#although i guess if you ARE a baby and your definition of dark fantasy IS 'bad things happen and also there's occasional gore'

[eff-plays]

"Wdym the game is too sanitized? Didn't you see the blighted village? The hanging bodies? The implied slavery? 🙄 Oh and btw half of Thedas is gone so the stakes are higher than ever!"

Ooooh, I see! You're a baby! If I'm around by that point, god forbid, then you're welcome to come and debate me on this in 5-10 years! 🥰

[from-a-reckless-writer]

here's me jumping into the bandwagon :D

(read on ao3)

It's just after sunset when Kara finally gives in. She veers off from her patrol down to a route she knows by heart.

The moment she lands, the first thing she notices is how the sliding doors are a fraction open. It’s a small thing, nothing to even be thrilled about, yet still, her drumming heart cannot be helped.

"Knock, knock," she says, stepping inside.

Her heart turning anxious when she takes in the sight in front of her. The room is a mess; books on the floor, drawers open, Lena’s frazzled appearance. She's standing over a suitcase thrown open in the middle of the bed, a mountain of clothes on top of it.

She was told that Lena was going on a trip, that it would probably take three weeks tops.

Packing for a trip doesn’t look like this, this looks a lot like... leaving.

Going on a trip, Kara remembers that’s what her family told her too.

You and Kal are going on a trip but you don’t have to worry, we’ll be with you the rest of the way, they told her.

A trip implies there would be a home to come back to. And Kara believed it. She believed it for a total of ten seconds before her planet exploded and a shard of her home knocked her off-course.

"Need some help?" Her voice doesn’t tremble. Kara considers that a miracle, really.

"I didn't know Supergirl helped poor hapless women pack suitcases,” Lena retorts, walking over to her and kissing her cheek in greeting. It doesn't go unnoticed by Kara how clingy Lena's been since she's been back.

"Well, I wouldn’t exactly consider you poor and hapless," Kara counters.

"I may have had a slight,” Lena pinches her thumb and forefinger together, “panic over which and what to pack earlier.”

Yeah, Kara can definitely see that.

"Good thing I’m here then?”

"It's always good whenever you're around,” Lena says in such a casual way and it’s like the past year didn’t happen. As if it has always been this good. And...is this even allowed? This much affection from Lena? All the sweet words, the gentle touches, and the constant close proximity? It shouldn’t be allowed, not if it will be taken from her almost immediately after.

Unfair, is what it is.

******

“Okay, so why don’t we just move this out here yeah?” Kara voices, leaning over and hugging the lump of clothes to her chest, dumps it out from the suitcase and onto Lena’s pillows.

Lena’s fabric conditioner filling Kara’s senses entirely. For a brief moment, she considers stealing one of Lena’s shirts then and there. Something to tide her through once Lena leaves.

“Great. You’re on folding duty then,” Lena declares, “I’ll just go sort my babies, quickly. I’ll be right back.”

(Her 'babies' being the thick books lining every inch of this place.)

Lena disappears through the door. The domesticity of it all pulling at Kara’s chest.

In another world, where life ran a little differently, Kara would be packing their suitcases for a trip to Argo, or maybe one of the planets she’s always wanted Lena to see, or maybe it’d be nothing that grand. Maybe, just a trip back to Midvale. Lena would read to her on the whole drive there, her hair whipping from the winds down coastal roads.

Maybe not even a trip. Maybe in this other world, she’s assigned on folding duty, while Lena tinkers around their house. Maybe, even a dog or a cat. Maybe, something small at first, just an aquarium of fishes.

She doesn’t notice how deep into the fantasy she’s gotten till Lena speaks up from the door.

"My, my, CatCo would pay a million dollars to see this."

"Uh-"

"Supergirl found in bed, folding Lena Luthor's undies."

Kara looks down at her hand. She’s holding a lacy purple panty, she spots the matching bra laying a few inches away. She drops it lightning quick, feels her face flush.

"Oh, Rao. Lena, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to- I wasn't- It was just there and I-"

"Relax, Kara. I was just teasing,” Lena reassures her, she’s got three books tucked in her arms, she lays them down on the bed, before picking up the underwear Kara’s dropped and folding it neatly.

The contrast of the dark fabric against Lena’s pale fingers makes Kara flush an even brighter red.

Kara tries hard to exclude Lena's lacy panties in her fantasy.

She fails.

******

They give up on packing entirely two hours later. An all out pillow fight breaks out somewhere between Kara fishing out her favorite hoodie from the pile--discovering t'was not in fact missing like she thought it was--and Lena denying that she stole it.

They’ve fallen right on top of Lena’s clothes. Laying opposite each other, Lena lying upside down, her feet propped up on the pillows, toes touching the headboard, whilst Kara’s legs dangle at the end of the bed. Their heads close together.

From this angle, she can see the defined slope of Lena’s nose; stares at the way her lashes curl every time she blinks.

“So, what do you think you’ll find there?” Kara breathes out into the silence.

“I don’t really know,” Lena whispers.

“Let me rephrase then; what do you want to find?”

“I- I don’t know either.”

She tries to crane her neck to take a better look at Lena. Her eyes are closed, and it takes every ounce of self-control for Kara not to lean over and just press a kiss to Lena’s lips. It would be so, so easy. She settles for shifting just a bit closer instead, their temples touching.

It’s good enough.

“That’s okay," Kara murmurs, "not knowing is part of the adventure, right?”

She tries not to think about how she isn’t really part of this adventure. It isn’t about her, really. Kara’s decided the next three days will be about Lena. Kara will have time for breaking down once Lena leaves. The three days pales in comparison to how much Lena’s sacrificed in getting her back.

“I guess so.” she hears Lena say.

On the ceiling, Kara sees two shadows dancing with each other, tries not to look too deep into it.

And then,

“I had Jess trace down a couple of documents for me,”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. There’s an orphanage that could help me, she thinks.”

Kara’s ears perk up at that, she imagines Lena as a small child crying for her mom and then being whisked away from everything she ever knew. Kara wishes she could hold that little girl’s hand. Why did nobody hold Lena’s hand through it all? Kara wonders if somebody did, would Lena even have met her? Would she have needed somebody like Kara in her life? She likes to believe that Lena would still have met her. A reality without Lena was too painful, Kara knows all too well.

“Is that where you’re going to visit first?”

“Yeah.”

A brief silence engulfs them.

“Hey, Kara,” Lena calls out. “Do you think-”

There’s a deep exhale and a sigh.

“Do I think what?”

“Do you think my mom would want me to find her again? Do you think she’s proud of me?”

The question was so full of uncertainty and insecurity and there's nothing that Kara wants more than to just wrap around Lena and tell her how goddamn amazing she is.

“Oh, Lena," Kara whispers, "your mom would be so happy if you found her. I’d even say she’s been waiting for you. And of course, she’s proud of you!” Kara sits up at this, can’t contain all her awe for Lena.

“You’re amazing! Have you met you? Your mom would be so proud of you. I just know it, Lena.”

Lena opens her eyes, smiles shyly at her, reaches up to cup Kara’s cheek. Even though the angle is awkward, Kara feels her entire being light up at the touch.

“Thank you. You always know just what to say.”

Kara's right hand comes up to keep Lena’s hand steady, before tilting slowly to press a kiss to her palm.

She registers the up-tick in her heartbeat before letting go and laying back down again.

Kara’s beginning to understand, now. Lena doesn’t want to wonder anymore, maybe if she knew where she came from, who she could’ve been, and what kind of life she could’ve led, existing wouldn’t be as hard as it is now. Maybe Lena wanted to know that a Luthor isn’t all that she is. Even though Kara has repeated again and again that she is so much more. Lena needs to figure that out for herself, Kara guesses.

Maybe, Lena finally needs a name other than what has been ingrained in her. Maybe Lena needs to name the parts of herself she never had before.

“Maybe you came from a family of thieves,” Kara murmurs, closing her eyes too.

“Kara.” she feels Lena shift, she opens one eye to see Lena propped on her elbows leaning over her. “Are you saying you think being a hoodie thief is genetic?”

“You never know, Lena you never know,” Kara manages to say, her brain a loop of, Lena’s eyes are so pretty, so pretty, so pretty, her hair smells so nice, please kiss me, please kiss-

Kara closes her eyes again to make the chanting stop.

“You do know I'm a scientist, right?”

“Mm. Doesn’t make you any less of a hoodie thief.”

That earns her a pillow on the face.

“Personally, I think you’re some lost princess though," Kara divulges.

Lena lets out a loud incredulous laugh at that.

“What?" Lena blurts out, "You think I’m a princess?”

There’s a cheesy pick-up line there somewhere that Kara chooses to ignore.

“Well, you have the whole Snow White look down to a T, after all. Pale skin, dark hair. The whole ensemble really.”

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," Lena groans, “but, I think you might be right. God, I even have the whole evil stepmother-stepbrother dynamic down. Does that make you one of my dwarfs?”

“Dwarf? Really? Lena, really?”

She’s glad to learn that Lena had picked up a thing or two from their Disney marathons. That doesn’t mean Kara appreciates being called a dwarf though. She sits up and leans back on her elbows too; their faces inches from each other now. Lena’s eyes gleaming with mischief.

“You turn into Grumpy when someone eats your ice cream.”

Kara gasps, clutches her heart as if wounded and falls down dramatically. Lena just laughs at her, lies down again before asking, “Think I’ll find Prince Charming there, then?”

“You don’t need Prince Charming.”

I’m right here.

“True,” Lena agrees. Lena doesn’t need anybody, although would it really hurt if she says that she needed Kara the way Kara needs her?

“Ireland seems like the best place to run off into the sunset though," Lena wonders aloud.

“Is that what you wanna do?” Kara asks, “Just run off into the sunset?”

Because, because, if it is, I can do something even better. I can fly you off into the sunset. All you have to do is ask. Her heart is galloping in her chest and she’s grateful that out of the two of them, she’s the only one with super hearing.

“No, I don’t think so,” Lena answers and Kara lets out a none too subtle breath of relief.

“You don’t have to search for a home, you know,” Kara whispers. She just- She just needs Lena to know this, okay?

“I know,” Lena answers. “I still need to do this though.”

Once Lena Luthor makes up her mind there’s no changing it, it’s something Kara’s come to know through the years.

“You’ll come back soon though?”

“Maybe. Honestly, Kara? I don’t really know about ‘soon’. How close is ‘soon’ anyway? Would there even be a good reason for me to come back?”

How Kara held her all screams in the moment Lena said that, she doesn’t know.

******

There are balloons and cake and confetti but it doesn’t feel anything remotely close to a party.

It feels more something along the lines of, train wreck and heartbreak and building on fire. In short, disaster.

She vaguely registers Kelly asking her to hover and hang the banner. Why would she want to hang a banner screaming “We”ll Miss You!” in glittering blue? Kara grabs the ends of it and hangs it up anyway.

We’ll Miss You doesn't even begin to cover Kara’s feelings about Lena’s departure and oncoming absence.

But then again, this isn’t about her.

The door buzzes before Kara can spiral down her blackhole again.

Andrea comes in through the door with a bottle of champagne, which she hands off to Kara along with her coat. Kara fumbles after Andrea.

This isn’t CatCo! I’m not your employee! And champagne? Really? What is there to celebrate?

Lena arrives shortly after and streamers are let out. They make in-jokes and everyone’s laughing and Alex keeps telling Lena to bring home ‘some of the good stuff’ and Brainy keeps asking if he’s allowed to tinker with Lena’s projects while she's away, and Nia’s handing Lena an old film camera, “Document everything for me? Alright?" and Kara’s trying, she really, really is.

Even though she can’t understand how all of them are happy and smiling at the thought of Lena leaving them.

She doesn’t even notice what she’s doing till she’s bracing herself for take-off out in Lena’s balcony, when a hand lands on her wrist.

“Hey.” Lena anchors her back to the ground. It’s a mistake to turn and meet Lena’s eyes.

“Stay? Please?” Lena asks.

Unfair, Kara thinks again. It’s unfair that she gets to ask that.

******

Kara stays.

She stays till the lights are off, the blankets drawn and Lena’s snoring in her arms.

She’s eyeing the suitcase at the corner of the room.

I forgive you, she thinks, I forgive you for taking my heart in the suitcase you packed.

She didn’t even know it was trapped inside till Lena’s zipping everything up and Kara couldn’t breathe.

“Please, please, don’t go,” she pleads into the dark. .

Lena shifts, mumbles incoherently and burrows deeper into Kara.

******

The runway is shimmering after the early morning drizzle, and Lena Luthor looks like someone from a magazine, standing there in her velvet coat and aviators. There’s only the two of them, and there’s a smug pride in Kara about the fact that Lena didn’t want anybody here but her.

She’s leaving today. In a few hours, they’ll be on different continents. Kara wouldn’t be able to trace her heartbeat anymore. Lena made her promise not to chase the plane. She’s still pretty bummed about that.

“You know I’m gonna call you everyday, right?” Kara mutters in her ear, arms wrapped tight around Lena.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from Kara Danvers.” Lena squeezes back, before pulling away.

“G-good.”

“Well, this is my ride,” Lena tells her, gestures to the jet behind her. “This is goodbye then.”

“For now.” Kara insists.

“For now.” Lena confirms, “Goodbye, for now.”

She turns to go but Kara can’t-

“Lena, wait.”

She tugs on Lena’s hand and she comes back to her willingly. Before Kara loses the nerve, she presses into Lena’s lips. She cups her face gently, feels the warmth of the sun on her cheeks, feels the moment Lena’s brain catches up to what’s happening.

It doesn’t taste like goodbye, Kara realizes. It tastes like a promise of something more.

“What was that for?” Lena breathes out, Kara can hear their hearts hammering in sync.

“Your reason to come back home.”

[special shoutout to @mssirey who gave great writing advice to this poor hapless writer（〃｀ 3′〃）i kith u on the forehead. ]

[jj-babebank]

Room 107 // chapter II // JJ Maybank (smut)

The story picks up where season 2 leaves us.

TW: Contains mentions of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sex and violence.

CHAPTER ONE can be found here.

Chapter 2 - La Realidad

The lobby was surprisingly big and it matched the interior of the diner to a T. Everything was rustic and cheesy-looking, mimicking what Americans imagined people in Spain’s houses to look like. The black and white tiles from the diner went on into the foyer, covered in plants. The ceiling was very high and you could see the roof from the middle of the lobby. Four sets of sofas and tables were spread around, but all of them were vacant, much like the ones in the diner.

