#a small town once again. so far removed from everything that makes me feel like my life is remarkable. im just trying to tell myself that

[brainjuicey]

I'm not going to lie, this nytimes article about Val kilmer makes me cry when I read it!

[sinners-go-to-drink-the-wine]

You Don’t Even Know

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Reader

Word Count: 2.1k

CW: (spoilers) (18+) references to sex, but mostly fluff, nightmares(nondescript), storms, flooding, lightning/thunder, ‘situationship’ mutual pining, comfort, confessions

{Author Commentary: I was particularly inspired by some lyrics from Bedless by PTV: 

'Cause you don't even know you're an angel, foolish am I for the times I come and go'

&

'And sleep inside your worn-in bed, And it woke me up, Like a heart attack, When you talk in your sleep I'll be there to slow your breath'

And this fic kinda switches between close third person perspective with the reader and with Jake, I hope that’s not confusing for anyone.}

“Want me to lock up and everything? You look spent.” Jake couldn’t help a little self-satisfied smirk as the two of you headed back to your room. You’d each taken turns freshening up, you taking off your makeup and brushing your teeth, Jake stealing one of your hairbands from the drawer to tie back his damp hair before stealing some of your mouthwash. It may not have been a regular thing with past hookups of yours, but Jake would always make sure you looked after yourself before bed after the two of you went at it. For the better- your joint activities were typically aerobic, and more than once you’d been tempted to just fall asleep in your sweat-through makeup.

Your casual situation had been going on for a while, and he’d be over at your house pretty frequently when he was in town, so he’d learned your routines. “Yeah, if you don’t mind…” you strolled over to your dresser for a sleep shirt, tossing him his shirt that had landed on it earlier. He caught it, nodding his confirmation before he pulled on his crumpled pants. You stretched exaggeratedly before flopping on your bed. You did feel spent, in the best way. All the tension you usually carried around with you had been melted away, ‘or maybe burned away was more accurate…’ He was good at that, making all the little things in your mind’s periphery disappear, temporarily. He just had a way, of grounding you in your body, making every sensation demand your attention so your mind couldn’t fathom anything outside of it in those moments. You rolled over to pull back your covers, finally sinking into your pillow with a sleepy, satisfied sigh.

Jake had finished redressing and turned off the far lamp before making his way to your bedside lamp. “Want this off?” “Mmm… it’s fine.” Your eyes had already drifted closed as sleep began encroaching upon you. “Hmh…” he emitted a quiet, fond sound. You felt his thumb brush your cheek gently before his footsteps retreated.

Jake made his way around your small apartment, turning off forgotten lights, and tossing a blanket from the floor back onto the couch where you kept it. He took his phone out of his jacket pocket as he started slipping his shoes on.

[MAJOR FLOOD WARNING] flashed on the screen as soon as it illuminated. “Shit…” he’d known it was going to rain, but admittedly hadn’t realized how extreme it had apparently gotten. He stood on his toes slightly to peer out the high window on your front door. The road was indeed flooded, resembling a shallow river. Not a threat from the elevation of the apartment, but certainly not driveable. He considered his… well, nonexistent options before removing his shoes again and padding towards your bedroom. He was scrolling through his phone as he made his way back to your bedside.

“Hey, uh it looks like the roads are no-” he looked up from his phone, seeing you undisturbed. You had curled yourself around a pillow and were breathing softly in the dim light of the small bedside lamp. “Hmh.” He couldn’t help another fond sound as he smiled down at you, putting his phone on the nightstand and squatting down by your bedside. He placed his hand over yours where it hugged the edge of the pillow. He gave it a squeeze, seeing your expression twitch briefly. He gave it a little shake, hoping that would be more effective “Hey…” His voice was still gentle, but in closer proximity, it finally registered. Your eyes fluttered open to his gentle, apologetic smile in the still dreamy dim lamp light. “Hm?” “Sorry to wake you, doll. The roads are flooded, looks like I’m gonna have to crash here.” You blinked a few times as you registered the information, reality crystalizing more fully. “Yeah, ‘fcourse… that’s fine.” He chuckled softly, dropping his hand from yours, “I’ll be on the couch, go back to sleep.” Your hand felt cold at the absence of his as you hugged the pillow once again, closing your eyes again and sinking into your dream's warm haze.

He stood up, taking his phone and flicking off the lamp before heading to the adjacent living room. He’d decided was only right, you hadn’t discussed bed-sharing, despite being together in bed, and a number of other places, a multitude of times. And he figured you were not awake enough to decide how you feel about crossing that line right now. He positioned a throw pillow at one end of the couch before shucking his jeans and settling under the throw blanket in his tshirt and boxers. He shifted a bit before finding the most comfortable position on the unideal cushions. It wasn’t a bad couch, fine for a movie, and a makeout, and other activities that often follow… but not ideal for sleeping. Still, he eventually dozed off as exhaustion caught up with him.

A heavy wind had picked up as the storm outside continued to swell. Jake managed to sleep through it till a loud crash sounded somewhere nearby. He shot up into a sitting position with a startled gasp, blinking into the dark as your living room came into focus. He could hear the wind and rain whipping against the outer walls but also a louder howling of air from the kitchen, which was only separated from the living room by a breakfast bar. With his adrenaline still pumping he gingerly got up, turning his phone light on as he cautiously made his way to the kitchen. The source of the noise was quickly identifiable; a small window above your sink that had a pane that swung up to open. The storm pane behind it had not been lowered, ‘probably hadn’t even been latched properly, should’ve checked it when locking up…’. He hastily lowered the storm pane, grimacing as the rain-peppered wind hit his face. After lowering the inner pane and latching it securely, he took a deep breath, leaning on his palms on the edge of the counter.

Beyond the dull roar of the storm, there was yet another sound. A meek murmuring, barely audible. Jake’s brow tented in concern as he immediately headed to your room. ‘She’s probably terrified. First time staying over and there’s a bunch of crashing around the house, christ.’ He walked into your room slowly, not wanting to startle you, only to find that your eyes were still closed. The pillow he’d last seen you holding was lying on the floor by your bed, but your hand was blinding grasping for it. The soft distressed whimpers were coming from you as your head shook slightly. ‘She’s… having a nightmare?’ He would assume it was probably exacerbated by the loud noise and felt a pang of responsibility. But still, he felt stuck for a moment, unsure what to do. He’d been fully prepared to walk in and see you cowering and explain the window, possibly apologize, and offer comfort if you needed it. And offering comfort was still his instinct but… ‘what’s the line…’

“...Jake- ” An equally quiet and timid, but unmistakable plea from you snapped him back to the moment. ‘Her eyes are still closed… and she’s calling for me in her sleep, 'cause she’s scared…’ His heart clenched. ‘If I hadn’t been here, she’d likely be tormented by that dream till the window pane banging woke her up’. The thought twisted in his gut. But he was there, he could do something. He had to. Before he could formulate a plan his instinct pulled him to your bedside, where he crouched, yet again. “Hey.. hey, it’s ok… I’m here…” He kept his voice soft, reaching out to gently rest a hand on your upper arm. Your extended arm reached yet again, this time gaining purchase on his warm, solid shoulder.

He followed your beckoning pull, and its accompanying whimper, eventually shifting onto the empty side of the mattress previously occupied by the discarded pillow. As he settled on his back you curled into his side, seeking the warm, familiar presence. “I’m right here…” The soft timber of his voice emanated from his chest. Your face burrowed into his neck, your still slightly shaky breaths bringing in his unmistakable sweet, musky smell. He’d shifted his arm from under you to wrap around your back, inviting you to rest more fully against his chest. His hand on your back smoothed up and down as your breathing slowed, subconsciously syncing with his.

Though you seemed considerably calmer, your hand that had pulled him in was now resting on his chest, fingers curled tightly on the loose, hand-cut neck of his t-shirt. With his free hand, he gently pried your fingers open before slipping his hand between yours and his shirt, offering his fingers as a substitute, which you seemed to eagerly accept, closing your hand over his. The same bittersweet pang tightened in his chest at the innocent gesture. He tucked his head over yours, nuzzling it slightly. “You don’t even know…” he exhaled, even quieter than before.

He lay there as the storm continued to swell outside. The once distant rumbling had only grown louder, and bright flashes had begun lighting up the room. His arm tightened around you as the wind sounded like it could shatter the rattling windows. A sudden loud clap of thunder directly overhead made him jolt, and his hand from your back jumped to cradle the back of your head.

“...Jake?” your voice was small and muffled against his chest. “I’m here angel”, he reassured softly. His hand pet your hair in a slow soothing motion, but you could feel his pulse racing. “Jake… are you scared?” His hand stilled. "...Are you ...awake?” You stifled a small laugh. You’d begun drifting in and out after a particularly loud crash, but having found yourself wrapped in his warmth, his hand on your back lulling you back to sleep, you hadn’t wanted to deter him. “Yeah… kindof.” You trailed your thumb across the knuckles of the hand you were still holding.

While it was reassuring that you didn't seem opposed to him joining you in the bed, the question of just how much of it you'd been awake for suddenly made him self-conscious. The cuddling and cooing certainly wasn't a side of himself that presented often. And he'd called you angel -not part of his regular roster of playful nicknames.

He found a fumbling explanation forcing its way to the surface. "Your kitchen window got blown in-" "hm?" You responded noncommittally, your eyes having drifted closed again. "I got it latched, -storm pane was open." he added hastily. You smiled to yourself at his babbling, responding with a simple "hm." "I thought you woke up, but you were talking in your sleep…". Well that caught your attention, "...what did I say?" You kept your tone casual but prepared yourself for something embarrassing, knowing his presence often reappeared in your dreams after he left. His pause only made your pulse increase. "...You were calling for me, scared." He stated, his hand trailing through your hair again, unconsciously. "I think you were just having a nightmare-" A sudden loud crack cut him off, making you both flinch closer to each other.

He'd just been considering offering to go back to the couch, but… "I couldn't leave you like that." You let the warmth of his words settle in your chest, though you knew you may have been reading into them too much. "I'm glad you did… thank you." "You don't have to thank me- I mean… I'm glad I was here." This was coming out wrong, but how could he say it? How could he tell you?

"I'm sorry I'm always leaving." His voice was softer than ever, barely audible over the wind and rain. You untucked your face from his neck, shifting away just enough to look up at him. He looked down at you, eyes unsure, his mouth slightly open as he tried to read your reaction.

"You never have to, Jake." His eyes widened at your words. His hand left yours, only to rest on your jaw so his familiar calloused thumb could caress your cheek tentatively. "...Can I kiss you?", he breathed. His need for permission confirmed that this would be different, different from all those prior. You smiled at him, reaching up to brush his hair back “Anytime.” Lightning briefly illuminated his face, sparkling in his eyes before he leaned in and pressed his lips to yours.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!

{Tag List: @star-boxer @doodle417 @greta-van-chaos @weightofdreams-gvf @prophetofthedune @gretnabancheese @shutupdevvie @holdingup-fallingsky @t00turnttrauma @groggyvanfleet @garagebandvanfleet @gretavanflowerpowerrr​ @razorbladekiszka​ @hyperfixated-gvf​  @dannyandthekiszkas​ @rhythm-of-space​ @allieisacrybaby​ }

[femmesweetheart]

I want to get in the habit of writing more, I just know it’s good for my brain (and my pores ^_^)

I tend to keep to myself lately and it’s not like me I think..and before I get into my current obsessions entry I would love to share a little bit of what I’ve been up to,

With the year coming to an end, I can’t help but reflect on everything that has happened so far. But I feel the need to talk about where everything really started.. I’m not sure how many of my followers know this but early 2021 I met someone on tumblr, it was my first real relationship (as the ones before were online/long distance/lasted only a month) this one felt different, we met in person on may of that year and I ended up moving all the way from a small hick town in florida to seattle washington. Early 2022 we ended up buying a house in the subarbs and in may 2023 just a few days shy of our two year anniversary she broke up with me. The whole thing still feels surreal and I still consider her my first love. Up til the end it was a dream come true, like a movie was playing right before my eyes. I do think she did the right thing, for herself and a little bit for me as well, we needed to grow as individuals and it wasn’t possible for us to be together and have that. I’m not going to lie I still haven’t fully processed that relationship and it’s ending. I am still slightly bitter about it all but I don’t want to be, I want to better not bitter. It feels disrespectful to wrap up the most important relationship of my life so far in so little words, and I still have my hang ups I’m sorry, But I have to move forward.

I’ve been living back in seattle since June 2023 and it’s been a whole year already since I’ve been living by myself! I am currently 28 years old and I feel like this is the first time I’ve actually have been living, my early 20s weren’t the start of my life, this is.

Early 2024 was very fun and lighthearted for me, I got to hangout more with my friends and just enjoy what the city has to offer

Things started to slow down around late spring though, that’s when I had my wisdom tooth removal, spent most days alone with my cats

I met someone thru a dating site in the summer, she was fun, she spoiled me rotten, anything I wanted I could have ; all I had to do was ask nicely.. I don’t feel comfortable sharing her name so I’ll call her “s”. We dated properly for a month in august and had some issues here and there, mainly .. she didn’t have time for me and wasn’t able to comprehend or respect my feelings; I could easily put all the blame on her but I think there’s blame for me too, I’m very short tempered and impatient I don’t think that’s easy or fun to deal with..I broke up with her on august 31st. Two weeks later she reached out and told me she missed me and how she was in the wrong and was willing to change, I don’t know if I believe in second chances but I was willing for her, we were togehter for two weeks and broke up again, over something so stupid. The same as the first breakup though, she didn’t have time, didn’t want to ever talk about the problems and how to fix them, I think in her mind, stating the problem was fixing them and that was enough, at least for her. And once again she made me feel stupid for feeling the way I did and didn’t want to bother with me. It’s been a month and two weeks since the second breakup and it’s just making me think about… well everything! Who I am as a person, who I want to be, what I want to accomplish in my life. At the same time I have a very simple goal in life and that is to be happy and enjoy every single thing that brings me joy in the moment!

Not going to lie this second half of the year has been draining and lonely, some friends have moved or gotten new jobs, but that’s the charm of city living, unexpected things are always happening, and you never know what tomorrow brings. Despite it all, I am looking forward to the holidays and making my apartment feel more like home

Thank you if you have read til the end, I know it feels like a ton of yapping, but this is me pouring my heart out, I want to write about my current obsessions and what has brought my joy in a later post♥

Current jam:

[animanganerd]

Everything Annoys Me And I’m (Too) Hot - Chapter 24

The Untamed / Mo Dao Zu Shi Fanfic

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47881336/chapters/131719762

All chapters: here x

Chapter 24 ❖ Lin Yue (Part 1)

The papers Lan Xiaoli and Mu Chun had stolen from Murong Zheng’s home proved to be quite useful indeed. Using the information contained in the documents, the party quickly mapped out a route to follow Murong Zheng’s trail.

The town mentioned in the most recent letter, Tianxuan, was about two months away. It was too far to travel on foot, so the group once again hired two carriages with an additional horse for Mu Chun. As before, Zhang Chengling led the carriage with Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu while Lan Xiaoli led the carriage with Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.

Mu Chun rode his horse confidently beside Lan Xiaoli. Despite feeling Lan Wangji’s eyes throwing glares at him like daggers, which he ignored as best as he could, he continued to take every opportunity to shamelessly pester Lan Xiaoli.

Lan Xiaoli, on the other hand, dismissed his advances as inane banter. He’d thought a lot about Wen Kexing’s explanation the other night, and while he’d briefly considered the possibility, he’d come to the conclusion that it must be nonsense. Neither he nor Mu Chun had these kinds of feelings for each other.

He also had to admit that he was afraid of reading too deeply into Mu Chun’s actions. It would be far too humiliating to fall for his stupid jokes and allow himself to get hurt when Mu Chun clearly had no such intentions toward him.

All things considered, Mu Chun himself had made it obvious that he just wanted to tease the apology out of him. And since Lan Xiaoli was so easily flustered, it was all the more fun to bully him.

But even though it seemed no one had ever taught Mu Chun the concept of personal space, he never did anything truly despicable. So, while he made sure to keep Mu Chun at arm’s length to avoid any further misunderstandings, his rejections weren’t as firm anymore. Instead, a small smile would play around his lips.

In the end, Lan Xiaoli interpreted his own newly found affection toward Mu Chun as admiration. Although he’d never say it out loud, he was genuinely impressed by Mu Chun’s skills and truly appreciated his help.

They advanced a lot quicker on horseback, but it would be weeks before they reached their destination, so they still needed to rest. After leaving quite some distance behind, it was time to take a break. Not only to eat and drink, but also to stretch their legs.

While the others built a small campfire and stocked up on water and such, Lan Xiaoli settled the horses. Once he was done, he took a well-earned apple from one of the bags attached to Mu Chun’s horse. Just as he was about to bite into the juicy fruit, he saw Mu Chun lying on the ground, leaning leisurely against a rock. He was fiddling with his many rings and seemed to be deep in thought.

Munching on his apple, Lan Xiaoli watched Mu Chun for a while, then slowly approached him and gave him a gentle kick.

“Maybe you should take them off. They are a bit tacky. It does not really suit a servant,” he teased.

Mu Chun was slightly startled by the kick but then looked at him with a small smile. Without responding, he lowered his lashes and slowly began to remove his rings, one by one.

“Are you going to keep them for me?” Mu Chun asked with a grin.

Lan Xiaoli was stunned for a moment, then held out his free hand to accept the rings. When Mu Chun handed him a particularly striking signet ring, he said, “I don’t care much about the others, but make sure you don’t lose this one.”

Lan Xiaoli held it between two fingers to examine it. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the embedded gem matched the one in Mu Chun’s hair crown – a dark but vivid green, engraved with a coiling dragon.

“Why? What makes it special?”

“It’s all I have left of my family,” Mu Chun replied.

“Oh…” It was the first time Lan Xiaoli could relate, so he didn’t retort anything. He simply nodded before taking another bite of his apple and pointing out, “You are still wearing one.”

Mu Chun fiddled with a plain looking silver ring on his right little finger, his smile pensive. “It feels wrong not to wear one.”

Lan Xiaoli raised his eyebrows. “Why keep this one though? It does not look…” he paused briefly, glancing at the signet ring while searching for the right word. The robes and jewellery Mu Chun usually wore gave the impression that he was prone to extravagance. This ring, however, had no engravings or incorporated gems of any kind, which surprised Lan Xiaoli. 

“...fancy,” he finally said.

“Exactly,” Mu Chun lifted his eyes again, “It’s the most believable one for me to wear.”

Lan Xiaoli was stunned once more. It was meant as a joke, but Mu Chun seemed serious about maintaining his role as the fake servant. So much so that he even considered the accessories he could wear.

In the end, Lan Xiaoli just shrugged and mumbled, “Suit yourself.”

With that, he turned on his heel and walked back to the carriages. They soon resumed their journey, but came to another halt about half an hour later when they reached a fork in the road from which three paths diverged.

Mu Chun hopped off his horse. “This is it,” he said.

They had not yet reached Tianxuan, but the group had incorporated a small detour into their planned route. The three pathways before them branched toward villages that had required Murong Zheng’s assistance in the past. Their aim was to find out what had happened to the villages for them to need support in the first place, and what role Murong Zheng had played in their restoration.

Each of these villages was about the same distance from this fork in the road, so they’d decided beforehand to split into three smaller groups for their investigations. The groups consisted of one couple each, and the youthful trio.

Seeing Lan Xiaoli about to get off his horse, Mu Chun stepped beside him and held out his hand in a helping motion.

“No need. I got this,” Lan Xiaoli said, waving him off.

However, when he swung his leg over the horse to dismount it, his other foot got stuck in the saddle and he almost crashed to the ground. Mu Chun was still in position to catch him, and Lan Xiaoli fell right into his embrace.

Lan Xiaoli had convinced himself that there were no deeper feelings between them, yet every touch of Mu Chun felt so electrifying that it made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Suppressing the urge to squirm, he quickly pushed him away.

“Stop it with your dirty tricks!”

Mu Chun innocently held his hands in the air, “Always a pleasure, Young Lord.”

Wei Wuxian suddenly erupted in laughter. “Young Lord?! Hahaha!” He hugged his stomach with one arm while he held onto Lan Wangji with the other, still laughing. “I like that one!”

“Shut up!” Lan Xiaoli snapped and stomped away. Rubbing his arms to get rid of the goosebumps, he randomly stormed down one of the paths. Zhang Chengling and Mu Chun promptly hurried after him.

About thirty minutes later, the three arrived at what appeared to be a quaint fishing village. All houses were constructed from dark wood, some of which perched gracefully on sturdy stilts above the gently lapping waters.

A narrow limestone path meandered through the heart of the village, leading to the village’s small harbour. A handful of weathered boats, their paint worn by countless voyages, bobbed languidly on the water’s surface.

The smell of freshly caught fish lingered in the air, carried over by a crisp breeze that gradually helped Lan Xiaoli’s mind to cool off. He was ripped out of his racing thoughts for good when he heard a threatening voice bark, “Yo bitch, where’s our money? Our boss has already given you a two-week reprieve!”

A gang of rowdies was surrounding a girl, and the thug that threatened her was caging her with one arm braced against the wall.

Lan Xiaoli abruptly stopped in his tracks. “We need to help her.”

Mu Chun crossed his arms. “You got the sword. You go and help her.”

Lan Xiaoli gave him a look. “They are just mediocre gangsters, I cannot raise my sword against them.”

To avoid being caught between the fronts, Zhang Chengling took a step back to stay out of this quarrel.

“...” Mu Chun sighed and approached the group. “Leave her alone.”

The thug that stood closest to Mu Chun turned around. He sized Mu Chun up, then sneered. “Or what?”

Mu Chun returned the sneer with a mirthless smile. He cocked his head and taunted, “Why don’t you come find out?”

Now he had the attention of the entire group. It was five guys in total, all putting on their most dangerous faces. From the visible scars on their skin and their generally deformed features it was obvious they liked to brawl. The gang members slowly started to close in on Mu Chun. He, on the other hand, remained unfazed, hands clasped behind his back.

It wasn’t until one of the rowdies threw the first punch that Mu Chun showed off his skills. And for that, he didn’t even need to move a muscle.

Fresh leaves that had been plucked from the trees by a spring breeze and lay scattered on the ground around them began to quiver, then suddenly shot up all at once. The leaves acted like sharp blades, smoothly severing the hand of the bravest ruffian, stopping his strike mid-swing. Before anyone could react, the leaf blades swiftly surrounded the gangsters, coming to a halt mere inches from their eyes.

Mu Chun’s gaze wandered lazily from gangster to gangster, as if daring them with his eyes to make another move.

As soon as shock gave way to realisation, the now one-handed rowdy seized his own arm and started to scream as blood gushed from his stump. Scared witless, the other gang members quickly took flight, leaving behind their friend… or colleague? Either way, he didn’t seem to hold it against them. Though he looked like a corpse with all the colour drained from his face, he still had enough life in him to run away as well, followed only by a trail of his echoing screams.

Lan Xiaoli and Zhang Chengling both gaped at Mu Chun with eyes and mouths wide open. But not because he had just casually sliced off a hand – they had both seen more horrifying things in their lives already.

Lan Xiaoli was the first to snap back to his senses. “You can use spiritual energy?! Why did you never tell??”

Mu Chun shrugged. “It wasn’t relevant.” He nodded at the girl. “Hey, are you okay?”

With the shadow of the big gangster out of her face, the soft and beautiful features of the girl, who seemed to be about their age, were revealed. Her skin was smooth and fair, and her long black hair was tied up with lots of small braids woven into it.

Though she had a small frame, there was nothing delicate about her. Instead, she gave off a rather barbaric air, which was emphasised by her crude clothing style. Wrapped around her head was a simple headband, and she was layered in robes of vibrant red and blue linen. The small brown leather accents that ran through her outfit rounded off her distinctive style.

She was definitely a fighter – this much they could tell.

The girl didn’t look at Mu Chun. Visibly sullen, she rubbed a bloody cut on her cheek which one of the gangsters must’ve inflicted on her. With a grim expression she replied, “I’m fine.”

Mu Chun’s eyebrow twitched. “...you’re welcome.”

The girl languidly moved her eyes towards him and spat, “For what?”

“We just saved you.”

“I didn’t ask for your help,“ the girl objected.

Mu Chun’s eyebrow twitched even more. “Did you have time to ask??”

The girl acknowledged her mistake and adjusted her wording. “I didn’t need your help.”

Mu Chun’s face dropped. “What’s up with this generation!? Everyone’s so ungrateful!“

“Nah, you just do not deserve our courtesy,“ Lan Xiaoli chimed in.

The girl pointed at him. “Exactly. Thank you.“

Mu Chun twisted his neck back to face Lan Xiaoli. “Are you fucking kidding me? You told me to help her!”

Lan Xiaoli waved him off and addressed the girl, “Do not listen to him… However, there is something you might be able to help us with!”

Mu Chun and Zhang Chengling could almost hear a wink in his voice; he’d never acted so smooth before.

The girl eyed him sceptically. “With what?” 

“We have a few questions about the history of this village,” Lan Xiaoli replied.

The girl didn’t answer right away, weighing the pros and cons in her mind. “Fine,” she said at last. Wanted or not, they had helped her after all, so there was no harm in answering a few questions.

“Thank you. My name is Lan Xiaoli by the way,” he introduced himself. “And the others are Zhang Chengling and Mu Chun.”

The girl nodded. “I’m Lin Yue. Follow me.”

Lin Yue led them to a tavern where they ordered a few drinks before interviewing her.

