#a comment would be stellar but if you can reblog that already helps so much

[emdotcom]

I am not, like, a treasured fandom artist, & I didn't make some great masterpiece or nothing. I did make art, though, & I stopped around the time that doing that started getting harder -- I got busy, & the world got worse, & so did I. The few times I've tried to make a comeback were hard-fought, but the ratios are all off, now. The ratio of time spent to likes to reblogs to comments made me give up pretty fast.

I am not saying you owe an artist notes. I am saying that, especially for young artists that are learning, taking the time to reblog their stuff can make or break whether they keep posting it. I'm saying that the current artists are going to get old, or busy, & if you like looking at art or reading it or listening to it, you need to encourage that next generation now before they give up.

A like is fine, yes. A reblog is very much appreciated. A comment can make an artist's day. Please, please, please interact with artists who are giving you content for free.

[mere-mortifer]

♥ Sanji/Reader Rec List ♥

40+ fics & authors suggestions! Click here to view this on a separate web page for easier navigation ♥

Sometimes I’m normal about fictional characters, other times I become psycho-sexually obsessed with them and relentlessly look for fanworks where they get smooched and hugged into oblivion. And by characters I mean Sanji.

So here’s a non-comprehensive list of Sanji/Reader fics that I love, most of them rated Explicit. This got sooo long because I kept finding other works to add while scrolling through my bookmarks and reblogs, it goes to show how good the fandom is! (Assume, unless otherwise stated, that Sanji is more on the sexually submissive side, since I like what I like and seek out that dynamic specifically.)

Authors I love

I’m starting this list with a few mentions of my favorite authors, although I’m sure I’m stating the obvious with most of these and you all know them already. Who cares! Go re-read their stuff! Leave a comment! Give them your money!

1. One Piece Works by @onlymurphy

Not to fall into hyperbole, but I owe OnlyMurphy my life. If you’re here reading this list then surely you love this author already, so this a good excuse to re-read the entire Grow Old With Me series. Sanji’s characterization is top-notch, and if you enjoy explorations of his self worth issues and how they would affect an otherwise loving romantic relationship then look no further. Also the author is a very talented smut writer (very talented writer in general, make no mistake), and that's the greatest accolade I can give them. Imagine me putting a gold metal around their neck but I’m the one who's moved to tears about it.

Honorable mentions for the filthiest-yet-very-romantic works in their catalog:

🌶 Do That Again

🌶 Wildest Dreams

🌶 If I’m Lucky

2. One Piece Works by @citrinae

I’m linking the masterlist for this author ‘cause I really like all their Sanji-centric fics, and I’d love, love, love to see more. Sanji is so princely and devoted, just an absolute dream of a man, and he’s putting a lot of effort into making the reader feel loved. He gets stellar results in my opinion.

3. One Piece Works by @thus-spoke-lo (GoldExperience86 on Ao3)

There are three fics in particular by this author that I couldn’t pick a favorite from if you held me at gunpoint: 

🌶 Let Me Help 

🌶 Worth the Wait

🌶 Dear Diary 

Have you ever read a sex scene so good you bypass getting horny and go straight into mourning, knowing you won’t be able to read it for the first time again? That has not stopped me from reading all these roughly a million times. Click on those links. Look at me in the eyes, listen very carefully: click on those links. I say this because I love you and want you to be happy. 

You will find other fics by them in the rec list because 1) I couldn’t resist and 2) I’m pretty sure they have more things posted on Tumblr than Ao3, at least as separate one-shots.

4. 🌶One Piece Fics by @untolduttering

Author, I know deep in my soul that you love Sanji as much as I do. Fortunately I’m okay with sharing. If anything I'm glad I'm not alone in the trenches.

Check out all her fics and snippets, her writing is incredible and I’ve loved every single thing about Sanji she’s ever posted. Each time I open Tumblr and I see a new post by her, my day gets a little brighter. She writes one of my favorite versions of Sanji ever, insatiable and devoted and so, so hot. He couldn’t be more my type if he tried. 

I want to single out her vampire!Sanji one-shot because I haven’t seen this trope used by anyone else and I liked it a lot! It fits so well, what with the theme of hunger and Sanji’s inability to ask for what he needs:

Hunger 

The meta post that inspired the fic

5. One Piece Works by @fanaticsnail

Fanaticsnail, you’re the only one who has ever made me willingly click on a smut fic that involved Doflamingo just because Sanji was there, too, and I love your Sanji so damn much (p.s.: everyone go read it, 🌶 Seat Number Four).

One of their fics also appears in the Sex Pollen section, and since that one is particularly filthy let me add here two fluffy, romantic fics where Sanji is all cute and flustered by the reader:

Kiss The Cook

Your Flirty Chef

Yearning & Pining

The title of the section is pretty self-explanatory: fics where and the reader are not together, but God knows they want to.

6. 🌶 Wanting by @froggiewrites

This fic…holy shit. I’m genuinely writing this with tears in my eyes. The yearning & pining & longing mixed with the sexual tension so thick you can cut it with a knife makes for a truly incredible read. Only for real Sanji lovers, if you’re not nodding along at each desperate thought the reader insert has about this man then I’m sorry but you’re only a casual Sanji liker.

7. 🌶 My heart is thrilled by the still of your hand by ladyhabanera

[screaming crying throwing up] no yeah I’m very normal about this fic, I like it a totally normal amount. In the Ao3 comments I say that “Sanji is so so dreamy—a heady mix of submissive and deeply romantic”, and then if you scroll a little you find my other comment which is just me yelling in all caps at my second reread. I not only stand by both, but I’m doubling down. 

8. Puzzled by @mynewblackdress

What a lovely series, and what a lovely trope…misunderstandings due to bad communication are as irritating and useless in real life as they are incredibly fun to read about. The reader is convinced that Sanji’s earnest compliments are his fucked up way of making fun of her, and it takes a while before they figure out that he means every word. Give it a read if you want a break from the sea of smut that I’ve added to this list, and you're the mood for opla!Sanji in particular. 

9. Sweet Confession by @softonshanks

I have one specific weakness that I’m glad to often see in fics: Sanji getting a hug while he’s busy cooking, and he’s all cute and flustered about it because he didn’t expect the affection.  And this fic has that + Sanji’s a pining mess for the reader, who he’s FWBs with despite the fact that he’s totally in love with her + she’s taller than him and he loves it. I’ve hit the jackpot. I’d love to see more Sanji fics from this author, so much so that I’m gonna ask her pretty please in Italian: Sara, ti prego, facci sognare.

10. 🌶 Your Name by @strawhatsoraya

Now, the one pining in this fic is me. Sanji and the reader are actually complete strangers, but if what appeals to you in mutual pining fics is the gut-wrenching depth of the feelings described, then I think you should check out this little one-shot. My notes on Ao3 are “Tfw when a pwp hits your id so well it bypasses making you horny and goes straight to suicidal”—do with that what you will. Also, check out the rest of this author’s fics and make a whole evening out of it.

Ft. Zoro

Get that stinky Mosshead out of my sight…no, wait, let him stay. I guess we can take turns on Sanji or something.

11. 🌶 Picture You by @froggiewrites

I don’t usually read Sanji fics where Zoro is heavily involved, but I’m glad that that didn’t stop me from clicking on this one (also, to be fair, they take turns on the reader. Well, the reader takes turns on them.) My note on the Ao3 bookmark is “God-tier sad horny Sanji characterisation”...couldn't have said it better, me from the past. 

12. 🌶 Shaken Up Hearts by @lyriumcoloredskies

Okay so I lied, maybe I do like it when Zoro is heavily involved, as long as it’s a collab to team up on Sanji. Sanji gets lovingly demolished in this one, but before he gets there he’s sad like a kicked puppy about not being allowed to kiss both you and Zoro. Who am I to say no to a heavy dose of Zosan in my het Sanji smut?

13. 🌶 Nuvole e Lenzuola by redtendou

This one’s niche because it’s written in Italian. I was stunned by the author’s ability to make a graphic sex scene actually work despite Italian’s atrocious sex-related lexicon–trust me, it’s a struggle. If you’re into Zoro and the reader ganging up on Sanji and you understand Italian, definitely give it a read.

Spa day for the soul

Fics where you take care of Sanji, or Sanji takes care of you, or where there are actual spa activities thrown into the mix. God knows this man needs some TLC once in a while.

14. 🌶 My Pampered Prince by @sheerxfiction

It’s Sanji’s turn to spend some time flat on his back on the kitchen table–it’s what he deserves. If you’re craving a brilliant smutty fic where Sanji gets pampered then you've foudn it, the reader take really good care of him in this one–and I have to give bonus points for the heavy dose of Sanji’s self-worth issues and the readersinsert fighting back against his refusal to get taken care of. Get loved, idiot.

15. 🌶 Shower Time by @chibieggplant

Cute, hot, sexy–I’m talking both about the writing and Sanji in this fic. He takes a shower with the reader and spends the entire time in disbelief that he gets to tenderly wash her body, feeling quite embarrassed by how into it he is, despite the fact that this an established relationship fic. And that’s how I like my boys!

16. 🌶 Vinsmoke Sanji: Not all Men are Rats by livingonadaydream

I love, love, love fics where Sanji gets pampered…but it doesn’t hurt to read the complete opposite once in a while. A very sweet Sanji makes sure that the reader gets a very happy ending.

First Time

We'll never know the canonical sexual history for any One Piece characters because Oda is, unfortunately, a coward. However I'm not surprised that Sanji is considered by many the most virgin to have ever virgined in the history of virginity—so here's a list of fics where you pop his cherry. Be delicate, please...he's very sensitive.

17. 🌶 Say When by @venomatically

This one has to be the first I tell you about. If you go check the comments on Ao3 you’ll find me absolutely losing my mind after my first read, and there’s no quick comment I can add here to fully explain how much I love this author, her writing, and–Good Lord in Heaven–the way she writes Sanji. He’s a virginal pervert. He’s got that dog in him and it happens to be a cute little puppy. He’s so sweet and adoring he can’t bear to tell you how often he thinks about fucking you. I need someone to invent him in real life, it’s not even funny anymore. (Also, if you like to see Sanji actually get a little depraved, check out her other fic, too: 🌶 Letting Off Steam)

18. 🌶 Lust by @tetzoro

Ooh, this one’s hot. It starts so poetic and romantic, but as Sanji loses himself in the feeling the descriptions get more carnal. I love his POV here. Also it involves one of my favourite things ever: the readers starts on top but when it gets too good Sanji can't resist and he flips her over to do all the work himself. Who else cheered?

Sex Pollen

While writing this rec list I realized I have at least four sex pollen fics where Sanji eats something he shouldn’t and then…I wanna say “regrets it”, but the consequences are that he has hot sweaty sex with someone he’s really into. If he were to notice the trend I think he might start putting the wrong thing in his mouth on purpose.

