“I still draft the same way, it’s just for this project. I want to say the right thing and keep it brief, you know?”

Dan nodded. “I was thinking about hiring an editor, some are not as expensive as I’d thought. And for visuals… Do you remember Hector from Shittywatercolour? The one who made illustrations of us back in the day? I contacted him and can you believe that he agreed to do some illustrations for it?” He let out a deep sigh and shook his head, twirling a paper napkin between his fingers. “There are almost no people following me anymore, I’m below a million, so this is just for me. I need this video, or a part of me will always feel inside the closet no matter what  I do.”

“ I understand,” Phil said. “Are you scared of your family’s reaction?”

Dan shook his head. “I emailed them last week.”

“What?”

“I kept backing out so one day I just sent them all an email. Everyone was cool except for my dad, so I cut him out of my life. No surprise there. Nana and Popsie said that it’s ok as long as I’m happy but I think they don’t get it. Hopefully they will soon so that I can flaunt you at family gatherings and vacations.”

“Really?” Phil asked. He could almost picture that, but Dan was getting a bit ahead of himself.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “For now, I would like to flaunt you in a few weeks, if you’d like to go see my play. It’s called ‘Family Disaster’ and it’s about a family crumbling as one of its members spirals. The narrator is the person spiralling so things get a bit crazy and abstract at times.”

“Sounds interesting,” Phil said. “Of course I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, Philly,” Dan said, kissing his cheek quickly.

Phil felt his heart grow twice its size inside his chest just from hearing Dan calling him Philly again.

----

Phil both loved and hated the fact that he and Dan were so compatible, now maybe even more so than before. Having grown as individuals had given them a sort of new perspective on life, yet their opinions, their humour and even their flirting had followed the same path. It was almost as if they were soulmates, just as Dan had said in the past, despite insisting that he didn't believe in any of that.

In the following weeks, proofreading and reworking Dan’s script for his “June Video” was easily overtaking his life. Dan’s passion was just that infectious and it seeped into Phil’s soul, making him even more excited over his own coming out video. At first, he didn’t want to show Dan his work because they were very different videos but Dan was so eager to see it that Phil just couldn’t deny him. 

“So you’re filming it literally inside the closet,” Dan snorted. 

“I thought the old-time viewers would appreciate the irony,” Phil said with a smirk. 

Dan leaned in for a quick peck on the cheek. “I do appreciate it, thank you for thinking about my preferences.”

“Dork.” Phil felt himself blush and couldn’t help but smile like an idiot. It was all so new yet so familiar. They were officially doing a take two on their friendship but after some debating, they decided that certain things were allowed, such as hugging, cuddling and oftentimes, hand-holding, although not in public. “I was thinking, do you think it’s still alright for me to go see your play? I mean, if we are trying to be low-key about it.”

“I doubt that anyone we know will go see it and actually notice you in the crowd,” Dan said. “But if you feel unsure about it you don’t have to go. We can totally skip that and I can come over after, if you let me have a shower though; I’ll be a sweaty boy.”

“No, it’s not that I’m unsure about it,” Phil rushed to reassure Dan. “It’s just that-” he stopped himself, not wanting to plant the seed in Dan’s mind.

“What? You can tell me,” Dan said softly.

Phil knew he would confess all his secrets to Dan if he asked in that tone. He sounded calm, open, honest, ready to discuss things maturely and willing to listen carefully. “I am a bit hesitant because… I fear that you will freak out if someone realises I’m there, and I don’t want that to happen. I want to avoid any setbacks.”

Dan nodded. “I understand, but I don’t think I will. I know that the chance always exists but I know the chance exists, but even if it were to happen, I’m ready.”

Phil pulled him into a tight hug and smiled widely, slowly swaying from side to side, taking his time to let Dan know how proud of him he was without a single word. He pressed a kiss to Dan’s shoulder. “Look for me in the audience.”

“I never stopped looking,” Dan whispered.

---

When the day for Dan’s last show came, and with the support of his friends, Phil was ready to watch the play. He, along with Mark and Noah, sneaked almost last to a decent sized theatre and took their seats in the gallery, waiting for Dan to make an appearance. 

Phil was in awe, his eyes fixated on Dan as he did such an amazing job of fleshing out his character's emotions, putting his entire body into it and not only relying on the dialogue. It was a sad play but it had a hopeful ending as ‘Tom’ underwent treatment for his mental disorder, which had gone unnamed the entire play and the family sat down to eat in a much calmer way, the lighting brighter, reminiscing of a summer afternoon in contrast to the dark and moody ambient from before.

The lights were on and the entire cast came out to bow for their audience. Phil stood and joined the crowd in the final applause. Only then did he tear his eyes away from Dan and saw Noah and Mark at his side, clapping and giving him a knowing look. 

Looking back to the stage, Phil made eye contact with Dan, who winked at him and made a head incline. Phil smiled, feeling as if the butterflies in his stomach were going to fly out of his mouth at any given moment.

