#also found a picture he snapped of the playground behind my house and from a bench at my old school

[elenadoeslife]

💔

[smolgloves]

Stranger

It was a type of fear that made Kimi's throat close up, looking at the giant phone laid out before her:

22 YEAR OLD KENT COUNTY WOMAN GOES MISSING!

An article with a picture of her and her mother at a church ceremony she never wanted to go to, hiding behind a fake smile that fooled everyone into thinking she was a happy servant of the lord and totally not reading horror fics on her phone.

"I thought you said you didn't have anyone who lived nearby?" Willam asked, breaking Kimi away from her thoughts.

"You wouldn't understand…" She muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"Try me."

Kimi opened her mouth but words refused to fall out. She had only known William for a few days since she shrunk; he was extremely kind and was doing everything he could to reverse the spell that was put on her while also keeping her existence a secret to the other actors in the haunt. However, William was still a stranger, and a stranger would never understand why Kimi would not want her mother to see her like this.

"Kimi, this is serious."

"I know!" She snapped.

"Then why didn't you want to go to your mother?" His brown eyes were pleading with such intensity, that Kimi wanted to run away and hide, but sitting on the glass table was like being stranded on an island. Even if she could have somehow run off, William would have no trouble catching up to her and even grab her if he desperately wanted her to tell him.

"My mother… is not a great person." Kimi sighed as she hugged her knees to her chest. "If she found out I went to The Devil's Playground and got shrunk by those dickheads, I'd never hear the end of it."

William's eyes traced back to his phone and stared at the photo for a few moments. A tiny gasp slipped from his lips. "You're that girl from the craft shop."

Kimi could only nod as memories of seeing him trying to convince her mother to leave flyers at the shop to get the word out for the haunt's tenth anniversary flooded her brain. The embarrassment she felt seeing her mom call him a heathen was hard enough, but to be loomed over by the heathen as he just realized who she was unbearable!

"Okay, so she's gonna be upset." He said. "But you're an adult, who can go to a haunt."

Kimi just shook her head. "Not when you're a part of the Shepherds of His Holy Kingdom, where anything related to Halloween is a gateway to Satanism."

William scrunched his nose. "I didn't know you were a part of that group."

"Yup," a dry laugh slipped through Kimi's lips, it wasn't uncommon to see people cringe at the mere mention of being the cult. She used to hate how others scoff at her former faith, now she scoffs with them. "Got baptized to be known as a real Shepherd at the ripe age of ten."

"So your mom's out of the question." He ran his fingers through his beard. "What about any other family who's likely not a Shepherd?"

"Mom doesn't have any family in the country, and I haven't seen dad's family since I was four. Mom cut them all off after she became a Shepherd. She let out a sigh.

"But do they live close by?" His voice almost sounded desperate.

"They're outta state, last I heard." She snapped. "Besides, can you imagine how awkward it would be if a relative you haven't seen in almost twenty years rolled up to your house at four inches tall?"

"Okay fine… What about friends?"

"All of my friends are outta state for college and I haven't talked to them much since high school."

"What about that other girl, who worked with you, you two seem to be friendly?"

"Addie? We're not close enough to call each other friends." Kimi crossed her arms. "And there is no way she could keep me a secret around my mom!"

William let out a sigh and drummed his fingers on the glass table, not realizing the vibrations shook Kimi's insides. Every simple movement he did was like a storm rumbling through her that left her feeling nauseous, which made the idea of being around her own mother at this size was more unbearable to her.

"So there's really no one else you can turn to?"

Kimi shook her head.

William gave Kimi a pitiful look. "Well… I don't see any other option but to go to your mom."

A burning sensation grew from Kimi's round cheeks all the way down to her chest, the pain clawing its way into her hammering heart that made Kimi want to scream but only bursts of gasps escaped through her tightened throat. She couldn't even look at the giant man anymore without feeling smaller than she already was. She couldn't stand the shadow that loomed over her or the eyes that locked onto her every movement.

"Kimi?" Warmth brushed up against her side, sending a jolt through the tiny woman. William's fingers loosely curled around her like a blanket being draped over her shoulders. Kimi craned her neck up to lock eyes with William; worry was plastered on his face as he stared down at Kimi… and that just made her blood boil.

"Don't act like you care about me!" Kimi snapped as she scrambled away from the giant hand.

William winced as if Kimi just spat venom at him. "I do care."

Kimi just scoffed. "Yeah… I just opened up about my relationship with my mother and you still want to pawn me off to her!"

"I know it's not the best solution but this could keep us out of trouble." He pleaded.

"Not for me!" Kimi shrieked, tears threatened to spill. "My mother will call a priest to perform exorcisms on me! I'll serve as propaganda for the Shepherds to never stray!"

"I'm talking about legal issues!" William's voice cracked like a sudden burst of thunder. "If the police find you like this, they might shut down the entire haunt, or they'll arrest me and probably Mitch and Tonya too! Do you want that?"

"Of course not!" She whimpered.

"Then we have to do this."

Kimi shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her first taste of independence was met with fear and curses but that was better than being ruled over her mother, now she is supposed to go back to her. "If you do this, I'll never return to normal."

"I'm sure Tonya would still be able to help."

"No!" Kimi snarled. "If I go back to my mother, then she'll make sure I never see you guys again."

William knitted his eyebrows together. "Even if we could figure out how to reverse the spell?"

"If it doesn't involve Jesus, she will not listen." Kimi retorted. "And she would probably make sure you do get arrested and shut the haunt down."

William went stiff. "She can't do that…"

"She'll find a way." Kimi said flatly. "There's no good way to go about this."

An awkward silence sat between them as William pondered the situation. Kimi refused to look at him anymore as tears quietly fell down her face, she just wanted to scream at William more about what a big mistake he would be making, but what good would it do? He probably felt like Kimi was a burden to help out now and it would be easier to just pawn her off to her mother so he can go on to his normal life, but if that was the case, he could just outright say it instead of pretending it was for the good of everyone. Kimi was sick of people acting like screwing her over was for the best.

"Alright…" William's low voice cut through the silence. "Let's just…. Wait."

Kimi snapped back into reality to glance up at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, we'll talk to Mitch and LaTonya about this first, to see what would be the best option for you."

Kimi's heart pounded. "And if you all think sending me back to my mother like this is the best option?"

"Then we'll figure out the best way to approach your mom when you're like this." William spoke softly. "This whole thing has got me scared of what could happen to me, the haunt- and you."

"Me?" Kimi choked out, her cheeks were threatening to brand a shade of pink on her.

"Yes, I do care about what happens to you." He reached out and brushed a finger under Kimi's chin. He waited for her to push him away but when she remained still for a few seconds, he took the moment to curl his finger in a way that made her look up at him. "If you really don't think going back to your mom will be the best option, then help me find a better solution."

Kimi's breath hitched as she met William's gaze. There was no pity behind his brown eyes, only a soft inviting look that wanted to keep her safe. Despite the heat radiating off his finger, Kimi remained frozen in place, not wanting to disturb the serenity she felt in this moment. After a few minutes of just admiring the giant man, she found her voice. "Just… don't leave me to fend for myself." She whispered in a desperate plea.

William gave a compassionate smile that melted Kimi's heart. "I wouldn't dream of it."

[nerdzzone]

Only For A Moment: August

Summary: A series of shorter one shots from Chris and Whitney’s life together throughout the pandemic. Some happy times, some harder times, some fluff and some things a little more sexy - they work through it all as they try to get settled in their new and blossoming relationship.

Chris Evans x OFC

Part of the Once Bitten/More Hearts series

Only For A Moment: July

Note: I’ve had a super busy day, but I wanted to get this posted so I edited it really quickly. Please forgive me if there’s any little mistakes!

Thank you to everyone who has liked, reblogged and commented! Hearing your thoughts really makes my day!

-----

August 2020

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who actually enjoys moving - especially if that move involves a three year old who feels the need to be very involved in the packing, but is also incredibly easily distracted. And even more so when that child's father is almost just as distractible and, despite his insistence that he'd stay focused, does more to hinder the whole operation than help.

That was the situation that I found myself in at the end of the first summer of the pandemic because we were moving in with Chris.

While I was hesitant at first, it made the most sense and neither Grayson nor I were particularly eager to return to our tiny little apartment. I still felt that it was pretty early in our relationship for us to be living together, but we'd survived so far and moving back seemed like it would do more harm than good. Grayson had settled in nicely at Chris' house and another big change - like making him go back to having two homes - seemed like it would be very disruptive.

But moving came with it's own challenges.

After our conversation a few months earlier, Chris had told all of his most trusted friends about our change in relationship status. That came in handy as a few of his buddies - who had trucks - had volunteered to help us move things the last weekend of August, but packing had me feeling overwhelmed. I'd managed to give most of the furniture away - between our friends and Chris' family - but we still had way too much stuff.

It was on that Saturday morning that I found myself sitting in the middle of Grayson's old bedroom almost in tears. I'd packed up his mountain of toys the night before only to find Chris and Grayson unpacking several boxes the next morning while I was trying to finish up in the living room. Apparently, Grayson had wanted a certain toy that I'd already packed and instead of telling him to wait because he had several other things to play with that weren't boxed up, Chris helped him look for it.

He was trying to be helpful, thinking that repacking a few things would be easier to deal with than a meltdown from Grayson, but it had been a long, tiring week as I tried to get everything organized and their actions almost pushed me to my breaking point. I scolded them both and banished them to the little playground just outside the building while I set to work cleaning up their mess.

Almost twenty minutes later, I heard a knock on the front door as it creaked open. I poked my head out of the room I was in - ready to send the boys straight back outside - only to see Chris' oldest and closest friend, Tara. She was masked up for safety and knowing how sweet and helpful she was, she was a refreshing sight. I'd met her several times, mostly when Grayson was a baby and I lived with Chris, and she'd been a calming and encouraging presence back then so I was definitely relieved to see her during another time of high stress.

"Hey," I smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought supplies," she informed me, holding up a tray of iced coffees. "Chris called and said that he thought you could use some help."

"You're a lifesaver," I groaned with pleasure as she put down the tray and handed me one of the drinks. "I need this, thank you so much."

"You're welcome," she returned my smile. "How's the packing going?"

"Not bad now that the boys are outside," I laughed. "It's pretty much all done, I think. You never realize how much junk you have until you have to pack it all up."

"Oh my god, I know. We moved last year and it felt like the piles of things we had to take was never ending."

"It's crazy," I agreed. "Especially with all Gray's stuff. I thought we did a good job of not spoiling him, but he has an insane amount of toys."

"I can imagine," she cringed. "But I have no plans all day so just tell me what you need help with and I'm all yours."

I thought for a moment as I sipped the coffee she'd brought me until I had an idea.

"Actually..." I started, feeling a bit sheepish. "Would you be willing to take Grayson for a bit? I know it's a big ask, especially while he's so excited, so feel free to say no."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to take him!"

I let out a breath of relief as I felt my body relax.

"Thank you so much. I really need Chris to help me carry these boxes and he's been so preoccupied with Grayson that he's been no use at all," I explained. "It's a big change and he's worried about him being freaked out by it all, which I totally get, but I need him to focus a bit too."

Tara laughed and shook her head.

"I get it, don't worry. I know what he can be like," she assured me. "I'll go down and get Gray now and send Chris up here."

"Thank you. You're the best, Tara."

She waved off my gratitude and insisted it was no problem before leaving me to turn my attention back to what I'd been doing before she arrived.

-

Once Grayson was in the safe care of Tara, Chris was much more useful. We were packing things with impressive speed and when it was almost time for his friends to show up with their trucks, we started moving things down to the lobby of the building to make the loading process quicker.

I was a tad nervous about the whole situation as I hadn't spent much time with most of Chris' friends and I didn't really know what they thought of me. I hoped they'd be understanding of our situation and give me a chance, but if he really had been pining away for me all these years - thinking that I didn't want to be with him - I worried that they'd think I was selfish and heartless.

Those worries, combined with my stress about getting everything organized, had me still feeling rather on edge. It didn't help that the creepy maintenance man that I'd warned Chris about was watching us like a hawk. I could feel his eyes on me every time I stepped foot in the lobby and the sensation made my skin crawl. I just wanted to get it all done and over with as fast as possible so we could get away from him, but Chris had clearly noticed him too and I could feel his annoyance rising as well.

He held it together until our last trip down when our spectator really crossed a line. I was bending over to place some boxes on the ground when I could have sworn I heard a groan of pleasure from behind me. I snapped back up to standing and looked over my shoulder to see the man with a smirk on his face and his eyes fixed on me. It made my stomach churn, but Chris was immediately by my side, his arm sliding around my waist. Before I could even question what he was doing, he pulled down his mask and then my own, cupped my jaw with his hand and pulled me in for a kiss.

It was a rather passionate embrace and I was surprised as he usually wasn't one for public displays of affection. Then it hit me why he was doing it and I felt a flash of annoyance run through me as he pulled away. There was a smirk on his face as he rested his forehead against mine, but all I could muster was a frown.

"Do you think he got the hint?"

I scoffed at his question.

"I think he got enough pictures to pay his bills for the next few months," I huffed, keeping my voice low so we wouldn't be overheard. "Are you done marking your territory now?"

Chris looked taken aback by my harsh tone and I sighed as I slipped out of his grasp and headed to the door. I wanted to see if his friends had arrived yet and get away from the creep, but Chris followed and wasn't prepared to let our conversation drop.

"What, so I'm not allowed to kiss you in public in case someone sees?" He asked once we got outside, his own annoyance coming through. "I thought you didn't care if people found out about us?"

I stopped walking and spun around to face him.

"I don't care," I snapped. "But I'd rather not give some pervert the chance to profit off of us just to save your wounded pride."

Even with his mask pulled back up, I could see Chris' jaw clench with frustration.

"He was being disrespectful. I was standing right there and he moans while staring at your ass? C'mon, he's a fuckin' asshole."

Another flare of anger washed over me as I fought to keep myself calm enough to explain to him why what he'd just said was almost as frustrating as the actions of the man who'd been ogling me.

"He was being disrespectful," I agreed, my voice steady despite my rising temper. "But to me, not to you! It doesn't matter if I have a boyfriend or not, he shouldn't behave like that towards any woman! I don't deserve to be respected because of you, I deserve to be respected because I'm a human being who has a right to feel safe in their own apartment building."

Chris' shoulders dropped as he took in my words and visibly calmed down, but I was still feeling wound up.

"Shit, Winnie, you're right," he relented. "I don't want anyone to treat you like that ever, not just because you're my girlfriend. It just pissed me off that he had the balls to do that even in front of me."

"So kissing me like that to send him a message was the best solution you could think of? Like, 'don't touch this one, she's mine'. It made me feel gross. I don't need you claiming me in public to scare off creeps, thanks."

"I didn't mean it like that," Chris insisted, looking slightly wounded by my scolding. "I'm sorry, I was being an idiot."

"Okay," I shrugged, somewhat blowing off his apology. "We should go to the parking lot. Your friends might be here."

"Are we good, Win?" He asked, clearly not as eager to let the subject drop. "I want to make this right if you're upset..."

"I'm fine," I sighed, knowing that was only half true. It was only half his fault though, the stress of the day overall was more to blame and, at that point, I just wanted it to be over so I could have a nice big glass of wine. "Let's just go see where your friends are."

He didn't argue as I walked off and when we turned the corner into the parking lot, his friends were all there lined up in the visitor's spots. I forced a smile despite the fact that it was hidden by my mask and waved as we walked over.

"Hey!" I greeted them. "Thanks so much for doing this. We really appreciate it."

"Ah, no worries!" Jon assured me. "But, are you really sure you want to move in with this guy?"

"Yeah, we were just talking," Zach continued. "And it feels a bit Stockholm syndrome-y. He confines you to a house and suddenly you fall in love? Seems a bit suspicious."

"Wow, guys, glad you're on my side," Chris laughed. "I wouldn't have asked you to help out if I knew you'd try and change her mind!"

"We just want to make sure we're not committing any crimes here," Luke insisted. "I don't want to be an accomplice to anything and we're all scratching our heads about what she could see in you."

Chris shook his head at their teasing and I tried to push our earlier discussion from my mind as I giggled and slid my hand into his. I felt him tense up in surprise at the gesture, but he relaxed as I squeezed it and leaned against his arm.

"There's no Stockholm syndrome here," I assured them. "It just took a pandemic and the constant threat of impending doom for me to come to my senses. I'm just lucky Chris was silly enough to wait for me."

Chris chuckled and leaned over to place a kiss on the top of my head as his friends rolled their eyes.

We quickly went over the game plan for the day once the initial greeting was over and as soon as his friends turned to head towards the building, I dropped my hand from Chris'. I knew I was being petty and sulky and from the sigh that fell from Chris' lips, he did too, but I couldn't help it - I needed some space to work through my cranky mood on my own. Luckily, Chris seemed to figure that out pretty fast and left me to my brooding as we followed his friends and got to work.

-

It didn't take us as long as I expected to load all the boxes into the trucks, but that was probably the benefit to having a team of strong men helping you move. Once it was all unloaded into the spare bedroom at Chris' place where I had been sleeping at the start of the pandemic, Chris broke out a few beers for his friends and fired up the grill while we waited for Tara and Gray to arrive. It was a beautiful, warm evening and perfect for an impromptu barbecue to thank all Chris' friends and it was a great opportunity for me to bond a bit more with some of the most important people in Chris' life.

Grayson knew them all better than I did, but we had some concerns that the lack of socialization would make him nervous around the now somewhat unfamiliar faces. But he put those worries to bed almost as soon as he arrived as he was the life of the party. He was thrilled to see the three men who were sitting in the lawn chairs dotted around our yard - in an effort to keep everyone somewhat distant from each other - and the cheer they let out as soon as they saw him made me think they were just as excited. They seemed to really adore him and he thrived on the attention. It warmed my heart to see the genuine care they all had for Grayson - it was wonderful to know he had so many people in his corner - and I was relieved when that care was extended to me.

Any doubts that I'd had about them accepting me were quickly pushed from my mind as they seemed to be just as eager to get to know me as I was to get to know them. They were all lovely, kind people and I wondered why I ever expected anything else from the people in Chris' inner circle.

They left as soon as Grayson's bedtime rolled around - partially because we were all tired from our long day of moving boxes and partially because we all knew there was no way that Gray was going to agree to go to bed while the party was still going. Once they were gone, he demanded Chris tuck him in so I tidied up in the kitchen while he handled bedtime.

As soon as I'd finished putting the last few dishes in the dishwasher, I felt his arms around my waist.

"Hey," he whispered in my ear, his chin resting on my shoulder. "Thanks for cleaning up."

"You don't need to thank me," I smiled, turning in his arms so we were face to face. "It's my house to keep clean too now, even if that's still weird to think about."

"Weird in a good way?"

"Definitely," I nodded. "It's felt like home here for a while now. It would have been awful to go back to that little apartment."

"It would have been weird for me too," Chris agreed. "I can't imagine being in this big house without you guys anymore."

"You'd have to move all your friends in," I teased, using it as a segue. "Who, by the way, are all very nice."

"Yeah?" Chris grinned. "You think so?"

"I do. I was a bit nervous about it," I admitted. "In case they resented me for how our relationship unfolded, but they're great."

"They never resented you at all," Chris chuckled. "Pretty much everyone who knows about our first night together was on your side about that and they've been pushing me to make a move ever since."

"Well, that's good to know."

Chris nodded and continued.

"They all really like you. Jon gave me clear instructions to not fuck it up."

I laughed at that, but felt a wave of relief.

"I appreciate their support."

"Well, you definitely have it."

Chris leaned down to press his lips against mine and I melted into his body, feeling the exhaustion from the stress of the day start to hit me. We stayed like that, just holding each other for a few minutes until Chris broke the silence around us.

"Can we talk about earlier?"

My stomach churned with embarrassment at the memory, but I nodded.

"Of course, we can. I'll start by saying that I'm sorry."

Chris leaned back slightly, just enough to look down at me with his confusion written all over his face.

"You're sorry? Why are you sorry?" He asked. "I brought it up so that I could apologize to you."

"You don't need to," I assured him. "I get why you did what you did. I just don't deal with stress very well and the whole day was overwhelming me. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"You don't deal with stress very well? I never would have known!" His words were laced with sarcasm as he smiled down at me and I laughed, gently smacking his chest in protest. "But seriously, I deserved a good scolding. You were absolutely right with what you said, I shouldn't have handled the situation like that."

"I appreciate that you can see where I was coming from," I sighed. "But there is no perfect way to handle a situation like that, really. It's best just to ignore it, but then it feels like you're letting the gross guy win."

"Well, if we're ever in a situation like that again, I'll follow your lead," he insisted. "But I can't say that I'll just ignore it. I might just punch the guy out for being a creep."

I laughed again before shaking my head.

"And then whoever is watching will have a different kind of picture to sell to the trashy magazines."

Chris cringed at that comment.

"I'm sorry. Do you really think he took pictures?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "But if he recognized you then I'd be surprised if he didn't."

Chris nodded, clearly getting lost in thought for a moment before he spoke again.

"And you really don't care if proof gets out that we're together?"

"I don't," I insisted. "I don't like the idea of some pervert making money off of us, but I don't care if people know we're together. It might be good for people to get used to the idea now, when we're hiding at home all the time anyway. By the time we can go outside again, no one will care enough to take pictures of us."

"That might be wishful thinking," Chris smiled. "But I'll do my best to keep you out of the spotlight."

I matched his smile and stretched up to place a kiss on his lips.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

As I predicted, the creepy maintenance man did take pictures of us and he did sell them to some trashy magazine. The internet was horrified, the hearts of fangirls all over the world were broken and I was called every cruel name under the sun. There were rumours that I trapped him with another baby and rumours that I was a gold digger - just using Chris for his money so I didn't have to work during the pandemic. The general reception to the forced confirmation of our relationship was pretty abysmal, but nothing worse than we expected and at the end of the day we didn't care.

All the people who truly cared about us were happy for us and that was the most important thing.

-

September

Tags: @maggotzombie @moonlacebeam @mizzzpink @zaylaugh @flowery-mess @flowerjewels @njrronaldo7 @hockeychick10 @partypoison00 @theladybiers @sidepieces @firoozehmoon @patzammit @sparkledfirecracker @mytbel0st @chvntelle-99

[poodlejoonas]

Aleksi - Fur Baby

For @bcfanweek Day 6: Aleksi Kaunisvesi

Words: 1,559

Description: You and Aleksi take the next big step in your relationship - adopting a dog together.

Notes: Aleksi Kaunisvesi/Reader (gender unspecified)

Aleksi took you totally by surprise the night he asked if you wanted to adopt a puppy with him. It was your shared ritual that one of you will cook and one of you will clean, and tonight was your night to do the cleaning. The dishes were almost done when he strolled back into the kitchen, looking down shyly at the floor with his hands in the pockets of his basketball shorts.

It’s a rare sight whenever Aleksi is too shy to look you in the eye. He hasn’t done this since your first date, when he spent the entire dinner with his face blushed over in red. He was even more straightforward about asking you to move in with him than he is now. Whatever was on his mind had to be bad, so you prepared for the worst.

“Yes?” you asked, waiting for him to finally look you in the eye.

Aleksi finally looked up to you with a soft smile on his face. That relieved some of your concerns, but it left you with more questions than answers. “So I’ve been thinking -”

“Oh, that’s never a good idea,” you joked, to which he only responded with a short laugh. This kind of teasing is a common part of your relationship, so he took it with a grain of salt.

“Anyway, I’ve been thinking… I know we’ve talked about this, but do you think we’re ready for the next step?”

What’s the next step? Marriage? Buying a house and moving out of this little apartment? Aleksi had such a way with words, especially the words that leave you more confused than ever.

“What do you mean?”

His smile grew much bigger than before. “Do you want to adopt a dog with me?”

You nearly dropped the plate you’d just been cleaning. You mentioned in passing a few months ago that you’ve wanted a dog for a while. Both of you are animal lovers, so you hoped that someday the two of you could have a little fur baby to call your own. The look in his eyes meant that he was serious about it.

“Yes, Aleksi!” you practically shouted and ran into his arms. He caught you just before you nearly barreled him over. “Where do you want to start?”

He showed you pictures from an open-air rescue he found online. They had plenty of rave reviews about their shelter - the quality of the care, great customer service, adorable and loving dogs looking for homes. It was in a small town just outside Helsinki, with plenty of room for the dogs to live and roam. “Do you want to go this Saturday?”

That left you with four days to get everything you needed to bring the new fur baby home. Money was no problem, and all you needed was a good shopping day to get prepared. You thought about it and nodded your head.

Aleksi smiled from ear to ear again. “Perfect.” With one last kiss, he disappeared to take a shower, leaving you waiting in the living room for him to return so you could enjoy a couple more hours together.

The thought of the pitter patter of tiny, furry paws around your home filled you with excitement. Saturday just couldn’t come fast enough.

--

Aleksi merged off the highway just a couple miles away from the shelter. It had just begun to heat up outside, so both of you wanted to be home with your new family member before it became sweltering. The box in the back seat sat empty in wait, lined with an old fleece blanket to make the ride home more comfortable. You wiggled in your seat and Aleksi couldn’t help but notice your excitement.

“Patience,” he said through a laugh. “We’re almost there.”

The shelter was even more pleasant than you could have imagined. It was colorful and inviting, and you could hear the sounds of the barking dogs playing outside. A shelter employee greeted you at the door and asked what they could do for you.

“We’re here to adopt,” Aleksi started, and right away she knew exactly where to take you. She told you everything you needed to know about getting the paperwork started and gave advice on how to pick a dog that was right for you. They had 45 dogs at the time, all of whom had been surrendered or rescued from difficult living situations. She also warned that some of them had some form of trauma, either from neglect or being separated from their previous owners.

After the talk in the office, she took the two of you outside to interact with the dogs. One by one, each dog ran to you to vie for your attention, in the hopes that you would take them home. Some of them were big, like a husky named Cyrus who nearly knocked you over while you were sitting. There were some that were small, like a Pomeranian named Teddy who just bounced all over the place.

“Aleksi, why is this such a hard decision?” you complained, petting one dog in each hand while a third climbed onto your lap.

“I really want a big one but can it even live in our apartment?” He then laughed and pointed to a Boxer who was staring him down. “This one’s called Tommi.”

“You’re kidding!” You had to look for yourself and sure enough, the name tag showed that this dog shared its name with Aleksi’s bandmate. “He even looks a little bit like him.”

Aleksi snapped a picture to send to the band group chat. He was surrounded by just as many dogs as you were, struggling to keep them from licking and crawling all over his face. He looked like he was in heaven, and quite frankly you couldn’t blame him. “What do you think so far?”

It wasn’t that none of them had caught your eye yet - your real problem was that all of them had. There was no way you could pick just one, especially knowing that you would have to leave the rest behind. “10 more minutes?” you asked with a pleading look on your face.

“Sure.” Aleksi couldn’t resist it when you gave him that look. He threw a couple toys around, seeing which ones he felt he could play better with. You asked a few questions about the backgrounds of your favorites so far to see what help, if any, they would need to readjust to their new home.

The shelter door connecting to the playground opened and another employee came out holding a Dachshund. She placed the dog down on the floor, who immediately shook her entire body and carried on towards the crowd. This dog was a round one, not to the point that it affected her mobility, but she looked like she’d been fed well. She was dark brown with beady eyes and large ears that flopped down at the ends.

As cheesy as this sounds, laying eyes on this dog was love at first sight for you. She came up to you and when you went to pet her, her first instinct was to raise her own paw for a high five. She caught Aleksi’s attention, who called your name and turned his left arm over. It was his arm with his “small town” tattoo, one that he got so he could feel like he carried home with him wherever he went. And right on the street of that hometown was a weenie dog who looked exactly like the one in front of you.

“She’s perfect,” was all he had to say. He read her name tag out loud: Seidi. “We have to have her. Please?” You thought it was endearing that Aleksi fell more in love with this dog than you did.

Of course you couldn’t say no, the prediction of your meeting was literally inked into his skin. You gave each of the dogs around you one more pat before you stood up and held Seidi in your arms. “We want this one.”