19. 🌶 It’s a what flower?! by @sanjifucker42069

From the blog name alone I knew I’d found a kindred spirit. They have written for both the animanga and OPLA, and to be honest it’s hard for me to pick a favorite work. That’s a lie, this one’s my favorite. The author has a great sense of humor, and this fic in particular is both very funny and incredibly hot. I love how desperate and pathetic Sanji gets, and how hard the reader insert is trying to keep things PG before it becomes obvious they just have to fuck! Good problems to have if you ask me.

20. 🌶 a fever you can't sweat out by @cryocandy

I remember reading this one day right before work. My shift was about to start, and I was sitting by myself in the car reading the smoking hot sex scene for no good reason at all, ensuring that I wouldn't be able to focus on anything productive for the rest of the day. Sanji in this fic is so dreamy and cute and pathetic, all qualities enhanced greatly by the amazing writing. If you don’t think you like fuck-or-die fics, do yourself a favour and read this one anyway. 

21. 🌶 Needy Boy by @maddddstuff

My note on Ao3 for this one was “Single-handedly made me into spanking btw, if you even care”, and I stand by it. He’s the one that gets spanked by the way, in case someone was in doubt.

22. 🌶 Someone Help Me by @fanaticsnail

Sanji’s a mess in this one. A total and complete mess, and I loved every word of it–also, since in the first part Sanji is struggling against the effects of the sex pollen all on his lonesome, this fic might also appeal to my fellow Sanji whump fans.

Dom!Sanji & Co.

Just because I have a preference for Sanji being a sub it doesn’t mean I will scoff at fics where he’s more dominant in bed. Here are the ones I stumbled upon that I’ve really liked! (Also I’m using the term “dominant” very loosely here, in some of these fics he’s simply more assertive in bed.)

23. Too Much (Take Me Home) by @secretwritingspot

This is THEE dom!Sanji series for me. There’s no sex in it, it’s more of an exploration of the sub/Dom dynamic and why someone would crave submitting to another person. Sanji finds himself in the dominant role with little warning, but he’s damn great at it in his usual adoring and tender way. I’m linking the first fic of the series, but the author has written more for this scenario!

24. 🌶 Leg Day by 1LucaCola1

The title says it all; fantastic premise for a smoking hot pwp fic. If I had the opportunity to train and make good use of Sanji’s expertise, I’d also push myself too far until my legs were shaking, and then let him do other things to me to make the shaking even worse.

25. 🌶 very professional nights by @missfrustration

Ugh, I love this one! Sanji is your superior at the Baratie, and he’s so very stern with you until he isn’t at all. Love the bait and switch of a Sanji whose professionalism makes him act a little cold when clients’ satisfaction is on the line but simply melts when he’s alone with the reader. And everything he ends up doing to the reader in this fic, I’d hardly call a punishment.

26. 🌶 Doodled Hearts by Twisted_Inkwell

Soft dom Sanji fucks you hard but he’s sweet talking to you in French the whole time. I don’t know what else to add to convince you to read this one, that should be plenty.

In the kitchen

To fuck the cook, you’ll have to look for him in his natural habitat. Then you can proceed to ruin the kitchen table for everyone else.

27. 🌶 Midnight Snack by BombasticBastard

This fic is a part of a Sanji/Reader/Zoro series, but I’m linking Part 2 where it’s just you and our lovely boy. As the title says, the reader is craving a midnight snack and goddamn, she gets the best one the Sunny’s pantry has to offer. This could also go in the Dom!Sanji category because he quite literally talks you through it, as the kids say nowadays, but he also showers the reader in compliments & he confesses his love, so overall he’s too much of a big ol’ softie to call him dominant in any way.

28. 🌶 All It Takes by mooseskulls

Reader catches Sanji being the pervert that he is, stolen underwear and badly-hidden moans included. This one has both a gender neutral version and a transmasc!reader one, I thought that was lovely–this way lots of different people can enjoy the “getting bent over the kitchen counter” scenario. 

29. 🌶 Compliments to the Chef by @tigreblue

The Author says this is their first fic–if that’s the case, they’ve got a bright future ahead of them. We all know Sanji doesn’t easily accept love and gratitude, but some good ol’ finger-sucking ought to convince him. Things degenerate beautifully from there.

Dark(er)

By darker I mean that I’m adding here fics where Sanji is something other than an absolute sweetheart. You’ll understand how actually dark any of these fics are from my comments and the authors’ tags, but they all have the general vibe of “Sanji is a sleazy pervert” in varying degrees of illegality.

30. 🌶 appetite by @groubee

Ooh…this one’s fucked up. Sanji is an unreliable narrator that makes non-con somnophilia sound kinda cute, actually (it really isn’t.) In his defense he’s written as some sort of incubus-slash-sex-demon. The author doesn’t go into detail but they don’t need to, it’s all about the sickly sweet mood (emphasis on sickly) of a tender lover who’s also a horrible, horrible person.

31. 🌶 Letting Off Steam by @venomatically

He’s a freak in this one, but he’s soooo nice about it and he’s soooo thankful that you’re letting him be a complete pervert who can get away with waking you up by stroking his cock over your face. 

32. 🌶 Smile for the Camera by @thus-spoke-lo 

This one broke my heart and turned me on at the same time, I give it a full five stars. It’s a short and sweet one-shot where Sanji breaks down all your walls and then does the same to your trust in men…enjoy!

33. 🌶 Compliments to the Chef by @thus-spoke-lo

I realize only now that this fic and Smile for the Camera are by the same author. That’s not gonna stop me from reccing this little series, too–in the notes on Tumblr you can see that this was written for a “sleazeball collab”, which should tell you something about Sanji’s characterization. While reading this I felt like that lady in the comic about sexual harassment on the workplace…like yeah maybe I would be okay with it if the guy was hot enough. And by workplace I mean a shitty restaurant, and by guy I mean Sanji in the role of the line cook who smokes too much and is very transparent about wanting to bang you on the counter where lunch service is prepared.

34. 🌶 Use me by moosetracksandscenechanges

This fic! My God! I’m adding it here not because there are hard kinks or morally dubious dynamics between the characters, but I still think it fits. It has its sad moments due to a generally darker atmosphere and a more aloof version of Sanji (not that aloof, still recognisably himself)...but also he willingly gets tied to a bed. Sub Sanji lovers stay winning. My hopeless romantic heart hopes that Sanji and the reader will actually get together, but there’s a lot to love about the fwb dynamic they’ve got going on right now. A bittersweet read in the best way.

35. Conjugate the Ways by @secretwritingspot

Oh, Sanji has a foul mouth in this one, but he’s speaking French so he’s forgiven…also the reader has no idea what the hell he’s saying to her. It’s creepy in a cute way! The fic doesn’t include actual smut, it’s just Sanji fantasizing out loud about the things he wants to do with you, but if you’re in the mood for some good ol’ sexual tension, give it a read.

36. 🌶 Ma chérie by marriedtosanji

He lied to you! About being French, of all things! I would never forgive him. He’s really good in bed though, so he makes up for it. The smut here is so delightful it does a 180% and goes back to breaking my heart over the fact that I’ll never meet a cute stranger in a bar who wants to seduce and is also Mr. Sanji Onepiece himself. 

Voyeurism

I swear this isn’t even in my top 10 kinks, I guess that Sanji’s character simply inspires a lot of authors to put him in situations where he’s staring. Watching. Ogling. Observ–you’ve got the gist of it. 

37. “It’s entirely too obvious [...]” by @ofallthingsnasty

[giggling and kicking my feet] the reader makes Sanji sweat cold in this one…I love when he’s nervous, I love when he’s desperate for forgiveness! He doesn’t do anything bad, but the fic is all about him watching the reader eat and obviously liking it a bit too much. The mood is suggestive but overall it stays pretty innocent until the end.

38. 🌶 Voyeurs by snackshack

Thank you Zoro and Nami for your help in making this happen, we couldn’t have done it without you. Sanji and the reader are in a freak4freak relationship, a match made in Heaven. Very good smut and a delicious premise!

39. 🌶 Perversion by glossyjoonie

@Sanji: babygirl you suck ♥ Short and sweet fic part of a larger collection (there are other Sanji-focused chapters, check out those ones, too!) where Sanji gets caught spying on all his favourite ladies: Nami, Robin, and you. Robin sticks around for a while in this one, but in the end the reader is the one who shows Sanji what happens to boys who misbehave.

40. 🌶 Just Between Us by @mytanuki-kun

This man is always spying on you in the shower, in bed, from behind a bush or whatever…it’s about time he gets a taste of his own medicine. I adore this fic, I remember reading the first chapter and hoping the author would update as soon as possible because I was hooked. Sanji catches you ogling him in secret and he plays into it cause he’s a horny bastard and the love of my life. The writing is incredible and Sanji’s characterization is so, so dreamy and sexy and adorable.

That’s all, folks. You have enough material to survive a nuclear war, you can spend many happy decades closed in your bunker eating canned food and reading reader insert One Piece fanfiction. 

My final, desperate request is this one: does anyone have the link to a Sanji fic where he’s 40 years old and he hired a babysitter (you) for his kid, but then one night the kid is somewhere else and you two end up hooking up? Please? Pretty please? I think it was part of a collection or series but I can’t find it anywhere!

[pilesofnonsense]

RQBB 2021 Artist Guidelines & Sign-up

(This is a post including the requirements for artist participation for ease of access to mobile users. As it is quite long, please do not reblog this post - instead, if you would like to, please share our Artist Sign-Ups Announcement Post!)

RQBB Artist Guidelines

Welcome to the Rusty Quill Big Bang - a large-scale event bringing writers and artists together to create an explosion of fan content for Rusty Quill podcasts!

Please read the following carefully to understand what will be expected of you as a participant. If you’re on browser, you can see more details on our Challenge Guidelines and FAQ pages.

Upcoming Schedule for 2021 (all times in BST)

Artist Sign-ups: July 12th - 19th. 10am

Check-in 2 & Art Draft Deadline: August 15th by 11pm

Final Fic & Art Due: August 27th by 11pm

Posting: August 31st - September 15th

Fandoms: Rusty Quill Gaming, The Magnus Archives, Stellar Firma, Inexplicables

Participation Requirements:

You must choose whether to join the Big Bang as an artist or writer. If you are already signed up as a writer, you cannot join as an artist (though you may volunteer as a pinch-hitter in case another artist drops out).

If you wish to create for M or E rated fics you must be aged over 18.

All participants must read and adhere to the Expected Conduct guidelines (see below).

