#Nope all I know is purple is the least likely but I already figured that

[sysig]

What’s Bun-Bun’s signature colour? (Patreon)

[nezebel]

♡ jojos + jobros doing black!readers' hair part 2♡

a/n: hello my lovelies! i'm back to make a part 2. honestly loved writing the first part so yk i had to double it 😝 sorry this took like a million years. I had state testing and i do have to prioritize so yk how it is

Part 4

Josuke Higashikata

Since you two do your daily hair care routines together, he has a decent idea of how he can at least detangle and part it. The first part of the braiding process is easy. However when it comes to actual braiding, you can tell he's confused.

"You said you wanted braids like Moesha? I don't know how to do that at all."

"It's easy. Haven't you ever braided something at least once? Like some string or something?"

"Nope! Sorry, babe."

You sigh as you explain how to braid hair to your darling clueless boyfriend.

He finally finishes your Moesha braids, and they look pretty good. However, he wishes you would've asked him to do something simpler. His hands are sore and his nose burns from the smell of shine n jam and shea moisture. At least he did your edges cutely (he made a little heart with them!). 9/10!

Okuyasu Nijimura

You are scared. Terrified, even. The minute he saw the same braids you wore on a girl in some MTV music video on the TV, he knew he wanted to help you out. So you let him! He has no idea what he's doing.

"Oku, do you know what you're doing?"

"It can't be that hard, right? Just cross those two strands of hair and make them look pretty."

"Oku, you're supposed to cross three strands. THREE."

"Oh..."

It's okay though. He eventually gives up and watches you do your hair yourself and learns a lot. When you're finished, he helps you put purple and black beads on the ends of your braids. Overall, 10/10 (for the beads lol).

Part 5

Giorno Giovanna

You two usually do your hair together like Josuke, so it's not too hard for him to figure out. That doesn't mean he doesn't have his fair share of difficulties, though.

"Amore? Yes, I grabbed the extension hair...gel? Hair gel? Let me check." He rummaged through his plastic bag, worrying just a bit.

"Giogio?" You say, slightly worried. He had been looking for quite a bit. "Giorno," you almost warn, an irritated tone in your voice. Finally you hear the sound of a plastic bag being put down.

"I'm sorry, dear. I got the hair gel. No need to worry."

He finishes your hair nicely. While he does cheat a little bit with his stand when taking out a tangle or lazily getting rid of a pile of extension hair that had a mind of its own, he gets it done well. He puts in blonde, of course, to match with him. You even figure out how to do little hair rolls to match his. He puts wooden beads at the end for a nice finish. Overall, 8/10!

Bruno Bucciarati

Very patient. Shockingly patient. You'd assume he'd try to take a little break, but he kept going until he finished the job (very like him). Although he was a little nervous about messing up your butterfly locs, he still did them pretty nicely.

"Ah, am I twisting these right?" He questioned himself, looking at the loc in his hands. The air smelled heavily of incense and hair product (both because of you).

You smile slightly. "You'll be just fine, dear. You're doing so well already, especially for you first time with faux locs," you reply, a hint of encouragement in your tone. He takes it as inspiration, hums in reply, and continues.

Your locs are gorgeous! Bruno even adds pretty gold charms to go with them. They're simply beautiful and he can't stop staring. Overall, 9/10!

Part 6

Jolyne Kujo

Jolyne has wanted to do your hair for a while. She's retwisted a head or two in jail, so she definitely knows what's up. When you finally say yes, she's ecstatic!

You and Jolyne had been thinking about what kind of hairstyle to do for a while, but she's finally got the best idea.

"Darlingggg?"

You turn your head to Jolyne. "Yesss?"

"Why don't you do jade braids? You can match your hair with mine!" she tells you excitedly.

You think for a moment. "I dunno, Jo...That's kind of a hit or miss."

She sags her shoulders a bit. "You'll be fine, promise. Besides, you and me matching will be sooo cute. Think of the photo opportunities."

You sigh, giving in, but give her a small smile. Moving in quickly, you give her a small kiss on the cheek. "Okay. I trust you."

"Then let me work my magic already."

And she most definitely did. Jolyne gave you crystals and gold accessories as well as lip gloss and mascara (if you're into that) to go with your hair. Surprisingly enough, she had made the yellow/dark green combo work pretty well on your hair. She just wouldn't stop kissing you. 10000/10!

Ermes Costello

Come on now. You know she'll hook you up. As soon as she asks to do your hair, you instantly say yes. The two of you decide to go all out just to prove her braiding skill with micobraids.

"I dunno, Ermes. Microbraids are most definitely not for the weak," you warn her. "Your fingers will be gone when you're not even halfway through."

She simply shrugs. "So? I'll make it worth the wait." She sits you down and begins to work on your hair.

She was, surprisingly enough, able to finish the microbraids in six hours. When you asked her how, she claimed she just had 'fast hands' (something you disagreed with especially when you were playing Mario Kart). She went through the additional pain of adding jewelry to some of the braids (which was hard since there were so many, like lord have mercy), but they looked amazing in the end. 1000/10, like Jolyne.

thank you for reading! I've had a recent spike of creativity. Another reason why this took so long is because my computer broke 😭 like literally, the entire screen is shattered. it's heartbreaking. fly high little chromebook 😞 on another note, if you guys have any ideas dont be shy to suggest them! I'm trying to improve my writing so go ahead! The content that is easiest for me to write for include JJBA, LOZ (BotW, TP), and KNY! I'm so obsessed with kny right now it's not even funny so help yourself! love you all dearly mwah buh bye

[reimeichan]

I stared at the mess before me: papers strewn everywhere across the tables and floor, coffee spilled on the ground and staining the carpet, books laid pages-down as their spines are held open for far too long. My carefully put-together archive of information and memories had become such a mess.

"Ah, there you are!" a voice called out. I pause, hand gripping at my cane tighter. Nobody else was supposed to be here, I thought. This is my mind, my world, my mind palace. Psychics aren't real and neither are telepaths. So how...?

"Hey, are you just going to sit around and do nothing? It's so cold in here, Jesus Christ, at least grab a blanket for me. You'd think it'd be so much warmer from the candles and the fireplace you have here but I guess physics just works differently in here, huh?"

I slowly approached the voice, and then I see her, sitting there on my favorite seat. Black pigtails, purple eyes, and her the corners of her mouth pointed downwards in a tiny little pout. "Well? What kind of a host are you?"

"W-who are you? How did you get in here?"

She sighed. "Seriously? It's been years since you last saw me and this is how you greet me? Not cool, Gray."

"How do you know my name?"

"Just question after question for you, huh? Nope, not gonna answer that one until you at least give me a proper 'hello' at least."

"Fine, hello. Now can you answer my questions?"

She seemed to think on that for a bit, rocking back and forth in my chair with a finger pressed up against her cheek like some kind of an anime character. Then she shrugged. "Nope, if you're too dumb to figure it out yourself, then I'm not gonna tell. you."

"I'm pretty sure it's standard practice to ask some random stranger who just barged into your place to ask who they are, at least-"

"Oh for crying out loud!" she said, suddenly standing up, her pigtails whipping around her head as she turned to fully face me. "Gray, it's me. Don't you remember me?"

I stared at her, and I feel something stirring inside of me. Warmth, happiness, nostalgia. But also something... darker. Something I can't quite put my finger on. I shook my head sadly. "I'm... I'm sorry. I'd have to look through my notes, maybe, I was never that great with remembering things.... but still, you never answered my other question. How did you get in here?"

"Well, if you knew the answer to the other one, then that would've answered this one," she said, rolling her unnaturally purple eyes. She gave me a once over, her expression softening up as her eyes met mine again. "You really don't remember me, huh?"

I shook my head again. I open my mouth a couple times, trying to find the words to say. But what would even make sense here? The entire situation was already so strange... finding someone else in your own mind palace, someone who claims to not only know who you are but that you've completely forgotten who they are? Things like that didn't happen in real life.

"But it does," she says.

"How-"

"I'm you," she says, with a shrug of her shoulders. "Or, well, kind of. You're you, but you're also me, and I'm you, and I'm me. Quite simple, really."

"No, not simple at all, and you're not making any sense."

Her lips turned upward into a cryptic smile, though the smile didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. "Oh, Gray.... you've always been like this." She gave me a light pat on the head, having to stretch herself up onto her toes just to reach the top of my head. "Well, if you don't know, I don't think it's my place to tell you just yet, then. Maybe you forgot for a reason.... but I just hope you'll be able to remember me again sometime soon."

I nodded, looking away from her. I once again felt something churning inside of me, though I still struggled to understand what it was that I felt. "Forgive me for forgetting who you are, then," I said. "Can you still tell me... how you got here?"

"I just told you. You're you, you're me, I'm you, I'm me."

"That's not-"

"And that should also answer your third question, too," she said. She looked away from me then, her gaze drifting around the mind palace. "As for why I'm here, though.... I just wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing. I haven't heard from you in years, after all. Though," she paused, and glanced back over towards me, "I guess it makes sense why you never talked to me again."

I turned away, unable to meet her eyes again. I felt that same dark feeling returning, and realized what it was: guilt. But... why? What history do I share with this girl in my mind palace?

"You'll figure it out when it's time to," she said. She pats me again, this time on the arm as she passes by me. "But, it's good to see you again, Gray."

I nod at that, a little bit lost for words. "Well... thanks for checking in on me, I guess. It was good to see you too-" I turn around to look at her, but she's gone.

"... It was good to see you too, Purple."

You are a master of of the mind palace technique, so much that you can entertain yourself for hours just spending time in the fictional place you have created inside your head. One day, while roaming around in your palace, you’re shocked to find signs of a break-in.

[purplesurveys]

1868

Lasts

1. Last Beverage? A chocnut latte. I appreciate how baristas have figured out a way to incorporate chocnut into coffee. Mine even came with chunks 🥺

2. Last Phone Call? This afternoon at the mall when I needed to coordinate with my mom on where to meet up again, since we split so I could pick up something from the grocery and for her to do some shopping.

3. Last Text Message? My cousin, since I needed him to pass a message to my grandma.

4. Last Song You Listened To? Cuff It by Beyonce.

5. Last Time You Cried? Yesterday evening when I watched a video of one of those dog photographers who stop people on the street – the video I came across revolved around a deaf dog, and I started crying when I heard his owners talk about them and how he makes them happy.

Have You Ever

6. Dated Someone Twice? Mhm.

7. Been Cheated on? No, at least I don't think I was.

8. Kissed Someone And Regretted It? A few times.

9. Lost someone special? Yes.

10. Been Depressed? Yes. I had it worst at age 12, then again from 19 to 22.

11. Been Drunk? I have, yeah.

List Three Favorite Colors: I'm going to guess my answers to this will count as #12 to #14 because there isn't any on this survey? Hahaha let's go with purple for 12, pastel pink for 13, and sky blue for 14.

This Year Have You:

15. Made New Friends? Not really. I've come across new co-workers but I wouldn't call them friends.

16. Fallen Out Of Love? I have not felt in love in nearly half a decade.

17. Laughed until You Cried? Yes, for sure.

18. Met Someone Who Changed You? Nah.

19. Found Out Who Your True Friends Were? Well that already happened a while back, not necessarily just this year.

20. Found Out Someone Was Talking About You? Sure.

21. Kissed anyone on your friends list? Nope.

22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life? Like on Facebook? All of them. I never add anyone I don't know.

23. Do you have any pets? I have two dogs and they're my best friends.

24. What did you do for your last birthday? I took a nap for most of the afternoon then brought my family out for dinner at my favorite buffet. Angela and Hans also surprised me by coming over in the evening and we talked well until midnight.

25. What time did you wake up today? Around 9 AM.

26. What were you doing at midnight last night? Watching Bon Voyage.

27. Name something you CANNOT wait for? Jin getting discharged from the military. I can't believe 547 days have passed just like that?

28. Last time you saw your father? January. I will be seeing him again this Saturday though :)

29. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life? I wish I've done a better job networking so that looking for future job options wouldn't be such a bitch.

30. What are you listening to right now? BTS trying to make fire on Bon Voyage 4.

31. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom? I'm pretty sure I have.

32. What’s getting on your nerves right now? My back hurting.

33. What is your real name? Hi, I'm Robyn!

34. Zodiac Sign? Taurus.

35. Male or Female? Female.

36. Elementary School? Nah.

37. Middle School? Nope.

38. High School? Nope, but what I can tell you is I attended the same school from kinder to high school. Our schools here are not divided into levels.

39. Hair Color? It's naturally black, but right now it's dyed purple.

40. Long or short hair? I have short hair for now as I finally recently had it trimmed from my waist up to my collarbones.

41. Height? I'm 5'1".

42. Do you have a crush on someone? Nope.

43. What do you like about yourself? I like that I'm competitive because it's basically means that I've always wanted to be the best at everything. I know I'm not and won't be, but it helps form the drive to do the best I possibly could.

44. Piercings? I have on each earlobe.

45. Tattoos? None.

46. Righty or Lefty? Right handed.

Firsts

47. Surgery? Never had any.

48. Piercing? Earlobes, as a baby.

49. Tattoo? Don't have any.

50. Best Friend? Kaye but tbh it was so short-lived. We were 4 and we were only friends for a year lmao. My first real best friend would be Angela.

51. Sport you joined? Swimming.

52. Pet? Goldfish.

53. Vacation you remembered? My family regularly took us to water parks or would book a hotel room on the weekends when I was suuuuper young, but what I would count as the first real vacation we ever had was when we went to Boracay. I was 11 and it was my first plane ride, and I was shaking and had my eyes closed for like 80% of the 1-hour flight. I was also clueless enough to think the Philippines had different timezones, and by the time we landed I innocently asked my parents what time it was there, hehehe.

54. Concert? Paramore in 2013, when I was 15. It was loads of fun but I was also kind of pettily mad at them because the show was held just a couple of weeks before they released Self-Titled, so we missed all of that.

55. Crush? Like real-life crush, ...probably Andi.

56. Alcoholic Drink? It was a glass of margarita.

Right Now

57. Eating? Continued from...who knows when I took this last, lmao. Last weekend maybe? I'm not eating anything as I take this, but I had a cheeseburger and Kitkat frappe from Wendy's earlier this evening. Those two were the last things I had.

58. Drinking? Water.

59. I’m about to… Finish this then maybe take another one, as I wasn't able to take surveys all week.

60. Listening to… mono, Joon's mixtape. seoul is currently playing.

61. Waiting for… Jin to come back. Just 17 days left :)

Your Future

62. Want kids? Not part of the plan anymore.

63. Want to get married? I've learned to be fine on my own.

64. Careers in mind? I love the industry I'm in; it's just a matter of reaching bigger things from here.

Which Is Better with the opposite/same sex

65. Lips or Eyes? Lips.

66. Hugs or Kisses? Kisses, I guess. I'm not affectionate, but I do prefer those more.

67. Shorter or Taller? Taller, because I'm kind of short as it is heh.

68. Older or Younger? Older.

69. Romantic or Spontaneous? Spontaneous can be romantic too, so I'd pick that.

70. Nice stomach or Nice arms? Arms.

71. Tattoos or Piercings? I don't really have a preference.

72. Sensitive or Loud? About...?

74. Trouble Maker or Hesitant? Hesitant. I hate bad influences lol

Have You Ever (2)

75. Kissed a stranger? Have not.

76. Drank hard liquor? Sure. Those days are far behind me now lol, but yeah I used to.

77. Lost glasses/contacts? Would be very stupid of me to lose my glasses as I practically need them to function haha. So no this hasn't happened, but I have broken my glasses before – I've sat on them, stepped on them, leaned on them too much etc I can be pretty reckless lol which is stupid in its own right.

79. Broken someone’s heart? I'm sure I have.

80. Had your heart broken? Yes.

81. Been arrested? Nope. I've been pulled over for traffic violations but that's the worst it's ever reached.

82. Turned someone down? Yes.

83. Cried when someone died? Of course.

84. Liked a friend that is the same sex? Mhm.

Do You Believe In

85. Yourself? I do now. I'm the only one I have, so I kind of have to start with myself haha.

86. Miracles? No.

87. Love at first sight? Not really.

88. Heaven? No.

89. Santa Claus? Well, no. Even as a kid I couldn't buy it. Why can he never show up, and why do I always need to be asleep for him to come over? it frustrated my 5 year old self more than it probably should've hahaha.

90. Kissing on the first date? I mean, sure, whatever. Do whatever feels natural.

91. Angels? Nope.

92. Sex before marriage? Yes.

93. Life on other planets? 100%.

94. Life after death? Reincarnation can be a cool concept but I personally think that when someone die, that is It for them. So no.

95. Only being with one person forever? It happens for some people, so yes. Doesn't mean I believe it applies to all.

Answer Truthfully

96. Is there one person you want to be with right now? No, I'm okay on my own and have been for a while now.

97. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfrend at one time? Never.

98. Do you believe it’s possible to remain faithful forever? Yes.

99. What’s the one thing you cannot live without? Phone.

100. What’s one secret you have that not many people know? It's not really a secret, but maybe the fact that I play table tennis and can play it pretty well? LOL the topic never comes up and there's almost always never a table tennis table anywhere, so I never get to talk about it or show it.

[dancing-to-architecture]

43 - Genesis - Selling England By The Pound

Sing it with me now, you all know the words: "This is another album I've never heard, from a band I'm otherwise quite familiar with."

Oh good... 8 songs on a 53 minute long album. I'm getting a vision of a double record with 2 whole songs per album side.

•Dancing With The Moonlit Knight-

Oh wait, shit, I think I put on King Crimson again.. nope, no, my bad. This is Genesis, I guess.

Are you sure? Cause this REALLY feels like King Crimson. Or maybe Emerson, Lake, and Palmer?

Either way, I'm really digging it. I only knew Genesis as way more pop and way less prog.

Legitimately had no idea these guys had this kind of stuff in their catalog.

I mean, Peter Gabriel, sure, but Phil Collins? No way.

•I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)-

This feels VERY Peter Gabriel solo album, instrumentation-wise. He's always using the percussion instrument that I can never identify that goes "poing" in a low tone.

Lyrics feel very Phil. I really hate the title of this song. At best, they're sharing clothing, which is cool and good. At worst, it's Depeche Mode's Blue Dress but far creepier.

•Firth of Fifth-

Is this going to be about the bridge? No that was the firth of *forth*. Ah, so it's a pun.

Crazy math rock piano intro.

If this is a King Crimson album, this song is Moonchild. Slow, overly long, with weird, obtuse purple prose lyrics and a soft flute section for no good goddamn reason.

I do like the guitar work around 6:30 to the 7:30-8 minute mark, but again it feels Crimson-esque. Maybe not IN or OF the Court of the Crimson King itself, exactly, but certainly of a nearby duchy.

•More Fool Me-

This is just a tone poem.

It's pretty enough, but damn if this 3 minute long song feels longer than the previous 9 minute long song.

•The Battle of Epping Forest-

Perfectly normal to have old-timey wild west saloon piano plunking right next to spacey-ass synths in your interminable prog epic about a gang war.

Phil, bby, what is you doing.

(A note: ELP did this whole idea better with Benny the Bouncer, in the same year, in a song that's *10 full minutes* shorter.)

•After the Ordeal-

A pretty instrumental, which is quite the relief after 12+ minutes of semi-obscure early 70s British references I don't have any frame of reference for.

•The Cinema Show-

Another slow, long intro. I'm already not feeling this one.

Let's bring up Romeo and Juliet and then go nowhere with that. That's what they call "good writing".

Okay, the end gets really cool and synthy and almost sinister, and I'm enjoying it. Just a shame it took us 8 ½ minutes to get there.

•Aisle of Plenty-

Well, it's a song built entirely around a "Tesco" pun. Woof. At least it's not very long.

Yeah, I can see why Genesis went pop.

If you want a good British progressive rock album from 1973, just listen to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's album "Brain Salad Surgery".

Everything here is done better there, including: "random old timey piano", "Very British Subject Matter", and "more than two incredibly long songs on a <10 track album", except all of ELP's songs absolutely fuck, the music is complex but actually interesting to listen to, and the cover art is by H.R. Giger.

I'll say it: the first 3 minutes of Toccata is superior to any section of this entire album, change my mind.

In fact, hell with it. This one's over, I'm putting Brain Salad on right now.

Favorite Track: After the Ordeal.

Yeah yeah, take a shot, 'cause Craig likes the instrumental the best. Who'd have figured. No disrespect to Mr Collins, but the man desperately needed an editor on this album.

Least Favorite Track: The Cinema Slow. I mean Show. (No, I lied, I really mean slow.)

To use a cinematic reference, Tarkovsky's Stalker feels fast-paced in comparison.

In The Air Tonight, this ain't.

[lunar-insanity]

PKMN Black 2: PSYCHONAUTS EDITION

Hoooo so hey remember when I first put out the sketches for Emboar!Helmut and Levanny!Bob?

Yeah I finished the rest of the team! I also had the idea to like little “Trainer Journal” entries so those will be down below.

First up! The first two members of the team: Helmut and Bob!

These two are def one heck of a duo. Emboars are already hard hitters but Bob was also one of the powerhouses on the team. I also just... I like fire as an emotion signaler? So Helmut get flamin brows and colourful fire! Bob took a couple tries to get right but I’m real happy with how he came out.

Next is Cassie and Compton

Cassie being an Excadrill is more circumstance. I told my friend that I’d be finally playing through all of Black 2, and he asked if he could suggest a mon. He suggested Excadrill, and I found a female one, and thus, she’s now Cassie.

And boi Excadrills really are terrifying. So she ended up being Powerhouse #3. Now Compton! Tiny tiny fluffy boi. Compton was never going to be a part of my battle team, but it felt wrong to leave one out. So Compton became the Minccino you get from the first Hidden Grotto. If we were in Kalos he would 100% be a Meowstic.

Next is FOOOOOORD

One of my rules for this game was that I wanted to use poke’mon I never had, mostly. I needed a flying type, and I was suggested Sigilyph. So congrats Ford! You are officially the ONLY Psychic type on the team and one of the weirdest poke’mon.