“Perfect!” The two employees took you to the front and guided you through the rest of the adoption process. You looked down at Seidi and she didn’t miss a beat on trying to kiss your face. “She’s been waiting for her forever home for three months now,” the girl commented. “I bet she’s glad to have a home now.”

Aleksi smiled proudly. “We’ll give her a good one.” Your heart hurt thinking that Seidi had to wait so long for someone to scoop her up. But at the same time, you were grateful that she’d waited around to come into your life.

Out in the car, Seidi turned around in her box and sat down, panting but it looked like there was a smile on her face. Aleksi pulled out his phone and got closer to you, close enough to get you in the shot but with a gap so Seidi could fit in the shot too.

“@alexmattson: On our way home with the new baby! Everyone, say hello to Seidi Kaunisvesi. Isn’t she cute?”

You hadn’t gotten home yet before he was flooded with loving comments. Seidi would need some time to get used to your home, but she’d already filled a spot in your home you never knew was missing.

Endnotes:

A gift for my favorite resident Aleksi stan, @gncvillain​.

[sugarmaplewings-fics]

Flower Crowns

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Warnings: Cursing (I bet you have no idea why)

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You chewed on your lip, glancing down at the contact photo of your boyfriend, who cockily smirked up at you from your phone. An idea had crossed your mind as you laid on your bed, bored out of your mind in your room.

"Screw it," you muttered to yourself.

You tapped on the text box and asked him the question that had been on your mind for the past five minutes.

You rolled your eyes at his response to you as you swung your feet over the side of your bed. It was the middle of summer and you made sure you took advantage of the heat as an excuse to wear minimal clothing around your boyfriend. Today that meant denim booty shorts and a flattering white tank top.

You made your way out the door with only your phone and a picnic blanket, walking to the park that was located a few blocks away from your house. When you arrived, you laid out your blanket a few meters away from a little playground. It was a gorgeous day out, so you weren't surprised to see a couple of kids running around the equipment, some bored parents accompanying them by sitting on benches positioned in the shade.

You sat down on your blanket, leaning back on your hands as you basked in the mottled sunlight under a tree, patterns of shadows flickering across your legs and chest. While you waited for your boyfriend, who lived considerably further from the park, you watched the children play. As they laughed, you remembered yourself playing on the very same playground with some of your friends you'd had in elementary school. The sudden sense of cold, bittersweet nostalgia filled your senses, shocking you by making your chest tighten a bit.

Where has the time gone . . . ?

A strong hand gripped your bare shoulder, violently jarring you from your thoughts. You twisted yourself around to see Katsuki Bakugou bending over you, his face neutral as he looked down at you.

"Katsuki!" you breathed out, lifting a hand to clutch your chest. "Geez, you startled me."

He smirked at you, flashing his gums before plopping himself down beside you. "Jumpy today, aren't we?" He leaned over and kissed your cheek, a light scent of smoke and caramel greeting your nose.

"Well, maybe next time don't sneak up on me when I'm alone." You dropped the issue, letting your face relax into a light smile as you let yourself fall backward onto the blanket. Katsuki's eyes roved over you as you laid there, watching him back as you enjoyed the feeling of the grass poking your legs and back through the thin blanket. Bakugou was wearing his usual blank tank top with loose-fitting cargo shorts, which you appreciated.

You inhaled the fresh air, thoroughly delighted to be outside on a day like today, allowing your eyes to close.

"So are you going to do your girly crafty shit or are we just going to sit here?"

You sighed, sitting up. "I was enjoying the day. Do you ever stop and just appreciate nature?"

Bakugou glanced around himself, taking a moment to glare at the kids over on the playset. "Don't usually have time for it."

"Well now is a perfect time." You stood, stretching. "It's summer break, man. You don't have to spend every minute of every day training to become a hero."

Bakugou rolled his eyes, watching you as you stretched your arms and puffed out your chest above him. "So what am I supposed to do while you put flowers in your hair or whatever?"

You ignored the teasing tone of his voice, just bordering on mean. You jutted out your hip, resting a hand on it. "You didn't have to come. I just wanted to spend time with you. Besides, doing everything alone is boring."

Bakugou tched, turning his head to the side.

"What?" you asked. "Don't you like spending time with me?"

His head snapped back to look at you again. "Of course I do, dumbass. Why else did you think I came here?"

You shrugged, shifting your feet. "I'm going to go find some flowers. You wanna come with me?"

Bakugou grumbled, getting to his feet and shoving his hands in his pockets.

You smirked. After being with your temperamental boyfriend for a little over a year now, you were well aware that this was just how he was. He truly cared about you, he just had an odd way of showing it. But no matter what came out of his crude mouth, here he was, following you to go pick flowers. Just because you asked.

You led him to a field stretching out behind the park, filled with a multitude of flowers and long grasses. (Guys, for realsies, respect nature and stuff so you probably shouldn't just pick flowers on public property but this is just for the sake of fluff. Respect wildlife!) You started selecting some particularly vibrant flowers, making sure to keep their stems long. Bakugou stood back, watching you.

"Jesus, how many of those are you going to make?" he asked, looking at your bundle of flowers.

"Just two," you answered, skipping your way back to your blanket without waiting for him.

"Who the hell else are you going to—wait. I am not wearing one of those!"

He followed you at a brisk pace in order to catch up. You plopped yourself down on the blanket and began to sort your flowers, still ignoring Katsuki's protests. He pouted, sitting next to you, stretching one leg out and bending his other knee. He had placed his chin in his hand, slightly covering his mouth and nose.

Once you had two roughly equal piles, you pulled out your phone and opened your tab on Pinterest. You had found some instructions for how to weave flower stems, and now couldn't be any more of a perfect time to try it out. You just hoped it wouldn't be an epic failure. Even if it was, you decided, it was nice to be outside spending time with your boyfriend, even if he was still pouting and not looking at you.

You studied your screen, beginning to replicate what you observed before you as you started to twist and flatten the flowers exactly as you saw. You felt Katsuki watching you out of the corner of his eye, transfixed by the movements of your hands. He didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, and you weren't sure what to say. Either way, you enjoyed his company and began to hum a little sweet tune. It started out as something you vaguely knew, but as the real notes escaped your mind you began to make up new ones, producing whichever one you thought would sound prettiest coming after the next.

"What song is that?" Bakugou asked, his voice somewhat muffled by his hand.

You stopped humming. "Nothing. I'm just kinda making it up as I go along."

Bakugou finally looked at you. His crimson eyes watched your face as you met them momentarily before going back to your work. "It was pretty," he admitted, pulling up his other knee so he could rest his head on them instead.

"I do it when we cuddle," you said, keeping your voice quiet. This time, you were the one not pointedly looking at him.

Katsuki nonchalantly glanced around, making sure no one was close enough to overhear the heinous news that he, Katsuki Bakugou, partook in such uncool activities as cuddling.

"Hmm," was his only response.

It was true, you enjoyed singing to him and though he'd never admit it, Bakugou loved listening to you. Some nights the two of you would be hanging out alone in his room. He'd have his arms wrapped around your waist and his head on your chest. His own personal body pillow, he'd brush off. Tsun tsun Baku, that's all he was.

He'd close his eyes and you'd stroke the top of his head, his spiky hair flowing under your fingertips only to fluff back up again. The rhythmic motion of your hand always prompted you to start humming lullabies, your music floating in the still air around you.

The first time you had done it, Bakugou had opened his eyes, staring up at you like you were crazy. It was the first time he'd heard you sing in front of him. If it were anyone else, he might have told them to shut up, but there was something about how you orchestrated your voice that made him melt, so he kept silent. Now he'd do anything to get you to hum to him. Anything that is, except ask. He'd even go as far as letting you hold him in that same cuddling position, even though he preferred to be the one holding you most of the time.

He tried to hide things like this from you, but you knew him. You were smart. You also happened to be a bit of a tease, sometimes purposefully denying him of what he was indirectly asking for. You found infinite amusement in seeing his frustration as he tried to come to terms with the fact that he loved you and everything about you.

"Why did you stop?" Katsuki's voice jarred you from your idle thoughts.

"No reason."

You attempted to start back up again but soon became distracted.

"Now what?" Bakugou asked, sounding genuinely annoyed.

You were squinting at your instructions, studying a drawing and then a picture of the flower crown you were trying to replicate. "I seem to be stuck." You now realized that your instructions had no way of showing how you should finish your piece.

Bakugou sighed and leaned over. He grabbed your phone, looking at the picture for himself and then looking over to what you had been doing. He carefully picked up your curving ring of flowers. His hands held it more gently than one who didn't know him so well would have thought possible for him.

"You just have to weave in the ends, it's obvious," he said.

"Oh."

He took one of the stems in his fingers and experimentally threaded it through the one below it. He had been watching you, and he now copied your actions to make sure the crown was securely connected in a ring.

It was your turn to watch him work, your smile growing wider on your face as you observed his actions. He didn't seem to notice you until it was too late. Bakugou glanced up after snapping off a few stem ends with his fingernails.

"What the hell are you smirking at?!" he shouted.

You just kept smiling. "I'm not smirking, I'm just proud of my talented boyfriend."

"It's not like it's that difficult!" He set the crown on the blanket in front of him, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"I thought you said you weren't into this kind of thing."

"You said that, dumbass. But you're right, I'm not."

"I'm just saying that you're not as much of a big meanie as you make yourself seem."

"I'm just good at everything! I just don't like doing this kind of girly, artsy shit!"

You opened your mouth to say something.

"—and I'm not soft!"

"Are you hard then?"

"Ye—no! But—not like—" He growled, his cheeks dusted with pink.

You fell back, your shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Stop!" he protested, his lip jutting out as he bared his teeth at you.

You sat up and kissed his cheek. "I love you."

His face flushed even more. He rubbed the spot where you had kissed him; not hard like he was trying to wipe it off, rather more like he was just flustered, which it was surprisingly easy for you to make him.

You rested your chin on your hand, raising your eyebrows for his response to your declaration.

He glowered at your cheerful face. "I guess I love you too, dumbass, even when you pull shit like this."

You smiled even brighter, satisfied with his answer. Your hand went for your second pile of flowers.

"What are you doing?" Bakugou asked.

"Making a second flower crown."

"But you didn't finish the first one."

You shrugged. "I think it's done."

"But there are still pieces hanging off the side!"

You shrugged again, taking the first two flowers to start wrapping them together.

"You can't spend all this time on one of your stupid little crafts and then just quit!"

You looked up at him, your face falling to deadpan. "You started working on it and quit too."

Bakugou inhaled sharply. "Oh, I see, you're just trying to rope me in."

"I think I already did."

"You did not."

"Well if it was too hard for you to tie flowers together—"

Bakugou made one of his signature screaming war cries, finally fed up with your antics. Some of the moms at the playset looked over at the two of you, wondering if they needed to remove their children from the premises of the screaming blond boy.

He snatched up the original flower crown that was still sitting between you two and started back with his weaving, although this time he was a little less delicate in his motions.

You briefly wondered if he might make it fall apart, but then you realized you didn't particularly care. Besides, you had made it pretty tight, and you were just watching as he fixed it to become even more secure.

You lifted the side of your mouth in another smile, rolling your eyes at your boyfriend's antics for the millionth time. You went back to the second crown, the motions of folding and wrapping and smoothing now almost second nature after getting it down so well with the first one. You almost forgot about your pissed boyfriend next to you until you felt something being pressed onto the top of your head.

"There! It's finished!"

Petals and stems flopped into your vision as the wreath slid forward on your head. You picked it up, looking at it for yourself. Your eyes traced how the stems were woven together. If you focused enough, you could kind of see where Bakugou had started to work on it himself, the weaving pattern having changed slightly. You grinned and put it back on your head, this time adjusting it so it wouldn't fall.

"You see, it looks really nice!" you said. "And we made it together! Kinda."

Bakugou just tched, having gone back to not looking at you.

You went back to your work, making this one a little bigger than your last. After a minute or so, you started humming again, casually attempting to get Bakugou to look at you again.

His shoulders started to relax after a few minutes, and he even laid down to look up into the tree. "You look cute by the way." His voice was a welcome break in the midst of your own.

"Thanks, babe." You used the last of the flowers, your product showcasing some extra stems at the end. "Baby," you said, your voice lilting, still warmed up after your music.

Bakugou cracked open his eyes, which he had shut sometime while you weren't paying attention. "What?"

You held up your most recent flower crown for him to see. "Can you finish this off for me, please?"

He rolled his eyes, sighing. "You're not going to let me say no, aren't you?"

"Nope."

He groaned, pushing himself off the ground. He held his hand out to you and you placed your wreath into his awaiting palm. "I'm only doing this because, for some reason, you can't seem to be able to do it yourself."

You dramatically put the back of your wrist to your forehead. "Whatever would I do without you, Katsuki? If you hadn't graced my existence with your presence, I simply don't think I would have survived without you!"

"Damn right."

You noticed his tiny smile as he finished off your flower crown, his fingers working the stems into each other until he was satisfied they were secure, then snipping off the excess with the tips of his fingernails.

"There," he said eventually. He put it on the top of your head, this time with less gusto than he had the first one. "Now what?"

You sat there with two flower crowns on your head. "It's a nice day out, we can sit here." You twisted around, cracking your back. You had been hunched forward a little too long. You felt a hand settle on your spine and it began to move. Bakugou rubbed circles against you, creating friction against your stiff joints. You hummed non-musically, letting your head fall back.

The two of you basked in the mixture of sun and shade, birdsong greeting your ears. A light breeze blew over your bare shoulders, making little goosebumps rise on your arms.

You could feel the moment Katsuki's motions became absentminded. Without warning, you took off the top flower crown and put it on his head. His face was overcome with rage, flushing a little red. The effect was completely thrown off, however, by the collection of daisies and dandelions that now rested atop his spiky hair. You were almost taken aback by how cute he looked.

Surprisingly, he made no move to rip it off his head. He just went back to pouting for the umpteenth time that day.

"Now we match!" you said, uncertain if you should say anything in case he did decide to take it off.

"I told you I wasn't going to wear one of these stupid things!"

You crossed your arms over your chest. "Oh, please. You let me put that on you. I know how fast your reflexes are, you should have seen me coming."

His silence was affirmation that your suspicion was correct.

You picked up your phone and started taking some selfies. After taking enough to be satisfied, you flipped your camera so you could see Katsuki, then pretended you were taking another picture of yourself as you took one of him. You opened it. The angle wasn't the best, and he was still scowling.

"Will you take a selfie with me?" you asked him.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on, we both worked so hard. I put all my love into it just for you."

He shifted his eyes to glare at you. "Whatever."

"Just one."

"Fine."

You beamed and scooted yourself up next to him. You pressed your shoulder against his and smiled at your phone. Katsuki relaxed his face so he wasn't glowering, but he wasn't smiling either. At least he wasn't making one of his goofy ugly faces. It would have to do.

"Thanks, babe," you said, satisfied. You kissed his cheek.

"If you show that to anyone both you and that person are dead."

"Noted."

You immediately started making a mental list of all the friends you would send it to once you got home.

You looked up and saw one of the mothers from the playground walking up to the two of you with her daughter. You felt Katsuki stiffen next to you, realizing he was still wearing your floral creation.

"Hey, kids," the mother said. Her child clung to her leg, hiding behind her knee shyly. "My daughter saw you two making flower crowns and wanted to know if you could teach her how to make one."

You beamed up at the mother, then looked softly across at her daughter. "Sure! We'd love to. My name's (Y/N), what's yours?"

"Lilly," the girl said in a tiny voice.

You smiled. "That's a beautiful name. And fitting! Here, I ran out of flowers, but we can go get some more."

The four of you sat in a circle, newly supplied with flowers. You showed the mother and her daughter your technique for weaving, and they quickly caught on under your explanation. You made sure the girl had enough flowers to fit around her head, measuring it often. When it got to the right length, you turned to Bakugou.

"Katsuki?"

He had been silently watching the three of you work. "Yeah?"

"You're the one who knows how to tie them off."

He tensed his jaw but leaned forward, pointing his finger at the stems and beginning to direct the girl as to what she should do.

You watched him interact with her. He was a surprisingly good teacher, letting her do it herself while giving useful instruction. His time at U.A. really had changed him. You might even go as far as saying he would make a good father someday.

This date had turned out to be a good idea. Maybe flowers and crafts and girly shit really was his thing. To an extent.

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So I was initially going to do this idea with a softer boi like Tamaki or Eijirou (and I still probably will! Recycling ideas is totally ok lol) but the idea of getting Bakugou to make flower crowns with you was just too much fun to pass up.

I really liked writing this story and I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much!

Anyway, see you next time!

Stay safe! If you don't I'll come for you!

-Sugar

[mummybear]

Demon From My Nightmares - Part Two

Part One Here

Words: 6354

Warnings: Swearing, Smut, Sinful Amounts Of Dirty Talk, Degradation, Name Calling, Little Bit Of Angst, Restraints (Handcuffs), Edging, Orgasm Denial/Control, Choking, Slight Knife Kink, Angry Demon Dean ;) Yes that’s a warning! Think that’s it! :)

Pairing: Demon!Dean x Reader

Characters: Dean Winchester, Reader, Sam Winchester, Mentions Of Castiel

Summary: Dean doesn’t take too kindly to you letting Sam and Cas take him back to the bunker. When the two of you are alone he finds a way to show you just how pissed he is.

A/N: This is another square on my @spndeanbingo​ - Demon!Dean.

A massive thank you as always to my incredible beta for everything she does <3 @negans-lucille-tblr

Ko-fi HERE

You hear Sam close your front door behind him downstairs as you throw your duffle bag on top of your messy bed. Throwing in any of your clean clothes and underwear, along with the few pictures in your room. There’s part of you that wonders how you hadn’t realised that you didn’t actually belong here, you barely had anything in the house. How long would Sam and Cas have left you here if Dean hadn’t found you? Would they have expected you to wait until your memories came back on their own? How was it that your now demon ex boyfriend still cared about you more than two people you considered to be your best friends?

There was so much going through your mind as you finally tugged the zipper of your duffle closed. You knew you were probably being an idiot going back to the bunker to help Dean, but you couldn’t leave him. Not like that. The way he’d made you feel just twenty minutes ago…  he may be a demon, but you knew your Dean was still in there somewhere.

The ache between your thighs is still fresh and you can’t deny that you want more, you’d missed him so much. The way his hands had felt on your body, his lips against yours. That perfectly husky voice in your ear as he fucked you within an inch of your life. He always knew just what you needed. Then, of course, you miss everything after the sex, the way he’d pull you close and kiss the top of your head, soft touches of his fingers over your back until you fell asleep. His stupid jokes and a sense of humour which you’d always admired with everything he had been though. You needed to get him back, that fiercely loyal and protective brave man, the one that you loved heart, body and soul. 

You scold yourself as you leave your bedroom and head down the stairs, because you can’t stop thinking about how hot you find this version of him, no matter how dangerous he is and despite yourself, you want him to own you and make you beg for him.

Locking your front door, you head over to where Sam has the Impala parked on the side of the road, engine running while he waits for you. You take a deep breath before you pull the car door open, that familiar smell hitting you like a tonne of bricks. You may not have remembered earlier today, but now you couldn’t forget the way he smelled. Clearing your throat, you finally climb into the car and close the door behind you. 

As Sam starts driving you can’t help but be angry at him and Cas for the way they had handled this situation. Part of you is thankful that they caught him, but the bigger part of you is pissed as hell that they sidelined you so they could get to him, put you at risk without even talking to you, or giving you your own say. Surely they knew that you would say yes to anything that could’ve helped Dean, right?

“So are you just gonna ignore me until we get back to the bunker, Y/N?” Sam asks with a sigh, looking between you and the road. 

Rolling your eyes you finally turn to look at him, “Sam are you kidding me? You actually expect me to be okay with what you two did to me?” You ask incredulously, resisting the urge to throw your hands in the air from utter frustration.

You quickly see the guilty look that crosses Sam’s face as he shifts awkwardly in his seat. 

“Y/N, listen-” he tries, but you cut him off with a shake of your head.

“Don’t, Sam. You had so much time where you could’ve told me what was going on, I would’ve helped! You know that I’d do anything for Dean. What would you and Cas have done if Dean killed me?” You ask turning to look at him, he glances between you and the road and frowns as he runs a hand through his long hair. 

“Dean wouldn’t do that,” Sam tries to reason.

“No, you’re right. Your big brother and the man I love wouldn’t even consider hurting us. But this Dean is a demon, Sam, we’re just ants in his playground. You’re lucky things worked out the way they did, if he gets away from Cas or out of those chains you’ve got him locked up in at the bunker, then we’re all dead,” you tell him honestly and you can practically hear Sam swallow beside you. You know the reason he doesn’t reply is because he knows you’re right.

You turn away and shake your head, leaning against the cool window as Sam continues to drive.

You don’t know when you fell asleep but you had to have at some point, as Sam is currently shaking you awake. 

“Y/N, we’re home,” he tells you gently.

You sit up and stretch out your body, yawning as you wipe at your eyes.

“Okay, I’m up.” 

“Look, I am sorry. I understand if you never want to talk to me again, but I mean it and I’ve really missed you,” Sam tells you sadly, those damn puppy eyes making an appearance again.

You sigh loudly and finally look at him, “look, I’m pissed at you, both of you. But I’m not gonna disown you over it, Sammy. Just promise me, you’ll talk to me next time.” 

Sam smiles slightly giving you a small nod, “I promise.”

-

Dean’s inhumanly loud and animalistic growls had been filling the bunker for hours now, but he’d finally fallen quiet twenty minutes ago. Part of you knows you should stay in your room and wait for Sam and Cas to do what they need to. Then there’s the other part of you that wants to go and see him, you need to make sure he’s as okay as he can be. The ache between your thighs reminds you of how he’d made you feel, maybe he is still your Dean deep down. He had all of his memories at least, from what you could tell. Sure, maybe he felt his feelings in a different way, but the way he’d touched you, the way he’d made you feel was indescribable.

With your mind made up you slip off of your bed and out of your room, staying light on your feet, not wanting Sam or Cas to hear you. You knew they’d only stop you. Turning the corner quickly you find the door you know Dean is behind and to your surprise it opens without needing to be unlocked.

You step inside the darkened room and you swear you can feel his presence already.

“You just couldn’t stay away, could you sweetheart?” Comes the deep timber of his voice in the darkness. You swallow hard, taking another step into the room, your thighs squeezing together as a reflex of hearing his voice.

Another step and you’re standing by the light on the table, and you quickly flick it on. Your knees almost buckle beneath you at the sight of him tightly tied down to a chair, you can see how angry he is, it’s written all over his face. But there’s also a flicker of what you believe is amusement at seeing you standing in front of him. 

You stay silent as you walk those few extra steps closer, your feet staying just outside the devils trap. Safe to say you never thought you’d see Dean Winchester trapped in one of these things. 

You glance over at the empty syringes of blood that are scattered across the table by the lamp, his fingers are clenched into fists and you watch as he roughly tugs at the rope binding his wrists. The chair moves against the floor a little the more he struggles, and you can’t stop yourself from flinching. You look away from him and down at the floor when his sinister chuckle bounces off of the walls.

“Aww baby, what’s up? You ain’t scared of little ol’ me are you?” His voice is condescending to the say the least, when you look back up at him there’s a devilish smirk on his plump lips and his eyes flash black.

“N-No, I’m fine.” Your blatant lie and shaking voice is met with another laugh.

“Why don’t you come over here? I’ve got plenty more that I wanted to do with that fucking sexy body of yours.” It sounds like a threat and a promise as it rolls flawlessly off of his talented tongue. One which you’re more than aware he can fully live up to, and completely surpass, if you gave him the opportunity.

“I’m not an idiot Dean, you’ll just use me to get out. Believe me, the second you’re back to being the real you, you won’t need to ask twice.” 

He licks his full lips and leans forward in his seat, flashing you those pearly whites. He locks eyes with you as they flick from black back to the green ones you know and love.

“Really? So you’re tellin’ me that you don’t want me to fuck you like I did earlier? You’re gonna pretend you don’t crave being my dirty little slut? We both know you do, remember how you begged for my cock? Well, after this little stunt, sweetheart, you’re gonna have to beg a lot harder for it.” There’s a growl in his voice, and you can feel your panties getting wet from his words alone.

You just about manage to swallow around the lump in your throat. You watch him grin widely when you take another step closer, finally breaching the outer circle of the devils trap. Honestly, you don’t know what you’re thinking, other than that you would do anything to please him, anything to get him to make you feel the way you did earlier and this is what he wants, so you’re gonna give it to him. 

When you take another step forward Dean growls low in his throat and tugs harder at the ropes that bind him to the chair. You walk the last step towards him and he’s leaning so far forward in his chair, that you're surprised the ropes haven’t snapped yet. You tug at the hem of Dean’s flannel shirt that you’re wearing, very aware that what you’re doing is stupid.

“I shouldn’t be here. Sam said-” Your breathy words are stopped when Dean growls at the mention of his brothers name.

“I don’t give a fuck what Sam said. You’re mine. It’s about damn time you started remembering who you belong to. Now fuckin’ take that off.” Dean snaps, nodding at the plaid shirt you're still playing with.

Chewing at your bottom lip you finally meet his eyes again, “Dean I don’t think-” you practically stutter.

“No. You don’t think. You do as you’re fucking told, like the good little slut you are. Now, take it off.” His voice is practically a snarl at this point and leaves no room for argument, his eyes have gone black and his mouth is set in such a way that makes your stomach tight.

With shaking fingers, you reach up and start undoing the buttons. Watching as his eyes slowly return to green, he pulls his plump bottom lip between his teeth and you can see the grin just beneath. He’s watching you so intently that you make sure to take it slowly.

When the material falls to the floor, Dean groans. The bra you’re wearing is tighter and smaller than usual since your others are in the wash and it pushes your breasts together firmly. You step between his legs, a nervous smile on your lips when he looks up at you with a look that makes your knees weak.

“Look at you. My perfect little slut. You better untie me, you’ve got a lot of making up to do.” 

His voice is like a demand,but you know you can’t listen, that’s the one thing that would mean you’d never get your Dean back and you can’t allow that.

“I….I can’t Dean.” You practically whisper, feeling his knees close around your thighs when you try and back away.

“You wanna try that again?” Dean practically seethes, his hands clenched into fists against the arms of the chair.

You can actually feel your legs shaking now, from fear as well as the arousal you’d been plagued with since you’d left the house you’d called home.

“No Dean. I can’t, I’m sorry,” you whisper, trying to get free of the grip of his legs, “I should go to bed.”

When you turn away and finally free yourself, a loud crash fills the room and a hand wraps tightly and harshly around your wrist, effectively cutting off the scream with complete shock.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Dean spits angrily, pulling you forwards so roughly that you collide with his chest. 

You look up at home with wide eyes and your heart almost stops in your chest.

“H-How did you get out of that?” you ask quietly, tugging your arm free of his hold and stumbling out of the devils trap away from him.

Dean’s smirk is dangerous and you're frozen as he makes his way towards you, stopping at the very edge of the devils trap. Suddenly you’re very aware that you’re standing in front of him in only your underwear. 

“I think you know how, sweetheart.” His voice is low and husky and you visibly shiver as it causes goosebumps to rise across your exposed skin. 

“You’re about to get what you deserve, and this time no touching for you.” He’s grinning as he pulls out some cuffs from behind his back. He nods over towards the hook in the corner of the room and you gasp when he steps forward again, out of the devils trap and he forces you back until you collide with the wall behind you.

His entire body is pressed against yours, trapping you between the solid wall of muscle that is Dean and the solid brick wall behind you.

“Dean, please, can’t we wait until you’re better?” You try and reason, whimpering loudly when he presses harder against you and you can feel his hard cock pressed between you. The tip of his nose traces the line of your jaw up to your ear, breath ghosting along your skin.

“I fucking love how I am baby girl, never been better. If we’re being honest, my needy little slut, you love it too, don’t ya? You like me a little twisted. Just the right amount of fucked up to deal with you, ain’t that right?” he asks hotly, fingers moving over the damp patch on your panties. 