It turned out that a broken dam had flooded her village, and Murong Zheng just happened to be close by. As with Linguang, he had used his own resources to help the villagers rebuild their homes. In gratitude, they had presented him a medal for his selfless support, a small mansion with a bust of his head at the front to commemorate his bravery, and some sort of high rank.

“I don’t remember his rank,” Lin Yue said, “but he’s rarely on my mind in general. He’s hardly ever here, visiting maybe once every other mon–”

“LIN YUE!!” A man bellowing at the top of his lungs interrupted her explanation. An instant later, the door to the tavern was kicked down and a mob of gangsters burst in.

The owner of the tavern brandished his cleaning rag at them. “Hey!! You keep your business out of my establishment!”

Lin Yue was already on her feet. “Sorry guys, but we have to continue this another time,” she said and dashed off.

She leapt over the counter and ran through the kitchen door to escape out the back exit. The mob of gangsters dismissed the tavern owner and followed her.

The tavern owner clicked his tongue and whirled his cleaning rag in the air as if to shoo them away. “Whose tab should I put the broken door on?!”

Lan Xiaoli and company also wanted to follow, but angry as the owner was, there was no way he would let them pass through the kitchen as well. Instead, the trio left through the front door and hurried around the building, but it was too late. Neither the girl nor the mob were still in sight.

“Do you think we should wait for her?” Zhang Chengling asked.

The interview was all they needed and they got the answers they wanted, yet it felt wrong to leave just like that. Lan Xiaoli nodded, his face solemn. “Yeah… let’s wait.”

Since they didn’t know when Lin Yue would return, Lan Xiaoli decided to pay Murong Zheng’s mansion a visit to kill some time.

“I’ll come with you,” Mu Chun said.

“No need,” Lan Xiaoli replied.

“Then I’ll come too!” Zhang Chengling piped up.

“Guys, someone needs to be here in case she returns. You both stay.”

The other two exchanged a glance but ultimately let Lan Xiaoli leave on his own. 

As Lan Xiaoli made his way toward the mansion, a soft evening breeze swept through his hair and robes, sending them aflutter.

The mansion sat at the end of the village, where a small footpath branched off the main road, leading up to the house. Unlike Murong Zheng’s main residence, it wasn’t guarded. He probably didn’t hide anything of value in his secondary homes, so there was no need to arrange for guards.

The bust Lin Yue had mentioned stood on a small pedestal at the intersection. Lan Xiaoli scrutinised the bronze head, tracing its facial features with his fingers, then gave it a firm slap.

It wasn’t as satisfactory as he’d hoped it would be.

He shook his hand and blew some air into his palm to ease the stinging pain left by the slap. The house in the distance stood desolate and vacant. It was rather plain, much less pompous than his courtyard house. With the woods towering behind it, it almost seemed haunted.

Lan Xiaoli clasped his hands behind his back and wistfully stared at the house from afar. The thought of burning it to the ground briefly flashed in his mind, but he quickly abandoned the idea. Losing a small house probably meant nothing to Murong Zheng.

While Lan Xiaoli was away, Mu Chun and Zhang Chengling booked rooms at the tavern to get some rest. To make sure they didn’t miss Lin Yue, they asked the owner to let them know in case she returned. With the right amount of money, the owner happily complied with their request.

The sky had already turned dark when Mu Chun heard a ruckus outside his window. Though he couldn’t make out what was being said, he could tell that the voices were furious. It was a young, clear voice against a deep, grumbling one. Mu Chun didn’t even need to check to know Lin Yue was involved. A quick glance through his window proved him right.

Outside, in a dark, narrow alley behind the tavern, Lin Yue and a huge, burly man were engaged in a brawl. Mu Chun didn’t recognise him as a ruffian of the groups that had surrounded and chased after Lin Yue earlier.

She managed to keep him at bay for a good while until he seized her by the neck with one of his large hands and lifted her into the air.

Her legs thrashed about and she managed to plant a solid kick to the man’s abdomen, causing him to stumble backwards and loosen his grip. The moment she freed herself, Mu Chun appeared in the alley.

The man was about to lunge at her again, but Mu Chun knocked him out with a deft and powerful chop to the neck.

The man’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. As he toppled over like a freshly felled tree, Lin Yue appeared behind his large body.

She was sitting on the ground, rubbing her ankle. When she had broken free of the man’s grip, she had fallen awkwardly and sprained her foot. Mu Chun wanted to help her up, but she slapped his hand away.

“I don’t need your help,” she grumbled.

Mu Chun rolled his eyes and sighed. He crossed his arms as he watched her pitiful attempt to get up. The moment she put some weight on her injured foot, she faltered. Mu Chun wasn’t in the least surprised and caught her fall.

Frustration washed over her, and in response, she grabbed his sleeves, burying her head into his chest with gritted teeth. Tears welled up in her eyes. She despised feeling this vulnerable and helpless.

With one hand firmly on Lin Yue’s elbow for support, Mu Chun patted her head with the other. “Who are these people?” he asked.

Lin Yue’s grip tightened but she said nothing, biting down on her lip to stifle her tears.

Just then, Mu Chun locked eyes with Lan Xiaoli, who at that moment happened to pass by the alley. When he spotted the two of them in their embrace, Lan Xiaoli halted for a second, his expression indecipherable, then quickly moved on.

“...” Mu Chun let his head fall back in exasperation. He gave Lin Yue a firm pat on her back and said, “Come on, let’s get your ankle cooled.”

She pulled away from him, angrily rubbed the tears from her eyes and nodded her head at the unconscious guy. “What about him?”

Mu Chun didn’t even spare him a look as he walked past. “Don’t worry about him.”

The two of them entered the tavern and Mu Chun briefly scanned the hall, but Lan Xiaoli was nowhere to be seen.

Mu Chun then helped Lin Yue onto a bench. Sitting to her left, he took Lin Yue’s sprained foot and placed it on his lap after removing her boot. The tavern owner brought them the jar of wine they’d ordered and some wet rags, which Mu Chun held to Lin Yue’s ankle.

“Now, who are these guys?” he asked again.

Lin Yue gnawed at her lower lip. Mu Chun applied some pressure to her ankle.

“OW!”

“Speak.”

Lin Yue glared at him but complied nonetheless. “I owe them money.”

“Why?”

“None of your business.”

Mu Chun applied more pressure to her ankle.

“Fuck! You really suck at this!” She sighed. “My mum is sick, so I’m in charge of our family.”

“Ever thought of getting a job?”

Lin Yue jerked her leg in an attempt to kick Mu Chun, but he had a firm grasp on her leg. “Who do you take me for?!”

“No one really. I don’t know you,” he replied flatly.

“...” Lin Yue crossed her arms and averted her eyes. “Of course I did. But no matter what job I took, it never paid enough. I needed quick money, so I borrowed some.”

“What about–”

“My dad is a gutless runaway. Don’t mention him.”

Mu Chun stared at his lap and nodded in understanding.

She didn’t need to say it, but her situation was hopeless. If the money she had honestly earned wasn’t enough to live on, how would she be able to pay back the money she had borrowed within a set time limit? And would the people to whom she owed the money not charge interest, adding to her debt? Apart from that, she’d soon need more money to buy more food and medicine.

In order to afford all this, wouldn’t she have to borrow even more money and end up in a vicious cycle?

All she could do was fight and run away until her mother died or her siblings were old enough to help earn some money. But there was no way the debt collectors were going to wait that long. If she couldn’t pay them back, it was only a matter of time before they’d collect something else as her debt.

“Hey, why is he staring like that?” Lin Yue asked, ripping Mu Chun out of his thoughts.

[heyitsme1040]

Slice of the Universe [e.m]

summary : Growing up in Hawkins, there wasn’t much to do. As a little kid, you wanted a treehouse. For your tenth birthday, your dad built you one. It was your reprieve for years, often where you could be found in your teens, and now as a young adult you go there when you want to be alone. You never told anyone about the old treehouse, until your best-friend-turned-boyfriend Eddie Munson. 

pairings : Eddie Munson x Reader

warnings : None, (if I missed anything please let me know!)

word count : 610

AO3 (x)

a/n : Day five of Comfortember is here! The prompt was ‘treehouse’. This prompt honestly stumped me. While, yes, I did complete this prompt for day five, I didn’t do my personal challenge of 1,000 words. But at the same time, I’m not upset about it. The feelings in this were very raw, and I didn’t want to fluff up the words around it when I was already happy with the feel of it. 

You tipsily giggled from your spot, blearily blinking up at Eddie. You’d decided to go all out celebrating your twenty-first birthday. Eddie promised you he’d look after you so you could fully let loose. Now at twenty-two years old, Eddie was worried you were making him go gray earlier than expected. He’d enjoyed your carefree dancing and singing as you were a couple of drinks into the night. The rest of the older party joined in on the celebration, sharing many laughs and dances. When you’d first suggested the idea to Eddie, he was all for you letting loose, swearing he wouldn’t have a drop to drink. He’d look after you the way you had him on his twenty-first birthday. 

It wasn’t until Robin and Steve convinced you to take birthday shots that the night took an unpredictable turn. Your once excited and joyous voice had faded from the group, you’d seamlessly removed yourself from the party happening all around. Eddie followed you outside the back door, the only one noticing your change in demeanor. He was about to call out to you, but you stepped a few feet into the tree line before climbing up the old ladder. Small smile gracing his lips, Eddie followed you to your favorite place on earth. 

The old treehouse was sturdy. You’d replaced the toys with a small rug and beanbags. There was an old milk crate with some wood on top of it acting as a table. You were tracing the initials carved into the wood as Eddie just watched your calm demeanor. 

“Is everything alright?” Eddie sits in the bean bag across from you. 

“Yeah, just thinking,” your eyes trail over toward him. 

“Hmm…what about?”

“I’m happy. Really happy, and it’s just overwhelming. Who would’ve thought we’d make it this far?”

“Baby,” Eddie’s heart melted and ached at the same time. “The world’s just kind of funny like that. It has those it’s tested the most to be the ones who are the happiest.”

“Do you think it’ll last this time?”

“I don’t know. But I do know that no matter what I’ll be here for you. Just like you’re always here for me. You and me against the universe, remember?”

“Yeah,” you finally smile again. 

Eddie would do anything to have you smile at him like that forever. You move from your bean bag to his, laying next to him on it. The two of you stay like that, cuddled in your little slice of the universe. Talking about everything and nothing all at once. Neither of you care if the rest of the party has noticed the two of you are gone, only focused on how you felt together. Like a balm to the soul, you understood each other entirely. 

The comfort of the familiar treehouse created your own bubble. Talking into the early hours of the morning, Eddie loved the way you slowly dozed off to his voice. Seeing the way you allowed yourself to fall asleep with him made Eddie believe there was good in him. Despite what the rest of the town thinks, you and your parents never doubted him. He just hated that it took spring break for him to realize how much you meant to him. He would never take your presence for granted again. 

That tree house saw many more years to come. Anniversaries, hours of peace, moments of heightened emotions, and everything in between. It was the night of your twenty-first birthday, however, that it witnessed Eddie promise that no matter where life took the two of you he’d make sure you had a little slice of the universe to escape to. 

Author's Note : Reblogs are appreciated, likes are welcome, and if you want to read more of my fics then maybe follow.

©heyitsme1040 If you find this post on any platform under a username different than heyitsme1040 it is not their work.

[chilligyu]

They looked for years, spared no expense, chased the smallest lead, and had absolutely nothing to show for it. Despite the abundance of magical beings in the world, none of them were educated in curse breaking. The only people who could successfully remove curses were the Cursebreakers themselves. Elite enchanters who pledged their abilities and service to the Crown, sworn protectors of the kingdom and champions to the King’s Army. They had more important matters to attend to and couldn’t be bothered to help a poor insignificant young girl.

Which left her with only one option; to learn how to live with the curse that branded her. To accept the fate that had been burned into her chest. To fall in love, to grow accustomed to the pain, and to endure a life of loneliness she couldn’t escape from. There was nothing else she could do. By the time she had grown up into a young woman she had already left an endless sea of broken hearts behind her.

“Why would I want these ugly things?” She once said to a boy who gave her flowers.

“Why do you keep bothering me? Leave me alone.” She spat at a young man she adored.

“I don’t love you, and I never will.” She sneered at the man she was supposed to marry.

Without warning, rhyme, or reason, she would throw hurtful words at men who were nothing but kind to her. At men she loved with everything she had. She would break their hearts just like the curse demanded and would never be able to tell them the truth. She couldn’t explain what was happening or even begin to defend herself. She could only watch helplessly as they walked out of her life for good.

Making matters worse, her venomous tongue had a tendency to strike when she least expected it. Sometimes she could go days, weeks, months even without saying anything cruel against her will. She really should’ve known better but being in love was such a wonderful feeling. It made her forget how everything could come crashing down in an instant. She would be lulled into a false sense of security time and time again, thinking everything was fine right up until the moment she absentmindedly shattered another defenseless heart.

It was absolute torture.

Still, she held onto some small hope that one day things would be different. She kissed boys who told her she was pretty, tried not to cry when she called them terrible things, and didn’t blame herself as much as she used to. No matter how much it hurt, she knew she would never escape it. Wherever she went, people were drawn to her like moths to flame. Just like the witch said. Men were happy to be burned by her, the rest simply relished the chance.

It was a lot for anyone to endure, so every now and then she would take a break from her hectic life. She would spend her summers as far away from her hometown as she could possibly get, a tradition started by her parents. Where she could freely walk the streets without being glared at, where people didn’t whisper about her as she passed, where she was just another person and not one of the fabled Cursebound. For at least a moment, she could feel normal.

These trips were the only thing she ever looked forward to. It was a hint of adventure, a whisper of freedom. She would plan for months on end to pick the perfect escape. Her heart raced as she scoured books and asked tourists about far off lands. Deciding on a destination was like finding a perfect treasure trove that was curated just for her. To her it felt like falling in love without any of the heartache. Saying goodbye to her little towns and quaint cities was gentle, kind, and if she wished it, temporary. Like a book she could pick up again and again.

When she was barely 25 years old, she decided to travel further than she ever had before. She found a route that took her all the way to the border of the continent, right on the edge of the civilized world. She chose a hidden gem that was haphazardly fixated on the thin line between sovereign lands and the savage Wastelands. It was the first she had ever heard of an official track that even dared to venture out that far. 

Stories painted the picture of a small town tucked away in the mountains, houses and shops were a dizzying mix of vibrant teals, yellows, and purples. Colors that were deemed tacky by the aristocracy. Dragons and wyverns flew overhead, dangerous. The night sky was as clear as the ocean, unlikely. Stars regularly rained down like fireworks, preposterous. The people that lived there were indecent, had little to no manners, and didn’t appreciate the finer things. 

To her it sounded perfect.

As she approached by train, she was completely mesmerized by the darkness looming over the horizon. She had never seen the Wastelands up close before, not many people had. There were rumors of what vile creatures lived out there, completely untouched by the light. Ogres, harpies, banshees, demons, and every other monster you could name called the Wastelands their home. Even so, they were of no concern to her. What drew her in, what ensnared her attention so thoroughly, was an old story that she remembered reading as a child.

“The Wastelands is a dark and treacherous place. It chews humans up and spits them back out if they even think to venture too close. Every day, Hell itself unleashes all sorts of malcontents from the fiery pit, each one carefully crafted from darkness and despair by Lilith herself. The only people who choose to live there, who willingly brave the dangerous wilderness, are the Cursebound. When the whole world has rejected them for the monsters they are, they walk into the black fog without hesitation, because at least in the Wastelands, they can join their savage brethren. And they can finally find...”

“The one place they truly belong…”

cursebound | wip, 30.3.23 | lee jihoon/reader | UPDATED

In this world everything has a history, even things as simple as words. A word can have a past, a present, and, if they’re lucky, a future. Words like curse were drenched in a bloody past that had long since been forgotten. They had become hollow threats wrapped up in a harmless facade. Now they were simply fairy tales meant to scare naughty children, ghost stories told by drunken sailors, they were not something to believe in or to be afraid of. 

But words like curse will kindly remind you why they are meant to be remembered, to be feared.

Back when curses were more—more than empty words, blank pages, and forgotten nightmares—they were absolutely formidable. They brought kingdoms to their knees with little more than hushed whispers, sideways glances, and a crook of a finger. Women lost their youth overnight, men turned into gruesome beasts with the setting sun, and children were unknowingly replaced by demons under the shroud of darkness. Such horrors should not have been so easily forgotten, and yet they were.

She wasn’t given the luxury. 

She wasn’t allowed to forget.

Had her parents been more mindful in their youth, perhaps she never would’ve known the pain of being cursed, of being punished for their selfishness and for things she never did. They were punished for their hubris, for crossing the wrong witch, and their fair daughter would be the one to pay for their crimes. This witch didn’t fear the consequences of such an archaic punishment, she valued retribution and revenge above all else. Even her own wellbeing.

“Your daughter will grow to be the most beautiful maiden in all the land.” The witch began that fateful day, pointing a crooked finger at the young infant. "She will be kind, compassionate, and virtuous. Wherever she goes, people will be drawn to her beauty. Men will throw themselves at her feet, women will yearn for her looks. She will be more desirable than any princess or queen before her. She will openly offer her heart to those who seek her hand, bleeding on a platter. But so long as she lives, she will break every heart that dares to love her, and she can never tell them why. Nor can her loving parents. She will only know loneliness, same as I. Because of you.”

From the moment she was born, that was her curse. To forever be surrounded by love and to relentlessly, maliciously, spurn the lovers that were compelled to fancy her. A gift of ethereal beauty wrapped up tight in an embrace of anguish and despair. She was granted a lifetime of suffering before she ever opened her eyes. Her parents refused to believe it, they were still under the delusion that curses were nothing to be feared.

How foolish and naive they were.

When she was young, she didn’t fully comprehend what was in store for her. Her parents had told her about the curse, but they had always played it off as some silly joke and never told her the whole truth. It was an old wives’ tale to them, one that no reasonable person would ever take seriously. However, their tone started to change when their precious, perfect, daughter constantly came home from school in tears, unable to understand what was wrong with her. Because no matter what she did, or how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from hurting the people she cared about.

“You’re cursed, my darling.” Her mother said softly, wiping away her tears. “This is your life now.”

“But… but…” The little girl blubbered. “Only bad people get cursed! What did I do? What am I being punished for?”

Her parents looked at each other with sorrow in their eyes. They couldn’t bear to tell their wonderful daughter that they were the cause for all her suffering. She was being punished because her father was a shallow man who only cared about looks, and her mother was a heartless woman who would step on anyone in her way. If she knew the truth, she would resent them forever.

“That old witch was jealous of your beauty.” Her father lied easily. “She knew that you would grow up to be the most beautiful maiden in the kingdom and that ugly woman hated you for it.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Her mother chimed in, stroking her hair gently. “But don’t worry, we’ll find a way to break the curse.”

[taromolktea]

- See you in my 100th life.

Scaramouche x reincarnated!Reader (2nd person)

loosely based on the webtoon see you in my 19th life

word count: 1.3k

content: your first meeting with the balladeer was one you'd remember forever. no matter how many centuries pass and life's you live. fluff ; friends to lovers ; enemies (?) to lovers ; eventual smut (will be tagged accordingly) ; blood

general tag list (message to be added/removed) 🏷 @icedthoma @citrussaurus @danibby

status. ongoing // chapter II

a.n. ah, something about being so in love with scaramouche that you pursue him in every reincarnation just makes me feel alive. xoxo sophie

CHAPTER I — first meeting/goodbye.

You still remember your first meeting with Scaramouche… or even better, Kunikuzushi— wait, no. He was still nameless at that time.

His long dark hair cascaded down his shoulders, bangs framing perfectly his face. He had a timid look in his amethyst eyes, almost afraid, staring up at you as you approached him.

"Are you hurt?" You asked, reaching for him.

The boy instinctively crawled away from you. While your frame was smaller than his, he was still wary about physical contact, yet, he longed for it as well. It was cold and pouring after all.

"My house is not far, I can carry you there if you need!" You removed the haori that covered your shoulders and wrapped around his head. The boy looked like he needed it more than you, especially since he was wearing only a thin kimono.

You didn’t know this, but your actions made his heart race and face go numb. It's been a day since he was abandoned by his creator, and any act of kindness felt like a blessing from the Archons. For the first time since your brief encounter, the boy looked into your eyes and he felt the oxygen leave his lungs.

You were the most beautiful creature he has ever seen.

The trip back to your house was calm and quiet, the only thing heard was the pouring rain and distant thundering. You tried your best to talk to the boy, but he did not utter a word and only nodded or shook his head at your questions.

Your house was a shack compared to his creator's, but your mother's cooking warmed the place up and made the boy feel right at home. Your mother sent you two to bath as she prepared everything, and once you and your new friend were both in warmer clothes, she served the rice cake soup she was preparing earlier.

"Mom's cooking is the best! She's a chef in the city's inn." You boasted, bringing a spoonful of soup to your lips. "Eat! Your feel better." He didn't take long to imitate your actions and eat the meal set in front of him, and just like a baby, once he got a taste he couldn't help but gulp it down faster, almost choking in the process.

Soon, you and your mother realized the boy didn't have a name, but she was quick to suggest one.

"What about Kunihiro?" Your mother suggested, brushing his hair to get rid of the knots which formed during the bath. "That was my big brother's name."

"Kuni..hiro?" The boy repeated.

Your eyes sparkled and you held onto his hands. "Yes! That's perfect!" You sat closer to him and once again his face grew hot at the proximity. "We'll be friends from now on okay?"

For the first time since he abandoned, Kunihiro smiled.

He wasn't alone anymore.

Time went by flying, and soon "Kuni" got used to living with your family. Well, your mom. Your dad passed even before you were born and now she's your only family and supporter. A strong woman who works as a chef at the small inn in town. They don't pay well, but it's enough for the three of you.

It's been a couple of years since your first meeting and Kunihiro was your best friend and basically family… even if sometimes you felt your heart beat faster when he got too close or when he helped you carry heavy bags. But how could you not fall for your best friend? With his long hair and purple eyes to match, he was basically perfect. His porcelain skin looked doll-like, the expensive kind you never had the chance nor funds to buy. And his eyes? Those were your favorite part of him, especially now that he allowed you to put on red eyeshadow on him to really make them pop out. It started as a joke, but once you were done, he looked so breathtaking you decided to turn it into a routine.

So, you spent a long time just staring at him, taking in his beauty. Sometimes he'd cry in his sleep, call out for his "creator", who you assumed was his mother, even though he refused to call her such a name. During those nights you'd hug him close, and while he pretended to sleep, you knew he was awake from the way he'd wrap his arms around you too.

"C'mon Kuni! If you don't walk faster I'll leave you behind." You called out for Kuni as you ran, a basket full of herbs on your back. You and Kuni would go into the forest to look for medicinal herbs to sell in town later. The sun had set long ago and it was raining again, just like the day you first met.

"Don't run or you'll fall!" Kunihiro sighed, holding your hand and quickly averting his gaze. "Also, there have been rumors in town about the strange wolves attacking, we have to be extra careful."

Ah yes, the flying thunder wolves. Even with the Shogun doing her best to slaughter them all, the attacks haven't ceased yet. Dozens died already, but luckily your house was far from the city, and they haven't been spotted in the area yet.

You nodded, holding firmly onto his hand. "So… what are you doing for dinner?"

Your mom caught a cold, so while she was the one doing the cooking around the house, you and Kuni were the ones in charge of it until she got better. You'd be lying if you said you weren't worried for her well-being. Your mother was never the healthiest woman around, but you tried your best to not look down next to her.

"Uhm, I was thinking about grilled unagi with rice." Kuni answered, turning around to face you and quickly flicking your forehead. "And don't look so worried, auntie is too strong to let a cold bring her down." He smiled, bending down so he could place his lips on the place he just flicked.

"D-don't hurt me if you're just going to kiss it better right after." You muttered, trying to keep your cool. It wasn't easy when he was so close, with his hand holding your cheek.

"You know I can't really hurt you for long." He giggled. "Seriously, it'll be alright."

"Thank you Kunihiro." You whispered, allowing yourself to lean into his chest.

You two remained like that for a while, until Kuni pushed you away. Startled, you looked up at him, but his eyes were looking in the direction of your house. "Something's up, we have to go."

Blood. That's all you remember.

First, all over your mother's room. And now, all over yourself too.

It was the wolves, they found your house and attacked your mother, and when you and Kuni got closer, another attacked you. Your best friend was able to fight it off, you don't really know how. All you remember is a bright purple flash, and then you were in his arms, bleeding out it seems.

"H-hey, don't cry Kuni." You called out, holding his face. "We'll meet again soon, I know it—" You coughed up blood, accidentally splattering some of it on his face. You wanted to apologize, but he stopped you before you could. "Can, I ask you one last thing before I go?"

Kuni nodded, tears still falling from his eyes, even though he was unable to say anything without choking on his words.

"Can I get a kiss?"

And just like that, he did as you asked, feeling your life slip away as his lips lay on yours.

The last thing you hear is his wailing, before slipping into darkness.

"Uh— Where am I?"

[sadprosed]

𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑶  𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑷𝑻𝑺.

↬   OF  FAIRYTALES,  FOLKLORE  AND  FAEKIND.

scenarios  inspired  by  various  settings,  encounters  &  magic  tucked  between  pages,  fashioned  by  the  author.

+   feel  free  to  change  pronouns  /  roles  !

FAIRYTALES.