Art Requirements: At least one fully finished piece of original artwork (traditional or digital colored/shaded drawing or painting, completed cross-stitch or knitting project, etc.) or full podfic. Compilations or arrangements of existing art, such as playlists or moodboards, should not be your primary piece for this challenge, though you are welcome to include them as a bonus (see below).

We hope that artists, like the writers, will take this opportunity to challenge themselves—whether by attempting an ambitious work in their primary medium, finding new means of creative expression, or sharing an extra tidbit inspired by their work on this project (e.g. sketches, a playlist, a comment about the fic and the process of creating for it, etc.).

If you have any questions about the suitability of your art, please contact the mods.

Art Draft Requirements: Your draft should show significant progress on your piece. For a digital drawing, for example, the minimum would be completed lineart, ready for coloring. For handcrafts, your project should be about halfway done.

As always, if you are unsure what qualifies when it comes to your medium or process, you can contact us!

Maximum Number of Fics per Artist: Initially, each artist will only be able to sign up for 1 fic (they may create as much art for this fic as they like).

Artists who would like to create for more than one fic can indicate this in their sign-up, and will be contacted during matching if this is necessary. You may also sign up as a pinch-hitter if you are willing to be contacted in the event that another artist drops out later in the process.

Matching Process:

The artist sign-up will include a list of the anonymised fic summaries. Each artist will select 3 fics which they would be interested in creating for, with additional preferences (favourite show/shows they do not follow, OTPs and NoTPs, Do Not Wants, etc.) indicated in the comment field. Mods will then match artists to one of those choices, taking preferences into account as much as possible.

Please be aware that fics will be removed from the list if they are oversubscribed or if it is otherwise necessary for a work to be matched.

If you have an issue with your match, please let the mods know as soon as possible.

Do Not Wants: In this event, you will have an opportunity to Do Not Want (DNW) the types of content that you do not wish to work on. Similarly, if you’ve had conflicts with certain people in the past and do not want to risk matching to them, you can include this in your sign-up submission, and we will avoid matching you with them (details of these will not be shared beyond the mod team).

The mods will take DNWs into account within reason - attempts to manipulate matches by DNWing large lists of people or otherwise acting in bad faith will result in the rejection of your sign-up or draft. We are also not private detectives, and will thus not be fielding any requests such as “do not match me with anyone who has ever drawn/written XYZ”, so please keep that in mind when considering whether this event is right for you.

Expected Conduct:

By signing up for this event, you agree to meet our deadlines. If it becomes apparent that you need a little more time, we require that you email the mods to explain your situation before the deadline passes. (Those who miss deadlines without contacting the mods beforehand may be defaulted from the event without further contact.)

In order to participate in this event, you must be willing to contact the mods directly in the event that you have a question, concern, or issue with your participation (as in the deadline example above). We are happy to help participants with anything that arises, but cannot accept ���telephone”-style communiques on behalf of others.

Be kind and courteous towards your match and fellow participants.

Please take care to credit your artist/writer in your own final post.

Be in regular contact with your match - if you’re going to be offline for a significant length of time, let them know. Radio silence from your match in events of this kind can be very concerning.

Our Discord server has its own list of rules, which are listed within the server. If you decide to join the server, we require you to read and abide by those rules.

Harassment of other participants (including but not limited to callout posts, namecalling, etc.), either publicly or in the Piles of Nonsense discord server, over their fanworks or headcanons will result in an instant default.

We, like Rusty Quill, have an “all headcanons are valid” policy. Harassment or mockery of those with different interpretations or other attempts to limit participants’ creative expression will not be tolerated. Please note that this does not mean you cannot discuss, for example, how you see the characters with others or that your artist or writer should not take it into account at their discretion, but insistence that any one interpretation must be adhered to, or that others are “invalid”, will be frowned upon.

Pinch Hitter: If you wish to only sign-up as a pinch hitter and not participate as a general artist, please send us a mail to pilesofnonsense@gmail.com and we’ll get in contact with you.

Artist sign-up is here.

[awritingtree]

Could I get a golden trio era ship preferably male. I'm 5"0, a virgo and a ravenclaw. I have shoulder length brown hair and dark brown eyes. I have a slim figure, kind of baby face and lots of freckles. I'm very sarcastic and introverted. I love astronomy and anything to do with the stars, I also love reading (mystery books are my favourites), crystals, astrology, flowers (my favourite flower is a jasmine) and true crime. I'm quite shy when it comes to talking to people at first but I do open up eventually

Crystals and Stars

Draco Malfoy x Ravenclaw!reader

Summary: Draco arrives at the Astronomy tower in hope of some peace and quiet. What happens when he finds a familiar face already there?

Words: 967

Warnings: none

A/N: I legit thought of this at 6am in bed when I was half asleep 

⭑*•̩̩͙��••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

Ajdjr you sound so soft and lovely 🥺🥺

I ship you with Draco Malfoy!

⭑*•̩̩͙⊱••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

“Oh sorry. I didn’t think anyone was here.” You jumped in your seat in surprise and turned around to look at the entrance.

“No, it’s okay,” you shook you head once you realized who it was, “I was just leaving.”

You marked your page with a pressed jasmine flower, reached down to grab your bag and quickly put everything it in.

“NO!”

You looked at him, taken aback at the volume of his voice. He cleared his throat hoping you wouldn't notice his burning cheeks from a distance, “I mean no. You don't have to.”

You stared at him for a second before facing back towards the telescope, pulling your book back out and placing your bag at the foot of your chair.

“So what are you doing here?” Draco asked dragging a chair to take a seat next to you.

You looked up at him and answered timidly, “Oh um. I like to look at the stars.”

Draco nodded in understanding, “Astronomy has always been your favourite subject.”

You looked at him wide-eyed as Draco quickly turned away from you, looking out into the night sky pretending to be nonchalant and praying to Merlin that you didn’t notice his red cheeks.

“I didn’t think you- I mean anyone noticed.”

Draco smiled to himself; ‘I notice. I notice everything about you,’ he wanted to say.

You turned back to the beautiful velvet black sky. Draco turned his head to gaze at the stellar view in front of him. The moonlight illuminated your face, your blue-and-bronze tie standing out against your brown hair. He watched your eyes twinkle like the stars above with a joyous look. Your lips were upturned slightly, enjoying doing what you loved the most. His eyes trailed from your face to the hands adjusting the telescope as you moved on to another constellation. His eyes fixed on fingers, his hand reaching forward unknowingly to trace the rings on them. You were startled by the unexpected touch. His hands were cold but soft, softer than you imagined they would be.

Realizing what he just done, Draco pulled his hand back to his side and quickly began to apologize, “Sorry I didn’t mean to-”

You smiled at him softly, “It’s fine.”

His attention shifted from your mesmerizing brown eyes back to the rings on your fingers.

“What are they for?”

You gestured to the ring on your right-hand index finger, “This is a moonstone. It helps bring about positive thinking and intuition by soothing stress and instability so the wearer can move towards good fortune and success in their endeavours.”

Draco admired the next crystal you pointed at. The crystal was a beautiful golden hue with flashes of flaming orange and yellow through it.

“This is the citrine crystal. It expels negative emotions like fear and instead boosts warmth, motivation and optimism in your life.”

Draco’s attention moved onto the next crystal on your pinkie finger, “Now this one is a sapphire. It’s said to be the stone of wisdom and royalty. It opens the mind to accepting the beauty existing in its surroundings. Plus, I thought it would be fitting for a Ravenclaw,” you finished with a shrug.

Draco smiled at your enthusiasm, the manner in which you explained and spoke about the crystals making him believe maybe they were more remarkable than he’d previously assumed.

“What about yours?” you asked hesitantly.

You didn’t know how he’d react. You didn't want to believe the rumours about how cruel he could be. But you had witnessed from time to time. Therefore you were shocked at the gentleness he spoke with as he admired the ring, twisting it around on his finger, in pride.

“It’s a family heirloom. It’s passed down generation to generation, father to son, on their admittance into Hogwarts.”

He removed the ring and placed it in your palm. You picked it up carefully, not wanting to damage something of such great importance.

“It’s beautiful,” you whispered.

“Thank you,” Draco replied quietly.

You handed the silver snake ring back allowing him to slip it back on. Assuming that was the end of the conversation, you went back to mapping the stars in your notebook and Draco sat silently by your side, subconsciously fidgeting with the ring as he watched you do your work. Awhile later he was bought out of his daydream as you stood up from your chair, sliding your bag onto your shoulder. He didn’t realize when you were done and packed your bag.

“Thank you. For keeping me company,” you said, tucking a loose piece of hair behind your ear shyly.

Draco responded with a bashful smile, staying silent in fear of saying the wrong thing. You nodded before turning around and heading towards the stairs that would lead you down from the Astronomy tower. Draco stared after you, willing himself to say something, to not lose the chance he’d so clearly been given.

“Wait!” You stopped, turning around to face him with a confused look.

He looked seraphic, the moonlight illuminating his silhouette from the back made him appear as an angel descending from the heavens above. Draco felt his chest constrict, nerves taking over as he opened his mouth to speak. He closed it, clearing his throat trying to gather courage as you sent him a reassuring smile.

“Would you want to- can we maybe do this again?” he asked, his heart beating fast, thumping loudly in his ears.

Your face lit up as you sent him a bright smile, gripping tightly onto the strap of your bag with sweaty hands, “It would be my pleasure.”

Draco grinned widely, relieved at your acceptance.

“I’ll see you later,” you said, waving at him slightly before rushing down the stairs with a matching wide grin on your face.

Draco sighed as he fell back onto the chair, his eyes closed, a pleased smile on his face. He had come to the tower to look for some peace and quiet, some time away from people. Instead, he found something much better, he found you.

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[boogiewrites]

A Girl Walks Into A Bar 13

Characters: Declan Harp x Bella Fiore (OFC)

Summary: Modern Declan harp AU. Declan plans a date and hopes it goes well. It goes so well neither of them wants it to end.

Warnings/Tags: Mild. Language. Date Night. Bella softening up and stepping up! Maybe they finally kiss? 

Click on my screen name then go to Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. Please leave a like, reblog or comment if you enjoyed this! It makes me want to write more of what you want if you let me know!

Thanks to Bella’s stellar work ethic, she was able to concentrate despite the buzzing in the back of her skull. With her still highly suspicious coworkers she managed to avoid questions with glares, but the bravest and admittedly closest to her, CeeCee,  wasn’t convinced.

She stands in Bella’s doorway after hours, door open for the 4th day in a row. She’d been playing old Motown all day, they’d even caught her dancing and singing to herself in the studio, chewing on a pen and swinging her hips as she read over papers.

“Alright. Who is he? Or her, what the hell do I know?” CeeCee shrugs.