Your head falls back against the wall, but the only thing moving is his fingers, pulling harsh breath after breath from your lips. He has you so distracted that you don’t feel the cold metal lock around your wrists until the last second. 

Dean pulls you, stumbling over to the door when you both hear footsteps coming from the distance. The door is cold against your heated skin and your cheek is pressed tightly to it as the footsteps stop.

“Y/N? Are you in there? Is everything okay?” Sam calls suddenly, twisting the door handle but Dean grips it tightly and it stops moving. 

“Lock it. Tell him everything is fine,” Dean demands quietly, smirking against your neck when you suck in a breath, before his teeth drag over your pulse point and he wraps your hair around his fist and tugs harshly.

You just about manage to nod your head with the grip he has on your hair. “Yeah Sam, I’m fine. Dean and I just needed to talk,” You tell him as you lock the door, trying to keep the shake out of your voice.

“Okay, well I was just about to head out for some supplies, are you sure everything’s okay?” Sam asks as Dean pushes his hand into the front of your panties. His fingers drag back and forth teasingly through your slick heat. Your nails dig into your thighs as you try to keep the cuffs still, so Sam doesn’t get suspicious. 

“Yes, everything’s fine. You go, I’ll be fine,” you reply a little shortly, biting your bottom lip hard and almost drawing blood when Dean pushes two fingers inside of you easily. His chuckle vibrates against your neck, and you barely hear Sam’s reply as you snap back at Dean.

“Fuck you, you twisted demon dick.” 

His fingers are gone immediately and you slump against the door, “Oh baby, you know I love it when you talk dirty to me.” You can practically hear the smirk in his voice as he roughly pulls you away from the door by your hair and turns you to face him. You squeal in surprise when he picks you up and throws you over his shoulder, your arms getting trapped beneath you. Before you know what’s happening, Dean lowers you to the floor and pulls your arms above your head, securing the cuffs to the hook hanging from the ceiling.

You lift your chin from your chest and meet his eyes. Those cold, dark black eyes that fill you with a sense of dred and nervous excitement but most of all there’s that overwhelming sense of pure and unadulterated lust.

“Dean, come on, you know I had nothing to do with any of this. I just wanted you back, the real you.” 

You watch that smirk stretch across his perfect pink lips and you have to clamp your thighs together. His aftershave surrounds you when he steps closer, his breath fanning across your parted lips.

“Now baby, I thought we’d already spoken about this. This is the real me, the best me.” There’s a pause as he takes another step closer and lets his calloused fingers slowly drag down the length of your stomach, until the tips are sliding back and forth over the hem of your panties.

“Besides, do you really think I don’t know how much you crave me like this, that’s why you came in here tonight wasn’t it sweetheart?” he sounds so cocky, so sure of himself but your stomach is too busy rolling with arousal.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you’re voice isn’t as certain as you’d hoped it would sound, you sound nervous to say the least.

“Deny it all you want. It doesn’t matter. You’re gonna be begging for my cock when I’m done with you. Just like you did the last time. So desperate and needy,” Dean tells you quietly, letting his lips brush yours ever so slightly. You feel your breathing increase when you lean in and try and kiss him, but he pulls away just far enough so you can’t reach him, although his hand remains just above your panties. 

“You’re gonna have to work for it my little slut.” You whimper loudly, feeling the tip of a knife slip beneath the side of your panties, just barely digging into your skin, but the threat is enough to make more arousal flood the already wet fabric. 

Dean’s free hand grips your jaw tightly when you try to look at the floor and he kicks your feet apart with his booted foot. The blade is cold against your heated skin but he doesn’t move, his grip on your jaw tight as he meets your eyes again. 

“Dean, please. Just take the rest of your cure and we can do whatever you want all night.” You beg him through clenched teeth, wincing when his grip tightens.

“Why would I do that, hmm? I can already do what I want all night,” he chuckles gently tugging the knife through the side of your panties easily. “Who are you kidding here sweetheart? You fucking love being treated like a demons little fuck toy. You need it, don’t you?” he whispers the last part, voice husky and daring. As he drags the blade of the knife up your other thigh, not digging in enough to make a mark, hooking into the only remaining side of your panties and giving a rough tug. They drop to the floor and you can’t help but moan as the cool air in the room moves between your legs, making your throbbing clit tingle at the change of temperature.

“Look at you, such a fucking wet mess.” Dean laughs, letting go of your jaw, leaving behind an ache which manages to ground you slightly.

“Oh fuck,” you whimper feeling the blade just barely digging into your stomach as he slides it up over your soft skin. Keeping his plump bottom lip trapped between his teeth, as he makes quick work of cutting your bra from your body, letting it fall to the floor, a satisfied noise leaving his now parted lips at seeing you naked again.

The knife clatters to the floor and you quickly look up meeting his green eyes, full of lust and desire and it makes your heart jump in your chest.

“What is it baby girl? I didn’t think you wanted me, like this.” He all but purrs, standing impossibly close his fingers trail slowly down your stomach and between your legs. You whine his name as his fingers move through your slick, circling your clit gently before dipping back down and he slowly slides those same fingers inside your tight wet heat. His lips are pressed against your ear as your walls clamp around his fingers and he moans deeply, starting a slow deep rhythm that has you wishing your thighs would stop shaking, because your arms are already aching with the effort of keeping yourself up right.

“Such a tight wet little cunt, fucking perfect. Clearly I didn’t fuck you hard enough earlier. Is that what you want my little slut? You want it harder, faster, deeper? Want me to make you come until it hurts sweetheart?” Dean growls deeply, picking up the speed of his fingers until he feels you clamping down around them and he pulls them away.

You gasp for breath as your legs collapse beneath you and the orgasm slowly starts to drain away. “What the hell Dean?” You pant in irritation.

Dean laughs, circling your body until he’s standing behind you. “Like I said, you’re gonna fucking earn it.”

“Oh fuck you, Dean!” You spit out angrily. 

“You’ve got such a dirty mouth on you. I guess we’ll see how long you can keep that up tonight, I can’t wait to see just how long it takes for you to break.” 

-

You don’t know how long has passed or how many times Dean had brought you right to the edge of orgasm before stepping away, looking more and more pleased with himself each and every time. You were panting heavily, your entire body aches and feels weak, the pulsing between your legs has become painful. You’re so desperate for release and he knows it, but your voice is hoarse from your pleas for release. But he’d simply chuckled and sucked his fingers clean and he watched you huff in annoyance as the orgasm faded.

Your entire body is practically vibrating when he steps towards you again, even his breath against your skin makes you whimper in desperation. He stays close to you, still completely clothed, you can feel the slight brush of that damn red shirt against your skin as he circles you.

“Dean, please I’m sorry. You’re right, I need you, I don’t give a fuck if you’re a demon. I need you to make me come, please, I’ll do anything.” You beg him, unashamed and even more desperate than any of the other times previously, feeling the tears pressing against the backs of your eyes. 

Dean stops in front of you, eyes black and tongue pressing against his sharp canine and a smirk curling the corners of his perfect lips. 

“I’m sorry sweetheart, what was that? I didn’t hear you.” Dean mocks you, as the green fades back into his eyes you don’t miss the sparkle in his eyes, he’s enjoying this far too much.

A tear rolls down your cheek but you’re so frustrated you don’t even pay it any attention. You know he wants you begging for his cock, he loves to see how desperate you are for him, especially this depraved version of him.

“Please fuck me Dean, I need your big cock. Please, I’ll do anything you want,” you plead desperately, clinging to the chains that are wrapped around your cuffs.

You let out a shaky sigh of relief, hearing the tell tale sounds of his belt buckle clanging open. When he steps in close and pulls you down from the hook you fall against his chest, barely any strength to hold yourself up at that moment. Dean holds you up by your upper arms before you can fall, and for the first time in what your sure has been at least an hour, you feel his plump lips pressing against yours and you can’t help but moan against them. It doesn’t last nearly long enough though, he’s soon pulling away and pushing you down onto your knees.

He unlocks the cuffs and pulls your arms behind your back, he’s eerily silent, but you don’t care - whatever he wants he can have. You hear them click back into place and watch as he walks back in front of you again, that delicious smirk on his lips.

You look up at him with big, almost innocent eyes, biting your bottom lip when you watch him pull that perfect thick cock from his boxers and push his jeans down his thick legs. You swallow hard and lick your lips, watching as he strokes it back and forth, unable to stop the roll of your hips trying to find friction anywhere you can.

“Look at you,” Dean purrs, dragging his thumb over your bottom lip. “Such an obedient little slut all of a sudden, such a good little girl. You wanna suck my cock baby?” 

You whine at how sexy his voice sounds, every word he speaks sends you further into a place where only he exists. He almost sounds like the old Dean towards the end and you just want to please him. When you stay quiet, Dean bends down, so that his nose brushes against yours briefly, and you have to hold back the moan bubbling up in your throat.

“I really wanna suck your big cock Dean, please.” 

“Of course you do, baby. I bet you’re making a right fucking mess all over the floor right now. Just from thinkin’ about choking on my cock, I bet you could come just from that right now, couldn’t you?” He chuckles knowingly watching you swallow hard when he backs off, back to towering over you. 

“Yes, Dean,” you answer obediently, feeling the throbbing between your legs intensifying in anticipation.

Dean runs the angry red tip of his swollen cock over your parted lips, grunting quietly when your tongue gently laps at the pre-cum leaking from the tip. Pushing into your mouth quickly and gripping your jaw tightly, he takes you by surprise when the head of his cock nudges at the back of your throat, and you can’t help but gag a little. 

“You might wanna relax or this is gonna hurt.” Dean chuckles, pulling out slightly before thrusting his hips forward again. You try to breathe through your nose better than before, but find yourself gagging just as harshly, your throat tightening around the intrusion. 

“Surely you remember that though, a good little slut like you must remember,” Dean growls deeply.

You look up at him with tears starting to leak from your eyes, watching as he unlocks his phone a devilish smirk on those perfect lips and he aims the camera at you. He licks his lips and you see him tap the screen. Tossing the phone somewhere close by he grips the hair at the top of your head. Your nails dig into your palms, your jaw is aching from the grip Dean has on you as he starts to pick up a faster speed, practically fucking your face. The drool leaks from the corners of your sore lips, everything hurts in the best way as he uses your mouth for his pleasure. Every time you gag, Dean thrusts that much harder the next time. Your chin, chest and thighs are soaked from the spit leaking from your mouth as his grip tightens on your hair and your jaw. He’s right though, because even choking on his cock has you close to the edge. Dean pulls himself free of your lips with a growl when your eyes start to roll,and you just about manage to choke out his name, wanting to warn him, so that you don’t come without his permission, you didn’t need another reason to piss him off more.

His hand drops from your face but his grip remains just as tight on your hair. 

“Guess I was right, hmm? Almost came all over the floor, just like the desperate little slut that you are,” Dean taunts,  knowingly.

Hauling you up onto your shaking legs with the grip he has on your hair, you fall against him with little to no balance. You melt against him as his lips roughly claim yours once more and you can feel him backing you up, until a table hits the back of your legs whilst his tongue continues to intertwine with yours perfectly. 

His mouth is suddenly gone from yours all too soon, and you whimper at the loss as he turns you quickly in his hold and slams you down onto the table you’d bumped into. You wince at the forcefulness behind it, the cold wood makes your nipples painfully hard, and you wish you could grip onto the table edges for support when Dean kicks your feet apart. The cold air on your soaked and exposed pussy makes you shiver, and you moan loudly, finally feeling his thickness slide through your dripping folds. 

“I need your cock, please. I can’t take any more teasing Dean, please.” Your voice comes out hoarse and breathy. 

A harsh slap comes down on your ass cheek and you whimper his name loudly, gritting your teeth hard as another slap comes down on the opposite cheek, just as hard as the first. A loud growl echoes around the room as Dean thrusts into you in one rough thrust, and you cry out in surprise, unable to grip the table like you want to as it screeches across the floor.

“Such a tight little cunt,” Dean groans, gripping your ass cheeks in his hands and squeezing them tightly, as he pulls them apart, and you can feel his eyes on you.

He withdraws his thickness from you slowly, so that you feel every glorious inch. 

“Oh fuck! Yes Dean!” You scream, as he slams back inside you hard and fast, the pleasure and pain blurring the lines. With every snap of his hips, Dean starts to pick up a steady pace, which has the table continuing to screech across the floor, the sound mixing with Dean’s pleasured grunts and your whimpering and moaning. 

“Can I come Dean? Please, please. I can’t hold it anymore.” 

The harder you beg, the faster his movements get, he releases his grip on your ass, one hand gripping the chain joining your cuffs together, the other gripping your hip bruisingly. The clap of your ass as it bounces against his hips joins the filthy sounds in the room.

“Fuck, you dirty little slut, come on then, come all over my cock. But you better fuckin’ scream for me,” Dean grunts,moving the hand that was on your hip to between your legs, rubbing your clit with the perfect amount of pressure. 

You gasp for breath, a faint squeak of Dean’s name passes your lips as your orgasm hits and your eyes roll, white completely fills your vision, but Dean’s pace doesn’t falter. Not even when you soak the floor beneath you, the wet noise of your pussy gripping his cock is like nothing you’d ever heard, and it only turns you on even more.

Dean doesn’t give you time to come down from one of the most intense orgasms of your life, before you know it you’re being pulled back against his clothed chest and he wraps his hand around your throat, squeezing tightly. His lips press against your ear and he growls deep in his throat.

“I’ve got a fuckin’ good mind to make you clean that mess up with your tongue. But you’d probably just enjoy it, wouldn’t you, huh?” Dean asks, chuckling to himself. You can only bring yourself to moan out louder when he drags his teeth across the sensitive spot just under your ear.

You can feel Dean’s blunt nails digging into the side of your neck.

Suddenly the door almost comes flying off the hinges. Dean stills behind you but doesn’t seem surprised, like he knew it was coming, it's like you can feel him smirking as he pulls his lips away from your neck.

Sam stands in the doorway panting hard, clearly he'd been trying to get in for a while. But you hadn't heard a single thing.

"Can we help you with something, Sammy? Or are you just here to play the peeping Tom?" Dean asks, that condescending tone thick in his voice.

"Dean what the hell are you doing?" Sam asks angrily, his eyes flicking between you and his brother.

"Y/N, are you okay?" 

"I'm giving this little slut what she wants, ain't that right, sweetheart?" Dean asks, snapping his hips forward harshly and making you scream. "Fucking answer me, don't be rude in front of my brother," Dean demands, with another snap of his hips he pulls a whimper from your lips, but you can still hear the laughter in his voice.

"I'm great, Sam. Can you go? We're kinda busy here," You mutter under your heavy breathing.

Sam ignores you and looks at his brother. 

"Then why is she cuffed?" Sam questions and you bite your lip as Dean turns you to face him with a harsh grip on your jaw, his hips moving every time he speaks.

"Because she's a kinky little bitch. Likes it when I fucking ruin her and she can’t get away - wants it, over and over again. She was begging for my cock, little brother, you should've heard her, so desperate, just wanted me to fucking own her." You can't help but smile as Dean looks right at you when he's talking, though there's a blush rising in your cheeks. 

Sam is trying to focus anywhere that isn't on the two of you.

"Take them off, then Sam can go and we can finish. I promise I won't move Dean, I'll be a good girl," you purr quietly against his lips.

Dean smirks and tugs your bottom lip between his teeth. Bending down he grabs the key from his jeans pocket, you whimper as he stands again and his cock slips fully back inside you. Undoing the cuffs they quickly fall to the floor, Sam looks at the two of you, surprised to see you haven't even tried to move. Chest still rising and falling quickly, as you look into Dean's black eyes.

"Now could you kindly fuck off, I’ve got business to finish, Sammy."

The door slams shut and Sam doesn't even bother replying.

"Look who's learning. Such a good little slut for me," Dean groans as your pussy flutters around his cock.

"Guess you earned yourself a treat, you get to choose where I come. You want it all over that pretty little face, or do you want it deep inside you, leaking out of this perfect little cunt for the next few days?" Dean asks huskily, starting to pick up his thrusts again, the sounds echoing off the walls.

"Wherever you want baby, use me." You moan, feeling his hand wrap tightly in your hair as he tugs hard. 

"That's my girl. Just how I wanted you, all mine. Finally broke you, just fucking beautiful." He praises you with a chuckle, fucking into your tight wet heat like it's the last thing he'll ever do. 

The air feels like it's been stolen from your lungs as he uses your body to get himself off. But whatever he's doing, whatever he's saying is working for you in the best way.

"Gonna….come," you manage to choke out.

"Do. It. Fuck! Do. It!" Dean growls each word followed by a particularly hard thrust that hits your sweet spot repeatedly.

You can't manage to utter a single word this time as you fall apart, in fact you completely black out.

You wake up with a warm comfortable bed beneath your sore and tired naked body. You jolt up when you hear him scream again. You jump out of bed on shaking legs and wrap your robe around yourself.

Running down the hall to where you know he should be. You walk into the room without even thinking, just in time to see Dean strapped to another chair, he looks up, right at you and you watch as the black fades from his eyes and he blinks hard. When they open again he's still looking at you, but with those beautiful green eyes, with only a look in them the real Dean ever had, the human Dean.

"Dean? Are you okay?" You ask in shock, ignoring all eyes on you except his.

He looks a little off, but he nods regardless.

"Yeah, I’m okay. It's me. The real me," he confirms shakily. You sigh with relief, and you try to ignore that tiny pit in your chest. You were happy he was cured though, because you loved him so much more when he was human.

Tags: @chewie-redbird @julzdec @lettersofwrittencollective @stiles-o-dylan24 @mogaruke @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @dylanholyhellobrien @desireepow-1986 @lilulo-12 @22sarah08 @ne-gans @deanwanddamons @simsadventures  @charmed-asylum @nicole-lynne @hazel-eye-coffee-shop-girl-blog @defenderrosetyler @emilyshurley @foxyjwls007 @mylovelydame21 @sunshineandwings86 @akshi8278 @peaches007 @stylesismyhubs @fandom-princess-forevermore @hobby27 @littlelonewolfgirl @ladywinchester1967 @screechingartisancashbailiff @maddiepants @spnfanfic-reblogs @holylulusworld @mrswhozeewhatsis @sonofabringmesomepie @deans-baby-momma @mrsjenniferwinchester @hhiggs @pisces-cutie @trina44sb @heartsaved @matsumama @adoptdontshoppets @beth-winchester21 @doctor-hp-mcu @mrspeacem1nusone​

Pong Tags: @aprofoundbondwithdean​ @manawhaat​ @thing-you-do-with-that-thing​  @nichelle-my-belle​ @notnaturalanahi​ @deanscarlett​ @roxy-davenport​ @impala-dreamer​ @samsgoddess​ @frenchybell​ @scorpiongirl1​  @deandoesthingstome​ @deansleather​ @curliesallovertheplace​ @whywhydoyouwantmetosaymyname​ @waywardjoy​ @imadeangirl-butimsamcurious​ @kayteonline​ @supernatural-jackles​ @wevegotworktodo​ @quiddy-writes​ @babypieandwhiskey​ @supermoonpanda​ @deanwinchesterforpromqueen​ @chaos-and-the-calm67-blog​ @memariana91​ @teamfreewill-imagine​ @chelsea-winchester​ @becs-bunker​ @castieltrash1​ @supernaturalyobessed​ @ruined-by-destiel​ @winchester-writes​ @evilskank-inthemegacoven​ @maraisabellegrey-blog​ @faith-in-dean​ @winchestersmolder​ @bennyyh​ @clueless-gold​ @deanwinchesterxreader​ @winchester-family-business​ @there-must-be-a-lock​ @just-another-winchester​ @cas-backwards-tie​ @winecatsandpizza​ @firefly-in-darkness​

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Just Swimmingly ch.7 (BAON)

Summary: Team Rescue is on the way...mostly. Look, they aren't good at names.

Tags:  Spicyhoney, Established Relationships,  Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

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Edge had been on worse car rides, but not many. In fact, he could only think of one; riding in the backseat of his own car with Stretch unconscious in his lap, his life ticking away in decimals as Edge desperately clung to Blue’s instruction that he should think of healing magic as similar to making a hollandaise.

It wasn’t ridiculous if it worked and sitting here in this silent car, hyperfocusing on the mostly empty roads with Blue next to him radiating grim determination and Antwan in the backseat, Edge found himself thinking of hollandaise again.

The mental picture of the saucepan was strangely easing, keeping his turbulent thoughts occupied. In his memory, Blue’s voice was preternaturally calm as he reminded them that all the butter couldn’t be added at once because the mixture would break. Edge followed the direction coming from his phone as the voice assistant instructed him in its robotic way to turn left, (you need to add the butter a little at a time) turn right, (whisk it in), your destination is on the left.

It was only when he pulled into the empty parking lot as directed that the real Blue spoke, his high voice uncertain over the confidence of his imaginary twin, “Shouldn’t the security teams be here?”

“No,” Edge said disgustedly. He threw the car into park and pressed a knuckle between his eye sockets with painful force. “because this isn’t the right place.”

The dilapidated sign over the empty storefront declared with a spooky if faded cheer to be ‘Spirit Halloween’ but the only spirits in this place were the ghosts of customers’ past.

“My brother’s sense of humor,” Edge said, “he’s sending us a message. We went trick or treating behind his back and here’s his trick.”

“Of course it is,” Blue muttered, sinking back in the seat. His gloved hands were tight in his lap, a mirror to Edge’s grip on the steering wheel. “Papyrus probably warned him hours ago that I’d left home. He would have been ready for something like this.”

Edge picked up his phone, his bare thumbs moving with cautious swiftness over the screen. “Yes, he would. Which is why we’re going to follow the other tracker now.”

“Other tracker?” Antwan leaned over the driver’s seat to look at the new directions scrolling up the phone screen. His laughter was uncomfortable, more nerves than humor. “How many trackers do you have on your brother?”

Not as many as he has on me, Edge did not say. “On a normal day, only one.” Edge pulled back out onto the empty street, following the monotone drone of the GPS. “Sans set it up for me when Red pulled his little disappearing act after California and then reappeared to wreak havoc on my kitchen.”

“He did what?” Blue asked and Edge winced internally, barely keeping it from showing on his face. He wasn’t at his best, that much was certain, spilling secrets out in a spreading pool, but caring about that would have to wait. There were only so many directions he could pull his focus for now and Blue was hardly going to take out an advertisement in the paper if he heard anything he shouldn’t. A bit of gossip when it came to office relationships and the local scandals aside, Blue was one of their diplomats and he was well able to use appropriate discretion.

Hopefully, his definition of appropriate did not include asking Red any uncomfortable questions at a later date.

“It doesn’t matter. As I was saying, I usually have one tracker on my brother just in case he gets it into his head to face something he shouldn’t alone.” Edge didn’t quite roll through a red light. Better to not get pulled over by the Ebott police if he could help it, Embassy security certainly had enough on their hands right now without having to handle minor traffic violations. “Except, as I said, Sans gave it to me. Which means it’s only as accurate as Sans wants it to be and he has an unfortunate tendency to match my brother when it comes to deciding he knows what’s best for other people.”

A certain sourness fell over Blue’s expression as he nodded. As both a younger brother and a diplomat he was quite familiar with the ongoing irritation of overprotectiveness, even as he often did the same to his own brother.

“Which is why tonight I added my own tracker to Red’s jacket,” Edge said, “I would have followed that one first, but I was hoping not to reveal it so quickly if I could help it.”

Blue hummed thoughtfully. “You don’t think he’d be expecting that?”

“Of course, but I think he’d have a harder time finding and disabling it. Stretch made it for me.” The memory of his maniacal delight when Edge told him what it was for was briefly allowed, as well as his satisfied triumph when he presented Edge with a device that was the size of match head, tagged with near-microscopic hooks reminiscent of Velcro that were made to catch and cling to any fabric with a mere touch.

His design was with the Research and Development team now, minus the tracking device, as they worked to find a use for it that would allow for them to sell it to Humans, along with a dozen other things he’d created. So many of Stretch’s designs ended up that way, patents in which he was not named used as bargaining chips to help keep their coffers full. Stretch always declared that he didn’t work for the Embassy and that much was true. Instead, he worked for all of Monsterkind, that clever mind of his working to get them the funds they needed establish a place in this world. Only a handful of people even knew it and while Asgore could be foolishly soft-hearted on occasion, he wouldn’t considering paying a large ransom for any citizen on the street, even if they were married to Edge. Stretch was important past his twitter feed and it would be narrow not to suspect that these kidnappers somehow learned about it.

This time the tracker was leading them to the other side of town, down on the north side where the neighborhoods were filled with condemned houses and boarded up businesses. The only industry that thrived there were liquor shops whose windows were barred, manned by cashiers who spent their days behind a thick layer of bulletproof glass. His car was going to stand out like a sore thumb, but it couldn’t be helped. He wasn’t about to waste anymore time by stopping at the Embassy to borrow something more discreet.

At least he could worry less about reprisals from rolling through stop sign; the Ebott police presence on this side of town was minimal.

They made their way through the empty streets without incident. It was late even for the criminal element and a glance down the alleyways they passed showed them filled with shadows that could have been trash cans or curled up humans sleeping amongst them.

Some of the children from the Y lived on this side of town. Actually, most of them did and some of them might well be sleeping on the street right now…no. He couldn’t think of that at this moment, one thing at a time. He couldn’t afford to have his attention ping-ponging around inside his head, not when their destination was in sight.

This time, there were plenty of cars parked in a semi-circle around the building, floodlights pouring from their windows and flashers circling on their rooftops. Embassy security teams were made up of Monsters and Humans, and there were plenty out there in their uniforms. The Ebott police were going to throw a fit about jurisdiction, of that he had no doubt, but that was going to be a tomorrow problem for the Legal department and their FBI connections.

One of the security personnel approached the car as Edge pulled up, both hands raised in a gesture that could either mean for them stop or for him to offer surrender. Edge rolled down his window and he ducked his head inside the car. “Sir, your husband and his friend are both fine,” he said without preamble. “This area is closed off, you should—”

“If you even suggest that I should leave, you’re going to be reassigned to the elementary school playground for the foreseeable future,” Edge said evenly.

To his credit, the guard’s expression did not change. “Wouldn’t dream of it, sir. I was going to tell you to park over on the north side,” He pointed to a clearing off behind the other cars. “Your brother is waiting for you up at the entrance.”

“Of course he is,” Edge muttered. “I’m sure we’ve kept him quite entertained with his version of hide and seek.” But he obeyed the direction.

He parked a fair distance away from the circle of the security vehicles and got out of the car, Antwan and Blue at his heels. No one else approached, the rest of the security team keeping a respectable distance away out of either direction from their leaders or simple self-preservation.

Standing near the warehouse entrance and out of the glare of the floodlights was Red, burrowed into his jacket with a Styrofoam cup in his hand and a cigar smoldering between his teeth. As if warned by his instincts or, more likely, through the curling earpiece that was stuck into his audial canal, Red turned to them as they approached. His grin was irritatingly knowing and familiar, pleased as a punch to have held them off long enough that everything was finished but the cleanup.

And yet, it was also such a comfort to see that smirk that Edge nearly went weak at the knees. He wouldn’t be smiling that way if Stretch or Jeff were hurt, even his brother’s sadism had its limits.

“what took you so long, you stop for coffee?” Red snorted. He held up the Styrofoam cup. “coulda brought me some, the shit they’ve got here’d give battery acid a run for its cash.”

“Yes, of course, we got stuck in the drive-thru at Starbucks," Edge snapped. “You’ll forgive me for not bringing enough for everyone!”

Before he could even demand a report, Blue went on past him. Parking lot gravel scattered under his booted feet as he stormed up to Red and swatted the cup from his hands. He paid no mind to the coffee sloshing out over their shoes, his small fists knotting into Red’s jacket front as he hauled him in close to snarl out, “WHERE IS MY BROTHER?”