‘  let  me  guess,  you  thought  a  true  love’s  kiss  would  help  you.  ’

‘  you  will  always  follow  the  trail  in  the  wood,  and  it  will  guide  you  on  the  same  path,  to  the  same  cottage,  the  same  witch.  it  will  always  be  your  undoing.  ’

‘  i  have  never  seen  a  more  tragic  creature.  how  might  i  help  you  ?  ’

‘  you  must  take  this  knife  and  plunge  it  into  his  /  her  /  their  heart.  ’

‘  forget  yourself.  that  is  how  you  break  your  curse.  ’

‘  remove  this  thorn  from  my  hand,  and  you  will  be  rewarded.  ’

‘  i’m  tired  of  being  a  prince.  i  think  i  would  actually  enjoy  being  a  frog.  ’

‘  tell  me  of  the  beast,  and  i  will  hunt  it  for  you.  ’

‘  mice  are  never  just  mice,  and  pumpkins  are  rarely  just  pumpkins.  ’

‘  i  don’t  think  breaking  a  spell  should  be  this  simple.  ’

‘  i  never  thought  i’d  return  here,  to  the  site  where  it  all  began.  ’

‘  are  you  an  orphan  ?  it’s  just  that  they’re  always  finding  themselves  in  magical  predicaments.  ’

‘  the  mirror  speaks  falsely  in  your  ear.  it  is  your  true  curse.  ’

‘  my  heart  feels  uneasy,  although  i  am  free.  is  it  supposed  to  ?  ’

‘  i’m  sorry,  it’s  just  that  i  thought  this  is  the  part  of  the  quest  where  the  animals  ought  to  start  talking  to  me.  ’

‘  of  course  i  plan  on  going  to  the  ball.  why  wouldn’t  i  ?  ’

‘  jealousy  has  made  more  witches  out  of  women  than  adam’s  rib.  ’

‘  where  has  choosing  goodheartedness  and  having  golden  hair  ever  gotten  you  ?  ’

 ‘  are  you  a  helpful  wizard,  or  the  kind  that  sits  in  a  tower  reading  moldy  books  ?  ’

‘  i’m  dreadfully  bored.  who  knew  waiting  for  a  prince  was  so  strenuous  ?  ’

‘  we  all  have  towers  we  must  leave,  and  magic  that  will  try  to  thwart  us.  ’

‘  i’m  afraid  for  the  clock  to  strike.  the  hour  will  ring  in  the  place  of  my  heartbeat  when  we  must  be  parted.  ’

‘  i  had  no  idea  carpets  could  fly.  or  pigs  for  that  matter.  ’  

‘  what  would  happen  if  the  knight  did  not  arrive  to  the  castle,  and  the  dragon  made  a  den  of  it  and  a  hoard  of  its  people  and  prize  of  its  princess  ?  ’

‘  i  sometimes  think  i  was  switched  out  at  birth,  like  a  lizard  in  a  bird’s  nest.  i  belong  somewhere  else.  ’

‘   in  another  kingdom  exists  a  throne  and  a  crown  that  is  mine  by  right.  ’

‘  if  i  did  not  wake  up  one  day,  i  would  still  be  waiting  on  a spinning  wheel,  dutifully  bored.  ’  

‘  something  in  me  knows  you  are  here  for  my  heart.  ’

FOLKLORE.

‘  in  all  the  myths  i’ve  heard,  it’s  never  been  worthwhile  to  approach  strange  sights.  it’s  best  to  turn  around  and  pretend  you  never  saw  them.  ’

‘  nothing  is  folklore  until  it  exists  longer  than  consciousness  remembers,  and  lives  in  spite  of  it.  ’

‘  i’ve  heard  your  name  before,  in  songs  and  lengthy  ballads.  ’

‘  whatever  has  led  you  here  to  me,  there  is  destiny  in  its  making.  ’

‘  the  beast  returns  every  century  or  so,  and  tries  to  devour  us.  it  will  come  again  before  long.  ’

‘  a  pretty  face  is  not  nothing.  it  earns  you  a  hearth  and  a  kind  hand,  after  all.  ’

‘  their  lips  are  red  as  blood,  and  their  teeth  carve  ruin  into  throats.  ’

‘  aren’t  dragons  supposed  to  breathe  fire  and  make  a  fuss  about  having  their  treasure  found  ?  ’

‘  someday  you  will  become  a  pilgrim,  a  saint,  or  a  favored  story,  while  i  will  be  a  voice  on  the  wind.  ’

‘  the  stories  say  brides  don’t  live  to  the  light  before  demons  devour  them.  why  should  i  become  one  ?  ’

‘  there  was  another  girl  like  you  once,  in  a  small  town  like  this  one.  i  can’t  remember  if  she  became  the  monster  or  died  trying  to  escape  it.  ’

‘  remember  to  festoon  the  hearth  with  garlic,  or  rosemary,  or  one  of  those  mundane  herbs  that  keep  evil  out.  ’

‘  that  sounds  like  nothing  but  a  tall  tale,  but  i’m  certain  smaller  minds  would  eat  it  up.  ’

‘  to  cross  this  bridge,  you’ll  have  to  pay  a  heavy  toll.  ’

‘  don’t  stray  too  far  from  the  path  set  before  you,  or  something  interesting  might  happen.  ’

‘  i’ve  passed  that  yard  of  crops  a  million  times,  but  the  crow  never  moved  from  its  post  until  this  morning.  ’

‘   it  is  as  though  ancient  fears  are  still  in  us  like  scars  or  stitches.  ’

‘  graveyards  aren’t  where  you  find  ghosts.  look  for  them  in  places  that  feel  like  memories  you  shouldn’t  have.  ’

‘  stories  reap  princes  from  peasants  as  if  their  skins  were  crops  in  the  ground.  ’

‘  what  form  does  your  fear  take  ?  surely  not  that  of  a  bear  or  a  lion.  such  things  are  too  assuring.  ’

‘  i  found  myself  where  everything  was  too  familiar  to  be  real.  ’

‘  in  safe  beds  on  cold  dark  nights,  we  learn  to  face  the  monsters  in  our  own  minds.  ’

FAEKIND.

‘  you’re  not  to  partake  in  a  fairy  feast.  don’t  you  know  it’s  the  food  that  will  devour  you  ?  ’

‘  i’m  sorry  you  did  not  read  the  eyes  of  the  trees  before  finding  yourself  here.  ’

‘  i  wish  to  go  back.  i  want  to  forget  everything.  ’

‘  you  think  that  believing  in  us  is  enough  to  protect  you  ?  that  it  will  kill  us  if  you  forget,  and  we  prey  upon  your  unknowing  ?  ’

‘  step  around  the  ring  three  times,  like  a  backwards  clock.  that’s  how  you  get  to  fairyland.  ’  

‘  i’ve  never  heard  such  sweet  music  before.  ’

‘  where  the  trees  begin  to  twist  and  groan  in  their  roots,  remember  you  must  not  make  a  right  turn.  ’

‘  i  didn’t  feel  like  i’d  stepped  into  another  world,  but  like  it  stepped  into  me.  i  knew  i  was  there  and  forgot  i’d  left  anything  behind.  ’

‘  how  amusing.  a  human  !  ’

‘  would  you  be  my  bride  if  i  were  to  take  you  into  the  ground  ?  ’

‘  i  know  of  tunnels  you  might  take,  the  burrows  of  trolls  and  rabbits.  ’

‘  don’t  take  anything  from  this  realm,  none  of  it  is  worth  the  price  of  keeping.  ’

‘  there  are  courts  by  many  titles  in  the  lands  beyond  the  veil,  all  of  them  other.  ’

‘  names  are  not  like  currency  here;  they  are  more  precious  than  diamonds  and  legacies.  ’

‘  did  you  think  all  of  us  looked  like  goblins  ?  ’

‘  getting  here  is  easy,  but  getting  home  is  quite  the  trick.  ’

‘  i  shall  give  you  a  riddle,  and  it  will  puzzle  you  until  you  know  the  answer  but  forget  your  own  soul.  ’

‘  a  bloodline  is  nothing  when  you’ve  outlived  civilizations.  ’

‘  refusing  my  hospitality  is  like  human  sin,  and  it  will  bring  worse  upon  you.  ’

‘  everything  here  is  and  isn’t,  and  things  are  and  aren’t.  ’

‘  on  lonely  nights  i  stare  into  the  trees,  and  a  strange  face  leers  back.  ’

‘  the  thrones  here  are  made  of  bones  and  blood,  and  built  upon  decay.  ’

‘  a  third  time  is  not  a  charm,  but  a  bargain.  it  says  that  you  want  something  enough  to  wager  your  sense.  ’

‘  it  is  dangerous  to  think  that  magical  beings  do  not  have  human  intensities.  ’

[rebeccccccaaa]

ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ _____________________

ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ’s!ʙᴇsᴛ!ғʀɪᴇɴᴅ!ʙᴜᴄᴋʏ ʙᴀʀɴᴇs ᴀᴜ

sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: You and Buck have always been close growing up but you two soon learn that the line that separates friendly and flirting is a lot thinner than you think.

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: fluff, slight angst bc u got a shit bf, big bro vibes from bucky, smut duh [18+ minors dni (slight praise but also slight degradation, marking, belly bulge, squirting, fem!rec oral, unprotected sex, plz be safe irl, slight choking, pet names: darling&princess, i think that’s it lmk plz)]

ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ’s ɴᴏᴛᴇs: hey assholes i'm back for the time being lol. I have a few ideas and fics I'm currently writing right now so do not fret.

______________________________________

You knew this was a horrible idea. 

It’s Saturday night and you and your boyfriend were back in another night club after being kicked out from one just hours before. Daniel had gotten too drunk, as he always does, causing you to kindly ask the bartender to cut him off. Daniel didn’t take that too lightly resulting in a gnarly swing at the poor guy just doing his job. 

Security threw you out and Daniel called an Uber to go where you thought was going to be your apartment but twenty minutes later you pulled up to another club practically on the other side of town. You yelled at Daniel but he pushed aside stumbling inside for yet even more drinks and mistakes waiting for him inside. 

You sat at the bar simply drinking some water and snacking on some peanuts keeping your eye on your garbage boyfriend. You're constantly checking the time on your phone, annoyed with every passing minute. It was 2 am and you just wanted to go home and sleep. You were even debating texting your brother Steve hoping you could just crash at his place not too far from where you were but it would be incredibly irresponsible to just leave Daniel in the state he’s in. 

So you waited and waited and waited. Your eyelids felt heavy and your energy was just completely drained. You were basically a zombie. It wasn’t until a guy approached your half asleep body that you felt a sense of alert. Daniel was shit-faced so you were practically defenseless. 

“Hey,” the guy shouted over the music.

“Sorry, I’m not interested. My boyfriend’s-” you quickly said, only to be cut off.

“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna hit on you. I’ve got a boyfriend of my own,” he chuckled, making you breathe out in relief. 

“Sorry,” you cringed at yourself. 

“It’s alright; but uh, I hate to be the one to tell you this. You might want to check with your boyfriend,” he said sympathetically. 

You pushed your way through the crowd scanning every face in search of Daniel. What did he do? Is he hurt? Did he get in trouble again? Is he getting arrested? Where is he-

“Daniel?” you said eyes tearing up a bit. 

His arms were wrapped around another girl’s waist as he kissed her the way he kissed you. She practically moaned as their tongues slobbered disgustingly with each other. Their hips grinding against each other proactively as if you weren’t even there. Sadness turned to anger, and anger turned to rage, gripping Daniel’s short hairs and pulling his head away from whoever this girl was. 

“What the fuck?” the girl complained, her eyes completely bloodshot. 

“Did he tell you that he was here with his girlfriend tonight?” you're sad with gritted teeth. Daniel stumbled around still unable to register what the hell was happening. 

“Oh my god, you forreal?” she said.

“Who fucking cares? She’s a prude anyway. I got more action with you than I did her in the past, what, six months?” Daniel slurred. 

“You know what, you’re a fucking prick, dude. She deserves so much better than you; I bet your dick is small anyway,” the girl said.

“Fuck you too bitch,” Daniel spit. 

“I can’t believe you,” you said. 

“Oh, whoop-dee-doo, big fucking surprise. Babe, you’re a prude. Can’t you see it? I don’t know why I’m wasting my time with you anymore,” he practically puked out the words without any second thought. 

“Fine, then I hope you enjoy the rest of your night, you fucking asshole,” you stormed away holding in the tears; he wasn’t worth it. 

Almost three am and you just dumped your cheating lowlife boyfriend on the other side of town. Steve wasn’t answering his phone and you even wanna be near the club anymore. Walking speedily staring at your screen desperate to call an Uber home, you bumped harshly into a hard chest falling to the ground on your bum. 

“Fucking hell, I’m so sorry, darling,” the man said helping you up by your elbows.

“It’s ok. I wasn’t looking- Bucky?” 

“Oh, hey kid. What are you doing? It’s like three in the morning and you don’t live anywhere near here,” Bucky said, crossing his arms. 

“Daniel got himself kicked from the one by our apartment and Ubered here instead.”

“So where’s Daniel?” Bucky scowled; he’s always hated that guy, so did Steve.

“Probably fucking some other chick in the bathroom,” your voice cracked. 

“What?”

“It’s nothing; I just want to go home,” you cried.

“Hey, it’s ok; it’s ok. Do you wanna crash at me and Steve’s? He’s gone for the weekend with Peggy; you can stay in his room at least for the night,” Bucky offered; so that’s why Steve’s not answering his phone. 

“I don’t wanna intrude on your night. I can just call an Uber, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. Steve’ll kill me if he found out I left his baby sis alone in the streets of New York at three in the morning. It’s not a problem, we were just bar hopping and I stopped drinking ages ago.”

“Are you sure, Buck?”

“Of course,” he smiled warmly at you. 

“Hey, Nat!”

“What’s up?” a beautiful redhead approached you both.

“Gonna head home ; don’t do anything stupid,” he chuckled. 

“You too,” she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, “Catch you Monday?” 

“You’re stupid. I’ll see ya,” Bucky laughed before grabbing your hand and headed towards his apartment. 

“Thanks again, Buck. For letting me stay here tonight,” you said once you entered his apartment. 

It had been a while since you hung out at your brother’s apartment but nothing’s changed. Typical men and their inability to change even a throw pillow. You set your small bag on the couch before Bucky led you to Steve’s room. There were pictures of you and him posing at Steve’s graduation; and later your own. Pictures of Steve and Bucky at a theme park, during a bar-be-que for Steve’s birthday. So many memories that Steve held onto in his room. 

“Time really flies doesn’t it?” Bucky said, slightly startling you.

“Sorry,” he chuckled.

“No, you’re fine. But you’re right. Feels all these pictures were taken yesterday,” you reminisced. 

“I got you some clothes if you need to change; I’ll give you privacy,” Bucky said, slipping from the room briskly. 

You sat on the bed frustrated with everything. Your body was so drained from being up so early in the night, to the fight with Daniel. The past couple months with him were so awful. He was just so mean to you all the time and you didn’t know what you did wrong. Where did it go wrong? When did things shift?

"Is everything ok, darling?" Bucky asked quietly, knocking on the door when you hadn't come out after a while.

"What did I do wrong? I thought he loved me," you choked out. 

Bucky sighed as he walked over to the bed sitting beside you before engulfing you in a warm hug. You cried into his shoulder and Bucky couldn't help the anger that bubbled inside him for your excuse of a boyfriend Daniel. He never got along with the guy and now he finally has a reason to knock his teeth in.

"You didn't do anything, I know it. That prick wouldn't know love if it hit him in the face. It's his loss. You deserve so much better than that asshole. Look at me, you're so beautiful and funny and fucking adorable; any guy who can't see how perfect you are, is a dense piece of shit." 

"James," you whispered. 

His words made your heart skip and your stomach flutter. But Bucky’s always had that effect on you. Even growing up. You weren’t going to sit there and pretend that hearing his words hadn't had a deeper effect than they would’ve coming from Daniel. Sometimes you wondered what being with Bucky would be like. You’re not the first to admit how handsome Bucky was and growing up you did have quite the crush on your brother’s best friend.  

You don't know what it was, whether it was the alcohol still swimming through your veins, or just feeling so vulnerable being in Bucky's arms but you wanted him badly. You needed him, needed to feel something again. And you knew he could give it to you. You pressed your lips to his and in an instant his hands dropped to your hips pulling you impossibly close against his body. Your hands went to the back of his head as you kissed him messily. Your noses bumped and teeth clashed but it was the best kiss you’ve ever had. 

“Fuck, your brother’s gonna kill me,” Bucky mumbled, almost to himself, as he slowly laid you down on your back.

Bucky’s hands trailed up your thighs, squeezing the soft flesh every now and then as he continued kissing you passionately. Your own hands couldn’t help but tug at his shirt desperately. When he did so, your breath was completely taken away. It had been years since you’d seen Bucky without a shirt. 

Not only had he been quite skinny just like your brother back then, but not long after leaving for college with Steve he was in a bike accident that left him with ghastly scars and burns along his left arm and shoulder. Since then, it’s fair to say Bucky never really ever took his shirt off. It had taken years just for him to remove the glove he’d always wear to cover the scars on his hand.

“You’ve gotten so strong, James,” you grinned, reaching out to brush the flexed muscles running down his front. 

He simply stared at you with an anticipating and anxious expression on his face, waiting for you to state the obvious. When you didn’t, when you pulled his head down to kiss him once again, he almost cried. Bucky hadn’t been with a woman in so long, afraid of this very moment. He knew at that moment, there was no one quite like you. 

Bucky fell in love. 

“Let me take care of you, darling. You’ve been so good to me,” Bucky whispered huskily in your ear as he trailed his hand under your own shirt brushing his fingertips along the underside of your breast.

His lips pressed softly against your hot skin along your neck before standing up between your legs at the end of the bed. He pulled your shirt off then played cheekily with the straps of your bra that you still had on. You smiled back at him with the same playful stare, reaching behind you to unclasp the material. 

You could see the way Bucky’s eyes darken and his pupils widened as he stared in awe at your naked chest. Your skin bursted into chills under his hungry gaze even though you felt like you were burning up. Bucky leaned forward kissing down the valley of your breasts, nipping once in a while playfully before laying you back down. He shimmied you out of your bottoms easily, kneeling on the ground leaving you completely bare before him. 

“You are absolutely stunning, princess,” Bucky whispered, running his hands up your thighs slowly. 

“Bucky, please. I need you,” you whimpered. 

“Don’t worry, darling. I promise I’m gonna take good care of you,” he smirked devilishly. 

He pushed your knees open, eyeing the arousal that glistened between your thighs. He brought his fingers up to you slowly rubbing your slick around before finally pushing a thick and long finger past your folds. Your body shuddered solely at the foreign but pleasurable feeling, already moaning softly. 

Bucky’s cock strained through pants upon hearing your beautiful moans; they were like music to his ears. He couldn’t help the way his hips would buck into the mattress in a desperate attempt to relieve some pain from his erection. Soon after he pulled his fingers from you slowly only to thrust them further in you, curling his fingers just right. 

He brought his mouth down to you, wrapping his lips around your clit sucking harshly. You gasped and your back arched, overwhelmed with pleasure Bucky was giving you with just his mouth and fingers. All the times that you’d given yourself to your ex, he had never made you feel this good before, feel this full; let alone with his fingers. Bucky was taking his time with you solely for your own pleasure and it made your heart swoon. 

Your legs trapped Bucky’s head between your thighs, squeezing as he continued to eat you out like a starved man. Your hands went to his hair pulling on his dark locks causing Bucky to moan deeply against you. You were so close to a release; your legs shaking violently and your stomach tightening. 

“Come on, princess. Want you to come all over my face. Can you do that for me, darling?”

“Fuck!”

“Be a good girl and make a mess,” Bucky teased.

His fingers moved faster as he swirled his tongue around and over your clit just as quickly. You were becoming overwhelmed and that coil bursted in the pit of your stomach. You pushed Bucky’s face from you, shrieking with pure pleasure; Bucky’s kept the rapid pace with fingers as you fell over the edge.

“Fucking hell, that was so hot, princess,” Bucky said standing up; his fingers, arm, his chest was covered in your arousal. 

“Did I do that?” your voice trembled. 

“Because of me,” Bucky winked playfully.

“I didn’t know I could do that,” you let your head fall back on the bed as you briefly caught your breath.

Bucky grabbed his shirt that he discarded not long ago and quickly wiped his chest and arm before discarding his pants and boxers. He nearly moaned at the feeling when he finally freed his dick from the restraining garments. His hand instantly wrapped around the base before pumping himself a few times. 

You brought yourself onto your elbows momentarily ogling at the sight of Bucky completely bare before you. Your mouth practically watered at the sight. Bucky crawled over you kissing you deeply and messily; but perfectly. He pulled away and you both had goofy smiles on your faces before bursting into a fit of giggles, Bucky’s head burying into the crook of your neck.

“You’re so goddamn adorable, princess,” Bucky’s voice was muffled. 

“Bucky,” you whined. 

You couldn’t resist squirming underneath the burly man. Although, you’ve just had what was probably the best orgasm you’ve ever had, you wanted more. You needed more; you needed Bucky. 

“I got you, darling. I got you.” 

Bucky wanted to tease you more, make you beg, but he was just as desperate to feel you as you were. He propped himself up on his elbows kissing you one last time before reaching between your bodies and lining his dick with your entrance. Both you and Bucky moaned simultaneously as he stretched you out; curses spilling from his lips as incoherent moans fell from yours. 

“So fucking tight, princess. Squeezing my cock just right, aren’t ya?” he whispered.

“Fuck, I feel so full,” you whimpered.

Bucky began to slowly move his hips in and out of you deliciously. He quickly picked up the pace, jetting his hips rapidly making your moans louder. Bucky sat up on his knees and gripped your waist surely to leave bruises in your wake. This new angle surprised you and you couldn’t help the squeals and moans that left your mouth. You chanted Bucky's name like a prayer; as if it was the only word you knew. 

Bucky watched you carefully, your face contorting with pure euphoric pleasure. He couldn’t help notice the small bump in your lower belly and without a second thought, he grabbed your hands pressing them firmly over your tummy. 

“You feel how deep I am, darling? Fucking poking through,” Bucky grunted. 

“Shit! Oh, it feels so good,” you moaned. 

“That’s right, no one’s ever gonna fuck you this good again. This pussy’s mine now,” Bucky growled. 

He took one of his hands and wrapped it around your throat squeezing the sides gently but firm at the same time. Your eyes rolled back and you moaned even louder, confident that the neighbors were sure to complain in the morning. Feeling Bucky’s hand around your neck was so exhilarating; you and Daniel had never ever experimented with anything beyond a pair of handcuffs, and that particular night went horribly. 

You like being choked by Bucky. 

“Fucking slut; you like this, don’t ya?” he came down to whisper huskily against your lips. 

“Mh-hm,” you moaned with a devilish grin, your bottom lip resting between your teeth before your eyes rolled back again. 

“Such a fucking beauty you are.”

Bucky hips snapped in and out and he knew it wouldn’t be long until he needed to release.

“God, I’m close, princess,” he growled. 

His hand moved to rest on the back of your neck to pull you up so you straddled his thighs and your chest was flushed against his. Your sensitive and hardened nipples brushed against his slightly sweaty skin causing you to shudder in pleasure. Bucky’s lips attached themselves to your skin along your collar bones sucking harshly leaving purple marks all along.

Your legs shook once again as they did before and soon enough with an arched back and shout of Bucky’s name you came all over his cock. Overwhelmed with your sex, Bucky bit harshly on your shoulder in a poor attempt to muffled the loud groans and moans he elicited. Feeling your velvety walls squeeze tightly around him pushed him over the edge, coating your walls with hot ribbons on cum. 

He fell forward almost crushing you but you were too tired to complain. Bucky continued to pepper soft kisses all over your skin whispering how good you were to him, how beautiful you looked. Just absolutely showering with compliments. You felt him slowly getting off you, probably afraid he was crushing you, but you didn’t want him to leave just yet. 

“Don’t,” you whispered, wrapping your arms tightly around his body. 

“I don’t want to crush you, darling.”

“You’re not.”

Bucky chuckled before settling completely above you, careful not to make you uncomfortable. Hardly any time went by when he felt the even and soft puffs of air hitting his skin, sure that you had fallen asleep. He picked himself up and with major guilt for his best friend, picked you up from the bed and walked you to his own room. 

After he was sure you stayed sound asleep, Bucky grabbed a clean pair of boxers and hurried himself to Steve’s room again. He collected all the discarded clothes and the dirty sheets and tossed them in the washing machine to clean right away. 

He hadn’t meant to fuck his best friend’s little sister, let alone in his own room, on his own bed, but it all happened so fast. 

He went back to his room letting the clothes do it’s thing, and quickly grabbed his phone. He messaged Steve, telling him that when he got back for his weekend with Peggy, he really needed to talk to him. 

Tonight made Bucky realize how much he loved you. Growing up, you two had always been close. But he doesn’t know when he stopped being friendly and instead began flirting. Bucky wanted to be with you; he knew it now more than ever. 

Bucky watched your gorgeous sleeping form on his bed. He smiled to himself before opening the window; the sun already rising and those beautiful golden rays seeped through the glass window, making you look angelic. He crawled into bed cuddling flushed against your naked body. He chuckled softly when you realized he’d returned, wiggling even further into his arms. 

“I love you, Bucky,” you mumbled. 

“I love you, too, darling.”

And he really, and truly did love you. As did you love him. 

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

ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛ: (For all my work)

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Bucky Barnes Taglist:

@stolenxkissess

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[archaeval]

ooc. i'm sorry for the ooc spam i'm just goin thru some of my writing and god...what if i just waved a magic wand and it wrote itself look at this

RHOAN

The wind bit at his skin like a wolf, frost clinging to his lashes and burning with every breath. It had taken him two days to get this far up the mountain, and there was another half day’s travel still to go. Rhoan was no true knight, but the pay was too great not to do all that was asked of him. At the summit lay the ruins of a university, a once-grand palace of science and learning. Now it was nothing but a monster’s keep.