Samara was leaning against one of the many columns supporting the arches on which the upper parts of the walls were resting, waiting for the group. JJ smiled at her but she didn’t smile back, only turned around and motioned for them to follow her up a wide set of stairs. “Seeing as we’re almost fully booked tonight, you’ll be staying on the first floor,” she said, stopping at the first floor’s landing where a hallway of doors revealed itself, “With me.” The sound of that excited JJ a little too much for his liking. “Fully booked?” John B mumbled under his breath, “Yeah right,” he scoffed. “Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly, friend of JJ,” Samara said, obviously having heard him regardless of the fact that she was a good few feet ahead of them, “There is more than meets the eye down here in La Guardiana.” She stopped in front of a door, placing a key inside the keyhole, “Room 103,” she said, opening the door to reveal a scarcely furnished small room with hideous red wallpaper on the walls and a double bed situated between two Spanish windows, “Obviously only two can sleep here, so who’s it gonna be?” Sarah volunteered first, “Me and John B can have it,” she said, quickly adding, “If that’s okay with you, of course…” “Alright,” Samara said, turning the lights on in what JJ guessed was the bathroom, “This is your bathroom, there’s shampoo and soap in there, I’m guessing you’ll need it, enjoy.” She said, leading the others out of the room and down to the next one, 105. She unlocked the door, revealing an almost identical room to the previous one with the only difference being in the wallpaper colour - it was blue. Kiara and Cleo agreed to share this room, which left JJ with Pope. “And room 107,” said Samara, unlocking the second to last door down the hallway, “It’s right next to mine, how lucky,” she said sarcastically, handing Pope the keys. He ran into the room, laying on the bed with a look of pure bliss on his face. JJ turned to Samara, “Hey, uh, thank you so much again, I-“ “Meet me in the lobby at midnight.” She interrupted him, turning on her heel to walk away, “Don’t be late.” JJ’s pants suddenly felt awfully tight with excitement as he nodded, “Okay!” He said enthusiastically, “But… What time is it now?”

~~~~~~

The good thing about 100 degree temperature was that everything dried quickly. Whether it was hair or clothes or underwear - it dried up in no time. This was exactly why after taking what felt like the best showers of their lives, JJ and Pope washed their clothes and let them air dry on the window sills. Both boys were currently laying in bed in their towels, staring at the ceiling with only the sound of the big wall clock ticking away in the background. “She wants to meet up, you know?” JJ suddenly broke the silence. Pope snickered next to him, “You know what, JJ? I’ve gotta give it to you, man. Even smelly and dirty, you still manage to get the girl. How do you even do it?” JJ smiled proudly, “What can I say? I guess I’m just irresistible.” Pope laughed at his friend’s words. “So what time are you going to her room?” He asked. “Oh, she wants to meet me in the lobby. Probably wants to have a couple of drinks to, uh, you know, break the ice. Little does she know that JJ Maybank is more than just a pretty face and a man of few words,” JJ said cockily, “Come here, baby, I can recite you the whole dictionary” he wiggled his eyebrows. Pope was laughing hysterically at his friend’s cockiness, “What would we ever do without you, man?” “I’ll tell you one thing you wouldn’t have done without me,” he said, sitting up at gesturing towards their surroundings, “Sleep in a bed, at a hotel, for free,” Pope nodded, “Dude, I still can’t believe this is happening, this girl’s practically saving our asses,” “Yeah and you just wait ’til I get a hold of hers,” JJ wiggled his eyebrows once again. Pope scoffed, “What time are you meeting?” “Midnight,” JJ responded, looking at the clock. It was currently 8pm. The sun was still out and oddly enough, the street was beginning to sound a bit more lively. JJ and Pope peaked through one of the windows to have a look at what was happening outside. Sure enough, as the sun began to set, the streets of La Guardiana began to fill up.

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

One positive about being a castaway - ending up in a cool new spot where a hot girl was practically giving herself to JJ.

One negative thing about being a castaway - having nothing to wear to impress said hot girl.

JJ was known to be an attractive guy and he knew it. Pulling girls never posed an issue for him back in the Outer Banks, yet here he was, standing in front of the long rectangular mirror in the hallway of his and Pope’s shared room, sighing at his reflection. He tried combing his sandy blonde hair back with his fingers, failing miserably as the soft strands just wouldn’t cooperate and stay in one spot. He looked down at his clothes, the same set of clothes he’d been wearing since that day, and rolled his eyes, throwing his head back in annoyance. “At least they’re clean…” he sighed to himself, tugging at his top. Pope was sitting on their bed, smirking at JJ’s reflection through the mirror, “Is it just me or do I sense nervousness?” JJ turned around to face him, his face expression both sad and annoyed, “This is all I’ve got, it’s not like I can do anything about it.” Pope shrugged his shoulders, “I mean, look at it this way - if she offered to help all of us after having a five minute conversation with you, then she must like you a lot.” Pope’s words made JJ’s lips curl into a small smile. Maybe he was right, why else would Samara willingly offer to house not only him, but his friends too, in her family’s hotel, for free? She must have liked him, right? Right?

The blonde boy sighed as he turned to look at the clock. In 10 minutes he would have to make his way downstairs to the pretty lady who asked him to meet her there, and to say he was excited would be an understatement. He took a seat next to Pope on the bed, keeping him company in watching some baseball game currently playing on their little TV, engulfing the room in light. JJ was tapping his foot on the ground nervously, checking the clock every few seconds, not focusing on the TV programme at all. Time seemed to be passing dreadfully slow all of a sudden. The street in front of their window was now full of people chattering and laughing, there was music playing from several different spots, one melody overlapping with the rest and smells of all kinds were filling the boys’ room, the one of marijuana particularly tickling JJ’s fancy as all he could think about was how much just one, not more, drag would help him ease his nerves before his much anticipated date. Was it even a date? He was so nervous at this point that he decided to just head downstairs without wasting any more time.

The short walk down to the lobby was filling JJ’s already nervous brain with even more nerves. What was he even nervous about? He was never like this around girls. Although, he had to admit he hadn’t really flirted with anyone in a while now, even before the day of the incident. He was so engulfed in mourning his best friend and Sarah, whom he believed to be dead, that he had completely neglected his own needs and fantasies, sex being the one he had pushed to the side the most. The past few months were hard for JJ, what with everything going on in his life - from John B to his dad, to the gold, and now the cross; almost being tossed in jail on more than one occasion, getting into numerous fights, hiding on numerous occasion and not to mention all that running that him and his friends somehow always had to partake in, being chased by anyone and everyone wherever they went. JJ had been so busy doing all of this, he had forgotten how to be a teenaged boy, how to fix his hair, how to talk to girls - hell, he was sure that if Samara took him up to her room, he’d have to have at least three of those whiskeys he drank earlier, just to know where to touch her - that’s how much he had neglected his sex life.

Making his way down to the lobby, he saw her. She was sitting on one of the couches, not yet aware of his presence there, a glass of wine resting in her delicate hands and another one sitting on the table in front of her, presumably for JJ. Her silky chocolate hair cascaded down her tanned shoulders, covering her voluptuous breasts, making JJ gulp. She was wearing an off white dress that seemed to hug her in all the right places and the contrast between her dark hair, bronze tan and the light coloured material made her appear even more alluring to the young boy, if that was even possible. Samara was truly a sight to behold and JJ couldn’t believe his luck quite yet. Somehow all of this seemed too good to be true. People never usually just gave stuff away, it wasn’t in their nature. Being from the cut, JJ was used to only receiving things that he was expected to work for. Good things never came cheap, and the girl sitting before him who had put a roof over his and his friends’ heads for the foreseeable few days, definitely didn’t look like the type who just gave things away. JJ was simply hoping that the wine she had prepared for him would be enough to soothe his nerves before what he imagined would be a night of hot, raunchy sex. He wanted to rip her clothes off and make her whimper beneath him and he was so set on that, that he had turned it into the only logical thing that she could ask for in return for the massive favour she was doing for him. It only made sense, right? She knew he had nothing - what else could he possibly offer her?

“Hello, JJ,” Samara spoke when she finally saw the boy approaching her. He sat down on the sofa next to her and picked up the glass of wine that was waiting for him on the table. “I heard about a certain gold you have,” she simply said, her plump lips twisting into a smirk and her black eyes boring into JJ’s blue ones, “How about I help you get it back and in turn,” she reached for his knee, “- you share some of it with me.”

Uh-oh.

[engagemachine]

Hello!! Just re-reading and I have to say, its very compelling to me that both Taylor AND The Joker view their time apart those eleven years as them being 'taken' from each other. Its clear pretty quickly thats how Taylor sees it, I guess it was just shocking in a good way that he saw it like that as well, like she was already his for someone to take. Very complex! When you read Clockwork the Joker seems like hes just fine with Taylor being taken into the state's custody at the end, hes laughing and seems happy and buzzed that he got to see Batman. However, later when he is musing on it, he thinks of it as when she was 'taken from him', and its almost implying that he never planned on really giving her up in the first place. Am I totally off? I totally get that you probably ended Clockwork like that on purpose, leaving some things to the reader's imagination, but I am just really curious if he was aware she was going to be taken as soon as she was, or can I ask did he maybe think they were going to escape, if they did what would he have done with her eventually? I hope you're having a lovely day, your story has been great for my Sunday off work!

Hi baby! Thank you so much for dropping in! I'm glad you are enjoying my stories! Thank you for taking the time to go back and reread them... I absolutely love and appreciate that so much.

I definitely feel like the Joker would have viewed his time with Taylor in Clockwork as having been "cut short" in the sense that he never got to carry out his master plan (which was killing her/sacrificing her in front of the entire city). He was essentially going to give Gotham a "choice" of whether they wanted to witness the murder of this little girl or whether they wanted to choose option B (which was blowing up the entire city) -- although the catch was that he wasn't going to reveal what option B was unless that was the option that the vast majority of people chose.

Initially, when I was writing Clockwork, I had no intention of writing a sequel (or any of the spinoffs/AUs that have since resulted) so the Joker DID plan on killing her, in the beginning of the story, and he was totally fine with that. However, as time went on, I think you can see in the story when his feelings begin to change and he starts to become more intrigued and even a little smitten by her. If he had been able to go through with his plan, he ultimately would have ended up choosing "option B" regardless of what the people of Gotham had decided upon. That's pretty significant that he would have spared her life.

It's hard to say what he might have done with her if they had actually managed to get away at the end. I don't think even he'd know. I feel like he might've kept her in a safehouse somewhere tucked away, under the watch of one of his most trusted men (that's vital, for obvious reasons). He wouldn't have spent a lot of time with her in the way they do in Burn (living out that little domestic fantasy he's carved for her), but he'd be around enough for her to grow even more attached to him and for her to miss him when he's gone. My gosh, can you just imagine all the terrible things he'd teach her? Like, how to load and fire a gun, how to stab someone. He'd portrait it as if he were teaching her valuable life skills that she needed to know. Meanwhile, he'd be keeping her out of school and learning stuff that actually matters. Imagine if she never learned how to read! Or write! My gosh. That's a fucking dark timeline.

One of my readers is actually writing an AU based off Clockwork where this very scenario takes place, so you get to see Taylor at the age of 8 or 9, in a timeline where she got to remain with the Joker after Clockwork. I'm unbelievably excited for this since this is an age we've never seen her at before.

Anyway, I hope I managed to answer your questions? Let me know if I missed anything! Thanks so much for asking!

[floralseokjin]

The Zoom Halloween Party

⇢ and beyond timeline (after crystallised)

[saga index] [drabble index]

 kim seokjin x reader // slice of life, humour // 2,556 words  

a/n; thank you to all the anons who gave me ideas for this halloween drabble, it wouldn’t exist without you! 

“I have to say your costumes are pretty lame this year, you guys.”

“We’re having a Halloween party over fucking zoom, forgive us for not going all out.” 

Seokjin bit straight away, unable to help it. He and Namjoon were like cat and mouse at all times, but even you had to admit to being offended by your friend’s dismissal. 

Halloween was finally here, and while you couldn’t celebrate in person together, the marvels of technology were letting you celebrate virtually – although this was more like a Halloween hang out than a Halloween party. 

“I’m just saying,” Namjoon shrugged. “Hoseok went all out for his.” 

You looked over at Hoseok’s screen, watching him smile smugly. You had to admit he made a great Joker, but it was also the year 2020... He and his girlfriend, Nora were like two years behind with the whole Joker and Harley Quinn gimmick, it was old now. 

Seokjin rolled his eyes, willing to argue black and blue. “It’s only good because his mom helped him with the makeup.” 

“Oh shut up, you’re just jealous because me and Hoseok will win best dressed tonight!” Nora scoffed under Hoseok in her own little screen. 

Pouting like a baby, your boyfriend crossed his arms. “I’m not voting for you.” 

“If anything, I should win. I make a mighty fine Batman.” 

Attention back on Namjoon now, you all had to agree. But maybe that was because everyone was feeling sorry for him tonight. He was after all, the only single one amongst you. There was Jin and you, Lina and Jimin, Hoseok and Nora, and even though Sandeul was on his own tonight, he had Jess, who was working the night shift tonight. Two months ago there had also been Namjoon and Hana, but not anymore... Let’s just say Namjoon wasn’t having the best of time lately... Getting dumped during a pandemic wasn’t ideal. So he’d paired with Hobi and Nora tonight in some sort of DC-esque collab. He was definitely winning best dressed tonight, but maybe he’d see it as a pity vote… 

“You’re body looks amazing in that suit, Joon,” you complimented, hearing Lina hum in supportive agreement. 

“Hey!” Seokjin exclaimed, sounding mighty offended as he looked your way. You were smushed together on the couch, the takeout you’d ordered on your laps, but you were pretty full now, a belly full of wine already. 

“The devil and an angel though.” Jimin’s voice sounded awfully judgemental. “Come on guys, so basic.” 

“Well, who the hell did you to come as?” Seokjin was loud. 

“Zombie Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly,” Lina replied as if your boyfriend was dumb. 

“Lame,” Seokjin scoffed. “Half of these guys haven’t even watched The Office.” 

“It’s a way more original idea than yours.”

You scoffed. “Um, this is the epitome of everyone’s sexual fantasy, I’ll have you know.” 

“Whose?!” Lina roared, wrinkling her nose. She and Jimin were also squished together, but on his bed, the camera angle giving you an amazing shot of their chins... Not that you would tell your best friend that, of course. 

“We all know what they’re doing after this then,” Sanduel stated. He was dressed as some character from a game he and Seokjin played (a lot.) Nerds.  

“Stop,” Hoseok whined. “Does that mean you guys fucked as The Addams family couple last year?”

“Of course it does,” Namjoon replied matter-of-factly. 

“Jesus.” 

Ah yes, you two really had out done yourselves last year for Namjoon and Hoseok’s joint Halloween party. Thinking about it maybe your devil and angel costumes were quite lame this year…

“As if you didn’t guess,” Lina laughed. “They were reciting all those weird lines practically dry humping in the kitchen at one point.” 

That was your cue, slamming into action, although as luck would have it you had re-watched The Addams Family two nights ago. You gripped Seokjin’s face, yanking him to look at you. “Seokjin, last night you were unhinged.” You began dramatically. “You were like some desperate, howling demon. You frightened me.” A pause for effect. “Do it again!” 

Seokjin took your hand, in character immediately. He leaned down to kiss your knuckles. “Cara mia.” 

You opened your mouth, ready to purr out mon cher in your best French accent but you were interrupted by Namjoon’s gagging noises. “That’s it, I’m leaving.” 

Seokjin snapped his head around, unamused. “Bye.” 

Everyone laughed… just before Hoseok sighed. “Aw, this makes me so depressed. I miss last year, when things were simpler.” 

“This was the worst year to officially become an adult.” Nora joined in with a whine. 

They were 100% correct. There couldn’t have been a worse year to graduate… The past few months had been so stressful but thankfully you were now in a much more stable place. Granted, you hadn’t been able to start the post-graduate internship you’d bagged right before the pandemic hit yet but eventually it would happen, and in the meantime you still had your retail job – and your savings. 

Seokjin had truly lucked out, although his job at his father’s company had been set in stone since high school. He was working remotely until the end of the year (hopefully), rocking that business on top, casual down bottom fashion that he was so gleefully fond of – think a dress shirt and sweatpants ensemble – but you were so incredibly proud of him for adjusting so well after this shitfest of a year. He was your sexy, serious businessman. 

Your friends hadn’t been as lucky though – well, mainly Hoseok and Namjoon who had recently moved back home with their parents while they job hunted. (That’s why the former and Nora were on separate screens – she still lived close by for work.) Lina hated her new job and Jimin still had a year left at college, so maybe he was better off at the moment... Sanduel and Jess were okay too, and had recently moved in with one another, leaving you and Seokjin to… follow suit… 

It came as a surprise to you both, but it made more sense than the two of you living alone. You’d already grown used to it during those couple of months of lockdown at the start of the year and it felt weird after he’d left... It was a big step, but an easy one once you’d found the most perfect apartment to rent together. (You couldn’t officially live with one another in that shoebox of an old apartment, but it had been sad to leave it – you’d shared so many good times there.) It had only been about six weeks since you’d become official roomies, but you were loving every second of domestic bliss. Despite this crazy year, things were on the up, and you were very happy. 

“Now we’re freshly graduated bums.” Namjoon moaned, knocking back the last of his beer.

Seokjin laughed. “Speak for yourself.” 

“We can’t all have a CEO for a dad,” Namjoon shot. 

“That sounds like a you problem.” 

You pushed at your boyfriend’s shoulder, silently telling him to behave. Where was the sympathy for his heartbroken friend?

“At least you’re not stuck doing online classes.” Jimin piped up. 

“I’d actually kill to be back there,” Namjoon chuckled. “I’m sick of receiving rejection emails.” 

“Don’t give up hope, bro.” Hoseok told him. “I have an interview next week so fingers crossed.” 

Nora squealed. “I hope you get it, babe. You need to get your ass back here. I miss you.” 

You all missed him. And Namjoon. Even if you couldn’t all hang out like you were once able to, it was strange to think they were both living in different cities now. Last year seemed like an eternity ago, all you had were memories and even then they were murky. 

“Guys, please,” Namjoon wailed, forehead hitting the screen as he threw forward dramatically. “One of us is single here.” 

“Sorry.” 

In fact, you all felt the need to apologise, a string of them following for no real reason other than you felt really bad for the guy. You knew he’d find a job soon, that wasn’t the problem really – whatever the company they’d be a fool to turn him down – you were just concerned about his mood. Getting dumped had come out of the blue so he was still adjusting, all while his life turned upside down in other ways too. 

He hadn’t lost all sense of humour though, his trademark smirk growing across his face a few moments later. “So who will end up fucking on camera first?” 

Amongst the groans, Sanduel scoffed. “Probably Mr and Mrs. Devil.” 

“I’m an angel,” you corrected, a glass of wine back in your hand now. “Also, why would we fuck on camera? You guys don’t deserve the show.” 

“God, you’re so drunk,” Lina screeched. She wasn’t exactly sober herself. Beside her Jimin winced at the volume. 

“Of course I’m drunk, Lina, this is the first proper chance I’ve had in months.” Getting drunk alone was pretty miserable, now you had an excuse. 

“So it’s definitely them who’ll start fucking first…” Hoseok muttered. 

Seokjin heard him loud and clear though. He hooked his arm around your shoulders, pulling you against him. “Yeah if we leave randomly you know this angel got horny for some devil dick.” 

“Seokjin!” You exclaimed, pushing at his chest. He just laughed, reaching down to kiss you. 

He did look mighty fine dressed as a devil though. Yeah, the red cape was basic but so were your angel wings and halo, but with his dark hair pushed back above his forehead, two red devil horns visible and his eyeshadow off the scale (your doing), he made a very, very sexy Satan! 

Jimin pulled a face. “You’re actually going to fuck in those costumes, aren’t you?” 

“Of course we are.” Seokjin rolled his eyes. “That’s what Halloween’s all about.” 

“No, it’s not,” Nora laughed. 

“I don’t know why you’re all so surprised,” Sandeul sighed before shovelling down some candy corn. 

“You know them better than anyone,” Namjoon chuckled. 

“I was the first to know! Sworn to secrecy for weeks!”

“Yeah, and she didn’t tell me for so long,” Lina whined. Even though it was ages ago now you were still pretty sure she was salty about it. 

Hoseok snickered. “It was because she was embarrassed to be fucking him.” 

You scoffed, about to refute his claims but Sanduel had more to say apparently. “And then I had to deal with Jin moping around when she dumped him for that basketball player.” 

“She didn’t dump me,” Seokjin protested. “We won’t together then.” 

“Bro, you were still moping though.” 

“Awh, you guys,” you whined, running your fingers through the hair on the back of Seokjin’s head. “Stop teasing him.” You leaned in to kiss his cheek but he moved, stealing one from your lips instead. 

“Great Deul, you’ve started them off again.” Hoseok moaned. 

“I don’t care anyway. The amount of times I’ve heard them going at it has made me immune.” 

“Sanduel, we’re not that bad!” You complained, leaning forward to place your glass down on the coffee table. 

Seokjin had your back. “As if we haven’t heard you and Jess fuck before.” 

That however was not at all interesting to your friends though. They blatantly ignored it for a more interesting direction of topic.  

“Did you ever catch them?” Jimin asked, sounding weirdly excited. 

“No actually, which is baffling.” 

“You nearly did – multiple times,” Seokjin informed him, which instantly turned Sanduel grey. Not bothered, my ass. 

“Why are you guys so obsessed with our sex life?” You whined loudly. Was theirs that boring? 

“Ooo, let’s play a game!!” Lina exploded suddenly, sitting up, her head now cut off from the screen. “Who’s the freakiest!!!” 

Seokjin turned to you gleefully. “We got this in the bag, babe.” 

In your eyes, the questions were quite tame, so yes, you and Seokjin really were scoring first place left and right. Although you had a hunch Lina was holding back information. As her best friend you knew what she was like and she was being awfully quiet for someone who’d suggested the game… 

“Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever boned?” Nora asked, six questions in. 

Seokjin didn’t even need a second. “Namjoon’s bedroom.” Your eyes bulged immediately, surprised he’d gone there. 

“What?” Namjoon choked. 

“Sorry, man. It just kinda happened.” Seokjin glanced at you, deeply amused. Poor Namjoon didn’t need more bad news. 

“You guys have fucked in my bedroom?” 

“Well, technically it’s not your bedroom anymore, but yeah,” you shrugged.  

“When?” 

The third degree was real. “A while back.”  

“What the fuck you guys,” he groaned, his face a picture. “And you didn’t think to tell me?” 

“You don’t even know the half of it.” Lina couldn’t help but add. 

“You, be quiet!” You warned, although you knew she wouldn’t spill. Your secret was safe with her. 

Namjoon was looking more and more scared by the second. “What the fuck did you guys do in there?” Seokjin just laughed loudly. “Did you at least clean up?” He got no reply. He was deadly serious with his next question. “Did you make Ryan watch?” 

“Namjoon!” Seokjin cried, practically wiping tears from your eyes. Maybe he was more drunk than you… You hadn’t realised. “He’s a stuffed animal.” 

“That plush is all I have now.” 

“Pity, the guy’s recently been dumped. This is bullying,” Hoseok interrupted, sticking up for his friend. 

“It’s not,” your boyfriend insisted. 

“Aw, Namjoon, I’m sorry,” you apologised, feeling guilty now. How could you make it up to him? “When all this is over you can come over and fuck someone in our bedroom.” 

“What,” Seokjin protested. You ignored him. 

“Who though?” Namjoon asked, sounding sad. 

“You’ll meet someone new soon enough.” Lina reassured him. “You’re any girls dream guy.”  

He perked up at that. “You think so?”

“Legit, man,” Jimin joined in. 

“Wait,” Sandeul interrupted, seemingly realising something. “Is the costume roleplay exclusive to Halloween?” 

… Of course the conversation was back on you and Jin…