Even through layers of forced calm, Edge could still appreciate the sight. It was certainly an unusual one. Blue was shorter even than Red and he wore no oversized jacket to give his small frame an illusion of bulk. The overwhelming visual was that of a tabby cat attacking the local tiger and if it were anyone else, Edge might have tried to intercede. It was possible he could have saved their lives, if not their limbs, had it been anyone but their innermost circle.

As it was, he tensed until his brother said mildly, “easy on the threads, baby blue, this’s my favorite jacket. my only one, too. they’re still upstairs. they ain't hurt, so we're lettin' 'em come down in their own time. ain’t no need to rush ‘em. think they needed a mo’ to catch their breath, s’all."

Blue didn’t wait for another word. He let go of Red and turned to the building entrance, running towards it. No one tried to stop him, though Edge noted with approval that one of the security team peeled away from the others to follow him at a discreet distance.

Antwan looked as if he was considering chasing after Blue, but he hung back. With the suspicious nature of a good lawyer, he asked Red, "If they’re fine, why aren’t you with them?"

"sweet that you think me bein' there would be some kinda comfort," Red snorted. "already saw 'em. head on up if you want, we've already cleared away the rest of the honey bun’s little scooby traps." Red offered them a vicious slash of grin. "your liability might need a new rating, he's damn creative when he’s got a hair laid across his ass just right."

That was enough for Antwan. He headed off in the direction Blue had, leaving Edge alone with his brother.

Edge waited until Antwan disappeared before he asked, low, "Where are they?"

Red only looked at him with mild reproach. “toldja, upstairs. what, you think i’d bullshit you on that?”

“I don’t mean them.”

Red was shaking his head before Edge finished. “nuh-uh, nope, not a chance. you ain’t gettin’ a look at those asswipes outside a courtroom. you’re keeping your toes behind the yellow line on this one, sneaking backstage ain’t happening, little brother.”

“I need to see—" Edge began heatedly.

“you fuckin’ don’t. you want to see and your wants ain’t on the list, not this time!” Red lowered his voice, “i get you wanted firecrackers and this is endin’ on a wet fart for you, but i ain’t explainin’ to the honey bun that i stood here and let you add a fresh shovelful of xp to your load on his account. so whyn’t you head upstairs now and go get your liability, huh? take him home and let us handle this, you can read the report tomorrow, yeah?”

Suspicion filtered through Edge’s strained temper, cooling it. Something of his brother’s little speech rang wrong to Edge; it was too consolatory towards him for their normal tastes, something was off here. Now that he was looking at it without his frustrations clouding things, there was also the matter of him leaving Stretch and Jeff alone; comforting presence or not, it was difficult to believe that Red would let them out of his sight unnecessarily. As shrewdly as he could still manage, Edge took a closer look at his brother.

Red did not have any LV but that certainly didn’t mean he had no trauma. His tells were subtle, unnoticeable to anyone who hadn’t watched them develop straight from the gutter. Eye lights slightly narrower than normal, his cigar clenched between too-tight teeth, the rare crackle of crimson magic arcing across his fingertips like a stray bolt of lightning.

There was something Red wasn’t saying, but there was no point in trying to fish it out now; he’d need better bait and Edge already had one in the net to deal with.

Better to leave it as it was. Even if the issue festered, his brother was unlikely to allow it to affect his work. It was difficult not to lay a hand on his brother’s shoulder, however briefly. Edge resisted the absurd impulse. It would not be appreciated. Unwanted concern was more likely to make things worse.

Instead, Edge nodded curtly and headed for the entrance. His boots clacked loudly on the cement floors. Security was milling in the hallways, others crouching over scorch marks and a strange overflowing mass of what looked like multicolored foam oozing down one side of the stairwell. Superfluous information, none of it mattered. He followed the subtle cues from the security personnel, the glances and occasional points that came without questions leading him up the rickety stairs to the second floor of offices and storerooms.

On the landing, a low sound caught his attention, a familiar voice crooning softly. Edge nearly skidded to a stop outside one of the rooms, looking in the open doorway to see the Swap brothers sitting together on the floor, holding each other tightly.

“hey, bro, shh, i’m okay. they didn’t hurt us, sans, i’m fine,” Stretch was saying. Blue was in his lap, clinging like the child he no longer was, and Stretch was rubbing a gentle hand down his brother’s back, leaving behind sooty streaks. He looked up, soft white eye lights catching on Edge still standing in the doorway. His cheekbones were wet, his wide sockets drowning in tears. Stretch scrubbed his face with the sleeve of a shirt that was not his own and managed a tremulous smile. "hey, handsome, miss me?"

He’d seen Stretch only hours ago, dressed in clothing stolen from Edge’s side of the closet and offering flirtatious kisses before walking out their front door. Now he was in baggy clothing that belong to neither of them, the shirt nearly hanging off his narrow shoulders and his bare legs sticking out from the bottoms of the too-short pants to leave the delicate bones of his feet filthy and exposed. All of him was filthy, his pale tears left clean tracks down his cheekbones and Edge did not know what Stretch had done to free them both, what he’d endured until he could., couldn’t begin to imagine it. Or perhaps he simply did not want to, and the precariously thin layer of Edge’s calm finally began to crack. All his desperate worries surged in through that first line of weakness to fill his face and then downward to soak into his aching soul.

"Don't—" Edge choked on the word, unsure what he was even going to say. Don't joke, don't dismiss this, don't ever leave me. He walked over and fell to his knees beside them, hardly feeling the warning jolt from his leg as he pulled them both into his arms rougher than he'd meant. Unnecessary, Stretch came easily, willingly, settling into his embrace exactly as if he belonged there, and brought his brother along for the ride.

"hey, i'm okay," Stretch said, pitching his voice for them both. He rested his forehead against Edge’s, settling a gentle hand on his sharp cheekbone with a sigh. "we’re okay, babe. it's okay."

"It is not okay by any stretch of the imagination,” Edge said hoarsely. His own hands were moving over Stretch, cautious of his lack of gloves even as he convinced himself that this was no dream, these well-loved bones were real. “And if you make a pun on that, you can ride home with my brother."

“wouldn’t joke about it, babe.” Then Stretch promptly made it a lie as he teased, “hope i get extra credit for not stretching things out, actually, ‘cause i sure didn’t get my ‘stay out of trouble’ badge tonight.”

“Pappy,” Blue moaned. His grip in the awful shirt Stretch was wearing twisted as if his disgust needed a physical outlet, “honestly, must you?”

Edge barked a laugh, hard and pained, but in his soul there was only giddy lightness. “No, you certainly did not. I would say any claim that you didn’t find trouble would be stretching things.”

Another groan from Blue was interrupted by a scuffing sound behind them. Edge jerked around, but it was only Antwan holding Jeff in his own tight embrace, whatever whispers between them too low to be heard. Edge hadn’t even noticed them when he first came in and the faint guilt from that was too small to be borne, already swallowed up in overwhelming relief.

Safe, they were both safe and unharmed, and Edge set his anger back, holding it in reserve. No matter what his brother thought, this was not over, and he would not be relegated to the injured group to recover, not this time.

But first, he was taking his love home.

tbc

[i-am-a-bad-influence-writes]

Boys are raised to be men. Part 2 - Facts of life

Series Masterlist - Bucky Masterlist - Full Masterlist

Summary: Things are different outside the city. When Bucky moves out of the city to live closer to his father’s best friend, Steve, he meets a peculiar girl from a strange family. She’s loved by everyone in the village and like him, she’s missing a limb. And, to Bucky’s surprise, she’s determined to make him part of her life.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word count: 3368

Author’s note: I am not disabled and I couldn’t ever imagine what it’s like. If you have anything to not about that aspect of the story, please send me a message so I can fix possible mistakes or misunderstandings in upcoming chapters. Also, let me know if you want to be tagged in future updates.

The street the Parker/Stark family lives on is a lively one. Most people have known each other since birth with a few odd ones out. When Peter first came to their street at four years old he adored the small village. He liked the way the end of the street leads to a meadow, he liked the playground across the street, and he liked that his sister was there to show him everything. Though most get rebellious around their teen years, you liked showing your little brother around. You were always a peaceful girl and you enjoyed having someone to take care of. That’s also how your spring Saturday group came to be. When Peter started making friends, you took it upon yourself to supervise them at least once a week so they could play in the meadow. And when Tony came into the picture, you would drag him along. Your mother adored seeing the three of you together in the meadow as it seemed to put all of you at ease. You never stopped doing your spring Saturday group. Not even when you lost your mother. You found comfort in seeing the children play. You dragged Peter along in hopes it would cheer him up as well but it never did. He found other ways to mourn. The one thing that you did do together every single year, without fail, is watching the cow dance. Watching the cows come outside for the first time after winter and seeing them buck and gallop in joy is the most wonderful thing to see. It gives a hopeful feeling. After every winter comes spring.

‘Y/n! Two men are waiting outside! Hurry up,‘ Tony yells up the stairs. ‘Don’t yell! I’m almost done,‘ you yell back as you check yourself in the mirror. Your red lipstick looks decent enough, you have done it better but you have done it worse as well. Hair, well, it’s still a bird’s nest but at least it looks nicer than it normally does when you throw it up in a bun to keep it out of your face. Leg? Feels good, seems to be on right, and on full display under your navy wrap dress. You wanted to put on a pair of pants but opted for a dress to make sure Bucky wouldn’t feel like the odd one out. The door to your room flies open and Peter rushes in, jumping straight onto your bed. ‘So you’ve got two toy boys now?‘ ‘Bugger off Peter, I don’t have toy boys,‘ you snap back, hopping on your good leg as you try to put a sock on your metal leg. Not that you need it. It’s just the normality in it. ‘So whatcha think about James?‘ You roll your eyes and sit down on the bed with him to put a sock on your good leg. Hopping on your metal leg isn’t exactly the most comfortable. You ruffle a hand through his hair as you get back up. ‘Why are you interested? From what dad told me, you almost ran when you saw him.‘ Peter pushes your hand away and huffs, crossing his arms in front of his chest like a little child. ‘Don’t blame me. The man looks like a damn gangster with his missing arm and all that.‘ You laugh. ‘I’ve got a missing leg. Am I a gangster now?‘ ‘He rides a motorcycle.‘ ‘First of all, I doubt that. Secondly, so do Thor and Natasha.‘ ‘They’re intimidating too,‘ he yelps, slightly offended at the notion that his own sister is not taking him seriously. ‘Thor couldn’t even hurt a fly if he tried. Okay, I’m off,‘ you chuckle, ‘don’t miss me too much.‘ You walk out of your room with Peter running after you. You close the door behind him while he stomps his way down the stairs. ‘Pick up your feet Peter!‘ ‘Yes miss Potts!‘ You come downstairs after him and do a little twirl for your dad and Pepper who are seated in the living room. ‘What do you think?‘ ‘Oh, you look stunning dear,‘ Pepper awes at you. Tony seems a little less satisfied. He’s used to your normal jeans and shirt combo that you had started to wear more and more in the past few years. Somewhere in his mind, he knows it’s to hide the leg but when you suddenly show this much skin he can’t help but be worried. Though, getting with someone was never a problem for you. Not even in your old jeans and worn-out t-shirts. ‘Yeah, I don’t like it. I don’t want another man sneaking out of my house in the morning, go change,‘ he tells you, gesturing you to go back upstairs. Pepper hits him in the chest with a surprised look on her face. ‘Tony, how dare you? She looks beautiful and I think she’s old enough to decide those things for herself,‘ Pepper defends her. ‘Thank you, Pepper,‘ you smile. ‘No problem dear.‘ ‘Fine,‘ Tony sighs, ‘but just go with the guy instead of bringing him here.‘ You laugh and wave them goodbye. You put on your tennis shoes in the hallway and your winter jacket as the nights can still get quite chilly. ‘You got your phone and keys,‘ Tony yells after you. You do a quick pat-down of your jacket. ‘I do!‘ ‘Have fun!‘ ‘Thanks, dad!‘ You open the door and skip over to the two men waiting for you. They don’t notice you being too deep in their conversation until you step between them and hook your arms around each of theirs. ‘Gents, ready to go?‘ ‘Always,‘ Sam grins at you. ‘Whatever you say doll,‘ Bucky smiles. He looks a lot more at ease in your opinion. You knew he would like Sam.

Crocker’s Folly is an old bar. The kind of bar that you go to, to drown your sorrows in a glass of whiskey while the barmaid shoots you knowing glances. It had been a while since Bucky went to a bar like that. Mostly because the people are friendly and tend to ask too many questions. When he lost his arm he didn’t want to be asked questions, so he’d rather drown his sorrows at home than at a bar. Though this is a nice change of pace. With the nicer spring weather, it seems the bar has opened its outside seating again and a group of people has already pulled some tables together to sit close to a fireplace that would surely be turned on when the night gets colder. You let go of the men by your sides and runs over to the group, throwing yourself around the necks of the two redheads sitting side by side. They cheer as they see the three arrive. Bucky feels a bit out of place. Sam notices and puts a hand on his shoulder. ‘Everyone, this is James Barnes, he goes by Bucky. Don’t ask me why because I do not know,‘ Sam tells the group, ‘Bucky, that’s Wanda, Natasha, Vision, don’t ask, Thor, Pietro, and Loki.‘ ‘You’re seriously going to introduce me with that embarrassing nickname but not the others,‘ Vision asks Sam. ‘Victor isn’t any better.‘ Vision sighs and leans back in his chair. Bucky can’t help but be a little confused at the display. Yet, he doesn’t ask any questions as he is bracing for questions about this arm but they never come. Instead, Thor and Pietro go to work on putting another table with the two they already have to widen the circle while Loki grabs the new arrivals some chairs. ‘Is everyone ready for another round? On me,‘ you announce as you make her way to the door. The group cheers in agreement. You slip inside, leaving Sam and Bucky with the group. Bucky decides to take the middle chair, leaving the chair next to the girls empty as Sam takes a seat next to Loki. ‘When’d you move here,‘ Pietro asks the guy in a thick, Russian accent. ‘A few days ago,‘ Bucky answers, ‘had to get out of the city.‘ Pietro lifts his, almost empty, glass at Bucky as if to accept his answer. He throws the last sip back and puts his glass back on the table. ‘You live next to old man Steve, right,‘ Natasha asks him, leaning forward a little to get a good look at him. Bucky nods. She nods at his nodding and leans back again. “What a strange woman,“ Bucky thinks. But before he can much more of an opinion, you come back outside with a man behind you who’s holding a tray of beer. You help him pass the beer around before you take a seat next to Bucky. ‘To our growing group of degenerates,‘ Sam jokes. The group calls cheers and brings their glasses to their lips, all taking a big sip. After that, it takes the group less than a few seconds to start chatting around. You happily explain everything that needs context to Bucky as the night progresses. ‘Are ya’ll going to the cow dance Saturday,‘ Thor asks the group, ‘not you Y/n, I know you’re taking the kids to see it.‘ ‘The kids,‘ Bucky asks. “Does Y/n have kids?” ‘I take the children in the village out to play every Saturday afternoon,‘ you quickly explain to him. ‘And the cow dance?‘ ‘When the cows come into the fields for the first time after winter,‘ you smile, ‘it’s fun. You should come.‘ ‘There’s a party at the pub after,‘ Sam whispers to him, ‘that’s the only reason all of us go.‘ ‘That’s no true,‘ you yelp in a laugh, ‘you’re all just “too masculine“ to admit you enjoy watching cows frolic.‘ ‘Okay, fair point,‘ Sam admits, ‘but the drinking is fun too.‘ You sigh. ‘Fine, yes, the drinking is fun too.‘

The later the night gets, the more the group divides into smaller groups. Thor, Loki, and Pietro have gone to sit with a group of girls in a darker corner. Wanda, Vision, Natasha, and the bartender, aka Bruce, are sitting on a few couches together and being all cute and couple-y. Sam got lost somewhere. And Bucky and you are still seated next to the heather. Bucky notices how you shoot glances at Pietro who is very obviously flirting with another girl. ‘Are you two a thing?‘ ‘No, it’s just sex,‘ you tell him straight up, ‘but there’s a rumor that that girl has an STD. I don’t like to believe rumors but I am wary when it comes to my sex life.‘ Bucky almost spits out the sip he just took because of the blunt words leaving your mouth. You laugh. ‘Oh come on, you didn’t think I was that innocent.‘ ‘Honestly, I did think that,‘ Bucky tells you between coughs. You smile and take a big swig from your beer, finishing it. ‘You’d be surprised how many people aren’t who they seem,‘ you tell him and get up, ‘you want another one?‘ He nods and watches you go inside. Wow. Little miss “I take the children in the village out to play in the field every Saturday“ isn’t innocent at all. Who would’ve thought? While you’re gone, he takes a second to scan the area. Wanda and Vision are obviously a couple and so are Natasha and Bruce. Then there’s Loki who, according to Y/n, wouldn’t be able to keep a stable relationship if his life depended on it. Thor, who is in love with a farmer’s daughter who doesn’t want him at all. From what Y/n just said, Bucky thinks Pietro is just trying to fuck the whole town. And then there’s Sam. It’s obvious to Bucky that Sam sees Y/n as a sister but he doesn’t seem to have any interest in other women. In fact, he doesn’t seem interested in anyone. Maybe he’s got a girl at home, maybe he’s interested in Y/n, maybe he’s just not interested. Sam raises his hand to greet Bucky and walks over, leaving the conversation he was having with another group of people to come sit with him. ‘Did the little lady leave you,‘ he teases, taking her seat on the opposite side of the table. ‘Nah, she just went to get drinks.‘ Sam takes a peek through the glass doors to see the girl standing at the bar, chatting with the bartender that’s still on shift. ‘You know, I see the way you look at her,‘ Sam tells him, ‘and I get it.‘ ‘I’m sorry?‘ ‘You like her, right?‘ ‘Well, yeah, but not like that,‘ Bucky tells him, ‘I just feel a bit closer to her because of the-‘ ‘The arm, leg thing. I get it,‘ Sam nods, ‘just know that she won’t want to talk about it, but I don’t think you want to talk about it either.‘ The look in Sam’s eyes is brotherly and protective like he’d do anything to keep Y/n happy. Bucky nods, shrinking in his jacket again. ‘Sam, don’t bully him,‘ you call over as you see the two, ‘and you took my chair.‘ The seriousness disappears from Sam’s face as he looks at you. ‘Don’t worry princess, I’ll get you another one,‘ Sam says and clumsily reaches over to an empty chair that is juuuuuust in reach if he leans over far enough. You roll your eyes and put the beers on the table, walk around Sam to grab the chair yourself. ‘Oh, beer,‘ Sam grins and takes one of them. ‘Don’t you dare birdbrain,‘ you snap at him in a joking way as you sit down on your chair. He slowly lifts the glass to his lips. ‘I swear to God, I’m going to castrate you.‘ Bucky laughs quietly. ‘Steve’s going to keep you to that,‘ he tells you. ‘As he should,‘ you reply and manage to snatch your beer from Sam’s hand before he can take a sip, ‘get your own beer you leech.‘ Sam pretends to have been hurt, putting his hand to his heart and crying in pain. ‘On princess, such cruel words from such an innocent mouth,‘ he whines out. ‘Oh shut up, you know my mouth isn’t innocent,‘ you jab back, making Bucky choke on his beer once again. ‘Dammit,‘ he coughs, ‘why do you have to be like this?‘ ‘You haven’t even heard half of it,‘ Sam laughs, ‘you’ll be dead before she’s done if you’re going to react like that every time she says something raunchy.‘ ‘Shut up,‘ you laugh, knowing what’s coming. ‘Am I lying though? Am I?‘ You playfully hit his shoulder. ‘Bucky, ask her how she got Pietro in her bed.‘ ‘Wha- I don’t want to.‘ ‘I don’t want him to either,‘ you chime in, starting to lose control over your laughter as you think back to that night. Jeez, you weren’t okay. Sam turns to Bucky, holding up his hands to be ready to tell this story as big as he can. ‘She grabbed a bottle opener from the bar, put it on his table, and she-‘ ‘No, don’t,‘ you beg, starting to laugh loudly. Your stomach already hurts. ‘She asked him what that was,‘ Sam says and gestures over to Bucky to tell him to answer the question. ‘A bottle opener.‘ ‘Exactly,‘ Sam says, a chuckle through his words, ‘and then she asked him what he was.‘ He takes a second to calm himself down. ‘Don’t say it,‘ you beg him, ‘I was so, so drunk.‘ ‘You weren’t, you had one beer,‘ Sam argues and turns back to Bucky, ‘she told him he was a leg opener.‘ Bucky bursts out in laughter louder than he imagined he would while you pull your legs up to your chest, hiding your face behind your knees as you wrap your arms around them. But you’re not ashamed, you’re just wheezing. ‘Please say it’s a joke,‘ Bucky begs you through laughter-induced tears. ‘It isn’t,‘ you manage to tell him. ‘Oh please tell me this happened when you two were alone.‘ ‘Nope, she did it right when we all sat down,‘ Sam tells him, ‘the man barely had a drink.‘ ‘I was horny okay,‘ you yelp in defense, setting your feet back on the ground. ‘You’re always horny,‘ Pietro yells from his seat. ‘Shut up, this ain’t about you,‘ you yell back. He laughs. ‘Tell them how you made me climb down the drainpipe to get out before your dad woke up,‘ he yells back. Bucky can’t help but be surprised at how open people are with sexuality in a village this small. You don’t seem to care that he just screamed that for everyone to hear and, from the looks you two get, everyone already seems to know.

Around one in the morning, everyone says their goodbyes. Though you told him it wasn’t necessary, Bucky insisted on walking you home and so you’re walking down the street together. At first, it was the whole group but as you got further down the street, more and more people dropped off. Now it’s just Bucky and you. ‘Say, I’ve been meaning to ask,‘ Bucky suddenly says. Your heartbeat rises. What is he going to ask? About your leg? About your family? ‘Why is everyone so okay with being sexual here?‘ You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. He gives her a confused look but you don’t address it. ‘Well, we don’t have many choices in partners,‘ you explain, ‘and since we are all friends, no one really cares who does who. Of course, people who are together are off-limits, but like with me and Pietro we do have casual sex but I’m not his only partner and he’s not my only partner.‘ ‘You have multiple partners?‘ ‘Not at the moment,‘ you tell him, ‘I was kind of starting to look for someone to settle down with but I was kind of coming to the conclusion that the one for me isn’t here. This is me.‘ They stop in front of your house. ‘So what’s next for you?‘ You shrug. ‘I don’t know. I might go work in the city for a while, see what’s there for me,‘ you smile slightly but your smile tells a million words. You don’t want to leave but you also don’t want to be on your own her whole life. You’re nearing the second half of your twenties and you’re still living at home because you hate to be alone. ‘How about you? Are you single?‘ ‘I am,‘ Bucky tries to suppress a smile, ‘never quite been in a relationship either.‘ Either the alcohol or this man’s presence pushes you straight into a flirty mood. He is quite handsome. You grin at him, pushing his chest playfully. ‘I’m sure you’re quite the ladies’ man. You’ve got the looks for it.‘ ‘Well, I used to be,‘ he smiles nostalgically, absentmindedly trying to cross his arms while having just one arm. He seems to catch himself in the act and tries to make it look like he was going to scratch his shoulder but you already noticed. ‘I get what you mean,‘ you say with a smile that’s just as pained as his, ‘took me a while to act like me again as well, but at least I win every game of hopscotch. Got enough practice when I didn’t have my prosthetic.‘ ‘And what would I excel at?‘ You stare at him for a second, biting your lip as you think. ‘Do you want me to be PG?‘ ‘Just go for it.‘ ‘Well, you do everything with one hand, so I’d say you’d be pretty great at pleasuring a woman.‘ ‘Okay, never mind, that’s it, that’s my limit,‘ he laughs, starting to move to walk away. You just give him this devious smile, this smile that could mean nothing good. ‘Sure, I’ll be here when you want to test my theory,‘ you wink at him. ‘Let me take you for dinner first doll,‘ he teases back. ‘Now you’ve gone too far,‘ you chuckle, ‘I take free food very seriously.‘ He laughs at your response, finally starting to walk away. ‘Good night Y/n.‘ ‘Night!‘

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Taglist:  @nickkie1129

[ressyfaerie]

I would love love love to see something along the lines of a Tyka mer au?? Especially if Kai is the merman!! I do love them ever so. Any age rating/idea I am so down for, pretty please!! 🥺🙏❤

Keep up with the great Tyka content it makes my day!

I know who you are and you always give me the best fic inspiration! I read your Tyka mer comics and I am INSPIRED. This might be longer than expected! But here I gooooo

So now that I finished it, I’ll be putting it in a readmore since it’s VERY LONG!!

It’s very rare that I write in first person! But this story definitely called for it, and I AM COMPLETELY IN LOVE. You’re going to want to ask for more, I can already tell.

So here it is:

When I was young, I was saved by a merman.

I remember how the cold seeped into my veins. My head was pounding from the force of hitting the water.

I was too young to know how to swim.

I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.

My body was numb, I descended into the dark blue sea, I saw the light glimmer from the surface, and felt water invade my lungs.

That’s when I saw him.

A flash of blue and milky skin. I felt the smooth scales wrap around my body. I saw his face, clear as day. His purple eyes, silver hair, and blue face markings. His face looked panicked, bubbles erupted from his mouth forming inaudible words. His face turned blurry, and my vision grew dark.

I woke up on the beach. No one believed me when I told them. Just a child’s fantasy gone overboard.

I always wondered how I made it back to shore without knowing how to swim, or how I missed all the rocks.

Someone must have saved me.

The more I visited the beach and saw no sign of a blue finned merman my belief started to dwindle.

Growing up I drew pictures, I even based my imaginary friend off my hero.

In my teens, my best friend Max reminded me of him.

“Tyson! I was just telling my friend about that mer-boy that saved you when you were a kid!”

I laughed it off, “it was a fairytale, Max. Nothing more.”

Years before, Kenny and Hilary sat with me on the beach one day after training.

“Could he still be out there?”

I cleaned my surfboard, looking off into the mysterious ocean.

Hilary passed me a bottle of wax for my board, “you know, I read at least eighty percent of the ocean remains undiscovered.”

Kenny looked up from his laptop, “every mermaid sighting has been proved fake. I still think what you saw was due to a lack of oxygen.”

I gave him an angry look, I didn’t mean to.

“Uh… but miracles have happened.” Kenny tried to reassure me.

I knew the truth.

Mermaids and mermen weren’t real.

After my Mom died, and my Dad left with my brother to explore the world, I had two things, my Grandpa, and my imagination.

Thinking of that boy was my playground. I’d bring sandwiches to the beach, and pretend to talk to him.

I made friends. And became a surfing champion. With my success my imagination drifted away.

I guess I really wasn’t ready for what came next huh?

“Tyson!”

Hilary and Kenny made their way towards my desk, I slammed my textbook closed, I was done with studying anyways.

“There’s a carnival in town! It’s close to your house, you want to come with us tonight?” Her eyes were bright.

I felt a pat on my shoulder, I looked to my right, Max’s blonde hair caught my eye.

“Carnival? Count me in!”

“I’m going too…” Kenny mentioned awkwardly, “Tyson?”

I rolled my eyes, carnivals were for kids. Besides I was planning on catching some waves tonight, but the weather was supposed to be really calm. I guess I could spare the time.

“Alright, sounds like a plan.”

I was right. Carnivals were for kids.

Doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun though.

We rode ride after ride. Kenny had to sit on a bench after he got sick, Hilary rubbed his back.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, partner!” Max slapped my back, “let's get some more snacks!”

Max pulled me towards another booth. I love food, but after a dozen different snacks, and a dozen different rides, I had to admit, I wasn’t feeling too well.

Max handed me a candy apple, I took a bite and felt my stomach turn.

“Bluh,” my lip turned in disgust.

“Wanna take a break from the rides?”

I nodded.

We lost Kenny and Hilary ages ago. Walking through the parts of the carnival with fewer people, we came across a mirror maze.

“Tyson, let’s go in!”

“Sounds fun!”

It was no surprise when I lost Max right away.

I could hear his excited giggles and him shouting my name, I tried to go in his direction, but eventually his voice faded out, and I found my way to the exit.