Only a sliver of moonlight lit his path, the last day before a new moon. Though his pack was laden with any number of candles and a hundred other gifts alongside, nothing of it could be touched. Not by him. She’d know if he skimmed off her gifts, even to survive this miserable trek.

The black spires and buttresses loomed above him as they had since coming to this miserable part of the world, like a thousand knives waiting to fall on unsuspecting throats. The witchwife in town told him of beautiful stained-glass windows, depicting cosmological maps. Tapestries of biology. Staircases cut into perfect angles. Art and science melded here, a place of study and learning.

She came to this place nearly one hundred years ago -- a great, wretched beast with eight legs and eight eyes. A terrible spider with moon-like eyes, who hoarded knowledge as jealously as any wyrm. Oh yes, she gave some of it back now and then, but monsters, as a rule, did not tend to be the generous type. Everything had a price, no matter how small the inquiry or noble the quest. There were a great many stories of her bargaining, and a great deal more about her cruelty. Nothing would move her once a price was named, and so one had to pack wisely when making their way to her door.

(i stopped writing here but i have a long plot written out.)

CYRIL

The boy had deserved better from the start. Cyril was half dead from frost by the time he made it to her door, sword poorly hidden behind his back and pack overstuffed with gods knew what.  There was so much iron on him that she smelled him a mile away, even with the storm and her. He shook not from cold but fear the moment he stepped out of the wind and into her shadowed foyer. Ruby almost laughed, shaking so hard that his plate mail rattled. He was a poor excuse for a knight, and she almost pitied him for being here at all. 

“What's this?” Her voice  crooned from the shadows, dripping with venom and delight. “A knight come to cut off my head?” Her eyes flashed in the dark, there and gone just as quick.The boy drew his sword in a panic, but ruby could see clearly that he held it all wrong. 

She chuckled, low and deep, and tutted him like she might a child. “I hope your princess is beautiful as the sun. She’d have to be, for you to come to this.”

Ruby did not care to play games tonight. She was hungry and there was a pheasant waiting for her back behind the veil. She descended on him in an instant, pinning him with the rough wool of his pack, the weight of his secondhand armor doing more to hinder than help. “I am feeling generous, little knight, and I’ll let you pick your death.” 

He struggled beneath her, a helpless mouse under the claws of a barn cat. 

“Shall I hold you here in your iron tomb until the frost takes you? Or shall we make things quick? All you’ll have to do is remove your helmet and let me tear out your throat. I’ll even send your skull back down the mountain, so your pretty dear princess may mourn.”

“… no princess.” His voice was so frail she could barely make out the words.

“What was that?” She asked, leaning in closer. 

He blanched at the sight of her, catching a glimpse of her many eyes beneath her mask. And yet, somehow, he managed to speak again. “There’s no princess…”

At this, Ruby paused. 

That’s not how things went. There was always a princess, a true love, something. Knights like this one didn’t wander up here seeking glory if love wasn’t involved.

“What then? A prince? Glory? You’d not have come encased in iron if you did not want my head.”

He went silent. The smell of urine mingled with the iron burning her nose, and the trembling came to a stop. 

Gods’ teeth. The boy had fainted. Ruby hissed and scoffed, and lifted her hands from his pack. When he did not move, she paced. There was a story here — a new one that didn’t quite fit the rest. And [something something something. ]. She was a creature made of story, woven out of a fairy tale.

Eventually, curiosity won out. With another sigh, Ruby took hold of the pack once more and dragged the boy down into the castle depths. .

#

When Cyril finally came to, he found himself in a bed. It was a half rotted thing and he fancied that he could feel the wood creaking under his pitiful weight. But despite the stale air and moth worn pillow beneath his head, a feather crackled, hot and familiar. 

He sat up with a groan, unsure of where he was. Beyond the veil, maybe? This was a strange entry to the afterlife, smelling of dust and iron and piss, and yet he couldn’t imagine the Spider would have ever left him alive. 

The helmet was suffocating. Cyril sat up with a grunt to rip it off — and froze as a deep, feminine voice greeted him. 

“So you’re awake, little knight. Took you long enough.” 

He flinched, whirling towards the Spider, lurking in the shadowed corner of the room. She was no less terrifying, and his breath caught in his throat as he scrambled for something — anything to defend himself with. 

“Enough of that, boy.”

He froze. It sounded too much like one of his tutors not to obey. 

She, however, seemed calm if not a little irritated. The Spider spoke to him like she had gotten a stain on her coat. “I spared your life for now. The least you could do is ______.”

He trembled, and couldn’t find his voice before her patience ran out again. 

“And take that off. I’ll see the face of my prisoner, if I’m going to treat him like a guest.”

This time Cyril rushed to comply. 

The air rushed out of her lungs

Ruby looked on in well concealed but deeply felt horror. He was a child. No older than sixteen, with hollow cheeks and dark shadows under his watery eyes. Gaunt and underfed as he was, there was no mistaking his youth.

 With a practiced calm, she asked, “How old are you, little knight?” Ruby dreaded the answer. 

“Twenty.”

“No you’re not. I have no patience for poor liars.”

He shrank, dropping his gaze. His shaggy hair fell in his face. Who had been cutting it for him?

Instead of answering however he asked her a question. “Will you eat me for lying?”

She all but laughed. Was that tale still going around? Ruby hadn’t meant to start the rumors, but she had to admit it served her well over the years. 

[he has to give her something for an answer. All questions need payment. ]

She could see him calculating, a quiet intelligence behind those sunken eyes. 

“tell me the truth and you won’t have to find out.”

He hesitated before answering. Ruby had to admit he was a smart boy, despite everything. 

s., (and needs to retrieve his glasses from the pack.)

“May i get my glasses from the bag?” He asked. 

(I want your story if I tell you. He nods and she says yes get your glasses. )

“They didn’t fit beneath the visor,” he explained, putting them on. They were thick lenses, magnifying his eyes until he looked almost owlish. 

Ice cold rage rose up in her again. “They sent you to kill me when you could hardly even see.”

He makes excuses says the armor would be better. She scoffs and shakes her head. “Little boy knight you could never win against me, even well fed and enchanted.”

He flinched again and looked down at his gloved hands. “I'm not a knight,” he mumbled and she didn’t doubt it for a second. 

“What then? Tell me your story. I have spared your life for the night and given you shelter for the wind. If you have no candles for me, you will give me that much at least.”

Oh -! A spot of color rose to his pale cheeks and the boy bent over into the pack once more, rummaging past iron and metal and wood, to produce a carefully wrapped parcel wrapped in a stained kerchief.

“For you, Lady,” he said and held it out. 

“What’s this?” She didn’t trust it. Couldn’t tell what it was below the iron making her eyes all but water. 

“Candles, maam. For shelter from the wind. They’re…” he swallowed, and she swore he wore guilt on his sunken face. (He stole the candles in the dead of night, stubs and broken things that he used to read books and things when nobody was looking but now he fathered them all up for her.)

I'm sorry. I have no proper payment for you but I…” 

He swallowed. 

“You like to follow the rules,” she said. 

(He bravely tells her he thought she might help him. Find a way to cure him. He brought all his belongings hoping they might be enough. A threadbare moth worn blanket. His spare set of glasses, long since cracked. A bar of soap and an empty bottle of perfume that an astronomer made to Toss but he likes to smell flowers now and then)

.

[teddi-too]

Male Minotaur x Gender Neutral Reader (NSFW)

A/N: Lemon, 18+, my goodness this plot doesn’t make sense but it’s just a vehicle to the spice, ya know? 

Finally, time away from the city, from work, from everyone. Sure some of your friends thought it was weird you wanted to rent a cabin in the woods for a week by yourself but it was heaven to you. Your job has been stressful lately and with working from home it never really felt like you got a break. You needed to get away, actually away. Out of your home. A chance to decompress and refresh. 

You brought several books with you, some playing cards, and your laptop for when you broke down and needed a screen. The nearest residence was the owner of this cabin and that was nearly a mile away on the other side of the property. You were deep in the woods and you felt comforted by the seclusion. The cabin had everything you needed, a small kitchen that you loaded up with groceries from the nearest town, a surprisingly large bathroom with a huge whirlpool tub, a cozy living room with a gas fireplace, and the bedroom was a cute loft that you had to climb up a ladder to get to. There was a desk near the front window that you could sit and eat or play solitaire at and a small table and chair on the front porch. 

You settled in and made yourself a cup of tea and sat on the porch. It was a long drive and by the time you had checked in, stocked up on groceries and unpacked, the sun was beginning to set. Instead of popping up to make dinner right away, you let yourself just watch the sunset sitting on the porch. The trees were so thick outside the cabin, you couldn’t really see the sunset but it was nice seeing the color change in the trees. The darkness seemed to swallow up the thick forest and you felt comforted knowing you were truly alone. 

The next couple days were simple and lovely just like you had hoped. You slept in, made good meals and laid on the couch reading. But your favorite thing to do was to sit on the front porch and stare out into the woods. There was something healing about breathing in the fresh air and letting yourself do nothing. 

The third day passed by just the same except when you were on the porch eating your dinner, you felt differently than you had before. You didn’t feel the same emptiness from the woods that you did before. It almost felt like something was watching you. You stared at the treeline, scanning for movement and trying to convince your quickening heartbeat that you were, in fact, alone. You stared at the treeline so long you must have gotten dizzy because you swear you saw some greenery moving on its own. A mossy mass of...rocks or something behind the trees looked like it had moved. But that would be ridiculous. Rocks don’t move, moss doesn’t breathe...even though that’s what it definitely looked like it was doing. 

Your throat was dry and even though you felt a little silly, you called out anyway. 

“Hello? Um...trees-forest? Are you...alive? Are you...watching me?”

What the fuck, you immediately thought. Did you just talk to the forest? You stood up and started to gather your plate and silverware. 

“I’m sorry.” You heard a faint, low voice respond. You froze in your tracks, eyes widening to try to see anything in the dusk. “I just liked watching you. Please, don’t be scared.”

Ok, yup. Three days in isolation and you have started hearing voices. You thought for sure it would take longer than that, you thought you could at least make it a week and be ok. You closed your eyes tight and then opened them to scan the treeline again. The mass of moss and rock you had eyed earlier was now gone. Your heart sank. You began to stop forward towards the edge of the porch. 

No, stupid feet. The other way. Inside. Inside! 

“Who are you?” you called again, your voice slightly shaky. You heard some trees groan, some leaves shook, and then out between two trees emerged the most beautiful creature you had ever seen. 

It was tall and broad, its body rippled with muscle and its skin was a cool greenish gray that mimicked the woods around it. It had the head of a bull, with ivory horns extending upward. It had a thick, shaggy mane framing its face that stretched down its neck and covered its shoulder. It’s torso looked like a human man albeit with more muscles than any action movie hero you had ever seen. Your eyes followed along its thick arms down to its hands which nervously turned over and over each other.It’s middle section melted back into the same mossy looking fur of its man and its legs returned to a more bull-like anatomy ending in large hooves. It...he...looked exactly like a minotaur out of a fantasy novel. His face was kind from what you could see, his mane hung shaggily over his eyes a bit. He had to be over seven feet tall. How he had hidden himself so well among the trees was a mystery.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you. You just are so beautiful...I couldn’t help but watch you.” he said, his deep voice getting smaller and smaller as he finished his sentence until watch you came out as a whisper.  You were so mesmerized by this creature any fear you had before subsided.

“It’s ok, do you have a name?” It felt like an odd question, considering it was clearly an intelligent creature that spoke your language but you didn’t know what else to say. What are you? seemed like a terribly rude thing to say. The creature shrugged.

“No, I’m…” he seemed to be searching for words, “the guardian of this forest. Which mostly means I just live here.” You chuckled and he looked at you with a small smile. You told him your name and explained that you were just visiting for a few days. The minotaur knew this cabin well, he liked to come and see who the visitors were. Though, you learned, most of them weren’t as quiet and respectful as you. Most of them came to binge drink and make a mess for a weekend. It made him happy how often you just liked to sit and look out at the forest, his forest. 

“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Are there more like you?” you asked, smiling. He seemed to light up at your comment for a moment before the spark dimmed a bit.

“You really think I’m beautiful?” he rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “I’m...the only one that I know of. I’ve been alone since I was a calf.” You frowned at the sadness in his voice. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” you said and began to walk towards him. He backed up a few steps as you got close. “I’m sorry, should I...keep my distance?”

“No, it’s just...most people are scared of me or...want to...hurt me.” he said while looking at the ground. He massaged his bicep and you noticed a dark scar stretching across his arm. “I usually stay away from people but…I feel drawn to you and I'm not sure why.” He didn’t move further back when you continued to step towards him. 

“I’m so sorry people have been cruel to you. I would never hurt you, I...you’re so…” your words trailed off. You felt drawn towards him too. You looked back at the cabin, wondering if he could even comfortably come inside. While you were looking away, he had closed the distance between you. You turned and looked up at him. You reached your hand out to touch him. There was tension pulsing between your bodies. You wanted him, you couldn’t explain why you wanted to give yourself so freely to him but you did. You were so certain of it. 

The fur around his neck and upper chest that had looked almost like grass and moss from far away turned out to be soft and thick and cool to the touch. Your fingers could nearly disappear into it. He lowered himself so that you were nearly face to face. You stroked him softly from cheek to chest playing in his fur. Your light, wanting touch seemed to relax him and he began to lean towards you. He snout nuzzled into the crook of your neck. He breathed in your scent deeply. You felt a long, thick tongue lick up your neck. It was warm and heavy on your skin. It caused an electric and staticy feeling to pool in your lower abdomen. You realized quickly how badly you wanted him--to explore him, touch him, feel him. 

He pulled away and looked at you earnestly with wanting eyes. His strong hands danced up and down your arms and you weren’t sure if he was reassuring you or himself. You smiled at him and nodded your head, closing your eyes and moving in to kiss him. He circled his arms low around your waist and returned your kiss. Before you realized it, he had pulled your feet off the ground and was holding you against him. He straightened himself and you put your legs around him. He so smoothly and effortlessly navigated your height difference to make it so neither of you were straining to meet each other. Pressing against his body, wrapped in a deep, sloppy kiss your body couldn’t help but react to him. Heat moved throughout your body, concentrating in your core and desire took over you. Holding tight to the giant creature, your hips began to writhe slowly against him. 

You broke from the kiss every so often to check in on him, cupping his jaw in your hands, placing small chaste kisses on his snout, moving your hands through his mane and rubbing his chest. Never parting for long before returning to his mouth. 

“I want you--need you,” you said breathlessly. He leaned over and layed you gently on the hard ground and crouched down onto his knees. He stilled himself for a moment and then reached out his hand to you. 

“I want you to touch me but...I know that I’m...different” he trailed off, his eyes breaking contact with yours. You sat up and closed the distance between you once again and kissed his chest and ran your hands over his muscled body. 

“Please, believe me when I say I want this...I want you. You’re beautiful.” You weren’t sure how else to convince him that you were being sincere so you took your hands away from him and began to remove your clothing. His jaw dropped slightly and his eyes moved all over your body as he took in the sight. He cooed compliments about your figure, your skin, your complexion, he babbled on and on until you were naked in front of him. When you had finished taking off your clothes you looked at him and noticed he was palming his crotch. You touched his arm gently and he moved his hand away to let you see. 

The bulge you barely noticed before had grown bigger and there was a small opening that wasn’t visible earlier. You reached out and traced your fingertips along the opening. It was warm and slick. You cupped the bulge in your hands and began massaging it. Looking up at his face, his eyes were closed tight and he was nodding his head compulsively. His fists were balled up, settled on his hips. He was used to his own hands being his only source of pleasure but he wanted your touch to be what undid him this time. 

As you massaged him, the tip of his penis began to push out of the sheath. The head was round and thick, red and glistening with his own slick. You continued to work the sheath, watching in awe as his full length pushed itself out of his body before falling heavily against his thigh. His cock was long and thick and your body pulsed with your need for it. He parted his thick, muscled thighs, spreading his knees apart further to give you better access. You took a deep breath and your body tightened at the sight wondering what it would feel like to be stuffed with his cock. 

You slowly trailed your fingers along the top of his hard cock before encircling it in your palm. It was heavy and warm, your fingers could barely meet around its girth. You dipped your head lower and dragged your tongue along his member. It was sticky with the cooled slick from his sheath. 

After teasing his length with your tongue, you took him into your mouth. He was so thick, the corners of your mouth felt stretched just taking the tip. You slipped your mouth as far down the shaft as you could and began to suck, bobbing your head lightly along his length. You breathed in through your nose, trying to relax your throat and mouth to take more of him but he was just so large. You resigned to focus in on the head of his cock where you could more easily create suction with your mouth. You stayed there teasing his tip until you could taste his precum begin to weep. His hips jutted forward instinctively, choking you on his length. You pulled away with a cough, drool falling from your mouth. 

You heard him clear his throat, attempting to regain his composure. You smiled up at him and began to move your hand up and down his shaft to extend his pleasure. You reached out with your other hand cupping his testicles and rubbed over one then the other with your thumb. The only sound you could hear was his heavy breathing and his choked back groans. His large hands reached down towards you, pawing at you with no real intention. He was overwhelmed with the sensation of your hands working him. 

His hand cupped your chin gently and pushed lightly on your shoulders to signal you to lay down again. Inching forward on his knees, he grabbed your sides and lifted you up onto his hips so he could reach your entrance more easily. You could feel his hard cock digging into your back and you laid, exposed and vulnerable against him. 

He took his large thumb and stuck it in your mouth, you sucked on it slowly moving your head in an exaggerated way that drove him wild. He pulled back his hand and used his wet thumb to start massaging your entrance; slow large circles just next to your entrance. A cool electric feeling stretched out from your sex throughout your entire body. After teasing your entrance, moving closer and closer with his thumb quickening his pace he moved his hand away, leaving your desire falling off a cliff. 

You whined at the loss of his touch and tried to move your hips to show your need. He smirked, moved your body up on him further and dipped his muzzle down towards your sex. His breath was hot and heavy as he moved his snout over sex wanting to take you in with all his senses. He nuzzled your entrance with his lips briefly before opening his mouth and laying his strong tongue against you. His tongue was wide and flat and moved over your hole with a heaviness that left you wordlessly begging for more. His drool mixed with your own slick left you sopping wet and pulsing with need. He worked the outside of your entrance for a dizzyingly long time before dipping his tongue into you. You could feel his cock twitch beneath you and you knew you both wanted all of each other. 

He tasted you, moving his tongue in and out of you, lapping over your entrance until he was confident you were ready to take his large cock. He longingly moved his hands over your body as he repositioned you. You reached for his cock and stroked it a few more times making sure he was at the same height of his desire as you were. You stared intensely at one another, your bodies pulsing with anticipation. 

He lined himself up with your entrance and you felt his thick cock press against you. 

“Please” you whined, not able to take the slow pace any longer. You knew he wanted to savor this but your body needed him so badly. He pushed into you slowly and you let out a loud gasp as your body clenched and spasmed trying to take him in. Your eyes stung with tears as he continued to move into you, stretching you to your limit. When he got to a place where he felt like he couldn’t push in further, he slowly moved out of you; then back in again. He picked up his pace just slightly moving in and out, working you open with his cock, pushing deeper in as he thrusted. 

He grunted quietly as he continued to move faster and faster and you returned with your own moans. The wet sucking noises of him fucking you filled the cool night and your body felt like it was swimming in pleasure. You tried moving your hips in pace with his to multiply the friction your bodies were experiencing but he was so big and you were so overcome with bliss you got lost in the feeling. 

Making you thunder back into the present moment, you cried out loudly as he placed the heel of his hand into your stomach rutting into you with even more strength than before. The added pressure of his hands on your torso made you see stars and your first orgasm ripped through you without any warning. Your body felt hot and sparks pricked all over your skin as he fucked you through your orgasm, never slowing down. You tried to catch your breath and steady yourself but he began fucking you even faster, pushing into you nearly past your limit as he chased his own release. 

“I-want to see me all over you” he stuttered out, a grunt and thrust punctuating each word. You nodded wordlessly, your head dizzy as your overstimulated hole spasmed around his cock. He pushed into you a few more times before he pulled himself out of you and let you drop roughly to the ground. His voice strained against his desire as he grabbed his cock and started stroking himself. Your body buzzed with anticipation and you started fingering your hole waiting for him to finish all over you. 

His head thrashed, horns cutting wildly through the air, suddenly reminding you of his bull upper half. His pace was erratic as he worked himself to the edge, he stuck his hips forward to move over your body and he came with a roar. Thick ropes of white-hot come erupted from his cock and landed on your torso. He continued to stroke himself, moving his hips as he came, sending his seed all over your neck, face and on the ground around you. His whole body seemed to spasm and he fell forward on to his hands, breathing heavily and hovering above you. The sight of him coming sent another shiver up your body as your hole pulsed around your fingers, desire still swimming around you. 

After pausing for a moment, both of you quiet in your blissed out state, he placed a hand on your chest, fingering his own seed admiring the mess he made of you. He placed a come covered finger over your lips and pushed into your mouth, watching your reaction as you tasted him. You sucked his release off his finger. 

“How many more days are you here?” he panted, still catching his breath. You laughed and put your arms around his thick neck. Your body felt completely drained of all strength and you weren’t sure you’d even be able to lift yourself off the ground right then. 

“Do that again and I might never leave.”

[randomshyperson]

Left Behind - Chapter 10 - Atlantis

Gif was made by @abimess aka wifey

Summary: The one where you lived in the apartment under the Maximoff family in Sokovia, or, your journey as a Sokovian civilian to Avenger.

Series Warnings: (+16) Violence, fighting, cursing, civil war environments, abuse of power, assault, torture, underage kissing, psychological torture, substance use, mention of assault/fighting of children, smut, kissing, teasing, insinuation of sexual and moral harassment, verbal offenses.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader || platonic bucky barnes x reader, mentor!natastha romanoff and mentor!steve rogers, bruce banner x reader (friendship), pietro maximoff x reader (friendship).

Words: 3.445K

A/N> I should warn you for the angst in this one i think. Please don't hate the ending of this or the fic. Good reading you all. Also, listen to "Atlantis" by Seafret, i chose the name based on that song.

All Works Masterlist || Read on AO3 || Series Masterlist

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Chapter 10 - Atlantis

You ignore the insinuating look Pietro gives you when he sees you leaving Wanda's room in the morning.

"Not a word." You warn threateningly as he raises his arms in surrender, holding back his laughter.

You turn and go back to your room, trying not to smile like an idiot as you prepare for the mission, and failing miserably.

You try not to think about last night, or the morning after, but the feel of Wanda's lips on your skin is all that comes to mind for the next few hours.

Even during breakfast, where after she stole a kiss on your cheek in the hallway before you guys joined the Avengers, and sat beside you at the table while Steve went over some details to everyone, all you could think about was the last night. In Wanda's taste, her hands inside…

"Stop it." She warns softly at your side. Lower enough so only you can hear, and not to get in the way of the captain's speech. You blink in confusion, and then you understand. Feeling your face heat up, you look at her with a mixture of surprise and indignation.

"You can...?"

"Yes, now eat in silence please." She interrupts in the same tone, equally embarrassed as she keeps her gaze on the plate in front of her.

"Wanda?" You try next. And she mutters under her breath, and then she realizes. She rolls her eyes, and goes back to eating. You smile. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you could hear thoughts."

"It was kind of obvious don't you think?" She retorts mentally. "My whole thing is mind control."

"Your whole thing is to be the love of my life." You tease and she chokes lightly on her coffee, making you hold back a laugh as you gently touch her back. She says she's fine softly, and Steve, who had given her a worried look, goes back to talking about planning for the defenses in Sokovia.

"When this is over, I want to try a few things." You mentally tell her and Wanda looks at you quickly before turning her attention back to Steve. You imitate the movement.

"We'll leave as soon as you finish eating." Steve says already getting up. You suddenly feel anxious.

Wanda notices the way your body has tensed, and looks at you immediately.

"Hey, everything okay?" she asks tenderly. You give her a weak smile, placing your hand on her thigh. Wanda puts her hand on top of yours.

"I'm nervous."

"Me too." She confesses. "But we'll be fine. I got you."

"And I got you."

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As soon as you join the jet with the rest of the Avengers, you could already feel the control serum starting to wear off.

Sighing a little, you don't even have to ask to have Wanda's hand in yours. Her eyes and fingers glow red for a moment as she helps you, before returning to normal. You mumble a thanks, resting your back against the jet's wall.

"Remember what we trained, Avengers." Announces Steve upon entering. "Removing the civilians is the support team's priority, while Clint searches for Natasha. The strike team must deal with Ultron's guards."

"Yes, captain." The team says in understanding, and then the jet is leaving.

It takes ten minutes for Pietro to start teasing you.

"I hear we had a girls night yesterday." Commented the boy out loud, attracting the attention of Bruce and Bucky, who were standing next to you. Wanda glared at her brother.

"Pietro..."

"What is it, sestra? I’m just saying.”He joked. You wondered if you could throw him off the jet from that high. "I heard that this type of activity is a great stress reliever."

You felt your face heat up, and you sank into your seat. In the next second, the rest of the team understood. Clint whistled loudly, and Tony laughed. Bruce blushed and pretended to pay attention to his boots while Bucky giggled at Steve's embarrassed expression.

"Forgive me, I'm not following the reason for the humor in this conversation." Vision commented then.

"Don’t you dare." Wanda warned when he saw Pietro raise his hand to tell Vis what was being said, and the boy laughed before ducking.