“Why?” You asked. 

“Because Namjoon had a fancy dress party for his birthday last year…” 

Seokjin shrugged. “Any celebration.” 

Sanduel instantly looked disgusted. “So you guys fucked as The Incredibles couple?” 

You and Seokjin didn’t reply, but your faces said it all. 

Namjoon groaned loudly. “I want to scoop my brain out.” Then he thought of something. “Was it in my bedroom?” 

“Noooo!” 

“Yes.” 

You both replied at the same time and you pushed Seokjin. Now he was just purposely teasing his friend. 

“Who’s lying?” Namjoon demanded, but Sanduel was too busy going through it, distracting you all. 

“The Incredibles is my favourite childhood movie, man, now I feel gross. I can’t watch it ever again because I’ll imagine you two trying to superhero fuck.” 

Your friends were way too dramatic. It wasn’t even a big deal, they were making it out to be way kinkier than it was, and Seokjin wasn’t helping matters. You were literally just having normal sex dressed up. That’s all. 

“This game has taught me I’m best friends with a bunch of vanilla ice creams,” Seokjin tutted. “It’s called having fun. Something you guys can’t seem to do.” 

“You all suck!” You agreed. 

Hm, maybe you were just as guilty as your boyfriend… It was just too damn amusing goading your friends… 

[sillyrabbit81]

Her Heavy Cross

Summary: Three years after tragedy hits, Lana she decides to start dating again. She meets Will through a dating app and they begin an online romance. After months of constant requests, Lana relents and agrees to meet and go on an irl date with Will. But is Will who he says he is? Lana is quickly pulled into an intense relationship forcing her to confront her tragic past. Will Lana face it or will she close her heart forever?

Pairing: OMC x OFC

Word Count: approx 2.3k

Warnings: swearing, recreational drinking

Authors Note: The story started as a Henry Cavill fanfiction but I changed it to be an original character, but shades of Henry are still there. Hope you enjoy the story and thanks for reading.

Part 2

Part 1

"It's a cruel, cruel world to face on your own,

A heavy cross to carry along..."

Heavy Cross - The Gossip

He's not coming. I took a deep breath in. I knew this would happen. Why did I believe for a second that he was going to show up? He was only 5 mins late, and he could just be parking his car. I was sure he said he was getting an Uber.

No, he was late, it's the first date, and he seemed like the kind of guy who is 10 minutes early for everything. His watch could be slow, and he thinks he is on time. Except everybody has a smartphone, so everyone knows the correct time.

Why wouldn't he message to say he was late? He had messaged me to say he would call late last week. If you're the type of guy who messages someone when you're going to call them 10 minutes late, surely you'd message if you were late to actually meet them.

Damn him. He's the one who pushed for a date. After nearly three months of chatting online, texting, calling, he finally wore me down. Then he doesn't show up? Dick move.

I looked around the pub again, hoping to see him come in. The pub was dark but not unpleasant. It wasn't very crowded for a Friday night. It was the kind of place you dropped into, have a few quiet ones, and head out somewhere else.

I was the only person sitting at the bar. The bar runners smelled faintly of stale beer, earthy and sweet. I breathed the smell in, letting it soothe my nerves.

Three 20-something women were sitting at a table. A group of four guys were sitting at another not far away. Each group kept eying the other off, the girls exploding into giggles when the guys looked at them. I rolled my eyes, willing the guys to get off their arses and talk to them.

I looked over to two guys in their 40s drinking wine. They seemed so in love sitting there playing with each other's hands. I could see them playing footsie with each other under the table. One of them caught my eye. Sprung. I smiled briefly and looked away.

I jumped as the shrill ring of the pokie machines spilled out of the gaming room. I needed to calm down. I took a drink from my vodka. I wanted a cigarette.

I rechecked my outfit. I shouldn't have worn a white skirt. I don't know what I was thinking. Looking down, I noticed a bit of my bra was visible. I pulled my baby blue singlet up. I should have worn jeans and a t-shirt. Wasn't dressing like this false advertising?

The shirt felt tight. I sat up straight and checked for fat rolls. Then I slouched and checked again. Nope, not a good look. I ran my hand over my hair, checking to make sure it's still neat. It didn't feel frizzy. I put a stray curl behind my ear.

I looked at my phone again. No messages. Maybe...

"Hello, excuse me," a voice from the stool next to me said. I flinched. That was Will's silvery voice. I smiled, relief easing over me.

Turning around, my smile faltered. That's not Will.

The man sitting next to me was living proof God had favourites. He had dark curly hair, a bit long on the top but short on the sides. He had blue, almost green eyes framed by thick, dark eyelashes. Coarse stubble covered but didn't hide his strong jaw and dimpled chin. He was an Adonis. A Hellenic God brought to life.

I wanted to run a finger along his jaw, feeling his skin and prickly hair. I shivered.

"Sorry, I just saw your phone cover, and I wondered if you could help me? I'm sure I've seen that symbol before. What's it's from?"

Simultaneously, my jaw dropped, and I tried to swallow. I made a strangled noise from my throat and started to cough. I grabbed at my drink and took a huge gulp, regretting it instantly as the vodka and bitter soda caught me off guard. I managed not to spit it out, barely.

The Adonis patted me on the back as I choked. "Are you ok?" he asked.

He wasn't from around here, English like Will. But Will doesn't look like this guy. The Adonis was looking at me, his eyebrows coming together. Oh yeah, he asked me something.

"Uh," I cleared my throat. "Ah, it's the Allomantic table of elements from Mistborn," I explained.

He smiled. I giggled. I. Fucking. Giggled. I felt the heat in my cheeks.

Still smiling, Adonis raised an eyebrow. "That's where I know it from. They are great books. Have you read other Brandon Sanderson?"

He was built like a rugby player. His shoulders were broad, and he had thick thighs. I could see the definition of his muscles through his dark denim jeans. He was wearing a light grey knitted jumper. It was so light and thin that it clung to his chest and tufts of dark hair poked out the top. He had pushed his sleeves up, exposing his forearms which were, like every part of him it seemed, toned and defined. Everything about this guy screamed masculinity.

He was very likely out of my league. Although he looked around his late 30s, guys who look like him are after 22-year-olds, not girls who were 30 last birthday. Yeah, that was it. He isn't hitting on you; he was actually curious. This realisation was what I needed to stop being a dribbling mess and return to a normal state of being.

"Yeah, I have a bit. I'm really enjoying The Way of the Kings." I felt my shoulders relax. I hadn't realised I was clenched up.

"Yeah, I've read that too. It's great. My name is Liam, by the way."

"Lana," I replied and stuck out my hand. He took my hand and shook it firmly. His hand swallowed mine.

"Pleased to meet you, Lana," Liam said in an almost formal way. He was still holding my hand. I felt the return of the Dribbling Mess. His hand was so warm. My stomach reminded me of a book I  read as a kid, 'there was an old lady who swallowed a spider, that wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.'

"Yeah, you too," I managed. I tried to take as much of my Australian accent out of the reply as possible. He sounded so posh, and I sounded like a bogan.

He smiled again, or did he smirk? He let go of my hand. I was barely able to stop myself from putting my hand to my cheek to feel the warmth still there. I smiled back at him and turned back to the bar. My hand went to my cheek.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

I looked back at Liam to make sure I had heard right. Yes, he was looking at me expectantly, his finger pointed to my drink. "What are you drinking?"

"Vodka, soda and fresh lime." It was my usual drink, and I said it instinctively. I could say the order even when I'm three sheets to the wind.

Liam signalled the bartender and ordered. I took the time to calm myself. I counted to 5, breathing deeply through my nose and out through my mouth. It worked, and my muddled thoughts cleared.

I had forgotten Will. I supposed it's not a good look for a random guy to buy you a drink when you're supposed to be on a first date. But then, Will wasn't here. I checked my phone, no messages or emails. Nothing.

Liam got himself a beer, grabbed my drink and stood up. "Would you like to go to the beer garden? It's a nice night out, and I'm really enjoying this Sydney weather."

"I uh... I'm waiting for someone."

Liam sat back down. "Surely they can find you outside when they get here. It's not that big a place."

"Yeah. I guess, but..." I was interrupted by the group of women I had seen earlier. They were bouncing as they stood, eyes flashing and huge grins on their faces.

One of them asked, "sorry, excuse me, are you, Liam Cross?"

Liam looked at me. His eyes clouded for a moment, and then an awkward smile was plastered to his face. He looked back at the women. "Yes, I am. Would you like a picture?"

Excited squeals and jumping came from the women, but I zoned out. Liam Cross. What the fuck? I stared at him. How the hell did I not recognise him? I've watched nearly everything he has done since he started acting.

I never really thought much of him playing superheroes or spies. Then I saw his last movie where he played a magic enhanced warrior, and he entered my fantasies. A strong, rough, capable man of action with a heart and moral code, what wasn't to love?

My God, it really was him. Liam Fucking Cross.

Liam cleared this throat, and I snapped back to reality.

"You're really him," I said.

"Sorry?" Liam cocked his head to one side.

"You're really Liam Cross."

"Oh yeah. I am." Liam grinned.

"I'm sorry I didn't recognise you. I don't know. I guess it didn't even enter my head, even when you said your name."

"And here I was thinking you were playing it cool," Liam said.

I scoffed, and before I could stop myself, I said, "yeah, nah, nothing about me was cool from the moment I laid eyes on you." I wanted to die.

Liam laughed, a proper belly laugh, and his shoulders seemed to bounce up and down. "Well, alright then, you weren't playing it cool. But it's ok. I don't need to be recognised by everyone I meet."

"Yeah, but I should have recognised you. I've seen heaps of your work." Just stop talking, Lana!

Liam waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. Where were we before we were interrupted? Beer garden, you and me."

I nodded. I grabbed my bag, and Liam took our drinks. "After you," he said, gesturing and inclining his head.

As I walked outside, I could feel my skin heat up. It was a warm March night and only slightly humid. A cool breeze was coming in from the harbour. We were close enough to smell the salt in the air.

"Where did you want to sit?" I asked. Only one bloke was having a cigarette outside, so plenty of tables to choose from.

Liam looked around and indicated to the tables down the back. "Down there, I'm less likely to be noticed there."

"That must suck."

"Yes and no. I like that people like my work and want to tell me and meet me. It feels good. It's just that sometimes, like now, I'd like some private time."

We sat down, Liam with his back to the pub. I sat opposite him.

"If you want some private time, why go to a pub?" I said. I covered my mouth. "Sorry, it's not my business," I added.

"Direct, aren't you?" Liam's lips twitched. "I am also here to meet with someone."

"Oh shit, Will." I rechecked my phone. "30 minutes late." I sighed, "I think I got stood up."

"Really? He must be an idiot." My eyes widened. Liam's lip twitched again. Was he laughing at me? "How long have you been dating?"

"This was supposed to be our first date. We met online, been chatting for a few months." My voice was quiet.

Will isn't coming. The realisation hit me, and I felt like I'd had a brick hit my chest. I turned away from Liam. If I was going to cry, I wasn't going to cry in front of him. I'm an ugly crier.

"Oh, Sweetheart, I'm sorry." Sweetheart? It must be an English thing because Will calls me that too. "Have you called him?"

I shook my head. I didn't entirely trust myself to speak yet.

"Why don't you?" Liam asked. "If he has a flimsy excuse for not coming tonight, then at least you'll know where he stands, and you can stop worry about it."

I took a few deep breaths. "I guess you're right." I got my phone out of my bag and stood up, "Give me a minute?"

Liam nodded. Twitchy lips again. What's with that?

I walked a couple of metres away and called Will. I started to pace, glancing at the back of Liam's head every few steps. Liam's phone began to ring. After a few rings, Will picked up.

"Hello Lana, how are you?" He sounded nonchalant. Did I get the day wrong then? No, I was sure I had it right. I had checked his message so many times.

"I'm ok. I am waiting for you at the pub." I paused and looked at Liam. He was on the phone too. "Did I get the day wrong?"

"No, you didn't. I'm here." I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding.

"That's great. Did you just arrive? Can you see me?" I looked around. I couldn't see him. I looked back at Liam. He was still on the phone but had turned in his chair and was looking at me.

"I can see you. You can see me too," Will said. I turned around in a circle. I still couldn't see him.

"I'm sorry, I can't see you at all."

"I'll come to you then," Will said.

Liam got up out of his chair and walked towards me. Liam was close now, and he stopped. Liam hung up the phone, and the call with Will went dead.

My heart thundered in my chest. I could hear the blood rushing through my body with each tremendous beat. The ground seemed unstable, and I wobbled. This isn't happening. It can't be happening.

Liam bent to my ear, his breath tickling my neck. His lips brushed my skin as he whispered in a low voice, "I'm right here, Sweetheart."

Part 2

[tonya-the-chicken]

I’m not going to change your views but it does feel a bit dismissive when you say it wasn’t that bad because he had rich parents who neglected him but hey they got a maid for him and he probably wasn’t outcasted or bullied so hey it’s not that bad right 🤷‍♀️! I don’t know he definitely didn’t have the worse out of the villains but I don’t know it felt a bit dismissive is all. Although we need to all remember these are fictional characters so have no idea why the other anon needed to get so aggressive! Also the person in the notes I don’t know how to say it but uh the whole the Todoroki’s had a rich father they didn’t have to work a day in their life take is not a good look. Just because someone has parents with money it doesn’t derail the fact that neglect can cause trauma.

Anyways for the real reason I sent this, you wonder why Dabi is so insane. Well take into account the neglect alongside the fact that he burnt to near death up on that hill alone at the age of what 13? That’s got to be extra traumatising, especially for a child that was already not mentally ok. We also don’t know what his circumstances were like after that fire, like was he homeless? Or picked up by someone nefarious? Kind of like AFO(not him exactly but someone nasty) who maybe fed on his brewing anger and hate instead of positive healing. I’m sure we will find out at some point? I don’t think it was just what happened in the Todoroki household or the fire that broke his mind? There had to be other factors after the fire after his “death”!

[[WARNING!!! I love Dabi as a character but I am not a woobifier so if you are too much into him don't read!!!! No complaints taken, y'all will be blocked for being rude I am too old to deal with people unable to interact with me in good faith (anon it's not for you, you are good and I can't understand your point of view I am just not as good as a person and too old for that shit)]]

I don't think I will change my mind either but I feel like the belief that every trauma is equally bad is just... Simply wrong. Like, we can legit compare this stuff and how badly it affects our brain, what do y'all think psychologists research 🤷‍♀️ Like, your therapist won't tell you this because it's not their job to make you understand you not the centre of the Earth (and it won't help because it is a legit trauma response that is very valid but is annoying you're fucking 25 yo). And to say that, neglectful parenthood is probably the worst parenthood style, as far as I know XD I wrote coursework about this (neglectful bitches are having a lot of need to make us the biggest victims (the bitches is me))... It also feels really American to me? Like, are we going to pretend people who got to live in a nice house and were neglect somehow got it as bad as people living in poverty or warzones? Hello? Imagine telling some orphan "I know you have no parents but actually, my trauma of my father not spending enough time with me is just as severe as yours". Bruh couldn't be me sorry... Like, even taking into account the fact that we can have weaker or stronger nervous systems or be more prone to depressive episodes *looks in the mirror and cries* I simply wouldn't find the guts to say my trauma is as severe as idk people who had physically abusive parents or no parents at all or who were disowned for being gay

And like **again** I am not saying that neglect is not traumatic I WAS NEGLECTED THIS IS TRAUMATIZING AS FUCK. I just am living in a country at war and with lots of discrimination problems and I like... Can't say I am the biggest victim. Sorry I can't though there were times when I was a lot more bitchy especially before being in therapy so I understand where you are coming from and I know what I am saying won't resonate with everyone (it's ok go on your own healing journey I believe in you) but this doesn't mean it is garbage and won't help me or someone else... I've already talked once about it but as a person, I am very easily irritated and envious and really not your local Jesus and partially my trauma turned me like this so being more humble about my sufferings helps me not be a complete bitch (believe me or not but people with traumas and mental illnesses are often insufferable *looks in the mirror* not me though I am perfect... BUT IT IS OK TO BE INSUFFERABLE OK??? like, bitch, that's normal. That's normal to stink when you are depressed it's ok to be a bitch when you are hurting. Forgive yourself because I forgive you (when you are not being an abusive asshole but if you apologize and explain yourself I will forgive that too)

The reason why I talk about the fact he is rich is that I've got a disease called leftism and I am a person of several marginalized identities and since this fandom LOVES looking at characters like real humans, I looked at Dabi this way. And if Dabi was a real human, I wouldn't sympathize with him one bit. I would fucking hate him for being the biggest entitled asshole who commits crimes for the reason his Daddy didn't give him attention. Bitch, my Dad didn't give me attention either! But somehow I don't kill people! And I don't even have money!!!! But like... I am not denying that neglectful parents are not a problem. It is. But he is overreacting, bro. He needs to humble down and recognize the fact he is a fucking idiot (he is). He has inherently so much more resources to recover and heal himself than I had... Yes, I am just being jealous at this point but honestly. Making an entire country suffer for you is not a good thing and y'all need to stop using trauma and mental illness as an excuse for people. No! Being abusive to people because of neglect is not valid, is overreacting and you had no reason to do that. I am dismissing your trauma because you are exaggerating it to make me sympathize with your asshole behaviour. I won't judge people with different sets of standards as I judge myself

I bet it would be dismissive and bad if I said it in conversation with someone who is currently struggling with mental health and is not a murderer. But guess what! I don't talk with humans and my friends the same way I talk on my Tumblr about fictional characters 🤷‍♀️ Not to mention I don't have rich friends akabsksbxm

I think with Dabi there's this whole thing where we saw him at 14 (poor baby boy) and 24 (a grown-ass boy) and... Like, I am so sorry for 14 years old Touya not receiving the help he needs (bruh so relatable) but I am not gonna act like 24 years old bitch can't get his ass to a psychiatrist (extremely unrelatable and infuriating). We shouldn't apply the same standards to kids and adults. We can talk all day long about how society is bad and how our parents ruined us but at some points, you gotta take your life into your own hands and do something and be an adult. And it's fucking hard when you're born with a shitty brain that was fucked up by your parents even more in a society where no one gives a fuck but I sincerely don't know another way to live. You will feel bad and want to die but you either keep on recovering or keep on getting worse and at this point getting worse is Dabi's *choice* That's how I live, that's my framework and I am, of course, extremely fortunate in a lot of ways but I just don't know how are you supposed to survive without the notion that grown people are responsible for themselves and their mental health. We can't act like adults are babies

But as a character, Dabi is fucking hot ngl. Like, do I sometimes want to murder my entire family, make them suffer AND commit terrorist attacks? We all do. Dabi is the dark fantasy of us neglectful bitches craving some attention. Gotta kill the president and tell everyone that my Dad sucks. Imagine the entire country hearing your Dad sucks? That's the juice, that's the dream. Trauma makes you vicious. I get the sentiment. Imagine all those fuckers who made you feel like shit pissing their pants and crying? Imagine your Mom being afraid of you the way you used to be afraid of her? People do have the desire for some violent justice but like... Think of bullied kids committing school shootings. But instead of a kid, it's a grown man who graduated school and who also have a rich father

Ok too much about irl stuff and philosophy shit. I know my way of talking is kinda brute so just know the way I treat people is different from that I treat fictional characters, in particular, I don't call real-life humans submissive and breedable... And stuff...

Damn Dabi is kinda good to project your hatred of your parents in bruh, I should write a fanfic about that (would be cathartic)

To the plotline, I am also very interested in what the hell happened with him after burning because... How the hell he wasn't found? I kind of DON'T want him to be groomed at this point because I feel like it won't be as cool as him just more naturally evolving into what he became. Like, surely, he is an asshole but consider this: as a villain, he is morally obligated to be an asshole

I feel like someone hiding him and Touya overstating the gruesomeness of his living conditions to the dude so he feels *bad* for him and hides him and feels sympathy and Touya gets attention but also begins to reassure himself in the fact his Dad needs to be punished... Idk it's a lot of mystery but I feel like more suffering won't deliver the point the way I want it... I mean it CAN be handled this way and initially I thought a lot about Dabi being brainwashed a bit or having his memories altered so it seems worse to him or even him being groomed or lied too but nowadays I am not into it. I mean I believe in Horikoshi and that he will handle him well 🛐

I talk a lot so I will summarize

If we judge him as a real human

14 yo Touya - DID NOTHING WRONG IN HIS LIFE PROTECT HIM

24 yo Dabi - go fuck yourself bitch you older than me and act like a child and kill people, I couldn't care less about your trauma rich boy

If you want me to talk as his psychologist

Yeah, it is painful and sad, I understand him so much and surely, his trauma is valid as is his hatred but probably revenge won't bring him what he wants. And what he wants is love and attention. But he gotta make choices that will lead to his healing. He needs to *want* to heal. And we will step by step go to the healing because it is possible. He is loved and he is enough. AND YOU ALL MOTHERFUCKERS WILL HEAL I BELIEVE IN YOU BESTIES

Also his therapist (behind his back)

You won't believe it but my client is the most infantile attention whore I've ever met

But if we talk about him as a character... Very delicious soup

If you talk with your friends

Please, if your friends are being abusive to you or someone else don't even LET them say how their trauma made them this way. No. Nothing allows you to be an abuser. Call them out and stop them and make them talk to the therapist. Like, surely, there are extreme situations like severe mental illnesses or extreme neglect where we should be more forgiving but babying adults won't do you any good and won't make them recover

Yeah, I guess this is what I forgot to say. When I say "it wasn't that bad" what I mean is that I would be more forgiving to people who had it worse. It's more of a personal measure where I can tolerate stuff from people who had particular traumas or from those who suffered greatly (it's not my place to be a bitch here). I can forgive 14 years old or a poor person for stealing stuff but not the 25-year-old man who got no need for money and is not a kleptomaniac. I would be more forgiving to Shigaraki than to Dabi because Shigaraki was groomed a whole lot. Same for Toga, who is not even an adult or Twice who is a poor orphan. But that doesn't mean I would forgive them completely. All of them are shitty people. It's just that they had fewer resources and possibilities to not be what they became while Dabi had more but he acts like he is extremely hurt and the biggest victim which is like... There will be people like this in your life, please, don't make friends with them, they WILL abuse you

I talked a lot damn. It's adhd I can't shut up

[asteriismos]

five oh five - jacob thrombey

warning(s) : eighteen! jacob thrombey, ddlg, choking because it wouldn’t be an eleanor fic without it, an overuse of the word daddy pls, this is honestly just filth

authors note : anyone else think of jacob thrombey while listening to 505 by the arctic monkeys? no just me ok

words : 3k

request(s) :

imagine telling jacob ur into ddlg and he’s like “what’s that” and the reader is like “i’m baby and also ur daddy 😤😳” and he’s like ok let’s go try it out 🥴

ALSO OMG A FUCKING JACOB T FIC WHERE HE EXPERIMENTS WITH DDLG I-

it started off as an inside joke. 

when you told your friends that you were talking to jacob thrombey, they were not short of making fun of you. everyone has heard stories about jacob and all the crazy shit that he did with past girlfriends and hookups. he was infamous for being the womanizer of your private school. and what started as simple snapchats back and forth turned into exchanging numbers. you had made the mistake of leaving your phone unattended and your friend grace saw his incoming texts. 

“you are not talking to jacob thrombey!” grace exclaimed, grabbing your phone from the table and passing it along to the other girls in your group. they all looked at the text and saw the contact name as jacob, and there was only one jacob in your grade. 