“Max!” I shouted into the maze, but there was no reply back.

He might have gotten out already…

I walked through the carnival looking for my blonde haired friend. No luck. There was a fortune teller, I made a mental note, Hilary would have liked to go back there.

Then something caught my eye.

ANASTASIA’S HOUSE OF WONDERS

It looked like a cardboard standee, with dark tents behind it. It couldn’t have been that big. I saw some people leave out the exit. There was someone in front of it. They were dressed in a creepy joker costume.

“Hey man,” I got his attention.

“Do you dare enter the house of wonders!”

“Uh, maybe? Is it cool? Like… what’s in there?”

“Things that will make your blood boil—”

“Things?”

“And creatures unknown to this world!—”

“Creatures!?”

“And above all—”

“Oooo what else!?”

“Look kid.” The grey haired joker lowered his arms and sighed, “can you just let me finish my speech?”

“Oh, yeah sorry.”

“I’m Bryan the sharpshooting joker! For only a few bucks—find yourself immersed in a new world!—”

“Okay,” I raised my hand, “that’s enough.”

“Oh thank god” Bryan’s voice dropped a few octaves.

The guy seemed kinda chill, so I leveled with him.

“So dude, is it actually worth my time in there?”

Bryan nodded, “yeah, it’s actually really cool.”

“Alright, sign me up.” I handed him a couple bills.

“Enjoy.” He counted the money.

Before I left I looked under his costume hat, “wait, don’t I know you?”

“Maybe?” He grumbled, accidentally revealing his true persona.

“Yeah! You were in the last surfing championship! You’re that crazy intense guy Bryan! What the heck are you doing here?”

“Uh, sidegig.” He lowered his mask, “have fun in there, kid.”

“Okay…”

I brushed off the awkward encounter and turned to the entrance. It was covered in two extravagant curtains. I pushed the fabric to the side and walked into the darkness.

Wait, is this a haunted house? Damn I shouldn’t have gone without Max!

The first thing I noticed was there was a lack of… people. Tesla coils and odd gimmicks littered the floor of the first hallway. I rolled my eyes, remembering carnivals were for kids.

The next room was bigger than expected, it was a dome with a button in the middle. I pressed it, who could resist a big red button after all?

Suddenly a snow storm picked up. I covered my face, “ah!”

It stopped before I could figure it out, I stared at the sleeve of my red jacket, where snowflakes started melting.

“Alright, that was definitely real snow! I’ll admit I have no idea how you did that one!”

I shouted to no one, but it still helped my nerves.

I—couldn’t figure out where the exit was.

I walked to the edge of the dome, it looked like a carnival tent, I tapped the edge, it rang back with a metallic sound.

“Uh.” I grew worried, “an exit would be nice?!”

I heard a sound from the other side of the room, and some fabric fell from nowhere, revealing another dark room, “thank you!”

Cautiously I made my way to the dark room.

I wish I hadn’t.

Inside were weird animals in green jars.

“Oof, these can’t be real.”

I tapped one, the baby bird inside moved.

“I assure you, they are all real.”

I turned to the corner. A.. man? He had a raven masquerade mask, and when Tyson locked eyes with him, he screamed and revealed massive black wings from his back.

“What the!?—”

I fell backwards, falling on my rear.

The bird boy made his way towards me.

“What are you?!”

“I’m Ian, the birdman.” He sounded tired.

“And in there,” he pointed to the next room with a black talon, “you’ll find my wolf friend.”

“You’re what!?”

I sat up, “naw, I’m done with this place. Your costumes are a bit too real for me.”

He shrugged, “that’s what they all say.” he sat on a crate with a loud thud, “enjoy the rest of the tour.”

I went to the next room because that guy was freaking me out. I really wanted to head back the way I came, but I couldn’t seem to find it.

Also, that guy seemed kind of familiar.

The next room felt colder than the rest. My heart raced when I saw a cage.

“Uh, hello? This haunted house is getting a little weird…”

I heard the clanking of chains, and a flash of red. On the floor of the cage was a boy, a bit older than myself.

“Are you okay?” I asked knowing it was an actor.

I heard a deep growl, and he lifted himself off the floor. I gasped when I saw his face.

A white wolf with a red mane bared his teeth at me.

I took a step back.

I felt the room grow cold, as the wolf tensed and growled.

It lunged forward and snapped it’s jaw, it hit the bars of the cage with a strength that boy shouldn’t possess, I turned and ran.

I ran through a wall tearing down fabric sprinting through tents.

It was dark, I couldn't see anything and didn’t know where I was going.

“Ah!” My foot got caught on a stone and I fell forward.

“How is this place so big! It did not look like this from the outside!”

In front of me was a curtain, it just barely touched the floor, I could see light shining from under it.

If I can’t find my way out… I might as well head for the light.

I lifted the curtain up and shielded my eyes from the bright white light.

In front of me I could just make out the wheels of a traveling train car. The front of it wasn’t metal, it was glass. Bright fluorescent lights hung over it. There was a sign next to me, I rubbed my eyes and could just make out the writing.

Newest exhibit! A rarity of its kind! Stay back, he splashes.

“What?”

Then I saw it.

The flash of blue, silver, and purple.

A merman threw himself against the glass repeatedly, tossing his fists against it. His wrists were in chains, and his constant assault against the glass only amounted to hollow thumps echoing through the tent.

I felt my body freeze.

It was the merman from my childhood.

Is this real?

I slowly made my way to the sealed aquarium.

The boy must have seen me enter the ring of light, because he stopped, he started floating, and stared at me.

“Hello?”

The merman didn’t move, he simply floated in place, I could see his chest move up and down.

“Do you recognize me?”

I made my way to the glass, getting a good look at the boy for the first time.

I placed my hand on the glass. I saw how red his wrists were from the chains.

He put his hand against the glass, only a thin separation between us. I smiled, and looked into his purple eyes.

I think he smiled at me. He opened his mouth slightly and a few bubbles popped out. I chuckled, and he looked back at me.

I stared up at the top of the tank, the lid was thick glass. A massive padlock kept it down. He saw me look at it, and he shook his head frantically.

I nodded, and placed my head against the glass, “you’re not supposed to be here.”

I jumped and hit the lock with my hand gauging how tough it was.

The merman waved his hand and mouthed words shaking his head.

“I’m gonna get you out of here!”

I looked around the room for a tool to use to break the lock. The only thing I could find was the sign I had seen previously.

I grabbed it, and tossed it to the ground, ripping it off its base.

The merman kept throwing his fist against the tank to get my attention, I ignored him knowing I had to help him.

I climbed the edge of the train cart so I was standing on top of the glass looking down at the silver haired boy. He floated on his back and kept banging on the glass with both hands.

It seemed like he was mouthing the words ‘get out get out!’

I used the stick tool I had made and bashed the lock, making loud sounds through the room. I kept doing it, but it didn’t budge.

The merman was banging on the glass mouthing the same words.

“I’m trying!”

I jumped down, knowing I would have to find a different tool, but I bashed it again in frustration.

The merman was frantically pointing now.

“What? What is it?” I watched his lips.

‘Behind you!’

I felt someone grab my shoulder, before I could scream they grasped my shirt and yanked me to the floor, dragging me away.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to touch people in a haunted house!”

I kicked and screamed while watching my merman frantically swim in circles and hit the glass with his tail. He was trying to get to me, but I knew it wasn’t going to work.

The man threw me into another room. I couldn’t see anything in the dark, I was tossed on a chair and sat up. He turned on a light with a click, and an old fluorescent bulb hung from the ceiling. I blinked a few times trying to find my way in the new surroundings.

A silhouette of a man sat on the opposite end of a table.

“You think you can try to take one of my treasures?”

“He is not yours!”

“Months ago I captured him. He’s rightfully mine.”

“Who do you think you are?!” I screamed at him, knowing full well this full grown man could cause me serious harm.

“He’s a rarity, I won’t let him fall into the hands of some snot nosed teenager with a superiority complex.”

I spat, “do you own this crazy place?”

“I do.”

“Don’t think I didn’t recognize your workers. I surfed with most of them in last year's competition.”

The man simply laughed, I finally got to make out some of his facial features. He was an older man.

“And why does the world champion desire my merman?”

“I don’t desire him, he needs to be free!”

“Ha!” The man’s voice bellowed.

I frantically searched for answers, for a way out—for the both of us.

“I’ll buy him from you!”

“Like you could afford him.”

“If I win the next competition—”

“You won’t.”

I grinned smugly, “you don’t know that.”

“You won by luck, my team is far superior.”

“Your team of monsters? Isn’t that cheating?”

“And you think being a descendant of a storm dragon is fair?”

“I’m a—what?”

The man shook his head.

“I know who you are, Tyson.”

“You gonna tell me who you are?”

The man chuckled in response to my anger, making me even more furious.

“The name is Boris. I take care of these boys—”

“By imprisoning them? Leave my merman alone!”

“Excuse me? Yours? Did you not just meet this creature?”

“Let’s say I’m feeling friendly.” I crossed my arms.

“He seemed to react to your presence, what did you do?”

I panicked, “how long were you watching for!?”

“Long enough. I’ve had him here for a few months, yet I can’t seem to break him.”

“Break him?” I was in disbelief, my childhood hero was not some horse at a stable!

“Yes, perhaps you could help—”

“No.” I grimaced.

Boris tapped his fist on the table, “well, it seems we are at an impasse.”

“You’ll never have my help.”

“I think I can live without it.” He stood up, he was much taller than me. “Please leave my circus, and don’t come back.”

“I’m not leaving without the merman.” I stood my ground.

“That’s a shame.”

I felt something heavy hit my temple—

I woke up on a grassy hill. I rubbed my head.

When I managed to sit up I overlooked the carnival from across a field. The lights were all out. It had to have been late for it to be completely closed.

Boris…

Now that I knew my merman was real, and that he was captured by such an evil man I had to find a way to get him back.

I’ll steal him. I’ll figure something out…

You better watch your back Boris.

I stared in the direction I thought my blue finned saviour would be in.

Hold on, I’m coming for you.

[captainchocolatesstuff]

Paw Prints

Alpha!Josuke x Omega!Reader

You had a dog once when you were young. She was an American pit bull terrier, had black splotches on her white coat, and the most adorable smile that you loved. Her name was Dahlia, and she was the best companion you could ever ask for when you were young. There was also a small nightly ritual when you both went to sleep on your bed, you would cover Dahlia’s back with a lavender blanket that had white paw prints all over it before she would scoot closer to your small body to keep you warm during the night. She was always with you and she was always your very first friend, she was there for you when your parents divorced, she was there when you got hurt in the playground, and she was there when your parents brought you home after you were born.

So it made sense that you would be there for her when she passed away next to you on your bed, covered in your favorite blanket. You could remember bawling your eyes out as your dad came in only to find you crying as you hugged Dahlia tightly. You and your dad cried together that night. Since then you kept that paw-printed blanket close, it was the first item you scented once you presented as an omega, and in a way it made you feel closer to Dahlia. Eventually, your dad found work in Japan in a small town called Morioh and you didn’t mind it at all. Your mom hardly made contact with you or your father anyways, so you didn’t see a problem with it.

You got used to the place eventually, it wasn’t like city life but you were content with that. You didn’t make too many friends but Yukako Yamagishi, a beta, was the first friend you made when you first moved in. She helped you with your stumbling Japanese when your father couldn’t help you, there were also sleepovers shared between you two, and despite being a beta she often helped chase away any rude and condescending alphas that tried to make a pass at you. She was like the sister you never got the chance to have, and you appreciated the fact that she was in your life. 

Though recently you have been seeing a humanoid with a dog skull on her head, she also had a skeletal dog looking tail, she didn’t speak as far as you could tell but she did mimick dog sounds. Apparently, your father couldn’t see her so you figured she was an apparition of some sort that could shift in between “her” humanoid and beast form. 

When you told Yukako you were worried that she’d think you were sick but it came as a surprise to you when she also told you about what her hair can do now what it didn’t previously. You both ended up helping each other name them as time went on, but lately, things had gotten a bit strange for you since then.

After hearing about Yukako getting together with her crush you soon realized how much time you had on your hands since her little dates, so you did the best you could to make the most of it without your friend. You went out getting books and manga with your allowance and got some treats on the way both for your self and for any animal you happened to run by. While licking your ice cream you heard a  whine, pausing your steps you looked around trying to figure out where it came from. 

“Hey, come on bud, don’t give me a hard time now, I’m trying to help you”, you hear an exasperated sigh and some rustling.

Following the voice, you soon found a boy, and judging by his uniform he attended the same school as you. You heard a yip that sounded like a puppy and was about to walk over until you saw a pink and blue figure rise up from behind him. You starred in silent awe as you watched him and his “companion” leaned down and picked up a puppy. The dog looked to be of a Shiba Inu breed.

“See, now that wasn’t so bad! Heh! But~ you’re pretty dirty with all that mud on ya”, the boy says as his companion places the pup in his hands.

You couldn’t help but giggle, revealing your location making the boy snap his attention over to you, “Oh! Uh- hey! Is this your dog?”, he asks as he lifts the pup.

You shook your head, “No, I actually came over because I heard the puppy, I was gonna help but I see that someone beat me to it”, you say as you walk over, when you were close enough you were mildly surprised by his scent that practically screamed Apex Alpha, still though you shrugged it off in favor of looking at the pup.

“I live nearby, wanna come over so we can clean them up before taking them to the shelter?”, you ask.

“Oh, sure! I don’t have much else to do anyway”, he shrugged sheepishly before following you.

The puppy squirmed in his hold as you introduced yourself, “I’m (Y/n) by the way, (Y/n) (L/n)”.

“Oh! I think I heard of you, ah well, anyways, I’m Josuke Higashikata! Er, do you happen to know a Yukako Yamagishi?”, he asked after he introduced himself.

You help him adjust the puppy in his hold before speaking, “Yes actually, she was one of my first friends when I moved over here, though right now she’s out somewhere with her boyfriend”, you explain before asking, “Why, do you know her?”

“Yeah, we’re acquaintances so to say~ and her boyfriend just so happens to be a friend of mine”, he grins.

“Oh! So you’re a friend of Koichi Hirose”, you point out before smiling, “Wow, how coincidental that we run into each other then…”, you trail off before blurting out, “That, and I’m also surprised to see that there are more people like me and Yukako-chan”.

“Hm?! You have a stand too?!”, he asked, surprise clearly written all over his face.

“Oh? Is that what they are called? Ah- then I guess I do have a “stand” I call her Wolf and Dog”, you say as you summon your ‘stand’. She perked up at the sight of the pup and leaned down as the puppy sniffed around.

“A-ah? Why that name?”, Josuke asked, a bit puzzled.

“You see, she has two forms the one you see now and another one that takes on a more bestial appearance, she looks more like a wolf in her beast form and she kinda acts like a dog in her humanoid form despite having a mostly human form”, you explain.

“Wow, your probably the first Omega that I have met that has a stand”, Joske awed at your stand before summoning his, and now that you had a closer look the stand’s armor kind of reminded you of the hardness of a diamond, “This is my stand, I call him Crazy Diamond”.

“How fitting”, you chirp making him look over at you questionably, “His armor kind of reminds me of a diamond”, you explain briefly before arriving at your home.

You lead Josuke inside your home and to the restroom, as you both set up the bath to clean up the puppy, you two really tried to calm the squirming dog and for half the time the poor thing cried until you were able to persuade it with treats. 

Josuke was busy drying the pup, and as he did he couldn’t help but look at the pictures that happened to be around the house, he saw some that had your parents, yourself, and a dog. The ones that caught his attention the most were the ones that included you and the dog that you were so happy with, your dad was occasionally included, and some of them even had the years on them. His eyes soon wandered to one picture that had your dad, your self, and the old dog with a blanket that had paw prints on it, but the one after that only had you and your dad and the picture was seemingly taken the year after the one he saw before with no dog in sight, but you were holding the paw-printed blanket.

“Her name was Dahlia if that’s what you were wondering”, your voice interrupted his train of thought as he blinked before looking over at you.

“Dahlia?”, he asked, not noticing the puppy moving around on his lap until he felt the pup nuzzle it’s face into his stomach, in mute surprise he looked down at the pup before picking it up and cradling it.

“Yep, she was a good dog, was there for me since my birth”, you smile as you walk over to him and pat the puppy’s head before moving away.

“Woah, really?”, Josuke looked at you as you picked up a picture that had you and your dog together.

“Yep! She was a great friend and helped me through tough times, but she passed away when we were sleeping, it did hurt for a while but I pulled through when I decided to keep her blanket as mine”, you smile at him, “It made me feel closer to her in a sense, I wasn’t really ready to get a new dog not that I could at the time or at all really since we moved here it’s been different”, you shrug before standing and stretching. 

“Ready to go drop them off?”, you ask.

Josuke smiled at you before nodding, “Yeah~ Let’s go, ‘sides I am pretty sure my mom is wondering where I am”, he chuckled.

~~~

Since that day, you and Josuke have been running into one another a lot more, he even introduced you to a friend of his, Okuyasu Nijimura. An alpha that was more gentle than one could imagine since his appearance had a tendency to drive away others, but you two became quick friends since his childish and dorky persona got to you quickly. But when Josuke and Okuyasu were together you couldn’t help but think of them as energetic puppies, in a positive sense of course, and their energy often got to you too since the time you hung around them.

“So what do you plan on doing after school is done (Y/n)?”, Okuyasu asked before taking a sip from his milk carton.

Josuke blinked for a moment as he looked up at you from his meal, “Oh yeah I forgot to ask you that…~”

You smiled, “Well I was thinking of going out to the ice cream shop before walking over to the shelter to check on Mochi”, you answer before taking a bite of your sandwich.

“Mochi? Oh! Is that the puppy we rescued a month while back?”, Josuke asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yep! But for some reason no one has offered to adopt him yet, I thought people would want the puppy”, you hum as you give a thoughtful look.

“You guys rescued a puppy?!”, Okuyasu exclaimed as you looked between you two.

You chuckle as Josuke looked over at his friend, “Hm? I thought I told you about that already, it was how I met (Y/n)”.

“Really? I guess I forgot”, Okuyasu cupped his chin between his thumb and forefinger as he tried to recall the moment, but then his eyes snapped back between you two as he asked, “Can I visit him with you (Y/n)?!”

“Sure, I don’t mind, I assume you’re also coming too right Josuke?”, you cheekily ask.

A light pink dusted Josuke’s cheeks before he smiled at you, “Of course! Besides it’s been a while since I last had ice cream”.

You nodded as you grin, “Alright then, let's head to the ice cream place first”, you chirp as you march forward.

Josuke let a small smile form on his lips as he watched you do your peppy little march until Okuyasu elbowed him with a chuckle, startling him, “Gah! Okuyasu~! What was that for!?”, Josuke gave his friend a light glare as Okuyasu smiled at him.

“Dude, you’re being so obvious right now!”, Okuyasu pointed out as he discreetly gestured towards you, “You totally have the hots for (Y/n)!”his friend whisper shouted making Josuke stumble on his words as he stared wide- eyed at his friend.

“W-wha-?! What made you come to that conclusion!!”, Josuke panicked as he looked over at you briefly, already feeling his cheeks heat up more.

“That’s cuz you’re being obvious bro, your face is even getting all red!”, Okuyasu laughed before Josuke shushed him by quickly placing his hand over his mouth, “Shush Okuyasu! What if she hears you?!”, taking a quick look at you he saw that you were talking to another student before he looked back at Okuyasu, “Can we talk about this later? I- don’t know if I can say anything yet”, he pleaded with his friend as he let him go.

Okuyasu nodded as did a quick thumbs up as he whispered, “I promise to keep my lips shut”.

You turned to look over your shoulder before waving at the two boys as your classmate left while scribbling notes on their book, “Hey! Josuke! Okuyasu! Hurry up you slow pokes!”.

“Coming!”, they shout as they jog up to you so you could all go to the ice cream shop.

Once you all got your Ice creams you made your way to the shelter, talking about school and home lives and even cracked a few jokes here and there, all while Okuyasu occasionally spotted his friend with a small smile and a soft look in his eyes when his attention was on you.

“Hey, we’re here!” Okuyasu yelled.

You smiled at his enthusiasm as you finished your cone, “Alright then, let's go see Mochi!”, you chirp.

Josuke opened the door for you as he and Okuyasu entered together, you talked to the receptionist before being lead to the dog kennels, soon enough you saw a wagging tail waiting for you as one of the workers laughed, “Mochi missed you so much, are you sure you can’t take him home (L/n)-san?”, she asked.

“Well, I’d like to but I… still don’t know if I’m ready to have another dog just yet”, you chuckle nervously as you pat the puppy.

“You may want to make up your mind soon, otherwise the next time you visit the little guy will have a home already”, the worker says before leaving.

You give a weak smile towards the gnawing puppy before picking him up and walking back to the boys, when you saw Okuyasu you waved him over when they looked over at you, “Say hello to Mochi guys!” 

You grin as Okuyasu grinned and made his way over to you before stroking Mochi who in turn yipped, “Aw~ He’s so fluffy and round! Man, now I wish I had a dog!”, Okuyasu whines as Josuke makes his way over and strokes the puppy’s ears.

“Hey Mo~ How's it going buddy”, Josuke greets the puppy, Mochi only barked in response as he excitedly licked Josuke’s hand, “Missed you too buddy”, he chuckled.

You all spent time playing with Mochi for nearly three hours, but you had to leave since you guys had homework to finish up, Josuke and Okuyasu were kind enough to drop you off at home, but when they left you couldn’t help but stare at Josuke’s figure for a while longer. A small purr of content made its way to your chest as your omega let out a mute whine at seeing the apex leave with his alpha friend4

“Maybe… another time”, you think as you close your house door.

“So can we talk about it now?”, Okuyasu, asked much to Josuke’s dismay, but in the end he admittedly wanted someone to confide in.

“I… I do like her… a lot”, Josuke admits as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Then why not ask her out already?”, Okuyasu asked, oblivious to the silent battle Josuke was having with himself.

“That’s the thing! I don’t know if she likes me back! I like her I really do but I just don’t know how to go about and approach her, I mean it would be embarrassing to make her a gift only to get rejected, I don’t think my inner apex would handle that well”, Josuke says as a low rumble like whine thumbed his chest.

Okyuasu pat his back to comfort his conflicted friend, “Look, I’m not exactly an expert on all this- uh- “love” struggle, but i’ll be cheering you on from the side lines, I’m sure you have a good chance with her”, Okuyasu smiles before a warble escaped his chest as tears and snoot ran down his face, “That’ll also mean I will be the only one in our group to not have a girlfriend!”, he cried.

Josuke chuckled as he comforted his friend, but nonetheless appreciated his friend's support, “Thanks Okuyasu”.

After parting ways Josuke entered his home with a tired sigh as he sat at the kitchen table, he rested his head on his crossed arms as he stared at the table cloth’s patterns.

“Josuke can you- Hm? Josuke what’s wrong?”, his mom asked him, her alpha scent that was once neutral now radiating comforting soft scents like caramel and sugar as she approached her son while purring after smelling the aroma of dust and overheated wires, rather than his usual hairspray and hazelnut mix.

“I-... like an omega”, he mumbled at the end, Tomoko chuckled as she pat her son’s shoulder.

“You know I can’t hear you when you hide your face like that”, Tomoko gives Josuke’s shoulder a comforting squeeze before dragging a chair to sit in front of her son as she sighed, “Now, can you repeat what you said?”

Josuke felt his cheeks flush as he sat up a bit straighter, “I really want to court an omega, but… I don’t know if she’ll like me”, he trails off.

Tomoko jovally laughed, making Josuke pout but before he could say anything he beat him to the punch, “Josuke, it is normal to feel nervous when it comes to things like this, now what’s the name of this omega that caught your attention?”.

Josuke blushed but sighed as he let himself relax, “(Y/n) (L/n), I met her a few months back when I was trying to help a puppy out of a pit”, he revealed.

“(Y/n) huh, can you tell me about her?”, Tomoko was patient when she saw the gentle smile on her son’s face, a look she was mildly taken aback by but nonetheless smiled at.

“She is very kind, and supportive, she’s a bit quiet at first when you meet her but she can be pretty outgoing when you get to know her, yet she’s still soft spoken with her words and almost loyal to a fault to those she gets close to, and she it always willing to help others”, Joske didn’t know it but as he talked more and more about you, his smile was growing as his aroma began to take on a softer scent.

“She sounds amazing Josuke”, Tomoko smiles as she grabs her son’s hand and gives a gentle squeeze, “I suggest, you go for it Josuke, from what I can tell she is a good person, but if you wait too long someone else might snatch her away before you get the chance to tell her”

Josuke’s inner alpha growled and whined at the thought but when his mom gently shook his hand, he listened to what she had to say, “So don’t let this chance slip away, you might not get another one”.

Josuke gave a small smile as his mom hugged him while he hugged her back, all while a thought came to mind.

“Hey mom, can you help me with something?”.

~~~

Your heat was going to come soon, and the reason why you knew this was because of the calendar you had hanging on your door, a red marker indicating when your heat would begin and end, your father worried about you at this time but you waved him off and reassured him about your upcoming heat. And in the process of it all you were also planning on telling Josuke your feelings, by giving him the blanket you adored.

You were nervous really, but you didn’t want to wait around after weeks of realizing the feelings you harbord for him. But, you were also scared, what would be the point of it all if he flat out rejected your courting offer.

Still, you took a deep breath and attended to school regularly, but it did take you a bit by surprise when Josuke approached you, “Hey (Y/n), would you mind coming over to my house after school I got something I want to show you”, he smiled at you bashfully as he waited for your answer.

Momentarily caught off guard you couldn’t help but blush as you smiled at him, “U-uh sure! I wouldn’t mind at all!”, you grin as he beamed at you.

“That’s great! I’ll see you after school (Y/n)!”, he waves as he goes to his class while you went to yours, returning his wave.

For the rest of the period you couldn’t really focus on your studies, you caught yourself occasionally day dreaming as you anxiously waited for the day to end, but once it did you got anxious again wondering if it was a good time to give Josuke the blanket.

As you waited by the gate you had the urge to cuddle your blanket, so you quickly looked around before taking out the folded blanket and hugging it, purring softly until a distressed chirp escaped you when you felt a rough shove push you to the ground.

Growls sounded above you as two omega and beta scents entered your nose making you snap your head up, you glared at them with a growl of your own, “Hey! What was that for?!”.

“Stay away from Josuke-kun you stupid pup-maker!”, one of the omegas growled at you as the beta stepped in by ripping your blanket away from you, panic and fury surging in you as you attempted to reach out for your blanket.

“Hey- ack!”, you felt a kick to your side as you were pushed down by the other omega.

“Were you seriously planning on giving this pathetic fabric to Josuke? You really are a stupid forgener you know”, the beta huffed, then you heard a tear and you stared in horror as you watched your blanket be ripped in two, “Heh, it’s even weak too, couldn’t last a tug”, she taunted. The other two omegas looked mildly panicked when they realized what she did.

You bare your fangs as Dog and Wolf took on it’s beastal appearence and attacked one of the omegas as you launched yourself at the beta with a feral roar, panicked cries and shrieks came from then as you grappled with the beta, landing a few punches and scratches. You kept at it until you felt a strong pair of arms pull you away.

“(Y/n)! (Y/n)! Stop, stop it’s okay! I’m here now!”, you hear Josuke’s panicked words attempt to comfort you as you struggle, so he began to chur as he hugged you while turning around to bury your face in his chest.

Soon you stopped struggling and began to stiffly sob in his chest while Josuke stared at the girls, “What did you do?”.

“We didn’t do anything honest! She went feral out of nowhere an attacked-”

“No, Yukiko ripped her blanket, we- we just wanted to intimidate her but… Yukiko went too far!”, one omega revealed.

“Hana!!”, the beta cried out at her friend's betrayal.

“No Hana is right, you went too far Yukiko”, the second omega says.

Your sobbing was quiet as Josuke held you protectively, “Please leave… what you guys did, what you were doing was disgusting… so leave and don’t come near (Y/n) again unless you’re going to apologize”, he says, you heard the thumping of feet before Josuke slowly let you go.