Vision watched the interaction with confusion, but it was Tony who threw his arm around him.

"They had sex, champion." Tony announced, making you grunt in embarrassment. "I can't wait for Nat to know, she owes me fifteen bucks”.

“What?” Wanda asks, confused.

"Ah, it's just that before you arrived, the golden eyes there were always talking about you." Tony counts with irony. "How much she loved and missed a certain little witch and her inconvenient brother. So we made a bet that you two would work it out. I said it would happen before you went back to Sokovia, but Natasha thought Y/N was slower and would just work it out after we’re done with Ultron."

"Thanks for the faith, Tony." You mumble awkwardly, adjusting your posture. "Now if you don't mind, can you stop talking about my life?"

The team laughs but the comments about you and Wanda stops. Until you reach Sokovia, you spend your time playing with Wanda fingers as you both lay against each other's shoulders while listening to whenever small talk the Avengers build up.

Things get tense once you reach the country.

Steve signals that you arrive and starts moving around to get read for the jet to land.

You only let go of Wanda’s hand to put your suit on and once you’re done, she’s right in front of you, smiling tenderly as she puts a jacket on.

“Are you good?” She asks.

“Yes. You?”

“Yeah.” She aswerns as she moves forward to kiss you firmly on the mouth. It relaxes your body completely, and you keep your hands on top of hers that are on your face until you break the kiss.

You wish you could care about the teasing looks the team cast to you too, but all you see is Wanda.

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You sat down quickly on the ground, your body against a wall, while trying to get your breathing back to normal.

Wanda was using her powers to get civilians out of their homes, and well, it took some of her magical attention away from you.

It didn't take long for you to be able to detect all the biological life around you again, meters and meters away, quickly feeling overwhelmed.

"How are we?" Steve asked over the communicator, probably already advancing with the rest of the team towards the former Hydra base. You looked up at the sky to get a quick glimpse of Tony flying in his suit before he vanished away.

"All right around here, Captain." Clint responded first followed by the rest of the team.

Your hesitation made Steve specifically call you, but before you could say anything, Wanda was kneeling beside you, one hand on your shoulder and the other on her communicator.

"We are good." She responded before turning her attention to you completely. You felt her magic envelop you quickly, your body relaxing. "How do you feel, dear?"

"Better now." You respond with a smile. "Thanks."

As she helped you to your feet, you noticed her worried expression, and placed a hand on her cheek.

"I'm fine Wanda, I promise."

"Just don't push too far, okay?" She asks. "You can go back to the jet whenever you want."

"I'll be okay, Wanda." You mumble. "Let's get this over with so we can go back to bed." You teases with a mischievous smile, stealing a kiss before walking away, giving her a wink before heading towards the rest of the civilians.

Ultron had better plans than this.

“We need to get everyone out of here immediately.” Tony told through the communicator. “A vibranium bomb. We don’t have time.”

“Working on it, iron boss.” You mock as you helped another family move out of their home. Just like, Pietro had already headed to police stations and hospitals to remove people from there. There was a large crowd of inhabitants heading out of town, but there were still many more.

Peace ended quickly.

Ultron activated the robot army, and they literally began to sprout from the ground.

"Bucky, we're going to need support here pal." Steve warned through the communicator while you were drawing your pistol to prevent one of the robots from advancing on you.

"On my way, cap." The soldier warned. "Just don't tell my therapist."

You and the team laughed lightly as you fought. The whole thing getting bigger and bigger every minute.

Wanda covered for you while you guided people out, but it was becoming untenable.

So, as soon as she tore apart the small group of Ultron’s army that was surrounding you two, you called her.

"You can't keep babysitting me , this is getting too bad." You warned, your voice almost muffled by the length of the fight. The robots flying above you, and Thor and Vision facing them in the sky.

"I won't leave you." She insisted seriously and you swallowed hard.

"Wanda..."

“End of discussion.”

“You are cute and all, it's just that we have a situation here. Mind getting back into the fight?" Natasha's voice interrupted the moment over the radio, sounding amused and teasing. You sighed with relief when you realized she was okay, and you exchanged one last look with Wanda before going back to fighting. “By the way, Tony said I lost the bet.”

“Please don’t bring this back.” You ask Natasha, that just laughs before hanging off, not without teasing you about being proud of you for making a move.

The ground shook beneath your feet, making it difficult for you to keep your balance.

"Guys, what's going on?" You asked through the communicator.

Sokovia is going for a ride.

Friday tells the whole team. You gasp in surprise, looking around.

The ground is breaking apart, and the city is rising into the air. You don't need your powers to know that not all buildings are empty. The debris will end up hurting someone.

And even with all that, the advances of Ultron's army get even worse.

You barely have time to duck before Wanda rips apart a robot that attacked you.

Clint catches up with you two the next second.

"We need to regroup, Tony needs us back there." He warns you. You frown.

"Not a chance, there are civilians all over the place." You say, moving quickly to fire at the machines that have appeared behind you.

"Well, we need the offensive back at the church." He counters. "That's where the bomb is."

"You two go then." You say when you finish shooting. Wanda, who has just destroyed three machines at once, turns to you in indignation.

"No."

But you don't look at her, you look at the blue flash figure approaching.

“Hey Peete, do you mind?” You shouted to him as he stopped next to you two. He nods at you before picking Wanda up, who has no time to complain. He teases Clint "Keep up, old man." before disappearing at high speed, making you laugh.

Clint looks at you.

“Are you sure?”

"It's my job to protect them.”

“The Maximoff or the civilians?” He mocks, making you roll your eyes.

“Go, Barton.”

It doesn't take long for your biological detection to come back.

You think you're going to pass out. But you take a deep breath, and stumble among cars and wrecking machines.

Calm down. You remember Wanda's soft voice in the glass room. The feel of her fingers on your skin. Calm down, I'm here. You can do this.

"I can do this." You mutter to yourself, trying to keep your balance.

You find a horde around the corner, almost close enough to a group of civilians coming out of the municipal hospital.

Ignoring the feeling of being overwhelmed at being able to feel the fear and despair of those people, you advance with the pistol in your hand.

The machines were destroyed, but not by you.

"You took your time, Barnes." You tease with a wry smile, rushing to help the civilians, feeling their superficial wounds before helping them. Bucky smiles and shrugs, a rifle in his hand as he gives you cover to help the population.

"Two minutes out here and I'm already missing my retirement." He comments as he fires, making you laugh, a bit breathless due your powers. Bucky notices right the way. "Are you all right?"

"I'm just considering retiring too after here." You retort by standing up again, helping the little girl who had bruises on her forehead to join the rest of the family. She smiles in thanks, but you're already walking away again, your head pounding from how many people you can feel at once.

You stumble around the rubble to the front of the municipal hospital. Ignoring the memories you have of the whole neighborhood, you try to focus on some group.

"Y/N, I think there are kids coming out of that corner!" Bucky unnecessarily warns you because you've already felt them.

You recognize Church clothes that the adults leading the group wear. They are coming from the Orphanage where you grew up.

You run to catch up to them, and it's the first time you've really noticed Ultron's cruelty. It's a horde that arises, and they notice you right away. The machine in front follows your gaze to the small group, and it has a chance to shoot only you, but it turns its mechanical hand, and aims directly at the kids.

You widen your eyes, feeling your heart race.

"NO!"

Something explodes in your chest. Everything turns golden before returning to normal color. You can’t see the golden wave that reaches the group because there’s a pain in the back of your head that makes you close your eyes tightly.

The robot fired, but if it weren't for the gunshot marks on the robes, no one would know as none of the civilians had any injury. The kids were wide-eyed, and you fell to your knees.

Bucky shot the machines before looking at you in amazement.

"How did you do that? They were practically a street away." He asked in shock, watching the nuns guide the kids to cover quickly, just as in shock as he was. Your lack of response alarmed him and he turned to face you quickly, touching your shoulder. "Y/N, you're bleeding..."

"I know." You grunt weakly, taking a deep breath as you lean on Bucky to get up. "Let 's keep going."

You wiped the blood running from your nose with your hand, but ignored the wet sensation in your ears. Bucky hesitated.

"No, you're not okay." He insisted. "Let's go back..."

"Let go of me, Bucky." You exclaimed angrily, pulling his hands away. "I heal, don't I? I'll be fine. Let's keep going."

"Y/N..."

But you are already walking. You can feel all the injured, and you need to keep going.

You help at least two more groups to shelter, until you're resting your hands on your knees and trying to stay on your foot.

You see your blood dripping to the ground, and you hear Bucky's footsteps approaching, so you wipe your face quickly while disguising the way your head is spinning.

"This isn't working Y/N." He says as he looks around at the wreckage. "These things seem to grow out of the ground, and there's no end to them. The city is too high right now and these people have nowhere to go."

You were going to agree with him, but something in the sky caught your eye.

"I think that's their ride." You say while pointing straight ahead.

It's a gigantic ship, flowing alongside the city. You and Bucky exchange a look, before he uses the communicator to confirm that this was a good thing.

With Shield providing shelter for civilians, you started running to help evacuate people from the floating capital of Sokovia.

Your head was spinning, and your feet were about to give up, but you forced yourself to continue.

Your body is shaking when you turn to help a boy who cut his leg.

"Ty angel, devochka? (are you an angel, lady?)" He asks, scared when you heal him and you give a weak laugh.

"Net, ya Avenger. (no, I’m an Avenger.)"

The wound isn't that big, but it's enough to rob the air of your lungs. Bucky guides the boy with the rest of the group back to the ship, and you can barely stand, your stomach turning.

You force yourself to get up. Just a bit longer.

Lifting your hand to your ear, you call out to Wanda while leaning on the car beside you so you don't fall to the ground.

"Wands?" You say wait for her to respond. She sounds worried when she says your name, but you just sigh. "Babe, when this is over, I'm taking you out on a date. Like the cliches we've never done before, okay?"

"Why are you talking like this?" She asked, scared. You can hear the background noises, the way she was probably keeping the bomb safe but facing Ultron's army. "Where are you?"

"I think we should try Disneyland too. Americans seem to love that." You continue as you begin to walk again. One hand on the tech inside your ear and the other in the wound in your belly, formed while you faced the last horde of robots, not healing anymore. "You would like a candlelight date with wine and music, wouldn’t you?"

"Please tell me where you are, I'll come to you." She begs through the radio and you smile before hanging up.

You saw Clint run further to the town.

You take a deep breath, rushing to catch up. You also see the jet Ultron stole rounding the city towards them, the rifles outside ready to aim.

That's why Clint ran there, to save one of the civilians left behind, you notice as you see the little boy on your friend's arm.

You try to do what you did before. Project your healing magic to them to keep them protected, but as you lift your hands to do that, all you feel is a sharp twinge in the middle of your chest and you almost fall to the ground.

Fine, I'll heal them myself. You think impatiently as you ignore your own limit and run.

You are almost there. But so is Ultron. If you stay up front, you think you can protect Clint and the civilian, you'd heal later, no problem.

“I’m gonna win.”

You widen your eyes in surprise when Pietro whispers in your ear, disappearing in his speed the next moment.

No. Don't do this.

You feel the shots before you hear them. You feel it through Pietro's body, who stepped forward to protect Clint.

You throw yourself forward, desperate.

You reach Pietro the second his heart stops beating.

"Piete?" You call to him as he falls into your lap. You can feel the air disappearing from his lungs, life fading away "Hey buddy, don't do that. Pietro! Please..."

You bury your face in his chest, trying to hear something. Anything. You press your hands against his chest next, then his face.

"Don't die on me, Pietro." You beg with a sob. You force your magic in despair. No matter how much it hurts, Pietro cannot die. He just can't.

You can only remember the skinny little boy running with you in your childhood. Laughing with you on the roof. Teaching you to fight.

Your tears mix up with your blood.

"Captain, we have a problem." Clint announces at your side.

No.

I'm not giving up.

You grunt in pain as you press your hands hard on Pietro's chest, your veins popping with a golden light. You're not dying on me.

Something starts to pulse in your head. Loud enough to completely disorient you. Your eyes are heavy, and you choke on your own blood coming out of your mouth.

You smile because you can feel the air returning to your friend's lungs at the same rate as it leaves yours.

When Pietro breathes again, your eyes close.

/-//-//-//-////-//-//-//-////-//-//-//-////-//-//-//-///-//-//-//-////-//-//-//-////-//-

Tag List> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia || @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @myperfectlovepoem // @helloalycia // @ENSORCELLME // @AIMEZVOUSBRAHMS // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm // @sxfwap // @table57 // @madamevirgo // @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo // @emptysince18x // @xastrydx || @yuhloversxx || @ymzki-haruki || @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday || @lostandsearching || @lezzzbehonesthere || @musicinourlips || @chaekhan || @diaryoflife || @cristin-rjd

[sunwoo-hoo]

↣ the boyz reaction to s/o bringing home a pet / interacting with animals

↳ a/n: hello my darlings! we are back at it with another tbz reaction! this is for my lovely anon who requested this. i hope you don’t mind i altered the request a little bit. i’m so sorry that requests are coming out slowly but bear with me i’ll get through them. nevertheless, i hope you enjoy! also, all my reactions are canon to my boyfriend series so i highly recommend checking those out as well! ☻

↳ genre: fluffiest of fluff

↳ requested? yes

↳ send me your requests here!

↳ word count: 2.7k

↳ the boyz x fem reader

「 Lee Sangyeon  」

it had been a week since you last saw sangyeon and you were finally going to see him, but you never would have guessed the unexpected to happen one rainy evening when it was nearly 35°F

as you were walking up to the dorms that’s when you heard tiny meows and spotted a small white kitten near the alley trying to make cover in a box

you instantly felt bad for the poor kitten due to the harsh weather conditions and it looked like it was lost from it’s mother

you swiftly picked up and tried your best to cover the tiny kitten with your jacket as you made your way inside the dorms

as sangyeon open the door he instantly smiled seeing your face giving you a cheek on this kiss

“what’s that sound?” he wondered as he heard the faint meows coming from your jacket

removing your jacket sangyeon saw the small kitten that was in your hands

“i found him outside, i couldn’t just leave him out there. do you think we can keep him?” you asked hopefully giving sangyeon your doe eyes

he sighed “i don’t know baby, we’re both really busy with our schedules.. he should be with a family where they can properly take care of him”

you nodded hating that he was right, you knew that you couldn’t take care of pet when you had a full time job and sangyeon had his idol responsibilities

sangyeon noticed your sadness and lifted your chin to look up at him “we’ll make sure that he’ll go to a loving home okay?” he promised

you smiled in response giving him a small peck setting the kitten down on the floor where he quickly ran under the table

「 Jacob Bae  」

you were excited, it was the day of your birthday and jacob wanted to make it extra special for you

he knew you always wanted a pet so he decided that you could go to the pet store and get any pet you wanted with his card

he wanted to go with you but unfortunately practice overlapped

nevertheless, you were ecstatic looking at all the different animals that were for sale, when your eyes finally landed on some caged rabbits

you smiled as you saw a light brown one with his long whiskers, in a way it reminded you of jacob

as you told the seller that was the animal you wanted, you bought all the corresponding items you would need like food, treats, toys, and a cage with a matching bowl set for his food and water

once you had everything you needed you made your way to the dorms to surprise jacob with your new pet

as you knocked on the door jacob answered noticing the huge cage covering your entire face and half your upper body

he laughed “what on earth did you buy?” trying to peek through the cage grabbing it from you with ease setting it on top of the dining table

“something that reminds of me of you” you smiled

“that’s funny because i don’t see a golden retriever anywhere” he teased

“this is better! just close your eyes” you instructed as jacob did was he was told

once you knew his eyes were closed you opened the cage and grabbed the rabbit holding it in your arms “okay open!”

when jacob opened eyes he saw the small brown rabbit in your hands “aw… you got a rabbit?” he asked scooping it from your hands wanting to see it closer

“yes!” you squealed not hiding your excitement as jacob set him down on the floor so that he could hop around

“well it’s super cute, and it suits you so well” he said giving you a kiss on the cheek before he continued “now c’mon i have more surprises for my birthday girl”

「 Kim Younghoon  」

you loved younghoon, you pretty much had the perfect little family including your little poodle bori

but when your friend texted you that her maltese dog had a litter of puppies you couldn’t deny that you wanted one, they were just so precious

you kept hinting at younghoon all week that you really wanted to snag one of your friend’s puppies

“younghoon look at this cute picture again” you grinned showing him your phone

“they are cute baby but we already have bori” he said glancing at the picture

“but bori needs a friend” you protested leaning your head on his shoulder “pleaseee?”

he let out a light sigh “we can go and look at them but no promises okay?”

you shrieked “yay that’s perfectly fine! i love you so much” you repeated grabbing his face giving him kisses all over

as expected when you and younghoon went to go see the maltese puppies he was excited and couldn’t deny their cuteness and agreed that you could get one

you ultimately decided on the runt of the litter which was a boy and the smallest out of all the puppies

「 Lee Hyunjae 」

it was fun weekend when your sibling asked you to take care of their pet hedgehog

at first you weren’t even going to mention it to hyunjae since he was busy but he decided to surprise you at your apartment one evening

that’s when he noticed the small cage in your living room that definitely wasn’t there before

“hey babe what’s this? did you get a pet?” he wondered curiously

“oh! no i didn’t i’m just watching him for the weekend while my sibling is out of town” you replied heading to the kitchen to get dinner started

as hyunjae opened the cage to get a closer look at the hedgehog it quickly curled up into a ball out of anxiousness pricking hyunjae’s fingers

“ah! it feels like needles” he nearly screamed closing the cage quickly

as you ran back into the living room to see what the commotion was all about you saw the hedgehog still curled up in a ball in the corner of his cage

“aw hyunjae you scared him” you said opening up the cage grabbing him carefully

the hedgehog slowly peeked out of his little ball and started to relax in your hands

hyunjae came up behind you laying his head on your shoulder trying to get a better look at the hedgehog’s face

“it looks cute, but he still hurt my hand” he whined playfully

rolling your eyes at him you set the hedgehog back inside the cage where he started to walk freely

you grabbed hyunjae’s hand giving it a small kiss trying to make him feel better

“it hurts here too babe” he said pointing to his lips smirking

you chuckled as you leaned in giving him a small peck

「 Lee Juyeon 」

you were visiting juyeon during practice when he finally met your pet turtle for the first time

it was a yellow-bellied slider turtle and it was still small enough that it fit in the palm of your hand

you walked in the studio with your small portable cage and saw juyeon practicing alone to new dance moves for the boyz next comeback

he smiled when he saw you through the mirror reflection turning around walking towards you giving you a peck on the lips

when he pulled apart he noticed the tiny cage in your hands

“hey babe, you didn’t have to come all this way to see me. i was gonna head to the dorms after” he said

“i know, but i wanted you to finally my meet my pet turtle. i’ve had him ever since i was little” you smiled taking your turtle out of the cage handing him over to juyeon

“he’s super cute” he commented as the turtle kept sticking its head in and out of his shell

as you both sat down on the floor you grabbed a little bit of juyeon’s fruit from the table and started to feed your turtle

juyeon laughed at how slowly the turtle was eating

“that was all the food i had for practice and it’s gonna take him at least 5 years to eat it all” he teased as you giggled in response

「 Kevin Moon 」

after dating for about a month kevin finally decided to visit your apartment for the first time

you were a bit apprehensive at first mostly because of your pet since you weren’t sure how he was going to react

as you walked into your apartment he casually looked around

“wow i’m jealous i think your place is bigger than our dorms” he commented

you laughed before stopping in front of your bedroom door

“okay, so don’t freak out but i have pet snake..” you told him hesitantly

“no way for real? can i see?” kevin asked excitedly

you nodded opening your bedroom door as you and kevin walked up to the medium sized cage in the corner of your room

“wow he looks really cool can i hold him?” kevin asked

“absolutely he’s actually really sweet” you replied taking out the medium green snake and handing him over

kevin held the snake in his hands while sticking out his tongue copying the snake as you smiled

“i actually have to give him away soon since i’m moving to another building and they don’t allow pets” you mumbled

“aw that sucks [name] i’m sorry, how about i help you find him a good home?” kevin asked placing the snake back in the cage

you nodded happily wanting nothing more

「 Choi Chanhee 」

you weren’t expecting that this was the way that chanhee would meet a pet mouse for the first time

it was a memorable experience to say the least

when chanhee was on vlive you figured now was the time for him to meet the cute little mouse

“i’ll be right back deobi’s i’m gonna bring a friend” you smiled

chanhee gave you a confused look as far as he knew it was just you and him that were gonna do the vlive together

once you came back into the room chanhee turned his chair to greet the new acquaintance but the first thing you heard was his screams

“love what is that? is it a rat?” he shrieked as he covered his mouth in disbelief

“no! it’s my pet mouse, doesn’t he look cute deobi’s?” you asked showing him to the camera

“look at his cute little round ears” you added as chanhee was still giving you puzzled looks

“oh love, i don’t know…” he finally said looking at the mouse from afar and at his phone reading deobi’s comments

you giggled responding “relax chanhee it’s my neighbors mouse, i just wanted to see your reaction”

he sighed putting his hand over his chest dramatically “love you almost gave me a heart attack in front of deobi’s”

“sorry deobi!” you apologized sincerely leaving the room

“what just happened?” chanhee asked the camera jokingly

「 Ji Changmin/Q 」

it was a nice sunny day when you and changmin decided to take a walk through the city

it was a spontaneous day, doing everything that caught you and changmin’s eye like the cafe and shopping

as you both were making your way home that’s when you spotted the pet store asking changmin if you can go in

“changmin-a, can we go there?” you asked pointing to the pet store

“of course babe, i was thinking about getting some new fish” he grinned grabbing your hand

as you both walked around the store looking at the various fishes and reptitles that’s when you saw a cage full of adorable hamsters

“aw changmin look how cute these are, they look just like you! especially that one” you pointed laughing at the individual hamster in the corner eating with its cheeks puffed

changmin laughed showing his adorable smile agreeing before asking the seller if he could hold one

the seller opened the cage and handed changmin a hamster to hold

you quickly took out your polaroid camera as changmin started to pose with the hamster

the rest of the day was spent taking pictures with all the animals in the pet store

「 Juhaknyeon 」

it was a chill day spending it haknyeon on his rare day off

as you two were watching t.v with your head on his lap you were casually scrolling through your phone

that’s when you saw an ad for a chameleon that was for sale

you didn’t know much about chameleon’s besides thet fact that they were really cool looking and that their skin camouflaged itself to hide from prey

you gently tapped on haknyeon who was slowly starting falling asleep

“haknyeon look someone is selling their pet chameleon” you said lightly trying to wake him up

“hmm? that’s nice babe” he replied still half asleep

“can we go and see it?” you asked hopefully

“mm, sure babe” he murmured bending down to kiss your forehead before falling back asleep

a couple of days later you were seeing the chameleon for the first time even though haknyeon barely rememberd the conversation on going

“this is him” the older lady introduced you two to her loving chameleon adding “would you like to hold him?”

you nodded enthusiastically as she grabbed the chameleon and placed it on your forearm

haknyeon lightly touched his back commenting on the odd texture

you then placed it on top of haknyeon’s forearm and saw the chameleon changing colors to haknyeon’s jacket

“wow, this is officially the coolest pet ever let’s get him” haknyeon’s said smiling

「 Kim Sunwoo 」

kim sunwoo loved you, in fact he adored you. in his eyes you could do no wrong

but he also loved the two lovebirds you had together as pets as they reminded him of your relationship

the birds were always together, eating, sleeping, and flying simultaneously

the male lovebird had a black face with a grey body and his name was jae

while the female was light blue with white body with her name being eun

he especially loved it whenever he would come home from practice and they would fly all over the dorm

“sunwoo wait, jae is on top of your head” you giggled as sunwoo entered the apartment taking off his shoes

you pointed your index finger outward as jae flew on top of it landing easily

jae quickly flew over to his wooden play stand walking to eun as she was eating from the bird feeder

sunwoo pulled you close wrapping his arms around your waist pressing light kisses in the crook of your neck from behind

“how was your day?” he murmured in between kisses

you moaned in response “so much better now that you’re here”

sunwoo smiled as you both heard the the faint chirps from jae and eun in the background

「 Eric Sohn 」

one of the reasons you loved hanging out with eric was because he always made you feel like a little kid again

it was his idea to spend the day with you at an amusement park where you two went on countless rides and ate all the junk food you can eat

you both decided that it would be best to take a break from all the rides and go to the park’s animal exhibit

“wow babe come look a this” eric exclaimed excitedly pulling your hand running towards the reptile exhibit

you giggled in response at his energy following right behind

you both took in all the different snakes, lizards, and turtles before you finally stopped in front of an exhibit where a worker was explaining one of the lizards they had which was a bearded dragon

“now would anyone like to hold him?” the worker announced to the onlookers

“i would!” eric grinned raising his hand in response

as you both walked closer to get a better look the worker handed eric the bearded dragon where he was also explaining more fun facts and instructions on how to hold him properly

“hold still eric i wanna make sure i get a picture of this” you smiled taking out your phone

after you took a few snaps you sent it to the boyz group chat where texts started to flood in

you laughed when you read hyunjae’s comment saying that the bearded dragon looked like eric

eric peeked at your phone to see what was so funny until he read hyunjae’s text

“just wait, he won’t laugh once he finds a bearded dragon on his bed” eric chuckled mischievously

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* © sunwoo-hoo 2 0 2 1  ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

[multifandom-girlie]

𝐁𝐮𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐨

Imagine: Elijah takes you to the small town in Italy where you were born for your birthday and gives you a very nice wake up.