Bella's eyes shoot up from her clipboard, looking wide at her ballsy business partner. “What?” she asks with no inflection.

“I’m not stupid. I know you. I have eyes. You’re happy about something.” she says with a jutted forward chin, giving Bella tight lips that show her obviousness.

Bella only stares, her eyes under a deep set brow.

“The Motown all day? Singing and dancing to yourself? I even saw you smile at your phone today. You tell me nothing is going on I’m gonna tell you you’re full of shit.” Her bold statement delivered with a back and forth of her head.

“Then save us bother the time and tell me that then.” Bella snaps back quickly.

“UGH.” she throws her head back dramatically. “Fuckin’ Scorpios I swear to GOD!” she groans and turns to leave. Bella smirks as she returns back to her checklist.

----

All Declan had told her was to dress comfortably and for movement. To say she was curious was an understatement. She’d suggested something fun that would help her forget the hard week she’d had. While it had been tough,  there was something different, something that kept her mood from crashing despite the workload and meetings. She’d not told him about that part though.

With his advice in mind, she’d dressed comfortably. She struggled to find the balance between form and function, fussing over if she looked “cute” enough. Which was something she hadn’t weighed in many years. But he made her want to consider things like that again. He brought out something in her that made her want to be feminine. After years of leather and denim, of hard brows and severe hair, she’d found herself shifting. This was also something CeeCee noticed. She’d even worn a dress to work more than once in the past week, and on a non-meeting day. Wearing her hair down and loose, softer make up in lighter colors and less black, she felt a part of her opening up that hadn’t since she was young. Her armor of leather not feeling as needed when she had him around, she didn’t feel the need to protect herself so much. She knew she was in good company.

Declan makes it to her house, the roar of a motorcycle surprising her as she fussed over Robbie before having to be out the evening.

“You’re fucking kidding me?” she scoffs out a playful laugh. She watches him pull up on an old bike, something like her dad would’ve ridden when she was small. A surprising shade of turquoise, but what was more surprising was how he looked.

He was no stranger to showing more skin in the warmer months, just like her, but riding a bike requires a bare minimum of coverage to still be responsible. Plus maybe he’d gone to the gym every day this past week, gone up to the woods and started clearing out his stomping grounds of the winter build up. Maybe he’d wanted to look good for her. She was making him consider his appearance just the same as he was her. He hoped he succeeded, as he knew she’d look good to him no matter what.

She wracked her brain for the long since buried information on motorcycles she had from her childhood. Her dad having his and treating it like a member of the family before his wreck. After it he’d dabbled a bit here and there, helping friends work on theirs. But he’d kept being a fan of them, trading road trips for magazines as he got older. She gets washed over with an odd, warm nostalgia. She thinks of the old pictures of her parents, him in his leather jacket and her in her bell bottoms and flowing dresses. She wonders if this was what her mom had felt like when big Sandro had rolled up to take her out all those years ago. A deep pull in her gut that she didn’t want to acknowledge told her yes.

She jumps and shakes out the nerves. “Be cool. Be cool.” She whispers, stretching her arms and neck as he makes his way to the door. “Be cool. You can do this. It’s just a date.” It was a date right? Shit, had he said date? She knew he liked her, no room for wondering there, the almost kiss was still burned into her mind. So it was a date. Or was he going slow? Was he going slow because of her or because he wanted to? Her brow furrows and she scratches her big wavy hair, falling past her collar bones now as she’d opted out of the usual spring cut. The doorbell makes her jump and she rolls her eyes at herself in harsh judgment. She counts to ten slowly and breathes, then goes for the door.

Declan stood with gleaming shoulders in the late afternoon sun. His tank top long and loose, faded over dark jeans and his usual shit-kicking boots and chain. The leather vest was something she’d not seen him in before and to say she was a fan was an understatement. She wonders if there’s more leather where it came from and if he had a collection to rival hers. She doubted it but filed the curiosity to his kinks away for later.

“Hey, Babe.” She greets first and boldly, pulling the door back to welcome him in.

“Hey Bells.” A broad closed mouth smile that makes his eyes nearly disappear comes across his face at the sight of her. A dress cut in at the waist with a little ditzy floral print of white and yellow against a black background reminds him of some cool girl from a 90s sitcom. It brushed at her knees and he saw her same little boots loose around her ankles. With effortless hair and makeup, he wanted to hold her against him and feel that softness. The cotton of her dress under his hands as he leaned in to hug her, the warm berry vanilla scent of her as he kissed her cheek and made her blush as she side-eyes him before moving away.

“Gonna grab my purse. Say hi to Robbie if you want. He missed you.” She tells over her shoulder with a tone that suggested he wasn’t the only one.

“I’ve missed him.” He responds in a deep and even voice, Robbie already loudly announcing his presence and rubbing between Declan’s legs. “Hey, baby dude.” He mrmurs with a scratch to his fluffy butt. Robbie purrs in approval.

“Alright.” she announces with a black leather crossbody bag to match the jacket. Warm for the weather but she wouldn’t get on a bike without it.

“I know I said comfy but, I don’t know if a dress will work for what I’ve got in mind.” He responds with a hesitant face.

“Oh, I’m prepared.” She responds proudly, hand reaching down to lift the hem of her dress to show shorts underneath. “Got bike shorts underneath.” She grins.

“Always prepared huh?” He nods in approval.

“I try.” She smiles sweetly, bending to pet Robbie one last time. “We’ll be back, kay? I put your catnip toy on the bed for you.” She coos at him, taking out her keys.oo

“Hope you don’t mind.” He says, shrugging to the bike.

“I should’ve known you had a bike really. Black Wolf and all.” She answers, putting her keys and zipping shut her purse. “But you’d never mentioned it.”

“I don’t ride her in the winter. Well, not this one anyway.”

“She special?” Bella asks as he moves to grab a helmet out of studded leather saddle bag

“The most.”

“So this is the woman I’m competing with huh?” She chuckles.

He feels his face flush slightly, thankful for the color he’s gotten in the woods the past week to hide it, skin now a warm-toned tan that caught the sun like a dream. Bella wanted to run her fingertips down those muscled arms and feel every curve of muscle he’d earned. “Yeah. My first love.” He explains after clearing his throat. “First bike.” He clarifies, handing her a black matte helmet, same as his. “My mom hated it, so I painted it her favorite color as a way to suck up to her.” He grins at the memory.

“Did it work?”

“Eh. Not really.” He fully laughs and mounts the bike, holding his hand out to her. “You got it?”

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about me. Dad had bikes growing up.”

“Seriously?”

“Mm hmm.”

“Ugh. Lucky.” He remarks, getting out his keys and readying his foot to kick off. “You gotta tell me about that later.”

“Can do.” She nods with her helmet on, now fearlessly wrapping her arms around him, the warmth of his stomach and chest against her palms and fingertips as the unbelievably soft shirt shifted in between her fingers with the flutter of the wind. He wasn’t reckless or fast and she appreciated it greatly. It’d been decades since she’d been on a bike.

They pull up and Bella peels herself from the hot skin of his leather vest, looking forward to seeing all of in motion as she’d gotten her fair share of his arms during the ride. Although driving out of town had been an unexpected but lovely detour, the site of his arms, which up close rivaled the tree trunks on the sides of the two-lane road they rode on. They pull up to a long line of fencing. His bike not the only one there, but by far the coolest in her opinion.

“Forest Fortress?” She states out loud with a wrinkle of her nose in question as she shakes out her hair from her helmet.

“So you haven’t been here before. Good.” He proudly declares and takes her helmet.

“You gonna tell me what it is or do I have to keep waiting?” She smiles.

“Have you ever played paintball, Bella?” He asks, half bent and securing the helmet in the saddle bag.

“No, but I’ve played laser tag.” She offers.

“Think of it as laser tag that hurts.” He laughs.

“So this is a paintball place?” Her brows go up and she shakes out her dress.

“Hope that’s okay.”

“Hell yeah it’s okay.” She answers with a big grin, bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly. “My legs are gonna get totally fucked though.” She lets out an amused noise.

“Nah, they have protective gear you can use. Wouldn’t have let you leave in that if I thought I’d be bringing you back all bruised. Robbie would never let me live it down.” He kids with a straight face and she manages to suppress a girlish giggle at him beaming a killer smile her way.

With his charisma and gentle guidance, he found that smile that he was worried might only exist at the festival still fully engaged as they went through the steps of putting on gear and teaching her how to use the guns. People knew him there, half bro hugs and slaps to the back in greeting all the way until they were both equipped and ready to head out into the obstacle course.

“So you do want to be on the same team or different ones?” The guy at the last stop before the entrance asks, knowing she was a newbie.  

Before Declan can even turn to look at her she answers definitely “Different.” With a big and challenging smile.

“Look at the balls on this one.” the guy laughs and slaps a blue stripe on her gear. “And red for you D.” He remarks with a firm slap to his back. “Clean fight guys. You heard the rules.” He commands and opens the gate to reveal a scattered and varied series of wooden and rope courses in a fenced-in area of the forest. A rainbow of paint colors splatted all over everything. Tarps, haybales, stacks of giant tires, it was essentially a playground for adults. Which was a perfect choice in Bella’s eyes as she scurried away as soon as they crossed the threshold much to Declan's surprise. He was more than thrilled with her enthusiasm for his choice and the feisty competitive behavior it was bringing out in her.

The alarm blares and the shots start. She decides to keep an eye out for Declan, but take out anyone else if they popped up. She took out one person, her smaller size and workout routine she’d amped up for the warmer months helping her out. Declan was at a disadvantage with his height, she would see his back arched and bobbing around but could never get him head-on. So she uses the pole dancing classes to her advantage and shimmies up behind a terrace, thighs burning as she aims and misses. He whips around fast and sees nothing and she decides to just have some fun and jumps on his back, the unexpected attack knocking him to the ground as he hears her distinct laugh from on top of him as he moves to face her.

“Got ya bitch.” She snorts and laughs.

“Jesus Christ Bella!” He mutters out as he scrambles. “Where you even fuckin' come from?”

“Always look high.” She answers rolling off him as she keeps laughing quietly to not draw more attention to them.

“You didn’t shoot me though.” He grins wickedly and holds his gun up to her.

“I missed.” she shrugs. “Worth it though.” She leans back and sighs and smiles at him.

Well dammit, now he didn’t want to shoot her, laid back looking all soft and smiling at him.

“But you haven’t shot me either.” she raises a brow and grins, gun pointing at his chest now.

“Seems we’re at an impasse partner.” he says with a cowboy twang that makes her snort.

“If we eliminate each other, we can start over, or go back to town and eat. If we don’t, we have to walk 10 paces and try our luck with everyone else.” she replies with a playful wrinkle of her nose.