Now we start getting to the big ones. In Size

LUCY! Y’all know Jellicents are bleedin huge? So, She and Cassie are the ones I took the most liberty with in terms of design, like shrinking down that head and turning most of the fluff into her headscarf.

She and Ford are also one of the more fragile team members. Given the chance, they can deal with things, but for tricky fights, the 3 hard and tanky hitters will take the brunt of damage.

And last but not least.

Otto

HE’S FUCKING HUGE

I DIDN’T REALIZE HOW BIG ELEKTROSSES ARE HOLY SHIT. So... yes I raised a Tynamo as soon as I got to Chargestone Cavern. Yes it took a long time. I needed an Electric type xD

These were real fun to make ahahah! Now then, I will leave you with their heights all stacked together, and the journal notes under a cut.

Enjoy!

{Trainer Journal}

Bianca and Professor Juniper wanted me to do something extra along side filling up the Pokedex. Apparently the Pokedex has all generalized data and not much on variations and mutations that could happen naturally. So they asked that I keep an eye out on my journey. Not a problem!

{Helmut}     =Tepig

-So far so normal. He is pretty new to the world after all. He has taken a shine to the Sewaddle I caught a little while ago. Does not like the Azurill... I mean... I kinda get it. Little gal is real angry.

   =Pignite -First variation. According to the Dex, Pignites have these curl designs and straight bands, but Helmut’s got like... leaf cut outs and the bands are like... arches. His fire’s weird too. It’s got green and pink in there sometime. 

-Second variation. We just got a Drilbur, and I named her Cassie. Helmut’s really friendly so he bounced on over to her. Aaaand pretty soon after I think I saw more orange in his fire. I thought it was weakening but nope, just can be a more orange fire. Weird.

-Random note: Helmut saw a beanie in Castelia. He rocked the Bug gym, as I expected, so I figured why not. Thank Arceus they had one that was fire proof. Pros: He’s happy and immediately bounced over to Bob to show him. Cons: He will not take it off anymore. 

- Third Fire. Got a Sigilyph, and now his fire’s got blue and green in them now. Professor what does this mean.

   =Emboar

-FIRE HIS DAMN FIRE IS A RAINBOW. -Does not have the large curly designs on his chest. Instead it’s more leaf patterns. He’s also way more hued in colour than most Emboars.

-Do Fire types’ fire normally react to their emotions like this? If he’s with Compton, his fire turns purple sometimes. It also turns purple when he’s stressed. It dies down if it’s blue, and it tends to be green and pink around Bob.

-Also Helmut definitely has a crush on Bob. And I think it’s reciprocated. I am worried about their typings but wow it’s cute.

-Helmut’s eyebrows are on fire.

-It seems like Helmut’s really influenced by the team. They each gave him a new colour for his flames, and I think he’s building a small psychic resistance. Not a lot but it’s there.

-I don’t think there’s any way to replicate this kinda of variation. Helmut’s always been sensitive to his surroundings. Might just be a him thing.

{Bob}    =Sewaddle

-Little guy took a shine to Helmut really quickly. Woulda figured the type matchup wouldn’t let that happen too well.

-His attacks aren’t... totally inaccurate but I’m a bit worried. It’s not too bad right now but seriously no other Sewaddle has this issue as far as I’ve seen.

-According to the dex, the only difference between males and females is height. We’ll see dex. We’ll see.

   =Swadloon

-Glasses. He needed glasses. What- how- Professor did you know some mons need GLASSES???

-He’s made his own by using twigs he got before we left for Castelia and is using the harbor water as lenses. I am taking him to an eye doc for proper lenses.

-Now that he can see his own reflection in windows, he keeps scratching at his chin and face. I wonder what he’s thinkin.

//He wants what you humans call a beard// -FORD GET OUT OF MY NOTES

   =Levanny

-Shit. Ford was right. Good for him then.

-His leaf hood looks a bit more like a mane hahah. He looks good, got a tie, his legs have faint stripes (Makes me think of plaid stuff) and he has a flower tucked on his chest. Helmut gave him flowers so he seems to just switch them out.

-He’s taller than an average male Leavanny. Thicker too. Just as fast though.

{Cassie}    =Drilburr

-I’m concerned about that giant hole in the sewers. Ah well, caught a Drilburr. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except some slightly loose skin at the top. Like a Purrloin.

   =Excadrill

-... Okay... That pattern is WILDLY different than normal Excadrills. Where’d the yellow come from? Helmut??

-The loose skin makes more sense now. She can flip her top drill up and down like a visor.

-Thinner than most Excadrills, according to the group.

-Clay has an Excadrill, so I asked to compare. Wow males are WAY tinier than males. Also the visor helmet thing is apparently singular to Cassie.

{Ford}

-We were out in the Relic Castle desert, and I kept coming across Sigilyphs. And then we came across one that looked... Like it had a moustache?? T’was also bigger than the others. Turns out it’s because he’s male. I call him Ford now.

-He’s pretty grumpy

//Oh like the Swadloon ain’t.//

-The grumpy eyes are on the body as well. Mismatched too. They’re also green instead of blue like normal ones.

//Not a word about the eyes.//

-Sigilyphs are weird.

//Why you-// (the ink scribbles to the edge)

-I KNEW IT! FORD OUT OF MY NOTES!

//IT’S MY JOURNAL ENTRY I DESERVE TO WRITE IN IT//

{Compton}   =Minccinno

-Okay so... This little guy is beyond skittish. I didn’t even dare to fight him. No way, nope, bad time. I’m just gonna leave him alone. -Scratch that he got even more anxious when we tried to leave. I am at an impasse.

-Okay so Ford and Cassie managed to make him calmer. Good. Maybe we can get out of here now.

-Nope he’s latched onto Cassie. Okay buddy here’s a ball.

-No way I am letting him be a part of the main battle party but he could be nice to have around. He’s got a cute bowler hat too.

-I got to check his tail. It’s more curly than normal I think.

-I may let him fight a bit, just so he doesn’t fall behind the team too much. In case there’s bad situation.

�� =Cinccinno

-Well he certainly poofed out. His white fur is all poofy and curly instead of straight.

-He’s... really well versed in berries and teas. Made some good stuff. -How is this mon better at cooking than me. He’s cooking from now on.

//For the best.//

{Lucy}   = Frillish

-I spotted her back in Virbank ages ago but I couldn’t surf. Moment I could, I had Ford fly us back her to find her. What do you know, she was still there.

-So normal Frillish have a collar around their neck. This one has a hood apparently. I wonder if she’ll keep it. 

- Eyes are a teal green instead of red.

  =Jellicent

-... 

-PROFFESSOR

-Wildly different from normal Jellicent. No huge head for one. She did keep the scarf hood, all that fluff that is normally there turned into that. She’s super flowy.

-She’s got little... dashes in her hood, almost looks like raindrops.

-Man the dex entry. I can see how.

-Ford quit making goo goo eyes with the ship sinker.

//No.//

-Great I have two of them now.

{Otto}   =Tynamo

-This little guy annoyed Ford for a good while before I chucked a quick ball at him. Now the two are getting along pretty well.

-Seems to have more fins than a normal Tynamo.

-The EXP share is going on you buddy boi.

  =Eelektrik

-THE FACE! HAHAHAHA!

-The spots aren’t circular. Looks more like a toddler drew them on.

-Definitely has more fin frills than normal. It almost looks like a mullet.

-He found goggles. I don’t know where but he did.

-He got chewed out by Compton after he messed with the food. I think he was trying to experiment.

  =Eelektross

-SWEET ARCEUS ON TOAST

-HE’S BIGGER THAN EVERYONE HOLY SHIT.

-Antenna is... jagged. More like a thunderbolt. The fin there is spikier too. Makes me think of a thunderbolt. As if he wasn’t electric enough.

-The spots turned into a swirl on his big fish mitts. Looks cool.

-Blue eyes rather than red.

====================

Out of all of them, Helmut had the most changes. I wonder if it’s because he went through the whole adventure compared to the others. But he was also way more sensitive to the world.

Maybe that’s his mutation. Almost like Eevee but not quite.

How I ended up with such a bizarre team I don’t know.

Wouldn’t trade ‘em for the world.

[golbrocklovely]

what a tease // colby brock

A/N: so... this fic kinda came out of nowhere. no one requested it. i just thought of it last night and had to get it out. it was a lot of fun to write, and hopefully doesn’t read as too awkward haha let me know what you think. 

prompt: colby has always been the dominant one in the relationship, and you were fine with that. but then one night, you get to take control. ||  fem!reader x colby

trigger warning: pure fucking smut, like literally porn, handcuffs, vibrator usage, lingerie, cursing, unprotected sex

word count: 2767

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all started with a suggestion. An idea you had.

You and Colby had been together for almost a year now, and your sex lives were fantastic. Colby knew exactly what to do to get you off, to give you everything you wanted and more. And you knew exactly what to do to make Colby go crazy. You had never met a man that wanted to give you pleasure as much as Colby did. And you loved making Colby lose it; something about the way he looked as he pounded into you made you instantly wet any time you thought about it.

You worked perfectly together because Colby was dominant and commanding, and you just loved submitting to everything he asked for, with some occasional teasing of course.

But secretly, you always loved the idea of being the dominant one. Before you guys had ever dated, you had had dreams of him begging to fuck you, pleading with you to let him taste you for even just a second. It was always in the back of your mind because Colby didn't really show that side of himself. You would see it sporadically, like when you would take too long to let his cock slide inside you, a slight whine leaving his lips; or even when you would slowly ease yourself down on him with your mouth, knowing damn well he was ready to bust at any second.

So, one night you brought it up to him. You asked him very nonchalantly about it, about the idea of him allowing you to be in 100% control. And at first, he was a bit hesitant, thrown off by your notion. But he sat there as you guys continued to watch a movie, and by the end, he said he wouldn't mind it once. You both agreed that when he was ready for it, he would let you know.

And so, you waited. And waited. It wasn't like you needed to dominate him, but the thought was growing more and more in your mind. What would you do? How would you tease him? And most importantly, what would you wear?

Then finally, he agreed. One night randomly, he said he was ready for you to dominate him. He blushed at the words, his dimples appearing as he laughed through the sentence. It felt a little weird on his end to say it, even though it was something you had said before on several occasions. But he was ready for you. He was ready to see what you would do to him.

Or... at least he thought he was.

Colby leaned back against his headboard, waiting for you to come out of the bathroom. He was excited to see what you were wearing, even if he was planning to take it off in a matter of minutes.

You glanced at yourself in the mirror one more time, taking in your appearance with a deep breath. You had thought to buy a red and black lingerie set, knowing that that combo was sexy, but something about this white number that you had on made you feel like a porn star. The bra hugged your breasts in the best way, the lace delicately tracing your curves. The thong and garter belt, uncomfortable as it sort of was, made you feel like throwing money at yourself. You tugged at your thigh highs, feeling them stretch a little more up your thigh. Your heels clicked on the floor as you shuffled, your eyes following your hips as they moved back and forth. You clicked your tongue, nodded to yourself, and walked out of Colby's bathroom.

His head immediately shot up as you stepped out. His eyes raked over your body, taking in every beautiful inch of your skin. His lips twitched, a little smirk hiding in the corner of his mouth.

"Fuck babe, when did you get that?" He asked, his voice deeper than usual.

"I ordered this a while ago. Figured tonight would be the perfect time to pull it out." You stated, sliding slowly onto his bed.

"Well, I'm happy you're finally putting it to good use," Colby pulled your hips to his, your body resting against his lap. He glided his hands up to your bra straps, "Too bad it's gonna have to come off now."

You smacked his hands away. "Not so fast, love. Remember, I get to decide what happens tonight."

He sighed, playfully rolling his eyes. "Right, right. What exactly do you have in store for me?"

"Well for starters, we're gonna need these." You reached over into Colby's drawer and pulled out a pair of red, fluffy handcuffs.

Colby batted his eyelashes. "I thought those were only for you."

"Nope. You see, this pair is for you. I got you a red pair to match my black." You replied.

"We're gonna have to replace yours though, you know," Colby whispered, getting close to your face. "Since we almost broke them the last time we used them..."

"That's enough from you." You shushed, grabbing Colby's wrist lightly and slipping the handcuff around it. You tightened it slowly, pulling it around his back and connecting the other handcuff to his empty wrist.

"Cole Robert Brock, you're under arrest." You joked, holding back a giggle.

He sighed. "You're enjoying this a little too much."

"You have no idea." You beamed.

Colby shimmied his body down a bit, getting more comfortable. He fidgeted his wrist against the handcuffs, feeling the fluff tickle against his inner wrist. The handcuffs were secure in a way he wasn't expecting.

You slowly straddled Colby's lap, his legs resting down onto the bed under your weight. You leaned in, ready to place your lips on his, but stopped abruptly. "What's your safe word?"

He scrunched up his face. "Safe word?"

You nodded. "Yeah. In case it becomes too much."

"I know what a safe word is, babe," He deadpanned lightly. "Um... pineapple."

"Perfect." You muttered, finally connecting your lips to his. The kiss was slow and sweet, a light breath leaving your mouth as Colby glided his tongue in passed your lips. As your tongues danced together, your hands found his hair, gently pulling on his purple locks. You pulled your mouth away, peppering his jaw with kisses. Your mouth traced down his neck, kissing and sucking until you reached his collarbone. You lightly bit his skin, a hum falling from his lips.

"I want to keep kissing you." He mumbled.

You shrugged subtly. "Too bad."

Hands falling to his thighs, you kissed down his chest; pecking his heart tattoo along the way. You couldn't stop yourself from running your tongue across his nipples. The quiet gasp from him made you chuckle to yourself. As you snaked your lips further and further down, you could see him hardening in his boxers. You picked your head up last second, your hands wandering up his inner thigh. You fingers traced his bulge, his breath hitching and eyes closing.

"Baby..." He inhaled.

You blinked. "Yes?"

He looked into your eyes. "Don't tease me."

"Oh, Colby. You haven't even seen me tease you yet," You smiled sweetly. "But I'll be nice for right now. Hold yourself up for a second."

Colby picked up his hips and you removed his boxers, allowing his cock to spring free. You tossed his underwear onto the floor, wrapping your hand around his shaft. His tip was already leaking a small amount of precum as you jerked him off agonizingly slow.

He grunted as he bucked his hips into your hand, needing more of your touch. You kept your pace the same, gazing up at him longingly.

"Y/N... go faster." Colby blurted.

You sped up gently, rubbing his tip with every stroke. You could see his shoulders tense, wanting to be out of the handcuffs.

"Do you want me blow you?" You questioned, your voice low.

He nodded, humming.

"Then say it." You commanded.

Colby bit his tongue, his eyes narrowing for a second. "Really?"

"Really." You straight-faced.

Your thumb circled his leaking head as you waited for him to speak. His hips twitched against your hand as he choked back a moan.

"Suck me, Y/N." He grunted.

You raised an eyebrow at his tone, but eased your head down. As his cock entered your mouth, he exhaled deeply. You bobbed your head up and down, taking him in as much as you could and jerking off the rest with your hand. You hollowed out your cheeks as you reached his tip, swirling your tongue around him. Colby's head fell back against the headboard, soft noises falling from his lips. You continued to suck, allowing his cock to get deeper and deeper into your mouth. A guttural groan ripped through him once his head hit the back of your throat.

"Fuck, I wish I could grab your hair." He shook against his restraints.

As you sped up your movements, a light sheen of sweat trickled across his skin and yours. You gripped his hips, holding him back from throat-fucking you. You could tell he was getting close, knowing how much he would love to come in your mouth at any moment. You pulled your mouth away with a pop, and Colby hissed.

"Baby, fuuuck. Why'd you stopped?" He shuddered.

You looked him dead in the eyes. "I get to decide when you come."

He scoffed, coughing out a laugh. "I swear, when I get my hands out of these..."

"Well, that's not happening anytime soon. So, you might as well enjoy the show." You snickered.

You went back into Colby's drawer, pulling out a small, light purple toy. You rested yourself back against some pillows, your legs pointed towards Colby.

He huffed. "What's that?"

"Something I use when you're not around. Do you realize how many trips you go on? I get very lonely." You relaxed against the pillows, spreading your legs.

Colby's mouth dropped open slightly. "Y/N... w-what-"

You cut him off, your voice just above a whisper. "You get to sit there and watch me touch myself. And you can't do anything about it."

You could hear the handcuffs jingle as he tried to escape them. He groaned, letting out a deep breath.

"Stop trying to get out of them," You ordered. "If you're good, maybe I'll unlock them."

Colby stayed quiet, surprised by your words. He loved seeing this side of you, this bold side that usually only came out when you were desperate and needing him. But seeing you lying there, slowly sliding your thong down your legs, taking your time to pleasure yourself and him, caused his cock to twitch hard against his stomach.

"You're already wet." His jaw clenched, staring down at your pussy.

"Of course. Sucking your cock always turns me on." You confessed.

He gulped. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. I love tasting you, and when your hands pull on my hair and force my head down, oh my God..." You cupped your right breast tenderly, arousing your nipple through the bra. You sunk your other hand down your body, turning your vibrator on. You watched Colby's eyes as they waltzed across your skin, watching the way you teased yourself, letting the toy touch your entrance, but never sliding in.

"I wanna taste you so badly, Y/N." Colby uttered, his eyes intense.

You tsked, snapping your bra open from the front and palming your other breast. "I wish you could. But you're not allowed to."

"Fuck, Y/N. I'm gonna break these fucking handcuffs." He growled, puffing his chest out.

You shook your head, popping up for a second. "No, you're not. You'll get to touch me eventually. I just wanna have some fun."

You slowly inserted the vibrator, whining at the sensation. You felt your eyes roll back into your head, your body falling back down onto the mattress as you dug your heels in. Your back arched as you dived the vibrator deeper.

"Fuuuck, Colby." You moaned. Your mischievous eyes opened and stared at Colby, who darkly glared back at you.

"The second you uncuff me, I'm gonna make you scream." He shoved his shoulders forward, narrowing his gaze more.

You let the vibrator touch your aching clit, the shockwave sending jolts of pleasure throughout your body. You drifted the vibrator back into you, speeding up your thrusts.

Your voice dripped with wanton. "As fantastic as this is, you feel so much better, Colby."

"Y/N..." He closed his eyes tightly.

"I mean it, love." You sped up more, peering through your lashes, "You are one of the only guys to ever make me feel this good. No man has ever made me hornier than you."

Colby bit his lip, pushing his head back. "Baby, please."

"You always make me come. And you always make me feel so sexy. I literally crave to feel you inside of me." You whimpered out the last few words, almost unable to finish your sentence because of the pleasure.

"Fuck, Y/N!" He gasped, tearing his gaze away from you.

You rolled your head back against the pillows, enjoying Colby's sounds. "Oh my God, Colby. This feels so good!"

Your hips bucked against the vibrator, taking more and more of it into you. You could feel yourself getting close, the muscles in your stomach tighten with each movement of your hand.

Your eyes locked. "Do you wanna touch me?"

Colby nodded feverously. "Yes."

"Say it then." You insisted breathlessly.

“I wanna touch you, baby.” He whined, furrowing his brows.

“What do you wanna do to me?” You taunted.

“I want to fuck you so hard, you can't walk straight.” Colby snapped, his voice hoarse.

You felt your juices slick down your lips from his words. "Do you want the handcuffs off?"

“Yesss.” He hissed.

“Beg for it.” You barked, your tongue sharp.

He stammered, wheezing. “F-fuck, baby, please take them off.”

You smirked. “I don't know...”

“Y/N, please. I need to touch you. Please, love.” Colby panted, pulling at his restraints.

“I'm so close, Colby.” You murmured innocently, “Do you want me to touch you?”

“Oh my God, Y/N, yes! I need some relief, please.” He begged, bucking his hips against the air.

You stared at his cock, leaking with precum and pulsating. The head was red and throbbing, aching to be touched for even a second. You felt your pussy clench around the vibrator. You did that to him, and you barely even touched him. He was ready to explode just from the look of you.

You were That. Fucking. Bitch.

Slipping the vibrator out of yourself, you got to your knees quickly, crawling over to Colby. His chest heaved as you straddled him once again, lining his tip up with your hole. You sunk down, your groans mixing together as his cock filled you up perfectly.

“Baby, please move. I'm not gonna last long.” Colby urged, his hips jerking.

You began to bounce on him, your high already so close. You needed him just as much as he needed you. You clutched his shoulders, burying your face into his neck. You sucked on his skin as he moaned in your ear.

He nipped at your shoulder. “Fuck, faster. Go faster Y/N. I’m so close.”

“You feel so good, Colby. Oh my God, I’m right there!” You yelled.

You thrusted faster and faster, your hips slamming into his over and over again. You couldn’t handle anymore, the sensations becoming too much. As your peak hit, you heard the snapping of metal as Colby’s voice boomed out a breath. You gasped loudly as Colby enveloped your body with his arms. He slammed your body onto the bed, jackhammering into your cunt rapidly as you rode out your orgasm.

Your legs gripped his hips firmly, diving him deeper into you. His cock pounded your g-spot repeatedly, and suddenly you were building up again in a matter of seconds.  You writhed under him as another orgasm ravaged your body, unable to stop the noises that left your mouth. He came too, a throaty groan pouring from his lips.

You felt like you blacked out for a minute, the pleasure leaving your body completely numb. When you came to, Colby’s body rested on top of you, pressing you into the mattress.

He brushed the hair out of your eyes, the handcuff accidently tracing your face.

“Oh my G-God… you broke the handcuff.” You mentioned lazily.

He hummed, sucking his teeth. “I told you. I needed to touch you.”

You both chuckled, leaning in and pressing your sweaty foreheads together. He pecked your lips softly, sighing into the kiss.

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (5)

[Masterlink] (PART 1) (PART 4)

-----

Mari and Cass sometimes switch their suits as they have the same body type. Cass would sometimes go out in full Hellbat gear and give the appearance that Hellbat is out more often than she actually is.

So Orphan/Black Bat also sometimes uses guns.

This also helps with concealing secret identities. Maria was rescued by Hellbat from Joker’s Henchmen. (Vicki Vale was getting sus of the new Wayne and Hellbat.)