“Crazy Diamond”, Josuke called the stand out, you turned your head slightly as you let go of Josuke and watched as the stand let out a ‘Dora’ as it fixed your blanket back together.

Josuke grabbed it before giving it to you, “Here”, he says softly, only for you two gently push it back to him, making him pause, “...(Y/n)?”.

“It was… it was my offering to you since… my heat will be coming soon I just thought… just thought-”, your voice was cracking as your hand shook, already assuming the worse as Josuke stood there silently before you jolted at his sudden embrace.

“I- am very happy- that you trust me with this (Y/n)!”, Josuke exclaimed as churrs rumbled from his chest, soon your purrs began to mix in with his as you embraced him tightly.

Bounus:

“So I also have something for you waiting at my house, it was going to be a surprise but I might as well say that it is a courting gift”, Josuke bashfully rubbed his neck as his other hand held yours.

“Thank you Josuke, really, I feel pretty lucky to have you as an alpha now~”, you chuckle as a blush settled on both of your faces, Josuke opened his door as he smiled at you.

“I also got help from my mom so I’m sure you’ll love this”, he reveals making you tilt your head until you hear jingling coming from down the hall, and excited yips. You gasp at the familiar puppy.

“Mochi!”, you squeal as you bent down  to pick up the puppy, you smile as he licked your face until you caught something on his caller, it was a handmade bracelet.

You looked up at Josuke with a smile, “Do you really want me to marry you this early Josuke?”

“(Y/n)!!”

[yootaesowlwrites]

Serendipity - [4]

Serendipity Mainpost.

Chapter 4: Day 3.

Word Count: 2 641

Italics indicate they’re speaking in another language, it also indicates that I don’t trust a translator enough to translate these things for me anymore.

Taglist:

@taeandpuppies​ // @taichoushadow​ // @jakiki94​

Rolling around in her bed, she pulls the blankets closer to her before pushing the covers away from her face, letting out a yawn before sitting up, she rubs the sleep from her eyes as she looks towards the window, thick curtains covered it and blocked out any sign of outside life, but she could still hear some birds chirping as daylight slowly started to take over, she moves to the edge of the bed and picks up her phone, tapping on the screen to check the time.

“Mh, maybe I can still catch the sunrise,” Sofia mumbles to herself as she climbs out of bed, she makes her way to the bathroom connected to her room, she ties her hair before picking up her toothbrush, she rinses her mouth after brushing and closes the tap before drying her hands, she removes the elastic in her hair before brushing her hair as well, she exits the bathroom and made her way to the closet where she had unpacked all her things, she quickly scans through her clothing before picking out some clothes for the day, it didn’t take long before she was outside the cabin with her hands pushed deep into her pockets and walking towards the lake.

The sun was fighting to get out from behind the thick clouds when Taehyung had woken up unexpectedly and struggled to fall back asleep, he lets out a sigh as he climbs out of bed before making his way t the bathroom to freshen up, after brushing his teeth and hair he left the bathroom and found some warmer clothes before heading out, deciding to go for a walk and get some fresh air, hoping that it would help clear his mind, he mindlessly begins walking towards the lake when he saw the sun barely shining through the clouds, his mind wandering as he stared at the sunrise.

Neither one of them paying much attention to where they were walking, Taehyung’s mind clouded with thoughts while Sofia was amazed at the breathtaking view from the sunrise, two different worlds suddenly collided with one another, both thoughts suddenly interrupted by the collision, Taehyung instinctively reached out to grab the person from falling backwards, his hands gently holding onto her upper arms.

“Oh my go— I’m so sorry!” Sofia immediately apologizes in her language, for a moment forgetting that she wasn’t back home.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t look where I was going.” Taehyung apologizes at the same time, also in his language, forgetting that he wasn’t in Korea anymore, they slowly look up at each other, not understanding what the other one had just said to them, their eyes meeting as they do. “I uh, English?” Hoping that the beautiful woman in front of him understood and spoke English, he almost felt like he was in a trance, her eyes looked beautiful and he was quickly becoming lost in them, she nods her head ‘yes’. “I’m so sorry that I bumped into you, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No, no, you have nothing to be sorry about, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings,” Sofia says. “I was too distracted by the sunrise.” Taehyung glanced towards the sun as it disappeared behind the clouds, he looks back at Sofia as a soft smile appears on his lips.

“It was quite beautiful, wasn’t it?” Taehyung asks, a gentle smile tug at the corner of her lips.

“It was.” Sofia softly says, her eyes fall to his arms and slowly follows them before realizing that his hands were holding her, heat rushed to her cheeks. “I uh, you can, um, let go now.”

“Oh, oh, right, um sorry,” Taehyung says as he carefully releases her, his arms dropped back to his side. “Sorry, but you’re okay, right? You’re not hurt anywhere, right?” His smile falling as he became worried.

“No uh, no, I’m okay, nothing’s hurt or sore,” Sofia says. “I’m okay.” He nods his head as the smile returns to his lips.

“That’s good to hear, I’m glad,” Taehyung says, for a second his mind started to drift as he wondered if she perhaps knew who he was or not, but there was one thing that he was certain about, he wanted to know who she was, what her likes and dislikes were. “Are you staying at the resort?”

“Yeah, yes,” Sofia says. “I’m uh, here with my friends.” The clouds above them slowly started getting darker and darker. “What about you? Are you staying here?”

“Yeah., I'm also here with my friends,” Taehyung says. “Would it be all right if I asked what your name is?”

“Oh, right, I’m sorry,” Sofia says as it dawns on her that he didn’t know her name and she didn’t know his. “I’m Sofia.”

“Sofia,” Taehyung says as he tests out the name, he looks at her, almost silently asking her confirmation that he had said it correctly, she nods her head as her smiles widen. “Well, Sofia, I’m…” He stops for a second, debating if he should tell her or not. “Taehyung, but you can call me Tae or V.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Tae,” Sofia says.

“It’s nice to meet you also, Sofia,” Tae says. “I uh should probably get back to my friends before they start to wonder where I am.” Sofia nods her head. “I hope we run into each other again.”

“Hopefully not like this again,” Sofia says. “Maybe we’ll see each other next time before we bump into each other.” Taehyung softly giggles as he nods his head.

“Hopefully not like this,” Taehyung says. “I will see you around, Sofia.” He steps around her and begins making his way back to the cabin, she turns around to watch him walk away from her, he looks over his shoulder and softly smiles as he saw her looking at him, he waves at her before turning his focus back in front of him, she smiles to herself before turning her attention back to the sun that was now completely hidden behind the dark clouds, but something bothered her as she stared at the clouds, he looked so familiar to her, but something was blocking her mind and she couldn’t remember from where she had seen him before.

“NO!” Laura screams as she jumps up from the couch. “No, no, no, no!” She walks towards the door and picks up her jacket before slipping it on. “Over my dead body will I watch a horror movie with the two of you!” Sofia and Bianca watched as their friend fixed her jacket. “I’m going for a walk, don’t expect me back any time soon!” Laura absolutely hated horror films while Sofia and Bianca liked watching them, and they had found one that seemed interesting enough to watch.

“It’s going to be dark soon, don’t go,” Sofia says. “We can protect you, right, Bianca?” Bianca nods her head, agreeing with Sofia.

“No, no, no, I don’t trust either of you!” Laura says as she slipped her shoes on. “I’d rather take my chances out in the snow than in here with… with whatever it is that you’re about to watch!” Laura pulls the door open, light snow had started falling, but she didn’t care, she hated horror movies and washing willing to stay in the house when they would start watching it. “I’ll be back when it’s over!” With that she was out the door leaving Sofia and Bianca on the sofa to watch the movie, she pushes her hands into her jacket as she makes her way to the playground she had found the day before, her eyes cast down on the snow-covered ground as she walks.

As she approached the swings she lets out a huff, what would she do for the next couple of hours? Swing? Go see the lake? Why did they have to choose to watch a horror film? She sits down on one of the swings and placed her hands on her lips, not taking notice of the person taking pictures of the scenery just a few feet away from her, Hoseok lifts the camera to his face and snaps a picture, he was in his own world when he suddenly heard a creaking noise coming from the swings, he lowers his camera and turns his head towards the swings, immediately spotting the light brown-haired woman sitting alone, almost looking miserable, he steps towards her, letting his eyes move over her features, taking in each beautiful feature of her.

“Excuse me?” Hoseok says as he stops a few feet away from her, she looks up from her hands, meeting his eyes. “English?” She slowly nods as she gets lost in his beautiful eyes, it felt like she was placed under a spell. “Are you okay?” She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing seemed to come out, no words formed in her mind.

“I uh…” Laura begins, her voice slightly faltering. “I’m uh okay.” She manages to whisper out, Hoseok softly smiles at her and moves to the empty swing next to hers, he takes a seat while looking at her, he releases his camera letting it hang around his neck., he could tell that she was shy and nervous, her hands fiddled with her jacket.

“Are you sure?” Hoseok asks. “You look kind of sad and miserable.” A faint smile forms on her lips.

“I uh, my uh friends are watching a horror movie.” Laura softly says, he nods his head as he slowly pieces everything together.

“Not that big of a fan of horror films?” Hoseok asks, she nods her head. “So, are you planning on sitting here for the entire movie?” The wind softly blew, causing a piece of her hair to move into her face.

“If I must, then yes,” Laura says as she lifts her hand, moving the piece of hair out of her face.

“Then will you let me keep you company at least?” Hoseok asks. “I can’t leave knowing that you will be here all alone.” Laura looks away from him, breaking eye contact with him for the first time since he had approached her.

“You don’t have to,” Laura says. “Besides, you don’t even know my name and I don’t know yours.”

“Right, well, I’m Hoseok,” Hoseok says. “But you can call me H-Hope.” He extends his arm out to her, wanting to shake her hand, she lifts her gaze to look at his hand before lifting her eyes to look at his face, a wide smile settled on his lips as he waited for her to accept his hand.

“I’m Laura,” Laura says before carefully placing her hand into his, his hand wraps around hers, warmth enveloping her hand as he carefully shakes it. “Nice to uh meet you, J-Hope.” He releases her hand and pulls his arm back to him, placing his hand on his lap.

“Nice to meet you too, Laura,” Hoseok says. “So, are you and your friends here for holiday?” She nods her head.

“Yeah, we’re uh, here for six weeks,” Laura says.

“Six weeks?” Hoseok asks.

“Yeah.” Laura softly says.

“I’m here for six weeks with my friends also,” Hoseok says, her eyes slightly widen in surprise.

“Really?” Laura says, not yet realizing who he was, but when she did, it would hit her, hard, but for now, they sat on the swings, a light cold wind blowing around them as he begins making conversation with her, trying to get her to come out her shelf around him.

“Ugh, this is so boring,” Bianca says as she stood from the sofa. “I gave it a chance, 30 minutes long, I can’t anymore, it’s too boring.” She walks towards the door. “Laura could’ve stayed, it isn’t even that scary.”

“Why do the trailers always so misleading?” Sofia asks as she pauses the movie. “Where are you going?” Sofia noticed Bianca pulling on her penguin slippers. “Aren’t we going to find another one to watch?” Bianca glanced at the window.

“I noticed that it started snowing and I want to go outside and watch,” Bianca says as she picks up her jacket. “But you can watch one, I’ll be right back and then you can tell me what movie we’re watching.”

“Oh, right, this is your first time experiencing snow,” Sofia says. “Go, go and enjoy it!” Bianca gently smiles at Sofia.

“I’m sorry, we’re leaving you all alone in the cabin,” Bianca says while zipping her jacket.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Sofia says. “Go, have fun!” Bianca opens the door and steps outside, the bitterly cold wind nipping at her face as she closed the door behind her, she looks up at the sky as she moves away from the cabin, amazed at the small snowflakes falling from the sky, Seokjin stood near the window inside their cabin, reading something when he saw something move out of the corner of his eyes, he looks away from the page and saw a girl with forest green hair walking around outside while staring up at the sky, he closes the book in his hand as his attention was now fully on her, he wasn’t expecting to see somebody with green hair on this trip, his eyes move down to her feet and noticed the penguin slippers.

“What? Slippers?” Seokjin mutters to himself before placing the book down and making his way downstairs and out the cabin, he approaches her, curious about her slippers. “Excuse me?” Bianca stops in her tracks as she heard a voice from behind her, she lowers her gaze away from the sky as she turns around to face the person. “Do you uh speak English?”

“Uh, yes,” Bianca says, unsure why he was talking to her.

“Why are you wearing slippers in the snow?” Seokjin asks. “They’re going to get soaked.” Bianca looks down at her slippers. “They’re too cute to get wet.”

“I uh, um don’t have any other shoes,” Bianca says as she looks up from her slippers. “I only brought this pair of slippers along with another pair.” He tilts his head in confusion.

“Didn’t you know that they were going to get wet?” Seokjin asks, confusion clear in his voice.

“I’ve uh, never seen snow,” Bianca confesses. “This is my first time experiencing it.” Seokjin’s eyes widen at the small piece of information.

“You’ve never seen snow?!” Seokjin asks as his voice slightly raises. “Never?!” She shyly smiles at him.

“Uh never,” Bianca confirms, he stared at her with wide eyes, shocked that somebody had never seen snow before.

“Then you’ve probably never built a snowman before, you have to build a snowman!” Seokjin says. “I’ll help you make one!” He could feel the excitement bubbling up inside him. “And snow angels!” He was already starting to plan everything that he would teach and show her in the snow. “Wait, before that can happen, can I know the name the first green-haired girl wearing penguin slippers out in the snow?”

“I um, you really don’t have to make a snowman with me,” Bianca says, she was surprised as his excitement, almost taken back a little.

“I want to,” Seokjin says, she slowly nods her head.

“Uh, Bianca,” Bianca says causing him to tilt his head once again. “My name.” His mouth forms an ‘O’ before nodding his head.

“I’m Seokjin, or Jin, worldwide handsome,” Seokjin says as he extends his arm out for her, her eyes widen at his sentence, she had heard it before.

“Worldwide handsome?” Bianca questions as she carefully takes his hand, he nods his head, a proud smile on his lips. “As in… Kim Seokjin?”

“You know BTS?” Seokjin asks, She releases his hand and lets her arm fall back to her side.

“Gosh, my friends are going to freak the fuck out,” Bianca mumbles to herself.

[starscheme]

Only You

Chapter Eight: A Surprise for Steven

Once they arrived back at the Temple, Steven and Spinel split off to get ready. Steven went to his room and packed his things, while Spinel ran off to complete her secret errand. They may have been leaving earlier than planned, but this didn't change anything in Stevens mind. He had planned the perfect trip and he was determined to make sure it all went well. He wanted to forget all about what happened with Lars and he wanted Spinel to forget it too.

While Steven was busy stuffing his bag, Pearl and Amethyst came peeking into his room from the top of the stairs. They had heard him come home, but noticed that his mood seemed rather sour. "Steven," Pearl began with a smile, "are you going somewhere?"

The young man flinched a bit, quickly hiding what he currently held in his hands behind his back. "Huh? Oh-well...I told you guys that Spinel and I were gonna go on a trip, right? It's a little sudden, but I wanted to leave sooner than we planned."

Amethyst preemptively placed her hand on Pearls shoulder to keep the svelte Gem from immediately panicking.

"Oh-oh? Is that right," asked Pearl, fooling no one with her nervous smile. "How long will this trip be?"

"Maybe a few days," answered Steven honestly. He had expected Pearl to freak out, but he was pleasantly surprised to see how hard she was trying. "We'll call and check in though, okay?"

That seemed to relieve Pearls anxiety a little, but it didn't calm her completely. Still, she didn't want to drive them further away from her. "Well, don't forget to bring sunscreen and make sure that Spinel doesn't break anything. Oh, and if you two get into any trouble, don't hesitate to call, we'll be there right away! Also, don't let Spinel have too much sugar. Let's not forget what happened at Funland."

Steven sighed a bit, but he smiled at Pearl now. "Don't worry so much. We aren't kids anymore." He knew Pearl saw Spinel and Himself as children. She'd practically raised them both after all.

"So, where are you guys going?" Amethyst asked with a curious grin. She was just happy that this hadn't turned into another argument.

"Actually...I thought I would keep that a secret," he began awkwardly. "You know...given how all of our dates have gone so far..."

Pearls gaze dropped to the floor shamefully. They didn't trust her not to follow them. Not that she blamed them right now. If she did know where they were going, the urge to tag along secretly would be too great. Forcing a smile once again, Pearl anxiously tried to keep herself from asking too much. "Th-that's okay. As long as you call and let us know everything is okay."

Steven and Amethyst both glanced at one another in surprise. Pearl was really making an effort here. Though Amethyst worried Pearl might crack if she kept this up too long.

"I promise we will call you every day," Steven offered happily. Even if he knew Pearl wasn't really okay with this, it meant a lot to him that she was actually taking their words to heart. It made all the difference in his mood right now.

"Call for what?" Asked Spinel as she popped up behind the Gems on the stairs, causing them both to jump in alarm.

"Oh Spinel," Pearl exclaimed as she calmed her startled heart. "Steven was just talking about your trip. ...which you know—o think is a great idea. After all, a trip is always nice and even though I don't know where you're going, I'm totally fine with it. Absolutely fine!" Pearl rambled anxiously.

Spinel couldn't help but notice that Pearls voice kept getting higher as she spoke. Which always meant that she was panicking internally and it was leaking out. However, she knew better than to address it and make things worse. After more than six thousand years with Pearl, she had finally learned not to poke her when she was ready to pop. "Well...good..." replied Spinel cautiously.

Steven blushed a bit, even more aware of what he was hiding behind his back now. "O-okay, why don't you all let me finish packing," he insisted quickly.

Amethyst couldn't help noticing how fidgety Steven had become. She wanted so badly to ask what he was trying to keep out of sight, but unfortunately, her curiosity would have to continue. If she forced him to reveal it and it happened to be some sort of surprise for Spinel, she didn't want to ruin it. The three Gems reluctantly piled down the stairs, leaving Steven alone in his bedroom once again.

Finally, Steven swiftly stuffed the item into his bag and breathed a sigh of relief once it was safely tucked away. It was embarrassing enough just buying something like that, if Pearl and Amethyst had seemed it, he'd never live it down. He was also certain that Pearl would have snapped at once if she caught him trying to pack away a box of condoms.

With his bag packed, Steven carried it downstairs where all the other Gems were waiting now. Pearl was pacing the floor, but at least she wasn't upsetting Spinel, who seemed to be searching the kitchen cupboards for marshmallows.

"So you two are leaving tonight," Garnet commented as Steven reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry it's a little sudden, but I...I guess I just figured..." his voice trailed off a bit. The real reason for this abrupt vacation was not a pleasant one and he didn't really want to explain it.

"It's fine. Just have a good time," stated Garnet with a smile.

"Thanks Garnet. Come on, Spinel. Let's get going."

Though she wasn't able to find where Pearl had hidden her sugary treats, Spinel turned to Steven with smile and rushed to his side. "Okay! Bye everybody!"

Saying their goodbyes was easier than they thought it would be. Especially with Pearl. Even if she kept shouting from the porch as they left to remind them to call her. The couple found lion down near the shore and though Steven still wouldn't tell Spinel where they were going, he whispered their destination in the pink feline’s ear. With Steven and Spinel now settled on his back, Lion roared and set off through the portal.

Spinel gasped once she saw where they had ended up. They were now in the middle of a large city, outside the gates of the biggest amusement park she had ever seen. Rose and the others had always avoided crowded places like this and stayed near the temple. They only traveled for missions and even then, it didn't involve places like these.

"Wow! There are so many people!" Spinel exclaimed.

Steven was happy to see that Spinel was excited, but he now realized that traveling by Lion may not have been the best idea. The people walking by were either terrified or taking pictures. He hopped down and offered a hand for Spinel. "Maybe we should hurry and get to our room."

"Our room?" Repeated Spinel, a little confused.

Steven nodded and pointed to the tall building just across the street. The two gave Lion a hug, allowing the beast to go back home. Steven didn’t want him to have to linger around while all these people gawked at him. Now, he took Spinel’s hand and led her towards the hotel. With all the money his dad had forced on him, Steven was able to get a nice room that would finally assure them so privacy for once.

All of this reminded Spinel of the Palace on Home World. The technology was still centuries behind, but everything was so shiny and when they got to their room, it was practically the size of the beach house back home. It was as if they had a whole floor all to themselves. There was even a small pool inside. “Oh my gosh! It’s like a small playground!” Spinel exclaimed happily as she ran around the large suite to examine everything.

Steven was glad that Spinel was so excited, but he couldn’t help being nervous. He just couldn’t seem to calm down. Though he had steeled himself for this trip and thought he was mentally prepared, packing those condoms just reminded him of the next step he and Spinel were planning on taking and his heart had been pounding nonstop since they left the house. He wanted everything to be perfect and flow naturally, so it was important that he calmed down, but he wasn’t sure how to do that.

“Steven?” Spinel called out, waving her hand in front of his face with concern. “Do you not like the room?”

“Huh?!” Steven flinched, “Wh-oh, no! I do!  I was just…uh…thinking.”

Spinel frowned as she stared up at Steven’s troubled expression. She though that once they got here he would be back to his old self, but clearly he was still upset about what happened earlier today. She had really messed up hadn’t she? Perhaps now was a good time to reveal the surprise that she had prepared.

“Hey, um…could you wait here for a second,” asked Spinel as she turned towards the double doors that led to the bedroom.

Steven was confused and though he wanted to ask why, Spinel had already rushed into the bedroom and shut the doors behind her. “…I need to relax…” he mumbled to himself as he followed after Spinel and knocked on the door. “Spinel, I’m sorry if I made you think—“

Before he could finish, the doors opened, revealing a red faced Spinel as she clutched the heavy blanket from the bed around herself.

“Spinel? What are you—“

“—J-just hold on,” Spinel pleaded bashfully, finding it difficult to look him in the eye. “I know you’re still mad about this morning and I know it’s the reason you didn’t kiss me earlier. So I…did a little research on my own and I asked what I could do to cheer up my boyfriend.  There were…a lot of options, but I thought it would be better if you chose what you liked best.” Spinel took a deep breath and before she lost her nerve, forced herself to drop the blanket.

As the blanket fell to the ground and crumbled around Spinel’s feet, Steven felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of him. The pigtailed Gem was standing in front of him, wearing only black laced panties and thigh high tights. Steven wasn’t even sure he was breathing as he stared wide eyed at her slender frame.

Spinel took a chance and glanced over at Steven. He hadn’t said a word and she worried that this was the wrong choice. “I-I don’t like wearing things that cover my Gem, so I…decided to leave out that bra thing. ..b-but if you don’t like this one, I can---“

Steven slapped one hand over his eyes and held out the other to stop her from continuing. “W-Wait. Just—just give me—I need a second…”

This only worried Spinel further, “It looks weird, right?”

“Not at all,” Steven replied quickly, “You’re beautiful.”

“…but…you won’t look at me…” Spinel began, tugging at her pigtails anxiously. “…is it still because of Lars?” Perhaps it wasn’t just that he couldn’t kiss her, maybe Steven even looked at her differently since what happened.

“No! That has nothing to do with this,” he insisted, lowering his hand and turning his gaze back to the bashful Gem. With all his worry about making this trip perfect, he didn’t realize how pressured this was making Spinel feel. He had to wait a moment before he walked over to her and picked up the blanket, draping it over her shoulders to cover her body. “…I’m so sorry, Spinel. I didn’t mean to make you go this far.”

“Wha? No, I wanted to do this for you,” she insisted, holding the blanket over herself. “I made a mistake and I wanted to fix it.”

Steven shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, hugging the gentle Gem flush against his chest. He was grateful she was covered by the blanket now or he wouldn’t be able to think straight. “But that’s the thing. I don’t want you to think that you have to do things like this because I got a little mad. Don’t get me wrong, I…I like it. I really like it,” he admitted with a blush, “but you didn’t do anything wrong and I’m not mad at you. Please don’t misunderstand. I was angry at myself for the way I acted. I was never angry at you.”

“…but then…why didn’t you kiss me?”

“…I’m sorry. I just…I didn’t want to kiss you while I was upset. A kiss between us…should only happen because we love each other, not because I’m jealous. I should have just talked to you about it. I didn’t think it would make you feel like it was because I was upset with you.”

Spinel felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. She smiled a little and snuggled herself into Steven’s embrace. “You know…it feels a little nice knowing I’m not the only one that doesn’t know what to do…”

“You think I know what I’m doing,” asked Steven incredulously as he pulled back to see her face, his cheeks still completely flushed over her appearance. Even with the blanket covering her, he knew what was waiting beneath it. “…I-I am constantly worried about what to do when we’re alone. I’m still worried that I’m too childish around you and I want to be mature about all this, but even when you’re not dressed like this…all I want to do is touch you and I’m scared that I’ll hurt you or scare by losing control.”

Spinel smiled up at Steven. It really calmed her nerves now that she saw how embarrassed Steven was. She took another breath and slipped the blanket from her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor once more. She witnessed his entire body turn pink and quickly leaned in to hug his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart. “I love you,” she began softly. “Everything else aside…I just want to be with you…and make you happy. Dressing like this…was embarrassing, but if you really want me to change, you’ll have to help me take it off.”

[eddiesnapback]

if you’re all alone, pick up the phone || streddie

a gift for @darkwingdukat for the @itfandomprompts secret santa! i hope you like it! 

Summary: Stan is in love with his best friends. It's a problem. Or is it? Ship: Streddie Warnings: light angst in the middle, something sort of along the lines of a panic attack, but everything turns out okay

also on AO3

Stan wasn’t entirely sure how he’d found himself tucked between Richie and Eddie on Richie’s tiny twin bed, a stack of VHS tapes balanced precariously on said boy’s bedside table, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. There was no reason to complain at all, in his opinion, despite the fact that Richie’s bony elbow was digging into his ribcage and Eddie’s head was heavy on Stan’s left shoulder.

Eddie flipped the page in the comic book he was reading, rolling his eyes. “Can you just pick a fucking movie, Richie?” he asked, lifting his head from Stan’s shoulder to glare over at Richie.

“I’m workin’ on it, Spaghetti,” Richie said, shooting Eddie a bright grin. He shoved his glasses further up his nose with the back of his hand. “But no one is giving me any opinions.”

Stan heaved a theatrically large sigh and leaned away, letting Eddie flop against the pillows. “Let me see,” he said, tugging a trio of tapes out of Richie’s hands. He flipped through them, eyes skimming the back covers, as Eddie scrambled upright. From the corner of his eye, he could see Eddie sprawling over Richie’s shoulders, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. 

Stan’s stomach flipped with jealousy. “Ghostbusters,” he said, glancing away from the boys. He tossed said movie towards the foot of the bed. “We’re watching Ghostbusters.”

“Again?” Richie asked, gently disentangling himself from Eddie to put the movie into the VCR. “Fuck, I know you’ve got the hots for the Stay Puft guy, Stan the Man, but jeez.”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Beep fucking beep, Richie,” he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. 

He could feel Eddie’s eyes on him, staring at the side of his head, but resolutely stared forward. He didn’t want to see those stupid brown puppy dog eyes full of concern, staring into his soul the way that Eddie always did. He hated it. 

Richie turned to look at him, a frown settling across his face, and Stan had to look away from him too. The light reflected off of his glasses to cut some of the worry on his face, but it wasn’t enough to hide it completely. And Stan hated that too.

They shouldn’t be worried about him, was the thing. There was no reason. They should be throwing him out of this room in disgust, actually.

Because what kind of messed up best friend was Stan to be in love with his best friends who were dating each other? Just the thought made Stan’s stomach roll, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Are you okay, Stan?” Eddie asked quietly, his voice small in the dim light cast by Richie’s lamp.