Pairing: Elijah x Vampire!Reader

Warning: Fluff and Smut

Words: 2350

A/N: This Smut is briefly based on the song 'Eyes on Fire' by Blue Foundation and Delena's morning love scene in 4x08 but then again not really, that's why BRIEFLY is the key word. Anyhow, enjoy ! :))

Ever since I met Elijah, he would always be planning surprises or taking me on romantic dates. It's just apart of his charm, he loves spoiling me and making it known that he loves me. I love that he does it even now, after so many years together.

We got married in 998, two years before we were both turned. We hated being turned because we had plans to have children of our own and it was ruined by transitioning into vampires. Clearly, we learnt to live on but we still wish sometimes that we were human. Even if just for a day. 

For my one thousand and forty-fifth birthday, he decided to take me to someplace I'd been but never remembered. My birth place, Portofino in Italy.

It's a beautiful little fishing village just on the Italian Riviera coastline, Southeast of Genoa city. It's littered with pastel coloured houses, high end boutiques and seafood restaurants and a small cobbled square overlooking the harbor which is lined with super yachts. Obviously, it was much more natural when I was last year considering it’s been one thousand years and everything is mainly man made, quite clearly. Still beautiful though.

I woke up listening to the sound of the waves crashing gently just outside of the window, feeling the warm summer breeze of the air hitting me hard, the smell of freshly cooked bread and not forgetting the flashy rays of sun gluing to me, making me feel comforted. I turned a little to realise that this moment I was having was rare, not only was I one year older and in Italy. I am still laid in bed with my husband, which doesn't happen as much as I wanted it too. He's always getting called off by Klaus but today, he was here. 

I’ll seek you out. Flay you alive. One more word and you won’t survive.

I relished in the feeling, backing myself into him as much as possible. Loving the warmth radiating from our naked bodies being pressed together. His muscular arm - that he wasn't laying his head on - wrapped around my waist and pulled me impossibly closer. My hair had fallen to the pillow, leaving my neck exposed which Elijah took advantage of and started to kiss lightly. I smiled widely and closed my eyes again, loving the feeling of his soft lips and stubble brushing against my skin. He moved lower and placed light pecks on my shoulder. As loving as the gesture was, I couldn’t help but think of the other, unspeakable things he could be doing with that mouth. My hand that was weaved with his fingers moved behind me and started to stroke Elijah's bare hips. He hummed in content and stroked my stomach, tracing the curve of my hips as he lowered gradually.

And I’m not scared; of your stolen power. I see right through any hour.

As I was stroking his hips and he had moved to stroke the smooth skin above my clit, I felt his cock begging to be touched. The tip brushing against the bottom of my thoracic spine. Thoughts turning sinful, I reached my hand towards his unbearable hardness and stroked his large cock. His breaths getting harder, were tickling my neck making me speed up. I moved forward a little to make it easier for me to pleasure him and after a few seconds he took my hand away and moved me against him again. I was confused at first but realised why he did it. It was my birthday, he likes to make me feel good on my birthday. He doesn't let me take care of him.

I won’t soothe your pain. I won’t ease your strain.

He clutched my hand and brought in front of me, allowing him to close the small gap of space I had made when moving forward. His free hand reached in between us and grabbed his length which he began stroking up and down the warmth between my legs. I was humming in delight when the hand attached to the arm he was laying on, began to stroke my hair. Stretching my smile even more. He finally stopped stroking my clit and situated his large penis at the ingress of my vagina.

You’ll be waiting in vain. I’ve got nothing for you to gain.

He moved his hand away again and crept the pads of his fingertips up the side of my body until he found and gathered my breast in his hand. As he was toying around with my nipple he suddenly thrusted into me and hit my sweet spot almost instantly. 

I’m taking it slow. Feeding my flame. Shuffling the cards of your game.

I threw my head back into the crook of his neck, whilst he kept up his heavy but slow thrusts. He moved his hand from my breast and grabbed my hand that was clutching the sheets beneath us. He held it so he had an example of the pleasure rippling through out me. I occupied my other hand by running it through his hair. I felt him watching me closely whilst driving me closer to climax but he decided to top it off with light kisses down my ear and neck. When he got as far as he could with his lips, he occupied his free hand to trail down the rest of my body.

And just in time; in the right place. Suddenly, I will play my ace.

The grip on his hand that I had gained, was getting arguably strengthier. I could hear the strain on the bones in his hand but nevertheless he kept his composure. His other hands fingers traced down my spine, creating pleasurable shivers. I screwed my eyes shut and bit my lip hard. I waited for him to pull out so I could turn around. I managed to and pressed my lips, that had specs of my blood from biting too hard on them against his. We pulled away he darted his tongue out and tasted some of my blood and I flipped us around.

I won’t soothe your pain. I won’t ease your strain. You’ll be waiting in vain. I got nothing for you too gain.

I pushed down on one of his shoulders and pushed his hair back out of his eyes. I couldn’t help but smile at how lucky I was. I leaned down and kissed him lovingly more than lustfully. When I pulled away, he flipped us back over. I grabbed his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I smiled whilst continuing the kiss. My legs wrapped around his waist pulling him closer and rubbing my wet heat against his crotch. The tip of his penis was stroking my stomach as I was continuing the loving kiss we had shared, just moments before. I smiled against his mouth and sat up, continuing to glue my mouth to his own.

Eyes on fire. Your spine is ablaze.

Arms belonging to me, settled around his neck and gently pulled him closer to me as I rested my weight on his thighs. His lips were removed from my own and had taken their place below my ear, right next to my jaw and kissed it. Eyes of my own fluttered shut and my hips began a steady pace on his thigh. Grinding on it and feeling my high get inevitably closer. He smiled against my neck and pulled away, grabbing my face.

“Open your eyes, beautiful.”

I obeyed his wishes and stared deeply into him as he did to me. I stopped the movement of my hips on his thigh, stopping my release from layering on to his leg. 

“I’m sorry my love. I got carried away, I’m desperate.”

He chuckled at me and kissed my forehead, cheeks, eyes, nose and finally left a lingering kiss on my lips.

“Don’t ever be sorry my beautiful wife, you do whatever you want. I promise either way I will willingly give you your release your so desperately wanting.”

I looked into the dark but romantic abyss of his eyes and smiling. Remembering more intently than usual, just why I am and ever was in love with this wonderfully rare creating of a man.

“You really don't the mind ?”

He once again chuckled.

“Who am I to deny my Queen on her birthday ? You shall have whatever you would like and more.”

I rolled my eyes. The amount of times he's said that.

“I love you Mr Mikaelson.”

He clutched my face with his hands and whispered.   

“I love you Mrs Mikaelson.”

I smiled and kissed him once again. 

Felling any foe with my gaze. 

We continued to show our love to each other with our mouths when I decided to more a little further. I allowed my hand to wander to his always impressive length and stroke it a little, he groaned into my mouth in pleasure. He still mustered up the strength to remove my hand anyway, no matter his feelings. He clutched my hips and pulled away from my mouth, looking into my eyes. My hands wrapped around his neck tighter and eyes stayed glued to him whilst he lowered my body down on to his insanely erect member. I sighed in pleasure and the light smile stayed on my face as I bit my lip, feeling him reach my limit already. Being the only one who had been able to reach it, turned Elijah on more and he grinned at me. 

And just in time. In the right place. Steadily emerging with grace.

His fingers near enough engraved white prints onto my love handles as he kept my pace steady. My hands clutched his shoulders as I rose and lowered myself on him once again. We rested our foreheads against one another's and moaned. I kept up the pace of my fast bounces and he removed his forehead from mine; ducking his head to show as much affections to my breasts as I was doing to his cock. I started to get sloppy as my energy was draining from the pleasure he was filling me with. He noticed the pace slowing down and hugged me to him as he mercilessly thrusted his hips into mine. The soft moans that were previously filling the room, were now rougher and teamed with the slaps of our skin from the thrusts. My hips, thighs and back were flushed with the prints of his hands from clutching tightly. The rough thrusts were blurring my vision more and more the closer I got to release. 

Felling any foe with my gaze.

His hands groped my behind and pulled me even closer to him so we were no flushed against each other. My elevated position allowed my breasts to caress his face with every thrust, making him grin like an idiot. He kissed every inch of both of them and loved every second of it, knowing full well it was driving me impossible closer to my release. I held the post of the bed and forced myself to restart my bounces on him, only this time faster. His head hit the headboard as he threw it back, though it didn't cause any pain. I grabbed one of the hands that was almost glued to my waist as he was gripping so hard and rubbed it on my clit. Luckily, Elijah understood what I meant when I did that and roughened his pace, pressing harder and rubbing faster. Following that I used my hand to grip his balls, driving him closer to orgasm. 

Steadily emerging with grace.

“Elijah, honey...i’m so close.”

Once again, my energy had rapidly disappeared and I had to result to leaving him to the work again. It didn't stop me from rocking myself back and forth though, whilst clutching one of his thighs with one hand and his balls with the other.

“I know, beautiful. Just a little longer for me though, sweetheart. I want to make it a birthday you'll never forget, amore mio.”

I smiled at his words. He never fails to make it a day I won't forget.

“I’m turning one thousand and forty-five honey and I remember this part of my birthday every year, I'm sure I won't forget this one.”

As if he was retaliating to my statement, he flipped me over on to my hands and knees. Just when I thought this couldn't get any better, he pressed himself against my behind and caressing my breasts as they were hanging down, due to my position. I bit my lip and he rubbed the tight hole of my behind, as if he was waiting for my permission. 

Felling any foe with my gaze.

We'd never really thought about anal as much, maybe we just never got around to it but now it was approaching it seemed forbidden. I was still itching to see if it was so bad after all though, so I moaned and push back into him. He grinned and grabbed my hip, lining himself up and thrusting in with no hesitation. It stung a little but nothing I couldn't handle. I let my head fall down into the comforter, crying in pleasure loudly and almost ripping the sheets from me clutching so much. He groaned even louder than before and thrusted in again and again and again. At this point, I had never felt so fulfilled-sexually-in my life. I hummed in content and started shake slightly from pleasure. I could feel him start to throb alerting me of him getting seconds away from release.

Steadily emerging with grace.

I pulled myself away and sat on top of him again, wanting him to come inside of my pussy. I kissed him deeply and bounced on top and my first bounce had him coming already and I smiled widely before allowing myself to release onto him to. My orgasm glided thickly down his cock reaching his base and the feeling of the my warm juices, got him off even more.

I threw my head back in pleasure and he collapsed beside me, pulling the sheets over us and ushering me to cuddle into his side, which I did. I placed a sloppy kiss on his chest, tightening my hold on him.

“Yes, absolutely will not forget this one.”

He chuckled along with my giggle and kissed my head.

“I should hope so, Mrs Mikaelson. I tried so hard that I experimented, I didn't even know if you'd like it....although judging by your flushed face and beautiful smile on your face, I'm willing to gamble that I did in fact honour my wishes ?”

I shook my head and kissed him lovingly.

“Of course you did, honey.”

He grinned and kissed me once again.

“Happy birthday, beautiful.”

I kissed him again in gratefulness. 

“Thank you, handsome. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

MASTERLIST

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt: Something causes Lan Qiren to just SNAP, go absolutely fucking feral, and run off to become a rogue cultivator.

Beautifully Spent

- Chapter 1 -

aka Five Times Lan Qiren Left The Lan Sect Behind

“It is your duty, Qiren.”

“Is it?” Lan Qiren asked coldly. “I believe you’re thinking of my brother. You might remember him – the sect leader?”

He’d never spoken that coldly to anyone, least of all an honored elder, one of his own teachers, but he had no choice.

Ever since he was young, Lan Qiren wanted to become a traveling musician - to wander the world freely, without the burdens that would fall on his older brother, the prospective sect leader. Even as he got older, he'd never quite let go of that ambition, refining it until it had become not only a dream but a plan.

He would see that plan come to fruition, no matter what it took.

His teacher looked at him helplessly. “What’s gotten into you?” he asked. “You know your brother has chosen seclusion –”

“I know that in the eyes of the sect I have never been a quarter the man he is,” Lan Qiren said quietly. “I know that in each instance that we have argued, you have all taken his side. I know that I was asked, time and time again, to yield – because he is the elder, because he is the heir, because he is the more talented of us two. I have always yielded, because I am a filial son, a good brother, and I love my sect. I have always yielded.”

His teacher cast his eyes down to the ground.

An acknowledgement of guilt.

“I will not yield this time,” Lan Qiren said simply. “This is the rest of my life, honored teacher. This is my entire life. For once, let himbe the one to yield – to do his duty to his sect, as he was always meant to.”

“But –”

“I have always been here for him.” Lan Qiren did not allow him to interrupt. “I have been his scapegoat when things have not gone his way, I have been his pawn in political games, I have even been his punching bag when he needed to vent his irrational anger. Everything he has had the freedom to do, he has done because he has had me here. If I were not here, would he be able to go into seclusion?”

His teacher was silent.

“He would not,” Lan Qiren concluded. “To go into seclusion when you are the only option to lead the sect is to be an unfilial descendant of our ancestors. And so, if I am not here, he would be obligated to live up to his duties.”

“His heart has just been broken. Do you have no empathy for him?”

“As much as I do for the woman who was forced by circumstances to agree to marry him, and no more.”

“Qiren…”

“Think of it as me being dead, honored teacher,” Lan Qiren said, and ignored his teacher’s flinch at such inauspicious words. “Do you need me to remove my forehead ribbon before I go?”

“Qiren! Of course not!”

“Ask my brother,” Lan Qiren said dryly. “He will have the final word, as usual, and he does not like not getting his way.”

He left that day, his head held high.

He did his best not to think of his brother, who had, in his own way, wanted freedom, too.

Lan Qiren travelled, after that. It was just as he’d always planned it: quiet nights along forest paths, visits to small towns in out-of-the-way corners of the world – inquiring and then solving any issues they had that required a cultivator, and playing for them when no such issues remained. He had anticipated hardship, knowing himself to be a rich young master who’d never really faced the world; he hadn’t anticipated kindness: a few married women in one town taking the time to show him how to do laundry, giggling at him all the while, a group of young woodcutters in the next the best way to forage and cook food when one was hungry, a merchant and his wife teaching him how to bargain to avoid getting cheated…in time, through the generosity and enthusiasm of others, he learned all the skills he needed.

He refused payment for night-hunts – amazingly, his sect did not cut him off as he’d almost expected them to, and he was still able to collect his usual allowance – but accepted it for his music, and from his place behind his guqin he watched, quiet and content, as life swirled around him in all its myriad forms.

In between music and night-hunts, he idly taught some skills to the children in the towns he passed through – the vast majority were common people, completely lacking in cultivation skills, but his sect’s rules and the philosophy behind them were applicable in far more situations than that, and basic martial skills in even more. Whenever he stayed somewhere for more than a few days, he added in lessons in basic literacy, mostly because the idea of not having books at hand was abhorrent to him; the parents involved were generally more grateful that he was keeping their children out of trouble than especially interested in what he was teaching them, but it’d never hurt anyone to know a little bit of reading.

When he happened upon a place already governed by another sect, he did not take particular care either to avoid or to approach them; if they happened to meet, and to invite him to stay with them, he would. Lao Nie tracked him down six times for that very purpose, citing increasingly less plausible excuses, before Lan Qiren finally agreed to make the Unclean Realm a regular stop on his travels just to make him stop; in contrast, Cangse Sanren just showed up at the camp he had made for himself one day, her husband as always by her side, and simply refused to leave for the next three months.

He did not visit the Cloud Recesses.

Not when he heard about how his brother had, however reluctantly, come out from seclusion and begun to do the work of sect leader, and do it well, the Lan sect prospering under his leadership as they had always expected to. Not when he got news that his nephew was born; not when he heard that one nephew had become two. Not even when he heard that his brother’s wife had died, though the thought of that miserable woman’s self-inflicted fate had moved him enough to write a letter of condolence to his brother – their first contact in seven years.

Lan Qiren did not expect anything to come of that impulse, though perhaps he should have known better: it wasn’t more than a week later that he received a letter in return, the heavy formal parchment used by the Lan sect as familiar to him as the back of his hand, his brother’s equally formal calligraphy very nearly as familiar.

The words on it weren’t familiar at all.

I have made a terrible mistake, his brother wrote. I need your help.

Lan Qiren was perhaps not especially filial to his sect, having abandoned it as readily as he did – but despite everything, he did love his brother.

He went home.

“Lan Huan, courtesy name Xichen,” his brother said, nodding at the small child, pudgy and fat and adorable, quivering like a pudding even as he tried to force a smile onto his face, clutching onto a baby only a few months old, the little one strangely solemn despite the inexpert manhandling. “Lan Zhan, courtesy name Wangji.”

Lan Qiren was not as shy as he used to be, and he had gotten better at dealing with children. He knelt down until he was level with them, though he did not force himself to adopt any expression that did not come naturally. “Hello,” he said. “I’m your uncle.”

“Hello, uncle,” Lan Xichen said.

Lan Qiren held out a hand and waited, even as his brother took his leave, busier than ever. It took a little while, but Lan Xichen eventually put his own hand in his, and walked with him; after a little while, he even entrusted him with little Lan Wangji, fussing until Lan Qiren had tucked him into the corner of his arm in a manner he found appropriate.

By the time his brother found them again, Lan Xichen was chattering on and on about his xiao lessons, while Lan Qiren nodded along and added his own observations – he was decently skilled at the xiao himself; while it was not his preferred instrument, there were times when it was easier to carry than a guqin, and he had had time, when he was younger, to indulge himself in learning more than one instrument.

When Lan Xichen saw his father, he fell silent at once. He did not hide behind Lan Qiren’s robes, though Lan Qiren half-thought he wanted to – his little hand trembled in Lan Qiren’s palm.

“Would you like to take your brother back?” Lan Qiren asked him. Lan Wangji was a good baby, crying only a few times, each time responding well and easily to the usual things a child his age wanted – milk, a burp, attention. Moreover, Lan Xichen was good with him, thoughtful and careful; Lan Qiren had no concerns entrusting the baby to him, and Lan Xichen brightened a little when he realized that, nodding happily and taking Lan Wangji, pausing only a moment to glance worriedly at his father before scurrying off.

Lan Qiren looked at his brother.

“He’s afraid of me,” his brother said. “You can tell, can’t you?”

A blind man could tell. Lan Qiren said nothing.

“Wangji cries whenever I hold him, too, even though he almost never cries the rest of the time. He’s not even a year old, and he already knows.”

“Knows?”

His brother looked out into the horizon. His hands were behind his back, clasped in a formal pose. “That I’ll ruin them, too.”

Lan Qiren put his own hands behind his back as well. After a few moments, he said, “You care for them both. That’s not nothing.”

Their own father hadn’t managed even that. He had treated Lan Qiren with utter indifference, while treasuring his eldest beyond the point of reason, encouraging him to always think only of himself; the seeds of their estrangement were planted long before either of them knew it, each of them learning different lessons from their father’s mismanagement – Lan Qiren how to be inferior and doubt himself, his brother to be self-absorbed and careless with the feelings of others; Lan Qiren to bend himself to the point of breaking, his brother to refuse to bend at all.

It had served neither of them well.

“I don’t know what love is, except possession,” his brother said. “Xichen torments himself to try to live up to my expectations, and all I’ve managed to teach him, other than fear, is how to say yes to everything just to make people go away. I find myself falling into the habit of thinking of him as an extension of myself, which is still more than I can do with Wangji, who doesn’t even cry like a regular child should…” He paused. “You didn’t cry much as a child either.”

Lan Qiren glanced at his brother, surprised. He hadn’t known his brother had paid enough attention to him back then to even notice.

His brother smiled thinly. “Our family is known for its quiet children, did you know? I hadn’t, but they told me after Wangji was born. Apparently, there’s a few in every generation: a little slow, a little strange, with minds that don’t work quite the same way as the rest of us. The ones that don’t like to look you in the eye – sometimes they learn to speak, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they’re brilliant. As babies, they’re generally a little too quiet. There were three in our father’s generation, but in ours there was only you. And now, there’s Wangji…”

He shook his head.

“I wronged you before, Qiren. I don’t want to do it again – I don’t want to know what sort of father I’d be to a child like you. I’m not willing to risk waiting to find out, either.”

When Lan Qiren left the Cloud Recesses, he took with him a qiankun pouch weighed down with more money than he’d ever had in his life, two children, one smiling happily as the other burbled quietly, and his brother’s trust.

He had no idea what to do with any of it.

[writingsbychlo]

sun in the shadows (03)

word count; 12,706

summary; trying to make some headway on the study leads to an interesting revelation, and progress in your friendship with noah.

notes; if this part is a little sucky, I apologise. it was a last minute addition that I created because I realised I wanted to include some extras.

warnings; brief mentions of panic attacks/anxiety, but it’s very mild.

The weather was improving, the drizzle of the winter and the grey skies overhead were getting lighter, the showers of rain were getting less frequent and the winter was moving on. Spring was making itself known, bulbs of daffodils were finally taking root in the soil, and green was sprouting from the earth that had been frozen over and dead only a couple of weeks ago. The watery floors were drying up, limited ice was fading away, and graduation was sitting right on the horizon for you all.

Your fingers flexed around the strap of your bag, rooting through the contents to find a place to slip your file inside, all your notes for the class you’d be having were inside, and there was a blank page for your next session waiting to be filled out. Once it had its place, albeit getting a little bit crumbled against the other content, you removed your wallet, a few coins jingling in the bottom, and you hoped it was enough for two coffees.

There was a coffee stand not too far away, and you were hoping an extra shot of coffee before you went in might get your brain working a little faster. Only a couple of feet ahead of you was a face you recognised, a dark jumper to match dark denim jeans, a pair of boots for motorbike riding that were beginning to scuff along the edges and the toes. He was hanging over his money, a brown bag holding a pretzel and a tall cup, the tell-tale tag of a teabag hanging over the edge, and he walked away.

Joining the back of the line, you watched him go, sitting not far across the quarter with his headphones on, settling on one of the recently repainted memorial benches. He pulled the tab on eh coffee back, opening it up and a cloud of steam left the drink, curling up into the air that still held a slight chill, drifting away to disappear as he blew against the surface of the drink. In his other hand was his phone, scrolling aimlessly on it as a way to keep himself disconnected from everyone else around him and prompt nobody else to join him. His bag was out on the bench too, pushed a short distance from his body in an attempt to take up the rest of the space to deter company.

Ordering a simple set of black coffees, and finding you had just enough change for a muffin too, you waited patiently for your order, an assortment of condiments and the double-chocolate treat you’d paid for being handed to you first. There was a grinding, the slight screech of the machine as it crushed the beans to create two black coffees for you, plastic lids sealed on and two cardboard jackets fastened around them.

Balancing the load between them all, you headed over to him, using your knee to nudge the bag up the bench until it bumped his leg, and he jerked slightly, looking up to see you. Offering him a beam, his narrowed eyes lightened a little, and he sighed. Putting down his phone and moving his bag to the floor, he lifted the headphones away from his ears, and let them hang around his neck. Sitting yourself down, he slumped back into the wood, and you scooted up to sit closer to him, placing the spare coffee you’d bought for Stiles on the floor away from your feet.

“Hey, Noah!” He gave a short nod, still a little uncomfortable, and he turned to face you more. “So, what’s your schedule looking like this afternoon?”

“How did you know I was here?”

You shrugged, opening up the bag of extras and searching through for a couple of sweetener packets, and a wooden stirrer. “I didn’t. I was just gonna’ grab a coffee before class and head to my hall early, because, y’know, studying at home is distracting.” Your hand waved off the statement, finding the packets you wanted, and clutching your cup between your knees for stability. “So, anyway I was going to text you when I got there, but then I saw you, so I figured I’d come and say ‘hey’!”

“Right.”

“So, hey!” You waved a little before taking the top from your coffee, and leaving it on the bench beside yourself. “I ask once again, what’s your schedule looking like this afternoon?”

“Well, since I am the most popular guy at this college, I’m pretty busy.” He smiled a little at his own joke, particularly when you gave him a laugh, and your brow raised.

“Oh, he’s got jokes today, huh? I like it, I can roll with that.” Tipping the sugar into the cup, you added a couple of packets, before stirring it slowly. “I take it you’re free, then. I was hoping we could squeeze in some study stuff this afternoon. I have a class in a couple of minutes, but I wanted to see if you were free?”

“Well, I’m free all day. I had a six AM class.” His face screwed up at the idea, and you could feel his pain, having spent the entirety of your sophomore year with a teacher who held lectures at six AM so she could avoid her morning sickness before class, and rush home for it afterwards. Professor Anderson going off on her maternity leave was the best thing that had happened to your education that year.

“Great, I’ll sort it with Stiles, and we’ll text you the details.”

“Sounds like a thrill. I can hardly wait.” He smiles, the sarcasm just like his brothers as it came through, and you repaid him for the joke with a chuckle. While the two of you had made progress, you could tell he was still a little unsure around you. You were polar opposites and he didn’t take well to that, the atmosphere that you brought with you could be a little too much for him to handle sometimes, you couldn’t stop the guilt that was eating at you a little. “What’s wrong? You’ve got a look on your face like you want to talk about things. Just warning you, I’m not good at that heart-to-heart stuff.”

“Yeah, I’ve witnessed that.”

“Shut it.” He teased, sticking his tongue out at you childishly, and you grinned cheesily in reply to him. “You can tell me, though. Can’t promise I’ll help, but..”

“It’s nothing weighing me down. I just wanted to apologise. I clearly interrupted your free time. You got yourself a little pretzel to eat in silence, and everything.” He offers you a blank look at your slight dig, and you only winked, waving the muffin in a bag that you’d bought, and taking a sip of your coffee once the lid was sealed back on. “People usually like it when I stop by to see them, I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay, really.” His words were strained, the response bringing you no relief as he forced them out, and your frown remained. “I’m serious, okay? It’s alright.”