Unfortunately since Hellbat rarely comes out and she had already made all of her appearance for the month and it wasn’t a busy weekend, the public had come to the conclusion that Hellbat has a crush on the newest Wayne.

Basically everyone thought that Mari has a crush on herself. Which led to some teasing and escalated to Mari announcing that Jason had a crush on Red Hood on live TV.

It didn’t help that a video of Red Hood and Jason re-enacting Romeo and Juliet with Jason on his apartment balcony and Red Hood on the roof was posted on the internet a few days later. (Thank you, Trixx and Tim’s awesome video editing skills)

Sadly, it was taken down 24 hours later. (Tim and the others have multiple copies of it, on the cloud or hardware, hidden around in the manor and their respective safehouses in the US.)

Some people kidnapped Jason to hopefully gain leverage over the Red Hood and to their dismay and nightmares for years to come, Hellbat came instead.

One lucky and incredibly brave reporter asked why she was there instead of her brother.

Mari being a little shit, “Red Hood may be a tough and scary guy but when it comes to his feelings, my brother is a chicken.”

Pictures of Jason tackling Hellbat somehow never made it into any papers.

The criminal underworld hasn’t taken a hint and Jason has been kidnapped a few more times.

Other times Jason was kidnapped:

Robin: Red Hood made a fool of himself in front of Todd recently and he doesn’t dare to show his face.

Spoiler: He was taking too damn long checking his hair even though I told him that no one was going to see it under his helmet and he was so offended that he is currently sulking in the bathroom.

Red Robin: Red Hood can’t think straight when he is around Jason. I mean have you seen the dude.

Arsenal*during a rare visit to Gotham*: Red Hood owes me one now.

Dick finally ends it by going out as Red Hood and rescuing Jason. Gotham is happy that Redson (Red Hood x Jason) ship has finally sailed.

-------

Kate, Babs, Cass, Steph and Mari were out on Mari’s first girls’ night since her move to the manor.

This is set a little after she came back from Paris with Jason.

They watched rom-com movies, did hair and nails, gossip about the superhero community and bitch and vent to each other.

Marinette off-handedly mentioned the crazy shits she had done during her stint as Ladybug. It started with asking about the T-rex in the Batcave and she mentions jumping into the mouth of a live one before.

Everyone in the room was shocked and after a few more questions, it was obvious that she was very reckless and self-sacrificing. Yep, she was going to fit into this crazy family just fine.

And Holy Shit. There is so much trauma packed into this kid. She needs lots of therapy.

Babs finally decided that they all needed to get out and have some fun. All in their respective suits and they went out.

Joined by Harley, Ivy and Selina.

Plagg came along because I want Plagg to meet Selina.

It was a chaotic night and it was a miracle that Bruce didn’t find out about what the girls did.

-------

Batman and Red Hood were on patrol together when Selina jumped in front of them.

“Hello, Boys”

“What do you want, Catwoman?”

“I want to meet my new prodigy, Kitty Noire.”

Cue Marinette jumping down from her hiding spot, transformed with the Black Cat Miraculous. “Hiya.”

Red Hood carries her like a potato sack and points his gun at the other two.

“Nope, she’s my sister and I called dibs. I adopted her. She’s off limits.”

“Legally, she’s mine.” Batman coughed out.

“I did it first. Emotionally. She’s my emotional support sister. You have plenty kids already, B and Selina, get your own.”

“Hey, I am still here and can hear you.”- Maria

-------

Alya was worried for Lila. She had been acting weirdly for the past month.

She looked very out of sorts. Her clothes weren’t in order and her hair was in disarray. She had bags under her eyes and her eyes looked wild. Lila didn’t look like herself at all.

She jumped at any sound and flinched at really sudden movements.

Alya tried to find out what was wrong with Lila and received vague answers.

One time Lila said that Marinette is to blame.

Alya reaches the somewhat right conclusion that Marinette was haunting Lila and hurting her because Lila used to come to school with bruises and claims that Marinette did it.

Alya goes to Marinette’s grave to desecrate it. (Yeah, go anger the ghost that is haunting someone.)

Unfortunately, the moment she tries to do something, the sky turns dark, clouds appear and the wind begins whipping. A Lightning strike near her and there was a cloaked figure beside her with a scythe.

All Alya saw from the figure was the blood-red lips in a very sharp grin and glowing blue eyes, raising the scythe high before she ran away. The scythe swiped the air where her head once was.

Alya didn’t get far before she tripped and blacked out.

When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital with no idea how she got there.

She was told that somebody found her with a concussion in the park and took her to the hospital.

------

The next one on Mari’s hit list was Natalie.

She wasn’t as involved in the whole thing like Lila, Adrien or Gabriel but she still did it anyways.

Her punishment is a little mild compared to the others and was more of a warning to Gabriel.

Natalie woke up in the middle of the night to see a not-so-dead Ladybug sitting on her vanity chair with the moonlight from the windows illuminating her body and her neck. Her suit was torn exactly like the day of that battle with blood dripping down her arms and from her open wounds. The shadows kept her face hidden but glowing blue eyes stared at her.

Natalie was scared at first. But she regained her normal cool composure.

“I assume you are here to extract your revenge for aiding in your unfortunate demise. But before you kill me, I regret my part in my entire thing and I apologize for everything I have done against you even though I knew it was wrong.”

“At least you show remorse over what you have done. Visiting my grave when even my parents didn’t and leaving flowers. I love those purple hyacinths by the way. Did you know that they mean sorry in the language of the flowers?”

“Why are you stalling my death? Just kill me already.”

“Madam Sancouer. You just played a minor role in my downfall compared to what Adrien and Lila Rossi did to me. And you showed more guilt over your actions than they ever did and Adrien claimed to have loved me. And like I have told the Bats, Death is too swift of a punishment.”

“Who are the bats?”

“None of your concern. You should be more concerned about yourself.”

“Lila sees the ghosts of her past and they haunt her. Adrien is in a living nightmare and has no control over his actions and is despised by everyone. What are you going to do to me?”

“Well, since you show some guilt over your actions, let me tell you a little secret. I am not dead. Not really. I mean I did die. But there was a spell in the grimoire that revived me. It took a few days to work.”

Marinette changed to her normal form. It was a little jarring to see an older Marinette Dupain-Cheng sitting on her vanity chair like it was a throne. The Ladybug suit and the wounds were gone. She looked a little familiar.

“Why are you telling me this? What was the point?” Natalie faltered as she wondered why the girl looked familiar. Marinette moved closer and her face was fully illuminated by the moonlight.

“I intend to take everything by which I mean everything from Gabriel Agreste for what he did.”

“M. Agreste just wanted his wife back. You just gave him your Miraculous, you would still have everything.”

“What difference would it make? Sure I had friends and family before but they turned out to be disappointing. I might have become a famous designer like I dreamed of and can't achieve because I died. Besides, he never said about wanting his wife to come back in his tedious monologues. For all we knew back then, he wanted them for world domination. He showed that he would end the world for them. For kwamis’ sake, he nearly started World War III, just for a pair of earring and a ring. He was willing to kill me to have her back. No wait, he did that too. If he actually read the translated grimoire or asked the Guardian or at least someone with magic for help instead or maybe used his head and made some who can heal as his champion using the Butterfly, we wouldn’t even be in this mess. Face it, Mme Sancour, your boss is a power-hungry and very controlling maniac who is also thankfully an idiot.”

“But- he- he just-. You are just a child, what do you know? M. Agreste knew what he was doing.”

“A child who had a normal life up until he tried to ruin it with his idiotic schemes and hiring Lila to do it. A child who had to fight a war on her own.”

“I am sorry you had to go through that but I doubt you and your little revenge rampage is going to solve anything.”

Ghostly Chains wrapped around Natalie’s body, squeezing tight like it was squeezing the life out of her.

“I was all for sparing you, you know. If you had actually listened to my side of the story, you would have spared from my ‘little revenge rampage’. This is going to be a little painful. Sorry about that.” In a tone that was definitely not sorry.

Pain coursed through Natalie’s body. Her skin crawled and itched as pitch back feathers grew out of it. Her bones turned to dust and reformed.

Where Natalie Sancour once was, there was a raven.

An omen of death and destruction for one Gabriel Agreste.

Marinette leaned down towards the raven. Natalie tried to peck her eye out but Marinette held the beak in a firm grip.

“Ah. ah ah. Luckily for you this is temporary. Mostly. Every night, you will assume this shape and each night the longer you will stay in this form. Slowly counting down the days until Gabriel’s downfall. Since you love helping him so much, you are going to help him know how long he has to live. The night you are a raven from sunset to sunrise, that sunrise starts the day Gabriel Agreste will be utterly destroyed.”

She released the beak and headed towards the window.

"Send him my regards."

With that, she was gone.

(Part 6)

[expectingtofly]

I was just stuck in traffic for an hour and a half (without reception to boot) so what better way to use my involuntary free time than to write a fic with dean, cas, and toddler jack in the same situation?

In hindsight, it made sense that in a life where nothing ever went to plan, an attempt at a relaxing Winchester beach vacation turned into an adventure called how long can you sit in traffic without losing your goddamn mind?

Slumping in his seat, Dean stared mournfully at the line of cars which seemed to stretch for miles into the distance. For an hour now they had sat on the freeway at a standstill, inching forward at odd intervals. Dean had turned Baby off fifteen minutes ago when even those slow forward crawls ceased.

Jack hummed in the backseat where he colored with a box of crayons. Cas tapped his fingers on his thighs, craning his neck to look behind and in front of them. No escape. Dean was pretty sure he was considering the merits of zapping all of them—car, luggage, and all—to their destination. Sure, the people around them would have plenty of questions about a car vanishing into thin air and Cas would be exhausted for three days, but it might be worth it.

Might save their sanity, at least. So far, they had cycled through staticky radio stations, played twenty questions three times over, eaten two cans of Pringles, argued about potential detours, and listened to several renditions of “Born This Way” sung at increasingly piercing high volume courtesy of the six year old in the backseat.

In all that time, they had moved forward about ten feet and Dean was starting to entertain thoughts about abandoning Baby on the asphalt and walking back home.

“I won’t abandon you,” he reassured her, stroking the steering wheel.

“What?” Cas asked.

“Uh. Nothing.” So now he was talking to inanimate objects. Great.

��Let’s play eye spy,” Cas suggested.

Dean gestured around them. Trees, weeds, parked cars, and the highway divider. “Not much to look at.”

“How about that game where you name an item for every letter of the alphabet? We can do celestial objects.”

“That’s not fair, you know all of them.”

“Well, we already did rock bands and you won that too easily.”

“Dad,” Jack complained. “I’m out of yellow.”

“It’s probably back there,” Cas said. “Maybe you dropped it.”

“There better not be a crayon melting back there.” Dean twisted around in his seat to check.

Jack sighed and threw down his crayons dramatically. “I’m hungry.”

Cas fished around in the snack bag. “I think we have some carrots left.”

“Hey, kid, this is pretty good.” Dean went to pick up the crayon drawing, but Jack threw his upper body over the paper.

“No! It’s not finished!”

“Alright, sorry. I’ll wait for the final product. Lookin’ good so far.”

“I’m drawing us,” Jack told him, reaching for another crayon while keeping a hand shielding the drawing.

“Remember I’m taller than him,” Dean said, nodding at Cas. Cas gave him a dirty look. “Just for accuracy.”

“My true form greatly towers over your human body,” Cas said haughtily.

“Aww, Cas, you tryin’ to flirt?”

Rolling his eyes, Cas handed back the bag of carrots to Jack. The mess in the backseat of papers and crayons—though stressful—gave Dean an idea.

“Hey, Jack, hand me some paper.” He took two papers and told Cas, “I’ll draw you and you draw me.”

Cas took a paper with a gleam in his eyes. “What does the winner get?”

“Whaddya mean winner? This is supposed to be just a fun thing.” That was a lie. They could, and did, turn everything into a competition. “Worst drawing has to pay for snacks at the next stop.”

“Easy,” Cas said, taking a green crayon from the box. “I could draw your every freckle from memory.”

“Stare enough to know what I look like,” Dean muttered, feeling his ears heat. He caught Cas reaching for the red crayon. “Hey!” Of course the fucker would draw him blushing.

Giving him a sly smile, Cas tucked himself against the opposite door to shield his drawing from him. “Just going for accuracy,”

“I wanna play too!” Jack said.

“Alright, best drawing from all three of us. Hope you brought your credit card, Jack.”

“Nope, ‘cause I’m gonna win!”

“No, you’re both going down.” Dean snatched up a stubby green crayon. “Go!”

Despite the lack of a time limit, furious scribbling followed. Dean liked to think he was a decent drawer, but using crayons—most of which were broken—sure made it difficult.

He set Cas in a sunny field with a fluffy cloud sky. Without yellow, the sun had to be green, but he thought the purple trenchcoat and blue tie he drew for Cas turned out pretty good. Add a few flowers, maybe a tree—fuck, that didn’t turn out so good. The important part was Cas, though. For good measure, he added some wings colored with every crayon in the box and an angel blade that he couldn’t get to look sharp enough with the blunt silver crayon, but gave the general idea.

Holding the drawing up, he couldn’t help smiling at it. It was Cas, alright. Down to the blue eyes, half smile, and sensible shoes.

“Done!” Jack announced.

“One second,” Cas said, eyebrows drawn up in concentration. After a few careful lines, he said, “Okay.” He clutched his drawing to his chest. “On the count of three.”

“One, two, three—” Dean flipped his drawing around at the same time as Cas and Jack.

And instantly burst out laughing.

“What?” Cas asked, offended.

“Dude.” Wiping tears from his eyes, Dean took the drawing from him. A stick figure man with a scribble of brown hair, lopsided green eyes, and dots which he guessed were his freckles. “I haven’t been this skinny in years. Wait a moment.” He frowned at the stick legs. “You gave me freaking bow legs?”

“Dean, this is…” Dean looked up to see Cas holding the drawing of himself. “This is really lovely.” He traced the wings. “It’s like you can see them.”

“Shit, it’s not that good.” Fucking hell, he was blushing again.

“Look at mine!” Jack said, waving his paper.

“Woah, kid, you outdid yourself,” Dean said, taking it from him. Three stick figures, each a bit taller than the next. Two with wings, one in a blocky shirt which looked suspiciously like flannel.

“Buddy, this is great.” He pointed at Cas’ figure, turning the paper so Cas could see. “Looks like he got your true form.” Animals and swirls, colors and shapes.

“That’s beautiful, Jack.” Cas pointed to the smallest stick figure with the biggest wings and smile. “I love how you drew yourself.”

“Do I win?” Jack asked.

Dean handed the drawings back. “Take a look at all of them, be our judge.”

Jack studied the three drawings seriously for several long seconds before announcing with a cheeky smile, “I win!”

“Seems rigged but okay,” Dean said.

Cas elbowed him. “You can pick out any snack you want when we find a place to stop,” he told Jack. A dangerous idea, but they might not even make it there. Their drawings would soon be outdated when they turned old and grey in their seats.

Bracing himself for the worst, Dean checked the line of cars again and was surprised to see movement up ahead.

“Hey!” He turned the car on. “Here we go, Baby, back on the road again!”

“Finally,” Cas sighed. Bouncing in his car seat, Jack cheered.

The line of cars thinned out as they picked up speed, finally making progress after… Dean checked the time. Two hours. At least the last hour had passed quickly with their drawing competition.

“I’m going to frame these,” Cas said, tucking the drawings into his bag. “I think they’d look nice in the living room.”

“Daddy?” Jack spoke up.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Cas asked, looking back at him.

Jack giggled and Dean smiled at him in the rearview mirror. Then Jack announced, “I have to pee.”

Dean stared at the road. Of course.

“Can you wait?” Cas asked, checking the GPS. "The next stop is… twenty minutes away.”

“I have to go now!”

Cas looked at Dean, and Dean sighed. “I’ll stop.” Turning on his turn signal to move into the shoulder, he told Jack, “Time to pee in the bushes, kiddo.”

Jack cheered and Dean shook his head, a laugh escaping him despite himself. Always an adventure.

[outofsstyles]

a/n: This is by far THE MOST requested fic I’ve ever had and (a year later) it’s finally here!! First of all, sorry that it took me so long but when I first wrote Wildest Dreams I never intended on it having a follow up, but the amount of love I got from it was so overwhelming that I decided to put this together for you all :) I’m not gonna lie, I’m a bit nervous about it, considering the amount of requests I’ve had the past year, I know there’s gonna be a lot of expectations and I wanted to do something a bit different so it’s not too predictable lol. So yeah, as always, feedback is very much welcomed!! If you enjoy please reblog it to support my writing, it would mean the world to me <3

word count: 13.7k

warnings: none!

concept: It’s Evan’s birthday and he decides to do something a bit different.

Wildest Dreams: read part 1 here :)

                                               ~*~ ~*~  ~*~

In the last two steps, you have to use your leg to support the box as it starts to slowly slip down your fingers. This serves as a reminder to start exercising again now that the midterm is over — meaning that you should finally give in to Nia’s pleas to join her in the free week of Pilates classes she got when signing in at the gym, “Exercising is one of the best ways to relieve stress!” She would argue, to which you’d simply reply with something along the lines of: “So does binging another trashy reality tv show!”

Thankfully, no one seems to notice your struggle, sparing you the embarrassment of listening to their teases due to your difficulty in carrying one of the smallest boxes of the bunch. Nate barely glances at you once you finally reach the car to hand him the box, only shooting the longest smile you’ve ever seen coming from him—which somehow still manages to be probably the quickest when compared to any other regular person. His girlfriend, who stands with hands on her hips, entirely held his attention. Nia’s purple strands of hair poke out of her half-bun in every direction and her bottom lip has found its permanent spot between her teeth as her eyes fixate on the vehicle in front of her, barely blinking.

“Everything alright, Ni?” You prompt, trying to even your breathing. “Forgot something? There’s still time to check.”

“It’s not that.” She mumbles, shaking her head to break out of her thoughts. “My keyboard doesn’t fit.” Nia nods at the instrument lying on top of the car’s ceiling.

“Oh,” You say, frowning your lips as you take in her stressed figure. Clearing your throat, you attempt to blurt out a joke, “Maybe it’s a sign you shouldn’t move it and stay right here in our little flat with creaky doors.”

She breathes out a sharp laugh, finally looking at you as she drops her arms. “Don’t start.” She warns, “You promised; no crying today.”

“Don’t worry, I’m good at holding back the tears.” You give her a soft smile, pulling her smaller frame into a hug. The sudden reality of your best friend and roommate leaving you hitting you at once. “Gonna miss you, Ni.”

You feel her sigh into your shoulder, arms circling around your middle. “I’ll be ten minutes away.”

“Not the same.”

“I know.”

The two of you sway in silence for a moment, and you watch from over her shoulder as Nate attempts to awkwardly pick up the keyboard, almost dropping it on the sidewalk in the process. He grunts, the instrument tilting in his arms, and you giggle as you hear Nia sigh once more. Tightening your arms around her, you release each other as she turns to check on her boyfriend who holds the instrument as you would a newborn — except this one is half his size and hard as a wood plank.

He glances between the both of you, helpless. “Uh, where does this go?”

“You can put it with the other big boxes upstairs, babe. We’ll take them Sunday.” Nia says, moving to close the trunk. She looks back at him, calling back in a sing-like voice before he disappears inside, “Thank you!”

You lean back against the car, a playful pout plumping your bottom lip. “Am I only seeing you again on Sunday, then?”

“Nope, I’ll pick you up for Evan’s birthday — did you forget about it already?”

You have. “Of course not. It’s on — tomorrow.”

“Is it tomorrow?” Nia gasps, eyes widening. “Holy shit, tomorrow’s Friday.”

You nod slowly, just as shocked as she is about how quickly the past couple of weeks have flown by. Between piles of book reports and stress-tear-stained essays during midterms week, you also had to find some time to help Nia with packing boxes while searching for a new roommate for yourself. If you managed a five-hour sleep on these past days, that would have been a well-rested night. So you can’t really blame yourself for forgetting about Evan’s birthday when Nia herself had it slipping through her mind.

“This is an emergency,” Nia says, eyes focusing on a point beyond you and, you feel like, if you listen close enough, you can hear the engines inside her head working. “I’ll have come here earlier so you can help me with my outfit.”

You chuckle. “What even is the theme this year?”

“He didn’t tell me,” Nia says in a huff. “But, on the bright side, I don’t think this year he’ll do anything too crazy — he was too busy these last couple months with that short film I told you about, remember?”

“Evan doing something low key? That’s a first.” You raise your eyebrows, skeptical.

“I mean, I don’t know. I’m just guessing.” Nia shrugs, picking at her nails. “I’m only saying because he mentioned once he was only inviting, like, twenty people.”

Now, this is a surprise. “I’m glad I made the cut, then.”

It’s not a secret to anyone who’s ever had any kind of interaction with Evan that he’s fond of the dramatics of life — his bright-colored outfits with mismatching patterns being the first example that comes to mind — and that reflects as well in his events. Especially when it comes to his birthday.

To be fair, you’ve only actually been to two birthday parties of his so far — considering the invitation usually finds you because he’s close to Nia and sees you as some sort of extension of her. Nevertheless, they were both impactful enough that left a clear impression of how much he enjoys celebrating himself. Last year in particular you remember quite well. It was what he called “Evaney” themed; being a mix of himself and his favorite artist: Britney Spears. And, while you and Nia showed up as one of at least fifteen different variations of the Baby One More Time schoolgirl outfit, Evan pulled a perfect match of the Oops! I Did It Again red bodysuit that he got one of his fashion student friends to tailor for him, as well as freshly dyed beach blonde hair to suit it. He even went as far as photoshopping pictures of himself on Britney’s body and had them printed on posters hung on every single room of the house. There were even custom-made cups and napkins with them — two of them that Nia stole at the end of the party still sit somewhere in your kitchen to this day.

Another particular thing you remember quite clearly was that there were enough people crowded in his living room to fill up your entire apartment, as you recall. And that’s about how a typical event at his home is like — even on his friendsmas dinner there were much more than just twenty people eating turkey out of disposable hot pink plates. So, Nia’s information leaves you wondering what he could have in mind for tomorrow with such a limited list of people.