you blushed, reaching to take your phone back. “so what if I am?” you said, raising an eyebrow. a blush rose to your cheeks. 

“look at that, she’s blushing. gross. she’s in love,” your other friend kelly said with a roll of her eyes. you stuck your tongue out at her and put your middle finger up. “I am not,” you said to her.

but you totally were. soon enough you were going on a date with him, and then that date turned into two and then three. you liked jacob a lot, despite his stupid twitter rants that he went on sometimes and how he always liked to piss off his parents whenever you were there for dinner. 

your friends, upon hearing the news of your new boyfriend, teased you endlessly for it. it made you laugh, but also made you want to punch them in the face sometimes when they talked about how many kinks he probably had. it was the worst when he would be sitting next to you at the lunch table and your friends would burst out laughing thinking about their conversations that you had during sleepovers. 

“he probably likes bdsm or something like that,” kelly said, taking a sip of her mug filled with tequila. your parents could care less if you and your friends were drinking at the house since they weren’t even home, but mugs were always some kind of tradition with your group. “probably makes you call him sir.”

you hit her on the shoulder, cheeks burning up in a blush. “shut up! seriously this is embarrassing.” you took a sip of the contents in your own mug and wrapped the blanket over your shoulders closer against him. 

“no, no, no. guys, you’re totally missing the obvious one : a daddy kink! thrombey definitely has that. did we guess correctly, y/n?”

you rolled your eyes. “I wouldn’t know.”

that was two days ago, since then it became some kind of inside joke between your friends. the more you thought about it, though, the more you thought about how hot it would be to call jacob daddy. there was a certain appeal to it that you desperately craved, and you were going to see if he thought the same thing. 

you haven’t had sex with him yet either. not because you were a virgin because you definitely were not, neither was him from the massive amount of rumors that surrounded him. it just hasn’t happened yet. 

you were determined to change that. 

you were walking up to jacob’s room now, since his parents weren't home a maid let you in through the front door. your footsteps echoed along the mahogany wood floors all the way to his bedroom, which was at the very end of the hallway in his house past his fathers office that laid empty. the door was closed as per usual, and you knocked three times, opening the door when you heard a small come in. 

the second jacob turned away from his homework and saw you, his face lit up, he closed his textbook and turned his chair to face you. “hey, didn’t know you were coming so soon. thought you were coming in an hour or so?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow up. smirking, he said, “not that I mind.” 

you shrugged. “I don’t know, I got bored at home and didn’t want to wait longer to see you.” 

jacob stood up, walking towards you and putting his hands on your sides. he pulled you close, your eyes flickering up to look into his own green ones. “missed me that much?” he asked in a teasing tone, leaning down and kissing you. your hands went to cup his face and kissed back, humming in content. it was hard to ignore your heart rapidly beating in your chest, you really did like him. 

you pulled away and smiled. “I guess you can say that.” jacob laughed and went to go sit at the edge of his bed, pulling out his phone and looking at the time. “well, I guess we can stay here for a while before we go out to eat then? if you want. I'll see what’s open today,” he said, scrolling through his phone. he wasn’t looking at you and you smiled to yourself. 

he was oblivious. 

you set down your bag, standing there with your arms crossed while working up the confidence to do what you were going to do. in one quick moment, you tugged your shirt up over your head, dropping it to the ground silently. he still wasn’t paying attention. you smirked and pushed down your pants, stepping out of them and that grabbed his attention. jacob sat there staring at you, eyes wide while looking over your body. you wore a black lace bra with matching panties, standing there and batting your eyelashes. 

you sauntered over to him, throwing your legs to either side of his waist and placing yourself right in his lap, face nearing his. “what are you doing?” he asked, hands going to the small of your back. his fingertips led to goosebumps on your skin, breath hitching in your throat when his lips attached onto the column of your neck. 

“hmm, nothing, just wanted to try something out,” you hummed, rolling your hips against him. he was already beginning to strain through his pants, and that led you on to go further. jacob’s face pulled away and his eyes locked on yours, asking a silent what is it? your hands reached for his face, cupping his jaw and kissing along it, teeth grazing along his soft skin. 

“I was wondering if I could call you daddy,” you muttered lowly, his eyes catching yours yet again. instead of their usual light cheery look, they were dark, filled with lust. he liked that. he liked that a lot. jacob didn’t have to say anything, since his hands on your back held you against him as he shifted your bodies. jacob was now on top of you, hips grinding against your own. your moan caught in your throat. he looked at you, ordering, “say it again.”

“daddy, please fuck me.”

he didn’t need to be asked twice.

his lips were connected to yours and his hands trailed to your hands, grabbing both of them by the wrists and pinning them up above your head. your hands strained against his own, quickly losing the battle of dominance with him and succumbing to his touch. harsh kisses were pressed along your lips to your jaw, paying special attention to that sweet spot where your jaw and neck connected. his teeth grazed along your skin, taking it into his mouth and sucking. your eyes fluttered shut, a sigh passing your lips. 

although the thought of him being completely dominant and you unable to control anything, you thought that it would be even better if you teased him. you didn’t call the shots all the time in the relationship, but you were always a little bratty when it came to following his orders. testing the waters, you pressed your hips upwards towards his, gasping at the pressure that was alleviated for just a moment. as quickly as you had been there, he let his free hand trail down and press your hips into the mattress. his other one stayed with your pinned wrists. 

“don’t be a brat, y/n,” jacob said in a condescending tone. “brats don’t get anything, and you want something, don’t you?”

you only nodded, not trusting your voice. your eyes stayed closed, feeling his kisses trail down to the valley of your breasts. your back arched up as you tried to get some kind of gratification, you needed it. you needed him so badly you thought that you just might die. jacob’s hand on your waist squeezed tightly, bringing your attention back to the present and out of the fantasies in your mind. “use your words, princess, if I wanted you to be silent I would’ve put something in your mouth.” you shivered. 

your voice wavered as you said, “I want you, daddy. please.”

“that wasn’t so hard, was it?” his hand around your wrists squeezed them, pushing them further into the bed. you stayed as still as you could for him, only moving your head to see what he was doing. you looked down and saw (and felt) that he was still paying close attention to your tits. 

jacob captured a nipple in between his teeth and he bit down just a little bit to pinch it, sending shockwaves right down south. he had you in the palm of his hand, wrapped around his fingers and he knew it. he wondered how he hadn’t succumbed to this lustful attraction before, since you guys have been dating for a while. the buildup was long, but so rewarding in this moment. 

he looked at you like you put stars in the sky. he was so immensely attracted to you, not just physically, emotionally, and that made the connection that much more powerful. it was like there was an invisible string that held you two together, not able to get that far without the constant pull. 

and while he was kissing along your tits, going from one to the other, hearing those soft gasps and moans coming from his lips - well he knew that he was going to lose it soon. this teasing game, no matter how much he loved it, didn’t account for the fact that he was almost instantly hard the second that he looked up from his phone minutes ago to see you in just skimpy lingerie

his fingers danced along your soft skin, going down, down, down until he was at your lower stomach. a finger hooked along the edge of your panties and pulled up, letting it snap back onto your skin. you jumped at the tiny impact, the pain of it turning into pleasure the second you realized how close he was to you. that same hand trailed down until he was rubbing along the wet spot, pressing down along your clit and mumbling something along the lines of so wet for daddy, but you were too busy getting lost in the sudden pleasure to really register what he had said.

“please,” you begged, your eyes staying on his face. you had a desperate need to alleviate the pressure in between your thighs. you wished that you could press them together tightly, but his hips were situated in between them, rendering that idea merely useless. you knew that he wouldn’t have stood for that anyway. 

without a second thought, your panties were being pushed to the side and he was plunging two fingers in. his index and ring, which were so much longer and thicker than yours that you weren’t expecting it. luckily you were wet enough for the discomfort to last for only a moment, pain once again being replaced for pleasure at the hands of jacob thrombey.

his fingers were curling in just the way to make your toes curl while they pumped into you. you were left writhing, feeling the grip on your wrists tighten with the more you moved. you knew that there would probably be bruises left for you to see tomorrow and shamelessly find a way to cover them, but you loved it. 

you would let jacob mark you up however he wanted to if it meant that you could feel this good. 

you were sure that by the loud moans that you were making, the people working inside of his house would be able to hear what was happening. they were smart to just turn a blind eye, since jacob would surely be royally pissed off if one of them interrupted you. 

all that slipped past your lips were his name, voice so high pitched as you ran towards that high. your legs started to tremble and close around his hips, but he just kept them open before him. jacob’s thumb pressed against your clit and that almost had you cumming, almost there. “jake, im gonna-”

everything stopped. 

jacob pulled his fingers out of you, in fact, he pulled his whole hand away from your heat, bringing it back up to caress your cheek. you could feel yourself coating his hand against your skin. you looked at him with such desperation, your throbbing, neglected pussy felt hot and deceived. the bastard. 

he kept a smirk on his face while you looked at him, feigning anger that he knew wasn’t really the case. “you don’t get to cum until I say so,” he said to you in a condescending tone, pressing your cheek. “which is soon, I promise, you’ve been a good girl for me.”

surprisingly, he let go of your wrists, using both of his hands to turn you around so that you were laying on your stomach. “push yourself up for daddy, will you?” he asked, hearing him pull off his shirt and undoing your belt. your legs were still a little wobbly while you pushed yourself up onto your knees, ass in the air just waiting for him. 

you wiggled your hips and heard him chuckle from behind you, feeling the bed shift with his weight and soon enough his hands were on your waist again. he gave you a kiss to the middle of your spine, making you tingle all over. even though he was being the dominant one, there was still emotion behind all of his touches. it made your heart warm. 

the first thrust into you almost made you slump down into the mattress, and you would have, but one of his arms slinked around your waist to keep you up on your knees. your face was pressed against the sheets, mouth wide open in a silent moan that had gotten caught in your throat. you were sensitive from his fingers, and knew that you wouldn’t be lasting too much longer, especially because he left you high and dry minutes ago. it wouldn’t be hard climbing to that peak again. 

“keep yourself up,” jacob ordered. you nodded slowly, whining as he snapped his hips against your ass, hitting a deeper spot in you. his arm left your waist, the hand connected to it came and wrapped around your throat lightly. the feeling of his fingers spreading along your delicate skin, squeezing just a little bit made you groan. the vibrations from your groan went through his fingers and he kept the pressure, hips rutting into you relentlessly. 

you were having a hard time keeping yourself up, muscles starting to strain every time his hips pushed close. but you did it, because you couldn’t really even think about it. he was hitting that spot so deep inside you, it had you moaning every time his tip pressed up against it. 

“daddy, im going to cum,” you moaned in a desperate tone. your cheeks reddened. 

jacob’s hand squeezed harder on your throat, leaning over and kissing along the back of your ear. “not yet, don’t fucking do it yet,” he said in a dark tone, sucking a hickey right behind your ear. you felt tears well up at the overstimulation, trying your best to do what he was telling you to do. you felt like you were dancing on some cloud and you were going to fall any second now. the adrenaline pumping through you, like fire coursing though your veins. 

“cum.”

and you did, your legs finally giving out and shaking, body slumping into the mattress. his hand stayed at your throat and you couldn’t just focus on one thing, your mind was going haywire. you were in a bliss, a constant euphoria that you knew you never wanted to get out of. you clenched around him with not one second after he told you that you could cum wasted. 

with a scream of his name, you rode out your high, him still thrusting in and out until he pulled all the way out. he pumped himself with his hand and soon enough he was cumming onto your back. you could feel the hot liquid on your back, dripping down, he watched it and relished in the feeling of you looking like this. 

he left the bed for just a second, just to get a towel and cleaned you up, kissing your spine again and helping you roll over. you pushed your panties back into place and he left again, still in your eyesight where he opened up one of his drawers and gave you an old t shirt of his. you accepted it gratefully, pulling it on and humming because it smelled like him. 

“I really like you,” you said to him, shifting on the bed so you were under the covers. jacob was just in his boxers now, coming to join right next to you. he felt warm and you cuddled into his chest, his arm wrapping and keeping you close. “more than just physically.”

jacob kissed the top of your head. “I like you too, y/n. but you have to call me daddy more often.” 

you hit him playfully. “don’t get your hopes up, thrombey.” 

[leconcombrerit]

What are some of your favourite books/book series' and can you give us a brief description? 📕📖📚

-💙

OH YES I CAN

I have three that immediately come to mind. I'll try to give bad summaries to make it funnier.

1) Le cycle de Syffe, P. Dewdney

I'm not sure this one was translated to English, but if not, reading it could be reason enough for anyone to learn French. This is how good this series is. I can't give a bad summary because giving a summary at all is extremely difficult.

Genre : hard fantasy

Status : ongoing

The story is set in a fantasy world, but not a high fantasy one. There's seemingly no magic, only tribe folklore and various saints andgods worshipped in some cities. The story follows the story of Syffe, an orphan, and I honestly can't say anything that wouldn't be a spoiler. The pace is slow, the writing had me close the book and cry (yes, actually cry) no less than three times per book. Seeing such a hard world through the eyes of a child is heart-wrenching. Although we seemingly just follow him around as things happen, there's definitely an underlying plot point that has me shivering. Book three is out next September and I'm here for it.

2) The Broken empire, Mark Lawrence

My comfort book. Which does not mean this book is comforting. It's deep and unsettling and funny as hell, but sometimes you wonder if you really can laugh because someone just died.

Genre : grimdark fantasy

Status : finished

Jorg is a 13 year old bandit with morals as low as his wits are great, and he's definitely the boss of a whole bunch of not so recommendable people who go around ransacking villages. Turns out he's actually a prince, what a surprise ! Featuring assholes, bigger assholes, plot twists that leave you gaping, and even zombies (yes zombies). Bonus point, this author actually has a whole connected-universe thing between his series, so you get easter eggs all the time.

3) The Age of Madness, Joe Abercrombie

I could have put almost any Abercrombie book, this series just happens to be my current favorite. It's funnier if you've read all his other books cause you know the characters, but it can be read as a standalone. And since I know many people care about representation a lot, one of the main characters is gay (so far in the closet he's found Aslan, but more on this matter as it develops).

Genre : grimdark fantasy (do you see a pattern do you)

Status : ongoing (finished next September)

Set between the city of Adua, going full industrialization-profit-baby, the North with their constant wars, and another city that's on the verge of rebellion because industry sucks. Abercrombie is the Holy King of grimdark, so the story is... Grim. And dark. And very funny. The characters are flawed and realistic and loveable still. You want to get in the book, slap some people, hug others, and have Savine walk over you with her high heels. The writing is to die for, the tone changes vastly from one character pov to the other, and knowing the author, it will end badly. Had me go to bed past 4 so I'd know what happened next. Impossible to put down.

As you can see, I'm 100% dark fantasy, with occasional lighter ones. I used to read many thrillers, but I got used to them and now I just... Sort of guess who's the culprit very early on. Une putain d'histoire (French author again I'm sorry) and A quiet belief in Angels get honorable mentions though. Anyhow, it's sad stuff. Bittersweet stuff. Crush my heart under your boots. Make me cry. I get high on that shit.

[gothgirlmahi]

Princess Chapter 1

Dark!Bucky x Reader

Summary: You never thought one date with an Avenger would end up with you locked in his house, playing out his fantasy.

Warnings: forced age regression, smut, non con

Your eyes shot open, frantically darting around the unfamiliar space. You were laid on your back completely naked, tied to a bed. The white sheets were rough under your bare skin. Your wrists and ankles were bound, seemingly attached to ropes at the bottom of the bed.

Panic took over your mind. This was definitely not your house and not your bed. The room you were in was small and unpainted with two doors, one leading to your left and the other to your right. There were no windows to see out of.

Part of you wanted to call for help but you suppressed the urge. The person who brought you here was probably still around. A light and hazy feel clouded your brain and after tugging at your restraints for a while, you were tired. You bit your lip, trying to silence the tears you knew were coming. You didn’t want to cry. You had to be strong. Whatever this was, you would get out.

A few minutes passed and your breath never calmed. Still agitated, still waiting to see why you were here, why it had to be you. You hadn’t done anything to anyone, at least not that you’d known. You were a nice law abiding citizen who certainly didn’t have any enemies so why were you here?

The door to your left began to creak open you supposed you would get answers soon. You nearly had a heart attack when he walked through.

“Bucky?” you asked, chest heaving wildly with fear. His mouth was pressed into a hard line as he approached you, staring down at you in the bed.

You knew him. You knew him! You and Bucky had gone on a date, on one date and you hadn’t planned on seeing him again after that. Although he was an Avenger, there something about him set you off. Now you knew what.

Bucky’s lips curled into a sweet smile and he put a hand on your cheek.

“Good morning, princess. Did you sleep well?”

There were a lot of things you wanted to say.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

Why the hell did you bring me here?

You’re crazy.

But you settled for something less combative.

“Can you untie me?”

He shook his head and gave your cheek a pat before sitting down next to you.

“No. Not yet. I guess we need to talk, huh?”

“Why would you do this? You don’t even know me,” you stammered out. Bucky shook his head.

“I know you need me. The world is a dangerous place and you need Daddy to take care of you.”

A tear slipped down your face and Bucky swiped it away with his thumb.

“Please don’t hurt me,” you begged, attempting to curl in on yourself and being held back by the ropes. Bucky set his hand on your hip, rubbing circles into your bare skin.

“Shh. None of that. I won’t hurt you unless you make me.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Daddy loves you, honey. Don’t be scared, it won’t be so bad. I’ll make you feel so good and all you have to do is be a good girl.”

“I’m really confused and I’m scared. Please let me go,” you begged. Bucky shook his head. A look of frustrated anger took over his face as he looked down at you.

“I know this isn’t going to be easy but you will accept me.” The cold anger raging in his eyes almost made you gasp. He stood and pulled off his shirt which sent adrenaline running through your veins.

“You don’t have to do this. I promise I won’t tell anyone. Please. Please just let me go. I swear on my life I won’t tell anyone.”

He slid his pants and his underwear down and you were greeted with the sight of his half hard cock. His hand wrapped around his cock, jerking himself off as he looked at you.

“You’re so pretty when you beg. Keep that up. You’ll be begging for my dick soon.”

Bucky climbed on the bed and you closed your legs quickly. He pried then apart easily despite your attempts otherwise. He laid between your legs, keeping your thighs open with his own. You wanted to push back against him but your restraints could just barely reach him.

“Your body is mine. You belong to me. Remember that.”

“Stop!”

He slid the head of his cock against your clit and you squirmed. He did it again, taking up a gentle rhythm against you. There was nothing you could do to stop him, nothing you could do at all but cry and beg him not to go through with this. With every protest you uttered, he only seemed urged on more. Slick started to gather between your legs and you hated yourself for it. Bucky just smiled and began to press into you.

His member was thick, stretching you open uncomfortably even with your growing arousal. When he was fully sheathed in you, he threw his head back with a groan.

“I knew your pussy would be amazing but fuck.”

He slammed into you with a hard thrust before doing it again and again until he was ramming into you with abandon. His hips slapped against yours mercilessly and the headboard hit the wall with every thrust. A hand came to close around one breast while his mouth went to the other. With his free hand, he pulled your leg closer around his waist to get better leverage over you.

“Please stop,” you tried again. He pulled off of your nipple and shook his head. In the low light his blue eyes were nearly black and his gaze seemed absolutely feral as he took you.

“Daddy loves hearing you beg, princess. Do it again. Tell me to stop.”

He pressed his face into your skin, giving a low growl before biting your shoulder. You yelped in surprise and he licked the bite mark slowly, sucking a bruise into your skin. After the pain and shock subsided, you tried to ignore the growing feeling inside you. Your breath was ragged as you tried to keep a level head, keep from slipping into—

“Are you gonna cum?” he asked suddenly. You shook your head with silent tears streaking your skin. Bucky slid his thumb into his mouth before bringing the wet appendage down to your clit. As soon as it made contact, your eyes were rolling back.

“I’ll let you cum if you do one thing for me.”

“Stop,” you said weakly. Bucky increased the pressure on your clit and you felt yourself barreling towards an orgasm.

“Beg daddy to let you cum,” he demanded. When you shook your head, his metal hand was almost instantaneously wrapped around your neck.

“Beg daddy to let you cum,” he repeated. The little smirk on his face showed the sadistic pleasure he was taking in this. When his hand began to squeeze around your neck, you were nearly frozen in panic although the tingling in your core was still distracting you.

“Please daddy let me cum,” you begged, humiliated at your situation. Bucky laughed and let up the pressure on your neck, but he kept his hand there. The cold metal on your skin was contrasted with the heat between your legs and Bucky working you towards a shameful release.

“That wasn’t hard, now was it? Cum for me, baby. Squeeze that pretty cunt on my cock.”

Your legs shook uncontrollably as your orgasm took over. Back arched off the bed and moaning wantonly. Bucky seemed pleased at the sight, not stopping his ministrations until you were completely strung out. To your surprise, he pulled out. Cock still hard and leaking. When he started to untie your legs, worry set in.

“Are you letting me go?” It was wishful thinking on your part but you had to ask. Bucky looked at you like you were stupid and gave your now free leg a little pat.

“Daddy loves you but first he has to break you. I’m gonna fuck your pretty ass, sweetheart.”

“No, please! No! I’m not ready, I’ve never—“

“Shh, baby girl. It’s okay. Just calm down,” he said while roughly flipping you over. You flailed around on the bed, kicking your legs but he was able to very quickly subdue you. He roughly opened your legs, once again settling between them. His metal hand slapped your ass before groping you roughly.

“Bucky, please, I’ll suck you off. I’ll do anything. Please don’t do this.”

Bucky chuckled darkly, leaning over you to whisper in your ear.

“Baby, you’re gonna suck my dick later anyway.”

He pulled your hips up, forcing you to arch your back. His metal fingers dipped through your folds, collecting your slick on his hand. He pulled your ass cheeks apart and slid one metal finger through that tight ring of muscle. When you cried out in pain he hushed you.

“Don’t act like nobody’s ever fucked your ass before, slut. I know your holes were like a revolving door before you met me. I saw that vibrator you have. The double penetration one. So I know you like it.”

When he pushed another finger into you, you held tightly to your restraints, gritting your teeth. He pressed into you as far as he could go before finally adding a third finger. Silent tears ran down your face while you laid face down on the mattress.

“How does that feel?” he asked. Your only response was a groan of pain. When he had enough of working your open for him, you felt the head of his cock press against your tight hole. He slid in with some force and you screamed out in pain. It felt like you were being ripped apart. Bucky moaned loudly above you, taking hold of your hips and slowly pressing in further.