“I am hungry.” he answers with a pout of his lips.

“You know I am.” she smirks.

“A truce? A duel?”

“A...betrayl?” she tilts her head, finger on the trigger as another alarmingly charming smile comes across his face.

He flinches like he’s going to shoot her, only wanted to get her to wince  and give her shit for it, but instead he knocks her gun and sets it off when he startles her, shooting him in the thigh. “Oh shit!” She squeaks, covering her mouth and sitting up as he balls up and groans. “Please tell me I didn’t just shoot you in the dick.” she begs with a serious face that makes him contorted up in discomfort, snort and laugh loudly.

“Glad to say you did not.” he groans.

“Oh, thank God.” she exhales sharply, rubbing his arm and frowning. “I didn’t mean-”

“Nah, nah I know. My fault.” he shakes his head. “Guns involved. Shouldn’t have fucked around.” he grunts out, sitting up. “It fuckin’ hurt but I’ll live. Be a nasty bruise. That was so fuckin’ close.” he lets out a pained chuckle.

“Yeah that had to hurt, dude, I'm so sorry.” she gives him an entirely genuine apologetic face, leaned in close to his that was still grimacing as he rubbed his leg.

“I’ll live.” he gives her an exhale and a nod, giving a good show of his words. “Well you know what might help?” he says, leaning and looking at the splat of paint.

“What?” she asks so earnestly he feels guilty already.

“You could kiss it and make it better.” he responds with a straight face and she shoves his shoulder so hard he hits the ground, forcing out a laugh from his chest.

“Maybe later.” she rolls her eyes and stands, dusting off her legs. “You fuckin’ goof.” she shakes her head and reaches her hand down to him. “Timer’s about to go off.” she nods towards the large LED board above the box where the scorekeeper watched.

They walk with his arm around her shoulders back towards the front, her arm around him as if she were helping him along.

“The 'ol seduce and betray. I like it.” the guy at the front holds his hand up for a high five as she passes.

“Oh fuck you Kyle.” Declan bellows out.

“Thanks.” Bella grins wide and answers the guy's gesture enthusiastically.

Since she’s mildly maimed him, they decide to go eat instead of going for another round. The energy sourced of nearly an hour hunting other humans had taken its toll on them both. The same closeness, the same warmth, and smiles they’d grown so fond of from each other over more junk food in a shitty little diner he liked. They talked bike’s, his and the ones she’d ridden, the ones her dad worked on, how he’d wrecked and her mother wouldn’t let him ride now out of worry. He learned about her family a bit and was glad to see she’d had a good upbringing, parents still alive and together, something he’d always wanted in a family and for himself. At that small table in the crowded room that felt like no one else was around, they sat and talked for nearly two hours without even checking the time or their phones, it felt to oddly effortless. They both felt heard and like they were interesting to someone else. They talked about nature, about music, sharing their favorite things that everyone else told them they talked too much about.

So when the time came for Bella to go home, her gut was telling her no. In fact, it was screaming it at her. He’d left with another cheek kiss and a tight hug, proving to her he was more than decent. She watches his broad shoulders slumped, jacket now on to guard against the night chill as he rode, his hands shoved into his jean pockets and biting his lip, wondering if he should’ve kissed her.

'You can’t let him leave', her conscience tells her. 'Don’t let him leave. This day was damn near perfect. You KNOW he wants it and you’re brave enough to admit you do too. Just… get his attention. Do something.' Her brain scurries and her throat turns to stone, her mouth open and trying but her nerves wanting to keep her quiet. It would be real if she made a sound. It would turn into more if she called out for him. Knowing you’re living a defining moment is funny. You can let fear freeze you, taking the easy way out, or you call push your cards all in on the table and win big. Or lose everything. But isn’t a life lived with failures better than a life lived with what if’s?

“Declan.” she forces out, the keys in her hand shaking from her nerves, not even moved to be put in the door.

He shuts his eyes for just a second, hiding the relief on his face. God, he had wanted to say something. “Yeah?” he asks over his shoulder, his hair soft around his shoulders, skin still warm and seemingly glowing in the sconces by the door and the solar pikes in the ground along her walkway despite the sun being long gone.

“I-” she starts and doesn’t know where she’s going. But she started. That was like half of the job, wasn’t it? “I don’t... uh...” she licks her lips and puts her keys back in her purse. “I don’t really wanna go home yet.” she manages, looking down before meeting his eyes.

“Oh.” he says, hiding his delight with pursed lips and a nod. “Well that’s, y’know, fine with me.” he shrugs and turns fully towards her, taking slow steps as her feet also carried her towards him.

“You wanna... I dunno... go somewhere else? Like... somewhere you like to go on a nice night like this?” she offers, eyes hopeful as they looked up at the man nearly a foot taller than her as he ran his fingers through his hair. The night was almost as lovely as he was. Almost.

“Yeah. I’ve got a place. Can’t tell anyone though. It’s a secret.” he leans in and gives her a wink that she doesn’t act exasperated by, just a lazy smile on her face.

“I won’t.” she replies softly.

“Let’s go then.” he whispers, taking her hand and walking her back to the bike.

---

The ride is serene and gorgeous. The moon out, bright light dropping through the tree canopy, the long dull roar of the bike as she held herself against him both rumbling together with the motor. She doesn’t know how many times she sighed, but she couldn’t stop. This day had been so nice and it really was a perfect night to be outside.

To a small clearing they drove through a barely broken in path to a large tree on its side. A marked stopping point, a few others having been removed offered a little meadow to see up into sky. Out in the forest, there was no noise or light pollution to take away from the view. They check that their phones were on silent subtly, they weren't taking any chances of being interrupted.

“This looks like someplace in a movie where teens come to get in trouble.” she remarks with a grin, fluffing her hair and shaking her jacket, standing as he turned to sit sideways on the supported bike.

“Or some 30-somethings looking to get away from everyone else.” he offers with a voice that was deeper and more even when he was among the trees. His face fell softer as if he felt at home there.

“You make this?” she asks, looking around, the moon giving enough light to see around up to the tree line.

“Somewhat. Cleared it out a little. Beat out the path over time. I like to get away up here. Sometimes I camp out.” he shrugs his explanation.

“It’s really nice. It’s so quiet.” she whispers.

“Don’t have to whisper.” he gives her the same warm smile that made her give him a chance in the first place.

“Feels like I should.” she remains quiet, standing closer to him, almost between his legs.

They both occupy the silence, looking up at the stars, feeling a slight breeze, taking in the sounds of nature. She wasn’t used to it. But she certainly felt like she could learn to like it. “I can see why you like this so much.” her voice still soft. “Only missing one thing for me.”

“Wassat?” he mumbles, looking at her with her eyes shut and face to the sky.

“Music.”

“Yeah...no wifi out here.” he chuckles.

“I’ve got music saved actually.” she announces, pulling out her phone and ignoring all the usual alerts.

“‘Course you do.” he gives her a smile, watching her nose twitch in thought as she was lit up from the phone screen.

“What? Should I not play it?” she asks with more genuine concern that makes him even more certain there’s a real soft kitten under that hard exterior.

“No, go for it.” he answers with a casual shake of his head.

“‘Kay.” she bites her lips. “There’s only one playlist I have saved, but it’s a great one. My parents wifi up at their cabin is shit so I saved this one so they could listen to it once I hooked up their stereo in the house for them.”

“Please tell me your parents aren’t country fans.” he snarks.

“No, no. They’re cool. Well I mean, I think they have good taste in music anyway.” she smirks. “It’s all Motown and 60’s stuff.” she explains as the Supremes comes over the phone, she sits it on the back of the bike. “One of moms favs.” she reminisces with a happy expression, moving her hand and hips in rhythm. “We’d watch old recordings and do the dances. I still remember most of them.” she admits with a shy smile. “Guess it’s the dance training. Or we just did it way too much.” she chuckles.

“Dance training?” he asks with a nod of his chin.

“Yeah, I danced as a kid. Mom with her pop culture dances and wanting me to learn the Celtic stuff. She thought I was good at it, so she put me in classes. Dance team in school, that whole thing.”

“Should’ve known.” he huffs out.

She turns her face to him, feet still playing out the easy steps.

“You’re good.” he offers with another charming smile.

“Oh.” she looks back down and smiles at the ground with her eyes crinkling at the edges. “Thanks.”

“You don’t think so?”

“It’s not that it’s just...I’m not really the best at taking real compliments.” she admits with a nervous laugh.

“I caught on.” he offers softly and leans forward.

She continues to sway and he contently watches her, wondering if he should make a move or just let her be. “You have a favorite out of these?” he suggests, thumbing through the long list.

“A few of course.” she snickers at herself.

“I wanna know what you're into... pick one out for me.” he urges, his voice slipping deeper and her body notices as it tightens and reacts.

She nods and leans in, getting close and bending over his long legs. His eyes turn a deep shade of brown, growing more lidded as he moved in close enough to smell the sweet scent of her perfume in her hair. Goosebumps bloomed over her skin at the feel of his breath, she gulps and plays it cool, making another little list of her favorites. She thought maybe she could set a soundtrack. Set a mood that couldn’t be ignored, interject with her encyclopedia of knowledge on the music of the time. She decides to loosen herself up first and get a laugh out of it, always a good place to start.

“Alright. Hit play.” she orders with a cheerful smile, Jackson 5 coming through and it wasn’t what he expected. She starts with the dance steps he knows to be associated with them, little turns and hand gestures and he sits back with crossed arms and nods his head to the beat. He applauds with an impressed face even though she didn’t do much and she bows. A cute smile with flushed cheeks as she leaned over to check the playlist.

“Don’t worry about it. Just relax. That’s what this place is for.” he whispers and stands, pulling her away from the bike. He’d seen the songs on the list, he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about with any mood being killed. With the night ripe and the air tense between them, he wanted to facilitate what he thought she wanted and knew he wanted. Maybe she was more timid with things like this than he realized. Her confident front falters as he takes her into his arms, a hand sliding under her jacket to her back pulling her in, another taking her hand, elbows bent with fingers laced together. The moon was bright enough to see her face, surrounded in a soft frame of thick wavy, naturally almost black locks. Her green eyes caught the light as they sat wide and almost innocent as she spanned over his chest and to their clasped hands. He leans his face down closer to her, his voice sweet and calm, trying to ease any nerves she had about getting close to him.

Her first thought when being taken into his arms was boy, is he bigger up close. But the quick second was realizing how close they’d been already. They’d slept skin to skin, nestled like little bunnies together and she hadn’t had a problem with it. So why was standing close and holding his hand erupting a fire in her stomach that threatened to bubble up and out of her throat with words that took away from the moment? It was like when bypassing her mind, her words changed from yes, I want this, to, did you know that when this song was recorded- putting up her wall to keep her from getting too close. But there was nothing to be afraid of at this point. He’d proven himself on all fronts. He was one of her best friends so quickly it threw her off her game, she didn’t bond quickly with people, she didn’t attract good men who helped their friends and cared about other people. Why was all this happening now?