Before you can voice your wonders to her, though, Nate pushes through the entrance door again. You can tell he, much like you minutes ago, is trying to cover his heavy breathing. “I left it on top of those big boxes with a bunch of books in ‘em.”

“Brilliant! Thank you, baby.” Nia grins, wrapping an arm around his middle. “By the way, we just remembered Evan’s birthday’s tomorrow.”

“Is it tomorrow already?” Nate asks, and you hold back a giggle at the way his face scrunches in discontent. He hates going to Evan’s to a point that’s nearly comical. “Fuck’s sake.”

“And I think I’ll come here early so we can get ready together.” Nia nods towards you.

Nate grunts. “Do I have to go this time?” 

“Of course, darling.” She rises to her tiptoes to pinch his cheek, to which he brushes it off.

Nate looks at you, and you only send him a tight smile in solidarity. The two of you share similar experiences with Evan, considering the only reason either of you even gets invited is that because you’re close to Nia, and she’s close to Evan. Although you like Evan, even if you’re not that close with him, you can still put on your social mask for a couple of hours and have fun at his parties. Nate, on the other hand, is likely the least sociable person you’ve ever met, and it’s obvious how uncomfortable he gets every time. 

Nia seems to sense how tense he gets as well, because she steps in front of her boyfriend, finding his eyes with her doe-like ones. “I mean, if you don’t want to, then you don’t have to.”

He sighs, “Of course I’ll go with you.” He looks up at you. “Maybe this time we can actually count how many faces of his we can see from the couch.”

This time you don’t hold back a giggle. “I have a feeling we’ll have an easier time this year.”

“Hope so.” Nate taps on Nia’s back. "Let's go, then? Is everything you need in the trunk?”

“Yup.” She answers, circling the car and opening the door to the passenger’s side. Before entering, she gives you one last look. “Do you want me to bring anything for you tomorrow?”

“I’m good.”

“‘kay!” She enters, closing the door behind her in a click and leaning over Nate to wave at you from his window. “See you tomorrow! Don’t cry too hard tonight!”

“I won’t!” You wave back.

Watching as the car pulls back, before driving away and disappearing around the corner, there’s a light breeze that raises goosebumps on the exposed skin of your arms. You cross them under your chest, leaning back into the wall of your building, not quite ready to go back to your empty home yet. The seconds blend into minutes and you stand there The promise you made to Nia not even a minute ago already pooling in your eye, knowing you wouldn’t be able to keep it anyway, you let it tickle its way down your cheek.

A rougher gust of wind hits you and, this time, you turn to go inside.

                                              ~*~ ~*~  ~*~

The days are still not long enough so that the sun can shine proudly at seven in the afternoon, but as spring just about rounds the corner there’s still a golden glow as the rays provide one last warmth before disappearing on the horizon. And that’s how the sky greets you once you step out of your building to make your way towards Evan’s house for his birthday.

As planned, Nia arrived at yours with plenty of time so the two of you could help each other get ready, a bag filled with clothes she’s just taken to Nate’s yesterday under her arm for you to help her choose. “I’m thinking something monochromatic tonight.” She said as she walked in, making you jump in your spot on the couch as you didn’t hear her using the spare key. “I’m just not sure what color.” 

She ended up choosing red. There was an old box of red hair dye you found lost inside the bathroom cabinet after Nia left — along with two different brands of shaving cream, although those belonging to Nate — and, after presenting it to her, she decided to go all for it, taking it as a sign. Nate showed up just about an hour after his girlfriend, still in his work attire and barely batting an eye at Nia’s new hair color as she blew dried it. The only comment leaving his mouth being, “You look like a tomato,” before kissing her forehead and excusing himself for a nap while the two of you finished getting ready.

What neither of you realized was that Nia’s last-minute decision took more time than you predicted, giving you barely enough time to get dressed. To her, that wasn’t exactly an inconvenience considering she had an outfit ready to match any color she wanted — in this case, was a red-dyed denim two-piece. and a matching jacket that ended up discarded after she noticed it covered her newest shoulder tattoo (though you tried to argue she could just have Nate carry it so she could wear it considering she eventually would get cold at some point). To you, however, was more of a stressful task, seeing you hadn’t taken in mind to think of an outfit beforehand. So you ended up just going with the safest option that didn’t give you a lot of room to overthink, choosing to finish your makeup on the way so Evan wouldn’t have any of your heads on a plate for being late.

You’ve found that applying mascara on a moving vehicle is not the easiest task, as Nia holds your elbow to help you keep steady while talking nonstop with the driver about a topic you stopped paying any mind to about ten minutes ago.

“I’m loving our black and red moment, by the way.” She turns to you, loosening her hold as you finish the last coat. “You look like one of those hot businesswomen with your teenage daughter who likes to dress like an animated character.”

You laugh at her comparison, only now noticing the discrepancy between both your outfits. Without even realizing it, you also ended up going for the monochromatic look. Except unlike Nia’s, yours completely lacks any color. “That’s actually the best comparison you could make.”

“I know — You can take a left right here — Here, I have lip gloss.” Nia fetches a small tube from her jacket (that she ended up taking, after all), presenting it to you.

“Do you not have lipstick?”

“Are you not planning on smudging it later?” Nia wiggles her eyebrows, teasing. The hint behind her words makes you roll your eyes, snatching the lip gloss from her hand without bothering to give her an answer. There was about a month or so, just before winter rolled around, that Nia felt as if she had a mission to get you with someone. You suspect, knowing too well how her mind works, that she must’ve felt some sort of guilt for what happened during her film project last year. It was clear that her attempts came from a place of good heart, but this doesn’t mean that it made them any less annoying. However, after her plans to move in with Nate became more concrete, her cupid persona seemed to have disappeared, or so you’d thought. But now that there’s nothing else filling her mind anymore, it looks like she’s back at it, and you can’t help but snort. “What? I’m just saying-”

“You say a lot of things, most of them are incorrect.” You say, “I’m not smudging anything tonight. Not on a party with twenty people, for fuck’s sake.”

“Don’t say that before — right there! The big house on the corner!” Nia leans over the console, signaling to the driver where to park. It’s so sudden that you notice how he jumps just slightly from his seat, chuckling to yourself at how Nate snaps his eyes at her. 

The front of Evan’s Victorian home is unusually quiet once you step out onto the sidewalk. So much so that, if it weren’t for the lined cars parked along the street and filling his driveway, you would’ve thought you’d typed in the wrong address. 

The discrepancy is clear to you when compared to other gatherings Evan hosts in his house, but especially for his birthday. Last year, you could hear Toxic blasting from his place from the moment you turned on his street, and a small crowd gathered on his front yard — most of which you recall being comprised of people plastered out of their minds, particularly one semi-naked man who was using one lamppost as a strip pole while swinging a stuffed snake

That’s more or less the standard one could expect when invited to a party at Evan’s. So, to find the street as silent as any regular day is, to an understanding, odd. 

“Are you sure it’s the right date?” You ask as the metal creak of the front gate mends with gushes of wind whistling through the air.

“Yup,” Nia says simply, walking in front of you. “You can hear the music inside, shush.”

You come quiet, listening in, and, surely, you can hear the faint keys of a piano coming from the other side of the stone walls, but it only brings up more questions to your head than answers. Evan seems like the last person on Earth who would listen to classical music. Deciding not to voice your question this time, you follow short behind Nia, kicking some loose stones on the gravel path leading to the front door.

There’s no need for more than a single knock for it to open almost immediately, revealing a lace-clad Evan downing the last bits of his wine. Without the barrier you can hear the music more clearly, the keys of the piano meshing in a peculiar way, not like anything you’ve ever heard in a classical song— at least not ten years ago when you tried to learn piano for a year before giving up.

“Look at my favorite people!” Evan says with his purple-stained lips, pulling Nia for a hug with the arm that’s not holding the door open while pointing at a spot behind her. “Did you greet Jonathan when you passed him? It’s his birthday as well.”

He points to a spot where a gnome statue sits in the dry grass, face painted in clown makeup. Nate’s voice comes from behind you, “Christ.” 

“Nate!” Evan chirps, going straight for the man standing with a sharp smile and throwing his arms around him. “You know you’re my favorite grumpy, right?”

Nate only taps on the shorter man’s back, quickly moving to Nia’s side as soon as he’s free from the embrace. With that, Evan turns to you, hands finding your elbows as he takes you in, “And what have you been up to, bug? It's been ages.”

“You know… Books and… Stuff.” You chuckle, brushing it off. “Happy birthday, E.”

“Thank you!” He claps his hands together. “Now, c’mon, let’s get all of you started.”

Following him inside, you’re met with a glittery box standing right next to the entrance; rolls of tape seal it shut, and a hand-sized hole has been cut on top of the lid. You try to peek at what could be inside, but strings of colorful crepe paper are stuck to the hole, making it harder to know its contents.

Evan picks up the box, holding it to his side. “So, I need each of you to grab a piece of paper inside the box. There will be a number in it but for now just hold on, drink, and chat while waiting for further instructions.” His voice lowers at the end to give his words more of a mystery behind them.

Nate tenses in front of you and you have to keep yourself from chuckling at his desperate gaze moving from the box to his girlfriend as he moves uncomfortably on his feet. Nia, however, only gives him a pat on his back, barely looking at her boyfriend as she does a little dance in excitement. “Oh, this feels fun.” She says, quickly reaching her hand inside the box and retrieving a piece of paper. “Mysterious, but fun. What do you have in mind, sir?”

“Nothing too crazy this year, darling, you can relax — We’re all too tired.” He moves the box towards Nate, who reluctantly reaches inside. “Just something to mesh people together that won’t give me too much of a headache to clean tomorrow.”

“Smart.” You say, peeking at the box as it’s presented to you before reaching for a paper inside, quickly reading the number eight written on it before folding the piece between your fingers.

“Nice! As always, drinks in the kitchen. We’re starting in ten minutes!” Evan claps, hushing the three of you further inside.

Surprisingly, this time around there are no posters of his face in sight as you follow Nia and Nate to the kitchen. There’s a mild mash of voices coming from the living room — where the sound of the piano is the loudest, and you wonder if he got an actual piano or if it’s just a Bluetooth speaker —, but it’s not nearly as loud as you’re used to from past times. The lighting has been lowered to a buttery yellow; you realize once you enter the kitchen that feels too bright to your eyes in contrast to the hallway.

“Is there any alcohol?” You wonder out loud, and Nia glances at you with her eyebrows shot towards her hairline. “What? I’m just asking ‘cause everyone is unusually quiet.”

“There’s wine and — what are these guys right here?” She picks up one out of four plastic jars sitting on the kitchen island, reading the label stuck to it out loud, “Strawberry Mary — ooh, this looks fun.”

You reach for the other three to check their contents, but all have names similar to the one Nia now fills her cup with — fruity, yet mysterious: Lana Banana, Jenny Berry Mix, and Pineapple Suzan. “Did he come up with these?” You chuckle, reaching for the berry mix.

“It was probably Adam,” Nia says, and you frown. “That bartender guy? The one with the pet snakes.”

“Oh, yeah. I know him.”

The room comes quiet as you serve yourself, and only after you glance up you realize a tension lingering in the air. Nate stands awkwardly in a corner, eyes fixed on Nia as he moves his head around subtly. Glancing between the two of them, you notice how their expressions change as they keep their eyes locked, not a single word being uttered out loud. To you, it almost feels as if they are reading each other’s minds, and the heat of their silent argument becoming clear once Nate huffs, shaking his head. 

Nia clears her throat, seemingly uncomfortable, shooting you a knowing look. It’s only when she gives you a toothless smile that you realize the silent question behind it. “Uhm, I’m going to check if there are any sweets outside.”

Beelining towards the doorway, you quickly make your way out of the room. The hallway is empty and, from where you stand awkwardly in the middle of it, you can tell Evan’s left his spot by the front door, meaning he’s likely gone to the living room where the rest of the guests are. You can hear them chatting, although like you previously pointed, the voices are much more controlled than what you’re used to, and that makes you oddly flustered by the thought of walking in alone. 

Considering the limited amount of invitations this year, the chances of you knowing anyone are slim and, to add to your sudden nervousness, most of the people from Evan’s closest circle of friends are — like himself — inexplicably intimidating. This is mostly because it feels like this unspoken competition that everyone has settled with each other, to subtly brag about your success whilst simultaneously pretending to be impressed about the other’s accomplishments. And for you specifically, considering you’re not part of this artist clique that they lock themselves into, it feels particularly tiresome to be part of those interactions. 

So, you opt to wait for Nia, pretending to admire one peculiar painting hanging on a wall opposite to where the doorway leading to the living room stands. Every so often, you catch yourself glancing over your shoulder one way or the other, either towards the kitchen to check if your friends are joining you, or to the doorway where the rest of the guests are in. At one point, the voices get louder, joining in a laugh before tangling together in a mess of noise you can’t make sense of. It’s after a minute that you hear footsteps coming from the living room, making you freeze on your spot, carefully turning your back to whoever’s about to catch you avoiding the party, and focusing on the piece you’ve been staring at for the past five minutes.

The painting you first thought was just random strokes of earth tones abstractly put together you now realize it’s a man and it doesn’t take you more than a second or two to recognize Evan’s side profile in a peach shade. Your hand claps on top of your mouth as you fight the urge to laugh. The sound comes out muffled, but it stops as you hear the footsteps falter as they turn into the hallway. Keeping you back to them, you listen as the wooden floor creaks as whoever was approaching makes their way back. You peek to catch sight of who it might be, but all you make out is the shadow of mustard corduroys turning the corner.

As if on cue, Nia and Nate finally appear from the kitchen, thankfully neither appearing to be sour after the talk in the kitchen. 

“Finally.” You say, still feeling giggly from your finding. “Nate, you have to check this-”

“Okay! Let’s start, then. Do we have everyone in the living room?” Evan’s voice interrupts you as he calls out. Nia guides you along with her to the living room. And, as soon as the three of you enter, Evan nods at you, before continuing, “Now that all the bunnies are trapped, we shall begin!” He laughs, clapping his hands together before motioning vaguely to everyone. “Before I explain what I have planned, I want to pair you all. So, I’ll call out the numbers that each of you picked when you arrived, so everyone can find their pair.”

You frown, confuse yet curious about what Evan’s up to as he calls out the numbers. Now that you stop to glance around the room, you note how there are more people than you’d expected. It’s still not nearly as many as previous parties of his, but it still feels like the room is nicely filled, maybe just a dozen people above twenty. And amongst them, there’s quite a few you recognize as they pair up together — like Georgia, the first one to be called, whom you spent a good half of the New Year’s party with, or Taylor, who gets paired with Nia (you remember him particularly from a film festival that Nia had been part of — he produced and directed a short film comparing the second wave of feminism to the wildlife in the Amazon Rainforest, and Nia couldn’t stop complaining about how bad it was for the entire week after). 

It’s when Evan jokes with someone on the other side of the room, however, that you see him.

He’s tucked in a corner, right next to the bookshelves, arms crossed under his chest in a way that makes his tattoos pop out of his biceps, something you notice even standing on the opposite end of the room. His smile is subtle as he watches the scene in front of him, but it’s still enough for a dimple to poke at one side of his face -- it’s barely there, but you’ve seen it up close enough times that you notice those details. His hand holds a drink, but you pay no mind to it because what calls your attention is the mustard corduroy hugging his hips, the same one you watched run from you not only five minutes ago.

He laughs, and you avert your eyes, mouth still hung open. You wonder if anyone will notice if you leave.

But, as though he could read your mind, Evan calls the number written on that sits crumbled inside the pocket of your jacket. “Where are my number eights?”

You step forward and, like a magnet, your eyes glue on Harry as he raises his hand. 

Shaking your head in disbelief, you have to fight against an urge to shut your eyes tightly as the regret of having left your room at all tonight becomes almost overwhelming. All you expected for the night was to forget about book reports and endless essays piled up on your computer, to relax, maybe drink a bit more than you should while watching Evan’s friends dancing with a taxidermy beaver or something of sorts (that was on his friendsmas party two years ago). Instead, here you are on what feels like the first day of class dynamic your teacher has imposed to make everyone interact with each other. And, suddenly, the long pages of (insert boring book) don’t seem that bad right now.

And to make matters worse (because the universe just likes to add a little more spice to your tragedies) of all people standing in this living room you just had to be paired with the one with whom you had a fling-like relationship six months ago.

It’s awkward before he even approaches you, the tension making you fidget in your spot anxiously, barely being able to shoot a tight smile his way. 

The last time you saw Harry was through the rearview mirror of a car, standing on the sidewalk like an abandoned puppy with his tail between his legs. Though you admit you let your dramatics take away when you turned away from him to leave, the feeling behind it was genuine. You were upset. He had led you on, after all, made you think he wanted to have something more just to ignore you for months and, later, appear with a redhead under his arms and call her his girlfriend. So, yes, it wasn’t the best note to leave on.

But despite how you left the last encounter, the spark of nervousness that shoots through your stomachs right now doesn’t come exactly because of his presence, but more so for the awkward nature of this encounter. At the time it happened, you avoided any activity that had the slight possibility of seeing him again like the plague. You were hurt, and you were mad — though the second part was more directed at yourself than at him. But that was six months ago. After all, as much as you felt enchanted by him and as much as those two weeks you spent together were nice, that’s all that it was: two weeks. Yes, you were sad and, yes, maybe you shed a tear or two while watching Love, Rosie with Nia afterward, but that passed as quickly as it came.

That is, until now.

“Your hair is shorter” This Is all you blurt out when he stands in front of you again.

“It is, yeah.” Harry runs his hand through his hair. The strands that last time you saw him, curled around his jawline, now peek just under his earlobe. “Did it myself, actually.”

“Really?” You take a big gulp from your drink, gaze going anywhere but meeting his own. “Found yourself another talent.”

“Another?” You can hear the smirk in his voice.

“I mean, besides acting.” You grin, holding the cup to your lips and sparing him a glance. “Suppose after your debut you’ve gotten yourself busy with casting calls”

“Of course” Harry laughs. Now that you’re closer you have a better look at his dimples as they pop out, as well as the constellation of freckles hugging his nose, and the mole right under his lips. You avert your eyes again. “I’m set to be the next Bond, in fact”

“Oh, wow.” You raise your brows, grinning at the brim of your cup. “I can see it.”

He turns to you, “Can you?” You peek at him. "Why is that?”

This is exactly what you were afraid of all those months ago after last seeing him. The entire reason you ran from any possibility of seeing him again afterward. You can still remember clearly how much of a flirt he is, even when he doesn’t mean to be. It’s not a secret that Harry’s a charming man. His words are like honey, and when he uses them just right, you know is enough to have you melting. And it doesn’t help how well you seem to click together. Even now, you still feel it by your impulse to flirt back, to look him in the eye, and get just close enough to feel the scent of his cologne. Do all that just to turn away in the last second. Tease him the same way he did you. But you don’t do any of that, of course, because you’re as petty as you are bitter. So, instead, you click your tongue. “Don’t get too comfortable, Harry, bet your girlfriend wouldn’t be happy about that.”

He chuckles. “What girlfriend?”

This time you turn fully at him, brows shooting up not in defiance, but surprise. “Yikes.” You say before you’re able to hold back.

“Yikes.” Harry still holds a smile when he repeats it, head falling as he lets out a — nervous? — laugh.

A question pops into your head. One that lingered in your mind for a good while now, but comes back a bit louder now that you have the information that his relationship was short-lasted after all. It’s a short one, but one that requires a long answer, you suppose. What happened? You think. But you don’t dare to voice it, you don’t want to have this conversation with him. Whatever the explanation is, it’s not going to change anything. So you just avert your gaze back to Evan, who now calls for everyone’s attention again.

“I know you’re all dying to know what this is all about. So, I’m going to explain it all.” And with that introduction, Evan dives into a monologue you only pay half mind to. It’s hard for you to focus on the words rapidly leaving his mouth as you can feel Harry glancing at you every so often from the corner of your eye. You listen in to Evan describing himself as a feisty kid and mention his love for drama, and then you feel the ghost of Harry’s arm bumping against yours as he sways on his feet. You try to pay attention to the story being told of the events leading up to this birthday party, and then you have to hold yourself back from meeting Harry’s eyes once you feel them at the side of your face once again. He makes a comment under his breath that you don’t quite catch, and you’re about to question him before Evan’s voice comes in an even higher pitch. “I wanted tonight to be exactly that: chaotic. I didn’t want anything to quite make sense, and I didn’t want to think much, if I’m honest, last year of film school is taking a big chunk of my functioning neurons and m’dad’s whiskey collection is taking the rest of them.”

There’s a collective laugh that takes place and, once again, Harry’s eyes peeking at you. “Everyone can relax, it’s not one of those murder mystery parties, as I’ve heard some people guess — for fuck’s sake as if I have the time and patience to plan something like that.” He says with a sip directly from a wine bottle you just now realize he’s been holding. “It’s a scavenger hunt, you have a partner and an envelope with clues. Each pair will find something related to moi and after it’s all done, we’ll eat burgers and talk about me for the rest of the night.” 

“Sounds easy enough.” Harry mumbles.

Evan claps his free hand on his wrist, hushing everyone. “So off you go, c’mon! I’ll be hungry in an hour.”

“This is gonna be…” You start. “Interesting.”

“Interesting is a great word to describe it.”

“Well, let’s try to do this as quickly as possible, then.” 

 The side of his lips quirks up. “On a rush?”

“This is not exactly a comfortable position to be. I think you get it.” You say, fidgeting on your feet. You wait for a second for him to say something so you can start the activity, but he doesn’t and you realize there’s a piece missing. “Do you have an envelope?”

Harry nods, reaching for his pocket where the envelope sits folded in half. He swiftly opens it, taking out a card.

 “Well?” You prompt, “Read us the first clue, Bond.”

There’s a smile that Harry fights against at the nickname and you’re not sure due to the dim light, but you think there’s a hint of a rosy tone on the apple of his cheeks. “An activity that grows lives and ruins manicures.” He reads out loud, pausing for a moment before laughing to himself. “I know this one.”