“I’m not gonna last long. I’ve never felt anything this tight in my life. It’s like every part of you was made for me.”

He pulled you back against his dick and you sniffed through your tears. You knew there was no use in begging him but you couldn’t stop. You would do anything to stop the pain.

“Please stop, please! It’s hurts so much!”

“Fuck. If you keep begging me like that I’m not going to be able to control myself. I hope you know the tears only make me want to fuck you more. Your ass is so goddamn tight. We’re definitely doing this again.”

Bucky wrapped his metal arm around your waist while the flesh one rested against your back. He held you still while he fucked into you quickly. You clenched your jaw, just wanting it all to be over. His hips stutters in their rhythm and his breath hit your neck in a little gasp. He was close.

“Oh fuck yeah. That’s it. Taking my big cock like a good girl. I’m gonna cum so deep inside you, sweetheart. Has anyone ever cum in your ass?”

You vigorously shook your head.

“You’re a liar, but we’ll work on that.”

Bucky groaned above you and spilled into you, filling you with his warm seed. He pulled out slowly and you winced from the pain. Tears still flowed freely down your face and you laid face down in the sheets. Bucky got off the bed and slapped your ass before leaving and closing the door behind him.

You cried until you were out of tears. The situation you were in was unbelievable but you couldn’t find it in yourself to cry anymore. He said he wanted to break you and he was doing a good job of it so far. You were shaking from the pain and from the cold of the room. Your wrists were sore from being trapped in the same position for hours. Between your legs felt disgusting.

It was impossible to know what was going through his mind. you thought you had parted on good terms. Besides, Bucky had seemed so nice. He just wasn’t right for you. Now at least you knew your instinct was right.

Bucky came down later with a glass of water. He didn’t say anything, just shoved it toward your lips. When you didn’t drink, he grabbed your chin in his hand.

“Open your fucking mouth,” he told you. Fear compelled you to listen. You gulped down the water, finally realizing how thirsty you were. Bucky gave a nod of approval when you were done.

“That should help you sleep.”

Bucky sat next to you in silence, just staring at the wall. As the minutes passed, you could feel your body calming and eyes struggling to stay open. Eventually you couldn’t fight it anymore and fell unconscious.

.....

Masterlist // Chapter 2

A/N New series! Loosely based on my Princess one shot. Sorry, no tags on this one because I have it all written up and scheduled to post. Hope you guys enjoy. Next chapter will be up soon.

[daydream-believin]

Sure Took You Long Enough, Babe

Summary: (wlw) Reader pulls an all-nighter with coworker Zoe

Warnings: swearing, alcohol, uh i think i remember mentioning people doing drugs, that trademark wlw obliviousness

Word Count: 4374

a/n: g-g-gorlfren... *slaps roof of fic* this baby can fit so many gay fantasy tropes in it. yes, the bars in cali stay open till 4am idk

Your alarm blared it’s cheery tune, startling you awake. Strangely enough, the happy melody never inspired happiness, just rage. Yet, ever the eager beaver, you shot right up and slammed the button as you slid out of bed, not allowing yourself to dilly-dally. As much as you’d like to stay asleep for three more hours at the least, you forced yourself into a good start for the day. Today was the first day of your new part-time job at Hextech, and lucky you, you got the morning shift. Curse of being fresh meat, you supposed. As long as you could make it through the day without getting too terribly hazed, you’d be fine.

Back home in Arcadia Oaks for the summer, you’d needed a new job or you’d go crazy. What were you supposed to do? Relax? Nah. You’d start taking double shifts as soon as you could. It was a bit tricky finding somewhere that would be a good fit for you. Okay, that was a lie. It was a bit tricky finding somewhere that would even be willing to hire you, apparently. Really knocked your pride down a few pegs.

By a strike of fortune, you had been catching up with one of your old high school buddies over coffee yesterday. You know, the one you used to hang out in the graveyard and practice tarot reading with? Yeah, Evan. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who was just as excited as you were that My Chemical Romance was back. When you two ordered, he pulled out that old joke about taking his coffee black like his soul and it still made you laugh as much as it did in high school. Evan was doing good, new boyfriend, new job, new band. You felt happy for your friend. You were happy that he was happy. He deserved it.

After you’d lamented that you couldn’t find work, he told you about how lately he’d been working for that electronic store Hextech. Not subtly named, was it? He’d told you about how it was run by hedgewizards like you two. They only hired through connections, since they were a magical company run by magical people. You, thankfully, had one of those connections. Your buddy put in a good word for you and, just like that, you were in. They put you on the schedule crazy fast. Like, the first shift of the very next day fast. Good. You were going out of your mind having so much free time. Your relatives were starting to ask you *shutter* questions about your personal life.

You looked in the mirror, slicked back your hair into a neat style, and admired how you looked in your new work shirt. Of course, it would eventually join the trophy quilt of old work shirts you were making, but for now it was nice and new. A pretty baby blue, it will go well sewed next to the royal blue Domino’s shirt from last semester. You added about a dozen earrings to your ears as a finishing touch and headed downstairs. After downing your coffee and hastily scarfing down a still-warm blueberry muffin, you kissed your grandmother’s cheek goodbye as you headed out the door. You tossed a crumpled muffin to the crows waiting by the front door. The greedy bastards inhaled every crumb. As much as you loved having a job again, the sun was still asleep when you started your walk to work. Fuck that.

As you walked through the door at Hextech, you were astonished to see the absolute angel who was waiting there for you. An absolute angel who looked kinda hungover, actually. Well, it was 6 AM on a Sunday. The doors didn’t actually open to customers until seven, but you were here at the ass-crack of dawn so she could train you some before throwing you to the customer wolves. Said pink-haired angel introduced herself as Zoe. What a fitting name for someone as cute and feisty as her. You had to catch yourself from staring too much into her striking blue eyes, that reminded you of lightning, pure electricity, before she caught you. And really, they were distracting. It was hard to focus on what she was telling you, which was a bad thing since she was giving you vital information. You forced yourself to focus. As much as you could.

After going over the ropes of working the wizard-bar, she took you through a cool hidden door to show you around the back. The back had such wonderful rooms as the kitchen that someone microwaved fish in yesterday, workrooms, one of which had a poor guy who looked like her never left last night, tinkering away at some techy-thing, the room Zoe introduced as the room she went to scream in, and a common-room type thing with a sick floor to ceiling screen (or was it a window?), depicting a soothing nature scene. She told you that after you had been working in the front for a while and proved yourself, your bosses would move you up to the repairs and phone troubleshooting. Maybe even invention if you were talented enough. That filled you with dread, despite the inspiration it was supposed to be. You had to admit, you knew almost nothing about the technical/repairs side of electronics and you did not belong here. You were more of a coding/hacking type of hedgewizard. You’d have to fake it till you make it. You were sure Zoe could tell you were bullshitting through this, but thankfully she was gracious enough not to call you out on it. Although, you didn’t mind that impish grin that found it’s place on her face.

Damn. You did not need to get involved with a coworker. No matter how enchanting she was. Or how pretty. This was just a summer job. You would be moving back across California for school soon enough and you were not going to do long-distance again. Although, is a few hours really that long? Definitely not as long as your last relationship. Shut up shut up shut up. No. You don’t even know if this chick is into girls, don’t get ahead of yourself. Mmm, she is very pretty though. You can admire from afar. What’s the harm in that?

There was much, much harm. Stars, you had it bad. You had only been at Hextech for a month now and it felt like hell. Perhaps it was hell. Maybe you were dead, and this was your eternal punishment. Damned to forever pine after the loveliest wizard you had ever met. She took a liking to you instantly too, inviting you out for drinks that first night, and every weekend after that. And she’d invited you over to her place for movie nights and to hang out with her friends. Some nights she’d take you to go dancing with her. She’d taken to calling you Baby. Perfectly normal things for gals being pals right. You guessed this is what girl besties do. You wouldn’t know, you’d only ever really hung with guys. Really feminine goth guys, sure, but guys nonetheless. She seemed hellbent on spending time with you. Not that you were complaining, but it just made your emotions stronger. And harder to shove back into the abyss.

~ ~ ~

One Friday night, you two were just chilling up in your bedroom. A rest before one of coworker’s birthday party tomorrow night. Zoe was telling you that she really wanted to try out a new makeup technique. And you told her she could try it out on you. The joy that painted itself across her features is something that will be burned into your memory forever. But not as high a degree of burn as what came next. Zoe straddled your waist, eyeliner pen in hand, and pushed you back against the headboard so she could better reach your eyes. Your breath caught in your throat. You were helpless to do anything but stare at her face that was in super close proximity to yours. You were caught in a trance as you obeyed when she told you to do this or that so she could properly apply the makeup. Her pink lips were pursed in concentration, and her pink banged strayed into her face. Her signature pink style matched the pink of your cheeks. You were sure she could feel your heart pounding, her elbows were on your chest, basically. She moved on to eyeshadow. Weird, you were always an eyeshadow first kinda person but who were you to critique this goddess’s methods. As she rolled on the perfectly matching lipstick onto your lips, you couldn’t help but think about this being an indirect kiss. This lipstick has been all over her lips and now it’s on yours? Stars.

Once she was finished with her masterpiece, she leaned back to take a good look at it. You felt the heat blaze under your skin as her blue eyes scanned your face. Finally, she seemed satisfied and nodded. Zoe helped you up and you went to go check it out in the mirror hanging on your wall. It was brightly colored, garish even, yet perfect, in your opinion. Like Zoe’s personality distilled into something you could wear. She crept up behind you and put her hands on your shoulders as you both admired her skills.

“My best work yet if I do say so, Y/n,” She grinned like a Cheshire cat, “Hmm, I know it’s already like, 3 in the morning and we’re supposed to be relaxing, but we should go and show this off.”

You both had a shift in four hours but you didn’t know how to say no to those eyes. “Alright, Zo,”

You grabbed your jackets on the way out, careful not to wake any of the other inhabitants of the house, but unable to keep the giggles in. Zoe had thought it would be fun to swap jackets, and you weren’t going to say no to that. Her jacket was cozy, black leather, and smelled of her rosy perfume. You never wanted to take it off. When you put it on, her eyes lingered on your form, commenting how good it made you look. You were very thankful for the cover of darkness that hid your flush, rosy like her perfume. You thought she looked marvelous in yours too, but you weren’t as brave in order to say that out loud.

Suddenly you were in some club across town, being introduced to Zoe’s friend Mimi who was working the bar that night. Mimi looked you up and down, then cocked her brows and clicked her tongue, while nodded to Zoe? Who turned pink and angrily said something under her breath to her friend. You couldn’t make out what she said over the music, you were too busy trying not to put too much weight on this interaction. Telling your heart to stop jumping. Jumping just gets you hurt. Mimi snickered as she scurried off to the other side of the bar to fix up your drinks after Zoe finished her rant. She turned back to you and laughed nervously, leaning on the bar.

“That Mimi. What a card.” You nodded in response, not sure what to say.

You three chatted while you sipped at your drinks. Zoe had ordered you something fruity, sweet, and vibrantly colored. It was very tasty, whatever it was. Must have had a high percentage because your head was already fuzzy with just this one. You stopped after finishing it, not fancying being drunk at work, but Zoe got another. Her alcohol tolerance was way stronger than yours. You fucking lightweight. Mimi had started cleaning up since the bar closed soon. Zoe grabbed your hand unexpectedly.

“How about we dance until we get kicked out, Babe?” She said with a sparkle in her eye.

“Uh- y- yeah,” was all you managed to get out before she pulled you over to the dance floor. It was almost vacant, since it was nearing 4am and most people had either moved on for the night, passed out on one of the club’s couches, or were getting their fix in the bathroom. Nice. It was like the floor was just for you two. Zoe was really jazzed, spinning you around to whatever trashy party song was playing. It was infectious. Her energy, not the song. You were having a lot of fun with the pink girl dancing with you. She tossed her hair back laughing at one point. Right then and there, you decided to throw all those things stopping you out the window. If you missed her come fall, you’d just drive the trip to see her. It would be worth it.

The other trio of people who had been dancing left, and now it really was just you two. It would have felt like just you two even if the floor was full. As the current song ended, the DJ looked at you in sympathy. “Alright guys, this is the last song okay, we close in ten.” He switched it to a Viper song.

“OH! I love this song!” Zoe’s smile got even bigger. You didn’t know that was possible. Somehow, she got an energy boost too. You had completely no idea how the firecracker you were with could stay lit well into the morning. If it wasn’t for your manic pixie dream girl here, you’d be groggy by now. She flittered around you, having a blast. It was adorable. She mouthed the words of the song to you, which would have been rather cute if they hadn’t been considerably sexual lyrics. You felt that blush come back for the umpteenth time that night. And she had that impish grin plastered across her face again, like she knew what she was doing. Zoe had gotten closer to you as the song winded down, you hadn’t noticed until it faded out altogether. Your eyes were wide. She booped your nose, giggling. You blinked, surprised. You felt your heart squeeze at how fucking cute that was.

She took your hand again as she pulled you over to go give Mimi a quick hug goodbye before you two left. You still had two and a half hours to kill until your shifts started at six thirty. Zoe’s favourite coffee house wouldn’t be open until five. As much as a nap sounded good right now, you both knew that it would just make you sleepier. And grumpier from being woken up after such a short time. Might as well pull out an old goth kid staple.

“Wanna go hang around in the graveyard?”

~ ~ ~

Zoe tossed her head back laughing so hard she hit the gravestone she was leaning against.

“Oof, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” She rubbed her head and turned back to look check the name on the engraving, “Sorry Howard.”

“It’s too late, he’s offended now and he’s gonna haunt us,” you snickered, “Nice going, Zo.”

“Don’t worry Baby, I’ve been working on my exorcism skills. You know, since a certain dumbass brought spirits into the party last week.” Ah, Douxie, what a guy. Of course he hadn’t meant to ruin everyone’s night and release those ghosts. It just sort of happened. He was accident prone and you didn’t understand why people trusted him with cursed stuff like that to begin with. Luckily, within the number of wizards gathered, you guys were eventually able to find a way to banish all the spirits before any real harm came of it. It wasn’t a bad way to spend a Friday night. You got to live out your childhood dream of being a ghostbuster.

You looked around. The cemetery wasn’t as spooky as most people thought it was. Sure, there were strange noises, and endless headstones with disembodied names that meant nothing, and creepy mausoleums that cast big shadows in the moonlight, and a creaky gate that swung back and forth whether there was wind or not, but it wasn’t scary. Well, maybe that was just because you’d spent most nights of your teen years here, so you were desensitized to it. Zoe didn’t seem to mind it one bit either.

You glanced up and saw three of your crow friends on the top of the mausoleum across from you and Zoe. If crows could smirk these would be smirking. Fuckers. They were always around whenever you’d go out with Zoe. Watching so they could tease you later. Damn nosy birds. Why did you ever start feeding them. They were even there in a set of three, just to mock you. They may as well be singing “Y/n and Zoe sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

You ignored the crows, pulling out your phone and flipping to your ebook app. Because you know what would make this just like old times? Some dramatic goth poetry. What a way to woo a girl. Zoe was fond of the idea of some poetry reading too. She told you that you could pick. At first you thought to read some Poe, perhaps starting with ‘Serenade’, but decided against it lest the bastards on the roof started demanding you read them ‘the Raven’. It’s happened before. You settled on some Keats instead. And you knew the perfect poem. A poem you could put all your emotions into. The most sapphic poem ever written by a man, in your opinion. If she didn’t feel the same, you could always deny it and say that you were just getting way into character. Either way it was going to make work weird, but you didn’t think you gave a fuck anymore. Here goes nothing.

“Had I a man’s fair form, then might my sighs

Be echoed swiftly through that ivory shell

Thine ear, and find they gentle heart; so well

Would passion arm me for the enterprise:” You took a big gulp of air. Zoe’s gaze was locked on you, and that didn’t make this any less nerve-wracking. You could feel your hands shaking. “But ah! I am no knight whose foreman dies;

No cuirass glistens on my bosom’s swell;

I am no happy shepherd of the dell

Whose lips have trembled with a maiden’s eyes.” With those words, a sudden burst of boldness in your heart caused you to take her hand. Must be the alcohol. Yes, that which hath made them drunk hath made you bold. Zoe didn’t appear to be breathing anymore. You looked back into her electric blue eyes. “Yet must I dote upon thee, --call thee sweet,

Sweeter by far than Hybla’s honied roses

When steeped in dew rich to intoxication

Ah! I will taste that dew, for me ‘tis meet,” Your voice became breathy as you uttered these last verses. “And when the moon her pallid face discloses,

I’ll gather some by spells, and incantation.” You just froze there, breathing. The ball was in Zoe’s court now. Speak of the devil, she was really close, like really close. When did she get so close. You hadn’t realized. She lifted a finger to your face and brushed a loose strand of hair behind you ear. Your breath caught in your throat. She drew closer, your noses touching now. Her eyes slipped down into a half lid. Your eyes flicked to her lips and she watched you. It occurred to you that she was waiting for you to close the gap. So you did.

It was fireworks. Of course, you were kissing a firecracker herself. It was a sweet kiss, but laced with that fire. You both pulled back for air, but quickly returned to each other’s lips. Zoe’s hands drifted down to your hips and she pulled you into her lap, leaning back up against that headstone. And now you were snogging in the cemetery. Mary Shelley would be proud. Howard, however, was probably pissed off for sure now.

Your breaths mingled as you gasped for air. Zoe caressed your cheek, cupping your face. She chuckled, “It sure took you long enough, Babe. I was starting to think I’d have to spell it out for you.”

You all but collapsed back into her arms, exasperated. Stars, it sure did take you long enough, didn’t it. You could hear and feel Zoe’s snort through her chest. You raised back up to gaze into those baby blues. A pang of adoration shot through your heart like one of cupid’s cursed arrows.

“How about I buy coffee, for our first official date?” Zoe agreed to your offer. You got off of her, legs wobbling like a baby deer. Speaking of deer, you were happy to see that the herd that usually hangs out here in the graveyard in the early hours was peacefully grazing around you two. You hadn’t noticed them come in, too busy snogging. You reached out a hand and helped Zoe up. You two brushed the grass off your clothes and gave one last apology to Howard before setting off for the coffee shop. Zoe checked her phone for the time. It was 5:23, you two still had almost a full hour to spend lounging in the coffeeshop before you had to head off to Hextech. Zoe reached for your hand as you walked back to Zoe’s bike. You threaded your fingers together. Something as small as that shouldn’t have felt as nice as it did. But it did.

You completely adored riding on the back of Zoe’s motorcycle. You got to cling to her, arms around her waist, pretending that you were holding her for romantic reasons and not so you wouldn’t fall off a moving automobile. You wouldn’t have to just pretend any longer now. The thought made you giddy. And now that you think about it, that was probably why Zoe had insisted on giving you rides everywhere for the past month. You were so fucking oblivious. It was painful. Thank the stars above she was patient with you. You snuggled further into her back, inhaling that rosy perfume. It truly was intoxicating, Keats. A girl could get used to this.

~ ~ ~

The coffee house barista recognized you two as you walked in and started making your orders that he had memorized. He greeted you cordially as you handed over the cash. He looked down at Zoe’s hand joined with yours, raising his eyebrows teasingly but not saying anything. Did everyone in this fucking town know about you two before you did? You think you might have beaten that Parisian catboy at his own game. How embarrassing.

Zoe got cozy on you guy’s usual couch while you carried over the coffee. After you set the mugs on the coffee table and plopped down, Zoe swung her legs up onto the couch, and over your lap. Didn’t exactly take you by surprise. Zoe often sat like this. You were used to it. Wait, was this also flirting? Stars, you didn’t even know anymore. This was so confusing. She noticed the face journey you had taken with the internal struggle, and grinned, shrugging her arm around your shoulders to ease you. You snatched your cup of the table and downed as much as you could handle before it got too hot. You were still really nervous, despite her being very clear about how she felt, and Zoe thought that was pretty funny.

“So, we’re gonna have to say something to people tonight,” Zoe started.

You just nodded in response. Hopefully this wasn’t going to make anything weird. You hadn’t been working at Hextech long enough to know how the dynamics worked. Maybe someone had been pining after Zoe too and now hated you. Maybe someone was Zoe’s ex and now hated you. Maybe someone was just really homophobic and now hated you. There were plenty of possibilities, you could go on.

“I was thinking we should wear these matching dresses I found last week, and sort of bought already, to double our cute couple factor.” She had murmured that middle part but you still heard it loud and clear. You had to hold back a squeak. That was so sweet. And adorable. She just saw the dresses in the shop and thought to herself ‘I want to wear that with Y/n’? You could die right now. You settled for downing more of that coffee.

“Yes! That’s so cool? I- What color are they?” You didn’t know how to handle this.

Zoe pulled out her phone and leaned over to show you the pics she took of them. They were matching, made of the same brown floral-patterned fabric, but different styles. Either one would go great with Zoe’s leather jacket, which you were still wearing. You’d go for your denim one. Not the purple jacket that currently hung off Zoe’s shoulders. The colors wouldn’t clash but the style of it would. This was going to be awesome, anyways. Matching dresses, telling your friends the best news you’ve had all year, having fun at the party, not having to spend the whole night miserably shoving your feelings aside? You couldn’t wait.

“Which one do you want?” You picked the looser, more flowy one. Zoe was more comfortable with tight stuff that showed off her body. You had a sneaking suspicion she already knew you’d pick that one, and was giving you the illusion of choice. It was sweet, really. Your phone alarm went off, alerting you that it was time to start the walk for work. All the relaxing time was gone. A crying shame, but you’d still get to spend the day with your favourite person just the same, so not truly that big of a loss. Albeit, Zoe didn’t look too pleased to have to go back to work. Laughing, you stood to your feet, and held out your arm for her to link through.

“Shall we go milady?” You two waved to the barista as you headed out the door. “I think you should do our makeup for the party again, really show off this time.” Zoe perked up, excited at the prospect as Hextech neared.

“And I’ll show off my hot new girlfriend too.” There was that damned blush again.

[emergencymanagement]

there are so many plot holes in Peter’s betrayal IT’S INSANE

okay! hello! can I just rant for a minute? I’m writing a fic that spans from the beginning of the marauders’ years at Hogwarts to Remus and Sirius’ last days together and I’m trying to lay down the timeline of the first war right now, and

 nothing! about! jk rowling’s plot! makes! sense!

(apologies in advance for spelling mistakes I’m drunk and tired, but let’s gO)

Problem 1: The Potters

JK has two conflicting timelines of when the Potters go into hiding:

Timeline 1: 

the Potters go into hiding immediately after Lily becomes pregnant

this means they went into hiding around October 1979 and stayed in hiding for two years until they died in October 1981

that’s a long ass time! a loooooong ass time! you’re telling me they were locked in their house for two years?? that means they only served in the Order for a little over a year which makes no sense because...