With AlGreen lending him the mood, he keeps her close, looking down curiously as she looked thoughtful but almost frightened. “Thought you might want a dance.” he speaks, making her look up at him. “It’s all you bothered me about down there, thought you might want to show me a thing or two when it isn’t pouring rain outside.” he offers with a soft smile.

“Or getting electrocuted.” she adds and he feels her take a deep breath, her posture straightening and watching her come back to herself slowly. “Need to slow dance properly.” she almost mumbles, but he’s close enough and observant enough to catch the words. His choice of song isn’t lost on her. “Good one to do though.” she offers with big eyes that catch the moon and shine, making him sigh and only nod in response. He moves his hips to the beat and hers follow suit naturally. “You’re better this time.” she praises.

“Good teacher.” he says with a kind smile.

“Oh. Go on.” she looks down and chuckles nervously.

“Maybe I will.” he speaks low and pulls her closer.

She has to respond so she closes her mouth and blushes. The moments build, the last push in Tired of Being Alone, the vocals screech and he moves them fast in a circle, causing the tension to break as she squeaks much to his delight and he moves his hips and shoulders faster. “Keep up Bells.” he laughs, she does she as she throws her head back for a moment, the song fades fast, her head falling to his chest and she chuckles at how nervous she is. But it wasn’t any match for the next song. One of her mom’s favorites she’d sing to her father when they were being sickly sweet with each other. Natural Woman by Aretha, a song that could move even the most stubborn heart. And Bella was no exception. From the get she knows she’s doomed. Or would it be blessed at this point? Maybe it was a sign. One of those moments her mom told her about. When the universe just tapped you on the head and said, pay attention girl. So that’s what she did. She danced with the one man to make her feel anything since she was young to the song her parents slow danced to when she was young, thinking she wasn’t awake, peeping down the hall to see them swaying in the living room. The string section builds her confidence and takes a deep breath and does what she really wants for the first time in a long, long time.

She looks up at him and gives a little smile, finding him already watching her intently, his face as dark and calm as the sky behind it. She bows back and puts her back to his chest, swaying with both hands interlocked in his for a moment, placing them across her stomach, and she felt no resistance from him. He even bent his knees like she told him, feeling his nose in her hair as it brushed close to her ear. This was how this should've gone at the festival, this was the way they were dancing before and now without a cloud in the sky, there wouldn't be any interruptions.

From his vantage point he watches her shut her eyes, her chin up and head rested on him, one hand rubbing over his, a slow and smooth ascent up her own body, fingertips grazing her neck, pushing her hair out of the way before it snakes up and touches his face. With eyes still closed she turns her head towards his, he can feel her heartbeat racing under his palms. Her fingers are soft and light up his jaw and into his hair. He shivers at the touch, an almost grunt coming from him, putting his head even closer to hers. He wasn’t going to pass up another invitation when she was so boldly presenting it. The words ring too true, and she knows she has to face what she’s doing. She has to be the one to do it, because he’s too good too.

When she opens her eyes he’s already there, looking down at her with his deep, dark brown eyes. A heavy brow almost hiding them if the moon hadn’t been so full. With a brief flutter of lashes at how handsome he really could be so close up, she looks to his lips. His parted just as hers were, trying to calmly get more air as their heart demanded more of them as their pulses raised. As the song rolls into Percy Sledge smoothly, they both know there’s no turning back this time. Nothing to break them apart except themselves, and neither wanted to. A melodic organ he feels in his chest, this’ll be it.

He watches the lump in her throat bob and he smiles, grazing his nose against hers and feels her body give a little shudder when he got close. The air is thick and tense, the night air hot only around them, the moon and stars the only witnesses to what felt like such a monumental moment for both of them. With her head twisted, chin lifted to meet him as close to the middle as she could, they share one more glance between them, a final chance to bail and neither take it. Back down to their lips their eyes move, sharing a breath, his hand moving up to her face, as hers still rested in his hair. They break on the blare of a horn, both their breathing halted with the warmth that washes over them all the way down to their toes.

What starts as one press of lips, almost chaste with his rough fingers against her smooth jaw grows deeper, turn after turn of their mouths, until Bella can’t stand it any longer. With a tiny whimper, the sweetest sound he’s ever heard, she turns in his arms, only parting for a moment and in a flash he runs cold, afraid the moments gone before she crashes her lips back into his, hands on his chest and the other in his hair, he gives over to her, leaning back against the bike, arms moving tightly around her to hold her close between his legs, splayed fingers working lower than they ever had before to her hips and between her shoulder blades, not wanting to even catch his breath as her arms slide around his neck.

They could’ve stayed like that forever. They both wanted to. This perfect moment, him surrounded by nature and her picking the soundtrack to her life was something they both wanted to hold on to for as long as possible. Her chest felt like it was full of fire, the butterflies in her stomach only fanning it with the rapid assault of their wings. Her fingertips tingled, only feeling warmth where he touched her, feeling the press of his impressive hands against her body under her jacket. His lips were softer than they seemed for a man that looked like him. The strong cupids bow and pinked color they natural held were always hidden at least in part by his facial hair, but she was getting to experience the full breadth of them tonight.

The kisses turn softer, more lips, more breathing, and her hands move to his rising and falling chest. With closed eyes still living in the blissful moment, their foreheads rest together as they take a few breaths. Wow, they both almost said. Few kisses felt like that one had. Some might never experience it. A painfully strong mutual attraction based on more than aesthetics. Built on friendship and trust and months of earning a place in each other's lives. It was real and raw and those things felt so rare for both of them.

“I can’t believe I waited so long to do that.” she eventually whispers, eyes still shut as her breaking the silence between them makes his eyes open to see her eyes flutter, half-lidded and pupils blown, fingertips light and shakey on the thin material of his shirt.

“You did it at the perfect time.” he coos back.

“Ugh.” a hand moving up to push back his hair as she beams up at him. “You’re so nice. Sweet, I mean.” she shakes her head, still trying to get the blood to flow to it and not the other brain that was shouting orders at her she was ignoring. “And… patient.” she adds with a huff of a laugh.

“Worth it.” he grins, kissing her cheek, the warmth flooding her all over again.

“Can we just... do more of that?” she lets out a girlish giggle he’s never heard, her head falling into his chest as her shoulders shake. She brings her head back up, shaking the hair out of her face and tracing her thumb over his cheek. “I’m so rusty at this.” she admits and he sees no shame or hesitation in her eyes now, only brightness.

“We can do as much of that as you want.” he kisses her softly. “And you don’t feel rusty to me.” he purrs back against her lips, eyes dark under a relaxed brow as she hummed happily.

“Not bad yourself, Harp.” she nudges her nose to his and smiles into a kiss, a content sigh shared as a kiss grows again. It felt so good, so right, just like she hoped it would. Just liked it should she thinks. He was so hot and pliant to the touch, a small lick of her tongue to his bottom lip makes his nostrils flare, a slow and teasing exchange between them. He bites on her full bottom lip and her eyes roll back in her head, a heavy sigh escaping her. She sucks on his after he releases it with a pop, her tongue moving to explore his own as they shared a more messy kiss, one that was clearly doing something for him as his hands ventured lower. He finally got his hands on that ass of hers, her letting out a little moan as he gave it a slight squeeze.

“Too far?” he asks, still learning the origin of her noises.

She answers by moving up into his lap, thighs on either side of him and shaking her head, putting his hands back where they had been. “No.” she answers before another wrestling kiss forms. Even with the advantage of being on him, he was still not taller than her. This was new for her as well, she’d never been a man this tall this... big. All over big. Or at least she hoped the hard place resting between her thighs was growing proof of that. Her hands slip under his jacket at the shoulders, far past her own in width and she moans as how hard he is under her hands. She greedily explores the planes of him, and he does the same. Hands down his chest to a stomach that was almost hard, fingertips pressed into shoulder blades that shifted as he easily picked her up to resituate her. Which she really didn’t mind at all. In fact she thought she might’ve found a new kink. No man she’d been with had even been strong enough to pick her up and throw her around so to speak, and literally. Her mind was full of racing ideas for him.

They kiss like teens at a make-out point as she’d teased upon arrival. Moans and pants exchanged against now swollen and wet lips, tongue in and outside of mouths as they explored what worked and didn’t, and so far there wasn’t a thing that didn’t feel good. It all felt too good and that was another problem entirely. One of those good problems she’d always heard about but never had herself.

She felt like taking her tits out of her dress, him getting those shapely lips on them and grinding on him until they both came. But she didn’t. She’d like to say she knew better, but she didn’t. She only knew not to go too fast, which is where she’d been burned before. “I know we have to stop at some point. But I don’t want to.” she half moans into a lippy and loud kiss.

He smiles against her. “I know babe. I know.” he groans and moves his hand back up to her waist. Hers on his jaw, thumbs swiping over the short sides of his beard as she kissed the corners of his mouth, the tip of his nose, wanting to feel every part of him against her lips.

“Mmph. That’s nice.” he hums with closed eyes and continues to his cheeks, that masculine brow, over the scar that lies there and one to his forehead.

“You’re very, very kissable.” she giggles, nuzzling his face with her nose. Touching him felt like a drug.

“So you are. Among...other things.” his nostrils flare as she bites her lip at him.

“Will there be time for that later?” she whispers, an almost naughty turn to her words.

“All the time you want.” he raises his brow, his voice deep with grit and hunger.

“How about we make time for it?” she asks, fingers into his beard and scratching, wanting to take in as much of him as she could.

“Mmm?” he asks, grunting as a response to her question and to the affection.

“We should make time. We’re both busy, I don’t want to go another week without seeing you... without... this.” she coos and kisses him softly.

“Then let’s do it. Let me take you out. A real date.”

“Oh, a real one huh?” she teases, kissing his cheek.

“Yeah. We’ll go downtown, meat, and wine the whole thing. Wine and dine.” he says playfully.

“Wine dine and...sixty nine?” she asks before her nose wrinkles and her face falls into a giggle.

“Like I said, whatever you want babe.” he grins.

Please leave a like, reblog or comment if you enjoyed this! It makes me want to write more of what you want if you let me know!