“Grows lives?” You frown. “As in, a pregnancy?”

Harry shakes his head, leading the way towards the corridor. “As in, gardening.”

“That’s a very weird way to put it.” You say, following him. “Does he garden?”

He walks into the kitchen, greeting two people you don’t recognize who are searching for something — their clue, you assume — inside the cabinets. “No, but his sister does. There’s a greenhouse in the back.”

You simply hum in response, muttering a quick thank you as he opens the door for you that leads to the back garden. The greenhouse is not unfamiliar to you from the outside, there have been a good amount of summer gatherings in his back garden for you to know of its existence. But you’ve thought nothing more about it. If you’re honest, you never really paid much attention to it. If anything, you assumed he used it as storage at most, never taking Evan as someone who enjoyed gardening. Though now you know you were right, you've also learned that his sister lives with him and you wonder why he’s never mentioned it before.

The curiosity inside of you wants to question Harry about it, to ask him what else he knows you don’t. When you think about it, there’s a lot you want to ask him about. Not just regarding Evan, but also regarding him. You wonder what he’s been up in the past six months if he ended up adopting the kitten he’d told you about back when you were still filming or if he read any of the book recommendations you wrote on his notes app one particular night the two of you chatted for longer than the moon could hold itself up in the sky. The part of you that begs for you to say something on the short walk is so strong you have to physically bite your tongue to be able to hold back.

You don’t have to hold for long, however, as Harry takes it upon himself to say, “So,” He starts, clearing his throat, “How- uh- how are you doing?”

Somehow, his words click something inside of your mind. They remind you of why you shouldn’t let that curious part of you win. The sole purpose of it not falling for his charm. You shake your head, “We’re not doing this.”

“Doing what?” He frowns, his steps faltering for a second.

“Small talk.” You answer, focused on your goal. “We’ll just solve this thing as quickly as possible so I can go back home and finish my Euphoria marathon.”

“Right.” Harry nods once, and you can’t help but notice the way his lips quirk down, the frown not leaving his face. You can’t lie and say it doesn’t make your stomach drop the slightest bit to see you’ve upset him, but you have to remind yourself how much he’s upset you, too. 

It’s protecting yourself, you think. After tonight, you don’t have to see him ever again.

Inside the greenhouse, you’re greeted with a mix of scents you’re not prepared for before stepping in. The space is compact, with a single corridor narrowed with garden beds on each side. Dozens of branches and leaves tickle you as you walk in, most of them belonging to different flowers that, despite the chilly weather that still lingers outside, are already blooming. It’s a blend of colors, bright reds, and ocean blues, soft purple petals kissing pink and yellow ones. 

“We should look for gloves.” Harry’s voice startles you, chuckling as you jump a bit.

“Huh?” 

“Gloves.” He says. “I think whatever we’re looking for has to do with the gloves, ‘cause he mentioned manicure.”

“That makes sense.” You look around. Many gardening tools are piling under the tables that hold the garden beds; watering cans and empty pots. You look between bags of fertilizer and drawers filled with shovels. There’s so much stuff to look through that, at one point, you sit back on your calves, glancing around, lost.

You hear Harry leafing through as you’re doing, feeling his legs brushing against your back as he passes by and you stop, watching him from your spot on the floor. He’s got a concentrated look on his face, bottom lip worried between his teeth as he scans through the walls before he opens another drawer. That’s when his gaze falls, catching yours. You quickly turn away, pretending to go through another pile of empty pots and blocking the sound of a chuckle coming from his spot.

For a moment, the only sound in the room is the clicking of ceramics and the opening and closing of wooden drawers. That is until you hear from Harry, “A-ha!”

You look up again, seeing him move to the back where few pairs of gloves hang on the wall — so obvious yet still hidden between raincoats and summer hats. “Right under our noses.” You say, getting up.

Harry searches inside the gloves, tongue trapped between his teeth. “Bingo!” He says, pulling out two tiny bottles from inside one pair.

“What is it?”

“Liquor.” He grins, peeking at you from under his lashes before ripping a piece of paper attached to it. “It says ‘one for each, now get to clue number two.’” He holds up one bottle, offering it to you, to which you take it. “It’s chocolate flavored.”

“Of course it would be a drinking game.” You open it, feeling the artificial chocolate scent braid with the alcohol. “Christ.”

“Don’t smell it, or it’ll be worse,” Harry says, downing his with one quick tilt of his head. “‘S not that bad, actually.”

You mimic his action, letting the drink swiftly burn its way down your throat. Unlike Harry, you can’t help but scrunch your nose at the taste. “You’re a fucking liar.”

Harry only giggles in response, taking the empty bottle from you and placing it back inside the gloves, along with his own. 

And then again, silence. You turn to the flowers to find some comfort.

A family of tulips glances back at you, their petals in a full red, it’s the kind of beauty you’re scared to ruin if you touch, so you just rest your hand on the wood. “They’re beautiful.” You only notice you say it out loud when Harry hums back in agreement.

“They are.” He says quietly but somehow feels loud by how close he is. “Tulips are my favorites.”

You stop, brows raising incredulously at him. “No, they’re not.”

“What?”

Cursing the universe for playing with you like this, you can’t help but laugh at the situation. “It’s just- they’re my favorites, too.” You look at him. “My nan used to plant them when I was little.”

“That’s sweet.” He says, smiling and you nod. “The red ones represent true love.” He points. “And the purple ones represent royalty.”

You blink at him. “Do you just look up tulip facts in your free time?”

Harry laughs. “Yeah, basically.” He looks down at you, and you can’t help but notice how the greenery around brings out the shade of his eyes. “I worked at a flower shop for a tick.”

“Really?”

He nods. “For eight months. My favorite part was writing on the store board every morning.” His face lights up as he recalls his experience. “I used to write silly stuff like, ‘one day I’d like to meet tulips.’ The old ladies loved it.”

You shake your head, breathing out a laugh. “You’re dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Why’s that?”

Because you’re sweet, you want to answer, because when I think I won’t get charmed by you again, you hit me with tulip puns. Your lip finds its spot between your teeth, you’d be damned to give him the satisfaction of hearing you tell him that, so, instead, you shrug. “Because.” You can tell he wants to dig more by the way his lip twitch up, teasing a smile, but you just nod towards the door before turning away from him and heading out. 

There’s a distinct change of temperature when you step outside, and it’s only when you do that you notice the greenhouse was heated. Thankfully, the night is not too windy as it would get a week or two ago when winter was still insisting on making itself present, but it’s still chilly so that it makes you hug your jacket closer to your body. Harry also notices the difference, as you hear him wince as he steps out from behind you — unlike you, he’s not wearing anything to protect his arms from the cold, which only makes it harder for you to not ogle the tattoos hugging his skin.

“So, what’s next?” You prompt.

Harry reaches for the card again, taking it from its spot on his pocket before reading the second clue. “‘Not feeling too creative to write this one, it’s on the third tree on oak.’”

“I mean, at least we don’t have to think too much on this one.” You say, “Oak Street is the one to the left, right?”

“Yeah.” Harry sighs. “Can’t believe he’s making us go out on the streets.”

You start to make your way back towards the house. “Too tired for a stroll?”

“‘S cold,” Harry says, scrunching his nose. “Here, there’s a side gate.”

He guides you through a gravel path to where the black gate stands, hidden between bushes and branches. Strings of fern hug the bricked fence and the surrounding grass is high enough that it tickles your calves through your tights, making you believe this path has probably been left unused for at least a couple of months now. This information brings out an extra worry for you, as you take a better look at it, noticing how the gate is closed shut to the fence.“Is it open?” You wonder out loud.

“Shit, I don’t think it is.” Harry huffs under his breath. “But, I mean, we could easily jump it.”

You stop, turning to glance at him as the suggestion leaves his lips. He stands there, hands on his hips, examining the gate, tongue poking out as he frowns. After a second, he meets your eyes. “What? It’s not that tall.”

“I suppose.” You say, looking back at the fence that ends just below your shoulder length. It would be easy enough for you to climb it with a boost, however, “I’m wearing a dress.”

“Oh,” Harry scratches the back of his neck. “Let’s just go inside-” He turns back.

“Wait,” You stop him, not sure if it’s the slight amount of alcohol in your system already making you more adventurous, you train your gaze at the gate, analyzing it again, before looking back at him. Squinting your eyes, “You have to close your eyes.”

He laughs, “Are you sure?”

“It’s not that high.” You shrug. “But I need your help.”

“Of course.” He moves next to the brick wall, kneeling before it and nodding towards you. “C’mon, step up.”

Hesitantly, you glance at his thigh stretching his trousers, a sudden wave of insecurity hitting you. “Are you sure you can lift me?”

Harry simply puts his hand out in a silent request for you to hold. “Of course.”

“No peeking.”

He shuts his eyes tightly, chin meeting his chest as he looks down. And then you take his hand, feeling his fingers lock in a firm hold as he helps you use him for support. You hesitate again before using his thigh as a step, “Wait, I’m gonna ruin your trousers.” You worry, but Harry only shakes his head, still keeping it facing the ground, the strands of his hair falling above his eyes in a makeshift blindfold. When he doesn't feel you stepping in still, he encourages you with a squeeze in your hand. 

You attempt to do as quickly as possible with your dress clinging to your legs, tightening your hold to Harry’s hand to step on his thigh. Once you let it go, you can still feel it lingering behind your back as you use your arms to boost yourself up the wall, sitting on it for a moment before jumping to the other side with a huff.

“Can I open them?” You hear Harry’s voice calls from the other side, and you smile, nodding even though he can’t see it.

“Yes!”

And then his face appears as he stands up in a jump, grinning at you. “See? Easy Peasy.”

“I feel like a teen sneaking out.” You say, and you instantly give another meaning to your words as Harry boosts himself up. This time, you certainly don’t hold yourself back from staring at the way his muscles flex at the movement, the tattoos on his arms stretching, and his shirt rolling up. He makes it look so easy, so effortless, barely taking five seconds until he’s jumping in front of you.

“That was fun.” He puffs, patting his trousers lightly.

“So, how are we finding the tree?” You ask, taking a quick glance to where his hands brush on the fabric of his trousers. “Should we read the clue again?”

“I know which one he’s talking about,” Harry says, nodding to the left before beginning his stride in that direction. You follow him, trusting his words as the two of you turn the corner where Evan’s house is located. 

The street in question is much calmer than the one you were just in, with no cars coming or going from the residences — that stand much closer to one another, you notice, giving the whole street more of a narrow feeling to it --, which is not exactly odd, but certainly is a contrast with the main street that Evan’s home faces, that one being more lively with people either coming home or leaving it to enjoy their Friday night. The sudden lack of background noise makes the walk to your destination a tad awkward, as none of you make an effort to strike a conversation. Instead, you resort to silently observing the surrounding area as you walk alongside Harry, noticing how the trees here bend over the sidewalk, their naked branches slowly but surely growing back the leaves they lost months ago — it makes you wonder how beautiful this must look during the peak of springtime, their full branches blending together, making a ceiling of flowers.

“Here.” Harry stops abruptly, making you almost bump into his shoulder, as you were too busy with the scenery you’ve made in your own head. “‘S this one.”

“I thought it said the third one.” You frown, looking back and noticing the way you’ve passed way more than just three.

“This one is the third.” He says, motioning to a small birdhouse stuck to its trunk with a number ‘3’ painted to the front in blue. “It’s a bit of an inside joke,” Harry chuckles to himself. “Now I get why the bastard wanted me to have this card.”

You look closer at the tree, trying to see if there’s something attached to it besides the birdhouse, but there’s nothing. Before you can question it, Harry opens the front of the tiny house, retrieving two tiny bottles from inside of it, similar to the ones you found in the greenhouse.  “Oh, no.” You say, laughing. “Did he just put liquor inside a stranger’s birdhouse?”

Harry shakes his head, “This is not a stranger’s birdhouse.”

“Huh?” You frown, glancing back to the house where you stand in front of, its front completely dark, showing that no one must be at home. You point to it over your shoulder. “Do you know who lives here?”

“Yeah,” He starts, offering you one bottle. “I do.”

Your brows shoot up in surprise, glancing back and forth from the house to the man standing in front of you, an amusing grin growing on his face. “You live here?” You ask, “This is your birdhouse?”

“It is, yeah. In fact, I was the one who built it.” He gives the birdhouse a small pat.

You can’t help but let your mouth hang open for a second. “That’s-” You pause, not sure which word to use. Impressive? Amazing? Hot? “That’s nice.”

Harry smiles, and the two of you stand there for a moment, admiring his work in silence. You suck your bottom lip in, keeping yourself from inquiring further. 

Being presented with how little you know about Harry only peaks at your curiosity at what had happened last year in your brief experience with him. When you were with him it felt as if you’d known him for months rather than weeks, but looking back at it now, you wonder if your infatuation fooled you into thinking the two of you were close. Maybe that’s why you were so upset at the premiere after all because all that did was prove to you how much you didn’t know him at all. No matter how many sleepless nights you spent together sharing bits of your lives, it wasn’t enough for you to get to know him.

It’s only when a car turns into the street that you break away from your thoughts, looking up at him and clearing your throat. “We should take this back to Evan’s.” You say. “I’m not sure how it would look from an outsider’s point of view to see us downing these tiny bottles in the middle of the street.”

“You’re right,” Harry says. “Should we read the last clue while we’re at it?”

“Sure, yeah.”

He reaches for the card inside his pocket, presenting it to you. “You do the honors this time.”

You take the card, brushing your thumb over the words before stopping for a second to read them out loud, “You’ll find your prize behind the words of buried legends.” You snort. “That’s so corny.”

“Words of buried legends,” Harry repeats, letting out a hum. “Bet he was feeling quite poetic when he wrote this one.”

“Maybe because it has to do with poems.” You peek at him, a slight raise to your eyebrow. “‘Words of buried legends’? like dead poets and stuff?” Upon reading it again to make sure, you mumble, “He really made this card especially for you, huh?”

“Makes sense.” Harry agrees before nudging you playfully with his arm. “Look at you with your literary mind!”

“Could’ve used some better wording but I’ll let it pass.” You giggle, shrugging as you hand him back the card. As you do so, you notice there’s something written on the other side. “What’s in the back?”

Harry’s brows meet. “Huh?”

“In the back of the card, something’s written on it.” You nod towards his hand as he’s about to pocket the card again. 

Harry turns it around, reading it with a chuckle. “Ice breakers.”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me.” Your mouth drops open in amusement. “Well? Go on, then. Break the ice.”

Harry makes a show of clearing his throat before reading the question as an announcement, “What celebrity do you think you could pull on your best day?”

“Is this the actual question?” You squint your eyes at him and he turns the card to allow you to read it as well. Surely, the same question reads right on top of it and, as you take a glance at the ones below it, they’re not that much better. You shake your head, “God, I have no idea.”

“I know mine.”

“You didn’t give a single thought on that one.” You say. “This should be good.”

“Jennifer Aniston.”

“Jennifer Aniston?” You stop on your tracks, raising your brows at him. “You know she was married to Brad Pitt, right?”

“Ouch.” Harry makes the theatrics of putting a hand on his heart, head falling dramatically to the side. “Right where it hurts.”

“I’m not saying you’re bad-looking, but he’s Brad Pitt.” You emphasize with a laugh, pushing him playfully as you keep walking. “Like he is the male beauty standard. Personified.”

The front of Evan’s feels more vivid than it was when you first walked in hours ago, the lights inside seeming lighter and the curtains having been pulled back, showing people wandering around on the inside. You walk past another pair crouched in front of the bushes that line next to the front gate that creaks as you open it.

Harry rolls his eyes. “Sure, let’s hear yours, then, sweetheart.”

“Ew, don’t ever call me that again.” Your nose scrunches and your face grows hot, but you attempt to shake it off, stopping to think of the question. “Huh, on my best day? I think… I don’t know, maybe Drake?”

“Oh, no!” Harry’s hands cover his face as he shakes his head into them. “I feel like that’s the most basic answer anyone could ever give to this question.”

You gasp. “Did you just call me basic?”

Harry holds the front door open for you and, before he’s able to give you an answer, you bump right into Nia. She instantly blurts out your name, as if she’s been expecting you to appear. “I’ve been looking for you!” She says, sparing Harry a glance over your shoulder before pulling you slightly to the side. “Do you think we could talk for a second?”

“Sure.” You hold out the word, looking at Harry before focusing on your friend again. “Did something happen?”

“No, no, nothing happened. Just—” Nia starts, locking your arms as she guides you back outside, pulling you to a corner a few steps away from the front door. “How are you? How's it going?”

“I’m fine. Why?” Your brows knit together at her interference and you wonder if it has anything to do with her conversation with Nate.

“I’m talking about-” She looks over her shoulder, clearly checking if anyone is listening in. Even after making sure that there’s no one there, she still lowers her voice. “When I saw he was your pair, I wanted to rescue you right away, but fucking Taylor pulled me with him and I didn’t get the chance.”

Oh. “Oh.”

“Is it too awkward?” She keeps her inquiry, holding your hand close to her chest. “We could ask them to switch so we can do the rest together, I’m sure Evan’s too plastered to notice.”

“Nia, I-” You smile as you come to realize that she pulled you aside just to check if you’re uncomfortable, having witnessed first-hand your whines and cries over Harry last year. “It’s okay, really. It’s not that bad, surprisingly.”

“Really?” Nia blinks, taken aback. “I- What happened?”

“Nothing.” You reassure her with a squeeze on her hand. “We’re just chatting, it’s not that awkward.”

“Okay.” She nods and nods, before falling serious again. “But if anything happens you just have to scream for me and I’ll be right there, okay?”

“Okay.” You say, pulling her for a brief hug. “Thanks, Ni.”

The two of you return inside just as Taylor brings up his brother’s hair sculpture collection that’s being exhibited at a local gallery — a subject you already have been the victim of hearing for about an hour during New Year’s and, by Harry’s face, he seems as helpless as you did back then. Nia doesn’t waste a second before pulling her pair away, “Let’s go, pal, those clues won’t solve themselves,” she shoots you a look over her shoulder, pushing Taylor towards the living room and you chuckle.

“He really is one of a kind, that man,” Harry says with a sigh before meeting your gaze. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, just lady talk.” You brush aside. “Let’s find those poets, shall we?”

“We shall.” Harry smiles, looking around for a second before guiding you down the hallway, turning just before entering the kitchen where a staircase. This is a way that — like the greenhouse — you’ve never been to. Still, Harry navigates so casually as if it were his own home and, to some degree, you suppose it is. You follow him up the first flight of steps, stopping just before turning into the next one where a door you never really noticed before stands. Harry rests his hand on the handle, turning to you before saying, “There’s an office hidden right here.”

You watch as he opens it, motioning for you to walk in first. And, indeed, the inside of it is an office, just a bit smaller than the living room on the opposite side of the house. Two bookcases that go from the floor to the ceiling mostly covered the wall, only leaving a single space in the middle for a dark wooden cabinet. In front of it, an L-shaped desk takes up the middle of the room, most of it is filled with files and paper stacks, as well as two computers lying asleep. For a moment, you just stand by the doorway, admiring this room you’ve never known of its existence, your eyes quickly sweeping through the bookshelves completely packed with dark cover books of all sorts. “Do you think this is where it could be?”

“Probably, yeah.” Harry nods, turning on the lights. “I don’t know where else he could have any poetry hidden.”

You move towards one bookshelf, the one closest to the door, reaching to brush your finger through the spines perfectly lined. “But look at the size of these, we’ll take forever to find anything in here.”

“Those big ones are mostly law books, I think,” Harry says, opening cabinets at the other side of the room, right next to where a white couch stands. He turns to look at you, “His sister’s a lawyer, this is her office.” Harry says, “But Evan’s got a corner right here where he keeps some of his stuff— like books of sorts. It’s the only place I could think of.”

You hum, not knowing exactly what to respond to this information.

“You can go through the ones on that side, it could be there as well.” Harry nods towards a cabinet right next to the door where you came from, and you nod.

The first two cabinets are of no luck, both being mostly filled with boxes full of children’s books and old toys — some of them mixed with more stacks of paper, but those, instead of having long texts, have drawings of all kinds from what you could gather in a glance, from child-like scribbles to actual sketches. You can hear Harry going through drawers on the other side of the room and, upon closing another empty cabinet, you peek at him, watching his broad back flexing under his shirt as he moves around. Averting your eyes as swiftly as you looked, it’s still enough to bring warmth to your cheeks.

Finally, you open the cabinet at the very bottom of the shelf. On the top, there are piles of DVDs, most being different variations of Barbie movies, but, right at the bottom, you find books. You don’t stop to check their genre at first, simply moving them away until you stumble upon a small box, the top of it marked with the word ‘prize’. “Found it!” You call back, taking the box away from the pile before setting the books back in place again. “Under Rupi Kaur? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure she’s very alive.”

“Don’t tell Evan that,” Harry says as he crouches next to you, taking the box from your hands. Inside, there are, as expected, two tiny bottles like the ones you found before but, what calls both your attention, is a small bag of sweets lying in the middle. Harry takes it, “Oh, those are nice.”

He hands it to you and you open it, quickly shoving a jelly candy into your mouth before nodding. “Yeah.”

“So…” Harry starts, peeking over his shoulder, “Do you want to go back there?”

You glance at him, his eyes hovering above yours, lips twitching up just barely. “Uh… Maybe not right now.” You answer, “Unless you feel like sharing our Jellies with other people.”

Harry only laughs, shaking his head as he sits back and you do so too, right next to him. He reaches for his pocket, presenting another tiny bottle, the one you found inside his birdhouse, “We still got these.” 

“Right!” You fetch your own out of the pocket of your jacket.

Harry opens his, holding it up towards you. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” You say, mimicking him.

Both of you down your drinks, the liquid tasting bitter, like medicine on your tongue, the only reminder of alcohol being the burn as it slides down your throat. You rest your head back on the cabinet behind you as the two of you fall into silence once more. A part of your mind is already beginning to swim around the space inside your head, and you decide to not take the last drink just yet, laying it next to your leg. Though you’ve only had the equivalent of two shots, you realize the long break you’ve had from drinking for the past couple of months -- which wasn’t exactly an intentional choice, but more like the result of your lack of free time -- is showing itself to have been enough to make you more of a lightweight. 