You were trying your best but learning the lines with Noah was different to you. Upon starting college you’d been thrown in at the deep end of socialisation and a whole world you’d never quite had access to before. Coming from a smaller town that had always limited your expectations was tough, and you’d taken it differently from the way Noah had. You’d had so many experiences, becoming legal to drink and venturing beyond your comfort zone, truly leaving home and facing the idea of having your life laid out before you, the first time truly having your heartbroken, and being too far to simply collapse into the arms of your mom or dad for support when things got messed up.

“When does your class start?” You jumped, lost in your thoughts as you slumped back into the bench, and you sat up straight again, turning to find that Noah was already looking at you, eyes scanning over you slowly. It was a good reminder, time had been slipping away from you and in the ease of his peaceful and quiet company, you could have sat there for hours.

Checking your watch, you sighed, lifting your bag strap back up onto your shoulder more securely, and packing everything you had with you inside, leaving you to hold a coffee cup in each hand. “In about ten minutes.”

“How about I walk you?” He picked up his bag, swinging it over his shoulder, and you nodded, a warmer feeling at his offer blooming where cold guilt had been. Standing up and making sure not to spill any of the scalding coffee onto your hand. Peering around the busy campus quarters that was more filled now than it had been for months, the lighter weather tempting groups to come out of their dormitories and the cafés to gather outside instead.

He fell into step beside you, toes scuffing occasionally on the slightly uneven stonework of the quad, before it fell away into smooth concrete pathways on the way to your lecture. The grass alongside each path was growing greener, dull colour fading away into something brighter. Paper crinkled beside you, the cup of tea in his hands being finished and the cardboard cup was crushed between string fingers, knuckles even paler than usual as he crumpled it up, and as you approach the closest bin, it was disposed of.

Your fingers flexed around your coffee cup, almost having forgotten that it was there as the heat from the two began to fade away a little. Taking a sip, the refreshing burst of sweetened caffeine was like a spark to your system, and you revelled in it. “How do you take your coffee?”

You lower the cup from your lips, swallowing your mouthful, and you couldn't stop the rise of your brows once you turned to look at him. “Creamer, usually. I like a caramel flavoured one. But, since I’m not big on creamer in packets or from street vendors, this one just has sweeteners.”

“Cool.” He nodded, and your lips pressed together tightly to try and contain the smile you wanted to let free, silence forming between you both for a moment, a further gathering of steps as the two of you went on, your building coming into sight again. “Did you watch the news last night?”

“Is this small talk?”

“It’s an attempt at small talk.” He winced, and you chuckled, a small smile on his features as the fear of judgement or humiliation washed away, and he gave a sigh.

“Okay, let's try this.” Your mind spun, searching for a track of something to talk about, and a thought clicked into space. “If you could watch one genre of movies for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

“Comedy. Like, comedy-action. You know, ones like ‘Jumanji’ or something?” He was quick with it, certain about his answer, and you nodded.

“Yeah? That was quick. How come you’re so sure?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged, one hand coming up to hold his bag strap, swinging it to the side to be able to get inside, and fish out the paper bag with a pretzel inside. “I guess I just think they’re good for you. Good for the soul. They have action and it keeps you a little on the edge of your seat, but it’s funny. It's easy-going, when you’ve got anxiety, or you’re having a bad day, or you just want background noise, they’re perfect.”

“Alright. Fair enough. Okay, tricky one.” his eyes narrowed a little, but an amused look passed over his features while he waited. “If you had to choose specifically between comedy and action, which is it?”

“It’s got to be action. Because comedy usually means Adam Sandler or Seth Rogen, and some of their comedies are good, but some are jus-” He paused, jaw dropping a little, and his hand came out, pausing in front of your to bring you to a halt too. A smile curled on your lips, and he looked shocked. “Holy shit, you’re good!”

“Ask a basic question that people are passionate about, it always leads to more options, and everyone always wants to talk about something fun.” His head shook slowly, as though he was in disbelief, and you took a dramatic bow, trying not to spill the coffees in your hands as you giggled. “Give it a go, I bet you can do it.”

The paper in his hands crinkled, your footsteps taking up again, and the two of you were making your way towards the building once again. Taking a bite from his pretzel, a piece torn away with his teeth, he thought it over. “Does your family have any secret or ‘famous’ recipes?”

“Oh, that’s a good one. Kudos to you, Noah.”

“Thank you. I thought about it for, like, eight whole seconds.” He grinned, the joke moving away from you both as you left it behind, and you thought about his question.

“Maybe it’s not my family recipe, just a personal one, but I’m great at making lasagne.” He scoffed, and you nudged him with your elbow. “I’m serious! I make a great lasagne!”

“You don’t seem like a cook to me, is all! You seem like the sort of person who’d manage to burn a pit of water.”

“You can’t burn water, an.. oh, I just got it. You jerk.” It was a joke, your nose screwing up as you stuck your tongue out at him, thanking him a second later as he held the door open for him. The bright lights of the outside changed to artificial lights in the halls, not as much coming through the windows as trees outside managed to cast shade into the building. “Well, I can cook. I love to cook, and I’m good at it. Especially lasagne. My family are generally the only ones who have ever had it, and thanks to that insult, you’ll never have it.”

“Oh, woah, no! You have to let me try it now. Prove me wrong, or I’ll be forced to believe you’re bluffing.”

“You’re sneaky.” You scoffed, students filling the hall and filtering in from different sides of the building, lectures in different halls all waiting to take place, and you stepped to the side of the corridor once your doorway was within reach. “If you’re lucky.”

“I’m betting on that.”

Glancing back, Stiles was already inside, as expected. Stiles Stilinski had never once been on time, he was either twenty minutes early or twenty minutes late, and since he’d spent the night with Derek, who was an early bird, you’d figured which one today would be. His head was slumped on his hm half-asleep and on the verge of drooling as he sat there, and you chuckled, turning to Noah. “Thanks for walking me. Also, thanks for small-talking with me.”

“Thanks for the advice on small talk.”

“I’m gonna’ head inside, but, I’ll see you later, okay?” He nodded, confirming the times with you, and lingering a moment longer. It was quiet, but not so tense, and he rolled on the balls of his fete, the half-eaten pretzel in his hands was seemingly abandoned as one hand tucked into his jeans pockets, the other hanging limply while holding the delicacy by his side.

“Thanks for sitting with me. This wasn’t so bad. It was almost fun.”

“You know, one day, you’re gonna’ tell me you had fun with me. I look forward to that day.” He smirked, your head tipping to the side at the expression.

“If you’re lucky.” He was repeating your own words back to you, and you beamed at the chance. Backing away from him slightly, you fixed him with the cheekiest glance you could as you walked through the doorway.

“I’m betting on it.”

You could hear his laugh once you were gone, into the classroom and beginning to take the steps up to a seat beside Stiles that he’d reserved for you, his bag sitting on it. He’d already gotten his equipment out, notepads and pencil laid out in a somewhat organised mess on top of the desk.

Placing the two coffees down, you moved Stiles bag to the floor, tucking it behind his chair and a soft snore made itself known from him, the boy not doing well with early mornings but he never had, not once in your years of knowing him had he handled it very well, so it was no surprise.

“Opening up your bag, you dropped your notebook down onto the surface with a loud ‘slapping’ sound, and he jerked upwards, flailing as he did, and almost knocking the coffees over. Blinking quickly and shaking sleep away, he looked around, eyes wide as he finally focused on you.

“Jesus Christ, don’t do that.” He chastised you, leaning back in his seat and holding a hand over his heart. “I was dreaming about high school, I thought you were my lacrosse Coach waking me up for falling asleep in class again.”

“Maybe I am.” You winked, slamming a hand down on the counter. “Drop and give me twenty, Stilinski! Right now!”

“Don’t do that, it’s eerily accurate.” He cringed, shuddering a little, before a wide smile replaced the horrified expression that had morphed, and you pushed a coffee over to him. “You brought me a coffee?”

“Yes, I did. It’s bribery.”

“Oh? What am I being bribed for?” He was curious, rooting through the bag of condiments for it and taking the plastic lid from the cup, steam curling out into the air. Taking an ungodly and certainly unhealthy amount of sweetener and sugar packets to load into his coffee.

“Your free time this afternoon. I’m thinking about getting some of my study done, I can get all the work for the next couple of sessions sorted now, but how do you feel about being asked some later?” He tipped them in, a drop of coffee flying up over the edge and landing on the desk as he stirred his drink with vigour, that same hyper excitement that he always had.

“Can’t I just fill them out now?”

“It’d be better if I could get your responses with Noah.” He sighed, rolling his eyes and making a scene of it, but there was a smile that told you he already agreed.

“You should have brought me two coffees, but fine.”

You let out a victorious ‘aha!’, and shook the little brown paper bag that was still sitting on your half of the desk at him. “I also brought you half of a muffin!”

“Only half of a muffin?”

“Well, it was none, but since I didn’t eat it yet and I’d feel bad eating it in front of you, I decided to share it.” You tore it in half, pushing half across the scratched and vandalised wooden surface to him. Crumbs were left along the surface, and Stiles pressed the pad of his finger along them to gather them all up.

“Oh, right. Well, in that case, what I meant was; wow, a full half of a muffin!” He cheered, much more enthusiasm, and you nodded.

“Much better.” At the front of the classroom, your tutor entered, door slamming behind him as he kicked the wedge out from underneath, and his case was placed down on the desk. The room began a hushed quiet, save for the loud slurping of Stiles with his coffee beside you.

“You know,” Your best friend didn’t understand the concept of a whisper, everything he did was more like a dramatic stage whisper on a Broadway show, and a few dirty looks were sent his way. The professor was used to this, a year of experience and advice from previous tutors guiding him to ignore Stiles’ fidgeting and chatter. “You’re going to have to convince Noah to do this.”

Slumping down in your seat a little more, you turned your head to him, nibbling on your half of the muffin. “I already did.”

“What?” This time he was hushed, the man standing at the front near his desk, trying his best to give extra advice to everyone and answer any common questions that he’d been emailed. You’d have to catch the after-class notes in your emails. “When d’you do that?”

“This morning before class. I saw him while getting coffee for you and we walked over.”

Stiles huffed, his brows being pulled together slightly. “Okay. Damn, he was my last free shot at getting the afternoon off.” You grinned, pinching at your friend’s cheek, and he smacked your hand away. “Quit it, I’ve told you not to do that before.”

“In case I pinch your moles off?”

“That's where my power is. My funny is in my moles.” He hissed, only making you laugh more, and you covered your mouth with your hand over his silly superstitions.

“Whatever, freak.”

“Hoe.” He snarked back, and you grinned, punching at his shoulder as best you could from this angle, and he reached up a hand to rub at it. “So, if we’re doing this, I at least want to do it at my place. I’m going out this evening, I gotta’ be ready. Derek’s sisters are coming up to visit.”

“It won’t take long, don’t worry.” He hummed, pulling out his phone and keeping it ducked from view. He was texting his brother, letting him know to be ready, and at what time your class would be ending, giving him a little time to prepare. Opening your book up and flicking to the page you had marked, it was a journal written about the study of the ways that twins raised in different households could grow up similarly, and you were hoping to adopt some of the content for your study.

“So, what’ve you got done so far?”

Stile sighed, flicking open his notebook, and you were shocked by the fact that he was already at the end of it. There were pieces of paper stuck in, a list of book references on one of the tabs down the side of a page, and only a few blank pages left at the back.

“Oh, wow, okay.” You stared at your notebook, barely reaching a quarter of the way through with the notes you’d been making, and it looked like Stiles was ready to start making progress towards a conclusion for his hypothesis. “So, you’ve got a whole lot done, then.”

“Yeah, well, I want to spend as little time in a prison as I possibly can.” He rubbed a hand over his forehead, the pages crammed full of information as he flicked through to find a blank one. “Plus, I didn’t want to go and interview inmates on my own, so I wait until Derek has free time to go with me, and I get as much done in those sessions as I can.”

“You’re gonna’ be done weeks before I am.” You pouted, your pen twirling at the top corner of a page, drawing a collation of pretty flowers to form a border, and he chuckled.

“I have easier test subjects than you do. They’re already guilty and behind bars, they’re more than happy to open up. You’ve gotta’ deal with Noah.”

“That’s true.” You grinned, thinking back on the conversation you’d had with the other twin that morning. When he was alone, it wasn’t so bad, he talked more and he wasn’t so worried about judgements, but as soon as there was someone else who might hear, he completely closed down.

“Hey, seriously, we have ages left. You’re gonna’ be just fine.”

“I’m just freaking out a little bit, because this is the last hurdle, y’know?” He nodded, and you could see whatever it was he was thinking practically swirling in his eyes, because Stiles’ emotions were open to read like a book.

“It’s terrifying. It’s, like, what the hell are we supposed to do when we finish?”

“I don’t know.” Your head dropped to your hands, fingers soothingly rubbing at your temples. A large hand landed on your back, rubbing in comforting circles. “What I do know, though, is that if I don’t get on with coming up with some more content, I’m never gonna’ finish this study in time.”

“Well, put your headphones on and come up with some questions.”

You did as told, plugging your earbuds in and choosing some classical music that would make it easier to concentrate. Opening one of your survey works back up to the page you’d left off at, your eyes began to flicker over the pages, picking out the useful information. Once you had a list built, you had a foundation to work from, questions to create and organise into groups, different sessions being able to come together.

Beside you, Stiles’ hand never seemed to stop rising, a constant dialogue with your tutor as he checked his work and ironed out any kinks in his study. He was also full of chatter and laughter, getting along with everyone around him and asking about their works, making you turn your music up several times just to be able to concentrate. But, by the end of the session, when Stiles was tugging your earbud out and telling you your class was over, you had a solid three pages worth of questions that had been split up into sessions, and ready to be worked through.

“Pack up and get ready to go. I have plans to get ready for.”

Stiles already had his bag in his arms, notebook tucked inside and pens and pencils put away, two empty coffee cups and a muffin wrapper sitting out, which he quickly gathered up, once his bag was on his shoulder. He was gone, walking past you and down to the waste bin at the front of the hall to dispose of them, his fingers tapping idly on his thigh once he was done.

You gathered your belongings, packing them away and curling the wire of your headphones back up neatly, making sure everything had its correct place in your bag, before following him down and out of the steps.

The halls were filled once again, the two of you navigating through crowds to the outside of the building, and you followed him in his diversion across the pathway, all the way to his car. Some students had already left, spaces beginning to empty out as a bottleneck effect took place at the only entrance and exit to this carpark.

“Where’s your car?” The dirty blue jeep was one of the only ones left in the parking lot, Stiles looking around for your vehicle, and you sighed.

“Don’t get me started on that hunk of junk.” You growled, stomping a foot on the floor as Stiles laughed. Opening the driver’s side door, he hopped up inside of it, legs dangling from the chair. “I’m trying not to use it as much. It splutters when it starts up and I have to try it a whole bunch of times, so the less I use it, the closer to graduation we can get before it eventually taps out.”

“You ever think about just getting it fixed?”

“Oh, big words from the man whose engine is held together with duct tape.” Your hand rubbed over the hood of the car, a slightly dusty layer that made you cringe, and you wiped your hand off on your jacket to stop it.

“Touché.” Stiles only smirked. “C’mon, I’ll give you a ride to my place. I’ll be waiting for hours if you walk.”

He slammed his car door once his legs were inside, leaning over the centre console to pop open the passenger side door as you rounded the car, and he was sparking up the car before you were even fully inside. Slamming it shut, he was reversing from his spot as you clipped in your safety belt, swinging his car around, and you gripped onto the edge of the door. “Easy there, fast and furious.”

“Oh, relax. Nobody is around.”

“Except for me, and I’d like to live until graduation.” His eyes rolled, hitting the brakes and flicking on the indicators as he was leaving the parking lot, moving out onto the main roads. There weren’t so many other cars, the mid-afternoon meaning the other students were mostly in class, in bed, or eating their lunch. College was a weird time, and while you’d loved it, you couldn't wait to regain some kind of normality. “Can we swing by my place? I need to swap out my books. I don’t want to carry all these around.”

“Okay, but be quick! I have to be ready by six and out the door by six-thirty. Derek will kill me if I’m late for this.” His fingers were tapping on the steering wheel as he changed direction to head to your place instead of his own. The space between you both was filled with the radio, the simple tunes of classic 70s anthems, the songs Stiles had grown up with, his dad’s favourite records and he played them constantly. He knew all the words, mouthing along and banging his head, pausing occasionally to check the mirrors and the roads between dancing in his seat.

Rolling the window down as he slowed in his approach to the building, afresh air swept into the carbon of the car, the slightly musty smell of the older car was something you’d miss when it was gone. The shade of the concrete cover overhead was chillier than the sunny roads, and he swung himself haphazardly into a parking space.

“I’ll turn the car around and wait here, cool?”

“I won’t take long, promise!” Hopping from the car and closing the door, you leant on the open door frame, and Stiles slouched in his seat, as he usually did. “Lydia and Ally should both be out, so there’s nobody for me to even talk to.”

“Good, because you’re chatty.” He teased, and you flipped him off, a quick walk as you headed away from him to the stairs. Once you were there, you were taking a quick jog up the sets of stairs, headed for your floor, and balancing your books in your arms carefully. Rooting through your bag to find your keys, they were at the bottom, jingling tantalisingly for you to find.

Leaving your books on the countertop of the kitchen, you shifted through them, taking the notebook you needed and leaving the rest, piling them back up and taking them to your bedroom Abandoned on the desk, you rushed to change, throwing on a bigger and warmer jumper to get through the rest of the day, phone in your pocket and a bag on your arm. Passing back through the kitchen, you were ready to grab the notebook and bag you’d left there, keys hanging in the back of the door, and you eyed the freezer.

You’d made a bet, a point to prove, and you were certain that buried somewhere deep in the bottom, you had a frozen lasagne from the last time you’d made it for Allison and Lydia. You had a few spare moments, and so you moved over to the freezer, opening the door and crouching to scan over all the shelves.

Running your fingers over frozen plastic, you searched for the right one. Tinfoil crinkling in the back, behind a bag of dinosaur chicken nuggets and a tray of alcoholic ice cubes, was a tray of lasagne. Pulling it out, the cold chilled your arm, even through the layers of your hoodie, and you used your foot to close the freezer while wrapping the tray in the nearest tea towel for an extra layer.

Placing your notebook over it and holding it in both arms for security, you clicked the latch onto the door, keys in your pocket and bag on your shoulder to let it swing closed behind you.

Stiles saw you coming, his head snapping over to the metal door between the stairwell and the parking lot when it fell open, backing through it and his brows raised. Opening up the passenger side door, he took the lasagne from you when you handed it over, climbing back into the vehicle.

“This is cold. What is it?”

“Lasagne.” You settled it onto your lap once your safety belt was on, folding the towel underneath to keep your lap from getting chilled and painful, and he nodded. The engine was still running, and taking off the brakes, he was pulling out of the space again.

“So, not that I don’t love a home-cooked meal, but I’m going out for dinner. Why the traybake?”

“I have a point to prove to Noah.” You were looking out of the window, but you could feel his gaze on you, making you a little uncomfortable, and you turned to face him. His eyes were flicking between you and the road, brows furrowed, a stare like he was trying to figure you out, before he let it go. “He told me I looked like I couldn't cook, and it’s a battle I’m going to win.”

“Well, alright then. Save me leftovers?”

“We’ll see.” You winked, and he grinned, eyes flicking to the tray in your lap, before back to the road.

It was only a short journey, the distance between your place and Stiles’ building was short for a walk and even shorter in a car, on the edges of campus and conveniently placed, and it had been one of the building blocks of your friendship with him An easily accessible study partner, somewhere to hang out with, someone to walk home with you after a night out, someone to share a cab with, or simply knowing there was a friend so close to you.

“It’s going to be weird not living around the corner from you in just a few months.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” He sighed, pulling into his one building sparking area and it didn’t have the luxury of being covered or underground, it was exposed each flat having allocated parking spaces, and Noah’s bike was parked underneath the shelter, you could see it from here, with a clamp around the wheel and covered from the impending and risky weather of the early months. “I have a feeling that you’ll end up living next door to me someday.”

“You do?”

He parked the car, arm behind your head as he reversed into it, ready to make a quick getaway on the next morning, or this evening, when he would invariably be late. In true Stiles Stilinski style. “Yeah. Especially after I rock whatever gown you want me to wear for being your maid of honour, someday.”

“Lydia is going to fight you for that role.”

“I will fistfight her for it.” He challenged, and you grinned, clambering down from the car as Stiles had parked a little too close to someone else on your side. With your bag on your shoulder and lasagne in one hand, you tried to squeeze around the door without scratching someone else’s paintwork.

Stiles’ arm was slung over your shoulder as you set off toward the building, the elevator being fully functional, and it was a refreshing change not need to take the stairs up to your place, or risk your life in a rickety elevator.

Throwing his keys down on the kitchen counter, they slid all the way across and to the other side, hitting the floor, and he grimaced when you turned to stare at him. “I’ll pick those up later.”

“Uh-huh.” The sounds of video games and music were coming from behind Noah’s door, though it wasn’t fully closed, only pushed halfway, and you hoped that was a sign that he was still in a good mood. Leaving your bag on the edge of the couch that was facing away from you, your hands rubbed together, glancing around at the environment you were still getting used to. “You should put this lasagne in now, so that it’s ready for after the study. Medium heat, leave the full-on tight.”

“Where are you going?”

“To say ‘hey’ to your brother.” Stiles’ face scrunched up, a mumble of ‘good luck’ as he picked up the tray, lifting it over his head to look in at it from underneath. Wandering toward the sounds coming from the hall, you knocked on the edge of the door, pushing it open a second later when you heard the game pause, and the music following it. Leaning on the doorframe, Noah turned to face you, brows raising slightly, and he shifted in his chair. “Hey.”

“Hi. It’s, uh, time for the study stuff, then?”

“Yeah. You okay?” He shrugged, turning back to his game and closing it off, leaning forwards from where he was sat on his bed enough to turn the console off.

“I didn’t realise we’d be doing it here. It feels more personal, somehow.” He had a large hoodie on, comfortable in his own clothes as he wore a baggy and warm outfit, the same way you often had when everything started to feel overwhelming.

“Well, this study is going to get pretty personal.”

“I know that. It’s just that right now, it feels a bit like I’m naked, y’know?” You chuckled, a momentary smile on his face flashing past, and you were glad to see it. “I just feel exposed.”

“This study is gonna’ do that, but I promise that I’ll try and make it as easy as I can. I’ll break it up, I’ll make it comfortable for you, and we’ll stop whenever you’re getting overwhelmed.”

“That’d be great, actually.” His hands rubbed together, sleeves hanging slightly down over his palms, and he looked a whole lot less terrifying right now than he did with the armour of a bike and a leather jacket. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Good, because I need you in high spirits. I brought a lasagne and I have a point to prove.”

You backed out of the room as he advanced toward you, the door closing and leaving you both standing in the hall, and he smirked down at you a little, a disbelieving expression. “You really brought that?”

“You bet I did. It’ll be ready by the time we finish.”

“Then I guess we’d better get started, huh?” He hopped over the back of the couch, settling in beside his brother, who scowled at him as his drink spilt down his shirt from the impact. Taking a seat on the other side of them both, your legs folded underneath yourself in the armchair, finding a glass of water laid out for yourself on the table, courtesy of Stiles.

They looked so different and yet so similar in this moment. You could understand how people may have confused the two of them before their styles became so radically different. In the beginning, before Noah turned to leather and a sleeve tattoo, when they both wore hoodies and band tees and had clean pale skin. With the sleeve of tattoos covered, and the pair both wearing hoodies, one with an etching across the front and the other with a faded logo from being washed one too many times,

Laying out your books, it was more of a note you’d keep to yourself, and following from that was your recorder, coated in the front pocket of your bag so as not to get crushed. Switching it on at the side, the red light flashed on to green blinking once to let you know it was active. “Can you guys do your confirmations for me while I get set up?”

“Surely can.” Stiles sat forwards, leaning down a little with his forearms braced across his knees, as opposed to Noah, who slumped back into the cushion. “Stiles Stilinski, happy to be recorded.”

“Noah Stilinski, aware of being recorded.” Stiles rolled his eyes at his brother’s dead tone, clearly not having as much fun as Stiles was, but you didn’t blame him.

“Okay, so, why don’t you guys tell me what it’s like to live together at college.” There was a beat of silence, and then a set of matching laughs from both of them, the two starting at one another. There was a look between them, one you didn’t quite understand, and it seemed like some kind of twin-telepathy communication.

“It’s, like, exactly the same as when we were in high school.”

“Uh, what?” Stiles interjected, and Noah turned to look at him. “It’s nothing like high school!”

“Yes, it is!” Noah insisted, and you smirked, picking up your water and taking a sip as the two stared in shock at one another. “We lived together in high school, we played video games, I did all the cooking and you did all the cleaning while dad was at work. The only thing that is different is that we can’t cheat from one another’s homework anymore.”

“We don’t drive to school together anymore, we’re on opposite sides of campus!”

“That so doesn’t count.” Noah scoffed, and Stiles twisted on the couch, his hand gestures much more emphasised than that of his brother’s and you watched the debate go down. “You can’t name any more than that.”

“I take that as a challenge.” Stiles’ head rolled side to side. “Our schedules don’t match up anymore, and we haven’t had our usual movie nights in almost six months now. I can’t bring Derek over because your room is right across from mine-”

“My room was across the hall from you at home. You just didn’t date in high school or have anyone to bring home.”