Problem 1: Somebody took a photo of the Order in July of 1981 and James and Lily were in it. Why would they have left their newborn baby at home (or taken him with them!) to go to Order headquarters and take a photo for an organization they hadn’t been a part of for almost two years?

Problem 2: In Lily’s letter to Sirius, written around August of 1981, a month after the photo was taken, she reports being in hiding and says that James is starting to get antsy not being able to go anywhere which implies they JUST went into hiding and are still getting used to being stuck in the house

Timeline 2: 

Based on all the information above, the Potters must have gone into hiding early to mid-July in 1981, after the Order photo was taken and before Harry’s birthday  on July 31st (Lily mentions in her letter that Harry celebrated his first birthday in hiding). This would make sense because if Peter was already working for Voldemort (which Sirius claims he was in POA) then it wouldn’t take him very long to betray them to Voldy, and so them being in hiding for only three months before they were killed is very reasonable. So this timeline that I’ve just described must be J.K.’s second timeline, right?? that would make sense, right? WRONG. Nothing makes sense in this world, you fool.

timeline two ACTUALLY says that the Potters had to go into hiding “at the time of Harry’s christening”

which like?? what??? his christening? okay. I guess Lily was devoutly religious because Christianity sure didn’t seem to be a big thing among the purebloods (what this reads like to me, though, is another example of JK Rowling trying to weirdly inject Christianity into the Harry Potter books while ignoring all other religions, but that’s for another time) ((fyi I have no issues with Christianity or blending religion and fantasy but her usage of it is odd and noncommittal)) 

christenings usually happen anywhere from a few weeks to six months after the baby’s birth depending on your sect, situation, e.t.c

this would mean that the Potters went into hiding around late summer-early fall of 1980

THIS would mean that the cast the Fidelius charm for a year before their death

this seems more likely than the first scenario, but all of the problems listed above with the picture and the inconsistencies in the letter are still present

On top of that, Sirius claims that Peter was a spy for a year before the Potters’ death. This would mean that Peter secretly joined Voldemort at almost exactly the same time the Potters went under the Fidelius charm. Admittedly, the Potter family being directly threatened and going into hiding seems like a solid catalyst for Peter noping-the-fuck-out of the Order and secretly becoming a spy. He probably partially joined the Order because all of his friends were doing it (James especially) and so seeing James being forced into hiding was probably a huge shock for him. Also, at this point, the Death Eaters were winning, and he was most definitely shitting himself over that. So. Yes. Timeline works there. 

BUT! then why did it take Peter a year to give the Potters up? It seems (although there’s some wiggle room) like they didn’t switch secret keepers, rather made it seem like Sirius was the secret keeper publicly while Peter was secretly the real secret keeper. In this scenario, Peter either would have had to willfully withhold this information from Voldy himself for almost year, which is kind of a dangerous move coming from a coward, or he told Voldemort the minute he was made secret keeper and for some reason Voldemort didn’t do ANYTHING ABOUT IT FOR A YEAR. Does Voldemort have really bad procrastination issues? Did he just forget that there’s a baby that’s threatening his very existence out there somewhere?

This leaves one last plausible option: something happened that made them switch secret-keepers last minute, and Peter did not become secret keeper until shortly before the Potters’ death. This is not what Pottermore or the books imply, but it’s what makes the most sense. We’ll come back to this option in problem 3 which is all about secret keepers, but for now let’s talk about the prophecy that made all of this come to be... 

Problem 2: The Prophecy

Dumbledore says that the prophecy was made in 1980 “shortly before [Harry’s] birth” on a “cold, wet night”. 

I think that anything below 50 Fahrenheit/10 Celsius can be considered cold, so according to this map of temperatures in the Scottish Highlands:

(okay... yes... I see it too... perhaps the climate map of the Scottish Highlands is taking things a bit too far. But I’m trying to make a point, okay!!)

Trelawney could have conceivably given Dumbledore the prophecy anywhere from late March - early June. There’s some wiggle room there, but I’d place my bets on it happening somewhere in the spring based on the weather and timing. This means that Trelawney made the prophecy a year and a half before Voldemort was finally able to kill the Potters. So what took Voldemort so long? Let’s break it down. 

We know that Snape overheard the prophecy and brought it to Voldemort. From there Voldemort decided to kill Harry not Neville because Harry was a half-blood like himself, Snape went back to Dumbledore and offered himself as a double agent in exchange for Lily’s protection, and Voldemort reportedly spent “months searching” for the Potters until he found their whereabouts and discovered they were using a Fidelius charm. Then “WITHIN A WEEK OF BEING NAMED SECRET KEEPER” Peter betrayed them and Voldemort was able to enter the Potters’ home. The implications of this are too ridiculously convoluted to get into, but I’ll hit the stuff that makes me want to scream: 

Option 1: Snape Tells Voldy Immediately After He Hears the Prophecy

In this scenario, we only have a few months accounted for. Voldemort finds out about prophecy, searches for a few months, finds the Potters, kills them. Makes sense, right? Bing, bang, boom. Very efficient. Except no. He knew for a year and a half, so what was he doing with allll of that extra time? Discovering the joys of muggle television? Completing a 5,000 piece crossword puzzle? Teaching Nagini to dance? Get on top of it, man. World domination is on the line. A few months is not a year and a half. 

It’s also possible that the few months thing is wrong, and Voldemort was actually searching for the full year and a half. If Peter gave the Potters up within a week of becoming secret keeper, they should have been dead wayyy earlier! Like over a year earlier! Even if Sirius was the original secret keeper, and they switched mid-October of 1981, Peter would have still known where the Potters where and that they were under the Fidelius charm, information Voldemort didn’t know until shortly before he killed them. So why did Peter, who was already a spy at this point, fail to say anything? If Voldemort had found out Peter had willfully withheld information, he surely would have killed him. That thought alone should have been enough to make Peter come to him immediately considering how terrified Peter has always been of dying.

Option 2: Snape Sort of Drags His Feet with the Whole Thing

okay so maybe Snape didn’t tell the dark lord immediately. Maybe he knew what this would mean for Lily and was terrified. Maybe he debated for a long time whether it would be safer for Lily if he kept the information to himself or if he told the dark lord and begged him to spare her (fuck the baby, am I right?) 

STILL this is a big risk for Snape. No one really wants to piss of Voldemort and saying, “heyyyy big man, I’ve actually known that there’s a super baby that can kill you for like a year, and I didn’t tell you about it because I was scared, but don’t be mad” is not an A+ move. Seems like Voldemort might be kind of mad. Seems like he might even kill you. It seems unlikely to me that Snape would wait that long, but I guesssss it’s possible.

NO MATTER WHAT there are so many conflicts in this timeline. Everything conflicts with everything else, especially the timeline of the secret keeper which is wholly dependent on the other two fucked-up timelines we just discussed, so without further ado...

Problem 3:  The Secret Keeper

so WHY not just make Sirius the secret keeper? That’s the question of the century. If the secret keeper can only break the Fidelius charm voluntarily--meaning torturing or imperius-ing them can’t force it out--and Sirius, in his own words, “would have died rather than betray [James]” then WHY NOT JUST HAVE SIRIUS BE THE SECRET KEEPER AND  BE DONE WITH IT LADS 

Well here’s Pottermore’s (sigh) answer:

“The answer is that Sirius wanted to deflect attention from the real Secret-Keeper. He probably hoped Voldemort would go after him so he could steer attention away from Pettigrew. If all had gone to plan, Voldemort may never have known Sirius was not the Secret-Keeper – but even if he’d discovered the bluff, Voldemort’s pursuit of Sirius would have given the Potters and Pettigrew time to regroup.” 

Okay... so Sirius wanted to deflect attention from the real secret keeper... and have the Death Eaters come after him instead... but this still explains nothing because whether Sirius is or is not the secret keeper, the Death Eaters are coming after him regardless, and if he knows that he would rather die than betray James and Lily, why risk letting anyone else carry the secret? In other words, why did he trust Peter more than himself? 

The only answer I can think of is that something happened that made Sirius stop trusting himself. For some reason, he felt that the Death Eaters had something on him that might make him break. Sirius’ defining quality is his undying, self-sacrificial loyalty to the people he loves, so it’s a massive deal that he doubted his own ability to be loyal to James, Lily, and Harry. This goes entirely against his character, so something must have happened that was not mentioned in the books. Unless we change his entire character, there’s a HUGE missing piece here.

(I am keeping this a mainly wolfstar-free post because it’s just about the plotting of the books, but I think it’s interesting to explore how the Death Eaters could have threatened to torture/kill Remus to try to try to make Sirius break. That’s literally the only scenario I can imagine that would make Sirius doubt his ability to be loyal to the Potters--if he had to choose between killing James and killing Remus. Anyways. That’s really dark. Let’s move on.)

Problem 4: Peter

Okay so now we’re past the actual event of Peter’s betrayal and hopping ahead to after James and Lily died. 

Why did Peter remain a rat for 12 years?

Pros of Remaining a Rat:

the wizarding world can go on thinking you’re dead and thinking your best friend is guilty of 13 murders

the Death Eaters who think you wanted Voldemort to die at Godric’s Hollow also think you’re dead and aren’t going to be up in your business

someone feeds you

life is simple (if you ignore the many lives weighing on your conscience and the ultimate degradation of your soul)

Cons of Remaining a Rat:

you’re a rat

no one likes you

you have to watch out for mouse traps

you live in a house with Fred and George and probably fear for your life every waking moment

no seriously I think these are big cons

Other Options If You’ve Murdered Your Best Friends and Are a Rat:

go live with the muggles. seriously. there must be a muggle village somewhere without wizards (there aren’t that many wizards) where you can BE A HUMAN. Even if you do run into a wizard, they probably won’t immediately recognize you, and if they do, you can turn into a rat, run away, and go live with the millions of rats of the world

go to space?

no, I mostly just wanted to make that first point

It’s also possible he remained a rat because, as Sirius said, he was “keeping an ear out for news [...] Just in case [his] old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him.” This definitely is possible, but if I had to choose between maybe living a life as a human and living as a rat in case a guy who totally seems dead comes back, I’d try to be a human. Plus, Peter could live with muggles and still keep up with wizard news. 

Problem 5?: Sirius’ Escape

Admittedly, this problem isn’t that big. I still find it a bit weird though.

When Sirius recollects his escape to Harry he says:

If all Sirius had to do to escape Azkaban was to slip out the door when the dementors brought him food, why did he wait twelve years?? yes, okay, he was a universally wanted man and people would have immediately started hunting for him, but Sirius is fucking smart. Dude became an animagi (something only seven other people had done that century) when he was fif-fucking-teen and was considered to be a genius by almost everyone who knew him. Surely he could have hacked it on his own for awhile until he made it to Remus or Dumbledore** and was able to convince them that Peter had been the real secret keeper. And yeah! It may not have worked. In fact, even if Sirius did convince Remus it hadn’t been him, they’re still kind of fucked either way. Worst case scenario, though, Sirius just gets sent back to Azkaban. It’s not like they could have extended his already life-long sentence. I feel like you could argue the merits or disadvantages of running away from Azkaban until you’re blue in the face, but the bottom line is Sirius is a reckless, impulsive, chaotic human being who hates to be told what to do and hates to be made useless and has no qualms risking everything if it seems worth it. So why wasn’t even a brief glimmer of freedom worth it? The only reason I can think of is that Sirius was so destroyed by Peter’s betrayal and the Potters’ death that he didn’t really think it was worth living at all. 

ALSO, one last thing, why is it so fuckin’ easy to escape Azkaban? All you have to do is slip out the door and do some swimming? Someone should have done that years ago!

**okay admittedly Dumbledore probably didn’t care about exonerating Sirius and actually found it quite convenient that he was in Azkaban because it meant Harry had no adult looking out for him, but Sirius didn’t know that, and probably still thought Dumbledore cared somewhat for his wellbeing because they worked so closely in the Order (but this is totally conjecture idk)

anyways, point is: 

 HOW CAN YOU FAIL TO PLOT THE CORNERSTONE OF YOUR ENTIRE SERIES SO SPECTACULARLY?? THIS IS YOUR JOB. THIS IS YOUR LIVELIHOOD. 

If you have any thoughts, answers, or if you simply wish to scream in frustration with me, please add them on!

[velkynkarma]

Karma’s Recommended Reading List

Hello, friends!

So the world is a little crazy, and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna get uncrazy any time soon. To that end, I figured I’d throw together a recommended reading list of some of my favorite book series. Because there’s a lot more time for reading when we’re all stuck indoors, right? 

So here’s some of my favorite series, which will hopefully keep you entertained for a good long while! They’re pretty much all fantasy, which is what I adore the most.

Anything by Brandon Sanderson I’ve explained why a hundred times, so I’m not going to go into a ton of details here. I have a whole post explaining why you should read his books, so feel free to check that instead. What I will say here is he has a lot of books, so if you want to be kept busy for a while reading through his collections, you will for sure.

Incryptid Series by Seanan McGuire A fun urban fantasy series that has action, adventure, and of course cryptids. Once upon a time there was a monster hunting society called the Covenant of St. George, who hunted monsters that threatened humanity as a sacred calling. Then a few of its members went, “Wait...monsters are people too. Most of them have an ecological function on Earth and aren’t really trying to hurt anybody. Why are we killing them?” The Covenant didn’t have an answer, so those members ran away to America, and their descendants are now cryptozoologists doing their best to help the cryptid community not get exterminated. Has a clever and punny writing style and features points of view from multiple characters. Currently 9 books in the series, so it will keep you busy for a while. 

The Myth series by Robert Asprin Do you like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld? Then you will probably adore this series as well, since it’s got the same tongue-in-cheek clever humor, just the American version. A surprisingly underrated series that I think really should be more well known. Features a kid named Skeeve who, when apprenticed to a magician, accidentally summons a demon—who promptly adopts him. Also a baby dragon who can only say his own name, trolls who pretend to be idiots but are quite well read, the magical mafia (complete with fairy godfather), a gargoyle who runs a McDonald’s, and dimension hopping to weird places on a regular basis, and more besides! Clever humor and surprisingly good adventure, along with an unexpected huge dollop of found family.

The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix A really excellent young adult series with some wonderful world-building and a more nuanced approach to a traditionally ‘dark’ form of fantasy magic, necromancy. Features summoning and controlling dead and undead monstrosities with specialized, magical bells carried in bandoliers, and one of the most intriguing renditions of the underworld I’ve ready about to date (just check out this gorgeous art for it). The world-building in this series is definitely unique (also, one of the side books to this series features a blatantly asexual character, which was always a big plus for me, an ace reader). 

Garth Nix also has some other great series worth checking out as well. I particularly enjoyed The Seventh Tower series. I’m told the Keys to the Kingdom is excellent as well, although I personally haven’t read it yet myself.

The Epic Series by Conor Kostick Do you play video games—especially MMORPGS? This series will definitely appeal. The first book, Epic, features a fully immersive fantasy MMORPG that the inhabitants of a colonized planet log into every day—because at some point after moving to a new planet, the currency of the game became the currency in real life. Your character dies in the game and loses all their gold? Congrats, you’re now destitute. So people play it safe and never have adventures anymore, until one kid decides to actually have fun with the game and unlocks a whole conspiracy in the process. The rest of the books in the series go into concepts like ‘real’ vs ‘AI’ and how it’s blurred, and what the games are ultimately for. 

The Nursery Crime books by Jasper Fforde I suppose this would be categorized as ‘urban fantasy,’ but I find it hard to fit the Nursery Crime series (which is sadly only 2 books) into any particular niche. Takes place somewhere in England, where most of the world’s nursery rhyme characters seem to live. The Nursery Crime division is responsible for investigating crimes that happen in relation to this particular population. The first book is investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty; you can probably guess how weird this series gets. It’s clever and fun though, and it makes me chuckle every time I read it. 

Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland Do you like dragons? Look no further. This book series is all about dragons. A cute young adult series that starts out about a prophecy where five baby dragons will ultimately stop a war amongst all of dragon-kind. It progresses into further stories down the line, once the war storyline is addressed, too. What’s interesting is there’s never a repeat point of view. Each book takes place from the perspective of a different dragon. There are multiple tribes of dragons, each with different physical characteristics that give them strengths in different areas; for example, SeaWings can breathe underwater and see in the dark, and SandWings do well in heat and have poisonous stingers. It’s a cute series, and I had fun with it this past winter.

Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo Do you like heist stories? Six of Crows is one giant heist story, and so is its sequel, Crooked Kingdom. Has a kind of dark, crapsack world kind of mentality, but all the characters are intriguing and have some interesting character development throughout. The world-building is pretty solid; I’m always impressed by the level of detail in this, down to cultural details in clothing or language between characters from different countries. Also features some blatantly non-straight characters which was a nice change of pace. Warning: There’s nothing explicit, but there are a lot of repeated references to sexual assault, or emotional/mental/physical abuse. If that’s something that would make you uncomfortable, you shouldn’t try this series out.

I hope you have an opportunity to try some of these out! Enjoy and stay safe out there :)

[nymphigeon]

Roses Have Thorns

♡ Pairing; Jungkook x Reader

♡ Genre; Angst, Fluff, Fantasy!AU, Supernatural!AU, S2L, Student!Jungkook, Wizard!Jungkook, Angel!Reader, Demon!Reader, Student!Reader

♡ Warnings (for this chapter); Swearing, mentions of stabbing, an attack

♡ Rating; NC-17

♡ Words; 2893

♡ Summary; A girl forced to live in fear because of her own power. Even though she isn’t supposed to exist, she wants to live. She’ll just make sure that she breaks herself over and over until there is nothing left of her. He, of course, won’t let her.

Series masterlist

 Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three

Chapter Two

“Haeun? Is this yours?” You ask as you walk into your mansion’s private library. In the middle of the library stands a long table with chairs all round. Only one of the chairs is taken. “I found this glass looking thing in my room, but I can’t remember having anything like it.” You open the palm of your hand to show the item mentioned.

Haeun doesn’t look up from her book, but somehow still knows what you’re talking about. “It’s a regeneration crystal. As long as you keep it on you the crystal will heal all wounds until it’s drained of power. After that you can keep it as a pretty rock or throw it out if you wish. A gift from one of mother’s clients. We all have one.”

Despite spending her time reading a book, she couldn’t have looked more bored. You can’t read the title on the cover with the way she’s holding it, but if you had to guess it’s probably something college related.

“Why would they gift regeneration crystals? They’re crazy expensive and it’s not like one of us gets stabbed every day.” You look at the tiny crystal in your hand with a puzzled look. For the longest time these crystals were thought to be a myth. Something someone thought of while writing their newest fantasy thriller.

Everyone claiming they had one got called crazy and eventually, nobody spoke of them anymore. Too scared to be criticized by a large number of people, these owners of the regeneration crystals got silenced.

It wasn’t until a group of researches accidentally stumbled upon a small warehouse filled with the crystals that the supposed myth was proven to be reality. A few powerful witches had been creating them, hoping to be able to distribute them among those joining the military.

Back then the crystals weren’t nearly as powerful or small as they are now, but as a myth proven true all the tabloids were filled with the news. Obviously the researches saw money in the crystals, and instead of giving them to those that needed them for free like the witches wanted, they sold them off to those with power.

Needles to say the creators were angry and stopped producing them. Some say they still created the crystals in secret, giving them off to the ones they trusted as soon as they were done so nobody could selfishly steal them, though this was never confirmed.

It wasn’t until a few years later that researches found another type of witches who were able to make them. These individuals had a completely different mindset compared to the original inventors, and decided to team up with the researchers, creating the crystals to sell them.

Sadly, both types of witches that were able to produce these see-through stones slowly died out, leaving just a handful all over the world. The crystals got rarer by the day, prices skyrocketing. If you’re lucky you’ll meet a nice witch sometime during your life who will create you a free crystal. If not, you must be ready to pay a fortune.

“Should you really be talking though? If anything you need it the most out of us all.” She closes her book after placing a bookmark in between pages. “Nobody is trying to harm me Haeun.”

Your older sister never seemed to particularly like you, and you’ve never been able to find out why. Out of your three siblings, all older than you, she’s the only one who seems to hold a grudge against you. By now it’s almost an everyday occurrence, wondering why she was the only one that had to stay home besides yourself, while the others moved out when they finished high school.

“Because you’ve been protected by a stuck-up entitled brat your whole life.” She glares at you and pushes her chair back to stand up, clearly not wanting to be in the same room as you. “You’re lucky you’re mom’s child. She’s probably the only person who would go through such great lengths to make sure you’re safe.”

Being the youngest child, you’ve always sought for the validation of your older siblings. That worked two times, or more specific, it worked for the two twins in the household. Your 24 year old brother and sister adore you, always calling to make sure everything is okay back home. Haeun though, can’t seem to hold that same energy.

“You truly speak like a fully-fledged demon.” You do not wish to fight with her, still, you also can’t just let her get away with her words. Perhaps this is your own way of trying to show her that she hurt you.

“I’d like to remind you that your own mother and like half of your family tree is full-demon.” She seems to think your distress is amusing, happily replying to your insults. “You’re the only one whose personality matches one as well.”

Somewhere you were hoping she’d comfort you, apologizing for her words. “If I’m so bad then why is nobody hunting me down? Why am I not the one being protected?” You can’t do anything but look at the ground and stand there, not knowing what to say.

Haeun, noticing your lack of answer, walks up to you so she can deliver her following words right in your face. “You know, criminals aren’t supposed to be protected.” Walking past you, she gets to the exit of the room.

“I didn’t do anything.” Once again you’re trying to hold back tears. Why do you have to be such a cry baby? “Keep telling yourself that. Hopefully it’ll come true one day.” Is it her mission to make you feel as miserable as she possibly can?

“Is it so wrong to just want to feel safe?” You whisper, but her sensitive ears still hear you. “In your case, of course it is.” With that she walks out, letting the door fall closed behind her. With her she takes the little confidence you managed to build up for yourself.

The loud thud of something – or rather a bunch of things – falling wakes Jungkook up. Complete silence follows the sound, almost as if it was never even there. The still tired boy groans, rolls over, and gets ready to fall back asleep. It’s Saturday, waking up at any time before 1 pm is way too early according to him.

Just for a second Jungkook debates whether he should go check if everything is okay, but quickly dismisses the thought. Nobody is screaming out it pain, so it should be fine. Except if said person fucked up so bad that whatever fell instantly killed them.