And even though the night so far has been strikingly surprising in terms of how comfortable you felt being around Harry again, it doesn’t mean the questions you’ve been carrying since last year have gotten any quieter. They’ve only gotten louder. More persistent, even. The curiosity you feel to know what happened is almost suffocating now. And you’d be damned if you let a drunken mind stop you from having this conversation.

You glance at him from the corner of your eyes, only watching the back of his head bobbing along with the music -- still the piano -- that comes faintly from behind the closed door. Your lips part, feeling the question form right at the tip of your tongue, but not knowing how to voice the words. Will it be awkward? You think so, but what if it ruins the night? Tonight, that’s been so oddly refreshing. A night that only served to remind you how you became so infatuated with him in the first place.

But you know you won’t be able to let go of this ich inside your head unless you bring it up. And you want to, you do, but as you take too long to think of the right way to do so, Harry decides to break the silence, murmuring next to you, “That’s a good one.”

Your brows knit together, trying to make out any trace of familiarity within the song that’s playing, but you don't find any, which only leaves you even more confused.  “Do you like classical?”

“Love,” Harry says simply, his eyes closed as he moves his head with the piano keys. “Especially this one. One of the greatest works from one of the greatest contemporary composers: Billie Eilish.”

Your lips fall open, “Shut up. Is she playing this?”

Harry laughs, a full one, that brings a grin to poke at your lips. “I mean, as far as I’m aware, no. It’s a version of her song — listen in.” He points to his ear, nodding with the melody as he sings along, “So you’re a tough guy, like it really rough guy.”

You shake your head incredulously, “Of course he’s playing classical versions of pop songs!” 

“Did you really think Evan had a taste for Chopin or Debussy?” Harry asks both dimples poking on his cheeks.

“I think at this point I’d believe anything you tell me about him.”

Both of you laugh, the air surrounding you light and warm, before falling quiet again. This time, however, you simply stare at each other for a beat. You watch his eyes, with their almost hypnotizing jade shade, glancing between your own. He rolls his lip between his teeth, nibbling at it. This is the closest you’ve been to him all night, and the details on his face only feel like a reminder of your doubts. Like the nostalgia you feel with a bittersweet memory.

“Should we-“ You stop, the words falling from your lips before you can think about them. “Should we talk about the elephant in the room?”

You half expect Harry to frown, to play dumb, and question you the meaning behind your words. For a second, you even expect him to shake his head, to get up and leave the room. And, for some reason, you kinda want him to do so. To finally break the mask of the nice, sweet guy he’s been putting on all night and allow himself to play the role of cold prick you put him on for the past months. 

But he doesn’t do it. He only gives you a short smile. “I was thinking about how to bring it up.” Harry’s gaze falls to his lap for a beat as he scratches his nose. “We should, yeah.”

You nod, more to yourself than to him. This is it. The moment to ask what you’ve been waiting for for six months now. You decide not to think much anymore, allowing the question to roll freely, “I don’t really know how to word this better but- pardon my French- what the fuck happened?”

Harry chuckles, but not an amused one. It’s more of a dry, nervous laugh. “How cliche is it if I tell you I was really fucking stupid?”

“Pretty cliche.” You say, “But also pretty true, I suppose.”

“I’m sorry for that.” He looks up, eyes meeting yours again, his own softening upon seeing you. “I really am.”

“Thank you for apologizing.” You smile a little, “But I think I deserve an explanation.”

“You do.” He speaks quietly before clearing his throat. For a second, he doesn’t say anything else, just takes a sharp breath, focusing on his fingers that play with the hem of his trousers. “I- Uhm- I know this might come as a surprise, but I’m not very good at letting people down.”

“A bit, I guess.” You try to humor, but your tone doesn’t show it. You sound quiet, hurt.

He peeks up at you, and continues, “Jess- the girl you met at the premiere- she’s lovely and all, but- how do I say this- we were never really supposed to be together.” Harry sighs, “I didn’t like her like that.”

You frown, “Then, why did you?”

“A couple of months before we met- before Evan even mentioned the film project to me, one of my mates kept insisting that I should meet his sister.” He pauses, “That was Jess.”

“I figured.”

Harry nods, “As I said, she’s a lovely girl, really nice, but we just- didn’t click like that, you know?” You hum in agreement, ignoring a small twist in your stomach when he repeats the endearment term. “But I guess she really wanted to try it, and, for months, I just kept pushing and pushing, cause I thought maybe with time I could bring myself to feel the same way.” And then again, another humorless laugh, “But- spoiler alert- I couldn’t and I should’ve just told her that.”

Your mouth hangs open for a beat before you decide against saying anything. It’s clear as you watch him explain that the entire situation for him felt more complicated than you’d ever considered. Not once did you think about the possibility of him being caught in a twist of his own decisions, and not once did you regard his feelings with the whole situation. In your bubble of gloominess, all you could think of was how he played you and used you for a bit before moving on to the next girl that fell for his sweet talk. 

Looking at him now, however, his head low and brows set on a permanent crease, lips frowning down, you can feel the internal conflict pooling out of his pores. You’re not sure if it’s exactly a look of remorse that he gives you, but it sure seems close to it.

Harry huffs in what feels like frustration as he keeps recalling the events, “But all my mates kept taking the piss, pushing me to ask her out and then, in the middle of it, I met you.” He finally smiles a bit, and you have to look down to hide the warmth that spreads on your cheeks, “And we-uh-” He shrugs, “I mean, we clicked, didn’t we?”

“I think so.” You say, just above a whisper.

“I think so, too,” Harry says, holding your gaze with his own. “And when I was with you I let myself forget about that, forget about the pressure to be with someone else, I guess.” His lips fall again, eyes meeting his lap, “But when we came back, there wasn’t much running away from it anymore. The night we got back I met that friend of mine and, I’m not sure if he said anything to Jess, but she asked me out.”

“And you said yes.”

“I said yes.” He repeats, shaking his head, “I shouldn’t have, but I said yes.”

“So you just dated her? Even if you didn’t like her like that?” You say, trying to understand his thought process. Even if his words tug at your heartstrings -- which you try to not think about right now -- you still can’t help but feel a bit for the other girl.

“I thought I could- I don’t know, I thought with time maybe I could-” He stumbles around with his speech, before finally letting out a sigh, “I don’t know what was going through my head, to be honest. I was a prick.”

“At least you can admit to it.”

“I was a prick to both of you.” 

You fall quiet, hoping he takes your silence as an agreement. When he doesn’t offer anything else, you speak up again, “Did it work, though?” He frowns, and you clarify, “Letting time force feelings into you?”

“I found very quickly how hard it is to develop feelings for someone when there’s someone else on your mind.” He says, and you bite back a smile that wants to spread on your lips.

“It’s very easy to say that now.”

“I know.” He agrees, “And I wish I could’ve realized that earlier, before even bringing you into this mess.” Harry reaches for your wrist, which lies on top of your lap, giving it a gentle squeeze. “For that I really am sorry.”

“I know you are.” You reassure, turning your hand to find his, squeezing it back. “And what happened to Jess?”

“She was rightfully upset when I told her.” His thumb brushes against your knuckles, moving the rings on your fingers around just slightly, and it’s almost enough to distract you from his voice. “We broke up a day after the premiere.”

“Ouch.”

“But it’s fine now, she’s got a boyfriend now who actually cares for her the way she deserves,” Harry says.

“That’s nice to hear, at least.”

“It is, yeah.”

You look down at your hands locked in your lap, squeezing his one more time before letting it go with a sigh.  “You really made a big mess, huh?”

He chuckles, a guilty smile poking on his face, “I did.”

You nod, finally reaching for the tiny bottle left forgotten next to you, opening it. This time you only take a sip, but it’s still enough to end half of the liquid inside. You click your tongue, “I’m glad we talked, though.” You look up at Harry again, who’s already watching you, giving a small tap on his thigh. “It’s nice to have closure, you know? To give it a conclusion and wrap with a nice little bow.”

Harry rolls his lip inside his mouth, “Is this a conclusion, then?”

You raise your brows, “Is it not?”

“I guess it could be.” He shrugs one shoulder, leaning closer to you just barely, eyes trained in yours. “But I’m hoping that, after today, maybe we could start over?”

You laugh, scrunching your nose at him as you shake your head. “Not a start over, no.” You poke his side, “You’re not getting away that easy.”

“You’re right.” He says, still not budging as he frowns his lips. “But I wish it didn’t have to be an ending as well.”

“Is that so?”

Harry nods, you can tell his eyes hold a shyness that wasn’t here a minute ago, but at the same time -- as paradoxically as it seems -- there’s a boldness as well, one you’re more familiar with. “Maybe we could chat again. This time with fewer ice breaker cards and more bags of sweets.”

You smile, rubbing your chin as you pretend to ponder about his suggestion. “That does sound very promising.”

“I really do think we clicked.” He drops his playful tone as if wanting to make sure you feel the sincerity behind his words. “Wasn’t just saying it.”

“I know.” You say, “And I think so, too.”

His smirk grows, and he doesn’t offer anything else to say, but you can tell he’s holding something back. With the silence, you suddenly become too aware of the way your arms brush together, and how his knee bumps against yours. You notice how his eyes fall a bit from yours, so quickly you could’ve imagined it, but you choose to not think so. If you lean forward, you know he will too, but you don’t want to give him the satisfaction. You’re not letting yourself make the first move.

Surely, you’re aware these thoughts are a direct result of the alcohol sweeping through your mind, testing how much of your pride you’re willing to ignore. There’s no questioning of the wall that you built all those months ago after walking out of this very house with this very man on your tail blurring out apologies. It still stands, tall and strong, and you're not letting sweet words mixed with a drink or two pull it down. Not that easily. But at this moment, looking at his stupidly beautiful face with his stupidly beautiful eyes so close to you, you feel like maybe you could peek through a window, or open up a door — just a creek, just to have a sample of what it would feel like if you were to pull it down.

“Do you want to go back?” Harry asks again, this time more quietly, this time his question has a different implication than it did before.

You're quick to shake your head, voice quiet, “Not yet.”

The corner of his lips quirk up and you raise your brows, silently daring him to ask what he’s been holding. You see his hand moving from the corner of your eyes, but you don’t break your gaze from his, not even when you feel his fingertips moving so gently against your cheekbone, brushing your hair away from your face. Harry leans closer, again just barely, and again, you stay still, only smiling softly in encouragement. Now, you’re stuck in your own silent conversation; both seeking the same thing but not making the move to achieve it -- either for pride or apprehension. 

“I’d really like to kiss you right now,” Harry whispers finally, eyes moving down again, this time slowly, making sure that his intentions are clear.

“Do it, then.” You tease.

Harry breathes out a laugh, his hand caressing its way down to your jaw. He rubs his thumb against your cheek, a feathery touch, taking another second to look at you before pulling you in. Your eyes fall closed, as you focus on your senses, and allow yourself to peek from that window, or creek that door open just a bit, to have just this moment to remember when you first got lost in his touch. 

First, it’s the warmth of his breath tickling your cupid bow, making your hold your own breath in anticipation. Then, the tip of his nose, gentle against your own, and you can’t help but lean in a bit more when you feel the ghost of his lips on yours. But he pulls back, just so slightly, hoping to have you reach for him again. Except you don’t, knowing what he’s trying to do.

“Uh-uh,” you shake your head, pulling back just a bit to look him in the eye. “You don’t get to tease me.”

Harry huffs out a laugh, “That’s fair.”

This time, there’s no teasing. Still, he goes in just as slowly as he did the first time around, curving his lips around your bottom one so softly it almost makes you lean in again. His kiss is cloud-like in a way that makes you a bit dizzy and when he presses his lips harder, you have to refrain from letting out a dreamy sigh -- still too stubborn to give him the satisfaction. It’s when you feel the tip of his tongue poking out to lick at your bottom lip in a silent request, that you pull away completely.

It’s your turn to smirk now, licking your lips before announcing, “I think we should go back now.”

[flightfoot]

Insta Identity Reveal

He stared at his phone.

Marinette had just posted something new to her Instagram.

Admittedly, him staring at one of her posts wasn’t unusual; he always enjoyed seeing what she and his other friends got up to. Even if he couldn’t always be there with them, at least he wasn’t completely out of the loop.

Plus it was Marinette. She was inherently adorable.

His eyes bugging out as he choked WAS a little out of the ordinary though.

“What, you can’t keep your eyes off your girlfriend again?” Plagg asked before flying over to take a look. “Did she post a picture of a cheeseca-”

The kwami froze.

“Plagg,” Adrien asked carefully. “What’s Tikki doing in this photo with Marinette?”

“Uhh... Tikki? I don’t see Tikki. Don’t be ridiculous,” Plagg said hastily. “That’s just... it must be one of those weird filter things! Yeah! That just adds a little companion to the picture. Besides, you know we can’t be detected by technology, we’ve seen that, remember?”

Oh. Yeah. 

But... 

“That still looks awfully similar to her...”

Plagg opened his mouth - whether to talk or to eat some cheese, he wasn’t sure - when the akuma alert app on his phone went off.

Clicking it, the video player opened, showing the familiar sight of Nadja Chamack. “Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! A new akuma has been identified. Anyone on Instagram, beware; he takes candid, sometimes embarrassing or revealing photos and uploads it to your account, complete with captions about what you were thinking or feeling at the time. Can Ladybug and Chat Noir stop him before he violates all of Paris’s privacy?”

Wait... if an akuma was responsible...

“Technology on its own may not be able to detect a kwami... but I bet technology fused with magic COULD!”

Which meant that was Tikki.

Which meant-

“Ladybug is...”

“NO!”

Plagg tried to tug his phone from him. “She can’t be Marinette! Because... because...”

Of course she was Marinette. No wonder he’d felt compelled to call her his “everyday Ladybug”; those words were truer than he’d known.

And while she often stumbled over her words around him and seemed a little shy, that didn’t stop her from taking charge when she needed to, when she believed in something.

He’d wanted to know more about Ladybug, to be a greater part of her life, and the same with Marinette.

Turned out, he was a greater part of her life, knew more about her, was closer to her than either of them had realized.

“Look Adrien, let’s just stop this train of thought okay? We need to defeat the akuma!”

That snapped him out of it. “Right, right. Time to see Marinette.”

“We’re not seeing-!”

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

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

As he ran towards Ladybug’s location, his voicemail alert popped up. He clicked on it. “Chat Noir, I’ve got something to show you. Hawkmoth really screwed up this time.” She sounded like she was fighting back laughter during that last sentence.

...Oh he SO wanted to know what that was about.

A minute later he pole-vaulted onto the roof where she was waiting.

Ladybug wasted no time. “Hawkmoth should’ve told his akuma not to target himself.”

Oh.

OH.

“Wait, so you know who he is?!”

She nodded. “Turns out I already followed him, fortunately.” She let out a derisive snort. “Though if I’d known what a COLOSSAL prick he was, I probably wouldn’t have.”

He laughed. 

Now THAT was a truth if he’d ever heard one.

But as far as identity reveals went...

His laughter died.

He shuffled his feet.

“Umm... I need to tell you something Ladybug.”

She looked up, startled at his serious, somewhat guilty tone. “Huh? What could possibly be so important?”

He winced. “You might want to check your own Instagram account.”

“What? But I don’t have an Instagram account. Not as Ladybug anyway, only as-”

She choked on her words, hastily opening up her bug phone.

And gaped.

“So... uh... yeah... I kinda know who you are now... sorry.”

One of her eyes twitched as she smiled. It came out as more of a grimace. “This is fine. This is toooootally fine. You know why? Because we’re gonna beat Hawkmoth and beat the akuma before anyone else can figure it out. It’s fine. Everything’s gonna be A-Okay!”

“Uh... Ladybug... do you need to take a minute-?”

“NOPE!”

She obviously did, but she didn’t look like she’d appreciate him telling her that. “Well... can you tell me Hawkmoth’s secret identity at least?”

That snapped her out of it. “Oh, right!”

Pressing a few buttons, she opened to a new page.

The picture showed a tall blond man with the back to the camera, facing what looked like a coffin with... was that his mother?!

A small purple creature that looked suspiciously like a butterfly floated next to him.

And then there was the caption.

It’s always nice to take some time out from a busy day terrorizing Paris to monologue to my comatose wife!

It was his father’s official Instagram account.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

[fruitcoops]

Guess the Two of Us

Hey folks! I’ve been watching Cut videos recently to get inspiration for more Lions social media fics and have found several wonderful ideas. This is based on the video where someone has to match up couples from a group people they’ve never met--I love O’Knutzy, but seeing as they’re not out yet, I did not include them in this.

Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove, but Grace is mine! Let me know if you’re still enjoying the social media fics :)

“Do I just talk to the camera?” a young woman in a yellow dress asked. Someone offscreen nodded and she smiled. “Hello, hockey fans! I’m Grace and I’ll be doing a video for the Lion Pride channel today.”

“Grace, do you keep up with the hockey world?” Marlene’s voice was a bit muffled behind the camera.

“Not at all, I’m more into softball, baseball, that kind of thing.”

“Do you live in Gryffindor?”

“Nope! I’m visiting family and I was in the coffee shop across the street when someone offered to have me film a video for the network.”

“We’re going to bring ten people out and you’re going to match the couples. Sound good?”

“Oh, god, this is going to be hard,” Grace laughed. “Sure, I’ll give it a tryrst.”

“Alright, the rest of you can line up behind her. Grace, I’ll tell you when you can turn around and start guessing. You can ask them to hold hands, kiss, dance, whatever will give you a better idea of their relationship.” Ten people walked out from behind the camera into a loose semi-circle. “Ready? Go!”

“Whew, okay, no pressure.” Grace turned to face them. “Okay, first one.” She bit her lip and scanned the group, then pointed to Lily and Natalie hesitantly. “You both look very nice and very intimidating. Could you come here for a second and hold hands?”

“Are you using new moisturizer?” Lily asked as she twined their fingers together; Kasey covered his mouth in the background. “Your hands are so soft.”

Grace looked between them for a moment, narrowing her eyes. “As much as you two would make an absolute power couple, I think you’re just really good friends. Who’s the guy that’s laughing over there?”

“I’m Kasey,” he said around his laughter.

“You’re her boyfriend, aren’t you?” She gestured to Natalie; he didn’t answer the question, but she nodded anyway. “Yeah, I’m calling it.”

“Nat, Kasey, you guys can stand over to the left,” Marlene said.

“I’m feeling a little better now, this is good!” Grace said as she faced the others again, bouncing on her toes a bit. “Tall guy and slightly shorter guy, can you come up?”

“Since when am I ‘slightly shorter guy’?” James grumbled as he walked over with Sirius.

“Since we met! I’ve always been taller than you.”

“The banter is a good sign,” Grace mused. “Hmmm. If you’re comfortable, could you give him a kiss on the cheek?” Sirius leaned down and planted one on James, who grinned. “This is tough. You’re either dating or just, like, peak best friends.”

“You can ask them to say, ‘I love you’,” Marlene suggested out of frame.

Grace turned back to them. “Could you?”

They faced each other and James took Sirius’ hands, looking deep into his eyes. “I love you.”

“Love you, too—” Sirius caught himself at the last second and Grace sighed.

“You were going to finish that with ‘dude’ or something, weren’t you?” she asked; his poker face broke immediately. “Damn it. I thought I had that one.”

“She’s good at this,” Lily commented from the line.

“Can you come to the front for a second? Sirius, you can head back.”

Lily stuck her hands in her pockets as she stood next to James. “I get the slightly shorter guy. Nice.”

Grace paused. “At first I was almost positive you were together, but now I feel like you would step on him. Is that rude?” Everyone else started cheering and she smiled as James flushed. “Sorry, you just have a presence!”

“Thank you!”

“Alright, I can’t decide. You can both go back,” she finally said. Remus gave Lily a nudge as she returned to her place and Grace’s eyebrows rose. “Sweater guy, can you step up to the plate?” Remus obliged and she tilted her head to the side. “So, I was going to say you were Lily’s boyfriend because of the little moment back there, but there is no way you’re heterosexual.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose as the rest of the group burst out laughing. “I mean, you’re right, but holy shit that was fast. Twenty-five years of pretending to be straight, wasted.”

“Hey, same!” They high-fived and she surveyed the other seven people. “Hmmm. Can the guy in the red shirt come over for a minute?” Talker walked over with a wide grin on his face. “Oh, the vibe is definitely there. I feel like he steals your sweaters.” Out of Grace’s sightline, dawning horror overtook Sirius’ face. “Can you hug?”

“Yeah, sure.” Talker held his arms out and Remus settled into them, giving him a tight squeeze around the chest.

“I can see it, I can see it,” Grace said, nodding. “Yeah, I think you two are a couple.”

“Three pairs left,” Marlene said.

“How are all of you so pretty?” Grace sighed as she turned back to the group. “Can the lady in the purple shirt and the one who looks like she could bench-press me come forward? What do you two do for a living?”

“Professional hockey,” Noelle said.

June grinned. “I’m a mechanic.”

“That’s so cool. Hmm. Could you slow dance for a second?” June wrapped her arms around Noelle’s waist, leaving a decent amount of room between them as they swayed. “You’re so cute together, oh my god.”

“Is that a yes?” June asked as they separated.

“Absolutely.” Grace blew out a long breath. Only James, Sirius, Heather, and Lily were left. “This is so difficult. How did it get harder with fewer people? Well, the lovely lady in the jacket has a rainbow pin, so I’m going to say you two are together. I am a hundred percent sure those two guys aren’t dating because of the ‘bro’ thing, but there’s nobody else left.”

“Do you want to do a rematch before your final decision?” Marlene offered.

Grace looked over at the group of already-paired couples on the left. She hesitated, then shook her head. “I know I got at least two wrong, but I don’t want to mess everything else up.”

“In that case, you’re going to face the camera and close your eyes. Everyone, get together with your real partners and put rings on if you have them.”

“Rings?” Her jaw dropped. “Some of them are married?”

“There’s one married couple and two are engaged.”

“If I accidentally ruined someone’s future, please know that I am so sorry.”