“Low-blow. Unlike some people, I didn’t want to traumatise my brother in high school by bringing someone home, for that.” Stiles reached out mid-sentence, swatting at his brother’s shoulder, before continuing; “Uh, let's see. Oh! We don’t talk anymore, you didn’t ride your motorbike so much at home, you used to ride in the jeep with me. It’s like a totally different world now.”

��I didn’t know you felt like that.” There was a palpable kind of feeling in the air, something between them that was sizzling with electricity, before Stiles sighed.

“It’s no big deal. The difference is just that we’re both so busy now.”

“That was really good, actually. Thanks.” The two seemed to have forgotten you were there, both flinching and turning to face you again, matching sets of honey-coloured eyes in varying shades were fixing on you again. “Speaking of what you said, though, does it ever make it hard for you guys when your class times are so different?”

“Hard to do what?” Stiles squinted at you, face set in a frown that his twin normally wore.

“Hard to hang out, talk, have that whole brotherly bond going on.” Your clarification did little for Stiles, his brows still pulled tight and frown never moving, but Noah’s face smoothed out.

“Oh.. well, I g-”

“Totally.” Noah pressed, and once again, Stiles’ head whipped around to look at his brother. “Don’t look at me like that. You basically said it, anyway. We don’t talk so much anymore. We barely know each other. You don’t even tell me about your podcast, anymore.”

“You never listened!”

“You used to tell me your problems, not broadcast them to the world with jokes and humour! I missed two episodes, and you just stopped keeping me updated on it.” The moodier twin crossed his arms over his chest, and you swallowed thickly at the environment you had unwittingly created. “I don’t know. Just feels like we used to talk a lot more.”

They both went silent, and Noah shot you a pleading look, but there was something darker behind it. It almost felt venomous, angry or defensive, as though to say ‘I told you so’ about it being more personal now that they were home. Stiles was occupying himself with pulling a loose thread on their couch cushion out and making it that much worse, distracting himself from it all. “Well, how about something a little bit lighter. Just some questions about hobbies. Stiles, what inspired you to first start a podcast?”

“Well, as you know, I never stop talking.” He smirked, Noah laughing beside him, and just like that, the awkward air between them both was completely evaporated. “I had a lot to say, I had a lot to get off of my mind. At first, it was just to get my thoughts out there. It was kind of like a recorded journey for myself, and to share with my friends from back home. But, then other people started listening. I thought it was going to be the end of my college social life, a social life that I was developing for the first time ever, and they liked it. I was just talking into a mic and getting things off of my chest, making no sense while telling stories and bitching about my homework and suddenly I had friends. It got a whole lot of followers and I made new friends,”

He paused, offering you a wink for the comment, and you beamed.

“-and I was going to parties, I met my boyfriend at a pep rally, and everything just kinda.. blossomed. The more I got out of it, the more inspired I was to keep going. I ended up making multiple videos a week, all differently themed. Sometimes movie reviews, sometimes songs, sometimes just talking. That’s how ‘Mischief Mic’ was born.”

“Alright. That was awesome.” Stiles bowed as best he could from sitting on the couch, and reached over to take a sip of his drink. “Okay, Noah, have you got any hobbies that you didn’t have in high school that you found when you came to college.”

“Not really.”

“Not even one?” You pushed, and the arms folded over his chest tightened, his gaze going to the floor, socked toes pushing into the twist cable rug. He took his glass, swigging all of it, the water draining from the glass in nervousness, and you could hear the crickets inside your mind chirping to fill the silence that had formed.

“No. Not really. I’m going to get more water, feel free to continue.”

“Uh, okay.” You pressed your pen down into your paper, drawing a line through the question on your paper as you realised you’d have no answer to that question when you listened back on the tape at a later time. “Stiles, back to you, then.”

Your next question came, and went, and Stiles was more than happy to answer them. Occasionally, Noah would answer a question, you’d be able to pin him down long enough to get a straight answer out of him, but there seemed to always be something that he needed to mess with, or fix. Almost half of your questions for him had a line drawn through, and you would have to ask them another time, and get a whole extra session in without Stiles, dragging the study out.

It was going to take you twice as long to get through it all if every time you had to ask them separately, and had to spend your time trying to force him to sit and answer. You were missing half of the information that you needed to be able to compare to Stiles’ answers, you couldn’t answer without them.

The clock ticked by, leaving you with all of your questions for Stiles answered. On a blank page, while Noah had once again been tinkering with something in the kitchen, you’d rewritten up all over the crossed out questions that would still need answers. You had doodled on the corner again, waiting for him to come and sit back down, a collection of hearts and flowers, the occasional bee or ladybug, even a couple of misshaped stars, forming a banner across the top of the page.

When he finally came to sit back down, he huffed, eyes moving to the clock as though he was waiting for this to end just as much as Stiles was, and you gave up.

“Okay, how about we just finish this up?” You had reached the end of your tether, not even bothering with the rest of the questions that were written down for him. “We got almost two hours in, that’s perfect.”

Noah sighed, something like an apology in his look as your eyes met his and he shrugged lightly. Stiles only nodded, eyes flicking up to the clock on the wall, and he was grinning when he came back. Tearing a page out of your notebook for each of them, you passed it over, blank paper sitting before them, and you searched for a pen or pencil in the bottom of your bag for each of them. Placing your pen down before Stiles and a pencil in front of Noah, they both leaned forwards, picking them up. Switching off your recorder and packing it away, you were left with the two staring at you expectantly.

“Okay, Stiles, come fill yours out in the kitchen. You can’t discuss these ones.”

“Oh, some mystery. I like that.” He picked up his paper and pencil, heading over to the kitchen counter, folding the sheet in half as he did, and you nodded. Standing from your place behind the coffee table, your bag slumped a little more from where it had been propped against your leg.

“Okay, I want you both to try self-diagnosing yourself.” Stiles gasped, a little excitement lacing it, and his pencil was already moving over the paper. Noah, however, looked a little lost, looking to you for guidance. “Don’t worry, you don’t need to use professional terms, just, describe what you think, I’ll be able to figure it out, and if I can’t, I’ll ask you about it at some point.”

He nodded, pausing, not quite as eager to get into the activity as Stiles was, before the pencil finally met the paper, and the slow scratching of graphite over paper filled the silence.

Moving away to the kitchen, you searched for plates, and a dish, laying them out on the counter before moving to the oven. A wave of hot air into your face once you pulled the door open, and when it cleared, you search for the kitchen towel you’d brought with you. Wrapping it carefully around the edges of the tray inside, you pulled it out, resting it atop the oven and closing the door back up.

Flicking off the handles, the light inside went dead, and Stiles loomed up behind you. “Smells good!” He presented a piece of paper to you, your eyes flicking over what he’d written once you’d taken it from him, and everything that he’d written about himself seemed completely accurate. It wasn’t a surprising self-evaluation, Stiles had spent almost four years studying this, just like you had, and so it was bound to be accurate and professional. Even if his handwriting looked a little bit like chicken-scratch.

Noah was still working on his, and Stiles was picking at the edges of the tinfoil, trying not to touch the glass of the casserole dish and burn himself, and as soon as he had some foil pinched between his fingers, he was pulling it back. “Wait, Stiles, watch out for the-”

“Fucking steam! Oh, my God, that’s so fucking hot!”

His hand snapped back, half unpeeled as all the steam from inside clouded in the air, and his hand was clutched to his chest. He was glaring at the pot, before moving away and running his hands underneath the cold tap at the sink, his thumb rubbing over wet skin to soothe it.

A second later, Noah was appearing, placing his paper face down on top of Stiles, which now lay on the kitchen counter. “Well, now that I’ve been scalded by pasta, I’m going to go shower and get ready.”

“M’kay.” He backed away, and Noah leaned on the counter beside you.

“Looks good, but does it taste any good, is the question.” The twin you were left with was teasing you, your eyes finding him, and you raised a brow.

“Yeah, yeah. Just get me something to serve it up with, alright?”

He smirked, pulling open the drawer behind him and searching for a serving spoon. Slicing it into pieces, you dished it up for him, a large slab on a plate, still steaming with cheese that had only just stopped bubbling. He grabbed a fork, and one for you too, waiting patiently as you served yourself, and put whatever was left into a dish for Stiles, covering it back up and leaving it to cool.

“Okay, prepare for the best lasagne of your life.”

Picking up the papers and your plate, the two of you moved back to the couch, sitting opposite one another, and you waited with excitement. Taking a piece off of his plate with the edge of his fork, he raised it, blowing cold air over it for a few moments, before taking the bite. There was a tense few moments, while he chewed, face unreadable, before he was swallowing the mouthful.

“Well?”

You couldn’t take the anticipation any longer, a smile on his face at the desperation you showed for his answer, and he gave in. “Alright, alright. This may actually be the best lasagne I have ever had.”

“Yes!” Your hands went up in the air, cheering excitedly and he laughed at your reaction, holding his hand up when you forced him to, palms slamming together in a high-five. He was tucking in again, and you reached for your plate, excited for the meal you had made, Taking a large piece on the tip of your fork, you tucked in.

The sound of Stiles’ shower was running in the background, and he was singing loudly, a song that you were certain was a TV show intro but you’d never seen the show, and there was a chance it was something from Disney Channel. Picking up the pieces of paper again, you turned Noah’s around to face you.

You’d had an expectation, you knew what you thought he was going to write down, and yet you were somehow surprised and entirely not surprised at the same time. It was what you expected but with a twist. He had confidence in what he’d written about himself he was sure of it, and while there were definitely elements that you’d disagree with, there was a lot of truth to it, and you frowned, reading it again.

Noah was watching you do so, the scrape of forks over plates as the lull in chatter came back, and you place the two pieces of paper into the front of your notebook, making sure that it was all sealed tightly away. “Is it alright?”

“It’s just not what I expected from you. But, it’s perfect.”

“That feels like a backhanded compliment.” He smiled softly, but he looked nervous, and you shook your head.

“Not at all, it just means that you have a better grasp on this whole thing than I thought you did.” It was the truth, and while you didn’t want to reveal so much to him about it all without compromising your work, but it made sense. “It just feels like with the way today went, like you weren’t really so interested in it, so I didn’t expect such an accurate self-diagnosis from you.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” He sighed, pushing what was left of his food around the plate, and you copied him, appetite dwindling. “It’s just that when you’re here, in my apartment, and you’re asking questions about what changed and making me confront everything, it feels like real therapy. You said it was going to be casual, and this didn’t feel casual.”

“I get it. I really do, and it’s okay. I can just email you the questions you didn’t answer, and you can get around to them whenever you feel up to it, alright?” He nodded, shaking off the evening’s stress. He continued to eat, polishing off the meal that was laid out before him and settling his hands over his stomach once he was finished. There was a satisfied smile on his face, and your empty plate was soon stacking on top of his own. Leaning forwards a little, you caught Noah’s eye, and one of his brows arched up. “I can try to make it more informal, in the future.”

“That would be great, actually.”

You smiled, the consolidation made between the two of you, and your ears picked up on another sound. “Hold on, is Stiles blow-drying his hair?”

“Oh, yeah.” He laughed, head turning to the closed bathroom door where his brother resided. “He thinks it makes his hair fluffy.”

“He gels his hair, though! Why does it matter if it’s fluffy?”

“He’s insane. Don’t you know this, yet?” Noah scoffed, and your giggles carried you back into the rest of the chair as you settled back into it. The evening was still waiting to come in fully. Comfortable quiet fell between you both again, and Noah moved away to take the plates to the kitchen. He left them in the sink, water running to wash them up, before storing Stiles’ lasagne in the fridge.

The aforementioned boy moved from the bathroom to his bedroom, skidding on the floors a little and clutching the towel to his waist as he hurried, making himself late with the extra-long shower and the blowdrying of his hair. Noah was washing up the plates, leaving them to dry on the draining rack, and you took that as your cue. The night was over, that much was clear, and you’d be willing to bet that he was more than eager to get back to his alone time.

Taking your bag and double-checking that you had everything, you swung it up onto your shoulder, and made your way toward the door. Hearing the shuffling of your feet, Noah turned, drying his hands on the towel beside him. “Are you going?”

“Feels like I should. Stiles will be going soon, anyway. I’m sure you have things to do, too.”

“I don’t have anything to do, if I’m being honest.” He cringed at his own words, pulling down the rolled-up sleeves of his hoodie and making his way over to you. Undoing the catch on the door, he pulled it open, leaning against it and you linseed in the doorway.

“Since you’re not doing anything, do you wanna’ get a coffee with me?”

His eyes narrowed, just for a second, and his fingers tapped anxiously on the wood of the door. “As a study subject, or..?”

“As friends.” You confirmed, his lips a thin line for only a second, before pulling up at the sides in a smile.

“Then, yeah. I’d like that.” He looked down, sweatpants and mismatching socks on his lower half, and there was a tint on his cheeks when he looked up. “Just give me two seconds to go change, alright?”

He darted away before you had a chance to reply leaving you there with the words frozen in your throat. Stiles was clattering around behind his own door, and Noah’s door slammed shut, leaving you alone in the doorway. Your hands tapped against your thighs as you waited, bag swinging on your shoulder, and only a second later, one of the doors was opening.

To your surprise, it was Stiles, flapping the flannel on his body to shake out any creases, and he stood before you. Doing a little twirl from where he stood, he began to button it up down his front, looking somewhat smart. It was a nice black and white one, no rips or tears or stains like most of his other ones, and the black stood out prominently against the white, thick patterns with flecks of grey within it.

“How do I look, then?”

“You look great, Sti. I’ve never seen you wear anything so plain before. There’s no colour.”

“Yeah, well, this is a new flannel. It’s my best one, and the skinny jeans are Noah’s. All my skinny jeans are blue or red, it was this or khakis.” He was nervous, resisting the urge to mess with his freshly-styled hair. “The place we’re going to is kinda fancy, but I don’t feel fancy enough for it. I’m gonna’ do something stupid like drop my glass and smash it or make a joke about something dumb.”

“Haven’t you met his family before?” You teased, and he huffed, searching for his keys, and finding them under the counter where he’d never bothered to pick them up from.

“No, not really. I’ve met his mom because she comes to visit a lot, and of course, his little sister, because she’s a sophomore here. But, he has a lot of family. His extended family are coming to graduation, but this is his older sister and his dad, and his uncle, and I’ve never met them before.” His keys were tucked into his back pocket, and his phone followed, your gaze moving over him.

“You got a blazer, Stiles?”

“Uh, yeah. One that my dad made me promise to bring, I wore it to my senior prom.” He shrugged, hands smoothing over his front. “You think I should wear it?”

“Go get it, show me.” He nodded, moving back to his bedroom, and you were waiting for something with orange and blue stripes to come back out, which wouldn’t surprise you. In fact, you’d always imagined Stiles going to his senior prom in a Beetlejuice suit. Noah emerged from the other side of the hall, hangers scraping over their post in a wardrobe as Stiles searched for them. “Did Stiles go to prom in a Beetlejuice suit?”

Noah paused, rolling the edges of his hoodie up, charcoal grey skinny jeans that were only a  few shades lighter than the ones Stiles had stolen from him on his legs, and a pair of his usual scuffled boots. “What?”

He was laughing, loudly, shaking his head to hide his grin. “It’s a legitimate question! I have this mental image of it!”

“Unfortunately, he did not. My dad made us both go in three-piece formal suits. He saved up to have them custom made. Said that every man should have a smart suit.” He shrugged, crouching to start tying the laces on his shoes and Stiles reappeared. Over his shoulders was a dark black suit, crisp collar and pressed edges, and it was a beautiful piece of tailoring.

“You look good, Sti. Very smart, but casual. Like a polished version of your usual self.”

“Yeah? Good enough to meet Derek’s family?” His voice shook, and you wished you could ease him more.

“Totally. You look great.” He thanked you both, and Noah grabbed his wallet from the side, and his house keys, letting them both hang in the front pocket of an oversized hoodie.

“You ready to go?” He offered, hand on the top of the door, and Stiles’ head snapped up again from where he’d been checking his phone, presumably looking for texts from Derek.

“Where are you two going?”

“We’re getting coffee!” You beamed, and Noah nodded, stepping a little further out of the door with you.

“Oh, well, have fun. I’ll text you updates about how it goes. I might need bathroom-break pep-talk during the night.” You waved to him as you went, wishing him ‘good luck’, before the two of you were wandering down the halls. Thumbing the button for the elevator, the doors popped open, and you were stepping inside along with Noah.

“So, you wanna’ show off those new small talk skills to me, then?”

“Okay, okay. Let me think of something.” He hummed under his breath, glancing up to the top of the elevator and looking around at the posters on the walls for inspiration, and he seemed to find one. Turning his attention quickly back to you, you prepared for what he’d found. “Have you listened to any of the student bands? There’s been a lot of them growing, lately.”

“I’ve noticed that, actually.” There were several posters up around the inside of the elevator, different coloured flyers, some on shiny paper and some on smooth matte, varying fonts and designs, it was dizzying. “I haven’t, I’ve never been to see a student band. I should do that before I graduate, though. Have you?”

“I’ve been to a couple.” The door clicked open, the two of you stepping through it. Out into the setting chill of the evening that was threatening to break its way in. He chose the direction you’d be going in, heading toward the coffee shop on the side of campus that had been the first the two of you had met at when beginning the study. “Some of them are good, some of them are kinda’ average. They usually play at the bars on the edges of campus or in the places in the city, the less well-known, kinda’ alternative places. They can be fun.”

“You going out optionally to a night on the town? I’m shocked.”

“Uh, no!” He protested, grinning at you. “I’ve never been for a ‘night on the town’, and I never will. However, going to one of the few small bars around here that aren’t practically a nightclub, to listen to covers of good songs and get a pint without worrying about anyone bothering me or mistaking me for my brother, that’s nice.”

“Okay, well, maybe I’ll go to one sometime.”

“You should, I think you’d have fun.” The two of you weaved between other students, the small talk keeping up between you both as he did his best, and while it was sometimes a little stuttered and stalled, it wasn’t nearly as bad as you had expected. It wasn’t until the two of you had entered the coffee shop that he fell into tight silence again. The crowds, the rush of chatter from other groups gathered around the tables, and the friendly greetings of baristas whose chit-chat diverted to him due to his allegiance with you.

“What are you drinking? My treat.”

“Uh, just a black coffee.” He choked out, eyes flicking over all the boards, so many options up there, and you chuckled.

“Really, just a black coffee?”

“I’ve never really experimented. I just ordered whatever was the quickest and the easiest.” He confessed, already glancing back over his shoulder at the queue that was forming behind you both. “What would you recommend?”

“Hm, well, do you have a sweet tooth?” He only nodded, scratching around his cuticles on one hand and staring down at the flesh growing red, and you took his hand. Lowering it back down to his side, the hand formed a fist, flexed nervously, and you let it go, squeezing comfortingly first. Turning to the barista, she was still waiting patiently, and your eyes moved over the boards overhead. “Two mint and dark chocolate hot cocoas.”

“That sounds really good, actually.” He leaned down, mumbling the words into your ear to make sure you heard the quiet tone over the talk in the small coffee house.

“And, two croissants, too.” She rang it up on the machine, and you leaned in a little closer to her. “Do you have any of the warm and fresh ones straight from the oven?”

“We made a fresh batch about twenty minutes ago, they’re cooling. I’ll get them from the back for you.” She finished it with a wink, passing the card machine over to you once you’d produced your card from your wallet. Swiping it across the reader, you moved to the end of the line, and she moved away to begin preparing your order as someone else took over at the counter.

She was working, creating two beautifully constructed hot chocolates for you both. Placing them down on the counter before you, once they were garnished with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, she disappeared into the back room. Taking one of the ceramic plates with her, you were happy to see her bypass the glass cabinet with the older ones in, and only a moment later, she was coming back. Two fresh croissants on a plate, still warm and soft to the touch, and she handed those over as well.

Noah had been scouting for a place to sit, choosing which was the best one, and he carried both of the drinks while you carried the pastries, guiding you to the seat he’d chosen. It was tucked away in the back, a small loveseat sofa with a low sitting coffee table in front of it, and as soon as the paper cups were down on the surface of the table, he was dropping down into the seat.

“It feels like rush hour on the highway, but with coffee.” He mumbled, and you settled onto the couch beside him passing him his drink over, and he stared at it curiously. “What about the whipped cream. Do I eat that first? Scrape it off? Mix it in?”

“Any of the above.” You grinned, taking a wooden stirrer from the condiments tray in the middle and beginning to stir the cream into your hot chocolate. He placed it down, copying your actions, stirring slowly and trying not to spill any over the edges, but it was an impossible feat to achieve. Sticky droplets left over the edges of your cups and his, creating rings on the table that you had to mop up with tissues. “Okay, try it. This is one of my favourite orders here. It’s bitter because of the dark chocolate, but also sweet. Reminds me of you.”

“Now, that one is a backhanded compliment.” He muttered, taking a sip of the drink, and your lips rubbed together.

“Not everything is a backhanded statement, you know. I didn’t intend for it to be mean, it’s just the truth. You’re all dark and moody, but I can already tell you’re sweet on the inside.” You sipped your drink to finish your statement, and he filled the time where he didn’t know what else to say by pulling a chunk off of his croissant. Chewing on it idly, he settled back into the cushions, and you lifted your legs up to fold underneath yourself as you turned to face him. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You’ve already asked me a lot of questions today.”

“You didn’t answer many, though. You kinda’ have to give me this one.” He scowled falsely, but nodded, licking a flake of pastry from his lower lip. “Not that I think you need it, because personally, I think you’re just fine, but why are you so scared about therapy? The idea of it, anything to do with it, it makes you so closed off. Even more than usual.”

His eyes moved over the room, nervously, before scanning both you and the table, and you put your drink down, holding open palms up to him.

“No recorder, no study. I’m just curious.”

“Okay.” He sighed shakily, and slumped back. “Well, after my mom died, my dad made me and Stiles have therapy when we started acting out. We had a therapist who came to the house, and she was great, don’t get me wrong, but I hated it. I didn’t want her to tell me how to grieve or mourn, and I didn’t want her to tell me how to move on. Stiles needed all the advice he could get, but I didn’t want it. I wanted to do it my own way. Now, the idea of therapy, brings back all those feelings of sadness and pressure and stress.”

“I’m sorry, Noah.” You reached out, rubbing a hand over his shoulder, and his gaze fell to the contact. “Genuine sympathy and sorrow, not just that thing girls do that you hate.”

“Stop hanging things I’ve said over me, I don’t remember half of them. I blackout in social situations.” He grinned, moving past the moment, and you withdrew your touch.

“You know, if it makes you feel any better, I understand the nervousness of being in a study.”

“Yeah?” He picked up the rest of his croissant, a large chunk of it being eaten, as he waited for you.

“Yeah. When I moved here, I was so nervous. I was beginning to take my course and I didn’t really have any friends, and there was a senior who needed freshmen for her study.” Noah grinned, settling in for the story and sipping his drink. “She was doing a study about the difference between kids who travelled far from home for college alone as opposed to those who were still close to home, and whether it impacted social clubs, grades, all that. To be fair, it was an awesome study.”

“It sounds like it.”

You smiled, swirling the cup in your hands to gather any loose powder that may have begun to separate and gather at the bottom. “Well, I got drawn into it. She was a senior, and she was nice. I had no friends yet, I was in a flat-share with Allison and Lydia and three other girls who were all too busy getting adjusted to college themselves. So, this senior, she invited me to a party, and then another one, and suddenly people started wanting to be my friend because I was the freshman who hung out with seniors. I figured it would all drop away when her study ended and she didn’t need me anymore, but by then the whole social hierarchy had done its thing, and there I was.”

You shrugged, and Noah was hiding a shit-eating grin behind his mug. “So, you were just a little freshman lab rat, then?”

You scoffed, your laughter mixing with his, and the two of you were left in subtle amusement. His laughter was cut short, though, brought a rapid halt when a set of legs bumped against your table on the other side, followed by two more behind them.

“Hey, girl!” One of the girls on the cheer team, a lacrosse player behind her and a girl who you recognised from your psychology class texting on her phone. “Saw you over here, wanted to know what your plans for the evening were. We’re going to do some karaoke and get some food, you wanna’ come?”

Your eyes moved to Noah, whose attention was fixed on the floor again, as though the splintering wood was of utmost interest. “Maybe another time. I think we’re good here for now.”

“Oh, you sure? I think it could be super fun, you should both come.” The invitation was now extended to you both, and you shook your head at her despite it.

“Seriously, you should go, if you want to,” Noah whispered, and when you turned back to him now, he’d dared to look up, chewing on a lower lip that would go raw, but he met your gaze.

“No, I’m sure. I’m having fun here.” You held his gaze for a second longer, before turning to her, and confirming your denial, and she smiled, promising to make plans with you soon, before she was walking away. Noah was fidgeting beside you, shuffling in his seat, and you could practically feel the nerves rolling off of him in waves. “I’m serious, Noah. I’m having fun, and I’m perfectly happy here with you, right now.”

He was trying not to grin, a smile that was being bitten back on the inside of his cheek. “Well, for the record, I’m having fun too.”

“What was that?” You cupped your ear, challenging him to repeat it, even though you had heard it perfectly, and by the look on his face, he knew the game you were playing.

“I said I’m having fun. I won’t deny it.”

“Two victories in one day, for this gal. I’m breaking down all your walls, Noah Stilinski.” You poked at his cheek, and he swatted your hand away, taking a bite from your croissant as punishment, and you tried to snatch it back from him.

“Two victories, one loss. You’re not getting this croissant back, now.”