@vale0413 @littledeadgirlwalking @jaegeeeeer @phillipkopusimagines-and-stuff @mjolnir96 @xmother-mortemx @this-isnt-madness  @thors-hair-extensions @divadinag

[quilloftheclouds]

Inspiring Writeblrs Tag Game

Been wanting to do this for a while now, but I suppose I’ve just now worked up the motivation: I made a writeblr tag game! Specifically a “OH HECK WHO DO I CHOOSE, THERE’S TOO MANY PEOPLE I LOVE, SHOOT” sort of tag game~ (Aka: please someone tag me back so I can rant more about who I adore. ;u;)

Rules: If you can, tag at least one writeblr in each question and give a bit of explanation on why! You don’t even need a taglist--your answers act as one!

Of course, there is no push at all to do the game if you are tagged, and it would be lovely to do this even if you weren’t!

And now, onto the questions!

1. Whose writing has inspired your own? Through what qualities?

2. What writeblr(s) do you appreciate for their engagement in the community?

3. Who do you absolutely adore for their support of your own works?

4. What’s a lesser known writeblr that deserves so much more?

5. Who would you recommend for their writing resources (advice, prompts, templates, etc.)? How have they helped you?

6. If they were to publish, who would you immediately buy a book from? Do you have a specific WIP in mind?

You can find my answers under the cut! (Be sure, THERE ARE SO MANY MORE ANSWERS THAN WHAT I DID.)

- { - } - { - } -

1. Whose writing has inspired your own? Through what qualities?

Okay but. @abalonetea has such a recognizable, truly marvelous writing style. I love how Katie uses different font formats to convey the emotion and even the worldbuilding in her wips, I love her curt sentences that cut and chop like the action, I love the smooth flowing sounds of her peaceful scenes! I LOVE THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR DYNAMICS. Her characters are so well developed, so real seeming with their so many quirks and little things, the relationships are so cute and it’s all so full of hope, and yet, each character is so different and lovable all the same! (Even the villains! Oh no.) All of these factors have influenced my own writing, but the formatting of her writing and structure especially, since I’ve begun to experiment a lot with it!

@bookenders. Do I even need to say why? SO MUCH VARIETY. SO MUCH SKILL. Take the smallest of drabble ideas and hand it to her? She makes something glorious from it, as is obvious from her recent follower celebration. Wonderfully fitting diction, a deep knowledge and passion for linguistics and what she writes about that’s clear from her writing, the ability to have such a contrast in her writing style between different types of stories THAT ARE STILL ALL BRILLIANT. THE ABILITY TO WRITE SO MANY DIFFERENT TOPICS AND ALWAYS SO AMAZINGLY? That’s heckin’ inspirational. I’ve started branching out myself in attempting to write some things completely contrasting with what I normally do, mostly if not only because of this utter genius. Congratulations, 🌵 pal, I’m blaming you for this.

2. What writeblr(s) do you appreciate for their engagement in the community?

@mvcreates is currently on a bit of a hiatus BUT I DON’T CARE IF SHE NEVER SEES THIS Y’ALL NEED TO KNOW HOW ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC SHE IS. Of course, you probably already do, what with how much she does for the writeblr community! Positivity ask games, a beautiful discord group filled with wonderfully friendly writers, reblogs and reviews that are so in depth and with a wide variety of works reblogged that I likely wouldn’t have seen otherwise! SHE’S HECKIN’ AWESOME, FOLKS.

3. Who do you absolutely adore for their support of your own works?

I SEE YOU @tenacious-scripturient. I KNOW THAT’S YOU. I SEE YOU CONSTANTLY IN MY NOTIFICATIONS WHAT THE HECK. I HECKIN’ LOVE YOU AND YOUR WORKS. JUST SO YOU KNOW. I JUST. I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT, REALLY. A HECKIN’ AMAZING WRITER, BOTH OF WORDS AND SONG??? LIKING MY STUFF SO MUCH?? ASLKJFLDLKSJDK

@sunlight-and-starskies I SEE AND LOVE EVERY COMMENT YOU MAKE, YOUR EXCITEMENT FOR MY WIPS IS??? SO HECKIN’ APPRECIATED AND GIVES ME SO MUCH MOTIVATION TO CONTINUE? Seeing that others love my stories just as much (if not more???) than I do is so inspirational? AND YOU’RE ONE OF THE MAIN CULPRITS FOR IT. And honestly a lot of your comments are just... so heckin’ hilarious and/or kind. Love you so much, mate. <3

4. What’s a lesser known writeblr that deserves so much more?

I’m honestly not sure if she’s well known or not (she certainly deserves to be!!!), but in any case y’all need to go check out @clawhee-writes. Marvelous heckin’ writing, HECKIN’ INSPIRATIONAL WORLDBUILDING, an absolute delight to talk with, ideas that are yarn darn brilliant and an absolutely BEAUTIFUL wip, a wonderful person just all around! And she reblogs some really cool stuff, too! SO ANYWAYS I REITERATE, Y’ALL SHOULD GO CHECK HER OUT.

5. Who would you recommend for their writing resources (advice, prompts, templates, etc.)? How have they helped you?

@cogwrites‘ advice posts are likely one of the most major reason behind why I’m on writeblr in the first place! Her way of wording is super accessible, super interesting, and SUPER FLIPPIN’ HELPFUL, MY STARS. She has so many different series on such a range of wonderful advice!

Although she’s currently on hiatus, I also highly recommend @pens-swords-stuff! She has so much covered with absolutely marvelous advice and resources, and she’s so well organized, it makes finding everything feel like a dream come true!

And @imaghostwriter!! The sheer amount of resources they reblog covers just about everything, and their wonderful organization! IS SO HECKIN’ INSPIRING STARS. How??? Do you do it???? QUILL CAN NOT COMPREHEND.

6. If they were to publish, who would you immediately buy a book from? Do you have a specific WIP in mind?

@lady-redshield-writes. And no, because every single yarn darn wips of hers are HECKIN’ STUNNING. Her worlds are so expansive and fascinating, her character dynamics are to die for, her wording and writing itself is BEYOND STELLAR. Every time she posts something from her original works I jump at that notification. The two of her wips I know the most about are Symphony Number Five (ORCHESTRA NERD UNITE) and And Miles to Go Before I Sleep (I just! Can’t! Get over this wip!!! THE WORLDBUILDING! THE CHARACTERS! THE CONCEPT ENTIRELY!!! SO COOL.)

Also probably every single one of the above tagged as well. Because all of them are amazing as I’m COMPLETELY CERTAIN THEIR WRITING IS, TOO.

[ssnakey-b]

My first fanfic

Right, I haven’t had my Tumblr account for a long time, I don’t have many followers (a whopping three and all of them are porn spambots) so I don’t know how many people will read this, I’m kind of banking on the tags working their magic.

Anyway, as the title of this entry suggests, I have written and published my first fanfic. If you look at the stuff I’ve been reblogging, it probably won’t shock you that it’s FF8-related.

It’s a one-shot, slightly under 3200 words and I’m pretty happy with it so I really hope people enjoy it. I have already posted it to a bunch of places and I decided to let it a little before posting it here.

It is set during the train ride after the group escapes TImber, Squall has a lot on his mind and hopes to clear the fog by chatting with Quistis over a game of Triple Triad. You can find it on:

Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12295279/1/Open-Hand

Archive Of Our Own: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9107866

DeviantArt (where I also post drawings): http://neije.deviantart.com/art/Open-Hand-FF8-654941757

And if for whatever reason you can’t or don’t want to read it on any of those, you can read it below under the “read more” thingie. If you enjoy it, please please please share it with other people, comment / review it and do not be afraid to give me tips or criticism to help me improve and I really would like to get more into writing. Don’t worry, I’m not the type to think someone is being patronizing for offering advice.

Anyway, to anyone reading this, enjoy!

“This train is now leaving Timber Railroad Station”. As the little chime played and the train rumbled off, Squall finally started to calm down a bit. They were safe. Well, not in immediate danger anyway, which was a step up. Still, he could feel how tense the atmosphere was. Zell was quiet, a change of attitude Squall would normally welcome, but he knew it showed how exhausted and distressed he was. Linoa took a deep breath while petting Angelo, trying to calm her nerves and Selphie was pacing anxiously. Only Quistis seemed to be keeping her composure. The experience from previous missions, Squall guessed.

Squall thought he had to say something. He wasn't much for conversation; even he could see how awkward he could be in social situations but as the designated leader of the squad, he felt it was his duty to try and keep the team's spirits up. And if he was completely honest with himself, he was starting to have a growing respect for them after everything they'd been through and seeing them soldier on with no hesitation. Mustering all of his inner strength, he reached deep inside his mind and said:

“We can do this.”

It's the thought that counts, Squall told himself, hoping that showing effort to speak up would be enough on its own to cheer everyone up. Unfortunately, it was diminished somewhat by Selphie cutting him off and loudly asking to be allowed in the next car. Squall remembered how enthusiastic she'd been about visiting the train  they took to get to Timber and figured there was no reason not to agree, especially if it could help her unwind and so he used his ticket to grant her access.

“Awesome! Thanks a lot, chief!”

Squall nearly winced at that. “Chief”! This had better not become a habit. It was so ridiculous. He had no more field experience than her or Zell. There was no good reason for him to be the team leader.

Quistis, however, seemed more amused by the remark than he was and after a small chuckle, she turned to Linoa:

“I really hope the Owls are going to be okay. They're the ones we have to thank for finding us a way out of there.”

“Don't worry about them, they've been through worse!” Linoa replied. “I know we look like a clueless ragtag group of misfits and... I guess we are... but we're very resourceful and we can always rely on other resistance groups”.

“That's good to know,” said Quistis with a nod. “I'd like to at least get Zone something as thanks, though”.

“Well, he does like dirty magazines,” Linoa answered coyly.

“I'll keep that in mind, then,” said Quistis after another chuckle. “Well, there's quite a way to go, better make ourselves comfortable. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the SeeD cabin.” As the door to the next car slid open, Quistis gave Squall a playful look.

“Oh and, thanks for opening the door, chief!”

Squall rubbed his eyes, knowing that it was probably too late to escape the moniker now. He tried to relax, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He saw how down Zell looked and briefly considered having a word with him, but he remembered his previous attempt to brighten the mood and decided that it would only make things worse.

Instead, he started to mull over the events of the day. Everything since this morning had been insane. He had just woken up when he, Selphie and Zell were assigned their first mission despite only graduating the previous day, without a single veteran SeeD to oversee them. The decision was so rushed that Cid couldn't even give him a full briefing, only giving him the slightest info on where to go and who their client would be. It was painfully obvious that this whole thing had been thrown together at the last minute.

Then they got embroiled in a plot to kidnap Vinzer Deling, the bloodthirsty dictator of Galbadia, fought a zombie doppleganger instead, discovered that Cid wrote a contract so vague that for all Squall knew, he, Zell and Selphie may well be stuck with this assignment for the rest of their lives and now they were on the run from the Galbadian government.