“There’s a very low chance of that,” Sirius said as he slid his ring on.

“Okay, Grace, turn around.”

Grace turned and covered her mouth with both hands. “Awww! How many did I get right?”

“One.”

“One?” Kasey and Natalie waved, and she sighed. “Please tell me you’re at least engaged.”

“Nope, sorry.”

“Shit.”

“Let’s start with this end,” Marlene laughed. “Pots, Lils, go ahead.”

“For the record, she could definitely step on me.” James grinned and kissed Lily’s temple. “We’re the married ones.”

“Wait, that’s so cute,” Grace said softly. “I totally see it.”

“So, why didn’t you pair them up?” Marlene asked.

“I don’t know! It seems so obvious now. How long have you been together?”

Lily leaned her head on James’ shoulder. “We met about eight years ago, had a baby last winter, and got married this past summer.”

“Congratulations!” June and Heather walked up next, hand-in-hand. “Well, at least I didn’t put either of you with one of the guys.”

June shrugged. “Noelle’s a cutie. If I wasn’t already engaged to the love of my life, I’d go there.”

“I put you two together because you had the jock-for-jock thing going, but this right here is couple goals.” Grace sniffled slightly. “Is it normal to get emotional about other people’s love?”

“You have three other couples to get through, you can’t cry yet!” Heather teased playfully as they moved to the end of the line.

Natalie winked. “You had us figured out right away.”

“Your boyfriend couldn’t stop laughing!”

Kasey snorted. “Sorry, it’s just that there’s a running joke among our friends that Lily and Nat are the true power couple. Even I didn’t notice the hand lotion, and we live together.”

She gasped as Talker and Noelle took their place. “Wait, what?”

“Surprise, I’m not a lesbian!” Noelle said, doing jazz hands. “Very flattered, though.”

“How do all these make so much sense?” Grace shook her head in disbelief. “At least I wasn’t wrong about the jock-for-jock vibe for one of the couples.”

Marlene stepped slightly into view. “Why didn’t you put Thomas and Noelle with each other?”

Grace shrugged. “They both had such good chemistry with the other people in the group. I’m sure I would’ve paired them up if I had seen them together, though.”

“Alright, final couple.” Talker and Noelle joined the back of the line; Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus’ waist as they stepped forward.

“You were right about the jock thing for two of the couples, actually,” Remus said with a grin. “Very impressive.”

“How did I miss this?” Grace looked at the camera crew, then back at them. “How the hell did I miss this?”

“Don’t worry, we were all oblivious for about three and a half months,” James said ruefully.

“Are you all friends?”

“All the guys play for the Lions, Gryffindor’s hockey team,” Marlene explained.

“The hockey questions make a lot more sense now. Does that mean you two play for the same team?”

“Literally or figuratively?” The corners of Sirius’ mouth twitched up as James rolled his eyes. “Yes, and yes. I’m the team captain.”

“I play wing,” Remus said.

“Did you two meet through hockey?”

Remus made a ‘so-so’ motion. “Sort of. I was the Lions’ physical therapist for two years before I was a player. We started spending more time together after Sirius broke his ankle.”

“Are you the other engaged couple?” Sirius beamed and held up his left hand. “Yeah, I thought so. Congrats, you’re both adorable!”

“Merci.”

“Do you want to sign us off, Grace?” Marlene asked as Sirius and Remus rejoined the rest of the group.

She turned to the camera and waved. “Thanks for watching, everyone!”

[honeyhan-123]

What You Can’t See

Summary: Bucky doesn’t understand how you could think were were just a one night stand. 

Warnings: Non-con/Dubcon, dark yandere Bucky, stalking. 

Word Count: 3.3k

AN: So a few months ago the lovely and incredibly talented @darkficsyouneveraskedfor​ gave me the title prompt ‘What You Can’t See’ and I’ve only just gotten around to writing it. This was also a request from my lovely purple and black love heart nonny who has disappeared recently, but I hope you enjoy. The prompt will be in bold. 

My Masterlist

Your thighs ache in the best possible way as you gingerly slip from the bed, careful not to disturb the man still between the sheets. You hadn’t meant to fall asleep but he had been insatiable last night and you had been more than willing to let him use you until you lost consciousness. But now with the sun streaming in through the blinds, your mind was of a different volition. Now it was time to go. 

You spared him one last glance as you crept towards his bedroom door and the desire to take a photo almost overpowered you. He looked so serene as he slept, his long brown hair tousled over the pillow and his body lacking any trace of the ruminating thoughts you knew he had carried around all night. A small part of you wanted to climb back into bed with him but you knew that’s not what this was, and it would be better for everyone if you saved yourself from the morning-after embarrassment. So you made your way out of his small apartment and out onto the bustling streets of Brooklyn, vowing to yourself that you wouldn’t become one of those girls obsessed with some guy they slept with once.

+

Bucky awoke slowly. It had been by far the best night’s sleep he had had in over seventy years. A smile was on his face as he reached consciousness and remembered the feel of your body underneath his. It had been better than he had ever expected even if it hadn’t happened quite the way he had been planning. Bumping into you at the bar Sam had dragged him to had been a complete coincidence but he wasn’t going to complain. He felt a stir between his thighs as he remembered the way you had felt wrapped around his cock as he had you in the bathroom of the dingy bar and then again and again back at his place. 

His hands trailed along the bed as he searched for your body, desperate to hear your moans of pleasure once more before he had to head into the tower. Mentally he was cursing Maria for calling a mission briefing on the weekend but he knew if he didn’t go they would expect the worst. Bucky’s smile soon fell off his face as his hands continued to search, only to find cold sheets. His eyes flew open and to his dismay, you had gone. 

Immediately he threw back the sheets and got out of bed, not even bothering to pull on some clothes as he searched his apartment. He was desperately wishing that you had just gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom, or better yet he would find you in the kitchen wearing nothing but his shirt as you whipped up some breakfast. He stupidly hoped that you would be making those pancakes he had seen you make a week ago when a friend had come over. He knew that if given the opportunity he would be very creative with the whipped cream you had coated your pancakes with. 

Even though a small part of him had known as soon as he woke up that you were gone, his heart still ached as he entered the empty kitchen. Why had you left? He knew it definitely wasn't because you hadn’t had a good time last night. He had lost count of how many times you had cum before he dared focus on himself. So why the fuck had you left? 

And what was he meant to do with his raging hard on now? Going back to using his hand after last night seemed like the worst trade off in the world. 

He let out a sigh of annoyance before heading to the shower, waiting the briefing to be over already. The scalding hot water dripped down his body as he fisted his cock, dreaming up images of what he’d do when he rocked up at your apartment that night.

+

The sky was darkening, the golden streaks of sunset slowly disappearing and turning into a twinkling twilight when Bucky finally made it to your apartment. The briefing had lasted hours and then he hadn’t been able to come up with a good enough excuse to get out of training with Sam afterwards. Even though over the months the Birdman had started to grow on him, his constant teasing throughout the day about where Bucky had disappeared off to the night before was getting on his nerves. He didn’t want Sam making such lewd assumptions about you.  Not that they weren’t entirely correct. 

He was glad that he had briefly stolen your keys to make his own copy a month ago. It made getting into your building much easier. The large pastry filled box was slightly awkward to carry as he climbed the numerous flights of stairs towards you since the elevator was out of order, just like it had been for the last few months. He cursed your landlord for not giving a shit about the people living in his building but he reconciled it with the fact that soon he would take you far away from here. Soon everything would be different. 

His fist rapped on your door and he tried to wait as patiently as he could for you to open it. He had no qualms about using his own set of keys to get into your apartment but he figured he should at least try and do this normally. 

When the door finally cracked open Bucky could hear your gasp as you recognised him beyond the chain. ‘B-Bucky? What… What are you doing here?’ You seemed lost and confused and Bucky wanted to take those feelings away immediately. He knew that he would be able to help you. 

‘Well I had planned on taking you out to breakfast this morning but you kind of ran out on me before I got this chance, so I figured I would bring breakfast to you.’ He held up the mint green cardboard box from BreadClub so you could see the pastries inside. 

If you seemed shocked before, now you were doubly so. ‘But… how did you know where I live?’

Bucky forced himself to laugh when in reality all he wanted to do was break down your door so he could hold you. ‘Doll, I’m an Avenger. It’s not that hard to do a background check.’ 

‘Oh… right yeah I forgot about that. But still… what are you doing here?’

‘I just told you. I wanted to bring you some breakfast.’ His patience was starting to wean as you continued to keep the door between you. 

‘Yeah, I got that. But what are you doing here? Don't you have somewhere else to be? Some Earth-ending event to stop?’ Your brows were furrowed as you spoke and Bucky could hear the fear starting to lace your words.

‘Nope. I’m exactly where I need to be.’

‘But why? I mean… we just had sex. We both got super drunk and hooked up. I don’t understand why you’re here. It was just a one-night stand.’ 

At this Bucky snapped and banged his fist against the door, forcing it open. The chain that had been in place snapped as easily as twigs underfoot. ‘Just a one-night stand? Oh Dollface you have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you seriously think that I would take just anybody back to my place for a quick fuck? I knew the moment I first laid eyes on you in that coffee shop you were meant to be mine. You’re more than just a one-night stand to me; you’re mine.’ 

Bucky felt as though he could almost hear the memory echoing around in your head and recognition flashed across your eyes. It hurt slightly that you hadn’t thought of that moment nearly as much as he had, but Bucky didn’t mind. From that moment on, his life had been changed. It was a change as irrecoverable as falling from that snow covered train all those years ago. 

He snapped the door shut behind him as he stalked inside your apartment, inwardly hurting as you retreated back a few paces. But that would change. You would come to love him just as he had you. ‘I brought us some pastries from the bakery around the corner, BreadClub. I know it’s your favourite. I figured they would keep our energy up tonight.’ 

‘Our energy? Bucky, I don’t know what you’re doing here but I would like you to leave. You’re starting to scare me.’ 

Bucky let out a humourless laugh, amazed at how you still didn’t seem to understand. ‘Dollface, I’m not going anywhere, not now, not ever. So why don’t you be a good little girl and lead me to your bedroom. After having you last night, I just can’t seem to get enough.’ 

When you had made no effort to move, too stunned by his presence, a flash of annoyance crept over Bucky’s face. He had been waiting for this all day, hell, he’d been waiting for this for months. He wasn’t about to let you ruin his plans. He would show you just how good together you were; how you were made for him. 

‘C’mon Dollface. Just take me to your bedroom and then we can both enjoy ourselves. I know you had a good time last night and that was while you were drunk. It’ll be so much better when you're drunk off of me.’ Heat flushed your cheeks as his words reminded you of the dingy bathroom stall where he had first taken you and then of his kitchen counter where he had eaten you out for hours before finally taking you back to his bedroom. You tried to ignore the tell tale tingy between your thighs as you relived the memories. That was not happening again. This man was clearly delusional. 

You watched as he inhaled deeply through his nose, a smirk gracing his sinful pink lips.’Oh Sweetheart, you want it, you want it bad.’ You blanched at the idea of him being able to smell you and quickly tried to deny it.

‘No I don’t Bucky. What I want is for you to leave. I’ll… I’ll call the cops.’ You tried to make yourself seem braver than you felt but any bravado you had mustered up quickly vanished when Bucky let out a bark of laughter.

‘You’ll call the cops and what? Tell them an Avenger is fucking your brains out? They wouldn’t believe you, and even if they did, by the time they sent a patrol car around I’ll have you begging for more. So why don’t you quit wasting everyone’s time and just be a good girl.’ 

You hadn’t noticed the tears starting to pool in your eyes as he spoke but you blamed them for blocking your vision as you made a mad dash around him. You barely got two feet to the door before his strong arms wrapped around your waist and he hoisted you up onto his broad shoulder. 

If he felt any of the kicks or punches you tried to land on him, he didn’t show it as he walked purposely through your tiny apartment towards your bedroom. No matter how loud you screamed, you doubted any of your neighbours would come and check on you, you didn’t exactly live in the best part of the city. 

You felt the air rush beneath your body as he threw you down onto the mattress. You bounced for a moment before trying to scramble away from him, only to be trapped by his legs coming to straddle your body beneath his. 

‘C’mon Dollface. You know I really didn’t want it to be like this but if you’re not going to be reasonable, I’m just going to have to show you I mean business.’ You didn’t bother responding to him. Instead you just sucked a deep breath in and screamed as loudly as you could, desperate to get anyone’s attention. 

Your scream didn’t get far however as his hand quickly clamped down on your throat, the cool metal pressing against your jugular, cutting off your air. ‘I am only going to say this once, so listen up. You. Are. Mine. And I am not going to leave until you realise that, okay Sweetheart?’ 

Panic seeped through your veins as he pulled out a long flick knife from his bomber jacket. He wasted no time in pressing the cool metal to the skin of your navel and you barely dared to breath and he slid it up and under your top before yanking it up fiercely, tearing through the thin material.

‘Oh, now that’s what I’m talking about. That right there. That’s why I can’t leave you alone, you’re too fuckin’ gorgeous.’ You recalled him saying similar things the night before, peppering your senses with little compliments continuously as he was inside you. It had made you feel incredibly sexy last night, but now it had an entirely different effect. ‘Well actually…’ his hand reached up to cup your jaw gently. ‘It’s only part of the reason.’ 

You felt your cheeks flush with heat as you registered his words and you cursed his silver tongue. How could he be saying such sweet things to you while this was happening? How dare he try and be the prince charming you had longed for in all your previous relationships when in reality he was the devil in disguise. 

His knife made quick work of your sleep shorts and your panties too. You felt the warmth of his hand against your most intimate parts as he groaned. ‘I knew you wanted me Doll. You’re so fucken wet for me. Just for me. Such a good girl, responding to me like this.’ You tried to swallow the bile in your throat caused by his words and your body’s betrayal. ‘I told you we belong together.’

His fingers played with your slick, swiping it along your folds and up to your clit where he swirled his fingers. You bucked your hips, whether to get away from his hand or closer to it you weren’t sure. The pleasure he was giving you was just undeniable and no matter how much you hated him in this moment, you could feel the familiar tension building slowly in your abdomen. 

‘You’re close aren’t you Doll? See how good I can make you feel. It could be like this all the time. Just let go and give in, give in to me Baby.’ You tried to shake your head, tried with your last remaining strength to throw him off but you couldn’t. You couldn't do anything but exactly what he said which was give in. 

You gasped for breath as you came, your walls fluttering around nothing as he continued to toy with your clit, unrelenting even as pleasure flowed through your veins. ‘That’s it. That’s a good girl. You’re so good to me Dollface.’ His praise only egged your pleasure on further, a dopey smile taking over your features before you could stop it. 

As blissed out as you were, you somehow hadn’t noticed him undressing with hasty and jerky movements until he was lying back on top of you. ‘All day I’ve been hard just thinking about having you again and now I’m here, I’m basically ready to burst. How embarrassing is that? But don’t worry Dollface, as I proved last night, I’m not just a one and done.’ He smirked down at you as he guided himself to your entrance, finding a very warm and wet welcome. 

‘Oh… Fuck Doll.’ He moaned into your ear, holding himself still once he was fully inside you. ‘You’re so fuckin’ tight, just milking my cock.’ You tried to block out the sinful words spoken as smooth as velvet but you couldn’t hide your body’s reaction. Not from him and not while he was inside you, filling you to the brim. 

Your nails dug into his back as he started moving, slowly pulling out inch by inch before sliding back in again. His pelvis grazed your clit which each move of his hips and you shuddered in his grasp. While the memories of last night were hazy from the copious amount of alcohol you had drunk, you remembered enjoying it and now with him rutting into you, the same feeling of ecstasy started to build. 

As he continued moving, his pace slowly building, the desire to push him off grew less and less. You knew your efforts would be futile as he was far too strong and with the way he was grinding into you, a small part of you didn’t want him to stop.

‘That’s it baby, you’re doing so good.’ His breath brushed against the shell of your ear and you couldn’t hold back the responding moan. ‘You like that huh? Me whispering dirty little things in your ear? It’s just like those audios you use to get yourself off isn’t it?’ 

You had no idea how he knew about those but he was right. His voice was so much more powerful and rich than those unknown ones stored on your phone. ‘You’re never gonna need those other men ever again. You’re mine, and I take care of what’s mine.’ His voice was starting to grow breathless, coming out in sharp bursts. It mingled with the obscene sounds coming from your cunt as he thrusted into you again and again, his balls slapping against your ass as he moved. 

‘I’m so fuckin’ close Doll, need you to cum first though…’ His voice was truly breathless now as he pushed up onto his haunches and wrapped your legs around his waist, never once missing a beat. 

You gasped in shock as you felt his metal hand dip down, in between your legs. His deft fingers played with your arousal, getting coated in it before coming up to your clit and circling it quickly. You fisted the sheets as your toes curled. Your release was so close, you just needed a little bit more. 

‘Play with your tits baby, play with them for me.’ You wanted to tell him to go fuck himself but your body was no longer obeying your brain as your hands came up to cup your chest. ‘Yeah baby, just like that. Such a good girl.’ 

It was his voice that did it, the way it flooded your senses and finally released the knot building in your gut. You couldn’t help the scream that came from your mouth as your walls pulsated around him, trying to milk him dry. ‘Fuck Doll. Fuck, fuck.’ His thrusts grew erratic and you knew he was on the edge. ‘I know your pussy is just begging for my cream but I can’t… God, I can’t fucking wait to fill you up though.’ He groaned out before suddenly pulling free from you. 

His flesh hand fisted his cock with strong and rapid strokes. Once, twice, three times, before his cum spurted out, landing in stips across your tits. The sound that came from his mouth as he worked himself through his orgasm was absolutely sinful and had you rubbing your thighs together subconsciously. The movement was not missed by him as a devious smirk came over his lips as he watched. 

‘Just can’t wait for more can you?’ You hastily shook your head, trying to find your voice as he collapsed beside you, his arms wrapping around your body like a vice. You felt him start to harden once more against your thigh. 

‘Don’t worry Doll, there’ll be plenty more where that came from now that you’re finally mine.’ 

+

Tags will be added in a reblog

My Masterlist

[rumblelibrary]

Can you do a Baron Zemo x Emo! Reader smut? Like reader gets teased by others or like Sam and Bucky always comment on there music or outfit? And it ends kinda fluffy?

Net of Desire [Baron Helmut Zemo x Emo!Reader]

Word count: 2k

Warnings: SMUT and a bit of annoying commenting on outfits

Author’s note: I hope I channeled your desire here, sorry for taking so long!!

You were sitting on the armchair side ways, legs thrown on one of the arms there, a book on your lap. Sharon’s apartment still the most luxurious place you have ever been after Zemo’s jet.

“Are you not getting changed Y/N?” Same asked as he took off the expensive suit Zemo gave him for something more toned down.

You looked up from the book you just stole from Sharon’s coffee table up to him.

“Nope”

Sam sighed “you know, it is about not being noticed, not please notice me so half of Madripoor is on our asses” he said trying to be ironic.

You looked at him, again, eyes casting back on the book a second after.

Bucky moved inside the room wearing a fancy blazer, giving Sam just another excuse to not shut up.

“See? Even the 1940’s man got changed, can’t you?”

Once more, you didn’t answer his teasing.

It wasn’t the first time it happened, Sam begun this little teasing game when you grew enough comfortable with him, it was innocent at first, you laughed it off, but with some time it begun taking a tool on you.

You wanted so badly to send him to fuck off, you did actually more than once, but it just never gained the effect that sentence was meant to have. So by now you resumed to just allow yourself to keep silent and let it go, if you can’t fight them…even though it still hurt you.

Zemo observed the scene from afar, he sipped his whisky analysing the situation, noticing the discomfort you sported in your body language. His eyes drifting onto your criticised outfit as Sam called him to stand.

“So, you’re not coming?” Sam asked now surprised.

“No, I prefer to rest” you said hating yourself for not snapping at him before.

So they left, you were alone, again.

The loneliness feeling sinking into you as you stood up moving in front of the big baroque mirror leaned against the wall.

You liked yourself, you felt yourself now, like this, in these clothing, in the fishnets Bucky frowned upon so much, in the dark colours. This was you. Why you couldn’t be you?

You sighed deciding to go over the news and check from your computer the news and political situation, the world was on fire, the news talking about the Flag Smashers everywhere.

“Do they always bother you like that?”

Zemo’s voice rang through you, you gulped softly as you looked at him, purple turtleneck and all, gracing your sight with his figure and charm.

“Mostly” you admitted “Shouldn’t you be downstairs, with them watching over you?”

He smirked “I pulled my dance moves out, those two can’t appreciate anything different than the standard, it was easy to leave when they look away for the embarrassment” he assured to you, his words slightly ringing through you.

He moved closer as he leaned on side inspecting what you were doing, his eyes darting on the screen “And they worry about your clothing” he chuckled as the news about the flag smashers were more than worrying.

“Have you ever thought..”

He begun but you quickly killed any phrase “No I won’t change”

He smirked but continued just as you didn’t interrupt him “….to send those two to fuck off?”

You smirked nodding slowly like you’re considering it before letting out a soft chuckle.

“Done it already, it didn’t work that much”

He looked at you as his eyes travelled over you  “I like it, it is provocative”

You rolled your eyes, you just hated it, you didn’t want to be indulged, yo stared up at him as his eyes weren’t mocking you, there was no play of words in him, at least not now.

You couldn’t deny you felt attracted to him, the confidence that rose through him, the intoxicating charm, the controlled attitude.

“You’re provoking me”

He smirked “That’s what I do better, however I feel like we both are well into provoking the two of them”

“Pissing them off” you corrected

“Give them a reason to shut up” he shot back as his right hand on your laptop closing it.

He was inches away from you by now and you just closed the space between the two of you, you didn’t need all the convincing he leaned onto you, but it just made it hotter.

His lips tasted sour like the shot he had before, the tension of the escaped peril back at Shelby’s  still lingering over you more than you though, a sense of urgency taking over your senses.

Then he pulled back from that kiss, hands grasping onto your hips, he pressed his forehead against yours as he pulled your hoodie off you, you dragged him by his sweater to the room Sharon gave you.