Stan bit his lip, staring resolutely at the wall above the television. There was a picture tacked onto the wall there, one that he could just barely make out. Richie, with his arms thrown over Stan and Eddie’s shoulders, grinning cheesily at the camera. They were maybe fourteen at the time. Stan knew that because Richie had still braces, and the thick frames of his glasses were taped together in at least three places; Eddie was wearing a crisp blue polo shirt from back when his mother still choose what clothes he wore; and Stan himself had a tight-lipped smile that was hiding braces of his own. He was turned towards Richie and Eddie, rather than the camera, and the look of complete adoration in his own eyes was enough to make Stan flush red even four years later.

“I’m fine,” he snapped, wincing at the sharp way the words slipped from his tongue. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to not be in that room anymore. He stumbled clumsily to his feet, following that desire. “I’m going to get popcorn.”

With that he hurried across Richie’s room, barely slow enough to pick his way around the maze of discarded clothing and comic books that littered his floor. His left big toe narrowly missed one of Richie’s school notebooks, which had papers filled with equations spilling onto the wood floor. 

He closed the door tightly behind him with slightly more force than necessary and squeezed his eyes shut. “Pull yourself together, Stanley,” he mumbled to himself, before setting off downstairs.

As a kid, Stan had always liked coming over to the Tozier’s house. It was bigger than his own, and messier, but in a lived in way that didn’t make his hands shake as much as it should have. Richie’s older sister, Rebecca, had never seemed annoyed when Stan had slipped away from the noise of his friends on occasion, and had always been willing to let him revel in the quiet of her room. She’d said on occasion that Stanley was like the little brother she’d never had. (Richie had always sputtered indignantly at that, but his eyes gave away his smile.) Stan been just a little devastated when she went away to school when they were twelve.

And if Bex Tozier was a surrogate sister to Stan, the Toziers were a second set of parents. Went and Maggie were busy, but they were always willing to open their home to Stan and the rest of Richie’s friends. Maggie, especially, was always willing to lend an ear to him if he needed it. 

Stan padded into the kitchen on autopilot, easily locating the popcorn (second cabinet from the fridge) and sticking it into the microwave. While he waited, he slid into one of the stools at the breakfast bar and crossed his arms in front of him. He lay his head in his arms and closed his eyes, only keeping half an ear out for the popcorn to slow in its popping.

“Something on your mind, Stanley?” Maggie Tozier’s voice cut through the gloom fogging up Stan’s brain, and he jerked upright. 

Richie’s mother stood on the other side of the breakfast bar holding the bag of popcorn between her thumb and forefinger. She had one eyebrow raised, and her glasses low on her nose so that she could peer over them. “You almost burned the popcorn,” she added, raising the bag as if to illustrate the point.

“Sorry, Mrs. Tozier,” Stan said sheepishly, sliding off of the stool and moving to take it from her. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

She hummed knowingly. “About Richie and Eddie?” she asked, pursing her lips. 

Stan flinched, taking an involuntary step backwards. “What?” he asked, his jaw falling open just a little bit. 

Maggie smiled softly. “I don’t know anything,” she said, voice light. She was lying - Stan knew it. He just didn’t know what about. “You know, my son cares about you an awful lot, Stanley.” 

“He’s my best friend, Mrs. Tozier - both of them are,” Stan replied. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he felt distinctly like he was being dissected. Those dark eyes were so much like her son’s, and between the slight head tilt and the narrow look, she reminds him startlingly of the way that Richie stares right through him sometimes, like they were trying to read his mind. Whatever she was looking for she must have found, because suddenly Maggie smiled softly and nodded. 

“I know that, Stanley,” she said, moving to pass him. She pats him on the shoulder, a gesture he’s seen her do to Richie a thousand times. Something half-recognized and motherly, comforting in a way that almost overwhelms Stan in a way that he didn’t expect. It was then that he remembered this woman had known him for fourteen years, since he was just four years old and scrambling after Richie on the playground. “Do what makes you happy, honey.” 

With that cryptic message, she was gone. He could hear her footsteps down the hallway, headed towards the study that she shares with her husband. 

Stan shook his head to clear it. With a glance at the stove’s clock, he realized that he’d been gone for nearly seven minutes, much longer than it should take to make popcorn. If he didn’t hurry, Richie and Eddie would come looking for him. He didn’t want that.

He hurried to make a second bag and dump both of them into a large bowl that is reserved just for movie night snacks, carefully picking it up and beginning to ascend the stairs. For a terrifying moment, he nearly tripped over one of Richie’s discard sneakers. The pile of popcorn wiggled in place precariously, but he managed to make it to Richie’s door without spilling a single kernel.

The door was open now. The television was paused on the opening to Ghostbusters. Eddie sat in the middle of the bed, staring hard at the picture above the TV with his eyebrows furrowed. There was no sign of Richie.

Stan carefully picked his way across the room, far slower and more carefully than when he had left. “Where’s Rich?” he asked, the nickname slipping out of his mouth before he could stop it. Eddie looked up, looking surprised to see Stan, but didn’t comment.

“Bathroom,” he said simply. “What took you so long?”

“Maggie stopped me,” Stan explained, his cheeks turning inexplicably red. If Richie were here, maybe he’d make a joke about it, but Eddie did nothing but frown a little. 

His eyes drifted back over to the picture on the wall. “Do you remember?” Eddie asked, nodding towards it. “That day, I mean? It was, like, Mike’s birthday, right?”

Stan nodded, carefully placing the bowl of popcorn in the small sliver of space left on the bedside table. He frowned at it’s precarious perch, and set about rearranging the junk on the table, happy for something to occupy his hands. “His fifteenth, I think,” he agreed. “Because we all would have been fourteen at the time.”

Eddie glanced back at him. “How do you know?”

Stan sent a cursory glance back up to the picture. “You stopped wearing that shirt in sophomore year,” he said. “And Richie’s braces are that horrible neon green.” He paused, wincing. What kind of friend would remember that stuff? Eddie probably thought he was some sort of freak, now. 

To his surprise, Eddie didn’t comment, simply turning back to that picture and staring for a long time. It was weirdly silent in the room, quiet in a way that Richie Tozier’s bedroom should never be. Stan almost thought that they were done with that line of questioning, when Eddie spoke again.

“I’m gonna ask you a weird question, and I don’t want you to freak out,” he said. 

Stan stiffened, every muscle in his body tensing up. “You can’t just start a sentence like that and expect me to not freak out, Eddie,” he said, forcing his tone to stay light. Casual. Don’t let Eddie know that he felt like he was about to have an asthma attack, and he didn’t even have asthma.

“Did you have a crush on Richie?” he asked. Stan’s heart felt like it stuttered to a halt in his chest. 

He laughed uncomfortably, taking a step back from the now-neatened sidetable. “Where did you get that idea?” he asked, still staring at the table. He won’t look at Eddie. He refused. His cheeks were hot and probably bright pink. The walls felt like they were pressing in on him. He couldn’t breathe.

“Hey, Stan, wait,” Eddie said, and then his voice got closer. Fingers encircled Stan’s wrist, gently pulling him back against a small chest that was so much shorter than him. “Breathe. It’s okay, I was just asking.”

“I don’t like Richie.” Stan knew he was the one saying it, knew that was his voice, but he had no control over them as they left his mouth. “I don’t like you either. Not like that. It would be weird, wouldn’t it? You’re my best friends and you’re together and-”

“Jay-sus Christ, Spaghetti, what did ya say to th’ poor bastard?” Richie’s shitty Irish Cop voice cut through the room. Stan refused to look up at him, curling his hands into tight fists at his sides. There were footsteps, and then Richie whispered furiously to Eddie. One of his hands, calloused in weird places from so many long hours spent playing SNES games instead of doing homework, gently came to rest on Stan’s elbow. 

Stan hated the way that he couldn’t help leaning into the touch. 

“You okay, Stan the Man?” Richie asked cautiously, voice far too gentle to someone who’d gotten the nickname ‘Trashmouth’ at eleven years old. “Eddie just wanted to know.”

 So Richie knew, had maybe even put Eddie up to it. That maybe made it worse. It was like they making fun of him. Maybe they were making fun of him - he wouldn’t put it past Richie, but he thought Eddie was nicer than that. 

“Why?” Stan managed to gasp out, biting hard enough on his lower lip that it brought tears to his eyes directly after. 

Eddie’s soft fingers, the ones that weren’t still circling his wrist, carefully pried Stan’s lip from his teeth. They came to rest on his chin, gently cradling his face. “Breathe,” he whispered again, and Stan squeezed his eyes tight as he tried to follow the instruction.

He could feel Richie and Eddie staring at each other around him, could almost feel the words they were exchanging silently, even if he didn’t know what they were. A sob escaped his throat that he didn’t even realize had been building. “Fuck, Stan, calm down,” Richie said a little desperately. “I can’t explain if you don’t came down.”

With great effort, Stan managed to force his breathing back to something almost considered normal. Eddie carefully pulled him towards the bed, and Stan’s knees bent to sit down without his acknowledgement. He felt the bed dip on either side of him as they sat down, but still refused to look up from a spot on the floor that he had deemed safe. 

“Okay now?” Eddie asked carefully, one hand coming to rest on Stan’s back. He didn’t know why they kept touching him, but he wasn’t going to be the one who made the stop. He managed a shaky nod. “Good.”

“Why?” he asked again, licking at his dry lips. Stan didn’t trust himself to say anything else, for fear that he would start sobbing again. He was humiliated enough as it was.

“God, isn’t it fucking obvious?” Richie said, his voice louder than Stan expected. “We’re fucking in love with you, you idiot.”

Stan flinched. “That’s not funny,” he snapped, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears that were suddenly pricking at the back of them. “Beep fucking beep, Tozier.”

Richie let out a huff and his voice lowered again. “It’s not a joke, Stan. I wouldn’t joke about that,” he said. His voice was a little pained, like he was genuinely hurt that Stan would think such a thing.

Eddie’s however hummed a little. “Well, actually, you definitely have before. Not… not like that, but I think I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve proposed to Bev or Bill. Or Mike. Or… any of us, really.” He paused, seeming to consider the next thing he had to say. When he next spoke, he was back to sounding gentle, carefully reaching out to thread his fingers with Stan’s. “It’s not a joke, though, Stan. We… We really like you. I think I’ve probably had a crush on you since we were kids.”

Richie cleared his throat. “Mike’s fifteenth,” he said. “I realized then. I made a stupid joke and you just kind of looked at me like I’d grown another head, and I was like ‘oh fuck, I’m in love with this stoic motherfucker.’”

Stan felt a little like his head was spinning. Like he’d just gotten off the Tilt-A-Whirl at the summer festival - which he always rode with Richie because Eddie didn’t trust the festival rides and all the others got nauseous, but Richie was too chicken to ride alone. “But… you guys…” he said, forcing back the bile that was rising in his throat. This was too much. He felt sick.

“Love each other, yeah,” Richie said. Eddie squeaked a little, and Stan could almost hear the fond way that Richie would roll his eyes in response. “Oh, like you didn’t spend half of last night-”

“Beep beep, Chee,” Eddie snapped. Stan knew that if he looked up, Eddie’s cheeks would be almost as red as his own. 

“I thought I was just a creep,” Stan admitted quietly. “I thought… I don’t know what I thought.”

“What does that mean?” That was Richie, his hand gently squeezing one of Stan’s.

“I have to spell it out?” Stan asked, his cheeks impossibly red. He was met with only silence as his answer, and huffed out a frustrated sigh. He wanted to wipe at his teary eyes but with one hand caught in Richie’s and one entangled with Eddie’s it was impossible. “I’ve had crushes on both of you for years.” 

Stan’s admission was met with silence, and he almost thought that maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe this was all an elaborate joke, and Richie and Eddie hadn’t expected him to go along with it. He opened his mouth to stammer out an apology, to say something that could recall the words and their meanings, but then Richie was gasping and threw himself at Stan, knocking both of them sideways into Eddie.

Richie wiggled against him, working himself halfway into Stan’s lap as he lay across him.Eddie was laughing underneath them, shoving at Stan’s shoulders in an attempt to force them upright. “Chee, give him some room,” he was saying, giggling in the way that Stan knew made his nose crinkle up. Richie sat up immediately, dark eyes scanning Stan’s face, but there was a huge, ridiculous grin crossing his face. 

“Do you want to be our boyfriend, Stanley the Manley?” Richie asked, letting go of Stan to fold his hands together pleadingly. There was a red flush creeping up his neck, the only sign that he was embarrassed or concerned about the response. 

Stan glanced at Eddie, who shrugged sheepishly. “Only if you want to, Stan,” Eddie agreed, but there was hope in his eyes as well.

Stan bit his lip and forced the anxiety coiling in his stomach away. Maggie Tozier’s words echoed in his ears. Do what makes you happy, honey. “Yes, please,” he said after a long moment of silence. 

Eddie’s smile could have given Richie’s a run for it’s money. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, and Stan had barely managed a nod before the other boy was surging forward, pressing his lips against Stan’s. It felt right - like warmth and like home. Like they were made for each other.

And then Richie was pushing Eddie out of the way, staring deep into Stan’s eyes - dissecting, just like Maggie had - before he too leaned forward. If kissing Eddie felt like home, kissing Richie felt like safety. 

When he finally pulled away, Stan’s cheeks had faded from brilliantly red to a far more subtle pink, and he couldn’t stop the smile that slowly slid across his face. There was a moment of silence where the three of them just stared at each other, smiling like losers in the dim light of Richie’s room. The buzz of the television caught Stan’s attention, and he poked both of them in the knees until they stopped looking so much like a pair of lovesick puppies. (To say nothing of the fact that Stan, too, had the same lovesick, starstruck look on his face.)

“Ghostbusters?” he reminded them gently. “I love you guys, but the Stay Puft guy is my dream man.”

“Stan the Man gets off a good one!” Richie crowed, cackling far louder than the mediocre joke deserved. Eddie and Stan locked eyes and shared a fond smile, shaking their heads in amusement at their boyfriend’s - boyfriend, the word felt like a dream to think in conjunction with them - antics.

The trio curled around each other on the bed, Stan tucked safely in the middle of Richie and Eddie with the popcorn in his lap. Richie took a piece of popcorn and kissed him on the side of the head. Eddie pressed a gentle kiss to his shoulder. 

As the Ghostbusters battled ghosts, Stan curled against his boys, content and warm and happy.

[in-tua-deep]

How do you think things would have changed if Five has come back even younger than in canon? Like if he came back as 7 or 8 or even younger? Also, I love your writing. You’re an amazing writer and I love reading your stuff.

first of all that would be hilarious because as much as media has tricked you into thinking older child actors (who are easier to work with) are younger (I mean case in point, Five is supposed to be thirteen but the actor is fifteen and those two years can make a big difference at that age) or animated movies can’t decide on a size for their character, but for real seven-year-olds in real life are BABIES

that’s like. the equivalent of a second grader?? I think i was about to go into year three living in the netherlands. I thought the year six kids were ancient. I didn’t care about bodily harm and would just hurl myself into cartwheels and handstands (nowadays not so much)

That was about the age I was losing teeth for the Very First Time and also the age I almost gave myself a concussion playing on the playground equipment (I blacked out and woke up in the nurses office lmao) and I thought the singing talents of Sandy from Hamtaro were the greatest in the world (the twirling ribbon song was formative for me)

seven was also the age for me that i realized that romance was The Worst because my best friend george decided that the pulling pigtails version of bugging me was a sure fire way to get my attention or something like that. but like,, george and me had chicken pox together. we pretended we were cheetahs in our treetop bunkbed nest together (we had a very loose grasp of the difference between cheetahs and jaguars and other big cats, admittedly). He was my best friend he didn’t need to pull my hair or anything rip

like can you even IMAGINE if five came back as a second grader?? yeah like maybe someone would serve thirteen-year-old Five black coffee but no one is going to just hand this baby child anything with caffeine are you kidding me

his feet wouldn’t even be able to reach the peDALS OF THE CAR

wow this would inconvenience him so much

i can’t even find a picture of my brother that young smh but here’s him and me when he was? probably about nine or ten and I was actually probably about six and smiling with a closed mouth to hide the fact that i was missing teeth or something smh

that is TWO WHOLE BABIES right there i’m just genuinely dying at the thought of Five popping out and he’s just. a gradeschooler. that suit would have been swimming on him and he’s got little chubby cheeks built to absorb shock and whatever atrocious child haircut he had at that age 

(i have posted before about my genuine shock that five was ten in the comics. ten!! that’s a whole baby! a child! W H A T)

but?? does he pop up from jumping through his portal and look in the mirror and find that he’s missing some teeth? Can he whistle air through the gaps? i’m just picturing seven-year-old five getting socked in the face and losing some teeth or something and diego is right there to patronizingly tell him that it’s okay they’re probably just baby teeth and five is about to punch diego’s teeth out in a second if he keeps that up by jove

imagine five jumping and standing on the counter and he still can’t reach the marshmallows because they’re on the top shelf of the cupboard do you know how angry that would make him?? he would have about 60% less time for his siblings bullshit than normal because his small stature can only hold so much emotion at any one time and he has decided to go with seething rage for the foreseeable future

can you imagine how difficult that would be for Allison though?? Five at thirteen was bad but Five-at-around-Claire’s-age??? a billion times worse and she’s probably going to either be super avoidant because it’s painful or full on protective mama bear

it would definitely change a lot of plot stuff because i mean. no one’s going to let this tiny child drive. he can’t reach the pedals, duh. however, he might persuade one of the siblings (diego and klaus, probably) to drive him to griddy’s instead? Because with the options being “so help me i will walk there myself. alone. at night. as a small and innocent looking child” and driving him and keeping him company i think the latter wins out

(i’d nix griddy’s altogether but i’m way too invested in hazel and agnes getting together tbh)

hey wait does being that young mean that five doesn’t have his umbrella tattoo?? huh. well regardless if diego and klaus accompany him then the plot point of agnes telling the assassin squad about the tattoo can still happen so i guess it’s a moot point

but honestly the drama of having this tiny child just. completely annihilate the hit squad is hilarious to me, and it would also hit home the fact that hey! five might be telling the truth about everything and isn’t messed up by time travel! i mean whomst the fuck else would walk into a room and zero in on the seven-year-old no one else knows exists or is assumed dead by literally the whole ass world (and even if they didn’t he’s supposed to be 29) and demand he come with them and shit like man

Klaus: hey five what do you have

Five, stabbing his own arm to take the tracking device out: a knife

Diego: NO

other fun points include: the siblings bodily picking five up and five behaving like a very aggressive small breed of dog while simultaneously being super touch-starved and secretly appreciating being carried but would never admit it (whilst sober that is)

either they kept the old uniforms and five wears that or they have to scrounge up whatever they can find which means that five is dressed in some of claire’s clothes allison found stuffed in the bottom of her suitcase until they can go shopping and i’m not sure which is better tbh

hazel and cha-cha assuming that five is actually either diego or klaus bc those were the two adults in the coffee shop with the umbrella tattoo and eventually being confronted with the fact that their legendary adversary is a gradeschooler

five just being. so tired. all the time. my bedtime at seven years old was probably like. 8:30PM. kids need a lot of sleep!! so just five trying to keep himself awake because he has important stuff to do!! but doing the nod and bob because he can’t keep his eyes open

the trying-to-be-helpful but mildly-condescending strangers who stop five or talk down to him increase by tenfold. Teenagers out an about on the street along? eh. a seven-year-old? five is going to get so many concerns “where are your parents, sweetheart?” that he IS going to snap and kill a well meaning middle aged woman in the middle of the street

in a similar note the number of people who assume that he is the child of whatever sibling he happens to be in proximity to also increases tenfold and five does Not Appreciate This (and neither do half the siblings tbh bc now they have to pretend that they are responsible for this tiny feral child)

“FUCK” five says, loudly, prompting gasps from the delicate natured passerbys. 

“you can’t fucking say that, dude, you’re like. a baby.” klaus says, equally loudly and making everyone in earshot 70% more scandalized

“I am not associated with them” diego informs the masses with an edge of desperation

luther is just. so massive next to this tiny version of five. he could hold him in like, one hand. and maybe luther at one point was really good with kids but with his new body he’s awkward and it’s very sad

no one bats an eye at child Five toting an Entire Half of a Mannequin that is probably as big as he is around. Billy’s kid is currently emotionally attached to a brick he found in the alley behind his school. Gertie’s granddaughter refuses to leave the house without an old sock filled with pebbles tucked under her arm. Gary’s stepkid found a piece of driftwood on the beach and now it’s in their bed every night. Kids are weird and at least Five’s has a face for him to talk to i guess??

instead of luther threatening dolores he just looks at five with this gun that is way too big for him to have a hold of really and just. reaches out and scoops five up under his armpits and he’s just furiously wiggling and growling and luther is like “nope not putting you down until we agree that murder is not a solution”

every interaction with the handler is probably about 112% more creepy honestly but also what about the job?? either five a) gets an appropriately child sized desk like the ones you find in an actual gradeschool or b) he gets some kind of boosterseat for his chair and just has to sit at this desk that is comically oversized for him

the squad go to a restaurant and the server brings over the menus and hands five a children’s menu. without a word klaus just plucks it from five’s hands and substitutes it for his own because they have been kicked out of six whole restaurants and he is willing to eat the children’s chicken nugget meal if he had to god damn it

the apocalypse doesn’t happen because vanya is literally incapable of hurting a grade schooler right in front of her regardless of how pissed off at her family in general she is. that is a whole child. vanya works with children for her job. she can’t hurt an entire child in front of her?? like she can destroy the world and all the abstract children but this one child right in front of her? who is also her long lost brother and former sole confidant as children who wasn’t there for any of the general bullshit she just went through?? not so much

but like. even after the stop the apocalypse there’s still the issue of what to do with this entire child. like at least as a teenager five would be able to be somewhat independent but seven-year-old five can’t reach the sink to wash his hands without a step stool 

just the squad coming together to look after five without quite letting five know that’s what they’re doing because they don’t want to wake up to a knife in their chest or anything smh

five and claire meet and become an unstoppable duo of terror. patrick is an actually competent parent who is so exhausted 24/7 from raising his daughter that he just accepts five immediately because?? his brother-in-law being a time travelling 58-year-old in the body of a grade schooler who is partially feral from over forty years alone and probably has untreated ptsd? okay might as well happen

patrick “i didn’t trust allison with a child and yet i still trust her way more than the rest of you so i’m going to schedule five a doctor’s appointment or something because god knows he’s probably not up to date on his vaccinations and he’s hanging around claire and i doubt any of y’all even thought about that” hargreeves

the hargreeves all go to an amusement park as a family bonding activity. the mistake becomes clear when it’s revealed that five is too short to go on half the rides. the resulting meltdown gets them all kicked out and Diego just has five tossed over his shoulder still hurling insults at the ride attendant as they hoof it out of there

the family has to figure out everywhere they can go within walking distance because there’s still a cold war going on between allison and five over whether he has to be in a booster seat for any car rides or not

it’s basically just shenanigans with the family and five trying to figure out how to coexist and compromise and also look after one another when it’s been every man for themself pretty much all their lives

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

seal moves in

(i dont remember if i ever posted this so im reposting it, this is from the far far future)

Seven centuries ago the Wyld washed over an entire direction in the wake of a Crusade, and it recedes slowly. Islands of lucidity jut forth like washed-up debris, either raksha playgrounds or remnants of Creation. It is here, scant miles beyond the edge of the world, that Siege Perilous looms. The sun does not reach here, though there is light; the deserts give way to paving-stones and green hills, and a hamlet in the shadow of a castle. The hamlet is empty, long abandoned by the look of it -- but surely less than seven centuries empty, when bleached banners still fly in the square intact. No, these houses were evacuated a mere five years ago, when their ancient hero finally returned to liberate them from raksha encirclement. When the castle's heir took up his rightful seat. When the Seal of Unforgotten Kings came home. A marble statue stands in the Siege's courtyard, gazing down on those who would enter the castle. In those five years, it has seen the Dusk a scant three times. 

A bottle of champagne smashed across its sunburst-crowned brow. "I hereby chrishen thish party... open!" Star declared.

Seal glowered up at him, perched on the statue's shoulder. "Get down from there," he shouted. "I wanted to fucking drink that."

Star shrugged, tossing the neck of the bottle over his shoulder and fluttering down. "Desh brought more, I think. Beshidesh, that shtuff schucksh. Gotta drink like a bucketful to get tipshy."

Des had indeed brought more; various bottles nestled in the crook of her arm, and beside her a white-haired boy labored under what appeared to be picnic baskets laden so high they obscured his face. Des clicked her tongue at him. "You know you don't have to carry all that, Sever," she said. "I could have got a ghost to do it."

Shoulders shrugged carefully on either side of the tower. "I don't mind," a basket at face height replied. Severed Tail of the Serpent Resembles Truth By its Writhing carefully adjusted the tower, distributing the weight more evenly, and continued on his way. Behind him, Des frowned and followed.

+++

Seal flung the castle doors open. "Honey, we're home," he shouted, emboldened by the presence of his friends. The empty hall echoed it back to him, white dust swirling in the corners from the sudden breeze.

Take this seriously, a voice said in his head. Seal could see him out of the corner of his eye: the spitting image of the statue outside, standing ramrod-straight and two heads taller than Seal, running a finger across the breastplate of a nearby suit of armor. Brightest Morning Star frowned at Seal. Is this any way to treat your domicile? The inheritance of centuries?

"Shut the fuck up, old man," Seal muttered through gritted teeth. "You're not even real."

Realer than your cleaning skills, the man responded before Star breezed through the space where he should have been standing. "Scho, where do you want thisch?" he said, louder than usual and brandishing a pilfered bottle of Shadow's brandy. He was pointedly not making eye contact, and Seal recognized that he had heard him talking to his preincarnation.

He flushed with anger. "Do I look like I give a shit?" he snapped. "We're gonna desecrate every fucking room in this castle, I didn't make a fucking itinerary." 

Schtar shrugged and moved on, sweeping his gaze around the castle -- probably doing that dumb Investigation shit again. "Oh, here we go," he said, opening a door. "Big ol' dining hall, kitschen muscht be thish way. C'mon, let'sh shee if they got schomefing to toasht thish bread with." He disappeared into the darkness, and the other Deathknights followed suit.

Brightest Morning Star reappeared in front of Seal, a phantom wind blowing away the nothingness that obscured him. You haven't picked up after yourself since the last time you were here, he reminded the boy disapprovingly. Or the time before that. You could at least sweep up some wreckage before they see. 

Seal grabbed an ornamental vase and flung it at the apparition. It sailed through empty air and smashed against the floor. "Fuck you!" he shouted at the silent hall, but images assailed him behind his eyelids: ruined tapestries with the faces singed away, spears with the hafts snapped in half and buried in discarded shields, the remnants of Seal's last tantrum here. The vast mural of stained glass he knelt before, unable to destroy it, unable to look directly at his predecessor's face. Seal swiped the back of his hand across his eyes, wiping away hot tears. He flung the red droplets on the floor. "Fine!" he declared angrily. "I'll go do your dumb fucking chores. Bitch."

Broom's in the upstairs closet, if it hasn't rotted away, Brightest Morning Star sniped from inside his mind.

+++

The broom was not in the upstairs closet.

Seal stared at the rack where it should have lay, where his-and-not-his memories pictured it beside the dustpan, which was also gone. "Hey, old man," he called out. "Are you fucking senile or did you just have servants do all your shit for you? Don't know where your own goddamn broom is?"

No response. Seal slammed the closet shut, and it rattled the frame pleasingly. "What the fuck now?" he asked out loud. Did someone break into the castle and steal his fucking broom? Glorious First Light loomed in the back of his mind. What if, by taking it from the castle, he'd left it vulnerable?

"Shit, shit, shit," he muttered, and broke into a run. Seal might have hated all this fucking stuff, but it was his fucking stuff. The treasury was filled with priceless First Age artifacts and also a bunch of stuff he'd smashed to pieces, and if some raksha bastard even fucking thought about fucking touching it --

Seal skidded to a halt. There was no raksha bastard. The treasury door was open, and as far as Seal could tell everything was in place. Except for the story crystals he'd smashed to pieces last time he was here, and had left scattered across the floor. As far as Seal could tell, there wasn't even a splinter of crystal on the floor, though their spots on the shelves remained empty.