Jungkook sighs and accepts the fact that he might be a teensy bit worried. He yawns, not caring to block his mouth, and sits up in bed. There’s not much his eyes have to adjust to, as the room is still completely dark thanks to his blackout curtains hanging in front of the windows. The curtains were hell for his basically empty bank account back when he bought them, but damn do they do a good job at keeping the light out.

He can’t tell what time it is, but his droopy eyes tell him it’s definitely nowhere near noon yet. Getting out of bed, Jungkook puts some socks on his bare feet. It’s no secret that their laminate flooring is almost always freezing in the mornings. There was even a time when Namjoon was sure some evil spell had been casted on their floor, doing his best to get rid of it. Needless to say, that didn’t go very well. Turns out no evil spell was on the floor, their bitchy apartment just loses heat really fast.

When Jungkook walks out of his room he calls out for the only other person living there. “Namjoon?” He squints at the light coming through the living room windows. Both Namjoon and Jungkook have their own room, so there was no need to get any curtains for the living room. It would just have been a waste of money, although Jungkook is thinking of buying some for his poor eyes.

Nobody answers his call. Did these things just fall on their own then? Jungkook is quite sure he doesn’t live with a pair of ghosts, so he shuffles a bit further into the room and calls out again. “Is everything okay? Where are you?” He raises the volume of his voice a bit, hoping that it will help.

He can’t help but lightly cringe at the way he sounds, having forgotten he only woke up a few minutes ago and his voice is still laced with sleep. “I’m here Jungkook.” This time Namjoon responds to the call from the kitchen.

Jungkook walks over to the kitchen to check on the current situation. “What happened? I heard something falling and-“ Abruptly stopping his speech, Jungkook’s eyes widen as soon as he reaches the doorway.

The kitchen floor is an absolute mess. Food laying everywhere on top of what seems to be a dozen of broken eggs, with Namjoon’s form desperately trying to clean at the side. “Wha- How did you…” It takes him a moment before he can manage to form a proper sentence, not sure if what he’s seeing is real.

“Why is there food all over the floor?!” Jungkook nearly screams in shock. Luckily none of his snacks ended up on the floor, having no need to be refrigerated. They are still safely tucked away somewhere in one of the cupboards.

“I wanted to take something out of the fridge without moving the rest in front of it, but as you see, it kind of failed..” Namjoon looks guilty. Not only did he throw hard earned money on the floor, he also woke his roommate up in the process. Two things he likes to avoid.

Jungkook internally face palms, but doesn’t show it on his face. “This is what you get for being lazy.” Although he probably shouldn’t be saying that, as he is usually the lazy one. Jungkook bends down to get a towel from one of the lower cupboards. Initially he was going straight back to sleep after seeing what happened, but he’d feel bad if he just left Namjoon alone here.

“No worries, I’ll help you.” He smiles at his friend, trying to somehow comfort him. “Thank you.” Namjoon scratches the back of his head out of embarrassment, before audible sighing. “I’ll go get the mop.” He lets Jungkook know before walking out. This was not how Jungkook imagined he would be spending his Saturday morning, but at least nobody got hurt.

“Eleanor.” She didn’t need to turn around to know who was standing behind her. Having heard his voice for years now, the sound is most familiar to her. Comforting, soft, caring.

“It’s getting cold, so I brought you a jacket.” Elenora smiles and takes the jacket her husband offers her. “Thank you.”

The temperature dropping hadn’t been on her mind, too deep in her own thoughts. She’s thankful for the garment, instantly feeling a lot warmer.

“What do you think of the flowers?” Elenora asks Minho right after he sits down next to her. “I planted them before my sister brought the kids over, since Juwon likes them.” A small smile is plastered on her face at the thought of her excited nephew.

“They’re pretty, I like them.” He feels her eyes on him and looks down to meet her gaze. Having been caught, Elenora quickly turns her head in the opposite direction. They have been married for quite a few years, but sometimes she still acts like a high school student having a crush.

“I’m glad.”

Silence follows. Minho wasn’t planning on staying outside with her, but now that he’s here he might as well enjoy the fresh air. Besides, something feels off, a pull keeping him next to her.

“Am I a bad person?” The silence get cut by an unexpected question. “Eleanor-” “I’m making sure that someone who shouldn’t have power, keeps her crown. At this point I’m just spreading propaganda.”

She sighs and rests her head in her hands, covering her face. “I’m trying to keep someone safe by helping those with ill intentions. Does that make me a bad person?” She isn’t necessarily looking for an answer, she knows there is none.

“I agreed to it. If that makes you a bad person then I’m one too.” Scooting closer, Minho takes her hands from her face, squeezing lightly. “Angels can’t be bad, that’s exactly what they’re known for, what gives them their name.” She lets out a sad sounding chuckle. Despite everything, she can find a little enjoyment in the statement.

“There’s a first for everything.” He smiles at her, stroking the back of her hands. “No one is ever 100% good, but I’d like to think you are.” They say love makes you blind, and maybe she is, but she doesn’t really care.

“Then you are too.” No hesitation in his voice. She isn’t sure what makes him say that, but she’ll believe his words for now.

“We’ll figure out a way to satisfy everyone eventually. It just takes time of course. I trust the story won’t end badly.” He isn’t sure how to comfort her or how to give her an answer. All he can do now is support her. “I do hope so.” She lays her head on his shoulder, hoping that perhaps all her problems will disappear if she just forgets about them.

Jungkook usually loves the fact that the stores in town are open until late. He can’t even count the amount of times he went out at night to restock the snack he ate during the day, thanking the Lord for the gift of convenience stores.

Right now though, he hates it. Had the stores been closed by now, Namjoon wouldn’t have pushed him out the door to do the weekly grocery shopping, and Jungkook could have still been playing the new game he bought a week ago to which he ended up getting addicted to.

Well he wasn’t really forced out of the door, more like Namjoon convinced him to go. Damn him for having an important appointment with his project partner. Who wants to do school work during the weekend anyway?

“I should have everything now.” He murmurs while peering into the plastic bag dangling from his arm, looking back and forth between its contents and the shopping list to make sure he didn’t forget anything.

Jungkook probably bought more ramen than needed, but as long as he didn’t forget anything it should be fine. Even though it’s Jungkook who does most of the cooking in the house, Namjoon isn’t scared to scold him whenever he forgets something. Ridiculous, It isn’t even his fault the fridge ended up empty.

Realizing he still needs one of the vegetables, he turns around, walking back to the store he just came from with sighs and curses leaving his mouth. All he wants to do is go home and just get this done. There is nothing likable about eggplants anyway, when will he ever use them to cook?

Luckily for him, he won’t need to go back after all. Though, giving your life for not having to get an eggplant may seem a bit much. Not that he really has a choice in the unfair trade anyway.

Jungkook’s steps are fast, arriving at the grocery store as soon as possible is the only thing on his mind. It’s not until the clock strikes 9 pm exactly that he is forced to stop, an incredible heat closing in on his spot.

Someone somewhere screams. People everywhere start running in opposite directions, blindly clashing into each other. A few trip and fall, crawling to safety between the legs blocking their path. Others faint, their heads not being able to make sense of what’s happening.

Nobody minds them, forcefully stepping on the bodies of those on the ground. With the way people are moving it won’t be long before the entire street is empty. It’s complete chaos.

Jungkook, still standing where he stopped, looks up at the sky, searching for the cause of all this madness. He regrets it instantly, having probably been off better without knowing what was about to end him. Nothing could have ever prepared him for the sight.

About to set fire to everyone and everything, a massive blue fireball is raging his way. The bag he was holding falls to the ground, his eyes widening. It’s not hard to guess who the sender is. Luna is still after him.

It’s like time suddenly slows down substantially. The fireball is still so far away, yet also way too close. A memory of Namjoon chanting an extinguishing spell flashes through Jungkook’s mind, but is all too soon forgotten. Maybe if he had actually paid attention at that time he would be able to save himself now.

Frozen with fear, his feet refuse to move. He can’t do anything. Shivering all over, Jungkook crosses his arms in front of him as a way to shield himself. Maybe if he can’t see anything, it will cease to exist. And thus he closes his eyes as tightly as he can, waiting for the burning hot impact. He had long accepted his fate. It’s over for him.

[chatoyism]

First Impressions ➺ Changbin

; summary: you’re a simple lady. you see a guy that smells like suspicion and your interest in him immediately fades away. while thats the case most of the time, one guy in particular sticks out, but according to your friend, what they appear at first may not be what they truly are once you get to know them.

; genre: romance, fluff

; pairing: seo changbin x fem!reader

; word count: 3.6k

; warnings: nothing to warn about

; notes: this piece of cringey fluff was written during pre-debut stray kids which means a lot of the assumptions and basic info in this story was run on a baby changbin image. enjoy!

You were one of those types of people who wasn’t interested in relationships and dating. 

Finding a loved one while you studied at your school was never your first priority.

It was so common nowadays to find one of your best friends or plenty of your class mates from science and maths class to walk around the campus grounds with arms linked with another guy. Whether they walked through the corridors hand in hand, leaning against the wall with one earbud in each ear, or a small peck on the lips you’d catch in your corner of your eye, most, if not all of the people you knew were in a mutual romantic relationship with somebody else.

Many of your friends have considered putting you up in a blind date in hopes of finding the right person for you although you gladly objected. They’ve always wondered why you didn’t want to date anyone, if not for a fact, many guys at your school had wanted to talk to you, only to realize that you weren’t interested in getting a boyfriend yet.

You weren’t the idealist of girls. You had your flaws here and there and didn’t hesitate to show those who wished to get you to tell them that they were wrong and need to pick a better woman. You were a little introverted, you were pretty great at most things and you wouldn’t consider yourself the highly educated one.

One of your worst flaws would be your clumsiness. Whether you tripped and flung your books out of your hands, trying to carry a load of paper only to drop them in the campus fountain, you were trouble but no one would really believe it behind that innocent face of yours.

If anything, if you were to search for the perfect guy, nothing could beat the odds of an intelligent, gentle, caring, handsome and happy guy. Anything below that, if they fought a lot with people or misbehaved many times, they were immediately checked off your list.

You just didn’t think you were ready for that ideal man of yours to fall in love with a less than perfect madame if it ever came to be despite your high expectations never being reached. 

There was indeed one of those guys in your school, roaming around the corridors with a blank gaze and dark clothes as if to put of the “bad boy” image. Many girls loved him, but he treated them like a pile of trash.

It basically meant he was single as well.

You couldn’t help but doze your restless mind into a sense of peace and calmness, resting your chin on the palm of your hands, only to get a set of snapping fingers in front of your face bring you to reality.

You shook your head, looking around before finding your class mate and best friend Chaerin snickering and letting out a deep sigh.

“You keep daydreaming like a fool Y/N.” She protested, as if lecturing you like a teacher. “It’s like you’ve been sent to a fantasy land and found your love at first sight.”

“Don’t be crazy, I was just really tired and needed some rest and that was all I got.” You told her back, placing your soft and smooth hands on the table in front of you and brushing your thumbs against one another.

She happily joked, giving you an, “I-know-what-you-were-thinking” look and playfully slapped your shoulder.

“Don’t play sassy on me Y/N. I know you were definitely thinking of something and someone so you can’t hide behind your crab shell forever.” She gave a small smile of mischief. “I know what you were thinking and don’t hold back.”

“No, you don’t. I told you before and a million times more, I have no interest with anyone and I will not be set up in one of your blind dates again. I said to basically everyone in the school that I can only begin to date someone only after I graduate.”

Chaerin settled back on the backrest of her chair and pleaded like a little child. “Come on! Graduation is so far away! You need to get a boyfriend already!”

“Look Chaerin, I’m not going to deal with boys again and I will repeat, I will NOT date anyone only until the end of gradu—”

You raised your finger at Chaerin and stared into her eyes with a fierce look of frustration, only for the school bell to ring across the campus and stop your conversation mid-way.

Without a chance to finish your sentence as soon as the bell went, you heard a loud shriek or a bundle of screams of some sort roaring through the corridors closes to the table you sat at. Watching in horror along with Chaerin as a stampede of girls ran to crowd a certain student, they screamed out their name, attempting to get closer to them as they made their way through with the exception of females crowding the whole place. It almost felt like a concert, noises thrashing everywhere like fan girls as they followed the person.

“Changbin! You’re so handsome!”

“I’ll give up my boyfriend for you!”

“You are so talented, you’re so handsome, I think I’m going to die!”

“Marry me Changbin! I’ll cook for you, love you, I’ll do anything to be with you!”

“I’m right here Changbin! Notice me!”

Watching as they all followed him through the corridor, with all the loud noises and voices of the females screaming into your ear, you knew exactly who it was that they were following.

Seo Changbin, that “bad boy” you were mentioning before.

Losing your focus on the crowd of girls, you shook yourself awake when you notice Chaerin began to pack her stuff away and head to her locker, you looking up and grabbing your things behind her.

“They’re pretty desperate to be with such an ignorant guy like him,” You could only mutter underneath your breath, walking to your locker beside Chaerin’s and unlocked it, only to have a mountain full of books fall right onto your face.

Crashing to the floor and regaining your senses, some students who were retrieving their items for their class giggled and laughed at you on the floor, making you look at Chaerin who could only giggle softly at your face on impact as she bent down to help you pick up your books.

“And that’s why you don’t bad mouth handsome people.” She sniffed and grabbed a mound full of your books, stuffing it safely into your locker as you could only let out a shy chuckle. You rubbed your nose in pain and picked up the remaining books, pulling out your history books for class later before closing your locker.

“He’s not that handsome to me, he’s just a show off and doesn’t look too good in school. I mean, he wears dark colours all the time underneath his school uniform and he has this grim expression on his face 24/7.”

“I’m not to keen about that, but you say what you wanna say. He’s still single you know so he may be your future husband.” Chaerin let out a sneaky smirk in the corner of her lips as you furrowed your eyebrows, grasping your books in your arms.

“It seems like this is where we depart. I’ll be off now Chaerin!” You could only answer to her, waving to her with a grin as she smiled and waved back, heading in the opposite direction to your classroom as her back turned towards you.

Letting out a general sigh, you couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely walking by yourself towards your class. Step by step, you’ve almost yearned for company ever since people started to get their boyfriends and girlfriends. If not for such a surprise, all of them were paired up with each other for every class. With the tap of your shoes clapping against the tiled floor, you were met with the door of your history class, opening it wide and being greeted with a bunch of familiar faces.

Behind all of those recognizable faces was one you had never wished to see.

Seo Changbin.

“I’d like you all to make sure the notes you have taken are placed in a good spot. Please don’t lose those notes as they will help you a lot in the upcoming test that will happen in the next month or so.” Your history teacher, Mr. Lee had explained to the class as soon as the bell had gone and students were already up to pack their things.

As a small smile grew on the corners of your peach coloured lips, you closed your books and packed them into a neat pile with your pencilcase and other belongings, leaving them on your desk as you began to pull out your phone to text Chaerin.

CutieChu: Will you be free at 2:40?

Holychae: I don’t think I can today. Jisung planned on taking me to the nearest cafe earlier after school so I won’t be able to meet you. I’ll meet up another time, maybe next week

CutieChu: that’s alright I guess. Im a little occupied today so I probably wont make it either

CutieChu: See you next week!

Holychae: bye~

Within a few seconds, Chaerin had replied with the most expected response you knew you would’ve gotten. Chaerin had a close relationship with her boyfriend Jisung and she never spent time with him a lot. You known about the distance between them after she told you whether or not to break up to spent more friend time, but you knew that her love for him meant a lot more than your friendship bond.

Slipping your phone into the pocket of your skirt, you noticed only a few students staying in to copy their notes on the board or to chat for a few minutes before heading for home. It was spacious but otherwise, only a few intended to stay for the time being.

Grabbing hold of your books and pencil in the other hand, Mr. Lee had stayed for a little while before leaving.

“I’d like everyone but Changbin and Y/N to stay inside the class please.”

With all the remaining students who were talking to each other finally exiting out the classroom, you were in utter shock when your history teacher had called out your name along with your long time distant classmate.

You placed your books on the desk, in absolute shock as you glanced over at where Changbin was sitting. With his back resting on the chair, legs crossed over the top of his desk, he pressed his fingers on his phone screen multiple times as if he was texting someone.

It was hard to imagine a good person from his image. His dark clothing was worn everywhere, his black hair ruffled to look messy and untouched, the way he sat in class the whole time writing in his small note book to make it look like he was studying was making your first impressions on him a lot more frightening.

“I know what you are thinking Y/N.” Mr. Lee chuckled, snapping you out of reality when you turned to him and noticed a smile on his face.

“You’re not in trouble of any kind. You have done absolutely nothing wrong to get yourself here.”

“Why am I staying back?” You could only asked up quietly, seeing that it was just you, Changbin and Mr. Lee listening to your voice. If you had spoken in a higher tone, you could tell that Changbin would look down on you and left the room because he didn’t want to here your ignorance.

You watched as he peered over at Changbin for a few seconds, before turning to you.

“I kept you both in here because as per usual, we have a new list of students who need to stay back every class for that week to clean up the classrooms. Seeing that it is indeed Friday today, we need a new list of students and it turns out that both of you will be cleaning the room for today and next week.”

Without thinking, your mouth opened wide at the words he had spoken to you, jaw dropping in disbelief as you had forgotten about the clean up duty students.

You had to be paired with him.

Mr. Lee didn’t hesistate to smile at you both before walking towards the tall locker in the back of the room, pulling out his keys and opening the doors to reveal two tall broom sticks, two mops, two pairs of gloves and some sponges.

“Here are the equipment. So I’ll be leaving you both to it, and I know you both will do a great job at this. I’ll return to this room to see if it’s spotless within 20 minutes.”

With that being said, Mr Lee turned to both us with deadpanned expressions on our faces as he nodded in approval, opening the classroom door and leaving, closing it behind him.

Obviously worked up in the current situation you were in, you couldn’t help but sigh loudly, pulling out your chair and let your face slump down right on the surface of your table.

“I was paired with him… the school’s bad boy…”

Getting right into work, you didn’t want to waste time and immediately thought about home, keeping your hopes up and lifting your head off the table. Before you could stand up to head towards the open locker for the cleaning equipment, you’re eyes landed on Changbin who was still in his seat, texting as usual and often writing in his notes, growling roughly with earbuds stuck in his ears.

“Guess he’s not cleaning. Extra minutes for me, I guess.” You sarcastically cheered yourself in a whisper tone in hopes of not letting Changbin hear you over the music in his ears. 

Shaking his head to a constant beat, you stood up from your seat and walked over to the equipment, grabbing only one of the brooms in the locker before closing it, starting your clean up and turning around, only to be faced with contact almost like a broad chest.

“Sorry, I just thought, you might’ve gotten the broom for me…” You heard a masculine voice deeply apologies to you. You looked up and widened your eyes at the sudden appearance of Changbin where you accidentally bumped into his chest earlier, out of his seat and apologizing with an empty expression.

“A-Ah, sorry about that, I didn’t think you’d be cleaning with me…” You looked down and shuffled around him, making him question your move.

“Did you think I would leave the classroom and ditch you here while you clean by yourself?” For the first time, you looked up and noticed Changbin chuckling lightly at your cute reaction to his question.

He seemed almost like a totally different person.

As the colour red began rushing up to your cheeks, Changbin smiled and pulled out the earphones and stuffed them into his pockets before grabbing a broom.

So he wasn’t listening to music at all… He was just pretending.

“So, what are you waiting for?” He asked, looking at you with these soft beady eyes that you had never seem from him, almost so mesmerizing to look at as you stayed silent for a few seconds gazing into his complexion before nodding in shyness.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of you, you were in one side of the room brushing up the dirt and dust particles into one pile while Changbin was in the other brushing the rocks and paper balls rolled onto the floor and into the bin. Expecting a foul language conversation from him of some sort of a snarl and him dropping his broom in frustration, he seemed to just keep his concentration on the cleaning, never going rough with the equipment around the room and brushing off any dust like a gentle touch of a paw.

He was almost treating everything like a baby, a fragile thing that shouldn’t be harmed in any way. The way his actions had surprised you completely, you instantly regretted thinking of him differently, as the boy who would steal girl’s hearts and trash them later or to treat girls like slaves and do the work for him.

It wasn’t long before you noticed Changbin seeing you space out and looking at him with gentle eyes, he stopped mopping the floor and looked at you with concern. Although you didn’t realise being in such a dazed state, Changbin walked over to you and waved his hands in front of your face.

“Umm, hello? Is earth communicating with you? Y/N to earth?” Changbin waved his hands in front of your vision, only for you to snap into reality with surprise at finding Changbin unbelievably close to your liking, making your fall back and slip under your own foot.

“Changbin!” You could only let out a cry as you felt yourself fall down and get in contact with the ground, noticing him widening his eyes in shock and dropping his mop.

Thinking that your head with come in contact with the floor made you surprised when you felt a hand go underneath them and hit the floor instead of you. Gaining your senses back after your clumsy performance, you tried to pick yourself up, only feeling a heavy weight keep your down on the floor.

Without noticing, Changbin arose from your body, letting his hand continue resting underneath your head as he looked at you with worry and concern. It was a side of his image that made him so different.

“O-Oh my goodness, a-a-are you alright Y/N?!” He let out a cry, looking at you with concern.

“I-I’m fine right now, I’m not hurt.” You stuttered, immediately sitting up and looking into his eyes that looked deeply at yours.

“I’m sorry I scared you earlier, you just spaced out and I tried to get you back to reality until you suddenly slipped.” He confessed and helped your sit up, resting his hands on your back and caressing them lightly. “I shouldn’t have done that, you could’ve hurt yourself very badly…”

“C-Changbin… I’m fine right now, you don’t need to worry about me.” You reassured him, getting up and using the table as support, picking up his mop and passing it to him.

You watched as Changbin looked at you worryingly and had these puppy dog eyes as if he knew you didn’t mean it.

“If you need the nurse, I can help you…”

“Please Changbin, I was just staring at you for too lo—” You quickly covered your mouth as soon as you realised what you said.

“You were staring at me?”

Immediately shaking your head, you tried to take back what you meant but it only resulted in him giggling it out like a little cute child.

“I didn’t think you’d be interested in me for someone who doesn’t want a boyfriend until they graduate.”

You froze for a second and noticed him winking at you before resuming his mopping.

“I-I-I ummm…” You tried to find some way to get him out of it.

“It’s okay. You may as well tell me now so then I can see if I have a chance or not.”

Looking at him with confusion, you only understood what he meant when you backed away and saw him face look at the ground with his hands rubbing his nape.