You weren’t processing it that much, he was hot, the feeling was mutual and he was the first person to just look at you in a way you never felt before.

He took off his turtleneck as you undid his belt, there was a rush within the two of you, you couldn’t hold it back, maybe it was also the possibility to be found or how Zemo wasn’t touching anyone from seven yers.

He cursed in Sokovian under his breath as you laid on the bed, he peeled off the black skinny ripped jeans you wore leaving you in those dark fishnets while your hands went down to your hips to take those off. “Keep them” he requested, hands moving over the intricate design of it positioning himself between your legs, he leaned down hovering you “So beautiful” he whispered joining your lips again as his hands ripped off the only part of your fishnets he needed access from, his fingers playing with you so securely you felt your body showered by pleasure shivers. “Zemo” you groaned as he leaned closer to you moving your underwear on side to better access to your wetness.

“Look at you, so helpless” he murmured against your lips “how could anyone want to miss this sight?” He groaned against your lips, he was a tease, a very hot one. He knew how to make you shiver, tremble, ask for more with just the little charm of his fingers, but that wasn’t enough. You didn’t want to reach your pleasure like this.

Your hands moved down pushing his pants and underwear off him going to pump his hard on.

“Don’t make me wait” you groaned as he could’t say no to such a request, his hands leaving your core unattended as he pushed inside you easily earning a groan of pleasure and relief from you.

He begun moving soon, slow at first, testing you and your body before changing angle slightly and moving harder inside you. 

“Fuck”

He smirked to your little curse, his hips making their way inside you deep and steadily, his fingers grasping your thighs once more, slipping between the fishnets, moulding with them, breaking them as he used them to guide you even more closer, if possible, his lips biting and sucking yours, his need not even mildly concealed while he dragged his lips onto your neck, one hand still tangled to the fishnets while the other run over your body searching for the most sensitive spots to play with them adding pleasure to the existing one.

You grabbed his neck, you pulled his hair dragging him closer, he loved it, he adored the way you desired him, to feel desired felt old, it felt impossible after so many years behind glass wearing always the same clothing, hearing only the same phrases.

Pleasure seemed the first reason the two of you went down onto this situation, in the end it was pleasure and closeness. Neither of you felt the need to get parted even after you both moaned and shouted your orgasms. He would stay still and hover you, you’d stare at him with a soft shiver tracing your body. He would sit up, staring down at you in your only fishnets pulling up one of your legs to his shoulder to kiss on the inner side of your knee.

A smile played on your lips, and then on his.

“Oh you” he smirked leaning down between your legs.

Beside the clear embarrassment that sourced in your companions when coming back from the party they just found your hoodie around and nothing else but moans of pleasure coming from your room, the best part was the next morning when nobody really had the will to speak up.

You were sitting on a stool in the kitchen applying your make up in front of a tiny mirror when Zemo made his way in front of you standing on the other side of the kitchen isle, glares darting over him from everywhere as your distressed fishnet was proudly wrapped around your legs still. You looked up at him as he smiled at you and leaned on his elbows leaning his face forward, you smirked taking his chin into your hand gently as he looked up while you applied a bit of dark eyeliner underneath his eyes.

Not a single comment being made that day.

Tagged @cazzyimagines​ @lieutenantn​ @handmaiden-of-mischief​ @thesunflowersutra​ @zemomybeloved​​ @fictionlandslanddreams​ @charistory​ @greeneyedblondie44​ @apparrio​ @hb8301​ @whatawildone​ @rhymerhymerhyme @thehuiabird @lilith-blackrose

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[hualianff]

Smol XL

Modern AU where HX comes home around one in the morning after his night shift at a restaurant known for its exquisite fish dishes. Even after taking a dinner break during his shift, HX is starving.

It takes HX several tries to jam his key into the lock before successfully stepping into his apartment. His numb feet carry him through the foyer, heading straight to the fridge.

On his way to the kitchen, the open space to the living room grants HX a view of his roommate HC’s head turned to the television. Some sort of rom-com mixed with martial arts plays on the screen—not what HC typically watches, but HX doesn’t care enough to think too much of it.

With a large yawn, HX opens the fridge in hopes there is something moderately tasty to snack on. The sweet and tangy smell of pork hits HX’s nose, surprising him. HC must have cooked tonight because there was no pork in the fridge this afternoon when HX left for work.

HX reaches for the container sitting on the shelf at chest level, inspecting the overflowing contents of pork, veggies, and rice. He is momentarily skeptical. It’s strange for HC to leave so many leftovers after cooking. It seems HC has left enough that HX can snag a portion. When it comes to his roommate, HX certainly takes what he can get.

After glancing at the lid, HX spots a small sticky note with elegant hand-writing: He Xuan ♡

(HX: 🤨)

HX turns to the counter.

There’s another container with semi-burnt cookies in the middle of the island.

(HX: 😲 )

Begrudgingly, HX scoops the leftover food and some cookies into a bowl to take to his room. On his way, HX is forced to pass by the living room. This time he is afforded a side view of the couch.

Sure enough, HC’s boyfriend is tightly wedged between his legs, leaning back against HC’s chest. A purple velvet blanket covers them both, combining their forms into one huge blob.

The couple doesn’t notice HX. Or at least, HC side-eyes HX for a split second before leaning his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder, eyes glued back to the television.

HX shakes his head, then scurries into his room.

Even if HC is going to have XL over for dates and permeate the air with romance when HX is home, at least they always save food for him.

***

When HX gets up at a quarter till seven to brew his morning coffee, he’s met with the sight of XL cheerfully mixing pancake batter in just boxers and a t-shirt that is clearly HC’s because of the way it slips off one shoulder.

HX rapidly blinks as his eyes immediately locate all the love bites littered on XL’s collarbone.

“He Xuan, hi! Good morning!” XL exclaims, turning to face the taller man.

“Morning,” HX greets with a nod of his head. To distract himself from the physical evidence that HC is a goddamn leech, he rounds the counter until he stands beside XL. Out of politeness, HX asks, “What are you making?”

“Pancakes! I’m trying this new recipe that my mother sent me. They’re supposed to be extra fluffy and savory, and I’m going to add blackberries since those are San Lang’s favorite,” XL explains distractedly. HX assesses the bowl of blackberries, bottle of syrup, and whipped cream on the island behind them. “And don’t worry, I’ve made enough servings for the three of us and possibly extra. But that depends how hungry you and San Lang are.”

HX stares wordlessly at XL’s side profile as XL turns the stove on with a brief click! The shorter man holds his palm over the pan, waiting for it to heat up.

It’s safe to say HX is thoroughly touched, though he would rather not admit it. Despite his snarky comments, HC cares for HX with little things like doing his laundry or buying HX’s favorite snacks on a spontaneous grocery run. Then there’s XL who goes out of his way to strike conversations with HX to ask about his days and of course, cook for HX.

The two of them make quite a pair.

So here HX is, helping XL flip the pancakes while XL himself decorates the stack designated for HC. Once enough pancakes for the three of them have been cooked–half the bowl of batter left–HX picks his plate up, standing behind XL to wait for the toppings.

HX is in the middle of telling XL about this one customer who eats at the restaurant every week just to request that the head chef, which is HX, surprise them for their dinner order. It baffles HX to no end. What was the point of going to a restaurant and relying on the chef to decide what you’re going to eat?

“How can a person be so bold?” HX asks in disbelief. He tugs at the collar of his black t-shirt, itching at an area on his shoulder where his uniform slightly chafed the skin. XL laughs lightly, followed by the sound of whipped cream splattering out.

“Well, they certainly have your attention, don’t they?” he teases, flashing HX a smile over his shoulder.

HX jerks back at that.

“What? No, they don’t. Not like what you’re thinking. No. Nope, not like that-” HX rambles, narrowing his eyes at the shorter man.

“What’s their name?”

“...”

XL merely raises his eyebrows. HX exhales sharply, breaking eye contact with the devil’s counterpart.

“How could I not know? Their name is always on the receipt. It’s not my fault I’ve memorized it from seeing it so many times.”

“I never said anything was your fault. But…” XL trails off. He turns back to sprinkle some chocolate shavings onto HC’s pancakes. “Are they hot?”

HX outwardly scoffs. Seriously, HC is a terrible influence on his boyfriend!

(Little does HX know, it goes both ways.)

“What- what kind of question is that? Completely irrelevant. I’m a chef who does their job. I don’t care about a customer’s looks; I care about their tastes and whether they are sufficed by the food we serve. Nothing more,” HX insists.

He is unknowingly babbling at this point. He doesn’t know why his big mouth makes its appearance whenever he’s with XL. It just happens. Which HX will regret within a few hours. But it’s okay because no matter what HX has to say, XL is the type of person who will always listen.

Having at the very least one person like this in his life is not something HX will take for granted.

“-and it seems to work because they always leave generous tips, which I’m not complaining about-”

A raspy dominant voice asserts itself in the middle of HX’s monologue.

“Why the fuck are you talking to yourself?”

HX pauses his rambling, eyes rolling to the ceiling. This dickhead-

But before HX can turn around to respond with a defensive “fuck off,” XL’s entire body straightens up. With the plate of neatly stacked pancakes piled with berries, whipped cream, and chocolate, XL peeks his head out to the side of HX’s figure.

“San Lang! I made pancakes-!”

A startled choking sound snags in HC’s throat.

“Gege!?”

HX, in the middle of such a comical scene, can barely contain his amused smirk.

***

Bonus:

HC internally screams as XL settles into his arms for their movie night. He loves squeezing XL against his body. Hugging him from behind. Tickling him. Really, anything to get his boyfriend’s attention. (As if he doesn’t already hog most of it.)

XL alike loves being in HC’s arms. He loves listening to HC’s heartbeat while leaning back against him; loves feeling HC’s laughs reverberate against his chest.

Towards the end of the first movie, HC playfully pokes XL on the cheek. When XL turns his head around with an indignant expression, HC grabs his chin and places loving pecks all over those soft cheeks. XL instantly smiles, eyes curving into crescents from the affection.

HC quickly gravitates towards XL’s lips, pressing his mouth firmly against XL’s. Within seconds, HC’s grip on XL’s jaw tightens as he kisses his boyfriend with urgency, swiping a tongue against his bottom lip.

XL, gasping out a breathless: “Hmmph-! San Lngg-!”

Twenty minutes into their makeout session, the smoke alarm goes off. The couple breaks apart from the blaring beeping.

XL: “MY COOKIES-“ *leaps off of HC*

HC, winded as XL uses him as a springboard to jump off the couch: “OOF-“ *wheezes*

Raws:

XL IS SHORT ENOUGH TO NOT BE SEEN FROM THE BACK OF THE COUCH. HC’S FRAME COMPLETELY SHIELDS HIM.

XL IS SMOL COMPARED TO HIS TOL BF

HX saw the food and was like “yep, Xie Lian is definitely over, even if I can’t currently see him”

(Special thanks to @no-one-says-hi for contributing/listening)

[wonder-kid-pugh]

Favourite T-shirt - (Jessie Fleming x reader)

I've been sittin' here, tryna figure out

What did I do right to be with you right now?

I put my arm around your shoulder

To see If I can pull you closer

And I didn't wanna say it

But I honestly thought I'm growin' older

"Sup Fleming" I smile as I walk up to the small Canadian. She whips around but a smile spreads across her face when she sees me. "Hey America" she smiles as she stops walking letting me catch up to her. I throw my arm around her as we start walking back to the dressing rooms and I can already feel all our teammates eyes on us.

We had met few years ago playing against each other on the national team so we knew each other in passing. I would be lying if I say that she didn't catch my eye from the beginning but I never got the chance to talk to her other than post match pleasantries.

But it wasn't until she was dragged along to a party at Stanford by her friends did I get a chance to actually talk to her.

"Fleming? What are you doing here?" I ask as I see her standing by herself off to the side in a quiet corner of the kitchen. I had to stop myself from checking her out. She wasn't wearing her usual shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Instead she had swapped from for jeans and a more fitted top with her hair let down. She tensed for a slit second but visibly relaxed when she saw it was only me. "Oh hey L/n. Some of my friends were invited and dragged me along". I raise my eyebrow, "And they left you alone. A bruin alone in cardinal territory? That's dangerous". She chuckles lightly taking another sip of her drink, "Is that right?" I lick my lips a smirk playing at my lips, "Don't worry I'll protect you".

Honestly if it wasn't for the small few drinks I've had tonight I don't think I would of have the courage to flirt with her let alone talk to her. But taking advantage of the small liquid courage because at least if she flat out rejects me I can hide behind the excuse of being drunk. But it seems that it paid off as she bites her lip probably trying to stave off a smile but I can see it poke through, "Oh really?"

I smirk down at the smaller player, "Let's see how hard they party in Canada".

I saw your eyes in the city lights

And almost said, "I want you so bad tonight"

Yeah, you were kissing my neck, you were making me nervous

And none of our friends would believe it

You were puttin' your hands up under my shirt

Makin' fun of the way I was breathing

Parked up on Mulholland drive

Blankets in the back of my car all night

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

"Fuck" I moan as Jessie nips at a particular spot on my neck as I throw my head back giving her more access to my neck. She chuckles as she trails kisses down the column of my neck. I latch my arms onto her hips trying not to show how much my hands are trembling right now trying to anchor myself.

I know I was drunk otherwise I don't think either one of us would have gone this far. But I was wasn't drunk enough to stop myself from feeling nervous. The height difference working against us as I had to crane my head down to kiss her. As I kissed her I started walking her backwards until her back hit the wall. As her back hit the wall she gasped letting me take control.

But that doesn't last as she slips her hands under my shirt causing me to gasp and shudder from her touch. This doesn't go unnoticed as she pulls back just enough to smirk at me as I stare down at her breathless. I have to hold back a moan as her finger rake over my abs. "You okay there?" She asks with a smirk evident on her face. She rests her palm over the side of my ribcage, "Your breathing pretty heavy there. Do I make you nervous?" She teases.

My breathing hitches again as her hand moves higher so it's now over my heart. Her palm lays flat over my rapidly beating heart which she can no doubt feel. "Looks like your heart is racing" she giggles lightly. I huff out a laugh as I grin leaning my forehead against her own.

I don't know whether it's between the amount of alcohol I've consumed or how hazy my mind was but the way the dim light was hitting her perfectly. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from telling her badly I wanted her right now.

But she catches me staring at her as she tilts her head at me, "You okay?" I take another second to stare at her before shaking my head. But before she could ask I lift her up by the back of her thighs and pin her to the wall using my hips as her legs wrapped around my waist. "Now I am" I whisper before smashing my lips into hers.

Heart is beatin' harder than it ever has

Wanna put you in a photo, put you on my dash

I put my arm around your shoulder

To see If I can pull you closer

And I didn't wanna say it

But I honestly thought I'm growin' older

"Y/n! Stop!" Jessie whines as I keep the camera trained on her. But I just grin, "Nah. If your going to drag me out here on a long ass hike. The least I'm going to do is take pictures of the amazing view".

I mentally fist pump at the pink tint coming across her face but while I'm distracted she lunges at my phone and now she grins as she turns the camera on me and starts taking pictures of me now. "Hey!" I laugh and try and reach for my phone but she steps out of my reach and continues on, "give it back". But she just shakes her head, "Nope! It's your turn now".

I throw my head back groaning playfully, "Ughhhhh". But it instantly drops as I hear her laugh causing me to smile. It seems that she catches it and starts taking pictures again. I start making funny faces at her making her laugh again making my heart beat even faster.

I take my phone off her and start scrolling through the pictures. I stop of one of Jessie laughing and I show it to her, "Now that's a beauty. That's definitely going on the dash". I send her a wink, "That way I get to see your pretty face everyday".

I chuckle as she blushes before I pull her into me throwing my arm around her shoulders. She looks at me questioningly before I hold up the phone so the both of us are the in shot. When she sees the camera focused on us she buries herself into my side slightly hiding from the camera. I chuckle and grin at the phone as I snap the picture before showing Jessie.

"Huh" I say making Jessie look at me. I smile down at her, "I think I like this one much better actually".

This causes her to smile wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging into my side. I wrap my arms around her as we watch the city below us and as the sun falls out of the sky.

I saw your eyes in the city lights

And almost said, "I want you so bad tonight"

Yeah, you were kissing my neck, you were making me nervous

And none of our friends would believe it

You were puttin' your hands up under my shirt

Makin' fun of the way I was breathing

Parked up on Mulholland drive

Blankets in the back of my car all night

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

No, it doesn't really fit, but you don't really care

'Cause you said you were cold and you need it

Hope you're gonna forget that you ever put it on

'Cause you gotta see me if you keep it

Parked out at the end of your drive

Kiss me through the window one more time

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

"God I'm tired" I groan as I flop down onto the grass. "Same" Tierna sighs as she lies down beside me. I lay my arm over my eyes trying to shield from from the sun just too tired to move. "What's that?" I hear but too lazy to move so I just lay there.

"Y/n?" I hum indicating that I was listening. "What's that?" I move my arm to see Andi nodding towards me. I look down at my neck to see that the make-up I had put on had wiped away revealing the small purple swelling that was peeking out from under my training top.

"Oh my god. Y/n! Is that a hickey?" Tierna gasps from beside me as I try to adjust my shirt to try and hide the dark bruise. "Y/n got laid?" Katie asks acting shocked learning some laughs from the team while I flip her off, "Fuck off". Alana pulls my top down showing off the hickey to everyone before I can swat away her hand, "Damn whoever it was she got you good".

"Who is she anyways?" Tierna asks as I start collecting my stuff. I just shrug but she scoffs, "Don't give me that. Cmon who is it". But I remain quiet as we start walking off the pitch. But then Tierna decides to play dirty.

"Tell me who it is or I'll tell Alex and Kelley your sleeping with someone"

I stop in my tracks and glare at the redhead, "You wouldn't dare". When we were called up to the national team. Kelley kinda just drifted over to us seeing as we were cardinals. But seeing as I was a forward and hanging out with Kelley a bit, it was only natural that I became close with Alex as well. The two had taken me under their wing and had watched over me at camps.

Tierna smirks, "Try me". I huff out while she nudges me, "So? Tell me who is it?" I huff our before glancing down at my trainers and mutter, "Jessie Fleming". Tierna groans, "Cmon tell me seriously who is it?" I just give her a confused look, "What do you mean? I told you it's Jessie". Tierna scoffs, "Cmon off it. Are we talking about the same person?" Tierna looks at me, "Jessie Fleming the shy timid Canadian who's an entire head smaller than you. Did that?" She says pointing to my neck. But I just nod causing her to scoff again and turn on her heel, "Fine don't tell me".

I watch wide eyed as she turns back on her heel towards the locker room. I can't help but chuckle and shrug before following her.

Yeah, I've been sitting here, tryna figure out

What did I do right to be with you right now?

You were kissing my neck, you were making me nervous

And none of our friends would believe it

You were puttin' your hands up under my shirt

Makin' fun of the way I was breathing

Parked up on Mulholland drive

Blankets in the back of my car all night

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

No, it doesn't really fit, but you don't really care

'Cause you said you were cold and you need it

Hope you're gonna forget that you ever put it on

'Cause you gotta see me if you keep it

Parked out at the end of your drive

Kiss me through the window one more time

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

After much awkwardness and a small bit of embarrassment I finally grew a pair and asked her out on a proper date. I went slightly cliche and brought her to a drive in movie. I had it all setup with food and drinks along with pillows and blankets to sit in the back of my truck.

We whispered quietly between each other at the terrible film that was playing. With all my preparation I forgot to check what was playing. But it worked out in the end as we laughed at how terrible the plot line was. At one point I could feel her shiver as she leaned up against me. "You cold?" I ask as I look down at her. But she just shakes her head but immediately moves further into me contrasting her actions.

I detach myself from her making the both of us frown lightly from the loss of warmth but after a minute find what I was searching for. I hand it to her, "Here put it on". She looks at it for a second before accepting the shirt I keep in my car for emergencies. But I can't help but stare. Due to the height difference it doesn't really fit and it hangs off her.

But she looks absolutely adorable in it.

She smiles at me before moving back into her position at my side snuggling into me with the blankets wrapped around us, "Thank you". I kiss the top of her head throwing my arm around her as her head fits perfectly into the hollow between my shoulder and neck, "Your welcome".

Eventually the movie ended and I drove her back to her dormitory for the night. Running off the high of the successful date I turn to her with a smile as my hand goes to hers, "Thank you for agreeing to go on a date with me". She smiles as she interwine our fingers, "Thank you for asking". Neither of us saying anything. We sit in a somewhat comfortable silence neither knowing what to say and both not wanting the night to end.

Sadly time was against them

"I should head in" Jessie says quietly her eyes locked on our hands as she rubs her thumb over the back of my hand before looking back up at me, "you have a long drive back and I don't want my teammates sending out a search party". I chuckle, "We wouldn't want that".

I bite the inside of my cheek wanting to kiss her so badly but not wanting to push it and ruin a perfect night. Unfortunately my awkward side prevails as I scratch the back of my head sheepishly, "So uh I-I'll text you?" I cringe at how awkward I sound but thankfully she just giggles and nods, "Yeah I'd like that".

She turns and gets out of the car closing the door behind her. And I can't help but sigh and sink back into my seat grateful I didn't make a complete fool of myself in front of the Canadian international. But it doesn't last long as I jump as there's a knock on the window. But I quickly calm down as I see it's only Jessie who's currently laughing at me.

I roll down the window, "Jesus Jessie you scared the shit-" But I don't get to finish my sentence as she leans down and kisses me through the window. I don't hesitate as I kiss back. When she breaks the kiss she smiles and kisses my cheek one last time, "See you later America". I grin letting out a breathy laugh, "Bye Canada".

With one last smile she taps the window before heading back to her dorm. I bite my lip as I watch her until she makes it safely inside. She looks back and waves before disappearing into the dorms. I drum my fingers against the wheel before beginning the long drive back home myself.

I smile the entire drive home. Not worried about a second date knowing that we'll see each other again soon. After all

She's still wearing my shirt

In my favorite T-Shirt

You look so good, it hurts

In my favorite T-Shirt

And god damn did she look good in it.