What the fuck? Seal spun around. The sword he'd bent in half was gone as well, replaced with a completely different one -- a jian instead of a dao. The row of statuettes was artfully arranged to hide the ones Seal had beheaded. Even the trophy case Seal had cut in half was standing straight. He ventured over and tapped a finger against it.

It crashed down -- someone had merely shoved the two halves together so neatly Seal hadn't spotted the join. The noise startled him, and he jumped back -- and, out of the corner of his eye, saw movement. "Hey!" he cried reflexively, and pursued. The castle was a maze of halls and display cases and rooms full of junk, but whoever Seal was chasing seemed to know it like the back of their hand -- Seal only caught a flicker of movement, a flap of cloth disappearing around a corner. "Stop fucking running, bastard!" he shouted, and hurled Glorious First Light.

The spear blasted a crater in the wall at the end of the corridor, coming to rest buried a full hand into the stone -- and a hair's breadth from Des' face, where she was coming around the corner. "Who are you yelling at?" she asked, unflapped, stepping back and tucking her hair back behind her ears. "There's no one here." 

Seal came to a stop with one foot up against the wall, trying to yank the weapon out. "Some -- fucker -- stole my broom," he said, grunting. "And cleaned my fucking treasury." 

Des raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Stole your broom and not your hoard of ancient and extremely valuable relics?" she asked. "And... swept with it? Surely you should be thanking them." 

"I don't know what they fucking did," Seal grumbled. He pulled one last time and finally pulled the spear free, which meant that boy and weapon went tumbling head over heels. From his new position on the floor, Seal swore loudly and freely.

Des' eyes sparked with laughter as she helped Seal to his feet. "Well, if you think the mystery can wait for an hour or two, Star has managed to warm up the pie. Without any slime involved."

"Pie," Seal said fervently, and forgot about the broom entirely.

+++

The pie was burnt. The sandwiches were dry. The brandy tasted like shit. Seal enjoyed the hell out of it all.

They had left the great hall dark and empty and chosen to eat in the kitchen instead. It was cozy, gathered around the slab in the center while the fire blazed in the stove. Des had found a fork and knife; Star and Seal were eating with their hands. Seal wasn't sure Sever was eating at all, but every time he looked there was less food on the plate, so he guessed he must be. Also, Seal was drunk. 

"Sol's own fucking cock," he said, wiping his mouth. "This stuff really fucking tastes like a rat's ass." He slammed the empty glass down on the table and motioned for Des to pour him another shot. "But damn if it doesn't fucking do you."

Star's giggle broke into hiccups. "How do you know what a rat'sh assh tashtesh like?" he managed to slur out. "Eat a lot of rat asshesh in your schildhood?"

"Not as many as your fucking mom," Seal shot back. Star gasped, actually offended, but Sever distracted him with a slice of pie and Seal gloated silently at getting the last word. 

"So," Des said, pouring herself another glass of rose, which Star and Seal weren't allowed to touch (Sever had a small cupful in front of him). "What sort of magnificent things have you got in this castle anyways?"

Seal shrugged around a mouthful of burger (helpfully prepared by Pho ahead of time). "Treasury mostly," he replied. "I raided the armory but there's a bunch more shit in there. Like five fucking rooms full of random junk. East tower's full of little glass things, no idea what they do. Library, chapel, hangar --"

"--hanger?" Star piped up. "Like a big clothesh hanger?"

"I believe Seal means a hangar," Sever cut in smoothly. "Where First Age flying vessels are often stored."

Star's jaw hung open, comically filled with half-mashed mince. "You got airschipsh?"

A grin spread across Seal's face. "Hey, Star. Betcha can't fly faster than a First Age warbird."

"Betscha can't hit me in the air with a Firscht Age warbird," Star countered, and they were off.

+++

This is not the intended use of a warbird.

"Can't hear you over the sound of this fucking warbird!" Seal shouted, over the sound of this fucking warbird. 

These are holy weapons of war, not children's toys!

"Eat my fucking ass," Seal answered hotly, pulling back on the harness-gloves. The warbird responded, thirty thousand pounds of ancient magic carefully yoked to steel and fire, made to cut through behemoths like wet paper. Currently, Seal was trying to keep Star in his sights, though the winged Day Caste was swooping erratically through the air above the Siege Perilous. 

At the very least you could shoot him down, Brightest Morning Star replied a little petulantly. It's commendable how quickly you've picked up the controls, but we both know it's really my hand at the helm. Show me what you can do.

Seal waved a hand dismissively, which caused the warbird to spin alarmingly through the air. "I'm not gonna kill him," he responded when the aircraft was back under control. "Just wanna show off a little."

Oh, and smashing a warbird into him at a hundred miles an hour won't kill him?

"He's got Resistance Charms," Seal said, squinting as he finally lined Star up in the center of his sights -- "He'll probably be fine." -- and rammed the throttle forwards. 

The warbird's skeleton, Seal vaguely remembered his preincarnation vaguely remembering, was made of orichalcum and jade inlaid with starmetal. But all the architectural parts were mundane steel, so it really should have been no surprise when the warbird intercepted Star with a sickening crunch and the nose of the warbird crumpled inwards, Star's body tearing through it like a cannonball and rocketing backwards past Seal's head. Seal whooped even as the warbird began blaring new alarm sirens; orichalcum and steel versus soulsteel and Abyssal, it was no contest.

I hope you're happy with yourself, Brightest Morning Star spat. Try not to land on my best roses.

The ground rose to meet Seal, and everything went black.

+++

When he came to, he was on fire.

Seal yelped and struggled out of the warbird's cockpit, slapping at himself all over. Half his shirt had burned away, and the right leg of his pants tore off entirely as he snagged it on something falling out of the cockpit. The flame didn't blacken his skin like it should have, but it still stung like a bitch, so Seal spent a good minute rolling on the ground and loosing a barrage of curses.

"Having fun?" a voice asked from nearby. Seal righted himself to find Des sitting at a glass table, teacup in hand. They were in the castle's courtyard, though Seal could see a smouldering streak on the roof where the warbird must have caught it on the way down; empty flowerbeds surrounded them, organizing the courtyard in a geomantically auspicious pattern. Seal could remember every flower that had bloomed here once, the perfected Essence they had channeled. None of them were the black roses spilling out where Bloodthorn was planted blade-down in the soil.

"Practically dust," Des said, setting down her teacup and running a hand over the dirt. "Haven't been watered in two thousand years. Still, there's life in these old things yet." She fondled a rose, heedless of the thorns. Seal was dimly aware that she was making a point, and decided not to care. 

"Where's Star?" he demanded. "Fucker owes me fifty yen."

Des shrugged. "He landed over there," she said, indicating a point over Seal's shoulder. He turned to see a divot gouged into the earth, and at the end a pair of craters he had come to associate with the Wings. "Then he got up, mumbled something about his bones, and limped away. Sever was preparing a party in the chapel, so I think he went there to lie down." Seal lit up and turned to go, but Des caught his hand. "Listen, Seal," she said, her voice lower. "Honestly. How are you feeling?"

A butterfly fluttered down to land on a rose. Vibrant blue shimmered against velvet black.

"Weird, honestly," Seal admitted. He came back to flop down into a chair opposite Des. "It's like.... he's still here, obviously, but this place isn't his anymore. It's mine. But he keeps trying to be me, or I keep trying to be him." He grunted in frustration at not having the words, but Des hummed softly and nodded.

"It's complicated," she agreed. "Hard to tell what's you and what isn't. And everything hurts in every direction. You know," she said, saving Seal the awkwardness of having to reply, "you should try talking to Sever sometime. You've got a lot in common."

Seal scoffed. "Sever?" he said scornfully. "I love the guy, but he's got more in common with a filing cabinet than a human being."

Des hummed again. "You might say that. Just as he might say you've got more in common with your spear than with any of us." Seal's anima burst into darkness, but Des laid her hand on his -- gently, communicating her calm. "Exactly," she said. "Exactly." 

Seal grumbled and withdrew his power. "Fine," he said. "Let's go see about this fucking party.

+++

They found Sever and Star in the chapel. Star was laying on a pew, an arm over his eyes, still smoking slightly. The Wings had sawed a hole in the back of the pew so they could drape dejectedly onto the floor. Sever was sitting on the floor, a scroll of parchment rolled out down the center aisle. Seal limped closer to discover that Sever was making exactly the itinerary he hadn't made: a room-by-room schedule that spanned the entire night. 

"Sol fucking Invictus," Seal muttered. "Did you hand write four fucking copies of the same schedule?"

"It is not the same schedule," Sever explained, handing them out. "These also contain personalized information such as alcohol preferences and sleeping arrangements. But, yes."

Des took her itinerary with interest. "My, Sever, this is.... very thought out. You've placed yourself on a team with Seal for chicken?" 

Seal thought he saw the shadow of a blush cross Sever's face. "Star has an advantage because of his wings and Seal has one because of his Caste, so I thought your style of motion would complement Star's best." Des nodded thoughtfully. 

"Yeah! We're gonna fucking kick your assh at schicken!" Star called from the pew, where he was now face down. "Juscht asch shoon asch my fasche shtopsh being on fire."

"You owe me a hundred yen, by the fucking way," Seal called back. Star grumbled and fished around in his pockets for a minute, then flipped him a koku and muttered for him to keep the schange. Seal pocketed it and glared around the room darkly. Colored crystal occupied the entire wall behind the podium, depicting Brightest Morning Star with four arms driving his spear down the throat of a serpentine raksha. There was no sun above Siege Perilous, yet Brightest Morning Star's face shone as though the sun were shining through it. Seal exchanged glares with it for a minute before looking away. "Do we have to fucking start here, though?" he muttered. "I hate this fucking room."

Sever looked down with a frown, pen already in hand, but Des caught his hand before he could start writing. "That's exactly why we're starting here," she said. "I've brought some supplies I think you might enjoy." She reached into a basket and pulled out a small silvery cylinder, with a bump at one end, and handed it to Seal. "Hold it like this," she instructed, "twist that nozzle, and press down. No, hold it the other way --"

A hideous shade of yellow-green filled Seal's vision, and he reflexively flared his anima. As Essence blasted outwards from his body his eyes cleared, and he could see that a faint cloud of that color was still hanging in the air, except for what had been blasted away and was now coating the carpet. Des sighed. "It's paint," she said. "You spray it on the walls and it stays there just about forever. I thought you might like to personalize the wall over there." She indicated Brightest Morning Star's shining disgusting face, and Seal grinned.

"Wake up, Star," he said. "Let's commit some fucking art."

+++

They defaced the chapel. They had a mock war in the armory. Seal let Des raid the library for all she could carry, then they built book forts and launched dictionaries across the room (Cascade of Papercut Terror made its debut to thunderous applause). They got scandalously, outrageously, rip-roaringly drunk in the wine cellars, which were full of booze that must have made even a First Age god-king's constitution take pause. They sang extremely rude songs in the courtyard, and did somersaults on every bed in every bedroom. The castle filled with laughter and dust. 

Eventually, though, even the most powerful of Exalted wear themselves out. Des found a glory-crystal saga in the library, the dramatization of some First Age romance-battle, and they set up in the great hall to watch. The deathknights bundled themselves up with blankets pilfered from the master room and scarfed down candied berries from the pantry. For something produced in a golden age of magic and science, the reenactment was laughably bad, and they spent a pleasant hour flinging critiques and berries at the projection. "Come on, haven't theshe guysh ever shtabbed anyone in the back?" Star shouted. "Thish ish the worsht fucking form I've ever sheen!"

"Completely horrendous," Des agreed as she popped another berry in her mouth. "But she deserves it. My god, anything to make her shut up for a second."

Seal stretched his arms out and yawned. "She talks more than Shadow fucking does when he's trying to justify his dumb shit as extremely wise fucking shit." He glanced around the room. "Hey, quick question. Where the fuck is Sever?"

Star diverted his gaze to scan the room for a moment. "Guessh he shtepped out for a minute," he said. "Maybe he couldn't shtomach the schitty shpeschial effectsh."

"Seriously, Sculpted Seafoam Eidolon is a Terrestrial spell, would it fucking kill them to put some effort in?"

"I'm gonna go find him," Seal declared, standing up and wobbling momentarily from the Exalted-level alcohol in his system. "Nobody gets to miss this shit." 

Des shrugged. "Whatever you say."

+++

Seal found Sever watching the ocean. 

The window at the end of the west hall, Seal knew, looked out onto a perpetually stormy sea with grey skies. Seal knew this cause he was pretty sure there was no fucking sea near Siege Perilous, and had been about to smash through the window and check it out before Brightest Morning Star yelled at him not to. He was never sure if it was a portal to some real sea in Creation or just an illusion, or maybe something else entirely.

Sever was curled up in the windowsill, head turned sideways to stare out over the roiling black waves. Seal thought for sure he would hear him coming up, but Sever was so lost in thought that he didn't notice until Seal tapped him on the shoulder. Only Seal's keenly honed battle senses let him notice the instant of reflexive tension before Sever returned to perfect relaxation and turned to face Seal serenely. "Ah, Seal," he said, sounding professional as ever. "How are you enjoying the festivities?"

Seal snorted. "You kidding?" he asked, moving to sit in the opposite end of the windowsill. "This is the best fucking birthday bash I've had in..... uh, ever. So fucking cheers to you." He mimed raising a glass, and Sever smiled faintly.

"Well," he said, rising smoothly, "I won't obstruct you, then. Continue to enjoy your evening --"

"Whoa, whoa, slow the fuck down," Seal said, catching Sever's wrist and feeling again that reflexive tense. "Where the hell are you going?"

Sever waved a hand vaguely. "To clean," he said, not resisting Seal's pull but not giving in. "The kitchen should be scoured, and though I understand the art in the chapel is to be a permanent fixture I'd like to sharpen up the edges and cover some of the more fragile --"

"Hang the fuck on," Seal said, as his brain finally caught up with what Sever was saying. "Was that you earlier, that cleaned up the fucking armory and then ran the fuck away like some kind of freak? What did you do that for? How did you know there was shit in there?" Sever looked like he was trying to answer every question at once, but Seal didn't let him get a word in edgewise. "For fuck's sake, dude, we brought you here to have fun, not to be some weird shadow with a broom. Live a little! Have some fucking fun, man!"

"As a matter of fact, Seal, I am enjoying myself. In my own way." Sever sounded slightly put off by Seal's enthusiasm.

Seal scoffed. "Bull fucking shit you are."

Sever blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I said bull fucking shit on a rat's hot cock you're having fun. You think I don't know angst brooding when I see it?" Seal gestured out over the waters. "Dude, I brood here all the time. It's, like, my number three spot in the castle. Stare at the fucking ocean and think about death or whatever. Right?" he demanded.

Sever blinked again, more slowly. ".... something like that," he admitted after a long pause.

"Something fucking like that," Seal agreed. "Well, bullshit to fucking that. I'm not allowed to brood tonight, and neither are fucking you. No more cleaning either. Des can summon some ghosts in the morning."

"But I'm perfectly capable of --"

"-- of sitting your ass down and acting like a human being, you jackass!" Seal was surprised by the force of his own words. "Sol Invictus, it fucking wigs me out sometimes, you know that?" A mixture of emotions crossed beneath the surface of Sever's face. "I know you are, even if you fucking don't. Yeah, you don't know who you fucking are, your soul was eaten or what the fuck ever, big fucking deal. None of us knows a goddamn fucking thing about ourselves, and do you think it's ever stopped me? Come on," he demanded, suddenly rising to his feet and striding down the hall, Sever still in tow.

"Where are we -- I really must protest --"

Seal dragged Sever all the way to the treasury, scooped a shelf-ful of glass figurines into Sever's protesting arms, and then back into the chapel. "Right," he said, taking the figurines from Sever and setting them on the floor in front of him. "Got your sword with you?"

"Unfortunately," Sever said, "I was not allowed to bring Atrumarkinos on this expedition."

Seal rolled his eyes. "Good," he said. "You'd be too good with it anyways. Here," and in a single motion he summoned Glorious First Light and brought it crashing down on the back of the pew.

Sever flinched so hard Seal thought he might actually leave his body. "What are you doing?" he asked, so pointedly that Seal could almost consider it a shout.

"Improvising," Seal answered, pulling at a bar of wood off the back of the pew. He had to stand on it with one foot and wrench it off with both hands, and only Essence saved him from a fistful of splinters, but in the end he was left with a plank about half as tall as Sever was. He handed it to the bemused Day Caste, returned to his spot, and held up a figurine. "Right. What can you tell me about these?"

Sever peered at it from across the room. "First Age artifice is not my forte, but I believe they are similar to a lesser form of yasal crystal. Each imprisons a minor spirit, hardly greater than the god of a grain of rice. I cannot say what purpose such a least spirit could serve. Perhaps simply to retain a memory, and recount it when charged?"

Seal squinted down at the figurine in his hand, a little statuette of Brightest Morning Star with spear overhead. "Really? Huh." Now that Sever mentioned it, there did appear to be a little light flickering in the middle of it. Seal looked back up, tossing it in his hand to gauge its weight. "Well, I guess you're not wrong. But you're also totally wrong. The only fucking thing these things are good for," he said, winding up, “is for smashing.”

Sever flinched a good ten seconds before the figurine smashed against the wall behind him. A wisp of glowing smoke rose up and whispered in a tinny voice before dissipating. "Come on!" Seal shouted. "I know you have Melee, hit it with your fucking thing!"

"I do not believe this is safe, Seal," Sever called with rising urgency as he ducked another figurine.

"Safety is for fucking cowards!" Seal bellowed as he began to throw them with increasing speed. "Stop dodging and break some shit like a man!"

He had to admit, though, that Sever's evasive skills were impressive. Seal was putting some Essence into his throws now, trying to peg Sever in the arm or leg, and normally would have guessed there was no power that could stop him -- but whatever was driving Sever, fear or common sense, animated him like a madman and kept him just slightly faster than Seal's projectiles. A luminescent haze rose from the floor at Sever's feet, miniature gods dissipating into the ether. And then Seal saw the change come over him. To his adrenaline-charged senses, it seemed to happen in slow motion: Sever' feet squared against the stone, back foot braced and front foot pointed. His spine, usually painfully upright, bent like a coiled snake; purpose set his shoulders and tensed his arms. The crack of glass against the wood echoed throughout the chapel, and Seal could have sworn it was the most beautiful sound in the world, just before the spray of glass ricocheted back and stabbed him in the face.

Sever dropped the plank like it was red-hot and hurried over to where Seal was rolling on the floor, hands clutched to his face, making a sound like a dying elephant. "Are you alright?" he asked frantically, trying to hold Seal still long enough to assess the damage. "I'll get Des, maybe she can moliate something --"

Seal grabbed at Sever's shoulders. "That -- was -- fucking -- brilliant!" he shouted, and confusion replaced fear as Sever realized Seal was laughing. Blood dripped down his face, from cuts of glass and from his caste mark. "Yes! That's what I'm fucking talking about! You're a fucking natural!" Seal laughed, pumping a fist in the air with elation. 

+++

Des and Star found them another half hour later, the crystal-saga having ended on a cliffhanger. It was the sound that drew them to the chapel: sounds of shattering glass, splintering wood, and laughter -- a laugh they had never heard before. Des rounded the corner first, then threw out an arm to stop Star and backpedaled hurriedly. "Look," she whispered, so Star stuck his head around the corner to look, and what he saw made his jaw drop.

Seal was standing at the far end of the chapel, piles of glass figurines around him. He was hurling the shards overhand at Sever, who was standing with his back to the chapel's entrance, holding.... a broken-off piece of wood? And was, unerringly, smashing every figurine as it sailed towards him, even when he had to jump to catch it or dive before it hit the floor. Unerringly, the spray of glass flew back towards Seal, who appeared to be playing a game of how long he could wait before hiding behind the pulpit. Blood speckled the wall of crystal behind him, though only Star's Essence-enhanced senses could pick that up. But he didn't need Essence to identify the unidentifiable noise.

Both Sever and Seal were laughing.

[dahvangogh]

Enchanted

Sitting at the bench, scarf and coat tight around her, Eleonora Sava calmly waited for her friends.

The bell had just rung, clear signal that the break started now and students could leave their classes.

She had went to a doctors appointment earlier and arrived around five minutes ago, opting to not go to class for just 5 minutes of lesson and just sit there to wait.

Eleonora saw a few students go out to the playground, chatting and eating sandwiches. Nothing new. But then she saw Giovanni Garau leaning on a tree in front of her with his arms crossed around his chest and her attention was all on him.

Eva had been talking about him this past weeks non stop. It seemed Sofia l’Argentina and Giovanni had started dating and a very curious Eva asked Gio about it, which ended with very nasty looks thrown by Sofia to Eva and whispering all the time with her friends whenever Eva was around.

Sofia was probably jealous, or cautious, about Eva approaching Giovanni.

Eleonora didn’t understand why though, after all if they were dating that meant that they felt something for each other. Just because Eva was Gio’s ex didn’t mean anything.

She had voiced her thoughts about it with the girls, but most of them didn’t agree with her. Silvia said that it was normal, that probably Sofia feared Eva would steal her boyfriend.

You can’t steal someone, people are human beings with feelings anymore and thoughts. It’s not like Giovanni is a toy and Eva is going to steal it, Silvia! she had refuted what her friend had said, but Sana was also with Silvia on this.

The brunette blinked a few times and sighed, not because Giovanni was now fully making out with her girlfriend against the tree, but because her friends were late.

As usual, nothing new.

Her attention was still on the affectionate couple, clearly very into each other, and her mind started working further than she would have wanted.

Relationships.

Love.

It looked nice to have someone to hug, talk and love. Relationships seemed hard to her, for almost all boys she had met only wanted sex and nothing else, but she had always been a romantic girl.

When Eleonora had been 13, she had idealized this popular boy at her old school. Every girl was in love with him back then, and she had also been star struck. One day he had also looked back when she was admiring him from afar, smiled and winked at her. Later that day, he had asked her on a date and she had happily accepted.

She had thought that would be the first of many dates to come, that he would be her boyfriend and her his girlfriend.

Oh, how wrong had she been!

He took her to his house, they watched the Blair Witch movie and had sex on his sofa. She didn’t even enjoy the sex, but still thought that it meant something for the both of them.

Next day at school when she tried to approached him, he was making out with some other girl.

The same happened the next days but with different girls.

It had made her feel stupid, weak and pathetic. She had cried almost all that week after that, then she came to the conclusion that he had dumped her because she was not pretty enough or good enough. All those girls were tall, skinny and pretty.

She didn’t see herself as that at all.

So she almost starved herself to death, working out every day and trying stupid diets that she found online or in books at the library. It only ended when one day she fainted in front of Filippo, who took her to the Hospital and stayed with her while she was hospitalized.

For a whole month.

Eleonora chewed her lower lip while remembering, after all those memories would always haunt her. How stupid and naive she had been back then, all for a boy who wasn’t worthy.

“Hello, beautiful.”

She almost jumped from the bench, Eleonora had been so immersed on her thoughts that she had not seen the tall boy standing besides her bench, facing her with a goofy smile.

Edoardo was smiling while looking at her. That damned smile put together with a leather jacket and those messy curls, he looked ugly to her.

Very ugly.

Not handsome, charming and irresistible at all.

She rolled her eyes and sighed as an answer, clearly not interested in him.

He gave a throaty laugh at her antics, still staring at her with shiny eyes and soft smile.

“What do you want, Eduardo?” her voice all tense, trying to keep her cool.

“A date.”

She laughed, but no humor was behind it.

“Not gonna happen.”

Edoardo nodded, his lips curling his lips in a childish way. Not cool at all.

“Eleonora, I believed we talked about this back at your friends birthday party. And…”

She huffed.

“Eduardo, it’s been what? Three months since that? I’m sure there are some other girls out there who would love that, but not me.” she looked up, for he was taller than her and her sitting position didn’t help much with this. “Give up already.”

He just stared at her, their eye battle almost leaving her breathless with its intensity. She couldn’t figure out all those emotions she saw on his face, his jaw clenched and lips pursed.

Then he surprised her by kneeling at her side, as close as possible, stare not dropping.

“I won’t give up. It’s not about my damned ego if that is what you think.” he gave a small smile. “Is it that hard to believe that i’m completely bewitched by you?”

“Body and soul? Who are you, Mr. Darcy?” she tried not to smile, as hard as possible, but a small one appeared on her red lips. “Please, try not to copy great characters. That won’t change my perception of you, Eduardo.”

He laughed softly, clearly understanding the reference.

“Enchanted.” his smile was so soft, her heart almost did a somersault right there because of it. “You have enchanted me. It’s not only how about how beautiful you are, because you are are fucking beautiful. But there is more, much more. And I just want to know you better.”

She had been left breathless.

Boys like Edoardo Incanti broke hearts wherever they went, she had already experienced that years ago and Silvia was almost obsessed with him.

This couldn’t end well.

But he was looking at her like that, with that soft smile, all full of charm and wittiness. Eyes only on her almost everyday, no matter how much she ignored him, if she looked just once back his attention was full on her.

He truly seemed interested in her.

“I—“

“Edoardo!?”

They both looked behind, the Le Matte standing behind them with curiosity all over their faces.

Silvia was smiling and her eyes shined with expectation, almost not even paying attention to Eleonora sitting there. The others were almost analyzing the whole picture, not awestruck or infatuated as Silvia was of Edoardo.

“Ele?” Eva asked worried, or curious, but Eleonora only payed attention to Silvia.

Silvia, who had been hurt and used by him. Her dear friend, who was naive and too good, but so loving and supporting of her.

Endless messages and video chats while she was studying abroad in Manchester, who almost everyday told her how much she missed her or how she had saw something that remembered of her.

Her Silvia.

Eleonora’s eyes felt moist, tears ready to start falling down her cheeks.

She felt like the worst person ever.

Perhaps Edoardo saw it in her eyes, the shame and guilt, or how tensed her body got.

But she noticed him standing, all cool and poised, facing her friends.

“Hey there, Friday night, party at my house. You are all invited.”

Federica laughed happily while Sana smiled at Silvia, who seamed on the verge of squealing out loud.

“We will come, of course we will go!” she answered quickly.

“Fuck yeah, I need a good party after studying too much.” Fede said, nodding to what she had said.

“What study are you talking about? You have flunked your two exams.” Sana tried hard to suppress her laugh.

“That’s because of the teachers, they asked things we didn’t even cover at class! How could I have known that crap?!”

Silvia laughed almost too quickly.

“We will be there, don’t mind them. See you, Edoardo!”

He might have nodded, or perhaps said something, but Eleonora didn’t pay much attention to him.

Edoardo left, heard her friends biding him goodbye, but her undivided attention wasn’t on him at all.

Only on Silvia.

She was smiling so bright.

The guilt of what she had felt while her friend was oblivious to everything and then seeing her all happy, about Edoardo personally inviting her to the his party, it was too much.

Eleonora Sava felt bad, probably the worst she had felt in a long long time. She was a shitty friend.

Federica and Silvia quickly sat besides her while Sana and Eva stood in front of them, clearly exited about the party.

“Ele, did she ask for me?” Silvia asked excited.

She snapped out of her daydream when she heard her name called.

All the girls looking at her, expectation and curiosity in the air.

“Err… he asked where my friends were and said something about the party?” she babbled quickly, smiling at Silvia and the others.

They kept chatting and making plans about Friday night, but she didn’t care at all about the stupid party.

Her feelings were a mess, she was a mess.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, worry all over Eva’s face. The red hair knew her too well.

You okay? her friend mouthed.

She nodded, giving her a sort of convincing smile. Probably Eva would ask her about it later on, but not in front of the others. She wouldn’t put her under the focus of such a delicate matter as Edoardo Incanti while the others were there.

Her phone vibrated on her coat’s left pocket, Eleonora took it out and checked it.

A message on WhatsApp.

She didn’t even have to unlock her phone, the notification displayed the message right there.

I meant it, Eleonora.

By fucking Edoardo Incanti.

And that’s it, pretty crappy but I needed some Incantava content because the fandom is clearly starving so I said fuck it, I will write it myself lmao. Hope you all liked it and sorry for any typos, wrote it too quickly!