Noah leaned closer. “I liked the idea of going out to dinner and finally meeting Dan but it looks like you might want some privacy.”

Phil raised one eyebrow at him and blushed but didn’t address the comment. “We can go out to dinner as we agreed.”

“Please, he has managed to sneak looks your way the entire time,” Mark said. “We can go out some other time, I’m sure he’ll stick around.”

“Really?” Phil asked. “I thought I was imagining it.”

“No, it was obvious if you knew what to look for. He was smart about it,” Noah said. “He’s a good actor.”

Phil nodded proudly. “He was a theatre kid.”

“That makes sense,” Noah said. “Well, we’ll see you another time. Keep us updated.”

Mark wrapped his arms around Noah, setting his chin on his shoulder happily. “Remind him what I said. He better be good to you.”

“Shush,” Phil said, rolling his eyes. He looked down at the stage and found Dan still staring at him with a huge smile.

----

Phil stayed in his seat until most people had left the theatre and only then went in search of  Dan at the back entrance. He whispered a brief hello and grabbed Phil’s hand, catching him by surprise, and led him to a taxi. Once they were sitting inside, Dan just blurted Phil’s address and turned to look at him with wide eyes. “Is that alright? Sorry, I’m just tired and since your friends left I figured we could stay in.”

“Of course. Pizza and Mario Kart sound good?”

Dan let out a breathy laugh. “You know me so well,” he said, wrapping one arm around Phil’s frame.

Letting his head rest on Dan’s shoulder, Phil relaxed and kept thinking about what he’d seen on stage. Dan was born to be in the spotlight, it’s where he looked more comfortable and at peace. 

“What did you think of it?” Dan asked.

“You were amazing and the play was very interesting. It was very creative.”

“Hmm, Is that a good thing?”

“It is. I could tell that you put some of your psych knowledge into it. It was a nice metaphor on mental health and the impact it has on the person and their family.”

Dan nodded happily and stared straight ahead. “Can I still take that shower?”

“Sure,” Phil said, begging his mind to stop in its tracks. He looked at a droplet of sweat, or perhaps it was water, that fell from Dan’s hair and ran down his neck, disappearing under his white shirt.

Dan pinched Phil’s leg when he tried to pay the taxi, paying it himself instead and helping Phil out of the car. Once they were in the flat, Dan pulled him into a tight hug and stared into his soul for a moment before pressing their lips together. The fireworks igniting in Phil’s body were threatening with setting him on fire. They moved slowly, tentatively, but Phil could feel Dan’s love for him in every touch of their lips, in every sigh, in the way Dan’s hand rested on his neck softly. 

Dan was relentless and it was starting to affect Phil, the heat rising within him by the second. It was too soon for that. Phil stepped away and smiled when he caught Dan’s lips chasing after him. “You can use anything from my closet, the shower is down the hall.”

“Sorry,” Dan mumbled, blushing slightly and running upstairs, presumably to Phil’s bedroom in search of clothes. 

Phil pulled his phone out and called Domino’s ordering what used to be their usual. He then went to the living room to set the console and the plates before sitting on the couch for a bit. He was startled by a hand on his shoulder but relaxed when he opened his eyes and saw Dan, his hair still dripping from the shower, wearing his cookie monster pyjama pants and his York hoodie. That pulled at his heartstrings; Dan had always loved to wear that hoodie. “Did I fall asleep?”

“You did,” Dan laughed and pointed at the pizza on the coffee table.

“Fuck, I missed the doorbell?” Phil mumbled.

“It’s fine, it was a funny interaction with the delivery guy. I came out in a towel.”

“You went all the way down in a towel?” Phil asked with wide eyes. 

“No! Oh my god!” Dan snorted. “I buzzed him in and got the door here. Still an unsettling view for the poor guy though.”

Phil rolled his eyes. “Unsettling, right.” He paused. “Have you considered being a model?”

“Are you serious? I could never! I look like a potato.”

“Shut up, you’re gorgeous!”

“I don’t see it,” said Dan and Phil was sad to look into his eyes and realise that he still believed that. “Don’t give me that face,” he said.

“I just think you’re so beautiful and I wish you could see it. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes,” Phil said, still trying to find the right words.

“I’m working on it... Baby steps,” Dan said and shoved him to the side unceremoniously to fit at his side. 

“What’s wrong?” Dan asked, his brow furrowed with worry.

Phil poked his side and smiled at Dan’s childishness. As the night progressed, they melted deeper and deeper into the couch until Phil checked his phone and his stomach dropped at the amount of Twitter notifications. He hadn’t posted anything for a few days, this couldn’t be good news.

“Is this 2012? My 13 year old self is crying tears of joy! My ship is sailing! @amazingphil @danielhowell” Attached to the tweet were three pictures. One taken from Phil’s back as he watched Dan on stage, one zoomed in from across the street as Dan guided him to the taxi and another at the first stoplight where Dan had already settled his arm on Phil’s shoulder.