“W-Wait…” You stuttered. “You like me?”

Changbin lifted his chin and looked into your eyes with sincerity. You noticed them, the way they glittered suddenly, the beauty they had in them that you never noticed before. His smile even, it was perfect.

“I’ve liked you for awhile now. You see…” Changbin began to blabber, turning his back to you and mopped the floor while he talked.

“We’ve been in the same history class for the past year now. It’s easy to notice you because you seem so different from everyone else in the class that you’re so distinguishable. You shine from all the other girls that try to get my attention. I don’t talk to those girls because of one reason.”

“I want to talk to you more.”

As you were listening to him speak, you dropped your mop out of your hand in pure astonishment.

“I-I-I just didn’t know whether or not you would accept me for the person I am because I wear dark clothes all the time or the fact that I’m so expressionless and empty when I walk around. I just feel so lonely and I only got to smile a little when I saw you.”

“Changbin…” You muttered his name, making him look up at you.

“You could’ve told me all of this before I got to know you, I was scared to talk to you, even look at you because you were so different from everyone and you looked like someone who could ruin a girl’s life if they ever had a relationship… It should be my fault I doubted you…”

You looked down at your feet, twirling the sole of your shoe on the tiled floor as you waited for his response.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to make you feel welcomed.”

You didn’t get time to think properly when you noticed a pair of shoes in front of yours and two arms wrapped around your body tightly, bringing you closer to their chest.

With your head close to his heart, you listened as his heartbeat was pounding roughly, almost at an inhumane pace as you tugged your arms around his waist.

“That’s how much my heart is beating for you right now. It’s hard to describe so this was all I could do…”

You closed your eyes and immersed yourself in the deep hug, feeling Changbin’s hands rest on your hair and patting it softly.

“So, will you forgive me for being so distant from you?”

“Of course Changbin, you’ve become a new person.” You smiled and pulled away, taking a look at his smile.

“So what does that make us?”

“I think ‘in love’ will do.”

“Sounds perfect.”

[rushingheadlong]

Take Me Home Tonight - A Brian x Reader smut fic

Summary: You’re not expecting Brian May, of all people, to walk into your record shop late one evening, but when he asks you to go home with him you’re certainly not going to pass on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have all your fantasies fulfilled.

Wordcount: ~4,600

Warnings: Smut, dirty talk, oral (m&f receiving), fingering, a bit of size kink

Notes: Written for a request from @hodgepodge-of-rog, who asked for Reader meeting Brian somewhere public and being star struck, and Brian taking her home for some fun. This got away from me so it’s a bit longer than expected, but I hope you like it!

You bite back another sigh and try to resist looking at the clock again. It’s not that you thought working in the little record shop was a particularly exciting gig when you applied for the job, but the business was tucked away off the high street and rarely saw customers on weeknights, leaving you with nothing to do for the long hours of your shift and frequently bored out of your mind.

Luckily it’s almost time for you to close the shop- but, of course, that’s when the little bell above the door rings, signalling the arrival of your first customer in nearly four hours.

“Good evening!” you chirp, sounding much more perky than you feel. “Do you need help-?”

The rest of the question is lost as you finally take a good look at the customer: a tall man with a shock of long, dark curls, wearing sunglasses that don’t really work as an effective disguise. Holy fuck that’s Brian May!

He glances in your direction with a polite smile, and then does a quick double-take as his grin becomes a bit more genuine. “No thanks. I know what I’m looking for, and I know you’re closing soon.”

And yeah, that is definitely Brian May. You’d recognize his voice anywhere- how could you not? He’s your favorite member of Queen, has been since the very earliest days of the band. You’ve seen them perform live countless times, screamed yourself hoarse at so many of their shows throughout the years, and you thought the time that you weaseled your way to stand by the very front of the stage would be as close as you ever got to any of them.

But that was before Brian freaking May walked into the tiny record shop where you worked.

You swallow roughly, trying to bring some moisture to your suddenly-dry mouth, and say, “Take your time, there’s no rush.” Not the sentiment you’d have for any other customer, this time of night, but you’re in no rush for Brian to leave.

“I’ll still be quick,” Brian says with another grin that makes your knees go weak. His gaze lingers on you for a few moments longer, and although his eyes are hidden behind his dark sunglasses you can feel the intensity behind his stare. It’s a heady rush, having your rock idol focus on you like that, and you can feel your face start to flush at the attention.

Or maybe it’s just unusually warm in the shop tonight, because Brian looks a bit pink around the edges as well as he turns to start browsing through the records.

You try not to ogle Brian as he shops but there’s not exactly anything else for you to do and you find your focus wandering back to him despite your efforts. Somehow he seems both larger-than-life and surprisingly down-to-earth, seeming at home in the cramped aisles of the store but with something about the way he carries himself that makes it obvious he’s someone special.

And the fact that he’s easy on the eyes doesn’t hurt either. Even in normal clothes and trying to be discrete Brian is still just about one of the hottest men you’ve ever seen. You let yourself entertain a familiar fantasy of Brian asking you back to his place… but no, things like that didn’t happen in real life, and you were determined to be polite and not a giant creep to Brian.

Okay, keep it cool, just keep it cool… You repeat to yourself as Brian finally makes his way towards the register, but then all thoughts go out the window because Brian is there, right in front of you, and you feel like you could either faint or scream from the excitement of it all.

“Did you find everything you were looking for?” you ask, and how you manage to keep your voice from wavering when you’re this close to Brian May you have no idea. Christ, the man even smells good…

“Yeah I did, thanks,” Brian says, still with an easy smile on his face.

You look down at the album that Brian hands you and despite your best efforts you can’t hold back a bark of laughter. “You’re joking.”

Brian bristles, just a little, and his smile fades away. “Judging my taste in music?”

“No, but…” You flip the record around so the cover of the latest Queen release is facing Brian. “You’re buying your own album? Seriously?”

“Right.” Brian visibly relaxes and he laughs a little as well, though it sounds a bit sheepish. “Guess my disguise didn’t work too well then, huh?”

“Well, not on me, at least,” you say. “I’ve been going to your shows since before John signed on as your bassist, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every interview you’ve ever given. It’ll take more than a cheap pair of sunglasses to fool me.”

Brian stares at you in surprise. It’s only then that your brain catches up with what you’re saying, and you can feel your face go bright red with embarrassment. But then Brian chuckles and finally takes off his sunglasses (oh, his eyes are gorgeous...) and says, “Well, I’ll try to come up with something better for next time. Any suggestions?”

Brian sounds like he’s teasing you, but it’s not malicious. On the contrary, it’s almost… flirty? Or maybe you’re just too caught up in your fantasies and reading too much into his words.

Still, because you know you’ll never get another chance you flick your eyes up and down his body, just once, and decide to risk a joke. “Maybe if you button your shirt up all the way, that’ll do the trick…”

“What, and hide all my assets?” And, yeah, there’s no mistaking the fact that Brian is definitely flirting with you.

“Seems to me like you have plenty of other fine assets,” you tease, and Brian’s bright laugh in response feels like a victory, even if it’s accompanied by him pulling out his wallet to pay for the record.

Still, you don’t want this conversation to end and you are curious about what he’s doing here, so after you ring him out you ask, “I have to know, why are you buying your own album?”

“Would you believe that Roger bet me a tenner that I wouldn’t be able to do it without getting mobbed by fans?”

You think about that for a moment. “Actually, yeah,” you say, which causes Brian to laugh again. “Sorry for making you lose the bet, then.”

“Hm? Oh, no, I don’t think chatting with you counts as being mobbed,” Brian says. “I’ve quite enjoyed meeting you, actually. What’s your name?”

“Y/N.” Your heart is fluttering in your chest from the attention and the smile on Brian’s face, and all your promises that you weren’t going to be an overbearing fan have completely left your mind as you muster up the courage to ask, “Listen, I totally understand if the answer is “no” but do you want to grab a drink with me?”

You’re expecting him to turn you down, but instead his smile gets brighter and he says, "I'd love to get a drink with you, but if we go out I actually will end up being mobbed. Would you like to come back to my place instead?" Your mouth drops open in a small “o” of surprise and Brian is quick to continue. “Just for drinks. Doesn’t have to be anything more.”

Doesn’t have to be… There’s an offer in that delicate phrasing that restarts your brain, and you need to know if the two of you are on the same page here before this gets any further. “And if I want there to be more?” you ask, and the hunger in Brian’s eyes is answer enough.

“Then I think that can be arranged,” he says, in a low voice that causes a bolt of lust to go through you.

“Then yeah,” you say, a slow and wide smiling growing on your face. “Take me home, Brian May.”

----------

Brian kisses you before his front door is even fully closed, pressing you against the wall of his entryway and devouring you with a passion that you haven’t felt from any of your previous partners. You gasp, the noise swallowed up in Brian’s mouth, and wrap your arms around Brian’s neck, pulling him in closer to you.

When he finally breaks the kiss it’s only to pull back enough to ask, “What do you want tonight, love?”

You shudder at the sound of Brian calling you love and tell him, completely honestly, “Anything you want to give me.”

Brian kisses your lips again, a little softer, and then trails kisses along your jawline and down your neck. You arch into his touch, and you can feel him smile against your skin. “I want to make you feel good,” he murmurs, and you can’t hold back a whimper.

“It’s you, Brian. Whatever you do will be good.” It’s as close as you can bring yourself to admitting that you’ve thought about this for years, gotten yourself off countless times to the thought of Brian’s hands and mouth on you. You don’t even care if Brian doesn’t live up to your fantasies because this is real, and already so much more than you ever expected to have.

“That’s a lot of confidence to have in me,” Brian says, as his hands slip under the hem of your shirt, fingers skimming lightly along your skin, and you gasp at the gentle touch. “Better make sure I don’t disappoint you then.”

He tugs up your shirt and you quickly pull it off. One of Brian’s hands immediately moves up to your breast, cupping and massaging it through your bra, and you can’t hold back a moan. Brian’s other hand flicks open the button on your jeans and slowly, teasingly, pulls down the zipper.

“Wanna taste you, baby,” he murmurs as his fingers tease at the open V of your pants, driving you wild even though he’s barely touching you at all. “Gonna let me eat you out right here? Gonna let me taste that pussy of yours?”

“Fuck, Bri, yes,” you moan. “Yes, god, please-”

Brian chuckles and hooks his fingers through your belt loops, slowing dragging your jeans down your legs. You step out of them and go to take off your panties as well but Brian stops you. He sinks to his knees in front of you, and that picture is enough to get you absolutely dripping.

You whimper as Brian gently nudges your legs a little further apart and runs one finger slowly, gently, along your core. “You’re already wet for me, aren’t you?” he murmurs, his breath hot against the bare skin of your thighs. “Already so eager for this, and we’ve barely even started…”

“Brian…” you whine, hips bucking into his teasing touch. Brian looks up at you, smirking, and finally tug your panties down.

You unhook your bra and toss it aside as you kick your panties away, and as soon as they’re gone Brian’s mouth is on you. You cry out at the first flick of his tongue against your core and you bring your hand to your mouth to muffle the sounds of you falling apart embarrassingly quickly.

“Come on baby, let me hear you,” Brian says, before licking along your entrance, his tongue dipping in just enough to set your whole body ablaze. You pull your hand away just as Brian’s tongue circles your clit and without thinking you reach out for him, burying your hand in his hair and trying not to pull as he keeps his attention focused on your clit.

He sucks gently at the nub, making you moan and writhe against the wall, but pulling back just when you’re on the brink of coming to lap at your entrance again. You can feel your wetness start to drip down your thighs but Brian doesn’t pull away, keeping his mouth buried against your core and his tongue teasing at your entrance until you’re practically grinding against his face in your desperation to come, before he finally moves back to flick kittenish licks over your clit again.

You’re so worked up that even that gentle stimulation is almost too much to bear. “Bri, I’m gonna- I’m gonna-” you pant and you get a glimpse of Brian’s smirk, before he brings a hand up and sinks one finger inside you.

You let out a choked-off gasp before you’re coming hard against Brian’s face, hand tangled in his hair as you hold him in place, his tongue working your clit and finger gently moving inside you as he works you through your orgasm. He doesn’t stop until the pleasure nearly becomes painful, until your keening moans turn to high-pitched whimpers and your knees finally buckle underneath you.

Brian catches you, laughing a little, and presses you against the wall to keep you upright as he stands back up. His face is wet with your slickness and he goes to wipe his mouth with the back of one hand, but before he gets a chance you lean up and kiss him fiercely. You can taste yourself in his mouth, a visceral reminder that Brian gave you what may be the best oral you’ve ever received, and when Brian groans and rocks against your hip his hardness is a welcome reminder of everything still come.

“God, Brian,” you pant between kisses. “I want-”

“Yeah? What do you want, baby girl?” Brian asks, one hand creeping up your body to tease along the edge of your breast and you arch into his touch.

“Wanna suck you,” you tell him, and reach down to palm Brian’s cock through his jeans. “Please, Bri…”

Brian groans lowly and presses against your hand, his head dropping down as he pants against your neck. “Fuck, Y/N, you think I’m gonna say no to that?”

You laugh, breathless, and let Brian lead you further into the house, back into the bedroom where he finally strips out of his shirt and you tug open the fly of his jeans, kissing him again as you help him get them off. You run your hands down his chest and fuck, just the sight of all that beautiful lean muscle is nearly enough to make you moan. You want to sink your teeth into his skin, leave your marks all over his body so he can’t forget this night, but with how often he appears semi-shirtless in front of cameras you know that’s not a good idea.

So you’ll just have to make sure he remembers you for other reasons instead.

You push Brian down so he’s sitting on the edge of the bed and drop to your knees in front of him. You mouth at his cock through his pants, loving the sound of him groaning above you. You can already tell that he’s well-endowed, a fact which is confirmed when you tug his pants down over his cock and Brian lifts his hips so you can pull them away completely.

“God, you’re huge,” you say, and it comes out sounding more like a moan than you care to admit.

There’s a flush spreading across Brian’s face and he starts to say, “Listen, you don’t have to-”

“That was not a complaint,” you interrupt before Brian can finish that thought, and you lean down to take his cock into your mouth.

Brian cries out as you suck gently at the tip of his cock. His hands flutter above your head, like he’s resisting the urge to hold onto you, and you pull back to mouth along his shaft as you tell him, “You can touch me, Bri, it’s fine.”

That’s all the permission he seems to need and he reaches out for you, just resting his hands in your hair, not forcing anything as you take him back in your mouth and start to bob your head along his length. He’s too big for you to take all the way down but that doesn’t stop you from trying, swallowing him as deeply as you can and working whatever you can’t fit into your mouth with your hands.

The taste of Brian’s precome on your tongue and the sound of his groans filling the room are a heady combination. The knowledge that he’s falling apart because of you, that you’re the one coaxing those sounds out of him, that it’s your mouth working him towards his orgasm, is a rush like nothing else you’ve ever felt.

You look up at him and find that he’s staring down at you, eyes half-lidded with pleasure but still watching you as you work him over. You can’t hold back a small, pleased noise at the image he paints and Brian’s answering moan makes your core start throbbing with need again.

You keep your eyes locked on him as you slowly start to swallow him down, taking him deeper than you had before. The head of his cock hits the back of your throat and you choke, pulling back just enough to take a deep breath and try again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Y/N…” Brian pants, his hands tightening in your hair as you relax your throat and let Brian’s cock slip down.

Brian’s cock is large enough that it’s a struggle to hold him in your throat and you still don’t have his entire length in your mouth, but you don’t care. You don’t care because Brian looks overwhelmed with pleasure, the muscles of his legs flexing as he struggles to keep himself from thrusting deeper into your mouth, and all because of you.

You swallow around his cock and Brian cries out loudly, hips stuttering forward once before he’s pulling you away. You whine and try to mouth at his cock again, but Brian holds you back and says, “If you keep that up I’m gonna come before I get a chance to fuck you.”

“Well we can’t have that now, can we?” you tease, although heat pools in your stomach at the thought of Brian coming in your mouth, getting to taste him completely… There’s a twinge of regret at knowing you won’t get to have that, but it’s quickly overshadowed by excitement as Brian coaxes you up to lie on the bed.

He kisses you, a bit more softer this time, before slowly moving down your body, trailing gentle nips and kisses down your neck, teasing over your breasts, and mouthing down your stomach where he sucks a bruise into your hipbone.

“You think you can take me, or do you need a bit of help?” he murmurs against your skin, one hand teasing along your folds and around your entrance. He sinks one finger into you before you have a chance to answer and you gasp, arching off the bed and bearing down on his hand.

“Might- might need you to- ah-” You whine as Brian pushes a second finger inside you and starts to slowly move them. “God, Brian…”

“Need me to open you up?” he asks as he keeps moving his fingers at a steady pace, too slow to get you off like this but it’s enough to get your blood racing and make you so wet that you can hear Brian’s fingers thrusting into you. “Hm? Do you need me to get you ready for my cock?”

“Fuck, yeah, Bri, yeah,” you gasp, rocking your hips to try to get Brian to move faster. “Yeah, god, please, give me another, I can take it…”

Brian chuckles and instead of slipping another finger inside you he pulls away completely. You whimper at the loss, feeling empty and needy without him filling you up, but Brian kisses you again as he reaches over to grab a bottle of lube from the drawer of his nightstand. You don’t notice him slicking up his hand, and you’re taken by surprise when he suddenly sinks three fingers deep inside you.

You cry out, nearly jackknifing off the bed. Brian slings one arm over your hips to hold you in place as he starts fingering you open, scissoring his fingers and curling them up to rub them over that spot inside you that makes you scream.

“Brian, Bri, please, please fuck me, god, please,” you beg, writhing beneath him, barely able to stand the pleasure or the intensity of Brian’s gaze on you.

And Brian, it seems, has had enough of the foreplay as well because he pulls his hand away and quickly rolls on a condom before slicking up his cock. He lines up at your entrance, hesitating only for a moment to look into your eyes; you smile, and nod once, and with a low exhale Brian starts to push in.

He is big, and he feels even bigger as he slowly eases into you. You whine at the uncomfortable stretch and tense up around him. Brian groans and you can feel his cock twitching inside you as Brian stills, barely halfway inside you. “You’ve gotta relax for me, babe,” he pants. He ducks under one of your legs, draping it over his shoulder and opening you up wider for him. “C’mon, let me in…”

You shudder, and try to will yourself to relax. Brian is patient, pressing soft kisses to your inner thigh and waiting for you to be ready, even though he has to be dying to move. After a few moments the burn fades away and the stretch feels more pleasurable than painful, and as soon as you ease up around Brian he rocks into you again, gentle and slow. You gasp, but you don’t tense up again, arching up to meet his movements instead.

“That’s it, that’s my good girl, feel so fucking good around me, fuck…” Brian’s words make you flush with embarrassment and arousal and you whine, turning your face into the pillow and feeling overwhelmed as Brian finally fills you completely.

“C’mon, Y/N,” Brian murmurs, kissing along your jawline. “C’mon, let me see you, wanna watch you…”

“Brian… Bri…” you pant, but you let Brian turn your head back towards him. His eyes are dark with lust and he looks at you in wonder, like he can’t believe he gets to have you, even though you’re the one lucky enough to be in the bed of your idol.

You keep your eyes fixed on his as he starts to thrust into you, slowly at first and so gentle that you can feel every inch of him as he moves inside you, leaving you gasping and whimpering underneath him. Brian groans with every movement, but even as he starts to rock into you faster, harder, his eyes don’t leave your face. The two of you are locked together, Brian’s cock pistoning into you, your legs hooked over his shoulder and wrapped around his waist, and neither one of you able to break your stare.

You study every detail of Brian’s face, needing to memorize everything about him in this moment, every flutter of his eyes, every low moan, every bite of his lips as he gives a particularly harsh thrust. You watch as Brian falls apart above you, his pleasure heightening your own, and every noise and keen from you makes Brian a little more desperate, a little less composed.

“‘m close,” he gasps, and he brings one hand between your bodies to rub your clit. “Want you to come, Y/N, wanna feel you come first…” You moan, pushing desperately down on Brian’s cock and against his hand, so close just from knowing that it’s Brian who’s working to bring you over that edge. “Yeah, that’s it, Y/N, that’s my good girl, come for me, want you to come-”

And you do with a loud cry, shaking and writhing underneath Brian as he keeps his hand on your clit, keeps thrusting into you, keeps looking at you as you lose yourself to the waves of pleasure, your vision nearly whiting out from the intensity of it all.

“Fuck, fuck, Y/N, so good, you’re so good-” Brian groans as he comes as well, finally breaking eye contact as he drops down on top of you, your leg sliding off his shoulder as he ducks his head into the crook of your neck, panting against your skin as his hips stutter into you. You clench around him and he bites at your shoulder to muffle a cry as he thrusts into you once more, before falling still.

The two of you lay there, breathing heavily and shuddering through the last aftershocks of pleasure. You brush a hand over Brian’s hair, and he presses a soft kiss to the bite he gave you. “Sorry about that,” he mumbles.

You laugh and unhook your other leg from around Brian’s waist. “’s alright,” you tell him, still trying to catch your breath. Brian could’ve left a thousand marks on your body and you wouldn’t have cared one bit.

It’s a few minutes before Brian moves again, leveraging himself back up with a groan. “Be right back,” he says, kissing you once, before climbing off the bed. You watch him leave but make no attempt to get up yourself. You stretch out instead, feeling the best sort of soreness, and you smile as you think back over the evening. This is certainly not how you expected your night to turn out, but you’re definitely not complaining.

“You look happy,” Brian says, as he reenters the bedroom. He’s cleaned himself up and gotten rid of the condom, and he runs a damp washcloth over your skin to clean you up as well.

“Mm, that’s because I am happy.” You reach for him and he leans down to kiss you again, gentle and slow.

“I’m glad.” He tosses the washcloth somewhere over the side of the bed and he lies down next to you, wrapping an arm around your waist and holding you close. “I’m pretty happy right now as well,” he tells you, and your whole chest feels warm with affection and satisfaction.

You let your eyes slip shut, just for a second, enjoying the feeling of Brian pressed against you and his hand tracing absent patterns along your hip. You know you’ll have to get up soon and catch a cab back home, but you still allow yourself to imagine for a moment that you could stay here instead.

“You know, we never did have those drinks,” Brian says after a few minutes, breaking the silence between you.

You smile and open your eyes again, rolling onto your side so you can look at Brian. He’s smiling, lazy and content, and you think you’ve never seen a more gorgeous sight in your life. “Guess you’ll just have to make it up to me sometime, then,” you say, with a soft smile of your own.

“Guess I will,” Brian agrees. “Would coffee in the morning be a good start? Or do you prefer tea?”

You blink, surprised, and sit up on one elbow so you can look at Brian properly. “Are you asking me to spend the night?”

“Why not? It’s late, and there’s no sense in you leaving now unless you want to.”

There’s nothing but honesty and affection in Brian’s face and you swallow down a sudden lump in your throat as you settle back into bed next to him. Brian wraps his arms around you again without hesitation and you sigh, and relax into his embrace. “Yeah,” you whisper. “I think I’ll stay.”