Squall was  dragged out of his thoughts as he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He looked in Linoa's direction, only for her to suddenly look away, unconvincingly pretending she was looking at a map of the railway system. There was still a bit of tension between them as their opposite philosophies coupled with their strong and stubborn personalities had recently had explosive results. He went back to his introspection.

On top of everything else, Seifer decided to do the dumbest thing in his life and try to capture Deling himself, only to then leave with the sorceress, so they couldn't know if he was even still alive. Zell spilled the beans about them being SeeDs, Quistis suddenly showed up, the Forrest Owls' HQ was destroyed...

So many things had happened in such a short amount of time. Too many to think about. He couldn't focus on any of them, couldn't make an informed decision and he hated that. He needed a distraction, something that would help him take things one at a time, reboot his brain. Quistis. The one person that could get more than two words in a row out of him and the one person he might possibly admit to considering a friend. He had to talk to her about something. Anything. And it just so happened he had something to tell her.

He slowly made his way towards the SeeD cabin, once again feeling Linoa's gaze as he walked by her. In the corridor, he saw Selphie looking out the window much like during their previous trip. “Hi, Squall!” she chirped as she noticed him enter. He ignored her, not wanting to give any conversation the potential to start, and walked inside the cabin. “Gee, a real ray of sunshine, this guy,” Selphie thought as she went back to contemplating the landscape.

As the door closed behind him, Squall already felt a little bit better from the sudden quiet. Quistis looked up from a months-old magazine she'd been reading. SeeDs didn't travel by train that frequently, so agencies were in no rush to steadily supply the cabins with fresh literature, not to mention that with Deling's tight grasp on the media, obtaining up-to-date information was not an easy task. Squall thought that Quistis must have been a special kind of bored to pass the time reading articles she'd probably read a long time ago back in Balamb. He stood there for a few seconds, trying to think of something to say. Much to his relief, Quistis broke the silence:

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

As stellar as the conversation was, Squall felt he had to add something. “Do you wanna... play cards or something?”.

Quistis was pleasantly surprised by the offer, although it was true that Triple Triad was the only kind of social activity Squall seemed to happily partake in. And she could tell it wasn't out of competitiveness either because he sucked at it, at least by her standards. Poor Squall had no clue about her secret.

“Sure,” she said with a smile, tossing the magazine to the side and pulling out a game board. Triple Triad was massively popular among among military groups, including the SeeD, so each cabin was fitted with a foldable board and even a deck of cards, although Quistis and Squall never left the Garden without their own.

“I dare hope the people of Timber haven't corrupted you yet and you still play using Balambian rules, the way Hyne intended?” said Quistis with a smile, setting up the board next to her on the couch.

“Hm,” was Squall's reply as he sat down to face her. Quistis took a gil form her purse.

“Heads or tails?” she asked.

“Tails,” answered Squall. Quistis flipped the coin, caught it and placed it on the back of her hand. “Tails, you go first”.

Unsurprisingly, Quistis' hand was much better than Squall's. On the rare occasions he actually managed to win a good card, he usually lost it to her almost immediately. Then again, his mind really wasn't into the game, as evidenced when he placed his first card with one of the weakest numbers completely exposed. If Quistis didn't know any better, she might have thought he was luring her into a trap.

She laid down her own card and placed a token of her colour on Squall's, signifying a capture. Squall placed his next card almost immediately and in an equally dumb move. This wasn't right. Squall usually at least tried to play decently and talked a little while playing. In fact, Quistis had a sneaking suspicion that the main reason he played Triple Triad at all was so he had an excuse to chat with people without having to admit that he enjoyed it, the horror. On top of that, she could feel him look at her from behind his hand and hide behind his cards when she looked back.

“Come on, Squall, just spit it out.”

“What?”

“You clearly have something on your mind and you're being even more quiet than usual. It's super awkward.”

Squall stayed silent for a short time, considering how to start saying what he had to say, or even whether to say anything at all. But then again, why did he go out of his way to go meet her if he wasn't going to say anything?

“It's just... I... I'm sorry.”

Quistis looked at him in confusion. It was unusual for Squall to apologize for anything, and it seemed even more surprising considering she didn't remember him offending her in any way. Not recently at least.

“For what?” she asked.

“For the way I treated you last night.” He paused for a second, realizing what he said and finding it incredible that it was only last night. Actually, it was this morning, come to think of it. “It... it sucked”. Quistis felt a bit relieved. She was surprised he even still thought about it.

“It's alright, don't worry about it” she said with a reassuring smile. “My behaviour wasn't exactly the best either, trying to cry on one of my students' shoulder on the night of his graduation”.

“The thing is, I always want to be direct and frank. I hate it when people sugarcoat things and weigh it down with pointless courtesies... but I also want to be fair. And I wasn't. I was just being a dick. Don't get me wrong, I haven't changed my mind about what I said, but I should have put it better. I guess what I'm trying to say is... it's pointless to regret what could have been. We can't do anything about that. We can only do something about what is, so if you can't be an instructor, then be the best SeeD you can.”

Quistis was now looking at him with wide eyes. It was very rare for Squall to open up like this. It was becoming obvious to her that the weight of this first mission was heavy for him. She had to admit it was a difficult one, especially for a rookie.

“Look... it's okay, really. It didn't make me mad at you. I'm surprised it bothered you so much.” She wanted to try to lighten things up a bit. “And besides... I figured you were just in a bad mood because a cute girl had just made you lose your cool and forced you to admit that there are some things that even you find fun.”

Squall grimaced. Partly because of the teasing and partly because he couldn't deny there was some truth to it. He was often taken off guard by how well Quistis seemed to understand him.

“And now she owns ya!” she added, staring right at him with a cocky smile. Evidently she was aware of the terms of their contract.

“Until Timber is independent, yeah” Squall clarified.

“Which might as well be forever.”

“Don't remind me,” said Squall with a sigh.

“Oh come on!”

“What?”

“Don't even pretend you're upset that you have to stay around her!”

“What?” Squall was growing increasingly annoyed.

“You like her! It's obvious!”

“What are you talking about?” Squall asked, planting his face firmly into his hand.

“Sorry Squall, but you're really not nearly as subtle as you think you're being. The way you look at her, the way you act around her, the way you talk to her... you're a completely different person than with anyone else!”

Squall looked at her with complete incredulity. “The way I talk to her?! So I get into shouting matches with her and what you get from that is that I'm into her?”

“Well honestly... yeah.”

Squall was at a loss for words. “I don't even want to imagine how you must think I feel about Seifer, then.”

Quistis burst out laughing. Squall wasn't one to joke around but when he did, he could come up with some genuinely funny ones. And considering how things went the last time they saw Seifer, she could use some levity.

“Ha... but seriously, Squall. Your reaction to Seifer actually illustrates what I mean perfectly. When Seifer, or Zell, or me, or anyone annoys you, you try to get them off your back as quickly as possible so you can go sulk by yourself.”

Squall looked away. Once again, it would be difficult for him to deny that her analysis was perfectly accurate. Quistis continued.

“Point is, you always try to end it as quickly as possible. Even with Seifer, you only ever got into fights with him if he didn't leave you any other option. But with Linoa... with her you actually get mad. And you stick around to give her a piece of your mind. You try to convince her to see things your way and you get angry when she doesn't. Do you realize what this means, Squall?”

He let out a big sigh.

“No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me.”

“It means you CARE! And THAT is the big difference. I don't think I've ever seen you care what other people think before. You don't share your feelings with anyone except maybe me, and even then not often and I have to drag it out of you. But with her, you go out of your way to let her know what you think. You take it personally! And it frustrates you when she disagrees with you because you wish she'd see things your way.”

Squall shook his head in response.

“Well, Quistis, if the SeeD thing doesn't work for you either, you'd make a great psychologist.”

Quistis didn't let his attitude slow her down. It was obvious to her that he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince her:

“Think about it! If you didn't like her, then why would you get so mad? You always act like everything is strictly business. You never show any reaction to people from the Garden disagreeing with you. You never get involved, so why would a client's opinions affect you so much? Why would you care about anything that doesn't pertain to the mission? If it were anyone else, you'd just roll your eyes and shut your brain off until they gave you orders.”

Squall was getting irritated.

“Look... I don't know if I really look at her differently from anyone else. Maybe. I'll admit she's pretty. Big deal. I'm not blind. But,” he sighed. “what drives me insane about her is that there are so many people whining about how 'someone' should do 'something' but not a single one of them is willing to be that someone. Even among the resistance, most groups are activists in name only, and here there finally was one that was willing to pick up the slack and they're a bunch of unreliable incompetents bumbling around with no preparation, no backup plan and just no... no sense of reality. THAT is why I'm so frustrated. Her cause is noble but she has no idea what she's doing.”

Squall did give Linoa credit for being the one to get things going, although he wasn't going to do so out loud; no point in giving Quistis more ammo. Zone was supposedly the leader of the Forrest Owls but it was obvious that Linoa was the one who actually ran everything. As much as she could baffle him, he did respect her for that. If only her naiveté didn't hold back her determination.

“So basically,” Quistis went on, “it's like I said. You do care about her and you take it personally that she doesn't give herself the means to achieve her goals”.

“Whatever.”

There was a pause. Squall seemed to be even less focused on the game as it went on, barely even looking at his cards before dropping them. Quistis leaned back to rest against the couch.

“Honestly, I can see why you like her.” she said with a more serious expression. Squall desperately tried to ignore her and considered leaving the room altogether. “She'd be perfect for you. She'd bring you a bit of passion, something to put your skills as a SeeD to good use. And you'd bring her the focus she needs to reach her dreams.”

She chuckled again. “If you two joined forces, I think the Galbadian dictatorship would fall by tomorrow!”

“You're taking your fantasies for realities, Quistis.” said Squall. “You barely know anything about her. Hell, I barely know anything about her and she's my client.”

“I know enough.”

“Tsk, you're hopeless. Anyway, you win, pick your cards so I can leave.” replied Squall, as if he hadn't been the one to initiate the conversation.

“Nah, you can keep them,” was Quistis' response.

“Huh? But you won!”

“Your head wasn't in the game. I'll take your cards when you lose properly. I'm guessing your mind was too preoccupied by that cute girl you totally don't care about.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” said Squall while picking up his cards. “I'm going back outside. I think we're nearly there.” He hoped that was true.

“Okay.” Before Squall left the room, she added “I'm totally telling her you said she's pretty, by the way!”

Giving Quistis a death glare over his shoulder, he left without a word, knowing full well that he'd only dig himself deeper.

“Hi again, Squall!” said Selphie as he passed. Squall still didn't reply. He wasn't ignoring her this time, he just didn't hear her. Quistis had realized things about him before he did so many times before, and he wondered if that was the case here.